The Path of the King

rt

or the earthen floor was puddled by the feet of generations of hogs, and in the corner lay piles of rotting acorns. Outside the mist had f

nt at the entrance, for

nd put his shoulder to the door of oa

a step inside befor

," he cried-"something th

hered boughs, something dark which might be a man. They stood still and listened. There was the sound of painful breathing, and then the gasp with which a

s were vacant, dazzled by the light and also by pain. He seemed to have had hard usage that day, for his shaggy locks were matted with blood from a sword-cut a

western marches who had followed Alan of Brittany; a third had the olive cheeks and the long nose of the south; and the fourth was a heavy German from beyond the Rhine. They were th

f him." Indeed, in the wild light the wounded man, with his flat

one they called Gil. "He h

t adepts in murder. Loot was their first thought, but after that furtive slayin

ewhere a round English buckler, gave the orders. "I will run in on him, and take his stroke, so y

eir speech was foreign to the wounded man, but he saw their purpose. He was clearly foredone with pain, but his vacant eyes kindled to

m backwards and he could not use his weapon. The spears on the flanks failed for the same reason, and the two men posted there had well-nigh been the d

of sport to seek. Mouthing curses, the three of them went to the rescue of the leader, and a weaponless and sore-wounded man cannot strive with such odds. They o

d down on the struggle. He was a tall, very lean man, smooth faced, and black haired, helmetless and shieldless, but wear

ne. His eyes were dark and dancing, like the ripples on a peat

it illumined the whole hut. Then he reached out a hand, plucked the ex-priest from his quarry, and, swinging him in both a

," he sai

dds. They were ready to surrender, still readier to run, and they stood on their defence with no fight in their faces, whining in their several patois. All but the man from the south. He was cree

est had carried, and hurled it straight at the creeping miscreant. It was a heavy oaken thing with rim and boss of iron, and it caught him fairly above the ear, so that he dropped lik

n of a man, whose conical helmet surmounted a vast pale face, on which blond moustaches hung like the teeth of a walrus. The said helmet was grievously battered, and the nose-piece was awry as if from some fierce blow, but there was no scar o

his deliverer, tall and grim, but with laughing face; the two murderers cringing in their fear; in a corner the huddled body of the man from the south half hidden by the shield. "Speak, fellow,

he face, and, as if liking what he found there, bowed his he

mbled on this hut and found four men about to slay a wounded English. One lies outside whe

hy should a soldier of the Duke's be

have to fight other armies, but we cannot be fighting all our days, and we do not conquer England till England accepts us. I have heard e

nt," he cried. "But who are you that bea

this morning on the hill. They call him Jehan the Hunter, and sometimes Jehan the Outborn, for no man knows his comings. There is a rumo

soldier, and his light eyes seemed to read deep. "Are you that ma

nd, and it is our business to make bonfire of them before they breed a plague.... See to the wounded man, likewise. He may be one of the stout house-carles who fough

o soldiers, who faced each other while the

of thinking. They call me the Dove from the shield I bear, and a dove I seek to be in the winning of England. The hawk's task is over when the battle is won, and he who has but the sword for weapon is no hawk, but carrion-crow. We have to set our Duke on the throne, but that is but the

the company of Ivo of Dives, and followed him when Duke William swept northward

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ove's errands, for Ivo held that the crooning of peace notes came best after hard blows. But at his worst he was hawk and not crow, and malice did not follow his steps. The men he beat had a rude respect for one who was just and patient in victory, and whose laughter did not spare himself. Like master like man; and Jehan w

han did his tasks with few helpers; and they rode well in the rear, for he loved to be alone. The weather was all October gleams and glooms, now the sunshine of April, now the purple depths of a thunderstorm. There was no rain in the air, but an infinity of mist, which moved in fantastic shapes, rolling close abou

and that lay quiet as a grave from mountain to mountain. But this day something new had been joined to his affection. The air that met him from the east had that in it which stirred some antique memory. There was brine in it from the unruly eastern sea, and the sourness of marsh w

hildhood. The priest had told him it was the shrine of the Lord Apollo and forbade him on the pain of a mighty cursing to do reverence to it. Nevertheless he had been wont to doff his cap when he passed it, for he respected a god that lived in the

warily, for the King's law runs limpingly in the fanlands. I counsel that a picket be sent forward to

a thief in the night. This is a daylight business. If

on Jehan's brow. He plucked sprays of autumn berries and tossed and caught them, he sang gently to himself and spok

was visible, but not for nothing was Jehan named the Hunter. He was aware that every tuft of reed and scrog of wood concealed a spear or a bowman. So he set his head stiff and laughed, and hummed a bar of a song which the ferry-me

r had been launched; now he was before the massive oaken gate. Suddenly it swung open and a man came out. He was

he asked in the

ur lord the King

passport," s

hen,-in the name o

hand on the off stirrup. Jehan leaped to

aid, and he took between his palms

e man. "But for that meeting, my lord, you had tas

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neighbours," said

ll get a dusty welcome," he said. "There is but the Lady Hilda at

ind him, and he rode alone, having sent back his men-at-arms to Ivo. "He has the bold heart,"

and her grey eyes flashed fire. She was a tall maid, very fair to look upon, and the blue tunic which she wore over h

s house and a woman to

r," said Jehan, dismounting and

e a home, mistress. I would dwe

will get none from me. My brothe

d I will never cross this water

and every runnel of the fens was swollen. He got the same answer from the girl, and with it a warning "Aelward and his men wait for y

t here the hour or two till nightfall. I am Englishman e

Aelward. "Meet me," it ran, "to-morrow by the Danes' barrow at noon, and

sword. "There will be hot work to-day in that forest," h

or no, you are such a man as I love. Beware of Aelward a

surly-response to the other's greeting. It was a blue winter's day, with rime still white on the grass, and th

nged him in circles of light, and the famous downward stroke was expended on vacant air. He played with him till he breathed heavily like a cow, and then by a sleight

pped off his hauberk. "We have fought with weapons

ew. His great arms crushed the Frenchman till the ribs cracked, but always the other slipped through and evaded the fatal hug. And as the struggle

eath him, and a mountain descended on his skull. When he blinked himself in

as saying. "Had I not known the trick of it, you had

eat me fairly, armed and weaponless," h

er. "We have played together and I have had the luck o

has stood harder dints. But you have broken m

the bridge of Galland fen. On the far side of the water stood the Lady Hilda. He halted and waite

Aelward. "It is but a half-grow

pass that bridge till

him, sister. He and I are warm

house of Galland, whence in the next cows

brought heavy French cattle to improve the little native breed, and made a garden of fruit trees where once had been only bent and sedge. The thralls wrought cheerfully for him, for he was a kindly master, and the

ide as if he had been born in it. Something in the soft woodland air and the sharper tang of the fens and the sea awoke response from his innermost soul. An aching affection was born in him

d had risen in an iron age by a merciless greed, came a-foraying from the north to see how he might add to his fortunes. Men called him the Crane, for he was tall and lean and parchment-skinned, and to his banner resorted all malcontents and broken men. He s

entered their borders. The good Ivo was overseas, busy on

omers. But us of the old stock he claims as his prey. How say you, Frenchman? Will you

ogic that such carrion understands. I am by your side, b

of the shallows, and a harrier-hawk swooped to the pounce, but the long bird flopped secure

. The bere was shaking white and gold in the light evening wind; in the new orchard he had planted the apples were reddening; from the edge of the forest land rose wreaths of smoke where the thr

iest had once had the training of him.

e. From a finger of his left hand he took the thick ring of

then bid him wear it as his father's guerdon. I had it from my father, who had it from his, and my grandfather told me the tale of it. In his grandsire's day it was a mighty armlet, but in the famine years it was melted and part sold, and only t

his little son, and with his men rode northw

imple songs, the echo of which may still be traced by curious scholars. There is something of it in the great saga of Robin Hood, and long after the fens were drained women hush

England and the peace of the new king. Of the little force Jehan was appointed leader, and once again became the Hunter, stalking a baser quarry than wolf or boar. For t

nt was brought in and forced to speak, he told with scared face a tale of the great mustering of desperate men in this or that quarter. The Crane was a hardy fighter, but the mystery baffled him, and he became cautious, and-after the fashion of his kind credulous. Bit by bit Jehan shepherded him

ve his enemy to the point of the dry ground, and thrust him into the marshes. Not since the time of the Danes had the land known such a slaying. The refuse of France and the traitor English who had joined them went down like sheep b

n axe-wound in the neck. His face was ashen with the onc

e said. "He had a stout

s he was brave. He would have s

me by your side. I will nourish your son, as if he had been that one of my own whom Heaven h

ed in blood, and his breath labouring like wind in a threshing-floor. He

"What need is there of priest to he