Lavengro

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"You might beat me with no hands at all," said I, "fair damsel, only by
looking at me--I never saw such a face and figure, both regal--why, you
look like Ingeborg, Queen of Norway; she had twelve brothers, you know,
and could lick them all, though they were heroes--

"'On Dovrefeld in Norway,
Were once together seen,
The twelve heroic brothers
Of Ingeborg the queen.'"

"None of your chaffing, young fellow," said the tall girl, "or I will
give you what shall make you wipe your face; be civil, or you will rue
it."

"Well, perhaps I was a peg too high," said I, "I ask your pardon--here's
something a bit lower--

"'As I was jawing to the gav yeck divvus
I met on the drom miro Rommany chi--'"

"None of your Rommany chies, young fellow," said the tall girl, looking
more menacingly than before, and clenching her fist, "you had better be
civil, I am none of your chies; and, though I keep company with gypsies,
or, to speak more proper, half and halfs, I would have you to know that I
come of Christian blood and parents, and was born in the great house of
Long Melford."

"I have no doubt," said I, "that it was a great house; judging from your
size, I shouldn't wonder if you were born in a church."

"Stay, Belle," said the man, putting himself before the young virago, who
was about to rush upon me, "my turn is first"--then, advancing to me in a
menacing attitude, he said, with a look of deep malignity, "'Afraid' was
the word, wasn't it?"

"It was," said I, "but I think I wronged you; I should have said, aghast,
you exhibited every symptom of one labouring under uncontrollable fear."

The fellow stared at me with a look of stupid ferocity, and appeared to
be hesitating whether to strike or not: ere he could make up his mind,
the tall girl stepped forward, crying, "He's chaffing; let me at him;"
and, before I could put myself on my guard, she struck me a blow on the
face which had nearly brought me to the ground.

"Enough," said I, putting my hand to my cheek; "you have now performed
your promise, and made me wipe my face: now be pacified, and tell me
fairly the ground of this quarrel."

"Grounds!" said the fellow; "didn't you say I was afraid; and if you
hadn't, who gave you leave to camp on my ground?"

"Is it your ground?" said I.

"A pretty question," said the fellow; "as if all the world didn't know
that. Do you know who I am?"

"I guess I do," said I; "unless I am much mistaken, you are he whom folks
call the 'Flaming Tinman.' To tell you the truth, I'm glad we have met,
for I wished to see you. These are your two wives, I suppose; I greet
them. There's no harm done--there's room enough here for all of us--we
shall soon be good friends, I dare say; and when we are a little better
acquainted, I'll tell you my history."

"Well, if that doesn't beat all," said the fellow.

"I don't think he's chaffing now," said the girl, whose anger seemed to
have subsided on a sudden; "the young man speaks civil enough."

"Civil," said the fellow, with an oath; "but that's just like you; with
you it is a blow, and all over. Civil! I suppose you would have him
stay here, and get into all my secrets, and hear all I may have to say to
my two morts."

"Two morts," said the girl, kindling up, "where are they? Speak for one,
and no more. I am no mort of yours, whatever some one else may be. I
tell you one thing, Black John, or Anselo, for t'other an't your name,
the same thing I told the young man here, be civil, or you will rue it."

The fellow looked at the girl furiously, but his glance soon quailed
before hers; he withdrew his eyes, and cast them on my little horse,
which was feeding amongst the trees. "What's this?" said he, rushing
forward and seizing the animal. "Why, as I am alive, this is the horse
of that mumping villain Slingsby."

"It's his no longer; I bought it and paid for it."

"It's mine now," said the fellow; "I swore I would seize it the next time
I found it on my beat; ay, and beat the master too."

"I am not Slingsby."

"All's one for that."

"You don't say you will beat me?"

"Afraid was the word."

"I'm sick and feeble."

"Hold up your fists."

"Won't the horse satisfy you?"

"Horse nor bellows either."

"No mercy, then."

"Here's at you."

"Mind your eyes, Jack. There, you've got it. I thought so," shouted the
girl, as the fellow staggered back from a sharp blow in the eye. "I
thought he was chaffing at you all along."

"Never mind, Anselo. You know what to do--go in," said the vulgar woman,
who had hitherto not spoken a word, but who now came forward with all the
look of a fury; "go in apopli; you'll smash ten like he."

The Flaming Tinman took her advice, and came in bent on smashing, but
stopped short on receiving a left-handed blow on the nose.

"You'll never beat the Flaming Tinman in that way," said the girl,
looking at me doubtfully.

And so I began to think myself, when, in the twinkling of an eye, the
Flaming Tinman, disengaging himself of his frock-coat, and dashing off
his red night-cap, came rushing in more desperately than ever. To a
flush hit which he received in the mouth he paid as little attention as a
wild bull would have done; in a moment his arms were around me, and in
another, he had hurled me down, falling heavily upon me. The fellow's
strength appeared to be tremendous.

"Pay him off now," said the vulgar woman. The Flaming Tinman made no
reply, but planting his knee on my breast, seized my throat with two huge
horny hands. I gave myself up for dead, and probably should have been so
in another minute but for the tall girl, who caught hold of the
handkerchief which the fellow wore round his neck with a grasp nearly as
powerful as that with which he pressed my throat.

"Do you call that fair play?" said she.

"Hands off, Belle," said the other woman; "do you call it fair play to
interfere? hands off, or I'll be down upon you myself."

But Belle paid no heed to the injunction, and tugged so hard at the
handkerchief, that the Flaming Tinman was nearly throttled; suddenly
relinquishing his hold of me, he started on his feet, and aimed a blow at
my fair preserver, who avoided it, but said coolly:--

"Finish t'other business first, and then I'm your woman whenever you
like; but finish it fairly--no foul play when I'm by--I'll be the boy's
second, and Moll can pick up you when he happens to knock you down."

The battle during the next ten minutes raged with considerable fury, but
it so happened that during this time I was never able to knock the
Flaming Tinman down, but on the contrary received six knock-down blows
myself. "I can never stand this," said I, as I sat on the knee of Belle,
"I am afraid I must give in; the Flaming Tinman hits very hard," and I
spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Sure enough you'll never beat the Flaming Tinman in the way you
fight--it's of no use flipping at the Flaming Tinman with your left hand;
why don't you use your right?"

"Because I'm not handy with it," said I; and then getting up, I once more
confronted the Flaming Tinman, and struck him six blows for his one, but
they were all left-handed blows, and the blow which the Flaming Tinman
gave me knocked me off my legs.

"Now, will you use Long Melford?" said Belle, picking me up.

"I don't know what you mean by Long Melford," said I, gasping for breath.

"Why, this long right of yours," said Belle, feeling my right arm--"if
you do, I shouldn't wonder if you yet stand a chance."

And now the Flaming Tinman was once more ready, much more ready than
myself. I, however, rose from my second's knee as well as my weakness
would permit me; on he came, striking left and right, appearing almost as
fresh as to wind and spirit as when he first commenced the combat, though
his eyes were considerably swelled, and his nether lip was cut in two; on
he came, striking left and right, and I did not like his blows at all, or
even the wind of them, which was anything but agreeable, and I gave way
before him. At last he aimed a blow, which, had it taken full effect,
would doubtless have ended the battle, but owing to his slipping, the
fist only grazed my left shoulder, and came with terrific force against a
tree, close to which I had been driven; before the Tinman could recover
himself, I collected all my strength, and struck him beneath the ear, and
then fell to the ground completely exhausted, and it so happened that the
blow which I struck the Tinker beneath the ear was a right-handed blow.

"Hurrah for Long Melford!" I heard Belle exclaim; "there is nothing like
Long Melford for shortness all the world over."

At these words, I turned round my head as I lay, and perceived the
Flaming Tinman stretched upon the ground apparently senseless. "He is
dead," said the vulgar woman, as she vainly endeavoured to raise him up;
"he is dead; the best man in all the north country, killed in this
fashion, by a boy." Alarmed at these words, I made shift to get on my
feet; and, with the assistance of the woman, placed my fallen adversary
in a sitting posture. I put my hand to his heart, and felt a slight
pulsation--"He's not dead," said I, "only stunned; if he were let blood,
he would recover presently." I produced a penknife which I had in my
pocket, and, baring the arm of the Tinman, was about to make the
necessary incision, when the woman gave me a violent blow, and, pushing
me aside, exclaimed, "I'll tear the eyes out of your head, if you offer
to touch him. Do you want to complete your work, and murder him
outright, now he's asleep? you have had enough of his blood already."
"You are mad," said I, "I only seek to do him service. Well, if you
won't let him be blooded, fetch some water and fling it into his face,
you know where the pit is."

"A pretty manoeuvre," said the woman; "leave my husband in the hands of
you and that limmer, who has never been true to us; I should find him
strangled or his throat cut when I came back." "Do you go," said I, to
the tall girl, "take the can and fetch some water from the pit." "You
had better go yourself," said the girl, wiping a tear as she looked on
the yet senseless form of the tinker; "you had better go yourself, if you
think water will do him good." I had by this time somewhat recovered my
exhausted powers, and, taking the can, I bent my steps as fast as I could
to the pit; arriving there, I lay down on the brink, took a long draught,
and then plunged my head into the water; after which I filled the can,
and bent my way back to the dingle. Before I could reach the path which
led down into its depths, I had to pass some way along its side; I had
arrived at a part immediately over the scene of the last encounter, where
the bank, overgrown with trees, sloped precipitously down. Here I heard
a loud sound of voices in the dingle; I stopped, and laying hold of a
tree, leaned over the bank and listened. The two women appeared to be in
hot dispute in the dingle. "It was all owing to you, you limmer," said
the vulgar woman to the other; "had you not interfered, the old man would
soon have settled the boy."

"I'm for fair play and Long Melford," said the other. "If your old man,
as you call him, could have settled the boy fairly, he might, for all I
should have cared, but no foul work for me; and as for sticking the boy
with our gulleys when he comes back, as you proposed, I am not so fond of
your old man or you that I should oblige you in it, to my soul's
destruction." "Hold your tongue, or I'll--"; I listened no farther, but
hastened as fast as I could to the dingle. My adversary had just begun
to show signs of animation; the vulgar woman was still supporting him,
and occasionally cast glances of anger at the tall girl who was walking
slowly up and down. I lost no time in dashing the greater part of the
water into the Tinman's face, whereupon he sneezed, moved his hands, and
presently looked round him. At first his looks were dull and heavy, and
without any intelligence at all; he soon, however, began to recollect
himself, and to be conscious of his situation; he cast a scowling glance
at me, then one of the deepest malignity at the tall girl, who was still
walking about without taking much notice of what was going forward. At
last he looked at his right hand, which had evidently suffered from the
blow against the tree, and a half-stifled curse escaped his lips. The
vulgar woman now said something to him in a low tone, whereupon he looked
at her for a moment, and then got upon his legs. Again the vulgar woman
said something to him; her looks were furious, and she appeared to be
urging him on to attempt something. I observed that she had a clasped
knife in her hand. The fellow remained standing for some time as if
hesitating what to do, at last he looked at his hand, and, shaking his
head, said something to the woman which I did not understand. The tall
girl, however, appeared to overhear him, and, probably repeating his
words, said, "No, it won't do; you are right there, and now hear what I
have to say,--let bygones be bygones, and let us all shake hands, and
camp here, as the young man was saying just now." The man looked at her,
and then, without any reply, went to his horse, which was lying down
among the trees, and kicking it up, led it to the cart, to which he
forthwith began to harness it. The other cart and horse had remained
standing motionless during the whole affair which I have been recounting,
at the bottom of the pass. The woman now took the horse by the head, and
leading it with the cart into the open part of the dingle turned both
round, and then led them back, till the horse and cart had mounted a
little way up the ascent; she then stood still and appeared to be
expecting the man. During this proceeding Belle had stood looking on
without saying anything; at last, perceiving that the man had harnessed
his horse to the other cart, and that both he and the woman were about to
take their departure, she said, "You are not going, are you?" Receiving
no answer, she continued: "I tell you what, both of you, Black John, and
you Moll, his mort, this is not treating me over civilly,--however, I am
ready to put up with it, and go with you if you like, for I bear no
malice. I'm sorry for what has happened, but you have only yourselves to
thank for it. Now, shall I go with you, only tell me?" The man made no
manner of reply, but flogged his horse. The woman, however, whose
passions were probably under less control, replied, with a screeching
tone, "Stay where you are, you jade, and may the curse of Judas cling to
you,--stay with the bit of a mullo whom you helped, and my only hope is
that he may gulley you before he comes to be--Have you with us, indeed!
after what's past, no, nor nothing belonging to you. Fetch down your
mailla go-cart and live here with your chabo." She then whipped on the
horse, and ascended the pass, followed by the man. The carts were light,
and they were not long in ascending the winding path. I followed to see
that they took their departure. Arriving at the top, I found near the
entrance a small donkey-cart, which I concluded belonged to the girl. The
tinker and his mort were already at some distance; I stood looking after
them for a little time, then taking the donkey by the reins I led it with
the cart to the bottom of the dingle. Arrived there, I found Belle
seated on the stone by the fireplace. Her hair was all dishevelled, and
she was in tears.

"They were bad people," said she, "and I did not like them, but they were
my only acquaintance in the wide world."

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

At Tea--Vapours--Isopel Berners--Softly and Kindly--Sweet Pretty
Creature--Bread and Water--Two Sailors--Truth and Constancy--Very
Strangely.

In the evening of that same day the tall girl and I sat at tea by the
fire, at the bottom of the dingle; the girl on a small stool, and myself,
as usual, upon my stone.

The water which served for the tea had been taken from a spring of
pellucid water in the neighbourhood, which I had not had the good fortune
to discover, though it was well known to my companion, and to the
wandering people who frequented the dingle.

"This tea is very good," said I, "but I cannot enjoy it as much as if I
were well: I feel very sadly."

"How else should you feel," said the girl, "after fighting with the
Flaming Tinman? All I wonder is that you can feel at all! As for the
tea, it ought to be good, seeing that it cost me ten shillings a pound."

"That's a great deal for a person in your station to pay."

"In my station! I'd have you to know, young man--however, I haven't the
heart to quarrel with you, you look so ill; and after all, it is a good
sum to pay for one who travels the roads; but if I must have tea, I like
to have the best; and tea I must have, for I am used to it, though I
can't help thinking that it sometimes fills my head with strange
fancies--what some folk call vapours, making me weep and cry."

"Dear me," said I, "I should never have thought that one of your size and
fierceness would weep and cry!"

"My size and fierceness! I tell you what, young man, you are not over
civil, this evening; but you are ill, as I said before, and I shan't take
much notice of your language, at least for the present; as for my size, I
am not so much bigger than yourself; and as for being fierce, you should
be the last one to fling that at me. It is well for you that I can be
fierce sometimes. If I hadn't taken your part against blazing Bosville,
you wouldn't be now taking tea with me."

"It is true that you struck me in the face first; but we'll let that
pass. So that man's name is Bosville; what's your own?"

"Isopel Berners."

"How did you get that name?"

"I say, young man, you seem fond of asking questions! will you have
another cup of tea?"

"I was just going to ask for another."

"Well, then, here it is, and much good may it do you; as for my name, I
got it from my mother."

"Your mother's name, then, was Isopel?"

"Isopel Berners."

"But had you never a father?"

"Yes, I had a father," said the girl, sighing, "but I don't bear his
name."

"Is it the fashion, then, in your country for children to bear their
mother's name?"

"If you ask such questions, young man, I shall be angry with you. I have
told you my name, and whether my father's or mother's, I am not ashamed
of it."

"It is a noble name."

"There you are right, young man. The chaplain in the great house, where
I was born, told me it was a noble name; it was odd enough, he said, that
the only three noble names in the county were to be found in the great
house; mine was one; the other two were Devereux and Bohun."

"What do you mean by the great house?"

"The workhouse."

"Is it possible that you were born there?"

"Yes, young man; and as you now speak softly and kindly, I will tell you
my whole tale. My father was an officer of the sea, and was killed at
sea, as he was coming home to marry my mother, Isopel Berners. He had
been acquainted with her, and had left her; but after a few months he
wrote her a letter, to say that he had no rest, and that he repented, and
that as soon as his ship came to port he would do her all the reparation
in his power. Well, young man, the very day before they reached port
they met the enemy, and there was a fight, and my father was killed,
after he had struck down six of the enemy's crew on their own deck; for
my father was a big man, as I have heard, and knew tolerably well how to
use his hands. And when my mother heard the news, she became half
distracted, and ran away into the fields and forests, totally neglecting
her business, for she was a small milliner; and so she ran demented about
the meads and forests for a long time, now sitting under a tree, and now
by the side of a river--at last she flung herself into some water, and
would have been drowned, had not some one been at hand and rescued her,
whereupon she was conveyed to the great house, lest she should attempt to
do herself further mischief, for she had neither friends nor parents--and
there she died three months after, having first brought me into the
world. She was a sweet pretty creature, I'm told, but hardly fit for
this world, being neither large, nor fierce, nor able to take her own
part. So I was born and bred in the great house, where I learnt to read
and sew, to fear God, and to take my own part. When I was fourteen I was
put out to service to a small farmer and his wife, with whom, however, I
did not stay long, for I was half starved, and otherwise ill-treated,
especially by my mistress, who one day attempting to knock me down with a
besom, I knocked her down with my fist, and went back to the great
house."

"And how did they receive you in the great house?"

"Not very kindly, young man--on the contrary, I was put into a dark room,
where I was kept a fortnight on bread and water; I did not much care,
however, being glad to have got back to the great house at any rate, the
place where I was born, and where my poor mother died, and in the great
house I continued two years longer, reading and sewing, fearing God, and
taking my own part when necessary. At the end of the two years I was
again put out to service, but this time to a rich farmer and his wife,
with whom, however, I did not live long, less time, I believe, than with
the poor ones, being obliged to leave for--"

"Knocking your mistress down?"

"No, young man, knocking my master down, who conducted himself improperly
towards me. This time I did not go back to the great house, having a
misgiving that they would not receive me, so I turned my back to the
great house where I was born, and where my poor mother died, and wandered
for several days, I know not whither, supporting myself on a few
halfpence which I chanced to have in my pocket. It happened one day, as
I sat under a hedge crying, having spent my last farthing, that a
comfortable-looking elderly woman came up in a cart, and seeing the state
in which I was, she stopped and asked what was the matter with me; I told
her some part of my story, whereupon she said, 'Cheer up, my dear, if you
like you shall go with me, and wait upon me.' Of course I wanted little
persuasion, so I got into the cart and went with her. She took me to
London and various other places, and I soon found that she was a
travelling woman, who went about the country with silks and linen. I was
of great use to her, more especially in those places where we met evil
company. Once, as we were coming from Dover, we were met by two sailors,
who stopped our cart, and would have robbed and stripped us. 'Let me get
down,' said I; so I got down, and fought with them both, till they turned
round and ran away. Two years I lived with the old gentlewoman, who was
very kind to me, almost as kind as a mother; at last she fell sick at a
place in Lincolnshire, and after a few days died, leaving me her cart and
stock in trade, praying me only to see her decently buried, which I did,
giving her a funeral fit for a gentlewoman. After which I travelled the
country melancholy enough for want of company, but so far fortunate, that
I could take my own part when any body was uncivil to me. At last,
passing through the valley of Todmorden, I formed the acquaintance of
Blazing Bosville and his wife, with whom I occasionally took journeys for
company's sake, for it is melancholy to travel about alone, even when one
can take one's own part. I soon found they were evil people; but, upon
the whole, they treated me civilly, and I sometimes lent them a little
money, so that we got on tolerably well together. He and I, it is true,
had once a dispute, and nearly came to blows, for once, when we were
alone, he wanted me to marry him, promising, if I would, to turn off Grey
Moll, or if I liked it better, to make her wait upon me as a
maid-servant; I never liked him much, but from that hour less than ever.
Of the two, I believe Grey Moll to be the best, for she is at any rate
true and faithful to him, and I like truth and constancy, don't you,
young man?"

"Yes," said I, "they are very nice things. I feel very strangely."

"How do you feel, young man?"

"Very much afraid."

"Afraid, at what? At the Flaming Tinman? Don't be afraid of him. He
won't come back, and if he did, he shouldn't touch you in this state. I'd
fight him for you, but he won't come back, so you needn't be afraid of
him."

"I'm not afraid of the Flaming Tinman."

"What, then, are you afraid of?"

"The evil one."

"The evil one," said the girl "where is he?"

"Coming upon me."

"Never heed," said the girl, "I'll stand by you."

CHAPTER LXXXVII.

Hubbub of Voices--No Offence--Nodding--The Guests.

The kitchen of the public-house was a large one, and many people were
drinking in it; there was a confused hubbub of voices.

I sat down on a bench behind a deal table, of which there were three or
four in the kitchen; presently a bulky man, in a green coat, of the
Newmarket cut, and without a hat, entered, and observing me, came up, and
in rather a gruff tone cried, "Want anything, young fellow?"