THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD

BY WILLIAM MORRIS

POCKET EDITION

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDONNEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA1913

CHAPTER I: OF GOLDEN WALTER AND HIS FATHER

Awhile ago there was a young man dwelling in a great and goodly city bythe sea which had to name Langton on Holm. He was but of five andtwenty winters, a fair-faced man, yellow-haired, tall and strong; ratherwiser than foolisher than young men are mostly wont; a valiant youth, anda kind; not of many words but courteous of speech; no roisterer, noughtmasterful, but peaceable and knowing how to forbear: in a fray a perilousfoe, and a trusty war-fellow. His father, with whom he was dwellingwhen this tale begins, was a great merchant, richer than a baron of theland, a head-man of the greatest of the Lineages of Langton, and acaptain of the Porte; he was of the Lineage of the Goldings, thereforewas he called Bartholomew Golden, and his son Golden Walter. 

Now ye may well deem that such a youngling as this was looked upon by allas a lucky man without a lack; but there was this flaw in his lot, whereas he had fallen into the toils of love of a woman exceeding fair, and had taken her to wife, she nought unwilling as it seemed. But whenthey had been wedded some six months he found by manifest tokens, thathis fairness was not so much to her but that she must seek to thefoulness of one worser than he in all ways; wherefore his rest departedfrom him, whereas he hated her for her untruth and her hatred of him; yetwould the sound of her voice, as she came and went in the house, make hisheart beat; and the sight of her stirred desire within him, so that helonged for her to be sweet and kind with him, and deemed that, might itbe so, he should forget all the evil gone by. But it was not so; forever when she saw him, her face changed, and her hatred of him becamemanifest, and howsoever she were sweet with others, with him she was hardand sour. 

So this went on a while till the chambers of his father's house, yea thevery streets of the city, became loathsome to him; and yet he called tomind that the world was wide and he but a young man. So on a day as hesat with his father alone, he spake to him and said: "Father, I was onthe quays even now, and I looked on the ships that were nigh boun, andthy sign I saw on a tall ship that seemed to me nighest boun. Will itbe long ere she sail?"

"Nay, " said his father, "that ship, which hight the Katherine, will theywarp out of the haven in two days' time. But why askest thou of her?"

"The shortest word is best, father, " said Walter, "and this it is, that Iwould depart in the said ship and see other lands. "

"Yea and whither, son?" said the merchant. 

"Whither she goeth, " said Walter, "for I am ill at ease at home, as thouwottest, father. "

The merchant held his peace awhile, and looked hard on his son, for therewas strong love between them; but at last he said: "Well, son, maybe itwere best for thee; but maybe also we shall not meet again. "

"Yet if we do meet, father, then shalt thou see a new man in me. "

"Well, " said Bartholomew, "at least I know on whom to lay the loss ofthee, and when thou art gone, for thou shalt have thine own way herein, she shall no longer abide in my house. Nay, but it were for the strifethat should arise thenceforth betwixt her kindred and ours, it should gosomewhat worse with her than that. "

Said Walter: "I pray thee shame her not more than needs must be, lest, sodoing, thou shame both me and thyself also. "

Bartholomew held his peace again for a while; then he said: "Goeth shewith child, my son?"

Walter reddened, and said: "I wot not; nor of whom the child may be. "Then they both sat silent, till Bartholomew spake, saying: "The end of itis, son, that this is Monday, and that thou shalt go aboard in the smallhours of Wednesday; and meanwhile I shall look to it that thou go notaway empty-handed; the skipper of the Katherine is a good man and true, and knows the seas well; and my servant Robert the Low, who is clerk ofthe lading, is trustworthy and wise, and as myself in all matters thatlook towards chaffer. The Katherine is new and stout-builded, andshould be lucky, whereas she is under the ward of her who is the saintcalled upon in the church where thou wert christened, and myself beforethee; and thy mother, and my father and mother all lie under the chancelthereof, as thou wottest. "

Therewith the elder rose up and went his ways about his business, andthere was no more said betwixt him and his son on this matter. 

CHAPTER II: GOLDEN WALTER TAKES SHIP TO SAIL THE SEAS

When Walter went down to the Katherine next morning, there was theskipper Geoffrey, who did him reverence, and made him all cheer, andshowed him his room aboard ship, and the plenteous goods which his fatherhad sent down to the quays already, such haste as he had made. Walterthanked his father's love in his heart, but otherwise took little heed tohis affairs, but wore away the time about the haven, gazing listlessly onthe ships that were making them ready outward, or unlading, and themariners and aliens coming and going: and all these were to him as thecurious images woven on a tapestry. 

At last when he had wellnigh come back again to the Katherine, he sawthere a tall ship, which he had scarce noted before, a ship all-boun, which had her boats out, and men sitting to the oars thereof ready to towher outwards when the hawser should be cast off, and by seeming hermariners were but abiding for some one or other to come aboard. 

So Walter stood idly watching the said ship, and as he looked, lo! folkpassing him toward the gangway. These were three; first came a dwarf, dark-brown of hue and hideous, with long arms and ears exceeding greatand dog-teeth that stuck out like the fangs of a wild beast. He was cladin a rich coat of yellow silk, and bare in his hand a crooked bow, andwas girt with a broad sax. 

After him came a maiden, young by seeming, of scarce twenty summers; fairof face as a flower; grey-eyed, brown-haired, with lips full and red, slim and gentle of body. Simple was her array, of a short and straitgreen gown, so that on her right ankle was clear to see an iron ring. 

Last of the three was a lady, tall and stately, so radiant of visage andglorious of raiment, that it were hard to say what like she was; forscarce might the eye gaze steady upon her exceeding beauty; yet mustevery son of Adam who found himself anigh her, lift up his eyes againafter he had dropped them, and look again on her, and yet again and yetagain. Even so did Walter, and as the three passed by him, it seemed tohim as if all the other folk there about had vanished and were nought;nor had he any vision before his eyes of any looking on them, savehimself alone. They went over the gangway into the ship, and he saw themgo along the deck till they came to the house on the poop, and entered itand were gone from his sight. 

There he stood staring, till little by little the thronging people of thequays came into his eye-shot again; then he saw how the hawser was castoff and the boats fell to tugging the big ship toward the harbour-mouthwith hale and how of men. Then the sail fell down from the yard and wassheeted home and filled with the fair wind as the ship's bows ran up onthe first green wave outside the haven. Even therewith the shipmen castabroad a banner, whereon was done in a green field a grim wolf ramping upagainst a maiden, and so went the ship upon her way. 

Walter stood awhile staring at her empty place where the waves ran intothe haven-mouth, and then turned aside and toward the Katherine; and atfirst he was minded to go ask shipmaster Geoffrey of what he knewconcerning the said ship and her alien wayfarers; but then it came intohis mind, that all this was but an imagination or dream of the day, andthat he were best to leave it untold to any. So therewith he went hisway from the water-side, and through the streets unto his father's house;but when he was but a little way thence, and the door was before him, him-seemed for a moment of time that he beheld those three coming out downthe steps of stone and into the street; to wit the dwarf, the maiden, andthe stately lady: but when he stood still to abide their coming, andlooked toward them, lo! there was nothing before him save the goodlyhouse of Bartholomew Golden, and three children and a cur dog playingabout the steps thereof, and about him were four or five passers-by goingabout their business. Then was he all confused in his mind, and knew notwhat to make of it, whether those whom he had seemed to see pass aboardship were but images of a dream, or children of Adam in very flesh. 

Howsoever, he entered the house, and found his father in the chamber, andfell to speech with him about their matters; but for all that he lovedhis father, and worshipped him as a wise and valiant man, yet at thathour he might not hearken the words of his mouth, so much was his mindentangled in the thought of those three, and they were ever before hiseyes, as if they had been painted on a table by the best of limners. Andof the two women he thought exceeding much, and cast no wyte upon himselffor running after the desire of strange women. For he said to himselfthat he desired not either of the twain; nay, he might not tell which ofthe twain, the maiden or the stately queen, were clearest to his eyes;but sore he desired to see both of them again, and to know what theywere. 

So wore the hours till the Wednesday morning, and it was time that heshould bid farewell to his father and get aboard ship; but his father ledhim down to the quays and on to the Katherine, and there Walter embracedhim, not without tears and forebodings; for his heart was full. Thenpresently the old man went aland; the gangway was unshipped, the hawserscast off; the oars of the towing-boats splashed in the dark water, thesail fell down from the yard, and was sheeted home, and out plunged theKatherine into the misty sea and rolled up the grey slopes, castingabroad her ancient withal, whereon was beaten the token of BartholomewGolden, to wit a B and a G to the right and the left, and thereabove across and a triangle rising from the midst. 

Walter stood on the stern and beheld, yet more with the mind of him thanwith his eyes; for it all seemed but the double of what the other shiphad done; and the thought of it as if the twain were as beads strung onone string and led away by it into the same place, and thence to go inthe like order, and so on again and again, and never to draw nigher toeach other. 

CHAPTER III: WALTER HEARETH TIDINGS OF THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER

Fast sailed the Katherine over the seas, and nought befell to tell of, either to herself or her crew. She came to one cheaping-town and then toanother, and so on to a third and a fourth; and at each was buying andselling after the manner of chapmen; and Walter not only looked on thedoings of his father's folk, but lent a hand, what he might, to help themin all matters, whether it were in seaman's craft, or in chaffer. Andthe further he went and the longer the time wore, the more he was easedof his old trouble wherein his wife and her treason had to do. 

But as for the other trouble, to wit his desire and longing to come upwith those three, it yet flickered before him; and though he had not seenthem again as one sees people in the streets, and as if he might touchthem if he would, yet were their images often before his mind's eye; andyet, as time wore, not so often, nor so troublously; and forsooth both tothose about him and to himself, he seemed as a man well healed of hismelancholy mood. 

Now they left that fourth stead, and sailed over the seas and came to afifth, a very great and fair city, which they had made more than sevenmonths from Langton on Holm; and by this time was Walter taking heed andjoyance in such things as were toward in that fair city, so far from hiskindred, and especially he looked on the fair women there, and desiredthem, and loved them; but lightly, as befalleth young men. 

Now this was the last country whereto the Katherine was boun; so therethey abode some ten months in daily chaffer, and in pleasuring them inbeholding all that there was of rare and goodly, and making merry withthe merchants and the towns-folk, and the country-folk beyond the gates, and Walter was grown as busy and gay as a strong young man is like to be, and was as one who would fain be of some account amongst his own folk. 

But at the end of this while, it befell on a day, as he was leaving hishostel for his booth in the market, and had the door in his hand, therestood before him three mariners in the guise of his own country, and withthem was one of clerkly aspect, whom he knew at once for his father'sscrivener, Arnold Penstrong by name; and when Walter saw him his heartfailed him and he cried out: "Arnold, what tidings? Is all well with thefolk at Langton?"

Said Arnold: "Evil tidings are come with me; matters are ill with thyfolk; for I may not hide that thy father, Bartholomew Golden, is dead, God rest his soul. "

At that word it was to Walter as if all that trouble which but now hadsat so light upon him, was once again fresh and heavy, and that his pastlife of the last few months had never been; and it was to him as if hesaw his father lying dead on his bed, and heard the folk lamenting aboutthe house. He held his peace awhile, and then he said in a voice as ofan angry man:

"What, Arnold! and did he die in his bed, or how? for he was neither oldnor ailing when we parted. "

Said Arnold: "Yea, in his bed he died: but first he was somewhat sword-bitten. "

"Yea, and how?" quoth Walter. 

Said Arnold: "When thou wert gone, in a few days' wearing, thy fathersent thy wife out of his house back to her kindred of the Reddings withno honour, and yet with no such shame as might have been, without blameto us of those who knew the tale of thee and her; which, God-a-mercy, will be pretty much the whole of the city. "

"Nevertheless, the Reddings took it amiss, and would have a mote with usGoldings to talk of booting. By ill-luck we yea-said that for the savingof the city's peace. But what betid? We met in our Gild-hall, and therebefell the talk between us; and in that talk certain words could not behidden, though they were none too seemly nor too meek. And the saidwords once spoken drew forth the whetted steel; and there then was thehewing and thrusting! Two of ours were slain outright on the floor, andfour of theirs, and many were hurt on either side. Of these was thyfather, for as thou mayst well deem, he was nought backward in the fray;but despite his hurts, two in the side and one on the arm, he went homeon his own feet, and we deemed that we had come to our above. But well-a-way! it was an evil victory, whereas in ten days he died of his hurts. God have his soul! But now, my master, thou mayst well wot that I am notcome to tell thee this only, but moreover to bear the word of thekindred, to wit that thou come back with me straightway in the swiftcutter which hath borne me and the tidings; and thou mayst look to it, that though she be swift and light, she is a keel full weatherly. "

Then said Walter: "This is a bidding of war. Come back will I, and theReddings shall wot of my coming. Are ye all-boun?"

"Yea, " said Arnold, "we may up anchor this very day, or to-morrow morn atlatest. But what aileth thee, master, that thou starest so wild over myshoulder? I pray thee take it not so much to heart! Ever it is the wontof fathers to depart this world before their sons. "

But Walter's visage from wrathful red had become pale, and he pointed upstreet, and cried out: "Look! dost thou see?"

"See what, master?" quoth Arnold: "what! here cometh an ape in gayraiment; belike the beast of some jongleur. Nay, by God's wounds! 'tis aman, though he be exceeding mis-shapen like a very devil. Yea and nowthere cometh a pretty maid going as if she were of his meney; and lo!here, a most goodly and noble lady! Yea, I see; and doubtless she ownethboth the two, and is of the greatest of the folk of this fair city; foron the maiden's ankle I saw an iron ring, which betokeneth thralldomamongst these aliens. But this is strange! for notest thou not how thefolk in the street heed not this quaint show; nay not even the statelylady, though she be as lovely as a goddess of the gentiles, and bearethon her gems that would buy Langton twice over; surely they must be over-wont to strange and gallant sights. But now, master, but now!"

"Yea, what is it?" said Walter. 

"Why, master, they should not yet be gone out of eye-shot, yet gone theyare. What is become of them, are they sunk into the earth?"

"Tush, man!" said Walter, looking not on Arnold, but still staring downthe street; "they have gone into some house while thine eyes were turnedfrom them a moment. "

"Nay, master, nay, " said Arnold, "mine eyes were not off them one instantof time. "

"Well, " said Walter, somewhat snappishly, "they are gone now, and whathave we to do to heed such toys, we with all this grief and strife on ourhands? Now would I be alone to turn the matter of thine errand over inmy mind. Meantime do thou tell the shipmaster Geoffrey and our otherfolk of these tidings, and thereafter get thee all ready; and come hitherto me before sunrise to-morrow, and I shall be ready for my part; and sosail we back to Langton. "

Therewith he turned him back into the house, and the others went theirways; but Walter sat alone in his chamber a long while, and ponderedthese things in his mind. And whiles he made up his mind that he wouldthink no more of the vision of those three, but would fare back toLangton, and enter into the strife with the Reddings and quell them, ordie else. But lo, when he was quite steady in this doom, and his heartwas lightened thereby, he found that he thought no more of the Reddingsand their strife, but as matters that were passed and done with, and thatnow he was thinking and devising if by any means he might find out inwhat land dwelt those three. And then again he strove to put that fromhim, saying that what he had seen was but meet for one brainsick, and adreamer of dreams. But furthermore he thought, Yea, and was Arnold, whothis last time had seen the images of those three, a dreamer of wakingdreams? for he was nought wonted in such wise; then thought he: At leastI am well content that he spake to me of their likeness, not I to him;for so I may tell that there was at least something before my eyes whichgrew not out of mine own brain. And yet again, why should I follow them;and what should I get by it; and indeed how shall I set about it?

Thus he turned the matter over and over; and at last, seeing that if hegrew no foolisher over it, he grew no wiser, he became weary thereof, andbestirred him, and saw to the trussing up of his goods, and made allready for his departure, and so wore the day and slept at nightfall; andat daybreak comes Arnold to lead him to their keel, which hight theBartholomew. He tarried nought, and with few farewells went aboard ship, and an hour after they were in the open sea with the ship's head turnedtoward Langton on Holm. 

CHAPTER IV: STORM BEFALLS THE BARTHOLOMEW, AND SHE IS DRIVEN OFF HERCOURSE

Now swift sailed the Bartholomew for four weeks toward the north-westwith a fair wind, and all was well with ship and crew. Then the winddied out on even of a day, so that the ship scarce made way at all, though she rolled in a great swell of the sea, so great, that it seemedto ridge all the main athwart. Moreover down in the west was a greatbank of cloud huddled up in haze, whereas for twenty days past the skyhad been clear, save for a few bright white clouds flying before thewind. Now the shipmaster, a man right cunning in his craft, looked longon sea and sky, and then turned and bade the mariners take in sail and beright heedful. And when Walter asked him what he looked for, andwherefore he spake not to him thereof, he said surlily: "Why should Itell thee what any fool can see without telling, to wit that there isweather to hand?"

So they abode what should befall, and Walter went to his room to sleepaway the uneasy while, for the night was now fallen; and he knew no moretill he was waked up by great hubbub and clamour of the shipmen, and thewhipping of ropes, and thunder of flapping sails, and the tossing andweltering of the ship withal. But, being a very stout-hearted young man, he lay still in his room, partly because he was a landsman, and had nomind to tumble about amongst the shipmen and hinder them; and withal hesaid to himself: What matter whether I go down to the bottom of the sea, or come back to Langton, since either way my life or my death will takeaway from me the fulfilment of desire? Yet soothly if there hath been ashift of wind, that is not so ill; for then shall we be driven to otherlands, and so at the least our home-coming shall be delayed, and othertidings may hap amidst of our tarrying. So let all be as it will. 

So in a little while, in spite of the ship's wallowing and the tumult ofthe wind and waves, he fell asleep again, and woke no more till it wasfull daylight, and there was the shipmaster standing in the door of hisroom, the sea-water all streaming from his wet-weather raiment. He saidto Walter: "Young master, the sele of the day to thee! For by good hapwe have gotten into another day. Now I shall tell thee that we havestriven to beat, so as not to be driven off our course, but all would notavail, wherefore for these three hours we have been running before thewind; but, fair sir, so big hath been the sea that but for our ship beingof the stoutest, and our men all yare, we had all grown exceeding wiseconcerning the ground of the mid-main. Praise be to St. Nicholas and allHallows! for though ye shall presently look upon a new sea, and maybe anew land to boot, yet is that better than looking on the ugly things downbelow. "

"Is all well with ship and crew then?" said Walter. 

"Yea forsooth, " said the shipmaster; "verily the Bartholomew is thedarling of Oak Woods; come up and look at it, how she is dealing withwind and waves all free from fear. "

So Walter did on his foul-weather raiment, and went up on to the quarter-deck, and there indeed was a change of days; for the sea was dark andtumbling mountain-high, and the white-horses were running down thevalleys thereof, and the clouds drave low over all, and bore a scud ofrain along with them; and though there was but a rag of sail on her, theship flew before the wind, rolling a great wash of water from bulwark tobulwark. 

Walter stood looking on it all awhile, holding on by a stay-rope, andsaying to himself that it was well that they were driving so fast towardnew things. 

Then the shipmaster came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder andsaid: "Well, shipmate, cheer up! and now come below again and eat somemeat, and drink a cup with me. "

So Walter went down and ate and drank, and his heart was lighter than ithad been since he had heard of his father's death, and the feud awaitinghim at home, which forsooth he had deemed would stay his wanderings aweary while, and therewithal his hopes. But now it seemed as if he needsmust wander, would he, would he not; and so it was that even this fed hishope; so sore his heart clung to that desire of his to seek home to thosethree that seemed to call him unto them. 

CHAPTER V: NOW THEY COME TO A NEW LAND

Three days they drave before the wind, and on the fourth the cloudslifted, the sun shone out and the offing was clear; the wind had muchabated, though it still blew a breeze, and was a head wind for sailingtoward the country of Langton. So then the master said that, since theywere bewildered, and the wind so ill to deal with, it were best to gostill before the wind that they might make some land and get knowledge oftheir whereabouts from the folk thereof. Withal he said that he deemedthe land not to be very far distant. 

So did they, and sailed on pleasantly enough, for the weather kept onmending, and the wind fell till it was but a light breeze, yet still foulfor Langton. 

So wore three days, and on the eve of the third, the man from the topmastcried out that he saw land ahead; and so did they all before the sun wasquite set, though it were but a cloud no bigger than a man's hand. 

When night fell they struck not sail, but went forth toward the land fairand softly; for it was early summer, so that the nights were neither longnor dark. 

But when it was broad daylight, they opened a land, a long shore of rocksand mountains, and nought else that they could see at first. Neverthelessas day wore and they drew nigher, first they saw how the mountains fellaway from the sea, and were behind a long wall of sheer cliff; and comingnigher yet, they beheld a green plain going up after a little in greenbents and slopes to the feet of the said cliff-wall. 

No city nor haven did they see there, not even when they were far nigherto the land; nevertheless, whereas they hankered for the peace of thegreen earth after all the tossing and unrest of the sea, and whereas alsothey doubted not to find at the least good and fresh water, and belikeother bait in the plain under the mountains, they still sailed on notunmerrily; so that by nightfall they cast anchor in five-fathom waterhard by the shore. 

Next morning they found that they were lying a little way off the mouthof a river not right great; so they put out their boats and towed theship up into the said river, and when they had gone up it for a mile orthereabouts they found the sea water failed, for little was the ebb andflow of the tide on that coast. Then was the river deep and clear, running between smooth grassy land like to meadows. Also on their leftboard they saw presently three head of neat cattle going, as if in ameadow of a homestead in their own land, and a few sheep; and thereafter, about a bow-draught from the river, they saw a little house of wood andstraw-thatch under a wooded mound, and with orchard trees about it. Theywondered little thereat, for they knew no cause why that land should notbe builded, though it were in the far outlands. However, they drew theirship up to the bank, thinking that they would at least abide awhile andask tidings and have some refreshing of the green plain, which was solovely and pleasant. 

But while they were busied herein they saw a man come out of the house, and down to the river to meet them; and they soon saw that he was talland old, long-hoary of hair and beard, and clad mostly in the skins ofbeasts. 

He drew nigh without any fear or mistrust, and coming close to them gavethem the sele of the day in a kindly and pleasant voice. The shipmastergreeted him in his turn, and said withal: "Old man, art thou the king ofthis country?"

The elder laughed; "It hath had none other a long while, " said he; "andat least there is no other son of Adam here to gainsay. "

"Thou art alone here then?" said the master. 

"Yea, " said the old man; "save for the beasts of the field and the wood, and the creeping things, and fowl. Wherefore it is sweet to me to hearyour voices. "

Said the master: "Where be the other houses of the town?"

The old man laughed. Said he: "When I said that I was alone, I meantthat I was alone in the land and not only alone in this stead. There isno house save this betwixt the sea and the dwellings of the Bears, overthe cliff-wall yonder, yea and a long way over it. "

"Yea, " quoth the shipmaster grinning, "and be the bears of thy country somanlike, that they dwell in builded houses?"

The old man shook his head. "Sir, " said he, "as to their bodily fashion, it is altogether manlike, save that they be one and all higher and biggerthan most. For they be bears only in name; they be a nation of half wildmen; for I have been told by them that there be many more than that tribewhose folk I have seen, and that they spread wide about behind thesemountains from east to west. Now, sir, as to their souls andunderstandings I warrant them not; for miscreants they be, trowingneither in God nor his hallows. "

Said the master: "Trow they in Mahound then?"

"Nay, " said the elder, "I wot not for sure that they have so much as afalse God; though I have it from them that they worship a certain womanwith mickle worship. "

Then spake Walter: "Yea, good sir, and how knowest thou that? dost thoudeal with them at all?"

Said the old man: "Whiles some of that folk come hither and have of mewhat I can spare; a calf or two, or a half-dozen of lambs or hoggets; ora skin of wine or cyder of mine own making: and they give me in returnsuch things as I can use, as skins of hart and bear and other peltries;for now I am old, I can but little of the hunting hereabout. Whiles, also, they bring little lumps of pure copper, and would give me goldalso, but it is of little use in this lonely land. Sooth to say, to methey are not masterful or rough-handed; but glad am I that they have beenhere but of late, and are not like to come again this while; for terriblethey are of aspect, and whereas ye be aliens, belike they would not holdtheir hands from off you; and moreover ye have weapons and other matterswhich they would covet sorely. "

Quoth the master: "Since thou dealest with these wild men, will ye notdeal with us in chaffer? For whereas we are come from long travel, wehanker after fresh victual, and here aboard are many things which werefor thine avail. "

Said the old man: "All that I have is yours, so that ye do but leave meenough till my next ingathering: of wine and cyder, such as it is, I haveplenty for your service; ye may drink it till it is all gone, if ye will:a little corn and meal I have, but not much; yet are ye welcome thereto, since the standing corn in my garth is done blossoming, and I have othermeat. Cheeses have I and dried fish; take what ye will thereof. But asto my neat and sheep, if ye have sore need of any, and will have them, Imay not say you nay: but I pray you if ye may do without them, not totake my milch-beasts or their engenderers; for, as ye have heard me say, the Bear-folk have been here but of late, and they have had of me all Imight spare: but now let me tell you, if ye long after flesh-meat, thatthere is venison of hart and hind, yea, and of buck and doe, to be had onthis plain, and about the little woods at the feet of the rock-wallyonder: neither are they exceeding wild; for since I may not take them, Iscare them not, and no other man do they see to hurt them; for the Bear-folk come straight to my house, and fare straight home thence. But Iwill lead you the nighest way to where the venison is easiest to begotten. As to the wares in your ship, if ye will give me aught I willtake it with a good will; and chiefly if ye have a fair knife or two anda roll of linen cloth, that were a good refreshment to me. But in anycase what I have to give is free to you and welcome. "

The shipmaster laughed: "Friend, " said he, "we can thee mickle thanks forall that thou biddest us. And wot well that we be no lifters orsea-thieves to take thy livelihood from thee. So to-morrow, if thouwilt, we will go with thee and upraise the hunt, and meanwhile we willcome aland, and walk on the green grass, and water our ship with thy goodfresh water. "

So the old carle went back to his house to make them ready what cheer hemight, and the shipmen, who were twenty and one, all told, what with themariners and Arnold and Walter's servants, went ashore, all but two whowatched the ship and abode their turn. They went well-weaponed, for boththe master and Walter deemed wariness wisdom, lest all might not be sogood as it seemed. They took of their sail-cloths ashore and tilted themin on the meadow betwixt the house and the ship, and the carle broughtthem what he had for their avail, of fresh fruits, and cheeses, and milk, and wine, and cyder, and honey, and there they feasted nowise ill, andwere right fain. 

CHAPTER VI: THE OLD MAN TELLS WALTER OF HIMSELF. WALTER SEES A SHARD INTHE CLIFF-WALL

But when they had done their meat and drink the master and the shipmenwent about the watering of the ship, and the others strayed off along themeadow, so that presently Walter was left alone with the carle, and fellto speech with him and said: "Father, meseemeth thou shouldest have somestrange tale to tell, and as yet we have asked thee of nought save meatfor our bellies: now if I ask thee concerning thy life, and how thoucamest hither, and abided here, wilt thou tell me aught?"

The old man smiled on him and said: "Son, my tale were long to tell; andmayhappen concerning much thereof my memory should fail me; and withalthere is grief therein, which I were loth to awaken: nevertheless if thouask, I will answer as I may, and in any case will tell thee nought savethe truth. "

Said Walter: "Well then, hast thou been long here?"

"Yea, " said the carle, "since I was a young man, and a stalwarth knight. "

Said Walter: "This house, didst thou build it, and raise these garths, and plant orchard and vineyard, and gather together the neat and thesheep, or did some other do all this for thee?"

Said the carle: "I did none of all this; there was one here before me, and I entered into his inheritance, as though this were a lordly manor, with a fair castle thereon, and all well stocked and plenished. "

Said Walter: "Didst thou find thy foregoer alive here?"

"Yea, " said the elder, "yet he lived but for a little while after I cameto him. "

He was silent a while, and then he said: "I slew him: even so would hehave it, though I bade him a better lot. "

Said Walter: "Didst thou come hither of thine own will?"

"Mayhappen, " said the carle; "who knoweth? Now have I no will to doeither this or that. It is wont that maketh me do, or refrain. "

Said Walter: "Tell me this; why didst thou slay the man? did he anyscathe to thee?"

Said the elder: "When I slew him, I deemed that he was doing me allscathe: but now I know that it was not so. Thus it was: I would needs gowhere he had been before, and he stood in the path against me; and Ioverthrew him, and went on the way I would. "

"What came thereof?" said Walter. 

"Evil came of it, " said the carle. 

Then was Walter silent a while, and the old man spake nothing; but therecame a smile in his face that was both sly and somewhat sad. Walterlooked on him and said: "Was it from hence that thou wouldst go thatroad?"

"Yea, " said the carle. 

Said Walter: "And now wilt thou tell me what that road was; whither itwent and whereto it led, that thou must needs wend it, though thy firststride were over a dead man?"

"I will not tell thee, " said the carle. 

Then they held their peace, both of them, and thereafter got on to othertalk of no import. 

So wore the day till night came; and they slept safely, and on the morrowafter they had broken their fast, the more part of them set off with thecarle to the hunting, and they went, all of them, a three hours' faringtowards the foot of the cliffs, which was all grown over with coppice, hazel and thorn, with here and there a big oak or ash-tree; there it was, said the old man, where the venison was most and best. 

Of their hunting need nought be said, saving that when the carle had putthem on the track of the deer and shown them what to do, he came backagain with Walter, who had no great lust for the hunting, and sorelylonged to have some more talk with the said carle. He for his partseemed nought loth thereto, and so led Walter to a mound or hillockamidst the clear of the plain, whence all was to be seen save where thewood covered it; but just before where they now lay down there was nowood, save low bushes, betwixt them and the rock-wall; and Walter notedthat whereas otherwhere, save in one place whereto their eyes wereturned, the cliffs seemed wellnigh or quite sheer, or indeed in someplaces beetling over, in that said place they fell away from each otheron either side; and before this sinking was a slope or scree, that wentgently up toward the sinking of the wall. Walter looked long andearnestly at this place, and spake nought, till the carle said: "What!thou hast found something before thee to look on. What is it then?"

Quoth Walter: "Some would say that where yonder slopes run together uptowards that sinking in the cliff-wall there will be a pass into thecountry beyond. "

The carle smiled and said: "Yea, son; nor, so saying, would they err; forthat is the pass into the Bear-country, whereby those huge men come downto chaffer with me. "

"Yea, " said Walter; and therewith he turned him a little, and scanned therock-wall, and saw how a few miles from that pass it turned somewhatsharply toward the sea, narrowing the plain much there, till it made abight, the face whereof looked wellnigh north, instead of west, as didthe more part of the wall. And in the midst of that northern-lookingbight was a dark place which seemed to Walter like a downright shard inthe cliff. For the face of the wall was of a bleak grey, and it was butlittle furrowed. 

So then Walter spake: "Lo, old friend, there yonder is again a place thatmeseemeth is a pass; whereunto doth that one lead?" And he pointed toit: but the old man did not follow the pointing of his finger, but, looking down on the ground, answered confusedly, and said:

"Maybe: I wot not. I deem that it also leadeth into the Bear-country bya roundabout road. It leadeth into the far land. "

Walter answered nought: for a strange thought had come uppermost in hismind, that the carle knew far more than he would say of that pass, andthat he himself might be led thereby to find the wondrous three. Hecaught his breath hardly, and his heart knocked against his ribs; but herefrained from speaking for a long while; but at last he spake in a sharphard voice, which he scarce knew for his own: "Father, tell me, I adjurethee by God and All-hallows, was it through yonder shard that the roadlay, when thou must needs make thy first stride over a dead man?"

The old man spake not a while, then he raised his head, and looked Walterfull in the eyes, and said in a steady voice: "NO, IT WAS NOT. "Thereafter they sat looking at each other a while; but at last Walterturned his eyes away, but knew not what they beheld nor where he was, buthe was as one in a swoon. For he knew full well that the carle had liedto him, and that he might as well have said aye as no, and told him, thatit verily was by that same shard that he had stridden over a dead man. Nevertheless he made as little semblance thereof as he might, andpresently came to himself, and fell to talking of other matters, that hadnought to do with the adventures of the land. But after a while he spakesuddenly, and said: "My master, I was thinking of a thing. "

"Yea, of what?" said the carle. 

"Of this, " said Walter; "that here in this land be strange adventurestoward, and that if we, and I in especial, were to turn our backs onthem, and go home with nothing done, it were pity of our lives: for allwill be dull and deedless there. I was deeming it were good if we triedthe adventure. "

"What adventure?" said the old man, rising up on his elbow and staringsternly on him. 

Said Walter: "The wending yonder pass to the eastward, whereby the hugemen come to thee from out of the Bear-country; that we might see whatshould come thereof. "

The carle leaned back again, and smiled and shook his head, and spake:"That adventure were speedily proven: death would come of it, my son. "

"Yea, and how?" said Walter. 

The carle said: "The big men would take thee, and offer thee up as ablood-offering to that woman, who is their Mawmet. And if ye go all, then shall they do the like with all of you. "

Said Walter: "Is that sure?"

"Dead sure, " said the carle. 

"How knowest thou this?" said Walter. 

"I have been there myself, " said the carle. 

"Yea, " said Walter, "but thou camest away whole. "

"Art thou sure thereof?" said the carle. 

"Thou art alive yet, old man, " said Walter, "for I have seen thee eat thymeat, which ghosts use not to do. " And he laughed. 

But the old man answered soberly: "If I escaped, it was by this, thatanother woman saved me, and not often shall that befall. Nor wholly wasI saved; my body escaped forsooth. But where is my soul? Where is myheart, and my life? Young man, I rede thee, try no such adventure; butgo home to thy kindred if thou canst. Moreover, wouldst thou fare alone?The others shall hinder thee. "

Said Walter: "I am the master; they shall do as I bid them: besides, theywill be well pleased to share my goods amongst them if I give them awriting to clear them of all charges which might be brought againstthem. "

"My son! my son!" said the carle, "I pray thee go not to thy death!"

Walter heard him silently, but as if he were persuaded to refrain; andthen the old man fell to, and told him much concerning this Bear-folk andtheir customs, speaking very freely of them; but Walter's ears werescarce open to this talk: whereas he deemed that he should have nought todo with those wild men; and he durst not ask again concerning the countrywhereto led the pass on the northward. 

CHAPTER VII: WALTER COMES TO THE SHARD IN THE ROCK-WALL

As they were in converse thus, they heard the hunters blowing on theirhorns all together; whereon the old man arose, and said: "I deem by theblowing that the hunt will be over and done, and that they be blowing ontheir fellows who have gone scatter-meal about the wood. It is now somefive hours after noon, and thy men will be getting back with theirvenison, and will be fainest of the victuals they have caught; thereforewill I hasten on before, and get ready fire and water and other mattersfor the cooking. Wilt thou come with me, young master, or abide thy menhere?"

Walter said lightly: "I will rest and abide them here; since I cannotfail to see them hence as they go on their ways to thine house. And itmay be well that I be at hand to command them and forbid, and put someorder amongst them, for rough playmates they be, some of them, and nowall heated with the hunting and the joy of the green earth. " Thus hespoke, as if nought were toward save supper and bed; but inwardly hopeand fear were contending in him, and again his heart beat so hard, thathe deemed that the carle must surely hear it. But the old man took himbut according to his outward seeming, and nodded his head, and went awayquietly toward his house. 

When he had been gone a little, Walter rose up heedfully; he had with hima scrip wherein was some cheese and hard-fish, and a little flasket ofwine; a short bow he had with him, and a quiver of arrows; and he wasgirt with a strong and good sword, and a wood-knife withal. He looked toall this gear that it was nought amiss, and then speedily went down offthe mound, and when he was come down, he found that it covered him frommen coming out of the wood, if he went straight thence to that shard ofthe rock-wall where was the pass that led southward. 

Now it is no nay that thitherward he turned, and went wisely, lest thecarle should make a backward cast, and see him, or lest any straggler ofhis own folk might happen upon him. 

For to say sooth, he deemed that did they wind him, they would be like tolet him of his journey. He had noted the bearings of the cliffs nigh theshard, and whereas he could see their heads everywhere except from thedepths of the thicket, he was not like to go astray. 

He had made no great way ere he heard the horns blowing all togetheragain in one place, and looking thitherward through the leafy boughs (forhe was now amidst of a thicket) he saw his men thronging the mound, andhad no doubt therefore that they were blowing on him; but being wellunder cover he heeded it nought, and lying still a little, saw them godown off the mound and go all of them toward the carle's house, stillblowing as they went, but not faring scatter-meal. Wherefore it wasclear that they were nought troubled about him. 

So he went on his way to the shard; and there is nothing to say of hisjourney till he got before it with the last of the clear day, and enteredit straightway. It was in sooth a downright breach or cleft in the rock-wall, and there was no hill or bent leading up to it, nothing but atumble of stones before it, which was somewhat uneasy going, yet needednought but labour to overcome it, and when he had got over this, and wasin the very pass itself, he found it no ill going: forsooth at first itwas little worse than a rough road betwixt two great stony slopes, thougha little trickle of water ran down amidst of it. So, though it was sonigh nightfall, yet Walter pressed on, yea, and long after the very nightwas come. For the moon rose wide and bright a little after nightfall. But at last he had gone so long, and was so wearied, that he deemed itnought but wisdom to rest him, and so lay down on a piece of greenswardbetwixt the stones, when he had eaten a morsel out of his satchel, anddrunk of the water out of the stream. There as he lay, if he had anydoubt of peril, his weariness soon made it all one to him, for presentlyhe was sleeping as soundly as any man in Langton on Holm. 

CHAPTER VIII: WALTER WENDS THE WASTE

Day was yet young when he awoke: he leapt to his feet, and went down tothe stream and drank of its waters, and washed the night off him in apool thereof, and then set forth on his way again. When he had gone somethree hours, the road, which had been going up all the way, but somewhatgently, grew steeper, and the bent on either side lowered, and lowered, till it sank at last altogether, and then was he on a rough mountain-neckwith little grass, and no water; save that now and again was a soft placewith a flow amidst of it, and such places he must needs fetch a compassabout, lest he be mired. He gave himself but little rest, eating what heneeds must as he went. The day was bright and calm, so that the sun wasnever hidden, and he steered by it due south. All that day he went, andfound no more change in that huge neck, save that whiles it was more andwhiles less steep. A little before nightfall he happened on a shallowpool some twenty yards over; and he deemed it good to rest there, sincethere was water for his avail, though he might have made somewhat moreout of the tail end of the day. 

When dawn came again he awoke and arose, nor spent much time over hisbreakfast; but pressed on all he might; and now he said to himself, thatwhatsoever other peril were athwart his way, he was out of the danger ofthe chase of his own folk. 

All this while he had seen no four-footed beast, save now and again ahill-fox, and once some outlandish kind of hare; and of fowl but veryfew: a crow or two, a long-winged hawk, and twice an eagle high up aloft. 

Again, the third night, he slept in the stony wilderness, which still ledhim up and up. Only toward the end of the day, himseemed that it hadbeen less steep for a long while: otherwise nought was changed, on allsides it was nought but the endless neck, wherefrom nought could be seen, but some other part of itself. This fourth night withal he found nowater whereby he might rest, so that he awoke parched, and longing todrink just when the dawn was at its coldest. 

But on the fifth morrow the ground rose but little, and at last, when hehad been going wearily a long while, and now, hard on noontide, histhirst grieved him sorely, he came on a spring welling out from under ahigh rock, the water wherefrom trickled feebly away. So eager was he todrink, that at first he heeded nought else; but when his thirst was fullyquenched his eyes caught sight of the stream which flowed from the well, and he gave a shout, for lo! it was running south. Wherefore it was witha merry heart that he went on, and as he went, came on more streams, allrunning south or thereabouts. He hastened on all he might, but indespite of all the speed he made, and that he felt the land now goingdown southward, night overtook him in that same wilderness. Yet when hestayed at last for sheer weariness, he lay down in what he deemed by themoonlight to be a shallow valley, with a ridge at the southern endthereof. 

He slept long, and when he awoke the sun was high in the heavens, andnever was brighter or clearer morning on the earth than was that. Hearose and ate of what little was yet left him, and drank of the water ofa stream which he had followed the evening before, and beside which hehad laid him down; and then set forth again with no great hope to come onnew tidings that day. But yet when he was fairly afoot, himseemed thatthere was something new in the air which he breathed, that was soft andbore sweet scents home to him; whereas heretofore, and that especiallyfor the last three or four days, it had been harsh and void, like theface of the desert itself. 

So on he went, and presently was mounting the ridge aforesaid, and, asoft happens when one climbs a steep place, he kept his eyes on theground, till he felt he was on the top of the ridge. Then he stopped totake breath, and raised his head and looked, and lo! he was verily on thebrow of the great mountain-neck, and down below him was the hanging ofthe great hill-slopes, which fell down, not slowly, as those he had beenthose days a-mounting, but speedily enough, though with little of brokenplaces or sheer cliffs. But beyond this last of the desert there wasbefore him a lovely land of wooded hills, green plains, and littlevalleys, stretching out far and wide, till it ended at last in great bluemountains and white snowy peaks beyond them. 

Then for very surprise of joy his spirit wavered, and he felt faint anddizzy, so that he was fain to sit down a while and cover his face withhis hands. Presently he came to his sober mind again, and stood up andlooked forth keenly, and saw no sign of any dwelling of man. But he saidto himself that that might well be because the good and well-grassed landwas still so far off, and that he might yet look to find men and theirdwellings when he had left the mountain wilderness quite behind him: Sotherewith he fell to going his ways down the mountain, and lost littletime therein, whereas he now had his livelihood to look to. 

CHAPTER IX: WALTER HAPPENETH ON THE FIRST OF THOSE THREE CREATURES

What with one thing, what with another, as his having to turn out of hisway for sheer rocks, or for slopes so steep that he might not try theperil of them, and again for bogs impassable, he was fully three daysmore before he had quite come out of the stony waste, and by that time, though he had never lacked water, his scanty victual was quite done, forall his careful husbandry thereof. But this troubled him little, whereashe looked to find wild fruits here and there and to shoot some smalldeer, as hare or coney, and make a shift to cook the same, since he hadwith him flint and fire-steel. Moreover the further he went, the surerhe was that he should soon come across a dwelling, so smooth and fair aseverything looked before him. And he had scant fear, save that he mighthappen on men who should enthrall him. 

But when he was come down past the first green slopes, he was so worn, that he said to himself that rest was better than meat, so little as hehad slept for the last three days; so he laid him down under an ash-treeby a stream-side, nor asked what was o'clock, but had his fill of sleep, and even when he awoke in the fresh morning was little fain of rising, but lay betwixt sleeping and waking for some three hours more; then hearose, and went further down the next green bent, yet somewhat slowlybecause of his hunger-weakness. And the scent of that fair land came upto him like the odour of one great nosegay. 

So he came to where the land was level, and there were many trees, as oakand ash, and sweet-chestnut and wych-elm, and hornbeam and quicken-tree, not growing in a close wood or tangled thicket, but set as though inorder on the flowery greensward, even as it might be in a great king'spark. 

So came he to a big bird-cherry, whereof many boughs hung low down ladenwith fruit: his belly rejoiced at the sight, and he caught hold of abough, and fell to plucking and eating. But whiles he was amidst ofthis, he heard suddenly, close anigh him, a strange noise of roaring andbraying, not very great, but exceeding fierce and terrible, and not liketo the voice of any beast that he knew. As has been aforesaid, Walterwas no faint-heart; but what with the weakness of his travail and hunger, what with the strangeness of his adventure and his loneliness, his spiritfailed him; he turned round towards the noise, his knees shook and hetrembled: this way and that he looked, and then gave a great cry andtumbled down in a swoon; for close before him, at his very feet, was thedwarf whose image he had seen before, clad in his yellow coat, andgrinning up at him from his hideous hairy countenance. 

How long he lay there as one dead, he knew not, but when he woke againthere was the dwarf sitting on his hams close by him. And when he liftedup his head, the dwarf sent out that fearful harsh voice again; but thistime Walter could make out words therein, and knew that the creaturespoke and said:

"How now! What art thou? Whence comest? What wantest?"

Walter sat up and said: "I am a man; I hight Golden Walter; I come fromLangton; I want victual. "

Said the dwarf, writhing his face grievously, and laughing forsooth: "Iknow it all: I asked thee to see what wise thou wouldst lie. I was sentforth to look for thee; and I have brought thee loathsome bread with me, such as ye aliens must needs eat: take it!"

Therewith he drew a loaf from a satchel which he bore, and thrust ittowards Walter, who took it somewhat doubtfully for all his hunger. 

The dwarf yelled at him: "Art thou dainty, alien? Wouldst thou haveflesh? Well, give me thy bow and an arrow or two, since thou art lazy-sick, and I will get thee a coney or a hare, or a quail maybe. Ah, Iforgot; thou art dainty, and wilt not eat flesh as I do, blood and alltogether, but must needs half burn it in the fire, or mar it with hotwater; as they say my Lady does: or as the Wretch, the Thing does; I knowthat, for I have seen It eating. "

"Nay, " said Walter, "this sufficeth;" and he fell to eating the bread, which was sweet between his teeth. Then when he had eaten a while, forhunger compelled him, he said to the dwarf: "But what meanest thou by theWretch and the Thing? And what Lady is thy Lady?"

The creature let out another wordless roar as of furious anger; and thenthe words came: "It hath a face white and red, like to thine; and handswhite as thine, yea, but whiter; and the like it is underneath itsraiment, only whiter still: for I have seen It--yes, I have seen It; ahyes and yes and yes. "

And therewith his words ran into gibber and yelling, and he rolled aboutand smote at the grass: but in a while he grew quiet again and sat still, and then fell to laughing horribly again, and then said: "But thou, fool, wilt think It fair if thou fallest into Its hands, and wilt repent itthereafter, as I did. Oh, the mocking and gibes of It, and the tears andshrieks of It; and the knife! What! sayest thou of my Lady?--What Lady?O alien, what other Lady is there? And what shall I tell thee of her? itis like that she made me, as she made the Bear men. But she made not theWretch, the Thing; and she hateth It sorely, as I do. And some day tocome--"

Thereat he brake off and fell to wordless yelling a long while, andthereafter spake all panting: "Now I have told thee overmuch, and O if myLady come to hear thereof. Now I will go. "

And therewith he took out two more loaves from his wallet, and tossedthem to Walter, and so turned and went his ways; whiles walking upright, as Walter had seen his image on the quay of Langton; whiles bounding androlling like a ball thrown by a lad; whiles scuttling along on all-fourslike an evil beast, and ever and anon giving forth that harsh and evilcry. 

Walter sat a while after he was out of sight, so stricken with horror andloathing and a fear of he knew not what, that he might not move. Then heplucked up a heart, and looked to his weapons and put the other loavesinto his scrip. 

Then he arose and went his ways wondering, yea and dreading, what kind ofcreature he should next fall in with. For soothly it seemed to him thatit would be worse than death if they were all such as this one; and thatif it were so, he must needs slay and be slain. 

CHAPTER X: WALTER HAPPENETH ON ANOTHER CREATURE IN THE STRANGE LAND

But as he went on through the fair and sweet land so bright andsun-litten, and he now rested and fed, the horror and fear ran off fromhim, and he wandered on merrily, neither did aught befall him save thecoming of night, when he laid him down under a great spreading oak withhis drawn sword ready to hand, and fell asleep at once, and woke not tillthe sun was high. 

Then he arose and went on his way again; and the land was no worser thanyesterday; but even better, it might be; the greensward more flowery, theoaks and chestnuts greater. Deer of diverse kinds he saw, and mighteasily have got his meat thereof; but he meddled not with them since hehad his bread, and was timorous of lighting a fire. Withal he doubtedlittle of having some entertainment; and that, might be, nought evil;since even that fearful dwarf had been courteous to him after his kind, and had done him good and not harm. But of the happening on the Wretchand the Thing, whereof the dwarf spake, he was yet somewhat afeard. 

After he had gone a while and whenas the summer morn was at itsbrightest, he saw a little way ahead a grey rock rising up from amidst ofa ring of oak-trees; so he turned thither straightway; for in this plain-land he had seen no rocks heretofore; and as he went he saw that therewas a fountain gushing out from under the rock, which ran thence in afair little stream. And when he had the rock and the fountain and thestream clear before him, lo! a child of Adam sitting beside the fountainunder the shadow of the rock. He drew a little nigher, and then he sawthat it was a woman, clad in green like the sward whereon she lay. Shewas playing with the welling out of the water, and she had trussed up hersleeves to the shoulder that she might thrust her bare arms therein. Hershoes of black leather lay on the grass beside her, and her feet and legsyet shone with the brook. 

Belike amidst the splashing and clatter of the water she did not hear himdrawing nigh, so that he was close to her before she lifted up her faceand saw him, and he beheld her, that it was the maiden of the thrice-seenpageant. She reddened when she saw him, and hastily covered up her legswith her gown-skirt, and drew down the sleeves over her arms, butotherwise stirred not. As for him, he stood still, striving to speak toher; but no word might he bring out, and his heart beat sorely. 

But the maiden spake to him in a clear sweet voice, wherein was now notrouble: "Thou art an alien, art thou not? For I have not seen theebefore. "

"Yea, " he said, "I am an alien; wilt thou be good to me?"

She said: "And why not? I was afraid at first, for I thought it had beenthe King's Son. I looked to see none other; for of goodly men he hasbeen the only one here in the land this long while, till thy coming. "

He said: "Didst thou look for my coming at about this time?"

"O nay, " she said; "how might I?"

Said Walter: "I wot not; but the other man seemed to be looking for me, and knew of me, and he brought me bread to eat. "

She looked on him anxiously, and grew somewhat pale, as she said: "Whatother one?"

Now Walter did not know what the dwarf might be to her, fellow-servant orwhat not, so he would not show his loathing of him; but answered wisely:"The little man in the yellow raiment. "

But when she heard that word, she went suddenly very pale, and leaned herhead aback, and beat the air with her hands; but said presently in afaint voice: "I pray thee talk not of that one while I am by, nor eventhink of him, if thou mayest forbear. "

He spake not, and she was a little while before she came to herselfagain; then she opened her eyes, and looked upon Walter and smiled kindlyon him, as though to ask his pardon for having scared him. Then she roseup in her place, and stood before him; and they were nigh together, forthe stream betwixt them was little. 

But he still looked anxiously upon her and said: "Have I hurt thee? Ipray thy pardon. "

She looked on him more sweetly still, and said: "O nay; thou wouldst nothurt me, thou!"

Then she blushed very red, and he in like wise; but afterwards she turnedpale, and laid a hand on her breast, and Walter cried out hastily: "O me!I have hurt thee again. Wherein have I done amiss?"

"In nought, in nought, " she said; "but I am troubled, I wot notwherefore; some thought hath taken hold of me, and I know it not. Mayhappen in a little while I shall know what troubles me. Now I bidthee depart from me a little, and I will abide here; and when thou comestback, it will either be that I have found it out or not; and in eithercase I will tell thee. "

She spoke earnestly to him; but he said: "How long shall I abide away?"

Her face was troubled as she answered him: "For no long while. "

He smiled on her and turned away, and went a space to the other side ofthe oak-trees, whence she was still within eyeshot. There he abode untilthe time seemed long to him; but he schooled himself and forbore; for hesaid: Lest she send me away again. So he abided until again the timeseemed long to him, and she called not to him: but once again he forboreto go; then at last he arose, and his heart beat and he trembled, and hewalked back again speedily, and came to the maiden, who was stillstanding by the rock of the spring, her arms hanging down, her eyesdowncast. She looked up at him as he drew nigh, and her face changedwith eagerness as she said: "I am glad thou art come back, though it beno long while since thy departure" (sooth to say it was scarce half anhour in all). "Nevertheless I have been thinking many things, andthereof will I now tell thee. "

He said: "Maiden, there is a river betwixt us, though it be no big one. Shall I not stride over, and come to thee, that we may sit down togetherside by side on the green grass?"

"Nay, " she said, "not yet; tarry a while till I have told thee ofmatters. I must now tell thee of my thoughts in order. "

Her colour went and came now, and she plaited the folds of her gown withrestless fingers. At last she said: "Now the first thing is this; thatthough thou hast seen me first only within this hour, thou hast set thineheart upon me to have me for thy speech-friend and thy darling. And ifthis be not so, then is all my speech, yea and all my hope, come to anend at once. "

"O yea!" said Walter, "even so it is: but how thou hast found this out Iwot not; since now for the first time I say it, that thou art indeed mylove, and my dear and my darling. "

"Hush, " she said, "hush! lest the wood have ears, and thy speech is loud:abide, and I shall tell thee how I know it. Whether this thy love shalloutlast the first time that thou holdest my body in thine arms, I wotnot, nor dost thou. But sore is my hope that it may be so; for I also, though it be but scarce an hour since I set eyes on thee, have cast mineeyes on thee to have thee for my love and my darling, and myspeech-friend. And this is how I wot that thou lovest me, my friend. Nowis all this dear and joyful, and overflows my heart with sweetness. Butnow must I tell thee of the fear and the evil which lieth behind it. "

Then Walter stretched out his hands to her, and cried out: "Yea, yea! Butwhatever evil entangle us, now we both know these two things, to wit, that thou lovest me, and I thee, wilt thou not come hither, that I maycast mine arms about thee, and kiss thee, if not thy kind lips or thyfriendly face at all, yet at least thy dear hand: yea, that I may touchthy body in some wise?"

She looked on him steadily, and said softly: "Nay, this above all thingsmust not be; and that it may not be is a part of the evil which entanglesus. But hearken, friend, once again I tell thee that thy voice is overloud in this wilderness fruitful of evil. Now I have told thee, indeed, of two things whereof we both wot; but next I must needs tell thee ofthings whereof I wot, and thou wottest not. Yet this were better, thatthou pledge thy word not to touch so much as one of my hands, and that wego together a little way hence away from these tumbled stones, and sitdown upon the open greensward; whereas here is cover if there be spyingabroad. "

Again, as she spoke, she turned very pale; but Walter said: "Since itmust be so, I pledge thee my word to thee as I love thee. "

And therewith she knelt down, and did on her foot-gear, and then spranglightly over the rivulet; and then the twain of them went side by sidesome half a furlong thence, and sat down, shadowed by the boughs of aslim quicken-tree growing up out of the greensward, whereon for a goodspace around was neither bush nor brake. 

There began the maiden to talk soberly, and said: "This is what I mustneeds say to thee now, that thou art come into a land perilous for anyone that loveth aught of good; from which, forsooth, I were fain thatthou wert gotten away safely, even though I should die of longing forthee. As for myself, my peril is, in a measure, less than thine; I meanthe peril of death. But lo, thou, this iron on my foot is token that Iam a thrall, and thou knowest in what wise thralls must pay fortransgressions. Furthermore, of what I am, and how I came hither, timewould fail me to tell; but somewhile, maybe, I shall tell thee. I servean evil mistress, of whom I may say that scarce I wot if she be a womanor not; but by some creatures is she accounted for a god, and as a god isheried; and surely never god was crueller nor colder than she. Me shehateth sorely; yet if she hated me little or nought, small were the gainto me if it were her pleasure to deal hardly by me. But as things noware, and are like to be, it would not be for her pleasure, but for herpain and loss, to make an end of me, therefore, as I said e'en now, mymere life is not in peril with her; unless, perchance, some suddenpassion get the better of her, and she slay me, and repent of itthereafter. For so it is, that if it be the least evil of her conditionsthat she is wanton, at least wanton she is to the letter. Many a timehath she cast the net for the catching of some goodly young man; and herlatest prey (save it be thou) is the young man whom I named, when first Isaw thee, by the name of the King's Son. He is with us yet, and I fearhim; for of late hath he wearied of her, though it is but plain truth tosay of her, that she is the wonder of all Beauties of the World. He hathwearied of her, I say, and hath cast his eyes upon me, and if I wereheedless, he would betray me to the uttermost of the wrath of mymistress. For needs must I say of him, though he be a goodly man, andnow fallen into thralldom, that he hath no bowels of compassion; but is adastard, who for an hour's pleasure would undo me, and thereafter wouldstand by smiling and taking my mistress's pardon with good cheer, whilefor me would be no pardon. Seest thou, therefore, how it is with mebetween these two cruel fools? And moreover there are others of whom Iwill not even speak to thee. "

And therewith she put her hands before her face, and wept, and murmured:"Who shall deliver me from this death in life?"

But Walter cried out: "For what else am I come hither, I, I?"

And it was a near thing that he did not take her in his arms, but heremembered his pledged word, and drew aback from her in terror, whereashe had an inkling of why she would not suffer it; and he wept with her. 

But suddenly the Maid left weeping, and said in a changed voice: "Friend, whereas thou speakest of delivering me, it is more like that I shalldeliver thee. And now I pray thy pardon for thus grieving thee with mygrief, and that more especially because thou mayst not solace thy griefwith kisses and caresses; but so it was, that for once I was smitten bythe thought of the anguish of this land, and the joy of all the worldbesides. "

Therewith she caught her breath in a half-sob, but refrained her and wenton: "Now dear friend and darling, take good heed to all that I shall sayto thee, whereas thou must do after the teaching of my words. And first, I deem by the monster having met thee at the gates of the land, andrefreshed thee, that the Mistress hath looked for thy coming; nay, by thycoming hither at all, that she hath cast her net and caught thee. Hastthou noted aught that might seem to make this more like?"

Said Walter: "Three times in full daylight have I seen go past me theimages of the monster and thee and a glorious lady, even as if ye werealive. "

And therewith he told her in few words how it had gone with him sincethat day on the quay at Langton. 

She said: "Then it is no longer perhaps, but certain, that thou art herlatest catch; and even so I deemed from the first: and, dear friend, thisis why I have not suffered thee to kiss or caress me, so sore as I longedfor thee. For the Mistress will have thee for her only, and hath luredthee hither for nought else; and she is wise in wizardry (even as somedeal am I), and wert thou to touch me with hand or mouth on my nakedflesh, yea, or were it even my raiment, then would she scent the savourof thy love upon me, and then, though it may be she would spare thee, shewould not spare me. "

Then was she silent a little, and seemed very downcast, and Walter heldhis peace from grief and confusion and helplessness; for of wizardry heknew nought. 

At last the Maid spake again, and said: "Nevertheless we will not dieredeless. Now thou must look to this, that from henceforward it is thee, and not the King's Son, whom she desireth, and that so much the more thatshe hath not set eyes on thee. Remember this, whatsoever her seeming maybe to thee. Now, therefore, shall the King's Son be free, though he knowit not, to cast his love on whomso he will; and, in a way, I also shallbe free to yeasay him. Though, forsooth, so fulfilled is she with maliceand spite, that even then she may turn round on me to punish me for doingthat which she would have me do. Now let me think of it. "

Then was she silent a good while, and spoke at last: "Yea, all things areperilous, and a perilous rede I have thought of, whereof I will not tellthee as yet; so waste not the short while by asking me. At least theworst will be no worse than what shall come if we strive not against it. And now, my friend, amongst perils it is growing more and more perilousthat we twain should be longer together. But I would say one thing yet;and maybe another thereafter. Thou hast cast thy love upon one who willbe true to thee, whatsoever may befall; yet is she a guileful creature, and might not help it her life long, and now for thy very sake must needsbe more guileful now than ever before. And as for me, the guileful, mylove have I cast upon a lovely man, and one true and simple, and a stout-heart; but at such a pinch is he, that if he withstand all temptation, his withstanding may belike undo both him and me. Therefore swear weboth of us, that by both of us shall all guile and all falling away beforgiven on the day when we shall be free to love each the other as ourhearts will. "

Walter cried out: "O love, I swear it indeed! thou art my Hallow, and Iwill swear it as on the relics of a Hallow; on thy hands and thy feet Iswear it. "

The words seemed to her a dear caress; and she laughed, and blushed, andlooked full kindly on him; and then her face grew solemn, and she said:"On thy life I swear it!"

Then she said: "Now is there nought for thee to do but to go hencestraight to the Golden House, which is my Mistress's house, and the onlyhouse in this land (save one which I may not see), and lieth southward nolong way. How she will deal with thee, I wot not; but all I have said ofher and thee and the King's Son is true. Therefore I say to thee, bewary and cold at heart, whatsoever outward semblance thou mayst make. Ifthou have to yield thee to her, then yield rather late than early, so asto gain time. Yet not so late as to seem shamed in yielding for fear'ssake. Hold fast to thy life, my friend, for in warding that, thouwardest me from grief without remedy. Thou wilt see me ere long; it maybe to-morrow, it may be some days hence. But forget not, that what I maydo, that I am doing. Take heed also that thou pay no more heed to me, orrather less, than if thou wert meeting a maiden of no account in thestreets of thine own town. O my love! barren is this first farewell, aswas our first meeting; but surely shall there be another meeting betterthan the first, and the last farewell may be long and long yet. "

Therewith she stood up, and he knelt before her a little while withoutany word, and then arose and went his ways; but when he had gone a spacehe turned about, and saw her still standing in the same place; she stayeda moment when she saw him turn, and then herself turned about. 

So he departed through the fair land, and his heart was full with hopeand fear as he went. 

CHAPTER XI: WALTER HAPPENETH ON THE MISTRESS

It was but a little after noon when Walter left the Maid behind: hesteered south by the sun, as the Maid had bidden him, and went swiftly;for, as a good knight wending to battle, the time seemed long to him tillhe should meet the foe. 

So an hour before sunset he saw something white and gay gleaming throughthe boles of the oak-trees, and presently there was clear before him amost goodly house builded of white marble, carved all about with knotsand imagery, and the carven folk were all painted of their livelycolours, whether it were their raiment or their flesh, and the housingswherein they stood all done with gold and fair hues. Gay were thewindows of the house; and there was a pillared porch before the greatdoor, with images betwixt the pillars both of men and beasts: and whenWalter looked up to the roof of the house, he saw that it gleamed andshone; for all the tiles were of yellow metal, which he deemed to be ofvery gold. 

All this he saw as he went, and tarried not to gaze upon it; for he said, Belike there will be time for me to look on all this before I die. Buthe said also, that, though the house was not of the greatest, it wasbeyond compare of all houses of the world. 

Now he entered it by the porch, and came into a hall many-pillared, andvaulted over, the walls painted with gold and ultramarine, the floordark, and spangled with many colours, and the windows glazed with knotsand pictures. Midmost thereof was a fountain of gold, whence the waterran two ways in gold-lined runnels, spanned twice with little bridges ofsilver. Long was that hall, and now not very light, so that Walter wascome past the fountain before he saw any folk therein: then he looked uptoward the high-seat, and himseemed that a great light shone thence, anddazzled his eyes; and he went on a little way, and then fell on hisknees; for there before him on the high-seat sat that wondrous Lady, whose lively image had been shown to him thrice before; and she was cladin gold and jewels, as he had erst seen her. But now she was not alone;for by her side sat a young man, goodly enough, so far as Walter mightsee him, and most richly clad, with a jewelled sword by his side, and achaplet of gems on his head. They held each other by the hand, andseemed to be in dear converse together; but they spake softly, so thatWalter might not hear what they said, till at last the man spake aloud tothe Lady: "Seest thou not that there is a man in the hall?"

"Yea, " she said, "I see him yonder, kneeling on his knees; let him comenigher and give some account of himself. "

So Walter stood up and drew nigh, and stood there, all shamefaced andconfused, looking on those twain, and wondering at the beauty of theLady. As for the man, who was slim, and black-haired, andstraight-featured, for all his goodliness Walter accounted him little, and nowise deemed him to look chieftain-like. 

Now the Lady spake not to Walter any more than erst; but at last the mansaid: "Why doest thou not kneel as thou didst erewhile?"

Walter was on the point of giving him back a fierce answer; but the Ladyspake and said: "Nay, friend, it matters not whether he kneel or stand;but he may say, if he will, what he would have of me, and wherefore he iscome hither. "

Then spake Walter, for as wroth and ashamed as he was: "Lady, I havestrayed into this land, and have come to thine house as I suppose, and ifI be not welcome, I may well depart straightway, and seek a way out ofthy land, if thou wouldst drive me thence, as well as out of thinehouse. "

Thereat the Lady turned and looked on him, and when her eyes met his, hefelt a pang of fear and desire mingled shoot through his heart. Thistime she spoke to him; but coldly, without either wrath or any thought ofhim: "Newcomer, " she said, "I have not bidden thee hither; but here maystthou abide a while if thou wilt; nevertheless, take heed that here is noKing's Court. There is, forsooth, a folk that serveth me (or, it may be, more than one), of whom thou wert best to know nought. Of others I havebut two servants, whom thou wilt see; and the one is a strange creature, who should scare thee or scathe thee with a good will, but of a good willshall serve nought save me; the other is a woman, a thrall, of littleavail, save that, being compelled, she will work woman's service for me, but whom none else shall compel . . . Yea, but what is all this to thee;or to me that I should tell it to thee? I will not drive thee away; butif thine entertainment please thee not, make no plaint thereof to me, butdepart at thy will. Now is this talk betwixt us overlong, since, as thouseest, I and this King's Son are in converse together. Art thou a King'sSon?"

"Nay, Lady, " said Walter, "I am but of the sons of the merchants. "

"It matters not, " she said; "go thy ways into one of the chambers. "

And straightway she fell a-talking to the man who sat beside herconcerning the singing of the birds beneath her window in the morning;and of how she had bathed her that day in a pool of the woodlands, whenshe had been heated with hunting, and so forth; and all as if there hadbeen none there save her and the King's Son. 

But Walter departed all ashamed, as though he had been a poor man thrustaway from a rich kinsman's door; and he said to himself that this womanwas hateful, and nought love-worthy, and that she was little like totempt him, despite all the fairness of her body. 

No one else he saw in the house that even; he found meat and drink dulyserved on a fair table, and thereafter he came on a goodly bed, and allthings needful, but no child of Adam to do him service, or bid himwelcome or warning. Nevertheless he ate, and drank, and slept, and putoff thought of all these things till the morrow, all the more as he hopedto see the kind maiden some time betwixt sunrise and sunset on that newday. 

CHAPTER XII: THE WEARING OF FOUR DAYS IN THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD

He arose betimes, but found no one to greet him, neither was there anysound of folk moving within the fair house; so he but broke his fast, andthen went forth and wandered amongst the trees, till he found him astream to bathe in, and after he had washed the night off him he lay downunder a tree thereby for a while, but soon turned back toward the house, lest perchance the Maid should come thither and he should miss her. 

It should be said that half a bow-shot from the house on that side (i. E. Due north thereof) was a little hazel-brake, and round about it the treeswere smaller of kind than the oaks and chestnuts he had passed throughbefore, being mostly of birch and quicken-beam and young ash, with smallwood betwixt them; so now he passed through the thicket, and, coming tothe edge thereof, beheld the Lady and the King's Son walking togetherhand in hand, full lovingly by seeming. 

He deemed it unmeet to draw back and hide him, so he went forth past themtoward the house. The King's Son scowled on him as he passed, but theLady, over whose beauteous face flickered the joyous morning smiles, tookno more heed of him than if he had been one of the trees of the wood. Butshe had been so high and disdainful with him the evening before, that hethought little of that. The twain went on, skirting the hazel-copse, andhe could not choose but turn his eyes on them, so sorely did the Lady'sbeauty draw them. Then befell another thing; for behind them the boughsof the hazels parted, and there stood that little evil thing, he oranother of his kind; for he was quite unclad, save by his fell of yellowy-brown hair, and that he was girt with a leathern girdle, wherein wasstuck an ugly two-edged knife: he stood upright a moment, and cast hiseyes at Walter and grinned, but not as if he knew him; and scarce couldWalter say whether it were the one he had seen, or another: then he casthimself down on his belly, and fell to creeping through the long grasslike a serpent, following the footsteps of the Lady and her lover; andnow, as he crept, Walter deemed, in his loathing, that the creature wasliker to a ferret than aught else. He crept on marvellous swiftly, andwas soon clean out of sight. But Walter stood staring after him for awhile, and then lay down by the copse-side, that he might watch the houseand the entry thereof; for he thought, now perchance presently will thekind maiden come hither to comfort me with a word or two. But hourpassed by hour, and still she came not; and still he lay there, andthought of the Maid, and longed for her kindness and wisdom, till hecould not refrain his tears, and wept for the lack of her. Then hearose, and went and sat in the porch, and was very downcast of mood. 

But as he sat there, back comes the Lady again, the King's Son leadingher by the hand; they entered the porch, and she passed by him so closethat the odour of her raiment filled all the air about him, and thesleekness of her side nigh touched him, so that he could not fail to notethat her garments were somewhat disarrayed, and that she kept her righthand (for her left the King's Son held) to her bosom to hold the clothtogether there, whereas the rich raiment had been torn off from her rightshoulder. As they passed by him, the King's Son once more scowled onhim, wordless, but even more fiercely than before; and again the Ladyheeded him nought. 

After they had gone on a while, he entered the hall, and found it emptyfrom end to end, and no sound in it save the tinkling of the fountain;but there was victual set on the board. He ate and drank thereof to keeplife lusty within him, and then went out again to the wood-side to watchand to long; and the time hung heavy on his hands because of the lack ofthe fair Maiden. 

He was of mind not to go into the house to his rest that night, but tosleep under the boughs of the forest. But a little after sunset he saw abright-clad image moving amidst the carven images of the porch, and theKing's Son came forth and went straight to him, and said: "Thou art toenter the house, and go into thy chamber forthwith, and by no means to goforth of it betwixt sunset and sunrise. My Lady will not away with thyprowling round the house in the night-tide. "

Therewith he turned away, and went into the house again; and Walterfollowed him soberly, remembering how the Maid had bidden him forbear. Sohe went to his chamber, and slept. 

But amidst of the night he awoke and deemed that he heard a voice not faroff, so he crept out of his bed and peered around, lest, perchance, theMaid had come to speak with him; but his chamber was dusk and empty: thenhe went to the window and looked out, and saw the moon shining bright andwhite upon the greensward. And lo! the Lady walking with the King's Son, and he clad in thin and wanton raiment, but she in nought else save whatGod had given her of long, crispy yellow hair. Then was Walter ashamedto look on her, seeing that there was a man with her, and gat him back tohis bed; but yet a long while ere he slept again he had the image beforehis eyes of the fair woman on the dewy moonlit grass. 

The next day matters went much the same way, and the next also, save thathis sorrow was increased, and he sickened sorely of hope deferred. Onthe fourth day also the forenoon wore as erst; but in the heat of theafternoon Walter sought to the hazel-copse, and laid him down there hardby a little clearing thereof, and slept from very weariness of grief. There, after a while, he woke with words still hanging in his ears, andhe knew at once that it was they twain talking together. 

The King's Son had just done his say, and now it was the Lady beginningin her honey-sweet voice, low but strong, wherein even was a little ofhuskiness; she said: "Otto, belike it were well to have a littlepatience, till we find out what the man is, and whence he cometh; it willalways be easy to rid us of him; it is but a word to our Dwarf-king, andit will be done in a few minutes. "

"Patience!" said the King's Son, angrily; "I wot not how to have patiencewith him; for I can see of him that he is rude and violent andheadstrong, and a low-born wily one. Forsooth, he had patience enoughwith me the other even, when I rated him in, like the dog that he is, andhe had no manhood to say one word to me. Soothly, as he followed afterme, I had a mind to turn about and deal him a buffet on the face, to seeif I could but draw one angry word from him. "

The Lady laughed, and said: "Well, Otto, I know not; that which thoudeemest dastardy in him may be but prudence and wisdom, and he an alien, far from his friends and nigh to his foes. Perchance we shall yet tryhim what he is. Meanwhile, I rede thee try him not with buffets, save hebe weaponless and with bounden hands; or else I deem that but a littlewhile shalt thou be fain of thy blow. "

Now when Walter heard her words and the voice wherein they were said, hemight not forbear being stirred by them, and to him, all lonely there, they seemed friendly. 

But he lay still, and the King's Son answered the Lady and said: "I knownot what is in thine heart concerning this runagate, that thou shouldstbemock me with his valiancy, whereof thou knowest nought. If thou deemme unworthy of thee, send me back safe to my father's country; I may lookto have worship there; yea, and the love of fair women belike. "

Therewith it seemed as if he had put forth his hand to the Lady to caressher, for she said: "Nay, lay not thine hand on my shoulder, for to-dayand now it is not the hand of love, but of pride and folly, and would-bemastery. Nay, neither shalt thou rise up and leave me until thy mood issofter and kinder to me. "

Then was there silence betwixt them a while, and thereafter the King'sSon spake in a wheedling voice: "My goddess, I pray thee pardon me! Butcanst thou wonder that I fear thy wearying of me, and am thereforepeevish and jealous? thou so far above the Queens of the World, and I apoor youth that without thee were nothing!"

She answered nought, and he went on again: "Was it not so, O goddess, that this man of the sons of the merchants was little heedful of thee, and thy loveliness and thy majesty?"

She laughed and said: "Maybe he deemed not that he had much to gain ofus, seeing thee sitting by our side, and whereas we spake to him coldlyand sternly and disdainfully. Withal, the poor youth was dazzled andshamefaced before us; that we could see in the eyes and the mien of him. "

Now this she spoke so kindly and sweetly, that again was Walter allstirred thereat; and it came into his mind that it might be she knew hewas anigh and hearing her, and that she spake as much for him as for theKing's Son: but that one answered: "Lady, didst thou not see somewhatelse in his eyes, to wit, that they had but of late looked on some fairwoman other than thee? As for me, I deem it not so unlike that on theway to thine hall he may have fallen in with thy Maid. "

He spoke in a faltering voice, as if shrinking from some storm that mightcome. And forsooth the Lady's voice was changed as she answered, thoughthere was no outward heat in it; rather it was sharp and eager and coldat once. She said: "Yea, that is not ill thought of; but we may notalways keep our thrall in mind. If it be so as thou deemest, we shallcome to know it most like when we next fall in with her; or if she hathbeen shy this time, then shall she pay the heavier for it; for we willquestion her by the Fountain in the Hall as to what betid by the Fountainof the Rock. "

Spake the King's Son, faltering yet more: "Lady, were it not better toquestion the man himself? the Maid is stout-hearted, and will not bespeedily quelled into a true tale; whereas the man I deem of no account. "

"No, no, " said the Lady sharply, "it shall not be. "

Then was she silent a while; and then she said: "How if the man shouldprove to be our master?"

"Nay, our Lady, " said the King's Son, "thou art jesting with me; thou andthy might and thy wisdom, and all that thy wisdom may command, to be over-mastered by a gangrel churl!"

"But how if I will not have it command, King's Son?" said the Lady. "Itell thee I know thine heart, but thou knowest not mine. But be atpeace! For since thou hast prayed for this woman--nay, not with thywords, I wot, but with thy trembling hands, and thine anxious eyes, andknitted brow--I say, since thou hast prayed for her so earnestly, sheshall escape this time. But whether it will be to her gain in the longrun, I misdoubt me. See thou to that, Otto! thou who hast held me inthine arms so oft. And now thou mayest depart if thou wilt. "

It seemed to Walter as if the King's Son were dumbfoundered at her words:he answered nought, and presently he rose from the ground, and went hisways slowly toward the house. The Lady lay there a little while, andthen went her ways also; but turned away from the house toward the woodat the other end thereof, whereby Walter had first come thither. 

As for Walter, he was confused in mind and shaken in spirit; and withalhe seemed to see guile and cruel deeds under the talk of those two, andwaxed wrathful thereat. Yet he said to himself, that nought might he do, but was as one bound hand and foot, till he had seen the Maid again. 

CHAPTER XIII: NOW IS THE HUNT UP

Next morning was he up betimes, but he was cast down and heavy of heart, not looking for aught else to betide than had betid those last four days. But otherwise it fell out; for when he came down into the hall, there wasthe lady sitting on the high-seat all alone, clad but in a coat of whitelinen; and she turned her head when she heard his footsteps, and lookedon him, and greeted him, and said: "Come hither, guest. "

So he went and stood before her, and she said: "Though as yet thou hasthad no welcome here, and no honour, it hath not entered into thine heartto flee from us; and to say sooth, that is well for thee, for flee awayfrom our hand thou mightest not, nor mightest thou depart without ourfurtherance. But for this we can thee thank, that thou hast abided hereour bidding and eaten thine heart through the heavy wearing of four days, and made no plaint. Yet I cannot deem thee a dastard; thou so well knitand shapely of body, so clear-eyed and bold of visage. Wherefore now Iask thee, art thou willing to do me service, thereby to earn thyguesting?"

Walter answered her, somewhat faltering at first, for he was astonishedat the change which had come over her; for now she spoke to him infriendly wise, though indeed as a great lady would speak to a young manready to serve her in all honour. Said he: "Lady, I can thank theehumbly and heartily in that thou biddest me do thee service; for thesedays past I have loathed the emptiness of the hours, and nought bettercould I ask for than to serve so glorious a Mistress in all honour. "

She frowned somewhat, and said: "Thou shalt not call me Mistress; thereis but one who so calleth me, that is my thrall; and thou art none such. Thou shalt call me Lady, and I shall be well pleased that thou be mysquire, and for this present thou shalt serve me in the hunting. So getthy gear; take thy bow and arrows, and gird thee to thy sword. For inthis fair land may one find beasts more perilous than be buck or hart. Igo now to array me; we will depart while the day is yet young; for somake we the summer day the fairest. "

He made obeisance to her, and she arose and went to her chamber, andWalter dight himself, and then abode her in the porch; and in less thanan hour she came out of the hall, and Walter's heart beat when he sawthat the Maid followed her hard at heel, and scarce might he school hiseyes not to gaze over-eagerly at his dear friend. She was clad even asshe was before, and was changed in no wise, save that love troubled herface when she first beheld him, and she had much ado to master it:howbeit the Mistress heeded not the trouble of her, or made no semblanceof heeding it, till the Maiden's face was all according to its wont. 

But this Walter found strange, that after all that disdain of the Maid'sthralldom which he had heard of the Mistress, and after all the threatsagainst her, now was the Mistress become mild and debonaire to her, as agood lady to her good maiden. When Walter bowed the knee to her, sheturned unto the Maid, and said: "Look thou, my Maid, at this fair newSquire that I have gotten! Will not he be valiant in the greenwood? Andsee whether he be well shapen or not. Doth he not touch thine heart, when thou thinkest of all the woe, and fear, and trouble of the Worldbeyond the Wood, which he hath escaped, to dwell in this little landpeaceably, and well-beloved both by the Mistress and the Maid? And thou, my Squire, look a little at this fair slim Maiden, and say if shepleaseth thee not: didst thou deem that we had any thing so fair in thislonely place?"

Frank and kind was the smile on her radiant visage, nor did she seem tonote any whit the trouble on Walter's face, nor how he strove to keep hiseyes from the Maid. As for her, she had so wholly mastered hercountenance, that belike she used her face guilefully, for she stood asone humble but happy, with a smile on her face, blushing, and with herhead hung down as if shamefaced before a goodly young man, a stranger. 

But the Lady looked upon her kindly and said: "Come hither, child, andfear not this frank and free young man, who belike feareth thee a little, and full certainly feareth me; and yet only after the manner of men. "

And therewith she took the Maid by the hand and drew her to her, andpressed her to her bosom, and kissed her cheeks and her lips, and undidthe lacing of her gown and bared a shoulder of her, and swept away herskirt from her feet; and then turned to Walter and said: "Lo thou, Squire! is not this a lovely thing to have grown up amongst our rough oak-boles? What! art thou looking at the iron ring there? It is nought, save a token that she is mine, and that I may not be without her. "

Then she took the Maid by the shoulders and turned her about as in sport, and said: "Go thou now, and bring hither the good grey ones; for needsmust we bring home some venison to-day, whereas this stout warrior maynot feed on nought save manchets and honey. "

So the Maid went her way, taking care, as Walter deemed, to give no sideglance to him. But he stood there shamefaced, so confused with all thisopenhearted kindness of the great Lady and with the fresh sight of thedarling beauty of the Maid, that he went nigh to thinking that all he hadheard since he had come to the porch of the house that first time was buta dream of evil. 

But while he stood pondering these matters, and staring before him as onemazed, the Lady laughed out in his face, and touched him on the arm andsaid: "Ah, our Squire, is it so that now thou hast seen my Maid thouwouldst with a good will abide behind to talk with her? But call to mindthy word pledged to me e'en now! And moreover I tell thee this for thybehoof now she is out of ear-shot, that I will above all things take theeaway to-day: for there be other eyes, and they nought uncomely, that lookat whiles on my fair-ankled thrall; and who knows but the swords might beout if I take not the better heed, and give thee not every whit of thywill. "

As she spoke and moved forward, he turned a little, so that now the edgeof that hazel-coppice was within his eye-shot, and he deemed that oncemore he saw the yellow-brown evil thing crawling forth from the thicket;then, turning suddenly on the Lady, he met her eyes, and seemed in onemoment of time to find a far other look in them than that of franknessand kindness; though in a flash they changed back again, and she saidmerrily and sweetly: "So, so, Sir Squire, now art thou awake again, andmayest for a little while look on me. "

Now it came into his head, with that look of hers, all that might befallhim and the Maid if he mastered not his passion, nor did what he might todissemble; so he bent the knee to her, and spoke boldly to her in her ownvein, and said: "Nay, most gracious of ladies, never would I abide behindto-day since thou farest afield. But if my speech be hampered, or mineeyes stray, is it not because my mind is confused by thy beauty, and thehoney of kind words which floweth from thy mouth?"

She laughed outright at his word, but not disdainfully, and said: "Thisis well spoken, Squire, and even what a squire should say to his liegelady, when the sun is up on a fair morning, and she and he and all theworld are glad. "

She stood quite near him as she spoke, her hand was on his shoulder, andher eyes shone and sparkled. Sooth to say, that excusing of hisconfusion was like enough in seeming to the truth; for sure nevercreature was fashioned fairer than she: clad she was for the greenwood asthe hunting-goddess of the Gentiles, with her green gown gathered untoher girdle, and sandals on her feet; a bow in her hand and a quiver ather back: she was taller and bigger of fashion than the dear Maiden, whiter of flesh, and more glorious, and brighter of hair; as a flower offlowers for fairness and fragrance. 

She said: "Thou art verily a fair squire before the hunt is up, and ifthou be as good in the hunting, all will be better than well, and theguest will be welcome. But lo! here cometh our Maid with the good greyones. Go meet her, and we will tarry no longer than for thy taking theleash in hand. "

So Walter looked, and saw the Maid coming with two couple of great houndsin the leash straining against her as she came along. He ran lightly tomeet her, wondering if he should have a look, or a half-whisper from her;but she let him take the white thongs from her hand, with the same half-smile of shamefacedness still set on her face, and, going past him, camesoftly up to the Lady, swaying like a willow-branch in the wind, andstood before her, with her arms hanging down by her sides. Then the Ladyturned to her, and said: "Look to thyself, our Maid, while we are away. This fair young man thou needest not to fear indeed, for he is good andleal; but what thou shalt do with the King's Son I wot not. He is a hotlover forsooth, but a hard man; and whiles evil is his mood, and perilousboth to thee and me. And if thou do his will, it shall be ill for thee;and if thou do it not, take heed of him, and let me, and me only, comebetween his wrath and thee. I may do somewhat for thee. Even yesterdayhe was instant with me to have thee chastised after the manner ofthralls; but I bade him keep silence of such words, and jeered him andmocked him, till he went away from me peevish and in anger. So look toit that thou fall not into any trap of his contrivance. "

Then the Maid cast herself at the Mistress's feet, and kissed andembraced them; and as she rose up, the Lady laid her hand lightly on herhead, and then, turning to Walter, cried out: "Now, Squire, let us leaveall these troubles and wiles and desires behind us, and flit through themerry greenwood like the Gentiles of old days. "

And therewith she drew up the laps of her gown till the whiteness of herknees was seen, and set off swiftly toward the wood that lay south of thehouse, and Walter followed, marvelling at her goodliness; nor durst hecast a look backward to the Maiden, for he knew that she desired him, andit was her only that he looked to for his deliverance from this house ofguile and lies. 

CHAPTER XIV: THE HUNTING OF THE HART

As they went, they found a change in the land, which grew emptier of bigand wide-spreading trees, and more beset with thickets. From one ofthese they roused a hart, and Walter let slip his hounds thereafter andhe and the Lady followed running. Exceeding swift was she, andwell-breathed withal, so that Walter wondered at her; and eager she wasin the chase as the very hounds, heeding nothing the scratching of briarsor the whipping of stiff twigs as she sped on. But for all their eagerhunting, the quarry outran both dogs and folk, and gat him into a greatthicket, amidmost whereof was a wide plash of water. Into the thicketthey followed him, but he took to the water under their eyes and madeland on the other side; and because of the tangle of underwood, he swamacross much faster than they might have any hope to come round on him;and so were the hunters left undone for that time. 

So the Lady cast herself down on the green grass anigh the water, whileWalter blew the hounds in and coupled them up; then he turned round toher, and lo! she was weeping for despite that they had lost the quarry;and again did Walter wonder that so little a matter should raise apassion of tears in her. He durst not ask what ailed her, or proffer hersolace, but was not ill apaid by beholding her loveliness as she lay. 

Presently she raised up her head and turned to Walter, and spake to himangrily and said: "Squire, why dost thou stand staring at me like afool?"

"Yea, Lady, " he said; "but the sight of thee maketh me foolish to doaught else but to look on thee. "

She said, in a peevish voice: "Tush, Squire, the day is too far spent forsoft and courtly speeches; what was good there is nought so good here. Withal, I know more of thine heart than thou deemest. "

Walter hung down his head and reddened, and she looked on him, and herface changed, and she smiled and said, kindly this time: "Look ye, Squire, I am hot and weary, and ill-content; but presently it will bebetter with me; for my knees have been telling my shoulders that the coldwater of this little lake will be sweet and pleasant this summer noonday, and that I shall forget my foil when I have taken my pleasure therein. Wherefore, go thou with thine hounds without the thicket and there abidemy coming. And I bid thee look not aback as thou goest, for therein wereperil to thee: I shall not keep thee tarrying long alone. "

He bowed his head to her, and turned and went his ways. And now, when hewas a little space away from her, he deemed her indeed a marvel of women, and wellnigh forgat all his doubts and fears concerning her, whether shewere a fair image fashioned out of lies and guile, or it might be but anevil thing in the shape of a goodly woman. Forsooth, when he saw hercaressing the dear and friendly Maid, his heart all turned against her, despite what his eyes and his ears told his mind, and she seemed like asit were a serpent enfolding the simplicity of the body which he loved. 

But now it was all changed, and he lay on the grass and longed for hercoming; which was delayed for somewhat more than an hour. Then she cameback to him, smiling and fresh and cheerful, her green gown let down toher heels. 

He sprang up to meet her, and she came close to him, and spake from alaughing face: "Squire, hast thou no meat in thy wallet? For, meseemeth, I fed thee when thou wert hungry the other day; do thou now the same byme. "

He smiled, and louted to her, and took his wallet and brought out thencebread and flesh and wine, and spread them all out before her on the greengrass, and then stood by humbly before her. But she said: "Nay, mySquire, sit down by me and eat with me, for to-day are we both hunterstogether. "

So he sat down by her trembling, but neither for awe of her greatness, nor for fear and horror of her guile and sorcery. 

A while they sat there together after they had done their meat, and theLady fell a-talking with Walter concerning the parts of the earth, andthe manners of men, and of his journeyings to and fro. 

At last she said: "Thou hast told me much and answered all my questionswisely, and as my good Squire should, and that pleaseth me. But now tellme of the city wherein thou wert born and bred; a city whereof thou hasthitherto told me nought. "

"Lady, " he said, "it is a fair and a great city, and to many it seemethlovely. But I have left it, and now it is nothing to me. "

"Hast thou not kindred there?" said she. 

"Yea, " said he, "and foemen withal; and a false woman waylayeth my lifethere. "

"And what was she?" said the Lady. 

Said Walter: "She was but my wife. "

"Was she fair?" said the Lady. 

Walter looked on her a while, and then said: "I was going to say that shewas wellnigh as fair as thou; but that may scarce be. Yet was she veryfair. But now, kind and gracious Lady, I will say this word to thee: Imarvel that thou askest so many things concerning the city of Langton onHolm, where I was born, and where are my kindred yet; for meseemeth thatthou knowest it thyself. "

"I know it, I?" said the Lady. 

"What, then! thou knowest it not?" said Walter. 

Spake the Lady, and some of her old disdain was in her words: "Dost thoudeem that I wander about the world and its cheaping-steads like one ofthe chap-men? Nay, I dwell in the Wood beyond the World, and nowhereelse. What hath put this word into thy mouth?"

He said: "Pardon me, Lady, if I have misdone; but thus it was: Mine owneyes beheld thee going down the quays of our city, and thence aship-board, and the ship sailed out of the haven. And first of all wenta strange dwarf, whom I have seen here, and then thy Maid; and then wentthy gracious and lovely body. "

The Lady's face changed as he spoke, and she turned red and then pale, and set her teeth; but she refrained her, and said: "Squire, I see ofthee that thou art no liar, nor light of wit, therefore I suppose thatthou hast verily seen some appearance of me; but never have I been inLangton, nor thought thereof, nor known that such a stead there was untilthou namedst it e'en now. Wherefore, I deem that an enemy hath cast theshadow of me on the air of that land. "

"Yea, my Lady, " said Walter; "and what enemy mightest thou have to havedone this?"

She was slow of answer, but spake at last from a quivering mouth ofanger: "Knowest thou not the saw, that a man's foes are they of his ownhouse? If I find out for a truth who hath done this, the said enemyshall have an evil hour with me. "

Again she was silent, and she clenched her hands and strained her limbsin the heat of her anger; so that Walter was afraid of her, and all hismisgivings came back to his heart again, and he repented that he had toldher so much. But in a little while all that trouble and wrath seemed toflow off her, and again was she of good cheer, and kind and sweet to himand she said: "But in sooth, however it may be, I thank thee, my Squireand friend, for telling me hereof. And surely no wyte do I lay on thee. And, moreover, is it not this vision which hath brought thee hither?"

"So it is, Lady, " said he. 

"Then have we to thank it, " said the Lady, "and thou art welcome to ourland. "

And therewith she held out her hand to him, and he took it on his kneesand kissed it: and then it was as if a red-hot iron had run through hisheart, and he felt faint, and bowed down his head. But he held her handyet, and kissed it many times, and the wrist and the arm, and knew notwhere he was. 

But she drew a little away from him, and arose and said: "Now is the daywearing, and if we are to bear back any venison we must buckle to thework. So arise, Squire, and take the hounds and come with me; for notfar off is a little thicket which mostly harbours foison of deer, greatand small. Let us come our ways. "

CHAPTER XV: THE SLAYING OF THE QUARRY

So they walked on quietly thence some half a mile, and ever the Ladywould have Walter to walk by her side, and not follow a little behindher, as was meet for a servant to do; and she touched his hand at whilesas she showed him beast and fowl and tree, and the sweetness of her bodyovercame him, so that for a while he thought of nothing save her. 

Now when they were come to the thicket-side, she turned to him and said:"Squire, I am no ill woodman, so that thou mayst trust me that we shallnot be brought to shame the second time; and I shall do sagely; so nockan arrow to thy bow, and abide me here, and stir not hence; for I shallenter this thicket without the hounds, and arouse the quarry for thee;and see that thou be brisk and clean-shooting, and then shalt thou have areward of me. "

Therewith she drew up her skirts through her girdle again, took her bentbow in her hand, and drew an arrow out of the quiver, and stepped lightlyinto the thicket, leaving him longing for the sight of her, as hehearkened to the tread of her feet on the dry leaves, and the rustling ofthe brake as she thrust through it. 

Thus he stood for a few minutes, and then he heard a kind of gibberingcry without words, yet as of a woman, coming from the thicket, and whilehis heart was yet gathering the thought that something had gone amiss, heglided swiftly, but with little stir, into the brake. 

He had gone but a little way ere he saw the Lady standing there in anarrow clearing, her face pale as death, her knees cleaving together, herbody swaying and tottering, her hands hanging down, and the bow and arrowfallen to the ground; and ten yards before her a great-headed yellowcreature crouching flat to the earth and slowly drawing nigher. 

He stopped short; one arrow was already notched to the string, andanother hung loose to the lesser fingers of his string-hand. He raisedhis right hand, and drew and loosed in a twinkling; the shaft flew closeto the Lady's side, and straightway all the wood rung with a huge roar, as the yellow lion turned about to bite at the shaft which had sunk deepinto him behind the shoulder, as if a bolt out of the heavens had smittenhim. But straightway had Walter loosed again, and then, throwing downhis bow, he ran forward with his drawn sword gleaming in his hand, whilethe lion weltered and rolled, but had no might to move forward. ThenWalter went up to him warily and thrust him through to the heart, andleapt aback, lest the beast might yet have life in him to smite; but heleft his struggling, his huge voice died out, and he lay there movelessbefore the hunter. 

Walter abode a little, facing him, and then turned about to the Lady, andshe had fallen down in a heap whereas she stood, and lay there allhuddled up and voiceless. So he knelt down by her, and lifted up herhead, and bade her arise, for the foe was slain. And after a little shestretched out her limbs, and turned about on the grass, and seemed tosleep, and the colour came into her face again, and it grew soft and alittle smiling. Thus she lay awhile, and Walter sat by her watching her, till at last she opened her eyes and sat up, and knew him, and smiling onhim said: "What hath befallen, Squire, that I have slept and dreamed?"

He answered nothing, till her memory came back to her, and then shearose, trembling and pale, and said: "Let us leave this wood, for theEnemy is therein. "

And she hastened away before him till they came out at the thicket-sidewhereas the hounds had been left, and they were standing there uneasy andwhining; so Walter coupled them, while the Lady stayed not, but went awayswiftly homeward, and Walter followed. 

At last she stayed her swift feet, and turned round on Walter, and said:"Squire, come hither. "

So did he, and she said: "I am weary again; let us sit under this quicken-tree, and rest us. "

So they sat down, and she sat looking between her knees a while; and atlast she said: "Why didst thou not bring the lion's hide?"

He said: "Lady, I will go back and flay the beast, and bring on thehide. "

And he arose therewith, but she caught him by the skirts and drew himdown, and said: "Nay, thou shalt not go; abide with me. Sit down again. "

He did so, and she said: "Thou shalt not go from me; for I am afraid: Iam not used to looking on the face of death. "

She grew pale as she spoke, and set a hand to her breast, and sat so awhile without speaking. At last she turned to him smiling, and said:"How was it with the aspect of me when I stood before the peril of theEnemy?" And she laid a hand upon his. 

"O gracious one, " quoth he, "thou wert, as ever, full lovely, but Ifeared for thee. "

She moved not her hand from his, and she said: "Good and true Squire, Isaid ere I entered the thicket e'en now that I would reward thee if thouslewest the quarry. He is dead, though thou hast left the skin behindupon the carcase. Ask now thy reward, but take time to think what itshall be. "

He felt her hand warm upon his, and drew in the sweet odour of hermingled with the woodland scents under the hot sun of the afternoon, andhis heart was clouded with manlike desire of her. And it was a nearthing but he had spoken, and craved of her the reward of the freedom ofher Maid, and that he might depart with her into other lands; but as hismind wavered betwixt this and that, the Lady, who had been eyeing himkeenly, drew her hand away from him; and therewith doubt and fear flowedinto his mind, and he refrained him of speech. 

Then she laughed merrily and said: "The good Squire is shamefaced; hefeareth a lady more than a lion. Will it be a reward to thee if I bidthee to kiss my cheek?"

Therewith she leaned her face toward him, and he kissed herwell-favouredly, and then sat gazing on her, wondering what should betideto him on the morrow. 

Then she arose and said: "Come, Squire, and let us home; be not abashed, there shall be other rewards hereafter. "

So they went their ways quietly; and it was nigh sunset against theyentered the house again. Walter looked round for the Maid, but beheldher not; and the Lady said to him: "I go to my chamber, and now is thyservice over for this day. "

Then she nodded to him friendly and went her ways. 

CHAPTER XVI: OF THE KING'S SON AND THE MAID

But as for Walter, he went out of the house again, and fared slowly overthe woodlawns till he came to another close thicket or brake; he enteredfrom mere wantonness, or that he might be the more apart and hidden, soas to think over his case. There he lay down under the thick boughs, butcould not so herd his thoughts that they would dwell steady in lookinginto what might come to him within the next days; rather visions of thosetwo women and the monster did but float before him, and fear and desireand the hope of life ran to and fro in his mind. 

As he lay thus he heard footsteps drawing near, and he looked between theboughs, and though the sun had just set, he could see close by him a manand a woman going slowly, and they hand in hand; at first he deemed itwould be the King's Son and the Lady, but presently he saw that it wasthe King's Son indeed, but that it was the Maid whom he was holding bythe hand. And now he saw of him that his eyes were bright with desire, and of her that she was very pale. Yet when he heard her begin to speak, it was in a steady voice that she said: "King's Son, thou hast threatenedme oft and unkindly, and now thou threatenest me again, and no lessunkindly. But whatever were thy need herein before, now is there no moreneed; for my Mistress, of whom thou wert weary, is now grown weary ofthee, and belike will not now reward me for drawing thy love to me, asonce she would have done; to wit, before the coming of this stranger. Therefore I say, since I am but a thrall, poor and helpless, betwixt youtwo mighty ones, I have no choice but to do thy will. "

As she spoke she looked all round about her, as one distraught by theanguish of fear. Walter, amidst of his wrath and grief, had wellnighdrawn his sword and rushed out of his lair upon the King's Son. But hedeemed it sure that, so doing, he should undo the Maid altogether, andhimself also belike, so he refrained him, though it were a hard matter. 

The Maid had stayed her feet now close to where Walter lay, some fiveyards from him only, and he doubted whether she saw him not from whereshe stood. As to the King's Son, he was so intent upon the Maid, and sogreedy of her beauty, that it was not like that he saw anything. 

Now moreover Walter looked, and deemed that he beheld something throughthe grass and bracken on the other side of those two, an ugly brown andyellow body, which, if it were not some beast of the foumart kind, mustneeds be the monstrous dwarf, or one of his kin; and the flesh crept uponWalter's bones with the horror of him. But the King's Son spoke unto theMaid: "Sweetling, I shall take the gift thou givest me, neither shall Ithreaten thee any more, howbeit thou givest it not very gladly orgraciously. "

She smiled on him with her lips alone, for her eyes were wandering andhaggard. "My lord, " she said, "is not this the manner of women?"

"Well, " he said, "I say that I will take thy love even so given. Yet letme hear again that thou lovest not that vile newcomer, and that thou hastnot seen him, save this morning along with my Lady. Nay now, thou shaltswear it. "

"What shall I swear by?" she said. 

Quoth he, "Thou shalt swear by my body;" and therewith he thrust himselfclose up against her; but she drew her hand from his, and laid it on hisbreast, and said: "I swear it by thy body. "

He smiled on her licorously, and took her by the shoulders, and kissedher face many times, and then stood aloof from her, and said: "Now have Ihad hansel: but tell me, when shall I come to thee?"

She spoke out clearly: "Within three days at furthest; I will do thee towit of the day and the hour to-morrow, or the day after. "

He kissed her once more, and said: "Forget it not, or the threat holdsgood. "

And therewith he turned about and went his ways toward the house; andWalter saw the yellow-brown thing creeping after him in the gatheringdusk. 

As for the Maid, she stood for a while without moving, and looking afterthe King's Son and the creature that followed him. Then she turned aboutto where Walter lay and lightly put aside the boughs, and Walter leaptup, and they stood face to face. She said softly but eagerly: "Friend, touch me not yet!"

He spake not, but looked on her sternly. She said: "Thou art angry withme?"

Still he spake not; but she said: "Friend, this at least I will praythee; not to play with life and death; with happiness and misery. Dostthou not remember the oath which we swore each to each but a little whileago? And dost thou deem that I have changed in these few days? Is thymind concerning thee and me the same as it was? If it be not so, nowtell me. For now have I the mind to do as if neither thou nor I arechanged to each other, whoever may have kissed mine unwilling lips, orwhomsoever thy lips may have kissed. But if thou hast changed, and wiltno longer give me thy love, nor crave mine, then shall this steel" (andshe drew a sharp knife from her girdle) "be for the fool and the dastardwho hath made thee wroth with me, my friend, and my friend that I deemedI had won. And then let come what will come! But if thou be noughtchanged, and the oath yet holds, then, when a little while hath passed, may we thrust all evil and guile and grief behind us, and long joy shalllie before us, and long life, and all honour in death: if only thou wiltdo as I bid thee, O my dear, and my friend, and my first friend!"

He looked on her, and his breast heaved up as all the sweetness of herkind love took hold on him, and his face changed, and the tears filledhis eyes and ran over, and rained down before her, and he stretched outhis hand toward her. 

Then she said exceeding sweetly: "Now indeed I see that it is well withme, yea, and with thee also. A sore pain it is to me, that not even nowmay I take thine hand, and cast mine arms about thee, and kiss the lipsthat love me. But so it has to be. My dear, even so I were fain tostand here long before thee, even if we spake no more word to each other;but abiding here is perilous; for there is ever an evil spy upon mydoings, who has now as I deem followed the King's Son to the house, butwho will return when he has tracked him home thither: so we must sunder. But belike there is yet time for a word or two: first, the rede which Ihad thought on for our deliverance is now afoot, though I durst not tellthee thereof, nor have time thereto. But this much shall I tell thee, that whereas great is the craft of my Mistress in wizardry, yet I alsohave some little craft therein, and this, which she hath not, to changethe aspect of folk so utterly that they seem other than they verily are;yea, so that one may have the aspect of another. Now the next thing isthis: whatsoever my Mistress may bid thee, do her will therein with nomore nay-saying than thou deemest may please her. And the next thing:wheresoever thou mayst meet me, speak not to me, make no sign to me, evenwhen I seem to be all alone, till I stoop down and touch the ring on myankle with my right hand; but if I do so, then stay thee, without fail, till I speak. The last thing I will say to thee, dear friend, ere weboth go our ways, this it is. When we are free, and thou knowest allthat I have done, I pray thee deem me not evil and wicked, and be notwroth with me for my deed; whereas thou wottest well that I am not inlike plight with other women. I have heard tell that when the knightgoeth to the war, and hath overcome his foes by the shearing of swordsand guileful tricks, and hath come back home to his own folk, they praisehim and bless him, and crown him with flowers, and boast of him beforeGod in the minster for his deliverance of friend and folk and city. Whyshouldst thou be worse to me than this? Now is all said, my dear and myfriend; farewell, farewell!"

Therewith she turned and went her ways toward the house in all speed, butmaking somewhat of a compass. And when she was gone, Walter knelt downand kissed the place where her feet had been, and arose thereafter, andmade his way toward the house, he also, but slowly, and staying oft onhis way. 

CHAPTER XVII: OF THE HOUSE AND THE PLEASANCE IN THE WOOD

On the morrow morning Walter loitered a while about the house till themorn was grown old, and then about noon he took his bow and arrows andwent into the woods to the northward, to get him some venison. He wentsomewhat far ere he shot him a fawn, and then he sat him down to restunder the shade of a great chestnut-tree, for it was not far past thehottest of the day. He looked around thence and saw below him a littledale with a pleasant stream running through it, and he bethought him ofbathing therein, so he went down and had his pleasure of the water andthe willowy banks; for he lay naked a while on the grass by the lip ofthe water, for joy of the flickering shade, and the little breeze thatran over the down-long ripples of the stream. 

Then he did on his raiment, and began to come his ways up the bent, buthad scarce gone three steps ere he saw a woman coming towards him fromdownstream. His heart came into his mouth when he saw her, for shestooped and reached down her arm, as if she would lay her hand on herankle, so that at first he deemed it had been the Maid, but at the secondeye-shot he saw that it was the Mistress. She stood still and looked onhim, so that he deemed she would have him come to her. So he went tomeet her, and grew somewhat shamefaced as he drew nigher, and wondered ather, for now was she clad but in one garment of some dark grey silkystuff, embroidered with, as it were, a garland of flowers about themiddle, but which was so thin that, as the wind drifted it from side andlimb, it hid her no more, but for the said garland, than if water wererunning over her: her face was full of smiling joy and content as shespake to him in a kind, caressing voice, and said: "I give thee good day, good Squire, and well art thou met. " And she held out her hand to him. He knelt down before her and kissed it, and abode still upon his knees, and hanging down his head. 

But she laughed outright, and stooped down to him, and put her hand tohis arms, and raised him up, and said to him: "What is this, my Squire, that thou kneelest to me as to an idol?"

He said faltering: "I wot not; but perchance thou art an idol; and I fearthee. "

"What!" she said, "more than yesterday, whenas thou sawest me afraid?"

Said he: "Yea, for that now I see thee unhidden, and meseemeth there hathbeen none such since the old days of the Gentiles. "

She said: "Hast thou not yet bethought thee of a gift to crave of me, areward for the slaying of mine enemy, and the saving of me from death?"

"O my Lady, " he said, "even so much would I have done for any other lady, or, forsooth, for any poor man; for so my manhood would have bidden me. Speak not of gifts to me then. Moreover" (and he reddened therewith, andhis voice faltered), "didst thou not give me my sweet reward yesterday?What more durst I ask?"

She held her peace awhile, and looked on him keenly; and he reddenedunder her gaze. Then wrath came into her face, and she reddened and knither brows, and spake to him in a voice of anger, and said: "Nay, what isthis? It is growing in my mind that thou deemest the gift of meunworthy! Thou, an alien, an outcast; one endowed with the little wisdomof the World without the Wood! And here I stand before thee, allglorious in my nakedness, and so fulfilled of wisdom, that I can makethis wilderness to any whom I love more full of joy than the kingdoms andcities of the world--and thou!--Ah, but it is the Enemy that hath donethis, and made the guileless guileful! Yet will I have the upper hand atleast, though thou suffer for it, and I suffer for thee. "

Walter stood before her with hanging head, and he put forth his hands asif praying off her anger, and pondered what answer he should make; fornow he feared for himself and the Maid; so at last he looked up to her, and said boldly: "Nay, Lady, I know what thy words mean, whereas Iremember thy first welcome of me. I wot, forsooth, that thou wouldstcall me base-born, and of no account, and unworthy to touch the hem ofthy raiment; and that I have been over-bold, and guilty towards thee; anddoubtless this is sooth, and I have deserved thine anger: but I will notask thee to pardon me, for I have done but what I must needs. "

She looked on him calmly now, and without any wrath, but rather as if shewould read what was written in his inmost heart. Then her face changedinto joyousness again, and she smote her palms together, and cried out:"This is but foolish talk; for yesterday did I see thy valiancy, and to-day I have seen thy goodliness; and I say, that though thou mightest notbe good enough for a fool woman of the earthly baronage, yet art thougood enough for me, the wise and the mighty, and the lovely. And whereasthou sayest that I gave thee but disdain when first thou camest to us, grudge not against me therefor, because it was done but to prove thee;and now thou art proven. "

Then again he knelt down before her, and embraced her knees, and againshe raised him up, and let her arm hang down over his shoulder, and hercheek brush his cheek; and she kissed his mouth and said: "Hereby is allforgiven, both thine offence and mine; and now cometh joy and merrydays. "

Therewith her smiling face grew grave, and she stood before him lookingstately and gracious and kind at once, and she took his hand and said:"Thou mightest deem my chamber in the Golden House of the Woodover-queenly, since thou art no masterful man. So now hast thou chosenwell the place wherein to meet me to-day, for hard by on the other sideof the stream is a bower of pleasance, which, forsooth, not every one whocometh to this land may find; there shall I be to thee as one of the up-country damsels of thine own land, and thou shalt not be abashed. "

She sidled up to him as she spoke, and would he, would he not, her sweetvoice tickled his very soul with pleasure, and she looked aside on himhappy and well-content. 

So they crossed the stream by the shallow below the pool wherein Walterhad bathed, and within a little they came upon a tall fence offlake-hurdles, and a simple gate therein. The Lady opened the same, andthey entered thereby into a close all planted as a most fair garden, withhedges of rose and woodbine, and with linden-trees a-blossom, and longways of green grass betwixt borders of lilies and clove-gilliflowers, andother sweet garland-flowers. And a branch of the stream which they hadcrossed erewhile wandered through that garden; and in the midst was alittle house built of post and pan, and thatched with yellow straw, as ifit were new done. 

Then Walter looked this way and that, and wondered at first, and tried tothink in his mind what should come next, and how matters would go withhim; but his thought would not dwell steady on any other matter than thebeauty of the Lady amidst the beauty of the garden; and withal she wasnow grown so sweet and kind, and even somewhat timid and shy with him, that scarce did he know whose hand he held, or whose fragrant bosom andsleek side went so close to him. 

So they wandered here and there through the waning of the day, and whenthey entered at last into the cool dusk house, then they loved and playedtogether, as if they were a pair of lovers guileless, with no fear forthe morrow, and no seeds of enmity and death sown betwixt them. 

CHAPTER XVIII: THE MAID GIVES WALTER TRYST

Now, on the morrow, when Walter was awake, he found there was no onelying beside him, and the day was no longer very young; so he arose, andwent through the garden from end to end, and all about, and there wasnone there; and albeit that he dreaded to meet the Lady there, yet was hesad at heart and fearful of what might betide. Howsoever, he found thegate whereby they had entered yesterday, and he went out into the littledale; but when he had gone a step or two he turned about, and could seeneither garden nor fence, nor any sign of what he had seen thereof butlately. He knit his brow and stood still to think of it, and his heartgrew the heavier thereby; but presently he went his ways and crossed thestream, but had scarce come up on to the grass on the further side, erehe saw a woman coming to meet him, and at first, full as he was of thetide of yesterday and the wondrous garden, deemed that it would be theLady; but the woman stayed her feet, and, stooping, laid a hand on herright ankle, and he saw that it was the Maid. He drew anigh to her, andsaw that she was nought so sad of countenance as the last time she hadmet him, but flushed of cheek and bright-eyed. 

As he came up to her she made a step or two to meet him, holding out hertwo hands, and then refrained her, and said smiling: "Ah, friend, belikethis shall be the last time that I shall say to thee, touch me not, nay, not so much as my hand, or if it were but the hem of my raiment. "

The joy grew up in his heart, and he gazed on her fondly, and said: "Why, what hath befallen of late?"

"O friend, " she began, "this hath befallen. "

But as he looked on her, the smile died from her face, and she becamedeadly pale to the very lips; she looked askance to her left side, whereas ran the stream; and Walter followed her eyes, and deemed for oneinstant that he saw the misshapen yellow visage of the dwarf peeringround from a grey rock, but the next there was nothing. Then the Maid, though she were as pale as death, went on in a clear, steady, hard voice, wherein was no joy or kindness, keeping her face to Walter and her backto the stream: "This hath befallen, friend, that there is no longer anyneed to refrain thy love nor mine; therefore I say to thee, come to mychamber (and it is the red chamber over against thine, though thouknewest it not) an hour before this next midnight, and then thy sorrowand mine shall be at an end: and now I must needs depart. Follow me not, but remember!"

And therewith she turned about and fled like the wind down the stream. 

But Walter stood wondering, and knew not what to make of it, whether itwere for good or ill: for he knew now that she had paled and been seizedwith terror because of the upheaving of the ugly head; and yet she hadseemed to speak out the very thing she had to say. Howsoever it were, hespake aloud to himself: Whatever comes, I will keep tryst with her. 

Then he drew his sword, and turned this way and that, looking all aboutif he might see any sign of the Evil Thing; but nought might his eyesbehold, save the grass, and the stream, and the bushes of the dale. Sothen, still holding his naked sword in his hand, he clomb the bent out ofthe dale; for that was the only way he knew to the Golden House; and whenhe came to the top, and the summer breeze blew in his face, and he lookeddown a fair green slope beset with goodly oaks and chestnuts, he wasrefreshed with the life of the earth, and he felt the good sword in hisfist, and knew that there was might and longing in him, and the worldseemed open unto him. 

So he smiled, if it were somewhat grimly, and sheathed his sword and wenton toward the house. 

CHAPTER XIX: WALTER GOES TO FETCH HOME THE LION'S HIDE

He entered the cool dusk through the porch, and, looking down thepillared hall, saw beyond the fountain a gleam of gold, and when he camepast the said fountain he looked up to the high-seat, and lo! the Ladysitting there clad in her queenly raiment. She called to him, and hecame; and she hailed him, and spake graciously and calmly, yet as if sheknew nought of him save as the leal servant of her, a high Lady. "Squire, " she said, "we have deemed it meet to have the hide of theservant of the Enemy, the lion to wit, whom thou slewest yesterday, for acarpet to our feet; wherefore go now, take thy wood-knife, and flay thebeast, and bring me home his skin. This shall be all thy service forthis day, so mayst thou do it at thine own leisure, and not wearythyself. May good go with thee. "

He bent the knee before her, and she smiled on him graciously, butreached out no hand for him to kiss, and heeded him but little. Wherefore, in spite of himself, and though he knew somewhat of her guile, he could not help marvelling that this should be she who had lain in hisarms night-long but of late. 

Howso that might be, he took his way toward the thicket where he hadslain the lion, and came thither by then it was afternoon, at the hottestof the day. So he entered therein, and came to the very place whereasthe Lady had lain, when she fell down before the terror of the lion; andthere was the mark of her body on the grass where she had lain thatwhile, like as it were the form of a hare. But when Walter went on towhere he had slain that great beast, lo! he was gone, and there was nosign of him; but there were Walter's own footprints, and the two shaftswhich he had shot, one feathered red, and one blue. He said at first:Belike someone hath been here, and hath had the carcase away. Then helaughed in very despite, and said: How may that be, since there are nosigns of dragging away of so huge a body, and no blood or fur on thegrass if they had cut him up, and moreover no trampling of feet, as ifthere had been many men at the deed. Then was he all abashed, and againlaughed in scorn of himself, and said: Forsooth I deemed I had donemanly; but now forsooth I shot nought, and nought there was before thesword of my father's son. And what may I deem now, but that this is aland of mere lies, and that there is nought real and alive therein saveme. Yea, belike even these trees and the green grass will presentlydepart from me, and leave me falling down through the clouds. 

Therewith he turned away, and gat him to the road that led to the GoldenHouse, wondering what next should befall him, and going slowly as hepondered his case. So came he to that first thicket where they had losttheir quarry by water; so he entered the same, musing, and bathed him inthe pool that was therein, after he had wandered about it awhile, andfound nothing new. 

So again he set him to the homeward road, when the day was now waning, and it was near sunset that he was come nigh unto the house, though itwas hidden from him as then by a low bent that rose before him; and therehe abode and looked about him. 

Now as he looked, over the said bent came the figure of a woman, whostayed on the brow thereof and looked all about her, and then ran swiftlydown to meet Walter, who saw at once that it was the Maid. 

She made no stay then till she was but three paces from him, and then shestooped down and made the sign to him, and then spake to himbreathlessly, and said: "Hearken! but speak not till I have done: I badethee to-night's meeting because I saw that there was one anigh whom Imust needs beguile. But by thine oath, and thy love, and all that thouart, I adjure thee come not unto me this night as I bade thee! but behidden in the hazel-copse outside the house, as it draws toward midnight, and abide me there. Dost thou hearken, and wilt thou? Say yes or no inhaste, for I may not tarry a moment of time. Who knoweth what is behindme?"

"Yes, " said Walter hastily; "but friend and love--"

"No more, " she said; "hope the best;" and turning from him she ran awayswiftly, not by the way she had come, but sideways, as though to reachthe house by fetching a compass. 

But Walter went slowly on his way, thinking within himself that now atthat present moment there was nought for it but to refrain him fromdoing, and to let others do; yet deemed he that it was little manly to beas the pawn upon the board, pushed about by the will of others. 

Then, as he went, he bethought him of the Maiden's face and aspect, asshe came running to him, and stood before him for that minute; and alleagerness he saw in her, and sore love of him, and distress of soul, allblent together. 

So came he to the brow of the bent whence he could see lying before him, scarce more than a bow-shot away, the Golden House now gilded again andreddened by the setting sun. And even therewith came a gay image towardhim, flashing back the level rays from gold and steel and silver; and lo!there was come the King's Son. They met presently, and the King's Sonturned to go beside him, and said merrily: "I give thee good even, myLady's Squire! I owe thee something of courtesy, whereas it is by thymeans that I shall be made happy, both to-night, and to-morrow, and manyto-morrows; and sooth it is, that but little courtesy have I done theehitherto. "

His face was full of joy, and the eyes of him shone with gladness. Hewas a goodly man, but to Walter he seemed an ill one; and he hated him somuch, that he found it no easy matter to answer him; but he refrainedhimself, and said: "I can thee thank, King's Son; and good it is thatsomeone is happy in this strange land. "

"Art thou not happy then, Squire of my Lady?" said the other. 

Walter had no mind to show this man his heart, nay, nor even a cornerthereof; for he deemed him an enemy. So he smiled sweetly and somewhatfoolishly, as a man luckily in love, and said: "O yea, yea, why should Inot be so? How might I be otherwise?"

"Yea then, " said the King's Son, "why didst thou say that thou wert gladsomeone is happy? Who is unhappy, deemest thou?" and he looked on himkeenly. 

Walter answered slowly: "Said I so? I suppose then that I was thinkingof thee; for when first I saw thee, yea, and afterwards, thou didst seemheavy-hearted and ill-content. "

The face of the King's Son cleared at this word, and he said: "Yea, so itwas; for look you, both ways it was: I was unfree, and I had sown thetrue desire of my heart whereas it waxed not. But now I am on the brinkand verge of freedom, and presently shall my desire be blossomed. Naynow, Squire, I deem thee a good fellow, though it may be somewhat of afool; so I will no more speak riddles to thee. Thus it is: the Maid hathpromised me all mine asking, and is mine; and in two or three days, byher helping also, I shall see the world again. "

Quoth Walter, smiling askance on him: "And the Lady? what shall she sayto this matter?"

The King's Son reddened, but smiled falsely enough, and said: "SirSquire, thou knowest enough not to need to ask this. Why should I tellthee that she accounteth more of thy little finger than of my whole body?Now I tell thee hereof freely; first, because this my fruition of love, and my freeing from thralldom, is, in a way, of thy doing. For thou artbecome my supplanter, and hast taken thy place with yonder lovely tyrant. Fear not for me! she will let me go. As for thyself, see thou to it! Butagain I tell thee hereof because my heart is light and full of joy, andtelling thee will pleasure me, and cannot do me any harm. For if thousay: How if I carry the tale to my Lady? I answer, thou wilt not. For Iknow that thine heart hath been somewhat set on the jewel that my handholdeth; and thou knowest well on whose head the Lady's wrath would fall, and that would be neither thine nor mine. "

"Thou sayest sooth, " said Walter; "neither is treason my wont. "

So they walked on silently a while, and then Walter said: "But how if theMaiden had nay-said thee; what hadst thou done then?"

"By the heavens!" said the King's Son fiercely, "she should have paid forher nay-say; then would I--" But he broke off, and said quietly, yetsomewhat doggedly: "Why talk of what might have been? She gave me heryea-say pleasantly and sweetly. "

Now Walter knew that the man lied, so he held his peace thereon; butpresently he said: "When thou art free wilt thou go to thine own landagain?"

"Yea, " said the King's Son; "she will lead me thither. "

"And wilt thou make her thy lady and queen when thou comest to thyfather's land?" said Walter. 

The King's Son knit his brow, and said: "When I am in mine own land I maydo with her what I will; but I look for it that I shall do no otherwisewith her than that she shall be well-content. "

Then the talk between them dropped, and the King's Son turned off towardthe wood, singing and joyous; but Walter went soberly toward the house. Forsooth he was not greatly cast down, for besides that he knew that theKing's Son was false, he deemed that under this double tryst laysomething which was a-doing in his own behalf. Yet was he eager andtroubled, if not down-hearted, and his soul was cast about betwixt hopeand fear. 

CHAPTER XX: WALTER IS BIDDEN TO ANOTHER TRYST

So came he into the pillared hall, and there he found the Lady walking toand fro by the high-seat; and when he drew nigh she turned on him, andsaid in a voice rather eager than angry: "What hast thou done, Squire?Why art thou come before me?"

He was abashed, and bowed before her and said: "O gracious Lady, thoubadest me service, and I have been about it. "

She said: "Tell me then, tell me, what hath betided?"

"Lady, " said he, "when I entered the thicket of thy swooning I foundthere no carcase of the lion, nor any sign of the dragging away of him. "

She looked full in his face for a little, and then went to her chair, andsat down therein; and in a little while spake to him in a softer voice, and said: "Did I not tell thee that some enemy had done that unto me? andlo! now thou seest that so it is. "

Then was she silent again, and knit her brows and set her teeth; andthereafter she spake harshly and fiercely: "But I will overcome her, andmake her days evil, but keep death away from her, that she may die manytimes over; and know all the sickness of the heart, when foes be nigh, and friends afar, and there is none to deliver!"

Her eyes flashed, and her face was dark with anger; but she turned andcaught Walter's eyes, and the sternness of his face, and she softened atonce, and said: "But thou! this hath little to do with thee; and now tothee I speak: Now cometh even and night. Go thou to thy chamber, andthere shalt thou find raiment worthy of thee, what thou now art, and whatthou shalt be; do on the same, and make thyself most goodly, and thencome thou hither and eat and drink with me, and afterwards depart whitherthou wilt, till the night has worn to its midmost; and then come thou tomy chamber, to wit, through the ivory door in the gallery above; and thenand there shall I tell thee a thing, and it shall be for the weal both ofthee and of me, but for the grief and woe of the Enemy. "

Therewith she reached her hand to him, and he kissed it, and departed andcame to his chamber, and found raiment therebefore rich beyond measure;and he wondered if any new snare lay therein: yet if there were, he sawno way whereby he might escape it, so he did it on, and became as themost glorious of kings, and yet lovelier than any king of the world. 

Sithence he went his way into the pillared hall, when it was now night, and without the moon was up, and the trees of the wood as still asimages. But within the hall shone bright with many candles, and thefountain glittered in the light of them, as it ran tinkling sweetly intothe little stream; and the silvern bridges gleamed, and the pillars shoneall round about. 

And there on the dais was a table dight most royally, and the Ladysitting thereat, clad in her most glorious array, and behind her the Maidstanding humbly, yet clad in precious web of shimmering gold, but withfeet unshod, and the iron ring upon her ankle. 

So Walter came his ways to the high-seat, and the Lady rose and greetedhim, and took him by the hands, and kissed him on either cheek, and sathim down beside her. So they fell to their meat, and the Maid servedthem; but the Lady took no more heed of her than if she were one of thepillars of the hall; but Walter she caressed oft with sweet words, andthe touch of her hand, making him drink out of her cup and eat out of herdish. As to him, he was bashful by seeming, but verily fearful; he tookthe Lady's caresses with what grace he might, and durst not so much asglance at her Maid. Long indeed seemed that banquet to him, and longeryet endured the weariness of his abiding there, kind to his foe andunkind to his friend; for after the banquet they still sat a while, andthe Lady talked much to Walter about many things of the ways of theworld, and he answered what he might, distraught as he was with thethought of those two trysts which he had to deal with. 

At last spake the Lady and said: "Now must I leave thee for a little, andthou wottest where and how we shall meet next; and meanwhile disport theeas thou wilt, so that thou weary not thyself, for I love to see theejoyous. "

Then she arose stately and grand; but she kissed Walter on the mouth ereshe turned to go out of the hall. The Maid followed her; but or ever shewas quite gone, she stooped and made that sign, and looked over hershoulder at Walter, as if in entreaty to him, and there was fear andanguish in her face; but he nodded his head to her in yea-say of thetryst in the hazel-copse, and in a trice she was gone. 

Walter went down the hall, and forth into the early night; but in thejaws of the porch he came up against the King's Son, who, gazing at hisattire glittering with all its gems in the moonlight, laughed out, andsaid: "Now may it be seen how thou art risen in degree above me, whereasI am but a king's son, and that a king of a far country; whereas thou arta king of kings, or shalt be this night, yea, and of this very countrywherein we both are. "

Now Walter saw the mock which lay under his words; but he kept back hiswrath, and answered: "Fair sir, art thou as well contented with thy lotas when the sun went down? Hast thou no doubt or fear? Will the Maidverily keep tryst with thee, or hath she given thee yea-say but to escapethee this time? Or, again, may she not turn to the Lady and appeal toher against thee?"

Now when he had spoken these words, he repented thereof, and feared forhimself and the Maid, lest he had stirred some misgiving in that youngman's foolish heart. But the King's Son did but laugh, and answerednought but to Walter's last words, and said: "Yea, yea! this word ofthine showeth how little thou wottest of that which lieth betwixt mydarling and thine. Doth the lamb appeal from the shepherd to the wolf?Even so shall the Maid appeal from me to thy Lady. What! ask thy Lady atthy leisure what her wont hath been with her thrall; she shall think it afair tale to tell thee thereof. But thereof is my Maid all whole now byreason of her wisdom in leechcraft, or somewhat more. And now I tellthee again, that the beforesaid Maid must needs do my will; for if I bethe deep sea, and I deem not so ill of myself, that other one is thedevil; as belike thou shalt find out for thyself later on. Yea, all iswell with me, and more than well. "

And therewith he swung merrily into the litten hall. But Walter went outinto the moonlit night, and wandered about for an hour or more, and stolewarily into the hall and thence into his own chamber. There he did offthat royal array, and did his own raiment upon him; he girt him withsword and knife, took his bow and quiver, and stole down and out again, even as he had come in. Then he fetched a compass, and came down intothe hazel-coppice from the north, and lay hidden there while the nightwore, till he deemed it would lack but little of midnight. 

CHAPTER XXI: WALTER AND THE MAID FLEE FROM THE GOLDEN HOUSE

There he abode amidst the hazels, hearkening every littlest sound; andthe sounds were nought but the night voices of the wood, till suddenlythere burst forth from the house a great wailing cry. Walter's heartcame up into his mouth, but he had no time to do aught, for followinghard on the cry came the sound of light feet close to him, the boughswere thrust aside, and there was come the Maid, and she but in her whitecoat, and barefoot. And then first he felt the sweetness of her flesh onhis, for she caught him by the hand and said breathlessly: "Now, now!there may yet be time, or even too much, it may be. For the saving ofbreath ask me no questions, but come!"

He dallied not, but went as she led, and they were lightfoot, both ofthem. 

They went the same way, due south to wit, whereby he had gone a-huntingwith the Lady; and whiles they ran and whiles they walked; but so fastthey went, that by grey of the dawn they were come as far as that coppiceor thicket of the Lion; and still they hastened onward, and but littlehad the Maid spoken, save here and there a word to hearten up Walter, andhere and there a shy word of endearment. At last the dawn grew intoearly day, and as they came over the brow of a bent, they looked downover a plain land whereas the trees grew scatter-meal, and beyond theplain rose up the land into long green hills, and over those again wereblue mountains great and far away. 

Then spake the Maid: "Over yonder lie the outlying mountains of theBears, and through them we needs must pass, to our great peril. Nay, friend, " she said, as he handled his sword-hilt, "it must be patience andwisdom to bring us through, and not the fallow blade of one man, thoughhe be a good one. But look! below there runs a stream through the firstof the plain, and I see nought for it but we must now rest our bodies. Moreover I have a tale to tell thee which is burning my heart; for maybethere will be a pardon to ask of thee moreover; wherefore I fear thee. "

Quoth Walter: "How may that be?"

She answered him not, but took his hand and led him down the bent. Buthe said: "Thou sayest, rest; but are we now out of all peril of thechase?"

She said: "I cannot tell till I know what hath befallen her. If she benot to hand to set on her trackers, they will scarce happen on us now; ifit be not for that one. "

And she shuddered, and he felt her hand change as he held it. 

Then she said: "But peril or no peril, needs must we rest; for I tellthee again, what I have to say to thee burneth my bosom for fear of thee, so that I can go no further until I have told thee. "

Then he said: "I wot not of this Queen and her mightiness and herservants. I will ask thereof later. But besides the others, is therenot the King's Son, he who loves thee so unworthily?"

She paled somewhat, and said: "As for him, there had been nought for theeto fear in him, save his treason: but now shall he neither love nor hateany more; he died last midnight. "

"Yea, and how?" said Walter. 

"Nay, " she said, "let me tell my tale all together once for all, lestthou blame me overmuch. But first we will wash us and comfort us as bestwe may, and then amidst our resting shall the word be said. "

By then were they come down to the stream-side, which ran fair in poolsand stickles amidst rocks and sandy banks. She said: "There behind thegreat grey rock is my bath, friend; and here is thine; and lo! theuprising of the sun!"

So she went her ways to the said rock, and he bathed him, and washed thenight off him, and by then he was clad again she came back fresh andsweet from the water, and with her lap full of cherries from a wildingwhich overhung her bath. So they sat down together on the green grassabove the sand, and ate the breakfast of the wilderness: and Walter wasfull of content as he watched her, and beheld her sweetness and herloveliness; yet were they, either of them, somewhat shy and shamefacedeach with the other; so that he did but kiss her hands once and again, and though she shrank not from him, yet had she no boldness to castherself into his arms. 

CHAPTER XXII: OF THE DWARF AND THE PARDON

Now she began to say: "My friend, now shall I tell thee what I have donefor thee and me; and if thou have a mind to blame me, and punish me, yetremember first, that what I have done has been for thee and our hope ofhappy life. Well, I shall tell thee--"

But therewithal her speech failed her; and, springing up, she faced thebent and pointed with her finger, and she all deadly pale, and shaking sothat she might scarce stand, and might speak no word, though a feeblegibbering came from her mouth. 

Walter leapt up and put his arm about her, and looked whitherward shepointed, and at first saw nought; and then nought but a brown and yellowrock rolling down the bent: and then at last he saw that it was the EvilThing which had met him when first he came into that land; and now itstood upright, and he could see that it was clad in a coat of yellowsamite. 

Then Walter stooped down and gat his bow into his hand, and stood beforethe Maid, while he nocked an arrow. But the monster made ready histackle while Walter was stooping down, and or ever he could loose, hisbow-string twanged, and an arrow flew forth and grazed the Maid's armabove the elbow, so that the blood ran, and the Dwarf gave forth a harshand horrible cry. Then flew Walter's shaft, and true was it aimed, sothat it smote the monster full on the breast, but fell down from him asif he were made of stone. Then the creature set up his horrible cryagain, and loosed withal, and Walter deemed that he had smitten the Maid, for she fell down in a heap behind him. Then waxed Walter wood-wroth, and cast down his bow and drew his sword, and strode forward towards thebent against the Dwarf. But he roared out again, and there were words inhis roar, and he said "Fool! thou shalt go free if thou wilt give up theEnemy. "

"And who, " said Walter, "is the Enemy?"

Yelled the Dwarf: "She, the pink and white thing lying there; she is notdead yet; she is but dying for fear of me. Yea, she hath reason! Icould have set the shaft in her heart as easily as scratching her arm;but I need her body alive, that I may wreak me on her. "

"What wilt thou do with her?" said Walter; for now he had heard that theMaid was not slain he had waxed wary again, and stood watching hischance. 

The Dwarf yelled so at his last word, that no word came from the noise awhile, and then he said: "What will I with her? Let me at her, and standby and look on, and then shalt thou have a strange tale to carry off withthee. For I will let thee go this while. "

Said Walter: "But what need to wreak thee? What hath she done to thee?"

"What need! what need!" roared the Dwarf; "have I not told thee that sheis the Enemy? And thou askest of what she hath done! of what! Fool, sheis the murderer! she hath slain the Lady that was our Lady, and that madeus; she whom all we worshipped and adored. O impudent fool!"

Therewith he nocked and loosed another arrow, which would have smittenWalter in the face, but that he lowered his head in the very nick oftime; then with a great shout he rushed up the bent, and was on the Dwarfbefore he could get his sword out, and leaping aloft dealt the creature astroke amidmost of the crown; and so mightily be smote, that he drave theheavy sword right through to the teeth, so that he fell dead straightway. 

Walter stood over him a minute, and when be saw that he moved not, hewent slowly down to the stream, whereby the Maid yet lay cowering downand quivering all over, and covering her face with her hands. Then hetook her by the wrist and said: "Up, Maiden, up! and tell me this tale ofthe slaying. "

But she shrunk away from him, and looked at him with wild eyes, and said:"What hast thou done with him? Is he gone?"

"He is dead, " said Walter; "I have slain him; there lies he with clovenskull on the bent-side: unless, forsooth, he vanish away like the lion Islew! or else, perchance, he will come to life again! And art thou a lielike to the rest of them? let me hear of this slaying. "

She rose up, and stood before him trembling, and said: "O, thou art angrywith me, and thine anger I cannot bear. Ah, what have I done? Thou hastslain one, and I, maybe, the other; and never had we escaped till boththese twain were dead. Ah! thou dost not know! thou dost not know! Ome! what shall I do to appease thy wrath!"

He looked on her, and his heart rose to his mouth at the thought ofsundering from her. Still he looked on her, and her piteous friendlyface melted all his heart; he threw down his sword, and took her by theshoulders, and kissed her face over and over, and strained her to him, sothat he felt the sweetness of her bosom. Then he lifted her up like achild, and set her down on the green grass, and went down to the water, and filled his hat therefrom, and came back to her; then he gave her todrink, and bathed her face and her hands, so that the colour came abackto the cheeks and lips of her: and she smiled on him and kissed hishands, and said: "O now thou art kind to me. "

"Yea, " said he, "and true it is that if thou hast slain, I have done noless, and if thou hast lied, even so have I; and if thou hast played thewanton, as I deem not that thou hast, I full surely have so done. So nowthou shalt pardon me, and when thy spirit has come back to thee, thoushalt tell me thy tale in all friendship, and in all loving-kindness willI hearken the same. "

Therewith he knelt before her and kissed her feet. But she said: "Yea, yea; what thou willest, that will I do. But first tell me one thing. Hast thou buried this horror and hidden him in the earth?"

He deemed that fear had bewildered her, and that she scarcely yet knewhow things had gone. But he said: "Fair sweet friend, I have not done itas yet; but now will I go and do it, if it seem good to thee. "

"Yea, " she said, "but first must thou smite off his head, and lie it byhis buttocks when he is in the earth; or evil things will happen else. This of the burying is no idle matter, I bid thee believe. "

"I doubt it not, " said he; "surely such malice as was in this one will behard to slay. " And he picked up his sword, and turned to go to the fieldof deed. 

She said: "I must needs go with thee; terror hath so filled my soul, thatI durst not abide here without thee. "

So they went both together to where the creature lay. The Maid durst notlook on the dead monster, but Walter noted that he was girt with a bigungainly sax; so he drew it from the sheath, and there smote off thehideous head of the fiend with his own weapon. Then they twain togetherlaboured the earth, she with Walter's sword, he with the ugly sax, tillthey had made a grave deep and wide enough; and therein they thrust thecreature, and covered him up, weapons and all together. 

CHAPTER XXIII: OF THE PEACEFUL ENDING OF THAT WILD DAY

Thereafter Walter led the Maid down again, and said to her: "Now, sweetling, shall the story be told. "

"Nay, friend, " she said, "not here. This place hath been polluted by mycraven fear, and the horror of the vile wretch, of whom no words may tellhis vileness. Let us hence and onward. Thou seest I have once more cometo life again. "

"But, " said he, "thou hast been hurt by the Dwarf's arrow. "

She laughed, and said: "Had I never had greater hurt from them than that, little had been the tale thereof: yet whereas thou lookest dolorous aboutit, we will speedily heal it. "

Therewith she sought about, and found nigh the stream-side certain herbs;and she spake words over them, and bade Walter lay them on the wound, which, forsooth, was of the least, and he did so, and bound a strip ofhis shirt about her arm; and then would she set forth. But he said:"Thou art all unshod; and but if that be seen to, our journey shall bestayed by thy foot-soreness: I may make a shift to fashion thee brogues. "

She said: "I may well go barefoot. And in any case, I entreat thee thatwe tarry here no longer, but go away hence, if it be but for a mile. "

And she looked piteously on him, so that he might not gainsay her. 

So then they crossed the stream, and set forward, when amidst all thesehaps the day was worn to midmorning. But after they had gone a mile, they sat them down on a knoll under the shadow of a big thorn-tree, within sight of the mountains. Then said Walter: "Now will I cut theethe brogues from the skirt of my buff-coat, which shall be well meet forsuch work; and meanwhile shalt thou tell me thy tale. "

"Thou art kind, " she said; "but be kinder yet, and abide my tale till wehave done our day's work. For we were best to make no long delay here;because, though thou hast slain the King-dwarf, yet there be others ofhis kindred, who swarm in some parts of the wood as the rabbits in awarren. Now true it is that they have but little understanding, less, itmay be, than the very brute beasts; and that, as I said afore, unlessthey be set on our slot like to hounds, they shall have no inkling ofwhere to seek us, yet might they happen upon us by mere misadventure. Andmoreover, friend, " quoth she, blushing, "I would beg of thee some littlerespite; for though I scarce fear thy wrath any more, since thou hastbeen so kind to me, yet is there shame in that which I have to tell thee. Wherefore, since the fairest of the day is before us, let us use it allwe may, and, when thou hast done me my new foot-gear, get us gone forwardagain. "

He kissed her kindly and yea-said her asking: he had already fallen towork on the leather, and in a while had fashioned her the brogues; so shetied them to her feet, and arose with a smile and said: "Now am I haleand strong again, what with the rest, and what with thy loving-kindness, and thou shalt see how nimble I shall be to leave this land, for as fairas it is. Since forsooth a land of lies it is, and of grief to thechildren of Adam. "

So they went their ways thence, and fared nimbly indeed, and made no staytill some three hours after noon, when they rested by a thicket-side, where the strawberries grew plenty; they ate thereof what they would: andfrom a great oak hard by Walter shot him first one culver, and thenanother, and hung them to his girdle to be for their evening's meal;sithence they went forward again, and nought befell them to tell of, tillthey were come, whenas it lacked scarce an hour of sunset, to the banksof another river, not right great, but bigger than the last one. Therethe Maid cast herself down and said: "Friend, no further will thy friendgo this even; nay, to say sooth, she cannot. So now we will eat of thyvenison, and then shall my tale be, since I may no longer delay it; andthereafter shall our slumber be sweet and safe as I deem. "

She spake merrily now, and as one who feared nothing, and Walter was muchheartened by her words and her voice, and he fell to and made a fire, anda woodland oven in the earth, and sithence dighted his fowl, and bakedthem after the manner of wood-men. And they ate, both of them, in alllove, and in good-liking of life, and were much strengthened by theirsupper. And when they were done, Walter eked his fire, both against thechill of the midnight and dawning, and for a guard against wild beasts, and by that time night was come, and the moon arisen. Then the Maidendrew up to the fire, and turned to Walter and spake. 

CHAPTER XXIV: THE MAID TELLS OF WHAT HAD BEFALLEN HER

"Now, friend, by the clear of the moon and this firelight will I tellwhat I may and can of my tale. Thus it is: If I be wholly of the race ofAdam I wot not nor can I tell thee how many years old I may be. Forthere are, as it were, shards or gaps in my life, wherein are but a fewthings dimly remembered, and doubtless many things forgotten. I rememberwell when I was a little child, and right happy, and there were peopleabout me whom I loved, and who loved me. It was not in this land; butall things were lovely there; the year's beginning, the happy mid-year, the year's waning, the year's ending, and then again its beginning. Thatpassed away, and then for a while is more than dimness, for nought Iremember save that I was. Thereafter I remember again, and am a youngmaiden, and I know some things, and long to know more. I am nowisehappy; I am amongst people who bid me go, and I go; and do this, and I doit: none loveth me, none tormenteth me; but I wear my heart in longingfor I scarce know what. Neither then am I in this land, but in a landthat I love not, and a house that is big and stately, but nought lovely. Then is a dim time again, and sithence a time not right clear; an eviltime, wherein I am older, wellnigh grown to womanhood. There are a manyfolk about me, and they foul, and greedy, and hard; and my spirit isfierce, and my body feeble; and I am set to tasks that I would not do, bythem that are unwiser than I; and smitten I am by them that are lessvaliant than I; and I know lack, and stripes, and divers misery. But allthat is now become but a dim picture to me, save that amongst all theseunfriends is a friend to me; an old woman, who telleth me sweet tales ofother life, wherein all is high and goodly, or at the least valiant anddoughty, and she setteth hope in my heart and learneth me, and maketh meto know much . . . O much . . . So that at last I am grown wise, and wiseto be mighty if I durst. Yet am I nought in this land all this while, but, as meseemeth, in a great and a foul city. "

"And then, as it were, I fall asleep; and in my sleep is nought, savehere and there a wild dream, somedeal lovely, somedeal hideous: but ofthis dream is my Mistress a part, and the monster, withal, whose headthou didst cleave to-day. But when I am awaken from it, then am I verilyin this land, and myself, as thou seest me to-day. And the first part ofmy life here is this, that I am in the pillared ball yonder, half-cladand with bound hands; and the Dwarf leadeth me to the Lady, and I hearhis horrible croak as he sayeth: 'Lady, will this one do?' and then thesweet voice of the Lady saying: 'This one will do; thou shalt have thyreward: now, set thou the token upon her. ' Then I remember the Dwarfdragging me away, and my heart sinking for fear of him: but for that timehe did me no more harm than the rivetting upon my leg this iron ringwhich here thou seest. "

"So from that time forward I have lived in this land, and been the thrallof the Lady; and I remember my life here day by day, and no part of ithas fallen into the dimness of dreams. Thereof will I tell thee butlittle: but this I will tell thee, that in spite of my past dreams, or itmay be because of them, I had not lost the wisdom which the old woman haderst learned me, and for more wisdom I longed. Maybe this longing shallnow make both thee and me happy, but for the passing time it brought megrief. For at first my Mistress was indeed wayward with me, but as anygreat lady might be with her bought thrall, whiles caressing me, andwhiles chastising me, as her mood went; but she seemed not to be cruel ofmalice, or with any set purpose. But so it was (rather little by littlethan by any great sudden uncovering of my intent), that she came to knowthat I also had some of the wisdom whereby she lived her queenly life. That was about two years after I was first her thrall, and three wearyyears have gone by since she began to see in me the enemy of her days. Now why or wherefore I know not, but it seemeth that it would not availher to slay me outright, or suffer me to die; but nought withheld herfrom piling up griefs and miseries on my head. At last she set herservant, the Dwarf, upon me, even he whose head thou clavest to-day. Manythings I bore from him whereof it were unseemly for my tongue to tellbefore thee; but the time came when he exceeded, and I could bear nomore; and then I showed him this sharp knife (wherewith I would havethrust me through to the heart if thou hadst not pardoned me e'en now), and I told him that if he forbore me not, I would slay, not him, butmyself; and this he might not away with because of the commandment of theLady, who had given him the word that in any case I must be kept living. And her hand, withal, fear held somewhat hereafter. Yet was there needto me of all my wisdom; for with all this her hatred grew, and whilesraged within her so furiously that it overmastered her fear, and at suchtimes she would have put me to death if I had not escaped her by someturn of my lore. "

"Now further, I shall tell thee that somewhat more than a year ago hitherto this land came the King's Son, the second goodly man, as thou art thethird, whom her sorceries have drawn hither since I have dwelt here. Forsooth, when he first came, he seemed to us, to me, and yet more to myLady, to be as beautiful as an angel, and sorely she loved him; and heher, after his fashion: but he was light-minded, and cold-hearted, and ina while he must needs turn his eyes upon me, and offer me his love, whichwas but foul and unkind as it turned out; for when I nay-said him, asmaybe I had not done save for fear of my Mistress, he had no pity uponme, but spared not to lead me into the trap of her wrath, and leave mewithout help, or a good word. But, O friend, in spite of all grief andanguish, I learned still, and waxed wise, and wiser, abiding the day ofmy deliverance, which has come, and thou art come. "

Therewith she took Walter's hands and kissed them; but he kissed herface, and her tears wet her lips. Then she went on: "But sithence, months ago, the Lady began to weary of this dastard, despite of hisbeauty; and then it was thy turn to be swept into her net; I partly guesshow. For on a day in broad daylight, as I was serving my Mistress in thehall, and the Evil Thing, whose head is now cloven, was lying across thethreshold of the door, as it were a dream fell upon me, though I stroveto cast it off for fear of chastisement; for the pillared hall wavered, and vanished from my sight, and my feet were treading a rough stonepavement instead of the marble wonder of the hall, and there was thescent of the salt sea and of the tackle of ships, and behind me were tallhouses, and before me the ships indeed, with their ropes beating andtheir sails flapping and their masts wavering; and in mine ears was thehale and how of mariners; things that I had seen and heard in the dimnessof my life gone by. "

"And there was I, and the Dwarf before me, and the Lady after me, goingover the gangway aboard of a tall ship, and she gathered way and wasgotten out of the haven, and straightway I saw the mariners cast abroadtheir ancient. "

Quoth Walter: "What then! Sawest thou the blazon thereon, of a wolf-likebeast ramping up against a maiden? And that might well have been thou. "

She said: "Yea, so it was; but refrain thee, that I may tell on my tale!The ship and the sea vanished away, but I was not back in the hall of theGolden House; and again were we three in the street of the self-same townwhich we had but just left; but somewhat dim was my vision thereof, and Isaw little save the door of a goodly house before me, and speedily itdied out, and we were again in the pillared hall, wherein my thralldomwas made manifest. "

"Maiden, " said Walter, "one question I would ask thee; to wit, didst thousee me on the quay by the ships?"

"Nay, " she said, "there were many folk about, but they were all as imagesof the aliens to me. Now hearken further: three months thereafter camethe dream upon me again, when we were all three together in the PillaredHall; and again was the vision somewhat dim. Once more we were in thestreet of a busy town, but all unlike to that other one, and there weremen standing together on our right hands by the door of a house. "

"Yea, yea, " quoth Walter; "and, forsooth, one of them was who but I. "

"Refrain thee, beloved!" she said; "for my tale draweth to its ending, and I would have thee hearken heedfully: for maybe thou shalt once againdeem my deed past pardon. Some twenty days after this last dream, I hadsome leisure from my Mistress's service, so I went to disport me by theWell of the Oak-tree (or forsooth she might have set in my mind thethought of going there, that I might meet thee and give her some occasionagainst me); and I sat thereby, nowise loving the earth, but sick atheart, because of late the King's Son had been more than ever instantwith me to yield him my body, threatening me else with casting me intoall that the worst could do to me of torments and shames day by day. Isay my heart failed me, and I was wellnigh brought to the point of yea-saying his desires, that I might take the chance of something befallingme that were less bad than the worst. But here must I tell thee a thing, and pray thee to take it to heart. This, more than aught else, had givenme strength to nay-say that dastard, that my wisdom both hath been, andnow is, the wisdom of a wise maid, and not of a woman, and all the mightthereof shall I lose with my maidenhead. Evil wilt thou think of methen, for all I was tried so sore, that I was at point to cast it allaway, so wretchedly as I shrank from the horror of the Lady's wrath. "

"But there as I sat pondering these things, I saw a man coming, andthought no otherwise thereof but that it was the King's Son, till I sawthe stranger drawing near, and his golden hair, and his grey eyes; andthen I heard his voice, and his kindness pierced my heart, and I knewthat my friend had come to see me; and O, friend, these tears are for thesweetness of that past hour!"

Said Walter: "I came to see my friend, I also. Now have I noted whatthou badest me; and I will forbear all as thou commandest me, till we besafe out of the desert and far away from all evil things; but wilt thouban me from all caresses?"

She laughed amidst of her tears, and said: "O, nay, poor lad, if thouwilt be but wise. "

Then she leaned toward him, and took his face betwixt her hands andkissed him oft, and the tears started in his eyes for love and pity ofher. 

Then she said: "Alas, friend! even yet mayst thou doom me guilty, and allthy love may turn away from me, when I have told thee all that I havedone for the sake of thee and me. O, if then there might be somechastisement for the guilty woman, and not mere sundering!"

"Fear nothing, sweetling, " said he; "for indeed I deem that already Iknow partly what thou hast done. "

She sighed, and said: "I will tell thee next, that I banned thy kissingand caressing of me till to-day because I knew that my Mistress wouldsurely know if a man, if thou, hadst so much as touched a finger of minein love, it was to try me herein that on the morning of the hunting shekissed and embraced me, till I almost died thereof, and showed thee myshoulder and my limbs; and to try thee withal, if thine eye shouldglister or thy cheek flush thereat; for indeed she was raging in jealousyof thee. Next, my friend, even whiles we were talking together at theWell of the Rock, I was pondering on what we should do to escape fromthis land of lies. Maybe thou wilt say: Why didst thou not take my handand flee with me as we fled to-day? Friend, it is most true, that wereshe not dead we had not escaped thus far. For her trackers would havefollowed us, set on by her, and brought us back to an evil fate. Therefore I tell thee that from the first I did plot the death of thosetwo, the Dwarf and the Mistress. For no otherwise mightest thou live, orI escape from death in life. But as to the dastard who threatened mewith a thrall's pains, I heeded him nought to live or die, for well Iknew that thy valiant sword, yea, or thy bare hands, would speedily tamehim. Now first I knew that I must make a show of yielding to the King'sSon; and somewhat how I did therein, thou knowest. But no night and notime did I give him to bed me, till after I had met thee as thou wentestto the Golden House, before the adventure of fetching the lion's skin;and up to that time I had scarce known what to do, save ever to bid thee, with sore grief and pain, to yield thee to the wicked woman's desire. Butas we spake together there by the stream, and I saw that the Evil Thing(whose head thou clavest e'en now) was spying on us, then amidst thesickness of terror which ever came over me whensoever I thought of him, and much more when I saw him (ah! he is dead now!), it came flashing intomy mind how I might destroy my enemy. Therefore I made the Dwarf mymessenger to her, by bidding thee to my bed in such wise that he mighthear it. And wot thou well, that he speedily carried her the tidings. Meanwhile I hastened to lie to the King's Son, and all privily bade himcome to me and not thee. And thereafter, by dint of waiting andwatching, and taking the only chance that there was, I met thee as thoucamest back from fetching the skin of the lion that never was, and gavethee that warning, or else had we been undone indeed. "

Said Walter: "Was the lion of her making or of thine then?"

She said: "Of hers: why should I deal with such a matter?"

"Yea, " said Walter, "but she verily swooned, and she was verily wrothwith the Enemy. "

The Maid smiled, and said: "If her lie was not like very sooth, then hadshe not been the crafts-master that I knew her: one may lie otherwisethan with the tongue alone: yet indeed her wrath against the Enemy wasnought feigned; for the Enemy was even I, and in these latter days neverdid her wrath leave me. But to go on with my tale. "

"Now doubt thou not, that, when thou camest into the hall yester eve, theMistress knew of thy counterfeit tryst with me, and meant nought butdeath for thee; yet first would she have thee in her arms again, therefore did she make much of thee at table (and that was partly for mytorment also), and therefore did she make that tryst with thee, anddeemed doubtless that thou wouldst not dare to forgo it, even if thoushouldst go to me thereafter. "

"Now I had trained that dastard to me as I have told thee, but I gave hima sleepy draught, so that when I came to the bed he might not move towardme nor open his eyes: but I lay down beside him, so that the Lady mightknow that my body had been there; for well had she wotted if it had not. Then as there I lay I cast over him thy shape, so that none might haveknown but that thou wert lying by my side, and there, trembling, I abodewhat should befall. Thus I passed through the hour whenas thou shouldesthave been at her chamber, and the time of my tryst with thee was come asthe Mistress would be deeming; so that I looked for her speedily, and myheart wellnigh failed me for fear of her cruelty. "

"Presently then I heard a stirring in her chamber, and I slipped from outthe bed, and hid me behind the hangings, and was like to die for fear ofher; and lo, presently she came stealing in softly, holding a lamp in onehand and a knife in the other. And I tell thee of a sooth that I alsohad a sharp knife in my hand to defend my life if need were. She heldthe lamp up above her head before she drew near to the bed-side, and Iheard her mutter: 'She is not there then! but she shall be taken. ' Thenshe went up to the bed and stooped over it, and laid her hand on theplace where I had lain; and therewith her eyes turned to that false imageof thee lying there, and she fell a-trembling and shaking, and the lampfell to the ground and was quenched (but there was bright moonlight inthe room, and still I could see what betid). But she uttered a noiselike the low roar of a wild beast, and I saw her arm and hand rise up, and the flashing of the steel beneath the hand, and then down came thehand and the steel, and I went nigh to swooning lest perchance I hadwrought over well, and thine image were thy very self. The dastard diedwithout a groan: why should I lament him? I cannot. But the Lady drewhim toward her, and snatched the clothes from off his shoulders andbreast, and fell a-gibbering sounds mostly without meaning, but brokenhere and there with words. Then I heard her say: 'I shall forget; Ishall forget; and the new days shall come. ' Then was there silence ofher a little, and thereafter she cried out in a terrible voice: 'O no, no, no! I cannot forget; I cannot forget;' and she raised a greatwailing cry that filled all the night with horror (didst thou not hearit?), and caught up the knife from the bed and thrust it into her breast, and fell down a dead heap over the bed and on to the man whom she hadslain. And then I thought of thee, and joy smote across my terror; howshall I gainsay it? And I fled away to thee, and I took thine hands inmine, thy dear hands, and we fled away together. Shall we be stilltogether?"

He spoke slowly, and touched her not, and she, forbearing all sobbing andweeping, sat looking wistfully on him. He said: "I think thou hast toldme all; and whether thy guile slew her, or her own evil heart, she wasslain last night who lay in mine arms the night before. It was ill, andill done of me, for I loved not her, but thee, and I wished for her deaththat I might be with thee. Thou wottest this, and still thou lovest me, it may be overweeningly. What have I to say then? If there be any guiltof guile, I also was in the guile; and if there be any guilt of murder, Ialso was in the murder. Thus we say to each other; and to God and hisHallows we say: 'We two have conspired to slay the woman who tormentedone of us, and would have slain the other; and if we have done amisstherein, then shall we two together pay the penalty; for in this have wedone as one body and one soul. '"

Therewith he put his arms about her and kissed her, but soberly andfriendly, as if he would comfort her. And thereafter he said to her:"Maybe to-morrow, in the sunlight, I will ask thee of this woman, whatshe verily was; but now let her be. And thou, thou art over-wearied, andI bid thee sleep. "

So he went about and gathered of bracken a great heap for her bed, anddid his coat thereover, and led her thereto, and she lay down meekly, andsmiled and crossed her arms over her bosom, and presently fell asleep. But as for him, he watched by the fire-side till dawn began to glimmer, and then he also laid him down and slept. 

CHAPTER XXV: OF THE TRIUMPHANT SUMMER ARRAY OF THE MAID

When the day was bright Walter arose, and met the Maid coming from theriver-bank, fresh and rosy from the water. She paled a little when theymet face to face, and she shrank from him shyly. But he took her handand kissed her frankly; and the two were glad, and had no need to telleach other of their joy, though much else they deemed they had to say, could they have found words thereto. 

So they came to their fire and sat down, and fell to breakfast; and erethey were done, the Maid said: "My Master, thou seest we be come nighunto the hill-country, and to-day about sunset, belike, we shall comeinto the Land of the Bear-folk; and both it is, that there is peril if wefall into their hands, and that we may scarce escape them. Yet I deemthat we may deal with the peril by wisdom. "

"What is the peril?" said Walter; "I mean, what is the worst of it?"

Said the Maid: "To be offered up in sacrifice to their God. "

"But if we escape death at their hands, what then?" said Walter. 

"One of two things, " said she; "the first that they shall take us intotheir tribe. "

"And will they sunder us in that case?" said Walter. 

"Nay, " said she. 

Walter laughed and said: "Therein is little harm then. But what is theother chance?"

Said she: "That we leave them with their goodwill, and come back to oneof the lands of Christendom. "

Said Walter: "I am not all so sure that this is the better of the twochoices, though, forsooth, thou seemest to think so. But tell me now, what like is their God, that they should offer up new-comers to him?"

"Their God is a woman, " she said, "and the Mother of their nation andtribes (or so they deem) before the days when they had chieftains andLords of Battle. "

"That will be long ago, " said he; "how then may she be living now?"

Said the Maid: "Doubtless that woman of yore agone is dead this many andmany a year; but they take to them still a new woman, one after other, asthey may happen on them, to be in the stead of the Ancient Mother. Andto tell thee the very truth right out, she that lieth dead in thePillared Hall was even the last of these; and now, if they knew it, theylack a God. This shall we tell them. "

"Yea, yea!" said Walter, "a goodly welcome shall we have of them then, ifwe come amongst them with our hands red with the blood of their God!"

She smiled on him and said: "If I come amongst them with the tidings thatI have slain her, and they trow therein, without doubt they shall make meLady and Goddess in her stead. "

"This is a strange word, " said Walter "but if so they do, how shall thatfurther us in reaching the kindreds of the world, and the folk of HolyChurch?"

She laughed outright, so joyous was she grown, now that she knew that hislife was yet to be a part of hers. "Sweetheart, " she said, "now I seethat thou desirest wholly what I desire; yet in any case, abiding withthem would be living and not dying, even as thou hadst it e'en now. But, forsooth, they will not hinder our departure if they deem me their God;they do not look for it, nor desire it, that their God should dwell withthem daily. Have no fear. " Then she laughed again, and said: "What!thou lookest on me and deemest me to be but a sorry image of a goddess;and me with my scanty coat and bare arms and naked feet! But wait! Iknow well how to array me when the time cometh. Thou shalt see it! Andnow, my Master, were it not meet that we took to the road?"

So they arose, and found a ford of the river that took the Maid but tothe knee, and so set forth up the greensward of the slopes whereas therewere but few trees; so went they faring toward the hill-country. 

At the last they were come to the feet of the very hills, and in thehollows betwixt the buttresses of them grew nut and berry trees, and thegreensward round about them was both thick and much flowery. There theystayed them and dined, whereas Walter had shot a hare by the way, andthey had found a bubbling spring under a grey stone in a bight of thecoppice, wherein now the birds were singing their best. 

When they had eaten and had rested somewhat, the Maid arose and said:"Now shall the Queen array herself, and seem like a very goddess. "

Then she fell to work, while Walter looked on; and she made a garland forher head of eglantine where the roses were the fairest; and with mingledflowers of the summer she wreathed her middle about, and let the garlandof them hang down to below her knees; and knots of the flowers she madefast to the skirts of her coat, and did them for arm-rings about herarms, and for anklets and sandals for her feet. Then she set a garlandabout Walter's head, and then stood a little off from him and set herfeet together, and lifted up her arms, and said: "Lo now! am I not aslike to the Mother of Summer as if I were clad in silk and gold? and evenso shall I be deemed by the folk of the Bear. Come now, thou shalt seehow all shall be well. "

She laughed joyously; but he might scarce laugh for pity of his love. Then they set forth again, and began to climb the hills, and the hourswore as they went in sweet converse; till at last Walter looked on theMaid, and smiled on her, and said: "One thing I would say to thee, lovelyfriend, to wit: wert thou clad in silk and gold, thy stately raimentmight well suffer a few stains, or here and there a rent maybe; butstately would it be still when the folk of the Bear should come upagainst thee. But as to this flowery array of thine, in a few hours itshall be all faded and nought. Nay, even now, as I look on thee, themeadow-sweet that hangeth from thy girdle-stead has waxen dull, andwelted; and the blossoming eyebright that is for a hem to the littlewhite coat of thee is already forgetting how to be bright and blue. Whatsayest thou then?"

She laughed at his word, and stood still, and looked back over hershoulder, while with her fingers she dealt with the flowers about herside like to a bird preening his feathers. Then she said: "Is it verilyso as thou sayest? Look again!"

So he looked, and wondered; for lo! beneath his eyes the spires of themeadow-sweet grew crisp and clear again, the eyebright blossoms shoneonce more over the whiteness of her legs; the eglantine roses opened, andall was as fresh and bright as if it were still growing on its own roots. 

He wondered, and was even somedeal aghast; but she said: "Dear friend, benot troubled! did I not tell thee that I am wise in hidden lore? But inmy wisdom shall be no longer any scathe to any man. And again, this mywisdom, as I told thee erst, shall end on the day whereon I am made allhappy. And it is thou that shall wield it all, my Master. Yet must mywisdom needs endure for a little season yet. Let us on then, boldly andhappily. "

CHAPTER XXVI: THEY COME TO THE FOLK OF THE BEARS

On they went, and before long they were come up on to the down-country, where was scarce a tree, save gnarled and knotty thorn-bushes here andthere, but nought else higher than the whin. And here on these upperlands they saw that the pastures were much burned with the drought, albeit summer was not worn old. Now they went making due south towardthe mountains, whose heads they saw from time to time rising deep blueover the bleak greyness of the down-land ridges. And so they went, tillat last, hard on sunset, after they had climbed long over a high bent, they came to the brow thereof, and, looking down, beheld new tidings. 

There was a wide valley below them, greener than the downs which they hadcome over, and greener yet amidmost, from the watering of a stream which, all beset with willows, wound about the bottom. Sheep and neat werepasturing about the dale, and moreover a long line of smoke was going upstraight into the windless heavens from the midst of a ring of littleround houses built of turfs, and thatched with reed. And beyond that, toward an eastward-lying bight of the dale, they could see what lookedlike to a doom-ring of big stones, though there were no rocky places inthat land. About the cooking-fire amidst of the houses, and here andthere otherwhere, they saw, standing or going to and fro, huge figures ofmen and women, with children playing about betwixt them. 

They stood and gazed down at it for a minute or two, and though all wereat peace there, yet to Walter, at least, it seemed strange and awful. Hespake softly, as though he would not have his voice reach those men, though they were, forsooth, out of earshot of anything save a shout: "Arethese then the children of the Bear? What shall we do now?"

She said: "Yea, of the Bear they be, though there be other folks of themfar and far away to the northward and eastward, near to the borders ofthe sea. And as to what we shall do, let us go down at once, andpeacefully. Indeed, by now there will be no escape from them; for loyou! they have seen us. "

Forsooth, some three or four of the big men had turned them toward thebent whereon stood the twain, and were hailing them in huge, roughvoices, wherein, howsoever, seemed to be no anger or threat. So the Maidtook Walter by the hand, and thus they went down quietly, and the Bear-folk, seeing them, stood all together, facing them, to abide theircoming. Walter saw of them, that though they were very tall and biglymade, they were not so far above the stature of men as to be marvels. Thecarles were long-haired, and shaggy of beard, and their hair all red ortawny; their skins, where their naked flesh showed, were burned brownwith sun and weather, but to a fair and pleasant brown, nought like toblackamoors. The queans were comely and well-eyed; nor was thereanything of fierce or evil-looking about either the carles or the queans, but somewhat grave and solemn of aspect were they. Clad were they all, saving the young men-children, but somewhat scantily, and in nought savesheep-skins or deer-skins. 

For weapons they saw amongst them clubs, and spears headed with bone orflint, and ugly axes of big flints set in wooden handles; nor was there, as far as they could see, either now or afterward, any bow amongst them. But some of the young men seemed to have slings done about theirshoulders. 

Now when they were come but three fathom from them, the Maid lifted upher voice, and spake clearly and sweetly: "Hail, ye folk of the Bears! wehave come amongst you, and that for your good and not for your hurt:wherefore we would know if we be welcome. "

There was an old man who stood foremost in the midst, clad in a mantle ofdeer-skins worked very goodly, and with a gold ring on his arm, and achaplet of blue stones on his head, and he spake: "Little are ye, but sogoodly, that if ye were but bigger, we should deem that ye were come fromthe Gods' House. Yet have I heard, that how mighty soever may the Godsbe, and chiefly our God, they be at whiles nought so bigly made as we ofthe Bears. How this may be, I wot not. But if ye be not of the Gods ortheir kindred, then are ye mere aliens; and we know not what to do withaliens, save we meet them in battle, or give them to the God, or save wemake them children of the Bear. But yet again, ye may be messengers ofsome folk who would bind friendship and alliance with us: in which caseye shall at the least depart in peace, and whiles ye are with us shall beour guests in all good cheer. Now, therefore, we bid you declare thematter unto us. "

Then spake the Maid: "Father, it were easy for us to declare what we beunto you here present. But, meseemeth, ye who be gathered round the firehere this evening are less than the whole tale of the children of theBear. "

"So it is, Maiden, " said the elder, "that many more children hath theBear. "

"This then we bid you, " said the Maid, "that ye send the tokens round andgather your people to you, and when they be assembled in the Doom-ring, then shall we put our errand before you; and according to that, shall yedeal with us. "

"Thou hast spoken well, " said the elder; "and even so had we bidden youourselves. To-morrow, before noon, shall ye stand in the Doom-ring inthis Dale, and speak with the children of the Bear. "

Therewith he turned to his own folk and called out something, whereofthose twain knew not the meaning; and there came to him, one afteranother, six young men, unto each of whom he gave a thing from out hispouch, but what it was Walter might not see, save that it was little andof small account: to each, also, he spake a word or two, and straightthey set off running, one after the other, turning toward the bent whichwas over against that whereby the twain had come into the Dale, and weresoon out of sight in the gathering dusk. 

Then the elder turned him again to Walter and the Maid, and spake: "Manand woman, whatsoever ye may be, or whatsoever may abide you to-morrow, to-night, ye are welcome guests to us; so we bid you come eat and drinkat our fire. "

So they sat all together upon the grass round about the embers of thefire, and ate curds and cheese, and drank milk in abundance; and as thenight grew on them they quickened the fire, that they might have light. This wild folk talked merrily amongst themselves, with laughter enoughand friendly jests, but to the new-comers they were few-spoken, though, as the twain deemed, for no enmity that they bore them. But this foundWalter, that the younger ones, both men and women, seemed to find it ahard matter to keep their eyes off them; and seemed, withal, to gaze onthem with somewhat of doubt, or, it might be, of fear. 

So when the night was wearing a little, the elder arose and bade thetwain to come with him, and led them to a small house or booth, which wasamidmost of all, and somewhat bigger than the others, and he did them towit that they should rest there that night, and bade them sleep in peaceand without fear till the morrow. So they entered, and found bedsthereon of heather and ling, and they laid them down sweetly, likebrother and sister, when they had kissed each other. But they noted thatfour brisk men lay without the booth, and across the door, with theirweapons beside them, so that they must needs look upon themselves ascaptives. 

Then Walter might not refrain him, but spake: "Sweet and dear friend, Ihave come a long way from the quay at Langton, and the vision of theDwarf, the Maid, and the Lady; and for this kiss wherewith I have kissedthee e'en now, and the kindness of thine eyes, it was worth the time andthe travail. But to-morrow, meseemeth, I shall go no further in thisworld, though my journey be far longer than from Langton hither. And nowmay God and All Hallows keep thee amongst this wild folk, whenas I shallbe gone from thee. "

She laughed low and sweetly, and said: "Dear friend, dost thou speak tome thus mournfully to move me to love thee better? Then is thy labourlost; for no better may I love thee than now I do; and that is with minewhole heart. But keep a good courage, I bid thee; for we be not sunderedyet, nor shall we be. Nor do I deem that we shall die here, orto-morrow; but many years hence, after we have known all the sweetness oflife. Meanwhile, I bid thee good-night, fair friend!"

CHAPTER XXVII: MORNING AMONGST THE BEARS

So Walter laid him down and fell asleep, and knew no more till he awokein bright daylight with the Maid standing over him. She was fresh fromthe water, for she had been to the river to bathe her, and the sunthrough the open door fell streaming on her feet close to Walter'spillow. He turned about and cast his arm about them, and caressed them, while she stood smiling upon him; then he arose and looked on her, andsaid: "How thou art fair and bright this morning! And yet . . . And yet. . . Were it not well that thou do off thee all this faded and droopingbravery of leaves and blossoms, that maketh thee look like to ajongleur's damsel on a morrow of May-day?"

And he gazed ruefully on her. 

She laughed on him merrily, and said: "Yea, and belike these others thinkno better of my attire, or not much better; for yonder they are gatheringsmall wood for the burnt-offering; which, forsooth, shall be thou and I, unless I better it all by means of the wisdom I learned of the old woman, and perfected betwixt the stripes of my Mistress, whom a little while agothou lovedst somewhat. "

And as she spake her eyes sparkled, her cheek flushed, and her limbs andher feet seemed as if they could scarce refrain from dancing for joy. Then Walter knit his brow, and for a moment a thought half-framed was inhis mind: Is it so, that she will bewray me and live without me? and hecast his eyes on to the ground. But she said: "Look up, and into mineeyes, friend, and see if there be in them any falseness toward thee! ForI know thy thought; I know thy thought. Dost thou not see that my joyand gladness is for the love of thee, and the thought of the rest fromtrouble that is at hand?"

He looked up, and his eyes met the eyes of her love, and he would havecast his arms about her; but she drew aback and said: "Nay, thou mustrefrain thee awhile, dear friend, lest these folk cast eyes on us, anddeem us over lover-like for what I am to bid them deem me. Abide awhile, and then shall all be in me according to thy will. But now I musttell thee that it is not very far from noon, and that the Bears arestreaming into the Dale, and already there is an host of men at the Doom-ring, and, as I said, the bale for the burnt-offering is wellnigh dight, whether it be for us, or for some other creature. And now I have to bidthee this, and it will be a thing easy for thee to do, to wit, that thoulook as if thou wert of the race of the Gods, and not to blench, or showsign of blenching, whatever betide: to yea-say both my yea-say and my nay-say: and lastly this, which is the only hard thing for thee (but thouhast already done it before somewhat), to look upon me with no masterfuleyes of love, nor as if thou wert at once praying me and commanding me;rather thou shalt so demean thee as if thou wert my man all simply, andnowise my master. "

"O friend beloved, " said Walter, "here at least art thou the master, andI will do all thy bidding, in certain hope of this, that either we shalllive together or die together. "

But as they spoke, in came the elder, and with him a young maiden, bearing with them their breakfast of curds arid cream and strawberries, and he bade them eat. So they ate, and were not unmerry; and the whileof their eating the elder talked with them soberly, but not hardly, orwith any seeming enmity: and ever his talk gat on to the drought, whichwas now burning up the down-pastures; and how the grass in the watereddales, which was no wide spread of land, would not hold out much longerunless the God sent them rain. And Walter noted that those two, theelder and the Maid, eyed each other curiously amidst of this talk; theelder intent on what she might say, and if she gave heed to his words;while on her side the Maid answered his speech graciously and pleasantly, but said little that was of any import: nor would she have him fix hereyes, which wandered lightly from this thing to that; nor would her lipsgrow stern and stable, but ever smiled in answer to the light of hereyes, as she sat there with her face as the very face of the gladness ofthe summer day. 

CHAPTER XXVIII: OF THE NEW GOD OF THE BEARS

At last the old man said: "My children, ye shall now come with me untothe Doom-ring of our folk, the Bears of the Southern Dales, and deliverto them your errand; and I beseech you to have pity upon your own bodies, as I have pity on them; on thine especially, Maiden, so fair and bright acreature as thou art; for so it is, that if ye deal us out light andlying words after the manner of dastards, ye shall miss the worship andglory of wending away amidst of the flames, a gift to the God and a hopeto the people, and shall be passed by the rods of the folk, until yefaint and fail amongst them, and then shall ye be thrust down into theflow at the Dale's End, and a stone-laden hurdle cast upon you, that wemay thenceforth forget your folly. "

The Maid now looked full into his eyes, and Walter deemed that the oldman shrank before her; but she said: "Thou art old and wise, O great manof the Bears, yet nought I need to learn of thee. Now lead us on our wayto the Stead of the Errands. "

So the elder brought them along to the Doom-ring at the eastern end ofthe Dale; and it was now all peopled with those huge men, weaponed aftertheir fashion, and standing up, so that the grey stones thereof butshowed a little over their heads. But amidmost of the said Ring was abig stone, fashioned as a chair, whereon sat a very old man, long-hoaryand white-bearded, and on either side of him stood a great-limbed womanclad in war-gear, holding, each of them, a long spear, and with a flint-bladed knife in the girdle; and there were no other women in all theMote. 

Then the elder led those twain into the midst of the Mote, and there badethem go up on to a wide, flat-topped stone, six feet above the ground, just over against the ancient chieftain; and they mounted it by a roughstair, and stood there before that folk; Walter in his array of theoutward world, which had been fair enough, of crimson cloth and silk, andwhite linen, but was now travel-stained and worn; and the Maid withnought upon her, save the smock wherein she had fled from the GoldenHouse of the Wood beyond the World, decked with the faded flowers whichshe had wreathed about her yesterday. Nevertheless, so it was, thatthose big men eyed her intently, and with somewhat of worship. 

Now did Walter, according to her bidding, sink down on his knees besideher, and drawing his sword, hold it before him, as if to keep allinterlopers aloof from the Maid. And there was silence in the Mote, andall eyes were fixed on those twain. 

At last the old chief arose and spake: "Ye men, here are come a man and awoman, we know not whence; whereas they have given word to our folk whofirst met them, that they would tell their errand to none save the Moteof the People; which it was their due to do, if they were minded to riskit. For either they be aliens without an errand hither, save, it may be, to beguile us, in which case they shall presently die an evil death; orthey have come amongst us that we may give them to the God with flint-edge and fire; or they have a message to us from some folk or other, onthe issue of which lieth life or death. Now shall ye hear what they haveto say concerning themselves and their faring hither. But, meseemeth, itshall be the woman who is the chief and hath the word in her mouth; for, lo you! the man kneeleth at her feet, as one who would serve and worshipher. Speak out then, woman, and let our warriors hear thee. "

Then the Maid lifted up her voice, and spake out clear and shrilling, like to a flute of the best of the minstrels: "Ye men of the Children ofthe Bear, I would ask you a question, and let the chieftain who sittethbefore me answer it. "

The old man nodded his head, and she went on: "Tell me, Children of theBear, how long a time is worn since ye saw the God of your worship mademanifest in the body of a woman!"

Said the elder: "Many winters have worn since my father's father was achild, and saw the very God in the bodily form of a woman. "

Then she said again: "Did ye rejoice at her coming, and would ye rejoiceif once more she came amongst you?"

"Yea, " said the old chieftain, "for she gave us gifts, and learned uslore, and came to us in no terrible shape, but as a young woman as goodlyas thou. "

Then said the Maid: "Now, then, is the day of your gladness come; for theold body is dead, and I am the new body of your God, come amongst you foryour welfare. "

Then fell a great silence on the Mote, till the old man spake and said:"What shall I say and live? For if thou be verily the God, and Ithreaten thee, wilt thou not destroy me? But thou hast spoken a greatword with a sweet mouth, and hast taken the burden of blood on thy lilyhands; and if the Children of the Bear be befooled of light liars, howshall they put the shame off them? Therefore I say, show to us a token;and if thou be the God, this shall be easy to thee; and if thou show itnot, then is thy falsehood manifest, and thou shalt dree the weird. Forwe shall deliver thee into the hands of these women here, who shallthrust thee down into the flow which is hereby, after they have weariedthemselves with whipping thee. But thy man that kneeleth at thy feetshall we give to the true God, and he shall go to her by the road of theflint and the fire. Hast thou heard? Then give to us the sign and thetoken. "

She changed countenance no whit at his word; but her eyes were thebrighter, and her cheek the fresher and her feet moved a little, as ifthey were growing glad before the dance; and she looked out over theMote, and spake in her clear voice: "Old man, thou needest not to fearfor thy words. Forsooth it is not me whom thou threatenest with stripesand a foul death, but some light fool and liar, who is not here. Nowhearken! I wot well that ye would have somewhat of me, to wit, that Ishould send you rain to end this drought, which otherwise seemeth like tolie long upon you: but this rain, I must go into the mountains of thesouth to fetch it you; therefore shall certain of your warriors bring meon my way, with this my man, up to the great pass of the said mountains, and we shall set out thitherward this very day. "

She was silent a while, and all looked on her, but none spake or moved, so that they seemed as images of stone amongst the stones. 

Then she spake again and said: "Some would say, men of the Bear, thatthis were a sign and a token great enough; but I know you, and howstubborn and perverse of heart ye be; and how that the gift not yetwithin your hand is no gift to you; and the wonder ye see not, yourhearts trow not. Therefore look ye upon me as here I stand, I who havecome from the fairer country and the greenwood of the lands, and see if Ibear not the summer with me, and the heart that maketh increase and thehand that giveth. "

Lo then! as she spake, the faded flowers that hung about her gatheredlife and grew fresh again; the woodbine round her neck and her sleekshoulders knit itself together and embraced her freshly, and cast itsscent about her face. The lilies that girded her loins lifted up theirheads, and the gold of their tassels fell upon her; the eyebright grewclean blue again upon her smock; the eglantine found its blooms again, and then began to shed the leaves thereof upon her feet; the meadow-sweetwreathed amongst it made clear the sweetness of her legs, and the mouse-ear studded her raiment as with gems. There she stood amidst of theblossoms, like a great orient pearl against the fretwork of thegoldsmiths, and the breeze that came up the valley from behind bore thesweetness of her fragrance all over the Man-mote. 

Then, indeed, the Bears stood up, and shouted and cried, and smote ontheir shields, and tossed their spears aloft. Then the elder rose fromhis seat, and came up humbly to where she stood, and prayed her to saywhat she would have done; while the others drew about in knots, but durstnot come very nigh to her. She answered the ancient chief, and said, that she would depart presently toward the mountains, whereby she mightsend them the rain which they lacked, and that thence she would away tothe southward for a while; but that they should hear of her, or, it mightbe, see her, before they who were now of middle age should be gone totheir fathers. 

Then the old man besought her that they might make her a litter offragrant green boughs, and so bear her away toward the mountain passamidst a triumph of the whole folk. But she leapt lightly down from thestone, and walked to and fro on the greensward, while it seemed of herthat her feet scarce touched the grass; and she spake to the ancientchief where he still kneeled in worship of her, and said "Nay; deemestthou of me that I need bearing by men's hands, or that I shall tire atall when I am doing my will, and I, the very heart of the year'sincrease? So it is, that the going of my feet over your pastures shallmake them to thrive, both this year and the coming years: surely will Igo afoot. "

So they worshipped her the more, and blessed her; and then first of allthey brought meat, the daintiest they might, both for her and for Walter. But they would not look on the Maid whiles she ate, or suffer Walter tobehold her the while. Afterwards, when they had eaten, some twenty men, weaponed after their fashion, made them ready to wend with the Maiden upinto the mountains, and anon they set out thitherward all together. Howbeit, the huge men held them ever somewhat aloof from the Maid; andwhen they came to the resting-place for that night, where was no house, for it was up amongst the foot-hills before the mountains, then it was awonder to see how carefully they built up a sleeping-place for her, andtilted it over with their skin-cloaks, and how they watched nightlongabout her. But Walter they let sleep peacefully on the grass, a littleway aloof from the watchers round the Maid. 

CHAPTER XXIX: WALTER STRAYS IN THE PASS AND IS SUNDERED FROM THE MAID

Morning came, and they arose and went on their ways, and went all daytill the sun was nigh set, and they were come up into the very pass; andin the jaws thereof was an earthen howe. There the Maid bade them stay, and she went up on to the howe, and stood there and spake to them, andsaid: "O men of the Bear, I give you thanks for your following, and Ibless you, and promise you the increase of the earth. But now ye shallturn aback, and leave me to go my ways; and my man with the iron swordshall follow me. Now, maybe, I shall come amongst the Bear-folk againbefore long, and yet again, and learn them wisdom; but for this time itis enough. And I shall tell you that ye were best to hasten homestraightway to your houses in the downland dales, for the weather which Ihave bidden for you is even now coming forth from the forge of storms inthe heart of the mountains. Now this last word I give you, that timesare changed since I wore the last shape of God that ye have seen, wherefore a change I command you. If so be aliens come amongst you, Iwill not that ye send them to me by the flint and the fire; rather, unless they be baleful unto you, and worthy of an evil death, ye shallsuffer them to abide with you; ye shall make them become children of theBears, if they be goodly enough and worthy, and they shall be my childrenas ye be; otherwise, if they be ill-favoured and weakling, let them liveand be thralls to you, but not join with you, man to woman. Now departye with my blessing. "

Therewith she came down from the mound, and went her ways up the pass solightly, that it was to Walter, standing amongst the Bears, as if she hadvanished away. But the men of that folk abode standing and worshippingtheir God for a little while, and that while he durst not sunder him fromtheir company. But when they had blessed him and gone on their waybackward, he betook him in haste to following the Maid, thinking to findher abiding him in some nook of the pass. 

Howsoever, it was now twilight or more, and, for all his haste, darknight overtook him, so that perforce he was stayed amidst the tangle ofthe mountain ways. And, moreover, ere the night was grown old, theweather came upon him on the back of a great south wind, so that themountain nooks rattled and roared, and there was the rain and the hail, with thunder and lightning, monstrous and terrible, and all the hugearray of a summer storm. So he was driven at last to crouch under a bigrock and abide the day. 

But not so were his troubles at an end. For under the said rock he fellasleep, and when he awoke it was day indeed; but as to the pass, the waythereby was blind with the driving rain and the lowering lift; so that, though he struggled as well as he might against the storm and the tangle, he made but little way. 

And now once more the thought came on him, that the Maid was of the fays, or of some race even mightier; and it came on him now not as erst, withhalf fear and whole desire, but with a bitter oppression of dread, ofloss and misery; so that he began to fear that she had but won his loveto leave him and forget him for a new-comer, after the wont of fay-women, as old tales tell. 

Two days he battled thus with storm and blindness, and wanhope of hislife; for he was growing weak and fordone. But the third morning thestorm abated, though the rain yet fell heavily, and he could see his waysomewhat as well as feel it: withal he found that now his path wasleading him downwards. As it grew dusk, he came down into a grassyvalley with a stream running through it to the southward, and the rainwas now but little, coming down but in dashes from time to time. So hecrept down to the stream-side, and lay amongst the bushes there; and saidto himself, that on the morrow he would get him victual, so that he mightlive to seek his Maiden through the wide world. He was of somewhatbetter heart: but now that he was laid quiet, and had no more for thatpresent to trouble him about the way, the anguish of his loss fell uponhim the keener, and he might not refrain him from lamenting his dearMaiden aloud, as one who deemed himself in the empty wilderness: and thushe lamented for her sweetness and her loveliness, and the kindness of hervoice and her speech, and her mirth. Then he fell to crying outconcerning the beauty of her shaping, praising the parts of her body, asher face, and her hands, and her shoulders, and her feet, and cursing theevil fate which had sundered him from the friendliness of her, and thepeerless fashion of her. 

CHAPTER XXX: NOW THEY MEET AGAIN

Complaining thus-wise, he fell asleep from sheer weariness, and when heawoke it was broad day, calm and bright and cloudless, with the scent ofthe earth refreshed going up into the heavens, and the birds singingsweetly in the bushes about him: for the dale whereunto he was now comewas a fair and lovely place amidst the shelving slopes of the mountains, a paradise of the wilderness, and nought but pleasant and sweet thingswere to be seen there, now that the morn was so clear and sunny. 

He arose and looked about him, and saw where, a hundred yards aloof, wasa thicket of small wood, as thorn and elder and whitebeam, all wreathedabout with the bines of wayfaring tree; it hid a bight of the stream, which turned round about it, and betwixt it and Walter was the grassshort and thick, and sweet, and all beset with flowers; and he said tohimself that it was even such a place as wherein the angels were leadingthe Blessed in the great painted paradise in the choir of the big churchat Langton on Holm. But lo! as he looked he cried aloud for joy, forforth from the thicket on to the flowery grass came one like to an angelfrom out of the said picture, white-clad and bare-foot, sweet of flesh, with bright eyes and ruddy cheeks; for it was the Maid herself. So heran to her, and she abode him, holding forth kind hands to him, andsmiling, while she wept for joy of the meeting. He threw himself uponher, and spared not to kiss her, her cheeks and her mouth, and her armsand her shoulders, and wheresoever she would suffer it. Till at last shedrew aback a little, laughing on him for love, and said: "Forbear now, friend, for it is enough for this time, and tell me how thou hast sped. "

"Ill, ill, " said he. 

"What ails thee?" she said. 

"Hunger, " he said, "and longing for thee. "

"Well, " she said, "me thou hast; there is one ill quenched; take my hand, and we will see to the other one. "

So he took her hand, and to hold it seemed to him sweet beyond measure. But he looked up, and saw a little blue smoke going up into the air frombeyond the thicket; and he laughed, for he was weak with hunger, and hesaid: "Who is at the cooking yonder?"

"Thou shalt see, " she said; and led him therewith into the said thicketand through it, and lo! a fair little grassy place, full of flowers, betwixt the bushes and the bight of the stream; and on the little sandyere, just off the greensward, was a fire of sticks, and beside it twotrouts lying, fat and red-flecked. 

"Here is the breakfast, " said she; "when it was time to wash the nightoff me e'en now, I went down the strand here into the rippling shallow, and saw the bank below it, where the water draws together yonder, anddeepens, that it seemed like to hold fish; and whereas I looked to meetthee presently, I groped the bank for them, going softly; and lo thou!Help me now, that we cook them. "

So they roasted them on the red embers, and fell to and ate well, both ofthem, and drank of the water of the stream out of each other's hollowhands; and that feast seemed glorious to them, such gladness went withit. 

But when they were done with their meat, Walter said to the Maid: "Andhow didst thou know that thou shouldst see me presently?"

She said, looking on him wistfully: "This needed no wizardry. I lay notso far from thee last night, but that I heard thy voice and knew it. "

Said he, "Why didst thou not come to me then, since thou heardest mebemoaning thee?"

She cast her eyes down, and plucked at the flowers and grass, and said:"It was dear to hear thee praising me; I knew not before that I was sosore desired, or that thou hadst taken such note of my body, and found itso dear. "

Then she reddened sorely, and said: "I knew not that aught of me had suchbeauty as thou didst bewail. "

And she wept for joy. Then she looked on him and smiled, and said: "Wiltthou have the very truth of it? I went close up to thee, and stood therehidden by the bushes and the night. And amidst thy bewailing, I knewthat thou wouldst soon fall asleep, and in sooth I out-waked thee. "

Then was she silent again; and he spake not, but looked on her shyly; andshe said, reddening yet more: "Furthermore, I must needs tell thee that Ifeared to go to thee in the dark night, and my heart so yearning towardsthee. "

And she hung her head adown; but he said: "Is it so indeed, that thoufearest me? Then doth that make me afraid--afraid of thy nay-say. For Iwas going to entreat thee, and say to thee: Beloved, we have now gonethrough many troubles; let us now take a good reward at once, and wedtogether, here amidst this sweet and pleasant house of the mountains, erewe go further on our way; if indeed we go further at all. For whereshall we find any place sweeter or happier than this?"

But she sprang up to her feet, and stood there trembling before him, because of her love; and she said: "Beloved, I have deemed that it weregood for us to go seek mankind as they live in the world, and to liveamongst them. And as for me, I will tell thee the sooth, to wit, that Ilong for this sorely. For I feel afraid in the wilderness, and as if Ineeded help and protection against my Mistress, though she be dead; and Ineed the comfort of many people, and the throngs of the cities. I cannotforget her: it was but last night that I dreamed (I suppose as the dawngrew a-cold) that I was yet under her hand, and she was stripping me forthe torment; so that I woke up panting and crying out. I pray thee benot angry with me for telling thee of my desires; for if thou wouldst nothave it so, then here will I abide with thee as thy mate, and strive togather courage. "

He rose up and kissed her face, and said: "Nay, I had in sooth no mind toabide here for ever; I meant but that we should feast a while here, andthen depart: sooth it is, that if thou dreadest the wilderness, somewhatI dread the city. "

She turned pale, and said: "Thou shalt have thy will, my friend, if itmust be so. But bethink thee we be not yet at our journey's end, and mayhave many things and much strife to endure, before we be at peace and inwelfare. Now shall I tell thee--did I not before?--that while I am amaid untouched, my wisdom, and somedeal of might, abideth with me, andonly so long. Therefore I entreat thee, let us go now, side by side, outof this fair valley, even as we are, so that my wisdom and might may helpthee at need. For, my friend, I would not that our lives be short, somuch of joy as hath now come into them. "

"Yea, beloved, " he said, "let us on straightway then, and shorten thewhile that sundereth us. "

"Love, " she said, "thou shalt pardon me one time for all. But this is tobe said, that I know somewhat of the haps that lie a little way ahead ofus; partly by my lore, and partly by what I learned of this land of thewild folk whiles thou wert lying asleep that morning. "

So they left that pleasant place by the water, and came into the openvalley, and went their ways through the pass; and it soon became stonyagain, as they mounted the bent which went up from out the dale. Andwhen they came to the brow of the said bent, they had a sight of the opencountry lying fair and joyous in the sunshine, and amidst of it, againstthe blue hills, the walls and towers of a great city. 

Then said the Maid: "O, dear friend, lo you! is not that our abode thatlieth yonder, and is so beauteous? Dwell not our friends there, and ourprotection against uncouth wights, and mere evil things in guilefulshapes? O city, I bid thee hail!"

But Walter looked on her, and smiled somewhat; and said: "I rejoice inthy joy. But there be evil things in yonder city also, though they benot fays nor devils, or it is like to no city that I wot of. And inevery city shall foes grow up to us without rhyme or reason, and lifetherein shall be tangled unto us. "

"Yea, " she said; "but in the wilderness amongst the devils, what was tobe done by manly might or valiancy? There hadst thou to fall back uponthe guile and wizardry which I had filched from my very foes. But whenwe come down yonder, then shall thy valiancy prevail to cleave the tanglefor us. Or at the least, it shall leave a tale of thee behind, and Ishall worship thee. "

He laughed, and his face grew brighter: "Mastery mows the meadow, " quothhe, "and one man is of little might against many. But I promise thee Ishall not be slothful before thee. "

CHAPTER XXXI: THEY COME UPON NEW FOLK

With that they went down from the bent again, and came to where the passnarrowed so much, that they went betwixt a steep wall of rock on eitherside; but after an hour's going, the said wall gave back suddenly, and, or they were ware almost, they came on another dale like to that whichthey had left, but not so fair, though it was grassy and well watered, and not so big either. But here indeed befell a change to them; for lo!tents and pavilions pitched in the said valley, and amidst of it a throngof men, mostly weaponed, and with horses ready saddled at hand. So theystayed their feet, and Walter's heart failed him, for he said to himself:Who wotteth what these men may be, save that they be aliens? It is mostlike that we shall be taken as thralls; and then, at the best, we shallbe sundered; and that is all one with the worst. 

But the Maid, when she saw the horses, and the gay tents, and the pennonsfluttering, and the glitter of spears, and gleaming of white armour, smote her palms together for joy, and cried out: "Here now are come thefolk of the city for our welcoming, and fair and lovely are they, and ofmany things shall they be thinking, and a many things shall they do, andwe shall be partakers thereof. Come then, and let us meet them, fairfriend!"

But Walter said: "Alas! thou knowest not: would that we might flee! Butnow is it over late; so put we a good face on it, and go to them quietly, as erewhile we did in the Bear-country. "

So did they; and there sundered six from the men-at-arms and came tothose twain, and made humble obeisance to Walter, but spake no word. Thenthey made as they would lead them to the others, and the twain went withthem wondering, and came into the ring of men-at-arms, and stood beforean old hoar knight, armed all, save his head, with most goodly armour, and he also bowed before Walter, but spake no word. Then they took themto the master pavilion, and made signs to them to sit, and they broughtthem dainty meat and good wine. And the while of their eating arose up astir about them; and when they were done with their meat, the ancientknight came to them, still bowing in courteous wise, and did them to witby signs that they should depart: and when they were without, they sawall the other tents struck, and men beginning to busy them with strikingthe pavilion, and the others mounted and ranked in good order for theroad; and there were two horse-litters before them, wherein they werebidden to mount, Walter in one, and the Maid in the other, and nootherwise might they do. Then presently was a horn blown, and all tookto the road together; and Walter saw betwixt the curtains of the litterthat men-at-arms rode on either side of him, albeit they had left him hissword by his side. 

So they went down the mountain-passes, and before sunset were gotten intothe plain; but they made no stay for nightfall, save to eat a morsel anddrink a draught, going through the night as men who knew their way well. As they went, Walter wondered what would betide, and if peradventure theyalso would be for offering them up to their Gods; whereas they werealiens for certain, and belike also Saracens. Moreover there was a coldfear at his heart that he should be sundered from the Maid, whereas theirmasters now were mighty men of war, holding in their hands that which allmen desire, to wit, the manifest beauty of a woman. Yet he strove tothink the best of it that he might. And so at last, when the night wasfar spent, and dawn was at hand, they stayed at a great and mighty gatein a huge wall. There they blew loudly on the horn thrice, andthereafter the gates were opened, and they all passed through into astreet, which seemed to Walter in the glimmer to be both great and goodlyamongst the abodes of men. Then it was but a little ere they came into asquare, wide-spreading, one side whereof Walter took to be the front of amost goodly house. There the doors of the court opened to them or everthe horn might blow, though, forsooth, blow it did loudly three times;all they entered therein, and men came to Walter and signed to him toalight. So did he, and would have tarried to look about for the Maid, but they suffered it not, but led him up a huge stair into a chamber, very great, and but dimly lighted because of its greatness. Then theybrought him to a bed dight as fair as might be, and made signs to him tostrip and lie therein. Perforce he did so, and then they bore away hisraiment, and left him lying there. So he lay there quietly, deeming itno avail for him, a mother-naked man, to seek escape thence; but it waslong ere he might sleep, because of his trouble of mind. At last, pureweariness got the better of his hopes and fears, and he fell into slumberjust as the dawn was passing into day. 

CHAPTER XXXII: OF THE NEW KING OF THE CITY AND LAND OF STARK-WALL

When he awoke again the sun was shining brightly into that chamber, andhe looked, and beheld that it was peerless of beauty and riches, amongstall that he had ever seen: the ceiling done with gold and over-sea blue;the walls hung with arras of the fairest, though he might not tell whatwas the history done therein. The chairs and stools were of carven workwell be-painted, and amidmost was a great ivory chair under a cloth ofestate, of bawdekin of gold and green, much be-pearled; and all the floorwas of fine work alexandrine. 

He looked on all this, wondering what had befallen him, when lo! therecame folk into the chamber, to wit, two serving-men well-bedight, andthree old men clad in rich gowns of silk. These came to him and (stillby signs, without speech) bade him arise and come with them; and when hebade them look to it that he was naked, and laughed doubtfully, theyneither laughed in answer, nor offered him any raiment, but still wouldhave him arise, and he did so perforce. They brought him with them outof the chamber, and through certain passages pillared and goodly, tillthey came to a bath as fair as any might be; and there the serving-menwashed him carefully and tenderly, the old men looking on the while. Whenit was done, still they offered not to clothe him, but led him out, andthrough the passages again, back to the chamber. Only this time he mustpass between a double hedge of men, some weaponed, some in peacefularray, but all clad gloriously, and full chieftain-like of aspect, eitherfor valiancy or wisdom. 

In the chamber itself was now a concourse of men, of great estate bydeeming of their array; but all these were standing orderly in a ringabout the ivory chair aforesaid. Now said Walter to himself: Surely allthis looks toward the knife and the altar for me; but he kept a stoutcountenance despite of all. 

So they led him up to the ivory chair, and he beheld on either sidethereof a bench, and on each was laid a set of raiment from the shirtupwards; but there was much diversity betwixt these arrays. For one wasall of robes of peace, glorious and be-gemmed, unmeet for any save agreat king; while the other was war-weed, seemly, well-fashioned, butlittle adorned; nay rather, worn and bestained with weather, and thepelting of the spear-storm. 

Now those old men signed to Walter to take which of those raiments hewould, and do it on. He looked to the right and the left, and when hehad looked on the war-gear, the heart arose in him, and he called to mindthe array of the Goldings in the forefront of battle, and he made onestep toward the weapons, and laid his hand thereon. Then ran a gladmurmur through that concourse, and the old men drew up to him smiling andjoyous, and helped him to do them on; and as he took up the helm, henoted that over its broad brown iron sat a golden crown. 

So when he was clad and weaponed, girt with a sword, and a steel axe inhis hand, the elders showed him to the ivory throne, and he laid the axeon the arm of the chair, and drew forth the sword from the scabbard, andsat him down, and laid the ancient blade across his knees; then he lookedabout on those great men, and spake: "How long shall we speak no word toeach other, or is it so that God hath stricken you dumb?"

Then all they cried out with one voice: "All hail to the King, the Kingof Battle!"

Spake Walter: "If I be king, will ye do my will as I bid you?"

Answered the elder: "Nought have we will to do, lord, save as thoubiddest. "

Said Walter: "Thou then, wilt thou answer a question in all truth?"

"Yea, lord, " said the elder, "if I may live afterward. "

Then said Walter: "The woman that came with me into your Camp of theMountain, what hath befallen her?"

The elder answered: "Nought hath befallen her, either of good or evil, save that she hath slept and eaten and bathed her. What, then, is theKing's pleasure concerning her?"

"That ye bring her hither to me straightway, " said Walter. 

"Yea, " said the elder; "and in what guise shall we bring her hither?shall she be arrayed as a servant, or a great lady?"

Then Walter pondered a while, and spake at last: "Ask her what is herwill herein, and as she will have it, so let it be. But set ye anotherchair beside mine, and lead her thereto. Thou wise old man, send one ortwo to bring her in hither, but abide thou, for I have a question or twoto ask of thee yet. And ye, lords, abide here the coming of myshe-fellow, if it weary you not. "

So the elder spake to three of the most honourable of the lords, and theywent their ways to bring in the Maid. 

CHAPTER XXXIII: CONCERNING THE FASHION OF KING-MAKING IN STARK-WALL

Meanwhile the King spake to the elder, and said: "Now tell me whereof Iam become king, and what is the fashion and cause of the king-making; forwondrous it is to me, whereas I am but an alien amidst of mighty men. "

"Lord, " said the old man, "thou art become king of a mighty city, whichhath under it many other cities and wide lands, and havens by the sea-side, and which lacketh no wealth which men desire. Many wise men dwelltherein, and of fools not more than in other lands. A valiant host shallfollow thee to battle when needs must thou wend afield; an host not to bewithstood, save by the ancient God-folk, if any of them were left uponthe earth, as belike none are. And as to the name of our said city, ithight the City of the Stark-wall, or more shortly, Stark-wall. Now as tothe fashion of our king-making: If our king dieth and leaveth an heirmale, begotten of his body, then is he king after him; but if he die andleave no heir, then send we out a great lord, with knights and sergeants, to that pass of the mountain whereto ye came yesterday; and the first manthat cometh unto them, they take and lead to the city, as they did withthee, lord. For we believe and trow that of old time our forefatherscame down from the mountains by that same pass, poor and rude, but fullof valiancy, before they conquered these lands, and builded the Stark-wall. But now furthermore, when we have gotten the said wanderer, andbrought him home to our city, we behold him mother-naked, all the greatmen of us, both sages and warriors; then if we find him ill-fashioned andcounterfeit of his body, we roll him in a great carpet till he dies; orwhiles, if he be but a simple man, and without guile, we deliver him forthrall to some artificer amongst us, as a shoemaker, a wright, or whatnot, and so forget him. But in either case we make as if no such man hadcome to us, and we send again the lord and his knights to watch the pass;for we say that such an one the Fathers of old time have not sent us. Butagain, when we have seen to the new-comer that he is well-fashioned ofhis body, all is not done; for we deem that never would the Fathers sendus a dolt or a craven to be our king. Therefore we bid the naked onetake to him which he will of these raiments, either the ancient armour, which now thou bearest, lord, or this golden raiment here; and if he takethe war-gear, as thou takedst it, King, it is well; but if he take theraiment of peace, then hath he the choice either to be thrall of somegoodman of the city, or to be proven how wise he may be, and so fare thenarrow edge betwixt death and kingship; for if he fall short of hiswisdom, then shall he die the death. Thus is thy question answered, King, and praise be to the Fathers that they have sent us one whom nonemay doubt, either for wisdom or valiancy. "

CHAPTER XXXIV: NOW COMETH THE MAID TO THE KING

Then all they bowed before the King, and he spake again: "What is thatnoise that I hear without, as if it were the rising of the sea on a sandyshore, when the south-west wind is blowing. "

Then the elder opened his mouth to answer; but before he might get outthe word, there was a stir without the chamber door, and the throngparted, and lo! amidst of them came the Maid, and she yet clad in noughtsave the white coat wherewith she had won through the wilderness, savethat on her head was a garland of red roses, and her middle was wreathedwith the same. Fresh and fair she was as the dawn of June; her facebright, red-lipped, and clear-eyed, and her cheeks flushed with hope andlove. She went straight to Walter where he sat, and lightly put awaywith her hand the elder who would lead her to the ivory throne beside theKing; but she knelt down before him, and laid her hand on his steel-cladknee, and said: "O my lord, now I see that thou hast beguiled me, andthat thou wert all along a king-born man coming home to thy realm. Butso dear thou hast been to me; and so fair and clear, and so kind withaldo thine eyes shine on me from under the grey war-helm, that I willbeseech thee not to cast me out utterly, but suffer me to be thy servantand handmaid for a while. Wilt thou not?"

But the King stooped down to her and raised her up, and stood on hisfeet, and took her hands and kissed them, and set her down beside him, and said to her: "Sweetheart, this is now thy place till the nightcometh, even by my side. "

So she sat down there meek and valiant, her hands laid in her lap, andher feet one over the other; while the King said: "Lords, this is mybeloved, and my spouse. Now, therefore, if ye will have me for King, yemust worship this one for Queen and Lady; or else suffer us both to goour ways in peace. "

Then all they that were in the chamber cried out aloud: "The Queen, theLady! The beloved of our lord!"

And this cry came from their hearts, and not their lips only; for as theylooked on her, and the brightness of her beauty, they saw also themeekness of her demeanour, and the high heart of her, and they all fellto loving her. But the young men of them, their cheeks flushed as theybeheld her, and their hearts went out to her, and they drew their swordsand brandished them aloft, and cried out for her as men made suddenlydrunk with love: "The Queen, the Lady, the lovely one!"

CHAPTER XXXV: OF THE KING OF STARK-WALL AND HIS QUEEN

But while this betid, that murmur without, which is aforesaid, grewlouder; and it smote on the King's ear, and he said again to the elder:"Tell us now of that noise withoutward, what is it?"

Said the elder: "If thou, King, and the Queen, wilt but arise and standin the window, and go forth into the hanging gallery thereof, then shallye know at once what is this rumour, and therewithal shall ye see a sightmeet to rejoice the heart of a king new come into kingship. "

So the King arose and took the Maid by the hand, and went to the windowand looked forth; and lo! the great square of the place all thronged withfolk as thick as they could stand, and the more part of the carles with aweapon in hand, and many armed right gallantly. Then he went out intothe gallery with his Queen, still holding her hand, and his lords andwise men stood behind him. Straightway then arose a cry, and a shout ofjoy and welcome that rent the very heavens, and the great place was allglittering and strange with the tossing up of spears and the brandishingof swords, and the stretching forth of hands. 

But the Maid spake softly to King Walter and said: "Here then is thewilderness left behind a long way, and here is warding and protectionagainst the foes of our life and soul. O blessed be thou and thy valiantheart!"

But Walter spake nothing, but stood as one in a dream; and yet, if thatmight be, his longing toward her increased manifold. 

But down below, amidst of the throng, stood two neighbours somewhat anighto the window; and quoth one to the other: "See thou! the new man in theancient armour of the Battle of the Waters, bearing the sword that slewthe foeman king on the Day of the Doubtful Onset! Surely this is a signof good-luck to us all. "

"Yea, " said the second, "he beareth his armour well, and the eyes arebright in the head of him: but hast thou beheld well his she-fellow, andwhat the like of her is?"

"I see her, " said the other, "that she is a fair woman; yet somewhatworse clad than simply. She is in her smock, man, and were it not forthe balusters I deem ye should see her barefoot. What is amiss withher?"

"Dost thou not see her, " said the second neighbour, "that she is not onlya fair woman, but yet more, one of those lovely ones that draw the heartout of a man's body, one may scarce say for why? Surely Stark-wall hathcast a lucky net this time. And as to her raiment, I see of her that sheis clad in white and wreathed with roses, but that the flesh of her is sowholly pure and sweet that it maketh all her attire but a part of herbody, and halloweth it, so that it hath the semblance of gems. Alas, myfriend! let us hope that this Queen will fare abroad unseldom amongst thepeople. "

Thus, then, they spake; but after a while the King and his mate went backinto the chamber, and he gave command that the women of the Queen shouldcome and fetch her away, to attire her in royal array. And thither camethe fairest of the honourable damsels, and were fain of being her waiting-women. Therewithal the King was unarmed, and dight most gloriously, butstill he bore the Sword of the King's Slaying: and sithence were the Kingand the Queen brought into the great hall of the palace, and they met onthe dais, and kissed before the lords and other folk that thronged thehall. There they ate a morsel and drank a cup together while all beheldthem; and then they were brought forth, and a white horse of thegoodliest, well bedight, brought for each of them, and thereon theymounted and went their ways together, by the lane which the huge throngmade for them, to the great church, for the hallowing and the crowning;and they were led by one squire alone, and he unarmed; for such was thecustom of Stark-wall when a new king should be hallowed: so came they tothe great church (for that folk was not miscreant, so to say), and theyentered it, they two alone, and went into the choir: and when they hadstood there a little while wondering at their lot, they heard how thebells fell a-ringing tunefully over their heads; and then drew near thesound of many trumpets blowing together, and thereafter the voices ofmany folk singing; and then were the great doors thrown open, and thebishop and his priests came into the church with singing and minstrelsy, and thereafter came the whole throng of the folk, and presently the naveof the church was filled by it, as when the water follows the cutting ofthe dam, and fills up the dyke. Thereafter came the bishop and his matesinto the choir, and came up to the King, and gave him and the Queen thekiss of peace. This was mass sung gloriously; and thereafter was theKing anointed and crowned, and great joy was made throughout the church. Afterwards they went back afoot to the palace, they two alone together, with none but the esquire going before to show them the way. And as theywent, they passed close beside those two neighbours, whose talk has beentold of afore, and the first one, he who had praised the King'swar-array, spake and said: "Truly, neighbour, thou art in the right ofit; and now the Queen has been dight duly, and hath a crown on her head, and is clad in white samite done all over with pearls, I see her to be ofexceeding goodliness; as goodly, maybe, as the Lord King. "

Quoth the other: "Unto me she seemeth as she did e'en now; she is clad inwhite, as then she was, and it is by reason of the pure and sweet fleshof her that the pearls shine out and glow, and by the holiness of herbody is her rich attire hallowed; but, forsooth, it seemed to me as shewent past as though paradise had come anigh to our city, and that all theair breathed of it. So I say, praise be to God and His Hallows who hathsuffered her to dwell amongst us!"

Said the first man: "Forsooth, it is well; but knowest thou at all whenceshe cometh, and of what lineage she may be?"

"Nay, " said the other, "I wot not whence she is; but this I wot fullsurely, that when she goeth away, they whom she leadeth with her shall bewell bestead. Again, of her lineage nought know I; but this I know, thatthey that come of her, to the twentieth generation, shall bless andpraise the memory of her, and hallow her name little less than theyhallow the name of the Mother of God. "

So spake those two; but the King and Queen came back to the palace, andsat among the lords and at the banquet which was held thereafter, andlong was the time of their glory, till the night was far spent and allmen must seek to their beds. 

CHAPTER XXXVI: OF WALTER AND THE MAID IN THE DAYS OF THE KINGSHIP

Long it was, indeed, till the women, by the King's command, had broughtthe Maid to the King's chamber; and he met her, and took her by theshoulders and kissed her, and said: "Art thou not weary, sweetheart? Dothnot the city, and the thronging folk, and the watching eyes of the greatones . . . Doth it not all lie heavy on thee, as it doth upon me?"

She said: "And where is the city now? is not this the wilderness again, and thou and I alone together therein?"

He gazed at her eagerly, and she reddened, so that her eyes shone lightamidst the darkness of the flush of her cheeks. 

He spake trembling and softly, and said: "Is it not in one matter betterthan the wilderness? is not the fear gone, yea, every whit thereof?"

The dark flush had left her face, and she looked on him exceedingsweetly, and spoke steadily and clearly: "Even so it is, beloved. "Therewith she set her hand to the girdle that girt her loins, and did itoff, and held it out toward him, and said: "Here is the token; this is amaid's girdle, and the woman is ungirt. "

So he took the girdle and her hand withal, and cast his arms about her:and amidst the sweetness of their love and their safety, and assured hopeof many days of joy, they spake together of the hours when they fared therazor-edge betwixt guile and misery and death, and the sweeter yet itgrew to them because of it; and many things she told him ere the dawn, ofthe evil days bygone, and the dealings of the Mistress with her, till thegrey day stole into the chamber to make manifest her loveliness; which, forsooth, was better even than the deeming of that man amidst the throngwhose heart had been so drawn towards her. So they rejoiced together inthe new day. 

But when the full day was, and Walter arose, he called his thanes andwise men to the council; and first he bade open the prison-doors, andfeed the needy and clothe them, and make good cheer to all men, high andlow, rich and unrich; and thereafter he took counsel with them on manymatters, and they marvelled at his wisdom and the keenness of his wit;and so it was, that some were but half pleased thereat, whereas they sawthat their will was like to give way before his in all matters. But thewiser of them rejoiced in him, and looked for good days while his lifelasted. 

Now of the deeds that he did, and his joys and his griefs, the tale shalltell no more; nor of how he saw Langton again, and his dealings there. 

In Stark-wall he dwelt, and reigned a King, well beloved of his folk, sorely feared of their foemen. Strife he had to deal with, at home andabroad; but therein he was not quelled, till he fell asleep fair andsoftly, when this world had no more of deeds for him to do. Nor may itbe said that the needy lamented him; for no needy had he left in his ownland. And few foes he left behind to hate him. 

As to the Maid, she so waxed in loveliness and kindness, that it was ayear's joy for any to have cast eyes upon her in street or on field. Allwizardry left her since the day of her wedding; yet of wit and wisdom shehad enough left, and to spare; for she needed no going about, and noguile, any more than hard commands, to have her will done. So loved shewas by all folk, forsooth, that it was a mere joy for any to go about hererrands. To be short, she was the land's increase, and the city'ssafeguard, and the bliss of the folk. 

Somewhat, as the days passed, it misgave her that she had beguiled theBear-folk to deem her their God; and she considered and thought how shemight atone it. 

So the second year after they had come to Stark-wall, she went withcertain folk to the head of the pass that led down to the Bears; andthere she stayed the men-at-arms, and went on further with a two score ofhusbandmen whom she had redeemed from thralldom in Stark-wall; and whenthey were hard on the dales of the Bears, she left them there in acertain little dale, with their wains and horses, and seed-corn, and irontools, and went down all bird-alone to the dwelling of those huge men, unguarded now by sorcery, and trusting in nought but her loveliness andkindness. Clad she was now, as when she fled from the Wood beyond theWorld, in a short white coat alone, with bare feet and naked arms; butthe said coat was now embroidered with the imagery of blossoms in silkand gold, and gems, whereas now her wizardry had departed from her. 

So she came to the Bears, and they knew her at once, and worshipped andblessed her, and feared her. But she told them that she had a gift forthem, and was come to give it; and therewith she told them of the art oftillage, and bade them learn it; and when they asked her how they shoulddo so, she told them of the men who were abiding them in the mountaindale, and bade the Bears take them for their brothers and sons of theancient Fathers, and then they should be taught of them. This theybehight her to do, and so she led them to where her freedmen lay, whomthe Bears received with all joy and loving-kindness, and took them intotheir folk. 

So they went back to their dales together; but the Maid went her waysback to her men-at-arms and the city of Stark-wall. 

Thereafter she sent more gifts and messages to the Bears, but never againwent herself to see them; for as good a face as she put on it that lasttime, yet her heart waxed cold with fear, and it almost seemed to herthat her Mistress was alive again, and that she was escaping from her andplotting against her once more. 

As for the Bears, they throve and multiplied; till at last strife arosegreat and grim betwixt them and other peoples; for they had become mightyin battle: yea, once and again they met the host of Stark-wall in fight, and overthrew and were overthrown. But that was a long while after theMaid had passed away. 

Now of Walter and the Maid is no more to be told, saving that they begatbetween them goodly sons and fair daughters; whereof came a great lineagein Stark-wall; which lineage was so strong, and endured so long a while, that by then it had died out, folk had clean forgotten their ancientCustom of king-making, so that after Walter of Langton there was neveranother king that came down to them poor and lonely from out of theMountains of the Bears.