For some time past the sky had been clouding over, and the wind
blowing up with a threat of rain. Before long it began to fall in a
steady drizzle, and I saw that if I would not be drenched to the
skin I must renounce my purpose of completing thirty miles, and
seek a shelter for the night. Coming to a small hamlet of two or
three cottages, I inquired of a laboring man whom I saw entering
one, how far I must go to find an inn. He told me that there was
one a mile or so on, just before coming to Morville, and thanking
him, I hastened on my way.
But before I had gone a mile I espied a ruined barn in a field by
the roadside, and being already tired and little inclined to
encounter strangers, I turned into it to see if it would afford me
sufficient protection against the weather. The interior was cosier
than the outward aspect promised, and finding a quantity of clean
hay at one end, I stripped off my coat, set down my knapsack for a
pillow, and, rolling myself in the hay, was soon fast asleep.
I was roused while it was still dark by the sound of voices. Being
wide awake in an instant, I had sufficient presence of mind to
avoid betraying my whereabouts by a rustling among the hay, and lay
and listened, wondering who the intruders might be, and fearing
lest they should approach my end of the barn to seek a couch for
the remainder of the night. But they made no movement in my
direction, and before many minutes had passed I understood by their
voices that they were three, and gathered from their talk that they
were poachers who had been plying their stealthy trade in the
coverts of a neighboring park, and had turned into the barn, which
they evidently knew well, for a brief rest before making for their
homes at Bridgenorth.
I hoped that they would leave before daylight, without discovering
me; but just as the sparrows on the roof were twittering a greeting
to the dawn, as ill luck would have it, one of the men spied my
coat, spread on staddles against the wall to dry. He uttered a
sharp exclamation, and called to his comrades. I heard them come in
my direction, and guessed by their silence that they were looking
warily around for the owner of the coat. But they did not see me,
being completely covered by the hay; and, remarking that it looked
a "rare good coat," one of them put his hand into all the pockets
in turn, and from the inner one fetched out Cludde's crown piece.
"A silver crown, Jo," he says.
"Bite it," said another.
"Good as gold," returned the first. "This be rare luck."
Now, if I had been a few years older and more expert in dealing
with men, I should doubtless have parleyed with the fellows; but in
the heat of youth and inexperience, indignant at the freedom with
which they were handling my belongings, I sprang out of the hay,
made for the man who held the coat, and peremptorily called on him
to drop it.
His answer was a sudden well-planted blow which sent me
incontinently backward into the hay from which I had risen. I was
up in an instant, and then began a struggle, short and decisive.
The three men were all shorter than I, but thick-set and powerfully
made, and struggle as I might I soon had to own myself beaten, and
was borne to the floor, one holding my head, another my feet, and
the third discommoding me very much by sitting on my middle.
"What be you a-doing here?" says the man called Job.
"I might ask you the same question," I replied, again choosing the
wrong method of dealing with them.
"You might, but you wouldn't get no answer," was the grim retort.
"You've heard what we've a-said?" the fellow went on.
I replied that I had heard it all. The men joined in a chorus of
oaths, and then began to discuss among themselves what they should
do with me, with a freedom and a disregard of any view I might hold
on the matter which in other circumstances I might have found
amusing.
"If we lets him go," said the man called Job, "he peaches, sure
enough, and then 'tis the collar for us all," by which I understood
he meant the hangman's noose. "If we don't let him go we must
ayther take him with us or tie him up, and then belike his friends
will find him, and 'twill be the same end for us."
"Rest easy on both points," I said, having recovered somewhat of my
composure. "I won't peach, and I have no friends within twenty
miles."
"'S truth?" said the man.
"It is quite true," I replied.
Whereat they burst into a guffaw, and I knew that I had made
another mistake.
"He bain't over ripe," said the man on my middle.
"True, he was born young," said Job. "Well, now, I'm a gemman, I
am, and fair exchange is no robbery, and as I've took a fancy for
this 'ere coat, being a trifle newer nor mine, I'll chop with you;
me being a trifle older nor you makes all square, I reckon. Bill,
what about the breeches?"
"To be sure, Job, mine be worn thin; I'll have measter's breeches."
"And what's for me?" growled the man at my feet.
"There's only the shirt and the boots left," said Job, "for bein'
gemmen we can't let him go bare. You take the boots, Topper."
And having thus apportioned my habiliments, they proceeded to
divest me of boots and breeches, threatening to knock me on the
head if I made any resistance. In stripping me they came upon the
wallet in which my precious guineas were stowed. Job opened it in a
twinkling, and I had the mortification of seeing all the money I
possessed divided among these three ruffians.
When the exchange of clothing had been effected, I found myself
attired in a dirty, greasy coat much too small for me, my arms
protruding far beyond the sleeves, a pair of grimy patched leather
smalls, that left an inch or two of bare flesh above my stockings,
and boots that, rent and battered though they were, cramped my feet
terribly.
"How we have overgrowed!" quoth Job with a leer.
The others laughed; then suddenly the man called Topper looked at
Job with a frown and said:
"Fair's fair; that there silver crown--I want a bit of that, Job."
This set them squabbling, though they kept a wary eye on me all the
time. In the end they decided to settle the ownership of the coin
by the arbitrament of chance. Job first spun it; Bill called
"heads" and lost. At the second spin Topper called "tails," and was
about to pocket the crown when I made a suggestion.
"Gentlemen," I said, in a conciliatory tone which I ought to have
adopted before, "I value that crown piece more highly than all the
guineas you have appropriated. 'Tis clear you are sportsmen"--I
glanced at the hares that lay on the floor, the booty of their
night's depredations. "I make you an offer which as sportsmen you
will not refuse. Let Mr. Topper and me fight it out, man to man,
and the coin go to the winner."
"Spoke like a man; what dost say, Topper?" said Job.
"Done!" says Topper, forthwith flinging off his coat, and rolling
up his shirt sleeves.
It was clear that I was incurring a risk, for the muscles of his
arms stood up like great globes; but if I could not match him in
strength, I hoped at least to have some little advantage of him in
science, thanks to the lessons of my good friend Captain
Galsworthy. I pulled off my coat, or rather Job's, starting a seam
as I did so, and then, the other two men standing between us and
the door, Topper and I began our bout.
I could see that he, as well as his companions, expected to win an
easy victory. But when at the end of the first round, we stopped at
Job's call for a breather, neither of us had got home more than a
few body blows, and Topper was patently chagrined, more especially
as the others could not forbear twitting him. He began the second
round with an impetuosity that kept me wholly on the defensive, and
pressed me so hard that I gave back and failed to counter a blow
that sent me spinning on to the hay behind. This afforded the
others much satisfaction, and at the call of time, they encouraged
Topper with a cry to give me a settler and have done with it.
But this was his undoing. He came at me with the same ferocity as
before, and, confident of a speedy victory, gave me an opening of
which I was quick to take advantage. In a trice I was within his
guard; I dealt him a right-hander with all my force; he staggered,
and before he could recover, a left-hander got him on the point of
the chin, and over he went with a thud on to the floor.
His companions bent over him in consternation. At that moment I
could have made my escape, I doubt not, had I chosen to dash for
the door, and indeed, I was on the point of doing so when I was
stayed by some feeling that it would be hardly becoming to take
flight then. Besides, the coin for which I had fought was still in
the fallen man's pocket.
He got up by and by, somewhat dazed and rubbing his head. He
glowered at me for a moment, then flung the crown towards me with a
curse.
"Who said he was green?" he muttered, allowing Job to help him on
with his coat.
"He's a viper," said Job consolingly. "We won't tell no one,
Topper."
It was light by this time, and Bill remarked that they had best be
getting back to Bridgenorth, or they would find folk astir. They
looked at me with some hesitation; then Job said:
"We're a-going to make you fast, my bawcock, and don't make no
mistake. Ads bobs, if ye come to Bridgenorth Fair we'll find some
'un to down you, strike me if we don't."
They bound my legs and arms with withes that are used for tying
trusses of hay, and left me.
I felt some natural satisfaction in the issue of this fight; but it
made poor amends for the loss of my clothes and my guineas. Luckily
my knapsack, hidden in the hay, had escaped the poachers'
observation; and the recovery of Dick Cludde's crown piece gave me
a good deal of pleasure.
The moment the poachers were gone, I began to try to free myself
from my bonds, but it was only after much painful wriggling and
straining that I at length released my hands. My clasp knife had
departed with my breeches; Bill's pockets were empty; but after
some search, crawling about the barn, I discovered a broken slate
wherewith to cut the fastenings of my feet. And then, when I stood
upright, and with leisure for thought became fully aware of the
sorry figure I cut, in foul garments a world too small for me, I
was nigh overwhelmed with a feeling of despair, and was almost
ready to wait until nightfall, and slink back by byways to
Shrewsbury. But after a while I got the better of this heartsickness,
and, rating myself for a poltroon, I strapped on my knapsack and
issued forth from the barn, doggedly resolved to pursue my journey.
It was many an hour since I had eaten, and, once more in the open
air, my stomach cried out for breakfast. When a man has never had
to want for food, it is with a disagreeable shock he realizes that
he must be hungry. True, I had the crown piece, and before the sun
had mounted I was sore tempted to spend it; but the vow I had
inwardly made to keep it for its owner, together with a shame-faced
reluctance to appear in my present condition before a fellow man,
helped me for a time to bear my hunger. Yet I knew that I could not
go long without food, and it would soon become imperative that I
should pocket my pride and either change the crown or seek some
means of earning enough to buy myself a meal.
For a time I trudged through the fields, avoiding the public eye.
Coming at length to a road, which I took to be the highroad, I set
off along it, stiffening my resolution to ask for a job at the
first village I reached. But just as a row of cottages came in
sight, and I was considering in what terms to make my request, a
parson and a lady on horseback turned into the road from a by-lane,
and when they had passed I heard a ripple of laughter from the
lady, no doubt in response to some jest from her companion on my
ridiculous appearance.
This set my blood a-boiling; I flung away in a rage, leapt a stile
into a field, and felt that I would rather starve than ask
assistance of a living soul. I sat down beneath a hedge, utterly
woebegone, and chewed the bitter cud of my misfortunes until for
sheer weariness I fell asleep.
When I awoke, the sun, which had shone brilliantly all day, was
already sloping to the west. My rage was gone now, and I cursed
myself for a fool. A pretty spirit I had shown indeed! What was I
good for if I could not bear a little ridicule?
"Let 'em laugh, and go hang!" I cried, and up I sprang, resolved to
accost the first person I met, whoever it might be, and at any rate
earn a crust.
I walked along the field, took a long draught from a clear brook
that crossed it, and coming into the road, spied a large house
lying some way back amid trees. True to my resolve, I made towards
it, entered an iron gate that stood open, and was marching up the
broad gravel walk leading to the house when I was checked by a
voice.
"Hi, you fellow, what do you want here?"
I turned, and saw a well-dressed boy of about my own age coming out
of a shrubbery into the walk. I stopped, feeling a certain
awkwardness, and stood before him, looking sheepish enough, no
doubt. He eyed me for a moment; then burst out a-laughing.
"You have no business here; get you gone, fellow," he said, when he
had recovered.
I gulped down the wrath that rose in me, and said quietly:
"I was but on my way to ask if I might do something to earn a meal
and a night's lodging."
He looked at me curiously, perceiving that in mode of speech I was
somewhat different from the low tramp I looked. But youth is often
impatient and hard; my appearance consorted so little with my
tongue that he had much excuse for regarding me as a ne'er-do-well,
the less deserving of pity because he probably owed his plight to
vicious courses.
"There's the poorhouse for tramps, and the lock-up for rascals," he
added. "Be off with you!"
"Pardon me, sir," said I, as quietly as before, "I have eaten
nothing for thirty hours or longer, and if you would but give me
speech with the master of the house, I doubt not he would allow me
milk and bread, for which I would willingly do a turn of work in
the morning."
"D'you hear me, sirrah!" cries the boy. "You're a poacher if the
truth were known. We want no lazy louts here, and if you're not
outside the gates instantly I vow I'll set the dogs on to you."
And with that he came up to me and gave me a shove with his
shoulder. He had courage, for he was smaller than I. 'Twas the
spirit that prompts a gentleman, however puny, to despise the
churl, however big.
His words I had borne patiently enough, but I could endure no more.
Wrenching myself away, I dealt him a buffet that stretched him flat
on the ground.
This scene had passed within a few paces of the gate, and I had
been so preoccupied that I had not heard the clatter of an
approaching horse, and in consequence was taken utterly aback when
a loud voice behind me cried, "What's this? What's this?" and
immediately afterwards the lash of a whip fell smartly on my back,
causing me to spring round in a heat of indignation. A gentleman
had just ridden in at the gate, and, taking in the situation at a
glance, had begun the chastisement which he had much reason to
suppose I deserved.
What with my hunger, the boy's insults, and the sting of the lash,
I was now roused to as high a pitch of fury as I had ever in my
life reached. I had taken a step towards the horse, to drag the
rider from his saddle, and he had raised the whip once more to
strike, when a voice from the direction of the house caused us both
to pause.
"Don't, uncle; oh, please don't!"
Involuntarily I turned, and saw a young girl flying down the path,
her long unloosed black hair streaming behind her. She came to us
with flushed cheeks, and breathless with running.
"It was all Roger's fault," she cried. "I saw it, heard it all. The
poor man is starving and wanted to work for food, and Roger was
rude to him."
Her uncle looked at her, and at me, and at the boy, who had risen
from the ground, wearing a sullen and crestfallen look.
"Is that the right of it, Roger?" asked the gentleman.
"He said so, sir," he replied, "but he looks such a villainous
tramp, and you know what lies they tell--why, look here!" He
stooped and picked something from the ground. "He said he was
hungry, and look at this!"
He held up my crown piece, which in the violence of my movements, I
suppose, had sprung out of my tattered garment. I felt my cheeks
flush hotly, and was stricken dumb in the face of this mute
evidence giving me the lie. The girl gazed at me for a moment;
then, her lip curling with disdain, she turned her back and walked
up the path towards the house.
"Well, rascal?" said the gentleman sternly.
"It is mine, truly," I said. "But--"
"Go fetch the men," he said to the boy.
"As sure as I'm alive I'll commit you for a rogue and vagabond, for
mendicancy and assault."
He drew his horse across the gate so that I could not escape, while
the boy hastened to the house.
"You are a magistrate, sir," I ventured to say, "and sure 'tis not
your custom to condemn your prisoners unheard."
"Adzooks, you teach me my duty?" he cried in a rage. "You insolent
scoundrel!"
I held my peace, and in a few moments the boy returned, with two
stablemen.
"Take this fellow to the coach house," said their master.
"I'll go where you please," I cried hotly, "but if those men lay a
finger on me I'll crack their skulls for them."
My height and my fierce aspect so well promised that I could
perform my threat that the men held off and eyed their master
dubiously.
"Lead on, Roger!" he cried with an oath, too much incensed for
further speech.
The boy led the way. I followed, the two stablemen stepping behind
me, but at a reasonable distance, and the horseman brought up the
rear. Thus in procession we went round the house to the back; I
entered the coach house, and the gentleman having dismounted, came
in after me, and commanded me to give an account of myself.