CHAPTER XXV
A damn'd cramp piece of penmanship as ever I saw in my life! --She Stoops to Conquer
When the Templar reached the hall of the castle, he found De Bracyalready there. Your love-suit, said De Bracy, hath, I suppose, beendisturbed, like mine, by this obstreperous summons. But you have comelater and more reluctantly, and therefore I presume your interview hasproved more agreeable than mine.
Has your suit, then, been unsuccessfully paid to the Saxon heiress?said the Templar.
By the bones of Thomas a Becket, answered De Bracy, the Lady Rowenamust have heard that I cannot endure the sight of women's tears.
Away! said the Templar; thou a leader of a Free Company, and regarda woman's tears! A few drops sprinkled on the torch of love, make theflame blaze the brighter.
Gramercy for the few drops of thy sprinkling, replied De Bracy; butthis damsel hath wept enough to extinguish a beacon-light. Never wassuch wringing of hands and such overflowing of eyes, since the days ofSt Niobe, of whom Prior Aymer told us. [30] A water-fiend hath possessedthe fair Saxon.
A legion of fiends have occupied the bosom of the Jewess, replied theTemplar; for, I think no single one, not even Apollyon himself, couldhave inspired such indomitable pride and resolution.--But where isFront-de-Boeuf? That horn is sounded more and more clamorously.
He is negotiating with the Jew, I suppose, replied De Bracy, coolly;probably the howls of Isaac have drowned the blast of the bugle.Thou mayst know, by experience, Sir Brian, that a Jew parting with histreasures on such terms as our friend Front-de-Boeuf is like to offer,will raise a clamour loud enough to be heard over twenty horns andtrumpets to boot. But we will make the vassals call him.
They were soon after joined by Front-de-Boeuf, who had been disturbed inhis tyrannic cruelty in the manner with which the reader is acquainted,and had only tarried to give some necessary directions.
Let us see the cause of this cursed clamour, saidFront-de-Boeuf--here is a letter, and, if I mistake not, it is inSaxon.
He looked at it, turning it round and round as if he had had really somehopes of coming at the meaning by inverting the position of the paper,and then handed it to De Bracy.
It may be magic spells for aught I know, said De Bracy, who possessedhis full proportion of the ignorance which characterised the chivalry ofthe period. Our chaplain attempted to teach me to write, he said, butall my letters were formed like spear-heads and sword-blades, and so theold shaveling gave up the task.
Give it me, said the Templar. We have that of the priestly character,that we have some knowledge to enlighten our valour.
Let us profit by your most reverend knowledge, then, said De Bracy;what says the scroll?
It is a formal letter of defiance, answered the Templar; but, byour Lady of Bethlehem, if it be not a foolish jest, it is the mostextraordinary cartel that ever was sent across the drawbridge of abaronial castle.
Jest! said Front-de-Boeuf, I would gladly know who dares jest with mein such a matter!--Read it, Sir Brian.
The Templar accordingly read it as follows:--I, Wamba, the son ofWitless, Jester to a noble and free-born man, Cedric of Rotherwood,called the Saxon,--And I, Gurth, the son of Beowulph, the swineherd---
Thou art mad, said Front-de-Boeuf, interrupting the reader.
By St Luke, it is so set down, answered the Templar. Then resuming histask, he went on,--I, Gurth, the son of Beowulph, swineherd unto thesaid Cedric, with the assistance of our allies and confederates, whomake common cause with us in this our feud, namely, the good knight,called for the present 'Le Noir Faineant', and the stout yeoman, RobertLocksley, called Cleave-the-Wand. Do you, Reginald Front de-Boeuf, andyour allies and accomplices whomsoever, to wit, that whereas you have,without cause given or feud declared, wrongfully and by mastery seizedupon the person of our lord and master the said Cedric; also uponthe person of a noble and freeborn damsel, the Lady Rowena ofHargottstandstede; also upon the person of a noble and freeborn man,Athelstane of Coningsburgh; also upon the persons of certain freebornmen, their 'cnichts'; also upon certain serfs, their born bondsmen; alsoupon a certain Jew, named Isaac of York, together with his daughter, aJewess, and certain horses and mules: Which noble persons, with their'cnichts' and slaves, and also with the horses and mules, Jew and Jewessbeforesaid, were all in peace with his majesty, and travelling as liegesubjects upon the king's highway; therefore we require and demandthat the said noble persons, namely, Cedric of Rotherwood, Rowena ofHargottstandstede, Athelstane of Coningsburgh, with their servants,'cnichts', and followers, also the horses and mules, Jew and Jewessaforesaid, together with all goods and chattels to them pertaining, be,within an hour after the delivery hereof, delivered to us, or to thosewhom we shall appoint to receive the same, and that untouched andunharmed in body and goods. Failing of which, we do pronounce to you,that we hold ye as robbers and traitors, and will wager our bodiesagainst ye in battle, siege, or otherwise, and do our utmost toyour annoyance and destruction. Wherefore may God have you in hiskeeping.--Signed by us upon the eve of St Withold's day, under the greattrysting oak in the Hart-hill Walk, the above being written by aholy man, Clerk to God, our Lady, and St Dunstan, in the Chapel ofCopmanhurst.
At the bottom of this document was scrawled, in the first place, arude sketch of a cock's head and comb, with a legend expressing thishieroglyphic to be the sign-manual of Wamba, son of Witless. Under thisrespectable emblem stood a cross, stated to be the mark of Gurth, theson of Beowulph. Then was written, in rough bold characters, the words,Le Noir Faineant. And, to conclude the whole, an arrow, neatly enoughdrawn, was described as the mark of the yeoman Locksley.
The knights heard this uncommon document read from end to end, and thengazed upon each other in silent amazement, as being utterly at a loss toknow what it could portend. De Bracy was the first to break silence byan uncontrollable fit of laughter, wherein he was joined, though withmore moderation, by the Templar. Front-de-Boeuf, on the contrary, seemedimpatient of their ill-timed jocularity.
I give you plain warning, he said, fair sirs, that you had betterconsult how to bear yourselves under these circumstances, than give wayto such misplaced merriment.
Front-de-Boeuf has not recovered his temper since his late overthrow,said De Bracy to the Templar; he is cowed at the very idea of a cartel,though it come but from a fool and a swineherd.
By St Michael, answered Front-de-Boeuf, I would thou couldst standthe whole brunt of this adventure thyself, De Bracy. These fellows darednot have acted with such inconceivable impudence, had they not beensupported by some strong bands. There are enough of outlaws in thisforest to resent my protecting the deer. I did but tie one fellow, whowas taken redhanded and in the fact, to the horns of a wild stag, whichgored him to death in five minutes, and I had as many arrows shot at meas there were launched against yonder target at Ashby.--Here, fellow,he added, to one of his attendants, hast thou sent out to see by whatforce this precious challenge is to be supported?
There are at least two hundred men assembled in the woods, answered asquire who was in attendance.
Here is a proper matter! said Front-de-Boeuf, this comes of lendingyou the use of my castle, that cannot manage your undertaking quietly,but you must bring this nest of hornets about my ears!
Of hornets? said De Bracy; of stingless drones rather; a band of lazyknaves, who take to the wood, and destroy the venison rather than labourfor their maintenance.
Stingless! replied Front-de-Boeuf; fork-headed shafts of a cloth-yardin length, and these shot within the breadth of a French crown, aresting enough.
For shame, Sir Knight! said the Templar. Let us summon our people,and sally forth upon them. One knight--ay, one man-at-arms, were enoughfor twenty such peasants.
Enough, and too much, said De Bracy; I should only be ashamed tocouch lance against them.
True, answered Front-de-Boeuf; were they black Turks or Moors, SirTemplar, or the craven peasants of France, most valiant De Bracy; butthese are English yeomen, over whom we shall have no advantage, savewhat we may derive from our arms and horses, which will avail us littlein the glades of the forest. Sally, saidst thou? we have scarce menenough to defend the castle. The best of mine are at York; so is allyour band, De Bracy; and we have scarcely twenty, besides the handfulthat were engaged in this mad business.
Thou dost not fear, said the Templar, that they can assemble in forcesufficient to attempt the castle?
Not so, Sir Brian, answered Front-de-Boeuf. These outlaws have indeeda daring captain; but without machines, scaling ladders, and experiencedleaders, my castle may defy them.
Send to thy neighbours, said the Templar, let them assemble theirpeople, and come to the rescue of three knights, besieged by a jesterand a swineherd in the baronial castle of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf!
You jest, Sir Knight, answered the baron; but to whom should Isend?--Malvoisin is by this time at York with his retainers, and soare my other allies; and so should I have been, but for this infernalenterprise.
Then send to York, and recall our people, said De Bracy. If theyabide the shaking of my standard, or the sight of my Free Companions,I will give them credit for the boldest outlaws ever bent bow ingreen-wood.
And who shall bear such a message? said Front-de-Boeuf; they willbeset every path, and rip the errand out of his bosom.--I have it, headded, after pausing for a moment--Sir Templar, thou canst writeas well as read, and if we can but find the writing materials of mychaplain, who died a twelvemonth since in the midst of his Christmascarousals--
So please ye, said the squire, who was still in attendance, I thinkold Urfried has them somewhere in keeping, for love of the confessor.He was the last man, I have heard her tell, who ever said aught to her,which man ought in courtesy to address to maid or matron.
Go, search them out, Engelred, said Front-de-Boeuf; and then, SirTemplar, thou shalt return an answer to this bold challenge.
I would rather do it at the sword's point than at that of the pen,said Bois-Guilbert; but be it as you will.
He sat down accordingly, and indited, in the French language, an epistleof the following tenor:--Sir Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, with his nobleand knightly allies and confederates, receive no defiances at the handsof slaves, bondsmen, or fugitives. If the person calling himself theBlack Knight have indeed a claim to the honours of chivalry, he oughtto know that he stands degraded by his present association, and has noright to ask reckoning at the hands of good men of noble blood. Touchingthe prisoners we have made, we do in Christian charity require you tosend a man of religion, to receive their confession, and reconcile themwith God; since it is our fixed intention to execute them this morningbefore noon, so that their heads being placed on the battlements,shall show to all men how lightly we esteem those who have bestirredthemselves in their rescue. Wherefore, as above, we require you to senda priest to reconcile them to God, in doing which you shall render themthe last earthly service.
This letter being folded, was delivered to the squire, and by him tothe messenger who waited without, as the answer to that which he hadbrought.
The yeoman having thus accomplished his mission, returned to thehead-quarters of the allies, which were for the present establishedunder a venerable oak-tree, about three arrow-flights distant from thecastle. Here Wamba and Gurth, with their allies the Black Knight andLocksley, and the jovial hermit, awaited with impatience an answer totheir summons. Around, and at a distance from them, were seen many abold yeoman, whose silvan dress and weatherbeaten countenances showedthe ordinary nature of their occupation. More than two hundred hadalready assembled, and others were fast coming in. Those whom theyobeyed as leaders were only distinguished from the others by a featherin the cap, their dress, arms, and equipments being in all otherrespects the same.
Besides these bands, a less orderly and a worse armed force, consistingof the Saxon inhabitants of the neighbouring township, as well asmany bondsmen and servants from Cedric's extensive estate, had alreadyarrived, for the purpose of assisting in his rescue. Few of these werearmed otherwise than with such rustic weapons as necessity sometimesconverts to military purposes. Boar-spears, scythes, flails, and thelike, were their chief arms; for the Normans, with the usual policyof conquerors, were jealous of permitting to the vanquished Saxons thepossession or the use of swords and spears. These circumstances renderedthe assistance of the Saxons far from being so formidable to thebesieged, as the strength of the men themselves, their superior numbers,and the animation inspired by a just cause, might otherwise well havemade them. It was to the leaders of this motley army that the letter ofthe Templar was now delivered.
Reference was at first made to the chaplain for an exposition of itscontents.
By the crook of St Dunstan, said that worthy ecclesiastic, which hathbrought more sheep within the sheepfold than the crook of e'er anothersaint in Paradise, I swear that I cannot expound unto you this jargon,which, whether it be French or Arabic, is beyond my guess.
He then gave the letter to Gurth, who shook his head gruffly, and passedit to Wamba. The Jester looked at each of the four corners of the paperwith such a grin of affected intelligence as a monkey is apt to assumeupon similar occasions, then cut a caper, and gave the letter toLocksley.
If the long letters were bows, and the short letters broad arrows, Imight know something of the matter, said the brave yeoman; but as thematter stands, the meaning is as safe, for me, as the stag that's attwelve miles distance.
I must be clerk, then, said the Black Knight; and taking the letterfrom Locksley, he first read it over to himself, and then explained themeaning in Saxon to his confederates.
Execute the noble Cedric! exclaimed Wamba; by the rood, thou must bemistaken, Sir Knight.
Not I, my worthy friend, replied the knight, I have explained thewords as they are here set down.
Then, by St Thomas of Canterbury, replied Gurth, we will have thecastle, should we tear it down with our hands!
We have nothing else to tear it with, replied Wamba; but mine arescarce fit to make mammocks of freestone and mortar.
'Tis but a contrivance to gain time, said Locksley; they dare not doa deed for which I could exact a fearful penalty.
I would, said the Black Knight, there were some one among us whocould obtain admission into the castle, and discover how the case standswith the besieged. Methinks, as they require a confessor to be sent,this holy hermit might at once exercise his pious vocation, and procureus the information we desire.
A plague on thee, and thy advice! said the pious hermit; I tell thee,Sir Slothful Knight, that when I doff my friar's frock, my priesthood,my sanctity, my very Latin, are put off along with it; and when in mygreen jerkin, I can better kill twenty deer than confess one Christian.
I fear, said the Black Knight, I fear greatly, there is no one herethat is qualified to take upon him, for the nonce, this same characterof father confessor?
All looked on each other, and were silent.
I see, said Wamba, after a short pause, that the fool must be stillthe fool, and put his neck in the venture which wise men shrink from.You must know, my dear cousins and countrymen, that I wore russet beforeI wore motley, and was bred to be a friar, until a brain-fever cameupon me and left me just wit enough to be a fool. I trust, with theassistance of the good hermit's frock, together with the priesthood,sanctity, and learning which are stitched into the cowl of it, I shallbe found qualified to administer both worldly and ghostly comfort to ourworthy master Cedric, and his companions in adversity.
Hath he sense enough, thinkst thou? said the Black Knight, addressingGurth.
I know not, said Gurth; but if he hath not, it will be the first timehe hath wanted wit to turn his folly to account.
On with the frock, then, good fellow, quoth the Knight, and let thymaster send us an account of their situation within the castle. Theirnumbers must be few, and it is five to one they may be accessible by asudden and bold attack. Time wears--away with thee.
And, in the meantime, said Locksley, we will beset the place soclosely, that not so much as a fly shall carry news from thence. Sothat, my good friend, he continued, addressing Wamba, thou maystassure these tyrants, that whatever violence they exercise on thepersons of their prisoners, shall be most severely repaid upon theirown.
Pax vobiscum, said Wamba, who was now muffled in his religiousdisguise.
And so saying he imitated the solemn and stately deportment of a friar,and departed to execute his mission.