Hatfield

“ Let us get into the open country again, and before we start on the next stage, there will be just time to stroll round and take a glance at the fine old Jacobean pile of Hatfield House, a glorious specimen of the renaissance of English architecture that vividly recalls the half-forgotten fact that once we were, without gainsaying, an artistic people; for no one but a great artist could have designed such a picturesque and stately abode, two qualities not so easy to combine as may be imagined. ”

“ One of the means which Hatfield used to introduce himself to this respectable family was the following:—Understanding that the gentleman had been a military man, he took an army list from his pocket, and pointed to his assumed name, the Honourable Alexander Augustus Hope, lieutenant-colonel of the 14th regiment of foot. This new acquaintance daily [Pg 205] gained strength ”

“ About this period, his lordship laid the foundations of the present mansion of Hatfield, which he finished in 1611, in a style of equal splendour with that of Burghley, which his father had erected in the preceding reign. The year after the completion of Hatfield, worn out by the cares of state the Earl of Salisbury died at Marlborough, in Wiltshire, on his way to London: he was interred in Hatfield Church, under a stately monument. How striking an example does the closing year of his life present! ”

“ Suppose—and at the thought his blood ran coldly through his veins—suppose old Richard Ferrier had got up from under that white stone in Thornsett churchyard, and had come down to keep watch over what his sons had so little regarded. The footsteps came nearer, and Hatfield sprang to his feet and walked not away from, but towards, the sound. The impulse of a naturally brave man when he is frightened is to face the fearsome thing as speedily as may be. ”

“ Hatfield rather anxiously. No one wanted to be assigned to remain behind.
“Oh, except for a few tools, we have nothing here today of great value,” Mr. Hatfield said. “We’ll take a chance.”
The Cubs proceeded to the site of the cave, following Mr. Hatfield, Brad and Dan along the shore. Tangles of brush and willows frequently caused the group to detour away from the river. So when finally they located the mouth of the cavern again, it was much later than the Cub leader had expected.
“There’s no time to waste,” he told the Cubs. “We can’t afford to be caught here after dark. ”

“ And now, for ever and a day, those who use the road between Potter’s Bar and Hatfield village must go an extra half mile. This is indeed a free and happy country.
Hatfield village touches the extremity of wretchedness, just as Hatfield House marks the apogee of late feudal splendour. And yet, amid its tumbledown hovels there are quaintly beautiful old-gabled cottages with bowed and broken-backed red-tiled roofs, delightful to the artistic eye, if from the builder’s and decorator’s point of view sadly out of repair. Motor repair-shops and garages, with their squalid p. ”

“ Mr. Cameron read his papers or wrote letters in one compartment; Mrs. Murchiston was the girls' companion most of the time, while Tom and his two chums had a gay time by themselves. They tried to get Fred Hatfield into their company, but the runaway boy would not respond to their overtures.
At the dinner table, when the fun became fast and furious, Fred Hatfield did not even smile. Heavy whispered to Ruth that she never did see a boy before who was so dreadfully solemn. "And he grows solemner and solemner every mile we travel!" added Heavy. ”

“ Dan said indignantly. “I may not be an artist, but my picture isn’t that bad. I’m going to give that old Indian a chunk of my mind!”
“Let me handle this, boys,” Mr. Hatfield said.
He went ahead of the Cubs to the hogan where Fred, Mack and Red were talking to the two Indians. The pair did not appear unfriendly, but as Chips had said, their inspection of the camp had not been very polite.
“Good afternoon,” Mr. Hatfield introduced himself. He extended his hand, and gave his name. “I’m the Cub leader here. Anything we can do for you?”
Neither White Nose or Eagle Feather made reply. ”

“ Hatfield's relations with the court caused him to be often absent from his diocese. On 17 July 1345, before his consecration, the king when going to Flanders appointed him one of the councillors of his son Lionel, who was left as regent (Rymer, iii. pt. i. 50) . In the autumn of the same year, when the pope wrote to Edward urging him against making war with France, he directed Hatfield at the same time to use his advocacy with the king (Murimuth, p. 176) . ”

“ When will you come? I know you can’t the beginning of next week, because I have just had a note from Lady Salisbury asking us to meet you at Hatfield, but after that perhaps you can come. We cannot go to Hatfield. The Chancellor [358] has offered to take me to the Lord Mayor’s dinner on Monday, and I think it will be amusing and mean to accept.
Sarah Sophia [359] says she proposes to take her food here on Tuesday. She never allows us an option. I wonder when it will be time to quarrel with her about politics or something else? Is not it due to ourselves to have some explanations with her? ”

“ If Simon spoke truth in one particular, why should he lie in others? Why had his wife refused to go with him to Hatfield? Why had she bid no one come near her room? Why had she gone forth by this secret stair, alone? Then, cursing himself for the unnamed suspicion that could thus, though but for a moment, disfigure the fair image that he worshipped, he asked himself why his wife should not be free to follow a caprice. ”

“ Dec. 20.—The last collection of guests have included the Duke of Wellington, the Cowleys, Lord and Lady Stanhope, and M. and Madame de Lavalette—all full of interest. Certainly Hatfield is magnificent and grandly kept up. I had much talk with Mrs. Lowe, [35] who delights in tirades against Christianity. ”

“ For two days Elizabeth, as if from due respect to her deceased sister and sovereign, remained quiescent at Hatfield; but thousands of people of all ranks were flocking thither; and on the 19th her Privy Council proceeded thither also, and, after announcing to her her joyful and undisputed accession, they proclaimed her with all state before the gates of Hatfield House. They then sat in council with her, and she appointed her own ministers, having, no doubt, made all these arrangements with the man whom she had long marked out for her prime minister, Sir William Cecil. ”

“ In 1784, his Grace of Rutland was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; and shortly after his arrival in Dublin, Hatfield made his appearance in that city. He immediately, on his landing, engaged a suite of rooms at a hotel in College Green, and represented himself as nearly allied to the Viceroy, but that he could not appear at the castle until his horses, servants, and carriages were arrived, which he ordered, before leaving England, to be shipped at Liverpool. ”

“ Hatfield laughed, remarking that he thought all the Cubs wanted to go.
“Mystery always is more intriguing than work,” he chuckled. “But then, we’re well along with our preparations for the big pow-wow. The hogan is finished, the sand painting started, and we expect to get at our Wells Fargo station in a couple of days. Let’s all knock off, and go to the cliff.” ”

“ All the Cubs liked him.
Next Mr. Hatfield called the name of his own son, Fred, who replied with a loud “How! Me heap big Injun!”
The roll call also included Mack Tibbets, Chips Davis and Midge Holloway, a son of the Den Dad. But when Red Suell’s name was spoken, he did not respond.
“Where’s Red?” Mr. Hatfield inquired. In the flickering firelight he could not see the boys’ faces distinctly. “Not here yet?”
“Late again,” drawled Chips. “You know Red. He never can make a meeting on time.”
[3]
“I thought he’d be here tonight,” said Brad. “He had something special on his mind. ”

“ The town of Hatfield is a quaint, straggling place, with narrow streets and many antique houses. A steep declivity leads up to the old church, dedicated to St. Etheldreda, just outside one of the entrances to the grounds of Hatfield House. The church contains a monument to Sir Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury, also tombs of the Botelers, Brockets, and Reads of Brocket Hall.
The entrance gateway, close to the churchyard, leads to what are now the stables of Hatfield House, a fine red-brick structure, once the banqueting-hall of the Bishop's Palace. ”

“ Royal reviews and grand hospitalities were common in the Metropolitan district, such as the Grand Review in Hyde Park, but perhaps the most memorable in which the Hertfordshire Volunteers took a part was the Grand Review of the Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteers in Hatfield Park, on the 14th June, 1800, in the presence of the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family, Cabinet Ministers, and a host of distinguished people, whom the Marquis of Salisbury entertained at Hatfield House with such splendid hospitality that the entertainment cost L3,000. ”

“ White Nose and Eagle Feather could be very bad medicine, if one met ’em on a dark night.”
Mr. Hatfield spoke firmly.
“The Cubs,” he said, “will concern themselves with organization affairs. We’re not getting mixed in any tribal feuds. Get that straight!”
“Yes, sir,” replied the Cubs, speaking as one. And Red added: “I wouldn’t have anything to do with ’em, even if you’d give me a prize turquoise toad!”
[113]
“From now on,” said Mr. Hatfield, issuing a further order, “no one is to remain in camp alone. Mr. Holloway or I always will try to be here. ”

“ Fred Hatfield's body had been found in the river, yet a boy was traveling about the country bearing Fred Hatfield's name.
The guide finally unfolded himself and rose slowly to his full height, preparatory to going back to the kitchen regions. He was nearly seven feet tall, and painfully thin. He grinned down upon Ruth Fielding as she gazed in wonder at his proportions.
"I'm some long; ain't I, Miss?" he chuckled. "But I warn't no taller than av'rage folks when I was a boy. You hear of some folks gettin' stunted by sickness, or fright, or the like. ”

“ I heard it again! Someone is running through the underbrush!”
The other three had halted to listen.
“You’re right, Brad!” exclaimed Mr. Hatfield. “It must be Red!”
Their hope revived, the four shouted the missing boy’s name repeatedly. To their intense relief, an answering shout came from the left of the trail.
“That’s Red!” cried Brad.
“He’s over by the ravine, just as I thought!” added Mr. Hatfield. “Keep shouting, so he can find us. We’ll wait here on the trail.”
Five minutes later, Red struggled through the bushes and brambles to confront his would-be rescuers with a sheepish grin. ”

“ Mr. Hatfield already had made up his mind. He spoke decisively:
“The most important thing now is to get the money box to a safe place. I’ll take it home for tonight.”
Well satisfied with the decision, the Cubs trooped back into the church to gather together their belongings.
With the exception of Brad and Dan, the other Cubs lived close by. The two boys were to ride with Mr. Hatfield and his son Fred.
“The storm has let up now, so I’ll trust the rest of you to shift for yourselves,” the Cub leader said. “Go straight to your homes and don’t stop along the way to pick any daisies. ”

“ Mr. Hatfield did not directly answer the question. Instead he said: “I’m not indulging in any fancy speculation. Just wanted to check up on a few points, that’s all.”
Whistling a line from “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” the Cub leader set off down the old road. Rather mystified, Dan and Brad tagged at his heels.
[49]
A short distance farther on, Mr. Hatfield paused to study automobile tire tracks plainly visible in the grass and sand.
“A car must have been through here two or three times at least,” he commented. “Where does this road lead, I wonder?” ”

“ Hatfield again talked over plans for the coming Round Table jamboree.
“The Pack has chosen a motto or code of honor for this month,” he told the boys. “It is this: ‘BE ALWAYS READY.’”
“I’m ready right now—for another weiner!” laughed Midge, reaching into the sack Mr. Hatfield had brought along.
“I guess you meant the code in a more serious sense, didn’t you, Mr. Hatfield?” Dan asked.
“That’s right, Dan. Knights of old always were ready to defend those who could not help themselves. They were prepared to fight in the defense of liberty.”
“Cubs can’t fight real battles,” protested Chips. ”

“ Midge exclaimed, staring at a confusion of prints in the sand. “Doesn’t this look as if a scuffle took place, Mr. Hatfield?”
“It does,” agreed the Cub leader, praising Midge for his observation. “Either Jacques stumbled or was given a hard shove. One can see plainly where he fell down.”
The trail of footprints led the Cubs on to a paved road paralleling the river front. There it abruptly ended.
“Well, we’ve lost them,” Mr. Hatfield said, gazing up and down the deserted highway.
“And now we’ll never know who Jacques was or where he came from,” Dan said. ”

“ Hatfield Hyde (13⁄4 mile N.E. from Hatfield) is a hamlet in a pretty district, with the river Lea and Hatfield Park a little S.
Haultwick lies 3 miles W. from the Old North Road; it is a hamlet 1 mile N. from Little Munden. The nearest station is Braughing, G.E.R. (about 31⁄2 miles E.) , passing the S. side of Hamel’s Park.
Heavensgate (2 miles W. from Redbourn Station, M.R.) consists of a few cottages in the centre of a district of small hamlets. The walk [Pg 115] (2 miles N.) to Flamstead through Trowley Bottom is pleasant. ”

“ Hatfield said—see!”
Chips and Midge both subsided.
Time passed very slowly. Brad began to think it was taking Mr. Hatfield and Red a long while to telephone police. The Cubs, he could see, were growing cold and restless. Babe in particular, who had not dressed warmly enough, huddled against the older boy.
“How much longer will it be?” he asked.
[184]
“I sure wish I knew,” Brad replied. “Listen, Babe. You’re shivering. Why don’t you hike to Mrs. Jones’ place and warm yourself?”
Babe shook his head. “Nothing doing,” he said stoutly. “I’m as tough as the other fellows any day.” ”