CHAPTER XXXII.
BADGER ON THE ALERT.
"A thing of shreds and patches."
Shakespeare.
After the incidents narrated in the foregoing chapter, there followed ascene of complete disorder. Many of those who were well affected towardsthe Prince and his cause, fell away from him, and quitted the dwellingwith Sigurd and myself; and speedily the Atheling was left quite alone,saving his personal friends, who had journeyed with him from Scotland,and who were mostly foreigners.
Whilst this had been transpiring, most of the camp was wrapped inprofound slumber. The followers and housecarles who had accompaniedtheir masters, had found resting-places in the outhouses, amid the hayand bracken which had been accumulated for the fodder and bedding of thecattle during the winter months. But Badger was ill at ease amid it all.Some presentiment of evil disturbed his slumbers, and he turned uneasilyagain and again; finally he sprang bolt upright, and grasped his sword,at the same time giving Wulfhere a rough shake, which thoroughly rousedhim also on the instant.
"What is the matter, Badger? Anything amiss?"
"Hush! there are men astir in the camp. I warrant there is some mischiefabroad, and I'll know the bottom of it."
At that moment two men entered stealthily at the farther end, where thehorses were stalled. Wulfhere and Badger drew their swords, andinstinctively ran their fingers down the blades in the darkness. Themovements of the two men were plainly visible to the watchers, for themoonlight streaming in through the open door showed their outline verydistinctly as they moved to and fro. Immediately the men began to saddleseveral horses belonging to the Prince, and then they led them out.
"There is a move of some sort, Wulfhere, and I warrant mischief is init, for there are snakes about. A murrain on them! I am determined toknow what it means. You stay here," said Badger--he, at the same time,stealing noiselessly out at the opposite end of the building.
As soon as he reached the open air, he saw, across the enclosure, thatthere were lights in the dwelling; so he nimbly dodged round, keeping inthe shadow of the buildings, until he reached the rear of the house.There, peering through a crazy, patched window, he not only saw what wasgoing on inside, but he overheard this conversation between the Athelingand his favourite Alred:--
"My stomach will stand no more on't, sweet Alred. Such a ruffian,boorish crew are not fit company for a prince. Then I believe that huge,over-grown Norse clown would carry out his threat, and take my life in amoment, if he got the chance. Curses on them all! Upon my soul, I wishthe Normans would swoop down upon them, and cut the vile hogs intomincemeat."
"Bravo, Prince! That is a Heaven-sent suggestion, upon my soul!"interjected Alred. "I match you against any one of the seven sages.Whew! it just jumps with my humour. The Normans are in force, too, notmore than half a dozen miles away. What a _tour-de-force_ to bring theNormans down upon them by the morning! 'Twould be a stroke of policyWilliam could not excel. Ah! look here--speaking of William: he wouldload you with favours, and replenish your royal treasury bountifully;then, heigho! there would always be a flowing bowl of Rhenish, or goodCanary, and the sweet blue eyes of my lady-love would sparkle again. Afig for a kingdom, and the toiling and moiling of it! Give me the jollylife where care sits lightly, and my own sweet will can be indulged. ToRouen, say I again, with William's goodwill and his gold pieces!"
"Let us away, Alred! Upon my soul, revenge is sweet. You say right, too;when one does a service for William, there follow royal gifts enow. Iwould rather have a double purpose than a bootless errand, any day?Where are the churls who are saddling the horses?"
Having overheard this speech, Badger darted back to his comrade, who wasawaiting his return impatiently.
"Heigho, Wulfhere! this princeling plots mischief. He will betray thecamp, the hound, I do believe. Come along; let us dog his footsteps."
So the pair sallied out of the enclosure in the wake of the Prince, hisparasites, and several serving-men. The party slowly threaded their waythrough the woods and entered a narrow defile between precipitous hillson either side; all the while being steadily followed by the two Saxons.Suddenly, on one side, the mountain range came to an abrupt termination,ending in a bold promontory running up to a point. At this juncture thevalley broadened out into magnificent proportions, and a spacious lakeof water gleamed in the darkness. Turning to the left, they skirted thelake for a couple of miles or more. Suddenly, however, they wereconfronted by a pair of Norman sentries, who challenged the party, andsome time was spent in _pourparlers_; then one of the sentriesaccompanied them to the Norman encampment, not more than a quarter of amile away, the lurid light of their fires making visible some portionsof the Norman quarters.
Wulfhere and Badger were obliged to come to a halt, for the remainingsentry barred their further progress, even if they dared come nearer theencampment of the enemy. They waited and watched until they saw theforms of the Prince and his followers come within the circle of lightthrown off by the blazing wood fires.
"Now," said Wulfhere, "there is nothing more to be done, Badger, Ithink. Let us go back now, and promptly warn our friends."
"Hold there, Wulfhere; there is something more to be done. Get _thee_back, and do thine errand. I have a little further business here, I cansee. Tell the Earl I shall be rounding the great Nab's Head about breakof day."
"What hast thou in the wind, Badger? Thou wilt be hazarding one pranktoo many some of these days."
"Never fear, comrade, I know my way about, whether it be light or dark.Besides, my business is such as would disgrace a half-bred knight likethyself. Dost thou see, Grizzly here, and myself, have no dignity touphold? so we may do anything either boldly or slily, as it suits ourhumour, if it only brings grist to the mill. Well, now be off. There isno time to talk, for it only hinders business. Come, Grizzly," saidBadger, addressing his hound as soon as the form of Wulfhere was lost toview. "You know, Grizzly, you and I are not supposed to be aboveborrowing a few head of cattle, or to be too proud to do our owndroving, at a pinch."
The fact was, the lynx eyes of Badger had espied a herd of cattle lyingtogether under the trees by the side of the lake, although the darknesswas so deep that none but keen eyes would have detected their presence.He had seen them at once, and instantly his nimble brain began revolvingsome scheme for carrying them off.
"The cackling and talking has come to naught, as it mostly does," saidhe grunting to himself; "but beshrew me if I like a bootless errand.I'll try a cast of my own net, whether there is aught to it or not."
Now there was but one formidable obstacle in the way, and that was thesolitary sentinel who still stood at his post, and who continued slowlypacing to and fro in a limited space.
Badger turned to the hound and addressed him, for he was in the habit ofhaving sundry conferences with his favourite, who had partnered him inmany a daring exploit.
"Well, Grizzly, what is to be done now? Eh, sir? We must have yoncattle, Grizzly, come fair or come foul. There is this scurvy Norman inthe way. What are we to do with him? I think we can dispose of himsomehow or other. What say you?"
Grizzly answered by a vigorous attempt to lick Badger's chops.
"Eh, sir? I don't doubt but we can finish him off easily enough, you andI together, Grizzly. But what will our Abbot say? Are you aware, sir,that you and I have a sacred calling--that we belong to the monasticorder? Don't you remember the many sermons we have from our Abbot, onloving our enemies? I don't quite see the turn of the wit in the case ofthese Norman dogs, somehow or other. No doubt it is sound doctrineenough, but bad to practise. Well, let that pass. I have a feeling,though, I would rather not brain this fellow, if another turn will serveas well. Now it would certainly ease my mind to do it if I caught him,_flagrante delicto, flagrante delicto_. Grizzly, did you note, that isthe _monk_ that is speaking? You see I can mouth my Latin when itpleases me, Grizzly. There is many a scurvy monk knows less. But I say,Grizzly, I fancy the fellow's knees are knocking together already withfear at being
left alone, and that is very suggestive. Let us tryplaying ghost with him."
So saying, Badger divested himself of his upper garments, leaving hisshoulders and the upper parts of his body exposed. Then he took thegarments and tied them deftly about the shoulders of Grizzly, giving hima most strange and uncouth appearance. Having done this, and withoutexposing themselves to view, Badger commenced to give forth, in a lowtone, the most dismal groans, and varying this by most piercing shrieksof pain.
The Norman turned a terrified gaze in the direction from whence thesestrange noises came, evidently in great trepidation and fear. Then hedarted off a few paces, as though about to beat a hasty retreat. Thiswas enough. Badger saw at once that the ruse would answer. So, withoutmore ado, he dropped down on all fours, and, accompanied by the dog,each of them presenting a most unearthly and fantastic appearance, theystarted off in the direction of the sentinel, the groans and shriekingof Badger deepening, and becoming most diabolical in tone and intensity.
The Norman for one moment turned a scared gaze on the advancing figures,which appeared to him to be none other than the Saxon devil Zernebock,of which many Normans went in mortal dread. Then, with the speed of thewind, he took to his heels and dashed off towards the camp. Quick asthought, Badger freed the dog from his trammels, and bade him fetch thecattle. In a very few minutes he was making off, all speed, with theherd.