A BROTHER TO DRAGONS 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER OLD-TIME TALES 
 
 BY AMELIE RIVES 
 
 YORK 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 
 1888 
 
Copyright, 1888, by HARPER & BROTHERS. 
 
 All right* rtterved. 
 

 WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE 
 TO 
 
 THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH 
 
 MY FIRST EDITOR 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 OF the tales published in this volume, 
 " A Brother to Dragons " appeared in the 
 Atlantic Monthly for March, 1886; "The 
 Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth " in Lippin- 
 cotfs Magazine for July, 1887 ; and " Nurse 
 Crumpet tells the Story " in Harpers Mag 
 azine for September, 1887. 
 
 AMELIE RIVES. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A BROTHER TO DRAGONS i 
 
 THE FARRIER LASS O PIPING PEB- 
 WORTH 82 
 
 NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE STORY . . 168 
 
A BROTHER TO DRAGONS. 
 
 i. 
 
 IN the year of grace, 1586, on the last 
 day of the month of May, to all who may 
 chance to read this narrative, these : 
 
 I will first be at the pains of stating 
 that had it not been for Marian I had 
 never indited these or any other papers, 
 true or false. Secondly, that the facts here 
 in set down be true facts; none the less 
 true that they are strange. I will further 
 more explain that Marian is the Christian 
 name of my lawful wife, and that our sur 
 name is Butter. 
 
 My wife had nursed the Lady Margaret 
 from the moment of her birth; and here I 
 must make another digression. The Lady 
 
2 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 Margaret was the twin sister of the then 
 Lord of Amhurste, Lord Robert, and my 
 lady and his lordship had quarrelled Ma 
 rian saith, with a great cause, but I cannot 
 herein forbear also expressing my opinion, 
 which is to the effect that for that quarrel 
 there was neither cause, justice, nor rea 
 son. Therefore, before those who may 
 chance to read these words, I will lay bare 
 the facts pertaining to the said quarrel. 
 
 It concerned the family ghost, which 
 ghost was said to haunt a certain blue 
 chamber in the east wing of the castle. 
 Now I myself had never gainsaid these 
 reports ; for although I do not believe in 
 ghosts, I have a certain respect for them, as 
 they have never offered me any affront, ei 
 ther by appearing to me or otherwise mal 
 treating me. But Marian, who like many 
 of her sex seemed to consort naturally with 
 banshees, bogies, apparitions, and the like, 
 declared to me that at several different and 
 equally inconvenient times this ghost had 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 3 
 
 presented itself to her, startling her on two 
 occasions to such an extent that she once 
 let fall the contents of the broth -bowl on 
 Herne the blood-hound, thereby causing that 
 beast to maliciously devour two breadths of 
 her new black taffeta Sunday gown; again, 
 a hot iron wherewith she was pressing out 
 the seams of Lady Margaret s night-gown. 
 On the second occasion, she fled along the 
 kitchen hall, shrieking piteously, and pre 
 ceded by Doll, the kitchen wench, the latter 
 having in her seeming a certain ghostly ap 
 pearance, as she was clad only in her shift, 
 which the draughts in the hall inflated to a 
 great size. The poor maid fled affrighted 
 into her room and locked the door behind 
 her ; yet when I did essay to .assuage the 
 terror of Mistress Butter, identifying Doll 
 and the blue-room ghost as one and the 
 same, she thanked me not, but belabored 
 me in her frenzy with the yet warm iron, 
 which she had instinctively snatched up in 
 her flight; demanding of me at the same 
 
4 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 time if I had ever seen Doll s nose spout 
 fire, and her eyes spit in her head like hot 
 coals. I being of a necessity compelled to 
 reply " No," Marian further told me that it 
 was thus that the ghost had comported it 
 self; that, moreover, it was clad all in a livid 
 blue flame from top to toe, and that it had 
 a banner o red sarcenet that streamed out 
 behind like forked lightning. She then 
 said that this malevolent spirit had struck 
 her with its blazing hand, and that, did I 
 not believe her, I could see the burn on 
 her wrist. Upon my suggesting that this 
 wound might have been inflicted by the 
 iron in its fall, she did use me in so un- 
 wifely a manner that I sought my bed in 
 much wrath and vexation of spirit. Nay, 
 I do fear me that I cursed the day I was 
 wed, the day on which my wife was born, 
 wishing all women to the d 1 ; and that, 
 moreover, out loud, which put me to much 
 shame afterwards for some days ; although, 
 be it said to my still greater shame, it was 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 5 
 
 full a fortnight e er I confessed my re 
 pentance unto the wife whom I had so 
 abused. 
 
 But meseems I have in this digression 
 transgressed in the matter o length ; there 
 fore, to return to the bare facts. 
 
 It was on the subject of this ghost that 
 my lord and the Lady Margaret had dis 
 agreed. My lord, being a flighty lad, al 
 though a marvellous fine scholar and well- 
 disposed, did agree with my wife in the 
 matter of the ghost ; while my lady was of 
 a like mind with myself. 
 
 It doth seem but yesterday that she came 
 to me as I was training the woodbine o er 
 the arbor that led to her little garden, and 
 put her white hand on my shoulder. (My 
 lady was never one for wearing gloves, yet 
 the sun seemed no more to think o scorch 
 ing her fair hands than the leaves of a day- 
 lily.) She comes to me and lays her hand 
 on my shoulder, and her long eyes they 
 laugh at me out of the shadow of her hat; 
 
6 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 but her mouth is grave as though I were a 
 corse. 
 
 Quoth she : 
 
 " Butter, dost thou believe in this ghost ?" 
 
 " Nay, my lady," answered I, hoping to 
 shift her to better soil ; " I ne er meddle 
 with ghosts or goblins. Why, an there be 
 such things, should they wish me harm ? 
 O my word, my brain is no more troubled 
 with ghosts, black or white, than our gra 
 cious Queen s " here I doffed my cap 
 " is with snails and slugs ;" and here I 
 plucked a slug from a vine -leaf and set 
 my heel on t. 
 
 " Nay, nay !" quoth she, a-shutting of her 
 white eyelids so tight that all the long black 
 hairs on them stood straight out, like the 
 fringe on Marian s Sunday mantle in a 
 high wind. " Butter ! thou nasty man !" 
 
 "Why for how dost thou mean, my 
 lady?" quoth I. 
 
 " Why, for mashing that poor beast to 
 a pap." And then a-holding of her hand 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 7 
 
 level below her eyes, so that she might 
 not discern the ground, " Is he dead ?" 
 quoth she. 
 
 " Dead ?" asked I, for I was somewhat 
 puzzled in my mind. 
 
 "Ay, the slug; is he dead ?" 
 
 " That he is, verily," said I ; for in truth 
 he was naught but a jelly, and therewith I 
 drew a pebble over him with my foot, that 
 the sight o his misfortune should not dis 
 turb her tender heart. 
 
 " How if I were to crush you neath my 
 heel, Master Butter ?" quoth she at last, hav 
 ing peered about for the sight she dread 
 ed, and, not seeing it, returning to her dis 
 course. " How wouldst thou like that, ex 
 cellent Master Butter ?" But somehow, as 
 I looked at her foot, my mouth, for all I 
 could do, w r ent into a smile. For though 
 she was as fine a maiden as any in all 
 Warwickshire, her foot, methinks, was of 
 so dainty a make twould scarce have dealt 
 death to a rose. 
 
8 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 " But truly, my lady," continued I, see 
 ing that she was making up a face at me, 
 " thou knowest I ve naught in common with 
 ghosts." 
 
 " Ay," quoth she. " And thou knowest 
 the like of me. But " and here stops she, 
 with the slyest tip of her frowzed curls tow 
 ards the house "thou knowest also this, 
 Butter, that his lordship, my brother, thinks 
 as doth Marian, thy wife, and that therein 
 we four cannot agree." 
 
 So I look at my hoe-handle, and say I, 
 " My lady, it is known to me." 
 
 " Well, now, Butter," she goes on, " thou 
 most wise, most excellent, most cunning, 
 most delectable of Butters, I have con 
 cocted a plan. F fecks, Butter" (for my 
 lady, like her Majesty the Queen, was some 
 what given to swearing, though more mod 
 est oaths, as should become a subject) 
 " I fecks, Butter," saith she, " t is a most 
 lustick plot. But I would not thy mome 
 heard us;" and with that she makes me 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 9 
 
 send away Joe, the under- gardener. He 
 being gone, she whispers in my ear how 
 she hath plotted to fright his lordship and 
 Marian into very convulsions of further 
 conviction, by appearing to them at the 
 door o the blue room in her night-gown, 
 with a taper in her hand and her face 
 chalked. What she desired o me was, 
 that I should come to the blue room with 
 her, and there remain while she played off 
 this pretty fantasy on my lord and Marian. 
 
 To be truthful in these my last days o 
 earth, I liked not my proffered office o er- 
 well. Howbeit, that night did I do the bid 
 ding o my young mistress, and loath am 
 I to speak of it, even at this late day 
 twas the cause of my young master s leav 
 ing his home and going to bide in foreign 
 countries. 
 
 Ah, bitter tears did his sister weep, and 
 with mine own eyes I saw her, on the day 
 he set forth, cling to his neck, and when he 
 shook her thence, hang about his loins, and 
 
io A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 when at last he pushed her to the ground, 
 she laid her hands about his feet and wept ; 
 and between every sob it was, " Go not, 
 brother, for my fault ! Go not, brother, for 
 my fault !" or else, " Robin, Robin, dost not 
 love me enough to forgive me so little?" 
 and then, " If thou didst but love me a lit 
 tle, thou couldst forgive me much." But 
 he stepped free of her hands and went 
 his ways, and my lady lay with her head 
 where his feet had been, and was still. 
 
 Then Marian, who was very wroth with 
 me for my part in the matter, did up with 
 her nursling in her own proper strong arms 
 (for she was aye a strong lass, that being 
 one o the chief reasons for which I had 
 sought her in marriage having had, as 
 should all men, an eye to my posterity. 
 It was a great cross to me, as may be 
 thought, to find that all my forethought 
 had been in vain, and that while Turnip, 
 the farrier, had eight as fine lads as one 
 would care to father, of a puny wench 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 1 1 
 
 that my Marian could have slipped in her 
 pocket, Mistress Butter presented me with 
 no children, weakly or healthy). But, as 
 I have said, Marian, in her own arms, did 
 carry my lady up -stairs to her chamber, 
 and laid her on the day-bed. 
 
 And by-and-by she opes her eyes (for 
 Marian agreed that I sate on the threshold), 
 and says she, putting out her hand half- 
 fearful-like, " Is t thou, brother?" 
 
 "Nay, honey," saith Marian; "it is I, 
 thy Marian, thy nurse." 
 
 Then said my lady, " Ay, nurse ; but my 
 brother, he is below is t not so?" But 
 when Marian shook her head, my lady sate 
 up on the day-bed and caught hold of her 
 short curls, and cried out, " I have banished 
 him ! I have made him an outlaw ! I have 
 banished him !" And for days she lay like 
 one whose soul was sped. 
 
 Well, the young lord came not back, nor 
 would he write; so we knew not whether 
 he were alive or dead. Yet were Marian 
 
12 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 and myself not unhopeful, for full oft did 
 the heady boy find some such cause of dis 
 agreement with his sister to abide apart 
 from her. But when we saw that in truth 
 he came not back, and that week sped 
 after week, and month did follow month, 
 and still no tidings, we had perforce to ac 
 knowledge that the young lord was indeed 
 gone to return no more. 
 
 The Lady Margaret, in her loneliness, 
 grew into many strange ways. She did 
 outride any man in the county, and she had 
 a blue-roan by the name of Robin Hood ; 
 which same, methinks, no man in or out o 
 th county would a cared to bestride. She 
 would walk over to Pebworth ( piping Peb- 
 worth, as Master Shakespeare hath dubbed 
 it) and back again, a distance o some six 
 miles ; and afterwards set forth for a gallop 
 on Robin Hood, and be no more a-weary, 
 come eventide, than myself from a trip 
 round the gardens. She swam like a sea 
 maid, she had fenced even better than her 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 13 
 
 brother, and methinks she was the bonni 
 est shot with a long-bow of any woman in 
 all England. She was but fifteen when 
 my lord left Amhurste for aye, and in the 
 years since she had grown mightily, and 
 was waxed as strong as Marian, and full 
 a head taller. But she had long, curved 
 flanks that saved her from buxomness ; 
 and her head was set high and light on 
 her shoulders, like a bird that floats on 
 a wave, and o er it ran her bright curls, 
 the one o er the other, like little wavelets. 
 Her eyes were as gray as a sword, and 
 as keen, and she had broad lids as white 
 as satin -flowers, and there was a fine 
 black ring around them, made by her 
 long lashes. 
 
 My lady was courted by many a fine 
 lord, and more than three youngsters have 
 I seen weep because of her coldness tow 
 ards them ; speeding them away out o 
 the sight o mankind (as they thought), and 
 casting themselves along the lush grass in 
 
14 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 my lady s garden, there to bleat and bleat, 
 like moon-calves for the moon. 
 
 For one lad did my heart bleed, verily. 
 Twas for the young Lord of Mallow but 
 a lad with buttercup curls and speedwell 
 eyes, and a smile to win the love o any 
 maid in her reason (though, to be sure, my 
 lady was in her reason). He comes to me 
 and gets between my knees, like any little 
 eanling that might a been mine own, and 
 quoth he : 
 
 " Butter, Butter, she loves thee ! Wilt 
 thou not speak to her, and tell her that she 
 shall be the richest lady in all England, 
 and maid of honor to the Queen, and have 
 more jewels than the Queen herself? Oh, 
 Butter !" cried he. 
 
 Then said I, a-stroking of the yellow 
 gossamer that bestrewed his shoulders, as 
 he knelt, head bowed, between my knees, 
 " Nay, my lord, tis not so that thou shalt 
 win the Lady Margaret. She careth no 
 more for jewels than she doth for the beads 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 15 
 
 in a rainbow ; nor doth she care for riches. 
 And methinks a maid who would marry 
 just to be maid of honor to a queen would 
 not be an honorable maid either to her 
 self or to her sovereign ;" for so indeed 
 I thought. 
 
 Then saith he, " Butter, dost thou be 
 lieve in love-philters ?" 
 
 And I asked his meaning, for verily I 
 was ignorant of t, albeit I was not igno 
 rant in all matters. And he explained to 
 me that it was a drink or potion to cause 
 love. 
 
 Then I answered, and said, " Calamint 
 doth make a good brew, likewise sage, 
 and some flax is soothing, but methinks 
 none o these would cause love." 
 
 On this he wept again, but said that I 
 was a good old man, and that on his return 
 to Mallow he would send me a gift ; and so 
 he did a pair o silk hose, such as my lady 
 and the Queen do wear; but being mind 
 ful of my station, I laid them aside for the 
 
1 6 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 sake o th poor lad, and yesterday Marian 
 did bring them to me, with her ten fingers 
 through as many moth-holes. Whereupon 
 I was minded o th text concerning that 
 we lay not up treasures where moth and 
 rust do corrupt, and at my behest Marian 
 read me the whole of that chapter. But 
 to return to bare facts. 
 
 It was on a certain night in March that 
 there occurred the conversation which was 
 the cause of this narrative. There had 
 been news of the return of one Lord Den- 
 beigh to Warwickshire by report as wild a 
 cavalier as ever fought, and a godless body 
 to boot. Marian, who, as I have said, had 
 always a certain knack for ghost stories and 
 the like, froze me with her accounts o this 
 wild lord s doings. Quoth she : 
 
 " Fire-brace is a suiting name for him, 
 inasmuch as tis a family name, and he a 
 fire-brand to peace wheresome er he shall 
 
 go." 
 
 " Peace peace thyself !" quoth I, hear- 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 1 7 
 
 ing my lady s foot along the hall. And, 
 o my word, Marian had but just ceased, 
 and given her attention to the fire, when 
 in clatters my lady, with her riding-whip 
 stuck in her glove, and her blood-hound 
 Hearn in a leash. She was much wrought, 
 either with riding or rage, for there was a 
 quick red in her cheek, and she had set 
 her red lips until they were white. Then 
 took she the hound between her knees, and 
 plucked off her gloves. Here I did find it 
 my duty to speak. 
 
 " My lady," cried I, " tis not in your mind 
 to baste the dog?" 
 
 "Ay, that it is," quoth she, and her lips 
 went tighter, and she jerked at her glove. 
 
 Then said I, " How if he leap at thy 
 throat?" And she answered, "Nay, he 
 knows better;" and with that she gripped 
 his collar, and let swing her whip. Then 
 did I bid Marian that she leave the room. 
 As for me, it was my duty to stay, though, 
 as I have given an oath to tell but the truth 
 2 
 
1 8 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 in this narrative, I must confess that I was 
 in a sweat from head to foot with fear. 
 
 But the great hound crouched as though 
 he knew he got but what he deserved, and 
 when my lady had given him ten or twenty 
 lashes she flung wide the door, and said she, 
 " Get thee gone, coward ! Go fare as fares 
 the poor beggar thou sought st to bite !" 
 and the hound slunk out. Then turned my 
 mistress to me, and "Butter," saith she, 
 "yon beast sought to bite an old beggar as 
 we came through the park, so I whipped 
 him. But for naught save cruelty or dis 
 obedience will I ever whip a dog ; so, But 
 ter, the next time that thou seest me about 
 to lash one, keep thy counsel." (This was 
 the harshest that my lady e er spoke, ei 
 ther to me or to Marian.) Then went she 
 to the door and called Marian. 
 
 " Come, nurse," quoth she, " I am a-weary. 
 Fling me some skins on the settle, and I 
 will lie down, and thou shalt card out my 
 locks with thy fingers." So we heaped the 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 1 9 
 
 settle with the skins o white bears, and 
 thereon my lady cast herself, like a flower 
 blown down upon a snow-bank ; and by- 
 and-by, what with the warmth and Marian s 
 strokings, she fell into a deep sleep. But 
 we two sate and gazed on her. 
 
 She was all clad in a tirfit riding-dress 
 
 o o 
 
 of green velour cloth, and her white face 
 seemed to come from the close collar like a 
 white lily from its sheath. She was e er 
 flower-like, asleep or waking, as I have said, 
 and her pretty head was sleek and yellow, 
 like a butterfly s wing. She was so sound 
 that it. appeared to me and Marian as 
 though one longer breath might transform 
 the mimicry into the actual thing death. 
 But by-and-by awe fell from us, as it doth 
 ever fall, even in the presence of that which 
 hath awed us, and my wife and I did return 
 to our discourse concerning my Lord Den- 
 beigh. 
 
 Quoth I to Marian, " But, wife, may not 
 malice invent these tales ?" 
 
20 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 " Nay, nay," said she, shaking her head ; 
 " as bloody a rogue as ever lived as bloody 
 a rogue as ever lived. They do say as how 
 he ll set a whole tavern in a broil ere he be 
 entered in for three minutes." 
 
 " But," quoth I, " may he not be pro 
 voked ?" 
 
 " Nay, I tell thee," said she ; " but he ll 
 jump at a body s head, and cleave t open 
 ere a body can say Jesus. " 
 
 At this I said, firmly, " I doubt not but 
 what the poor man is most surely ma 
 ligned." Whereupon Mistress Butter did 
 wax exceeding wroth. 
 
 " Why wilt thou e er be seeking to plead 
 the cause o villains ?" cried she. " First 
 that bloody beast o my lady s, now this 
 bloody villain o th devil s. I do wonder at 
 thee, Anthony Butter." Whereat I did put 
 in that I sometimes wondered at myself. 
 
 " For why ?" quoth she. 
 
 " Why, that I ever married to be word 
 ed by a wench," said I. And at this I am 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 21 
 
 most entirely sure that she would have cast 
 her joint-stool at me, had she not been sit 
 ting on t, and my lady s head against her 
 knee. So she called me a " zany," and then 
 after a little a " toad," but went on stroking 
 my lady s hair. 
 
 And, by -and- by, back we come to his 
 lordship. 
 
 " Tis not alone his bloody tricks and 
 murderous ways," quoth my wife, " that 
 causes all Christian folk to abhor him, but 
 he consorts with no other women than 
 drabs and callets. Dost excuse that ?" 
 
 " Nay," said I, with sufficient gravity, 
 " then is this earl no longer a man, but 
 a swine, and not fit for men s discussion, 
 much less that of women." 
 
 At this reproof I saw anger again in 
 her eye, but she was so pleased withal at 
 having got me to call Lord Denbeigh a 
 swine that she forebore any further per 
 sonal affront. 
 
 "And yet," she went on, " they do say he 
 
22 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 be as fine a man as a wench will walk 
 through the rain to glimpse at, and a brave 
 and a learned ; but that he wed a Span 
 ish maid, and she betrayed him, and so 
 he hath vowed to hate women, one and 
 all." 
 
 " Hast thou seen him ?" 
 
 " Nay, but I ve had him itemized to me 
 by the wife o Humfrey Lemon. A blue 
 eye, a hooked nose, a " 
 
 " Well, well, wife," quoth I, " if a blue eye 
 and a hooked nose be as bad signs in a 
 man as they be in a horse, methinks this 
 thy villain is a very round villain." 
 
 "And so he is," affirmed she. 
 
 " Yet," said I, " there is somewhere in 
 me a something that doth pity him." 
 
 " By my troth !" cried my wife. " I do 
 believe, Master Butter, that thou dst pity 
 the Devil s wife in childbirth." 
 
 "Ay, that I would !" I made answer, with 
 a great calmness, for I saw that she sought 
 to rouse my spleen. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 23 
 
 " Well, do not bellow," blurted she, " for 
 my mistress is as sound as a gold-piece." 
 
 Then quoth my lady, a-rising up on her 
 elbow, 
 
 " Nay, that she is not. And, moreover, 
 she would hear all the stones concerning 
 this bad and blood}^ Lord of Denbeigh !" 
 
 II. 
 
 When Marian heard my lady so speak, 
 methought she would have swooned in ver 
 ity; for she knew my lady s contempt for 
 gossip. E en for the first time in all her 
 life, Marian could not find a word to her 
 tongue. 
 
 " La ! my lady," said she, and then stop 
 ped and was silent. My lady laughed at 
 her, with her deep eyes; but as was her 
 wont, her mouth was wondrous solemn. 
 
 "Ay, nurse," quoth she, " thou thought st 
 me safe i th Land o 1 Nod, but one hath 
 
24 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 ears to hear there as elsewhere." Then 
 she reaches out one hand and plays with 
 Marian s ruff. " Go to, nurse," says she. 
 " Dost thou not see I am even i th same 
 case with thyself ? I too would gossip a lit 
 tle. Come, word it word it !" 
 
 So Marian told her all that she had 
 heard, together with a little prophesying 
 here and there, which boded no good to 
 my Lord Denbeigh. She told how he 
 had e en been a brave lad, but how in 
 Spain he had wed with a wife who played 
 him false ; how then he had vowed venge 
 ance on all womankind, becoming a brawl 
 er and a haunter o taverns; how death 
 was in his sword and lightnings in his eye. 
 
 My lady listened, and now and again she 
 would pinch her eyelids softly with her 
 thumb and ring-finger, as one who is deep 
 in thought. But when Marian paused for 
 breath, she turned to her, and quoth she, 
 
 " Nurse, thou hast often preached unto 
 me ; listen now to my preachings. Thou 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 25 
 
 shalt often hear a man abused, nurse, but 
 chiefly for that which he hath never done. 
 This wild lord, I doubt not, hath been guil 
 ty of sorry deeds. What man hath not? 
 But the half that thou hast told me is not 
 to be believed." 
 
 Then went she to her room, taking Ma 
 rian with her, but I saw that she was 
 moved. 
 
 It was but the next day that my lady s 
 uncle, Sir John Trenyon, came riding into 
 the court. He often came in such wise, to 
 bide for a day or two with his niece. A 
 most courteous gentleman ; red of face, 
 blue of eye, and blithe of tongue. He 
 had a jest for each tick o th clock, and 
 a kind word for all. 
 
 " Ah, Butter," saith he, " and where is thy 
 mistress ? And thy wife, the good Dame 
 Marian where is she? And how about 
 thy family ? Hast thou no better prospects 
 than of yore ?" 
 
 Whereat I looked sorrowful enough, I 
 
26 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 doubt not, for he did bid me take heart, as 
 my first-born might have had a hare-lip or 
 a crook-back. Then did he toss me his 
 bridle-reins, and my lady, having heard his 
 voice, came forth to meet him. 
 
 "So, lady- bird!" quoth he, clasping her. 
 " I am come for no less than three rea 
 sons this time. First, to see thy bonny 
 face. Second, to ride thy bonny Robin. 
 Third, to inquire and seek out a certain 
 villain of mine acquaintance, of whom you 
 have doubtless heard ;" and forthwith did 
 he say to her of how the wicked Lord 
 Denbeigh was the son of a friend and 
 comrade, and of how he had known him 
 when a lad, together with much more, at 
 which my lady pricked up her ears, as 
 twere, having all a lady s love for stories 
 of wicked men who are not yet either old 
 or ill-favored. 
 
 " By my troth," declared the old knight 
 in ending, " I will take but a mouthful to 
 stay me, and then set forth straightway in 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 27 
 
 quest o th rascal." So having dined right 
 heartily, he rode forth again. 
 
 Now, having related this hap to Marian, 
 she was devoured of so great a curiosity 
 that, as I am an honest man, I looked to 
 see her consumed even unto her bones, as 
 some men who burn of drink. She would 
 have it that I must hazard a guess on the 
 shape of Lord Denbeigh s nose, the color 
 of his hair, and the height of his body. 
 She forced me to wonder whether he were 
 civil or rude of tongue. She pressed me 
 to say whether I thought there was aye 
 a chance of his returning with Sir John. 
 She questioned me, in a word, until, hav 
 ing no answers, I was like to lose my wits, 
 or my temper, or both together. At last 
 comes she and sits on my knee, and tickles 
 the back of my neck right playfully, as in 
 the days of our wooing. 
 
 " As I live, Tony," quoth she, " we are 
 like to have a strange story under our 
 very noses. What if" and here she 
 
28 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 takes my face in her two hands, and sets 
 her chin against mine, so that I see four 
 round blue eyes against her white brow, 
 and am like to go blind with her thought 
 lessness "what if it turns out that the 
 Lord hath set upon our lady to be the 
 saviour of this wicked earl ?" 
 
 "Ay," cried I. "And what if the Lord 
 hath set upon me to be the founder of 
 a nation, like Abraham ? What then ?" 
 At which she boxed my ears right sound 
 ly. But I could not blame her, for in 
 the wrong I was, without doubt, although 
 verily she had plagued me into it. So 
 I sued for pardon, and got it, and a 
 kiss into the bargain. But she would 
 not leave me in peace concerning Lord 
 Denbeigh. 
 
 When that same afternoon there comes 
 Sir John a-riding past, and the bad earl at 
 his side, " What dost thou say now ?" quoth 
 Marian, a-plucking me in a way that did 
 not serve to increase good feeling betwixt 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 29 
 
 us. " Ah ha ! Are not women prophet 
 esses by nature ?" 
 
 "Ay, by ill-nature," answered I; and for 
 this quip I was not forgiven for two days. 
 
 It was towards the setting of the sun 
 when Sir John and Lord Denbeigh rode 
 up to the door of Amhurste, and my lady, 
 knowing naught, came out at the sound of 
 the horses feet, thinking only to greet her 
 uncle. The red light from the west shone 
 on her, and dabbled her white kirtle as 
 with blood, and her face was like one of 
 the red roses in her garden. So she put 
 up her hand to shield it, and saw the 
 stranger standing at her feet. 
 
 There was ne er a nobler -looking man, 
 for all he might outblack Satan in his 
 soul : straight of body, and strong of limb, 
 and lofty of head. His hair was the col 
 or of my lady s, and there seemed to be 
 ever some sunshine in it, as he moved 
 his head. Methought his face was fair 
 and goodly to look upon, albeit his lips 
 
30 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 went downward at the corners, and there 
 was a droop in his broad lids. He was 
 clad all in a close suit of dark velvet, and 
 in his hand he held a black hat with a knot 
 of heron-plumes. 
 
 My lady stood and looked down at him 
 from under her long, white hand, and he 
 stood and looked up at my lady, as one 
 looks upward at a fair picture. And the 
 evening light crept between them. I was 
 ashamed of my own folly, when I did catch 
 myself remembering Marian s silly sayings ; 
 but for all that, they did come back to me, 
 as the words of a foolish woman will return 
 to the wisest of men. And in truth he did 
 gaze up at her, as though she were more 
 holy than the heavens above her. And 
 for all her hand, the sunset found its way 
 unto her cheek. 
 
 What I now relate was told me by 
 Marian some three days after. Twas on 
 the night of the day on which Sir John 
 had brought the stranger to Amhurste, 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 31 
 
 and Marian was carding out my lady s 
 tresses before her bedroom fire. 
 
 Quoth my lady, suddenly, " Nurse, didst 
 thou see Lord Denbeigh ere he went ?" 
 
 And Marian said that she had seen him. 
 
 " He hath a strange face, nurse." 
 
 " How strange, my lady ?" 
 
 "Why, it seems to me that each feature 
 in it doth contradict the other. His brow 
 is stern, and saith to his eyes, Ye shall 
 not be gentle. His eyes say to his nose, 
 Spread not thy nostrils so proudly. His 
 nose commands his lips that they smile 
 not; but, nurse, there was ne er a sweeter 
 smile on the lips o a saint !" 
 
 Marian fell a-thinking, and pulled my 
 lady s hair. My lady heeded it not, so 
 Marian fell a-thinking yet more deeply. 
 
 " It is not a face that tells of a bad 
 heart," continued my lady. " Rather it 
 speaks of rebellion and misfortune. A 
 sad story a sad story." 
 
 " What is, my lady ?" asked Marian ; but 
 
32 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 my lady was far away, whither Marian 
 could not follow. 
 
 " Nurse," she saith, presently, " that were 
 a soul worth saving." Then got she sud 
 denly to her feet, and turned and took her 
 nurse s hands with hers. " It shall be saved," 
 she saith, " God helping." 
 
 And she kissed Marian, and lay down 
 upon her bed. But Marian did tell me how 
 that no sleep visited her lady s eyes that 
 night. Through the darkness she could 
 hear her turn, first on this side, then on 
 that ; then sigh and move her pillow, and 
 sigh again. 
 
 Methought Marian would have split in 
 sunder with importance, when Lord Den- 
 beigh took to coming sometimes to Am- 
 hurste. Twas never for even an hour 
 that he stayed ; and twas always some 
 question of business that brought him. 
 But my lady and he touched hands full 
 oft during a week, and always he would 
 look at her with a different look from that 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 33 
 
 which his eyes did wear at other times. 
 And she spoke to him e er courteously 
 and kindly, even as though he had been 
 a holy man and worthy of all reverence. 
 
 One day it chanced that my lady rode 
 the blue -roan out into the woods, towards 
 the hut of old Joan Gobble, who was crip 
 pled by reason of age. My lady had me 
 follow her on Dumble, th ? white nag, with 
 a pat o butter and some wine. I was taken 
 up with pondering as to why my lady should 
 go in person to Dame Gobble s, seeing she 
 might have sent me alone on Dumble as 
 well. Be that as it may, as we rode along 
 by a brook-side, under the thick leaves, whom 
 should we come upon but my Lord Den- 
 beigh. He was kneeling beside the water, 
 and holding down his hand into the brook. 
 As I looked I saw that his hand was be 
 fouled with gore, and that the brown stream 
 did rush away ruddily from beneath his fin 
 gers. 
 
 My lady did not wait for me to hold 
 3 
 
34 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 Robin Hood, but did swing herself from 
 her saddle, and was beside the earl in a 
 trice. He looked up, and seeing her, did 
 start upon his feet. 
 
 " Nay," said she, putting out her hand, 
 " but tell me if I can aid thee." 
 
 And he strove to hide his hand at his 
 side, saying. " Tis but a scratch ;" but 
 the blood ran down like water on the 
 grass. 
 
 " Think not to spare me the sight o 
 blood," said my lady, " for I am learned in 
 bandaging wounds." And certes she was, 
 seeing that every soul at Amhurste did 
 come to her for healing, let a cat but 
 scratch them. And she took his hand be 
 tween her two fair hands (having drawn off 
 her gloves), and saw that his wrist was deep 
 ly severed as with a knife. But she asked 
 him no questions, telling him only to stoop 
 while she cleansed his hand sufficiently to 
 bind it. And as she laid it in the water, 
 and pressed the lips of the wound together, 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 35 
 
 he said unto her in a low tone, not mean 
 ing that I should hear him, 
 
 " Would that thou couldst wash my soul 
 as thou hast washed my hand !" 
 
 She looked straight into his eyes, with 
 her own so clear and honest, like a dog s 
 (meaning no disrespect to my lady, as God 
 knows), and she answered him and saith, 
 
 "It were well worth the washing, my lord ; 
 but an higher than I must cleanse it." 
 
 And he saith, " There is none higher." 
 
 At that my lady s blood rose in her 
 cheek, but she besought him that he would 
 not speak to her in such wise. When 
 she had made a compress of the napkins 
 in the basket wherein I was carrying 
 Dame Gobble s butter, and had stanch 
 ed the blood, she unwound the ribbon 
 from her silver hunting-horn, and cast it 
 about his neck for a rest to his wound 
 ed arm. Then he did bend down his 
 head and kissed the ribbon, and my lady 
 turned quickly, and got upon the roan, 
 
36 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 and rode away at so smart a pace that 
 methinks Dame Gobble s butter and wine 
 did reach her in a closer conjunction than 
 she could have found pleasant. 
 
 When I told Marian of this encounter, 
 merely by the way of a bit of gossip, she 
 did smile in such a wise that I was mind 
 ed to cuff a woman for the first time in 
 a long life. 
 
 It was that same night that Marian did 
 tell me how that she feared the earl was 
 in danger of some sort, judging by certain 
 words that my lady had let fall in her 
 sleep. I noticed how that my lady seem 
 ed restless, and would start at the clap o 
 a door, or when Herne did come suddenly 
 upon her. And one day she leaned from 
 a window, as I swept up the rose-leaves 
 from the grass on the east terrace, and 
 called to me to come thither. She was as 
 white as her kirtle, and her gray eyes were 
 dark like water before a storm. She did 
 not look at me, but beyond into the air. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 37 
 
 So I waited, having plucked off my cap, 
 and my lady stood looking, looking ; and 
 after a while she saith, 
 
 " Thou hast aye been a true and faithful 
 servant unto me : therefore I am about to 
 give unto thee a great charge." 
 
 And I said, " My lady, thou knowest that 
 thou canst trust me ;" and in truth I could 
 say no more, for my throat \vas stiff. 
 
 And she continued and said, 
 
 " Thou must be to - night at the Red 
 Deer, and that by nine of the clock. One 
 will be there in whom we have both deep 
 interest. I cannot tell thee more. Take 
 thy sword with thee, but have no fear 
 thou wilt have no cause to use it. Yet, 
 lest thou be fearful, take it with thee. 1 
 And she said, " Thou wilt remember ?" 
 
 " My lady, when have I e er forgotten 
 word of thine ?" Whereat she did put 
 out her fair hand to me, saying, " Never," 
 and there were tears in her eyes. 
 
 So that night (for the first time in many 
 
38 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 years) did I find myself within the doors 
 of the Red Deer. A cosey place it was, 
 despite the wine-bibbers that did profane it; 
 and the inn -keeper s wife, a most buxom, 
 eye-pleasing wench, with three sturdy boys 
 aye clambering about her. As I looked, 
 some hard and sinful thoughts did visit 
 my heart concerning the bounty that the 
 Lord had lavished upon one who was a 
 barterer of wine, when I, who had lived 
 ever a temperate and (in so far as was in 
 my power) a godly life, should remain child 
 less. But I did conquer at last, bidding 
 Satan get behind me, and was left in peace 
 to toast my feet, and to ponder as to who 
 it was that my lady had sent me thither to 
 mark. Had I not loved my lady with all 
 my heart, methinks I could not have stood 
 the terms that were heaped upon me by 
 the brawlers. I will not repeat the foul 
 slanders ; suffice it to say, I sustained for 
 one half hour what few men are called 
 upon to endure throughout a lifetime. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 39 
 
 At last, the newness being gone, they left 
 me in peace, and I, being settled safely in 
 my corner, did set to work to watch the 
 door. 
 
 Who should enter at that very moment 
 but my Lord Denbeigh ! He was wrapped 
 in a long brown cloak, and wore a broad 
 hat, unornamented by plume or buckle, 
 pulled down over his eyes. He came and 
 tossed himself into a chair near the fire, 
 and sat there pondering upon the coals, 
 with his legs out in front of him. Now, 
 I have ever had a woman - weakness for 
 a goodly leg in man, and the splendid 
 limbs of Lord Denbeigh did witch me into 
 a steadier gaze than that which civility 
 doth permit. This by -and -by he did no 
 tice, and so spoke to me. 
 
 " At what art thou staring, ancient ?" 
 quoth he, not unkindly. So I told him, 
 whereupon he laughed somewhat. 
 
 " Methinks thou art but a doting body," 
 he said, " and yet is thy face familiar. 
 
40 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 What now ? Hast thou e er met with me 
 before ?" 
 
 Then did I lie right roundly, being, to 
 confess the truth, not a little afraid. 
 
 "Out. on thee,"saith his lordship; "the 
 truth is not in thee. I ne er forget a face ; 
 how, then, shall I forget a face such as 
 thine? Certes I have seen thee before. 
 Wilt thou colt me ?" 
 
 And again lied I blackly, most abom 
 inably. 
 
 " As thou wilt," quoth he ; " but thy face 
 is known to me, for all that." 
 
 It was at this time that the door opened 
 again, and there did enter a stripling, clad 
 all in dark maroon velvet, wrapped also 
 about with a long cloak, and having a vel 
 vet bonnet pulled down over his brows i th 
 manner o Lord Denbeigh s. One could see 
 naught o his visage for the shadow from 
 his head-gear. The revelers scarce noted 
 his entrance, being far gone in drink, and 
 some having departed, and others asleep. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 41 
 
 The lad came and stood near the fire, and 
 I saw that he looked at Lord Denbeigh 
 from under his drooping bonnet the earl 
 having withdrawn unto a table apart, with 
 a glass of wine and some papers, and his 
 sword across the table. Even as I looked 
 the boy turned, and went over, and leaned 
 on the table to finger the heavy sword. My 
 heart was afraid within me, for there was a 
 dark light in the eyes that flashed up at the 
 youth from under Lord Denbeigh s stern 
 brows. I was nigh unto them, being but a 
 stride or two apart, and so marked all that 
 passed between them. 
 
 " By my troth," quoth his lordship, " a val 
 iant crack !" 
 
 " Meaning me?" quoth the lad, smiling. 
 
 "Ay, meaning thee, Sir Insolence. Dost 
 thou know how to handle thine own sword, 
 that thou handiest a stranger s so freely?" 
 
 " Even so. But I meant not to vex thee. 
 In truth, I am come to thee on an errand 
 of life and death ;" and as he spoke, he did 
 
42 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 doff his bonnet and toss it upon the table, 
 and the firelight and candlelight did leap 
 upon his fair curls, and as I saw his face it 
 was the face of my lady. The earl did start 
 half-way to his feet, and his face was first 
 like fire and then like snow. 
 
 " Margaret !" he saith, back of his teeth, 
 as twere. 
 
 And the lad smiled, leaning still upon 
 the table. 
 
 " Nay ; my sister is called so," he said, 
 " but my name is Robert, and I am the 
 Lord of Amhurste and her brother. Hap 
 ly she hath mentioned me unto your lord 
 ship." 
 
 The earl stared as one who sees a ghost 
 (though I believe not in them myself), and 
 he saith, " Whence comest thou ? All think 
 that thou art dead." 
 
 And the boy said, 
 
 " Nay, but I would not that any besides 
 thee knew of my whereabouts. As to thee, 
 I know more concerning thee even than 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 43 
 
 my sister, and it is for her sake that I 
 come to thee to-night." 
 
 And my lord saith, " For her sake ?" 
 " Even so. I am come to persuade 
 thee that thou wilt not go on the errand 
 thou wottest of two nights hence. There 
 are those who do mean thee death. It 
 is certain that thy life is plotted against. 
 Surely thou wilt be warned ?" And as I 
 looked, the color left the lad s face, and he 
 grew white as any woman. Almost I could 
 have sworn it was my lady s face. Line 
 for line, eyelash for eyelash, look for look. 
 And methought no mother s heart e er 
 yearned towards her new-born babe as 
 yearned my heart towards the youth. It 
 seemed as though I must cry out to 
 him. To see him thus after five weary 
 years ; to be so near him, and yet un 
 able to touch even the latchet of his 
 shoes, or to hear his voice calling my 
 name. I trembled and was blind with 
 longing. When at last I did look up, 
 
44 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 he said again, " Surely, thou wilt be ad 
 vised?" 
 
 The earl leaned with his forehead set in 
 his clasped hands, and by-and-by he said, 
 
 " It is impossible. Would that I could !" 
 
 And the lad said, 
 
 " Nay, it is not impossible. Thou canst 
 save thine own life with a word." 
 
 And Lord Denbeigh answered him : 
 
 " My life is not worth even a word," and 
 he did not lift up his forehead from his 
 hands. 
 
 Then said my master, " Thy life may be 
 worth less than naught to thee, but to oth 
 ers its price is above their own." And 
 again he was as pale as any girl. 
 
 And he spoke again and said, " Thou 
 wilt not go ? Thou wilt be warned ?" 
 
 And again did the man answer, saying, 
 " Impossible." 
 
 Then saith my master, 
 
 " Lord Denbeigh, if thou goest to Lon 
 don on the morrow, I will follow thee there. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 45 
 
 Nay, thou canst not prevent me. And 
 think you my sister s heart will be warm 
 er towards thee if her brother s blood be 
 spilled at thy behest?" 
 
 And the earl sat with his stern eyes on 
 the lad, and he said, 
 
 " Thy blood will ne er be spent at my be 
 hest. I do forbid thee to follow me." 
 
 And the lad said, 
 
 " I am not to be forbidden." So they 
 stood and looked at one another. And all 
 at once the boy put out his hand ( twas 
 my lady s very gesture) and took the earl s 
 sleeve, and saith he in a gentle voice, 
 
 " Thou wert a man after God s own heart 
 did not thou let Satan consort with thee." 
 
 Then turned Lord Denbeigh with a 
 laugh that was not merry. And he saith, 
 
 " As thou quotest Scripture to me, select 
 thy texts with greater care. Even to my 
 mind there doth come one more suiting ; 
 for even as Job, I am a brother to dragons, 
 and a companion to owls. " 
 
46 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 Then saith the lad, still with his hand 
 on the man s arm, 
 
 " Is it not the more to thy discredit that 
 thou, who couldst be brother to Christ, do 
 make brothers of dragons ? Verily, my 
 lord, I am bold through my sister, for me- 
 thinks it is thus that she would have an 
 swered thee." 
 
 And the man turned away as though to 
 hide his face. 
 
 III. 
 
 Lord Robert spoke with Lord Den- 
 beigh at some length, but he was not to be 
 turned from his purpose (which, methought, 
 must be a very strange and grewsome one, 
 judging by their words). So finally they 
 went out separately, and I got me back to 
 Amhurste. 
 
 The next morning I did relate to my 
 lady all that had passed, but mentioning no 
 names, as I saw that she wished it not. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 47 
 
 And when I was finished she bade me go 
 straightway to London and find out the 
 whereabouts of Lord Denbeigh. More 
 over, she told me that she herself would be 
 there shortly with Marian, and that they 
 two would lodge at the house of Marian s 
 aunt, one Mistress Pepper, a linen-draper s 
 wife. At this I wondered greatly, the more 
 that she should keep silent concerning her 
 brother than that she should follow him to 
 London. And all that I could think was 
 that Lord Robert was in some dire conspir 
 acy, likewise the earl, and that she feared 
 for the lives of one or both. So we all 
 go to London, I earlier than my lady and 
 Marian. 
 
 For a day I lost sight of Lord Denbeigh 
 (whom I had followed closely all the w r ay 
 from Warwickshire), but the next afternoon 
 I marked him as he passed along a by-way, 
 and heard him speak with some one of his 
 friends, naming a tavern where he would 
 meet him at a certain hour that night. 
 
48 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 So first I found out where the tavern 
 was, then straight to my lady and acquaint 
 ed her with all that I had discovered. 
 
 She said naught but to commend my 
 diligence, and she went whiter than a just 
 washed sheep at shearing - time. Quoth I 
 to myself, " Butter, there is more here than 
 thou wottest of;" which was very true. 
 
 That night, a little before the hour set 
 upon, I did get me to the tavern, and 
 lurked quietly in the shadows where none 
 might observe ; and there, verily, was the 
 earl and him with whom he had spoken in 
 the afternoon. He had but said a word or 
 so when Lord Robert entered, and went 
 and stood at his elbow, but did not touch 
 him or pluck at his cloak. Albeit, the earl 
 seemed to feel his presence, for shortly he 
 turned and saw the lad. 
 
 " How !" quoth he. " Thou here ?" 
 
 And the boy said, " I told thee I would 
 follow thee." 
 
 And Lord Denbeigh answered him, 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 49 
 
 " Dost thou know of what thou speak- 
 est ?" 
 
 And the lad said, " Verily I know, and 
 thou mayest trust me;" and with that he 
 muttered two or three words under his 
 breath, which, because of mine old ears, I 
 could not catch. And the two men started 
 and looked at one another. Then the earl 
 did turn to his friend, saying to him that 
 they could indeed trust the lad. So they 
 three clasped hands. When that was done, 
 Lord Denbeigh turns to my master, and 
 saith he, " Hast thou thy dirk with thee?" 
 and the lad answered that he had both 
 sword and dagger. 
 
 " Not that there is any danger," quoth 
 the earl, " but that thou mayest feel easy." 
 
 But the lad said, " There is danger, as I 
 have told thee ; and thou art putting thy 
 life in jeopardy." At this Lord Denbeigh 
 only laughed; but as they went out into the 
 street I marked that he kept the lad close at 
 his side, almost as a mother keeps a child. 
 4 
 
50 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 The night was still and cold, and the 
 sky full of little white clouds that lapped 
 the one over the other, like shells on a sea 
 shore. Now and again the moon would 
 strike through, in a long, bright ray, that 
 seemed like a keen blade or lance severing 
 the misty air. The three went on and on, 
 through many winding ways, and still I fol 
 lowed, for I knew not into what danger the 
 lad might be hastening. 
 
 All at once, in a dark turning, there 
 came the clang of swords and a rushing 
 and scuffling, but no cry of any kind; 
 and methought the silence was more hid 
 eous than sound. Stiff as were my old 
 joints with disuse, I drew my sword and 
 lay about me lustily, striving to get be 
 tween the villains and my young master 
 (which is no credit to me, as I was so 
 wrought with rage that I verily believe I 
 would have no more felt the thrust of a 
 rapier than Marian s housewife the prick 
 of a needle). But there was no method in 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 5 1 
 
 aught, neither could anything be seen ; for 
 the moon had withdrawn behind the clouds, 
 and w r e seemed to be fighting underneath 
 clear water, so pale and ghastly was the 
 light shed about us from the pale clouds. 
 And as I struck out with my sword I saw 
 a fellow in a mask close with Lord Den- 
 beigh, lifting a dagger high in his hand, 
 while another rascal pinned the earl s hands 
 to his sides. And even as I looked, the lad 
 leaped between, and the thin knife went 
 deep into his breast. At the same time 
 there was a louder clash of swords, and 
 a thudding of men s bodies together, and 
 the masked wretches turned about and did 
 take to their heels with a good will. So 
 I sheathed my sword and ran forward. 
 
 Lord Denbeigh and his friend were bend 
 ing over the lad, who lay out-stretched be 
 tween them, with his white face turned up 
 to the white sky, looking like the face of 
 a dead man at the bottom of a clear pool. 
 Then could I not withhold my grief, but 
 
52 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 cried aloud, " My master, my master !" and 
 tried to feel with my trembling old hands 
 for the wound. 
 
 Then said the earl, " Not here ! I will 
 carry him to a place of safety." And he 
 lifted the boy in his arms, as though he 
 had been a hurt child. 
 
 When the other saw that, he laid hold 
 on Lord Denbeigh s arm, saying, "What 
 mean you ? are you distraught ? There is 
 but scarce time by the clock." 
 
 And the earl said, " Go you on. I must 
 take this boy where his wound can be 
 bound." 
 
 " Nay," said the man. " I tell you, you 
 are mad !" 
 
 And Lord Denbeigh turned on him, and 
 spoke in a harsh voice : 
 
 " I have said I will not go. I have done 
 with thee and thine. Go thy ways ere it 
 be too late ;" and he passed on and left the 
 man to swallow the moonshine with his 
 great gaping mouth. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 53 
 
 And he saith unto me, " Follow closely." 
 So by-and-by we came to a great gray 
 house, and Lord Denbeigh opened the door 
 and bade me enter with him. 
 
 We passed through a vast hall, and up a 
 ponderous staircase, and into a room. A 
 fire was burning on the hearth, and there 
 was a fantastic kind of lamp swinging from 
 a silver chain above the bed s foot. 
 
 I guessed rightly that this was his lord 
 ship s own apartment. He laid the lad on 
 the bed, and fell to . undoing his doublet of 
 black velvet. I did see him set to shiver 
 ing, as twere, when he noted the red stains 
 on the shirt underneath, and my heart 
 stood still within me. Then he opened 
 the red linen, and did put in his hand gen 
 tly to feel if the heart were yet beating; 
 but no sooner had he done this than he 
 gave a strange cry, and drew out his hand 
 dripping with blood, and stood staring and 
 trembling. At the same moment the lad 
 stirred, and opened his eyes, and began to 
 
54 ^ Brother to Dragons. 
 
 clutch feebly at his doublet, drawing it to 
 gether. I made naught of it until Lord 
 Denbeigh did turn to me, with the face of 
 a dead man, and quoth he, " Stay here while 
 I fetch women," and so rushed out like one 
 in truth distraught. 
 
 Then did it all come upon me, and I 
 knew that the face upon which I looked 
 was the face of my lady. 
 
 Ere another second had passed I heard 
 the earl s voice without, and he spoke with 
 a woman : 
 
 " Do thou go instantly and clothe the 
 lady within in some of thy garments ; and 
 have care that thou say no word to any of 
 what hath happened, else will it not be 
 well for thee." 
 
 When I heard the tone in which he 
 spoke, methought in truth it would not be 
 well for her did she not heed his com 
 mands. 
 
 Shortly there entered a woman most 
 marvellous fair, with hair that seemed spun 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 55 
 
 of black taffetas, and a skin like a white 
 jasmine. When she saw the blood her lips 
 whitened, and she did close them more 
 closely, but no cry escaped her. Where 
 at I was much ashamed, remembering the 
 hullabaloo that I had raised. 
 
 I turned aside while she disrobed my 
 lady and clothed her in clean linen, and 
 drew down the sheets, placing her between 
 them. But the blood still flowed in spite 
 of all bandages, and the fair linen was soon 
 crimson. 
 
 And when all was prepared, the woman 
 went to the door and said, "You can enter," 
 and the earl came into the chamber again. 
 When, however, he did see my lady he 
 cried out, " GocJ in heaven ! she will bleed 
 to death !" and he called the woman, and 
 showed her how to stanch the wound. 
 Then, when the steps of the surgeon were 
 heard in the hall without, he said unto 
 her, " Remember. She is thy sister, and 
 thieves have stabbed her for the jewels 
 
56 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 on her neck." And she answered him, " I 
 will remember." 
 
 And all this time methought I was in 
 an evil dream, and that Marian, for some 
 spite, would not awaken me. 
 
 How it came about, to this day I recol 
 lect not, but ere two weeks had sped we 
 were again at Amhurste, and my lady in 
 her own bower, under Marian s care. As 
 to that, Marian had been with my lady 
 ever since the fatal night whereon she was 
 nigh done to death by that masked ruffian. 
 
 The earl did go himself to fetch her 
 from Mistress Pepper s, and after that she 
 came neither of us saw the sloe -eyed 
 woman any more. 
 
 None had known of my lady s stay in 
 town, saving my lady herself, Lord Den- 
 beigh, the black -eyed woman (who never 
 uttered word more, good or bad, after that 
 she had said, " I will remember "), Marian, 
 and me. So besides us five no one was 
 the wiser. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 57 
 
 It was towards the last of May that my 
 lady did beg that we would lift her out to 
 sit in a long-chair on the east terrace. 
 The birds were at their morning gossip 
 ing in the shrubbery, and the air was most 
 sweet with the breath of the white lilacs. 
 My lady looked like a snow-wreath fallen 
 suddenly among the greenery of spring, 
 but her eyes did peep softly, like bluebells, 
 from the snows of her face. Methought 
 she was all white and blue, like the 
 heavens above her, and her hair made sun 
 shine over all. Herne, the blood- hound, 
 lay at her feet, and would not be stirred, 
 though for sport my lady had Marian to 
 tempt him with some comfits. 
 
 While we were all there, and my lady 
 showing us how the light shined through 
 her thin hands, and discoursing right mer 
 rily, there came a page and handed her a 
 letter. Back fell she among her pillows, 
 and her eyelids dropped over her eyes, 
 like snow-flakes fallen on violets. Anon 
 
58 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 she opened the letter, and having read it, 
 said unto Marian, " Nurse, go bid him 
 hither." So Marian beckoned me, and we 
 left her. As we entered the house, who 
 should pass us but my Lord of Denbeigh, 
 and o my word he was whiter than my 
 lady, if anything, and wrapped as usual in 
 a long cloak. He seemed not to see us, 
 and we went on in silence. 
 
 Here transpires the only part of this 
 narrative concerning which I am reluc 
 tant to write. I will out with it, however, 
 and the Almighty knows that I have not 
 done with repentance even yet. So be it. 
 There was a window overhanging the ter 
 race where my lady sat (the window out 
 of which she had leaned to speak to me 
 about repairing to the Red Deer). But 
 let me not defer longer. I, Anthony But 
 ter, of respectable parents, and counted 
 among my fellows and betters an honest 
 man, did go to this window, and did most 
 deliberately listen to the words that passed 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 59 
 
 between my mistress and the Earl of Den- 
 beigh. In fact (for I have sworn to keep 
 back no jot or tittle of the truth), I did 
 speed me so fast that I was at the window 
 ere his lordship reached my lady s side. 
 
 He came slowly, but his look went be 
 fore him, and was fast upon my lady s face 
 ere he himself was within ten yards of her. 
 When at last he was come to her side, 
 he did stand and look down on her, but 
 uttered no word. And also my lady did 
 look down, and there was a light like sun 
 set on her cheek. 
 
 Then suddenly did he drop upon his 
 knees beside her, and bowed down his 
 head upon her knee and was silent. Then 
 my lady (God forever keep her!) did turn 
 her eyes quickly, and stole a look to see 
 that no one was nigh (God forgive my 
 dastardly presence!), and did reach out 
 one pale hand, half fearfully as twere, and 
 did let it rest upon the man s bowed head, 
 as a white rose-leaf falls and rests on the 
 
60 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 earth. And she said but two words, " My 
 friend;" yet methought all love was in 
 them. Whereat he raised his head and 
 looked at her, and it is so that men look 
 upward when they pray. He took her 
 hands with his and held them to his breast, 
 and he saith, " Dear saint, if thou forgivest 
 me, wilt thou but kiss my brow?" And 
 she bended forward and kissed him ; and 
 he trembled, calling her by name ; and she 
 asked him what he would with her. Then 
 kneeling at her side, he spoke to her, and 
 his words were as follows : 
 
 " Thou hast heard of my life and of my 
 misfortunes, but all hath not been told 
 thee. Grant me but patience for a mo 
 ment, that I myself may tell thee all." 
 And she saith unto him, " Say on." 
 So he spoke and said, " There is much 
 that I may not tell thee, yet part I will tell 
 thee, for that I must. Thou hast heard 
 how that my wife " But he could not 
 continue, so dropped his face into my 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 61 
 
 lady s hands, and she waited for him, say 
 ing softly, 
 
 " I will understand what thou dost not 
 say. Be not troubled, but speak out thy 
 soul to me ;" and presently he told her 
 more. As I do live, never listened I to 
 sadder story. So piteous it was that my 
 tears fell down like rain, and I was sore 
 afraid that my sighing would discover my 
 whereabouts. But the Almighty is mer 
 ciful even to sinners, and I remained un 
 noted. Twas the old tale of love and 
 treachery; a false wife and a friend who 
 was a villain. 
 
 The earl had killed the man (but in fair 
 encounter), and his wife he had brought 
 back, never to be as husband to her more, 
 but to preserve her from further sin. And 
 I do maintain that twas a noble act, and 
 I did quite forgive him the blood of his 
 betrayer. Methought my lady did forgive 
 him too, for she did but stroke his hair 
 softly, saying ever and anon, " Poor soul !" 
 
62 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 or " God help thee !" And by-and-by he 
 lifted his face, and saith, " But the worst is 
 yet to tell thee." 
 
 And she said again, " Say on." 
 
 And he trembled again, but spoke out 
 bravely: "My wife yet lives. It was she 
 who bound thy wounds." 
 
 Now at this I thought to see my lady 
 swoon ; but she only smiled, though bet 
 ter had one seen her weep than smile in 
 such wise. And she saith, " I have known 
 that these many days ;" and she leaned tow 
 ards him, and placed both hands upon his 
 head, saying, " Weep not. I hold thee 
 guiltless. Do not weep." 
 
 But he sobbed, clasping her knees, as 
 one whose heart is broken, saying now 
 and again below his breath, " O God ! O 
 God !" 
 
 If there be this side the stars a more 
 awful sight than the sight of a strong man 
 in tears, God grant I may ne er behold it, 
 for surely I should die of pity. Doth it 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 63 
 
 please God that I resemble Abraham in 
 the matter of age, if in none other, ne er 
 will that scene fade from my memory my 
 lady, so wan and white and narrow, like a 
 tall lily over which a rude wind hath swept, 
 and at her knee the strong man, bowed as 
 a little lad that saith his prayers, clasping 
 her kirtle and her hands, as though one 
 sinking in deep waters were to grasp at a 
 floating stem of flowers for support. And 
 after a while, when the violence of his grief 
 was spent, he saith unto her, 
 
 " I sail for Spain with Essex on the mor 
 row, as thou knowest; but it doth remain 
 for me to tell thee why I go. It is for that 
 I think the lad, thy brother, hath been a 
 prisoner of war these many years, and I go 
 to bring him to thee." 
 
 And she sat and looked at him as 
 though her heart had leaped from her 
 breast into his body; but she spake no 
 words save only, " God keep thee ; God go 
 with thee." 
 
64 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 And suddenly he saith unto her, as 
 though the words would forth, 
 
 " I loved thee from the moment that I 
 saw thee. Let me but tell thee that." 
 
 She whispered, saying, " It was even so 
 with me." And he lifted his eyes and 
 looked at her. Then fled I, as though I 
 had drawn away the veil from the sanctu 
 ary, for I thought that God would surely 
 smite me for having beheld that look. 
 
 So Lord Denbeigh sailed with the Earl 
 of Essex for the war in Spain, and my 
 lady s soul left her body and went with 
 him ; for surely twas but her body that 
 remained at Amhurste. All day long 
 would she sit silent, nor move, nor look, 
 and her hands the one upon the other be 
 fore her, as who should say, " I am done 
 with all things, whether of work or of 
 play." So passed the months, and ever 
 and anon some report would reach the vil 
 lage of the wild earl s deeds in Spain, and 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 65 
 
 of how he would fight ten men with one 
 arm wounded and the blood in his eyes, 
 and such like tales. But no word came 
 direct, either through letters or friends. 
 So passed the months, and it was nigh to 
 August, and the fighting was over for the 
 time, when one day, with a clattering as 
 of a horsed army, there comes dashing into 
 the court two cavaliers on horseback, and 
 one of them was my Lord of Denbeigh. 
 Ere I could look at the other he had leap 
 ed to the ground, and had me about the 
 neck a -kissing me as roundly as ever a 
 wench in the market-place. And lo ! when 
 I looked, it was Lord Robert in very truth. 
 He was grown out of all knowledge, and 
 as brown as a nut, but as big and as bon 
 ny a lad as ever clapped hand to sword. 
 
 When I could turn my eyes from him 
 upon the earl, I saw that he was waxed 
 as pale as death, and wore his arm in a 
 kerchief, and that there was a great red 
 streak adown his temple, clean through his 
 5 
 
66 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 right eyebrow. And his splendid flanks 
 and chest were hollow, like those of a good 
 steed that lacketh fodder. But when he 
 stood and leaned against his horse s neck 
 and smiled at us, methought he was by far 
 the goodliest man that ever I had looked 
 upon. His teeth were as white as the foam 
 on his horse s bit, and there was a deep nick 
 at the corner of his mouth, like that at the 
 mouth of a girl. 
 
 Then must I call Marian, and send her 
 to break the news to my lady. So in a 
 moment she comes rushing down along the 
 stair-way, like a branch that is blown sud 
 denly from the top o a tall tree, and so 
 into Lord Robert s arms ; and he catch 
 es her to his heart, and so stands hold 
 ing her ; and they make no motion nor 
 any sound whatever. Then turns the earl 
 away, and leaves them together. But I 
 marked that his eyes were brimming, and 
 that there was a quiver in his lip. 
 
 Ere night all is known to us : how Lord 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 67 
 
 Robert had been a prisoner in Spain all 
 these years, yet was he treated with cour 
 tesy at the behest o some wench. But he 
 did not love her, God be praised ! And 
 tis in my mind to this day how he might 
 have wed her, and how the earl did relate 
 to him his bitter experiences with a Span 
 ish wife. Ay, that is my firm opinion. All 
 this and more did we hear, laughing and 
 weeping by turns. But it was not until 
 Lord Robert saw my lady alone that she 
 heard of how the earl had saved him at 
 the risk of his own life, all but bearing him 
 in his arms through the enemy, hewing his 
 way right and left. And, moreover, Lord 
 Robert did tell how that the blood from 
 that cut on the earl s temple did in truth 
 run down into his eyes and blind him, but 
 how that he dashed it back and slew the 
 man who wounded him, and so they es 
 caped. 
 
 The next morning, as I did sally forth 
 with my cross-bow to have a shot at a 
 
68 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 screech-owl which for some nights past 
 had disturbed Marian s slumbers, she in 
 her turn having disturbed mine, I did see 
 Lord Denbeigh come out upon the terrace 
 and throw himself down along the grass, 
 beneath a tulip-tree, with a book. But he 
 read not, lying very quiet, with his head 
 raised up upon one hand and his elbow 
 sunk in the soft turf. And as the sun 
 light struck through the leaves upon his 
 glittering hair, and his face like marble, 
 I could not but pause to gaze on him, so 
 noble looked he. But his eyes were far 
 away, and his thoughts with them. 
 
 It was for this that he did not hear my 
 lady coming until she stood beside him, 
 and her white gown brushed his cheek. 
 But seeing her, he leaped to his feet, and 
 the blood ran along his face, and then seem 
 ed all to settle in the long wound, leaving 
 him more pale than before. And she said 
 to him, 
 
 " Nay, do not rise, for thou art weak yet;" 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 69 
 
 but he would not be seated, so they stood 
 there, side by side in the fair morning light. 
 And presently she puts out her hand (no 
 one ere reached out their hand as did my 
 lady), and she just lays it on his sleeve, and 
 saith she, " I am come to thank you to 
 thank you with all my heart and soul " 
 and there a sob chokes her, and she can 
 say no more. 
 
 Again the blood swept up across his 
 brow ; and he said, " For God s love, say 
 no more." 
 
 But she answered, saying, " Nay, I have 
 so much to say." And she came nearer 
 to him for a little space ; and her head 
 drooped downward, like a flower full of 
 rain. And she did knit and unknit her 
 white fingers as they hung before her. 
 And she saith, " There is no guerdon wor 
 thy such a knight, but if an thou " 
 
 Then all on a sudden did she reach out 
 both arms towards him, and her fair hands, 
 palms upward, and the scarlet leaped to her 
 
7<D A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 very brow ; but she lifted her little head 
 proudly, albeit her eyes were dropped down 
 ward, and she said unto him, " Take me, for 
 I am thine." 
 
 And he trembled from head to foot, and 
 parting his lips as though to speak, reached 
 out his arms and clasped her. 
 
 And when I realized what I had done, I 
 did drop my cross-bow and took to my 
 heels, like one followed by goblins. 
 
 Now, even as I hope to be saved, I but 
 just come to recognize that this was my 
 second eavesdropping. So be it. I have 
 vowed, and must keep my vow. 
 
 It was all made clear to me that night, 
 when Marian did relate to me how that the 
 Spanish woman had slain herself by swal 
 lowing flame. At which (though mightily 
 pleased, God forgive me, on account of my 
 lady and the earl) I was more than ever 
 thankful that Lord Robert had escaped 
 alive and unwed out o th clutches o th 
 Spanish wench. And here it occurreth to 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 71 
 
 me that I have not yet told that Marian 
 did know from the first of my lady s going 
 up to town dressed as her brother. This 
 I record more on account of its being a 
 marvellous instance of a woman s keeping 
 her tongue than to shame Marian, who 
 hath often read how that wives should 
 submit themselves unto their husbands as 
 unto the Lord. Howbeit, all ended so hap 
 pily that I had not the heart to scold her. 
 
 With the first frosts of October my lady 
 and the earl were wed. Methought the 
 queen herself could not have had a finer 
 wedding, and certes no woman could have 
 had a nobler spouse. He was yet pale 
 from his wounds, but most soldierly of 
 bearing and proud of carriage. He was 
 clad all in white, like my lady. A more 
 beauteous apparel I have never seen. 
 
 His doublet was of cloth of silver, with 
 a close jerkin of white satin embroidered 
 in silver and little pearls. His girdle and 
 the scabbard of his sword were of cloth of 
 
72 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 silver, with golden buckles. His poniard 
 and sword were hilted and mounted in 
 gold, together with many blazing orders 
 and richer devices that I know not how 
 to enumerate. 
 
 My lady s gown was all of white satin, 
 sewn down the front with little pearls, like 
 those on my lord s jerkin, and her ruff was 
 of soft lace, not stiff, as was the fashion, 
 but falling about her bosom most modestly 
 and becomingly. Lord Robert, methinks, 
 was eke as goodly, after his way, as either 
 his sister or Lord Denbeigh, being close 
 clad from head to foot in crimson sarcenet, 
 slashed all with cloth of gold. My lady had 
 given me some suiting clothes for the occa 
 sion ; and as for Marian, methought in her 
 new gown of sea green taffeta, with her 
 new ruff and head-gear, that she looked as 
 fair a matron as any mother of fine lads in 
 all England. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 73 
 
 IV. 
 
 Seven months they had been wed, and it 
 was May again. Methought such love had 
 never been on earth since Eden. Twas 
 gladness but to see them. And all, more- 
 o er, was so well with Lord Robert, who, 
 folks did say, was in mighty great favor at 
 court, and like to become a shining light in 
 the land. 
 
 Twas on a May morning. The trees 
 were a-lilt with birds, and the sound of 
 waters set all the winds a-singing. All at 
 once comes my lord, and sets his hand on 
 my shoulder. Then know I that some 
 thing dire hath happened. And he saith, 
 " Friend, where is thy mistress ?" 
 
 And I tell him that she is out among 
 her roses. 
 
 Then saith he all at once, " The Queen 
 hath sent for me I must to war." 
 
74 ^ Brother to Dragons. 
 
 And I could do naught but stare at him. 
 And he said to me : " In an hour I must 
 be gone. Say naught to thy mistress. I 
 will go don a suiting dress, and do thou 
 bring me my sword and give it into my 
 hand." 
 
 And he went, returning shortly, and I 
 gave him the sword. It was then that we 
 heard the voice of my lady without, and 
 she sang a song of the spring-tide. The 
 words I have ne er forgot, though I did 
 but hear them once: 
 
 " For O ! For O ! 
 
 The cowslips blow, 
 
 And the ground s all gold below me ; 
 The speedwell s eye 
 Peers up so bli 
 
 I swear it seems to know me ! 
 
 " The lady-smocks 
 In silver frocks 
 
 Do flout the sonsy clover ; 
 The humble bee 
 Consorts wi me 
 
 And hails me for a rover. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 75 
 
 " Then trip, then trip, 
 And if ye slip 
 
 Your lad will lend a hand O ; 
 The lass in green 
 With black, black een, 
 
 Is the fairest in the land O." 
 
 And as the earl listened methought he 
 would have fallen, grasping my shoul 
 der, old man as I was, and bending down 
 his head upon it. And I did stay him 
 with my arm, as though he had been 
 my very son for old age is father to all 
 men. 
 
 So my lady comes in, with her gold hair 
 blowing, and her white kirtle full of red 
 roses, and seeing her lord goes to meet 
 him. But when she noted the soldierly 
 fashioning of his dress, and the sword girt 
 at his thigh, she opened her lips as though 
 to cry out, but no sound escaped them. 
 And her kirtle slipped from her hold, and^ 
 the red roses lay between them like a pool 
 of blood. 
 
76 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 Then she saith unto him, "Tell me. 
 Quick, quick!" 
 
 And he lifts her to him, and saith, 
 " Sweetheart, my Queen hath bidden me 
 come fight for her and for my country." 
 
 And she saith naught, only clasps him. 
 
 But by-and-by she cries out, saying, " Go 
 not! Go not! Else wilt thou kill me." 
 And so speaking, falls like one dead at 
 her lord s feet. 
 
 Then I, running like one distraught to 
 fetch Marian, do tilt pell-mell into Lord 
 Robert, who hath come down to Amhurste 
 for a week or so of rest. 
 
 " Heydey !" quoth he. " What Jack-a-lent 
 hath frighted thee ?" And I told him all. 
 Never a word said he, but went straight 
 way and got upon his horse, and clapped 
 spurs to its sides, and so out of sight. 
 
 And all that night my lady lay nigh to 
 death, so that there was ne er a thought in 
 the breast of any for another soul. There 
 fore Lord Robert was not missed. 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 77 
 
 Ere two days were past came a man with 
 despatches, and we found out how that Lord 
 Robert had substituted himself for the earl 
 (having acquainted the Queen with the cir 
 cumstances and he being, moreover, so 
 great a favorite), and how the Queen had 
 granted Lord Denbeigh leave to remain in 
 England a while longer. 
 
 And so his lordship was with his lady 
 when their child was born, but Lord Rob 
 ert was killed in the wars. 
 
 They grieved sore for him, and for many 
 weeks would not be comforted. And even 
 it was said that the Queen mourned for 
 him, and did banish all festivities from 
 court for the space of several days. 
 
 But like as the stars do pale in the morn 
 ing sky, so pales the orb of sorrow before 
 the rays of the great sun, happiness. 
 
 And though he was ne er forgotten, and 
 though the tears would spring to my lady s 
 eyes heard she but his name mentioned, 
 yet she did smile again and was happy. 
 
78 A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 It chanced but this morning that Marian 
 and I, leaning from the window that over 
 looks the east terrace, did see a most win 
 some sight. 
 
 Twas a fair morning, and May again, 
 and on such mornings as these my lady 
 would go forth on the east terrace with the 
 child. And there grow all such sweet flow 
 ers as my lady loves the red mule-pinks, 
 and dame s-violets, such as are sweet o even 
 ings, but marvellous fair to look upon both 
 by sunlight and moonlight. And the south 
 wall was all thick with the yellow violets, so 
 that my lady s head looked like the head 
 o a saint against a golden platter. And 
 there did my lady sit, on a quaintly 
 wrought bench, with the little lord. 
 
 And this morning, when she was seated, 
 and the babe curled against her bosom, and 
 Marian and myself thinking o the pictures 
 o the Virgin Mary and the blessed Jesus 
 (saving that my lady s kirtle was all of 
 white and gold, like the lilies, knotted in 
 
A Brother to Dragons. 79 
 
 her waistband), she looked up on a sudden, 
 and lo ! there was the master coming along 
 over the grass towards her. When he saw 
 who it was that sat there, he doffed his 
 plumed hat like as though it had been the 
 Virgin Mary for very truth, and he paused 
 a minute, but then came on. 
 
 When my lady saw him who he was, 
 there came a fair red o er all the white o 
 her throat and face ; ay, and withal over 
 her very bosom. And she put up one 
 white hand, with her wedding-ring on t, 
 and made as though she would shield the 
 sun from the babe s eyes. 
 
 And all this time my lord came slowly 
 over the grass, as though the sweet sight 
 did pleasure him both far and near. And 
 when he was approached, he stood, still 
 with his hat in his hand, and looked down 
 at the babe and its mother, and \vas silent. 
 
 Then the child, feeling mayhap that its 
 father was near, twisted over towards him, 
 reaching out its waxen arm, and smiled 
 
8o A Brother to Dragons. 
 
 right knowingly; whereat my lord did pluck 
 the great plume out o his hat and lay it 
 across my lady s bosom ; moreover, he knelt 
 and put an hand on the babe, but his arm 
 he held about his wife. 
 
 Then did she draw both my lord and the 
 child to her, and pressed them against her, 
 but her face she lifted Godwards. 
 
 And something spoke within our hearts 
 that we turned and left the window. 
 
THE FARRIER LASS PIPING 
 PEBWORTH. 
 
 HUMFREY LEMON, meeting Bered Tur 
 nip, before the " Red Deer," doth speak 
 as follows : 
 
 Whom have we here? Well, well, by 
 my troth ! tis none other than Bered Tur 
 nip, the farrier, as I do live ! Come for 
 an alms-drink, comrade. Would I had as 
 many gold -pieces as we have burnt al- 
 nights i this very tavern ! And is it thus 
 we meet after all these years? It doth 
 seem but yesterday that we supped under 
 this very roof as juvenals. Dost thou 
 mind thee o the night that we gave old 
 Gammer Lick-the-Dish a bath in his own 
 6 
 
82 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 sack, for that he served us in a foul jerkin? 
 By r lay kin, those were days ! Well, well, 
 to meet thee thus ! Though, believe it or 
 not, as thou wilt, I had such a pricking i 
 my thumbs but an hour gone that I was of 
 a mind to roar you like any babe with a 
 pin in his swaddling-bands. Thou wast 
 my beau-peer i those times ; and we are 
 kin by profession, moreover. How be Mis 
 tress Turnip and thy eight lads? Ha! 
 ha! Dost remember how old Anthony 
 Butter him who was gardener at Am- 
 hurste Castle, ye mind dost thou remem 
 ber in what spite he held thee because o 
 those eight little salads o thine ? A al 
 ways said a married with an eye to a s 
 posterity; and o my word a s been cock 
 eyed e er since, for s posterity has e er kept 
 him on the lookout: never chick or child 
 hath Mistress Butter given him. 
 
 Quoth he to me one day, a -setting of 
 s chin in s thumb and forefinger (thou 
 mind st his solemn ways) quoth he to me, 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 83 
 
 " Lemon," quoth he, " would I knew why 
 the Lord doth seem to look with a more 
 bounteous favor on such as are farriers, 
 than on such as be followers of other 
 trades ; for methinks, what with thee, and 
 Turnip, and Job Long -pate, who bides in 
 Dancing Marston, England will owe the 
 chief o her future population to black 
 smiths." I quoth, to humor him, quoth I, 
 " Belike, Master Butter," quoth I, " the Al 
 mighty hath gotten wisdom by experience, 
 and doth purpose to put no further trust 
 in gardeners." Whereat he waxed so 
 wrathful, that for the sake o my breeches 
 I took to my heels. But, Lord ! it doth 
 seem as though a had a spite against th 
 very children o others. Thou mindest 
 my Keren ? By r lay kin, twill not stick i 
 my old pate how that thou hast not been 
 in these parts since my Keren could V 
 walked under a blackberry-bramble without 
 so much as tousling her tresses. Well, a 
 grew up a likely lass, I can tell thee! 
 
84 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 Sure thou mindest why we my wife and 
 I did come to call her Keren? Go to! 
 Thou dost! Tis the jest o th place to 
 this day. Well, then, if thou dost not, I ll 
 be at the pains o telling thee ; for me- 
 thinks twas a wise thought. We did 
 christen her Keren-Happuch ; " for," quoth 
 my wife, "when that we be pleased with 
 her, we can call her Keren which is as 
 sweet-sounding a name as a maid can have; 
 and, on the other hand, when we be wroth 
 with her, we can call her Happuch which 
 sure would be a rough name even for thy 
 trotting mare Bellibone." Ha! ha! And 
 thereby, comrade, hangs another tale, as 
 Master Shakespeare was wont to say. My 
 wife, thou must know, hath e er been a 
 loyal admirer o our gracious Queen, and 
 it comes to her ears one day as how her 
 Majesty did ride a-horseback most excellent 
 well. Naught would do but that I must 
 let Mistress Lemon mount for a ride upon 
 my gray mare Bellibone. Now Bellibone, 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 85 
 
 though as willing a nag as ever ambled, 
 did think far more o getting to her jour 
 ney s end than o the manner in which she 
 did accomplish the journey ; and, I will say, 
 a trotted as though a was for breaking 
 th stones on th Queen s highway, instead 
 o getting o er em. Well, I did what I 
 could to dissuade Mistress Lemon from 
 her enterprise, but a was as firm as one o 
 my surest driven nails in a new shoe. So 
 a let her go. Couldst thou but a seen her 
 when she was returned an hour after ! 
 Ha ! ha ! ha ! a was for breaking my head 
 with my own pincers. 
 
 " Dost thou call that devil s-riding-horse 
 1 Bellibone ? " quoth she, with what breath 
 there was left to her. " By my troth, I think 
 she hath not another bone in her whole 
 body besides her backbone !" 
 
 But I spake o Keren. Thou knowest 
 that even as a lass she had a sharp tongue 
 o her own as keen as a holly leaf, by my 
 troth. So be it. Twas one day nigh unto 
 
86 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 Martlemas that old Butter did undertake to 
 chide her for conducting herself after the 
 manner o a lad rather than o a lass. 
 
 Quoth she to him, a-setting of her little 
 black pate to one side, and of her little 
 brown arms akimbo quoth she, " Since the 
 Lord hath not made me a lad," quoth she, 
 " I cannot more than act like one ; and so 
 I will do !" 
 
 Quoth he, " Thou hast a sour name, 
 a bitter tongue, and a peppery temper, 
 jade ; and the two last be not gifts o the 
 Lord." 
 
 " And thou," quoth she, " hast a mustard 
 conceit, for right sure am I that tis big 
 enough for a goose to roost in ! And 
 whether th Lord hath given it to thee or 
 not, I m glad I have t not," quoth she; 
 for she had heard it read, in some meet 
 ing whither her mother would sometimes 
 take her, of how the fowls o the air did 
 lodge i th branches o the mustard-plant. 
 Well, by r lay kin, th village hath ne er for- 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 87 
 
 got that to this day, and that I ll prove 
 thee when we be through drinking ! 
 
 What hath become o her ? Go to ! 
 Sure thou knowest that? Well, well tis a 
 tale to make a play of. I ve often thought, 
 had Master Shakespeare known of t, how 
 he would a fashioned it into a jolly play. 
 Tell thee of t ? What ! art in earnest ? 
 By the mass, then, thou must drink again. 
 Come, fill up, fill up. What there ! a cup 
 o the amber drink for Master Turnip ! 
 
 Let me see : how old was th lass when 
 thou didst set forth on thy jauntings? 
 Some two years, methinks. And she was 
 fourteen on the first day o March i that 
 year wherein she did sauce old Butter with 
 some o s own wit for gibing at her for a 
 tomboy. O my word, man, th old fellow 
 was not far i th wrong. If e er th angel 
 o life did make an error i th distributing 
 o souls, twas on the night Keren was 
 brought into this world. And a say that 
 with a cause, moreover; for th same 
 
88 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 night, mark you, one Mistress Mouldy, 
 over the way, was brought to bed o a 
 man-child. That s neither here nor there. 
 Herein doth lie the singularity. That 
 child did grow up to knit stockings i th 
 door-way like any wench ; Peter Mouldy s 
 th name, and a plays a part i th story I m 
 about to relate to thee. Ne er in all thy 
 travels hast thou e er seen so crack-brain a 
 wench as my Keren ! Lord ! it set thy 
 head to swimming did she but enter a 
 room. She had no more stability o mo 
 tion than a merry-go-round ; and she was 
 that brown, a bun looked pale i th compar 
 ison, when she did lift it to her mouth to 
 eat it. A strapping jade, and strong as 
 any lad o her age i th village. In her 
 seeming she took neither after her mother 
 nor after me, though she was a comely 
 wench as wenches go hair as black as a 
 January night in stormy weather, and eyes 
 as big and as bright and as yellow (o my 
 word) as yellow as two crown pieces! 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebujorth. 89 
 
 They looked out from under her thick eye 
 brows like sunlight peeping from a heavy 
 cloud. And she was made like a lad for 
 suppleness. Taller than her mother by 
 head and shoulders, and within a full inch 
 o my forelock. By r lay kin ! how she 
 could sing too ! She would troll thee a 
 ditty i th voice o a six-foot stripling, but 
 for a that, as sweet as bells far away on a 
 still noon in summer-tide, And she was 
 always getting hold o saucy songs, and put 
 ting them to tunes o her own invention. 
 A could a had aye the lads i th village, 
 had a wanted em ; but, Lord ! a had one 
 sweetheart one day, and another the next, 
 till they were one and all for murdering 
 or marrying her. But she would none o 
 em. Twas one summer s day, her mother 
 being gone to th village, that she did set 
 about to brew some sack ; and as she did 
 stand by the big pot while it cooled, to see 
 that naught fell into t, up comes Master 
 Peter Mouldy with his knitting, and grins 
 
90 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 at her across the caldron, after the fashion 
 o a horse eating briers. She not noticing 
 him, quoth he, 
 
 " Good-morrow, sweet Mistress Lemon." 
 
 Saith she, not looking at him, 
 
 " Thou liest." 
 
 " How, mistress ?" saith he, with his 
 mouth as wide as a church door on a 
 Sunday. 
 
 " Why, for calling a lemon sweet," saith 
 she, " when all the world doth know that it 
 
 is sour." 
 
 Thereat he did fall a-grinning again. 
 
 " Sweet, sweet mistress Keren," quoth he, 
 " tis thee I praise, and not thy name. And 
 I will wager that thou art not sour, Mis 
 tress Keren." 
 
 " How wilt thou find out, either to lose 
 or to win thy wager ?" quoth she. 
 
 " Thus !" quoth he. And, o my word, 
 the homespun got his arms about her, knit 
 ting and all (though I would a laid two 
 cows and a lamb they couldn t a reached 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 91 
 
 about her pretty waist), and smacked her 
 right heartily full on her red mouth. 
 
 Well, comrade, that something would 
 happen I knew full well ; but when she did 
 up with him by the seat o his breeches 
 and the collar o his jerkin, and did souse 
 him head first into the pot o sack, me- 
 thought I would a burst in sunder, like 
 Judas Iscariot (meaning no blasphemy). 
 
 And when he was climbed out, splutter 
 ing and white with terror, she did fish out 
 his hat with his big knitting-needles, and 
 did set it upon his head, and did thrust 
 him outside, and did shut the door in s 
 face. But never a word said she from first 
 to last. Then methought in verity I would 
 a split in twain from top to toe, like the 
 veil o the temple (meaning no blasphemy, 
 as I will swear on th book). And when 
 she caught sight o me she too fell a-laugh- 
 ing, and quoth she to me, " I have spoiled 
 a good brew for thee, father, but twas 
 worth the paying for." And therewith she 
 
92 The Farrier Lass o 1 Piping Pebworth. 
 
 did out with the worth o the sack from 
 her purse, which she always carried in her 
 bosom, after a fashion inherited from her 
 mother, and counted down the silver into 
 my hand. I took it, for I ever strove to 
 bring up my children in the ways o hon 
 esty; and certes she had spoiled the con 
 tents o the caldron by turning it into a 
 bath-tub for Master Mouldy. Well, twas 
 th 1 talk o th village for full a month; 
 scarce did young Mouldy dare put out his 
 nose from behind the lattice o his mother s 
 cottage. But th other lads seemed to fall 
 more daft about the lass than aye afore. 
 
 Now, my wife s sister had a daughter, 
 called Ruth, and in all things was she most 
 different from my Keren. A d a head as 
 yellow as Keren s eyes, and eyes as brown 
 as Keren s skin, and a skin as white as 
 Keren s teeth ; and a was slim and tender- 
 looking, like a primrose that hath but just 
 ventured out on a day in early spring. 
 Moreover, she was a timid, sweet-voiced 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 93 
 
 creature the kind o wench that makes 
 even a weak man feel strong, ye mind, 
 comrade. But a was ne er o er-civil to my 
 lass. Neither did Keren waste much love 
 upon her ; she said from th very start that 
 th hussy had a sly tongue ; " and a sly 
 tongue," saith she, " doth ever mate with a 
 false heart," saith she ; " and from such a 
 marriage what offspring can ye look for, 
 unless it be for mischief ?" saith she. 
 
 They had not much to do the one with 
 the other, however, until the coming of 
 Robert Racket to Pebworth. And a was 
 as fine a lad as e er caused a lass to don 
 her Sunday kirtle on a Saturday. Twas 
 said as how he had met \vith Ruth while 
 that she was on a visit to her aunt in 
 Dancing Marston, and that he had come 
 to Pebworth to wed with her. All would 
 a been well had not it come to Keren s 
 ears how that Mistress Ruth said that she 
 would bring Master Racket to see her 
 cousin Keren, but that she did not want 
 
94 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 her sweetheart to be out with her family 
 ere that he had married into it; meaning 
 neither more nor less than that my Keren 
 was a shame unto her name by reason o 
 her romping ways. 
 
 " The cat !" quoth Keren, waxing as red 
 as any damask rose for very anger ; " the 
 little, spiteful cat! But I ll cut her claws 
 for her ! Do thou bide and mark me, fa 
 ther. Ay, I ll serve her and her Robert in 
 such wise they ll go to their graves remem 
 bering." 
 
 Now, twas the very next day that the 
 lads and lasses o the village did crown her 
 harvest-queen, and all Bidford was out to 
 see t. And very queen she looked, too, 
 borne aloft in a throne made all o dark red 
 roses, and her dark curls crowned with a 
 wreath o corn and o poppies, that shined 
 in the sunlight like to gold strewn all with 
 rubies. She wore a new kirtle of white 
 wool, and her brown throat rose from her 
 white kerchief like as a frozen wood-dove s 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 95 
 
 dusky breast doth peep from new-fallen 
 snow. 
 
 And Mistress Ruth walked beside her 
 as one o her maids o honor. And they 
 twain did remind me of naught so much 
 as of a lamb trotting by the side of a forest 
 doe the one so meek and white, and the 
 other so free and brown, \vith great eyes 
 ever moving, and head aloft. 
 
 There, moreover, walked Master Hacket. 
 He was as brown as my Keren, and nearly 
 half as tall again; and he had eyes like 
 pools o water under a night heaven, 
 wherein two stars have drowned them 
 selves, as twere, and brows as black and 
 straight as a sweep o cloud across an even 
 ing sky. Ruth walked at his side, all glit 
 tering with her unbound hair, like to a 
 sunbeam that follows a dark stream. And 
 I saw that they talked together, and nod 
 ded as though agreeing on something, and 
 looked together at my lass where she sat 
 on her flower-throne with her poppy-crown, 
 
96 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 and her lips like poppies. And all at once 
 she turned and saw them, and her lips 
 parted over her white teeth in a sudden 
 smile, as when a kirtle o red silk doth tear 
 over a white petticoat beneath; and she 
 turned away; but I could see that she 
 laughed in her brown throat, as a bird 
 sings sometimes for its own hearkening 
 ere trolling for the whole forest. So I said 
 to myself, " Ware, ware, my little spring 
 lamb; there is trouble ahead for thee. 
 Thou wilt not win thy Boaz so easily as 
 thou dost think, my little Ruth." 
 
 Now, when they were come to the 
 fields, and the maids seated under some 
 elm-trees, and all the lads fallen to t with 
 their sickles, while that they were reaping 
 the glistening corn my Keren doth leap 
 to her feet, and she calls out, 
 
 " I know not the name o yonder man, 
 but I do know that I can give him a les 
 son in reaping !" 
 
 So forthwith up jumps she, and, striding 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 97 
 
 out into the sunlit meadow, jerks young 
 Racket s sickle from his hand, and, hav 
 ing turned back the sleeves o her smock, 
 stands well upon her shapely legs and be 
 gins to reap. 
 
 Now, methought I had ne er in all my 
 life seen anything more pleasing to look 
 upon. The wind blew down her thick 
 locks about her, so that she was wrapped 
 in a mantle worthy any queen ; while with 
 every sweep o her strong brown arms the 
 tumbling grain did fall like gold about her, 
 so that she seemed to be trampling upon 
 her treasures after a manner truly royal. 
 Also a red came into her shadowy cheeks, 
 like as though a scarlet flower tossed into 
 a clear brown stream should rise slowly 
 upward beneath the limpid surface and 
 shine a-through. And all at once she 
 ceased, and came back towards the young 
 man, and returned his sickle unto him. 
 And she said, smiling, 
 
 " Take thou thy blade, for I have not 
 7 
 
98 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 only reaped the grain, but I have reaped 
 the reward of my bragging as well." And, 
 behold ! when I was come up to them with 
 a drink o water in a gourd, there was the 
 blood falling down upon her white kirtle, 
 as though the poppies in her crown had 
 melted in the sunlight and did stain her 
 garment. 
 
 He did cry out, saying, " O my word, 
 lass, thou art deeply hurt. Let me but 
 look at it." 
 
 She saith unto him (winding her arm 
 about in her long hair), " Nay, tis nothing, 
 and belike if thou look upon it twill spoil 
 thy dinner : so here s to thy health, and my 
 father will bind it for me." 
 
 Then, when we were retired again into 
 the shade, and I had torn a strip off of her 
 kirtle wherewith to stanch the blood, she 
 laughed outright, and saith, 
 
 " By my troth, father ! I do verily be 
 lieve thou thinkest me awkward without a 
 purpose." 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 99 
 
 " Purpose !" saith I ; for I could not be 
 lieve my ears. " How dost thou mean 
 purpose ?" 
 
 " That s neither here nor there," saith 
 she, still laughing. " But I ll lay thee my 
 heifer, father, that Mistress Ruth s sweet 
 heart cometh on the morrow to inquire 
 after Mistress Ruth s cousin Keren." 
 
 Wherewith she did make me a deep 
 courtesy, and did get her back to the other 
 lasses ere I could reply. 
 
 Well, as I live, and must some day die, 
 and do hope when I do die to get to 
 heaven, I was so taken aback with the 
 hussy s cunning I could do naught but 
 stand and stare after her for some min 
 utes. 
 
 And on the morrow he did come, and 
 on the day after that he came, and yet a 
 third day and he was under my roof again. 
 
 Then saith my wife, after that his third 
 visit was o er, and speaking to Keren as 
 she sat spinning i th door-way, 
 
ioo The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " Happuch," saith she, " thou art serving 
 thy cousin Ruth a very jade s trick." 
 
 Then, hearing as how she did call her 
 " Happuch," I did prick up my ears, as 
 twere; for I knew there was anger brewing. 
 
 " Thou art very free with thy words to 
 day, mother," quoth the maid, a-spinning 
 very quickly. 
 
 " Not so free as thou art with thy favors 
 to the sweetheart o another lass," replied 
 her mother. 
 
 " How dost thou know he is the sweet 
 heart o another lass ?" saith Keren. 
 
 " If an he be not," quoth her mother, 
 who, though not half so big as her child, 
 was in nowise less valiant "if an he be 
 not," quoth she, " tis time he were." 
 
 " And for why ?" saith Keren. 
 
 " Thou knowest as well as I do, Hap 
 puch," saith my wife ; whereat up started 
 my crack-brain in a fine fury. 
 
 " Why wilt thou call me that vile name, 
 when thou knowest how it maddens me ?" 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 101 
 
 saith she, hurling her spindle upon the 
 floor, and tightening both her pretty hands 
 so that they looked like balls o her own 
 brown yarn. 
 
 "For that I am not pleased with thee, 
 Happuch," saith her mother, with all com 
 posure, looking at the linen as she washed 
 it, with her head cocked to one side. 
 
 " There again !" shouted my wildfire, 
 stamping with her foot. " Why didst thou 
 not call me Beelzebub 2nd have done 
 with t?" 
 
 " For the reason," quoth her mother, 
 calmly, " that neither Beel nor Zebub is a 
 suiting name for a woman, and, further 
 more, that thou art not the Devil, though 
 thou dost act like him on occasions." 
 
 " Wife, wife," put in I, seeing that the 
 girl was like to split with rage, "speak 
 gentler to Keren." 
 
 " To Happuch," saith she. 
 
 " Speak gentler to the girl," saith I, hop 
 ing to compromise, as twere. 
 
IO2 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " Happuch," saith my wife again. 
 
 " Well, well," saith I, still hoping to split 
 the difference, so that I would have neither 
 my wife nor my daughter upon me, " if 
 thou wouldst only speak gentler to Keren- 
 Happuch, thou " 
 
 " To Happuch," saith my wife a third 
 time; whereat the lass did bounce out o 
 the house without more ado, and spent that 
 night with a friend o her own, by name 
 one Mistress Meg Titmouse. 
 
 " Wife," saith I unto her later, hoping 
 to draw her into converse concerning 
 Keren, so that I might reason with her 
 as to her treatment o th lass " wife," 
 saith I, amiably, and, as I thought, in a 
 manner most winsome, " wherefore didst 
 thou speak to Keren as thou didst this 
 morning ?" 
 
 " I spake to Happuch," saith my wife, 
 " because I did choose so to do. And as 
 for the why o that wherefore, though thou 
 shouldst smirk till doomsday like a dog 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 103 
 
 scratching his ear, ne er wilt thou get it 
 out o me !" 
 
 Then saith I, being justly angered, as I 
 think thou wilt admit, comrade saith I, 
 
 "Thou art welcome to keep thy coun 
 sel !" saith I. 
 
 And I followed the example set me by 
 my vixen, and did spend more than half 
 the night at this very tavern. 
 
 Well, the next morning, as I did pass 
 out on my way to my forge, whom should 
 I see in the garden but my Keren and 
 Master Robert Hacket ! and if e er a wom 
 an was possessed o a devil, twas just that 
 lass o mine then, comrade. She had 
 caused young Hacket to climb up into a 
 pear-tree, and while that he was up there 
 she did bear away the ladder by which he 
 had mounted, and she saith to him, 
 
 " Now, Master Robin, I am going to 
 sing thee a song. Wilt thou listen?" 
 
 "With all my heart," saith he. So he 
 leaned on his elbow, stretched out like a 
 
IO4 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 young panther along the limb o th tree, 
 and looked down on her. Now, as I live, 
 down went that jade on her knees in the 
 grass, and she lifts up her two pretty hands 
 to him as though in prayer, and thus sings 
 she (I knew the song by heart) : 
 
 " Listen, Robin, while I woo. 
 
 This world s stale with repetition : 
 I ll not do as others do ; 
 
 Haste thee, love, to my tuition. 
 Robin, I ll make love to you, 
 As men to other maidens do. 
 
 " Oh, what eyes my Robin hath ! 
 
 April fields own no such blue ; 
 In the luscious aftermath 
 
 There s no flower so fair to view. 
 Robin, Robin, hear me woo. 
 All my soul s in love with you ! 
 
 " Robin, will you marry me ? 
 Thus upon my knees I sue : 
 
 O my word I ll harry thee 
 
 Like as men their sweethearts do. 
 
 Robin, as I live I m true : 
 
 Will you wed me, Robin? Will you? " 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebwortk. 105 
 
 Now, what chanced thereupon I think 
 thou wilt agree with me, comrade, in say 
 ing it did but serve her right. Down falls 
 he like a ripe pomewater at her side, and 
 takes her about the waist, and sets his 
 mouth to hers (all in a twink, comrade ; 
 thou hadst not time to shape thy mouth 
 for a whistle ere twas all done, or verily 
 my mouth had given forth something be 
 sides whistling), and saith he, 
 
 " That will I, lass ; an if thou be not 
 my wife ere that snail-coming new moon 
 doth thrust out her horns, my name is not 
 Hacket, nor will thine be !" 
 
 Now, comrade, though it doth shame me 
 verily so to speak o mine own flesh, I saw 
 by her pretending to push him away that 
 she did mightily relish his kisses; for, by 
 my troth ! had she sought to scuffle with 
 him twould a been as snug an encounter 
 as when day and night wrestle for the last 
 bit o a June sky. 
 
 And she saith to him, feigning to scowl, 
 
io6 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " How now, thou rapscallion ! dost thou 
 dare ?" 
 
 "Ay, ay," quoth he, "in verity I do!" 
 quoth he. And in verity a did, too. 
 
 But just as I was consulting with the 
 Lord how to act, He having had even 
 a greater experience with wayward chil 
 dren than myself (may He pardon me 
 if I be too free with His holy name !) 
 just, I say, as I was asking Him to show 
 me in what wise to proceed, up goes her 
 hand, and she gives him a sound cuff o th 
 ear (young Hacket s ear not the Lord s; 
 may He pardon me if so it sounded), and 
 she saith, 
 
 " Take that for striving to make a fool 
 out o an honest girl ! I know thy goings 
 on with Ruth Visor," saith she. " Thou lt 
 ne er blind me with thy pretty speecher- 
 ies." And a was o er th palings and out 
 o sight like a wind-blown leaf. 
 
 Then did young Hacket come to th 
 fence and lean upon it with both his arms, 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 107 
 
 and support his chin with a thumb on 
 either side o t, and saith he, 
 
 " Methinks she d a made a better war 
 rior than a wife," saith he ; " but when she 
 hath ta en off the edge o her warlike spirit 
 in fighting for her freedom," saith he, "why, 
 then," saith he, " I ll marry her I" So saith 
 he every word o t. By my troth, comrade, 
 an I had not had so much the advantage 
 by having my nippers in my hand, I would 
 a thrashed him then and there. But, 
 " fair play " being my motto, and having 
 my nippers, as I saith, I forbore; yea, I 
 forbore, and walked away unseen of him. 
 And, o my word, I was much angered 
 with myself for not being more angry with 
 th wench. 
 
 " For," saith I, out loud, that I might 
 be impressed by the sound as well as by 
 the knowledge o th fact "for," saith I, 
 a-hammering away on a shoe for Joe Peb- 
 bles s brown nag King Edward (though I 
 had often reasoned with Joe on account o 
 
io8 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 th name, first because o its irreverence, 
 second on account o th horse not being 
 that kind o a horse, as twas a mare) 
 " for," saith I, as I made th shoe, saith I, 
 " tis sure a great wickedness to steal a 
 lass s sweetheart away from her!" saith I. 
 And so twas ; but, for all I could do, I 
 could not feel angered with the hussy. 
 
 But that day when she did fetch me my 
 dinner, being finished, I did pull down th 
 sleeves o my shirt, and wiped off my leath 
 ern apron, and quoth I to her, 
 
 " Lass, come here and sit upon my knee." 
 So she comes right willingly, being fond 
 o me to an extent that did oft seem to 
 astony the mother that bore her (seeing 
 that she was fond o naught save her own 
 way) ; she comes, and she perches upon my 
 knee (as sometimes thou shalt see a hawk 
 rest wings on a bull s back), and she kittles 
 my throat with her long brown fingers, 
 and hugs me about the neck (the jade ! a 
 knew I was for scolding her), and saith she, 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 109 
 
 "Well, father, here be I." Methinks I 
 can hear her say it now, as soft as any 
 little toddler come for a kiss. " Here be 
 I," she saith ; and with that she fills all my 
 face with her curls (the jade ! a saw that 
 in my eye which a did not care to face). 
 " Here be I," saith she. 
 
 "Ay," saith I, speaking in a gruff voice; 
 " and now that here thou be," saith I, " I ll 
 tell thee what I want of thee." 
 
 "Thou canst want naught that I will 
 not do," saith she. (The jade ! a had a 
 way with her to a made Bess herself yearn 
 for matrimony.) But I was stanch; I was 
 stanch, comrade. Saith I, 
 
 " Methinks thy mother was right to speak 
 to thee as yesternight she did," saith I ; "for 
 I saw thee strive to graft a pear-tree with a 
 branch o th tree o knowledge," saith I. 
 
 " Then," saith she, hot as my forge all in 
 a breath, and bouncing from my knee 
 " then thou wast an eavesdropper !" saith 
 she. 
 
no The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " Even as the Lord afore me," saith I, 
 not over-pleased at her sauciness. "And 
 being in some sort thy Creator, and thou 
 having set up for thyself an Eden in my 
 garden," saith I, " who hath a greater right 
 than I to watch over thee ?" saith I. 
 
 Then she not answering me, thus did I 
 continue : 
 
 " Why dost thou not take unto thyself 
 an husband," quoth I, " to do both thyself 
 and thy parents a credit?" 
 
 " Show me such an one," saith she, " and 
 I do promise thee to wed him." 
 
 " There, then," quoth I, " is Davy Short- 
 hose, the poulterer " 
 
 "A bangled-eared buffoon as ever lived!" 
 quoth she ; " and a fool into the bargain." 
 
 " So be it," saith I ; for I was set upon 
 keeping my temper. " What dost thou say 
 to Beryamen Piggin, the brewer?" 
 
 "A say if ever a piggin was in sore need o 
 a new link, tis that one," saith she. " And, 
 what s more, I ll not serve for t," saith she. 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 1 1 1 
 
 " How, then, of Nanfan Speckle, the tan 
 ner?" 
 
 "A s as pied as a s name," quoth she, 
 " both soul and body." 
 
 " There be Jezreel Spittlewig, the joiner." 
 
 " Methinks," quoth she, " if a d do a little 
 joining to a s own shackling body, a might 
 hold together long enough to go through 
 the marriage ceremony," saith she. " How- 
 beit, I m not a-sure of t." 
 
 " Well, then, Jack Stirthepot, the chair- 
 mender." 
 
 "A d have to stir th pot with a witch 
 ere a brewed a wedding with me," quoth 
 she. 
 
 "What sayest to Reuben Puff, the 
 tinker ?" 
 
 " If I say so much as a word to any one 
 o em," cried she, snatching up the pail 
 wherein she had brought my victuals, 
 "may thy first grandchild be born with 
 out a tongue !" saith she. And out she 
 went. 
 
H2 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 Then quoth I to myself, quoth I, " Lem 
 on," quoth I, " the jade s in love with th 
 crack no more, no less." And I said fur 
 ther, said I, " Bodykins !" said I, a-shoeing 
 of King Edward with all my might, " by 
 cock and pye !" said I, " an a wants him 
 let a have him. Tis more than his de 
 sert, I ll warrant," so quoth I. "And as for 
 Dame Visor s hussy, let her learn to bridle 
 her tongue," quoth I. And twas just here 
 that wench Keren did creep up and take 
 me about the neck, as I was a-filing of King 
 Edward s hoof. 
 
 " Father," saith she, " I cry thee pardon 
 if I have sauced thee ; but dost not mind 
 the rhyme thou art so fond of ? 
 
 " Shoe the horse, and shoe the mare, 
 But let the little colt go bare. 
 
 Seek not to chide me, father, and ne er will 
 my heels bring hurt to any." 
 
 Then off was she again ere I had spat 
 forth my mouthful o nails to answer her. 
 
 But that evening as I came home, about 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 1 1 3 
 
 the going down o th sun, I did hear voices 
 i th kitchen, and, looking in at th window, 
 behold, there was that hussy Ruth a-pluck- 
 ing of Keren by th kirtle, and Keren a-hold- 
 ing of a pan o milk above her head, as 
 though she had half a mind to souse her 
 cousin in t. 
 
 And saith she, " Get to thy feet, wench. 
 This is neither a church, nor am I th Lord." 
 
 But th girl (who seemed to be in trouble 
 o some sort) fell a-sobbing, and saith she, 
 
 " Cousin, cousin, I know I have used 
 thee ill, but all my joy is in him. If thou 
 takest him from me, better didst thou take 
 my life, for he is more to me than life." 
 
 Then quoth my lass, " Shame on thee 
 to say it o any man, worthy or unworthy !" 
 
 " Oh, shame enough have I, cousin !" 
 quoth the poor wench "shame to a lost 
 him, and shame that I should plead with 
 another to give him back to me !" 
 
 " Go to !" saith Keren ; " go to ! I have 
 not got him to give him back to thee." 
 8 
 
H4 Tlie Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " Thou hast !" saith Ruth ; " thou hast ! 
 he is thine, soul and body soul and body ! 
 And thou dost not care ; and I care oh, I 
 care so that I know not how to word it !" 
 
 (Every word that passed between em is 
 as clear in my mind as though twere but 
 yesterday it all happened.) 
 
 " I say shame on thee to say so," saith 
 my lass again. 
 
 But the wench still hung about her, and 
 would not let go, and she saith, 
 
 " Oh, cousin, cousin, cousin, doth it not 
 show thee in what straits I am, that I come 
 to thee for succor? Rather had I died, 
 one week agone, than ask thee for thy 
 hand though I were drowning. And sure 
 tis less than thy hand for which I ask thee 
 now, sith it be for a man who is less to 
 thee than the littlest finger on that hand, 
 but who is more to me than the heart in 
 my wretched body ! And a had vowed to 
 wed me ; and twas next month we were to 
 be wed ; and all so happy my father and 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 115 
 
 my mother so pleased, and his folks do like 
 me well; and my wedding-gown all sewn 
 and lain away, and the ribbons for my 
 shoes, and some kickshaws for th new 
 house ; and all we so glad, and all going 
 so smooth, and we twain so loving; for, 
 oh, he did love me the once ! he did love 
 me the once ! And now now now " 
 And here did she fall a-weeping in such 
 wise that never another word could she 
 say. And she sate down on the kitchen 
 floor, and hid all her pretty head (for 
 pretty twas, though I liked her not) hid 
 it all in the skirt o her kirtle." 
 
 Then stood my lass quite still, and her 
 face like the milk in her pan, and she looks 
 down on th hussy, as a horse might look 
 down on a kitten which it hath unwitting 
 trampled on, and she saith, 
 
 " I would I knew whether or no thou 
 speakest the truth !" 
 
 Then saith the wench, a-reaching up her 
 clasped hands to heaven saith she, 
 
1 1 6 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " May God forever curse me an I do 
 not !" 
 
 " Take not God s name in vain," saith 
 my lass, sharply, and went and set down 
 her pan o milk on the cupboard. And 
 again she stands, slowly wiping her hands 
 on her apron, and looking down at th girl, 
 who hath once more covered all her face 
 in her petticoat; and by-and-by she saith 
 to her, 
 
 " What is t thou wouldst have me do ?" 
 
 " Give me back my Robin ! give me 
 back my Robin !" saith the maid. 
 
 " Thou art welcome to him for me," saith 
 Keren. 
 
 Then fell the maid a-weeping more bit 
 terly than ever, and she huddled herself on 
 the hard floor, like a young bird that hath 
 fallen out o its nest, and sobbed piteously. 
 And presently gets she to her feet without 
 a word, still a -hiding of her face in her 
 kirtle, and turns to go, a -feeling her way 
 with one o her little hands. But when 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 1 1 7 
 
 she hath reached th door, and hath got 
 one foot on the threshold, up strides that 
 lass o mine, and, taking her by the arm, 
 swings her back into th room ; and she 
 makes her sit down on a settle and take 
 down her kirtle from her face. And while 
 she is snooding up her ruffled locks, she 
 saith unto her, 
 
 " Thou art a little fool to cry so ; dost 
 hear? What! at it again? Well, well, 
 God patience me! What s a body to do 
 with such a little ninny ? There ! dry your 
 eyes. Ye shall have your Robin, never 
 fear. God-a-mercy! at what art blubber 
 ing now ?" But down slipped Ruth on her 
 knees, and caught Keren about hers, and 
 she saith unto her, 
 
 " Heaven bless thee ! thou art a good 
 woman ! May Heaven forgive me for all 
 such words as e er I have said against 
 thee ! Bless thee ! bless thee !" 
 
 " Bodykins !" saith my lass (having learn 
 ed some round oaths from me, I do grieve 
 
1 1 8 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 to say) " bodykins !" saith she, " wilt a-hear 
 th lass ? I say scamper, scamper ; my fa 
 ther 11 be coming home to sup erelong, 
 and I would not he found thee thus. 
 Away with thee! and fret no more: dost 
 hear ? If I hear that thou hast moped any 
 further from this hour on, I ll not answer 
 either for my doings or for those o others : 
 dost hear? Now scamper!" And scam 
 per a did, like a hare with th hounds 
 upon t. 
 
 So full was I o praising my lass on her 
 good havior that I had got me from th 
 lattice and was half in at the door ere I 
 saw what had befallen. 
 
 There was my madcap, comrade, down 
 on her knees afore the settle, wi both 
 hands gripped in her thick locks, and her 
 head bent forward on th wooden seat; 
 and she made no sound, neither uttered 
 she any word, but a shook like water when 
 a heavy weight rolls past. And a drew 
 long breaths ever and anon, like one that 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 119 
 
 hath been half drowned and is coming 
 back to life. And I knew then, I knew 
 then, comrade. I had thought a loved th 
 boy; and I knew then. So I got me out, 
 without making any clatter, and I sat me 
 down on a bench outside th kitchen door 
 to think t over; and, by cock and pye, 
 man, ne er a thought could I think for th 
 tears in my eyes. Th poor lass ! th poor 
 lass ! It fetches th salt into my een now 
 to think on t. Well, well, what s past is 
 past, and God himself cannot undo t; and 
 what s coming s coming, and God wunnot 
 hinder it an he could; so there s an end 
 on t. Fill up, man, fill up ! What there, 
 I say ! Joel, I say ! A quart o sack for 
 Master Turnip. 
 
 Well, when I had thought it well o er, 
 I did determine to say naught to th lass 
 whatsoever ; neither did I ; but meseems 
 I was bound to o erhear heart-breaking 
 words atween somebody, for th very next 
 day, as I was henting th style as leads 
 
1 20 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 into th lane (thou knowest the lane I 
 mean, comrade: t lies atween Cowslip 
 Meadow and th pool i th hollow Sweet 
 hearts Way, they call t) well, as I was 
 getting o er th style as I had just got 
 me o er by one leg, after this fashion, ye 
 mind; as though this chair here were th 
 style, and yonder chimney-place th lane 
 Sweethearts Way, ye mind well, as I was 
 half over, and Mumble, th turnspit pup, 
 half under, as twere, I heard voices 
 voices, comrade one o them th voice o 
 that lass o mine, and t other th voice o 
 young Hacket. 
 
 " Here be a coil," say I. " What s to do ?" 
 Now the pup seemed to be filled with 
 the spirit o th Lord all on a sudden, af 
 ter th fashion o th talking jackass i th 
 Scriptures ; for if a didna talk a did th next 
 thing to t a tried to. And after pulling 
 at my heels like as though a fiend had got 
 him, a scuttles into th thicket, for no cause, 
 as I could see, but to give me th benefit o 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 121 
 
 example. So in goes I after him. Scarce 
 was I settled, with a bramble down th 
 back o my neck, and some honey-bees at 
 work too nigh to my legs for my peace o 
 mind, when they come, and both a -chat 
 tering at th same time like two magpies 
 with slit tongues. 
 
 " Thou didst !" quoth he. " That did I 
 not !" quoth she. " Thou didst, and I can 
 prove t on thee !" quoth he, louder than 
 afore. " I tell thee I did not, and thou 
 canst sooner prove that Bidford Mill turns 
 the Avon than that I did!" quoth she. 
 " Wilt thou stand there and tell me i th 
 eyes that thou hast so oft looked love 
 into," quoth he, like a man choked with 
 spleen " I say, wilt thou, Keren Lemon, 
 stand there and face me, Robert Racket, 
 and say thou hast ne er given me rea 
 son to believe that thou didst love me?" 
 quoth he. " No more cause than I ve giv 
 en to twenty better than thee !" quoth she. 
 " Shame on thee to say t, thou bold-faced 
 
122 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 jig!" saith he; "shame on thee, I say! and 
 so will say all honest folk when I tell 
 em o t." "An thou tell it, the more fool 
 thou," saith she; and a draws up her red 
 lips into a circle as though a d had a draw 
 string in em, and a stands and looks at 
 him as a used to stand and look at her 
 dam when she chid her for a romp. Then 
 all on a sudden, with such a nimbleness 
 as took away my breath and drove all 
 thoughts o brambles and honey-bees clean 
 out o my pate, he jumps aside o her, and 
 gets her about th middle, as he did that 
 day under th pear-tree, and quoth he, 
 "Lass," quoth he, "dunnot break my heart! 
 dunnot break th heart that loves ye more 
 than a that s in the earth, or th heavens 
 above, or th waters below! Say ye love 
 me, and ha done with t." 
 
 Then gives she up herself to him for 
 one beat o her own breaking heart, the 
 poor madcap, and she leans on him with 
 all her pretty self, as though begging him 
 
The Farrier Lass rf Piping Pebworth. 123 
 
 to take her against her own will, and then 
 a cry breaks from her, half human, and half 
 like th cry o a hurt beast, and she saith, 
 
 " Shame on ye, shame on ye, to forsake 
 th lass ye ha sworn to wed! Get thee 
 back to her straightway, or ne er look me 
 i th face again !" And she leaps back from 
 him, and points with her arm as stiff and 
 steady as th tail o a sportsman s dog 
 towards th village, and she saith again, 
 " Get thee back to her ; get thee back to 
 Ruth Visor, and wed with her ere this 
 month be out o the year!" 
 
 Then lifts he his sullen head, and looks 
 at her from under his brows like a smitten 
 blood -hound. And he saith back o his 
 clamped teeth, like as twere a dog gnarl- 
 ing in his throat, "curse ye for a false 
 jade !" saith he ; " Curse ye for as black 
 hearted a jade as e er set an honest man 
 on th road to hell !" And he turned, and 
 cleared th style with one hand on t, and 
 went his ways. 
 
124 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 And th lass stood and looked after him 
 as still as though she were turned into a 
 pillar o summat, after th manner o th 
 woman i th holy book, and both her 
 hands grasping her breast. But anon 
 there comes a trouble o er her face, like 
 as when a little wind doth run across a 
 gray pool at eventide, and her lips begin 
 to tremble, like as though some red flower 
 a-growing on th bank was shaken by t, 
 and her eyes all full o woe, like th eyes 
 o some dumb thing as cannot word its 
 sorrow ; and all at once she falls upon her 
 knees, and thence upon her forehead on 
 the ground, and afterwards to her whole 
 length, with her strong hands grasping th 
 flowers and grass on either side o her, and 
 tearing them up with th crackling noise 
 that a horse makes when t grazes. But 
 no sound escapes her, whether a sigh or a 
 groan. Well, well, comrade, I cry thee pa 
 tience if I do stumble here a bit: I cannot 
 think on t now without a tightness i my 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 125 
 
 throat, any more than a man can think o 
 th day his first child was born to him with 
 out his heart leaping hot in s throat like 
 the flame to th bellows. Well, well ! Fill 
 up, I say ; fill up. Remember th old days, 
 when thou wast more ale-washed than th 
 bottle itself. Where be I i th narrative? 
 Yea, yea, tis there tis there ; I mind me 
 o t now. 
 
 No sound scaped her, but presently she 
 lifts herself up upon her knees again, with 
 such heaviness as a horse overburdened 
 doth get him to his feet, and she holds out 
 both her arms i th direction where th lad 
 hath vanished, wi th grass and flowers yet 
 fast in her clinched hands; and she saith 
 twice, i th voice o a woman in travail, 
 
 " Never will he know, never will he 
 know," she saith; and then, "Oh, God!" 
 she saith, a-lifting her hands again to her 
 breast. " Summat s broke here," she saith, 
 full meek, like a body that s looked a many 
 time on pain " summat s broke, summat s 
 
126 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 broke," o er and o er again, as though she 
 would use herself to th sound, as twere. 
 Then all at once did a deep cry break from 
 her. " God, O God," she saith, " show me 
 how to bear t ! My God, my God, show me 
 how to bear t." And she got to her feet, 
 and sped down th lane like one blind, run 
 ning first into th hawthorn bushes o this 
 side, then into th quickset hedge o th oth 
 er, and tearing out her loosened tresses on 
 th low-hanging branches o th pear-trees, so 
 that I traced her by her hair i th twigs, 
 like as thou wouldst trace any poor lost 
 lamb by its wool on the brambles. Now, 
 it did almost break my own heart to say 
 naught to her concerning all o t, but I 
 knew that twould but grieve without com 
 forting her; and rather would I a had my 
 old heart split in twain than bring one 
 more ache into her true breast. So naught 
 say I. Never a word, comrade, from then 
 till now have I e er said to her about that 
 time. 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 127 
 
 Well, for all s fine talk, Master Hacket 
 went no more to hell than do any other 
 men that marry an less than some, see 
 ing as how a did not marry a scold, which 
 (God forgive me, or her, or both o us) I 
 have done. Yea, comrade, I will commem 
 orate this our first meeting in eight years 
 by confessing to thee that my wife (in thy 
 ear, comrade) that my wife was a scold. 
 Sometimes I do verily think as how wom 
 en like Mistress Lemon be sent unto men 
 to keep em from pondering too heavi 
 ly concerning the absence o marriage in 
 heaven. By cock and pye, man, as I live, 
 I do honestly believe that I would rather 
 be a bachelor in hell, than the husband o 
 Mistress Lemon in heaven ! 
 
 But to come back to th lass. And, now 
 that I think o th lass, comrade, I am not 
 so sure that a scolding wife is not well 
 paid for by a duteous daughter. Nay, I 
 am sure o t. Methinks I would a been 
 wed twice, and each time to a shrew, could 
 
128 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 I but a had my Keren o 1 one o em. Ay, 
 even so, even so. 
 
 Well, as I said or as I meant to say 
 Master Hacket wedded th Visor hussy 
 within two weeks o th day whereon he 
 and my Keren had t so fierce i Sweet 
 hearts Way. And therein are two mean 
 ings: they fell out, as is the way with 
 sweethearts, and they fell out i th lane so 
 called. 
 
 Well, well, let me crack a quart o sack 
 with thee, comrade, and a joke at th same 
 time. 
 
 A married Ruth Visor, and they went 
 to Lunnon Town. And on th night o 
 their wedding, as I sat by the fireside i th 
 kitchen a-mending my tools (for twas on 
 a Saturday night), and Keren abed, and 
 Mistress Lemon a-peeling o leather-jack 
 ets to make th Sunday pie, 
 
 " Wife," saith I to her (a-mending my 
 tools, as I ha said)," wife, "quoth I, "would 
 twere our lass were wed to-day!" 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 129 
 
 " For why ?" saith she. No more, no less. 
 
 " For why ?" saith I. " For the why I 
 think a lass is happier wed to th man she 
 loves," saith I. 
 
 "Tis not so I ve found it," quoth she, 
 a-peeling of an apple so that thou couldst 
 V put his whole coat back and not a 
 known t had e er come off. 
 
 Then quoth I, a-chuckling in my throat 
 at having so snared her, " Right glad am I 
 to find out that thou lovest me !" quoth I. 
 
 " If thou st found out that," quoth she, 
 "thou rt greater than Columbus," quoth 
 she, " for thou st discovered something that 
 never was," quoth she. 
 
 " Bodykins, woman !" saith I, a-losing of 
 my temper "then for what didst thou 
 marry me ?" 
 
 " For a fool," quoth she. " And I will 
 say as I ha got the full o my bargain," 
 quoth she. 
 
 Whereat so wroth was I that I said 
 naught, knowing that if I did open my lips 
 9 
 
1 30 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 or move my hand twould be to curse her 
 with th one and cuff her with t other. 
 
 By-and-by saith she, " And where, by r 
 lay kin, wilt thou find a man good enough 
 in thy eyes for th lass ?" saith she. 
 
 "Not on earth," quoth I. "Neither in 
 this land nor that other across the sea," 
 quoth I. 
 
 "Ay, ay," quoth she. "Very like thou 
 wouldst have th wench to wed with an 
 angel," quoth she ; " to have all thy grand 
 children roosting on a gold bar, and their 
 dad a-teaching of em how to use their 
 wings," quoth she. " Or with one o th 
 red men i th new country, to have them 
 piebald red and white, like a cock-horse at 
 Banbury Cross," quoth she. And with 
 that up she gets, and flings the apple- 
 parings into th fire, and gets her to bed 
 without more ado. Whereupon day doth 
 again find me i this very tavern. 
 
 Well, well, a year had passed, and things 
 were jogging very peaceful like, and Keren 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 131 
 
 settled down as quiet as a plough-broken 
 mare, when one day as I sit i th kitchen, 
 while th lass mends my apron, there comes 
 a fumbling at th latch like as though a 
 child made shift to open it. Then quoth 
 I, " Belike tis little Marjory Pebble, or one 
 o the Mouldy lads over th way ;" for the 
 babes all loved Keren, and, now that she 
 was waxed so quiet, th lads left her more 
 to herself, and she would sit on th bench 
 by the cottage door and make little kick 
 shaws by th hour elder -wood whistles, 
 and dolls o forked radishes, and what not. 
 So quoth I, " Belike tis little Marjory Peb 
 ble," quoth I, and th lass having her lap 
 full o my apron, I went and opened th 
 door. And there, comrade, a-kneeling in 
 th grass outside, with her head all hid in 
 her kirtle, as she had kneeled two years 
 agone on t other side o that very door, 
 was Mistress Ruth Racket ; and she was 
 a-sobbing as though her heart would break. 
 And while I stand staring, ere I could find 
 
132 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 a word to my tongue, comes that lass o 
 mine and pushes me aside like as though 
 I had been little Marjory Pebble ha ! ha ! 
 And down goes she on her knees beside 
 th lass, and gets an arm about her, and 
 presses down her head, all hid as tis in 
 her kirtle, against her breast, and she saith 
 to her, 
 
 " What troubles thee ? Tell Keren, hon 
 ey. So so ! What troubles thee ? Tell 
 Keren." 
 
 And from beneath her kirtle th poor 
 jade sobs out, " He s gone ! he s gone ! he s 
 gone ! They ve taken him to work on th 
 big seas and our child not yet born and 
 me so ailing ; and, oh ! I want to die ! I 
 want to die !" 
 
 Then saith that lass o mine, saith she, 
 " Father, do thou fetch some o th birch 
 wine out o th cupboard and bring it to me 
 in a cup ;" and to the girl she saith, " Come, 
 then ; come, then," like as though she had 
 been coaxing some little spring lambkin to 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 133 
 
 follow her unto its dam ; and she half pulls 
 and half carries th wench into th house, 
 and seats her on a low stool i th chimney- 
 corner, and kneels down aside of her. And 
 when I be come with th drink, she takes 
 the cup out o my hand, and makes th 
 wench drink t, holding it to her lips with 
 one hand, while with the other she cossets 
 her hair and cheek. And, by-and-by, see 
 ing myself forgotten, I do withdraw into 
 the room beyond, and wait till I be called, 
 that th lasses may have t out together. 
 
 Now, Ruth s folks were aye so poor that 
 scarce could they keep clothes on their 
 backs and food i their bellies ; and it hath 
 some time occurred to me how that the 
 Lord might a given such as could not 
 provide for themselves a coat o wool or 
 o hair that would a covered their bodies, 
 after the manner of a sheep or goat the 
 righteous being clad i th first fashion, and 
 the wicked after th last. 
 
 Well, well, I must on. I see thou art 
 
1 34 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 waxing restless, comrade. Not so ? Well, 
 drink, drink, then, that I may feel thou art 
 well occupied while that my old tongue 
 wags. 
 
 So poor, then, were Ruth s folks that I 
 said to myself, said I, " What i th name 
 o pity," so saith I "what i th name o 
 pity is to become o the poor lass ?" But I 
 had scarce asked myself th question when 
 my lass answers it for me. 
 
 " Father," saith she, a-coming and stand 
 ing afore me, with the empty cup turning 
 on her long fingers " father," saith she, 
 keeping those gold-colored eyes o hers on 
 mine (methinks they were coined o th 
 same wedge as her heart o gold) "fa 
 ther," saith she, just so, "considering all 
 things," saith she, " I m going to keep th 
 lass in my room till her child be born," so 
 saith she. 
 
 Then saith I, pulling her down into my 
 arms, " Lass," saith I, " verily do I believe 
 that not only is every hair o thy sweet head 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 1 35 
 
 numbered, but that each one is blessed with 
 a separate blessing !" And what with my 
 love for her, and my admiring of her good 
 ness, and my pride in her, and what with 
 her pity for the poor girl in th other room, 
 we did shed enough tears between us to 
 ha o erflowed th empty cup in her hands. 
 
 So she held me about th neck with both 
 arms, and like to ha run me mad with kiss 
 ing th back o my neck (for I was e er one 
 o your ticklish sort). I stood it brave 
 ly, however, seeing how she loved me, and 
 kissed her too whensoever I could get 
 a chance for th tightness o her hugging. 
 And so we settled it. But Mistress Lem 
 on was yet to be consulted. 
 
 Ready enough was I to shift that job on 
 my lass s broad shoulders (seeing as how a 
 reputation for courage with his wife is ne er 
 believed o a man, at any rate, and as how 
 th wench had a way o managing her moth 
 er which sure none could a had that were 
 not of her own flesh). And that night, 
 
1 36 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 when her mother was returned from a 
 round o gossiping, th lass tells her all 
 (having i th mean time put Ruth to bed 
 atween her own sheets). Well, ne er saw I 
 my wife in such a rage. 
 
 " What !" saith she, " thou hast ta en it 
 on thyself to offer my bread and meat to a 
 good-for-naught hussy as ne er had a civil 
 word for any o us ! Thou hast given her 
 bed-room under my roof without so much 
 as c by your leave ! Thou godless hussy, 
 thou ! Where be th jade ? I say, where 
 be she ? Where be she ?" 
 
 "Where thou shalt not come at her in 
 thy present humor, mother," saith the lass, 
 standing with one arm reached out across 
 the door-way, like as though in verity she 
 had been the mother and her dam a naugh 
 ty child. 
 
 " How ? Dost word me ? dost word me ?" 
 saith my wife. " How? dost take any stray 
 cat to kitten in my house an then word me 
 too ?" so saith she. 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 137 
 
 Then saith th lass, " Well can I under 
 stand," saith she, " how, if thou canst speak 
 i this fashion o thy sister s child, thou canst 
 also speak to thy own as sure no mother 
 e er spoke ere this." Then, changing all 
 suddenly her tone, and dropping down her 
 arm from the door," Go an thou like," saith 
 she, " to abuse the poor creature who hath 
 come to ask thy help in time o trouble ; 
 but just so surely as thou dost turn her out 
 o door to lie i th straw like any common 
 callet, just so sure do I follow her, to fare 
 as she fares, and all the village shall know 
 what thou hast done." 
 
 Then for some minutes did they twain 
 stand and gaze upon one another, and at 
 last down flumps my wife into a chair, as 
 though she would break it in pieces for 
 very rage ; but being waxed sulky, and her 
 own wrath cowed, as twere, by her daugh 
 ter s more righteous wrath, she saith noth 
 ing more of t, good or bad. 
 
 In three weeks time th child is born, 
 
1 38 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 and as sound and as pretty a babe as e er 
 I clapt eyes on, and Keren a-dangling of 
 him as natural as though she herself had 
 been a mother, time and again. 
 
 " What say st thou now, lass ?" quoth 
 she. " Wilt trust Keren after this ?" 
 
 " Is he sound, verily ?" saith the poor 
 little dame, looking shyly upon him. 
 
 " Never a spot so big as the splash on 
 a guinea-flower!" saith Keren. "And ears 
 like sea-shells." 
 
 So, after a-kissing of them both, and th 
 top o th babe s head (as twas permitted 
 me to do), I steals out and leaves them to 
 gether. 
 
 Well, ne er saw thou a child grow as did 
 that child. Meseemed he sprouted like 
 corn after a rain; and in five months a 
 was waxed so strong a could stand on s 
 feet a-holding to his mother s kirtle. But, 
 strange to say or not, as thou wilt have t, 
 he did seem to love Keren more than he 
 did th mother that bore him, a-crying for 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 1 39 
 
 her did she but so much as turn her back, 
 and not sleeping unless that she would 
 croon his lullabies to him. Mayhap it was 
 because her strong arms and round bosom 
 made a more cosey nest for him than did 
 th breast and arms o his little dam ; but 
 so was t, and nearly all o her time did th 
 lass give to him. Neither did it seem to 
 rouse aught o jealousy in Ruth s heart: 
 she was too busy a-looking for th return 
 o s father to bother her pretty pate o er- 
 much concerning him. And she would sit 
 and talk o Robin, and o Robin s good 
 ness, and o Robin s sweet ways and words 
 and doings, until I thought sometimes my 
 poor lass s heart would just break within 
 her, if t had not been broken already these 
 two years. And one day, as she kneels 
 beside th cradle Ruth having gone to 
 see her folks for th day I come in un 
 known to her, and stand to watch th pret-> 
 ty sight. There kneels she, and Ruth s 
 red shawl o er her head to please th child 
 
140 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 (Keren ne er had any bright colors o her 
 own those days) there kneels she, I say, 
 beside the cradle, and kittles him with her 
 nimble fingers, and digs him i th ribs af 
 ter a fashion that would sure a run me 
 crazy (though it hath ne er yet been proven 
 what a young babe cannot endure at the 
 hands o women), and punches and pokes 
 and worries him, for all th world like a 
 kitten worrying a flower. And he, lying 
 on his back, kicks with both feet at her 
 face, and winds all his hands in her long 
 hair, and laughs, and bubbles, and makes 
 merry, after the fashion o a spring stream 
 among many stones. And by -and -by a 
 change falls o er her, and she waxes very 
 solemn, and sits down on th floor by th 
 edge o th cradle, with one arm upon t 
 and her head on her hand, and she looks 
 at the babe. In vain doth he clutch at her 
 hair and at her kerchief, and reach, with 
 pretty broken murmurings, as of water 
 through crowding roots, after his little bare 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 141 
 
 toes: never so much as a motion makes 
 she towards him. But at last up gets she 
 to her knees, and takes him fiercely into 
 her strong hands, and holds him off at 
 arm s-length, looking at him ; and she saith 
 in a deep voice (such as I had not heard 
 her use for two years), saith she, " For that 
 thou art not mine," saith she, " I hate thee ; 
 but " and here came a change o er all her 
 face and voice and manner, like as when 
 April doth suddenly wake in the midst o 
 a wintry day in springtide "but," saith 
 she, " for that thou art his, I love thee !" 
 And she took him to her bosom, and bow 
 ed down her head over him so that he was 
 hidden all in her long hair; but the bright 
 shawl covered it, so that, what with her 
 stooping and the hiding of her tresses, 
 a body coming in suddenly at the door 
 might a easily mistaken her for Ruth. 
 
 It was thus with th man who at that 
 moment strode past me and caught up 
 child and woman into his embrace. " I 
 
142 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 have come back to thee," he said " I have 
 come back to thee. Look up, wife ! Ruth, 
 look up !" But when she did look up, and 
 he saw her face as white as morning, and 
 her hair as black as night, and her tall 
 figure like to a young elm-tree ay, when 
 she looked up, ne er saw I a man not dead 
 seem so like death. He drops down his 
 arms from about them, as though smitten 
 from behind by a sword, and he staggers 
 and leans against th table, and lets fall his 
 head upon his breast, staring straight in 
 front o him. But she stands looking upon 
 him. And I got me out with all speed ; 
 so ne er knew I more o what passed be 
 tween em, saving that he did take away 
 Ruth with him th next day, and she as 
 happy as a bird whose mate hath come 
 back to t with the springtide. But a knew 
 how that my lass had taken his wife into 
 her bed, and nursed her through her sick 
 ness night and day, after the hard words 
 he had spoken unto her and the ill names 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 143 
 
 he had called her. And that was all I 
 cared to know. He had set th iron in 
 my lass s heart, and now twas in his own ; 
 and for th rust, it did but hurt him more. 
 Ay, ay, comrade, thou knowest what I do 
 mean. 
 
 Well, the winter passed, and spring 
 came on again, and twas in the May o 
 that year that I did break my hammer-arm. 
 God above us only knows what would a 
 befallen us had t not been for my Keren. 
 Wilt believe t ? (but then I think thou lt 
 believe a most anything o that lass o mine 
 now eh, comrade?) th lass did set to 
 work, and in two weeks time a was as 
 good a farrier as was e er her daddy afore 
 her. Bodykins, man ! thou shouldst a 
 seen her at it: clad from throat to feet 
 she was in a leathern apron, looking as like 
 mine own as though th mare s skin where 
 of mine was fashioned had, as twere, foal 
 ed a smaller one for th lass ha ! ha ! and 
 her sleeves rolled up from her brown arms, 
 
144 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 and th cords a-standing out on them like 
 th veins in a horse s shoulder. And so 
 would she stand, and work th bellows at 
 th forge, until, what with th red light from 
 the fire on her face, and on her hair, and 
 on her bare arms, I was minded o th 
 angel that walked i the fiery furnace with 
 th men in holy writ. And when a pound 
 ed away at a shoe, and her young arm 
 going like a flail chink, chank chink, 
 chank and th white spatters o hot iron 
 flying this way and that from th anvil, me- 
 seemed twas as though Dame Venus (for 
 thou knowest how in th masque twelve 
 year gone this Yuletide twas shown as 
 how a great dame called Venus did wed 
 wi a farrier called Vulcan I wot thou 
 rememberest ?) as though Dame Venus 
 had taken away her hammer from her 
 goodman Vulcan to do s work for him. 
 By my troth, twas a sight to make a pict 
 ure of that twas, comrade. 
 
 Well, ne er saw I such trouble as that 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 145 
 
 arm gave me (and t has ne er been strong 
 since). First twould not knit, and then 
 when t did twas all wrong, and had to be 
 broken and set o er again. But th lass 
 ne er gave out once. Late and early, fair 
 weather or foul, a was at th forge ; and a 
 came to be known for as good a smith as 
 there was in all Warwickshire. But, for 
 that none had e er heard tell o a woman 
 at such work, or for some other reason, 
 they did come to call her, moreover, " The 
 Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth." 
 
 One day, as we sat i th door o th shop, 
 a-resting, and talking together after a 
 way we had with us even when she was a 
 little lass there rides up a young gallant, 
 all dressed out in velvet and galloon, and 
 a feather in s hat, and long curls hanging 
 about his shoulders. Oh ay, a was bonny 
 enough to look upon. So a draws rein 
 at th door. And saith he, 
 
 "Art thou th Farrier Lass o Piping 
 Pebworth ?" saith he. 
 10 
 
146 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 Saith she, arising to her feet, and standing 
 with crossed arms like any man saith she, 
 
 " Folks call me so," saith she. " But my 
 name is Keren Lemon." 
 
 " A sour name for so sweet a lass," saith 
 th gallant. 
 
 " Would thou hadst sweetened that old 
 jest with some new wit !" quoth she. 
 
 " Thou art sharp o tongue," saith he. 
 
 " I shoe horses with my arms, not with 
 my tongue," saith she. 
 
 " As I live, a witty jade !" quoth he. 
 " Thou dost much amuse me, maiden." 
 
 " My wit was not fashioned any more 
 for thy amusement than for the shoeing o 
 thy horse," quoth she. " So, if thou dost 
 not purpose to have him shod, ride on !" 
 saith she. 
 
 Then saith he, to himself, as twere, 
 " Verily," saith he, " they should call thee 
 the harrier lass, for thou hast run down 
 and found my manners when that old 
 hounds have failed." And to her he saith, 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 147 
 
 " I do purpose to have my horse shod, 
 maiden ; and I cry thee pardon for having 
 given thee offence." 
 
 " It is easier to give offence than par 
 don," saith she. " Howbeit, thou art par 
 doned. Say no more." Whereupon she 
 sets to work and, taking th horse s foot 
 atween her knees, falls to filing his hoof 
 in such wise that I could not a done bet 
 ter in her place, though the Queen should 
 ask me to sup afterwards at St. James s. 
 But the stranger could not hold his 
 tongue ; and when he saw her working th 
 bellows, and a-making of th shoe, and th 
 way she swung th great hammer, " By my 
 troth," saith he, " I would I could paint 
 thee as Sally Mander to give to th Queen," 
 saith he. 
 
 Then saith my lass, " I know not of any 
 wench called Sally Mander," saith she, a- 
 burning of th horse s hoof with th hot 
 shoe ; " but if she consorts familiarly with 
 such as be above her," so saith she, " me- 
 
148 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 thinks tis as well for both o us that I 
 know her not," saith she every word o t 
 just as I tell thee. 
 
 Then saith the gallant, clapping hand 
 to thigh, so that it made such a sound as 
 when a young child is trounced, " By my 
 troth," saith he, " an thy brows be not 
 worthy o a coronet, ne er saw I any that 
 merited to wear one. What wouldst thou 
 if thou wert a lady, lass ?" 
 
 She saith, a-rolling up of her sleeves a 
 little tighter, and looking up at him as he 
 sate again upon his horse, " Meanest thou 
 if I were the wife o a lord ?" saith she. 
 
 " Even so," saith he, laughing. " Verily 
 thou hast come at my meaning with a com 
 mendable quickness. Well, and if thou 
 wert the wife o a lord, what wouldst thou 
 do?" 
 
 Then saith she, speaking very slowly, 
 and crossing of her arms again upon her 
 breast saith she, 
 
 " I would bring up such sons as were 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 149 
 
 born to me to behave worthily o their 
 station in life, and not to forget their man 
 hood by speaking with insolence unto such 
 honest maids as had never offered them 
 affront." Whereupon she did up with her 
 kit o tools, and pass by me into th forge ; 
 and th man rode on with a reddened 
 visage. 
 
 But it befell only two days later that a 
 came again to th forge, his horse having 
 cast another shoe. 
 
 And again th lass sets all to right for 
 him, he keeping a civil tongue in s head 
 this time ; and o that we thought naught 
 one way or th other. But when a comes 
 a third time, and yet a fourth and a fifth 
 and a sixth, "Father," saith th lass "fa 
 ther," saith she, " this must be stopt," saith 
 she. 
 
 " Ay, verily," saith I. " But how wilt do 
 t?" saith I. 
 
 " I ll do t, never fear," saith she. 
 
 And a did, comrade. Ha ! ha ! I d trust 
 
1 50 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 that wench to make Satan keep to heel 
 like any well-broke puppy. Twas in this 
 way. The next time th gallant comes rid 
 ing up (that being th seventh time in all, 
 ye mind) well, the next time up comes 
 riding he, and he saith to her, saith he, " I 
 have come to ask thy service yet again, 
 damsel," saith he; "but Merrylegs hath 
 cast another shoe." 
 
 Then saith th lass ha! ha! every 
 word as I tell thee, comrade saith she, 
 " Methinks, my lord, if my work hold no 
 better than that methinks," saith she, 
 " twere as well thou went for th shoeing o 
 thy horse to Timothy Makeshift, as lives 
 in Mangold Lane," saith she. " For if it 
 come to th ears o others how that I will 
 shoe a horse one day, and th next how that 
 he will cast th shoe if it so be known," 
 saith she, " no more custom will I get to 
 keep my father and mother in their old 
 
 age- 
 
 doth he leap down from his horse, 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 1 5 1 
 
 and he doffs his hat as though my lass had 
 been any fine lady; and quoth he, 
 
 " Well and justly hast thou spoken ; and 
 I do stand confessed of my fault. But, 
 maiden, thou wast not born unto th life 
 thou leadest ; and here in thy presence I 
 do ask thy father to bestow upon me thy 
 hand. I am Sir Dagonet Balfour, of Bal- 
 four Hall ; and if thou art willing I will 
 make thee my lady." 
 
 Now, I was struck dumb as though my 
 tongue had jumped forth o my mouth, and 
 never a blessed thing could I do saving 
 stare, comrade. But that lass o mine 
 that lass o mine, comrade she stands and 
 looks at him, and never so much as a glint 
 o red in her face. And saith she, " My 
 lord," saith she, " if that thou meanest what 
 thou hast said, thou hast forgotten thine 
 estate and not remembered mine. Since 
 God hath not made me a lady, methinks it 
 is not in the power o one o His creatures 
 so to do. But I do thank thee for seek- 
 
152 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 ing to honor me, and wish thee joy when 
 thou shalt take in wedlock some high 
 born maiden." 
 
 Then saith he, " An I wed not thee, ne er 
 will I be wed. What! dost thou think I 
 can look on in patience and see a woman 
 such as thou following the trade of a far 
 rier?" 
 
 Then saith she, " If Jesus Christ fol 
 lowed th trade o a carpenter," saith she, 
 " sure," saith she, " Keren Lemon can fol 
 low th* trade o a farrier," saith she every 
 blessed word as I tell thee, comrade. And 
 no more would she have to do with him, 
 but got her into th forge and left him 
 standing there. 
 
 Well, thou might a thought that was th 
 end o t. Not a bit not a bit, comrade. 
 Th knight would be a-riding up at all 
 times and in all weather, and somehow t 
 gets out i th village (though not through 
 my lass, I warrant ye) as how he doth in 
 verity seek to espouse my Keren. Well, 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 153 
 
 o all th tirrits and to-do s as e er you heard 
 on! 
 
 Methought when Mistress Lemon found 
 out that th girl had refused th gallant s 
 offer th house would be a tighter fit for us 
 three than its shell for an unhatched chick. 
 Twas worry, worry, worry, from morn till 
 night, and from night till morn it was wor 
 ry, worry, worry, till I scarce knew whether 
 twould be better to murder my wife and 
 hang for t, or leave her alone and live with 
 her. 
 
 "Th hussy!" quoth she " th ungrate 
 ful hussy ! a ought to be tossed in a blan 
 ket," quoth she, " and thou along with her, 
 thou jack -pudding, thou ravelling!" quoth 
 she. 
 
 " If I be a jack-pudding," saith I, " I ha 
 more descendants than most such," saith I. 
 
 "Yea," quoth she, "verily," quoth she; 
 " and all nine o th lads be jacks," saith she, 
 " and th wench as very a pudding as e er 
 fell to pieces for want o being held togeth- 
 
1 54 The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 
 
 er," saith she. "Out on ye both! I m 
 done with ye !" 
 
 " For that, God be praised !" saith I, and 
 left ere she could answer. 
 
 But one day as I sate i th kitchen, a-cos- 
 seting o my lame arm as though t had 
 been a babe, I hear a sound o wheels and 
 a clatter o horses hoofs ; and, lo ! there be 
 a chariot pulled up afore the door, with 
 four gray horses a-making play with their 
 trappings, and a coachman, all wig and 
 gilding, a-sitting on th box. And ere a 
 could move, out steps a fine dame, with her 
 hair all in hillocks, as twere, and a paling 
 o lace round about her head, like as t had 
 been a flower-garden, and a farthingale to 
 a covered th big malt-pot with as little 
 to-do as a hen covers an egg. And up 
 comes she to th door, and her tire-woman 
 a-holding of her robes, and two footmen 
 going before, and in she comes like as 
 though Riches and Death had a th same 
 right to enter a poor man s house without 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pcbworth. 155 
 
 knocking. And saith she to me, saith she, 
 a-filling up o the room with her finery, like 
 a cuckoo ruffling out its feathers in another 
 bird s nest, saith she, 
 
 " Be this th cottage o Hurnfrey Lemon 
 th farrier ?" saith she. 
 
 " It be so ; and I be he," saith I. 
 
 "And be thou th father o th wench 
 they call th Farrier Lass o Piping Peb- 
 worth?" saith she. 
 
 " I be, an proud o t," say I, a-beginning 
 to think that she might a knocked at th 
 door, for all her greatness. 
 
 "Where s th lass?" saith she, as she 
 might a said " Where s my glove ?" 
 
 Then saith I, " Madam," saith I, " most 
 like she s gone about her business," saith I. 
 
 " My good man," saith she, after a fash 
 ion that did cause me to feel aught but 
 good "my good man," saith she, "dost 
 thou know to whom thou speakest ?" 
 
 " Verily," saith I, " thou art ahead o me 
 there, madam." 
 
156 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 " Boor," saith she, " I am the Lady o 
 Balfour Hall." 
 
 " An so could my lass a been, had she 
 willed it," saith I ; but ere I could further 
 forget myself, in comes Keren by another 
 door, and she saith, 
 
 " Father, do thou go out, and leave me 
 to speak with this lady." Then to th 
 dame she saith, " Your ladyship," saith she, 
 " I am Keren Lemon, that be called th 
 Farrier Lass. What wouldst thou with 
 me?" 
 
 Then I got me out o th room, but not 
 out o hearing distance; and this is what 
 followed : 
 
 " I have heard," saith th dame, " these 
 reports concerning my son Sir Dagonet 
 and thee, and, to my sorrow, I find upon 
 inquiry," saith she, " that they be true. 
 Moreover, though it doth shame me to 
 the dust to confess it, I have had an inter 
 view with my son Sir Dagonet," so saith 
 she every word o t as I tell thee " and 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 157 
 
 he is determined in his purpose o ruining 
 his life and th happiness o his mother. 
 Therefore I have come to thee, to ask 
 that thou persistest in the course which 
 thou hast begun," saith she. " And here," 
 saith she, " is gold to hold thy tongue con 
 cerning my visit unto thee." And there 
 with she did count down ten broad gold 
 pieces upon th kitchen table. " I must 
 also ask thee," then continued she, ere my 
 lass could answer her, " to allow me to re 
 main under thy roof until my carriage be 
 returned from th other end o the village, 
 where it hath been sent with my tire-wom 
 an to purchase some ribbon to tie my 
 parrot to s perch." 
 
 Never a word saith my lass, but she goes 
 to th door and opens it, and lifting up her 
 voice, she halloos to a little ragged urchin 
 who is at some spot on th other side o th 
 street ; and he being come as fast as his 
 little shanks would bring him, she bids him 
 enter, and taking him up in her arms, she 
 
158 The Farrier Lass rf Piping Pebworth. 
 
 lifts him up so that a can reach th gold 
 on th table, and saith sht, 
 
 " Thou rt not o er-clean to touch, my 
 good little mouse," saith she, " but thou rt 
 cleaner than that stuff thou seest. There, 
 lad, that s for thee, if an thou lt run to th 
 other end o th village and bid them return 
 at once with my lady Balfour s carnage," 
 so saith she. Then, th lad having stuffed 
 all s doublet with th gold, she sets him 
 on s feet, and off a scuttles on th best- 
 paid errand e er chanced since th world 
 began. And rny lass, having courtesied to 
 the thunder-stricken dame, gets her outside 
 (where I go nigh to smothering her with 
 kisses), and leaves her ladyship in posses 
 sion o th kitchen. 
 
 Well, comrade, right sure am I that 
 thou dost think that was the end on 
 t. Not a bit. Sir Dagonet did himself 
 come to th cottage th very next day to 
 see th lass, and they had many words 
 together, and at last he did accuse her 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pebworth. 159 
 
 o false pride and proud humility. And 
 saith he, 
 
 " Wouldst thou make misery for the man 
 who loves thee best of all the world, merely 
 to satisfy a notion o thine own ? Great 
 ness and goodness," saith he, " dwell in the 
 heads and hearts o mankind, not in their 
 birth or purses. I do ask thee, with all 
 respect, to be my wife, and I am prepared 
 to face th anger o my mother and o th 
 Queen. Ay," saith he, his face gone red 
 as a girl s, and comes nigh to her " ay, 
 maiden," saith he, " I am even ready to 
 seek th new country with thee as my wife, 
 and to leave title and lands and Queen and 
 mother behind me." 
 
 Then saith she and I had not seen 
 tears in her eyes for many a day 
 
 " My lord," saith she, " well and nobly 
 hast thou spoken, and with all my soul 
 do I honor thee for it, and I thank thee 
 with all my heart and soul. But, my lord, 
 even were there not thy rank and position 
 
160 The Farrier Lass d Piping Peb worth. 
 
 atween us, there is atween us," saith she, 
 " which would hold us as far apart as the 
 sea doth hold this England which we live 
 in and th new country o which thou didst 
 speak. For," saith she and she speaks 
 in a steady voice, howbeit tis very low, 
 and she keeps her sun-like eyes on his 
 " for, my lord," saith she, " all the love that 
 was mine to give hath been another man s 
 these many years." 
 
 Then saith he never another word, but 
 bends his knee and kisses her long brown 
 hand as though t had been th Queen s; 
 and he gets him from th cottage. 
 
 Now, two more years \vere sped since 
 that Ruth had left us, and sometimes 
 would we hear through friends o th little 
 lad and s mother and father, and always 
 was Ruth a-sending of pretty messages to 
 Keren her love, and her thanks, and how 
 happy she was, and th boy so like his fa 
 ther and more than I remember. 
 
 A full year had th lass been at work in 
 
The Farrier Lass o Piping Pepworth. 161 
 
 my shop, and my arm no more fit to ham 
 mer than afore. So I looks about to get 
 a lad to help her in her work, seeing as 
 twere too much for one wench. And, 
 Lord ! th trouble I had ! Ten lads did I 
 try, one right after th other; and one 
 would be saucy, and another dull, and an 
 other would take t into his pumpkin head 
 to fall in love wi th lass ; and all o em 
 lazy. But, God-a-mercy! how s a man to 
 tell a lazy lad till he ha tried him ? unless 
 it be old Butter. Ha! ha! I ha just 
 minded me o th way he used to treat th 
 lads that came to Amhurste to hire for un- 
 der-gardeners. He would stand with s 
 owlish old visage a-set on s hoe-handle, for 
 all th world like a fantastic head carved 
 out o a turnip and set on a stick, and a 
 would let th lad go on with s story o how 
 Dame This commended him for that, and 
 o how Dame That commended him for 
 this, and o how a had worked under my 
 lord So-and-So s head-gardener and in my 
 ii 
 
1 62 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 lady So-and-So s own hot -houses; and 
 when a had got through, never a word 
 would old Butter say, but a would just step 
 round behind th lad, as solemn as a grave- 
 digger on a cold day, and a would lift up 
 th tail o s doublet and look at th seat o 
 s breeches. And if they were fairly worn 
 a would hire th lad ; but if an they were 
 much worn a would say, " No work dost 
 thou get from me, my lad," would a say, 
 "thou sittest down too often to work for 
 Anthony Butter" so would a say every 
 word o t just as I ha told thee. Ha ! ha ! 
 And all the time as sober as a coroner 
 inspecting a corse. Ha ! ha ! ha ! Me- 
 thinks I can see him now th old zany. 
 
 Well, well, a was a good man, was An 
 thony Butter; and if a was a bit puffed up 
 with s own importance, a s charity ne er 
 got in a like condition that it did not bring 
 forth some kind act. 
 
 Well, th months swung round, and twas 
 nigh to Martlemas in that same year, and 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 163 
 
 one day as I sat i th forge door, a-swear- 
 ing roundly to myself concerning my lame 
 arm, and how that twould not mend, up 
 comes galloping a man, like one distraught, 
 and a child on th saddle afore him, and a 
 flings himself down with th child in s 
 arms (making no shift whate er to hold 
 th horse, which gallops on with th reins 
 swinging), and a cries out, a-setting of th 
 child on my knee a cries out, 
 
 " For God s sake, help me ! My child 
 hath been bit by a mad dog ! Help me in 
 some way, for th love of God !" 
 
 And I saw that twas Robert Racket 
 that crouched and quivered at my knee 
 like a hurt hound, and th child as like to 
 him as one leaf on a tree is to th other. 
 But ere I could do or say aught, comes 
 that lass o mine, and ups with th babe in 
 her arms, and he roaring as lustily as any 
 bull-calf with th wound in s little brown 
 arm, and she sees where the beast hath 
 bitten him. Then sets she him down 
 
1 64 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 again on my lap, and runs and fetches a 
 bar o iron and heats it i th forge till tis 
 white-hot, and all th time th poor father 
 a-sobbing, and kissing of th babe, and call 
 ing on me to help him, like as though I 
 were God Almighty. And while he was 
 so doing, and the babe like to burst with 
 weeping, and I gone mad with not know 
 ing what to be at, comes that wench, com 
 rade, and jerks up th babe, and sets th 
 white-hot metal in s soft flesh. 
 
 Ay, comrade, a did, and a held it there 
 till where th dog s fangs had been was 
 burned as black as th anvil. And then, 
 when tis done, and th babe again upon s 
 feet, and we two for praising and blessing 
 o her, down drops she all in a heap on th 
 floor atween us, like a hawk that hath been 
 smitten in mid -heaven. Then twas, com 
 rade, that th babe was left to endure his 
 pain as best he might ; never thought more 
 did s father give him that day; but he 
 runs and lifts th lass in s strong arms, and 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 165 
 
 bears her out into th fresh air, and he calls 
 her his "dear," and his "own," and "his life," 
 and his " Keren," till, had t not been for my 
 lass s coming back to life, I would a struck 
 him on th mouth for a-speaking so unto her, 
 and he th husband o another woman. 
 
 But no sooner opes she her eyes than he 
 hath both her hands hid in one o his, and 
 close against his breast, and she lying back 
 in s arms as though she were any chrisom 
 child, and her big eyes wide on his, and he 
 saith to her, 
 
 " Lass ! lass !" saith he, " I ha come to 
 marry thee, an thou wilt have me," quoth 
 he. " I ha come to marry thee ; and may 
 God bless thee for saving th child !" 
 
 Then did I understand ; but she saith, 
 with her great eyes not moving saith she 
 only one word " Ruth ?" saith she, even 
 so, once, low like that " Ruth ?" 
 
 " Ay, lass, I know," he saith unto her. " I 
 know," he saith. " But all s well with Ruth. 
 Ruth is in heaven." 
 
1 66 The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 
 
 Then saith she, while a light leaps out o 
 her tearful eyes, like as when the sun doth 
 shine suddenly through April rain saith 
 she, as she were breathing her life into th 
 words, 
 
 " Methinks I be there too." 
 
 And also did I understand her, how that 
 she meant that to be lying in th arms o 
 him she loved, after all those weary years, 
 was like being in heaven ; but he questions 
 her. 
 
 "How, lass?" saith he. "Where dost 
 thou think thou art? Thou art in thy true 
 love s arms," saith he. 
 
 " Ay, there is heaven," she saith. 
 
 And I stole away to get th babe some 
 kickshaws i th village, that they twain 
 might be alone together. 
 
 Well, well, all that was two year ago, 
 comrade two year ago ; and now that lass 
 o mine hath a babe o her own, and as val 
 iant a rogue as ever bellowed. Thou must 
 come and sup with us to-night. Na, na, I ll 
 
The Farrier Lass d Piping Pebworth. 167 
 
 take no refusal dost hear? I will not. 
 And a word o persuasion i thy ear, com 
 rade : Mistress Lemon hath been dead 
 this twelvemonth, comrade. Ah ha! Wilt 
 a-come the now? That s well. And thou 
 shalt hear that lass o mine troll thee " Jog 
 on, jog on," and " Mistress mine, where art 
 thou roaming ?" and " Listen, Robin, while 
 I woo." Come, comrade, come. But stay ; 
 let s crack another drink together ere we 
 go. Joel! What there! Joel, I say! An 
 other quart o sack for Master Turnip ! 
 
NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE 
 STORY. 
 
 Time. A bitter January night in the year of Grace 
 1669. 
 
 Scene. Sunderidge Castle The great hall A mon 
 strous fire burning in the big fireplace Nurse 
 Crumpet discovered seated on a settle At her 
 either knee lean the little Lady Dorothy and her 
 brother, the young Earl of Sunderidge, Lord Hum 
 phrey Lennox. 
 
 Nurse Crumpet. Nay, now, Lady Doro 
 thy, why wilt thou be at the pains o such 
 a clamoring ? Sure thou hast heard that 
 old tale o er a hundred times ; and thou 
 too, my lord ? Fie, then ! Wouldst seek 
 to flatter thy old nurse with this seeming 
 eagerness ? Go to ! I say thou canst not 
 in truth want to hear me drone o er that 
 ancient narrative. Well, then, an I must, 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 169 
 
 I must. Soft ! Hold my fan betwixt thy 
 dainty cheeks and the blaze, sweetheart, 
 lest the fire-fiend witch thy roses into very 
 poppy flowers. And thou, my lord, come 
 closer to my side, lest the draught from the 
 bay-window smite thee that thou howlest o 
 th morrow with a crick i thy neck. Well, 
 well, be patient. All in time, in time. Soft, 
 now ! Ye both mind that I was but a lit 
 tle lass when thy grandmother, the Lady 
 Elizabeth Lennox, did take me to train as 
 her maid-in-waiting. I was just turned six 
 teen that Martlemas, and not a fair -sized 
 wench for my years either. Would ye be 
 lieve ? I could set my two thumbs togeth 
 er at my backbone in those days, and my 
 ring-fingers would all but kiss too. 
 
 Lord Humphrey. Ha ! ha ! Nurse, thy 
 fingers would be but ill satisfied lovers un 
 der those conditions nowadays. Eh, Dolly? 
 
 Lady Dorothy. Hold thy tongue for an 
 unmannerly lad, Humphrey. Do not thou 
 heed him, nurse, but go on with thy story. 
 
170 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 Nurse Crumpet. For all thy laughter, 
 my lord, I d a waist my garter would bind 
 in those days, and was as light on my toes 
 as those flames that dance i th chimney. 
 Lord ! Lord ! how well I mind me o th 
 first time that e er I clapt eyes on Jock 
 Crumpet ! I was speeding home with a jug 
 o water from the spring, and what with his 
 staring as he stood at the road-side to let 
 me pass, and what with a root i th way, I 
 all but lost my footing. Yet did I swing 
 round alone, holding fast my jug, and ne er 
 one blessed drop o water spilled I, for all 
 my tripping. " By r lay kin !" quoth he, 
 " thou rt as light on thy feet as a May wind, 
 and as I live I will dance the Barley Break 
 with thee this harvesting or I will dance 
 with none !" And i faith a was as good 
 as his word, for by hook or by crook, and 
 much scheming and planning, and bring 
 ing o gewgaws to my mother, and a pres 
 ent o a fine yearling to my father, that 
 harvesting did I dance the Barley Break 
 
Crumpet Tells the Story. 171 
 
 with Jock Crumpet. And a was a feather- 
 man in a round reel. 
 
 Well, twas the year o my meeting with 
 Jock, thou mindst. (And a cold winter 
 that was Christ save us ! There be ne er 
 such winters nowadays. This night is as 
 a summer noon i th comparison.) Twas 
 the year o my first meeting with Jock, and 
 my lady, your grandmother, sent for me to 
 the castle, to be her waiting-maid. Lord ! 
 twas a troublous time ! What with joy at 
 my good fortune, and sorrow at quitting 
 my mother, I was fain to smile with one 
 corner o my mouth and look grievously 
 with the other, like a zany at a village fair. 
 And Jock, he would not that I went, for 
 that he could not see me, or consort wi 
 me so often : Jock was aye honey-combed 
 wi th thing ye call " sentiment." A w r ould 
 grin on a flower I had wov n in my locks 
 by th hour together. And tis my belief 
 a could a spun him a warm doublet out 
 o the odds and ends o ribbon and what 
 
172 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 not he had filched from me when my eyes 
 were elsewhere. And Jock but tis nei 
 ther here nor there o Jock. In those days 
 thy grandmother had only one child, a lit 
 tle lass, the Lady Patience. And ne er was 
 man or maid worse named ; for to call such 
 a flibbertigibbet " Patience " were as though 
 one should name a frisksome colt " Slum 
 ber," or christen a spring brook " Quiet." 
 Patience, quotha ! Twas patience in truth 
 a body had need of, who was thrown at all 
 with her little ladyship. But there was 
 ne er so beautiful a maiden born in all the 
 broad land of England ; nor will be again 
 not though London Tower be standing 
 when the last trump sounds. Meseemed 
 she was an elf-sprite, so tiny was she ; and 
 her face like a fair flower, so fresh and 
 pure. Her hair \vas shed about her face 
 like sunlight on thistle-down, and her eyes 
 made a shining behind it, like the big blue 
 gems in her mother s jewel-box. When 
 she laughed, it \vas as water falling into 
 
Nitrse Crumpet Tells the Story. 173 
 
 water from a short height, with ripples, and 
 little murmurs, and a clear tinkling sound. 
 But she was ne er more at rest than the 
 leaves on an aspen-tree. Hither and thith 
 er would she flit, this way and that, up and 
 down, round and round, backward and for 
 ward, about and about. F faith, ofttimes 
 would I be right dizzy come nightfall, with 
 following of her ; for ere I had been at the 
 castle a day, she took so mighty a fancy 
 to me, that naught would do but she must 
 have me for her maid ; and so my lady, 
 who (God pardon my boldness !) did utter 
 ly spoil her in all things, gave me unto her 
 as a nurse-maid. But sure ye are a-weary 
 o this old tale ! 
 
 Lady Dorothy and Lord Humphrey in a 
 breath. Nay, go on, go on. 
 
 Nurse Crumpet. Well, well, o all the 
 story -loving bairns! But I must invent 
 me a new history for the next time o tell-* 
 ing. 
 
 Lord Humphrey. Nay, that thou shalt 
 
174 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 not. We will ne er like any as well as we 
 like this one. So despatch. 
 
 Nurse Crumpet. But my lady had also 
 an adopted daughter, a niece o my lord s 
 one Mistress Marian Every and she 
 walked beside the little Lady Patience as 
 night might walk beside day, for she was 
 as brown o skin as a mountain stream, and 
 her hair like a cloud at even - tide, dark, 
 but of no certain color, albeit as soft as rav 
 elled silk, and marvellous hard to comb on 
 account o its fineness. Mistress Marian 
 was full head and shoulders taller than her 
 cousin, the Lady Patience, and she could 
 lift her aloft in her arms, and swing her 
 from side to side, as a supple bough swings 
 a bird. And her eyes were dark, and cool 
 to gaze into, like a pool o clear water o er 
 autumn leaves, and sometimes there were 
 glints o light in them, like the spikes i th 
 evening-star when thou dost gaze steadily 
 upon it. Black and white were not more 
 different than were they, and they resem- 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 175 
 
 bled even less in mind than they did in 
 body. When Lady Patience waxed wroth, 
 her cheeks burned like two coals, and thou 
 couldst hear her little teeth grinding to 
 gether, like pebbles squeezed i th palm o 
 thy hand ; but when Mistress Marian was 
 an-angered, the blood rushed back to her 
 heart, and she was whiter than a lamb 
 at the shearing, and her lips like white 
 threads. Then would the light shoot and 
 spin in her eyes, and her nostrils suck in 
 and out, like those of a fretful horse. And 
 she was fierce after the manner of a man 
 rather than of a maid. Moreover, she was 
 full a year younger than the Lady Pa 
 tience ; but she looked it not ; rather did 
 her ladyship look full two years younger 
 than Mistress Marian. And I loved them 
 both, and tried as a Christian not to pre 
 fer one before the other ; but what with 
 my lady s stealings of her arms about my 
 neck as I sat at my stitchery, and popping 
 of comfits in my pocket when I would be 
 
176 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 otherwise engaged, and teasings, and tick 
 lings, and sundry other pretty witcheries 
 which I do not at this day recall, I was 
 fairly cozened into loving her the best. 
 (Honey, I charge thee hold my fan be 
 twixt thee and the fire.) But to continue. 
 Mistress Marian was aye courteous and 
 kindly to me as heart could wish, and 
 every night did she thank me i th pret 
 tiest fashion, when I had combed and un 
 pinned her for the night ; but, Lord ! I 
 had much ado to get Lady Patience comb 
 ed or unpinned at all ! First would she 
 jump with both knees upon mine, and hug 
 my very breath away ; then, when I had 
 at last coaxed her to get down, first she 
 would perch on one leg and then o the 
 other, and then be a-twisting her head now 
 over this shoulder, now over that, to see 
 how I came on with the unpinning, that 
 it was with a prayer to God that I final 
 ly set her night-gown over her shoulders, 
 and led her to bed. As for her prayers 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 177 
 
 Jesu aid me and pardon her! twas a 
 matter of hours to get her to say " Our 
 Father " straight through, what with her 
 vowing that she wished not bread every 
 
 O -i 
 
 day, and how that if his lordship her father 
 forgave not trespassers (for I could ne er 
 draw the difference between trespasser and 
 trespassers into her pretty pate), neither 
 would she ; and how she did not believe 
 God would lead her into temptation at any 
 time, but that it was the Devil ; and how 
 it must anger God even to think of such 
 doings on His part what, I say, with all 
 this, methought sometimes it would be cock 
 crow ere I got her safely to sleep. And 
 all this time Mistress Marian would be lying 
 as quiet as any mouse, with her big plait of 
 hair between her fingers, for so she always 
 slept, with her hair fast in her hands, as 
 though she loved its beauty ; and in truth it 
 was the one great beauty she had, for my 
 little lady put her out with her glitter as the 
 sunlight doth extinguish a morning moon. 
 12 
 
178 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 Now I had been at the castle scarce 
 two months when one day it chances that 
 I hear my lady a -telling o my lord how 
 as her brother, Lord Charles Radnor, dy 
 ing wifeless, had left his only son to her 
 care until he should come of age. And 
 on that Tuesday the little lord set foot 
 in the castle ; and my lady was down at 
 the door -way to meet him, in a new vel 
 vet gown, with her wimple sewn in fine 
 pearls, and my lord with her ; but my two 
 nurslings waxed shy at the last minute, and 
 would not come down, but leaned and peer 
 ed through the posts o the stair- rail, and 
 my little lady let fall one o her shoes in 
 her eagerness to glimpse at her new cous 
 in. And straightway ran the lad and lift 
 ed the wee shoe, and looked upward, laugh 
 ing, and my lord and lady having retired 
 into the dining-hall, to see that some cold 
 viands were in readiness (it being then near 
 to nightfall, though not yet supper hour). 
 " Ho ! thou little cinder witch," cried he ; 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 179 
 
 " I am the prince that has found thy shoe, 
 and when I shall have found thee, if that 
 thy temper be as small as thy shoe, fear 
 not but that I will kiss thee too!" With 
 that, he ran up the stair-way, two and three 
 steps at a leap. 
 
 And I followed, for I knew not what 
 would happen an he claimed his kiss as 
 he had threatened (knowing as did I, that 
 in verity my lady s shoe would a been a 
 tight fit for her temper). 
 
 But when he was arrived at the top, lo ! 
 they had both fled, neither had they left 
 so much as a ribbon behind them. Then 
 the lad laughed again, as pleasant a laugh 
 as e er I heard in all my days, and quoth 
 he, " I would be but a poor prince an I 
 had not to search for my little princess." 
 So off he starts, and I after him, up and 
 down corridors, in at half -open doors, out 
 upon balconies, hither and thither, after the 
 manner o my little lady on her most un 
 quiet days, till at last, for the sake o peace, 
 
180 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 I did slyly lead him in the direction o the 
 great nursery. There, catching sight o a 
 little red petticoat, he enters, where stand 
 my truant elves confessed, Mistress Marian 
 frowning and biting o her dark hair, but 
 my little lady like to stifle, with both hands 
 over her mouth to hide her smiles, and her 
 blue eyes dancing a very Barley Break o 
 mirth among the yellow sheaves o her 
 tresses. 
 
 Then there was much parley o er the 
 fitting o the shoe, as both damsels did 
 straightway sit down upon their feet, nei 
 ther for a long time would they move an 
 eyelash, till his lordship, with a twink o his 
 eye at me, did suggest corns and bunions 
 as a reason for their havior and, Lord ! 
 then twas pretty to mark how like little 
 chicks beneath their dam s feathers, first 
 one little foot and then the other did steal 
 out from the rich lace o their petticoats. 
 And ere one could cry " Oh !" for a pinch, 
 he had slipt the shoe on my little lady s 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 181 
 
 wee foot, and had kissed her right heartily. 
 Moreo er, what I did most marvel at, was 
 that she neither cuffed nor sought to cuff 
 him, but dropt down her head until her hair 
 made a veil before her face, and moved that 
 foot whereon he had set her shoe, gently 
 back and forth as though the leather was 
 stiff to her ankle, and I saw that she look 
 ed at it from under her heavy hair. But 
 Mistress Marian still held aloof, and chewed 
 upon her dark locks like a heifer on its cud. 
 And her eyes were every whit as dark and 
 solemn as a very cow s. Then the young 
 lord laughed again, and cried out, " Ha! the 
 ox-eyed June!" or some such apery, and 
 went and kneeled before her in mock fash 
 ion, as before a queen, and quoth he, " Fair 
 goddess " (for twas afterwards explained to 
 me what manner of being was a goddess, 
 namely, some kind of a foreign fairy) 
 " Fair goddess," quoth he, " show me how I 
 may dispel thy wrath." And still she scowl 
 ed on him, but spoke no word. And he 
 
1 82 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 continued, and said, " I prithee, fair lady, 
 cast but one smile upon thy humble knight" 
 (thou mind st their pretty foolery has stuck 
 i my old pate unto this day). 
 
 Then she answered and saith, "Thou silly 
 lad, how can I be a goddess and a lady both 
 in one ? Thou hast not even enough wit to 
 make a good fool. So !" (for Mistress Ma 
 rian had a sharp tongue at times). 
 
 But he was not so much as ruffled, and 
 laughed even again, most heartily. And he 
 said, " I do perceive that thou art not fash 
 ioned either as goddess or lady, therefore 
 be my comrade, and we will fight together 
 for the weal o yon fairy princess." All at 
 once she laughed too, and yielded him her 
 hand, and said, " I like thee. What is thy 
 name ?" 
 
 He said, " My name is Ernie ; and I like 
 thee too; therefore, I pray thee, tell me 
 thine." 
 
 So she told him, and my little lady sidling 
 up, the three fell presently a-chattering like 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 183 
 
 linnets at sunrise, and from that hour on I 
 had no trouble with them. 
 
 Twas pretty to mark them at their fan 
 tasies. They were aye out - o - door save 
 when twas rainy weather, and then me- 
 thought the castle had scarce room enough 
 for them. In all their games Mistress Ma 
 rian was the little lord s comrade, and wore 
 a helmet o silvered wood, and carried a 
 wooden sword silvered to match her head 
 gear, and the little lord was likewise appar 
 elled. And he called her ever " Comrade," 
 and clapped her o th shoulder, as mankind 
 will clap one the other when conversing. 
 
 But my little lady, they both agreed, was 
 a fairy princess ; and, Lord, Lord ! twould 
 take me from now til Martlemas next to 
 name the perilous scapes that did befall her. 
 They fished her out of moats, they bore her 
 from blazing castles, they did drag her from 
 the maws o dragons and other wild beasts 
 I know not how to name. Thrice was the 
 little Lord of Radnor in dire straits at the 
 
184 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 claws o goblin creatures. Three times did 
 his comrade rescue him by thwacking upon 
 the chair which did represent the dreadful 
 beast, till I was in sore dread there would 
 be no mending of it, and me, mayhap, dis 
 missed from the castle for carelessness. 
 And always when twas all o er, and the lit 
 tle princess in safety, I was called upon to 
 act parson and wed my little lady to the lit 
 tle lord, while Mistress Marian leaned on 
 her sword to witness the doings. 
 
 One day, in their rovings through the 
 park, they came by chance upon a door in 
 the hill-side, but so o ergrown with creeping 
 vines that, had not the little lord stumbled 
 upon it, twas very like it had been there to 
 this day without discovery. Well, no soon 
 er do they see the door than they must 
 needs open it, spite o all my scolding, and 
 peer within. Twas but a darksome hole, 
 after all a kind o cave i th hill-side, which 
 they did afterwards find out from thy grand 
 father was used in days gone by for con- 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 185 
 
 cealing treasures in time of war. And in 
 deed it seemed a safe place, for there were 
 two rusty bolts as big as my arm, one o th 
 inside and one o th outside, and the creep 
 ing things hid all. As thou mightst think, 
 it grew to be their favorite coigne for play 
 ing their dragon and princess trickeries. I 
 would sit with my stitchery on a fallen log 
 in the sunshine, while they ran in and out 
 o th grewsome hole. But in all their frol 
 icking my little lady could ne er abide the 
 sight o their swords, and she pleaded ever 
 for gentler games. One day (I shall ne er 
 forget, though I live to see doomsday) they 
 did crown her a queen, and then my lord 
 would have it that she dubbed him her 
 knight. She pleaded that prettily against 
 it methought the veriest boor in Christen 
 dom would a given in to her, but my little 
 lord was stanch. So they made her a 
 throne o flowers, and when she was seated 
 thereon, Mistress Marian handed her the 
 great wooden sword, and my lord, kneeling, 
 
1 86 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 bade her strike him on the shoulder with 
 the flat side o th sword, saying, " Rise, Sir 
 Ernie, my knight for evermore !" 
 
 She got out the words as he bade her, 
 but when t came to the stroke, what with 
 her natural fright, and what with the sun 
 light on the silver, she brought down the 
 heavy blade edgewise on the boy s pate, lay 
 ing wide quite a gash above his left eye 
 brow, so that the blood trickled down his 
 cheek. When she saw that, meseemed all 
 the blood in her body went to keep his com 
 pany, for she turned whiter than her smock, 
 and ran and got her arm about him and 
 saith, o er and o er again, " Ernie ! Ernie ! 
 I have killed thee !" 
 
 He laughed, to comfort her, and made 
 light of it, and wetting his finger in the 
 blood, drew a cross on his brow and said, 
 " Nay, thou hast not killed me. And more- 
 o er, I am not only thy knight, but thy Red 
 Cross Knight into the bargain, and thou my 
 lady forever. See ! I will seal thee with my 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 187 
 
 very blood !" and ere she could draw back, 
 he had set also a cross on her white brow. 
 She shuddered and fell a-weeping, and drew 
 her hand across her brow to wipe away the 
 ugly stain ; and when she saw that she had 
 but smeared it on her hand, she trembled 
 more than ever, and it was not for some 
 days that I could quiet her. 
 
 I do but relate this story, to show in what 
 horror my little lady did ever hold swords 
 and bloodshed. 
 
 Well, to continue 
 
 This could not last for aye, and when two 
 more years were sped, his uncle sent the 
 little lord to a place o learning; and after 
 wards to travel to and fro upon the earth, 
 after the manner of Satan in the Book of 
 Job (God forgive me ! but t has ever seem 
 ed like that to me). And we set not eyes 
 on him for eight years. Now in that time, 
 lo ! I was married, and my little lady and 
 Mistres Marian in long kirtles, and their 
 hair looped up upon their heads. Mistress 
 
1 88 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 Marian was yet full head and shoulders 
 above my little lady, and her skin as brown 
 as ever. But my little lady was as bright 
 and slender as a sun-ray. 
 
 They would speak to me sometimes of 
 Lord Radnor, and how that great folks 
 were saying great things of him, and how 
 he was become a soldier and a marvellous 
 person altogether; but as the years went 
 by they seemed not so ready to talk o him, 
 only sometimes my little lady would pull 
 down my head as I smoothed the bed 
 clothes over her at night, and quoth she, 
 " Nurse, dost think he will be much 
 changed ? My hair hath not darkened 
 much, hath it? Dost think his curls will 
 be different from what they were when he 
 was a lad ?" And I would have to tell her 
 " No " a dozen times ere she would let me 
 go. But Mistress Marian said never a 
 word. 
 
 One day I learned of my lady how that 
 Lord Radnor was to return the next week, 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 189 
 
 and meseemed in truth the whole castle 
 was waxed distraught. 
 
 It is not in my power to tell o th do 
 ings, but suffice it to say, my lord did cozen 
 them all, and come a full day ere he was 
 expected. 
 
 When he came, Mistress Marian was 
 standing i th great door o th castle, in 
 her hawking gown o green velure cloth 
 laced all with silver cord ; her plumed hat 
 w r as on her curls, and her hawk, Beryl, on 
 her fist. And she turned and beheld him. 
 Ne er did I see verier light in earth or sky, 
 than flashed into her face as their eyes met. 
 And he doffed his hat, and came up be 
 side her on the step, and saith, with the old 
 laugh, but gentler, " Well met, comrade." 
 
 Now when he called her " comrade," 
 twas as when Jock did call me " sweet 
 heart " in the days o our wooing. She 
 went red as the ribbon in his sleeves ; and 
 when the falcon fretted and shook its bells, 
 he did put out his hand and stroke it, and, 
 
190 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 lo ! it was still, and seemed to feel him as 
 its master. And I wondered all this time 
 where could be my little lady. 
 
 To this day I have ne er seen so hand 
 some a man as the young lord. He was 
 tall and straight as an oak, with curls the 
 color of frost-touched oak-leaves i th sun- 
 light, and eyes like the amber drink when 
 men hold it aloft ere quaffing, and his 
 whole countenance bright and eager, and 
 narrow like that o a fox, but without a 
 fox s cunning. Then he seemed fashioned 
 to run, and ride, and war, as doth become 
 all men, whether of high or low estate. 
 
 Then went I within to inquire after my 
 little lady; and Jock, who was become a 
 footman i th castle, did tell me of how he 
 had seen her set forth to walk i th park 
 an hour gone. So straightway I went in 
 search of her. 
 
 I had gone some six hundred paces 
 when, at a sudden turning, I came upon 
 her, where she held a little urchin a-strad- 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 191 
 
 die of her big deer-hound " Courage." The 
 child gave chuckles o delight as he slipped 
 from side to side, and the sun through the 
 beech-leaves made their heads as like as 
 two crown pieces. Even as I was about to 
 lift up my voice to halloo unto her, lo ! my 
 lord doth part the thick branches, and steps 
 forth a little behind her, and stands watch 
 ing her. And as he did stand there, be 
 hold, a look came o er his face, that was 
 stranger than any look I had e er seen on 
 th face of man or of woman, and his eyes 
 were no more bright and eager, but deep 
 and soft. Then she turned and went direct 
 towards him unknowing. 
 
 When she was beside him, still laugh 
 ing and half out o breath with balancing 
 o th heavy boy, he saith these two words, 
 " My lady," and methought there was a 
 whole year s love-making o ordinary men 
 crammed into them. Quoth I to myself: 
 " Ah, my little lord, so thou hast that trick 
 with thee ! God keep my little ladies ! for 
 
1 92 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 if the tongue be a fire, how must it burn 
 when such a wit doth wag it !" And I de 
 termined in my heart that by some means 
 I would warn my little lady of his sweet 
 speecheries. Yet was I tender towards him 
 for the sake o by-gone days. Mayhap, 
 moreover, his comely face had something 
 to do with it, for, i fecks, ne er saw I a good 
 lier countenance on Roundhead or Cav 
 alier. 
 
 Now when my lady heard his voice at 
 her ear, first gives she such a start as doth 
 a mettlesome filly when a hare jumps out 
 before it, then stock-still stands she, and her 
 face whiter than a wind-flower, and her lips 
 a-tremble as if to speak, but no word comes 
 from them. 
 
 He saith again, " My lady." 
 
 I saw by the moving of her lips that she 
 fashioned the words "My God!" but still 
 she spoke not. And the child began to 
 whimper and clutch at her kirtle, for she 
 had loosened her hold of him, and he feared 
 
JVnrse Crumpet Tells the Story. 193 
 
 falling off of the big dog. So she put one 
 arm about him to hold him, but her eyes 
 were yet upon his lordship. 
 
 Then he came and lifted her hand to his 
 breast, and it lay upon his dark-green doub 
 let, as a white flower-leaf doth upon grass, 
 and he saith to her, " Sweetheart, dost thou 
 not know me ?" 
 
 All at once, for what, God only knoweth, 
 she fell a-weeping, and he had her in his 
 arms. And being some two years a moth 
 er, my care was all for the poor little rogue 
 on the deer-hound ; twas as much as I could 
 do to hold back from running and snatch 
 ing him in my arms to soothe his terror. 
 
 Howbeit, ere that I could commit this 
 madness, the frighted babe set up such a 
 howl as only a man-child can utter, and my 
 lady turned to him in great haste, and my 
 lord also did set about comforting him. 
 Then they walked slowly on, and my lord 
 held the little lad on one side, and my lady 
 coaxed him o th other. Ever and anon 
 13 
 
194 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 my lord would look from the babe to my 
 lady, and then from my lady to the babe. 
 And a smile just lifted the corners o his 
 mouth, as sometimes a wind will just stir 
 the leaves ere shaking them as with jollity. 
 I followed cautiously at some distance, and 
 by-and-by his lordship said, " How was it 
 that thou didst not know me, coz ? Faith 
 thou art shot up like a lily i th sun, but 
 lilies are aye lilies, and leaving thee a lily, 
 I find thee a lily still, though blooming on 
 a taller stem." 
 
 And she answered him; "Yea, cousin, 
 and oaks are aye oaks, though first they be 
 saplings, then trees. And in truth I knew 
 thee by thy voice ere I looked at thee; 
 but twas all so sudden, that i faith I was 
 frightened at thee." 
 
 And he said, " But thou art glad to see 
 me?" 
 
 And being busy with the child, she an 
 swered him without lifting her head, " Thou 
 knowest that I am." 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 195 
 
 Then did he laugh a little, and saith, 
 " How should I know, coz ? Proof, proof, 
 I pray thee. Wilt thou not give me the 
 kiss o welcome after all these years ?" 
 
 Now he had not offered to kiss Mistress 
 Marian. Therefore I waited right curious 
 ly to see what my little lady would say unto 
 his offer, and Jock having dinned it into 
 my ears ever since our wedding-day, that 
 all women were by nature eavesdroppers, I 
 was of a mind to prove his theory for him ; 
 so I not only listened with all my ears, but 
 I looked with all my eyes. 
 
 My lady waxed first ruddy, then like to 
 milk, then ruddy again, and she reached 
 out her hand to him across the hound. "In 
 truth I will, cousin," quoth she. 
 
 He did take the little hand in his, put 
 ting down his other hand softly over it, as 
 when one holds a frighted bird, and he 
 looked at her as though he would pierce 
 her lids with his gaze, for her eyes were 
 down, and he saith, " Sweetheart, right 
 
196 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 gladly will I give this pretty hand the kiss 
 o an eternal welcome ; but methinks thou 
 hast begged the question. I pleaded to re 
 ceive a kiss rather than to bestow one." 
 
 And her face was like a bended rose. 
 Then did he step round quickly beside her, 
 and once more was the poor babe left in 
 dire terror o his life, and he made up a 
 piteous face, but the dog standing still, he 
 fell to rattling its collar, and soon waxed 
 merry with the jingle o th silver. So I 
 looked again at my lady and Lord Radnor. 
 
 He had taken her about her waist with 
 one arm, and with the other hand he lifted 
 gently upward her fair face, as doth a gar 
 dener a rain-beaten flower, while his eyes 
 looked down into hers. And slowly, slow 
 ly, almost as rose - leaves unfurl i th sun, 
 her white lids curled upward, and her blue 
 eyes peered softly from her yellow locks 
 like corn-flowers through ripe corn, there 
 being a tear in each, as when a rain-bead 
 doth tremble i th real corn-flowers. And, 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 197 
 
 to be the more like nature, there ran big 
 waves throughout her loosened tresses, like 
 as when the wind doth steal across a field 
 o grain on summer noons. 
 
 Then he bended down his tall head, and 
 their lips met. God alone knows what 
 their first words would a been, for ere the 
 kiss was well ended, down falls the poor lit 
 tle rogue off of the hound s back, and lifts 
 up his voice loud enow to be heard across 
 the sea by the red men i the new conti 
 nent. And my lady runs and lifts him in 
 her arms. Lord ! such an ado as they had 
 a-comforting him ! First my lady, then my 
 lord, then my lady again and at last my 
 lord tosses him to his shoulder, and saith he, 
 
 " Ho! thou little Jack Pudding! an thou 
 art not still o th instant, I ll swear thou art 
 a girl, an thou shalt ne er have a sword 
 such as men have." 
 
 And as I live, the child stinted, and 
 waxed as solemn as an owl ! Not another 
 tear did he shed. My lord saith, 
 
198 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 " Now thou art a good lad, therefore 
 thou shalt have my sword to play with." 
 And he unbinds it from his side, scabbard 
 and all, and holds it while the urchin gets 
 astride o t and pretends to ride. When my 
 lord is tired o stooping, he lifts the child 
 again to his shoulder, and so do they con 
 duct him back to his mother, the gardener s 
 wife. From thence they return to the cas 
 tle, and are met by my lord and lady and 
 all the servants, while I haste me in by a 
 side door to get on my Sunday kirtle and 
 appear with the rest. 
 
 As time wore on, the three were as much 
 together as when he was a little lad and 
 they lassies, and sometimes from a window, 
 and sometimes from a quiet coigne in the 
 great hall (this very hall, ye mind, dears), I 
 would sit with my stitchery and mark them 
 at their bright chatter. 
 
 But often Mistress Marian would come 
 and sit against my knee, even as thou art 
 sitting now, sweetheart, and ask me to 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 199 
 
 stroke her hair, and when she would coax 
 Lord Ernie s big blood-hound "Valor" to 
 come and lie beside her, she would sit more 
 quiet, almost as though she were asleep. 
 And she would ask me ever and again, 
 " Nurse, wherefore are women at any time 
 born with dark hair, to mar ev n such small 
 comeliness as they might otherwise have ?" 
 
 And always I would answer, " Tut ! thou 
 knowest not of what thou speakest, my 
 honey; in the sight o some, dark hair is 
 more comely than fair hair." And always 
 she would shake her head, and smile i th 
 fashion o one w r ho knows better than an 
 other. But she was a wondrous fair wom 
 an, in spite o her own thinking, and shaped 
 like the brown metal wench over yonder 
 with the bow and arrows. Diana, say ye ? 
 Why, even so ; so it was that his lordship 
 called her when he did not call her "com 
 rade." 
 
 Now young Sir Rowland Nasmyth (him 
 who was father to that Sir Rowland who 
 
2OO Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 wedded your sister the Lady Anne last 
 Michaelmas, ye mind, dears), he would be 
 often over for a day, or maybe several 
 days, at the castle ; and all four would ride 
 a-hawking, or ramble together, two by two, 
 through the park ; or Lord Ernie and Sir 
 Rowland would play at rackets, and i fecks 
 twas a sight to see em at it ! One day my 
 little lady and Sir Rowland (who was a fair 
 stripling, with curls near the color o Mis 
 tress Marian s, and eyes the tinting o the 
 far sea on a rainy day) did wander off to 
 gether, and Mistress Marian and my lord 
 were left alone, seated on a rude bench un 
 der one o th great beech-trees that flank 
 the hall door. He leaned forward and rested 
 an elbow on either knee, and did let his 
 racket swing back and forth between them, 
 and sat looking down on it. Mistress Ma 
 rian s gaze was upon him, but her big hat 
 made so deep a shadow o er her eyes withal 
 that I could not note them clearly. So 
 stayed they for some moments. 
 
Niirse Crumpet Tells the Story. 201 
 
 Then all in a breath did Lord Ernie 
 start erect and push back his heavy locks 
 and speak. "Comrade," saith he, "wilt 
 thou call me an ass for my pains, I won 
 der, an I tell thee o something that is trou 
 bling me sorely ?" 
 
 She, having in no wise moved from her 
 first position, and her eyes still in shadow, 
 saith, " I pray thee say on, Ernie, for such 
 words as thou hast just spoken to me are 
 idle." 
 
 And he leaned forward and took one of 
 her long brown hands in his, but twas dif 
 ferent from the way in which he had ta en 
 my little lady s hand at their first meeting, 
 and he saith, " Comrade, for thou hast e er 
 been my true and loyal comrade, Marian 
 sweet comrade-cousin this is the matter 
 that doth eat my heart. Dost think there 
 is aught between Patience and that young 
 coxcomb ?" 
 
 There came a red mark all across he? 
 brow, as though he had smitten her, for 
 
2O2 ^irse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 with her sudden movement her hat had 
 fallen upon the ground at her feet. And 
 she put up her hand to her side as if in 
 pain, but snatched it back quickly. And 
 for one heart-beat she shut her eyes. My 
 lord, who had stooped forward to lift her 
 hat, saw none o this, and when the hat was 
 again upon her brow and its shadow over 
 her face, she seemed the same as ever. 
 But I knew the shaft was in her heart, and 
 my heart seemed to feel it, for I loved her 
 dearly. When he could wait no longer, he 
 said, " Well, comrade ?" 
 
 And she spoke, for from the hair that 
 crowned her to the feet that carried her 
 she was as brave as any Cavalier that ever 
 swung sword for the King, and she said, 
 " Well indeed, cousin, for thee." 
 
 He said, " How dost thou mean for 
 me?" 
 
 Then stooped she and gathered a hand 
 ful of grass, and held it aloft and opened 
 her hand, palm downward, that the falling 
 
Niirse Crumpet Tells the Story. 203 
 
 blades were blown this way and that by the 
 wind. 
 
 u I mean," quoth she, " that Rowland 
 Nasmyth is no more to Patience than I 
 am to thee." And she laughed a little. 
 
 He came closer to her, and laid his arm 
 about her shoulders, drawing her to him, 
 and he said, " Nay, thou knowest how dear 
 thou art to me, comrade ; but thou mean 
 est in different wise is t so ?" 
 
 She said, " Yea ; but call me Marian to 
 day. It is to my whim." 
 
 He answered, " Dear Marian," and would 
 have kissed her cheek, but she started up 
 with a little cry, saying, " By r lay kin ! 
 there was a honey-bee tangled in my locks." 
 
 And \vhen he had sought for the bee to 
 kill it with his hat, but could not find it, 
 they did seat themselves again, he laughing 
 and saying that " the bee was a bee o much 
 discretion and wondrous good taste." 
 
 That night when I crept to my little la 
 dies to see that all was quiet, I, pausing in 
 
2O4 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 the door-way, did note them as they lay 
 my little lady with her head on Mistress 
 Marian s breast, and a smile on her lips, 
 and Mistress Marian with her arms wrapped 
 close about her, and her dark .hair swept 
 out over the pillow, and thence to the floor, 
 like a stream o water that reflects a black 
 cloud, but her eyes wide open, looking 
 straight forward, as though at a ghost. 
 And I stole off and sobbed myself to sleep, 
 but not before I had awakened Jock, who 
 did grunt, after the uncourteous, pig -like 
 manner of a suddenly wakened man, be- 
 thump his pillow as though t had been an 
 anvil, and in turning over, twist the bed 
 clothes half off of me, so that what with 
 the cold (it being then the fall o th year), 
 and what with my distress, I slept but un 
 easily. 
 
 And the next thing I knew o th matter, 
 there was a wedding, and my little lady 
 wedded to Lord Ernie, and Mistress Mari 
 an her bridemaid. Surely if the good God 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 205 
 
 e er sent happiness on earth, He did send 
 it to my little lady and to his lordship. 
 Twas at this time that Sir Rowland asked 
 Mistress Marian to be his spouse. And 
 twas even i th same spot where Lord 
 Ernie had discovered his love for my little 
 lady, that he asked her. 
 
 Again it was as though some one had 
 smitten her her face deadly white and the 
 red line across her brow. She put out one 
 hand to keep him from her, and let it rest 
 on his shoulder, and she said, " Rowland, I 
 love thee well, but no man will ever call me 
 wife." 
 
 He said, " Is this the end ?" 
 
 She said, " Though we should both live 
 to see the last day, it is the end." 
 
 Then he went, with his head bowed 
 down. And when he was gone, for the first 
 time in all her life she wept aloud. 
 
 Some time passed, and matters waxed 
 ever hotter and hotter twixt Cavaliers and 
 
206 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 Roundheads, till one night there rode up a 
 man to the castle gate with papers for Lord 
 Ernie, and the long and the short o t was 
 this : His lordship was ordered to ride forth 
 to war, and my little lady only three months 
 his wife. Now when this blow fell upon 
 them they were all at meat in this very 
 hall, for ofttimes in cold weather they dined 
 here, even as thy father and mother do 
 now, on account o th greater warmth. 
 
 And when my lord had glimpsed at the 
 papers he did start to his feet, saying, 
 " Where is the man who brought these pa 
 pers ?" 
 
 Jock answered him, " He is gone, my 
 lord." 
 
 Then snatching up a flagon of wine that 
 was near at hand, he drank more than half 
 that was in it. And again he turned over 
 the papers in his hand. But all they, my 
 little lady, and Mistress Marian, and your 
 grandfather and grandmother, seemed turn 
 ed to stone. All at once my little lady 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 207 
 
 started up as from a spell, and went and 
 got her arms about him, as in years gone 
 by when she had hurt him with his own 
 mock sword, and she cried out, " What is 
 it? what is it?" Anon came Mistress Mari 
 an to his other side, and looked over his 
 shoulder, while he stood between them like 
 one bewitched, and whiter than a man just 
 dead. When Mistress Marian noted the 
 contents o th papers, up went her hand to 
 her heart as on that day under the beech- 
 tree, and she caught at his arm to stay her 
 self. 
 
 He turned from his wife to her as though 
 for help, saying, " Tell her, tell her, com 
 rade." And he sank into a chair near by, 
 and dropped down his head into his hand. 
 
 Lord ! Lord ! that was a fearful night ! 
 When they made my little lady to under 
 stand, she set up one cry after another, 
 each loud enough to pierce the very floor 
 of heaven. Ne er since have I heard a 
 woman utter such cries as those. And no 
 
208 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 one but Mistress Marian could in any wise 
 appease her, for she would not have my 
 lord come unto her, but drove him away 
 with waving of her hands, saying, " Thou 
 dost not love me, but the King ! thou dost 
 not love me> but the King !" 
 
 And when Mistress Marian sought to 
 reason with her, twas even the same. 
 Naught could she do but sit and hold her, 
 and comfort her with soft words and noises 
 such as mothers make o er their young 
 babes. By -and -by she was calmer, and 
 asked to see her lord. So Mistress Marian 
 went out, but I remained on a low stool at 
 the bed s foot. Lord Ernie entered, and 
 she crept into his arms like a fawn into the 
 hollow of a rock when the hail is falling. 
 And they clung to each other in silence. 
 Presently he saith, " Darling, darling, that 
 I should have brought thee to grief !" 
 
 She answered, " Nay, not thou, but God. 
 O love, dost truly think that God is aye a 
 good God ?" 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 209 
 
 And he hushed and soothed her even 
 more tenderly than did Mistress Marian. 
 
 Afterwhile she saith, almost in a whisper, 
 " But thou needst not go ?" 
 
 He said, " Darling, how dost thou mean?" 
 . And she whispered more low and said, 
 " I will go with thee to the new continent 
 to-morrow, and there we can live the rest 
 o our days in peace and love." And she 
 broke out all at once wilder than ever: 
 " Ernie ! Ernie ! take me ! I will go with 
 thee ! I will leave father, and mother, and 
 home, and country, and friends, and King 
 for thee ! Only go not to war ! go not to 
 war!" 
 
 He said but two words back of his teeth, 
 " I must !" and then again, "/ must /" 
 
 But when he looked at her for answer, 
 lo ! she had swooned away. 
 
 He was to set forth in two days after the 
 
 morrow ; and on the morning of that day, 
 
 behold ! we could not believe our own eyes 
 
 for astonishment when we saw the Lady 
 
 14 
 
2io Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 Patience step quietly forth, composed and 
 gentle, though very pale. She saith good- 
 morrow to every one, and after a while she 
 doth slip her arm through her husband s 
 arm, and saith she, " Come for a walk, Ern 
 ie ; I have much to say to thee." So they 
 started forth together. Now I, fearful of 
 many things, did follow at a little distance. 
 As they walked she besought him again 
 that he would take her and set sail for the 
 new continent. And when again he told 
 her how that it could not be, she fell down 
 upon her knees before him, and clasped him 
 with her arms, and she said, " If thou dost 
 not love me, let me be the first to die by 
 thy sword. Slay me, as I kneel, for the love 
 I bear thee." 
 
 He said, " Patience, Patience, thou wilt 
 break mine heart." 
 
 And she, still kneeling, did cry out with 
 a wild voice, " They lied who named me, 
 for in an ill hour was I born, and I have 
 not patience to support it ! I thought that 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 2 1 1 
 
 thou didst love me, and lo ! thou lovest the 
 husband of another woman more than thou 
 lovest me !" 
 
 He bent to lift her up, groaning, but she 
 would not ; whereat he trembled from head 
 to foot, and she shook with his trembling 
 as the leaves of a tree when the shaft is 
 smitten by lightning. And she cried out 
 again, and said, " As there is a God in heav 
 en, thou dost not love me, an thou canst go 
 to war and leave me to die o grief." Then, 
 as though twas torn from him, he burst 
 forth, " Now as there is a God, thou dost 
 not love me^ to torture me thus !" 
 
 And all at once she was quiet. So he 
 stooped and lifted her, and called her his 
 "bride," and his "wife," and his "darling," 
 and his " heart s blood," and more wild, fond, 
 foolish names than at this day I can re 
 member. Twas near sundown, and that 
 night he was to ride. Over against the 
 
 o o 
 
 dark jags o th hills there ran a narrow 
 streak of light, like a golden ribbon. And 
 
212 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 the brown clouds above and below it were 
 like locks o hair made wanton by the wind, 
 which it as a fillet did seek to bind. But 
 they twain walked ever on, till by -and -by 
 they neared that cave o which I did tell ye. 
 As they came in front o t my lady turned, 
 and smiling piteously, "Ernie," saith she, 
 "wilt thou go with me into the cave and 
 kiss me there, that when thou art gone I 
 may come hither and think o thee ?" 
 
 And he said, " Oh, my heart ! what would 
 I not for thee ?" And he kissed her again 
 and again. 
 
 Presently she said, " Do not think me 
 foolish, but wilt thou enter first? it is so 
 dark." And she stood in the door-way, with 
 her hand on the door, while he entered. 
 
 He said, " There is nothing here, sweet 
 heart, but a monstrous damp odor." 
 
 And she answered, " Nay, but go to the 
 very end ; there may be toads ; and when 
 thou art there, halloo to me." So she waited 
 with her hand on the door. 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 213 
 
 He called to her, " There is nothing, love. 
 Wait until I return to thee." But, ere he 
 had ceased speaking, she clapped to the 
 door with all her might, and did push for 
 ward the great iron bolt, so that he was a 
 prisoner in the cave ; I being rooted to the 
 ground with astonishment, as fast as was 
 ever the oak-tree under which I stood. At 
 first he thought twas but one o her pretty 
 trickeries, and I heard his gay laugh as he 
 came to the shut door, and he called out, 
 and said, " So, sweetheart, I am in truth a 
 prisoner o war; but art thou not an un 
 merciful general to confine the captured in 
 so rheumatic a cavern ?" 
 
 She sat down and leaned her head against 
 the door, but said not a word. 
 
 And he spoke again, saying, " Darling, I 
 pray thee waste not what little time doth 
 yet remain to us." 
 
 Still she answered not; and again he 
 spake, and his voice began to be sorrow 
 ful. 
 
214 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 " Oh, my wife," he said, " canst thou jest 
 at such a time ?" 
 
 At last she answered him, saying, " I jest 
 not." 
 
 His voice changed somewhat, and he said, 
 " What dost thou, then ?" 
 
 She answered, " I keep what is mine. 
 Where my forefathers did hide their treas 
 ure, there hide I mine." 
 
 He said, in a loud voice, " God will not 
 suffer it." 
 
 Then fell a silence between them. But 
 by-and-by he spoke again. " Darling," he 
 saith, " surely thou dost not mean to do this 
 thing ?" 
 
 And she saith, like a child when tis 
 naughty, and knoweth well that it is, but 
 likes not to say so, " What thing ?" 
 
 He answered, " Thou canst not truly 
 mean to shut me here to bring dishonor 
 upon me, who have loved thee better than 
 man ever loved woman " (for so do all men 
 say, and truly think). 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 215 
 
 She said, " Thy life is more to me than 
 thy honor." 
 
 And he groaned aloud, crying, " Oh God ! 
 that I have lived to hear thee say it !" and 
 again there fell a silence, save for the whis 
 pering of the night in the trees above, us 
 and the creeping of small creatures through 
 the dry grass. Twas almost curfew-time, 
 and there was one star in the black front o 
 th night, like the star on the forehead of a 
 black stallion. 
 
 When he spake again his voice was very 
 fierce, and he saith, "Patience, I do com 
 mand thee to release me." 
 
 But she spake never a word. 
 
 And again he said, " Better let me out to 
 love thee, than keep me here until I hate 
 thee." 
 
 She shivered, leaning against the door, 
 until the big bolt rattled in its braces. 
 
 And he said yet again, " By the Lord 
 God, an thou dost keep me here to sully 
 my good name, and that of thy father and 
 
216 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 mother, who have been to me even as my 
 own flesh and blood, I will never live with 
 thee again as man with wife, but will go 
 forth into the New World to live and to 
 die with thy handmaid dishonor !" 
 
 And she was silent. 
 
 Again he spoke, and lifted up his voice 
 in a cry exceeding sorrowful and bitter, so 
 that my heart froze to hear it. 
 
 " Woman ! woman ! was it for this I gave 
 thee my fair fame to cherish ? Or was it 
 for this that I put my name into thy keep 
 ing ? Oh, child, listen while there is yet 
 time ! Wilt thou with thy own hands take 
 his manhood from thy husband to drag 
 it through the mire ? Patience, as I have 
 shared thy childhood, as I have loved and 
 cherished thy girlhood, as I have held thee 
 in my arms as bride and wife, give me back 
 my honor while there is yet time. Oh, my 
 wife ! my darling !" And I heard him sob 
 bing like a little lad. 
 
 At that sound she put both hands over 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 217 
 
 her ears, and started to her feet, looking 
 from right to left like a hunted thing, and 
 I could bear it no longer, but leaped for 
 ward and fell on my knees before her, and 
 grasped her kirtle with both hands. I could 
 scarce speak for tears, but with all the 
 strength that was in me did I plead with 
 her to draw back the bolt, but she would 
 not. Now to this day when I do think of 
 the fool that I was, not to run without her 
 knowledge and bring the old lord, thy grand 
 father, or bide my time and unbar the door 
 when she had gone, it seems as though I 
 must hate myself for evermore. But as I 
 pleaded with her, all at once there was some 
 thing cold against my throat, and I seemed 
 to know that twas a dagger, and the steel 
 cowed me, as it doth sometimes cow strong 
 men, and I stirred not, neither spoke I a 
 word more. Her face was over me, like a 
 white flower in the purple dusk, but her 
 eyes bright and terrible. And when she 
 spoke, twas not my little lady s voice, 
 
218 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 but rather the voice o a fiend. And she 
 said, 
 
 " Swear that thou sayest .nothing of all 
 this to man, or to woman, or to child, else 
 will I kill thee as thou kneelest." 
 
 And I knew that for the time she was 
 mad, and would kill me even as she had 
 said, did I not swear. So I did take that 
 fearful oath, coward as I was, and to this day 
 am I a craven when I think on t. When I 
 had sworn, she turned from me as though 
 there were no such woman in all the earth, 
 and went once more to the door o th cave, 
 and called his name " Ernie !" 
 
 He answered straightway, and said, " This 
 once will I speak to thee, but if thou dost 
 not unbar the door o th instant, I will never 
 hold speech with thee again, nor touch so 
 much as the hem of thy garments, by the 
 living God !" 
 
 She said, " I cannot ! I cannot ! But oh ! 
 say not such dreadful words. We will be 
 happy. Tis for that I keep thee here. 
 
Crumpet Tells the Story. 219 
 
 Speak to me ! Ernie ! Ernie ! Ernie ! 
 Call me thy love once more ! Just once ! 
 just once !" 
 
 But she might as well have plead at the 
 door o a tomb for all the answer she got. 
 Again and again she called him, but a dead 
 man speaks no more than spoke her lord. 
 And at last she sprang to her feet, and rush 
 ed away into the darkness towards the cas 
 tle, and I after her. 
 
 And when I was entered in by a side 
 door, and had changed my apparel and 
 gone forth to inquire after her, lo ! she was 
 raving as with fever, and all they, her 
 father, and mother, and Mistress Marian, 
 thought that he had ridden away and left 
 her i th park, having said farewell to them 
 ere he and my lady did set forth to walk. 
 And they strove to comfort her. 
 
 The morrow was scarce dawned when she 
 was up and dressed, and stealing through 
 the covert to the door o th cave. I followed 
 her, for she heeded me no more, now that I 
 
22O Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 had taken the oath, knowing that I would 
 be torn in pieces ere I would betray my 
 trust. When she was come to the door, 
 she kneeled down and leaned her head 
 against it, and called to him, with a voice 
 so exquisite low, twas almost as though one 
 should hear the spirit when it speaks within, 
 and she saith, " Ernie my love my love." 
 
 And all was still as death. And she said, 
 " Darling, feel with thy hands for the bread 
 and wine. It is near thee on the right o 
 th door as thou enterest in. Two bottles 
 o wine and some loaves o bread." 
 
 But he answered her neither by word 
 or sighing. And she said, "Wouldst thou 
 break my heart ?" Then, when she saw 
 that he would not answer her, she cast her 
 self face down along the ground, and tore 
 up the grass with her hands, and pressed 
 down her face into the damp earth. And 
 after a while (for th looks o t) she rose and 
 went back to the castle. 
 
 At nightfall there rode a man to the cas- 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 221 
 
 tie gate with papers, wherein my Lord Falk 
 land did question wherefore Lord Radnor 
 had not answered the summons. And all 
 they were amazed and looked at one an 
 other. The messenger said, moreover, " If 
 that it cannot be proven ere to-morrow 
 night that the Lord Radnor hath been the 
 victim o foul play, he will be branded as a 
 deserter throughout the land." 
 
 Thy grandfather gave one cry, " Mur 
 dered !" and the sound of it stilled the life 
 in me that I fell down as one dead. And 
 when I had once more come to the pos 
 session o my wits, Jock did tell me as how 
 twas already whispered in the village that 
 the young lord had deserted the cause, and 
 had set sail in secret for the New World. 
 Upon this, I straightway swooned again. 
 And w r hen I was recovered enough to stand 
 upon my feet and go forth from my cham 
 ber, behold ! there was a silence over all 
 the house, as in a house where the best be 
 loved has died in the night. 
 
222 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 Men scoured the country far and near, 
 in search o th murdered body o th young 
 lord. And twas now the evening o th 
 third day. But my lady meant not to open 
 the door until the morrow, for if she opened 
 it ere then, she knew not but what matters 
 might be righted, and her lord ride to the 
 wars in spite o all. When it was nigh to 
 sunset she did creep forth and kneel at the 
 door o th cave, and call to him in that beau 
 tiful, gentle voice, " Ernie ! Ernie ! my love ! 
 my darling !" 
 
 And when he did not answer her, she 
 ceased not, as on the day before, but went 
 on : " To-morrow I will set thee free. As I 
 live, thou shall be free to-morrow. An thou 
 wilt but let me be near thee like thy dog, I 
 will ask no more. Neither will I fret thee 
 with my sorrow. Oh, love, I do beseech 
 thee speak to me, whose only sin was in 
 loving thee too dearly. Let the kisses that 
 as a bride I have set upon thy lips plead 
 with them that they speak to me. Oh, my 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 223 
 
 heart ! oh, my husband, have pity ! If thou 
 wilt never speak to me again, speak to me 
 now. Say but my name, my silly, ill-be 
 stowed name, * Patience. Nay, curse me, 
 so I but hear thy voice. Call me what names 
 thou wilt. In God s name, Ernie ! In the 
 name o her who was once thy wife !" And 
 as she knelt and pleaded as a woman with 
 her God, behold ! there stepped forth from 
 the coppice Mistress Marian. She stood 
 there like a figure cut in snow, for her kirtle 
 was all of white seme, and her hair was as 
 a cloud fallen round about her. When she 
 saw my lady she drew in her breath with a 
 sharp sound, and set both hands against 
 her bosom. And she bended forward from 
 her loins and listened, but in none other 
 wise moved she. And my lady went on, 
 " To - morrow I will set thee free I do 
 swear it. With the rising o th morrow s 
 sun thou shalt be free as air. Only speak 
 to me now. Only speak to me now. Just 
 once, Ernie just once." 
 
224 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 With one spring Mistress Marian was 
 upon her, and had pinned her arms to her 
 sides. And the two women stood and gazed 
 into each other s faces, with their throats 
 stretched forward, as serpents stretch their 
 throats ere springing upon each other. 
 
 Mistress Marian spake first, and her voice 
 was as a voice that I had never heard, and 
 she said, " So this is the truth, then ?" 
 
 My lady said no word, but her eyes were 
 aflame. 
 
 And Mistress Marian gazed on her for 
 an instant more, then dashed her aside, and 
 turned towards the cave. 
 
 " Ernie," she said, " take heart. I will set 
 thee free I, Marian !" But ere her hand 
 did touch the bolt, my lady was upon her 
 like a little tiger, and she wound her hands 
 in Mistress Marian s thick tresses, and 
 dragged her backward. 
 
 And they rolled over and over on the 
 ground, even as do men when they fight, 
 saying no word from first to last. The hor- 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 225 
 
 ror of it smote me that I fell down upon my 
 knees and was dumb. Now my little lady 
 was uppermost, now Mistress Marian. And 
 had not my lady been strong with despair, 
 Mistress Marian could a mastered her o 
 th instant But she fought like a she-wolf 
 brought to bay, with teeth and talons too, 
 and twas almost as though two of a size 
 had fought there. Howbeit, with a sudden 
 move, Mistress Marian flung my lady down, 
 and set her knee upon her, and held her, and 
 looked from side to side, as though at a loss, 
 and my lady s strength was fast failing. 
 
 When I saw that, I could bide still no 
 longer, but ran forward, crying to Mistress 
 Marian to be gentle with her. 
 
 She answered but these words, " Nurse, 
 take off my girdle and bind thy lady s hands 
 with it." And there was that in her voice 
 I dared not disobey. So I bound my lady s 
 hands, she saying never a word, and when 
 the girdle was fast knotted, Mistress Marian 
 helped her gently enough to rise, and bid- 
 
 5 
 
226 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 ding me have a care o her, turned and 
 drew back the bolt from the door o the 
 cave. 
 
 The last light o the sun fell like a golden 
 lance across the threshold, and across my 
 lord as he lay there, face down, with his 
 hands against the sill o th door. 
 
 And she stooped down over him, saying, 
 " He hath fainted for lack o food," but I 
 knew that there was both wine and bread i 
 th cave. And she called his name, but he 
 was silent. And she called him again and 
 again. And at last she bade me come to 
 her side, and when we had turned him upon 
 his side so that his face was towards us, be 
 hold, he was dead. But Mistress Marian 
 saith again, " He hath swooned away." And 
 she put her hand upon his brow, but no soon 
 er did she touch it than she cried out at its 
 coldness, and shook the dead man in her 
 frenzy, crying, 
 
 " Ernie ! Ernie ! thou art free ! Wake, 
 man ! thou art free !" 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 227 
 
 I said, " Mistress, mistress, for love of 
 God ! Dost thou not see that neither thou 
 nor any other can wake him more ?" 
 
 Thereat she fell back upon her knees, 
 leaning upon one arm. And she said, 
 " Dost thou mean " 
 
 I bowed down mine head, for I could not 
 meet her eyes. And she fell upon his body, 
 and stirred no more, so that when they came 
 to bear the poor young lord to the castle, 
 they did bear her also. And for some hours 
 we thought her dead. 
 
 Now when my lady saw them how they 
 lay there, and the sunlight red upon them 
 like to blood, she came and kneeled down 
 in front o me, and lifted up her poor fet 
 tered hands meekly, like a little child. And 
 she said, " Nurse, I pray you tell me what it 
 doth mean, for methinks I am waxing fool 
 ish, like poor Marjory i th village whose 
 man fell from the cliff." 
 
 I could not answer her for sobbing. 
 
 And she said, " Do they sleep ?" 
 
228 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 And I nodded my head, for I could say 
 no word. 
 
 She said, " Pray you, do not wake them. 
 An they sleep till the morrow, all will be 
 well." Suddenly her wits came back upon 
 her with a rush, as doth a wind that hath 
 seemed to be gone for aye. And she snapt 
 the girdle on her wrists like as it had been 
 a thread o silk, and ran and laid hold on 
 him with her hands, and dragged him forth 
 upon the grass. And she saith, 
 
 "Ernie! Ernie! Ernie! What! wilt thou 
 not answer me, now that thou art free? 
 See ! thou mayest ride to war. It is not 
 yet too late. What there, nurse ! My lord s 
 charger ! Run ! run !" Then leaped she to 
 her feet with one cry that methought would 
 a cracked the welkin in twain above our 
 heads. 
 
 " Dead ! Oh God in heaven !" 
 
 So for an instant she stood, with her 
 arms reached high above her head, and her 
 eyes upon him as he lay at her feet, even as 
 
Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 229 
 
 a flame doth poise for a breath ere sinking 
 again upon the coals. But anon she dropped 
 down beside him, and beat her forehead with 
 the lower palms o her hands, and she saith, 
 " Well didst thou sign me with thy blood ! 
 well didst thou sign me with thy blood!" 
 Then all at once did she peep up at me over 
 her shoulder with one o her winsome ways, 
 and fell a-laughing softly. 
 
 " Nurse," saith she, " hath he not found a 
 pretty way to punish me ? He feigns it well 
 by r lay kin doth he not, nurse ?" 
 
 And she rocked to and fro, as she knelt 
 beside him, laughing softly to herself, and 
 ever and again she would reach forth one 
 little hand, all scarred in her struggle with 
 Mistress Marian, and would touch a stray 
 lock into place, and once she bent over and 
 kissed him, laughing softly, and nodding to 
 herself very wisely. And she would sit that 
 way, and rock herself to and fro, and smile 
 upon the ground, and laugh softly, until the 
 very day that she did die. And the last 
 
230 Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story. 
 
 words that she did ever say were, "Just 
 once, Ernie just once." 
 
 (Nurse Crumpet rises and stirs the fire, 
 amid a heavy silence, broken only by the 
 little Lady Dorothy s sobs and the rushing 
 of the wind outside the great hall.) 
 
 THE END. 
 
TONY, THE MAID. 
 
 A Novelette. By BLANCHE WILLIS HOWARD. Illustrated 
 by CHARLES S. RELNHART. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. 
 
 " Tony, the Maid, is not only one of the best pieces of work Miss 
 Howard has yet done, but it is one of the very best short stories of the 
 year. Tony herself is an original creation. There is no maid like 
 Tony in all fiction ; and she is, moreover, the only good thing, which 
 is neither superlatively beautiful nor emphatically a bore, or both, that 
 has come out of the Canton of Lucerne since the days of William Tell. 
 Even the insatiate archer, when he is not mythical, is a trifle wearing 
 to the average mind, but Tony is never tiresome and always grand. 
 
 "As a short story Miss Howard s Tony, the Maid has but one 
 fault. It is too short. There is not enough of Tony. She makes her 
 exit too suddenly and too completely. It is consoling to know, how 
 ever, that Miss Zschorcher is some day coining to America as Mrs. 
 Eduard Maler. Perhaps Tony the Maid may figure as Tony the Ma 
 tron and Tony the Mother. Knowing her duty to her gracious Frau- 
 lein, no doubt she will." 
 
 A bright and lively sketch of an American woman abroad, and char 
 acterized throughout by keen and forcible phraseology and a very 
 symmetrical construction. A". Y. Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 This is a very clever satire on one of the phases of modern society, 
 and the tale is told in a most charming manner. Albany Press. 
 
 It is a long time since we have met with anything so charming, so 
 refreshing, so droll. . . . Read this book once, and one wants to turn 
 back and read it again. X. Y. Star. 
 
 Mr. Iteinhart s illustrations greatly enhance the interest of the nov 
 elette. Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 A story written in a style as simple as that which Miss Howard has 
 adopted in this novelette is sure to find many readers. The story is 
 well told and attractive. TVoy Press. 
 
 "Tony, the Maid," is safe for a great success with the lovers of the 
 bright and dainty in literature. It is prettily bound, and uncommonly 
 cleverly illustrated. X. Y. Graphic. 
 
 The story is told with infinite humor and with not a little pathos, 
 and it will well repay perusal. Philadelphia Telegraph. 
 
 The plot is new, the characters are fresh, and the handling is spirited 
 and brisk. No one who commences this little book will stop reading 
 until the end is reached. Chicago Journal 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. 
 
 3^* The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the 
 United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. 
 
BY CONSTANCE F. WOOLSOK 
 
 EAST ANGELS, pp. 592. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25. 
 ANNE. Illustrated, pp. 540. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25. 
 FOR THE MAJOR, pp. 208. IGmo, Cloth, $1 00. 
 
 CASTLE NOWHERE, pp. 386. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. 
 (A New Edition.} 
 
 RODMAN THE KEEPER. Southern Sketches, pp. 
 340. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (A New Edition.) 
 
 There is a certain bright cheerfulness in Miss Woolson s writing 
 which invests all her characters with lovable qualities. Jewish Advo 
 cate, N. Y. 
 
 Miss Woolson is among our few successful writers of interesting 
 magazine stories, and her skill and power are perceptible in the de 
 lineation of her heroines no less thau in the suggestive pictures of 
 local life. Jeivish Messenger, N. Y. 
 
 Constance Fenimore Woolson may easily become the novelist 
 laureate. Boston Globe. 
 
 Miss Woolson has a graceful fancy, a ready wit, a polished style, and 
 conspicuous dramatic power ; while her skill in the development of a 
 story is very remarkable. London Life. 
 
 Miss Woolson never once follows the beaten track of the orthodox 
 novelist, but strikes a new and richly loaded vein, which so far is all 
 her own ; and thus we feel, on reading one of her works, a fresh sen 
 sation, and we put down the book with a sigh to think our pleasant 
 task of reading it is finished. The author s lines must have fallen to 
 her in very pleasant places ; or she has, perhaps, within herself the 
 wealth of womanly love and tenderness she pours so freely into all 
 she writes. Such books as hers do much to elevate the moral tone of 
 the day a quality sadly wanting in novels of the time. Whitehall 
 Review, London. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. 
 
 The above works sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the 
 United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. 
 

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