Hireling

“ Hilarius, leading the Friar by one hand, held the other across his bent head to shield himself from the buffets of the wind.
Suddenly he stood fast.
“I can no more, Father,” he said, “the snow is as a wall; there is naught to see or to hear; I deem we are far from our right way.” His voice was very weak, and he caught at the Friar for support.
“I will pray the Lord, my son, that He p. 73open thine eyes, even as He opened the eyes of the prophet’s servant in the besieged city; so shalt thou see a host of angels encompassing us, for we are about the Lord’s business.” ”

“ The Prior shook his head.
“Nay, my son, so it must be; else how shall I answer to the Master for this most precious lamb of my flock? Come back to us—an thou can’st—let no fear deter thee; p. 22only take heed, when thine eyes are opened and the great gifts of hunger and love are vouchsafed thee, to keep still the faithful heart of a little child.”
Then he bade him go; and Hilarius, for the pull of his heart-strings, must needs run hot-foot down the broad forest road and along the highway, without daring to look back, and so out into the wide, wide world. ”

“ Like an arrow, the pike darted away, and with him the herring, the gudgeon, the perch, the carp, and all the rest of them. Even the sole swam with them, and hoped to reach the winning-place. All at once, the cry was heard, "The herring is first! the herring is first!" "Who is first?" screamed angrily the flat envious sole, who had been left far behind, "who is first?" "The herring! The herring," was the answer. "The naked herring?" cried the jealous creature, "the naked herring?" ”

“ Hilarius caught sight of the seditious friar making short work of the Convent’s victuals, and marvelled to see him in a place to which he had given so evil a name.
Martin was unfeignedly glad to see the lad, and listened intently to his tale. He nodded his head as Hilarius related how the friar he companied with preached in each village that men should repent ere the scourge of God fell upon them; “but there is naught of it as yet,” said the lad.
p. 86“Nay, nay, it is like a thief in the night. One day it is not; and then the next, men sicken and fall like blasted wheat. ”

“ Hiraux sang as people do who are frightened; but, to reassure anyone who heard him of his peaceful habits, he sang Gregorian chants, instead of singing a merry song or a lusty battle-hymn.
Suddenly, two masked men rushed out of the wood, sprang on him and demanded his money or his life.
They say no one is more dangerous than a terrified coward; Hiraux, it seemed, had something in his purse and valued his life, for he replied merely by stepping back and drawing his sword. ”

“ Five days passed, and despite extreme care victuals were short. Hilarius dug up roots from the hedgerows, and went hungry, but at last the pinch came; the woman was too weak and ill to walk, the babe scarce in life—there could be no thought of flight—and the little maid grew white, and wan and silent. Then it came to Hilarius that he would once again beg food in the village where he had sought help before. ”

“ Hilarius, at the gate, questioned the road again and again for sign of the belated train. It was vexatious; the Prior’s lips would take a thinner line, for the mules were already some days overdue; and it was ill to keep the Prior waiting. The soft June wind swept the fragrance of Mary’s lilies across to the lad; he turned his dreamy, blue eyes from the highway to the forest. The scent of the pinewoods rushed to meet his sudden thought. Should he, dare he, break cloister, and taste the wondrous delight of an unwalled world? It were a sin, a grave sin, in a newly-made novice, cloister-bred. ”

“ Tribe after [Pg 291] tribe (names now to the young draft) , scornful of woman-led warriors, had charged cheering into her traps and perished, for no quarter was given in the Stone Age, nor had the Master-Girl a use for a living enemy. (Groan, ye men, nor spare your tears for once, though the children and women see that your cheeks are wet!)
The groaning of the braves deepened, the keening of the women grew shrill, but from the core of the heat where the naked wigwam-poles, stripped now of their gear, were blazing above the pyre like torches, came never a sound. ”

“ The roar of the raging water in this abyss was as the roar from the mouth of hell. There came upon Herring the thought of himself falling down that chasm, the hands extended, clutching at the rocks, and the nails torn to the quick in frantic effort to cling; kittiwakes, gulls, and skuas shrieking and dashing about him as he went down into that raging, ravening, thundering void. Rest there!—there—there! in that frantic turmoil, the very thought of which made a whirlpool in the brain! Herring sprang back with convulsive shrinking before such an end. No, he could not plunge down Blackapit! ”

“ The streets were full of life and colour; serving men in the livery of Abbat and Knight, King and Cardinal, lounged at the tavern doors dicing, gaming, and drinking. Hilarius walked delicately and strove to shut eyes and ears to the sights and sounds of sin. He delivered the purse, only to hear mine host curse roundly because it was lighter than the reckoning ”

“ He was riding with despatches from the King to the Abbat at Bury, and had fearful tales to tell of the Plague; how in London they piled the dead in trenches, while many who escaped the pest died of want and cold; it was a city of the dead rather than p. 75the living. One great lord, travelling post-haste from Westminster, had been found by his servants to have the disorder, and they fled, leaving him by the wayside to perish.
Hilarius heard horror-struck.
“’Tis a grievous shame so to desert a sick master,” he said.
“Nay, lad,” said a chapman in the corner, “but a man loves his own skin best.” ”

“ And the angels sang and, when they{261} had finished their work they said, “It is well,” and they departed, holding hands as they flew into the sky above the fir trees. And Hilarion was astonished and prayed fervently.
And the next day when he was cutting a fir tree in the wood he met among the rocks a man old and venerable with a long gray beard and a solemn air. He was clad in crimson, and under his arm he carried written books and a scourge. And Hilarion said, “Who art thou? The forest is haunted by spirits, and I would know whether thou be of them or of men.” ”

“ Then great darkness fell upon the soul of Hilarius, and he clasped the Prior’s knees weeping and praying like a little child.
“And so, my son,” said the Prior, “for a time thou shalt go out into the world, to strive and fail, hunger and love; only have a care that thou art chaste in heart and life; for it is the pure shall see God, and seeing love Him. ”

“ Shrieks, yells, the rumble of the firing, dark forms leaping like madmen with uplifted arms, or bending like wild-beasts over objects on the sand. It was a tumult of horror beyond words. After a little the confusion lessened, and there was a pause, followed by the howl of triumph which is the Indian's pæan of victory. Harold, primped out by his wild run, had hidden behind a sand hill for breath, within a stone's-throw of the scene, for the savages, absorbed in their work of death, had not noticed his advancing figure. ”

“ He arose in haste and went out into the garth, and lo! under the lilies Hilarius lay sleeping. The Prior stood fast in great wonder, his heart leaping for joy; yet he could not cross the little piece of grass that lay between the cloister and the farmery door.
p. 125As he watched, a woman, light of foot and of great beauty, came swiftly from the gate to where Hilarius slept; and the Prior was grieved, and marvelled that the porter had opened to such an one; for it was a grave scandal that a woman should set foot within the Monastery precincts. ”

“ And Hilarion asked, “Who art thou? The forest is haunted by spirits; art thou one of them?”
And she answered, “I am a princess, the fairest of women. Kings and princes have brought gifts to me. They have hung wreaths on my palace and strewn flowers in my garden. I am beautiful beyond compare, but I seek one more beautiful than myself. Day by day I go searching my master by the lakes and rivers.”
And Hilarion made answer thus, “Tarry thou here and thou shalt see, if I mistake not, him whom thou seekest.” ”

“ Man’s law may fail to reach, but there is ever hell-fire for the unrepented sinner.”
Hilarius nodded, and his eyes wandered over the squalid place with the North Porch of the Abbey for its sole beauty.
“It must be as hell here, to live with robbers and men with bloody hands.”
“Nay,” said the old man hastily, “many of them are kindly folk, and many have slain in anger without thought. ’Tis a sad place, though, and thy young face is like a sunbeam on a winter’s day. Come, I will show thee thy road.” ”

“ Herval fell over amidst the enemy, the Count's horse dropped at once under him, and he felt himself drawn forcibly out from beneath the dying animal, and carried along by the men in full retreat from that scene of slaughter.
"Here is a horse, Count,--here is a horse," cried a voice near him. "Mount, quick, and oh take care of my poor girl. She is on with the troops before. I have lost you the battle, and know what must come of it."
The Count turned and saw Paul Virlay by his side; but before he could reply the man left the bridle in his hand, and rushed into the midst of the enemy. ”

“ It's in the winter you see the herring-smacks come in at the herring-wharf over yonder, and hundreds of baskets full of the shining fellows brought ashore and sold, and sent off fresh in no time; while others are kept here to turn into bloaters, or red herrings, or kippers. Those sheds in the yard over there are where hundreds of women and girls set to work to salt or pack the herrings in barrels; the bloaters are what we call cured in the herring-office. ”

“ Thou hadst run far and fast, and fought bravely, wonderfully; it makes my heart laugh to think of one woman fighting three braves and bringing away their scalps. Yes, I own thou wast tired out. All the same it was against us, and is against us still, that those three dogs were left to gnaw through their leashes and get away down to the tribe masterless. They will be brought up again and laid on and followed, and if they do not own to the trails of their dead masters, they will own to ours, which is as bad for us. No, we cannot fight the whole of thy tribe, we must be moving, and at once. ”

“ With such eyes a man can never be a monk!--it is God himself who has spoken by your lips."
And he fled away as from the City of Destruction, leaving the temptress startled and astonished. She called after him to stay--she implored, she conjured him--in vain. The matins bell was ringing in the valley below, and he heard that above all her tempting; that was a mightier call. Like a hunted deer that can find no shelter, the unhappy man fled back to the sacred cloister walls where only rest and peace were to be found. ”

“ A shrewd lass and welcome to the hen. Thou art a limner at heart—Brother Bernard tells of thy wondrous p. 19skill with the brush—and to be limner thou must learn to hunger and to love as the maid said. Ay, boy, and to be monk too, though alack, men gainsay it.”
“Father,” said Hilarius, waxing bold from excessive need, “did’st thou ever love as the maid meant?” ”

“ He appealed to the experience of the old chief and the half dozen elders, he claimed as a brave to know something, he and his contemporaries had seen a bear or two die, but they had died hard, had charged home a dozen times, had run, when it came to running, for a long way, had stood at bay under a storm of spears for half a day: it had taken every man of the hunting party all that he knew to finish the fight with a whole skin. ”

“ If we've got to go as soon as cold weather sets in, we might as well go and have it over with. As 'tis, I keep on saying good-by in my mind to things and folks every minute, and then get up in the morning to begin it all again. This afternoon I was down the river where I saved Hiram's life when he was a little fellow—the old black whirl-hole. ”

“ CHAPTER XXVII. RUN TO EARTH
A broad streak of crimson along the eastern horizon, over the treetops, announced the coming of the sun when Hiram Strong reached the automobile road to which he, on the previous night, had traced the thief that had stolen Sister's poults. ”

“ We are lost--lost even if we had reared a whole garden-full of such holy fruit for the Lord. Why! did you ever see a tree escape the lightning because its fruit was good? Has not the Almighty let many a cloister perish for all that it seemed a pity? Think of our convent at Schuls that was burnt to the ground, and yet it was no man's fault! But this time you yourselves are in fault! You should have listened to me when I warned you; now it has come upon you. The Count of Reichenberg neither can nor will forgive you. ”

“ How Hiram did listen eagerly to every word that was uttered, and even got down on his hands and knees to scrutinize that impression. He had of course hunted at times, as every country boy does, and shot his quota of small game like rabbits, squirrels, quail and woodcock; yet knew next to nothing concerning the real delights of woodcraft. But the seed had taken root in Hiram’s soul, and would sprout from that time on. The coming of these scouts had aroused an ambition within him, and he could never again be the same contented plodder that he had seemed to be in the past. ”

“ The man whose sacrilegious eyes Invade our strict seclusion, dies. Arrest the coarse intruding spies! (They are arrested by the "Daughters of the Plough") Girls: Have mercy, O lady — disregard your oaths. Princess: I know not mercy, men in women's clothes! (Cyril & Florian are bound) SONG — Hilarion Hilarion: Whom thou has chain'd must wear his chain, Thou canst not set him free, He wrestles with his bonds in vain Who lives by loving thee! If heart of stone for heart of fire, Be all thou hast to give, If dead to my heart's desire, Why should I wish to live? ”