Every story, whether wise or foolish, grave or gay, must needs have a
beginning. How it comes to pass that my story begins on a certain day
in May, in the year of our Lord 1585, I can never, although I am far on
in life now, properly explain.
For that was not the day on which I was born. That adventure had
befallen me eighteen years before, at the parson's little house in
Felton Regis. Most people who write their histories have a pride in
dragging their readers back to the moment when they first hallooed
defiance to this wicked world; but I, since I have clean forgotten the
event, must e'en confess that my story does not begin there. A like
adventure chanced often at the parsonage, and, at nine years of age, I
reigned king absolute over a nursery full of her Majesty's subjects who
called me brother, and quailed before my nod like Helots before the
crest of a Spartan. But, as I say, all that is neither here nor there
in my story.
Nor, in truth, is that grey September day, when, on the tail of a
country hay-cart, I rode tremulously at my dear father's side into
London; where, with much pomp and taking of oaths, I was bound
apprentice, body and soul, to Master Robert Walgrave, the printer, in
the presence of the worshipful Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the
Company of Stationers, who enriched themselves by 2 shillings 6 pence at
my father's cost, and looked upon me in a hungry way that made me
tremble in my bones, and long to be out of their sight before they
should order the bill of fare for their next feast. That was a day in
my life truly, but it was ancient history when my story begins. I had
grown a big lad since then, and was the king of Clubs without Temple
Bar, and the terror of all young 'prentices for a mile round, who looked
up with white cheeks when I swaggered by, and ran with their tails
between their legs to hide behind counters and doorposts till I was out
of sight.
No; nor yet does my story begin even at that sad day--alack!--when I
stood by my widowed mother at the open grave of him who had been the
pillar of our house and the pride of our lives. "Humphrey, my boy," she
had said as she placed her hand on my arm and led me, like one in a
dream, from the place, "it is God who has taken--He will surely also
give. Shall I count all lost, with a stalwart arm like this to lean
upon?" Then she kissed me, and I, for very shame, dried my eyes and
held up my head. Ah me! that was but a year before; the world had still
moved on, the grass covered his grave, and still my story lacked a
beginning.
How comes it, then, that this day in May, of all others, should stand up
like a wall, as I look back over my life, and seem to me the beginning
of all things? Perhaps this history may show--or, perhaps, he who reads
it may come to see that I was right when I said I could not explain it.
It was a great day in London, within and without Temple Bar; and for me,
if for no other reason, it was famous, because on that day, for the
first and last time, I saw the great Queen Elizabeth. About eight
o'clock, while I stood, as was my wont, setting types in my master's
shop, I looked from the window (as was also my wont), and spied two
falconers in their green coats, with a trumpeter riding in the midst,
ambling citywards. In a moment I dropped my stick (and with it, alack!
a pieful of my master's types), and was out, cap and club, in the
Strand, shouting till I was hoarse, "God save her Majesty!"
On the instant, from every shop far and near, darted 'prentices and
journeymen, shouting and waving caps--some because they saw me do so,
some because they guessed what was afoot, some because they saw, even
now, the flutter of approaching pennons, and caught the winding of the
royal huntsmen's horns along the Strand.
The Queen was coming!
I went mad that day with loyalty. I kicked my fellows for not shouting
louder, and such as shouted not at all, I made to shout in a way they
least expected. Through the open door of Master Straw's, the
horologer's, I spied his two 'prentices, deaf to all the clamour, basely
gorging a hasty pudding behind the bench.
"What!" shouted I, bursting in upon them, and seizing each by his
cropped head, "what, ye gluttonous pair of porkers, is this the way you
welcome her Majesty into our duchy? Is this a time for greasy pudding
and smacking of lips? Come outside and shout, or I'll brain you with
your own spoons."
Whereupon, forgetting what I did, I dipped the white face of each in his
own mess, and dragged them forth, where, to do them justice, they
shouted and howled as loud as any one.
And now the Strand overflowed from end to end with loyal citizens. From
the windows above, the faces of the city madams beamed, and the white
necks of their daughters craned; while behind, with half an eye on us
clubs below, peeped, on tiptoe, the maids. At each shop-door stood the
grave forms of our masters, thinking, perhaps, of a lost day's profits,
and setting the cost thereof against the blessings of her Majesty's
happy reign. At the roadside, beggar, scholar, yokel, knight, and noble
jostled in a motley throng. But the sight of all that crowd was the
'prentices, who swarmed out into the road, and raised our shouts above
the clanging of Saint Clement's bells and the trumpets of the Royal
servants. 'Twas no pageant we had come out to see. Giants, and whales,
and bottomless pits, and salvage men, and the like we could see to our
hearts' content on Lord Mayor's Day; and the gilded barges and smoking
cannon on the river's side. But it was not every day her Majesty ambled
through the city on her hunting horse, and passed our way with her
gallants for a day's sport in Epping woods.
As for me, I had no eyes or throat for any but that queenly woman, as
she cantered boldly on her white palfrey, a pace or more ahead of her
glittering courtiers. Had any one said to me that Elizabeth was that
day neither young nor lovely--had anyone even dared to whisper that she
was not divine--I would have brained him with my club where he stood.
For a moment her head turned my way, she waved her hand--it had a little
whip in it--and her lips moved to some words. Then as I rent the air
with a "God save your Majesty!" she was past.
At Temple Bar, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, arrayed for the hunt, with
buglers and dogs attending, stood across the way, and with mighty
ceremony and palaver admitted her to the City. Woe betide them, for all
their gold collars and maces, had they kept her out!
But the halt, short as it was, served our purpose. For there was no
more going back to work on a day like this.
"To the front, clubs, and lead the way," shouted I, with what voice was
left me.
It was enough for the lads without Temple Bar. They closed on me with a
cheer, and followed me at the run, past the gaping Court ushers, past
the royal jockeys, past the Queen herself (Heaven bless her!) past Lord
Mayor, Sheriffs, and yapping beagles, through the echoing gates of
Temple Bar, till we stood at the head of the procession, and longed,
with a mighty longing, that someone might dispute the way with us.
But we had no work for our clubs that morning. As we moved forward, our
body, like a growing snowball, was swelled by the 'prentices of each
ward, shouting as lustily as we, "Make way!" and hurling defiance, like
us, on all the Queen's foes by land and by sea. Even the gay sparks of
the Temple gave us no handle for a sally, for they shouted with the best
of us.
And so, down Fleet Street and in at the Ludgate, past the square tower
of Saint Paul's, and along merry Cheap, we passed; our numbers swelling
at every step, till it seemed as if all London was out escorting her
Majesty through the city. As you passed below Bow Church you could
scarcely hear the clanging of the bells for the shouting of the people.
At the New Exchange there was like to be a battle at last. For the
'prentices, of the Bridge had heard the uproar from afar, and swarmed
down upon us in a flood, so that had we not held our own stoutly, we
should have been driven back upon the royal huntress herself.
"Stand, if you be men, and fall in after us!" I shouted.
"Ho! ho!" answered they; "since when was the printer's devil outside the
Bar made mayor of our town? Follow you us."
It was not a time for bandying words. From behind us came a shout,
"Pass on, pass on; room for the Queen!" And at the word we charged
forward, shoulder to shoulder, and brushed those unmannerly mercers and
barber-surgeons aside as a torrent the nettles that grow on its bank.
Let them follow as they list. The Queen went hunting to-day, and was
not to be kept standing for a score of London Bridges, if we knew it.
After that we passed shouting up the Cornhill, and so on to the Bishop's
Gate, where at length we halted and made a lane in our midst for her
Majesty to ride through.
Never, I think, did monarch ride down a prouder road than that, walled
four-deep for the length of two furlongs by youths who would fain have
spilt their blood twice over to do her service, and who, since that was
denied them, flung their shouts to heaven as she passed, and waved their
caps club-high. I think, in truth, she needed no telling what kind of
road it was, for as she cantered by her face was flushed and joyous, her
head was erect, and the hand she waved clenched on the little whip, as
though she grasped her people's hand. Then in a moment she was gone.
Thus for the first and only time did I set eyes on the great maiden
Queen; and when all was over, and the clattering hoofs and yelping
hounds and winding horns were lost in the distance, I came to myself and
found I was both hungry and athirst.
The crowd melted away. Some returned the way they had come: some slunk
back to their deserted shops: I to Finsbury Fields. For I accounted it
a crime that day to work--I would as soon have set up types on Lord
Mayor's Day. This day belonged to her Majesty, and I would e'en spend
it in her service, wrestling and leaping in the meadows, and training my
body to deeds of valour against her foes.
So I called on my clubs to follow me, and they came, and many besides;
for those who might not see the Queen hunt might see her loyal citizens
jump; and on a day like this it was odds if the nimblest 'prentices in
all London were not there to make good sport.
Therefore we straggled in a long crowd to Moorgate--man and maid, noble
and 'prentice, alderman and oyster-woman, jesting and scolding as we
jostled one another in the narrow way, and rejoicing when at length we
broke free into the pleasant meadows and smelt the sweetness of the
early hay.
Already I spied sport, for there before us swaggered the mercers'
'prentices of London Bridge, ready to settle scores for the affront they
had received at the New Exchange.
"Ho! ho!" quoth I, with vast content, "'tis time we had dinner, my lads,
if it comes to that."
So we besieged the booths, and fortified ourselves with beef and ale,
and felt ready for anything that might happen.
'Twas no battle after all; for, as ill-luck would have it, just as we
faced them and bade them come on, the alderman of the Bridge Ward rode
up.
"What! a shame on you to mar a day like this with your boyish wrangles!
Is there no wrestling-ring, or shooting-butts, or leaping-fence where
you can vent your rivalry, without flying at one another's throats like
curs? Call you that loyalty? Have we no enemies better worth our
mettle than fellow-Englishmen?"
This speech abashed us a little, and the captain of the Bridge
'prentices said, sulkily:
"I care not to break their heads, worship; there's little to be got out
of that. Come, lads, we can find better sport in the juggler's booth."
"His worship came in a good hour for you," cried we. "Thank him you can
slink away on your own legs this time, and need no one to drag you feet
foremost off the Fields."
"Come, come," said the good alderman, "away with such foolish talk.
Let's see a match struck up. I myself will give a new long-bow and a
sheaf of arrows to the best jumper of you all. What say you? The
highest leap and the broadest? Ho, there!" added he, calling a servant
to him; "bid them clear a space for a match 'twixt the gallant
'prentices of the Bridge and the gallant 'prentices without Temple Bar.
Come, boys; were I forty years younger I'd put you to it to distance me.
But my jumping days are gone by, and I am but a judge."
Then we gave him a cheer, the bluff old boy; and, forgetting all our
quarrel in the thought of the long-bow and arrows, we trooped at his
horse's tail to the open space, and doffed our coats in readiness for
the contest.
A great crowd stood round to see us jump. The scene remains in my
mind's eye even now. 'Prentices, bare-headed, squatted cross-legged on
the grass, bandying their noisy jests, and finding a laugh for everybody
and everything. Behind them stood a motley throng of sightseers, men,
women, and children, for the most part citizens, but interspersed here
and there with gay groups of gentlefolk, and even some who wore the
bright trappings of the Court. Behind them the beggars and pickpockets
plied their arduous calling; and in the rear of all, at a little
distance, wandered the horses of the gentles, cropping the fresh grass,
with no eye to the achievements of Temple Bar or London Bridge. Beyond
them soared the windmills and the hills of Isledon and Hoxton.
It was a scene familiar to me, for I had often taken it in before; and
yet for a while to-day it seemed new, and my eye, as I waited at the
post, wandered here and there to detect what it could be which made all
seem so strange. After a while I discovered that, wherever else they
roamed, my glances returned always to one bright spot, close by where
stood a maiden.
It seemed to me I had never known what beauty meant till I looked on
her. She was tall, and dressed more simply than many a citizen's wife,
and yet her air was that of a goddess. Every movement of her head bore
the signs of queenliness; and yet in every feature of her face lurked a
sweetness irresistible. At first sight, as you saw her, tall, erect,
with her short clustering hair and fearless eyes of blue, you would have
been tempted to suppose her a boy in disguise. Yet if you looked a
moment longer, the woman in her shone out in every step and gesture.
Her cheeks glowed with health and maidenly modesty; and her eyes, that
flashed on you one moment almost defiantly, dropped the next in coyness
and delicious confusion.
She stood there, conspicuous and radiant amid the jostling crowd, yet
wholly heedless of the glances and whispers and perplexity she drew
forth. As for me, I scarcely knew where I was, and when the alderman
cried, "Make ready, now," I obeyed him as a man in a dream.
But I recovered myself of a sudden when presently I saw the captain of
the Bridge 'prentices, who was a shorter man than I, leap over the bar
as high as his own shoulders, and heard the triumphal shouts of his
fellows. After him, one by one, came the picked men of either side, but
at each leap the bar sprung into the air, and the champions retired
worsted from the contest.
Then came my turn. I dared to dart a hurried glance where stood the
only onlooker whose applause I coveted. And she turned her head towards
me.
So I took my run and cleared the bar.
"A match! a match!" cried the crowd, closing in a step; "a match between
Will Peake and Humphrey Dexter."
"And take my sword and cloak," shouted a Bridge boy, who owned neither,
"if Will Peake do not over-jump the printer's devil's head."
This made me angry. Not that I cared for the gibe; but because I
disliked that one there should hear me called by so graceless a name.
Well, we jumped once more; but this time I dared not look anywhere, but
straight before me. Yet I cleared the bar.
Whereupon the Bridge boys vaunted themselves more soberly, and he who
had offered his cloak and sword now offered only his belt.
"Set the bar two points higher," I cried, "and clear me that, Will
Peake, if you can."
At that our lads rent the air with shouts, and Will Peake pulled a long
face. For the bar now stood level with his eyes, though it only reached
my chin.
It fell out as I hoped. He jumped, and the bar sprang six yards into
the air as he missed it.
Then our 'prentices made up for the silence of those of the Bridge; and
this time the gamester offered not so much as a shoe lace.
For all that, I must clear the bar, if I was to make good my challenge;
and I drew a long breath as I stood a moment and glanced round.
Yes. Her eyes of blue were on me, her lips were the least bit parted,
and a glow of expectation was in her cheeks.
So I took my run and cleared the bar, with an inch to spare.
Then, as I heard nothing of the shouts which yet deafened me, and durst
not so much as raise my eyes, the cheery alderman's voice cried:
"So Master Dexter hath won the high jump. See if he also win the broad.
Clear away there, and stand back, good people, to give our brave lads
fair play."
When I took courage at last to look up, I saw a sight which made the
blood in my veins tingle.
She stood still where she was; but next to her had squeezed himself a
smirking gallant, bravely bedizened, who looked round impudently into
her face, and whispered something in her ear.
To me it seemed as if at first she was heedless of his presence, then,
hearing him, she turned upon him a startled gaze, and, flushing angrily,
moved a scornful pace away.