SPOILING THE EGYPTIANS
William Tyndale was so weak and ill when Engel had carried him as far
as the cavern, and set him down there, that they wondered whether
they had brought him from the dungeon only to see him die. Kneeling
at his side, the forester watched him seriously, and then it struck
him that what Tyndale wanted was food.
"Stay here, Herman, and you, Roye, and keep watch, while I go to my
hut for food," he said, looking up at the others, who were gazing
down at the over-wrought prisoner.
Herman was alert in an instant.
"'Tis a long way, Otto, and the shortest time before you could return
would be more than an hour and a half," he protested; but Engel
responded almost impatiently:
"I know that. But if I stay here he will die; and how to get him
hence unless he can put a foot forward for his own helping, which is
not possible, I do not know."
"Let me go back into the castle and look for some food!" Herman
exclaimed.
The forester was aghast at the proposal.
"Then we shall have two dead men on our hands, or at all events one
helpless, like this poor one," pointing to Tyndale, "and a dead one,
which will be yourself," he cried.
"I think not," said Herman sturdily, looking to his belt to see that
he had a weapon handy. "I will go cautiously, and I know my way
about by this time. There was some food on the tables in the
banqueting-hall--a meal, doubtless for the retainers, all ready, but
the men had not come to it because of that summons to the river."
The forester demurred. The proposed errand was too full of danger
for his assent to be given with readinesss.
"I mean to go," said Herman, in such a tone of quiet determination
that the other felt that it would be useless to attempt to hinder him.
"Very well, then. I admire your boldness, but I think it next door
to madness!" exclaimed Engel. "Take the lantern with you."
"No, I won't do that. I can grope my way along the passage, and when
I am once on the other side of that door I shall be safer without a
light. While I am away, why not see whether it is possible to break
away those fetters from Master Tyndale's limbs? Stay here, Roye, and
help Engel in doing what can be done for the dear man's comfort."
"That's easily done," said the forester, smiling, and he brought out
a file which he had hidden away somewhere. "Sprenkel told me it was
just possible that Master Tyndale would be fettered, since it was
Schouts' custom to put all his prisoners into irons. That's why I
came prepared. Go on your errand quickly, and God speed you. I will
start on these irons at once."
While Herman was groping his way along the passage the forester
worked hard to relieve Tyndale of that incubus which made free
movement an impossibility. But his mind was on the younger man's
danger, and he thrilled at the almost certain consequences.
"He must not do that mad thing," he muttered, rising from his knees
and tossing the file on the floor.
"He must not, my friend," said Tyndale weakly, rousing himself from
his stupor.
Engel did not pause, but hurried along the passage with the lantern
in his hand, leaving the others in darkness. He overtook Herman as
he was smoothing his hand over the stone door to find the knob which
would open it.
"What's wrong?" Herman asked anxiously. "Is Master Tyndale dead?"
"No. But he has spoken, and he thinks with me that you must not
attempt this mad thing."
"I shall attempt it, none the less, Otto. There's food to be had,
and I mean to get it. The good man's life is worth the risk. The
world has need of him."
Herman fingered his dagger while he spoke, and felt its point to know
how keen it was, and Engel, seeing the gleam in the other's eyes and
the determined look in his face as the light of the lantern played on
it, knew that it was vain to endeavour to turn him from his purpose.
"Go softly, then," he whispered, while he, too, felt about for the
hidden spring. "Ha! it is here. I'll hide the light first, before
we open the door."
He turned and saw a niche in the rock where the lantern light would
be completely shaded, if anyone chanced to be in the passage. Then,
with his hand again on the spring, he thrust the door away, barely,
while the two men peered through the slit.
The passage was dark and silent. There was no sound save the distant
shouts of men who were calling to each other in connection with the
night's piracy.
"Slip through and look the other way," the ranger whispered, and
Herman, venturing, stood in the corridor.
"Go back and file away at those fetters," he whispered back.
"Roye is there, and as I came away, although I was leaving them in
darkness, he was beginning to work at them for dear life," the answer
came.
A moment later Herman was alone, and the door was drawn into its
place, as it had been before, when the search for the dungeon was
being made. The passage was dark. The page was somewhere in that
part of the castle still. He must have thought he had been dreaming
about the streak of light across the floor, for now he was whistling
lustily, and breaking off for an occasional snatch of song. The
increasing faintness of these sounds assured Herman that the boy was
going farther and farther away, somewhere in that part where the
steps led down to the now empty dungeon.
Going forward to the banqueting-hall, taking every step in stealth,
alert for any sound, and ever on the watch for any token of
approaching danger, Herman came to the place where he thought the
door of the great chamber should be. He paused when he saw a narrow
line of light on the floor of the passage, and, going nearer to know
what it meant, he found that the light was streaming through a slit
in the doorway of the place where he had seen the food.
When his hand touched the door, he paused to listen, to glance both
ways along the corridor; but there was nothing to indicate that
anyone was moving about. Growing confident, he pushed the door a
little wider open and peeped in. The chamber was empty, and it was
all as he had seen it before. Food lay on the tables set there,
either for supper or in readiness for the early morning meal. It
seemed to Herman that all he had to do was to step in quickly, take a
wine flagon from one of the tables, a dish of bread, and one of the
roasted fowls.
It was a bold thing to do, but so was everything he had been doing in
this night's enterprise. He thought of William Tyndale's need, and
knew that, unless he did something such as this, his escape would
hardly be possible, seeing that he was so weak.
Opening the door widely, that his movements might be unhampered, he
walked to the table, going so rapidly that his feet, with all his
attempt at stealth, fell with what seemed to him sharp, loud taps
upon the tessellated floor. He was within a yard of the spot where
he could lay his hand on the things he wanted, when his heart leapt
at what he saw. The door at the other end of the banqueting-hall
opened, and someone entered. In a moment Herman pulled his cap low
over his eyes, throwing a shadow on his face.
The man who stepped in was Cochlaeus, and as he stood just within the
doorway, and the light fell on him, Herman saw that his face was a
frowning one, as though he took offence at the treatment that was
meted out to a man of his quality and importance among
Churchmen--that he should be set aside to await the lord of the
castle's leisure while he busied himself with piracy.
Herman's hand stole to his dagger, in readiness to use it, if need
arose. The impulse came to turn at once and walk away, hoping that
Cochlaeus would not see and recognise him. Before he came to a
decision, the Deacon looked up and saw that someone was in the hall.
"Hi, varlet!" he cried peremptorily. "Come and wait on me! This
lord of yours has no respect for those who come to see him, for he
must needs go on with his godless pursuits, while I am wasting my
time, and faint with hunger."
The words came angrily, but so far it was plain that Cochlaeus had
not recognised Herman. He was intensely relieved. Could he not play
a bolder game?
"Sit, sir, at my lord's table, and let me wait on you," he answered,
in a simulated voice. "But I must carry this away first, lest there
be trouble at my slackness."
He went forward to a table, and easily, recklessly, indeed, he caught
up a great dish of varied meats when he had placed a fowl there, and
heaped bread on it. With this and a heavy flagon full of wine, he
turned his back on Cochlaeus, and walked to the door by which he had
entered.
"Be quick, fellow!" cried the other, who by this time had seated
himself at the cross table where Schouts always sat. "I told you I
was starving. Canst not serve me first and see to that later?"
The man's voice rang down the hall impatiently.
"I dare not! 'Tis more than one's life is worth in this castle,"
Herman called back with assumed ease; but his heart was beating
tumultuously. With a swift look up the banqueting-chamber to see
that none had been watching him besides the heretic hunter, and then
with glances as keen each way in the corridor, Herman went at a run,
regardless of his sounding steps.
"Here," came the ranger's whisper, as the door opened wide, and
Herman, with an ejaculation of thankfulness, stepped through the
doorway. He heard the thud of the heavy stone coming into its place,
and the click of the latch before he turned.
"Safe again, and God be praised!" exclaimed the forester, reaching
for the lantern and looking at the load which Herman carried. "And
successful, too!" he cried, a ring of satisfaction in his voice.
"There's plenty for us all," said Herman quietly, now realising the
strain this bold venture had placed on him. "Lead the way, Otto, and
let us get back to Master Tyndale."
He felt that for a little while, at all events, he did not want to
speak. His mind was not so much on the danger he had faced as on
that man who was the instigator of all this trouble, and he marvelled
at his escape from recognition since more than once he had confronted
Cochlaeus in the city, and had been compelled to do business with
him. Each step in that short walk towards William Tyndale served to
restore his confidence, and as Engel went before him silently,
holding the lantern low down, so that the light fell on the path
showing him where to tread, he was becoming his old self again.
"Wert seen at all?" asked the ranger presently, wondering at Herman's
silence.
"Yes, and by Cochlaeus."
"What! By Cochlaeus?" the other cried, gasping out the words, and
turning round so unexpectedly that the dish Herman was carrying was
barely saved, and some of the wine in the full flagon was spilt on
the path. "Did he know thee?" he exclaimed, staring at Herman and
lifting the lantern to see his face.
The question amused Herman, and he chuckled.
"He came into the banqueting-hall while I was there. The fellow had
a scowl on his face----"
"I never saw him without one," Engel ejaculated.
"Ha! But it was a more than usually savage one this time, for he was
hungry. But go on. Think of Master Tyndale's need. I can tell it
as we move forward."
The forester led the way again, and Herman, having given him the
flagon to carry, went on with his story.
"His dignity had been offended because Schouts had gone to his pirate
work, instead of pursuing that bargain concerning Master Tyndale. He
took me for one of the varlets, and bade me serve him with food."
Herman stopped and laughed aloud, and the ranger, turning, saw his
face and laughed with him.
"Didst take him any?" he asked.
"Nay, he's there, waiting for me," Herman cried, moving forward.
They laughed until the place rang, for there was no need for
restraint since no one inside the castle could overhear them.
Tyndale, who had been sitting in helplessness while Roye was filing
at the irons in the dark, and feeling his work with his fingers,
heard the sounds of laughter, and it was cheering to him.
"There is good news, Roye!" he exclaimed. "They have met with no
mishap, for which I thank God, or they would not have come back in
such high spirits. And I would be glad to have food, for I feel
faint."
He spoke weakly, but when he saw Herman and his companion, coming
back with the lantern, which the forester held aloof, he saw their
faces and the dish in Herman's hands.
"You seem merry," he said, but already better for the assurance that
some of the danger had passed.
"We are!" exclaimed Herman, stepping forward quickly. At Tyndale's
side he dropped on his knees and set the food on the floor. He
wondered when he saw that already Roye had taken the irons from his
hands and had begun with the rings about Tyndale's feet.
"Drink some of this wine first," said Herman, and by this time the
forester had gone to Tyndale's other side and had him in his arms,
holding him up while the younger man put the flagon to the sick one's
lips. He drank a little, and then with care they fed him, and to
give him confidence, as well as to fall in with his wishes, they ate
with him, for Herman had brought enough and to spare.
When they had eaten, and Tyndale seemed already so much better, they
faced the difficulties of the present and the immediate future.
Tyndale had been brought out of the dungeon, but what should the next
step be? It would soon be known that he had escaped, and the forest
would be searched through and through, not only by Cochlaeus and the
City Guard, but by the robber lord who had lost a prize that was
worth to him at least a thousand golden crowns.
"If I take you to my place, Master Tyndale, they may go there, and
they would not fail to find you, and then!"
The forester shrugged his shoulders and thought of the end of this
man for whom they had dared so much, to say nothing of their own
penalty for aiding him.
"What can be done?" asked Tyndale quietly. "It seems to me that I am
compelled to take the risks."
The future appeared very black as they talked over a dozen plans,
every one of which had a spot in it of weakness and the certainty of
a disastrous ending. But presently the forester, who had done as he
was wont to do when in perplexity, came back to the little group
after having walked to and fro, wrapped in thought.
"What say you if I leave you here with the others to bear you
company, while I go about my business as though nothing had happened?
I might even play my part and help the people at the castle--ay! and
that rascal, Cochlaeus--in their search for you. But I warrant you
'twill be a vain one. I'd be very diligent for the Churchman."
The cavern rang with the forester's laughter, and he laughed till the
tears came, and his body ached when he thought of the chase he would
lead them if they suffered him to share in the search.
"I'll bring you food in plenty from time to time, and meanwhile I can
think things out and see how we can contrive to get you away. Art
willing, Master Tyndale?" he asked, becoming serious.
"I am willing," came the answer; "but I am loth to keep these with me
cooped up in the darkness----"
"You shall have light in plenty," the forester interrupted.
"But Herman--think what it means to him, with Margaret Byrckmann
waiting for him and wondering what has become of him."
"I'll send her word," said Engel seriously.
"Had I but paper and ink, I could have gone on with my work," said
Tyndale. "I should have been using up my hours, and this task would
be so much nearer to completion. Roye could have written while I
dictated."
"So he shall. I know a priest who is a man of letters, and I can
tell him some story which will induce him to give me both pen and
paper," said the forester, disposing of that difficulty.
"As for me," said Herman, longing though he was to go back to
Margaret, if only to see her for an hour, but feeling that, so far as
duty went, it was here, by Tyndale's side--"as for me, I shall stay
and keep watch if Otto Engel will only set you going on your work,
Master Tyndale!" he exclaimed earnestly.
Engel went just before day-dawn, but he came in the middle of the
afternoon with a basket. It contained food, for which they were
grateful, but Tyndale's eyes gleamed at the sight of a bundle of
paper, some ink, and a store of quills.
"Thank God!" he ejaculated. "Ay, and my dear friend, thank you as
well, from the bottom of my heart. There need be no hurry now, for
with light and these I am as well off here as in a palace. What care
I for comfort if my hand is not stayed in my God-given task?"
His eyes gleamed with pleasure as he turned over the sheets and drew
out the books from his wallet. But he thought of Herman.
"My son, since I am safe here, you may steal away at night, and you
know your way by that secret entrance to your home; and after that it
will be easy to pass through the streets to where the girl you love
dwells with her father."
Herman took his outstretched hand in his.
"I'll think about it," he answered softly, the love-light in his
eyes. "I should like to go, but my duty is here, and she knows I am
with you."
"Is there any news of the castle?" Herman asked a moment later,
turning to Engel, who was trimming the lantern.
"News?" exclaimed the forester. "I should think there was. Schouts
came to terms with Cochlaeus when he had cleared out the ship and
sent her away empty, and then, so Sprenkel told me, they went to the
dungeon so that the pious Churchman might see his prisoner. I'd have
given something to see them going down those slippery steps, and
would have hoped for a fall for both of them. But I would have given
a week's wages to have seen their faces when they stepped into that
horrible dungeon and found that the prisoner was gone!
"Sprenkel was with them, and he told me that Cochlaeus stamped about
on the filthy floor, beside himself with rage. He swung round
presently and faced Schouts like a madman, then shook his fist at
him, and declared that he had been playing with him. And as for
Schouts, who thought of the thousand crowns he had lost, when they
seemed so certain, his anger blazed out at the Churchman's insults,
and, lifting his great fist, he would have struck him down but for a
remnant of superstition still lingering in his godless heart.
"'But for the fact that you are a priest, I would have you chained
where that Englishman lay!' he cried.
"He caught the lamp from Sprenkel's hand, and went to the wall where
the iron ring had been torn away. He was almost speechless with
astonishment, and the more so because he had marked, when he ordered
Tyndale to be carried to the dungeon, how frail he was.
"Sprenkel told me that Cochlaeus raged and stormed, and vowed every
curse on Schouts and his retainers that the Church could heap upon
them, until, in his anger, Schouts gripped him at the back of his
neck, hurried the Churchman up the steps and along the corridors,
then to the gate, which the warden opened in amazement at his call.
There, without a word, he hurled him from him, and Cochlaeus,
staggering half-way across the drawbridge, fell in a helpless heap,
while the portcullis fell, and the gate closed with a clang."
The forester's face seemed aglow with delight, as he stood with
folded arms and his back against the cavern wall.
"I've something more to tell you," he said, after a pause. "I was
walking through the forest soon after I left you here, and, hearing
the sounds of voices, the stamp of horses' hoofs, and the jingle of
harness and steel, I moved about as I usually do when I am out on
duty.
"'Hi, fellow!' someone cried, and, turning, I saw Cochlaeus and the
City Guard. The Churchman, now on horseback, and greatly ruffled,
demanded my name.
"'I'm Otto Engel, your reverence,' I answered, 'and I am ranger of
the forest.'
"'In the pay of that robber lord in the castle?' he asked me.
"'Nay; I do not work for him, but for a master whom I love.'
"'Hast seen anyone in the forest--an Englishman--that heretic fellow
whom they call William Tyndale? He was a prisoner in the castle, but
has got away, and must be hiding somewhere.'
"'When was that?' I asked, as simply as I knew how, and with such an
air of surprise that he never thought to ask me again if I had seen
the man.
"'Any time during the night,' the answer came, and at once he made an
offer which set my blood dancing. 'See, ranger, if thou canst find
him for us, that limb of Satan, there are a hundred golden crowns for
you, and the blessing of the Church.'
"I put on my face a look of greed, or what I thought was one, with
such an offer.
"'Wilt come with me and I will show you places where a man might
think to hide,' I said. 'But if I fail to find him I get nothing,
and I lose the hundred crowns.'
"'Nay. Thou shalt have ten, but it will be my joy if I have to pay
thee the full hundred,' Cochlaeus cried.
"They followed me, the whole of the City Guard and Cochlaeus--the
Churchman eager, the other horsemen in ill-humour, for they were
hungry after a long night's fast, and worn out with their long
waiting at the castle gate, for the coming of the Deacon. How he had
come out I had not heard then, for it was later when I met Sprenkel.
"We searched everywhere, in places likely and unlikely, once in the
lair of a bear who made her onslaught on us, and had to be dealt with
by cold steel, and once again I sent them down an alley in the forest
where a couple of wolves leapt out, and there were snarls and snaps,
and then unearthly yells, as the wild creatures fell before the
deadly sword thrusts.
"'We'll go to the city!' cried Cochlaeus, who rode swiftly back to
where I was awaiting them, with my hunting-knife in readiness in case
any of those yelping, slouching beasts should get away and turn on
me. 'Here are the ten crowns I promised,' he added, handing me the
golden pieces with a trembling hand. 'But see, fellow, I spoke of a
hundred crowns. Find me this William Tyndale and I will give you a
hundred and fifty; but he must be alive, so that we may deal with him
for his heresy and his pestilential work.'
"I took the gold, and watched them ride away. Some of the horsemen
were wiping the blood from their swords, and most of them were
sitting in their saddles in discontent, and gazing after the
Churchman with a contempt one rarely has the chance of seeing. I
stood looking after them till they had gone out of sight, when
someone slapped me on the shoulder. Whoever it was, he had come on
me unawares, and I swung round to find myself face to face with
Sprenkel. I told him what I knew, and then I heard of what had
passed in the castle. But here are the crowns, Master Tyndale, and
shall I tell thee what I think it best to do with them?"
Tyndale looked at him curiously.
"I cannot say."
"I thought that you should have them, and use them for the work you
have in hand. They would go some little distance towards printing
that Word of God, and it would be safe to do so, since it would be
but spoiling the Egyptians."
Tyndale hesitated; but at last, when the forester protested that he
would not touch the money, he put out his hand, took the coins, and
dropped them in his wallet.
"'Twas not God's money when you had it," he said simply, "but I will
take it as His money now, and use it for the glory of God."
* * * * * * *
Far on into the night, while Tyndale was telling of his hopes, a
night-bird's cry came, and the eyes of those who were in the cavern
turned towards the tree which formed the entrance to their
hiding-place.
"I believe that's Engel," said Herman, springing to his feet, but at
the same time fingering the dagger at his belt, alert for any danger.
Before many moments had passed the ranger came in, shaking his dress
into place as he stepped forward quickly.
"Come at once!" he exclaimed, before he reached them. "And take up
your master's wallet, Roye. I have a boat down by the river which
will carry you across to the other bank. I know of a hiding-place in
the forest where I cannot think that rascal of a Cochlaeus can ever
find you, Master Tyndale, and when it is safe to do so, later on, we
may get you to the place you want to reach."
There was a strange look on the man's face as he drew out of his
bosom a heavy purse.
"If this be not God's way, I wot not what to call it!" he exclaimed,
his voice tremulous with deep feeling. "I have heard my mother tell
how, when the Israelites went up out of Egypt to go to the Land of
Promise--I think she called it that--they spoiled the Egyptians, and
got much from them for their desert journey. What shall we say of
this, Master Tyndale? Your enemies have sought to hinder your work,
and worse, they mean to kill you if they can. Yet I watched that man
Cochlaeus, who was resting at the foot of one of the trees, and he
was fingering a purse and took out the ten crowns which I brought
here. I thought no more about it, but when I passed that way to make
things ready for your escape, Master Tyndale, my foot kicked against
something, and it was that same purse. Here it is! It must have
dropped from his bosom while he rose to mount into his saddle. 'Tis
God's gift. I'm sure of it! Twill pay the charges for a comfortable
journey, and leave much over for your future wants."
The forester opened the purse, which was very heavy, and there was
the gleam of gold. It was money in abundance, and Tyndale, taking it
from Engel's hands, went on his knees.