A liking for stories of the saints grows with the supply. The Bookworm
discovered in them the makings of history, and Guy mere love for the
marvellous and dramatic situations. He thought St. Agnes would work
up splendidly. It is well that saints catch on, because one can't get
away from them. No sooner is one out of the parish of St. A., than
he's into the parish of St. B., and from St. B. to St. C., and so on
through the alphabet. It must have been a sore trial to the aborigines
to see so many foreign saints upon the soil without visible means of
subsistence, yet claiming exemption from income tax.
Wherever there was a well a saint took possession of it. The votive
offerings of the natives to the bright, sparkling divinity dwelling
in springs of water passed into their hands, the water cures became
"miracles," and chapels and baptistries were built over the wells.
Chapels and hermits' cells abound. There is one spring which insures a
man from hanging if he is but christened with its water in childhood.
There is another, in which a madman may be ducked until he is cured;
there is another, in which a maiden may see her "future;" and there are
others which can cure sad souls and sadder bodies.
As things are reckoned now, the best of the saints did not have a
good time. The ruined chapel in the Saints' Valley was at one time
the residence of a holy man, who never saw human form, or heard human
voice, unless some one in distress needed his good offices to heal
or console the sick or dying. It was a dark and dreary cell, with
two slits in the walls for light and air, and a thin stream trickled
through, and fell into a rocky basin outside, now green with fern and
lichen. This feeble stream cut a channel in the rock, so we thought the
cell must be pretty old; but there was no niche, or anything to show
that lamp or image swung from the roof, or nestled somewhere to cheer
the poor man. Whoever he was, he left no trace, not even a scratch in
the rock recording his name. We would not have been much the wiser,
after all, even if we had known the name of the poor human who endured
torture here, and had the courage to live, and not throw himself to the
first wolves who came howling around.
The ideas conjured up were unpleasant, and Guy gave a shout when he
got outside, just to be sure that he was himself. He was sure, he
said, no penal settlement in the world possessed a solitary system
so depressingly solitary as this. He was quite prepared to take an
affidavit neither now, nor at any time, to go in for honours in
saintship.
The Bookworm said stories of the saints made what we saw much more
interesting than if we merely looked at them through the eyes of
guide-books. There was the "Cheese-wring." What did Murray say? Just
this--
"This remarkable object consists of tabular blocks of granite heaped
one upon the other, after the manner of cheeses, to the height of
twenty-four feet, but has probably acquired its name from its supposed
resemblance to the press employed in the preparation of cider....
It derives its extraordinary appearance from the circumstance of
the stones at the base being less than half the size of those they
support, which are ten or twelve feet in diameter. Hence, the shape
of the pile is that of a huge fungus, with a stalk so slenderly
proportioned for the weight of the head, that the spectator will find
it hard to divest himself of the idea of its instability."
He had, he said, made notes of a short story which accounted for the
fantastic mass of weathered granite in quite a different way, and made
of the stone a lasting memorial of the triumph of the saints over the
early giants in the land--faith against strength.
ST. TUE AND THE GIANTS.
The story opened at a period when the saints had been some time in the
land, and the people took kindly to them, and brought them fish on
Fridays. The giants grew jealous, and resolved on holding a conference,
and when they were all assembled, Uther was voted to the chair, because
he had the broadest shoulders and the best headpiece of all the race
from the Tamar to Pol-Pedyn. The question was, What shall we do with
the saints? Various methods had been already tried--boiling, baking,
and grilling were no use. The giants were not a united family, and were
fond of hurling rocks at one another, and fighting and wrestling for
fun or glory, just as the humour prompted. Uther, the president, put
the matter before them in a statesmanlike way. First of all, he counted
six up, and then he counted half a dozen; then he said, if you take
six from six, there's nothing, but if you wipe out six, six remains.
The speech was so precise and clear, that it was pencilled down on a
half-sheet of notepaper, and, in time, became the model for future
prime ministers. It was certainly very well received. Then there was
a discussion, and some said one thing, and some another, and when all
spoke at once, it was very difficult to know what was said or meant.
The president tried to keep order, but was just as helpless as Mr.
Speaker in modern days. Fortunately it was an open-air meeting, and the
sky was not cracked.
Saint Tue had a little well all to himself, but was a small and weakly
man, who took cod-liver oil fasting; but he was young and full of zeal.
The conference was held in what he called his "sphere of influence,"
and when he heard the mighty shouts, he looked upwards and saw a
sign. Then he hastened to the conference, and, by dodging in and out
between the giants' legs, he managed to reach the president, who was
threatening to leave the chair unless better order was kept.
"Pick me up," said St. Tue.
So Uther picked him up and showed him to the assembly; and, being a
strong man himself, he admired pluck.
"What do you want here, my little man?" asked Uther, thinking into
which pocket he should pop him to ensure his safety.
"I want to challenge you to a trial of strength; but let me speak to
the giants," replied the saint.
Uther stood St. Tue on the palm of his hand and held out his arm,
so that he might speak, which he did in a loud voice, telling them
solemnly that they were warring against heaven and one mightier than
they, and finished by challenging the mightiest to a contest of
rock-hurling. If he were beaten, all the saints would leave the land;
but if he won, then the giants were to cease their persecution and be
baptized with the sign of the cross.
Now, Uther was a champion rock-hurler, and it was a pastime with him
to throw rocks like quoits, and so truly as to balance them one over
the other, the top being the largest. The game was no child's play; and
the assembly said if Uther would accept the challenge, they would abide
by the result. When they looked at St. Tue and the rocks to be hurled,
they laughed mockingly.
There were twelve rocks in all. They had been used before, and were
fairly round. The smallest was hurled first, and Uther pitched it one
hundred feet. St Tues knees shook. What if his faith should fail now?
He cast his eyes upwards, and then, oh, blessed miracle! the rock was
as a feather in his hand, and he hurled it with such precision that it
capped number one as though it grew there.
So the game went on, and the pile grew more and more like a mushroom.
The giants shouted mightily when Uther's rock capped the saint's; but
when the saint's capped Uther's, they groaned aloud, and showed temper.
It was the saint's turn to hurl the last rock, which, being the
heaviest and largest, and having to be thrown the highest, required the
greatest skill and judgment and strength. The slightest error, and the
pile would topple over. The silence was so great that a grasshopper was
heard to chirp. True as a die the rock settled on the rest, and the
whole mass swayed upon its stem, but fell not.
The victory was not yet, and a thirteenth rock was brought, and so huge
was it that the giant knew it was beyond his powers to hurl; but he
raised it with both hands and threw it with all his might and strength,
and fell prone to earth, exhausted. The rock fell short, and was rolled
back to where St. Tue stood, trembling once again. Would Heaven fail
him now? But no. His eyes were opened, and he saw an angelic host raise
the stone to his hand, carry it through the air, and place it as a
crown upon the "wring," that man might wonder at for evermore. But
the giants were blind with rage, and saw not.
[Illustration: THE LEGEND OF THE CHEESE-WRING.]
Then Uther bowed his head in humility and confessed his sins, and was
baptized; and some followed his example, but more returned to their
castles and did what scathe they could. But the saints rejoiced when
they heard what St. Tue had done, and were made free of the land; and
made so free with it that all the best they took to themselves, and
so pursued the giants with soap and water and Sunday clothes, and so
trimmed their beards and nails, that the race dwindled and dwindled
and died out. So the saints triumphed, and the Cheese-wring is their
memorial.
St. Tue founded the "Union of Saints," and then his troubles began in
such earnest that he had to increase his doses of cod-liver oil in
order to bear them. He was nursed in his last days by the good St.
Keyne, who came over from Wales for the purpose. An elm, an oak, and
an ash tree grew over his grave, whose roots formed an arch, and under
the arch a spring of pure water gushed forth. So St. Keyne lived by the
well, and Cornish brides, drinking first of the water, wear divided
skirts, and feed their husbands with long spoons.
Guy said he thought we had had enough of saints, both he and she, for
the present.
[Illustration: TRURO CATHEDRAL.]