Lavengro

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Young as I was, there was much connected with this journey which highly
surprised me, and which brought to my remembrance particular scenes
described in the book which I now generally carried in my bosom. The
country was, as I have already said, submerged--entirely drowned--no land
was visible; the trees were growing bolt upright in the flood, whilst
farmhouses and cottages were standing insulated; the horses which drew us
were up to the knees in water, and, on coming to blind pools and "greedy
depths," were not unfrequently swimming, in which case the boys or
urchins who mounted them sometimes stood, sometimes knelt, upon the
saddle and pillions. No accident, however, either to the quadrupeds or
bipeds, who appeared respectively to be quite _au fait_ in their
business, and extricated themselves with the greatest ease from places in
which Pharaoh and all his hosts would have gone to the bottom. Nightfall
brought us to Peterborough, and from thence we were not slow in reaching
the place of our destination.

CHAPTER IV.

Norman Cross--Wide Expanse--Vive l'Empereur--Unpruned Woods--Man with the
Bag--Froth and Conceit--I beg your Pardon--Growing Timid--About Three
o'Clock--Taking One's Ease--Cheek on the Ground--King of the
Vipers--French King--Frenchmen and Water.

And a strange place it was, this Norman Cross, and, at the time of which
I am speaking, a sad cross to many a Norman, being what was then styled a
French prison, that is, a receptacle for captives made in the French war.
It consisted, if I remember right, of some five or six casernes, very
long, and immensely high; each standing isolated from the rest, upon a
spot of ground which might average ten acres, and which was fenced round
with lofty palisades, the whole being compassed about by a towering wall,
beneath which, at intervals, on both sides, sentinels were stationed,
whilst outside, upon the field, stood commodious wooden barracks, capable
of containing two regiments of infantry, intended to serve as guards upon
the captives. Such was the station or prison at Norman Cross, where some
six thousand French and other foreigners, followers of the grand
Corsican, were now immured.

What a strange appearance had those mighty casernes, with their blank
blind walls, without windows or grating, and their slanting roofs, out of
which, through orifices where the tiles had been removed, would be
protruded dozens of grim heads, feasting their prison-sick eyes on the
wide expanse of country unfolded from that airy height. Ah! there was
much misery in those casernes; and from those roofs, doubtless, many a
wistful look was turned in the direction of lovely France. Much had the
poor inmates to endure, and much to complain of, to the disgrace of
England be it said--of England, in general so kind and bountiful. Rations
of carrion meat, and bread from which I have seen the very hounds
occasionally turn away, were unworthy entertainment even for the most
ruffian enemy, when helpless and a captive; and such, alas! was the fare
in those casernes. And then, those visits, or rather ruthless inroads,
called in the slang of the place "straw-plait hunts," when in pursuit of
a contraband article, which the prisoners, in order to procure themselves
a few of the necessaries and comforts of existence, were in the habit of
making, red-coated battalions were marched into the prisons, who, with
the bayonet's point, carried havoc and ruin into every poor convenience
which ingenious wretchedness had been endeavouring to raise around it;
and then the triumphant exit with the miserable booty; and, worst of all,
the accursed bonfire, on the barrack parade, of the plait contraband,
beneath the view of the glaring eyeballs from those lofty roofs, amidst
the hurrahs of the troops, frequently drowned in the curses poured down
from above like a tempest-shower, or in the terrific war-whoop of "_Vive
l'Empereur_!"

It was midsummer when we arrived at this place, and the weather, which
had for a long time been wet and gloomy, now became bright and glorious;
I was subjected to but little control, and passed my time pleasantly
enough, principally in wandering about the neighbouring country. It was
flat and somewhat fenny, a district more of pasture than agriculture, and
not very thickly inhabited. I soon became well acquainted with it. At
the distance of two miles from the station was a large lake, styled in
the dialect of the country "a mere," about whose borders tall reeds were
growing in abundance, this was a frequent haunt of mine; but my favourite
place of resort was a wild sequestered spot at a somewhat greater
distance. Here, surrounded with woods and thick groves, was the seat of
some ancient family, deserted by the proprietor, and only inhabited by a
rustic servant or two. A place more solitary and wild could scarcely be
imagined; the garden and walks were overgrown with weeds and briars, and
the unpruned woods were so tangled as to be almost impervious. About
this domain I would wander till overtaken by fatigue, and then I would
sit down with my back against some beech, elm, or stately alder tree,
and, taking out my book, would pass hours in a state of unmixed
enjoyment, my eyes now fixed on the wondrous pages, now glancing at the
sylvan scene around; and sometimes I would drop the book and listen to
the voice of the rooks and wild pigeons, and not unfrequently to the
croaking of multitudes of frogs from the neighbouring swamps and fens.

In going to and from this place I frequently passed a tall elderly
individual, dressed in rather a quaint fashion, with a skin cap on his
head and stout gaiters on his legs; on his shoulders hung a moderate
sized leathern sack; he seemed fond of loitering near sunny banks, and of
groping amidst furze and low scrubby bramble bushes, of which there were
plenty in the neighbourhood of Norman Cross. Once I saw him standing in
the middle of a dusty road, looking intently at a large mark which seemed
to have been drawn across it, as if by a walking-stick. "He must have
been a large one," the old man muttered half to himself, "or he would not
have left such a trail, I wonder if he is near; he seems to have moved
this way." He then went behind some bushes which grew on the right side
of the road, and appeared to be in quest of something, moving behind the
bushes with his head downwards, and occasionally striking their roots
with his foot: at length he exclaimed, "Here he is!" and forthwith I saw
him dart amongst the bushes. There was a kind of scuffling noise, the
rustling of branches, and the crackling of dry sticks. "I have him!"
said the man at last; "I have got him!" and presently he made his
appearance about twenty yards down the road, holding a large viper in his
hand. "What do you think of that, my boy?" said he, as I went up to him;
"what do you think of catching such a thing as that with the naked hand?"
"What do I think?" said I. "Why, that I could do as much myself." "You
do," said the man, "do you? Lord! how the young people in these days are
given to conceit; it did not use to be so in my time: when I was a child,
childer knew how to behave themselves; but the childer of these days are
full of conceit, full of froth, like the mouth of this viper;" and with
his forefinger and thumb he squeezed a considerable quantity of foam from
the jaws of the viper down upon the road. "The childer of these days are
a generation of--God forgive me, what was I about to say!" said the old
man; and opening his bag he thrust the reptile into it, which appeared
far from empty. I passed on. As I was returning, towards the evening, I
overtook the old man, who was wending in the same direction. "Good
evening to you, sir," said I, taking off a cap which I wore on my head.
"Good evening," said the old man; and then, looking at me, "How's this?"
said he, "you ar'n't, sure, the child I met in the morning?" "Yes," said
I, "I am; what makes you doubt it?" "Why, you were then all froth and
conceit," said the old man, "and now you take off your cap to me." "I
beg your pardon," said I, "if I was frothy and conceited, it ill becomes
a child like me to be so." "That's true, dear," said the old man; "well;
as you have begged my pardon, I truly forgive you." "Thank you," said I;
"have you caught any more of those things?" "Only four or five," said
the old man; "they are getting scarce, though this used to be a great
neighbourhood for them." "And what do you do with them?" said I; "do you
carry them home and play with them!" "I sometimes play with one or two
that I tame," said the old man; "but I hunt them mostly for the fat which
they contain, out of which I make unguents which are good for various
sore troubles, especially for the rheumatism." "And do you get your
living by hunting these creatures?" I demanded. "Not altogether," said
the old man; "besides being a viper-hunter, I am what they call a
herbalist, one who knows the virtue of particular herbs; I gather them at
the proper season, to make medicines with for the sick." "And do you
live in the neighbourhood?" I demanded. "You seem very fond of asking
questions, child. No, I do not live in this neighbourhood in particular,
I travel about; I have not been in this neighbourhood till lately for
some years."

From this time the old man and myself formed an acquaintance; I often
accompanied him in his wanderings about the neighbourhood, and on two or
three occasions assisted him in catching the reptiles which he hunted. He
generally carried a viper with him which he had made quite tame, and from
which he had extracted the poisonous fangs; it would dance and perform
various kinds of tricks. He was fond of telling me anecdotes connected
with his adventures with the reptile species. "But," said he one day,
sighing, "I must shortly give up this business, I am no longer the man I
was, I am become timid, and when a person is timid in viper-hunting he
had better leave off, as it is quite clear his virtue is leaving him. I
got a fright some years ago, which I am quite sure I shall never get the
better of; my hand has been shaky more or less ever since." "What
frightened you?" said I. "I had better not tell you," said the old man,
"or you may be frightened too, lose your virtue, and be no longer good
for the business." "I don't care," said I; "I don't intend to follow the
business: I dare say I shall be an officer, like my father." "Well,"
said the old man, "I once saw the king of the vipers, and since then--"
"The king of the vipers!" said I, interrupting him; "have the vipers a
king?" "As sure as we have," said the old man, "as sure as we have King
George to rule over us, have these reptiles a king to rule over them."
"And where did you see him?" said I. "I will tell you," said the old
man, "though I don't like talking about the matter. It may be about
seven years ago that I happened to be far down yonder to the west, on the
other side of England, nearly two hundred miles from here, following my
business. It was a very sultry day, I remember, and I had been out
several hours catching creatures. It might be about three o'clock in the
afternoon, when I found myself on some heathy land near the sea, on the
ridge of a hill, the side of which, nearly as far down as the sea, was
heath; but on the top there was arable ground, which had been planted,
and from which the harvest had been gathered--oats or barley, I know not
which--but I remember that the ground was covered with stubble. Well,
about three o'clock, as I told you before, what with the heat of the day
and from having walked about for hours in a lazy way, I felt very tired;
so I determined to have a sleep, and I laid myself down, my head just on
the ridge of the hill, towards the field, and my body over the side down
amongst the heath; my bag, which was nearly filled with creatures, lay at
a little distance from my face; the creatures were struggling in it, I
remember, and I thought to myself, how much more comfortably off I was
than they; I was taking my ease on the nice open hill, cooled with the
breezes, whilst they were in the nasty close bag, coiling about one
another, and breaking their very hearts all to no purpose: and I felt
quite comfortable and happy in the thought, and little by little closed
my eyes, and fell into the sweetest snooze that ever I was in in all my
life; and there I lay over the hill's side, with my head half in the
field, I don't know how long, all dead asleep. At last it seemed to me
that I heard a noise in my sleep, something like a thing moving, very
faint, however, far away; then it died, and then it came again upon my
ear as I slept, and now it appeared almost as if I heard crackle,
crackle; then it died again, or I became yet more dead asleep than
before, I know not which, but I certainly lay some time without hearing
it. All of a sudden I became awake, and there was I, on the ridge of the
hill, with my cheek on the ground towards the stubble, with a noise in my
ear like that of something moving towards me, among the stubble of the
field; well, I lay a moment or two listening to the noise, and then I
became frightened, for I did not like the noise at all, it sounded so
odd; so I rolled myself on my belly, and looked towards the stubble.
Mercy upon us! there was a huge snake, or rather a dreadful viper, for it
was all yellow and gold, moving towards me, bearing its head about a foot
and a half above the ground, the dry stubble crackling beneath its
outrageous belly. It might be about five yards off when I first saw it,
making straight towards me, child, as if it would devour me. I lay quite
still, for I was stupified with horror, whilst the creature came still
nearer; and now it was nearly upon me, when it suddenly drew back a
little, and then--what do you think?--it lifted its head and chest high
in the air, and high over my face as I looked up, flickering at me with
its tongue as if it would fly at my face. Child, what I felt at that
moment I can scarcely say, but it was a sufficient punishment for all the
sins I ever committed; and there we two were, I looking up at the viper,
and the viper looking down upon me, flickering at me with its tongue. It
was only the kindness of God that saved me: all at once there was a loud
noise, the report of a gun, for a fowler was shooting at a covey of
birds, a little way off in the stubble. Whereupon the viper sunk its
head and immediately made off over the ridge of the hill, down in the
direction of the sea. As it passed by me, however--and it passed close
by me--it hesitated a moment, as if it was doubtful whether it should not
seize me; it did not, however, but made off down the hill. It has often
struck me that he was angry with me, and came upon me unawares for
presuming to meddle with his people, as I have always been in the habit
of doing."

"But," said I, "how do you know that it was the king of the vipers?"

"How do I know?" said the old man, "who else should it be? There was as
much difference between it and other reptiles as between King George and
other people."

"Is King George, then, different from other people?" I demanded.

"Of course," said the old man; "I have never seen him myself, but I have
heard people say that he is a ten times greater man than other folks;
indeed, it stands to reason that he must be different from the rest, else
people would not be so eager to see him. Do you think, child, that
people would be fools enough to run a matter of twenty or thirty miles to
see the king, provided King George--"

"Haven't the French a king?" I demanded.

"Yes," said the old man, "or something much the same, and a queer one he
is; not quite so big as King George, they say, but quite as terrible a
fellow. What of him?"

"Suppose he should come to Norman Cross!"

"What should he do at Norman Cross, child?"

"Why, you were talking about the vipers in your bag breaking their
hearts, and so on, and their king coming to help them. Now, suppose the
French king should hear of his people being in trouble at Norman Cross,
and--"

"He can't come, child," said the old man, rubbing his hands, "the water
lies between. The French don't like the water; neither vipers nor
Frenchmen take kindly to the water, child."

When the old man left the country, which he did a few days after the
conversation which I have just related, he left me the reptile which he
had tamed and rendered quite harmless by removing the fangs. I was in
the habit of feeding it with milk, and frequently carried it abroad with
me in my walks.

CHAPTER V.

The Tent--Man and Woman--Dark and Swarthy--Manner of Speaking--Bad
Money--Transfixed--Faltering Tone--Little Basket--High Opinion--Plenty of
Good--Keeping Guard--Tilted Cart--Rubricals--Jasper--The Right Sort--The
Horseman of the Lane--John Newton--The Alarm--Gentle Brothers.

One day it happened that, being on my rambles, I entered a green lane
which I had never seen before; at first it was rather narrow, but as I
advanced it became considerably wider; in the middle was a driftway with
deep ruts, but right and left was a space carpeted with a sward of
trefoil and clover; there was no lack of trees, chiefly ancient oaks,
which, flinging out their arms from either side, nearly formed a canopy,
and afforded a pleasing shelter from the rays of the sun, which was
burning fiercely above. Suddenly a group of objects attracted my
attention. Beneath one of the largest of the trees upon the grass, was a
kind of low tent or booth, from the top of which a thin smoke was
curling; beside it stood a couple of light carts, whilst two or three
lean horses or ponies were cropping the herbage which was growing nigh.
Wondering to whom this odd tent could belong, I advanced till I was close
before it, when I found that it consisted of two tilts, like those of
waggons, placed upon the ground and fronting each other, connected behind
by a sail or large piece of canvas which was but partially drawn across
the top; upon the ground, in the intervening space, was a fire, over
which, supported by a kind of iron crowbar, hung a caldron; my advance
had been so noiseless as not to alarm the inmates, who consisted of a man
and woman, who sat apart, one on each side of the fire; they were both
busily employed--the man was carding plaited straw, whilst the woman
seemed to be rubbing something with a white powder, some of which lay on
a plate beside her; suddenly the man looked up, and, perceiving me,
uttered a strange kind of cry, and the next moment both the woman and
himself were on their feet and rushing out upon me.

I retreated a few steps, yet without turning to flee. I was not,
however, without apprehension, which, indeed, the appearance of these two
people was well calculated to inspire; the woman was a stout figure,
seemingly between thirty and forty; she wore no cap, and her long hair
fell on either side of her head like horse-tails half way down her waist;
her skin was dark and swarthy, like that of a toad, and the expression of
her countenance was particularly evil; her arms were bare, and her bosom
was but half concealed by a slight boddice, below which she wore a coarse
petticoat, her only other article of dress. The man was somewhat
younger, but of a figure equally wild; his frame was long and lathy, but
his arms were remarkably short, his neck was rather bent, he squinted
slightly, and his mouth was much awry; his complexion was dark, but,
unlike that of the woman, it was more ruddy than livid; there was a deep
scar on his cheek, something like the impression of a halfpenny. The
dress was quite in keeping with the figure: in his hat, which was
slightly peaked, was stuck a peacock's feather; over a waistcoat of hide,
untanned and with the hair upon it, he wore a rough jerkin of russet hue;
smallclothes of leather, which had probably once belonged to a soldier,
but with which pipeclay did not seem to have come in contact for many a
year, protected his lower man as far as the knee; his legs were cased in
long stockings of blue worsted, and on his shoes he wore immense
old-fashioned buckles.

Such were the two beings who now came rushing upon me; the man was rather
in advance, brandishing a ladle in his hand.

"So I have caught you at last," said he; "I'll teach ye, you young
highwayman, to come skulking about my properties!"

Young as I was, I remarked that his manner of speaking was different from
that of any people with whom I had been in the habit of associating. It
was quite as strange as his appearance, and yet it nothing resembled the
foreign English which I had been in the habit of hearing through the
palisades of the prison; he could scarcely be a foreigner.

"Your properties!" said I; "I am in the King's Lane. Why did you put
them there, if you did not wish them to be seen?"

"On the spy," said the woman, "hey? I'll drown him in the sludge in the
toad-pond over the hedge."

"So we will," said the man, "drown him anon in the mud!"

"Drown me, will you?" said I; "I should like to see you! What's all this
about? Was it because I saw you with your hands full of straw plait, and
my mother there--"

"Yes," said the woman; "what was I about?"

_Myself_. How should I know? Making bad money, perhaps!

And it will be as well here to observe, that at this time there was much
bad money in circulation in the neighbourhood, generally supposed to be
fabricated by the prisoners, so that this false coin and straw plait
formed the standard subjects of conversation at Norman Cross.

"I'll strangle thee," said the beldame, dashing at me. "Bad money, is
it?"

"Leave him to me, wifelkin," said the man, interposing; "you shall now
see how I'll baste him down the lane."

_Myself_. I tell you what, my chap, you had better put down that thing
of yours; my father lies concealed within my tepid breast, and if to me
you offer any harm or wrong, I'll call him forth to help me with his
forked tongue.

_Man_. What do you mean, ye Bengui's bantling? I never heard such
discourse in all my life: playman's speech or Frenchman's talk--which, I
wonder? Your father! tell the mumping villain that if he comes near my
fire I'll serve him out as I will you. Take that--Tiny Jesus! what have
we got here! Oh, delicate Jesus! what is the matter with the child?

I had made a motion which the viper understood; and now, partly
disengaging itself from my bosom, where it had lain perdu, it raised its
head to a level with my face, and stared upon my enemy with its
glittering eyes.

The man stood like one transfixed, and the ladle with which he had aimed
a blow at me, now hung in the air like the hand which held it: his mouth
was extended, and his cheeks became of a pale yellow, save alone that
place which bore the mark which I have already described, and this shone
now portentously, like fire. He stood in this manner for some time; at
last the ladle fell from his hand, and its falling appeared to rouse him
from his stupor.

"I say, wifelkin," said he in a faltering tone, "did you ever see the
like of this here?"

But the woman had retreated to the tent, from the entrance of which her
loathly face was now thrust, with an expression partly of terror and
partly of curiosity. After gazing some time longer at the viper and
myself, the man stooped down and took up the ladle; then, as if somewhat
more assured, he moved to the tent, where he entered into conversation
with the beldame in a low voice. Of their discourse, though I could hear
the greater part of it, I understood not a single word; and I wondered
what it could be, for I knew by the sound that it was not French. At
last the man, in a somewhat louder tone, appeared to put a question to
the woman, who nodded her head affirmatively, and in a moment or two
produced a small stool, which she delivered to him. He placed it on the
ground, close by the door of the tent, first rubbing it with his sleeve,
as if for the purpose of polishing its surface.

_Man_. Now, my precious little gentleman, do sit down here by the poor
people's tent; we wish to be civil in our slight way. Don't be angry,
and say no; but look kindly upon us, and satisfied, my precious little
God Almighty.

_Woman_. Yes, my georgeous angel, sit down by the poor bodies' fire, and
eat a sweatmeat. We want to ask you a question or two; only first put
that serpent away.

_Myself_. I can sit down, and bid the serpent go to sleep, that's easy
enough; but as for eating a sweetmeat, how can I do that? I have not got
one, and where am I to get it?

_Woman_. Never fear, my tiny tawny, we can give you one, such as you
never ate, I dare say, however far you may have come from.

The serpent sunk into his usual resting-place, and I sat down on the
stool. The woman opened a box, and took out a strange little basket or
hamper, not much larger than a man's fist, and formed of a delicate kind
of matting. It was sewed at the top; but ripping it open with a knife,
she held it to me, and I saw, to my surprise, that it contained candied
fruits of a dark green hue, tempting enough to one of my age. "There, my
tiny," said she; "taste, and tell me how you like them."