[begin page 336]

At midnight all was over, and we sat in the presence of four corpses. We covered them with such rags as weⒶalteration in the MS could find, and startedⒶalteration in the MS away, fasteningⒶemendation the door behind us. Their home must be these people’s grave, for they could not have Christian burial, or be admitted to consecrated ground. They were as dogs, wild beasts, lepers, and no soulⒶalteration in the MS that valued its hope of eternal life would throw it away by meddling in any sort with these rebuked and smitten outcasts.

We had not moved four steps when I caught a sound as of footsteps upon gravel. My heart flew intoⒶrejected substantive my throat. We must not be seen coming from that house. I plucked at the king’s robe and we drewⒶalteration in the MS back and took shelter behind the corner of the cabin.

“Now we are safe,” I said, “but it was a close call—so to speak. If the night had been lighter he might have seen us, no doubt, he seemed to be so near.”

[begin page 337]

“Mayhap it is but a beast, and not a man at all.”

“True. But, man or beast, it will be wise to stay here a minute and let it get by and out of the way.”

“HarkⒶemendation! It cometh hither.”

True again. The step was coming toward us—straight toward the hut. It must be a beast, then, and we might as well have saved our trepidation. I was going to step out, but the king laid his hand uponⒶemendation my arm. There was a moment of silence, then we heard a soft knock on the cabin door. It made me shiver.Ⓐalteration in the MS Presently the knock was repeated, and thenⒶalteration in the MS we heard these words, in a guarded voice:

“Mother! father! open—we have got free, and we bring news to pale your cheeks but glad your hearts; and we may not tarry but must fly! And—but they answer not. Mother! father!—”

I drew the king toward the other end of the hut and whispered:

“Come—now we can get to the road.”

The king hesitated, was goingⒶemendation to demur; but just then we heard the door give way, and knew thatⒶalteration in the MS those desolate men were in the presence of their dead.

“Come, my liege! in a moment they will strike a light, and then will follow that which it would break your heart to hear.”

He did not hesitate, this time. The moment we were in the road, I ran; and after a moment he threwⒶalteration in the MS dignity aside and followed. I did not want to think of what was happening in the hut—I couldn’t bear it; I wanted to drive it out of my mind; soⒶalteration in the MS I struck into the first subject that lay under that one in my mind:

“I have had the disease those people died of, and so have nothing to fear; but if you have not had it also—”

He broke in upon me to say he was in trouble, and it was his conscience that was troubling him:

“These young men have got free, they say—but how? It is not likely that their lord hath set them free.”

“Oh, no, I make no doubt they escaped.”

“That is my trouble; I have a fear that this is so; and your suspicion doth confirm it, you having the same fear.”

“I shouldⒶalteration in the MS not call it by that name, though. I do suspect that they escaped, but if they did, I am not sorry, certainly.”

“I am not sorry, I think—but—”

“What is it? What is there for one to be troubled about?”

[begin page 338]

“If they did escape, then are we bound in duty to lay hands upon them and deliver them again to their lord; for it is not seemly that one of his quality should suffer a so insolent and high-handed outrage from persons of their base degree.”

There it was, again. He could see only one side of it. He was born so, educated so, his veinsⒶalteration in the MS were full of ancestral blood that was rotten withⒶalteration in the MS this sort of unconscious brutality, brought down by inheritance from a longⒶalteration in the MS procession of hearts that had each done its share toward poisoning the stream. To imprison these men without proof, and starve their kindred, was no harm, for they were merely peasants and subject to the will and pleasure of their lord, no matter what fearful form it might take; but for these men to break out of unjust captivityⒶalteration in the MS was insult and outrage, and a thing not to be countenanced by any conscientious person who knew his duty to his sacred caste.

I worked more than halfⒶalteration in the MS an hour before I got him to change the subject—and even then an outside matter did it for me. This was a something which caught our eyes as we struck the summit of a small hill—a red glow, a good way off.

“That’s a fire,” said I.

Fires interested me considerably, because I was getting a good deal of an insurance business started, and was also training some horses and building some steam fire engines, with an eye to a paid fire department by and by. The priests opposed both my fire and life insuranceⒶemendation, on the ground that it was an insolent attempt to hinder the decrees of God; and if you pointed out that they did not hinder the decrees in the least, but only modified the hard consequences of them if you took out policies and had luck, they retortedⒶalteration in the MS that that was gambling against the decrees of God, and was just as bad. So they managed to damage those industries more or less, but I got even on my Accident business. As a rule, a knight is a lummoxⒶemendation, and sometimes even a labrickⒶalteration in the MS Ⓔexplanatory note, and hence open to pretty poor arguments when they come glibly from a superstition-monger, but even he Ⓐalteration in the MS could see the practical side of a thing once in a while; and so of late, you couldn’t clean up a tournamentⒶalteration in the MS and pile the result without finding one of my accident ticketsⒶalteration in the MS in every helmet.

We stood there a while, in the thickⒶalteration in the MS darkness and stillness, looking toward the red blur in the distance, and trying to make out the meaning of a far-awayⒶemendation murmur that rose and fell fitfullyⒶalteration in the MS on the night. [begin page 339] Sometimes it swelled up and for a moment seemed less remote; but when we were hopefully expecting it to betray its cause and nature, it dulled and sank again, carrying its mystery with it. We started down the hill in its direction, and the windingⒶalteration in the MS road plunged us at once into almost solid darkness—darkness that was packed and crammed in between two tall forest walls. We groped along down for half a mile, perhaps, that murmur growing more and more distinct

all the time, the coming storm threatening more and more, with now and then a little shiver of wind, a faint show of lightning, and dull grumblingsⒶalteration in the MS of distant thunder. I was in the lead. I ran againstⒶalteration in the MS something—a soft, heavy somethingⒶalteration in the MS which gave, slightly, to the impulse of my weight—Ⓐalteration in the MSat the same moment the lightning glared out, and within a foot of my face was the writhing faceⒶalteration in the MS of a man who was hanging from the limb of a tree! That is, it seemed to be writhing, but [begin page 340] it was not.Ⓐalteration in the MS It was a grewsome sight. Straightway there was an ear-splitting explosionⒶalteration in the MS of thunder, and the bottom of heaven fell out; the rain poured down in a deluge. NoⒶalteration in the MS matter, we must try to cut this man down, mustn’t weⒶtextual note, on the chance that there might be life in him yet?Ⓐalteration in the MS Ⓐrejected substantive The lightning came quick and sharp, now, and the place was alternately noondayⒶalteration in the MS and midnight. One moment the man would be hanging before me in an intense light, and the next he was blotted out again in the darkness. I told the king we must cut him down. The king at once objected.

“If he hanged himself, he was willingⒶalteration in the MS to lose his property to his lord; so let him be. If others hanged him, belike they had the right—let him hang.”

“But—”

“But me no buts, but even leave him as he is. And for yet another reason. When the lightning cometh again—there, look abroad.Ⓐemendation”

Two others hanging, within fifty yards of us!

“It is not weather meet for doing useless courtesies unto dead folkⒶemendation. They are past thanking you. Come—it is unprofitable to tarry here.”

There was reason in what he said; so we moved on. Within the next mileⒶalteration in the MS we counted six more hanging forms by the blaze of the lightning, and altogetherⒶalteration in the MS it was a grislyⒶemendation excursion. That murmur was a murmur no longer, it wasⒶemendation a roar; a roar of men’s voices. A man came flying by, now, dimly through the darkness, and other men chasing him. They disappeared. Presently another case of the kind occurred, and then another and another. Then a sudden turn of the road brought us in sight of that fire—it was a large manor house, and littleⒶalteration in the MS or nothing was left of it—and everywhere men were flying and other men raging after them in pursuit.

I warned the king that this was not a safe place for strangers. We wouldⒶemendation better get away from the light, until matters should improve. We stepped back a little, and hid in the edge of the wood. From this hiding place we saw both men and women hunted by the mobⒶalteration in the MS. The fearful work went on until nearly dawn. Then, the fire being out and the storm spent, the voices and flying footsteps presently ceased, and darkness and stillness reigned again.

We ventured out, and hurried cautiously away; and although we [begin page 341] were worn out and sleepy, we kept on until we had put this place some miles behind us. Then we asked hospitality at the hut of a charcoal burner, and got what was to be had. A woman was upⒶalteration in the MS and about, but the man was still asleep, on a straw shake-downⒶalteration in the MS, on the clay floor. The woman seemed uneasy until I explained that we were travelers and had lost our way and been wanderingⒶalteration in the MS in the woods all night. She became talkative, then, and asked if we had heard of the terrible goings-on at the manor house of Abblasoure.Ⓐalteration in the MS Yes, we had heard of them, but whatⒶalteration in the MS we wanted now, was rest and sleep. The king brokeⒶalteration in the MS in:

“Sell us the house, and take yourselves away, for we be perilous company, being but late come from people that died of the Spotted Death.”

It was good of him, but unnecessary. One of the commonest decorations of the nation was the waffle-iron face.Ⓐemendation IⒶalteration in the MS had early noticed that the woman and her husband were both so decorated. She made us entirely welcome, and had no fears; and plainly she was immensely impressed by the king’s proposition; for of course it was a good deal of an event in her life to run across a person of the king’s humble appearance who was ready to buy a man’s house for the sake of a night’s lodging. It gave her a large respect for us, and she strained the lean possibilities of her hovel to their utmost to make us comfortable.

We slept till far into the afternoon, and then got up hungry enough to make cotterⒶalteration in the MS fare quite palatable to the king, the more particularly as it was scant in quantity. And also in variety; it consisted solely of onions, salt, and the national black bread—made out of horse-feed.Ⓐalteration in the MS The woman told us about the affair of the evening before. At ten or eleven at night, when everybody was in bed, the manorⒶalteration in the MS house burst into flames. The countrysideⒶemendation swarmed to the rescue, and the family were saved, with one exception, the master. He did not appear. Everybody was frantic over this loss, and two brave yeomen sacrificed their lives in ransacking the burning house seeking that valuable personage. But after a while he was found—what was left of him—which was his corpse. It was in a copse three hundred yards away, bound, gagged, stabbed in a dozen places.

Who had done this? Suspicion fell upon a humble family ofⒶrejected substantive the neighborhood who had been lately treated with peculiar harshness by the baron; and from these people the suspicion easily extended [begin page 342] itself to their relatives and familiars. A suspicion was enough; my lord’s liveried retainers proclaimed an instant crusade against these people, and were promptly joined by the community in general. The woman’s husband had been active with the mob, and had not returned home until nearly dawn. He was gone, now, to find out what the general result had been. While we were still talking, he came back from his quest. His report was revolting enough. EighteenⒶalteration in the MS persons hanged or butchered; and two yeomen and thirteen prisoners lost in the fire.

“And howⒶemendation many prisoners were there altogether, in the vaults?”

“Thirteen.”

“Then every one of them was lost.”

“Yes, all.”

“But the people arrived in time to saveⒶemendation the family; how is it they could save none of the prisoners?”

The man looked puzzled, and said:

“Would one unlock the vaults at such a time? Marry, some would have escaped.”

“Then you mean that nobody did unlock them?”

“None went near them, either to lock or unlock. It standeth to reason that the boltsⒶemendation were fast; wherefore it was only needful to establish a watch, so that if any broke the bonds he might not escape,Ⓐalteration in the MS but be taken. None were taken.”

“Natheless, three did escape,” said the king, “and ye will do well to publish it and set justice upon their track, for these murthered the baron and fired the house.”

I was just expecting he would come out with that. ForⒶalteration in the MS a moment the man and his wife showed an eager interest in this news and an impatience to go out and spread it; then a sudden something else betrayed itself in their faces,Ⓐalteration in the MS and they began to ask questions. I answered the questions myself, and narrowly watched the effects produced. I was soon satisfied that the knowledge of who these three prisoners were, had somehow changed the atmosphere; that our hosts’ continued eagerness to go and spread the news was now only pretended and not real. The king did not notice the change, and I was glad of that. I worked the conversation around toward other details of the night’s proceedings, and noted that these people were relieved to have it take that direction.

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The painful thing observable about all this business was, the alacrity with which this oppressed community had turned their cruel hands against their own class in the interest of the common oppressor. This man and woman seemed to feel that in a quarrel between a personⒶalteration in the MS of their own class and his lord, it was the natural and proper and rightful thing for that poor devil’s whole caste to side with the master and fight his battle for him, without ever stopping to inquire into the rights or wrongs of the matter. This man had been out helping to hang his neighbors, and had done his work with zeal, and yet was aware that there was nothing against them but a mere suspicion, with nothing back of it describable as evidence; stillⒶtextual note Ⓐemendation neither he nor his wife seemed to see anything horrible about it.

This was depressing—to a man with the dream of a republic in his head. It reminded me of a time thirteen centuries away, when the “poor whites” of our South who were always despised,Ⓐalteration in the MS and frequently insulted, by the slave lordsⒶemendation around them, and whoⒶalteration in the MS owed their base condition simplyⒶalteration in the MS to the presenceⒶalteration in the MS of slavery in their midst, were yet pusillanimously ready to side with the slaveⒶrejected substantive lords in allⒶalteration in the MS political moves for the upholding and perpetuating of slavery, and did also finally shoulder their muskets and pour out their lives in an effort to prevent the destruction of that very institution which degraded them. And there was only one redeeming feature connected with that pitiful piece of history; and that was, that secretly the “poor white”Ⓐemendation did detest the slave lord, and did feel his own shame. ThatⒶalteration in the MS feeling was not brought to the surface, but the fact that it was there and could have been brought out, under favoring circumstances, was something—in fact it was enough; for it showed that a man is at bottom a man, after all, even if it doesn’t show on the outside.

Well, as it turned out, this charcoal burner was just the twin of the Southern “poor white” of the far future. The king presently showed impatience, and said:

“An ye prattle here all the day, justice will miscarry. Think ye the criminals will abide in their father’s house? They are fleeing, they are not waiting. You should look to it that a party of horse be set upon their track.”

The woman paled slightly, but quite perceptibly, and the man looked flustered and irresolute. I said:

“Come, friend, I will walk a little way with you, and explain which [begin page 344]

direction I thinkⒶalteration in the MS they would try to take. If they were merely resisters of the gabelle or some kindred absurdityⒶemendation I would try to protect them from capture; but when men murder a person of high degree and likewise burn his house, that is another matter.”

The last remark was for the king—to quiet him. On the road, the man pulled his resolution together, and began the march with a steady gait, but thereⒶemendation was no eagerness in it. By and by I said:

“What relation were these menⒶemendation to you—cousins?”

He turned as white as his layer of charcoal would let him, and stopped, trembling.

[begin page 345]

“Ah, my God, how knew you that?Ⓐalteration in the MS”

“I didn’t know it; it was a chance guess.”

“Poor lads, they are lost. And good lads they were, too.”

“Were you actually going yonder to tell on them?”

He didn’t quite know how to take that; but he said, hesitatinglyⒶemendation:

“Ye-sⒶemendation.”

“Then I think you are a damned scoundrel!Ⓐemendation”

It made him as glad as if I had called him an angel.

“Say the good words again, brother! for surely ye mean that ye would not betray me an I failed of my duty.”

“Duty? There is no duty in the matter, except the duty to keep still and let those men get away. They’ve done a righteous deed.”

He looked pleased; pleased, and touched with apprehension at the same time. He looked up and down the road to see that no one was coming, and then said in a cautious voice:

“From what land come you, brother, that you speak such perilousⒶalteration in the MS words, and seem not to be afraid?”

“They are not perilous words when spoken to one of my own caste, I take it. You would not tell anybody I said them?”

“I? I would be drawn asunder by wild horses first.”

“Well, then, let me say my say. I have no fears of your repeating it. I think devil’s work has been done last night upon those innocent poor people. That old baron got only what he deserved. If I had my way, all his kind should have the same luck.”

Fear and depression vanished from the man’s manner, and gratefulness and a brave animation took their place:Ⓐemendation

“Even though you be a spy, and your words a trap for my undoing, yet are they such refreshment that to hear them again and others like to them, I would go to the gallows happy, as having had one good feast atⒶalteration in the MS least in a starved life. And I will say my say, now, and ye may report it if ye be so minded. I helped to hang my neighbors for that it were peril to my own life to show lack of zeal in the master’s cause; the others helped for none other reason. All rejoice to-day that he is dead, but all do go aboutⒶalteration in the MS seeminglyⒶalteration in the MS sorrowing, and shedding the hypocrite’s tear, for in that lies safety. I have said the words, I have said the words! the only ones that have ever tasted good in my mouth, and the reward of that taste is sufficient. Lead on, an ye will, be it even to the scaffold; for I am ready.”

[begin page 346]

There it was, you see. A man is a man, at bottom. Whole ages of abuse and oppression cannot crush the manhood clear out of him. Whoever thinks it a mistake, is himself mistaken. Yes, there is plenty good enough material for a republic in the most degraded people that ever existed—even the RussiansⒶemendation; plenty of manhood in them—even in the Germans—ifⒶemendation one could but force it out of its timid and suspicious privacy, to overthrow and trample in the mud any throne that ever wasⒶemendation set up and any nobilityⒶalteration in the MS that ever supported it. We should see certain things yet, let us hope and believe. First, a modifiedⒶemendation monarchy, till Arthur’s days were done, then the destruction of the throne, nobility abolished, every member of it bound out to some useful trade, universal suffrage instituted, and the whole government placed in the hands of the men and women of the nation there to remain. Yes, there was no occasion to give up my dream yet a while.