That night all the squires1' quarters buzzed with the story of how the new boy, Falworth, had answered Sir James Lee to his face without fear, and had exchanged blows with him hand to hand. Walter Blunt himself was moved to some show of interest.
“What said he to thee, Falworth?” asked he.
“He said naught2,” said Myles, brusquely. “He only sought to show me how to recover from the under cut.”
“It is passing strange that he should take so much notice of thee as to exchange blows with thee with his own hand. Haply thou art either very quick or parlous3 slow at arms.”
“It is quick that he is,” said Gascoyne, speaking up in his friend's behalf. “For the second time that Falworth delivered the stroke, Sir James could not reach him to return; so I saw with mine own eyes.”
But that very sterling4 independence that had brought Myles so creditably through this adventure was certain to embroil5 him with the rude, half-savage lads about him, some of whom, especially among the bachelors, were his superiors as well in age as in skill and training. As said before, the bachelors had enforced from the younger boys a fagging sort of attendance on their various personal needs, and it was upon this point that Myles first came to grief. As it chanced, several days passed before any demand was made upon him for service to the heads of the squirehood, but when that demand was made, the bachelors were very quick to see that the boy who was bold enough to speak up to Sir James Lee was not likely to be a willing fag for them.
“I tell thee, Francis,” he said, as Gascoyne and he talked over the matter one day—“I tell thee I will never serve them. Prithee, what shame can be fouler6 than to do such menial service, saving for one's rightful Lord?”
“Marry!” quoth Gascoyne; “I reason not of shame at this or that. All I know is that others serve them who are haply as good and maybe better than I be, and that if I do not serve them I get knocked i' th' head therefore, which same goeth soothly against my stomach.”
“I judge not for thee,” said Myles. “Thou art used to these castle ways, but only I know that I will not serve them, though they be thirty against me instead of thirteen.”
“Then thou art a fool,” said Gascoyne, dryly.
Now in this matter of service there was one thing above all others that stirred Myles Falworth's ill-liking. The winter before he had come to Devlen, Walter Blunt, who was somewhat of a Sybarite in his way, and who had a repugnance7 to bathing in the general tank in the open armory8 court in frosty weather, had had Dick Carpenter build a trough in the corner of the dormitory for the use of the bachelors, and every morning it was the duty of two of the younger squires to bring three pails of water to fill this private tank for the use of the head esquires. It was seeing two of his fellow-esquires fetching and carrying this water that Myles disliked so heartily9, and every morning his bile was stirred anew at the sight.
He did not know how soon his protestations would be put to the test.
One night—it was a week or two after Myles had come to Devlen—Blunt was called to attend the Earl at livery. The livery was the last meal of the day, and was served with great pomp and ceremony about nine o'clock at night to the head of the house as he lay in bed. Curfew had not yet rung, and the lads in the squires' quarters were still wrestling and sparring and romping11 boisterously13 in and out around the long row of rude cots in the great dormitory as they made ready for the night. Six or eight flaring14 links in wrought-iron brackets that stood out from the wall threw a great ruddy glare through the barrack-like room—a light of all others to romp12 by. Myles and Gascoyne were engaged in defending the passage-way between their two cots against the attack of three other lads, and Myles held his sheepskin coverlet rolled up into a ball and balanced in his hand, ready for launching at the head of one of the others so soon as it should rise from behind the shelter of a cot. Just then Walter Blunt, dressed with more than usual care, passed by on his way to the Earl's house. He stopped for a moment and said, “Mayhaps I will not be in until late to-night. Thou and Falworth, Gascoyne, may fetch water to-morrow.”
Then he was gone. Myles stood staring after his retreating figure with eyes open and mouth agape, still holding the ball of sheepskin balanced in his hand. Gascoyne burst into a helpless laugh at his blank, stupefied face, but the next moment he laid his hand on his friend's shoulder.
Myles made no answer. He flung down his sheepskin and sat him gloomily down upon the side of the cot.
“I said that I would sooner die than fetch water for them,” said he.
“Aye, aye,” said Gascoyne; “but that was spoken in haste.”
Myles said nothing, but shook his head.
But, after all, circumstances shape themselves. The next morning when he rose up through the dark waters of sleep it was to feel some one shaking him violently by the shoulder.
“Come!” cried Gascoyne, as Myles opened his eyes—“come, time passeth, and we are late.”
Myles, bewildered with his sudden awakening17, and still fuddled with the fumes18 of sleep, huddled19 into his doublet and hose, hardly knowing what he was doing; tying a point here and a point there, and slipping his feet into his shoes. Then he hurried after Gascoyne, frowzy20, half-dressed, and even yet only half-awake. It was not until he was fairly out into the fresh air and saw Gascoyne filling the three leathern buckets at the tank, that he fully21 awakened22 to the fact that he was actually doing that hateful service for the bachelors which he had protested he would sooner die than render.
The sun was just rising, gilding23 the crown of the donjon-keep with a flame of ruddy light. Below, among the lesser24 buildings, the day was still gray and misty25. Only an occasional noise broke the silence of the early morning: a cough from one of the rooms; the rattle26 of a pot or a pan, stirred by some sleepy scullion; the clapping of a door or a shutter27, and now and then the crowing of a cock back of the long row of stables—all sounding loud and startling in the fresh dewy stillness.
“Thou hast betrayed me,” said Myles, harshly, breaking the silence at last. “I knew not what I was doing, or else I would never have come hither. Ne'theless, even though I be come, I will not carry the water for them.”
“So be it,” said Gascoyne, tartly28. “An thou canst not stomach it, let be, and I will e'en carry all three myself. It will make me two journeys, but, thank Heaven, I am not so proud as to wish to get me hard knocks for naught.” So saying, he picked up two of the buckets and started away across the court for the dormitory.
Then Myles, with a lowering face, snatched up the third, and, hurrying after, gave him his hand with the extra pail. So it was that he came to do service, after all.
“Why tarried ye so long?” said one of the older bachelors, roughly, as the two lads emptied the water into the wooden trough. He sat on the edge of the cot, blowzed and untrussed, with his long hair tumbled and disordered.
His dictatorial29 tone stung Myles to fury. “We tarried no longer than need be,” answered he, savagely30. “Have we wings to fly withal at your bidding?”
He spoke16 so loudly that all in the room heard him; the younger squires who were dressing31 stared in blank amazement32, and Blunt sat up suddenly in his cot.
“Why, how now?” he cried. “Answerest thou back thy betters so pertly, sirrah? By my soul, I have a mind to crack thy head with this clog33 for thy unruly talk.”
He glared at Myles as he spoke, and Myles glared back again with right good-will. Matters might have come to a crisis, only that Gascoyne and Wilkes dragged their friend away before he had opportunity to answer.
“Myles, Myles,” said Gascoyne, almost despairingly, “why wilt thou breed such mischief36 for thyself? Seest thou not thou hast got thee the ill-will of every one of the bachelors, from Wat Blunt to Robin37 de Ramsey?”
“I care not,” said Myles, fiercely, recurring38 to his grievance39. “Heard ye not how the dogs upbraided40 me before the whole room? That Blunt called me an ill-conditioned knave.”
“Marry!” said Gascoyne, laughing, “and so thou art.”
Thus it is that boldness may breed one enemies as well as gain one friends. My own notion is that one's enemies are more quick to act than one's friends.
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1
squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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2
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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parlous
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| adj.危险的，不确定的，难对付的 | |
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4
sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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embroil
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| vt.拖累；牵连；使复杂 | |
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6
fouler
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| adj.恶劣的( foul的比较级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的 | |
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7
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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8
armory
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| n.纹章，兵工厂，军械库 | |
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9
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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10
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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11
romping
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| adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
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12
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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13
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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14
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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16
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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17
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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18
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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frowzy
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| adj.不整洁的；污秽的 | |
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21
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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24
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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25
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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27
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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28
tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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29
dictatorial
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| adj. 独裁的，专断的 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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31
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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32
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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33
clog
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| vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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35
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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36
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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37
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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38
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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39
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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40
upbraided
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| v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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