redressed, or petitions to be laid before the Triers.No hindrance was put in their way; everyone was free to come, each had afair hearing. Outlaws came to beg for pardon, when, if the Triersthought fit, they were recommended to the king's grace; men and womensought redress from wrongs inflicted perhaps by the lord of the manor;jurors who had perverted their office were brought up to receivejudgment--all these lesser matters were as much the business ofParliament as granting aids to the king for carrying on the wars, and sofascinated was Matthew with the scene that Hugh was wearied to death ofit before he could drag him away.
He got him out at last, muttering to himself that had he but known howeasy matters were made he would have looked up a case of his own againstthe University of Cambridge. Hugh, stirred by ambition to have to dowith an actual suitor, which was much more exciting than looking on andlistening to matters he did not understand, was for his going back againat once. Great was Matthew's indignation at the idea.
"Thou silly oaf!" he said, angrily. "To go without preparation!"
"They but told a plain story," returned Hugh, sturdily. "Anyone coulddo as much."
"Seest thou not the difference? They were ignorant men with whom theCouncil was wondrous patient, overlooking all their clipped words, andmercifully stooping to their simpleness. But for a man of understandingto put a case matters must be very different. Fit words must he use,and just pleadings must he make, and be ready to give good reason.Their worships know well with whom they have to do. I will take thee tothe Guildhall one day, and there thou shalt see the lawyers in theirwhite coifs. They are no longer monks, as once they were."
"I would liefer go down the river and see the ships," said Hugh wearily.
Matthew, who was really good-natured, yielded to this desire, and theypicked their way along the swampy ground as best they could, and pastthe Tower. The great trade of London, even at this time when commercewas ever made secondary to politics, was so large that a number ofvessels were in the river. Strange craft they were and of all shapesand sizes, the largest resembling nothing so much as a swollenhalf-circle, broadening at one end, and coming round so as to form asort of shelter, and curving sharply to a point at the bow. No suchthing as sea charts as yet existed, so that a voyage was a perilousmatter, and, in spite of the Crusades and of the trade with theMediterranean, few vessels ventured through the Straits of Gibraltar.Edward was turning his attention to the navy, and was the first toappoint admirals, but, so far, England's strength lay altogether in herarmy and her famous bowmen, and the sea was no source of power, nor hersailors famous.
Still, though Matthew professed the greatest contempt for his taste,Hugh found the river more delightful than the Council Hall, and was forlingering there as late as he could. Some of the vessels wereunloading, others embarking corn from the eastern counties, so thatthere was much stir and turmoil, and more vessels were in than wasusual, because the time of the autumn equinox was dangerous for sailing.Children, too, were, as ever, playing about, and one group attractedHugh, because in it was a little maid much about the size of littleEleanor, and with something of her spirited ways. The boys, hercompanions, were rough, and at last one pushed her with such force thatshe fell, striking her head violently against a projecting plank. Hughflew to avenge her, but the boys, frightened at seeing her liemotionless, fled, and Matthew stood growling at the manners of the age.Hugh, used to sickness, ran to the water's brink, and scooped up alittle water in his two hands. By the time he had poured it on her faceand raised her head on his knee she opened her brown eyes with a cry of"Mother!" and the next moment a man in a sailor's dress had leapedashore from one of the vessels which were lading close by, had run tothe group and taken her in his arms.
"Art thou hurt, my Moll, and where?"
"Father, 'twas Robin Bolton pushed me."
"Ay, and I wot Robin Bolton shall have a clout on his head when he comeswithin my reach. But there, thou wilt soon be well again. Thank theefor thy help," he added, more roughly, to Hugh.
"If you stand in need of a witness," began Matthew, but the sailorinterrupted him--
"Witnesses? No! What she stood in need of was water, which thy boyfetched. He is quick enough to be a sailor," he added, with a laugh.
"Wilt thou come on a voyage to Dartmouth?"
"I should be frighted on the sea," said Hugh sturdily.
"Nay, it's not so bad, so you fall not in with pirates, which are thepest of our coasts. I've been lucky enough to escape them so far. Butthen," he added with a wink, "they know me at Dartmouth, and folksometimes tell evil tales of Dartmouth."
He was of a talkative nature, or perhaps thought it well to keep hisMoll quiet on his knee, for he went on to tell them that his wife andchild lived near the spot where they were, while he went on tradingvoyages, bringing up Cornish ore from Dartmouth and carrying back otherladings. He was very proud of his vessel, and yet prouder of his littlemaid, whom it was plain he did his best to spoil; and when he saw thatshe had taken a fancy to Hugh, he told him he might come on board hisvessel one day before he sailed.
"Which will be in a week," he said, confidently. "The storms will beover by then."
Hugh was glad enough of the bidding, for Matthew, with his love for thelaw courts and for all that concerned the State, was but a dry companionto an eager boy. He went back to the monastery in high glee, to tellhis father all that he had heard.
Friar Luke was with Stephen, having brought his patient a decoction ofcoltsfoot, and also a little bunch of flowers which he was examiningwith enthusiastic patience.
"See here," he said, with a sigh, "though in good sooth one needs eyesof more than human power to examine so minute a structure. There is atalk that one of our order, Friar Bacon, who died not many years ago,could by means of a strange instrument so enlarge distant objects as tobring them into the range of a man's vision. I know not. Many strangethings are told of him, and many of our brethren believe that he haddealings with the black art. It might be he was only in advance of usall. But while he was about it I would he had taught us how to enlargewhat is near. And, indeed, there is talk of a magic beryl--"
"Father, father!" cried Hugh, rushing in breathless; "we have been tothe river, and there was a ship, and a little maiden called Moll, andthe master has bid me on board the ship before he sails for Dartmouth."
He poured out the history of the day, standing by his father's knee,with Agrippa nestling in his arms. Bassett heard him so thoughtfullythat Hugh began to think he was displeased.
"Mayn't I go?" he asked, tremulously.
"Ay, ay," said his father, absently. "Friar Luke, tell me truly, do youstill dread for me this journey to Exeter?"
"Rather more than less," answered the friar.
"The fatigue?"
"Ay, fatigue and exposure, but chiefly the fatigue."
"Yet I must go."
"Ay, ay, there is ever a must in the mouth of a wilful man," said thefriar, testily. "And then you fall sick, and it is the fault of theleech."
"That it can never be in my case," said the carver, gratefully, "fornever had man a kinder or more skilful. But I will tell you why I ask.Hugh's encounter has put into my mind the thought that we might go toDartmouth by ship."
"The saints forbid!" said the friar, rapidly crossing himself. "Youmust be mad to think of it, Master Bassett."
"Nay, but why?"
"The dangers, the discomforts!--shoals, rocks, pirates!"
"Dangers there are in all journeys. The discomforts will no doubt begreat, but put on the other side the fatigue you warn me against."
"You should not go at all," said Friar Luke. "Remain here where you canbe cared for. Hugh shall be a serving-boy, and take the habit when heis old enough."
"Wilt thou, Hugh?" demanded his father.
A vehement shake of the head was his answer.
"Nay, holy friar," said Bassett, with a smile; "I am bending the twig sofar that the strain is great, but your proposal, I fear, would snap italtogether. But
about our voyage. I am greatly inclined to Hugh's newfriend. When does he sail?"
"In a week," said the boy, with some reluctance. He had not liked thevoyage from Flanders, and this promised to be worse. Still he felt itincumbent upon him to show no fear.
"That would do well. I tell thee what, Hugh, thou shalt ask the masterto come and see me here if he has a mind for another kind of cargo."
With his usual hopefulness, the idea had taken hold of the wood-carverso strongly that he turned aside all remonstrances, though the priorhimself came up to beg him not to be so foolhardy. But it was true, asBassett maintained, that each kind of travelling had its dangers,