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freedom, and never ranger ask whose arrow hath struck down the deer. "

" Thanks, gentle lady, " said Locksley; " thanks from my company and

myself. But, to have saved you requites itself. We who walk the

greenwood do many a wild deed, and the Lady Rowena's deliverance may be

received as an atonement. "

Again bowing from her palfrey, Rowena turned to depart; but pausing a

moment, while Cedric, who was to attend her, was also taking his leave,

she found herself unexpectedly close by the prisoner De Bracy. He stood

under a tree in deep meditation, his arms crossed upon his breast,

and Rowena was in hopes she might pass him unobserved. He looked up,

however, and, when aware of her presence, a deep flush of shame suffused

his handsome countenance. He stood a moment most irresolute; then,

stepping forward, took her palfrey by the rein, and bent his knee before

her.

" Will the Lady Rowena deign to cast an eye--on a captive knight--on a

dishonoured soldier? "

" Sir Knight, " answered Rowena, " in enterprises such as yours, the real

dishonour lies not in failure, but in success. "

" Conquest, lady, should soften the heart, " answered De Bracy; " let me

but know that the Lady Rowena forgives the violence occasioned by an

ill-fated passion, and she shall soon learn that De Bracy knows how to

serve her in nobler ways. "

" I forgive you, Sir Knight, " said Rowena, " as a Christian. "

" That means, " said Wamba, " that she does not forgive him at all. "

" But I can never forgive the misery and desolation your madness has

occasioned, " continued Rowena.

" Unloose your hold on the lady's rein, " said Cedric, coming up. " By the

bright sun above us, but it were shame, I would pin thee to the earth

with my javelin--but be well assured, thou shalt smart, Maurice de

Bracy, for thy share in this foul deed. "

" He threatens safely who threatens a prisoner, " said De Bracy; " but when

had a Saxon any touch of courtesy? "

Then retiring two steps backward, he permitted the lady to move on.

Cedric, ere they departed, expressed his peculiar gratitude to the Black

Champion, and earnestly entreated him to accompany him to Rotherwood.

" I know, " he said, " that ye errant knights desire to carry your fortunes

on the point of your lance, and reck not of land or goods; but war is

a changeful mistress, and a home is sometimes desirable even to the

champion whose trade is wandering. Thou hast earned one in the halls

of Rotherwood, noble knight. Cedric has wealth enough to repair the

injuries of fortune, and all he has is his deliverer's--Come, therefore,

to Rotherwood, not as a guest, but as a son or brother. "

" Cedric has already made me rich, " said the Knight, --" he has taught me

the value of Saxon virtue. To Rotherwood will I come, brave Saxon, and

that speedily; but, as now, pressing matters of moment detain me from

your halls. Peradventure when I come hither, I will ask such a boon as

will put even thy generosity to the test. "

" It is granted ere spoken out, " said Cedric, striking his ready hand

into the gauntleted palm of the Black Knight, --" it is granted already,

were it to affect half my fortune. "

" Gage not thy promise so lightly, " said the Knight of the Fetterlock;

" yet well I hope to gain the boon I shall ask. Meanwhile, adieu. "

" I have but to say, " added the Saxon, " that, during the funeral rites

of the noble Athelstane, I shall be an inhabitant of the halls of his

castle of Coningsburgh--They will be open to all who choose to partake

of the funeral banqueting; and, I speak in name of the noble Edith,

mother of the fallen prince, they will never be shut against him who

laboured so bravely, though unsuccessfully, to save Athelstane from

Norman chains and Norman steel. "

" Ay, ay, " said Wamba, who had resumed his attendance on his master,

" rare feeding there will be--pity that the noble Athelstane cannot

banquet at his own funeral. --But he, " continued the Jester, lifting up

his eyes gravely, " is supping in Paradise, and doubtless does honour to

the cheer. "

" Peace, and move on, " said Cedric, his anger at this untimely jest being

checked by the recollection of Wamba's recent services. Rowena waved a

graceful adieu to him of the Fetterlock--the Saxon bade God speed him,

and on they moved through a wide glade of the forest.

They had scarce departed, ere a sudden procession moved from under the

greenwood branches, swept slowly round the silvan amphitheatre, and

took the same direction with Rowena and her followers. The priests of

a neighbouring convent, in expectation of the ample donation, or

" soul-scat", which Cedric had propined, attended upon the car in which

the body of Athelstane was laid, and sang hymns as it was sadly

and slowly borne on the shoulders of his vassals to his castle of

Coningsburgh, to be there deposited in the grave of Hengist, from whom

the deceased derived his long descent. Many of his vassals had assembled

at the news of his death, and followed the bier with all the external

marks, at least, of dejection and sorrow. Again the outlaws arose, and

paid the same rude and spontaneous homage to death, which they had

so lately rendered to beauty--the slow chant and mournful step of the

priests brought back to their remembrance such of their comrades as had

fallen in the yesterday's array. But such recollections dwell not long

with those who lead a life of danger and enterprise, and ere the sound

of the death-hymn had died on the wind, the outlaws were again busied in

the distribution of their spoil.

" Valiant knight, " said Locksley to the Black Champion, " without whose

good heart and mighty arm our enterprise must altogether have failed,

will it please you to take from that mass of spoil whatever may best

serve to pleasure you, and to remind you of this my Trysting-tree? "

" I accept the offer, " said the Knight, " as frankly as it is given; and I

ask permission to dispose of Sir Maurice de Bracy at my own pleasure. "

" He is thine already, " said Locksley, " and well for him! else the

tyrant had graced the highest bough of this oak, with as many of his

Free-Companions as we could gather, hanging thick as acorns around

him. --But he is thy prisoner, and he is safe, though he had slain my

father. "

" De Bracy, " said the Knight, " thou art free--depart. He whose prisoner

thou art scorns to take mean revenge for what is past. But beware of

the future, lest a worse thing befall thee. --Maurice de Bracy, I say

BEWARE! "

De Bracy bowed low and in silence, and was about to withdraw, when the

yeomen burst at once into a shout of execration and derision. The proud

knight instantly stopped, turned back, folded his arms, drew up his form

to its full height, and exclaimed, " Peace, ye yelping curs! who open

upon a cry which ye followed not when the stag was at bay--De Bracy

scorns your censure as he would disdain your applause. To your brakes

and caves, ye outlawed thieves! and be silent when aught knightly or

noble is but spoken within a league of your fox-earths. "

This ill-timed defiance might have procured for De Bracy a volley of

arrows, but for the hasty and imperative interference of the outlaw

Chief. Meanwhile the knight caught a horse by the rein, for several

which had been taken in the stables of Front-de-Boeuf stood accoutred

around, and were a valuable part of the booty. He threw himself upon the

saddle, and galloped off through the wood.

When the bustle occasioned by this incident was somewhat composed, the

chief Outlaw took from his neck the rich horn and baldric which he had

recently gained at the strife of archery near Ashby.

" Noble knight. " he said to him of the Fetterlock, " if you disdain not to

grace by your acceptance a bugle which an English yeoman has once worn,

this I will pray you to keep as a memorial of your gallant bearing--and

if ye have aught to do, and, as happeneth oft to a gallant knight, ye

chance to be hard bested in any forest between Trent and Tees, wind

three mots [42] upon the horn thus, 'Wa-sa-hoa! ' and it may well chance

ye shall find helpers and rescue. "

He then gave breath to the bugle, and winded once and again the call

which he described, until the knight had caught the notes.

" Gramercy for the gift, bold yeoman, " said the Knight; " and better help

than thine and thy rangers would I never seek, were it at my utmost

need. " And then in his turn he winded the call till all the greenwood

rang.

" Well blown and clearly, " said the yeoman; " beshrew me an thou knowest

not as much of woodcraft as of war! --thou hast been a striker of deer in

thy day, I warrant. --Comrades, mark these three mots--it is the call of

the Knight of the Fetterlock; and he who hears it, and hastens not to

serve him at his need, I will have him scourged out of our band with his

own bowstring. "

" Long live our leader! " shouted the yeomen, " and long live the Black

Knight of the Fetterlock! --May he soon use our service, to prove how

readily it will be paid. "

Locksley now proceeded to the distribution of the spoil, which he

performed with the most laudable impartiality. A tenth part of the whole

was set apart for the church, and for pious uses; a portion was next

allotted to a sort of public treasury; a part was assigned to the widows

and children of those who had fallen, or to be expended in masses for

the souls of such as had left no surviving family. The rest was divided

amongst the outlaws, according to their rank and merit, and the judgment

of the Chief, on all such doubtful questions as occurred, was delivered

with great shrewdness, and received with absolute submission. The

Black Knight was not a little surprised to find that men, in a state so

lawless, were nevertheless among themselves so regularly and equitably

governed, and all that he observed added to his opinion of the justice

and judgment of their leader.

When each had taken his own proportion of the booty, and while the

treasurer, accompanied by four tall yeomen, was transporting that

belonging to the state to some place of concealment or of security, the

portion devoted to the church still remained unappropriated.

" I would, " said the leader, " we could hear tidings of our joyous

chaplain--he was never wont to be absent when meat was to be blessed, or

spoil to be parted; and it is his duty to take care of these the tithes

of our successful enterprise. It may be the office has helped to cover

some of his canonical irregularities. Also, I have a holy brother of his

a prisoner at no great distance, and I would fain have the Friar to help

me to deal with him in due sort--I greatly misdoubt the safety of the

bluff priest. "

" I were right sorry for that, " said the Knight of the Fetterlock, " for I

stand indebted to him for the joyous hospitality of a merry night in his

cell. Let us to the ruins of the castle; it may be we shall there learn

some tidings of him. "

While they thus spoke, a loud shout among the yeomen announced the

arrival of him for whom they feared, as they learned from the stentorian

voice of the Friar himself, long before they saw his burly person.

" Make room, my merry-men! " he exclaimed; " room for your godly father

and his prisoner--Cry welcome once more. --I come, noble leader, like an

eagle with my prey in my clutch. " --And making his way through the ring,

amidst the laughter of all around, he appeared in majestic triumph, his

huge partisan in one hand, and in the other a halter, one end of which

was fastened to the neck of the unfortunate Isaac of York, who, bent

down by sorrow and terror, was dragged on by the victorious priest, who

shouted aloud, " Where is Allan-a-Dale, to chronicle me in a ballad, or

if it were but a lay? --By Saint Hermangild, the jingling crowder is ever

out of the way where there is an apt theme for exalting valour! "

" Curtal Priest, " said the Captain, " thou hast been at a wet mass this

morning, as early as it is. In the name of Saint Nicholas, whom hast

thou got here? "

" A captive to my sword and to my lance, noble Captain, " replied the

Clerk of Copmanhurst; " to my bow and to my halberd, I should rather

say; and yet I have redeemed him by my divinity from a worse captivity.

Speak, Jew--have I not ransomed thee from Sathanas? --have I not taught

thee thy 'credo', thy 'pater', and thine 'Ave Maria'? --Did I not spend

the whole night in drinking to thee, and in expounding of mysteries? "

" For the love of God! " ejaculated the poor Jew, " will no one take me out

of the keeping of this mad--I mean this holy man? "

" How's this, Jew? " said the Friar, with a menacing aspect; " dost thou

recant, Jew? --Bethink thee, if thou dost relapse into thine infidelity,

though thou are not so tender as a suckling pig--I would I had one

to break my fast upon--thou art not too tough to be roasted! Be

conformable, Isaac, and repeat the words after me. 'Ave Maria'! --"

" Nay, we will have no profanation, mad Priest, " said Locksley; " let us

rather hear where you found this prisoner of thine. "

" By Saint Dunstan, " said the Friar, " I found him where I sought for

better ware! I did step into the cellarage to see what might be rescued

there; for though a cup of burnt wine, with spice, be an evening's

drought for an emperor, it were waste, methought, to let so much good

liquor be mulled at once; and I had caught up one runlet of sack, and

was coming to call more aid among these lazy knaves, who are ever to

seek when a good deed is to be done, when I was avised of a strong

door--Aha! thought I, here is the choicest juice of all in this secret

crypt; and the knave butler, being disturbed in his vocation, hath left

the key in the door--In therefore I went, and found just nought besides

a commodity of rusted chains and this dog of a Jew, who presently

rendered himself my prisoner, rescue or no rescue. I did but refresh

myself after the fatigue of the action, with the unbeliever, with one

humming cup of sack, and was proceeding to lead forth my captive,

when, crash after crash, as with wild thunder-dint and levin-fire, down

toppled the masonry of an outer tower, (marry beshrew their hands that

built it not the firmer! ) and blocked up the passage. The roar of one

falling tower followed another--I gave up thought of life; and deeming

it a dishonour to one of my profession to pass out of this world in

company with a Jew, I heaved up my halberd to beat his brains out; but

I took pity on his grey hairs, and judged it better to lay down the

partisan, and take up my spiritual weapon for his conversion. And truly,

by the blessing of Saint Dunstan, the seed has been sown in good soil;

only that, with speaking to him of mysteries through the whole night,

and being in a manner fasting, (for the few droughts of sack which I

sharpened my wits with were not worth marking, ) my head is well-nigh

dizzied, I trow. --But I was clean exhausted. --Gilbert and Wibbald know

in what state they found me--quite and clean exhausted. "

" We can bear witness, " said Gilbert; " for when we had cleared away the

ruin, and by Saint Dunstan's help lighted upon the dungeon stair, we

found the runlet of sack half empty, the Jew half dead, and the Friar

more than half--exhausted, as he calls it. "

" Ye be knaves! ye lie! " retorted the offended Friar; " it was you and

your gormandizing companions that drank up the sack, and called it your

morning draught--I am a pagan, an I kept it not for the Captain's own

throat. But what recks it? The Jew is converted, and understands all I

have told him, very nearly, if not altogether, as well as myself. "

" Jew, " said the Captain, " is this true? hast thou renounced thine

unbelief? "

" May I so find mercy in your eyes, " said the Jew, " as I know not one

word which the reverend prelate spake to me all this fearful night.

Alas! I was so distraught with agony, and fear, and grief, that had

our holy father Abraham come to preach to me, he had found but a deaf

listener. "

" Thou liest, Jew, and thou knowest thou dost. " said the Friar; " I will

remind thee of but one word of our conference--thou didst promise to

give all thy substance to our holy Order. "

" So help me the Promise, fair sirs, " said Isaac, even more alarmed than

before, " as no such sounds ever crossed my lips! Alas! I am an aged

beggar'd man--I fear me a childless--have ruth on me, and let me go! "

" Nay, " said the Friar, " if thou dost retract vows made in favour of holy

Church, thou must do penance. "

Accordingly, he raised his halberd, and would have laid the staff of

it lustily on the Jew's shoulders, had not the Black Knight stopped the

blow, and thereby transferred the Holy Clerk's resentment to himself.

" By Saint Thomas of Kent, " said he, " an I buckle to my gear, I will

teach thee, sir lazy lover, to mell with thine own matters, maugre thine

iron case there! "

" Nay, be not wroth with me, " said the Knight; " thou knowest I am thy

sworn friend and comrade. "

" I know no such thing, " answered the Friar; " and defy thee for a

meddling coxcomb! "

" Nay, but, " said the Knight, who seemed to take a pleasure in provoking

his quondam host, " hast thou forgotten how, that for my sake (for I say

nothing of the temptation of the flagon and the pasty) thou didst break

thy vow of fast and vigil? "

" Truly, friend, " said the Friar, clenching his huge fist, " I will bestow

a buffet on thee. "

" I accept of no such presents, " said the Knight; " I am content to take

thy cuff [421] as a loan, but I will repay thee with usury as deep as ever thy prisoner

there exacted in his traffic. "

" I will prove that presently, " said the Friar.

" Hola! " cried the Captain, " what art thou after, mad Friar? brawling

beneath our Trysting-tree? "

" No brawling, " said the Knight, " it is but a friendly interchange of

courtesy. --Friar, strike an thou darest--I will stand thy blow, if thou

wilt stand mine. "

" Thou hast the advantage with that iron pot on thy head, " said the

churchman; " but have at thee--Down thou goest, an thou wert Goliath of

Gath in his brazen helmet. "

The Friar bared his brawny arm up to the elbow, and putting his full

strength to the blow, gave the Knight a buffet that might have felled an

ox. But his adversary stood firm as a rock. A loud shout was uttered by

all the yeomen around; for the Clerk's cuff was proverbial amongst them,

and there were few who, in jest or earnest, had not had the occasion to

know its vigour.

" Now, Priest, " said, the Knight, pulling off his gauntlet, " if I had

vantage on my head, I will have none on my hand--stand fast as a true

man. "

" 'Genam meam dedi vapulatori'--I have given my cheek to the smiter, "

said the Priest; " an thou canst stir me from the spot, fellow, I will

freely bestow on thee the Jew's ransom. "

So spoke the burly Priest, assuming, on his part, high defiance. But

who may resist his fate? The buffet of the Knight was given with such

strength and good-will, that the Friar rolled head over heels upon

the plain, to the great amazement of all the spectators. But he arose

neither angry nor crestfallen.

" Brother, " said he to the Knight, " thou shouldst have used thy strength

with more discretion. I had mumbled but a lame mass an thou hadst

broken my jaw, for the piper plays ill that wants the nether chops.

Nevertheless, there is my hand, in friendly witness, that I will

exchange no more cuffs with thee, having been a loser by the barter. End

now all unkindness. Let us put the Jew to ransom, since the leopard will

not change his spots, and a Jew he will continue to be. "

" The Priest, " said Clement, " is not half so confident of the Jew's

conversion, since he received that buffet on the ear. "

" Go to, knave, what pratest thou of conversions? --what, is there no

respect? --all masters and no men? --I tell thee, fellow, I was somewhat

totty when I received the good knight's blow, or I had kept my ground

under it. But an thou gibest more of it, thou shalt learn I can give as

well as take. "

" Peace all! " said the Captain. " And thou, Jew, think of thy ransom;

thou needest not to be told that thy race are held to be accursed in all

Christian communities, and trust me that we cannot endure thy presence

among us. Think, therefore, of an offer, while I examine a prisoner of

another cast. "

" Were many of Front-de-Boeuf's men taken? " demanded the Black Knight.

" None of note enough to be put to ransom, " answered the Captain; " a

set of hilding fellows there were, whom we dismissed to find them a new

master--enough had been done for revenge and profit; the bunch of them

were not worth a cardecu. The prisoner I speak of is better booty--a

jolly monk riding to visit his leman, an I may judge by his horse-gear

and wearing apparel. --Here cometh the worthy prelate, as pert as a

pyet. " And, between two yeomen, was brought before the silvan throne of

the outlaw Chief, our old friend, Prior Aymer of Jorvaulx.

CHAPTER XXXIII

---Flower of warriors,

How is't with Titus Lartius?

MARCIUS. --As with a man busied about decrees,

Condemning some to death and some to exile,

Ransoming him or pitying, threatening the other.

--Coriolanus

The captive Abbot's features and manners exhibited a whimsical mixture

of offended pride, and deranged foppery and bodily terror.

" Why, how now, my masters? " said he, with a voice in which all three

emotions were blended. " What order is this among ye? Be ye Turks

or Christians, that handle a churchman? --Know ye what it is, 'manus

imponere in servos Domini'? Ye have plundered my mails--torn my cope

of curious cut lace, which might have served a cardinal! --Another in my

place would have been at his 'excommunicabo vos'; but I am placible,

and if ye order forth my palfreys, release my brethren, and restore

my mails, tell down with all speed an hundred crowns to be expended in

masses at the high altar of Jorvaulx Abbey, and make your vow to eat no

venison until next Pentecost, it may be you shall hear little more of

this mad frolic. "

" Holy Father, " said the chief Outlaw, " it grieves me to think that you

have met with such usage from any of my followers, as calls for your

fatherly reprehension. "

" Usage! " echoed the priest, encouraged by the mild tone of the silvan

leader; " it were usage fit for no hound of good race--much less for a

Christian--far less for a priest--and least of all for the Prior of

the holy community of Jorvaulx. Here is a profane and drunken minstrel,

called Allan-a-Dale--'nebulo quidam'--who has menaced me with corporal

punishment--nay, with death itself, an I pay not down four hundred

crowns of ransom, to the boot of all the treasure he hath already robbed

me of--gold chains and gymmal rings to an unknown value; besides what

is broken and spoiled among their rude hands, such as my pouncer-box and

silver crisping-tongs. "

" It is impossible that Allan-a-Dale can have thus treated a man of your

reverend bearing, " replied the Captain.

" It is true as the gospel of Saint Nicodemus, " said the Prior; " he

swore, with many a cruel north-country oath, that he would hang me up on

the highest tree in the greenwood. "

" Did he so in very deed? Nay, then, reverend father, I think you had

better comply with his demands--for Allan-a-Dale is the very man to

abide by his word when he has so pledged it. " [43]

" You do but jest with me, " said the astounded Prior, with a forced

laugh; " and I love a good jest with all my heart. But, ha! ha! ha! when

the mirth has lasted the livelong night, it is time to be grave in the

morning. "

" And I am as grave as a father confessor, " replied the Outlaw; " you must

pay a round ransom, Sir Prior, or your convent is likely to be called to

a new election; for your place will know you no more. "

" Are ye Christians, " said the Prior, " and hold this language to a

churchman? "

" Christians! ay, marry are we, and have divinity among us to boot, "

answered the Outlaw. " Let our buxom chaplain stand forth, and expound to

this reverend father the texts which concern this matter. "

The Friar, half-drunk, half-sober, had huddled a friar's frock over his

green cassock, and now summoning together whatever scraps of learning

he had acquired by rote in former days, " Holy father, " said he, " 'Deus

faciat salvam benignitatem vestram'--You are welcome to the greenwood. "

" What profane mummery is this? " said the Prior. " Friend, if thou be'st

indeed of the church, it were a better deed to show me how I may escape

from these men's hands, than to stand ducking and grinning here like a

morris-dancer. "

" Truly, reverend father, " said the Friar, " I know but one mode in which

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