CHAPTER V.
THE WAPENTAKE.
Once, however, he thought it his duty to derogate from this prudence,for prudence' sake, thinking that it might be well to make Gwynplaineuneasy. It is true that this idea arose from a circumstance much graver,in the opinion of Ursus, than the cabals of the fair or of the church.
Gwynplaine, as he picked up a farthing which had fallen when countingthe receipts, had, in the presence of the innkeeper, drawn a contrastbetween the farthing, representing the misery of the people, and thedie, representing, under the figure of Anne, the parasiticalmagnificence of the throne--an ill-sounding speech. This observation wasrepeated by Master Nicless, and had such a run that it reached to Ursusthrough Fibi and Vinos. It put Ursus into a fever. Seditious words, leseMajeste. He took Gwynplaine severely to task. "Watch over yourabominable jaws. There is a rule for the great--to do nothing; and arule for the small--to say nothing. The poor man has but one friend,silence. He should only pronounce one syllable: 'Yes.' To confess and toconsent is all the right he has. 'Yes,' to the judge; 'yes,' to theking. Great people, if it pleases them to do so, beat us. I havereceived blows from them. It is their prerogative; and they lose nothingof their greatness by breaking our bones. The ossifrage is a species ofeagle. Let us venerate the sceptre, which is the first of staves.Respect is prudence, and mediocrity is safety. To insult the king is toput oneself in the same danger as a girl rashly paring the nails of alion. They tell me that you have been prattling about the farthing,which is the same thing as the liard, and that you have found fault withthe august medallion, for which they sell us at market the eighth partof a salt herring. Take care; let us be serious. Consider the existenceof pains and penalties. Suck in these legislative truths. You are in acountry in which the man who cuts down a tree three years old is quietlytaken off to the gallows. As to swearers, their feet are put into thestocks. The drunkard is shut up in a barrel with the bottom out, so thathe can walk, with a hole in the top, through which his head is passed,and with two in the bung for his hands, so that he cannot lie down. Hewho strikes another one in Westminster Hall is imprisoned for life andhas his goods confiscated. Whoever strikes any one in the king's palacehas his hand struck off. A fillip on the nose chances to bleed, and,behold! you are maimed for life. He who is convicted of heresy in thebishop's court is burnt alive. It was for no great matter that CuthbertSimpson was quartered on a turnstile. Three years since, in 1702, whichis not long ago, you see, they placed in the pillory a scoundrel, calledDaniel Defoe, who had had the audacity to print the names of the Membersof Parliament who had spoken on the previous evening. He who commitshigh treason is disembowelled alive, and they tear out his heart andbuffet his cheeks with it. Impress on yourself notions of right andjustice. Never allow yourself to speak a word, and at the first cause ofanxiety, run for it. Such is the bravery which I counsel and which Ipractise. In the way of temerity, imitate the birds; in the way oftalking, imitate the fishes. England has one admirable point in herfavour, that her legislation is very mild."
His admonition over, Ursus remained uneasy for some time. Gwynplaine notat all. The intrepidity of youth arises from want of experience.However, it seemed that Gwynplaine had good reason for his easy mind,for the weeks flowed on peacefully, and no bad consequences seemed tohave resulted from his observations about the queen.
Ursus, we know, lacked apathy, and, like a roebuck on the watch, kept alookout in every direction. One day, a short time after his sermon toGwynplaine, as he was looking out from the window in the wall whichcommanded the field, he became suddenly pale.
"Gwynplaine?"
"What?"
"Look."
"Where?"
"In the field."
"Well."
"Do you see that passer-by?"
"The man in black?"
"Yes."
"Who has a kind of mace in his hand?"
"Yes."
"Well?"
"Well, Gwynplaine, that man is a wapentake."
"What is a wapentake?"
"He is the bailiff of the hundred."
"What is the bailiff of the hundred?"
"He is the _proepositus hundredi_."
"And what is the _proepositus hundredi_?"
"He is a terrible officer."
"What has he got in his hand?"
"The iron weapon."
"What is the iron weapon?"
"A thing made of iron."
"What does he do with that?"
"First of all, he swears upon it. It is for that reason that he iscalled the wapentake."
"And then?"
"Then he touches you with it."
"With what?"
"With the iron weapon."
"The wapentake touches you with the iron weapon?"
"Yes."
"What does that mean?"
"That means, follow me."
"And must you follow?"
"Yes."
"Whither?"
"How should I know?"
"But he tells you where he is going to take you?"
"No."
"How is that?"
"He says nothing, and you say nothing."
"But--"
"He touches you with the iron weapon. All is over then. You must go."
"But where?"
"After him."
"But where?"
"Wherever he likes, Gwynplaine."
"And if you resist?"
"You are hanged."
Ursus looked out of the window again, and drawing a long breath, said,--
"Thank God! He has passed. He was not coming here."
Ursus was perhaps unreasonably alarmed about the indiscreet remark, andthe consequences likely to result from the unconsidered words ofGwynplaine.
Master Nicless, who had heard them, had no interest in compromising thepoor inhabitants of the Green Box. He was amassing, at the same time asthe Laughing Man, a nice little fortune. "Chaos Vanquished" hadsucceeded in two ways. While it made art triumph on the stage, it madedrunkenness prosper in the tavern.