第8章

Doyouthinktheyreallycan？’

’Well，maister，IamafraidIdo，’saidthecheeringCripplestraw。

’AndIknowagreatwarriorlikeyouisonlytooglado’thechance。

’Twillbeagreatthingforye，deathandglory！Inshort，Ihopefrommyheartyouwillbe，andIsaysoveryoftentofolk——infact，Iprayatnightfor’t。’

’O！cussyou！youneedn’tprayaboutit。’

’No，MaisterDerriman，Iwon’t。’

’Ofcoursemyswordwilldoitsduty。That’senough。Andnowbeoffwithye。’

Festusgloomilyreturnedtohisuncle’sroomandfoundthatAnnewasjustleaving。Hewasinclinedtofollowheratonce，butasshegavehimnoopportunityfordoingthishewenttothewindow，andremainedtappinghisfingersagainsttheshutterwhileshecrossedtheyard。

’Well，nephy，youarenotgoneyet？’saidthefarmer，lookingdubiouslyatFestusfromunderoneeyelid。’YouseehowIam。Notbyanymeansbetter，yousee；soIcan’tentertain’eeaswellasI

would。’

’Youcan’t，nunc，youcan’t。Idon’tthinkyouareworse——ifIdo，dashmywig。Butyou’llhaveplentyofopportunitiestomakemewelcomewhenyouarebetter。Ifyouarenotsobriskinwardlyasyouwas，whynottrychangeofair？Thisisadull，damphole。’

’’Tis，Festus；andIamthinkingofmoving。’

’Ah，whereto？’saidFestus，withsurpriseandinterest。

’Upintothegarretinthenorthcorner。Thereisnofireplaceintheroom；butIshan’twantthat，poorsoulo’me。’

’’Tisnotmovingfar。’

’’Tisnot。ButIhavenotasoulbelongingtomewithintenmile；

andyouknowverywellthatIcouldn’taffordtogotolodgingsthatIhadtopayfor。’

’Iknowit——Iknowit，UncleBenjy！Well，don’tbedisturbed。I’llcomeandmanageforyouassoonaseverthisBoneyalarmisover；

butwhenaman’scountrycallshemustobey，ifheisaman。’

’Asplendidspirit！’saidUncleBenjy，withmuchadmirationonthesurfaceofhiscountenance。’Ineverhadit。Howcouldithavegotintotheboy？’

’Frommymother’sside，perhaps。’

’Perhapsso。Well，takecareofyourself，nephy，’saidthefarmer，wavinghishandimpressively。’Takecare！Inthesewarliketimesyourspiritmaycarryyeintothearmsoftheenemy；andyouarethelastofthefamily。Youshouldthinkofthis，andnotletyourbraverycarryyeaway。’

’Don’tbedisturbed，uncle；I’llcontrolmyself，’saidFestus，betrayedintoself-complacencyagainsthiswill。’AtleastI’lldowhatIcan，butnaturewilloutsometimes。Well，I’moff。’Hebeganhumming’BrightonCamp，’and，promisingtocomeagainsoon，retiredwithassurance，eachyardofhisretreataddingprivatejoyousnesstohisuncle’sform。

Whenthebulkyyoungmanhaddisappearedthroughtheporter’slodge，UncleBenjyshowedpreternaturalactivityforoneinhisinvalidstate，jumpingupquicklywithouthisstick，atthesametimeopeningandshuttinghismouthquitesilentlylikeathirstyfrog，whichwashiswayofexpressingmirth。Heranupstairsasquickasanoldsquirrel，andwenttoadormerwindowwhichcommandedaviewofthegroundsbeyondthegate，andthefootpaththatstretchedacrossthemtothevillage。

’Yes，yes！’hesaidinasuppressedscream，dancingupanddown，’he’safterher:she’vehiten！’ForthereappeareduponthepaththefigureofAnneGarland，and，hasteningonatsomelittledistancebehindher，theswaggeringshapeofFestus。Shebecameconsciousofhisapproach，andmovedmorequickly。Hemovedmorequicklystill，andovertookher。Sheturnedasifinanswertoacallfromhim，andhewalkedonbesideher，tilltheywereoutofsight。Theoldmanthenplayeduponanimaginaryfiddleforabouthalfaminute；and，suddenlydiscontinuingthesesignsofpleasure，wentdownstairsagain。

’Youoftencomethisway？’saidFestustoAnneratherbeforehehadovertakenher。

’Icomeforthenewspaperandotherthings，’shesaid，perplexedbyadoubtwhetherheweretherebyaccidentordesign。

Theymovedoninsilence，Festusbeatingthegrasswithhisswitchinamasterfulway。’Didyouspeak，Mis’essAnne？’heasked。

’No，’saidAnne。

’Tenthousandpardons。Ithoughtyoudid。Nowdon’tletmedriveyououtofthepath。Icanwalkamongthehighgrassandgiltycups——

theywillnotyellowmystockingsastheywillyours。Well，whatdoyouthinkofalotofsoldierscomingtotheneighbourhoodinthisway？’

’Ithinkitisverylively，andagreatchange，’shesaidwithdemureseriousness。

’Perhapsyoudon’tlikeuswarriorsasabody？’

Annesmiledwithoutreplying。

’Why，youarelaughing！’saidtheyeoman，lookingsearchinglyatherandblushinglikealittlefire。’Whatdoyouseetolaughat？’

’DidIlaugh？’saidAnne，alittlescaredathissuddenmortification。

’Why，yes；youknowyoudid，youyoungsneerer，’hesaidlikeacrossbaby。’Youarelaughingatme——that’swhoyouarelaughingat！IshouldliketoknowwhatyouwoulddowithoutsuchasmeiftheFrenchweretodropinuponyeanynight？’

’Wouldyouhelptobeatthemoff？’saidshe。

’Canyouasksuchaquestion？Whatarewefor？Butyoudon’tthinkanythingofsoldiers。’

Oyes，shelikedsoldiers，shesaid，especiallywhentheycamehomefromthewars，coveredwithglory；thoughwhenshethoughtwhatdoingshadwonthemthatgloryshedidnotlikethemquitesowell。

Thegallantandappeasedyeomansaidhesupposedhertomeanchoppingoffheads，blowingoutbrains，andthatkindofbusiness，andthoughtitquiterightthatatender-heartedthinglikehershouldfeelalittlehorrified。Butasforhim，heshouldnotmindsuchanotherBlenheimthissummerasthearmyhadfoughtahundredyearsago，orwheneveritwas——dashhiswigifheshouldminditatall。’Hullo！nowyouarelaughingagain；yes，Isawyou！’AndthecholericFestusturnedhisblueeyesandflushedfaceuponherasthoughhewouldreadherthrough。Annestrovevaliantlytolookcalmlyback；buthereyescouldnotfacehis，andtheyfell。’Youdidlaugh！’herepeated。

’Itwasonlyatinylittleone，’shemurmured。

’Ah——Iknewyoudid！’thunderedhe。’Nowwhatwasityoulaughedat？’

’Ionly——thoughtthatyouwere——merelyintheyeomanry，’shemurmuredslily。

’Andwhatofthat？’

’Andtheyeomanryonlyseemfarmersthathavelosttheirsenses。’

’Yes，yes！Iknewyoumeantsomejeeringo’thatsort，MistressAnne。ButIsuppose’tisthewayofwomen，andItakenonotice。

I’llconfessthatsomeofusarenogreatthings:butIknowhowtodrawasword，don’tI？——sayIdon’tjusttoprovokeme。’

’Iamsureyoudo，’saidAnnesweetly。’IfaFrenchmancameuptoyou，Mr。Derriman，wouldyoutakehimonthehip，oronthethigh？’

’Nowyouareflattering！’hesaid，hiswhiteteethuncoveringthemselvesinasmile。’Well，ofcourseIshoulddrawmysword——no，Imeanmyswordwouldbealreadydrawn；andIshouldputspurstomyhorse——charger，aswecallitinthearmy；andIshouldrideuptohimandsay——no，Ishouldn’tsayanything，ofcourse——menneverwastewordsinbattle；Ishouldtakehimwiththethirdguard，lowpoint，andthencomingbacktothesecondguard——’

’Butthatwouldbetakingcareofyourself——nothittingathim。’

’Howcanyousaythat！’hecried，thebeamsuponhisfaceturningtoaluridcloudinamoment。’Howcanyouunderstandmilitarytermswho’veneverhadaswordinyourlife？Ishouldn’ttakehimwiththeswordatall。’Hewentonwitheagersulkiness，’Ishouldtakehimwithmypistol。Ishouldpulloffmyrightglove，andthrowbackmygoat-skin；thenIshouldopenmypriming-pan，prime，andcastabout——no，Ishouldn’t，that’swrong；Ishoulddrawmyrightpistol，andassoonasloaded，seizetheweaponbythebutt；thenattheword“Cockyourpistol“Ishould——’

’Thenthereisplentyoftimetogivesuchwordsofcommandintheheatofbattle？’saidAnneinnocently。

’No！’saidtheyeoman，hisfaceagaininflames。’Why，ofcourseI

amonlytellingyouwhatWOULDbethewordofcommandIF——therenow！

youla——’

’Ididn’t；’ponmywordIdidn’t！’

’No，Idon’tthinkyoudid；itwasmymistake。Well，thenIcomesmartlytoPresent，lookingwellalongthebarrel——alongthebarrel——

andfire。OfcourseIknowwellenoughhowtoengagetheenemy！

ButIexpectmyoldunclehasbeensettingyouagainstme。’

’Hehasnotsaidaword，’repliedAnne；’thoughIhaveheardofyou，ofcourse。’

’Whathaveyouheard？Nothinggood，Idaresay。Itmakesmybloodboilwithinme！’

’O，nothingbad，’saidsheassuringly。’Justawordnowandthen。’

’Now，come，tellme，there’sadear。Idon’tliketobecrossed。

Itshallbeasacredsecretbetweenus。Come，now！’

Annewasembarrassed，andhersmilewasuncomfortable。’Ishallnottellyou，’shesaidatlast。

’Thereitisagain！’saidtheyeoman，throwinghimselfintoadespair。’Ishallsoonbegintobelievethatmynameisnotworthsixpenceabouthere！’

’Itellyou’twasnothingagainstyou，’repeatedAnne。

’Thatmeansitmighthavebeenforme，’saidFestus，inamollifiedtone。’Well，though，tospeakthetruth，Ihaveagoodmanyfaults，somepeoplewillpraiseme，Isuppose。’Twaspraise？’

’Itwas。’

’Well，Iamnotmuchatfarming，andIamnotmuchincompany，andI

amnotmuchatfigures，butperhapsImustown，sinceitisforceduponme，thatIcanshowasfineasoldier’sfigureontheEsplanadeasanymanofthecavalry。’

’Youcan，’saidAnne；forthoughherfleshcreptinmortalterrorofhisirascibility，shecouldnotresistthefearfulpleasureofleadinghimon。’Youlookverywell；andsomesay，youare——’

’What？Well，theysayIamgood-looking。Idon’tmakemyself，so’tisnopraise。Hullo！whatareyoulookingacrosstherefor？’

’OnlyatabirdthatIsawflyoutofthattree，’saidAnne。

’What？Onlyatabird，doyousay？’heheavedoutinavoiceofthunder。’Iseeyourshouldersa-shaking，youngmadam。Nowdon’tyouprovokemewiththatlaughing！ByGod，itwon’tdo！’

’Thengoaway！’saidAnne，changedfrommirthfulnesstoirritationbyhisroughmanner。’Idon’twantyourcompany，yougreatbraggingthing！Youaresotouchythere’snobearingwithyou。Goaway！’

’No，no，Anne；Iamwrongtospeaktoyouso。Igiveyoufreelibertytosaywhatyouwilltome。SayIamnotabitofasoldier，oranything！Abuseme——donow，there’sadear。I’mscum，I’mfroth，I’mdirtbeforethebesom——yes！’

’Ihavenothingtosay，sir。StaywhereyouaretillIamoutofthisfield。’

’Well，there’ssuchcommandinyourlooksthatIha’n’thearttogoagainstyou。Youwillcomethiswayto-morrowatthesametime？

Now，don’tbeuncivil。’

Shewastoogenerousnottoforgivehim，buttheshortlittlelipmurmuredthatshedidnotthinkitatalllikelysheshouldcomethatwayto-morrow。

’ThenSunday？’hesaid。

’NotSunday，’saidshe。

’ThenMonday——Tuesday——Wednesday，surely？’hewentonexperimentally。

Sheansweredthatsheshouldprobablynotseehimoneitherday，and，cuttingshorttheargument，wentthroughthewicketintotheotherfield。Festuspaused，lookingafterher；andwhenhecouldnolongerseeherslightfigurehesweptawayhisdeliberations，begansinging，andturnedoffintheotherdirection。