BETRAYED
A congregation exceptionally large under existing circumstances
assembled on Sunday morning before the church of Caio. Fear lest the
Normans and English quartered in the place should find fresh occasion
against the unhappy people, were they to absent themselves as on
previous Sundays, led a good many to swallow their dislike of the man
forced upon them as pastor, and to put in an appearance in the house of
God.
They stood about, waiting for the bell to sound, and looked shrinkingly
at the hideous spectacle of the two men suspended by the bell, and at
the vacant spaces soon to be occupied by others. At the foot of the
gallows sat Sheena moaning, and swaying herself to her musical and
rhythmic keening.
Around the Court or Council-House stood guards. All those standing
about knew that within it were Howel and three others, destined to
execution during the week.
They spoke to each other in low tones, and looks of discouragement
clouded every face. What could these inhabitants of a lone green basin
in the heart of the mountains do to rid themselves of their oppressors
and lighten their miserable condition? Griffith ap Rhys, the Prince, had
appeared among them for a moment, flashed on their sight, and had then
disappeared. Of him they had heard no more.
Some went into the church, prayed there awhile, and came out again. The
new Archpriest had not put in an appearance.
It was then whispered that he had left Caio during the week, and was not
returned.
Sarcastic comments passed: such was the pastor thrust on them who
neglected his duties.
But Cadell was not to blame.
He had left Llawhaden, and had made a diversion to Careg Cennen by the
bishop's orders. The road had been bad and his horse had fallen lame, so
that he had been unable to reach his charge on Saturday afternoon. To
travel by night in such troubled times was out of the question, and he
did not reach Caio till the evening closed in on the Sunday.
It was not, however, too dark for him to see that the frame supporting
the bell presented an unusual appearance. He walked towards it, and then
observed a woman leaning against one of the beams of support.
"Who are you? What has been done here?" he asked.
"There is my man--I am Sheena. They have hung him, and I am afraid of
the night ravens. They will come and pluck out his eyes. I went to see
my babe, and when I returned there was one perched on his shoulder. I
drove it away with stones. There will be a moon, and I shall see them
when they come."
"Who are you?"
"I am Sheena--that is my man."
"Go home; this is no place for you."
"I have no home. I had a home, but the Norman chief drove us out, me and
my man, that he might have it for himself; and we have been in a cowshed
since--but I will not go there. I want no home. What is a home to me
without him?"
"Who has done this? Why has this been done?" asked Cadell.
"Oh, they, the Saxons, have done it because we will not give up our
priest, our chief. And my man was proud to die for him. So are the
rest--all but Madoc."
"The rest--what do you mean?"
"They will hang them all, down to the last man, for none will betray the
chief. They will go singing to the gallows. There was but Madoc, and him
the devils will carry away; I have seen one, little and black, slinking
around. I will sit here and drive devils away, lest coming for Madoc
they take my man in mistake."
Cadell was shocked and incensed.
He hasted at once to the house in which Rogier was quartered. He knew
that he had turned out the owners that he might have it to himself.
Rogier and two men were within. They had on the table horns and a jug of
mead, and had been drinking.
Said one man to his fellow, "The Captain shall give me Sheena, when she
has done whimpering over her Welshman."
"Nay," quoth the other, "she is a morsel for my mouth, that has been
watering for her. He cannot refuse her to me."
"You, Luke! You have not served him so long as have I."
"That may be, but I have served him better."
"Prove me that."
"I can interpret for him, I know sufficient Welsh for that."
"Bah! I would not dirty my mouth with that gibberish."
"You have not the tongue wherewith to woo her."
"But I have a hand wherewith to grip her."
"The captain shall decide between us."
"Be it so. Now, captain, which of us is to comfort Sheena in her
widowhood?"
"It is all cursed perversity of Luke to fancy this woman. Before long
there will be a score of other widows for him to pick among. There is
even now that wild cat, Angarad."
"I thank you. Let the captain judge."
Then said Rogier. "Ye be both good and useful men. And in such a matter
as this, let Fortune decide between ye. There is a draught-board; settle
it between you by the chance of a game."
"It is well. We will."
The men seated themselves at the board. The draught-men employed were
knucklebones of sheep, some blackened.
While thus engaged, Cadell came in.
"Rogier!" he exclaimed, "what is the meaning of this? There be men hung
to my belfry."
"Aye! And ere long there shall be such a peal of bells there as will
sound throughout Wales, and this shall be their chime: 'Pabo, priest,
come again!' By the Conqueror's paunch, I will make it ring in every
ear, so that he who knows where he is hidden will come and declare it."
"Consider! You make the place intolerable for me to perform my duty in."
"Thy duty! That sits light on thy shoulders, I wot. Here have the poor
sheep been waiting for their shepherd all the morn, and he was away."
"I have been with the bishop."
"I care not. I shall find Pabo ere long."
"But his fatherliness holds that Pabo the Archpriest was burnt."
"And we know that he was not."
"If there be found one calling himself Pabo--and he is in no mighty
desire that such should be discovered--then let him be esteemed an
impostor--a false Pabo."
"How so?"
The chaplain looked at the men and did not answer.
"But none has as yet been discovered," said Rogier.
"Do not press to find one--not in this manner."
"I shall not desist till he is given up. I have said so, and will be as
good as my word."
As he spoke, a face looked in at the door, then, after an inspection, a
body followed, and Goronwy approached stealthily.
He stood before Cadell with his eyes twinkling with malevolence, and his
sharp white face twitching with excitement, nodding his head, he said--
"He is here--he, Pabo, and she also whom the great Baron, the bishop's
brother, desires; they are both here. Know well that it is I who have
told you this, and it is I who claim the reward."
"The reward!"
"Aye, the Archpriesthood, which thou wilt resign for a rich benefice.
Let me tell thee--here thou canst not live. They will hate thee, they
will not receive the Sacraments from thy hand, they will baptize their
children themselves rather than commit them to thee. The word of God,
coming from thy lips, will have lost all savor. They will die and be
buried on the mountains under cairns, as in the old pagan times, rather
than have thee bless their graves. No--this is no place for thee. What
the captain has done has driven barbed iron into their souls; they will
have none of thee. But I am of the stock of Cunedda--me they will
welcome, and I will be the bishop's henchman."
"Pabo here!" exclaimed Cadell, and looked round at Rogier, who had
understood nothing that had passed in this brief colloquy, as it had
been spoken in Welsh. The man who did understand the tongue was too
deeply engrossed in his game to hearken.
"Aye, aye, Pabo is here--he and Morwen. I have just seen them; they came
together down the glen, and are in the house of Howel ap John. Be speedy
and have them secured, or they may again escape. Pabo is for you--and
for him," he pointed to the Norman captain, "for him the comely Morwen,
whom he has been looking for. Say, didst thou obtain for me the promise
from the bishop?"
"What says this misshapen imp?" asked Rogier.
Then the young man sidled up to him, and, plucking at his sleeve and
pointing through the door, said: "Là--Pabo! Morwen, là!"
"By the soul of the Conqueror," exclaimed the Norman, "if that be so,
Pabo shall be strung up at the door of his church at daybreak!"
Turning to his men, with his hand he brushed the knucklebones off the
board. "Ye shall conclude the game later--we have higher sport in view
now."
The men started to their feet with oaths, angry at the interruption,
especially he who considered that he had won an advantage over his
fellow.
"I would have cornered him in three moves!" he shouted.
"Nay, not thou; I should have taken thy men in leaps!"
"Another time," said Rogier. "The man we seek has run into our hands."
Then to the boy: "Where is he hiding?"
Goronwy understood the question by the action of his hands, and replied
in the few words he had picked up of French, "Là--maison, Howel."
"He shall be swung at once," said Rogier; "and then the first object on
which the eyes of all will rest when they come out of their houses with
the morrow's sun will be this Archpriest they have been hiding from me."
"Nay," said Cadell, "that may not be. I have orders to the contrary
under the hand and seal of the bishop." He unfolded the instructions.
Rogier cursed. "Well," said he, "Pabo to me matters but little--so long
as I lay my hand on Morwen."