The Prince and the Pauper

  CHAPTER XXVIII. The sacrifice.

  Meantime Miles was growing sufficiently tired of confinement andinaction. ?But now his trial came on, to his great gratification, andhe thought he could welcome any sentence provided a further imprisonmentshould not be a part of it. ?But he was mistaken about that. ?He was ina fine fury when he found himself described as a 'sturdy vagabond' andsentenced to sit two hours in the stocks for bearing that characterand for assaulting the master of Hendon Hall. ?His pretensions as tobrothership with his prosecutor, and rightful heirship to the Hendonhonours and estates, were left contemptuously unnoticed, as being noteven worth examination.

  He raged and threatened on his way to punishment, but it did no good; hewas snatched roughly along by the officers, and got an occasional cuff,besides, for his irreverent conduct.

  The King could not pierce through the rabble that swarmed behind; sohe was obliged to follow in the rear, remote from his good friend andservant. ?The King had been nearly condemned to the stocks himself forbeing in such bad company, but had been let off with a lecture and awarning, in consideration of his youth. ?When the crowd at last halted,he flitted feverishly from point to point around its outer rim, huntinga place to get through; and at last, after a deal of difficulty anddelay, succeeded. ?There sat his poor henchman in the degrading stocks,the sport and butt of a dirty mob--he, the body servant of the Kingof England! ?Edward had heard the sentence pronounced, but he had notrealised the half that it meant. ?His anger began to rise as the senseof this new indignity which had been put upon him sank home; it jumpedto summer heat, the next moment, when he saw an egg sail through the airand crush itself against Hendon's cheek, and heard the crowd roarits enjoyment of the episode. ?He sprang across the open circle andconfronted the officer in charge, crying--

  "For shame! ?This is my servant--set him free! ?I am the--"

  "Oh, peace!" exclaimed Hendon, in a panic, "thou'lt destroy thyself.Mind him not, officer, he is mad."

  "Give thyself no trouble as to the matter of minding him, good man, Ihave small mind to mind him; but as to teaching him somewhat, to thatI am well inclined." ?He turned to a subordinate and said, "Give thelittle fool a taste or two of the lash, to mend his manners."

  "Half a dozen will better serve his turn," suggested Sir Hugh, who hadridden up, a moment before, to take a passing glance at the proceedings.

  The King was seized. ?He did not even struggle, so paralysed was hewith the mere thought of the monstrous outrage that was proposed to beinflicted upon his sacred person. ?History was already defiled withthe record of the scourging of an English king with whips--it was anintolerable reflection that he must furnish a duplicate of that shamefulpage. ?He was in the toils, there was no help for him; he must eithertake this punishment or beg for its remission. ?Hard conditions; hewould take the stripes--a king might do that, but a king could not beg.

  But meantime, Miles Hendon was resolving the difficulty. ?"Let the childgo," said he; "ye heartless dogs, do ye not see how young and frail heis? ?Let him go--I will take his lashes."

  "Marry, a good thought--and thanks for it," said Sir Hugh, his facelighting with a sardonic satisfaction. ?"Let the little beggar go, andgive this fellow a dozen in his place--an honest dozen, well laid on."The King was in the act of entering a fierce protest, but Sir Hughsilenced him with the potent remark, "Yes, speak up, do, and free thymind--only, mark ye, that for each word you utter he shall get sixstrokes the more."

  Hendon was removed from the stocks, and his back laid bare; and whilstthe lash was applied the poor little King turned away his face andallowed unroyal tears to channel his cheeks unchecked. "Ah, brave goodheart," he said to himself, "this loyal deed shall never perish out ofmy memory. ?I will not forget it--and neither shall _they_!" he added,with passion. ?Whilst he mused, his appreciation of Hendon's magnanimousconduct grew to greater and still greater dimensions in his mind, andso also did his gratefulness for it. ?Presently he said to himself, "Whosaves his prince from wounds and possible death--and this he did forme--performs high service; but it is little--it is nothing--oh, lessthan nothing!--when 'tis weighed against the act of him who saves hisprince from _shame_!"

  Hendon made no outcry under the scourge, but bore the heavy blows withsoldierly fortitude. ?This, together with his redeeming the boy bytaking his stripes for him, compelled the respect of even that forlornand degraded mob that was gathered there; and its gibes and hootingsdied away, and no sound remained but the sound of the falling blows.?The stillness that pervaded the place, when Hendon found himself oncemore in the stocks, was in strong contrast with the insulting clamourwhich had prevailed there so little a while before. ?The King camesoftly to Hendon's side, and whispered in his ear--

  "Kings cannot ennoble thee, thou good, great soul, for One who is higherthan kings hath done that for thee; but a king can confirm thy nobilityto men." ?He picked up the scourge from the ground, touched Hendon'sbleeding shoulders lightly with it, and whispered, "Edward of Englanddubs thee Earl!"

  Hendon was touched. ?The water welled to his eyes, yet at the same timethe grisly humour of the situation and circumstances so undermined hisgravity that it was all he could do to keep some sign of his inwardmirth from showing outside. ?To be suddenly hoisted, naked and gory,from the common stocks to the Alpine altitude and splendour ofan Earldom, seemed to him the last possibility in the line of thegrotesque. ?He said to himself, "Now am I finely tinselled, indeed!?The spectre-knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows is become aspectre-earl--a dizzy flight for a callow wing! ?An' this go on, Ishall presently be hung like a very maypole with fantastic gauds andmake-believe honours. ?But I shall value them, all valueless asthey are, for the love that doth bestow them. Better these poor mockdignities of mine, that come unasked, from a clean hand and a rightspirit, than real ones bought by servility from grudging and interestedpower."

  The dreaded Sir Hugh wheeled his horse about, and as he spurred away,the living wall divided silently to let him pass, and as silently closedtogether again. ?And so remained; nobody went so far as to venturea remark in favour of the prisoner, or in compliment to him; but nomatter--the absence of abuse was a sufficient homage in itself. ?Alate comer who was not posted as to the present circumstances, and whodelivered a sneer at the 'impostor,' and was in the act of following itwith a dead cat, was promptly knocked down and kicked out, without anywords, and then the deep quiet resumed sway once more.