The morning of the opening of the Fair found Annys, together with
hundreds of others, tramping along the road to Stourbridge. From the
very earliest sign of dawn the highway had bustled with life. The
people poured in from all sides,--from as far north as Norwich and
Kings Lynn and Marham, and from Colchester and Mile End in the east,
and Oxford in the west, and Maidstone and Tunbridge and Guildford
in the south, and even from the great city of London they came. For
weeks the whole southeast corner of England had been in a turmoil of
preparation. The harbors of the seaport towns, Blakeney and Colchester
and Lynn and Norwich, had been filled with foreign vessels, swarming
with swarthy-faced sailors from the Mediterranean and tow-haired
sailors from the North Sea. All these were doubly welcome, for not
only they brought trade to the towns, but news, news of far-off lands
and far-off peoples. The relation of man to man had a freshness, a
piquancy in those days, for one told the other of what was happening
in the world, and so each man was then a bearer of news, and not a mere
commentator on news already known.
Walking along the highway and jostling one another, there were to be
found belated merchants, with heavy hearts hurrying to plead for a
place in the Fair; bailiffs bent on their masters' business, securing
more canvas or the best millstones from the south of France, or horses
for the field, or any of the thousand things that it was their duty to
see were on hand; nobles themselves travelling in great state to select
a fine war-horse from Spain, or from the same land some rich, rare
wine with the sun taken prisoner in it; some knight to try curiously
wrought armor from Milan; ladies on palfreys with their hearts set on
some jewels or fine robes; monks telling their beads; nuns with eyes
modestly cast down; smiths seeking for iron; pardoners and pedlers
seeking for profit, acrobats and showmen all after the careless penny
of the loiterer; beggars in plenty; scholars from the Universities;--as
the poet sang,--
"All manner of men, the mean and the rich, working and wandering as
the world asketh."
Once within the gates, Annys found himself surrounded by a most
bewildering Babel,--merchants crying their wares, jugglers proclaiming
their feats, drug-sellers holding forth on the peculiar virtues of
their medicines and ointments, pardoners praising their charms, swine
grunting disapproval, horses neighing with impatience, girls exclaiming
in delight and wonder, boys tooting tin horns, deep voices, shrill
voices, laughs, sneers, jests, oaths, upbraidings, crowing, gobbling,
stamping, halloes,--Italian, Norwegian, Russian, Dutch, German, French,
Spanish, and English all jumbled together. It was enough to madden a
man, unless he plunged into the immediate work of making as much noise
as his neighbor. Yet the vast majority seemed in good spirits, and
many articles changed hands, and all went merrily enough; and if some
dispute did wax too high for comfort, the brawlers were led in a trice
to the court of the dusty feet, where either the dignified Mayor of
Cambridge or his deputy sat all day and all night, and woe to the man
that thought there was appeal from his decision.
Annys looked about him with great interest. A great cornfield half a
mile square had been dug up and laid out into streets. The owner of the
corn had hurried in his harvest before the last week in August, for
had he been caught with his corn still on the stalk, the builder of
the booths then had the right to destroy the corn. On the other hand,
when the Fair was over it was the turn of the builder to hasten, for
if the booths were not removed before Michaelmas day, the owner of the
soil had the right to destroy them. Turn about is fair play. The only
compensation which the owner of the land received for the use of his
land was its additional fertility after so large a concourse of persons
had thronged there.
Each important trade had its own street or double row of booths, with
a sign swinging high with the name of the street painted conspicuously
upon it. As the name was in each case borrowed for the occasion
from some town street where the trade was permanently concentrated,
there was brought to the little English village a quaint flavor of
cosmopolitanism. Memories of London and Bruges and Paris and Venice
stirred in the breeze. For a time Annys walked up and down, so much
interested in what he saw that he neglected to look for the signal with
which the members of the secret society always greeted one another.
There was something marvellously exhilarating to him in this contact
with men from all parts of the world. Here was a man who, but a few
months ago, might have kneeled before the throne of the Pope, and here
was another who might have come straight from the luxurious palace
at Avignon, where the Anti-pope held his court. Here was one whose
ancestors surely saw the red cross of the Crusaders waving at the gates
of Palestine, and here one who had within him the blood of those hardy
Norsemen who descended upon the English coast with all the fury and
compelling force of the fierce storms that drove along their boats.
He walked through one street after another, never tiring of the
wonderful sights. He stopped before the booths and stood gaping like a
little child, receiving, however, scant enough encouragement from the
merchants, who would have preferred to give ground space to a customer
more profitable than a poor priest. There were streets where merchants
with precious stocks of Eastern produce vied with one another,
Venetians and Genoese, to attract the eye of the connoisseur; others
where Italian silks and velvets tempted the rich; and others yet where
delicate glassware dazzled the eye with glints of exquisite color. And
still more merchants from Italy showed spices as their bait,--spices
without which no meal were palatable,--pepper and cinnamon, mace and
ginger, cloves, and canel, collected in the far East, and reaching the
Mediterranean only after a long and tedious journey. Then there were
men from the south of France, and Greeks as well, with raisins, figs,
currants, galingale, almonds, rice, and licorice. And there were dates
from Egypt and sugars from Sicily and Cyprus and Alexandria.
Gascons there were who needed not their celebrated wines to make them
expansive and good-humored; big-boned men from the Hanseatic towns with
furs and amber beads and precious stones from the East, reaching them
from Moscow and Novgorod; and Flemish weavers with the coveted linens
of Liège and Ghent; and hardy Norwegians with tar and pitch from their
unending forests of pine.
All this had been brought to England's shores in many vessels, reaching
Stourbridge in smaller boats by way of the rivers Ouse and Cam; but
from England itself there had come, first in importance, the great wool
packs that were the envy of other nations, and tin from the mines of
Cornwall, lead from the mines of Derbyshire, iron from the forges of
Sussex, and, most important, salt from the springs of Worcestershire;
for woe to the bailiff who fell short of salt for his stock!
How Annys revelled in all this tumult and bustle of trade! The struggle
which he had waged with himself had drawn his thoughts away from their
usual current, but now his heart within him panted for action. The
longing for the peace of the monastery faded away utterly, and in its
place arose the strong joy of living, of fighting, of sharing one's
life with a brother, and of living for that brother--which was the
very essence of his creed. He had passed through an evil nightmare. He
was awake now, and he drew deep breaths to know that he was a free man
again; and now he looked eagerly about him for a sign of a familiar
face, for he could scarce wait until he should begin planning and
discussing again the details of the great rendezvous at Blackheath.
Suddenly he found that it was impossible to make further headway, for
the crowd pressed too thickly about him. He allowed himself to be
pushed along until, by craning his neck, he could see what was the
cause of the excitement.
A man standing upon a carpeted platform was vehemently holding forth
upon the virtues of his wares. The crowd could not catch all that he
was saying.
"Hush! hush!"
"Let us hear what he has to say!"
"Quiet! quiet!"
"Here it is, here it is, my good fellows," the man was saying, in
a loud, singsong voice. "Do not lose this precious opportunity of
protecting yourselves at a trifling cost against all sickness and
pestilence. Look! you see it is still red and flowing, after all these
years, which proves it is as I say. It can never congeal." And he held
high above their heads, so that all might see, a small vial with some
red fluid shaking in it. "This is some of the precious blood of Christ,
caught while it was dripping away from Him on the cross. Remember, no
one can be taken with the black vomit while in the possession of this
vial."
A man stepped forward and purchased the precious vial, not, however,
without some sharp haggling over its price.
"And now," continued the pardoner, seeing that he had attracted a
sufficient crowd about him, "and now do I not see some youth who has
loved more hotly than wisely, and who would like a charm to spare the
maid all pain? Here is an Agnus Dei," he cried, holding up a small
wax medal. "Remember, it will be six years more before his most Holy
Reverence, the Pope, blesses a new stock; remember, the possession
of this wipes away sin; it protects one from the fury of winds and
tempests, and one cannot be hurt even by fire."
"Sell it not, then, O monk, I beg," cried a voice from the crowd, "for
it may come of great use to you in the future life."
The monk grinned in appreciation of the joke. "But I could not find it
in my heart to keep it from yonder young man who needs it so sorely for
his sweetheart."
All eyes turned curiously towards a stalwart young fellow who was
trying to escape with a buxom young woman clinging to his arm. It was
evident that the monk's shrewd eyes had read the situation rightly,
and as no joke was too coarse for a mediæval crowd, the merriment was
quite open and unconcealed. The fellow looked sheepish, the girl's face
was aflame and the tears stood in her eyes, yet the crowd guffawed
heartily. "Remember," cried the monk in one more desperate attempt, "in
accouchement, mother and infant both are saved," but the couple had
succeeded in making their escape.
"Hold!" exclaimed a stout and prosperous-looking merchant, "must all
the world give way before lovers? I, too, have my needs, for I brave
many a tempest in the course of my wanderings."
"Ay," replied the monk, "take it for safe travel, and it is well to
remember that it will take a certain temptation of the flesh away from
thee, and the Lord knows there is evil enough in the world."
Then he singled out a big bailiff who looked as if he lived off the fat
of his master's land, and endeavored to sell him a scapular which if
worn over the back and stomach insured perfect continency, incidentally
at the same time protecting the wearer from all the torments of Hell,
powers of the Evil One, etc., etc. The crowd roared with delight over
the discomfiture of the bailiff, whose puffy cheeks became purple with
anger.
"Ho, ho!" they cried, "take it, Sir Bailiff, and mend thy ways. 'Tis
known thy knees are already worn with praying for what the scapular
will accomplish without further effort on thy part."
"Here," cried the bailiff, throwing the monk a coin, "enough! I'll pay
for it, but it suits not the temper of my blood. Throw it, instead, and
welcome, over the shoulders of yonder poor priest who looks as if it
would not trouble him any to go without certain good things of life."
The crowd turned about and craned their necks to have a good look at
Annys, who merely smiled and suggested that it be not wasted on one who
did not need it. Then the monk caught sight of him for the first time.
"Oh, good morrow, 'tis my famous pontiff, good morrow," he cried.
Annys nodded shortly in return to Stott, whom he had long before
recognized, and tried to pass on. He had witnessed enough of the
superstition and folly of the people, and his heart was heavy within
him. But Stott would not have it so. "Ah, Sir Russet-priest," he called
after him, "I wot well you do not approve of all this, yet have you
it in your heart to turn away as I am about to offer my very choicest
treasure of all?"
The crowd squeezed closer to the carpeted platform, and Annys could not
have made his way through now had he wished to. A thin, anxious-looking
merchant, in his stall opposite, who had come from afar and saw that
his wares were not going as were the wares of this pardon-seller,
looked on sadly and murmured impatiently in his beard against all
pardon-sellers and humbugs.
"Now give heed, dear people," began Stott in an unctuous tone, and from
the manner in which the words rolled easily from his tongue it was
evident that he had often recited the story before.
"Ye have all heard of the Blessed Virgin sister Jeanne of the Cross of
the third order of St. Francis, and of her great piousness, and in what
great reverence she was held, and how all the birds flocked to hear
her preach, and when she prayed the flowers in the vases bowed at the
Gloria Patri."
How the simple people delighted in those tales! Indeed, the highly
diverting tales of the saints and the miracles that they performed were
to them novels, dramas, and exhortations all in one. Their imaginative
curiosity was captivated at the same time that their faith was
strengthened.
"Well, one day the nuns came to her, who was their Mother Superior, and
begged her to obtain the blessing of Jesus Christ Himself for their
rosaries. So she placed all that they gave to her in a great casket
which she locked securely, retaining the key of it herself. The next
day all the rosaries were gone and the casket perfectly empty. Then,
while the Virgin remained on her knees praying, the chapel was suddenly
filled with the most delicious and wonderful odor, and on going to the
casket they found the rosaries again there."
A shiver of interest ran through the audience. They listened as
children listen to some delightful fairy tale, the more familiar, the
more delightful.
"Now it is well known," continued the monk, "that a very special grace
is attached to these rosaries, not only to all the rosaries blessed by
Christ Himself, but to each individual bead of each rosary."
Annys wondered if the fellow would have the effrontery to pretend
that he had with him one of those rosaries, which were so precious as
to be guarded night and day in the chapel, as, indeed, if they were
stolen the principal source of the monastery's income would go with
them. Stott's beady little eyes twinkled as if he read the thought of
his critic. They seemed to say, "Not so fast, Sir Russet-priest, wait a
bit!"
"Now follow me carefully," he went on; "recollect that by the peculiar
virtues of these beads the same virtue passes out to every bead that
touches one of them. These rosaries which I have here have lain for one
whole night in the casket with the original beads."
Annys could not but laugh at the ingenuity of the fellow, and he now
passed slowly on, while behind him he could for some time hear the
harsh, monotonous voice reciting:--
"It quiets storms, cures pestilence, prevents temptations against the
Faith, puts out flames."
"Ha!" exclaimed a stalwart smith, recognizing Annys and bringing one
great hand down on his slender shoulder so that the young man winced.
"Ha, does it so? Puts out flames? Then these bailiffs here, if they
know their business, will not lose a minute in securing them for their
masters, and it might be well for every Baron and Abbott in the land
to get one, for, by Heaven, if--"
The rest was lost in Annys's hand, which he closed tightly over the
smith's mouth.
"Hist!" he cried at the same time, with a warning gesture.
"Oh, I am heartily sick of caution," cried the smith, "my hand itches
for the torch. It cannot be laid on too soon for me."
"Nay," Annys exclaimed, "the torch would be but a poor friend indeed.
But come where we can talk more privily. A little patience, my friend."
"Oh, patience, patience," cried the fellow, bitterly, but striding
after the poor priest.
"A pardon, a pardon," begged a poor woman, approaching Annys with
outstretched palm.
Annys smiled and handed her one which she took eagerly.
Later on, it caused much discussion, for when its Latin was translated
it proved to be no pardon at all. He had given her a piece of paper on
which was written:--
"Et qui bona egerunt ibunt in vitam eternam."
It looked proper enough and like unto the usual Latin prayer that was
written on such pardons, but in plain English it turned out to be only
a homely piece of advice taken from Piers the Ploughman:--
"Those who do well shall go into everlasting life."
These russet priests! There's no telling the tricks they will play!