第63章 THE GREAT NORTH ROAD(5)

'Alas!'cried Nance,as she entered the room,'your fire black out,'and,setting down the lantern,she clapped upon her knees before the chimney and began to rearrange the charred and still smouldering remains.Mr.Archer looked about the gaunt apartment with a sort of shudder.The great height,the bare stone,the shattered windows,the aspect of the uncurtained bed,with one of its four fluted columns broken short,all struck a chill upon his fancy.From this dismal survey his eyes returned to Nance crouching before the fire,the candle in one hand and artfully puffing at the embers;the flames as they broke forth played upon the soft outline of her cheek -she was alive and young,coloured with the bright hues of life,and a woman.He looked upon her,softening;and then sat down and continued to admire the picture.

'There,sir,'said she,getting upon her feet,'your fire is doing bravely now.Good-night.'

He rose and held out his hand.'Come,'said he,'you are my only friend in these parts,and you must shake hands.'

She brushed her hand upon her skirt and offered it,blushing.

'God bless you,my dear,'said he.

And then,when he was alone,he opened one of the windows,and stared down into the dark valley.A gentle wimpling of the river among stones ascended to his ear;the trees upon the other bank stood very black against the sky;farther away an owl was hooting.It was dreary and cold,and as he turned back to the hearth and the fine glow of fire,'Heavens!'said he to himself,'what an unfortunate destiny is mine!'

He went to bed,but sleep only visited his pillow in uneasy snatches.Outbreaks of loud speech came up the staircase;he heard the old stones of the castle crack in the frosty night with sharp reverberations,and the bed complained under his tossings.Lastly,far on into the morning,he awakened from a doze to hear,very far off,in the extreme and breathless quiet,a wailing flourish on the horn.The down mail was drawing near to the 'Green Dragon.'He sat up in bed;the sound was tragical by distance,and the modulation appealed to his ear like human speech.It seemed to call upon him with a dreary insistence -to call him far away,to address him personally,and to have a meaning that he failed to seize.It was thus,at least,in this nodding castle,in a cold,miry woodland,and so far from men and society,that the traffic on the Great North Road spoke to him in the intervals of slumber.

III -JONATHAN HOLDAWAY

NANCE descended the tower stair,pausing at every step.She was in no hurry to confront her uncle with bad news,and she must dwell a little longer on the rich note of Mr.Archer's voice,the charm of his kind words,and the beauty of his manner and person.But,once at the stair-foot,she threw aside the spell and recovered her sensible and workaday self.

Jonathan was seated in the middle of the settle,a mug of ale beside him,in the attitude of one prepared for trouble;but he did not speak,and suffered her to fetch her supper and eat of it,with a very excellent appetite,in silence.When she had done,she,too,drew a tankard of home-brewed,and came and planted herself in front of him upon the settle.

'Well?'said Jonathan.

'My lord has run away,'said Nance.

'What?'cried the old man.

'Abroad,'she continued;'run away from creditors.He said he had not a stiver,but he was drunk enough.He said you might live on in the castle,and Mr.Archer would pay you;but you was to look for no more wages,since he would be glad of them himself.'

Jonathan's face contracted;the flush of a black,bilious anger mounted to the roots of his hair;he gave an inarticulate cry,leapt upon his feet,and began rapidly pacing the stone floor.At first he kept his hands behind his back in a tight knot;then he began to gesticulate as he turned.

'This man -this lord,'he shouted,'who is he?He was born with a gold spoon in his mouth,and I with a dirty straw.He rolled in his coach when he was a baby.I have dug and toiled and laboured since I was that high -that high.'And he shouted again.'I'm bent and broke,and full of pains.

D'ye think I don't know the taste of sweat?Many's the gallon I've drunk of it -ay,in the midwinter,toiling like a slave.All through,what has my life been?Bend,bend,bend my old creaking back till it would ache like breaking;wade about in the foul mire,never a dry stitch;empty belly,sore hands,hat off to my Lord Redface;kicks and ha'pence;and now,here,at the hind end,when I'm worn to my poor bones,a kick and done with it.'He walked a little while in silence,and then,extending his hand,'Now you,Nance Holdaway,'says he,'you come of my blood,and you're a good girl.When that man was a boy,I used to carry his gun for him.I carried the gun all day on my two feet,and many a stitch I had,and chewed a bullet for.He rode upon a horse,with feathers in his hat;but it was him that had the shots and took the game home.Did I complain?Not I.I knew my station.What did I ask,but just the chance to live and die honest?Nance Holdaway,don't let them deny it to me -don't let them do it.I've been as poor as Job,and as honest as the day,but now,my girl,you mark these words of mine,I'm getting tired of it.'

'I wouldn't say such words,at least,'said Nance.

'You wouldn't?'said the old man grimly.'Well,and did Iwhen I was your age?Wait till your back's broke and your hands tremble,and your eyes fail,and you're weary of the battle and ask no more but to lie down in your bed and give the ghost up like an honest man;and then let there up and come some insolent,ungodly fellow -ah!if I had him in these hands!"Where's my money that you gambled?"I should say."Where's my money that you drank and diced?""Thief!"is what I would say;"Thief!"'he roared,'"Thief"'

'Mr.Archer will hear you if you don't take care,'said Nance,'and I would be ashamed,for one,that he should hear a brave,old,honest,hard-working man like Jonathan Holdaway talk nonsense like a boy.'