CHAPTER VII--THE HOODED FACE
They awoke in the grey of the morning; the birds were not yet in fullsong, but twittered here and there among the woods; the sun was not yetup, but the eastern sky was barred with solemn colours. Half starved andover-weary as they were, they lay without moving, sunk in a delightfullassitude. And as they thus lay, the clang of a bell fell suddenly upontheir ears.
"A bell!" said Dick, sitting up. "Can we be, then, so near to Holywood?"
A little after, the bell clanged again, but this time somewhat nearerhand; and from that time forth, and still drawing nearer and nearer, itcontinued to sound brokenly abroad in the silence of the morning.
"Nay, what should this betoken?" said Dick, who was now broad awake.
"It is some one walking," returned Matcham, and "the bell tolleth ever ashe moves."
"I see that well," said Dick. "But wherefore? What maketh he inTunstall Woods? Jack," he added, "laugh at me an ye will, but I like notthe hollow sound of it."
"Nay," said Matcham, with a shiver, "it hath a doleful note. An the daywere not come"--
But just then the bell, quickening its pace, began to ring thick andhurried, and then it gave a single hammering jangle, and was silent for aspace.
"It is as though the bearer had run for a pater-noster while, and thenleaped the river," Dick observed.
"And now beginneth he again to pace soberly forward," added Matcham.
"Nay," returned Dick--"nay, not so soberly, Jack. 'Tis a man thatwalketh you right speedily. 'Tis a man in some fear of his life, orabout some hurried business. See ye not how swift the beating drawethnear?"
"It is now close by," said Matcham.
They were now on the edge of the pit; and as the pit itself was on acertain eminence, they commanded a view over the greater proportion ofthe clearing, up to the thick woods that closed it in.
The daylight, which was very clear and grey, showed them a riband ofwhite footpath wandering among the gorse. It passed some hundred yardsfrom the pit, and ran the whole length of the clearing, east and west.By the line of its course, Dick judged it should lead more or lessdirectly to the Moat House.
Upon this path, stepping forth from the margin of the wood, a whitefigure now appeared. It paused a little, and seemed to look about; andthen, at a slow pace, and bent almost double, it began to draw nearacross the heath. At every step the bell clanked. Face, it had none; awhite hood, not even pierced with eye-holes, veiled the head; and as thecreature moved, it seemed to feel its way with the tapping of a stick.Fear fell upon the lads, as cold as death.
"A leper!" said Dick, hoarsely.
"His touch is death," said Matcham. "Let us run."
"Not so," returned Dick. "See ye not?--he is stone blind. He guidethhim with a staff. Let us lie still; the wind bloweth towards the path,and he will go by and hurt us not. Alas, poor soul, and we should ratherpity him!"
"I will pity him when he is by," replied Matcham.
The blind leper was now about halfway towards them, and just then the sunrose and shone full on his veiled face. He had been a tall man before hewas bowed by his disgusting sickness, and even now he walked with avigorous step. The dismal beating of his bell, the pattering of thestick, the eyeless screen before his countenance, and the knowledge thathe was not only doomed to death and suffering, but shut out for ever fromthe touch of his fellow-men, filled the lads' bosoms with dismay; and atevery step that brought him nearer, their courage and strength seemed todesert them.
As he came about level with the pit, he paused, and turned his face fullupon the lads.
"Mary be my shield! He sees us!" said Matcham, faintly.
"Hush!" whispered Dick. "He doth but hearken. He is blind, fool!"
The leper looked or listened, whichever he was really doing, for someseconds. Then he began to move on again, but presently paused once more,and again turned and seemed to gaze upon the lads. Even Dick becamedead-white and closed his eyes, as if by the mere sight he might becomeinfected. But soon the bell sounded, and this time, without any fartherhesitation, the leper crossed the remainder of the little heath anddisappeared into the covert of the woods.
"He saw us," said Matcham. "I could swear it!"
"Tut!" returned Dick, recovering some sparks of courage. "He but heardus. He was in fear, poor soul! An ye were blind, and walked in aperpetual night, ye would start yourself, if ever a twig rustled or abird cried 'Peep.'"
"Dick, good Dick, he saw us," repeated Matcham. "When a man hearkeneth,he doth not as this man; he doth otherwise, Dick. This was seeing; itwas not hearing. He means foully. Hark, else, if his bell be notstopped!"
Such was the case. The bell rang no longer.
"Nay," said Dick, "I like not that. Nay," he cried again, "I like thatlittle. What may this betoken? Let us go, by the mass!"
"He hath gone east," added Matcham. "Good Dick, let us go westwardstraight; I shall not breathe till I have my back turned upon thatleper."
"Jack, y' are too cowardly," replied Dick. "We shall go fair forHolywood, or as fair, at least, as I can guide you, and that will be duenorth."
They were afoot at once, passed the stream upon some stepping-stones, andbegan to mount on the other side, which was steeper, towards the marginof the wood. The ground became very uneven, full of knolls and hollows;trees grew scattered or in clumps; it became difficult to choose a path,and the lads somewhat wandered. They were weary, besides, withyesterday's exertions and the lack of food, and they moved but heavilyand dragged their feet among the sand.
Presently, coming to the top of a knoll, they were aware of the leper,some hundred feet in front of them, crossing the line of their march by ahollow. His bell was silent, his staff no longer tapped the ground, andhe went before him with the swift and assured footsteps of a man whosees. Next moment he had disappeared into a little thicket.
The lads, at the first glimpse, had crouched behind a tuft of gorse;there they lay, horror-struck.
"Certain, he pursueth us," said Dick--"certain! He held the clapper ofhis bell in one hand, saw ye? that it should not sound. Now may thesaints aid and guide us, for I have no strength to combat pestilence!"
"What maketh he?" cried Matcham. "What doth he want? Who ever heard thelike, that a leper, out of mere malice, should pursue unfortunates? Hathhe not his bell to that very end, that people may avoid him? Dick, thereis below this something deeper."
"Nay, I care not," moaned Dick; "the strength is gone out of me; my legsare like water. The saints be mine assistance!"
"Would ye lie there idle?" cried Matcham. "Let us back into the open.We have the better chance; he cannot steal upon us unawares."
"Not I," said Dick. "My time is come, and peradventure he may pass usby."
"Bend me, then, your bow!" cried the other. "What! will ye be a man?"
Dick crossed himself. "Would ye have me shoot upon a leper?" he cried."The hand would fail me. Nay, now," he added--"nay, now, let be! Withsound men I will fight, but not with ghosts and lepers. Which this is, Iwot not. One or other, Heaven be our protection!"
"Now," said Matcham, "if this be man's courage, what a poor thing is man!But sith ye will do naught, let us lie close."
Then came a single, broken jangle on the bell.
"He hath missed his hold upon the clapper," whispered Matcham. "Saints!how near he is!"
But Dick answered never a word; his teeth were near chattering.
Soon they saw a piece of the white robe between some bushes; then theleper's head was thrust forth from behind a trunk, and he seemed narrowlyto scan the neighbourhood before he once again withdrew. To theirstretched senses, the whole bush appeared alive with rustlings and thecreak of twigs; and they heard the beating of each other's heart.
Suddenly, with a cry, the leper sprang into the open close by, and ranstraight upon the lads. They, shrieking aloud, separated and began torun different ways. But their horrible enemy fastened upon Matcham, ranhim swi
ftly down, and had him almost instantly a prisoner. The lad gaveone scream that echoed high and far over the forest, he had one spasm ofstruggling, and then all his limbs relaxed, and he fell limp into hiscaptor's arms.
Dick heard the cry and turned. He saw Matcham fall; and on the instanthis spirit and his strength revived; With a cry of pity and anger, heunslung and bent his arblast. But ere he had time to shoot, the leperheld up his hand.
"Hold your shot, Dickon!" cried a familiar voice. "Hold your shot, madwag! Know ye not a friend?"
And then laying down Matcham on the turf, he undid the hood from off hisface, and disclosed the features of Sir Daniel Brackley.
"Sir Daniel!" cried Dick.
"Ay, by the mass, Sir Daniel!" returned the knight. "Would ye shoot uponyour guardian, rogue? But here is this"--And there he broke off, andpointing to Matcham, asked: "How call ye him, Dick?"
"Nay," said Dick, "I call him Master Matcham. Know ye him not? He saidye knew him!"
"Ay," replied Sir Daniel, "I know the lad;" and he chuckled. "But he hasfainted; and, by my sooth, he might have had less to faint for! Hey,Dick? Did I put the fear of death upon you?"
"Indeed, Sir Daniel, ye did that," said Dick, and sighed again at themere recollection. "Nay, sir, saving your respect, I had as lief 'a' metthe devil in person; and to speak truth, I am yet all a-quake. But whatmade ye, sir, in such a guise?"
Sir Daniel's brow grew suddenly black with anger.
"What made I?" he said. "Ye do well to mind me of it! What? I skulkedfor my poor life in my own wood of Tunstall, Dick. We were ill sped atthe battle; we but got there to be swept among the rout. Where be all mygood men-at-arms? Dick, by the mass, I know not! We were swept down;the shot fell thick among us; I have not seen one man in my own colourssince I saw three fall. For myself, I came sound to Shoreby, and beingmindful of the Black Arrow, got me this gown and bell, and came softly bythe path for the Moat House. There is no disguise to be compared withit; the jingle of this bell would scare me the stoutest outlaw in theforest; they would all turn pale to hear it. At length I came by you andMatcham. I could see but evilly through this same hood, and was not sureof you, being chiefly, and for many a good cause, astonished at thefinding you together. Moreover, in the open, where I had to go slowlyand tap with my staff, I feared to disclose myself. But see," he added,"this poor shrew begins a little to revive. A little good canary willcomfort me the heart of it."
The knight, from under his long dress, produced a stout bottle, and beganto rub the temples and wet the lips of the patient, who returnedgradually to consciousness, and began to roll dim eyes from one toanother.
"What cheer, Jack!" said Dick. "It was no leper, after all; it was SirDaniel! See!"
"Swallow me a good draught of this," said the knight. "This will giveyou manhood. Thereafter, I will give you both a meal, and we shall allthree on to Tunstall. For, Dick," he continued, laying forth bread andmeat upon the grass, "I will avow to you, in all good conscience, it irksme sorely to be safe between four walls. Not since I backed a horse haveI been pressed so hard; peril of life, jeopardy of land and livelihood,and to sum up, all these losels in the wood to hunt me down. But I benot yet shent. Some of my lads will pick me their way home. Hatch hathten fellows; Selden, he had six. Nay, we shall soon be strong again; andif I can but buy my peace with my right fortunate and undeserving Lord ofYork, why, Dick, we'll be a man again and go a-horseback!"
And so saying, the knight filled himself a horn of canary, and pledgedhis ward in dumb show.
"Selden," Dick faltered--"Selden"--And he paused again.
Sir Daniel put down the wine untasted.
"How!" he cried, in a changed voice. "Selden? Speak! What of Selden?"
Dick stammered forth the tale of the ambush and the massacre.
The knight heard in silence; but as he listened, his countenance becameconvulsed with rage and grief.
"Now here," he cried, "on my right hand, I swear to avenge it! If that Ifail, if that I spill not ten men's souls for each, may this hand witherfrom my body! I broke this Duckworth like a rush; I beggared him to hisdoor; I burned the thatch above his head; I drove him from this country;and now, cometh he back to beard me? Nay, but, Duckworth, this time itshall go bitter hard!"
He was silent for some time, his face working.
"Eat!" he cried, suddenly. "And you here," he added to Matcham, "swearme an oath to follow straight to the Moat House."
"I will pledge mine honour," replied Matcham.
"What make I with your honour?" cried the knight. "Swear me upon yourmother's welfare!"
Matcham gave the required oath; and Sir Daniel re-adjusted the hood overhis face, and prepared his bell and staff. To see him once more in thatappalling travesty somewhat revived the horror of his two companions.But the knight was soon upon his feet.
"Eat with despatch," he said, "and follow me yarely to mine house."
And with that he set forth again into the woods; and presently after thebell began to sound, numbering his steps, and the two lads sat by theiruntasted meal, and heard it die slowly away up hill into the distance.
"And so ye go to Tunstall?" Dick inquired.
"Yea, verily," said Matcham, "when needs must! I am braver behind SirDaniel's back than to his face."
They ate hastily, and set forth along the path through the airy upperlevels of the forest, where great beeches stood apart among green lawns,and the birds and squirrels made merry on the boughs. Two hours later,they began to descend upon the other side, and already, among thetree-tops, saw before them the red walls and roofs of Tunstall House.
"Here," said Matcham, pausing, "ye shall take your leave of your friendJack, whom y' are to see no more. Come, Dick, forgive him what he didamiss, as he, for his part, cheerfully and lovingly forgiveth you."
"And wherefore so?" asked Dick. "An we both go to Tunstall, I shall seeyou yet again, I trow, and that right often."
"Ye'll never again see poor Jack Matcham," replied the other, "that wasso fearful and burthensome, and yet plucked you from the river; ye'll notsee him more, Dick, by mine honour!" He held his arms open, and the ladsembraced and kissed. "And, Dick," continued Matcham, "my spirit bodethill. Y' are now to see a new Sir Daniel; for heretofore hath allprospered in his hands exceedingly, and fortune followed him; but now,methinks, when his fate hath come upon him, and he runs the adventure ofhis life, he will prove but a foul lord to both of us. He may be bravein battle, but he hath the liar's eye; there is fear in his eye, Dick,and fear is as cruel as the wolf! We go down into that house, Saint Maryguide us forth again!"
And so they continued their descent in silence, and came out at lastbefore Sir Daniel's forest stronghold, where it stood, low and shady,flanked with round towers and stained with moss and lichen, in the liliedwaters of the moat. Even as they appeared, the doors were opened, thebridge lowered, and Sir Daniel himself, with Hatch and the parson at hisside, stood ready to receive them.