The Well at the World's End: A Tale

  CHAPTER 11

  Now Must Ralph Ride For It

  When he awoke again the sun was shining through the hazel leaves,though it was yet early; he arose and looked to his horse, and led himout of the hazel copse and stood and looked about him; and lo! a mancoming slowly through the wood on Ralph's right hand, and making as itseemed for the want-way; he saw Ralph presently, and stopped, and benta bow which he held in his hand, and then came towards him warily, withthe arrow nocked. But Ralph went to meet him with his sword in hissheath, and leading Falcon by the rein, and the man stopped and tookthe shaft from the string: he had no armour, but there was a little axeand a wood-knife in his girdle; he was clad in homespun, and lookedlike a carle of the country-side. Now he greeted Ralph, and Ralph gavehim the sele of the day, and saw that the new-comer was both tall andstrong, dark of skin and black-haired, but of a cheerful countenance.He spake frank and free to Ralph, and said: "Whither away, lord, out ofthe woodland hall, and the dwelling of deer and strong-thieves? I wouldthat the deer would choose them a captain, and gather head and destroythe thieves--and some few others with them."

  Said Ralph: "I may scarce tell thee till I know myself. Awhile ago Iwas minded for the Burg of the Four Friths; but now I am for Hamptonunder Scaur."

  "Yea?" said the carle, "when the Devil drives, to hell must we."

  "What meanest thou, good fellow?" said Ralph, "Is Hampton then so evilan abode?" And indeed it was in his mind that the adventure of thelady led captive bore some evil with it.

  Said the carle: "If thou wert not a stranger in these parts I need notto answer thy question; but I will answer it presently, yet not till wehave eaten, for I hunger, and have in this wallet both bread andcheese, and thou art welcome to a share thereof, if thou hungerestalso, as is most like, whereas thou art young and fresh coloured."

  "So it is," said Ralph, laughing, "and I also may help to spread thistable in the wilderness, since there are yet some crumbs in my wallet.Let us sit down and fall to at once."

  "By your leave, Sir Gentleman," said the carle, "we will go a few yardsfurther on, where there is a woodland brook, whereof we may drink whenmy bottle faileth."

  "Nay, I may better that," said Ralph, "for I have wherewithal.""Nevertheless," said the carle, "we will go thither, for here is it tooopen for so small a company as ours, since this want-way hath an illname, and I shall lead thee whereas we shall be somewhat out of the wayof murder-carles. So come on, if thou trusteth in me."

  Ralph yeasaid him, and they went together a furlong from the want-wayinto a little hollow place wherethrough ran a clear stream betwixtthick-leaved alders. The carle led Ralph to the very lip of the waterso that the bushes covered them; there they sat down and drew what theyhad from their wallets, and so fell to meat; and amidst of the meat thecarle said:

  "Fair Knight, as I suppose thou art one, I will ask thee if any needdraweth thee to Hampton?"

  Said Ralph: "The need of giving the go-by to the Burg of the FourFriths, since I hear tell that the folk thereof be robbers andmurderers."

  "Thou shalt find that out better, lord, by going thither; but I shalltell thee, that though men may slay and steal there time and timeabout, yet in regard to Hampton under Scaur, it is Heaven, wherein mensin not. And I am one who should know, for I have been long dwellingin Hell, that is Hampton; and now am I escaped thence, and am mindedfor the Burg, if perchance I may be deemed there a man good enough toride in their host, whereby I might avenge me somewhat on them thathave undone me: some of whom meseemeth must have put in thy mouth thatword against the Burg. Is it not so?"

  "Maybe," said Ralph, "for thou seemest to be a true man." No more hespake though he had half a mind to tell the carle all the tale of thatadventure; but something held him back when he thought of that lady andher fairness. Yet again his heart misgave him of what might betidethat other maiden at Hampton, and he was unquiet, deeming that he mustneeds follow her thither. The carle looked on him curiously andsomewhat anxiously, but Ralph's eyes were set on something that was notthere; or else maybe had he looked closely on the carle he might havedeemed that longing to avenge him whereof he spoke did not change hisface much; for in truth there was little wrath in it.

  Now the carle said: "Thou hast a tale which thou deemest unmeet for myears, as it well may be. Well, thou must speak, or refrain fromspeaking, what thou wilt; but thou art so fair a young knight, and soblithe with a poor man, and withal I deem that thou mayest help me tosome gain and good, that I will tell thee a true tale: and first thatthe Burg is a good town under a good lord, who is no tyrant noroppressor of peaceful men; and that thou mayest dwell there in peace asto the folk thereof, who be good folk, albeit they be no dastards tolet themselves be cowed by murder-carles. And next I will tell theethat the folk of the town of Hampton be verily as harmless and innocentas sheep; but that they be under evil lords who are not their truelords, who lay heavy burdens on them and torment them even to thedestroying of their lives: and lastly I will tell thee that I was oneof those poor people, though not so much a sheep as the more part ofthem, therefore have these tyrants robbed me of my croft, and setanother man in my house; and me they would have slain had I not fled tothe wood that it might cover me. And happy it was for me that I hadneither wife, nor chick, nor child, else had they done as they did withmy brother, whose wife was too fair for him, since he dwelt at Hampton;so that they took her away from him to make sport for them of the DryTree, who dwell in the Castle of the Scaur, who shall be thy masters ifthou goest thither.

  "This is my tale, and thine, I say, I ask not; but I deem that thoushalt do ill if thou go not to the Burg either with me or by thyselfalone; either as a guest, or as a good knight to take service in theirhost."

  Now so it was that Ralph was wary; and this time he looked closely atthe carle, and found that he spake coldly for a man with so much wrathin his heart; therefore he was in doubt about the thing; moreover hecalled to mind the words of the lady whom he had delivered, and herloveliness, and the kisses she had given him, and he was loth to findher a liar; and he was loth also to think that the maiden of Bourtonhad betaken her to so evil a dwelling. So he said:

  "Friend, I know not that I must needs be a partaker in the strifebetwixt Hampton and the Burg, or go either to one or the other of thesestrongholds. Is there no other way out of this wood save by Hampton orthe Burg? or no other place anigh, where I may rest in peace awhile,and then go on mine own errands?"

  Said the Carle: "There is a thorp that lieth somewhat west of theBurg, which is called Apthorp; but it is an open place, not fenced, andis debateable ground, whiles held by them of the Burg, whiles by theDry Tree; and if thou tarry there, and they of the Dry Tree take thee,soon is thine errand sped; and if they of the Burg take thee, thenshalt thou be led into the Burg in worse case than thou wouldest be ifthou go thereto uncompelled. What sayest thou, therefore? Who shallhurt thee in the Burg, a town which is under good and strong law, ifthou be a true man, as thou seemest to be? And if thou art seekingadventures, as may well be, thou shalt soon find them there ready tohand. I rede thee come with me to the Burg; for, to say sooth, I shallfind it somewhat easier to enter therein if I be in the company ofthee, a knight and a lord."

  So Ralph considered and thought that there lay indeed but little perilto him in the Burg, whereas both those men with whom he had strivenwere hushed for ever, and there was none else to tell the tale of thebattle, save the lady, whose peril from them of the Burg was muchgreater than his; and also he thought that if anything untoward befel,he had some one to fall back on in old Oliver: yet on the other handhe had a hankering after Hampton under Scaur, where, to say sooth, hedoubted not to see the lady again.

  So betwixt one thing and the other, speech hung on his lips awhile,when suddenly the carle said: "Hist! thou hast left thy horse withoutthe bushes, and he is whinnying" (which indeed he was), "there is nowno time to lose. To horse straightway, for certainly there are folk athand, and they may be foemen, and are most like to be." r />
  Therewith they both arose and hastened to where Falcon stood justoutside the alder bushes, and Ralph leapt a-horseback without more ado,and the carle waited no bidding to leap up behind him, and pointing toa glade of the wood which led toward the highway, cried out, "Spur thatway, thither! they of the Dry Tree are abroad this morning. Spur! 'tisfor life or death!"

  Ralph shook the rein and Falcon leapt away without waiting for thespur, while the carle looked over his shoulder and said, "Yonder theycome! they are three; and ever they ride well horsed. Nay, nay! Theyare four," quoth he, as a shout sounded behind them. "Spur, younglord! spur! And thine horse is a mettlesome beast. Yea, it will do,it will do."

  Therewith came to Ralph's ears the sound of their horse-hoofs beatingthe turf, and he spurred indeed, and Falcon flew forth.

  "Ah," cried the carle! "but take heed, for they see that thy horse isgood, and one of them, the last, hath a bent Turk bow in his hand, andis laying an arrow on it; as ever their wont is to shoot a-horseback: aturn of thy rein, as if thine horse were shying at a weasel on theroad!"

  Ralph stooped his head and made Falcon swerve, and heard therewith thetwang of the bowstring and straightway the shaft flew past his ears.Falcon galloped on, and the carle cried out: "There is the highwaytoward the Burg! Do thy best, do thy best! Lo you again!"

  For the second shaft flew from the Turkish bow, and the noise of thechase was loud behind them. Once again twanged the bow-string, butthis time the arrow fell short, and the woodland man, turning himselfabout as well as he might, shook his clenched fist at the chase, cryingout in a voice broken by the gallop: "Ha, thieves! I am Roger of theRope-walk, I go to twist a rope for the necks of you!"

  Then he spake to Ralph: "They are turning back: they are beaten, andwithal they love not the open road: yet slacken not yet, young knight,unless thou lovest thine horse more than thy life; for they will followon through the thicket on the way-side to see whether thou wert born afool and hast learned nothing later."

  "Yea," said Ralph, "and now I deem thou wilt tell me that to the Burg Ineeds must."

  "Yea, forsooth," said the carle, "nor shall we be long, riding thus,ere we come to the Burg Gate."

  "Yea, or even slower," said Ralph, drawing rein somewhat, "for now Ideem the chase done: and after all is said, I have no will to slayFalcon, who is one of my friends, as thou perchance mayest come to beanother."

  Thereafter he went a hand-gallop till the wood began to thin, and therewere fields of tillage about the highway; and presently Roger said:"Thou mayst breathe thy nag now, and ride single, for we are amidstfriends; not even a score of the Dry Tree dare ride so nigh the Burgsave by night and cloud."

  So Ralph stayed his horse, and he and Roger lighted down, and Ralphlooked about him and saw a stone tower builded on a little knoll amidsta wheatfield, and below it some simple houses thatched with straw;there were folk moreover working, or coming and going about the fields,who took little heed of the two when they saw them standing quiet bythe horse's head; but each and all of these folk, so far as could beseen, had some weapon.

  Then said Ralph: "Good fellow, is this the Burg of the Four Friths?"The carle laughed, and said: "Simple is the question, Sir Knight:yonder is a watch-tower of the Burg, whereunder husbandmen can live,because there be men-at-arms therein. And all round the outskirts ofthe Frank of the Burg are there such-like towers to the number oftwenty-seven. For that, say folk, was the tale of the winters of theFair Lady who erewhile began the building of the Burg, when she wasfirst wedded to the Forest Lord, who before that building had dwelt, heand his fathers, in thatched halls of timber here and there about theclearings of the wild-wood. But now, knight, if thou wilt, thou mayestgo on softly toward the Gate of the Burg, and if thou wilt I will walkbeside thy rein, which fellowship, as aforesaid, shall be a gain to me."

  Said Ralph: "I pray thee come with me, good fellow, and show me howeasiest to enter this stronghold." So, when Falcon was well breathed,they went on, passing through goodly acres and wide meadows, with hereand there a homestead on them, and here and there a carle's cot. Thencame they to a thorp of the smallest on a rising ground, from thefurther end of which they could see the walls and towers of the Burg.Thereafter right up to the walls were no more houses or cornfields,nought but reaches of green meadows plenteously stored with sheep andkine, and with a little stream winding about them.