Owen Wister

“ But wretched Geoffrey! So the Dragon was to be seen in a few minutes! And where were the monks of Oyster-le-Main? Still, a bold face must be kept. He was thankful that Elaine, after the custom of brides, was invisible. The youth’s left hand rested upon the hilt of his sword; he was in rich attire, and the curly hair that surrounded his forehead had been carefully groomed. Half-way up the stone steps as he stood, his blue eyes watching keenly for the monks, he was a figure that made many a humble nymph turn tender glances upon him. ”

“ Can we say the Dragon escaped?” The words came in nervous haste, wholly unlike the bold deliberateness with which the youth usually spoke. It was plain he was at the end of his wits.
“Why, what ails thee?” inquired Sir Francis in a calm and unmoved voice. “This is a simple matter.”
His tone was so quiet that Geoffrey stared in amazement.
“But yonder pit!” he said. “We are ruined!”
“Not at all,” Sir Francis replied. “Truly thou art a deep thinker! First a woman and now thine enemy has to assist thy distress.”
He put so much hatred and scorn into his tones that Geoffrey flamed up. “Take care!” ”

“ I’ll tell Sir Godfrey at once, and he’ll forbid you. Oh, dear! oh, dear! just before Christmas Eve, too! The only night in the year! She has no time to change her mind; and she’ll be eaten up if she goes, I know she will. What villain told you of this, child? Let me know, and he shall be punished at once.”
“I shall not tell you that,” said Elaine.
“Then everybody will be suspected,” moaned Mistletoe. “Everybody. The whole household. And we shall all be thrown to the Dragon. ”

“ Father Anselm broke in. “For your sake? And why so? What should Elaine, daughter of Sir Godfrey Disseisin, care for the carcase of Geoffrey, son of Bertram of Poictiers?”
But Elaine, finding nothing to answer, turned rosy pink instead.
“That rules you out!” exclaimed the Father, in triumph. “Your legend demands a maid who never has cared for any man.”
“Pooh!” said Geoffrey, “leave it to me.”
“Seize him!” shouted Sir Godfrey in a rage. “He had ruled out my daughter.” Consistency had never been one of the Baron’s strong points.
“Seize him!” said Father Anselm. “He outrages Mother Church.” ”

“ There has been a great sensation at Wantley. The country folk are aroused; the farmers have discovered that the secret of our legend has been revealed to Miss Elaine. Not one of the clowns would have dared reveal it himself, but all rejoice in the bottom of their hearts that she knows it, and chooses to risk battle with the Dragon. Their honest Saxon minds perceive the thrift of such an arrangement. Therefore there is general anxiety and disturbance to know if Sir Godfrey will permit the conflict. The loss of his Malvoisie tried him sorely,—but he remains a father. ”

“ It was Roland, Sir Godfrey’s son. “Great news!” he began at once. “Another Crusade has been declared—and I am going. Merry Christmas! Where’s Elaine? Where’s the Dragon?”
Father Anselm’s quick brain seized this chance. He and his monks should make a more stately exit than he had planned.
“See,” he said in a clear voice to his monks, “how all is coming true that was revealed to me this night! My son,” he continued, turning to young Roland, “thy brave resolve reached me ere thou hadst made it. Know it has been through thee that the Dragon has gone! ”

“ What in this world is there so lifts one into complacency as the doing of a bold and cool-headed thing? Let the helmsman sleep sound when he has got to land! But if his content overtake him still on the water, so that he grows blind to the treacherous currents that eddy where all looks placid to the careless eye, let him beware!
Sir Francis came in front of the cage where sat young Geoffrey inside, on the floor. The knight had put his head down between his knees, and seemed doleful enough. ”

“ Why does everything seem to swim and grow misty as his eye meets yours? And why does he look at you so, and deeply flush to the very rim of his curly hair? And as his glance grows steadier and more intent upon your eyes that keep stealing over at him, can you imagine why his hand trembles on the hilt of his sword? Don’t you remember what the legend said? [86]
“Who are you?” the Baron repeated, impatiently.
“I am Geoffrey, son of Bertram of Poictiers,” answered the young man. ”

“ But the Abbot kept his gray gown.
“You’ll stay for the wedding?” inquired Sir Godfrey of him.
“Our duty lies to the sea. Farewell, for I shall never see thy face again.”
He turned. Hubert gathered up the hide of the crocodile and threw a friendly glance back at Geoffrey. Then again raising their song, the black band slowly marched out under the gate and away over the snow until the ridge hid them from sight, and only their singing could be heard in the distant fields.
“Well,” exclaimed Sir Godfrey, “it’s no use to stand staring. Now for the wedding! Mistletoe, go up and tell Miss Elaine. ”

“ Elaine in her white dress now gazed from an upper window, seeing her lover with his enemies drawing continually closer around him.
Perhaps it was well for him that his death alone would not have served to lock their secret up again; that the white maiden in the window is ready to speak the word and direct instant vengeance on them and their dragon if any ill befall that young man who stands by the iron door.
The song of the monks ended. Sir Godfrey on the steps was wondering why Father Anselm did not stand out from the rest of the gray people and explain his wishes. ”

“ Why will they run away?”
“Dear Geoffrey, don’t you see that if these men were to be seen in company with the Dragon by one who till now knew them as monks, where would their living be gone to? Of course, they will get themselves out of sight, and the Dragon will remain as a sort of human scarecrow. Then I’ll come out from the passage-door.”
“One would almost think you desired that villain to kill you,” said Geoffrey. “No, indeed. I’ll not consent to that part.”
“How shall he kill me here?” Elaine replied. “Do you not see the Dragon of Wantley would have to carry a maiden away? ”

“ Sir Francis turned a cold eye on Hubert. [73] “As befits a clean-blooded man,” he proceeded, “I have risen at the dawn and left you wine-pots in your thick sleep. From the wood’s edge over by Wantley I’ve watched the Baron come eagerly to an upper window in his white night-shift. And when he looks out on Mistletoe and sees she is not devoured, he bursts into a rage that can be plainly seen from a distance. These six mornings I laughed so loud at this spectacle, that I almost feared discovery. Next, the Baron visits his daughter, only to find her food untasted and herself silent. ”

“ Her father had imprudently spoken too loud.
“’Twere a wise precaution,” murmured Father Anselm. “What are all the vintages of this earth by the side of a loving daughter?”
“Quite so, quite so!” Sir Godfrey assented. “Don’t you think,” he added, wistfully, “that another Crusade may come along soon?”
“Ah, my son, who can say? Tribulation is our meted heritage. Were thy thoughts more high, the going of thy liquors would not cause thee such sorrow. Learn to enjoy the pure cold water.”
“Good-afternoon,” said the Baron. ”

“ His promise was about a dragon. A live or a dead dragon must be brought to him. Even if he believed you now, even if that dreadful Father Anselm could not invent some lie to put us in the wrong, you and I could never—that is—papa would not feel bound by his promise simply because you did that. There must be a dragon somehow.”
“How can there be a dragon if there is not a dragon?” asked Geoffrey.
“Wait, wait, Geoffrey! Oh, how can I think [107] of everything all at once?” and Elaine pressed her hands to her temples. ”

“ Popham, with magnificent solemnity and a pair of new calves, gave orders to Meeson and Welsby, and kept little Whelpdale panting for breath with errands; while in and out, between everybody’s legs, and over or under all obstacles, stalked the two ravens Croak James and Croak Elizabeth, a big white wedding-favour tied round the neck of each. To see these grave birds, none would have suspected how frequently they had been in the mince-pies that morning, though Popham had expressly ruled (in somewhat stilted language) that they should “take nothink by their bills.” ”

“ Father Anselm continued. “Clement!” he called to the monk whose turn it was that day to hand the dishes, “Clement, a goblet of our well-water for Sir Godfrey Disseisin. One of the large goblets, Clement. We are indeed favoured, Baron, in having such a pure spring in the midst of our home. [92] ”
“Oh—ah!” observed the Baron again, and politely nerved himself for a swallow. But his thoughts were far away in his own cellar over at Wantley, contemplating the casks whose precious gallons the Dragon had consumed. ”

“ One thing thou must do. Let not that pit be opened till the monks of Oyster-le-Main come here. We shall come before noon.”
“I do not understand,” said Geoffrey.
“That’s unimportant,” answered Hubert. [182] “Only play thy part. ’Tis a simple thing to keep a door shut. Fail, and the whole of us are undone. Farewell.”
“Nay, this is some foul trick,” Geoffrey declared, and laid his hand on Hubert.
But the other shook his head sadly. “Dost suppose,” he said, “that we should have abstained from any trick that’s known to the accumulated wisdom of man? Our sport is up.” ”

“ They made no sound that could be heard above the hissing of the downward flakes and the wind that moaned always, but louder sometimes. Only Elaine, [142] with her ear to the cold iron key-hole of the passage-door, could mark the clink of armour, and shivered as she stood in the dark. And now the cellar is full,—but not of gray gowns. The candle flames show little glistening sparks in the black coats of mail, and the sight of themselves cased in steel, and each bearing an empty keg, stirred a laughter among them. Then the kegs were set down without noise on the earthy floor among the bins. ”

“ They knew how Saint George had waked Father Anselm up and put him on a white horse, and how the Abbot had thus been able to catch the Dragon by his tail in the air just as he was flying away with Miss Elaine, and how at that the white horse had turned into a young man who had been bewitched by the Dragon, and was going to marry Miss Elaine immediately. ”

“ Dost suppose that Holy Church were so unjust as to visit the sins of thy knightly relatives upon the head of any [81] weak woman, who is not in the order of creation designed for personal conflict with men, let alone dragons?”
“Bravo, Dragon!” thought Hubert, as he listened to this wily talk of his chief.
But the words “weak woman” had touched the pride of Miss Elaine. “I know nothing of weak women,” she said, very stately; “but I do know that I am strong enough to meet this Dragon, and, moreover, firmly intend to do so this very night.” ”

“ Could you have mounted up bird-fashion over the country, you would have seen the Manor like the centre of some great wheel, with narrow tracks pointing in to it from the invisible rim of a circle, paths wide and narrow, converging at the gate, trodden across the new snow from anywhere and everywhere ”

“ As if any parson could talk about wine. These Church folk had better mind their business, and say grace, and eat their dinner, and be thankful. That’s what I say. Egg-shells, forsooth!” The Baron was passing through the chapel, and he mechanically removed his helmet; but he did not catch sight of the glittering eye of Father Anselm himself, who had stepped quickly into the confessional, and there in the dark watched Sir Godfrey with a strange, mocking smile. When he had the chapel to himself again, the tall gray figure of the Abbot appeared in full view, and craftily moved across the place. ”

“ And if I shall spare thee this night, it may well be they’ll set thy carcase swinging on the gallows-tree to-morrow morning,—or, being Christmas, the day after.”
“I can see my case without thy help,” Sir Francis replied. “What next?”
At this, Elaine came to Geoffrey and they whispered together.
“Thy trade is done for,” said the youth, at length. “There’ll be no more monks of Oyster-le-Main, and no more Dragon of Wantley. But thou and the other curs may live, if ye so choose.” ”

“ Then Hubert went over to the closet, and very quietly unlocking the door removed the crocodile and the various other implements that were necessary in bringing into being the dread Dragon of Wantley. He carried them away to a remote quarter of the Monastery, where the Guild began preparations that should terrify any superstitious witness of their journey to get the Baron’s wine. Geoffrey, solitary and watchful in his chilly cage, knew what work must be going on, and waited his time in patience. [120]
At supper over at Wantley there was but slight inclination to polite banter. ”

“ Then, still distant, but not so distant, came another roar.
“Geoffrey!” Elaine said, laying a hand upon his arm; “indeed, you must hear me now, and make no delay with contrary notions. There is no danger for me. Look. He will first be by himself to clear the way of watchers. No one peeps out of windows when the Dragon’s howling. Next, the rest will come and all go into papa’s cellar for the wine. ”

“ The Baron showed his sun-dial, and there was no doubt of it. “Here, take the keys,” he said, “and bring the monster out for us. [198] ”
“I’ll go and put on my armour,” suggested the young man. That would take time; perhaps the monks might arrive.
“Why, the brute’s chained. You need no armour. Nonsense!”
“But think of my clothes in that pit, sir,—on my wedding-day.”
“Pooh! That’s the first sign of a Frenchman I’ve seen in you. Take the keys, sir.”
The crackle of the kindling fagots came to Geoffrey’s ears. He saw the forty men with chains that were to haul the Dragon into the fire. ”

“ And once for the death and destruction of the Dragon of Wantley.”
“Hurrah!” said the united household.
“We’ll have a nuptials that shall be the talk of our grandchildren’s children, and after them. We’ll have all the people to see. And we’ll build the biggest pile of fagots that can be cut from my timber, and the Dragon shall be chained [162] on the top of it, and we’ll cremate him like an Ancient,—only alive! We’ll cremate the monster alive!”
Elaine jumped. Geoffrey jumped. The chain round the Dragon loudly clanked. ”

“ I have often bethought me,” retorted Sir Godfrey, rolling his eyes over the empty barrels. “But here! I am a man of some heart, I hope.”
He seized up a bucket and ran to the hogshead containing his daughter’s native cowslip wine.
“There!” he observed when the bucket was pretty well filled. “Put that in to moisten his last hours.”
Then the Baron led the way round the Manor to the court-yard where the bear-pit was. His daughter kept pace with him not easily, for the excellent gentleman desired to be a decent distance away from the Dragon, whom young Geoffrey dragged along in the rear. ”

“ I’ll not sing to give thee an opportunity to outnumber me in thy cups.”
And he filled and instantly emptied another sound bumper of the Malvoisie, lurching slightly as he did so. “Health!” he added, preparing to swallow the next.
“A murrain on such pagan thirst!” exclaimed he who had been toasted, snatching the cup away. “Art thou altogether unslakable? Is thy belly a lime-kiln? Nay, shalt taste not a single drop more, Hubert, till we have a stave. Come, tune up, man!” ”