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without he was so good and so anxious to learn and flushed so pink that his education was cut short and he was left to his own devices by every one except the senior who continued to make life a burden to the worm the senior meant no harm but his was coarse and he didn t quite understand where to stop he had been waiting too long for his company and that always a man also he was in love which made him worse one day after he had borrowed the worm s trap for a lady who never existed had used it him plain tales from the hills self all the afternoon had sent a note to the worm to come the lady and was telling the mess all about it the worm rose in his place and said in his quiet lady like voice that was a very pretty sell but i ll lay you a month s pay to a month s pay when you get your step that i work a sell on you that you ll remember for the rest of your days and the regiment after you when you re dead or broke the worm wasn t angry in the least and the rest of the mess shouted then the s looked at the worm from the boots upwards and down again and said done baby the worm held the rest of the mess to witness that the bet had been taken and retired into a book with a sweet smile two months passed and the senior still educated the worm who began to move about a little more as the hot weather came on i have said that the senior was in love the curious thing is that a girl was in love with the senior though the colonel said awful things and the and the married captains looked unutterable wisdom and the those two were engaged the senior was so pleased with getting his company and his acceptance at the same time that he forgot to bother the worm the girl was a pretty girl and had money a her own she does not come into this story at all his wedded wife one night at the beginning of the hot weather all the mess except the worm who had gone to his own room to write home letters were sitting on the platform outside the mess house the band had finished playing but no one wanted to go in and the captains wives were there also the folly of a man in love is unlimited the senior had been holding forth on the merits of the girl he was engaged to and the ladies were approval while the men yawned when there was a rustle of skirts in the dark and a tired faint voice lifted itself where s my husband i do not wish in the least to reflect on the morality of the but it is on record that four men jumped up as if they had been shot three of them were married men perhaps they were afraid that their wives had come from home the fourth said that he had acted on the impulse of the moment he explained this afterwards then the voice cried o was the senior s name a woman came into the little circle of light by the candles on the tables stretching out her hands to the dark where the senior was and sobbing we rose to our feet feeling that things were going to happen and ready to believe the worst in this bad small world of ours one knows so little of plain tales from the hills the life of the next man which after all is entirely his own concern that one is not surprised when a crash comes anything might turn up any day for any one perhaps the senior had been in his men are crippled that way occasionally we didn t know we wanted to hear and the captains wives were as anxious as we if he had been he was to be excused for the woman from in the dusty shoes and gray travelling dress was very lovely with black hair and great eyes full of she was tall with a fine figure and her voice had a running sob in it pitiful to hear as soon as the senior stood up she threw her arms round his neck and called him my darling and said she could not bear waiting alone in england and his letters were so short and cold and she was his to the end of the world and would he forgive her f this did not sound quite like a lady s way of speaking it was too things seemed black indeed and the wives peered under their eyebrows at the senior and the colonel s set like the of judgment framed in gray and no spoke for a while next the colonel said very shortly well sir f and the woman sobbed the senior was half choked with the arms round his but he gasped out it s a his wedded wife i never had a wife in my life don t swear said the colonel come into the mess we must this clear somehow and he sighed to himself for he believed in his did the colonel we into the room under the full lights and there we saw how beautiful the woman was she stood up in the middle of us all sometimes choking with crying then hard and proud and then holding out her arms to the senior it was like the fourth act of a tragedy she told us how the senior had married her when he was home on leave eighteen months before and she seemed to know all that we knew and more too of his people and his past life he was	39
white and gray trying now and again to break into the torrent of her words and we noting how lovely she was and what a criminal he looked esteemed him a beast of the worst kind we felt sorry for him though i shall never forget the of the senior by his wife nor will he it was so sudden rushing out of the dark into our dull the captains wives stood back but their eyes were alight and you could see that they had already convicted and the senior the colonel seemed five years older one major was his eyes with his hand and watching the woman from under plain tales from the hills it another was his moustache and smiling quietly as if he were witnessing a full in the open space in the centre by the tables the senior s was hunting for i remember all this as clearly as though a photograph were in my hand i remember die look of horror on the senior s it was rather like seeing a man hanged but much more interesting finally the woman wound up by saying that the senior carried a ble f m in on his left shoulder we all knew that and to our innocent minds it seemed to the matter but one of the bachelor said very politely i presume that your would be more to the that roused the woman she stood up and sneered at the senior for a cur and abused the major and the colonel and all the then she wept and then she pulled a paper from her breast saying take that and let my husband my wedded husband read it aloud if he dare there was a hush and the men looked into each other s eyes as the senior came forward in a dazed and dizzy way and took the paper we were wondering as we whether was anything against any one of os that might turn up later on the senior s throat was dry but as he ran his eye over his wedded wife die paper he broke out into a hoarse of relief and said to the woman you young but the woman had fled through a door and on the paper was written this is to that i the worm have paid in full my debts to the senior and further that the senior is my by agreement on the d of february as by the mess to the extent of one month s captain s pay in the lawful of the indian empire then a set off for the worm s quarters and found him and between his stays with the hat wig and dress on the bed he came over as he was and the shouted till the mess sent over to know if they might have a share of the fun i think we were all except the colonel and the senior a little disappointed that the scandal had come to nothing but that is human nature there could be no two words about the worm s acting it leaned as near to a nasty tragedy as anything this side of a joke can when most of the sat upon him with so cushions to find out why he had not said that acting was his strong point he answered very quietly i don t think you ever asked me i used to act at home with my sisters but no acting with girls could account for the worm s display that night personally i think it was in bad taste plain tales from the hills beside being dangerous there is do sort of in with fire even fun the made him president of tbe dramatic club and when the paid up his debt which he did at the worm sank the money in scenery and dresses he was a good worm and the are proud of the only is that he has been mrs senior and as there are now two mrs senior in the station this is sometimes to later on i will tell you of a case something like this but with all the jest left out and in it but real trouble the broken link while the holds or the long neck while the big beam or the last bell rings while horses are horses to train and to race then women and wine take a second place for me for me while a short ten three has a field to or fence to g r there are more ways of running a horse to suit your book than pulling his head off in the straight some men forget this understand clearly that all racing is rotten as everything connected with losing money must be in india in addition to its inherent it has the merit of being two thirds sham looking pretty on paper only every one knows every one else too well for business purposes how on earth can you rack and harry and post a man for his when you are fond of his wife and live in the same station with him he says on the monday wing i can t settle just yet you say all right old man and think yourself lucky if you pull off nine hundred out of a two thousand plain tales from the hills debt any way you look at it indian racing is and which is much worse if a man wants your money he ought to ask for it or send round a instead of about the country with an a with as much breed as the boy a brace of in gold caps three or four with and a of a mare called because she has a in her flag racing leads to the quicker than anything else but if you have no conscience and no sentiments and good hands and some knowledge of	39
pace and ten years experience of horses and several thousand a month i believe that you can occasionally contrive to pay your bills did you ever know b w g if coarse loose mule like ears barrel as long as a gate post tough as a telegraph wire and the brute that ever looked through a bridle f he was of no brand being one of an ear mob taken into the at s a head to make up freight and sold raw and out of condition at for rs people who lost money on him called him a but if ever any horse had s shoulders and the gin s temper was that horse two miles was his own particular distance he trained himself ran himself and rode himself and if his the broken link insulted him by giving him hints he shut up at once and the boy off he objected to two or three of his owners did not understand this and lost money in consequence at last he was bought by a man who discovered that if a race was to be won and only would win it in his own way so long as his sat still this man had a riding boy called a lad from west and he taught with a s whip the hardest thing a can to sit still to sit still and to keep on sitting still when grasped this truth the country no weight could stop him at his own distance and the fame of spread from in the south to in the north there was no horse like so long as he was allowed to do his work in his own way but he was beaten in the end and the story of his am is enough to make angels weep at the lower end of the just before the turn into the straight the track passes close to a couple of old brick a shaped hollow the big end of the is not six feet from the on the ofl the peculiarity of the course is that if you stand at one particular place about half a mile away inside the course and speak at ordinary pitch your voice just the of plain tales from the hills the brick and makes a curious echo there a man discovered this one morning by accident while out training with a friend he marked the place to stand and speak from with a couple of bricks and he kept his knowledge to himself every peculiarity of a course is worth remembering in a country where rats play the mischief with the elephant litter and build to suit their own stables this man ran a very country bred a long high mare with the temper of a and the paces of an airy wandering a stretch the mare was as a delicate tribute to mrs called the lady or for short was a quite well behaved boy but his nerve had been shaken he began his career by riding jump races in where a few want and was one of the who came through the awful perhaps you will recollect it of the plate the walls were logs oi into with wings as strong as church once in his stride a horse had to jump or ill he couldn t run out in the plate twelve horses were at the second wall red hat leading fell this side and threw out the and the came up behind and the the broken link space between wing and wing was one struggling screaming kicking four were taken out dead three were very badly hurt and was among the three he told the story of the plate sometimes and when he described how on red hat said as the mare fell under him god ha mercy i m done for and how next instant there and white had crushed the life out of poor and the dust hid a small hell of men and horses no one that had dropped jump races and together s owner knew that story by heart never varied it in the telling he had no education came to the races one year and his owner walked about insulting the of generally till they went to the secretary in a body and said and arrange a race which shall break and humble the pride of his owner the districts rose against and sent up of their best who was supposed to be able to do his mile in the bred trained by a cavalry regiment who knew how to train the lamb of the th the pride of and many others they called that race the broken link because it was to and the piled on the and the fund plain tales from the hills gave eight hundred and the distance was round the course for all horses owner said you can arrange the race with regard to only so long as you don t bury him under weight i don t mind s owner said i throw in my mare to fret six is s distance and she will then lie down and die so also will for his doesn t understand a waiting race now this was a lie for had been in work for two months at and her chances were good always supposing that broke a blood vessel or moved on him the plunging in the was fine they filled eight thousand on the and the account in the said that was divided in plain english the various were wild on their respective horses for the had done their work well the secretary shouted himself hoarse through the din and the smoke of the was like the smoke and the rattling of the boxes like the rattle of small arm fire ten horses started very level	39
and s owner out on his hack to a place inside the circle of the course where two bricks had been thrown he towards the brick at the lower end of the course and waited the broken link the story of the running is in the at the end of the first mile crept out of the well on the outside ready to get round the turn lay hold of the bit and spin up the straight before the others knew he had got away was sitting still perfectly happy listening to the drum drum drum of the hoofs behind and knowing that in about twenty strides would draw one deep breath and go up the last half mile like the flying as went short to take the turn and come abreast of the brick mound heard above the noise of the wind in his ears a wailing voice on the saying god ha mercy i m done for in one stride saw the whole of the plate before him started in his saddle and gave a yell of terror the start brought the heels into sides and the scream hurt feelings he couldn t stop dead but he put out his feet and slid along for fifty yards and then very gravely and off a shaking ter stricken lump while made a neck and neck race with up the straight and won by a short head a bad third owner in the stand tried to think that his field glasses had gone wrong s owner waiting by the two bricks gave one deep sigh of relief and back to the plain tales from the hills stand he had won in and about fifteen thousand it was a broken link with a vengeance it broke nearly all the men concerned and nearly broke the heart of owner he went down to interview the boy lay livid and gasping with fright where he had tumbled off the sin of losing the race never seemed to strike him all he knew was that had called him that the call was a warning and were he cut in two for it he would never get up again his nerve had gone altogether and he only asked his master to give him a good and let him go he was fit for nothing he said he got his dismissal and crept up to the white as chalk with blue lips his knees giving way under him people said nasty things in the but never he changed into took his stick and went down the road still shaking with fright and muttering over and over again god ha mercy i m done for to the best of my knowledge and belief he spoke the truth so now you know how the broken link was run and won of course you don t believe it you would credit anything about russia s designs on india or the of the commission but a little bit of sober fact is more than you can stand beyond the pale love not caste nor sleep a broken bed i went in search of love and lost myself proverb a man should whatever happens keep to his own caste race and breed let the white go to the white and the black to the black then whatever trouble falls is in the ordinary course of things neither sudden alien nor unexpected this is the story of a man who stepped beyond the safe limits of decent society and paid for it heavily he knew too much in the first instance and he saw too much in the second he took too deep an interest in native life but he will never do so again deep away in the heart of the city behind s lies s which ends in a dead wall pierced by one window at the head of the is a big and the walls on either side of the are without windows neither nor approve of their women folk looking into the world if had been of their opinion he would have been a happier man to day plain tales from the hills and little would have been able to her own bread her room looked out through the window into the narrow dark where the sun never came and where the in the blue she was a widow about fifteen years old and she prayed the gods day and ni t to send her a lover for she did approve of living alone one day the man his name was came into s on an and after he had passed the stumbled over a big heap of cattle then he saw that the ended in a and heard a little from behind the window it was a pretty little laugh and knowing that for all practical purposes the old ni ts are good guides went forward to the window and whispered that verse of the love song of which begins can a stand upright b the of the naked or lover in the pretence of hit beloved f if my feet me o heart of my heart am i to being blinded hy the of f there came the woman s from behind the grating and a little voice went on with the song at the fifth verse can the moon tell the of her love l the gate of heaven b and the gather or the beyond the pale they have taken my beloved and driven her with the pack to the north there are iron chains on the feet that were set on my heart call to the to make ready the voice stopped suddenly and walked out of s wondering who in the world could have the love song of so neatly next morning as he was driving to office an old woman threw a packet into his in the	39
packet was the half of a broken glass one flower of the blood red a pinch of or cattle food and eleven that packet was a letter not a clumsy letter but an innocent unintelligible lover s knew far too much about these things as i have said no englishman should be able to object letters but spread all the trifles on the lid of his office box and began to puzzle them out a broken glass stands for a widow all india over because when her husband dies a woman s are broken on her wrists saw the meaning of the little bit of the glass the flower of the means desire come write or danger according to the other things with it one means jealousy but when any article is in an object letter it loses its meaning and plain tales from the hills stands merely for one of a number indicating time or if incense or be sent also the message ran then a widow flower and at eleven o clock the pinch of enlightened he saw this kind of letter leaves much to instinctive knowledge that the referred to the big heap of cattle food over which he had in s and that the message must come from the person behind the grating she being a widow so the message ran then a widow in the in which is the heap of desires you to at eleven o clock threw all the rubbish into the fireplace and laughed he knew that men in the east do not make love under windows at eleven in the noon nor do women fix a week in ad so he went that very ni t at eleven into s clad in a which a man as well as a woman directly the of the city the hour the little voice behind the grating took up the love song of at the verse where the girl calls upon to return the song is really pretty in the in english you miss the wail of it it runs something like this the to the i turn die in tim of thy ta the north a beyond the pale below feet the still is laid far far below the weary lie the and the of thy come hack to me beloved or i die my father s wife is old and harsh with years and of all my father s house am i my bread is sorrow and my drink is tears come hack to me beloved or i die as the song stopped stepped up under the grating and whispered i am here was good to look upon that night was the beginning of many strange things and of a double life so wild that today sometimes wonders if it were not all a dream or her old who had thrown the object letter had detached the heavy grating from the brick work of the wall so that the window slid inside leaving only a square of raw into which an active man might climb in the day time drove through his routine of office work or put on his calling clothes and called on the ladies of the station wondering how long they would know him if they knew of poor little at night when all the city was still came the walk under the evil smelling the through s the quick turn into s between the sleeping cattle and the dead walls and then last of all and the deep even breathing of the plain tales from the hills old woman who slept outside the door of the bare little room that allotted to his sister s daughter who or what was never inquired and why in the world he was not discovered and never occurred to him till his madness was over and but this comes later was an endless delight to she was as ignorant as a bird and her distorted of the from the outside world that had reached her in her room amused almost as much as her attempts to pronounce his name the first was always more than she could manage and she made little gestures with her hands as one throwing the name away and then kneeling before asked him exactly as an would do if he were sure he loved her swore that he loved her more than any one else in the world which was true after a month of this folly the of his other life compelled to be especially attentive to a lady of his acquaintance you may take it for a fact that anything of this kind is not only noticed and discussed by a man s own race but by some hundred and fifty natives as well had to walk with this lady and talk to her at the band stand and once or twice to drive with her never for an dreaming that this would af beyond the pale feet his dearer out o the way life but the news flew in the usual mysterious from mouth to mouth till s heard of it and told the child was so troubled that she did the household work and was beaten by s wife in consequence a week later with the she understood no and spoke openly laughed and stamped her little feet little feet light as flowers that could lie in the palm of a man s one hand much that is written about oriental passion and is exaggerated and at second hand but a little of it is true and when an englishman finds that little it is quite as startling as any passion in his own proper life raged and and finally threatened to kill herself if did not at once drop the alien who had come between them tried to explain and to show her that she did not	39
was never known which was miraculous seeing how everything in a man s private life is public property in india was drawn not into mrs s set because they were not his sort but into the power of mrs and he fell down in front of her and made a goddess of her this was due to his coming fresh out of the to a big town he could not scale things properly or see who was what because mrs was cold and hard he said she was stately and dignified because she had no brains and could not talk cleverly he said she was reserved and shy mrs shy because she was unworthy of honour or reverence from any one he her from a distance and her with all the virtues in the bible and most of those in shakespeare this big dark abstracted man who was so nervous when a pony behind him used to moon in the train of mrs blushing with pleasure when she threw a word or two his way his admiration was strictly even other women saw and admitted this he did not move out in so he heard nothing against his idol which was u tory mrs took no special notice of him beyond seeing that he was plain tales from the hills added to her list of admirers and going for a walk with him now and then just to show that he was her property as such must have done most of the talking for mrs couldn t talk much to a man of his stamp and the little she said could not have been profitable what believed in as he had good reason to was mrs s influence over him and in that belief set himself seriously to try to do away with the vice that only he himself knew of his experiences while he was fighting with it must have been peculiar but he never described them sometimes he would hold oflf from everything except water for a week then on a rainy night when no one had asked him out to dinner and there was a big fire in his room and everything comfortable he would sit down and make a big night of it by adding little to little planning big schemes of meanwhile until he threw himself on his bed hopelessly drunk he suffered next morning one night the big crash came he was troubled in his own mind over his attempts to make himself worthy of the friendship of mrs the past ten days had been very bad ones and the end of it all was that he received the of two and three quarter years of in one attack of delirium of the subdued kind beginning with depression going on to fits and starts in error and and ending with downright as he sat in a chair in front of the fire or walked up and down the room picking a handkerchief to pieces you heard what poor really thought of mrs for he about her and his own fall for the most part though he some p w d accounts into the same of thought he talked and talked and talked in a low dry whisper to himself and there was no stopping him he seemed to know that there was something wrong and twice tried to pull himself together and confer with the doctor but his mind ran out of control at once and he fell back to a whisper and the story of his troubles it is terrible to hear a big man like a child of all that a man usually locks up and puts away in the deep of his heart read out his very soul for the benefit of any one who was in the room between ten thirty that night and two forty five next morning from what he said one gathered how immense an influence mrs held over him and how thoroughly he felt for his own lapse his cannot of course be put down here but they were very instructive as showing the errors of his when the trouble was over and his few acquaintances were pitying him for the bad attack plain tales from the hills of fever that had so pulled him down swore a big oath to himself and went abroad again with mrs till the end of the season her in a quiet and way as an angel from heaven later on he took to riding not but honest riding which was good proof that he was improving and you could doors behind him without his jumping to his feet with a gasp that again was hopeful how he kept his oath and what it cost him in the beginning nobody knows he certainly managed to compass the hardest thing that a man who has drunk heavily can do he took his and wine at dinner but he never drank alone and never let what he drank have the least hold on him once he told a bosom friend the story of his great trouble and how the influence of a pure honest woman and an angel as well had saved him when the man startled at anything good being laid to mrs s door laughed it cost him s friendship who is married now to a woman ten thousand times better than mrs a woman who believes that there is no man on earth as good and clever as her husband will go down to his grave and protesting that mrs saved him from ruin in both worlds that she knew anything of s weakness in error nobody believed fer a that she would have cut him dead thrown him over and acquainted all her friends with her discovery if she had known of it nobody who knew her doubted for an instant thought her something she never	39
was and in that belief saved himself which was just as good as though she had been everything that he had imagined but the question is what claim will mrs have to the credit of s salvation when her day of reckoning comes a bank fraud he drank strong waters and his speech was coarse he purchased and to pay he stuck a trusting junior with a horse and won in a doubtful way then a vice and folly turned aside to do good deeds and straight to cloak them lied mess ro m if were in india now he would resent this tale being told but as he is in and won t see it the telling is safe he was the man who worked the big fraud on the and bank he was manager of an branch and a sound practical man with a large experience of native loan and work he could combine the of ordinary life with his work and yet do well rode anything that would let him get up danced as neatly as he rode and was wanted for every sort of amusement in the station as he said himself and as many men found out rather to their surprise there were two both very much at your service between four and ten ready for anything from a a bank fraud hot weather to a riding and between ten and four mn manager of the and branch bank you might play with him one afternoon and hear him express his opinions when a man crossed and you might call on him next morning to raise a two thousand loan on a five hundred pound policy eighty pounds paid in he would recognise you but you would have some trouble in him the of the bank it had its in and its manager s word carried weight with the picked their men well they had tested up to a severe breaking strain they trusted him just as much as ever trust you must see for yourself whether their trust was s branch was in a big station and worked with the usual staff one manager one both english a and a of native clerks besides the police at nights outside the bulk of its work for it was in a district was and accommodation of all kinds a fool has no grip of this sort of business and a clever man who does not go about among his and know more than a little of their affairs is worse than a fool was young looking clean shaved with a twinkle plain tales from the hills in his eye and a head that nothing short of a of the could make any im on one day at a big dinner he announced casually that the had shifted on to him a natural curiosity from england in the line he was perfectly correct mr was a most curious animal a long full of the savage that blossoms only in the best county in england was a mild word for the mental attitude of mr s he had worked himself up after seven years to a s position in a bank and all his experience lay among the of the north perhaps he would have done better on the side where they are happy with one half per cent profits and money is cheap he was useless for upper india and a wheat province where a man wants a large head and a touch of imagination if he is to turn out a satisfactory balance sheet he was wonderfully narrow minded in business and being new to the country had no notion that indian is totally distinct from home work like most clever self made men he had much simplicity in his nature and somehow or other had the ordinarily polite terms of his letter of engagement into a belief that the had chosen him on account of his special a bank fraud and brilliant talents and that they set great store by him this notion grew and thus adding to his natural north country conceit further he was delicate suffered from some trouble in his chest and was short in his temper you will admit that had reason to call his new a natural curiosity the two men failed to hit it off at all considered a wild feather headed idiot given to heaven only knew what in low places called and totally unfit for the serious and solemn of he could never get over s look of youth and you air and he couldn t understand s friends clean built careless men in the army who rode over to big sunday at the bank and told stories till got up and left the room was always showing how the business ought to be conducted and had more than once to remind him that seven years limited experience between field and did not a man to steer a big up country business then and referred to himself as a pillar of the bank and a cherished of the and tore his hair if a man s english fail him in india he comes to a hard time indeed for native help has strict in the winter went sick for weeks at a time with his plain tales from the hills complaint and this threw more work on but he preferred it to the everlasting when was well one of the travelling of the bank discovered these and reported them to the now had been on the bank by an m p who wanted the support of s father who again was anxious to get his son out to a warmer climate because of those lungs the m p had interest in the bank but one of the wanted to advance a of his own and after s father had died he made the rest of the board see that	39
an who was sick for half the year had better give place to a healthy man if had known the real story of his appointment he might have behaved better but knowing nothing his stretches of sickness with restless persistent irritation of and all the hundred ways in which conceit in a subordinate situation can find play used to call him striking and hair curling names behind his back as a relief to his own feelings but he never abused him to his face because he said is such a frail beast that half of his conceit is due to pains in the chest late one april went very sick indeed the doctor him and him and told him he would be better before long then the a bank fraud doctor went to and said do you know how sick your is no said the worse the better confound him he s a nuisance when he s well i ll let you take away the bank safe if you can him silent for this hot weather but the doctor did not laugh man i m not he said i ll give him another three months in his bed and a week or so more to die in on my honour and reputation that s all the grace he has in this world consumption has hold of him to the s face changed at once into the of mr and he answered what can i do nothing said the doctor for all practical purposes the man is dead already keep him quiet and cheerful and tell him he s going to recover that s all i ll look after him to the end of course the doctor went away and sat down to open the evening mail his first letter was one from the for his information that mr was to resign under a month s notice by the terms of his agreement telling that their letter to would follow and of the coming of a new a man whom knew and liked lit a and before he had finished smoking he had the outline of a fraud plain tales from the hills he put away the letter and went in to talk to who was as as usual and himself over the way the bank would run during his illness he never thought of the extra work on s shoulders but solely of the damage to his own prospects of advancement then assured him that everything would be well and that he would confer with daily on the management of the bank was a little soothed but he hinted in as many words that he did not think much of s business capacity was humble and he had letters in his desk from the that a or a mi t have been proud of the days passed in the big darkened house and the letter of dismissal to came and was put away by who every evening brought the books to s room and showed him what had been going forward while did his best to make statements pleasing to but the was sure that the bank was going to rack and ruin without him in june as the lying in bed told on his spirit he asked whether his absence had been noted by the and said that they had written most sympathetic letters hoping that he would be able to resume his valuable services before long he showed the letters and said that the ought to have written a bank fraud to him a few days later opened s mail in the half light of the room and gave him the sheet not the envelope of a letter to from the said he would thank not to interfere with his private papers specially as knew he was too weak to open his own letters then s mood changed and he on his evil ways his horses and his bad friends of course lying here on my back mr i can t keep you straight but when i m well i do hope you ll pay some heed to my words re e who had dropped and dinners and and all to attend to said that he was penitent and settled s head on the pillow and heard him fret and contradict in hard dry whispers without a sign of impatience this at the end of a heavy day s office work doing double duty in the latter half of june when the new came told him the facts of the case and announced to that he had a guest staying with him said that he might have had more consideration than to entertain his doubtful friends at such a time made the new sleep at the club in consequence s arrival took some of the heavy work oflf his shoulders and he had time to attend to s to explain soothe invent and settle and re settle the plain tales from the hills poor wretch in bed and to complimentary letters from at the end of the first month wished to send some money home to his mother sent the at the end of the second month s salary came in just the same paid it out of his own pocket and with it wrote a beautiful letter from the was very ill indeed but the flame of his life now and then he would be cheerful and confident about the future plans for going home and seeing his mother listened patiently when the work was over and encouraged him at other times insisted on reading the bible and grim tracts to him out of these tracts he pointed morals directed at his manager but he always found time to worry e about the working of the bank and to show him where the weak points lay this life and constant strains wore down	39
a good deal and shook his nerves and lowered his play by forty points but the business of the bank and the business of the had to go on though the glass was in the shade at the end of the third month was sinking ist and had begun to that he was very sick a bank fraud but the conceit that made him worry kept him from believing the worst he wants some sort of mental if he is to drag on said the doctor keep him interested in life if you care about his living so contrary to all the laws of business and the received a per cent rise of salary from the the mental succeeded beautifully was happy and cheerful and as is often the case in consumption in mind when the body was he lingered for a full month and about the bank talking of the future hearing the bible read on sin and wondering when he would be able to move abroad but at the end of september one hot evening he rose up in his bed with a little gasp and said quickly to mr i am going to die i know it in myself my chest is all hollow inside and there s nothing to breathe with to the best of my knowledge i have done he was returning to the talk of his boyhood to lie heavy on my conscience be thanked i have been preserved from the forms of sin and i counsel you mr here his voice died down and stooped over him send my salary for september to my mother b plain tales from the hills done great things with the bank if i had been spared mistaken policy no of mine then he turned his ct to the wall and died drew the sheet over its and went out into the with his last mental a letter of and sympathy from the unused in his pocket if rd been only ten minutes earlier i might have him up to pull through another day the world hath set its heavy yoke upon the old white bearded folk who to please the king god s mercy is upon the young god s wisdom in the baby tongue that fears not anything the of a now mamma was a singularly charming woman and every one in knew most men had saved him from death on occasions he was beyond his s control altogether and his life daily to find out what would happen if you pulled a mountain battery mule s tail he was an utterly fearless young pagan about six years old and the only baby who ever broke the holy calm of the supreme council it happened this way pet kid got loose and fled up the hill off the after it until it burst into the lodge lawn then attached to the council were sitting at the time and the windows were open because it was warm the red in the porch told to go away but plain tales from the hills knew the red and most of the members of council personally moreover he had firm hold of the kid s collar and was being dragged all across the flower beds give my to the long and ask him to help me take back gasped the council heard the noise through the open windows and after an interval was seen the shocking spectacle of a legal member and a lieutenant helping under the direct patronage of a commander in chief and a one small and very dirty boy in a sailor s suit and a of brown hair to a lively and rebellious kid they headed it off down the path to the and went home in triumph and told his mamma that all the had been helping him to catch his mamma for interfering with the administration of the empire but met the legal member the next day and told him in confidence that if the legal member ever wanted to catch a goat he would give him all the help in his power thank you said the legal member was the idol of some eighty and half as many he saluted them all as o brother it never entered his head that any living human being could his orders and he was the between the servants and his mamma s wrath the working of that household turned on who was adored by every one from the to the dog boy even the from displeasure for fear his should look down on him so had honour in the land from to and ruled justly according to his lights of course he spoke but he had also mastered many queer side speeches like the the women and held grave converse with and hill alike he was for his age and his mixing with natives had taught him some of the more bitter truths of life the meanness and the of it he used over his bread and milk to deliver solemn and serious translated from the into the english that made his mamma jump and vow that must go home next hot weather just when was in the bloom of his power the supreme were out a bill for the sub tracts a of the then act smaller than the land bill but affecting a few hundred thousand people none the less the legal member had built and and embroidered and that bill till it looked on paper then the council began to settle what they called the minor details plain tales from the hills as if any for natives knows enough to know which are the minor and which are the major points fix m the native point of view of any measure that bill was a triumph of the interests of the tenant one provided that land should not be on longer terms	39
than five years at a stretch because if the landlord had a tenant bound down for say twenty years he would squeeze the very life out of him the notion was to keep up a stream of independent in the sub tracts and and the notion was correct the only was that it was altogether wrong a native s life in india the life of his son wherefore you cannot for one generation at a time you must consider the next from the native point of view curiously enough the native now and then and in northern india more particularly hates being over protected against himself there was a village once where they lived on dead and but that is another story for many reasons to be explained later the people concerned objected to the bill the native member in council knew as much about as he knew about cross he had said in that the bill was entirely in accord with the desires of that large and important class the and so on and so on the legal member s knowledge of natives was limited to english speaking and his own red the sub tracts concerned no one in particular the were a good deal too driven to make representations and the measure was one which dealt with small only nevertheless the legal member prayed that it might be correct for he was a nervously conscientious man he did not know that no man can tell what natives think unless he with them with the off and not always then but he did the best he knew and the measure came up to the supreme council for the final touches while the in his rides and played with the monkey belonging to the and listened as a child to all the stray talk about this new of the lord s one day there was a dinner party at the house of mamma and the legal member came was in bed but he kept awake till he heard the bursts of laughter from the men over the cot fee then he out in his little red flannel dressing gown and his night suit and took refuge by the side of his father knowing that he would not be sent back see the miseries of having a family said father giving three some water in a glass that had been used for and telling him to sit still sucked plain tales from the hills the slowly knowing that he would have to go when they were finished and the pink water like a man of the world as he listened to the conversation presently the legal member talking shop to the head of a department mentioned his bill by its name the sub tracts caught the one native word and lifting up his small voice said oh i know all about that has it been yet how much said the legal member mended put you know made nice to please the legal member left his place and moved up next to what do you know about little man he said fm not a little man i m and i know all about it and and and oh of my friends tell me about it in the when i talk to them oh they do do they what do they say tucked his feet under his red flannel dressing gown and said i must i the legal member waited patiently then with infinite compassion you don t speak my talk do you no i am sorry to say i do not said the legal member very well said i must ni in english he spent a minute putting his ideas in order and began very slowly in his mind from the to english as many indian children do you must remember that the legal member helped him on by questions when he halted for was not equal to the sustained flight of that follows says this thing is the talk of a child and was made up by fools but don t think you are a fool said hastily you caught my goat this is what says am not a fool and why should the say i am a child i can see if the land is good and if the landlord is good if i am a fool the sin is upon my own head for five years i take my ground for which i have saved money and a wife i take too and a little son is bom has one daughter now but he says he will have a son soon and he says at the end of five years by this new i must go if i do not go i must get fi and ia i on the papers perhaps in the middle of the harvest and to go to the law courts once is plain tales from the hills wisdom but to go twice is that is quite true explained gravely all my friends say so and says always fresh and paying money to and and law courts every five years or else the landlord makes me go why do i want to go am i a fool if i am a fool and do not know after forty years good land when i see it let me die but if the new says fifteen years that it is good and wise my little son is a man and i am and he takes the ground or another ground paying only once for the on the papers and his little son is bom and at the end of fifteen years is a man too but what profit is there in five years and fresh papers nothing but trouble we are not young men who take these lands but old ones not	39
of his bare little room and tell him to come out to look at a pony the very thing to suit him could not afford he had to explain this could not afford living in the modest as it was he had to explain this before he moved to a single room next the office where he worked all day he kept house on a green oil cloth table cover one chair one one photograph one tooth glass very strong and thick a seven eight and by contract at thirty seven a month which last item was he had no for a costs fifteen a month but he slept on the roof of the office with all his wife s letters under his pillow now and again he was asked out to dinner where he got both a and an drink but this was seldom for people objected to a boy who had evidently the instincts of a scotch and who lived in such a nasty fashion could not to any amusement so he found no amusement except the pleasure of turning over his bank book and reading what it said about on approved security that cost nothing he through a bank by the way and the station knew nothing of his private affairs every month he sent home all he could possibly spare for his wife and for another reason which was in the pride of his youth expected to explain itself shortly and would re more money about this time was overtaken with the nervous haunting fear that married men when they are out of sorts he had no to look to what if he should die suddenly and leave his wife for the thought used to lay hold of him in the still hot nights on the roof till the shaking of his heart made him think that he was going to die then and there of now this is a frame of mind which no boy has a right to know it is a strong man s trouble but coming when it did it nearly drove poor mad he could tell no one about it a certain amount of screw is as necessary for a man as for a ball it makes them both do wonderful things needed money badly and he worked for it like a horse but naturally the men who owned him knew that a boy can live very comfortably on a certain income pay in india is a matter of age not merit you see and if their particular boy wished to work like two boys business forbid that they should stop him but business forbid that they should give him an increase of pay at his present age so won certain rises of salary ample for a boy not enough for a wife and a child certainly too little for the seven hundred plain tales from the hills passage that he and mrs had discussed so lightly once upon a time and with this he was forced to be content somehow all his money seemed to fade away in home and the crushing exchange and the tone of the home letters changed and grew why wouldn t have his wife and the baby out surely he had a salary a fine salary and it was too bad of him to enjoy himself in india but would he could he make the next a little more elastic here followed a list of baby s as long as a s bill then whose heart to his wife and the little son he had never seen which again is a feeling no boy is entitled to enlarged the and wrote queer half boy half man letters saying that life was not so after all and would the little wife wait yet a little longer but the little wife however much she approved of money objected to waiting and there was a strange hard sort of ring in her letters that didn t understand how could he poor boy later on still just as had been told of another who had made a fool of himself as the saying is that matrimony would not only ruin his chances of advancement but would lose him his present appointment came the news that the baby his own little little son had died and behind this forty lines in the pride of his youth of an angry woman s saying the death might have been averted if certain things all money had been done or if the mother and the baby had been with the letter struck at s naked heart but not being entitled to a baby he could show no sign of trouble how won through the next four months and what hope he kept alight to force him into his work no one dare say he on the seven hundred passage as far away as ever and his style of living except when he launched into a new there was the strain of his office work and the strain of his and the knowledge of his boy s death which touched the boy more perhaps than it would have touched a man and beyond all the enduring strain of his daily life gray headed who approved of his and his fashion of denying himself everything pleasant reminded him of the old saw that says if a youth would be distinguished in his art art art he keep the away from his heart heart heart and who he had been through every trouble that a man is permitted to know had to laugh and agree with the last line of his balanced bank book in his head day and ni l plain tales from the hills but he had one more sorrow to before the end there arrived a letter from the little wife the natural of the	39
string and find that it wakes up half a dozen and finally say with a friend of yours in the telegraph who once wrote some notes on the customs of the gold when he was on construction work in their part of the empire he may or may not be pleased at being ordered to write out everything he knows for your benefit this depends on his temperament the bigger man you are the more information and the greater trouble can you raise was not a big man but he had the reputation of being very earnest an earnest man can do much with a government there was an earnest man once who nearly wrecked but all india knows that story i am not sure what real earnestness is a very imitation can be by to dress de plain tales from the hills by about in a dreamy misty sort of way by taking office work home after ring in office till seven and by receiving crowds of native gentlemen on sundays that is one sort of earnestness cast about for a whereon to hang his earnestness and for a string that would communicate with he found both they were pig became an after pig he informed the government that he had a scheme whereby a very large of the british army in india could be fed at a very large saving on pig then he hinted that might supply him with the varied information necessary to the proper of the scheme so the wrote on the back of the letter instruct mr to furnish mr with any information in his power is very prone to writing things on the backs of letters which later lead to trouble and confusion had not the interest in pig but he knew that would into the trap was delighted at being consulted about pig the indian pig is not exactly an important in agricultural life but explained to that there was room for improvement and direct with that young man pig you may think that there is not much to be from pig it all depends how you set to work being a and wishing to do things thoroughly began with an essay on the primitive pig the of the pig and the pig filed that information twenty seven sheets and wanted to know about the distribution of the pig in the and how it stood the plains in the hot weather from this point remember that i am giving you only the outlines of the affair the ropes as it were of the web that spun round made a coloured pig population map and collected observations on the comparative of pig a in the sub tracts of the and b in the filed that and asked what sort of people looked after pig this started an on and drew from long tables showing the proportion per thousand of the caste in the filed that bundle and explained that the figures which he wanted referred to the states where he understood that pigs were very fine and large and where he proposed to start a by this time had quite forgotten their instructions to mr they were like the gentlemen in poem who turned well plain tales from the hills wheels to skin other people but was just entering into the spirit of the pig hunt as well knew he would do he had a ur amount of work of his own to clear away but he sat up of nights pig to five places of for the honour of his service he was not going to appear ignorant of so easy a subject as pig then government sent him on special duty to to inquire into the big seven foot of that district people had been killing each other with those peaceful tools and wished to know whether a modified form of agricultural could not and as a temporary measure be introduced among the agricultural population without or the existing religious sentiments of the between those and s pig was rather heavily now began to take up a the of the pig with a view to the improvement of its as a flesh former the of the pig maintaining its peculiarities replied that the pig would become in the type and quoted horse breeding to prove this the side issue was at great length on pig s side till owned that he had been in he wrong and moved the previous question when had quite written himself out about flesh and and and the of and raised the of expense by this time who had been transferred from had developed a pig theory of his own which he stated in thirty three pages all carefully filed by who asked for more these things took ten months and s interest in the seemed to die down after he had stated his own views but him with letters on the imperial aspect of the scheme as tending to the sale of pork and thereby calculated to give offence to the population of upper india he guessed that would want some broad free hand work after his details handled the latest development of the case in style and proved that no popular of excitement was to be apprehended said that there was nothing like insight in matters of this kind and him up a by path the possible profits to to the government fi om the sale of there is an extensive literature of and the shoe brush and colour man s trades recognise more va h plain tales from the hills of than you would think possible after had wondered a little at s rage for information he sent back a fifty one pages on of the pig this led him under s tender handling straight to the the trade in for and thence to the wrote that seed was the best cure for skin	39
you please on a he is beyond the ordinary laws of casting his work is very light and he only at a wherefore so plain tales from the hills long as he can step out and look handsome his is assured he knows more about the regiment than the and could not make a mistake if he tried the drum horse of the white was only eighteen years old and perfectly equal to his duties he had at least six years more work in him and carried himself with all the pomp and dignity of a drum major of the guards the regiment had paid rs i for him but the colonel said that he must go and he was cast in due form and replaced by a bay beast as ugly as a mule with a neck rat tail and cow the detested that animal and the best of the band horses put back their ears and showed the of their eyes at the very sight of him they knew him for an and no gentleman i fancy that the colonel s ideas of extended to the band and that he wanted to make it take part in the regular parade movements a cavalry band is a sacred thing it only turns out for commanding officers and the band master is one degree more important than the colonel he is a high priest and the row is his holy song the row is the cavalry trot and the man who has never heard that tune rising high and shrill above the rattle of the regiment going past the base has something yet to hear and understand of the white when the colonel cast the drum horse of the white there was nearly a the were angry the regiment were furious and the swore like the drum horse was going to be put up to public to be bought perhaps by a and put into a cart it was worse than exposing the inner life of the regiment to the whole world or selling the mess plate to a jew a black jew the colonel was a mean man and a bully he knew what the regiment thought about his action and when the offered to buy the drum horse he said that their offer was and forbidden by the but one of the an bought the drum horse for rs at the sale and the colonel was professed repentance he was and said that as he had only made the purchase to save the horse from possible ill treatment and starvation he would now shoot him and end the business this appeared to soothe the colonel for he wanted the drum horse disposed of he felt that he had made a mistake and could not of course acknowledge it meantime the presence of the drum horse was an annoyance to him took to himself a glass of the old brandy three and his friend and they plain tales from the hills all left the mess together and conferred for two hours in s quarters but only the who keeps watch over s knows what they said a horse and to his ears left s stables and was taken very unwillingly into the civil lines s groom went with him two men broke into the theatre and took several paint pots and some large scenery then night fell over the and there was a noise as of a horse kicking his loose box to pieces in s stables had a big old white trap horse the next day was a thursday and the men hearing that was going to shoot the drum horse in the evening determined to give the beast a regular funeral a finer one than they would have given the colonel had he died just then they got a cart and some and and of roses and the body under was carried out to the place where the cases were two thirds of the regiment following there was no band but they all sang the place where the old horse died as something respectful and appropriate to the occasion when the corpse was into the grave and the men began throwing down of roses to cover it the out an oath and said aloud of the white why it ain t the horse any more than it s me the troop asked him whether he had left his head in the the said that he knew the horse s feet as well as he knew his own but he was silenced when he saw the number burnt in on the poor stiff near fore thus was the horse of the white buried the the that covered the corpse was in places with black paint and the drew attention to this cl but the troop major of e troop kicked him severely on e and told him that he was undoubtedly drank on the monday following the burial the colonel sought revenge on the white unfortunately being at that time temporarily in command of the station he ordered a field day he said that he wished to make the regiment sweat for their damned insolence and he carried out his notion thoroughly that monday was one of the hardest days in the memory of the white they were thrown against a skeleton enemy and pushed forward and withdrawn and dismounted and handled in every possible over dusty country till they their only amusement came late in the day when they fell plain tales from the hills upon the battery of horse and chased it for two miles this was a personal question and most of the had money on the event the saying openly that they had the legs of the white they were wrong a concluded the campaign and when the regiment got back to their lines the men were with dirt from spur to chin	39
the white have one great and peculiar privilege they won it at i think many possess special rights such as wearing with uniform or a bow of between the shoulders or red and white roses in their on certain da rs of the year some rights are connected with saints and some with all are valued highly but none so highly as the right of the white to have the band playing when their horses are being watered in the lines only one tune is played and that tune never i don t know its real name but the white call it take me to london again it sounds very pretty the regiment would sooner be struck off the than forego their distinction after the dismiss was sounded the rode off home to prepare for stables and the men filed into the lines riding easy that is to they opened their tight buttons shifted their of the white and began to joke or to swear as the humour took them the more careful slipping off and ea ing and a good his mount exactly as much as he himself and believes or should believe that the two together are irresistible where women or men girls or guns are concerned then the orderly officer gave the order water horses and the regiment off to the which were in rear of the stables and between these and the there were four huge one for each arranged en so that the whole regiment could water in ten minutes if it liked but it lingered for seventeen as a rule while the band played the band struck up as the filed off to the and the men slipped their feet out of the and each other the sun was just setting in a big hot bed of red cloud and the road to the civil lines seemed to run straight into the sun s eye there was a little dot on the road it grew and grew till it showed as a horse with a sort of thing on his back the red cloud glared through the bars of the some of the shaded their eyes with their hands and said what the mischief as that there got on im in another minute they heard a that every plain tales from the hills soul and man in the regiment and saw heading straight towards the band the dead drum horse of the white on bis and the kettle drums draped in and on his back very and sat a skeleton the band stopped playing and for a there was a bush then some one in e troop men aid it was the troop major swung his horse round and no one can account exactly for what happened afterwards but it seems that at least one man in each troop set an example of panic and the rest followed like sheep the horses that had barely put their into the is reared and but as soon as the band broke which it did when the ghost of the drum horse was about a distant all followed suit and the clatter of the quite different from the orderly throb and of a movement on parade or the rough of watering in camp made them only more they felt that the men on their backs were afraid of something when horses know that all is over except the troop after troop turned from the and fin anywhere and everywhere like silver it was a most extraordinary for men and were in all stages of and of the white the against their sides urged the horses on men were shouting and cursing and trying to pull clear of the band which was being chased by the drum horse whose rider had fallen forward and seemed to be for a the colonel had gone over to the mess for a drink most of the officers were with him and the of the day was preparing to go down to the lines and receive the watering reports from the troop when take me to london again stopped after twenty bars every one in the mess said what on earth has happened a minute later they heard noises and saw far across the plain the white scattered and broken and flying the colonel was speechless with rage for he thought that the regiment had risen against him or was drunk the band a mob tore past and at its heels the drum horse the dead and buried drum horse with the skeleton whispered softly to no wire will stand that treatment and the band which had doubled like a hare came back again but the rest of the regiment was gone was all over the province for the dusk had shut in and each man was howling to his neighbour that the drum horse was on hb flank troop horses plain tales from the hills are too tenderly treated as a rule thej can on do a great deal even with seventeen stone on their backs as the found out how long this panic lasted i cannot say i believe that when the moon rose the men saw had nothing to fear and by and and half crept back into very much ashamed of themselves meantime the drum horse disgusted at his treatment by old friends pulled up wheeled round and trotted op to the mess steps for bread no one liked to run but no one cared to go forward till the colonel made a movement and laid hold of the skeleton s fool the band had halted distance away and now came back slowly the colonel called it and every evil name that occurred to him at the time for he had set his hand on the bosom of the horse and found flesh and blood then he beat the kettle drums with his clenched st	39
and di covered that they were but made of paper and next still swearing he tried to drag the skeleton out of the saddle but found that it had been into the the sight of the colonel with his arms round the skeleton s and his knee in the old drum stomach was striking not to say amusing he worried the thing off in a minute or and threw it down on the ground saying to the of the white here you that s what you re afraid of the skeleton did not look pretty in the twilight the band seemed to recognise it for he began to chuckle and choke shall i take it away sir said the band yes said the colonel take it to hell and ride there yourselves the band saluted hoisted the skeleton across his saddle bow and led off to the stables then the colonel began to make inquiries for the rest of the regiment and the language he used was wonderful he would the regiment he would court martial every soul in it he would not command such a set of and so on and so on as the men dropped in his language grew until at last it exceeded the utmost limits of free speech allowed even to a colonel of horse took aside and suggested retirement from the service as a necessity when all was discovered was the weaker man of the two put up his eyebrows and remarked that he was the son of a lord and secondly that he was as innocent as the babe of the theatrical of the drum horse my instructions said with a singularly sweet smile were that the drum horse should be sent back as as possible i ask you plain tales from the hills am i responsible if a mule headed friend sends him back in such a manner as to disturb the peace of mind of a regiment of her majesty s cavalry said you are a great man and will in time become a but give my chance of a troop to be safe out of this affair providence saved and the second in command led the colonel away to the little wherein the of the white were accustomed to play of nights and there after many oaths on the colonel s part they talked together in low tones i that the second in command must have represented the scare as the work of some whom it would be hopeless to detect and i know that he dwelt upon the sin and the shame of making a public laughing stock of the scare they will call us said the second in command who had really a fine imagination they will call us the fly by nights they will call us the ghost hunters they will us fix m one end of the army list to the other all the explanation in the world won t make understand that the were away when the panic began for the honour of the regiment and for your own sake keep this thing quiet the colonel was so exhausted with anger that soothing him down was not so difficult as might be imagined he was made to see gently and by of the white degrees that it was obviously impossible to the whole regiment and equally impossible to proceed against any who in his belief had any concern in the but the beast s alive he s never been shot at all shouted the colonel if s flat i ve known a man broke for less dam sight less they re mocking me i tell you they re mocking me once more the second in command set himself to soothe the colonel and with him for half an hour at the end of that time the major reported himself the situation was rather novel to him but he was not a man to be put out by circumstances he saluted and said regiment all come back sir then to the colonel an none of the any the worse sir the colonel only and answered you d better the men into their then and see that they don t wake up and cry in the the withdrew his little stroke of humour pleased the colonel and further he felt slightly ashamed of the language he had been using the second in command worried him again and the two sat talking x into the night next day but one there was a commanding officer s parade and the colonel the plain tales from the hills white vigorously the of his speech was that since the drum horse in his old age had proved himself capable of cutting up the whole regiment he should return to his post of pride at the head of the band but the regiment were a set of with bad the white shouted and threw everything about them into the air and when the parade was over they cheered the colonel till they couldn t speak no cheers were put up for lieutenant who smiled very sweetly in the background said the second in command to the colonel these little things popularity and do not the least affect discipline but i went back on my word said the colonel never mind said the second in command the white will follow you anywhere from to day are just like women they will do anything for a week later received an extraordinary letter from some one who signed himself secretary charity and e c and asked for the return of our skeleton which we have reason to believe is in your possession who the deuce is this lunatic who trades in bones said of the white beg your pardon sir said the band but the skeleton is with me an i ll return it if you ll pay the carriage into the civil lines	39
look here i don t believe lawyers are any good get a man to wire to and beg him to come down and pull us through was about a hundred and eighty miles up the line he had not long been married to miss but he scented in the a chance of to the old work that his soul after and next night he came in and heard our story he finished his pipe and said we must get at the evidence bearer and i suppose are the pillars of the charge i am on in this piece but fm getting rusty in my talk he rose and went into s bedroom where his trunk had been put and shut the door an hour later we heard him say i hadn t the heart to part with my old make when i married will this do there was a t in the doorway now lend me fifty said and give me your words of honour that you won t tell my wife he got all that he asked for and left the house while the table drank his health what he did only he himself knows a hung about s compound for twelve days then the divorce case a appeared and when heard of bim he said that was an angel full whether the made love to mrs s is a question which concerns exclusively he came back at the end of three weeks and said quietly you spoke the truth the whole business is put up from beginning to end jove it almost me that beast isn t fit to live there was uproar and shouting and said how are you going to prove it you can t say that you ve been on s compound in disguise no said tell your lawyer fool whoever he is to get up something strong about inherent and of evidence he won t have to speak but it will make him happy vm going to run this business held his tongue and the other men waited to see what would happen they trusted as men trust quiet men when the case came off the court was crowded hung about in the of the court till he met the then he murmured a blessing in his ear and asked him how his second wife did the man spun round and as he looked into the eyes of his jaw dropped you must remember that before plain tales from the hills was married he was as i have told you already a power among natives whispered a rather coarse proverb to the effect that he was abreast of all that was going on and went into the court armed with a the was the first witness and beamed upon him from the back of the the man his lips with his tongue and in his abject fear of e went back on every detail of his evidence said he was a poor man and was his witness that he had forgotten everything that had told him to say between his terror of the judge and he weeping then began the panic among the witnesses the behind her veil turned gray and the bearer left the he said that his mamma was dying and that it was not wholesome for any man to lie in the presence of e said politely to your witnesses don t seem to work haven t you any letters to produce but was swaying to and in his chair and there was a dead pause after had been called to order s counsel saw the look on his s ce and without more pitched his the case papers on the little green table and something about having been the whole court applauded wildly like soldiers at a theatre and the judge began to say what he came out of the court and dropped a whip in the ten minutes later was cutting into ribbons behind the old court quietly and without scandal what was left of was sent home in a carriage and his wife wept over it and nursed it into a man again later on after had managed to hush up the counter charge against of evidence mrs with her int watery smile said that there had been a mistake but it wasn t her s altogether she would wait till her came back to her perhaps he had grown tired of her or she had tried his patience and perhaps we wouldn t cut her any more and perhaps the mothers would let their children play with little he was so lonely then the station invited mrs everywhere until was fit to appear in public when he went home and took his wife with him according to latest her did come back to her and they are happy though of course he can never plain tales from the hills forgive her the that she was the means of getting for what wants to know why i press home the charge against the brute and have him run in f what mrs wants to know is how did my husband bring such a lovely lovely from station i know all his and fm certain he didn t buy il what i want to know is how do women like mrs come to marry men like and my is the most of the three and the went on as the must do but our great was always new fresh and blooming and and with eyes and with hair and all the folk as they came or went her praise to her heart s content of she had nothing to do with number eighteen in the of the between s and the god of the she was purely an indian deity an indian deity that is to say and we called	39
in where nobody knows anything except the rate of exchange then he said boys will be boys and spoke to his son about the matter very young said that he felt wretched and unhappy and young said that he repented of having helped to bring a fool into the world he suggested that his son had better cut his leave short and go down to his duties this led to an answer and relations were strained until young demanded that they should call on the very young went with his papa feeling somehow uncomfortable and small the received them graciously and young said by jove it s very young would have listened for an explanation if his time had not been taken up with trying to talk to a large handsome quiet well dressed girl introduced to him by the as her daughter she was far older in manner style and repose than very young and as he this thing he felt sick presently he heard the saying do you know that your son is one of my most devoted admirers i don t wonder said young here he raised his voice he follows his father s footsteps didn t i worship the ground you trod on ever so long ago and you haven t changed since then how strange it all seems very young said nothing his conversation the daughter of the an was through the rest of the call and at five to morrow then said the and mind you are punctual at five said young you can lend your old ther a horse i can t you f i m going for a ride to morrow afternoon certainly said very young i am going down to morrow morning my are at your service sir the looked at him across the half light of the room and her big gray eyes filled with moisture she rose and shook hands with him good bye tom whispered the it c the of little blind fish thou art marvellous wise little blind fish who put out thy eyes i open thy ears while i whisper my wish bring me a lover thou little blind fish the charm of the b a some natives say that it came from the other side of where the eleven inch temple is others that it was made at the devil shrine of ao in was stolen by a from him by a from him again by a fi om him by a and by this latter sold to an englishman so all its virtue was lost because to work properly the of must be stolen with if possible but at any rate stolen these stories of the coming into india are all false it was made at ages since the manner of its making would fill a small book was stolen by one of the temple dancing girls there for her own purposes and then passed on from hand to hand steadily northward till it reached always bearing the same name the of in shape it is a tiny square the of box of silver studded outside with eight small inside the box which opens with a spring is a little fish carved from some sort of dark shiny nut and wrapped in a of faded gold cloth that is the of and it were better for a man to take a king in his hand than to touch the of all kinds of magic are out of date and done away with except in india where nothing changes in spite of the shiny top stuff that people call civilization any man who knows about the of will tell you what its powers are always supposing that it has been honestly stolen it is the only regularly working love charm in the country with one exception the other charm is in the hands of a of the s horse at a place called due north of this can be depended upon for a ct some one else may explain it if the be not stolen but given or bought or found it turns against its owner in three years and leads to ruin or death this is another fact which you may explain when you have time meanwhile you can laugh at it at present the is safe on a hack pony s neck inside the blue bead that keeps off the evil eye if the pony driver ever finds it and wears it or gives it to his wife i am sorry for him plain tales from the hills a very dirty hill woman with owned it at in it came into from the north before s bought it and sold it for three times its silver value to who collected the servant knew no more what he had bought than the master but a man looking over s collection of was an assistant by the way saw and held his tongue he was an englishman but knew how to believe which shows that he was different from most englishmen he knew that it was dangerous to have any share in the little box when working or for love is a terrible gift pack pack as we used to call him was in every way a nasty little man who must have crawled into the army by mistake he was three inches taller than his sword but not half so strong and the sword was a fifty shilling tailor made one nobody liked him and i suppose it was his and that made him ill so hopelessly in love with miss who was good and sweet and seven in her shoes he was not content with falling in love quietly but brought all the strength of his miserable little nature into the business if he had not been so objectionable one might have pitied him he and fretted and and	39
he is i would recommend you to take him home said she he is unfit for decent society then i knew that goodness only knew what had been doing and i tried to get him away but wasn t going not he he knew what was good for him he did and he wasn t going to be dictated to by any he wasn t and i was the friend who had formed his infant mind and brought him up to buy and fear so i was and we would have many more blazing good together so we would and all the in black silk in the world shouldn t make him withdraw his opinion that there was nothing better than to give one an appetite and then but he was my guest plain tales from the hills i set him in a quiet comer of the supper room and went to find a wall that i could trust there was a good and kindly may heaven bless that and make him a commander in chief who heard of my trouble he was not dancing himself and he owned a head like five year old he said that he would look after till the end of the ball don t suppose you much mind what i do with him said he mind said i no you can murder the beast if you like but the did not murder him he trotted off to the supper room and sat down by drinking for with him i saw the two established and went away feeling more easy when the roast beef of old england sounded i heard of s performances between the first dance and my meeting with him at the after mrs had cast him ofi it seems that he had found his way into the gallery and offered to conduct the band or to play any instrument in it just as the pleased when the refused said that he wasn t appreciated and he for sympathy so he downstairs and sat out four dances with four girls and proposed to three of them one of the girls was a married woman a friend s friend by the way then he went into the room and fell ice down and wept on the hearth rag in front of the fire because he had into a den of card and his mamma had always warned him against bad company he had done a lot of other things too and had taken about three of mixed besides speaking of me in the most scandalous fashion all the women wanted him out and all the men wanted him kicked the worst of it was that every one said it was my now i put it to you how on earth could i have known that this innocent t g would break out in this disgusting manner you see he had gone round the world nearly and his of abuse was though mainly which he had picked up ui a low tea house at it sounded like whistling while i was listening to first one man and then another telling me of s behaviour and asking me for his blood i wondered where he was i was prepared to sacrifice him to society on the spot but was gone and hi away in the corner of the supper room sat my dear good a little flushed eating i went over and said where s in the said the he ll keep till the women have gone don t you interfere with my plain tales from the hills prisoner i didn t want to interfere but i peeped into the and found my guest put to bed on some up carpets all his collar free and a wet on his head the rest of the evening i spent in making timid attempts to explain things to mrs and three or four other ladies and trying to clear my character for i am a respectable man from the shameful that my guest had cast upon it was no word for what he had said when i wasn t trying to explain i was running off to the to see that wasn t dead of i didn t want him to die on my hands he had eaten my salt at last that ghastly ball ended though i was not in the least restored to mrs favour when the ladies had gone and some one was calling for songs at the second supper that told the servants to bring in the who was in the and clear away one end of the supper table while this was being done we formed ourselves into a board of punishment with the doctor for president came in on four men s shoulders and was put down on the table like a corpse in a room while the doctor on the evils of and then we set to work we the whole of his we filled a friend s friend his hair with cream till it looked like a white wig to protect everything till it dried a man in the department who understood the work a big paper cap from a with cream low down on je von s forehead this was punishment not play remember we took off and stuck blue on his nose and yellow on his chin and green and red on his cheeks pressing each down till it held as firm as skin we put a ham round his neck and tied it in a bow in front he nodded like a we fixed on the back of his hands and them inside and put small round his wrists and tied both wrists together with string we up the ends of his moustache with he looked very martial we turned him over pinned up his coat tails between his shoulders and put a of there we took up	39
the red cloth from the ball room to the supper room and wound him up in it there were sixty feet of red cloth six feet broad and he rolled up into a big bundle with only that amazing head sticking out lastly we tied up the of the cloth beyond his feet with fibre string as tightly as we knew how we were so angry that wc hardly laughed at all plain tales from the hills just as we finished we heard the at carts taking away some chairs and things the general s wife had lent for the ball so we hoisted like a roll of carpets into one of the carts and the carts went away now the most extraordinary part of this tale is that never again did i see or hear anything of t g he vanished utterly he was not delivered at the general s house with the carpets he just went into the black darkness of the end of the night and was swallowed up perhaps he died and was thrown into the river but alive or dead i have often wondered how he got rid of the red cloth and the i wonder still whether mrs will ever take any notice of me again and whether i shall live down the stories that set afloat about my manners and customs between the first and the ninth of the ball they stick closer than cream wherefore i want of the side dead or alive but dead for preference the gate of the hundred sorrows if i can heaven for a why should a be envious s proverb this is no work of mine my friend the spoke it all between and morning six weeks before he died and i took it down from his mouth as he answered my questions so it lies between the s and the pipe stem quarter within a hundred yards too as the crow flies of the of i don t mind telling any one this much but i defy him to find the gate however well he may think he knows the city you might even go through the very it stands in a hundred times and be none the wiser we used to call the the of the black smoke but its native name is altogether different of course a loaded donkey couldn t pass between the walls and at one point just before you reach the gate a house front makes people go along all sideways plain tales from the hills it isn t really a gate though it s a house old had it first five years ago he was a boot maker in they say that he murdered his wife there when he was drunk that was why he dropped rum and took to the black smoke instead later on he came up north and opened the gate as a house where you could get your smoke in peace and quiet mind you it was a respectable house and not one of those stifling that you can find all over the city no the old man knew his business thoroughly and he was most clean for a he was a one eyed little chap not much more than five feet high and both his middle fingers were gone all the same he was the man at rolling black i have ever seen never seemed to be touched by the smoke either and what he took day and night night and day was a caution i ve been at it five years and i can do my fair share of the smoke with any one but i was a child to that way all the same the old man was keen on his money very keen and that s what i can t understand i heard he saved a good deal before he died but his nephew has got all that now and the old man s gone back to china to be buried he kept the big upper room where his best customers gathered as neat as a new pin in one comer used to stand s almost gate of the hundred sorrows as ugly as and there were always sticks burning under his nose but you never smelt em when the pipes were going thick opposite the was s he had spent a good deal of his on that and whenever a new man came to the gate he was always introduced to it it was black with red and gold writings on it and i ve heard that brought it out all the way from china i don t know whether that s true or not but i know that if i came first in the evening i used to spread my mat just at the foot of it it was a quiet comer you see and a sort of breeze firom the came in at the window now and then besides the there was no other furniture in the room only the and the old all green and blue and purple with age and polish never told us why he called the place the gate of the hundred sorrows he was the only i know who used names most of them are as you ll see in we used to find that out for ourselves nothing grows on you so much if you re white as the black smoke a yellow man is made different doesn t tell on him scarcely at all but white and black suffer a good deal of course there are some people that the smoke doesn t touch any more than tobacco would at first they just a plain tales from the hills bit as one would asleep naturally and next morning they are almost fit for work now i was one of that sort when i began but been at it for five years pretty steadily and it s	39
gate and he called it the temple of the plain tales from the hills three possessions but we old ones speak of it as the hundred sorrows all the same the nephew does things very and i think the must help him she lives with him same as she used to do with the old man the two let in all sorts of low people and all and the black smoke isn t as good as it used to be i ve found burnt in my pipe over and over again the old man would have died if that had happened in his time besides the room is never cleaned and all the are torn and cut at the edges the coffin is gone gone to china with the old man and two of smoke inside it in case he should want em on the way the doesn t get so many sticks under his nose as he used to that s a sign of ill luck as sure as death he s all brown too and no one ever to him s the s work i know because when ling tried to bum gilt paper before him she said it was a waste of money and if he kept a stick burning very slowly the wouldn t know the difference so now we ve got the sticks mixed with a lot of and they take half an hour longer to bum and smell let alone the smell of the room by itself no business can get on if they try that sort of thing the doesn t like it i can see that late at night sometimes he turns all sorts of gate of the hundred sorrows queer colours blue and green and red just as he used to do when old was alive and he rolls his eyes and his feet like a devil i don t know why i don t leave the place and smoke quietly in a little room of my own in the most like ling would kill me if i went away he draws my sixty now and besides it s so much trouble and i ve grown to be very fond of the grate it s not much to look at not what it was in the old man s but i couldn t leave it i ve seen so many come in and and i ve seen so many die here on the that i should be afraid of dying in the open now i ve seen some things that people would call strange enough but nothing is strange when you re on the black smoke except the black smoke and if it was it wouldn t matter used to be very particular about his people and never got in any one who d give trouble by dying and such but the nephew isn t half so he tells everywhere that he keeps a first chop house never tries to get men in quietly and make them comfortable like did that s why the gate is getting a little bit more known than it used to be among the of course the nephew t get a white or for matter of that a mixed skin into the place he has to keep us three of plain tales from the hills course me and the and the other we re but he wouldn t give us credit for a not for anything one of these days i hope i shall die in the gate the and the man are terribly now they ve got a boy to light their pipes for them i always do that myself most like i shall see them carried out before me i don t think i shall ever the or ling women last longer than men at the black smoke and ling has a deal of the old man s blood in him though he does smoke cheap stuff the woman knew when she was going two days before her time and she died on a clean mat with a nicely pillow and the old man hung up her pipe just above the he was always fond of her i but he took her just the same i should like to die like the woman on a clean cool mat with a pipe of good stuff between my lips when i feel i m going i shall ask for them and he can draw my sixty a month fresh and fresh as long as he pleases then i shall lie back quiet and comfortable and watch the black and red have their last big fight together and then well it doesn t matter nothing matters much to me only i wish ling wouldn t put into the black smoke the story of din who is the man he th t sees in his own house at home little children crowned with dust leaping and falling and crying translated by professor the ball was an old one and it stood on the among the pipe stems which din was cleaning for me does the heaven bom want this ball said din the heaven bom set no particular store by it but of what use was a ball to a by your honour s i have a little son he has seen this ball and desires it to play with i do not want it for myself no one would for an instant accuse old din of wanting to play with balls he carried out the battered thing into the and there followed a of joyful a of small feet and the aud o the ball rolling along the ground evidently the little son had been waiting outside the door to secure his treasure but how had he managed to see that ball plain tales from the hills next day coming back from office half an hour earlier	39
of exercise he mourn over his lost love and be very happy in a ef s affair of had been a to him it w four ye and the girl had long since given up thinking of it she had married and had many cares of her own in the beginning she had told that while she could never be anything more than a sister to him she would always take the deepest interest in his welfare this new and original remark gave something to think over for two years and his own vanity filled in the other twenty four months was quite different from but none the less had plain tales from the hills several points in common with that too lucky man he kept hb attachment by him as men keep a well smoked pipe for comfort s sake and because it had grown dear in the using it brought him happily through one season was not lovely there was a in his manners and a in the way in which he helped a lady on to her horse that did not attract the other sex to him even if he had cast about for their which he did not he kept his wounded heart all to himself for a while then trouble came to him all who go to know the slope from the telegraph to the public works office was up the hill one september between calling hours when a came down in a hurry and in the sat the living breathing image of the girl who had made him so happily unhappy leaned against the and gasped he wanted to run after the but that was impossible so he went forward with most of his blood in his temples it was impossible for many reasons that the woman in the could be the girl he had known she was he discovered later the wife of a man from or or some out of the way place and she had come up to early in the season for the good of her on the strength of a likeness health she was going back to or wherever it was at the end of the season and in all would never return to again her proper hill station being that night raw and savage from the up of all old feelings took counsel with himself for one measured hour what he decided upon was this and you must decide for yourself how much genuine affection for the old love and how much a very natural inclination to go abroad and enjoy himself affected the decision mrs would never in all human cross his path again so whatever he did didn t much matter she was like the girl who took a deep interest and the rest of the all things considered it would be pleasant to make the acquaintance of mrs and fox a little time only a very little time to make believe that he was with again every one is more or less mad on one point s particular was his old love he made it his business to get introduced to mrs and the introduction he also made it his business to see as much as he could of that lady when a man is in earnest as to the which offers are startling there are garden parties and and and at plain tales from the hills and rifle matches and dinners and balls besides rides and walks which are matters of private arrangement had started with the intention of seeing a likeness and he ended by doing much more he wanted to be deceived he meant to be deceived and he deceived himself very thoroughly not only were the face and figure the ice and figure of but the voice and lower tones were exactly the same and so were the turns of speech and the little that every woman has of gait and were absolutely and the same the turn of the head was the same the tired look in the eyes at the end of a long walk was the same the stoop and over the saddle to hold in a pulling horse was the same and once most marvellous of all mrs singing to herself in the next room while was waiting to take her for a ride note for note with a quiver of the voice in the second line poor wandering one as had it for in the dusk of an english in the actual woman herself in the soul of her there was not the least likeness she and being cast in different but all that wanted to know and see and think about was this and likeness of ice and voice and manner he was on the strength of a likeness bent on making a fool of himself that way and he was in no sort disappointed open and obvious devotion from any sort of man is always pleasant to any sort of woman but mrs being a woman of the world could make nothing of s admiration he would take any amount of trouble he was a selfish man habitually to meet and if possible her wishes anything she told him to do was law and he was there could be no doubting it fond of her company so long as she talked to him and kept on talking about but when she launched into expression of her personal views and her wrongs those small social that make the of life was neither pleased nor interested he didn t want to know anything about mrs ha or her experiences in the past she had travelled nearly all over the world and could talk cleverly he wanted the likeness of before his eyes and her voice in his ears anything outside that reminding him of another personality and he showed that it did	39
of too much official correspondence had made him a workman and he must have guessed that he needed the white light of local colour on his this is a dangerous paint for to play with heavens how that man worked he caught his his and traced them up into the mists of time and beyond with their queens and their he dated and cross dated and triple compared noted strung selected inferred and counter for ten hours a day and because this sudden and new light of love was upon him he turned those dry bones of history and dirty records of into things to weep or to laugh over as he pleased his heart and soul were at the end plain tales from the hills of his pen and they got into the he with sympathy insight humour and style for two hundred and thirty days and nights and his book was a book he had his vast knowledge with him so to speak but the spirit the woven in human touch the poetry and the power of the were beyond all special knowledge but i doubt whether he knew the gift that was in him then and thus he may have lost some happiness he was toiling for not for himself men often do their best work blind for some one else s sake also though this has nothing to do the story in india where every one knows every one else you can watch men being driven by die women who govern them out of the rank and file and sent to take up points alone a good man once started goes forward but an average man so soon as the woman loses interest in his success as a tribute to her power comes back to the bat and is no more heard of bore the first copy of his book to and blushing and presented it to miss she read a little of it i give her review im oh your book f it s all about those i didn t understand tl of the was smashed i am not by of the foreign office frivolous little girl all that he could say feebly was but but my the work of my life miss did not know what meant but she knew that captain had won three races at the last didn t press her to wait for him any longer he had sense enough for that then came the reaction after the year s strain and went back to the foreign office and his a report writing hack who would have been dear at three hundred a month he by miss s review which proves that the inspiration in the book was purely temporary and with himself nevertheless he had no right to sink in a hill five packing cases brought up at enormous expense from of the best book of indian history ever written when he sold off before retiring some years later i was turning over his shelves and came across the only existing copy of native rule in central india the copy that miss could not understand i read it sitting on his as long as the light lasted and offered him his own price for it he looked over my shoulder for a few pages and said to himself now how in the world did i come to write such damned good stuff as plain tales from the hills then to me take it and il write one of penny about its birth perhaps perhaps the whole business may have been or to that end which knowing of the foreign office was once struck me as about the thing that i had ever heard a man say of hb own p by word of mouth not though you die to night o sweet and wail a at my door shall mortal fear make love immortal i shall but love you more who from death s house returning give me still one moment s comfort in my ill shadow houses this tale may be explained by those who know how souls are made and where the bounds of the possible are put down i have lived long enough in this india to know that it is best to know no thing and can only write the story as it happened was our civil surgeon at and we called him because he was a round little sleepy little man he was a good doctor and never quarrelled with any one not even with our who had the manners of a and the tact of a horse he married a girl as round and as sleepy looking as himself she was a miss daughter of of the who married his chief s daughter by mistake but that is another story plain tales from the hills a in india is seldom more than a week long but there is nothing to hinder a couple from extending it over two or three years india is a delightful country for married folk who are wrapped up in one another they can live absolutely alone and without interruption just as the did those two little people retired from the world after their marriage and were very happy they were forced of course to give occasional dinners but they made no friends thereby and the station went its own way and forgot them only saying occasionally that was the best of good fellows though dull a civil surgeon who never quarrels is a appreciated as such few people can afford to play robinson anywhere least of all in india where we are few in the land and very much dependent on each other s kind offices was wrong in shutting himself from the world for a year and he discovered his mistake when an of broke out in the station	39
in the heart of the cold weather and his wife went down he was a shy little man and five days were wasted before he that mrs was burning with something worse than simple fever and three days more passed before he ventured to call on mrs the engineer s wife and timidly speak about hb trouble nearly every household in india knows by word of mouth that doctors are very helpless in the battle must be fought out between death and the nurses minute by minute and degree by degree mrs almost s ears for what she called his criminal delay and went off at once to look after the poor girl we had seven cases of in the station that winter and as the average of death is about one in every five cases we felt certain that we should have to lose somebody but all did their best the women sat up nursing the women and the men turned to and tended the who were down and we with those cases for fifty six days and brought them through the valley of the shadow in triumph but just when we thought all was over and were going to give a dance to the victory little mrs got a and died in a week and the station went to the funeral broke down utterly at the brink of the grave and had to be taken away after the death crept into his own house and refused to be comforted he did his duties perfectly but we all felt that he should go on leave and the other men of his own service told him so was very thankful for the suggestion he was thankful for anything in those days and went to on a walking tour is some twenty from in the heart of the hills and the scenery is good if you plain tales from the are in trouble you pass through big still forests and under big still and over big still grass downs swelling like a woman s breasts and the wind across the grass and the rain among the say hush hush hush so little was packed off to to wear down his grief with a full plate and a rifle he took also a useless bearer because the man had been his wife s favourite servant he was idle and a but trusted everything to him on his way back from turned aside to through the forest reserve which is on the spur of mount some men who have travelled more than a little say that the march from to is one of the finest in creation it runs through dark wet forest and ends suddenly in bleak and black rocks d k is open to all the winds and is bitterly cold few people go to perhaps that was the reason why went there he halted at seven in the evening and his bearer went down the to the village to engage for the next day s march the sun had set and the night winds were beginning to among the rocks leaned on the railing of the waiting for his bearer to return the man came back almost immediately after he had disappeared and at such a rate that by word of mouth he must have crossed a bear he was running as hard as he could up the ice of the hill but there was no bear to account for his terror he to the and fell down the blood from his nose and his ice then he i have seen the i have seen the where said down there walking on the road to the village she was in a blue dress and she lifted the veil of her bonnet and said ram give my to the and tell him that i shall meet him next month at then i ran away because i was afraid what said or did i do not know ram declares that he said nothing but walked up and down the all the cold night waiting for the to come up the hill and stretching out his arms into the dark like a madman but no came and next day he went on to cross questioning the bearer every hour ram could only say that he had met mrs and that she had lifted up her veil and given him the message which he had faithfully repeated to to this statement ram he did not know where was had no at and would most plain tales from the hills certainly never go to even though his pay were doubled is in and has nothing whatever to do with a doctor serving in the it must be more than twelve hundred miles south of went through without halting and returned to there to take over charge from the man who had been for him during his tour there were some accounts to be explained and some recent orders of the surgeon general to be noted and altogether the taking over was a full day s work in the evening told his who was an old of his bachelor days what had happened at and the man said that ram might as well have chosen while he was about it at that moment a telegraph came in with a firom ordering not to take over charge at but to go at once to on special duty there was a nasty outbreak of at and the government being short handed as usual had borrowed a surgeon from the threw the across the table well the other doctor said nothing it was all that he could say by word of mouth then he remembered that had passed through on his way from and thus might possibly have heard first news of the impending transfer he tried to put the question and the implied suspicion into words but stopped him	39
with if i had desired tbat i should never have come back from i was shooting there i wish to live for i have things to do but i shall not be sorry the other man bowed his head and helped in the twilight to pack up s just opened trunks ram entered with the lamps where is the going he asked to said softly ram s knees and boots and begged him not to go ram wept and howled till he was turned out of the room then he wrapped up all his and came back to ask for a character he was not going to to see his die and perhaps to die himself so gave the man his wages and went down to alone the other doctor bidding him good bye as one under sentence of death eleven days later he had joined his and the had to borrow a doctor to cope with that at the first lay dead in to be filed for reference by the of the wild goat up tossed from the cliff where she lay in the sun fell the stone to the where the daylight is lost so she fell from the light of the sun and alone now the fall was ordained from the first with the goat and the cliff and the but the stone knows only her life is accursed as she sinks in the depths of the and alone oh who hast the world oh thou who hast lighted the sun oh who hast darkened the i judge thou the tin of the stone that was hurled by the goat from the light of the sun as she sinks in the mire of the even now even now even now papers of say is it dawn is it dusk in thy bower thou whom i long for who longest for me oh be it night be it to be filed for reference here he fell over a little that was sleeping in the where the horse and the best of the from central asia live and because he was very drunk indeed and the night was dark he could not rise again till i helped him that was the beginning of my acquaintance with when a and drunk sings the song of the bower he must be worth he got off the s back and said rather thickly i i a bit but a dip in will put me right again and i say have you spoken to about the mare s knees now was six thousand weary miles away from us close to where you mustn t fish and is impossible and stable a half mile across the it was strange to hear all the old names on a may night among the horses and of the then the man seemed to remember himself and sober down at the same time he leaned against the and pointed to a comer of the where a lamp was burning i live there said he and i should be extremely obliged if you would be good enough to help my feet thither for i am more than usually drunk most most tight but not in respect to my head my plain tales from the hills brain cries out against how does it go but my head rides on the rolls on the i should have said and the i helped him through the of horses and he on the edge of the in front of the line of native quarters thanks a thousand thanks o moon and little little stars to think that a man should so infamous liquor too in exile drank no worse better it was frozen alas i had no ice night i would introduce you to my wife were i sober or she a native woman came out of the darkness of the room and began calling the man names so i went away he was the most interesting that i had had the pleasure of knowing for a long time and later on he became a friend of mine he waa a tall well built fair man fearfully shaken with drink and he looked nearer fifty than the thirty five which he said was his real age when a man begins to sink in india and is not sent home by his friends as soon as may be he very low from a respectable point of view by the time that he changes his creed as did he is past in most big cities natives will tell you of two or three generally low caste who have turned or and who live more to be filed for reference or less as such but it is not often that you can get to know them as himself used to say if i change my religion for my stomach s sake i do not seek to become a martyr to nor am i anxious for at the outset of acquaintance me remember this i am not an object for charity i require neither your money your food nor your cast off i am that rare animal a if you choose i will smoke with you for the tobacco of the does not i admit suit my and i will borrow any books which you may not specially value it is more than likely that i shall sell them for bottles of excessively filthy country in return you shall share such hospitality as my house affords here is a on which two can sit and it is possible that there may from time to time be food in that drink unfortunately you will find on the premises at any hour and thus i make you welcome to all my poor establishment i was admitted to the household i and my good tobacco but nothing else one cannot visit	39
a in the by day friends buying horses would not understand it i was obliged to see after dark he laughed at this and said simply you are perfectly right when i en plain tales from the hills a position in society rather higher than yours i should have done exactly the same thing good heavens i was once he spoke as though he had fallen from the command of a regiment an oxford man this accounted for the reference to stable you said slowly have not had that advantage but to outward appearance you do not seem possessed of a craving for strong drinks on the whole i that you are the of the two yet i am not certain you forgive my saying so even while i am smoking your excellent tobacco painfully ignorant of many things we were sitting together on the edge of his for he owned no chairs watching the horses being watered for the night while the native woman was preparing dinner i did not like being by a but i was his guest for the time being though he owned only one very torn coat and a pair of trousers made out of bags he took the pipe out of his mouth and went on all things i doubt whether you are the i do not refer to your extremely limited classical or your quantities but to your gross ignorance of matters more immediately under your notice that for instance he pointed to a woman cleaning a near the to be filed for reference well in the centre of the she was the water out of the in regular there are ways and ways of cleaning if you knew why she was doing her work in that particular you would know what the spanish meant when he said i the illustrate drinking watered orange in three the while he his at one and many other things which now are hidden from your eyes however mrs has prepared dinner let us come and eat after the fashion of the people of the country of whom by the way you know nothing the native woman dipped her hand in the dish with us this was wrong the wife should always wait until the husband has eaten saying it is an english prejudice which i have not been able to overcome and she loves me why i have never been able to understand i with her at three years ago and she has remained with me ever since i believe her to be moral and know her to be skilled in plain tales from the hills he patted the woman s head as he spoke and she softly she was not pretty to look at never told me what position he had held before his he was when sober a scholar and a gentleman when drunk he was rather more of the first than the second he used to get drunk about once a week for two days on those occasions the native woman tended him while he in all tongues except his own one day indeed he began in and went through it to the end beating time to the swing of the verse with a leg but he did most of his in greek or german the man s mind was a perfect rag bag of useless things once when he was beginning to get sober he told me that i was the only rational being in the into which he had descended a in the shades he said and that in for my tobacco he would before he died give me the materials of a new that should make me greater than then he fell asleep on a horse blanket and woke up quite calm man said he when you have reached the depths of degradation little incidents which would vex a higher life are to you of no consequence last night my soul was among the gods but i make no doubt that my body was down here in the to be filed for reference you were drunk if that s what you mean i said i was drunk drunk i who am the son of a man with whom you have no i who was once fellow of a college whose you have not seen i was drunk but consider how lightly i am touched it is nothing to me less than nothing for i do not even feel the headache which should be my portion now in a higher life how ghastly would have been my punishment how bitter my repentance believe me my fi with the neglected education the highest is as the lowest always supposing each degree extreme he turned round on the blanket put his head between his fists and continued on the soul which i have lost and on the conscience which i have killed i tell you that i cannot feel i am as the knowing good and evil but by either is this it not when a man has lost the warning of next morning s head he must be in a bad state i answered looking at on the blanket with his hair over his eyes and his lips blue white that i did not think the good enough for pity s sake don t say that i tell you it is good and most think of my i plain tales from the hills have you so many then certainly your attempts at sarcasm which is essentially the weapon of a man are crude first my my classical and literary knowledge perhaps by drinking which reminds me that before my soul went to the last night i sold the you so kindly lent me the has it it fetched ten and may be for a but still infinitely superior to yours secondly the abiding affection	39
in der text in ist an die des materials und von von in ist information und den material der von ver week dire legal ist fur in den ist in ist ob ist von land land ob ist in es in form und der von die in form at ion en und und die we lt und au und den im books p collection of british authors edition vol the second book by r in one edition by the same author plain tales from the hills i the seven seas i vol captains courageous i vol the day s work i vol a fleet in being i vol co i vol from sea to sea the city of dreadful night and other sketches i vol i vol just so stories for little children illustrated by thb author i vol the five nations i vol and discoveries i vol of s hill x vol actions and i vol the second book by author of plain tales from the hills edition g contents o page how fear came the law of the the miracle of a song of letting in the s song against people the a ripple song the king s the song of the little hunter red dog s song the spring running the the second book how fear came tlie stream is the pool is and we be comrades thou and i with and dusty flank each each along the bank and by one fear made still foregoing thought of quest or kill now his dam the may see the lean pack wolf as as he and the tall buck note the that tore his father s throat the fools are shrunk the streams are dr and we he thou and till yonder cloud good hunting loose the rain that breaks our water the law of the which is by far the oldest law in the world has arranged for almost every kind of accident that may befall the people till now its code is as perfect as time and custom can make it if you have read the other stories about you will remember that he spent a great part of his life in the wolf second book pack learning the law from the brown bear and it was who told him when the boy grew impatient at the constant orders that the law was like the giant because it dropped across s back and no one could escape when thou hast as long as i have little brother thou wilt see how all the at least one law and that will be no pleasant sight said this talk went in at one ear and out at the other for a boy who his life eating and sleeping does not worry about anything till it actually him in the face but one year s words came true and saw all the working under one law it began when the winter rains failed almost entirely and the meeting in a thicket told him that the wild were drying up now everybody knows that is fastidious in his choice of food and will eat nothing but the very best and so laughed and said what is that to me not much now said rattling his in a stiff uncomfortable way but later we shall see is there any more into the deep below the bee rocks little brother no the foolish water is going all away and i do not wish to break my head said who how fear came was quite sure he knew as much as any five of the people put together that is thy loss a small crack might let in some wisdom quickly to prevent from pulling his nose and told what had said looked very grave and half to himself if i were alone i would change my hunting grounds now before the others began to think and yet hunting among strangers ends in fighting and they might hurt my man we must wait and see how the that spring the tree that was so fond ofi never the cream coloured wax j were heat killed before they were bom and only a few bad smelling came down when he stood on his hind legs and shook the tree then inch by inch the heat crept into the heart of the turning it yellow brown and at last black the green in the sides of the burned up to broken wires and curled of dead stuff the hidden pools sank down and over keeping the last least on their edges as if it had been cast in iron the fell away from the trees they to and died at their feet the withered when the hot winds blew and the moss off the deep in the second book till they were as bare and as hot as the quivering blue in the bed of the stream the birds and the monkey people went north early in the year for they knew what was coming and the deer and the wild pig broke far away into the perished fields of the villages dying sometimes before the eyes of men too weak to kill them the stayed and grew fat for there was a great deal of and evening after evening he brought the news to the beasts too weak to force their way to fresh hunting grounds that the sun was killing the for three days flight in every direction who had never known what real hunger meant fell back on stale honey three years old scraped out of deserted rock honey black as a and dusty with dried sugar he hunted too for deep under the bark of the trees and robbed the of their new all the game in the was no more than skin and bone and could kill thrice in a night and hardly get a full meal but the want of	39
water was the worst for though the people drink seldom they must drink deep and the heat went on and on and sucked up all the moisture till at last the main channel of the was the only stream that carried a of water between its dead banks and when how fear came the wild elephant who lives for a hundred years and more saw a long lean blue ridge of rock show dry in the very centre of the stream he knew that he was looking at the peace rock and then and there he lifted up his trunk and proclaimed the water as his father before him had proclaimed it fifty years ago the deer wild pig and took up the cry hoarsely and the flew in great circles far and wide whistling and shrieking the warning by the law of the it b death to kill at the places when once the water has been declared the reason for this is that drinking comes before eating in the can scramble along somehow when only game is scarce but water is water and when there is but one source of supply all hunting stops while the people go there for their needs in good seasons when water was plentiful those who came down to drink at the or anywhere else for that matter did so at the risk of their lives and that risk made no small part of the fascination of the night s doings to move down so that never a leaf stirred to knee deep in the roaring that drown all noise from behind to drink looking backward over one shoulder every muscle ready for the first desperate bound of keen terror to roll on the sandy margin and return wet the second book and well out to the admiring herd was a thing that all glossy young took a delight in precisely because they knew that at any moment or might leap upon them and bear them down but now that life and death fun was ended and the people came up starved and weary to the river tiger bear deer and pig together drank the waters and above them too exhausted to move off the deer and pig had all day in search of something better than dried bark and withered leaves the had found no to be cool in and no green crops to steal the had left the and come down to the river in the hope of catching a stray they curled round wet stones and never offered to strike when the of a pig them the river had long ago been killed by of hunters and the fish had buried themselves deep in the cracked mud only the peace rock lay across the like a long snake and the little tired as they dried on its hot side it was here that came nightly for the cool and the companionship the most hungry of his enemies would hardly have cared for the boy then his naked skin made him look more lean how fear came and wretched than any of his fellows his hair was to tow colour by the sun his ribs stood out like the ribs of a basket and the on his knees and elbows where he was used to track on all gave his limbs the look of knotted grass stems but his eye under his was cool and quiet for his adviser in this time of trouble told him to move quietly hunt slowly and never on any account to lose his temper it is an evil time said the black one furnace hot evening but it will go if we can live till the end is thy stomach man there is in my stomach but i get no good of it think you the rains have forgotten us and will never come again not i we shall see the in blossom yet and the little all fat with new grass come down to the peace rock and hear the news on my back little brother this is no time to carry weight i can still stand alone but indeed we be no we two looked along his ragged dusty flank and whispered last night i killed ia under the yoke so low was i brought that i think i should not have dared to spring if he had been loose tiie second book laughed yes we are great hunters now said he i am very bold to eat and the two came down together through the to the river bank and the lace work of that ran out from it in every direction the water cannot live long said joining them look across yonder are like the roads of man on the level plain of the farther bank the stiff grass had died standing and dying had the beaten tracks of the deer and the pig all heading towards the river had striped that plain with dusty driven through the ten foot grass and early as it was each long avenue was full of first comers hastening to the water you could hear the does and in the dust up stream at the bend of the pool round the peace rock and of the water stood the wild elephant with his sons gaunt and gray in the moonlight rocking to and fro always rocking below him a little were the of the deer below these again the pig and the wild and on the opposite bank where the tall trees came down to the water s edge was the place set apart for the of flesh the tiger the wolves the the bear and the others we be under one law indeed said how fear into the water and looking across at the lines of horns and starting eyes where the deer and the pig pushed each other to and fro good hunting all of	39
you of my blood he added lying down at full length one flank thrust out of the and then between his teeth but for that which is the law it would be very good hunting the quick spread ears of the deer caught the last sentence and a frightened whisper ran along the ranks the remember the peace there peace the wild elephant the holds this is no time to talk of hunting who should know better than i answered rolling his yellow eyes up stream i am an of a of would i could get good from branches we wish so very greatly a young who had only been bom that spring and did not at all like it wretched as the people were even could not help while lying on his elbows in the warm water laughed aloud and beat up the foam with his feet well spoken little bud horn when the ends that shall be remembered in thy favour and he looked keenly through the darkness to make sure of the again the second book gradually the talk spread up and down the drinking places you could hear the pig asking for more room the among themselves as they out across the and the deer telling pitiful stories of their long in quest of food now and again they asked some question of the of flesh across the river but all the news was bad and the roaring hot wind of the came and went between the rocks and the rattling branches and scattered twigs and dust on the water the men folk too they die beside their said a young i passed three between sunset and night they lay still and their with them we also shall lie still in a little the river has fallen since last night said o hast thou ever seen the like of this it will pass it will pass said water along his back and sides we have one here that cannot endure long said and he looked towards the boy he loved i said indignantly sitting up in the water i have no long fur to cover my bones but but if thy hide were pulled off shook all over at the idea and said severely man that is not to tell a teacher how fear came tj of the law never have i been seen without my hide nay i meant no harm but only that thou art as it were like the in the and i am the same all naked now that brown of thine was sitting and explaining things with his forefinger in his usual way when put out a and pulled him over backwards into the water worse and worse said the black as the boy rose first is to be and now he is a be careful that he does not do what the ripe do and what is that said oflf his guard for the minute though that is one of the oldest catches in the break thy head said quietly pulling him under again it is not good to make a jest of thy teacher said the bear when had been for the third time not good what would ye have that naked thing running to and fro makes a monkey jest of those who have once been good hunters and the best of us by the whiskers for sport this was the lame tiger down to the water he waited a little to enjoy the sensation he made among the deer on the opposite bank then second book i the second book he dropped his square head and to lap growling the has become a for naked now look at me man looked stared rather as as he knew how and in a minute turned away uneasily man this and man that he going on with his drink the is neither man nor or he would have been afraid next season i shall have to beg his leave for a drink that may come too said looking him steadily between the eyes that may come too what new shame hast thou brought here the lame tiger had dipped his chin and in the water and dark streaks were floating from it down stream man said coolly i killed an hour since he went on and growling to himself the line of beasts shook and wavered to and fro and a whisper went up that grew to a cry man man he has killed man then all looked towards the wild elephant but he seemed not to hear never does anything till the time comes and that is one of the reasons why he so long at such a season as this to kill man was there no other game said scorn how fear came drawing himself out of the water and shaking each cat fashion as he did so i killed for choice not for food the whisper began again and s watchful little white eye cocked itself in s direction for choice now come i to drink and make me dean again is there any to forbid s back began to curve like a in a high wind but lifted up his trunk and spoke quietly thy kill was from choice he asked and when asks a question it is best to answer even so it was my right and my night thou o spoke almost courteously yea i know answered and after a little silence hast thou drunk thy fill for to night yes go the river is to drink and not to none but the lame tiger would have boasted of his right at this season when when we together man and people alike clean or get to thy the last words rang out like silver trumpets and s three sons rolled forward half a pace though there was no need away not to growl for he	39
knew what else the second book knows that when the last comes to the last is the master of the what is this right speaks of whispered in s ear to kill man is always shameful the law says so and yet says ask him i do not know little brother right or no right if had not spoken i would have taught that lame butcher his lesson to come to the peace rock fresh from a kill of man and to boast of ity is a s trick besides he the good water waited for a minute to pick up his courage because no one cared to address directly and then he cried what is s right o both banks echoed his words for all the people of the are intensely curious and they had just seen something that no one except who looked very thoughtful seemed to understand it is an old tale said a tale older than the keep silence along the banks and i will tell that tale there was a minute or two of pushing and among the pigs and the and then the leaders of the herds one after another we wait and strode forward till he was almost knee deep in the pool by the peace rock l and wrinkled and yellow though he was how fear came he looked what the held him to be their master ye know children he began that of all things ye most fear man there was a of agreement this tale touches thee little brother said to i i am of the pack a hunter of the free people answered what have i to do with man and ye do not know why ye fear man went on this is the reason in the beginning of the and none know when that was we of the walked together having no fear of one another in those days there was no and leaves and flowers and fruit grew on the same tree and we ate nothing at all except leaves and flowers and grass and fruit and bark i am glad i was not bom in those days said bark is only good to claws and the lord of the was tha the first of the he drew the out of deep waters with his trunk and where he made in the ground with his there the rivers ran and where he struck with his foot there rose of good water and when he blew through his trunk the trees fell that was the manner in the second book which the was made by tha and so the tale was told to me it has not lost fat in the telling whispered and laughed behind his hand in those days there was no com or or or sugar cane nor were there any little huts such as ye have all seen and the people knew nothing of man but lived in the together making one people but presently they began to dispute over their food though there was enough for all they were lazy each wished to eat where he lay as sometimes we may do now when the spring rains are good tha the first of the was busy making new and leading the rivers in their beds he could not walk everywhere so he made the first of the the master and the judge of the to whom the people should bring their in those days the first of the ate fruit and grass with the others he was as large as i am and he was very beautiful in colour all over like the blossom of the yellow there was never nor bar upon his hide in those good days when the was new all the people came before him without fear and his word was the law of all the we were then remember ye one people yet upon a night there was a dispute between two a quarrel such as ye how fear now try out with the head and the and it is said that as the two spoke together before the first of the lying among the flowers a buck pushed him with his horns and the first of the forgot that he was the master and judge of the and leaping upon that buck broke his neck till that night never one of us had died and the first of the seeing what he had don and being made foolish by the scent of the blood ran away into the of the north and we of the left without a judge fell to fighting among ourselves tha heard the noise of it and came back and some of us said this and some of us said that but he saw the dead buck among the flowers and asked who had killed and we of the would not tell because the smell of the blood made us foolish even as that same smell makes us foolish to day we ran to and fro in and crying out and shaking our heads so therefore tha gave an order to the trees that hang low and to the trailing of the e that they should mark the of the buck that he should know him again and tha said who will now be master of the people then up leaped the gray who lives in the branches and said i will now be master of the at this tha laughed and said so be it and went away very angry the second book children ye know the gray he was then as he is now at the first he made a wise face for himself but in a little while he began to scratch and to leap up and down and when tha returned he found the gray hanging head down from a bough mocking those who stood below and they him again and	39
so there was no law in the only foolish talk and senseless words then tha called us all together and said the first of your masters has brought death into the and the second shame now it is time there was a law and a law that ye may not break now ye shall know fear and when ye have found him ye shall know that he is your master and the rest shall follow then we of the said what is fear and tha said seek till ye find so we went up and down the seeking for fear and presently the said the leader of the from their yes it was the they came back with the news that in a cave in the sat fear and that he had no hair and went upon his hind legs then we of the followed the herd till we came to that cave and fear stood at the mouth of it and he was as the had said and he walked upon his hinder legs when be saw us he cried out and bis voice filled us with how fear came the fear that we have now and we ran away upon and tearing each other because we were afraid that night it was told to me we of the did not he down together as used to be our custom but each tribe drew oflf by itself the pig with the pig the deer with the deer horn to horn to like keeping to like and so lay shaking in the only the first of the was not with us for he was still hidden in the of the north and when word was brought to him of the thing we had seen in the cave he said i will go to this thing and break his neck so he ran all the night till he came to the cave but the trees and the on his path remembering the order tha had given let down their branches and marked him as he ran drawing their fingers across his back his flank his forehead and his wherever they touched him there was a mark and a upon his yellow hide and those do his children wear to this day when he came to the cave fear the one put out his hand and called him the striped one that comes by night and the first of the was afraid of the one and ran back to the howling chuckled quietly here his chin in the water so loud did be bowl that tha heard him and the second book said what is the sorrow and tlie first of the lifting up his to the new made sky which is now so old said give me back my power o tha i am made ashamed before all the and i have run away from an one and he has called me a shameful name and why said tha because i am with the mud of the said the first of the swim then and roll on the wet grass and if it be mud it will surely wash away said tha and the first of the swam and rolled and rolled till the ran round and round before his eyes but not one little bar upon his hide was changed and tha watching him laughed then the first of the said what have i done that this comes to me tha said thou hast killed the buck and thou hast let death loose in the and with death has come fear so that the people of the are afraid one of the other as thou art afraid of the ne the first of the said they will never fear me for i knew them since the beginning tha said go and see and the first of the ran to and fro calling aloud to the deer and the pig and the and the and all the but they all ran away from him who had been their judge because they were afraid then the first of the came back his pride w as broken in him and beating his head upon how fear came j the ground he tore up the earth with all his feet and said remember that i was once the master of the do not forget me o tha let my children remember that i was once without shame or and tha said this much will i do because thou and i together saw the made for one night of each year it shall be as it was before the buck was killed for thee and for thy children in that one night if ye meet the one and his name is man ye shall not be afraid of him but he shall be afraid of you as though ye were judges of the and masters of all things show him mercy in that night of his fear for thou hast known what fear is then the first of the answered i am content but when next he drank he saw the black upon his flank and his side and he remembered the name that the one had given him and he was angry for a year he lived in the waiting till tha should keep his promise and upon a night when the of the moon the evening star stood dear of the he felt that his night was upon him and he went to that cave to meet the one then it happened as tha promised for the one fell down before him and lay along the ground and the first of the struck him and broke his back for he thought that there was but one such a thing in the the second book and that he had killed fear then above the kill he heard tha coming down from the woods of the north and	39
presently the voice of the first of the which is the voice that we hear now the thunder was rolling up and down the dry hills but it brought no that behind the and went on that was the voice he heard and it said is this thy mercy the first of the licked his lips and said what matter i have killed fear and tha said o blind and foolish thou hast the feet of death and he will follow thy trail till thou thou hast taught man to kill the first of the standing to his kill said he is as the buck was there is no fear now i will judge the once more and tha said never again shall the come to thee they shall never cross thy trail nor sleep near thee nor follow after thee nor by thy only fear shall follow thee and with a blow that thou not see shall bid thee wait his pleasure he shall make the ground to open under thy feet and the to twist about thy neck and the tree trunks to grow together about thee higher than thou leap and at the last he how came g shall take thy hide to wrap his when they are cold thou hast shown him no mercy and none will he show thee the first of the was very bold for his night was still on him and he said the promise of tha is the promise of tha he will not take away my night and tha said thy one night is thine as i have said but there is a price to pay thou hast taught man to kill and he is no slow the first of the said he is here under my foot where his back is broken let the know that i have killed fear then tha laughed and said thou hast killed one of many but thou shalt tell the for thy night is ended so the day came and from the mouth of the cave went out another one and he saw the kill in the path and the first of the above it and he took a pointed stick they throw a thing that cuts now said rustling down the bank for was considered uncommonly good eating by the they called him ho and he knew something of the wicked little ax that across a clearing like a fly it was a pointed stick such as they set in the foot of a pit trap said and throwing it he the second book struck the first of the deep in the flank thus it happened as tha said for the first of the ran howling up and down the till he tore out the stick and all the knew that the one could strike from far and they feared more than before so it came about that the first of the taught the one to kill and ye know what harm that has since done to all our through the and the and the hidden trap and the flying stick and the fly that comes out of white smoke meant the rifle and the red flower that drives us into the open yet for one night in the year the one fears the tiger as tha promised and never has the tiger given him cause to be less afraid where he finds him there he him remembering how the first of the was made ashamed for the rest fear walks up and down the by day and by night said the deer thinking of what it all meant to them and only when there is one great fear over all as there is now can we of the lay aside our little fears and meet together in one place as we do now for one night only does man fear the tiger said for one night only said how fear came jt but i but we but all the e knows that man twice and thrice in a moon even so then he springs from behind and turns his head aside as he strikes for he is full of fear if man looked at him he would run but on his night he goes openly down to the village he walks between the houses and his head into the doorway and the men fall on their faces and there he does his kill one kill in that night oh said to himself rolling over in the water now i see why bade me look at him he got no good of it for he could not hold his eyes steady and and i certainly did not fall down at his feet but then i am not a man being of the free people said deep in his throat does the tiger know his night never till the of the moon stands dear of the evening mist sometimes it falls in the dry summer and sometimes in the wet rains this one night of the tiger but for the first of the this would never have been nor would any of us have known fear the deer sorrowfully and s lips curled in a wicked smile do men know this tale said he none know it except the and we the the second book the children of tha now ye by the pools have heard it and i have spoken dipped his trunk into the water as a sign that he did not wish to talk but but but said turning to why did not the first of the continue to eat grass and leaves and trees he did but break the buck s neck he did not what led him to the hot meat the trees and the marked him little brother and made him the striped that we see never again would he eat their	39
fruit but from that day he himself upon the deer and the others the of grass said then thou the tale why have i never heard because the is full of such tales if i made a beginning there would never be an end to them let go my ear little brother the law of the the law of the just to give you an idea of the immense variety of the law i have translated into verse always them in a sort of sing song a few of the laws that apply to the wolves there are of course hundreds and hundreds more but these will serve as specimens of the now this is the law of the as old and as true as the sky and the wolf that shall keep it may prosper but the wolf that shall break it must die as the that the tree trunk the law run forward and back for the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack wash daily from nose tip to tail tip drink deeply but never too deep and remember the night is for hunting and forget not the day is for sleep the may follow the tiger but when thy whiskers are grown remember the wolf is a hunter go forth and get food of thine own the second book second book keep peace with the lords of the the tiger the and bear and trouble not the silent and mock not the in his when pack meets with pack in the and neither will go from the trail lie down till the leaders have spoken it may be fair words shall prevail when ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack be diminished by war the of the wolf is his and where he has made him his home not even the head wolf may enter not even the council may come i the of the wolf is his refuge but where he has i it too plain the council shall send him a message and so he shall change it again if ye kill before midnight be silent and wake not the woods with your bay lest ye frighten the deer from the crop and your brothers go empty away the law of the ye may kill for yourselves and your mates and your as they need and ye can but kill not for pleasure of killing and seven times never kill man i if ye plunder his kill from a weaker not all in thy pride pack right is the right of the meanest so leave him the head and the hide the of the pack is the meat of the pack ye must eat where it lies and no one may carry away of that meat to his or he dies the of the wolf is the meat of the wolf he may do what he will but till he has given permission the pack may not eat of that kill right is the right of the from all of his pack he may claim full when the has eaten and none may refuse him the same right is the right of the mother from all of her year she may claim one of each kill for her litter and none may deny her the same the right is the right of the father to hunt by himself for his own he is freed of all calls to the pack he is judged by the council alone because of his age and his cunning because of his and his in all that the law open the word of your head wolf is law now these are the laws of the and many and mighty are they but the head and the of the law and the and the is obey the miracle of the night we felt the earth would move we stole and plucked him by the hand because we loved him with the love that knows but cannot understand and when the roaring broke and all our world fell down in rain we saved him we the little folk but lo he will not come again mourn now we saved him for the sake of such poor love as wild ones may mourn ye our brother does not wake and his own kind drive us away of the there was once a man in india who was prime minister of one of the semi independent native states in the north western part of the country he was a so high caste that caste ceased to have any particular meaning for him and his father had been an important official in the gay coloured rag and bob tail of an old fashioned court but grew up he r th t the t the second book order of things was changing and that if anyone wished to get on he must stand well with the english and imitate all the english believed to be good at the same time a native official must keep his own master s favour this was a difficult game but the quiet dose mouthed young helped by a good english education at a university played it coolly and rose step by step to be prime minister of the kingdom that is to say he held more real power than his master the when the old king who was suspicious of the english their and died stood high with his young successor who had been by an englishman and between them though he always took care that his master should have the credit they established schools for little girls made roads and started state and shows of agricultural implements and published a yearly e book on the moral and material progress of the state	39
and the foreign office and the government of india were delighted very few states take up english progress without for they will not believe as showed he did that what is good for the englishman must be twice as good for the the prime minister became the honoured friend of and and lieutenant and medical and common and th m op hard riding english officers who came to shoot in the state preserves as well as of whole hosts of who travelled up and down india in the cold weather showing how things ought to be managed in his spare time he would for the study of medicine and on strictly english lines and write letters to the the greatest indian daily paper explaining his master s aims and objects at last he went to england on a visit and had to pay enormous sums to the priests when he came back for even so high caste a as lost caste by crossing the black sea in london he met and talked with worth knowing men whose names go all over the world and saw a great deal more than he said he was given degrees by learned and he made speeches and talked of social reform to english ladies in evening dress till all london cried this is the most fascinating man we have ever met at dinner since were first laid when he returned to india there was a blaze of glory for the himself made a special visit to confer upon the the grand cross of the star of india all diamonds and ribbons and and at the same ceremony while the cannon was made a knight i r the second book of the order of the indian empire so that his name stood sir k c i e that evening at dinner in the big tent he stood up with the and the collar of the order on his breast and replying to the toast of his master s health made a speech that few englishmen could have surpassed next month when the had returned to its sun baked quiet he did a thing no englishman would have dreamed of doing for so far as the world s affairs went he died the order of his returned to the indian government and a new prime minister was appointed to the charge of affairs and a great game of general post began in all the subordinate the priests knew what had happened and the people guessed but india is the one place in the world where a man can do as he pleases and nobody asks why and the fact that sir i e had resigned position palace and power and taken up the begging bowl and coloured dress of a or holy man was considered nothing extraordinary he had been as the old law twenty years a youth twenty years a though he had never carried a weapon in his life and twenty years head of a household he had used his wealth and his power for what he knew both to be worth he had taken honour when it came the of bis way he had seen men and cities far and near and men and cities had stood up and honoured him now he would let these things go as a man drops the cloak he needs no longer behind him as he walked through the city gates an skin and brass handled under his arm and a begging bowl of polished brown de in his hand alone with eyes cast on the ground behind him they were firing from the in honour of his happy successor nodded all that life was ended and he bore it no more ill will or good will than a man bears to a dream of the night he was a a wandering depending on his neighbours for his daily bread and so long as there is a morsel to divide in india neither priest nor beggar he had never in his life tasted meat and very seldom eaten even fish a five pound note would have covered his personal expenses for food through any one of the many years in which he had been absolute master of millions of money even when he was being in london he had held before him his dream of peace and quiet the long white dusty indian road printed all over with bare feet the incessant slow moving traffic and the wood smoke curling up under the fig trees in the twilight where the sat at their evening meal the second book when the time came to make that dream true the prime minister took the proper steps and in three days you might more easily have found a in the of the long atlantic seas than among the gathering separating millions of india at night his skin was spread where the darkness overtook him sometimes in a by the roadside sometimes by a mud pillar shrine of where the who are another misty division of holy men would receive him as they do those who know what and divisions are worth sometimes on the outskirts of a little village where the children would steal up with the food their parents had prepared and sometimes on the pitch of the bare grounds where the flame of his stick fire the drowsy it was all one to or as he called himself now earth people and food were all one but unconsciously his feet drew him away northward and eastward from the south to from to from to ruined and then up stream along the dried bed of the river that fills only when the rain falls in the hills till one day he saw the far line of the great then smiled for he remembered that his mother was of birth from the miracle of way a hill woman always	39
for the and that the least touch of hill blood draws a man in the end back to where he belongs yonder said the lower slopes of the where the stand up like seven yonder i shall sit down and get knowledge and the cool wind of the whistled about his ears as he trod the road that led to the last time he had come that way it had been in state with a cavalry escort to visit the and most of and the two had talked for an hour together about mutual friends in london and what the indian common folk really thought of things this time paid no calls but leaned on the rail of the watching the glorious view of the plains spread out forty miles below till a native policeman told him he was traffic and reverently to the law because he knew the value of it and was seeking for a law of his own then he moved on and slept that night in an empty hut at which looks like the very last end of the earth but it was only the beginning of his journey he followed the road the little ten foot track that is out of solid rock or out on over a thousand feet deep that into warm wet shut in valleys and i l second book across bare grassy hill shoulders where the sun strikes like a burning glass or turns through dripping dark forests where the tree dress the trunks from head to heel and the calls to his mate and he met with their dogs and flocks of sheep each sheep with a little bag of on his back and wandering and and from coming into india on pilgrimage and of little solitary states furiously on and or the of a paying a visit or else for a long dear day he would see nothing more than a black bear and down below in the valley when he first started the roar of the world he had left still rang in his ears as the roar of a rings a little after the train has passed through but when he had put the pass behind him that was all done and was alone with himself walking wondering and thinking his eyes on the ground and his thoughts with the one evening he crossed the highest pass he had met till then it had been a two days and came out on a line of snow peaks that all the horizon mountains from fifteen to twenty thousand feet high looking almost near enough to hit with a stone though they were fifty or sixty miles away the pass was with e t th of wild cherry wild olive and wild but mostly which is the and under the shadow of the stood a deserted shrine to who is who is who is sometimes worshipped against the swept the stone floor dean smiled at the grinning statue made himself a little mud fireplace at the back of the shrine spread his skin on a bed of fresh pine needles tucked his his brass handled under his and sat down to rest immediately below him the fell away clean and cleared for fifteen hundred feet to where a little village of stone walled houses with roofs of beaten earth clung to the steep all round it tiny fields lay out like of on the knees of the mountain and cows no bigger than between the smooth stone circles of the floors looking across the valley the eye was deceived by the size of things and could not at first that what seemed to be low on the opposite mountain flank was in truth a forest of hundred foot pines saw an eagle across the enormous hollow but the great bird to a dot ere it was half way over a few bands of scattered clouds strung up and down the valley catching on a shoulder of the hills or rising up and dying out when they were level with the the second book head of the pass and here shall i find peace said now a hill man makes nothing of a few hundred feet up or down and as soon as the villagers saw the smoke in the deserted shrine the village priest climbed up the to welcome the stranger when he met s eyes the eyes of a man used to control thousands he bowed to the earth took the begging bowl without a word and returned to the village saying we have at last a holy man never have i seen such a man he is of the plains but pale coloured a of the then all the of the village said think you he will stay with us and each did her best to cook the most meal for the hill food is very simple but with and indian com and rice and red and little fish out of the stream in the little valley and honey firom the like built in the stone walls and dried and and wild and of flour a devout woman can make good things and it was a full bowl that the priest carried to the was he going to stay asked the priest would he need a a to beg for him had he a blanket against the cold weather was the food good ate and the it of was in his mind to stay that was sufficient said the priest let the begging bowl be placed outside the shrine in the hollow made by those two twisted roots and daily should the be fed for the village felt honoured that such a man he looked timidly into the s face should among them that day saw the end of s wanderings he had come to the place appointed for him the	39
silence and the space after this time stopped and he sitting at the mouth of the shrine could not tell whether he were alive or dead a man with control of his limbs or a part of the hills and the and the shifting rain and sunlight he would repeat a name softly to himself a hundred hundred times till at each repetition he seemed to move more and more out of his body sweeping up to the doors of some tremendous discovery but just as the door was opening his body would drag him back and with grief he felt he was locked up again in the flesh and bones of every morning the filled begging bowl was laid silently in the of the roots outside the shrine sometimes the priest brought it sometimes a lodging in the village and anxious to get merit up the path but more often it was the woman who had cooked the meal and she would murmur hardly above her breath the second book speak for me before the gods speak for such an one the wife of so and so now and then some bold child would be allowed the honour and would hear him drop the bowl and run as fast as his little legs could carry him but the never came down to the village it was laid out like a map at his feet he could see the evening held on the circle of the because that was the only level ground could see the wonderful green of the young rice the of the indian corn the dock like patches of buck wheat and in its season the red bloom of the whose tiny seeds being neither grain nor pulse make a food that can be eaten by in time of when the year turned the roofs of the huts were all little squares of purest gold for it was on the roofs that they laid out their of the com to and harvest rice and passed before his eyes all embroidered down there on the many sided fields and he thought of them all and wondered what they all led to at the long last even in india a man cannot a day sit still before the wild things run over him as though he were a rock and in that wilderness very soon the wild things who knew s shrine well came back to look at the intruder the the big gray of the were the miracle of naturally the first for they are alive with curiosity and when they had upset the begging bowl and rolled it round the floor and tried their teeth on the brass handled and made faces at the skin they decided that the human being who sat so still was harmless at evening they would leap down fi om the pines and beg with their hands for things to eat and then swing in graceful curves they liked the of the fire too and huddled round it till had to push them aside to throw on more fuel and in the morning as often as not he would find a sharing his blanket all day long one or other of the tribe would it by his side staring out at the and looking wise and after the came the that big deer which is like our red deer but stronger he wished to rub off the velvet of his horns against the cold stones of s statue and stamped his feet when he saw the man at the shrine but never moved and little by little the royal edged up and his shoulder slid one cool hand along the hot and the touch soothed the beast who bowed his head and very softly rubbed and off the velvet afterwards the brought his and gentle things that on the holy man s blanket or would come second book the second book alone at night his eyes green in the fire to take his share of fresh at last the the and almost the smallest of the came too her big ears erect even must needs find out what the light in the shrine meant and drop her like nose into s lap coming and going with the shadows of the fire called them all my brothers and his low call of would draw them from the forest at noon if they were within the black bear moody and suspicious who has the v shaped white mark under his chin passed that way more than once and since the showed no fear showed no anger but watched him and came closer and begged a share of the caresses and a of bread or wild often in the still when the would climb to the very crest of the pass to watch the red day walking along the peaks of the he would find shuffling and at his heels thrusting a curious under fallen trunks and bringing it away with a of impatience or his early steps would wake where he lay curled up and the great brute rising erect would think to fight till he heard the s voice and knew his best friend nearly all and holy men who live apart from the big cities have the reputation of being able thb miracle of to work with the wild things but all the miracle lies in keeping still in never making a hasty movement and for a long time at least in never looking directly at a visitor the villagers saw the outlines of the like a shadow through the dark forest behind the shrine saw the the blazing in her best colours before s statue and the on their inside playing with the shells some of the children too had heard singing to himself bear fashion behind the fallen rocks and the s reputation as miracle stood firm yet nothing was further from his mind than	39
the deer and stumbled on the wall of a floor and because he smelt man now they were at the head of the one crooked village street and the beat with his at the barred windows of the blacksmith s house as his the second book torch blazed up in the shelter of the up and out cried and he did not know his own voice for it was years since he had spoken aloud to a man the hill falls the hill is falling up and out oh you within it is our said the blacksmith s wife he stands among his beasts gather the little ones and give the call it ran from house to house while the beasts cramped in the narrow way and huddled round the and puffed impatiently the people hurried into the street they were no more than seventy souls all told and in the glare of their they saw their holding back the terrified while the plucked at his skirts and sat on his and roared across the valley and up the next hill shouted leave none behind we follow then the people ran only hill folk can run for they knew that in a you must for the highest ground the valley they fled through the little river at the bottom and panted up the fields on the far side while the and his brethren followed up and up the opposite mountain they climbed calling to each other by name roll call of the village and at the miracle of their heels toiled the big by the failing strength of at last the deer stopped in the shadow of a deep pine wood five feet up the his instinct that had warned him of the coming slide told him he would be safe here dropped fainting by his side for the chill of the rain and that fierce climb was killing him but first he called to the scattered ahead stay and count your numbers then whispering to the deer as he saw the lights gather in a stay with me brother stay till i go there was a sigh in the air that grew to a and a that grew to a roar and a roar that passed all sense of hearing and the on which the villagers stood was hit in the darkness and rocked to the blow then a note as steady deep and true as the deep c of the organ drowned everything for perhaps five minutes while the very roots of the pines quivered to it it died away and the sound of the rain falling on miles of hard ground and grass changed to the muffled drums of water on earth that told its own tale never a not even the priest was bold enough to speak to the who had saved their lives they crouched under the pines and waited the s till the day when it came they looked across the valley and saw that what had been forest and field and track ground was one raw red fan shaped with a few trees flung head down on the that red ran high up the hill of their refuge back the little river which had begun to spread into a lake of the village of the road to the shrine of the shrine itself and the forest behind there was no trace for one mile in width and two thousand feet in sheer depth the mountain side had come away bodily dean from head to heel and the villagers one by one crept through the wood to pray before their they saw the standing over him who fled when they came near and they heard the wailing in the branches and moaning up the hill but their was dead sitting cross legged his back against a tree his under his and his face turned to the north east the priest said behold a miracle after a miracle for in this very attitude must all sunny be buried therefore where he now is we will build the temple to our holy man they built the temple before a year was ended a little stone and earth shrine and they called the bill the s hill and they worship there with the miracle of lights and flowers and to this day but they do not know that the saint of their worship is the late sir k c i e d c l d etc once prime minister of the and enlightened state of and or corresponding member of more learned and scientific societies than will ever do any good in this world or the next the second book a song of oh light was the world that he weighed in his hands oh heavy the tale of his and his lands he has gone from the and put on the and departed in guise of now the white road to is mat for his feet the and the must guard him from heat his home is the camp and the waste and the crowd he is seeking the way a he has looked upon man and his are clear there was one there is one and but one the red mist of doing is to a he has taken the path a to learn and discern of his brother the of his brother the brute and his brother the god he has gone from the council and put on the can ye hear a letting in the veil them cover them wall them round blossom and and weed let us forget the sight and the sound and the smell and the touch of the breed fat black ash by the here is the white foot rain and the does bring forth in the fields and none may them again and the blind walls unknown o and none may again you will remember if you have	39
read the tales in the first book that after had pinned s hide to the council rock he told as many as were left of the pack that he would hunt in the alone and the four children of mother and father wolf said that they would hunt with him but it is not easy to change all one s life at particularly in the the first thing did when the pack had off was to go to the and sleep for a day and a night then he told mother wolf and father wolf as much as they the second book could understand of his adventures among men and when he made the morning sun up and down the blade of his knife the same he had with they said he had learned something then and gray brother had to explain their share of the great drive in the and toiled up the hill to hear all about it and scratched himself all over with pure delight at the way in which had managed his war it was long after sunrise but no one dreamed of going to sleep and from time to time mother wolf would throw up her head and a deep snuff of satisfaction as the wind brought her the smell of the tiger skin on the council rock but for and gray brother here said at the end i could have done nothing oh mother mother if thou seen the blue pour down the or hurry through the gates when the man pack flung stones at me i am glad i did not see that last said mother wolf stiffly it is not my custom to suffer my to be driven to and fro like would have taken a price from the man pack but i would have spared the woman who gave thee the milk yes i would have spared her alone peace peace said father wolf lazily our has come back again so wise that his letting in the own father must his feet and what is a cut more or less on the head l ave man alone and both echoed leave man alone his head on mother wolf s side smiled and said that for his own part he never wished to see or hear or smell man again but what said one ear but what if men do not leave thee alone little brother we be five said gray brother round at the company and snapping his jaws on the last word we also might attend to that said with a little of his tail looking at but why think of man now for this reason the lone wolf answered when that yellow thief s hide was hung up on the rock i went back along our trail to the village stepping in my tracks turning aside and lying down to make a mixed trail in case any should follow us but when i had the trail so that i myself hardly knew it again the bat came between the trees and hung up above me said the village of the man pack where they cast out the man like a s nest it was a big stone that i threw chuckled who had often amused himself by throwing the second book ripe into a s nest and racing to the nearest pool before the caught him i asked of what he had seen he said that the red flower at the gate of the village and men sat about it carrying guns now know for i have good cause looked here at the old dry on his flank and side that men do not carry guns for pleasure presently little brother a man with a gun follows our trail i indeed he be not already on it but why should he men have cast me out what more do they need said angrily thou art a man little brother returned it is not for us the free hunters to tell thee what thy brethren do or why he had just time to snatch up his as the knife cut deep into the ground below struck quicker than an average human eye could follow but was a wolf and even a dog who is very far removed from the wild wolf his can be out of deep sleep by a cart wheel touching his flank and can spring away before that wheel comes on another time said quietly returning the knife to its speak of the man pack and of in two not one that is a sharp tooth said at the blade s cut in the earth but living with letting in the the man pack has spoiled thine eye little brother i could have killed buck while thou striking sprang to his feet thrust up his head as far as he could and through every curve in his body gray brother followed his example quickly keeping a little to his left to get the wind that was blowing from the right while bounded fifty yards up wind and half crouching too looked on he could smell things as very few human beings could but he had never reached the hair like of a nose and his three months in the smoky village had put him back sadly however he his finger rubbed it on his nose and stood erect to catch the upper scent which though the faintest is the truest man growled dropping on his said sitting down he follows our trail and yonder is the sunlight on his gun look jt was no more than a splash of sunlight for a of a second on the brass of the old tower but nothing in the with just that flash except when the race over the sky then a piece of or a little pool or even a highly polished leaf will flash like a but that day was and	39
still tke second te book tim book i knew men would follow said triumphantly not for nothing have i led the pack s four wolves said nothing but ran down hill on their melting into the thorn and whither go ye and without word called h sh we roll his skull here before midday gray brother answered back back and wait man does not eat man shrieked who was a wolf but now who drove the knife at me for thinking he might be a man said as the four turned back sullenly and dropped to heel am i to give reason for all i choose to do said furiously that is man there speaks man muttered under his whiskers f even so did men talk round the king s at we of the know that man is wisest of all if we trusted our ears we should know that of all things he is most foolish raising his voice he added the man is right in this men hunt in to kill one unless we know what the others will do is bad hunting come let us see what this man means towards us we will not come gray brother growled letting in the hunt alone little brother we know our own minds the skull would have been ready to bring by now had been looking from one to the other of his friends his chest heaving and his eyes full of tears he strode forward and dropping on one knee said do i not know my mind look at they looked uneasily when their eyes wandered he called them back again and again till their hair stood up all over their bodies and they trembled in every limb while stared and stared now said he of us five which is leader thou art leader little brother said gray brother and he licked s foot follow then said and the four followed at his heels with their tails between their legs this comes of with the man pack said slipping down after them there is more in the now than law the old bear said nothing but he thought many things cut across noiselessly through the at right angles to s path till parting the he saw the old man his on his shoulder running up the two day s old trail at a dog trot ths second book you will remember that had left the village with the heavy weight of s raw hide on his shoulders while and gray brother trotted behind so that the trail was very clearly marked presently came to where as you know had gone back and mixed it all up then he sat down and and and made little casts round and about into the to pick it up again and all the time he could have thrown a stone over those who were watching him no one can be so silent as a wolf when he does not care to be heard and though the wolves thought he moved very could come and go like a shadow they the old man as a school of ring a steamer at speed and as they him they talked for their speech began below the lowest end of the scale that human beings can hear the other end is bounded by the high of the bat which very many people cannot catch at all from that note all the bird and bat and insect talk takes on this is better than any kill said gray brother as stooped and peered and puffed he looks like a lost pig in the by the river what does he say was muttering savagely translated he says that of wolves must have danced round me he says that he letting in the never saw such a trail in his life he says he is he will be rested before he it up again said coolly as he slipped round a in the game of blind man s that they were playing now what does the lean thing do eat or blow smoke out of his mouth men always play with their mouths said and the silent saw the old man fill and light and puff at a water pipe and they took good note of the smell of the tobacco so as to be sure of in the darkest night if necessary then a little knot of came down the path and naturally halted to speak to whose fame as a hunter reached for at least twenty miles round they all sat down and smoked and and the others came up and watched while began to tell the story of the from one end to another with additions and inventions how he himself had really killed and how had turned himself into a wolf and fought with him all the afternoon and changed into a boy again and s rifle so that the bullet turned the comer when he pointed it at and killed one of s own and how the village knowing him to be the hunter in had sent him out to kill this put meantime the village bad the second book got hold of and her husband who were undoubtedly the father and mother of this devil child and had them in their own hut and presently would torture them to make them confess they were witch and and then they would be burned to death when said the because they would very much like to be present at the ceremony said that nothing would be done till he returned because the village wished him to kill the boy first after that they would dispose of and her husband and divide their land and among the village s husband had some remarkably fine too it was an excellent thing to destroy thought and people who entertained wolf children out of the were clearly the worst kind of but said the what would happen if the	39
english heard of it the they had been told were a perfectly mad people who would not let honest kill in peace why said the head man of the village would report that and her husband had died of snake bite that was all arranged and the only thing now was to kill the wolf child they did not happen to have seen anything of such a creature the looked round cautiously and thanked their stars they had not but they had letting in the j t no doubt that so brave a man as would find him if anyone could the sun was getting rather low and they had an idea that they would push on to s village and see the wicked witch said that though it was his duty to kill the he could not think of letting a party of men go through the which might reveal the wolf demon at any minute without his escort he therefore would accompany them and if the s child appeared well he would show them how the best hunter in dealt with such things the he said had given him a charm against the creature that made everything safe what says he what says he what says he the wolves repeated every few minutes and translated until he came to the witch part of the story which was a little beyond him and then he said that the man and woman who had been so kind to him were do men trap men said gray brother so he says i cannot understand the talk they are all mad together what have and her man to do with me that they should be put in a trap and what is all this talk about the red flower i must look to this whatever they would do to they will not do till returns and so thought hard with his fingers play the second book ing round the of his knife while and the went off very in single file i go hot foot back to the man pack said at last and those said gray brother looking after the brown backs of the sing them home said with a grin i do not wish them to be at the village gate till it is dark can ye hold them gray brother his white teeth in contempt we can head them round and round in circles uke if i know man that i do not need sing to them a little lest they be lonely on the road and gray brother the song need not be of the sweetest go with them and help make that song when night is laid down meet me by the village gray brother knows the place it is no light hunting to track for a man when shall i sleep said yawning though his eyes showed he was delighted with the amusement me to sing to naked men but let us try he lowered his head so that the sound would travel and cried a long long good hunting a midnight call in the afternoon which was quite enough to begin with i heard it and rise and fall and die off in j sort of letting m the behind him and laughed to himself as he ran through the he could see the huddled in a knot old s gun barrel waving like a leaf to every point of the compass at once then gray brother gave the la hi call for the buck driving when the pack drives the the big blue cow before them and it seemed to come from the very ends of the earth nearer and nearer and nearer till it ended in a shriek snapped off short the other three answered till even could have vowed that the full pack was in full cry and then they all broke into the magnificent morning song in the with every turn and flourish and grace note that a wolf of the pack knows this is a rough rendering of the song but you must imagine what it sounds like when it breaks the afternoon hush of the one moment past our bodies cast no shadow on the plain now dear and black they stride our and we run home again in morning hush each rock and bush stands hard and high and raw then give the call good rest to all that keep the law now horn and our melt in covert to abide now crouched and still to cave and hill our the second book and plain man s oxen strain that draw the new plough now stripped and dread the dawn is red above the lit ho get to the sun s behind the breathing grass and through the young the warning whispers pass by day made strange the woods we range with eyes we while down the skies the wild duck cries the the day to man t the dew is dried that our hide or washed about our way and where we drank the bank is into day the traitor dark gives up each mark of stretched or then hear the call good rest to all that keep the law but no translation can give the effect of it or the scorn the four threw into every word of it as they heard the trees crash when the men hastily climbed up into the branches and began repeating and charms then they laid down and slept for like all who live by their own exertions they were of a cast of mind and no one can work well without sleep meantime was putting the miles behind him nine to the hour swinging on delighted to find letting in the himself so fit after all his cramped months among men the one idea in his head was to get and her husband out of the trap whatever it was for he had	39
here i heard my children singing through the woods and i followed the one i loved best little i have a desire to see that woman who gave thee milk said mother wolf all wet with the dew they have bound and mean to kill her i have cut those ties and she goes with her man through the i also will follow i am old but not yet mother wolf reared herself up on end and looked through the window into the dark of the hut ihe second book in a minute she dropped noiselessly and all she said was i gave thee thy first milk but speaks truth man goes to man at the last maybe said with a very unpleasant look on his face but to night i am very far from that trail wait here but do not let her see thou never afraid of me little said mother wolf into the high grass and herself out as she knew how and now said cheerfully as he swung into the hut again they are all sitting round who is saying that which did not happen his talk is finished they say they will assuredly come here with the red with fire and bum you both and then i have spoken to my man said is thirty miles from here but at we may find the english and what pack are they said i do not know they be white and it is said that they govern all the land and do not suffer people to bum or beat each other without witnesses if we can get thither to night we live otherwise we die live then no man passes the gates to night but what does he do s husband was on his hands and knees digging up the earth in one comer of the hut letting in the si it is his little money said we can take nothing else ah yes the stuff that passes from hand to hand and never grows warmer do they need it outside this place also said the man stared angrily he is a fool and no devil he muttered with the money i can buy a horse we are too bruised to walk far and the village will follow us in an hour i say they will not follow till i choose but a horse is well thought of for is tired her husband stood up and knotted the last of the into his waist doth helped through the window and the cool night air revived her but the in the looked very dark and terrible ye know the trail to whispered they nodded gk od remember now not to be afraid and there is no need to go quickly only only there may be some small singing in the behind you and before think you we would have risked a night in the through an ng less than the fear of burning it is better to be by beasts than by men said s husband but looked at and smiled the second o the second book i say went on just as though he were repeating an old law for the time to an i say that not a tooth in the is against you not a foot in the is lifted against you neither man nor beast shall stay you till you come within eye shot of there will be a watch about you he turned quickly to saying he does not believe but thou wilt believe ay surely my son man ghost or wolf of the i believe he will be afraid when he hears my people singing thou wilt know and understand go now and slowly for there is no need of any haste the gates are shut flung herself sobbing at s feet but he lifted her very quickly with a shiver then she hung about his neck and called him every name of blessing she could think of but her husband looked across his fields and said if we reach and i get the ear of the english i will bring such a against the and old and the others as shall eat this village to the bone they shall pay me twice over for my crops and my i will have a great justice i do not know what justice letting in the is but come thou back next rains and see what is left they went off toward the and mother wolf leaped from her place of hiding follow said and look to it that all the knows these two are safe give tongue a little i would call the long low howl rose and fell and saw s husband and turn half minded to run back to the hut go on shouted cheerfully i said there might be singing that call will follow up to it is the favour of the urged her husband forward and the darkness shut down on them and mother wolf as rose up almost under s feet trembling with of the night that drives the people wild i am ashamed of thy brethren he said what did they not sweetly to said too well too well they made even me forget my pride and by the broken lock that freed me i went singing through the as though i were out in the spring thou not hear us i had other game ask if he the second book liked the song but where are the four i do not wish one of the man pack to leave the gates tonight what need of the four then said shifting from foot to foot his eyes and louder than ever i can hold them little brother is it killing at last the singing and the sight of the men climbing up the trees have made me very ready who is man that we should care for him the naked brown the and	39
the of earth i have followed him all day at noon in the white sunlight i him as the wolves herd buck i am as i dance with my shadow so i danced with those men look the great leaped as a leaps at a dead leaf whirling overhead struck left and right into the empty air that sung under the strokes landed noiselessly and leaped again and again while the half half growl gathered head as steam in a i am in the in the night and my strength is in me who shall stay my stroke man with one blow of my i could beat thy head flat as a dead in the summer strike then said in the dialect of the village not the talk of the and the human words brought to a full stop flung back letting in the on his that quivered under him his head just at the level of s once more stared as he had stared at the rebellious full into the green eyes till the red glare behind their green went out like the light of a shut off twenty miles across the sea till the eyes dropped and the big head with them dropped lower and lower and the red of a tongue on s brother brother brother i the boy whispered steadily and lightly from the neck along the heaving back be still be still it is the fault of the night and no fault of thine it was the smells of the night said this air cries aloud to me but how dost know of course the air round an indian village is full of all kinds of smells and to any creature who does nearly all his thinking through his nose smells are as as music and are to human beings the for a few minutes longer and he lay down like a cat before a fire his tucked under his breast and his eyes half shut thou art of the and not of the he said at last and i am only a black but i love thee little brother they are very long at their talk under the tree the second book said without noticing the last sentence must have told many tales they should come soon to drag the woman and her man out of the trap and put them into the red flower they will find that trap sprung ho ho nay listen said the fever is out of my blood now let them find me there few would leave their houses after meeting me it is not the first time i have been in a cage and i do not think they will tie me with be wise then said laughing for he was beginning to feel as reckless as the who had glided into the hut puffed this place is rank with man but here is just such a bed as they gave me to lie upon in the king s at now i lie down heard the strings of the cot crack under the great brute s weight by the broken lock that freed me they will think they have caught big game come and sit beside me little brother we will give them good hunting together no i have another thought in my stomach the man pack shall not know what share i have in the sport make thine own hunt i do not wish to see them be it so said now they come the conference under the tree had been letting in the growing and at the far end of the village it broke in wild and a rush up the street of men and women waving and and and knives and the were at the head of it but the mob was close at their heels and they cried the witch and the let us see if hot will make them confess bum the hut over heads we will teach them to shelter wolf devils nay beat them first more heat the here was some little difficulty with the catch of the door it had been very firmly fastened but the crowd tore it away bodily and the light of the streamed into the room where stretched at full length on the bed his crossed and lightly hung down over one end black as the pit and terrible as a demon was there was one half minute of desperate silence as the front ranks of the crowd and tore their way back from the threshold and in that minute raised his head and yawned carefully and as he would when he wished to insult an equal the fringed lips drew back and up the red tongue curled the lower jaw dropped and dropped till you could see half way down the hot and the gigantic dog teeth stood dear to the pit of the till they rang together upper and the second book under with the of steel faced wards shooting home round the edges of a safe next minute the street was empty had leaped back through the window and stood at s side while a yelling screaming torrent scrambled and tumbled one over another in their panic haste to get to their huts they will not stir till the day comes said quietly and now the silence of the afternoon sleep seemed to have overtaken the village but as they listened they could hear the sound of heavy grain boxes being dragged over floors and pushed against doors was quite right the village would not stir till daylight sat still and thought and his face grew darker and darker what have i done said at last nothing but great good watch them now till the day i sleep ran off into the and dropped across a rock and slept and slept the day round and the night back again when he was at his	39
side and there lay a newly killed buck at his feet watched curiously while went to work with his knife ate and drank and turned over with his chin in his hands tl e man and thy woman came safe within ey j letting in the shot of said thy mother sent the word back by they found a horse before midnight of the night they were freed and went very quickly is not that well that is well said and thy man pack in the village did not stir till the sun was high this morning then they ate their food and ran back quickly to their houses did they by chance see thee it may have been i was rolling in the dust before the gate at dawn and i may have made also some small song to now little brother there is nothing more to do come hunting with me and he has new that he wishes to show and we all desire thee back again as of old take off that look which makes even me afraid the man and woman will not be put into the red flower and all goes well in the is it not true let us forget the man pack they shall be forgotten in a little while where does feed to night where he chooses who can answer for the silent one but why what is there can do which we cannot bid him and his three sons come here to me but indeed and truly little brother it is not it is not to say come and go to remember he is the master of the go the second and before the man pack changed the look on thy face he taught thee a master word of the that is all one i have a master word for him now bid him come to the and if he does not hear at first bid him come because of the sack of the fields of the sack of the fields of repeated two or three times to make sure i go can but be at the worst and i would give a moon s hunting to hear a master word that the silent one he went away leaving furiously with his knife into the earth had never seen human blood in his life before till he had seen and what meant much more to him s blood on the that bound her and had been kind to him and so far as he knew about love he loved as completely as he hated the rest of mankind but deeply as he them their talk their cruelty and their cowardice not for anything the had to offer could he bring himself to take a hum n life and have that terrible scent of blood back again in his nostrils his plan was but much more thorough and he laughed to himself when he thought that it was one of old s tales told under the tree in the evening that had put the idea into his head letting in the it was a master word whispered in his ear they were feeding by the river and they obeyed as though they were look where they come now and his three sons had appeared in their usual way without a sound the mud of the river was still fresh on their and was thoughtfully the green stem of a young that he had up with his but every line in his vast body showed to who could see things when he came across them that it was not the master of the speaking to a man but one who was afraid coming before one who was not his three sons rolled side by side behind their father hardly his head as gave him good hunting he kept him swinging and rocking and shifting from one foot to another for a long time before he spoke and when he opened his mouth it was to not to the i will tell a tale that was told to me by the hunter ye hunted to day said it concerns an elephant old and wise who fell into a trap and the sharpened stake in the pit him from a little above his heel to the crest of his shoulder leaving a white mark threw out his hand and as wheeled the moonlight showed a long white on his side as though he had been the second book struck with a red hot whip men came to take him from the trap continued but he broke his ropes for he was strong and he went away till his wound was healed then came he angry by night to the fields of those hunters and i remember now that he had three sons these things happened many many rains ago and very far away among the fields of what came to those fields at the next they were by me and by my four sons said and to the that follows the said there was no said and to the men that live by the green crops on the ground said they went away and to the huts in which the men slept said we tore the roofs to pieces and the swallowed up the walls said and what more besides said as much ground as i can walk over in two nights from the east to the west and from the north to the south as much as i can walk over in three nights the took we let in the upon five villages and in those villages and in their lands the ground and the soft crop letting in the grounds there is not one man to day who gets his food from the ground that was the sack of the fields of which i and my three sons did and now i ask man how the news of	39
it came to thee said a man told me and now i see even can speak truth it was well done with the white mark but the second time it shall be done better for the reason that there is a man to direct thou the village of the man pack that cast me out they are idle senseless and cruel they play with their mouths and they do not kill their weaker for food but for sport when they are they would throw their own breed into the red flower this i have seen it is not well that they should live here any more i hate them kill then said the youngest of s three sons picking up a of grass it against his fore legs and throwing it away while his little red eyes glanced from side to side what good are white bones to me answered am i the of a to play in the sun with a raw head i have killed and his hide on the council rock but but i do not know whither is gone and my stomach is still empty now i will take that which i can see and touch let in the upon that village be second book shivered and down he could understand if the worst came to the worst a quick rush down the village street and a right and left blow into a crowd or a killing of men as they in the twilight but this scheme for deliberately out an entire village from the eyes of man and beast frightened him now he saw why had sent for no one but the long lived elephant could plan and carry through such a war let them run as the men ran from the fields of till we have the rain water for the only plough and the noise of the rain on the thick leaves for the of their till and i in the house of the and the buck drink at the behind the temple let in the but i but we have no quarrel with them and it needs the red rage of great pain ere we tear down the places where men sleep said rocking doubtfully are ye the only of grass in the drive in your let the deer and the pig and the look to it ye need never show a hand s breadth of hide till the fields are naked let in the there will be no killing my were red letting in the at the sack of the fields of and i would not wake that smell again nor i i do not wish even their bones to lie on our clean earth let them go find a fresh they cannot stay here i have seen and smelt the blood of the woman that gave me food the woman whom they would have killed but for me only the smell of the new grass on their door steps can take away that smell it in my mouth let in the ah said so did the of the stake bum on my hide till we watched their villages die under in the spring growth now i see thy war shall be our war we will let in the had hardly time to catch his breath he was shaking all over with rage and hate before the place where the had stood was empty and was looking at him with terror by the broken lock that freed me said the black at last art thou the naked thing i spoke for in the pack when all was young master of the when my strength goes speak for me speak for speak for us all we are before thee snapped twigs under foot that have lost their the idea of being a stray upset altogether and he laughed and caught his f breath and sobbed and laughed again till he had the second book to jump into a pool to make himself stop then he swam round and round in and out of the bars of the moonlight like the his by this time and his three sons had turned each to one point of the compass and were silently down the valleys a mile away they went on and on for two days march that is to say a long sixty miles through the while every step they took and every wave of their trunks was known and noted and talked over by and and the monkey people and all the birds then they began to feed and fed quietly for a week or so and his sons are like the rock they never hurry till they have to at the end of that time and none knew who had started it a rumour went through the that there was better food and water to be found in such and such a valley the pig who of course will go to the ends of the earth for a full meal moved first by companies over the rocks and the deer followed with the little wild that live on the dead and dying of the herds and the heavy shouldered moved parallel with the deer and the wild of the came after the the least little thing would have turned the scattered straggling that and sauntered and drank and again but whenever there was an alarm would rise m ihe q up and soothe them at one time it would be the full of news of good feed just a little farther on at another would cry cheerily and hap down a to show it was all empty or his mouth full of roots would along side a wavering line and half frighten half it back to the proper road very many creatures broke back or ran away or lost interest but very many were left to	39
go forward at the end of another ten days or so the situation was this the deer and the pig and the were round and round in a circle of eight or ten miles while the of flesh round its edge and the centre of that circle was the village and round the village the crops were and in the crops sat men on what they call like pigeon made of sticks at the top of four poles to scare away birds and other then the deer were no more the of flesh were dose them and forced them forward and inward it was a dark night when and his three sons slipped down from the and broke off the poles of the with their trunks and they fell as a snapped stalk of in falls and the men that tumbled from them heard the deep of the in their ears then the of the bewildered armies of the deer broke second book j g the book down and into the village grounds and the fields and the sharp wild pig came with them and what the deer left the pig spoiled and from time to time an alarm of wolves would shake the herds and they would rush to and fro desperately treading down the young and cutting flat the banks of the channels before the dawn broke the pressure on the outside of the circle gave way at one point the of flesh had fallen back and left an open path to the south and drove upon drove of buck fled along it others who were bolder lay up in the to finish their meal next night but the work was practically done when the villagers looked in the morning they saw their crops were lost that meant death if they did not get away for they lived year in and year out as near to starvation as the was near to them when the were sent to the hungry brutes found that the deer had cleared the grounds and so wandered into the and drifted ofi with their wild mates and when twilight fell the three or four that belonged to the village lay in their stables with their heads beaten in only could have given those strokes and only would have thought of dragging the last to the open street letting in the the villagers had no heart to make fires in the fields that night so and his three sons went among what was left and where there is no need to follow the men decided to live on their stored seed corn until the rains had fallen and then to take work as servants till they could catch up with the lost year but as the was thinking of his well filled of com and the prices he would at the sale of it s sharp were picking out the comer of his mud house and up the big with cow where the precious stuff lay when that last loss was discovered it was the s turn to speak he had prayed to his own gods without answer it might be he said that unconsciously the village had offended some one of the gods of the for beyond doubt the was against them so they sent for the head man of the nearest tribes of wandering little wise and very black hunters living in the deep whose fathers came of the oldest race in india the owners of the land they made the welcome with what they had and he stood on one leg his bow in his hand and two or three poisoned arrows stuck through his top knot looking half afraid and half contemptuously at the anxious villagers and their ruined fields they the second book wished to know whether his gods the old gods were angry with them and what sacrifices should be offered the said nothing but picked up a trail of the the vine that bears the bitter wild and it to and fro across the temple door in the face of the staring red image then he pushed with his hand in the open air along the road to and went back to his and watched the people drifting through it he knew that when the moves only white men can hope to turn it aside there was no need to ask his meaning the wild would grow where they had worshipped their god and the sooner they saved themselves the better but it is hard to tear a village from its they stayed on as long as any summer food was left to them and they tried to gather nuts in the but shadows with glaring eyes watched them and rolled before them even at midday and when they ran back afraid to their walls on the tree trunks they had passed not five minutes before the bark would be striped and with the stroke of some great the more they kept to their village the bolder grew the wild things that and on the grounds by the they had no heart to patch and plaster the rear walls of the empty that backed on to the letting in the loi the wild pig trampled them down and the vines hurried after and threw their elbows over the new won ground and the coarse grass behind the vines the unmarried men ran away first and carried the news far and near that the village was doomed who could fight they said against the or the gods of the when the very village had left his hole in the platform under the so their little commerce with the outside world shrunk as the trodden paths across the open grew fewer and fainter and the nightly of and his three sons ceased to trouble them they had no more to go the crop on the ground and the seed in the ground had	39
been taken the fields were already losing their shape and it was time to throw themselves on the charity of the english at native fashion they delayed their departure from one day to another till the first rains caught them and the roofs let in a flood and the ground stood ankle deep and all green things came on with a rush after the heat of the summer then they out men women and children through the blinding hot rain of the morning but turned naturally for one farewell look at their homes they heard as the last family filed through the gate a of falling beams and the second book behind the walls they saw a shiny black trunk lifted for an instant scattering it disappeared and there was another crash followed by a had been off the roofs of the huts as you pluck water lilies and a beam had pricked him he needed only this to his full strength for of all things in the the wild elephant enraged is the most destructive he kicked backward at a mud wall that at the stroke and crumbling melted to yellow mud under the torrents of rain then he wheeled and and tore through the narrow streets leaning against the huts right and shivering the crazy doors and up the while his three sons raged behind as they had raged at the sack of the fields of the will swallow these shells said a quiet voice in the it is the outer walls that must he down and with the rain over his bare shoulders and arms leaped back from a wall that was settling like a tired all in good time panted oh but my were red at to the outer wall children with the head together now the four pushed side by side the outer wall split and fell and the villagers dumb with horror saw the savage day heads of the in the ragged gap then they fled house letting in the less and down the valley as their village and tossed and trampled melted behind them a month later the place was a mound covered with soft green young stuff and by the end of the rains there was the roaring in full blast on the spot that had been under plough not six months before i the second book s song against people i well let loose against you the fleet footed vines i will call in the to stamp out your lines the roofs shall fade before it the house beams shall fall and the the bitter shall cover it all in the gates of these your my people shall sing in the doors of these your the bat folk shall and the snake shall be your by a for the the bitter shall fruit where ye slept ye shall not see my ye shall hear them and guess by night before the moon rise i will send for my and the wolf shall be your by a removed for the the bitter shall seed where ye loved s song against people io i will reap your fields before you at the hands of a host ye shall behind my for the bread that is lost and the deer shall be your oxen by a for the the bitter shall leaf where ye build i have against you the club footed vines i have sent in the to swamp out your lines the trees the trees are on you the house beams shall fall and the the bitter shall cover you all the when ye say to my when ye call the to meat ye may cry the full trace with the belly that on four feet law respect ike aged i it was a thick voice a muddy voice that would have made you shudder a voice like something soft breaking in two there was a in it a and a respect the aged o companions of the river respect the aged i nothing could be seen on the broad reach of the river except a little fleet of square sailed loaded with building stone that had just come under the railway bridge and were driving down stream they put their clumsy over to avoid the sand bar made by the of the and as they passed three abreast the horrible voice began again o of the river respect the aged and i the to a turned where he sat on the up his hand said something that was not a blessing and the boats on through the twilight the broad indian river that looked more like a chain of little lakes than a stream was as smooth as glass reflecting the sandy red sky in mid channel but with patches of yellow and dusky purple near and under the low banks little ran into it in the wet season but now their dry mouths hung clear above water line on the left shore almost under the railway bridge stood a mud and brick and and stick village whose main street full of cattle going back to their ran straight to the river and ended in a sort of rude brick where people who wanted to wash could in step by step that was the of the village of night was falling fast over the fields of and rice and cotton in the low lying grounds yearly by the river over the that fringed the elbow of the bend and the tangled of the grounds behind the still the and who had been chattering and shouting over their evening drink had flown inland to crossing the out going of the flying and cloud upon cloud of water birds came whistling and to the cover of the reed beds there barrel headed and black backed i the second book and with and here and there a a brought up the rear flying as though	39
my people at my village have ceased to love me and that is breaking my heart ah shame said the so noble a heart tool but men are all alike to my mind nay there are very great differences indeed the answered gently some are as lean as boat poles others again are fat as young r dogs never would i men they are of all fashions but the long years have shown me that one with another they are very good men women and children i have no fault to find with them and remember child he who the world is by the world flattery is worse than an empty tin can in the belly but that which we have just heard is wisdom said the bringing down one foot consider though their ingratitude to this excellent one began the tenderly nay nay not ingratitude the said they do not think for others that is all but i have noticed lying at my station below the ford that the stairs of the new bridge are cruelly hard to both for old people and young children the old indeed are not so worthy of consideration but i am grieved i am truly grieved on account of the small fat children still i think in a httle while when the of the bridge has worn away we shall see my people s bare brown legs bravely through the ford as before then the old will be honoured again but surely i saw wreaths floating oflf the edge of the only this noon said the wreaths are a sign of reverence all india over an error an error it was the wife of the she loses her year by year and cannot tell a log from me the of the i saw the mistake when she threw the for i was lying at the very foot of the and had she taken another step i might have shown her some httle difference yet she meant well and we must consider the spirit of the second book the second book what profit are wreaths when one is on the rubbish heap said the hunting for but keeping one wary eye on his protector of the poor true but they have not yet begun to make the rubbish heap that shall carry me five times have i seen the river draw back from the village and make new land at the foot of the street five times have i seen the village on the banks and i shall see it built yet times five more i am no fish hunting i at to day and tomorrow as the saying is but the true and constant of the ford it is not for nothing child that the village bears my name and he who watches long as the saying is shall at last have his reward i have watched long very long nearly all my life and my reward has been and blows said the ho ho ho roared the in august was the bom the rains fell in september now such a fearful flood as this said he i can t remember there is one very unpleasant peculiarity about the at uncertain times he suffers from acute attacks of the or in his legs and though he is more virtuous to behold than any of the the who are all immensely respectable he flies off into wild war dances half opening his wings and his bald head up and down while for reasons best known to himself he is very careful to time his worst attacks with his remarks at the last word of his song he came to attention again ten times than before the though he was full three seasons old but one cannot resent an insult from a person with a a yard long and the power of driving it like a the was a most notorious coward but the was worse we must live before we can learn said the and there is this to say little are very common child but such a as i am is not common for all that i am not proud since pride is destruction but take notice it is fate and against his fate no one who or walks or runs should say anything at all i am well contented with fate with good luck a keen eye and the custom of considering whether a creek or a has an outlet to it ere you ascend much may be done once i heard that even the protector of the poor made a mistake said the true but there my fate helped me it was before i had come to my full growth before the last famine but three by the right and left of il the second book how full the streams used to be in those days yes i was young and and when the flood came who was so pleased as i a little made me very happy then the village was deep in flood and i swam above the and went far inland up to the rice fields and they were deep in good mud i remember also a pair of glass they were and troubled me not a little that i found that evening yes glass and if my memory serves me well a shoe i should have shaken off both shoes but i was hungry i learned better later yes and so i fed and rested me but when i was ready to go to the river again the flood had fallen and i walked through the mud of the main street who but i came out all my people priests and women and children and i looked upon them with benevolence the mud is not a good place to fight in said a get and kill him for he is the of the ford not so said the look	39
jail then say the friends of the dead let him hang and the talk is all to do over again once twice twenty times in tb long night then says the one at last the fight was a fair fight let us take blood money a little more than is offered by the and we will say no more about it then do they over the blood money for the dead was a strong man leaving many sons yet before sunrise they put the fire to him a little as the custom is and the dead man comes to me and he says no more about it my children the knows the knows and my are a good people they are too dose too narrow in the hand for my crop the they waste not the polish on the cow s horn as the saying is and again who can after a ah i them said the now in of the south in the old days the went on everything was thrown into the streets and we picked and chose those were dainty seasons but to day they keep their streets as dean as the outside of an egg and my people away to be dean is one thing to dust sweep and seven times a day the very gods there was a down country had it from a brother who told me that in of the south all the were as fat as in the rains said the his mouth watering at the bare thought of it the s com ah but the white faces are there the english and they bring dogs from somewhere down the river in boats big fat dogs to keep these same lean said the they are then as hard hearted as these people i might have known neither earth sky nor water shows charity to a i saw the tents of a white face last season after the rains and also i took a new yellow bridle to eat the white faces do not dress their leather in the proper way it made me very sick that was better than my case said the when i was in my third season a young and a bold bird i went down to the river where the big boats come in the boats of the english are thrice as big as this village he has been as far as and says all the people there walk on their heads muttered the the opened his left eye and looked keenly at the it is true the big bird insisted a liar only lies when he hopes to be believed no one who had not seen those boats could believe this truth is more reasonable said the and then from the of this boat they were taking out great pieces of white f which in a little while turned to water much split and fell h about on the shore and the rest they swiftly put into a house with thick walls but a who laughed took a piece no larger than a small dog and threw it to me i all my people without reflection and that piece i swallowed as is our custom immediately i was afflicted with an excessive cold which beginning in my crop ran down to the extreme end of my toes and deprived me even of speech while the laughed at me never have i felt such cold i danced in my grief and amazement till i could recover my breath and then i danced and cried out against the of this world and the me till they fell down the chief wonder of the matter setting aside that marvellous coldness was that there was nothing at all in my crop when i had my the had done his very best to describe his feelings after a seven pound lump of lake ice an american ice ship in the days before made her ice by machinery but as he did not know what ice was and as the and the knew rather less the tale missed fire anything said the shutting his left eye again anything is possible that comes out of a boat thrice the size of my village is not a small one the second book there was a whistle overheard on the bridge and the mail slid across all the carriages gleaming with light and the shadows faithfully following along the river it away into the dark again but the and the were so well used to it that they never turned their heads is that anything less than a boat thrice the size of said the bird looking up j saw that built child stone by stone i saw the bridge rise and when the men fell off they were wondrous sure footed for the most part but when they fell i was ready after the first pier was made they never thought to look down the stream for the body to bum there again i saved much trouble there was nothing strange in the building of the bridge said the but that which goes across pulling the carts that is strange the repeated it is past any doubt a new breed of some day it will not be able to keep its up yonder and will fall as the men did the old will then be ready the looked at the and the looked at the if there was one thing they were more certain of than another it was that the engine was everything in the wide world except a the had watched it time and ihe again from the hedges at the side of the line and the had seen engines since the first engine ran in india but the had only looked up at the thing from below where the brass dome seemed rather like a s m	39
yes a new kind of the repeated to make himself quite sure in his own mind and certainly it is a said the and again it might be began the certainly most certainly said the without waiting for the other to finish what said the angrily for he could feel that the others knew more than he did what might it be never finished my words you said it was a it is anything the protector of the poor pleases am ms servant not the servant of the thing that crosses the river whatever it is it is white face work said the and for my own part i would not lie out upon a place so near to it as this bar you do not know the english as i do said the there was a white face here when the bridge was built and he would take a boat in the evenings and with his feet on the and whisper is he here is he there the second book bring me my gun i could hear him before i see him each sound that he made creaking and puffing and rattling his gun up and down the river as surely as i had picked up one of his workmen and thus saved great charges in wood for the burning so surely would he come down to the and shout in a loud voice that he would hunt me and rid the river of me the of me children i have under the bottom of his boat for hour after hour and heard him fire his gun at logs and when i was well sure he was wearied i have risen by his side and snapped my jaws in his face when the bridge was finished he went away all the english hunt in that fashion except when they are hunted who the white faces the excitedly no one now but i have hunted them in my time i remember a little of that hunting i was young then said the his significantly i was well established here my village was being built for the third time as i remember when my cousin the brought me word of rich waters above at first i would not go for my cousin who is a fish does not always know the good from the bad but i heard my people talk the ing in the evenings and what they said made me certain and what did they say the asked they said enough to make me the of leave water and take to my feet i went by night using the streams as they served me but it was the beginning of the hot weather and all streams were low i crossed dusty roads i went through tall grass i climbed hills in the moonlight even rocks did i children consider this well i crossed the tail of the before i could find the set of the uttle rivers that flow i was a month s journey from my own people and the banks that i knew that was very marvellous what food on the way said the who kept his soul in his little stomach and was not a bit impressed by the s land travels that which i could find cousin said the slowly dragging each word now you do not call a man a cousin in india unless you think you can establish some kind of blood relationship and as it is only in old fairy tales that the ever a the knew for what reason he had been suddenly lifted into the s family circle if they had been alone he would not have cared but the s eyes with mirth at the ugly jest second book assuredly father i might have known said the a does not care to be called a father of and the of said as much and a great deal more which there is no use in repeating here the protector of the poor has claimed how can i remember the precise degree moreover we eat the same food he has said it was the s reply that made matters rather worse for what the hinted at was that the must have eaten his food on that land march fresh and fresh every day instead of keeping it by him till it was in a fit and proper condition as every self respecting and most wild beasts do when they can indeed one of the worst terms of contempt along the river bed is of fresh meat it is nearly as bad as calling a man a that food was eaten thirty seasons ago said the quietly if we talk for thirty seasons more it will never come back tell us now what happened when the good waters were reached after thy most wonderful land journey if we listened to the howling of every the business of the town would stop as the saying is the must have been grateful for the because he went on with a rush the by the right and left of when i came there never did i see such waters were they better then than the big flood of last season said the better that flood was no more than comes every five years a handful of drowned strangers some chickens and a dead in muddy water with cross currents but the season i think of the river was low smooth and even and as the had warned me the dead english came down touching each other i got my in that season my and my depth from by and the broad waters by oh the that set under the walls of the fort at said the they came in there like to the and round and round they swung thus he went off into his horrible dance again while the looked on he naturally	39
could not remember the terrible year of the they were talking about the continued yes by one lay still in the and let twenty go by to pick one and above all the english were not with and nose rings and as my women are nowadays to delight in ornaments is to end with a rope for as the saying is all the of all the rivers grew fat then but it was my fate to be the second the second book than them all the news was that the english were being hunted into the rivers and by the right and left of we believed it was true so far as i went south i believed it to be true and i went down stream beyond and the that look over the river i know that place said the since those days is a lost city very few live there now thereafter i worked up stream very slowly and and a little above there came down a of white faces alive they were as i remember women lying under a doth spread over sticks and crying aloud there was never a gun fired at us of the in those days all the guns were busy elsewhere we could hear them day and night inland coming and going as the wind shifted i rose up before the boat because i had never seen white faces alive though i knew them well otherwise a naked white child by the side of the boat and stooping over must needs try to trail his hands in the river it is a pretty thing to see how a child loves running water i had fed that day but there was a little space within me still it was for sport and not for food that i rose at the child s hands they were so dear a mark that i did not even look when i but they were so small that though my jaws rang the i i i am sure of that the child drew them up swiftly they must have passed between tooth and tooth those small white hands i should have caught him at the elbows but as i said it was only for sport and desire to see new things that i rose at all they cried out one after another in the boat and presently i rose again to watch them the boat was too heavy to push over they were only women but he who a woman will walk on in a pool as the saying is and by the right and left of that is truth once a woman gave me some dried skin from a fish said the i had hoped to get her baby but horse food is better than the kick of a horse as the saying is what did thy woman do she fired at me with a short gun of a kind i have never seen before or since five times one after another the must have met with an old fashioned revolver and i stayed open mouthed and gaping my head in the smoke never did i see such a thing five times as swiftly as i wave my thus the who had been growing more and more interested in the story had just time to leap back as huge tail swung by like a not before the fifth shot said the as though he had never dreamed of one of his listeners not before the fifth shot did i sink and i the second book i rose in time to hear a telling all those white women that i was most certainly dead one bullet had gone under a neck plate of mine i know not if it is there still for the reason i cannot turn my head look and see child it will show that my tale is true i said the shall an of old shoes a bone presume to doubt the word of the envy of the river may my tail be bitten off by blind if the shadow of such a thought has crossed my humble mind the protector of the poor has condescended to inform me his slave that once in his life he has been wounded by a woman that is sufficient and i will tell the tale to all my children asking for no proof over much civility is sometimes no better than over much for as the saying is one can choke a guest with i do not desire that any children of thine should know that the of took his only wound from a woman they will have much else to think of if they get their meat as miserably as does their father it is forgotten long ago i it was never said there never was a white woman there was no boat nothing whatever happened at all the waved his brush to show how completely everything was wiped out of his memory and sat down with an air the i indeed very many things happened said the beaten in his second attempt that night to get the better of his friend neither bore malice however eat and be eaten was fair law along the river and the came in for his share of plunder when the had finished a meal i left that boat and went up stream and when i had reached and the back waters behind it there were no more dead english the river was empty for a while then came one or two dead in red coats not english but of one kind all and then five and six abreast and at last from to the north beyond a it was as though whole villages had walked into the water they came out of little one after another as the logs come down in the rains when the river rose they rose also in companies	39
hide he has told me again and again there is nothing to fear from the white faces they must be white faces not a of would dare to come after him see i said it was a gun now with good luck we shall feed before daylight he can i s the second not hear well out of water and this time it is not a woman a shiny barrel glittered for a minute in the moonlight on the the was lying on the sand bar as still as his own shadow his spread out a little his head dropped between them like a a voice on the bridge whispered it s an odd shot straight down almost but as safe as houses better try behind the neck what a brute the villagers will be wild if he s shot though he s the of these parts i don t care a rap another voice answered he took about fifteen of my best while the bridge was building and it s time he was put an end to i ve been after him in a boat for weeks stand by with the as soon as i ve given him both barrels of this mind the kick then a double four bore s no joke that s for him to decide here goes there was a roar like the sound of a small cannon the biggest sort of elephant rifle is not very different from some and a double streak of flame followed by the crack of a whose long bullet makes nothing of a s plates but the bullets did the work one of them struck just behind the s the i neck a hand s breadth to the left of the while the other burst a uttle lower down at the beginning of the tail in ninety nine cases out of a hundred a wounded can scramble off for deep water and get away but the of was broken into three pieces he hardly moved his head before the life went out of him and he lay as flat as the thunder and lightning lightning and thunder said that miserable httle beast has the thing that the covered carts over the bridge tumbled at last it is no more than a gun said the though his very tail feathers quivered nothing more than a gun he is certainly dead here come the white faces the two englishmen had hurried down from the bridge and across to the sand bar where they stood admiring the length of the then a native with an axe cut off the big head and four men dragged it across the spit the last time that i had my hand in a s mouth said one of the englishmen stooping down he was the man who had built the bridge it was when i was about five years old coming down the river by boat to i was a baby as they call it poor mother was in the boat too and ihe second book she often told me how she fired s old pistol at the beast s head well you ve certainly had your revenge on the chief of the dan even if the gun has made your nose hi you haul that head up the bank and we ll boil it for the skull the skin s too knocked about to keep come along to bed now this was worth sitting up all night for wasn t it curiously enough the and the made the very same remark not three minutes after the men had left a ripple song i i a ripple song once a ripple came to land in the golden sunset burning against a maiden s hand by the ford returning dainty foot and gentle breast safe across be glad and rest maiden wait the ripple wait awhile for i am death i where my lover calls i go shame it were to treat him coldly twas a fish that so turning over boldly dainty foot and tender heart wait the loaded cart wait ah wait the ripple maiden wait for i am death when my lover calls i haste dame disdain was never wedded i j a second book ripple ripple round her waist clear the current foolish heart and faithful hand little feet that touched no land far away the ripple fled ripple ripple running red the king s these are the four that are never content that have never been filled since the began s mouth and the of the and the hands of the and the eyes of man saying the big rock had changed his skin for perhaps the two time since his birth and who never forgot that he owed his life to for a night s work at cold which you may perhaps remember went to congratulate him skin changing always makes a snake moody and depressed till the new skin begins to shine and look beautiful never made sport of any more but accepted him as the other people did for the master of the and brought him all the news that a of his size would naturally hear what did not know about the middle as they call it the life that runs dose to the earth or under it the and the tree life might have been written upon the smallest of his scales that afternoon was sitting in the circle i j i he second book of s great the and broken old skin that lay all and twisted among the rocks just as had left it had very courteously packed himself under s broad bare shoulders so that the boy was really resting in a living arm chair even to the scales of	39
many things i had never before seen new game was it good hunting turned quickly on his side it was no game and would have broken all my the king s teeth but the white hood said that a man he spoke as one that knew the breed that a man would give the hot breath under his ribs for only the sight of those things we will look said i now remember that i was once a man slowly slowly it was haste killed the yellow snake that ate the sun we two spoke together under the earth and i spoke of thee thee as a man said the white hood and he is indeed as old as the it is long since i have seen a man let him come and he shall see all these things for the least of which very many men would die that must be new game and yet the poison people do not tell us when game is they are folk it is not game it is it is i cannot say what it is we will go there i have never seen a white hood and i wish to see the other things did he them they are all dead things he says he is the keeper of them all ah as a wolf stands above meat he has taken to his own let us go swam to bank rolled in the grass to dry himself and the two set for cold the de ci the second book city of which you may have heard was not in the least afraid of the monkey people in those days but the monkey people had the horror of their tribes however were in the and so cold stood empty and silent in the moonlight led up to the ruins of the queen s that stood on the terrace slipped over the rubbish and down the staircase that went from the centre of the gave the snake call we be of one blood ye and i and followed oa his hands and knees they crawled a long distance down a sloping passage that turned and twisted several times and at last came to where the root of some great tree growing thirty feet overhead had forced out a solid stone in the wall they crept through the gap and found themselves in a large vault whose roof had been also broken away by tree roots so that a few streaks of light dropped down into the darkness a safe said rising to his firm feet but over far to visit daily and now what do we see am i nothing said a voice in the middle of the vault and saw something white move till little by little there stood up the he had ever set eyes on a creature nearly eight feet long and by being in darkness to an old the king s ivory white even the spectacle marks of his spread hood had faded to a faint yellow his eyes were as red as and altogether he was most wonderful to see good hunting said who carried his manners with his knife and that never left him what of the city said the white without answering the greeting what of the great the walled the of an hundred and twenty thousand horses and cattle past counting the of the king of twenty kings i grow deaf here and it is long since i heard the the is above our heads said i know only and his sons among has slain all the horses in one village and what is a king i told thee said softly to the i told thee four ago that thy was not the the great of the forest whose gates are guarded by the king s towers can never pass they built it before my father s father came from the egg and it shall endure when my son s sons are as white as l son of son of son of built it in the days of whose cattle are ye it is a lost trail said turning to i know not his talk the second book nor i he is very old father of there is only the here as it has been since the beginning then who is he said the white sitting down before me knowing not the name of the king talking our talk through a man s lips who is he with the knife and the snake s tongue they call me was the answer i am of the the wolves are my people and here is my brother father of who art thou i am the of the king s treasure built the stone above me in the days when my skin was dark that i might teach death to those who came to steal then they let down the treasure through the stone and i heard the song of the my masters said to i have dealt with one already in the man pack and i know what i know evil comes here in a little five times since my has the stone been lifted but always to let down more and never to take away there are no riches like these riches the treasures of an hundred kings but it is long and long since the stone was last moved and i think that my city has forgotten there is no city up yonder are the the king s i roots of the great trees tearing the stones apart trees and men do not grow together insisted twice and thrice have men found their way here the white answered savagely but they never spoke till i came upon them groping in the dark and then they cried only a little time but ye come with lies man and snake both and	39
would have me believe that my is not and that my ends little do men change in the years but change never till the stone is lifted and the down singing the songs that i know and feed me with warm milk and take me to the light again i i and no other am the of the s treasure the city is dead ye say and here are the roots of the trees stoop down then and take what ye will earth has no treasure like these man with the snake s tongue if thou go alive by the way that thou hast entered at the lesser kings will be thy servants again the trail is lost said coolly can any have so deep and bitten this great white hood he is surely mad father of i see nothing here to take away by the gods of the sun and moon it is the madness of death upon the boy the before thine eyes close i will allow thee this favour look thou and see what man has never seen before the second book they do not well in the who speak to of said the boy between his teeth but the dark changes all as i know i will look if that please thee he stared with up eyes round the vault and then lifted up from the floor a handful of something that glittered said he this is like the stuff they play with in the man pack only this is yellow and the other was brown he let the gold pieces fall and moved forward the floor of the vault was buried some five or six feet deep in gold and silver that had burst from the it had been originally stored in and in the long years the metal had packed and settled as sand at low tide on it and in it and rising through it as lift through the sand were elephant of silver studded with plates of gold and adorned with and there were and for carrying queens framed and with silver and with handled poles and curtain rings there were golden hung with pierced that quivered on the branches there were studded images five feet high of forgotten gods silver with eyes there were coats of mail gold on steel and fringed with and blackened seed pearls there were the king s and with pigeon s blood there were of of shell and hide and with red gold and set with at the edge there were of diamond swords and hunting knives there were golden and and of a shape that never sees the light of day there were cups and there were incense and pots for perfume and eye powder all in gold there were nose rings finger rings and past any counting three were seven fingers broad of square cut diamonds and and wooden boxes with iron from which the wood had fallen away in powder showing the pile of cat s eyes diamonds and within the white was right no mere money would begin to pay the value of this treasure the of centuries of war plunder trade and the alone were leaving out of count au the precious stones and the dead weight of the gold and silver alone might be two or three hundred tons every native ruler in india to day however poor has a to which he is always adding and though once in a long while enlightened prince may send off forty or fifty the second book cart loads of silver to be exchanged for government the bulk of them keep their treasure and the knowledge of it very closely to themselves but naturally did not understand what these things meant the knives interested him a little but they did not balance as well as his own and so he dropped them at last he found something really fascinating laid on the front of a half buried in the it was a two foot or elephant something like a small boat hook the top was one round shining and eight inches of the handle below it were studded with rough dose together giving a most satisfactory grip below them was a rim of with a flower pattern running round it only the leaves were and the blossoms were sunk in the cool green stone the rest of the handle was a shaft of pure ivory while the point the and hook was gold steel with pictures of and the pictures attracted who saw that they had something to do with his friend the white had been following him is it not worth dying to behold he said have i not done thee a great favour i do not understand said the things are hard and cold and by no means good to eat the king s but this he the i desire to take away that i may see it in the sun thou they are all thine wilt thou give it to me and i will bring thee to eat the white fairly shook with evil delight assuredly i will give it he said all that is here i will give thee till thou away but i go now this place is dark and cold and i wish to take the thorn pointed thing to the look by thy foot what is that there picked up something white and smooth it is the bone of a man s head he said quietly and here are two more they came to take the treasure away many years ago i spoke to them in the dark and they lay but what do i need of this that is called treasure if thou wilt give me the to take away it is good hunting if not it is good hunting none the less i do not fight with the poison people and i was also taught	39
is s i will use it no more look the flew sparkling and buried itself point down fifty yards away between the trees so my hands are dean of death said rubbing his hands on the fresh moist earth the said death would follow me he is old and white and mad white or black or death or life am going to sleep little brother i cannot hunt all night and howl all day as do some folk went oflf to a hunting that he knew about two miles off made an easy way for himself up a convenient tree knotted three or four together and in less time than it takes to tell was swinging in a fifty feet above ground though he had no positive objection to strong daylight followed the custom of his friends and used it as little as he could when he among the very loud that live in the trees it was twilight once more and he had been dreaming of the beautiful pebbles he had thrown away at least i will look at the thing again he said the king s i and slid down a to the earth but was before him could hear him in the half light where is the thorn pointed thing cried a man has taken it here is his trail now we shall see whether the spoke truth if the pointed thing is death that man will die let us follow kill first said an empty stomach makes a careless eye men go very slowly and the is wet enough to hold the mark they killed as soon as they could but it was nearly three hours before they finished their meat and drink and down to the trail the people know that nothing makes up for being hurried over your meals think you the pointed thing will turn in the man s hand and kill him asked the said it was death we shall see when we find said trotting with his head low it is single foot he meant that there was only one man and the weight of the thing has pressed his heel far into the ground hail this is as dear as summer answered and they fell into the quick trail trot in and out through the of ii h second book the moonlight following the marks of those two bare feet now he runs swiftly said the toes are spread apart they went on over some wet ground now why does he turn aside here wait i said and flung himself forward with one superb bound as far as ever he could the first thing to do when a trail ceases to explain itself is to cast forward without leaving your own foot marks on the ground turned as he landed and faced crying here comes another trail to meet him it is a smaller foot this second trail and the toes turn inward then ran up and looked it is the foot of a hunter he said look here he dragged his bow on the grass that is why the first trail turned aside so quickly big foot hid firom little foot that is true said now lest by crossing each other s tracks we foul the signs let each take one trail i am big foot little brother and thou art little foot the leaped back to the original trail leaving stooping above the curious in track of the wild little man of the woods now said moving step by step along the chain of i big foot turn aside here the king s now i hide me behind a rock and stand still not daring to shift my feet cry thy trail little brother now i little foot come to the rock said running up his trail now sit i down under the rock leaning upon my right hand and resting my bow between my toes i wait long for the mark of my feet is deep here i also said hidden behind the rock i wait resting the end of the thorn pointed thing upon a stone it slips for here is a scratch upon the stone cry thy trail little brother one two twigs and a big branch are broken here said in an now how shall i cry that ah it is plain now i little foot go away making noises and so that big foot may hear me he moved away from the rock pace by pace among the trees his voice rising in the distance as he approached a little i go far away to where the noise of falling water covers my noise and here i wait cry thy trail big foot the had been casting in every direction to see how big foot s trail led away from behind the rock then he gave tongue i come from behind the rock upon my knees dragging the pointed thin seeing no one t the second book run i big foot run swiftly the trail is dear let each follow his own i swept on along the clearly marked trail and followed the steps of the for a time there was silence in the where art thou little foot cried s voice answered him not fifty yards to the right um said the with a deep cough the two run side by side drawing nearer they on another half mile always keeping about the same distance till whose head was not so close to the ground as cried they have met good hunting look here stood little foot with his knee on a rock and yonder is big foot not ten yards in front of them stretched across a pile of broken rocks lay the body of a of the district a lean small arrow through his back and breast was the so old and	39
so mad little brother said gently here is one death at least follow on but where is the of elephant s blood the red eyed thorn little foot has it perhaps it is single foot again now the single trail of a light man who had been the king s running quickly and bearing a burden on his left shoulder held on round a long low spur of dried grass where each seemed to the sharp eyes of the marked in hot iron neither spoke till the trail ran up to the ashes of a camp fire hidden in a again said checking as though he had been turned into stone the body of a little lay with its feet in the ashes and looked at that was done with a said the boy after one glance i have used such a thing among the when i served the man pack the father of i am sorrowful that i made a jest of him knew the breed well as i might have known said i not that men kill for idleness indeed they killed for the sake of red and blue stones answered remember was in the king s at one two three four tracks said stooping over the ashes four tracks of men with shod feet they do not go so quickly as now what evil had the little done to them see they talked together all five standing up before they killed him let us go back my stomach is heavy in me and yet it dances up and down like an s nest at the end of a branch i the second book it is no good hunting to leave game follow said the those eight shod feet have not gone far no more was said for fully an hour as they took up the broad trail of the four men with shod feet it was clear hot daylight now and said i smell smoke men are always more ready to eat than to run answered trotting in and out between the low bushes of the new they were exploring a little to his left made an indescribable noise in his throat here is one that is done with feeding said he a tumbled bundle of gay coloured clothes lay under a bush and round it was some flour that was done by the again said see that white dust is what men eat they have taken the kill from this one he carried food and given him for a kill to the it is the third said i will go with new big to the father of and feed him fat said to this of elephant s blood is death himself but still i do not understand follow said they had not gone half a mile farther when they he rd ko the crow singing a death song in the top the king s of a under whose shade three men were lying a half dead fire smoked in the centre of the beneath an iron plate which held a blackened and burned cake of bread close to the fire and blazing in the sunshine lay the and the thing works quickly all ends here said how did these die there is no mark nor rub on anyone a gets to learn by experience as much as a great many doctors know of poisonous plants and the smoke that came up from the fire broke oflf a morsel of the blackened bread tasted it and it out again apple of death he the first must have made it ready in the food for these who killed him having first killed the good hunting indeed the follow close said apple of death is what the call or the poison in all india what now said the shall thou and i kill each other for yonder red eyed can it speak said in a whisper did i do it a wrong when i threw it away between us two it can do no wrong for we do not desire what men desire k it be left here it will assuredly continue to kill men one after another as h second book fast as nuts fall in a high wind i have no love to men but even i would not have them die six in a night what matter they are only men they killed one another and were well pleased said that first little hunted well they are none the less and a will drown himself to bite the moon s light on the water the fault was mine said who spoke as though he knew all about everything i will never again bring into the strange things not though they be as beautiful as flowers this he handled the goes back to the father of but first we must sleep and we cannot sleep near these also we must bury him lest he run away and kill another six dig me a hole under that tree but little brother said moving off to the spot i tell thee it is no fault of the the trouble is with the men all one said dig the hole deep when we wake i will take him up and carry him two nights later as the white sat mourning in the darkness of the vault ashamed and robbed and alone the whirled through the thb ring s i i hole in the wall and on the floor of golden father of said he was to keep the other side of the wall get thee a young and ripe one of thy own people to help thee guard the king s treasure so that no man may come away alive any more ah ha it returns then i said the thing was death how comes it that thou art still alive the old lovingly round the	39
along the snow while laughed till the tears ran down his face there followed days and days of the cruel whip that like the wind over ice and his companions all bit him because he did not know his work and the harness him and he was not allowed to sleep with any more but had to take the in the passage it was a sad time for the the boy learned too as fast as the dog though a dog is a heart breaking thing to manage each beast is the nearest to the driver by his own separate trace which runs under his left fore leg to the main where it is fastened by a sort of button and which can be slipped the second book by a turn of the wrist thus one dog at a time this is very necessary because young dogs often get the trace between their hind legs where it cuts to the bone and they one and all will go visiting their friends as they run jumping in and out among the traces then they fight and the result is more mixed than a wet fishing line next morning a great deal of trouble can be avoided by scientific use of the whip every boy himself as being a master of the long lash but it is easy to at a mark on the ground and difficult to lean forward and catch a dog just behind the shoulders when the is going at full speed if you call one dog s name for visiting and accidentally lash another the two will fight it out at once and stop all the others again if you travel with a companion and begin to talk or by yourself and sing the dogs will halt turn round and sit down and hear what you have to say was run away from once or twice through forgetting to block the when he stopped and he broke many and ruined a few ere he could be trusted with a full team of eight and the light then he felt himself a person of consequence and on smooth black ice with a bold heart and a quick elbow he smoked along over the as fast as a pack in full cry he would go ten miles to the and when he was on the hunting grounds he would a trace loose from the and free the big black leader who was then the dog in the team as soon as the dog had scented a breathing hole would reverse the driving a couple of that stuck up like handles deep into the snow so that the team could not get away then he would crawl forward inch by inch and wait till the seal came up to breathe then he would down swiftly with his spear and running line and presently would haul his seal on to the lip of the ice while the black leader came up and helped to pull the across the ice to the that was the time when the dogs and with excitement and laid the long lash like a red hot bar across all their faces till the stiff going home was the heavy the loaded had to be humoured among the rough ice and the dogs sat down and looked at the seal instead of pulling at last they would strike the well worn road to the village and ki along the ringing ice heads down and tails up while struck up the na na ne the song of the returning and voices hailed him from house to house under all that dim star sky when the dog came to his full growth he enjoyed himself too he fought his way up the t the second book team steadily fight after fight till one fine evening over their food he the big black leader the boy saw fair play and made second dog of him as they say so he was promoted to the long of the leading dog running five feet in advance of all the others it was his duty to stop all fighting in harness or out of it and he wore a collar of copper wire very thick and heavy on special occasions he was fed with cooked food inside the house and sometimes was allowed to sleep on the bench with he was a good and would keep a ox at bay by running round him and snapping at his heels he would even and this for a dog is the last proof of bravery he would even stand up to the gaunt wolf whom all dogs of the north as a rule fear beyond anything that walks the snow he and his master they did not count the team of ordinary dogs as company hunted together day after day and night after ni t fur wrapped boy and savage long haired narrow eyed white yellow brute all an has to do is to get food and skins for himself and his family the women folk make the skins into clothing and occasionally help in small game but the bulk of the food and they eat must be found by the men if the supply fails there is no one up there to buy or beg or borrow from the people must die an does not think of these chances till he is forced to and the boy baby who kicked about the hood and pieces of all day were as happy together as any family in the world they came of a very gentle race an seldom loses his temper and almost never strikes a child who did not know exactly what telling a real lie meant still less how to steal they were content to spear their living out of the heart of the bitter hopeless cold to smile smiles and tell queer ghost	39
this before what will he do said shrugged one shoulder a little and crossed the hut for his short the big dog looked at him howled again and away down the passage while the other dogs drew aside right and left to give him ample room when he was out on the snow he furiously as though on the trail of a ox and barking and leaping i go the second book and passed out of sight his trouble was not but simple plain madness the cold and the hunger and above all the dark had turned his head and when the terrible dog sickness once shows itself in a team it like wild fire next hunting day another dog and was killed then and there by as he bit and struggled among the traces then the black who had been the leader in the old days suddenly gave tongue on an imaginary track and when they slipped him from the he flew at the throat of an ice and ran away as his leader had done his harness on his back after that no one would take the dogs out again they needed them for something else and the dogs knew it and though they were tied down and fed by hand their eyes were full of despair and fear to make things worse the old women began to tell ghost tales and to say that they had met the spirits of the dead hunters lost that autumn who all sorts of horrible things grieved more for the loss of his dog than an else for though an eats he also knows how to starve but the hunger the darkness the cold and the exposure told on his strength and he began to hear voices inside his head and to see people who were not there out of the tail of his eye one night he had himself after ten hours waiting above a blind and was staggering back to the village faint and dizzy he halted to lean his back against a which happened to be supported like a rocking stone on a single point of ice his weight disturbed the balance of the thing it rolled over and as sprang aside to avoid it slid after him and hissing on the that was enough for he had been brought up to believe that every rock and had its owner its who was generally a kind of a woman thing called a and that when a meant to help a man she rolled after him inside her stone house and asked him whether he would take her for a guardian spirit in summer the ice propped rocks and roll and slip all over the face of the land so you can easily see how the idea of live stones arose heard the blood beating in his ears as he had heard it all day and he thought that was the of the stone speaking to him before he reached home he was quite certain that he had held a long conversation with her and as all his people believed that this was quite possible no one contradicted him she said to me i jump down i jump down from my place on the snow cried with the second book hollow eyes leaning forward in the half lighted hut she said i will be a guide she says i will guide you to the good seal holes to morrow i go out and the will guide me then the the village came in and told him the tale a second time it lost nothing in the telling follow the the spirits of the stones and they will bring us food again said the now the girl from the north had been lying near the lamp eating very little and saying less for days past but when and next morning packed and lashed a little hand for and loaded it with his hunting gear and as much and frozen seal meat as they could spare she took the rope and stepped out boldly at the bo s side your house is my house she said as the little bone shod and behind them in the night my house is your house said but think that we shall both go to together now is the mistress of the and the believe that who dies must spend a year in her horrible country before going to the happy place where it never and fat trot up when you call through the village people were shouting the have spoken to they will show him open ice he will bring us the seal again their voices were soon swallowed up by the cold empty dark and and the girl shouldered dose together as they strained on the rope or humoured the through the ice in the direction of the sea insisted that the of the stone had told him to go north and so north they went under the those stars that we call the great bear no european could have made five miles a day over the ice rubbish and the sharp edged but those two knew exactly the turn of the wrist that a round a the jerk that neatly lifts it out of an ice crack and the exact strength that goes to the few quiet strokes of the spear head that make a path possible when everything looks hopeless the girl said nothing but bowed her head and the long fur fringe of her hood blew across her broad dark face the sky above them was an intense black changing to bands of indian red on the horizon where the great stars burned like street lamps from time to time a wave of the northern lights would roll across the hollow of the high heavens like a flag and disappear or a would from darkness to darkness trailing a shower of sparks behind the second	39
book t second book then they could see the and surface of the all tipped and with strange colours red copper and but in the ordinary everything turned to one frost bitten gray the as you will remember had been battered and tormented by the autumn till it was one frozen earthquake there were and and holes like gravel cut in ice and scattered pieces frozen down to the original floor of the of old black ice that had been thrust under the in some gale and heaved up again of ice saw like edges of ice carved by the snow that flies before the wind and sunk where thirty or forty acres lay five or six feet below the level of the rest ot the field from a little distance you might have taken the for seal or or men on a hunting expedition or even the great ten legged white spirit bear himself but in spite of these fantastic shapes all on the very edge of starting into life there was neither sound nor the least faint echo of sound and through this silence and through this waste where the sudden lights and went out again the and the two that pulled it crawled like things in a nightmare a nightmare of the end of the world at the end of the world when they were tired would make what the hunters call a half house a very small snow hut into which they would with the travelling lamp and try to out the frozen seal meat when they had slept the march began again thirty miles a day to get five miles northward the girl was always very silent but muttered to himself and broke out into songs he had learned in the singing house summer songs and and salmon songs all horribly out of place at that season he would declare that he heard the growling to him and would run wildly up a tossing his arms and speaking in loud threatening tones to tell the truth was very nearly crazy for the time being but the girl was sure that he was being guided by his guardian spirit and that everything would come right she was not surprised therefore when at the end of the fourth march whose eyes were burning like fire balls in his head told her that his was following them across the snow in the shape of a two headed dog the girl looked where pointed and some thing seemed to slip into a it was certainly not human but everybody knew that the preferred to appear in the shape of bear and seal and such like it might have been the ten legged white spirit bear himself or it might have been an for aud the girl were so starved that their eyes were they had nothing and seen no trace of game since they had left the village the second their food would not hold out for another week and there was a gale coming a storm will blow for ten days without a break and all that while it is certain death to be abroad laid up a large enough to take in the hand it is never wise to be separated from your meat and while he was the last irregular block of ice that makes the of the roof he saw a thing looking at him from a little of ice half a mile away the air was and the thing seemed to be forty feet long and ten feet high with twenty feet of tail and a shape that quivered all along the outlines the girl saw it too but instead of crying aloud with terror said quietly that is what comes after he will speak to me said but the trembled in his hand as he spoke because however much a man may believe that he is a friend of strange and ugly spirits he seldom likes to be taken quite at his word too is the phantom of a gigantic dog without any hair who is supposed to in the far north and to wander about the country just before things are going to happen they may be pleasant or unpleasant things but not even the care to speak about he makes the dogs go mad like the spirit bear he has several extra pairs of legs six or eight and this thing jumping up and down in the haze had more legs than any real dog needed and the girl huddled into their hut quickly of course if had wanted them he could have torn it to pieces above their heads but the sense of a foot thick snow wall between themselves and the wicked dark was great comfort the gale broke with a shriek of wind like the shriek of a train and for three days and three nights it held never varying one point and never even for a minute they fed the stone lamp between their knees and at the half warm seal meat and watched the black gather on the roof for seventy two long hours the girl counted up the food in the there was not more than two days supply and looked over the iron heads and the of his and his seal lance and his bird dart there was nothing else to do we shall go to soon very soon the girl whispered in three days we shall lie down and go will your do nothing sing her an s song to make her come here he began to sing in the high pitched howl of the magic songs and the gale went down slowly in the middle of his song the girl started laid her hand and then her head to the ice floor of the hut followed her example and the two staring into each other s eyes and listening with every nerve he a	39
direction and the cracks opened and snapped hke the teeth of wolves but where the thing rested on a mound of old and scattered ice blocks some fifty feet high there was no motion leaped forward wildly dragged the girl after him and crawled to the bottom of the mound the talking of the ice grew louder and louder round them but the mound stayed fast and as the girl looked at him he threw his right elbow upwards and making the sign for land in the shape of an island and land it was that the eight legged thing had led them to some granite tipped sand off the coast shod and and with ice so that no man could have told it from the but at the bottom solid earth and no shifting ice the and of the as they and marked the borders of it and a friendly ran out to the northward turning aside the rush of the heaviest ice exactly as a turns over there was a danger of course that some heavily squeezed might shoot up the beach and plane ofi the top of the bodily but that did not trouble and the girl when they made their and began to eat and heard the ice hammer and along the beach the thing had disappeared and was talking excitedly about his power over spirits as he crouched round the lamp in the middle of his wild sayings the girl began to laugh and rock herself backwards and forwards behind her shoulder crawling into the hut crawl by crawl there were two heads one yellow and one black that belonged to two of the most sorrowful and ashamed dogs that ever you saw the dog was one and the black leader was the other both were now fat well looking and quite restored to their proper minds but coupled to each other in an extraordinary fashion when the black leader ran off you remember his harness was still on him he must have met the dog and played or fought with him for his shoulder had caught in the copper wire of s collar and had drawn tight so that neither dog could get at the trace to it apart but each was fastened to his neighbour s neck that with the freedom second book of hunting on their own account must have helped to cure their madness they were very sober the girl pushed the two shame faced creatures towards and sobbing with laughter cried that is who led us to safe ground look at his eight legs and double head cut them free and they fell into his arms yellow and black together trying to explain how they had got their senses back again ran a hand down their ribs which were round and well clothed they have found food he said with a grin i do not think we shall go to so soon my sent these the sickness has left them as soon as they had greeted these two who had been forced to sleep and eat and hunt together for the past few weeks flew at each other s throat and there was a beautiful battle in the empty dogs do not fight said they have found the seal let us sleep we shall find food when they there was open water on the north beach of the island and all the loosened ice had been driven the first sound of the surf is one of the most delightful that the can hear for it means that spring is on the road and the girl took hold of hands and smiled the dear full roar of the among the ice reminded them of salmon and time and the smell of ground even as they looked the sea began to over between the floating cakes of ice so intense was the cold but on the horizon there was a vast red glare and that was the light of the sunken sun it was more like hearing him in his sleep than seeing him rise and the glare lasted for only a few minutes but it marked the turn of the year nothing they felt could alter that found the dogs fighting outside over a fresh killed seal who was following the fish that a gale always he was the first of some twenty or thirty seal that landed on the island in the course of the day and till the sea hard there were hundreds of keen black heads rejoicing in the shallow fi ee water and floating about with the floating ice it was good to eat seal liver again to fill the lamps with and watch the flame blaze three feet in the air but as soon as the new sea ice bore and the girl loaded the and made the two dogs pull as they had never pulled in their lives for they feared what might have happened in their village the weather was as pitiless as ever but it is easier to draw a loaded with good food than to hunt starving they five and twenty seal buried in the ice of the beach all ready for use and hurried back to their people the dogs showed them the way as the second book soon as told them what was expected and though there was no sign of a in two days they were giving tongue outside s village only three dogs answered them the others had been eaten and the houses were nearly dark but when shouted boiled meat weak voices answered and when he called the roll call of the village name by name very distinctly there were no in it an hour later the lamps blazed in s house snow water was the pots were beginning to and the snow was dripping from the roof as made ready a meal for all the village and the boy baby at a strip of rich	39
the brute s back plates how he found a new and longer knife round the neck of a man who had been killed by a wild and how he that and killed him as a fair price for the knife how he was caught up in the great famine by the moving of the deer and nearly crushed to death in the swaying hot herds how he saved the silent from being caught in a pit with a stake at the bottom and how next day he himself fell into a very cunning trap and how broke the thick wooden bars to pieces about him how he the wild in the swamp and how but we must tell one tale at a time father and mother wolf died and rolled a big against the mouth of the cave and cried the death song over them and grew very old and stiff and even whose nerves were steel and whose muscles were iron seemed slower at the kill turned from gray to white with pure age his ribs stuck out and he walked as though he had been made of wood and killed for him but the young wolves the children of the pack and increased and when there were some forty of them clean footed five year told them that they ought to red dog gather themselves together and follow the law and run under one head as the free people this was not a matter in which gave advice for as he said he had eaten sour fruit and he knew the tree it hung from but when son of his father was the gray in the days of s fought his way to the of the pack according to the law and when the old calls and the old songs began to ring under the stars once more came to the council rock for memory s sake if he chose to speak the pack waited till he had finished and he sat at s side on the rock above those were the days of good hunting and good sleeping no stranger cared to break into the that belonged to s people as they called the pack and the young wolves grew fat and strong and there were many to bring to the looking over always attended a looking over for he remembered the night when a black brought a naked brown baby into the pack and the long call look look well o wolves made his heart flutter with strange feelings otherwise he would be far away in the touching seeing and feeling new things one twilight when he was trotting leisurely across the to give the half of a buck that he bad killed while his four wolves were behind t the second book him a little and tumbling one over another for joy of being alive he heard a cry that he had not heard since the bad days of it was what they call in the the a kind of shriek that the gives when he is hunting behind a tiger or when there is some big killing if you can imagine a mixture of hate triumph fear and despair with a kind of running through it you will get some notion of the that rose and sank and wavered and quivered far away across the the four began to and growl s hand went to his knife and he too checked as though he had been turned into stone there is no striped one would dare kill here he said at last that is not the cry of the said gray brother it is some great killing listen it broke out again half sobbing and half just as though the had soft human lips then drew deep breath and ran to the council rock on his way hurrying wolves of the pack and were on the rock together and below them every nerve strained sat the others the mothers and the were to their for when the cries is no time for weak things to be abroad they could hear nothing except the in the dark and the evening winds among red dog the tree tops till suddenly across the river a wolf called it was no wolf of the pack for those were all at the rock the note changed to a long despairing bay and it said i in a few minutes they heard tired feet on the rocks and a gaunt dripping wolf with red on his his right fore useless and his jaws white with foam flung himself into the circle and lay gasping at s feet good hunting under whose said gravely gk od hunting i won am i was the answer he meant that he was a solitary wolf for himself his mate and his in some lonely won means an one who lies out from any pack when he panted they could see his heart shake him backwards and forwards what moves said for that is the question all the asks er the the the of the red dog the they came north from the south saying the was empty and killing out by the way when this moon was new there were four to me my mate and three she would teach them to kill on the grass plains hiding to drive the buck as we do who are of the open at midnight i heard them together full tongue on the trail at the i found them stiff in the grass four free l the second book people four when this moon was new then sought i my blood right and found the how many said the pack growled deep in their throats i do not know three of them will kill no more but at the last they drove me like the buck on three legs they drove me look free people he thrust out his fore foot and dark with	39
dried blood there were cruel low down on his side and his throat was torn and worried eat said rising up from the meat had brought him the flung himself on it this shall be no loss he said humbly when he had taken off the edge of his hunger give me a little strength free people and i also will kill my is empty that was full when this moon was new and the blood debt is not all paid heard his teeth crack on a bone and we shall need those jaws said he were their with the nay nay red hunters all grown dogs of their pack heavy and strong that meant that the the red hunting dog of the was moving to fight and the wolves knew well that even the tiger will surrender a new kill to the they drive straight through the red dog and what they meet they pull down and tear to pieces though they are not as big nor half as cunning as the wolf they are very strong and very numerous the for instance do not begin to call themselves a pack till they are a hundred strong whereas forty wolves make a very fair pack s wanderings had taken him to the edge of the high grassy downs of the and he had often seen the fearless sleeping and playing and scratching themselves among the little hollows and that they use for he despised and hated them because they did not smell like the free people because they did not live in and above all because they had hair between their toes while he and his friends were clean footed but he knew for had told him what a terrible thing a pack was himself moves aside from their line and until they are all killed or till game is scarce they go forward killing as they go knew something of the too he said to quietly it is better to die in the full pack than and alone it is good hunting and my last but as men live thou hast very many more nights and days little brother go north and lie down and if any wolf live after the has gone by he shall bring thee word of the fight ah said quite gravely must i go to l the second book the and catch little fish and sleep in a tree or must i ask help of the log and eat nuts while the pack fights below it is to the death said thou hast never met the the red even the striped one said i have killed one striped listen now there was a wolf my father and there was a wolf my mother and there was an old gray wolf not too wise he is white now was my father and my mother therefore i he raised his voice i say that when the come and if the come and the free people are of one skin for that hunting and i say by the bull that bought me by the bull paid for me in the old days which ye of the pack do not remember say that the trees and the river may hear and hold fast if i forget say that this my knife shall be as a tooth to the pack and i do not think it is so blunt this is my word which has gone from me thou dost not know the man with a tongue won cried i look only to clear my blood debt against them ere they have me in many pieces they move slowly killing out as they go but in two days a little strength will come back to me and i turn again for my blood debt but for ye free people my counsel is that ye go red dog north and eat but little for a while till the are gone there is no sleep in this hunting hear the cried with a laugh free people we must go north and eat and rats from the bank lest by any chance we meet the he must kill out our hunting grounds while we lie hid in the north till it please him to give us our own again he is a dog and the of a dog red yellow and haired between every toe he counts his six and eight at the litter as though he were the httle leaping rat surely we must run away free people and beg leave of the of the north for the of dead cattle i ye know the saying north are the south are the we are the choose ye o choose it is good hunting for the pack for the full pack for the and the litter for the and the out kill for the mate that drives the and the little little within the cave it is met it is met it is met the pack answered with one deep crashing bark that sounded in the night like a tree falling it is met they cried stay with these said to his four we shall need every tooth and must make ready the battle i go to count the dogs it is death won cried half rising what the second book can such an one do against the red dog even the striped one remember thou art indeed an called back but we will speak when the are dead good hunting he hurried off into the darkness wild with excitement hardly looking where he set foot and the natural consequence was that he tripped full length over s great where the lay watching a deer path near the river said angrily is this work to stamp and and undo a night s hunting when the game are moving so well too the fault was mine said picking himself up indeed i	39
given him a moment s fear he was looking at the on either side and easily for there was a smell in the air very like the smell of a big ant hill on a hot day instinctively he lowered himself in the water only raising his head to breathe and came to anchor with a double twist of his tail round a sunken rock holding in the hollow of a while the water by this is the place of death said the boy why do we come here they sleep said will not turn aside for the striped one yet and the striped one together turn aside for the and the they say turns aside for nothing and yet for whom do the little people of the rocks turn aside tell me master of the who is the master of the these whispered it is the place ol death let us go nay look well for they are asleep it is as it was when i was not the length of thy arm the split and rocks of the of the had been used since the beginning of the by the little people of the rocks the busy furious black wild bees of india and as knew well all turned off half a mile away from their country for centuries the little tke second book i the second book people had and from to and again the white marble with stale honey and made their tall and deep and black in the dark of the inner and neither man nor beast nor fire nor water had ever touched them the length of the on both sides was as it were with black velvet curtains and sank as he looked for these were the millions of the sleeping bees there were other and and things like decayed studded on the face of the rock the old comb of past years or new built in the shadow of the and huge masses of rotten had rolled down and stuck among the trees and that to the rock face as he listened he heard more than once the rustle and slide of a honey loaded comb turning over or falling away somewhere in the dark galleries then a of angry wings and the sullen of the wasted honey along till it slipped over some ledge in the open and down on the twigs there was a tiny little beach not five feet broad on one side of the river and that was piled high with the rubbish of years there lay dead bees stale and wings of and that had strayed in er honey all tumbled in smooth piles of the finest black dust the mere sharp of red dog it was enough to frighten an that had no wings and knew what the little people were moved up stream again till he came to a sandy bar at the head of the here is this season s kill said he look on the bank lay the of a couple of young deer and a could see that no wolf nor had touched the bones which were laid out naturally they came beyond the line they did not know murmured and the little people killed them let us go ere they awake they do not wake till the dawn said now i will tell thee a hunted buck from the south many many rains ago came hither from the south not knowing tlie a pack on his trail being made blind by fear he leaped from above the pack running by sight for they were hot and blind on the trail the sun was high and the little people were many and very angry many too were those of the pack who leaped into the but they were dead ere they took water those who did not leap died also in the rocks above but the buck lived how because he came first running for his life leaping ere the little people were aware and was in the river when they gathered to kill the pack the second book following was altogether lost under the weight of the little people who had been roused by the feet of that buck the buck lived repeated slowly at least he did not die then though none waited his coming down with a strong body to hold him safe against the water as a certain old fat deaf yellow would wait for a yea though there were all the of the on his trail what is in thy stomach s head lay on s wet shoulder and his tongue quivered by the boy s ear there was a long silence before whispered it is to pull the very whiskers of death but thou art indeed the wisest of all the so many have said look now if the follow thee as surely they will follow ho ho i have many little thorns under my tongue to into their hides k they follow thee hot and blind looking only at thy shoulders those who do not die up above will take water either here or lower down for the little people will rise up and cover them now the is hungry water and they will have no to hold them but will go down such as live to red dog the by the and there thy pack may meet them by the throat better could not be till the rains fall in the dry season there is now only the little matter of the run and the leap i will make me known to the so that they shall follow me very closely hast thou seen the rocks above thee from the side indeed no that i had forgotten go it is all rotten ground cut and full of holes one of thy clumsy feet set down without seeing would end the hunt see i leave thee here and for	39
enough and more than enough to wake the pack to rage those who hair between their the second book toes do not care to be reminded of it caught his foot away as the leader leaped and said sweetly dog red dog go back to the and eat go to thy brother dog dog red red dog there is hair between every toe he his toes a second time come down ere we starve thee out the pack and this was exactly what wanted he laid himself down along the branch his cheek to the bark his right arm free and for some five minutes he told the pack what he thought and knew about them their manners their customs their mates and their there is no speech in the world so and so as the language the people use to show scorn and contempt when you come to think of it you will see how this must be so as told he had many little thorns under his tongue and slowly and deliberately he drove the from silence to from to and from to hoarse slavery they tried to answer his but a might as well have tried to answer in a rage and all the while s right hand lay crooked at his side ready for action his feet locked round the branch the big bay leader had leaped many times into the air but dared not risk a false blow at last made furious beyond his natural strength he bounded up seven or eight feet red dog dear of the ground then s hand shot out like the head of a tree snake and him by the of his neck and the branch shook with the jar as his weight fell back and was almost on to the ground but he never his grip and inch by inch he hauled the beast hanging like a drowned up on the branch with his left hand he reached for his knife and cut off the red tail flinging the back to earth again that was all he needed the would not go forward on won s trail now till they had killed or had killed them he saw them settle down in circles with a quiver of the that meant revenge to the death and so he climbed to a higher settled his back comfortably and went to sleep after three or four hours he and counted the pack they were all there silent and dry with eyes of steel the sun was beginning to sink in half an hour the little people of the rocks would be ending their labours and as you know the does not fight well in the twilight i did not need such faithful he said standing up on a branch but i will remember this ye be true but to my thinking too much of one kind for that reason i do not give the big his tail again art thou not pleased red dog the second book i myself will tear out thy stomach the leader biting the foot of the tree nay but consider wise rat of there will now be many of little red dogs yea with raw red that sting when the sand is hot go home red dog and cry that an has done this ye will not go come then with me and i will make ye very wise he moved monkey fashion into the next tree and so on and the next and the next the pack following with hungry heads now and then he would pretend to fall and the pack would tumble one over the other in their haste to be in at the death it was a curious sight the boy with the knife that shone in the low sunlight as it through the upper branches and the silent pack with their red coats all and following below when he came to the last tree he took the and rubbed himself all over carefully and the with scorn with a wolf s tongue dost thou think to cover thy scent they said we will follow to the death take thy tail said flinging it back along the course he had taken the pack naturally rushed back a httle when they smelt the blood and follow now to the death he had slipped down the tree trunk and headed red dog like the wind in bare feet for the bee rocks before the saw what he would do they gave one deep howl and settled down to the long that can at the last run down anything that lives knew their pack pace to be much slower than that of the wolves or he would never have risked a two mile run in full sight they were sure that the boy was theirs at last and he was sure that he had them to play with as he pleased all his trouble was to keep them sufficiently hot behind him to prevent them turning off too soon he ran and the leader not five yards behind him and the pack out over perhaps a quarter of a mile of ground crazy and blind with the rage of slaughter so he kept his distance by ear his last for the rush across the bee rocks the little people had gone to sleep in the early twilight for it was not the season of late flowers but as s first rang hollow on the hollow ground he heard a sound as though all the earth were humming then he ran as he had never run in his life below aside one two three of the piles of stones into the dark heard a roar like the roar of the sea in a cave saw with the tail of his eye the air grow dark behind him saw the current of the far below and a flat diamond shaped head in the the	39
second book water leaped outward with all his strength the snapping at his shoulder in mid air and dropped feet first to the safety of the river breathless and triumphant there was not a sting on his body for the smell of the had checked the little people for just the few seconds that carried him across the rocks when he rose s were him and things were bounding over the edge of the cliff great it seemed of clustered bees falling like and as each lump touched water the bees flew upward and the body of a whirled down stream overhead they could hear furious short that were drowned in a roar like thunder the roar of the wings of the little people of the rocks some of the too had fallen into the that communicated with the and there choked and fought and snapped among the tumbled and at last borne up dead on the heaving waves of bees beneath them shot out of some hole in the river face to roll over on the black rubbish heaps there were who had leaped short into the trees on the cliffs and the bees blotted out their shapes but the greater number of them by the had flung themselves into the river and as said the was hungry water held fast till the boy had recovered his breath red dog we may not stay here he said the little people are roused indeed come swimming low and as often as he could went down the river with the knife in his hand slowly slowly said one tooth does not kill a hundred unless it be a s and many of the took water swiftly when they saw the little people rise they are the more work for my knife then how the little people follow sank again the face of the water was with wild bees sullenly and all they found nothing was ever yet lost by silence said no sting could penetrate his scales and thou hast all the long night for the hear them howl nearly half the pack had seen the trap fellows rushed into and turning sharp aside had flung themselves into the water where the broke down in steep banks their cries of rage and their threats against the tree who had brought them to their shame mixed with the and of those who had been punished by the little people to remain ashore was death and every knew it the pack was swept along the current down and down to the rocks of the peace pool but even there the angry little people followed and forced the second them to the water again could hear the voice of the leader bidding his people hold on and kill out every wolf in but he did not waste his time in listening one in the dark behind snapped a here is water had forward like an a struggling under water before he could open his mouth and dark rings rose in the peace pool as the body up turning on its side the tried to turn but the current forced them by and the little people darted at their heads and ears and they could hear the challenge of the pack growing louder and deeper in the gathering darkness ahead again and again a went under and rose dead and again the broke out at the rear of the pack some howling that it was best to go ashore others calling on their leader to lead them back to the and others bidding show himself and be killed they come to the fight with two and many voices said the rest is with thy brethren below yonder the little people go back to sleep and i will turn also i do not help wolves a wolf came running along the bank on three legs leaping up and down la his sideways dose to the ground his back and breaking a red dog i t couple of feet into the air as though he were playing with his it was won the and he said never a word but continued his horrible sport beside the they had been long in the water now and were laboriously their coats and heavy and their tails dragging like so tired and shaken that they too were silent watching the pair of blazing eyes that moved abreast of them this is no good hunting said one at last good hunting said as he rose boldly at the brute s side and sent the long knife home behind the shoulder pushing hard to avoid the dying snap art thou there man said won from the bank ask of the dead replied have none come down stream i have filled these dogs mouths with dirt i have them in the broad daylight and their leader his tail but here be some few for thee still whither shall i drive them i will wait said won the long night is before me and i shall see well nearer and nearer came the bay of the wolves for the pack for the full pack it is met and a bend in the river drove the forward tke second book the second book among the sands and opposite the then they saw their mistake they should have landed half a mile higher up and rushed the wolves on dry ground now it was too late the bank was lined with burning eyes and except for the horrible cry that had never stopped since sun down there was no sound in the it seemed as though won was on them to come ashore and and take hold said the leader of the the entire pack flung themselves at the shore and through the water till the face of the was all white and torn and the great went from side to side like bow waves from a boat followed the rush and	39
as the huddled together rushed up the river beach in a wave then the long fight began heaving and straining and and scattering and and along the red wet sands and over and between the tangled tree roots and through and among the bushes and in and out of the grass for even now the were two to one but they met wolves fighting for all that made the pack and not only the short deep hunters of the pack but the wild eyed the she wolves of the as the saying is fight red dog ing for their with here and there a wolf his first coat still half and by their sides a wolf you must know at the throat or at the while a by preference low so when the were struggling out of the water and had to raise their heads the odds were with the wolves on dry land the wolves but in the water or on land s knife came and went the same the four had worked their way to his aid gray brother crouched between the boy s knees protected his stomach while the others guarded his back and either side or stood over him when the shock of a leaping yelling who had thrown himself on the steady blade bore him down for the rest it was one tangled confusion a locked and swaying mob that moved from right to left and from left to right along the bank and also ground round and round slowly on its own centre here would be a heaving mound like a water in a which would break like a water and throw up four or five dogs each striving to get back to the centre here would be a single wolf borne down by two or three dragging them forward and sinking the while here a would be held up by the pressure round him though he had been killed early in the fight while his mother with dumb rage rolled over snapping and passing on and in the middle of i e second book the fight perhaps one wolf and one forgetting everything else would be for first hold till they were swept away by a rush of yelling once passed a on either and his all but jaws over the of a third and once he saw his teeth set in the throat of a the unwilling beast forward till the could finish him but the bulk of the fight was blind and in the dark hit trip and tumble groan and worry worry worry round him and behind him and above him as the night wore on the quick giddy go round motion increased the were wearied and afraid to attack the stronger wolves though they did not yet dare to run away but felt that the end was coming soon and contented himself with striking to the were growing bolder there was time to breathe and now the mere of the knife would sometimes turn a aside the meat is very near the bone gray brother gasped he was bleeding fix m a score of but the bone is yet to be cracked said thus do we do in the the red blade ran like a flame along the side of a red dog whose hind quarters were hidden by the weight of a wolf my kill the wolf through his wrinkled nostrils leave him to me is thy stomach j empty won was fearfully punished but his grip had the who could not turn round and reach him by the bull that bought me cried with a bitter laugh it is the one and indeed it was the big bay coloured leader it is not wise to kill and went on wiping the blood out of his eyes unless one also the father and it is in my stomach that this father thee a leaped to his leader s aid but before his teeth had found won s flank s knife was in his chest and gray brother took what was left and thus do we do in the said won said not a word only his jaws were closing and on the as life the shuddered his head dropped and he lay still and won dropped above him hush the blood debt is paid said sing the song won he no more said gray brother and too is silent this long time the second book the bone is cracked thundered son of they kill out o hunters of the free people after was away from those dark and bloody sands to the river to the thick up stream or down stream as he saw the road clear the debt the debt shouted pay the debt they have slain the lone wolf let not a dog go he was flying to the river knife in hand to check any who dared to take water when from under a mound of nine dead rose s head and and dropped on his knees beside the lone wolf said i not it would be my last fight gasped it is good hunting and thou little brother i live having killed many even so i die and i would i would die by thee little brother took the terrible head on his knees and put his arms round the torn neck it is long since the old days of and a man that rolled naked in the dust nay nay i am a wolf i am of one skin with red dog tlie free people cried it is no will of mine that i am a man thou art a man little brother of my watching thou art all a man or else the pack had fled before the my life i owe to thee and to day thou hast saved the pack even as once i saved thee hast thou forgotten all debts are paid now go to	39
tap tap tapped furiously against a as a single leaf caught in a current will it roused the running for he the morning air with a deep hollow cough threw himself on his back and struck with his fore at the nodding leaf above the year turns he said the goes forward the time of new talk is near that leaf knows it is very good the grass is dry answered pulling up a even eye of the spring that is a little trumpet shaped red flower that runs in and out among the even eye of the spring is shut and ts it well for the black so to lie on his back and beat with his in the air as though he were the tree cat said he seemed to be thinking of other things i say is it well for the black so to mouth and cough and howl and roll remember we be the masters of the thou and l indeed yes i hear man rolled over hurriedly and sat up the dust on his ragged black he was just casting his winter coat we be surely the masters of the who is so strong as who so wise there was a curious in the voice that made turn to see whether by any chance the black were making fun of him for the is full of words that sound like one thing but mean another i said we be beyond question the masters of the i second book repeated have i done wrong i did not know that the man no longer lay upon the ground does he fly then sat with his elbows on his knees looking out across the valley at the daylight somewhere down in the woods below a bird was tr over in a voice the first few notes of his spring song it was no more than a shadow of the tumbling call he would be crying later but heard it i said the time of new talk was near growled the his tail i hear answered why dost thou shake all over the sun is warm that is the scarlet said h has not forgotten now i too must remember my song and he began and to himself back dissatisfied again and again there is no game said lazily little brother are both thine ears stopped that is no killing word but my song that i make ready against the need i had forgotten i shall know when the time of new talk is here because then thou and the others run away and leave me single foot spoke rather savagely the spring running but indeed little brother began we do not always i say ye do said shooting out his forefinger angrily ye do run away and i who am the master of the must needs walk single foot how was it last season when i would gather from the fields of a man pack i sent a i sent thee to bidding him to come upon such a night and pluck the sweet grass for me with his trunk he came only two nights later said a little and of that long sweet grass that pleased thee so he gathered more than any man could eat in all the nights of the rains his was no fault of mine he did not come upon the night when i sent him the word no he was and running and roaring through valleys in the moonlight his trail was like the trail of three for he would not hide among the trees he danced in the moonlight before the houses of the man pack i saw him and yet he would not come to me and am the master of the it was the time of new talk said the always very humble perhaps little brother thou not that time call him by a master word listen to s bad temper seemed to have boiled itself the second book away he lay back with his head on his arms his eyes shut i do not know nor do i care he said let us sleep my stomach is heavy in me make me a rest for my head the lay down again with a sigh because he could hear and his song against the spring time of new talk as they say in an indian the seasons slide one into the other almost without division there seem to be only two the wet and the dry but if you look closely below the torrents of rain and the clouds of and dust you will find all four going round in their regular order spring is the most wonderful because she has not to cover a dean bare field with new leaves and flowers but to drive before her and to put away the hanging on over of half green things which the gentle winter has suffered to live and to make the partly dressed stale earth feel new and young once more and this she does so well that there is no spring in the world like the spring there is one day when all things are tired and the very smells as they drift on the heavy air are old and used one cannot explain but it feels so then there is another day to the eye nothing whatever has changed when all the smells are new and delightful and the whiskers of the people quiver to their roots and the winter hair comes away from their sides in long locks then the spring running perhaps a little rain falls and all the trees and the bushes and the and the and the plants wake with a noise of growing that you can almost hear and under this noise runs day and night a deep hum that is the noise of the spring a boom which is neither bees nor	39
falling water nor the wind in the tree tops but the of the warm happy world up to this year had always delighted in the turn of the seasons it was he who generally saw the first eye of the spring deep down among the and the first bank of spring clouds which are like nothing else in the his voice could be heard in all sorts of wet star lighted places helping the big through their or mocking the little down that through the white nights like all his people spring was the season he chose for his moving for mere joy of rushing through the warm air thirty forty or fifty miles between twilight and the morning star and coming back panting and laughing and with strange flowers the four did not follow him on these wild of the but went oflf to sing songs with other wolves the people are very busy in the spring and could hear them and screaming and whistling according to their kind their voices then are the second the second book different from their voices at other times of the year and that is one of the reasons why spring is called the time of new talk but that spring as he told his stomach was new in him ever since the shoots turned brown he had been looking forward to the morning when the smells should change but when that morning came and the blazing in bronze and blue and gold cried it aloud all along the misty woods and opened his mouth to send on the cry the words choked between his teeth and a feeling came over him that began at his toes and ended in his hair a feeling of pure and he looked himself over to be sure that he had not trodden on a thorn cried the new smells the other birds took it over and from the rocks by the he heard s hoarse scream something between the scream of an eagle and the of a horse there was a yelling and scattering of log in the new branches above and there stood his chest filled to answer sinking in little as the breath was driven out of it by this he stared but he could see no more than the mocking log through the trees and his tail spread in full splendour dancing on the slopes below tbe smells have changed screamed mon spring running q good hunting little brother where is thy answer little brother good hunting whistled the and his mate down together the two under s nose so close that a pinch of white feathers brushed out a light spring rain elephant rain they call it drove across the in a belt half a mile wide left the new leaves wet and nodding behind and died out in a double rainbow and a light roll of thunder the spring hum broke out for a minute and was silent but all the folk seemed to be giving tongue at once all except i have eaten good food he said to himself i have drunk good water nor does my throat bum and grow small as it did when i bit the blue spotted root that oo the said was clean food but my stomach is heavy and i have for no cause given very bad talk to and others people of the and my people now too i am hot and now i am cold and now i am neither hot nor cold but angry with that which i cannot see it is time to make a running to night i will cross the yes i will make a spring running to the of the north and back again i have hunted too easily too long the four shall come with me for they grow as fat as white o the second book he called but never one of the four answered they were far beyond singing over the spring songs the moon and songs with the wolves of the pack for in the spring time the people make little difference between the day and the night he gave the sharp barking note but his only answer was the mocking of the little spotted tree cat winding in and out among the branches for early birds nests at this he shook all over with rage and half drew his knife then he became very haughty though there was no one to see him and stalked severely down the chin up and eyebrows down but never a single one of his people asked him a question for they were all too busy with their own affairs yes said to himself though in his heart he knew that he had no reason let the red come from the or the red flower dance among the and all the runs to calling him great elephant names but now because eye of the spring is red and must show his naked legs in some the goes mad as by the bull that bought me am i the master of the or am i not be silent what do ye here a couple of young wolves of the pack were down a path looking for open ground in which to fight you will remember that the law of the spring running the fighting where the pack can see their neck were as stiff as wire and they furiously crouching for the first leaped forward caught one outstretched throat in either hand expecting to fling the creatures backwards as he had often done in games or pack but he had never before interfered with a spring fight the two leaped forward and dashed him aside to the earth and without word to waste rolled over and over dose locked was on his feet almost before he fell his knife and his white teeth were and at that minute he would have	39
killed both for no reason but that they were fighting when he wished them to be quiet although every wolf has full right under the law to fight he danced round them with lowered shoulders and quivering hand ready to send in a double blow when the first of the should be over but while he waited the strength seemed to go out of his body the knife point lowered and he the knife and watched i have eaten poison he said at last since i broke up the council with the red flower since i killed none of the pack could fling me aside and these be only tail wolves in the pack little hunters my strength is gone firom me and presently i shall die oh why dost thou not kill them both the second book the fight went on till one wolf ran away and was sat alone on the torn and bloody ground looking now at his knife and now at his legs and arms while the feeling of he had never known before covered him as water covers a log he killed early that evening and eat but little so as to be in good for his spring running and he eat alone because all the people were away singing or fighting it was a perfect white night as they call it all green things seemed to have made a month s growth since the morning the branch that was yellow the day before sap when broke it the curled deep and warm over his feet the young grass had no cutting edges and all the voices of the like one deep harp string touched by the moon the moon of new talk who her light on rock and pool it between trunk and and it through the million leaves unhappy as he was sang aloud with pure delight as he settled into his stride it was more like flying than anything else for he had chosen the long downward slope that leads to the northern through the heart of the main where the ground the fall of his feet a man taught man would have picked his way with many through the moonlight but s muscles trained by years of experience the spring bore him up as though he were a feather when a rotten log or a hidden stone turned under his foot he saved himself never checking his pace without effort and without thought when he tired of he threw up his hands monkey fashion to the earnest and seemed to float rather than to climb up into the thin branches whence he would follow a tree road till his mood changed and he shot downwards in a long leafy curve to the again there were still hot hollows surrounded by wet rocks where he could hardly breathe for the heavy of the night flowers and the bloom along the dark avenues where the moonlight lay in as regular as in a church aisle where the wet young growth stood breast high about him and threw its arms round his waist and hill tops crowned with broken rock where he leaped from stone to stone above the of the frightened httle he would hear very faint and far ofl the of a his on a and later would come across the great brute all alone and the red bark of a tree his mouth dripping with foam and his eyes blazing like fire or he would turn aside to the sound of dashing horns and hissing and dash past a couple of furious staggering to and fro with lowered heads striped with blood that shows black in the moonlight the second book or at some rushing ford he would hear the like a bull or disturb a knot of the poison people but before they could strike he would be away and across the glistening and deep into the again so he ran sometimes shouting sometimes singing to himself the happiest thing in all the that night till the smell of the flowers warned him that he was near the and those lay far beyond his hunting grounds here again a man trained man would have sunk over head in three strides but s feet had eyes in them and they passed him from to and to without asking help from the eyes in his head he headed out to the middle of the swamp disturbing the duck as he ran and sat down on a moss tree trunk in the black water the marsh was awake all round him for in the spring the bird people sleep very lightly and companies of them were coming or going the night through but no one took any notice of sitting among the tall humming songs without words and looking at the of his hard brown feet in case of neglected thorns all his seemed to have been left behind in his own and he was just a song when it came back again ten times worse than before to make all worse the moon was setting the spring this time was frightened it is here also he said half aloud it has followed me and he looked over his shoulder to see whether the it were not standing behind him there is no one here the night noises in the marsh went on but never bird or beast spoke to him and the new feeling of misery grew i have eaten poison he said in an awe stricken voice it must be that carelessly i have eaten poison and my strength is going from me i was afraid and yet it was not that was afraid was afraid when the two wolves fought or even would have silenced them yet was afraid that is sure sign i have eaten poison but what do they care in the they sing and howl and fight and run in companies under	39
the moon and i hai mail p am dying in the of that poison which i have eaten he was so sorry for himself that he nearly wept and after he went on they will find me lying in the black water nay i will go back to my own and i will die upon the council rock and whom i love if he is not screaming in the valley perhaps may watch by what is for a little lest use me as he used a large warm tear down on his knee and miserable as he was felt happy that he was so miserable if you can understand that the second book down sort of happiness as the used he repeated on the night i saved the pack from red dog he was quiet for a uttle thinking of the last words of the lone wolf which you of course remember now said to me many foolish things before he died for when we die our change he said none the less i am of the in his excitement as he remembered the fight on bank he shouted the last words aloud and a wild cow among the sprang to her knees man said the wild could hear him turn in his that is no man it is only the wolf of the pack on such nights runs he to and fro said the cow dropping her head again to i thought it was man i say no oh is it danger oh is it danger the boy called back that is all thinks for is it danger but for who goes to and fro in the by night watching what care ye how loud he cries said the cow thus do they cry answered contemptuously who having torn the grass up know not how to eat it spring running for less than this groaned to himself for less than this even last rains i had pricked out of his and ridden him through the swamp on a rush he stretched his hand to break one of the but drew it back with a sigh went on steadily the and the long grass where the cow i will not die here he said angrily who is of one blood with and the pig would mock me let us go beyond the swamp and see what comes never have i run such a spring running hot and cold together up he could not resist the temptation of stealing across the to and him with the point of his knife the great dripping bull broke out of his like a shell while laughed till he sat down say now that the wolf of the pack once thee he called wolf thou the bull stamping in the mud all the knows thou a of tame cattle such a man s as shouts in the dust by the crops yonder thou of the what hunter would have crawled like a snake among the and for a muddy jest a s jest have me before my cow come to firm ground and i will i will at the mouth the second book for he has nearly the worst temper of anyone in the watched him and blow with eyes that never changed when he could make himself heard through the mud shower he said what man pack here by the this is new to me go north then roared the angry bull for had pricked him rather sharply it was a naked cow herd s jest go and tell them at the village at the foot of the marsh the man pack do not love tales nor do i think that a scratch more or less on thy hide is any matter for a council but i will go and look at this village yes i will go softly now it is not every night that the master of the comes to herd thee he stepped out to the shivering ground on the edge of the marsh well knowing that would never charge over it and laughed as he ran to think of the bull s anger my strength is not altogether gone he said it may be the poison is not to the bone there is a star sitting low yonder he looked at it steadily between half shut hands by the bull that bought me it is the red flower the red flower that i lay beside before before i came even to the first the spring running pack i now that i have seen i will finish the running the marsh ended in a broad plain where a light it was a long time since had concerned himself with the doings of men but this night the glimmer of the red flower drew him forward as if it had been new game i will look said he and i will see how far the man pack has changed forgetting that he was no longer in his own where he could do what he pleased he trod carelessly through the dew loaded he came to the hut where the light stood three or four dogs gave tongue for he was on the outskirts of a village said sitting down noiselessly after sending back a deep wolf growl that silenced the what comes will come what hast thou to do any more with the of the man pack he rubbed his mouth remembering where a stone had struck it years ago when the other man pack had cast him out the door of he hut opened and a woman stood peering out into the darkness a child cried and the woman said over her shoulder sleep it was but a that the dogs in a little time morning comes in the grass began to shake as though he the second book had the fever he knew that voice well but to make sure he	39
cried softly surprised to find how man s talk came back o who calls said the woman a quiver in her voice hast thou forgotten said his throat was dry as he spoke if it be what name did i give thee say she had half shut the door and her hand was clutching at her breast oh said for as you know that was the name gave him when he first came to the man pack come my son she called and stepped into the light and looked full at the woman who had been good to him and whose life he had saved from the man pack so long before she was older and her hair was grey but her eyes and her voice had not changed woman like she expected to find where she had left him and her eyes travelled upwards in a puzzled fashion from his chest to his head that touched the top of the door my son she stammered and then sinking to his feet but it is no longer my son it is a of the woods as he stood in the red light of the oil lamp strong tall and his long buck hair sweeps the spring running i ing over his shoulders the knife swinging at his neck and his head crowned with a wreath of white he might easily have been mistaken for some wild god of a legend the child half asleep on a cot sprang up and shrieked aloud with terror turned to soothe him while stood still looking in at the water and cooking pots the and all the other human that he found himself remembering so well what wilt thou eat or drink murmured this is all thine we owe our lives to thee but art thou him i called or a indeed i am said i am very far from my own place i saw this light and came hither i did not know thou here after we came to said timidly the english would have helped us against those villagers that sought to bum us thou indeed i have not forgotten but when the english law was made ready we went to the village of those evil people and it was no more to be found that also i remember said with a quiver of the my man therefore took service in the fields and at last for indeed he was a strong man we held ihe second book a little land here it is not so rich as the old village but we do not need much we two where is he the man that dug in the dirt when he was afraid on that night he is dead a year and he pointed to the child my son that was bom two rains ago if thou art a give him the favour of the that he may be safe among thy people as we were safe on that night she lifted up the child who forgetting his fright reached out to play with the knife that hung on s chest and put the little fingers aside very carefully and if thou art whom the carried away went on choking he is then thy younger brother give him an elder brother s blessing hai mail what do i know of the thing called a blessing i am neither a nor his brother and o mother mother my heart is heavy in me he shivered as he set down the child like enough said bustling among the cooking pots this comes of running about the by night beyond question a fever has soaked thee to the smiled a little at the idea of anything in the him i will make a fire and thou shalt drink warm milk the spring running put away the wreath the smell is heavy in so small a place sat down muttering his face in his hands all manner of strange feelings were running over him exactly as though he had been poisoned and he felt dizzy and a little sick he drank the warm milk in long patting him on the shoulder from time to time not quite sure whether he were her son of the long ago days or some wonderful being but glad to feel that he was at least flesh and blood son she said at last her eyes were full of pride have any told thee that thou art beautiful beyond all men said for of course he had never heard anything of the kind laughed softly and happily the look in his face was enough for her i am the first then it is right though it comes seldom that a mother should tell her son these good things thou art very beautiful never have i looked upon such a man twisted his head and tried to see over his own hard shoulder and laughed again so long that not knowing why was forced to laugh with her and the child ran from one to the other laughing too nay thou must not mock thy brother said the second book the second book catching him to her breast when thou art one half as fair we will many thee to the youngest daughter of a king and thou shalt ride great could not understand one word in three of the talk here the warm milk was taking effect on him after his forty mile run so he curled up and in a minute was deep asleep and put the hair back from his eyes threw a cloth over him and was happy fashion he slept out the rest of that night and all the next day for his instincts which never wholly slept warned him there was nothing to fear he at last with a bound that shook the hut for the doth over his face made him dream of traps and there he stood his hand on	39
were busy hunting and fighting and killing and singing from one to another gray brother ran crying the master of the goes back to man the spring running come to the council rock and the happy eager people only answered he will return in the the rains will drive him to run and sing with us gray brother but the master of the goes back to man gray brother would repeat is the time of new talk any less good for that tliey would reply so when heavy hearted came up through the rocks to the place where he had been brought into the pack he found only the four who was nearly blind with age and the heavy round s empty seat thy trail ends here then said as threw himself down his face in his hands cry thy cry we be of one blood thou and i man and snake together why was i not torn in two by red dog the boy moaned my strength is gone from me and it is not the poison by night and by day i hear a double step upon my trail when i turn my head it is as though one had hidden himself from me that instant i go to look behind the trees and he is not there i call and none cry again but it is as though one listened and kept back the answer i lie down but i do not rest i run the spring running but i am not made still i but i am not made cool the kill me but i have no heart to fight so the second book except i kill the red flower is in my body my bones are water and i know not what i know what need of talk said slowly turning his head to where lay by the river said it that should drive back to the man pack i said it but who now to where is this night he knows also it is the law when we met at cold i knew it said turning a little in his mighty man goes to man at the last though the does not cast him out the four looked at one another and at puzzled but obedient the does not cast me out then stammered gray brother and the three growled furiously beginning so long as we live none shall dare but checked them i taught thee the law it is for me to speak he said and though i cannot now see the rocks before me i see far little take thine own trail make thy with thine own blood and pack and people but when there is need of foot or tooth or eye or a word carried swiftly by night remember master of the the is thine at call the middle is thine also said i speak for no small people the spring running i hai mat my brothers cried throwing up his arms with a sob i know not what i know i would not go but i am drawn by both feet how shall i leave these nights nay look up little brother repeated there is no shame in this hunting when the honey is eaten we leave the empty hive having cast the skin said we may not creep into it afresh it is the law listen dearest of all to me said there is neither word nor will here to hold thee back look up who may question the master of the i saw thee playing among the white pebbles yonder when thou a little and that bought thee for the price of a young bull newly killed saw thee also of that looking over we two only remain for thy mother is dead with thy father the old wolf pack is long since dead thou whither went and died among the where but for thy wisdom and strength the second pack would also have died there remain but old bones it is no longer the man that asks leave of his pack but the master of the that changes his trail who shall question man in his ways but and the bull that bought me said i would not his words were cut short by a roar and a crash the second book in the thicket below and light strong and terrible as always therefore he said stretching out a dripping right i did not come it was a long hunt but he lies dead in the bushes now a bull in his second year the bull that thee little brother all debts are paid now for the rest my word is s word he licked s foot remember loved thee he cried and bounded away at the foot of the hill he cried again long and loud good hunting on a new trail master of the remember loved thee thou hast heard said there is n more go now but first come to me o wise little come to me it is hard to cast the skin said as sobbed and sobbed with his head on the blind bear s side and his arms round his neck while tried feebly to his feet the stars are thin said gray brother at the dawn wind where shall we to day for from now we follow new and this is the last of the stories the the is the song that heard behind him in the till he came to s door again for the sake of him who showed one wise the road keep the law the man pack make for thy blind old s sake clean or hot or stale hold it as it were the trail through the day and through the night neither left nor right for the sake of him who loves thee beyond all else that moves when thy pack	39
rs so many chances to little six of going wrong children resent familiarity from strangers and was a very particular child once he accepted an acquaintance he was graciously pleased to he accepted a of the on sight was having tea at the colonel s and win we entered strong in the possession of a won for not chasing the round the compound he regarded with gravity for at least ten minutes and then delivered himself of his opinion i like you said he slowly getting oflf his chair and coming over to i like you i shall call you because of your hair do you mind being called it is because of ve hair you know here was one of the most embarrassing of s peculiarities he would look at a stranger for some time and then without warning or explanation would give him a name and the name stuck no could break of this habit he lost his good conduct for the s e but nothing that the colonel could do made the station forego the and mrs remained mrs till the end of her stay so was and rose therefore in the estimation of the regiment if took an interest in any one the fortunate man was envied alike by the mess and the rank and file and in their envy lay no suspicion of self interest the colonel s son was on his own merits entirely yet was not lovely his face was permanently as his legs were permanently scratched and in spite of his mother s almost tearful he had insisted upon having his long yellow locks cut short in the military fashion i want my hair like said and his father the sacrifice was accomplished three weeks after the of his youthful affections on lieutenant to be called for the sake of was destined to behold strange things and far beyond his comprehension returned his liking with interest had let him wear for five minutes his own big sword just as tall as had promised him a and had permitted him to witness the miraculous operation of nay more had said that even he would rise in time to the of a box of shiny knives a silver soap box and a silver handled brush as called it decidedly there was no one except his father who could give or take away good conduct at pleasure half so wise strong and as with the and egyptian on his breast why then should be guilty of the un manly weakness of kissing vehemently kissing a big girl miss to wit in the course of a morning ride had seen so doing and like the gentleman he was had promptly wheeled round and back to his groom lest the groom should also see under ordinary circumstances he would have spoken to his father but he felt instinctively that this was a matter on which ought first to be consulted shouted up outside that s early one morning want to see you come in young un returned who was at early breakfast in the midst of his dogs what mischief have you been getting into now had done nothing bad for three days and so stood on a of virtue i ve been doing nothing bad said he curling himself into a long chair with a affectation of the colonel s languor after a hot parade he buried his nose in a tea cup and with eyes staring over the rim asked say is it to kiss big girls by jove you re beginning early who do you want to kiss no one my s always kissing me if don t stop her if it isn t how was you kissing major s big girl last morning by ve canal s brow wrinkled he and miss had with great craft managed to keep their engagement secret for a fortnight there were urgent and imperative reasons why major should not know how matters stood for at least another month and this small had discovered a great deal too much i saw you said calmly but ve groom didn t see i said oh you had that much sense you young groaned poor half amused and half angry and how many people may you have told about it only me myself you didn t tell when i to wide ve ven my pony was lame and fought you wouldn t like said shaking the small hand you re the best of good fellows look here you can t understand all these things one of these days hang it how can i make you see it i m going to marry miss and then she ll be mrs as you say if your young mind is so at the idea of kissing big girls go and tell your father i what will happen said who firmly believed that his father was shall get into trouble said playing his card with ah appealing look at the of the ace ven i won t said briefly but my says it s un man ly to be always kissing and i didn t d do not always kissing old chap it s only now and then and when you re bigger you ll do it too your father meant it s not good for little boys ah said now fully enlightened it s like ve brush exactly said gravely but i don t i ll ever want to kiss big girls nor no one my and i must you know there was a long pause broken by are you fond of big girl awfully said van you are of bell or ve or me it s in a different way said you see one of these days miss will belong to me but you ll grow up and command the regiment and all sorts of things it s quite different you see	39
very well said rising if fond of ve big girl won t tell any one i must go now rose and escorted his small guest to the door adding you re the best of little fellows i tell you what in thirty days from now you can tell if you like tell any one you like thus the secret of the engagement was dependent on a little child s word who knew s idea of truth was at ease for he felt that he would not break promises betrayed a special and unusual interest in miss and slowly revolving round that embarrassed young lady was used to regard her gravely with eye he was trying to discover why should have kissed her she was not half so nice as his own mother on the other hand she was s property and would in time belong to him therefore it him to treat her with as much respect as s big sword or shiny pistol the idea that he shared a great secret in common with kept unusually virtuous for three weeks then the old adam broke out and he made what he called a l camp fire at the bottom of the garden how could he have foreseen that the flying sparks would have lighted the colonel s little and consumed a week s store for the horses sudden and swift was the punishment of the good conduct and most sorrowful of all two days confinement to the house and coupled with the of the light of his father s countenance he took the sentence like the man he strove to be drew himself up with a quivering under lip saluted and once clear of the room ran to weep bitterly in his called by him my quarters came in the afternoon and attempted to console the i m under said mournfully and i didn t ought to speak to you very early the next morning he climbed on to the roof of the house that was not forbidden and beheld miss going for a ride where are you going cried across the river she answered and trotted forward now the in which the th lay was bounded on the north by a river dry in the winter from his earliest years had been forbidden to go across the river and had noted that even the almost almighty had never set foot beyond it had once been read to out of a big blue book the history of the princess and the a most wonderful tale of a land where the were always with the children of men until they were defeated by one ever since that date it seemed to him that the bare black and purple hills across the river were inhabited by and in truth every one had said that there lived the bad men even in his own house the lower of the windows were covered with green paper on account of the bad men who might if allowed clear view fire into peaceful drawing rooms and comfortable certainly beyond the river which was the end of all the earth lived the bad men and here was major s big girl s property preparing to venture into their borders what would say if anything happened to her if the ran off with her as they did with s princess she must at all be turned back the house was still reflected for a moment on the very terrible wrath of his father and then broke his arrest it was a crime unspeakable the low sun threw his shadow very large and very black on the trim garden paths as he went down to the stables and ordered his pony it seemed to him in the hush of the dawn that all the big world had been to stand still and look at guilty of the drowsy groom handed him his mount and since the one great sin made all others insignificant said that he was going to ride over to and went out at a foot pace stepping on the soft mould of the flower borders the track of the pony s feet was the last that cut him off from all sympathy of humanity he turned into the road leaned forward and rode as fast as the pony could put foot to the ground in the direction of the river but the of twelve two can do little against the long of a miss was far ahead had passed through the crops beyond the police post when all the guards were asleep and her mount was scattering the pebbles of the river bed as left the and british india behind him bowed forward and still shot into territory and could just see miss a black speck flickering across the stony plain the reason of her wandering was simple enough in a tone of too hastily assumed authority had told her over night that she must not ride out by the river and she had gone to prove her ov n spirit and teach a lesson almost at the foot of the hills saw the blunder and come down heavily miss struggled clear but her ankle had been severely twisted and she could not stand having thus her spirit she wept and was surprised by the apparition of a white wide eyed child in on a nearly spent pony are you badly badly shouted as soon as he was within range you didn t ought to be here don t know said miss the reproof good gracious child what doing here you said you was going ve panted throwing himself off his pony and nobody not even must go ve and i came after you ever so hard but you wouldn t stop and now you ve yourself and will be m e and i ve b my aw west i i	39
ve my the future colonel of the th sat down and sobbed in spite of the pain in her ankle the girl was moved have you ridden all the way from little man what for you belonged to told me so i saw him kissing you and he said he was of you van bell or ve or me and so i came you must get up and come back you didn t ought to be here is a bad place and i ve my i can t move said miss with a groan i ve hurt my foot what shall i do she showed a readiness to weep afresh which who had been brought up to believe that tears were the depth of still when one is as great a sinner as even a man may be permitted to break down said miss ve rested a little ride back and tell them to send out something to carry me back in it hurts fearfully the child sat still for a little time and miss closed her eyes the pain was nearly making her faint she was roused by tying up the reins on his pony s neck and setting it free with a vicious cut of his whip that made it the little animal headed toward the oh what are you doing hush said s a man coming one of ve bad men i must stay you my says a man must always look after a girl jack will go home and ven u come and look for us s why i let him go not one man but two or three had appeared from behind the rocks of the hills and the heart of sank within him for just in this manner were the wont to steal out and vex s soul thus had they played in s garden he had seen the picture and thus had they frightened the princess s nurse he heard them talking to each other and recognized with joy the that he had picked up from one of his father s lately dismissed people who spoke that tongue could not be the bad men they were only natives after all they came up to the on which miss s horse had then rose from the rock child of the dominant race aged six and and said briefly and emphatically the pony had crossed the river bed the men laughed and laughter from natives was the one thing could not he asked them what they wanted and why they did not depart other men with most evil faces and crooked guns crept out of l ee the shadows of the hills till soon was face to face with an audience some twenty strong miss screamed who are you said one of the men i am the colonel s son and my order is that you go at once you black men are the miss one of you must run into and take the news that miss has hurt herself and that the colonel s son is here with her put our feet into the trap was the laughing reply hear this boy s speech say that i sent i the colonel s son they will give you money what is the use of this talk take up the child and the girl and we can at least ask for the ours are the villages on the heights said a voice in the background these were the bad men worse than and it needed all s training to prevent him from bursting into tears but he felt that to cry before a native excepting only his mother s would be an greater than any moreover he as future colonel of the th had that grim regiment at his back are you going to carry us away said very and uncomfortable yes my little said the of the men and eat you afterward that is child s talk said men do not eat men a yell of laughter interrupted him but he went on firmly and if you do carry us away i tell you that all my regiment will come up in a day and kill you all without leaving one who will take my message to the colonel speech in any and had a acquaintance with three was easy to the boy who could not yet manage his r s and th s aright another man joined the conference crying foolish men what this babe says is true he is the heart s heart of those white troops for the sake of peace let them go both for if he be taken the regiment will break loose and the valley our villages are in the valley and we shall not escape that regiment are devils they broke s breast bone with when he tried to take the and if we touch this child they will fire and and plunder for a month till nothing remains better to send a man back to take the message and get a reward say that this child is their god and that they will spare none of us nor our women if we harm him it was din the dismissed groom of the colonel who made the diversion and an angry and heated discussion followed standing over miss waited the surely his his own would not desert him if they knew of his extremity the pony brought the news to the th though there had been consternation in the colonel s household for an hour before the little beast came in through the parade ground in front of the main where the men were settling down to play spoil five till the afternoon the color of e company glanced at the empty saddle and tumbled through the rooms kicking up each room as he passed up ye beggars there s something happened to the colonel s son he shouted he couldn t	39
will be and we have to leave them among strangers punch is a cheery little chap he s sure to make friends wherever he goes and who could help loving my they were standing over the in the nursery late at night and i think that mamma was crying softly after papa had gone away she knelt down by the side of s cot the saw her and put up a prayer that the might never find the love of her children taken away from her and given to a stranger mamma s own prayer was a slightly one it ran let strangers love my children and be as good to them as i should be but let me preserve their love and their confidence forever and ever amen punch scratched himself in his sleep and moaned a little that seems to be the only answer to the prayer and next day they all went down to the sea and there was a scene at the black sheep when punch discovered that could not come too and learned that the must be left behind but punch found a thousand fascinating things in the rope block and steam pipe line on the big p o steamer long before and the had dried their tears come back l said the come back said and be a a yes said punch lifted up in his father s arms to wave good bye yes i will come back and i will be a at the end of the first day punch demanded to be set down in england which he was certain must be close at hand next day there was a merry breeze and punch was very sick when i come back to said punch on his recovery i will come by the in a this is a very naughty ship the consoled him and he modified his opinions as the voyage went on there was so much to see and to handle and ask questions about that punch nearly forgot the and and the and with difficulty remembered a few words of the once his second speech but was much worse the day before the steamer reached mamma asked black sheep her if she would not like to see the again s blue eyes turned to the stretch of sea that had swallowed all her tiny past and she said v hat mamma cried over her and punch it was then that he heard for the first time mamma s passionate appeal to him never to let forget mamma seeing that was young young and that mamma every evening for four weeks past had come into the cabin to sing her and punch to sleep with a mysterious that he called my soul punch could not understand what mamma meant but he strove to do his duty for the moment mamma left the cabin he said to you mamma i do said then always mamma r else i won t give you the paper ducks that the captain cut out for me so promised always to mamma many and many a time was mamma s command laid upon punch and papa would say the same thing with an that awed the child you must make haste and learn to write punch said papa and then you ll be able to write letters to us in black sheep i ll come into your room said punch and papa choked papa and mamma were always choking in those days if punch took to task for not they if punch on the sofa in the lodging his future in purple and gold they choked and so they did if put up her mouth for a kiss through many days all four were on the face of the earth punch with no one orders to too young for anything and papa and mamma grave distracted and choking where demanded punch wearied of a contrivance on four wheels with a mound of luggage where is our this thing talks so much that can t talk where is our own when i was at before we away t asked why he was sitting in it and he said it was his own and i said i will give it you i like and i said gin you put your legs through the wag by the windows and said no and laughed can put my legs through the wag i can put my legs through these wag oh mamma s crying again i didn t know i wasn t not to do so black sheep punch drew his legs out of the of the four the door opened and he slid to the earth in a of at the door of an austere little villa whose gates bore the legend lodge punch gathered himself together and eyed the house with it stood on a sandy road and a cold wind his legs let us go away said punch this is not pretty place but mamma and papa and had quitted the cab and all the luggage was being taken into the house at the stood a woman in black and she smiled largely with dry lips behind her was a man big bony grey and lame as to one leg behind him a boy of twelve black haired and in appearance punch surveyed the and advanced without fear as he had been accustomed to do in when came and he happened to be playing in the how do you do said he i am punch but they were all looking at the luggage all except the grey man who shook hands with punch and said he was a smart little fellow there was much running about and of boxes and punch curled himself up on the sofa in the dining room and considered things i don t like these people said punch but black sheep never mind we ll go away soon	39
we have always went away soon from everywhere i wish we was gone back to soon the wish bore no fruit for six days mamma wept at intervals and showed the woman in black all punch s clothes a liberty which punch resented but p she s a new white he thought m m to call her but she doesn t call me she says just punch he confided to what is didn t know neither she nor punch had heard anything of an animal called an aunt their world had been papa and mamma who knew everything permitted everything and loved everybody even punch when he used to go into the garden at and fill his nails with mould after the weekly nail cutting because as he explained between two strokes of the to his sorely tried father his fingers felt so new at the ends in an way punch judged it advisable to keep both parents between himself and the woman in black and the boy in black hair he did not approve of them he liked the grey man who had expressed a wish to be called they nodded at each other when they met and the grey man showed him a little ship with that took up and down she is a model of the brisk the little brisk black sheep that was sore exposed that day at the grey man the last words and fell into a reverie i ll tell you about punch when we go for walks together you mustn t touch the ship because she s the brisk long before that walk the first of many was taken they roused punch and in the chill dawn of a february morning to say good bye and of all people in the wide earth to papa and mamma both crying this time punch was very sleepy and was cross don t forget us pleaded mamma h my little son don t forget us and see that remembers too m ve told to said punch for his father s beard his neck i ve told ten forty thousand times but s so quite a isn t she yes said papa quite a baby and you must be good to and make haste to learn to write and and and punch was back in his bed again was fast asleep and there was the rattle of a cab below papa and mamma had gone away not to that was across the sea to some place much nearer of course and equally of course they would return they came back after dinner parties and papa had come back black sheep after he had been to a place called the and mamma with him to punch and at mrs s house in marine lines assuredly they would come back again so punch fell asleep till the true morning when the boy met him with the information that papa and mamma had gone to and that he and were to stay at lodge forever appealed to for a contradiction said that harry had spoken the truth and that it punch to fold up his clothes neatly on going to bed punch went out and wept bitterly with into whose fair head he had driven some ideas of the meaning of separation when a man that he has been deserted by providence deprived of his god and cast without help comfort or sympathy upon a world which is new and strange to him his despair which may find expression in evil living the writing of his experiences or the more satisfactory diversion of suicide is generally supposed to be impressive a child under exactly similar circumstances as far as its knowledge goes cannot very well curse god and die it till its nose is red its eyes are sore and its head punch and through no fault of their own had lost all their world they sat in the hall and cried the black haired boy looking on from afar black sheep the model of the ship availed nothing though the grey man assured punch that he might pull the up and down as much as he pleased and was promised free entry into the kitchen they wanted papa and mamma gone to beyond the seas and their grief while it lasted was without remedy when the tears ceased the house was very still had decided it was better to let the children have their cry out and the boy had gone to school punch raised his head from the floor and mournfully was nearly asleep three short years had not taught her how to bear sorrow with full there was a distant dull boom in the air a repeated heavy punch knew that sound in in the it was the sea the sea that must be traversed before any one could get to quick he cried we re close to the sea i can hear it listen that s where they ve went we can catch them if we was in time they didn t mean to go without us they ve only forgot said they ve only less go to the sea the hall door was open and so was the i it s very very big this place he said look black sheep ing cautiously down the road and we will get lost but will find a man and order him to take me back to my house like i did in he took by the hand and the two fled in the direction of the sound of the sea villa was almost the last of a range of newly built houses running out through a chaos of brick to a heath where occasionally and where the garrison of there were few people to be seen and the children might have been taken for those of the who ranged far half an hour the wearied	39
little legs across heath field and sand i se so tired said and mamma will be angry mamma s never angry suppose she is waiting at the sea now while papa gets tickets we ll find them and go along with you mustn t sit down only a little more and we ll come to the sea if you sit down i ll you said punch they climbed another and came upon the great grey sea at low tide hundreds of were about the beach but there was no trace of papa and mamma not even of a ship upon the waters nothing but sand and mud for miles and miles and found them by chance black sheep very muddy and very forlorn punch dissolved in tears but trying to divert with an and wailing to the pitiless horizon for mamma mamma and again the second bag ah well a day for we are souls of all the creatures under heaven s wide scope we are most hopeless who had once most hope and most who had most believed the city of dreadful night all this time not a word about black sheep he came later and harry the black haired boy was mainly responsible for his coming who could help loving little passed by special permit into the kitchen and thence straight to s heart harry was s one child and punch was the extra boy about the house there was no special place for him or his little affairs and he was forbidden to on and explain his ideas about the manufacture of this world and his hopes for his future was lazy and wore out and little boys were not expected to talk they were talked to and the talking to was intended for the benefit of their morals as the of the house black sheep at punch could not quite understand how he came to be of no account in this his new life harry might reach across the table and take what he wanted might point and get what she wanted punch was forbidden to do either the grey man was his great hope and stand by for many months after mamma and papa left and he had forgotten to tell to mamma this lapse was because in the interval he had been introduced by to two very impressive things an abstraction called god the friend and ally of generally believed to live behind the because it was hot there and a dirty brown book filled with unintelligible and marks punch was always anxious to oblige everybody he therefore the story of the creation on to what he could recollect of his indian fairy tales and by repeating the result to it was a sin a grievous sin and punch was talked to for a quarter of an hour he could not understand where the came in but was careful not to repeat the offence because told him that god had heard every word he had said and was very angry if this were true why didn t god come and say so thought punch and black sheep dismissed the matter from his mind afterward he learned to know the lord as the only thing in the world more awful than as a creature that stood in the background and counted the strokes of the cane but the reading was just then a much more serious matter than any creed sat him upon a table and told him that a b meant ab why said punch a is a and b is bee does a b mean ab because i tell you it does said and you ve got to say it punch said it accordingly and for a month against his will stumbled through the brown book not in the least what it meant but uncle harry who walked much and generally alone was wont to come into the nursery and suggest to that punch should walk with him he seldom spoke but he showed punch all from the mud banks and the sand of the back bay to the great where ships lay at anchor and the where the were never still and the marine store shops and the shiny brass in the offices where uncle harry went once every three months with a slip of blue paper and received sovereigns in exchange for he held a wound punch heard too from black sheep his lips the story of the battle of where the sailors of the fleet for three days afterward were deaf as posts and could only sign to each other that was because of the noise of the guns said uncle harry and i have got the of a bullet somewhere inside me now punch regarded him with curiosity he had not the least idea what was and his notion of a bullet was a cannon ball bigger than his own head how could uncle harry keep a cannon ball inside him he was ashamed to ask for fear uncle harry might be angry punch had never known what anger real anger meant until one terrible day when harry had taken his paint box to paint a boat with and punch had protested with a loud and lamentable voice then uncle harry had appeared on the scene and muttering something about strangers children had with a stick smitten the black haired boy across the shoulders till he wept and and came in and abused uncle harry for cruelty to his own flesh and blood and punch shuddered to the tips of his shoes it wasn t my fault he explained to the boy but both harry and said that it was and that punch had told tales and for a week there were no more walks with uncle harry black sheep but that week brought a great joy to punch he had repeated till he was thrice weary	39
the statement that the cat lay on the mat and the rat came in now i can truly read said punch and now will never read anything in the world he put the brown book in the cupboard where his school books lived and accidentally tumbled out a venerable volume without covers magazine there was the most picture of a on the first page with verses below the carried off one sheep a day from a german village till a man came with a and split the open goodness only knew what a was but there was the and his history was an improvement upon the eternal cat this said punch means things and now i will know all about everything in all the world he read till the light failed not understanding a of the meaning but by glimpses of new worlds hereafter to be revealed what is a what is a e what is a base z what is a me ad he demanded with flushed cheeks at ef the astonished aunt say your prayers and go to sleep she replied and that was all the help punch then or af black sheep found at her hands in the new and delightful exercise of reading aunt only knows about god and things like that argued punch uncle harry will tell me the next walk proved that uncle harry could not help either but he allowed punch to talk and even sat down on a bench to hear about the other walks brought other stories as punch ranged further for the house held large store of old books that no one ever opened from frank in numbers and the earlier poems of contributed to magazine to exhibition gay with colors and delightfully incomprehensible and odd leaves of s travels as soon as punch could string a few pot hooks together he wrote to demanding by return of post all the books in all the world papa could not with this modest but sent s fairy tales and a that was enough if he were only left alone punch could pass at any hour he chose into a land of his own beyond the reach of and her god harry and his and s claims to be played with don t me i m reading go and play in the kitchen p punch black sheep go there was cutting her second teeth and was she appealed to who descended on punch i was reading he explained reading a book want to read you re only doing that to show off said but we ll see play with now and don t open a book for a week did not pass a very with punch who was consumed with indignation there was a at the bottom of the which puzzled him it s what i like to do he said and she s found out that and stopped me don t cry it wasn t your i m i please don t cry or she ll say i made you up her tears and the two played in their nursery a room in the and half to which they were regularly sent after the midday dinner while slept she drank wine that is to say something from a bottle in the for her stomach s sake but if she did not fall asleep she would sometimes come into the nursery to see that the children were really playing now bricks wooden and cannot amuse forever especially when all is to be won by the mere opening of a book and as often as not punch would be discovered read black sheep ing to or telling her interminable tales that was an offence in the eyes of the law and would be off by while punch was left to play alone and be sure that hear you doing it it was not a cheering employ for he had to make a playful noise at last with infinite craft he devised an arrangement whereby the table could be supported as to three legs on toy bricks leaving the fourth clear to bring down on the floor he could work the table with one hand and hold a book with the other this he did till an evil day when upon him unawares and told him that he was acting a lie if you re old enough to do that she said her temper was always worse after dinner you re old enough to be beaten but i m not a animal said punch aghast he remembered uncle harry and the stick and turned white had hidden a light cane behind her and punch was beaten then and there over the shoulders it was a revelation to him the room door was shut and he was left to weep himself into repentance and work out his own gospel of life he argued had the power to beat him with many it was unjust and cruel and mamma and papa would never have allowed black sheep it unless perhaps as seemed to imply they had sent secret orders in which case he was abandoned indeed it would be discreet in the future to but then again even in matters in which he was innocent he had been accused of wishing to show off he had shown off before visitors when he had attacked a strange gentleman harry s uncle not his own with for information about the and the and the precise nature of the jn which frank rode all points of interest which he was bursting to understand clearly it would not do to pretend to care for at this point harry entered and stood afar off punch a heap in the corner of the room with disgust you re a liar a young liar said harry with great and you re to have tea down here because you re not fit	39
to speak to us and you re not to speak to again till mother gives you leave you ll corrupt her you re only fit to associate with the servant mother says so having reduced punch to a second agony of tears harry departed upstairs v ith the news that punch was still rebellious uncle harry sat uneasily in the dining room black sheep damn it all said he at last can t you leave the child alone he s a good enough little chap when meet him he puts on his best manners with you henry said but i m afraid i m very much afraid that he is the black sheep of the family harry heard and stored up the name for future use cried till she was to stop her brother not being worth tears and the evening concluded with the return of punch to the upper regions and a private sitting at which all the blinding horrors of hell were revealed to punch with such store of as s narrow mind possessed most grievous of all was s round eyed reproach and punch went to bed in the depths of the valley of humiliation he shared his room with harry and knew the torture in store for an hour and a half he had to answer that young gentleman s question as to his motives for telling a lie and a grievous lie the precise quantity of punishment inflicted by and had also to profess his deep gratitude for such religious instruction as harry thought fit to impart from that day began the of punch now black sheep in one thing in all said and harry felt that black sheep black sheep was delivered into his hands he would wake him up in the night to ask him why he was such a liar i don t know punch would reply then don t you think you ought to get up and pray to god for a new heart y get out and pray then and punch would get out of bed with raging hate in his heart against all the world seen and unseen he was always tumbling into trouble harry had a of cross examining him as to his day s doings which seldom failed to lead him sleepy and savage into half a dozen all duly reported to next morning but it wasn t a lie punch would begin charging into a labored explanation that landed him more hopelessly in the mire m said that i didn t say my prayers twice over in the day and that was on tuesday once i did i know i did but harry said i didn t and so forth till the brought tears and he was dismissed from the table in disgrace you t to be as bad as this said awe stricken at the catalogue of black sheep s crimes why are you so bad now i don t know black sheep would reply i m not if i only wasn t down i knew what did and i want to black sheep say so but harry always makes it out different somehow and doesn t believe a word i say oh you say i m bad too says you are said she told the so when he came yesterday why does she tell all the people outside the house about me it isn t fair said black sheep when i was in and was h doing bad not made up bad like this mamma told papa and papa told me he knew and that was all outside people didn t know too even di n t know i don t remember said wistfully was all little then mamma was just as fond of you as she was of me wasn t she course she was so was papa so was everybody likes me more than she does you she says that you are a trial and a black sheep and i m not to speak to you more than can help always not outside of the times when you mustn t speak to me at all nodded her head mournfully black sheep turned away in despair but s arms were round his neck never mind punch she whispered will speak to you just the same as ever and ever black sheep my own own brother though you are though says you re bad and harry says you re a little coward he says that if i pulled your hair hard you d cry pull then said punch pulled pull harder as hard as you can there i don t mind how much you pull it now if you ll speak to me same as ever i ll let you pull it as much as you like pull it out if you like but i know if harry came and stood by and made you do it i d cry so the two children sealed the compact with a kiss and black sheep s heart was cheered within him and by extreme caution and careful of harry he acquired virtue and was allowed to read undisturbed for a week uncle harry took him for walks and consoled him with rough tenderness never calling him black sheep it s good for you i suppose punch he used to say let us sit down i m getting tired his steps led him now not to the beach but to the of amid the for hours the grey man would sit on a while black sheep read and then with a sigh would stump home again shall lie there soon said he to black sheep one winter evening when his face showed white as a worn silver coin under the black sheep lights of the chapel lodge you needn t tell a month later he turned sharp round ere half a morning walk was completed and back to the house	39
put me to bed he muttered i ve walked my last the has found me out they put him to bed and for a fortnight the shadow of his sickness lay upon the house and black sheep went to and fro unobserved papa had sent him some new books and he was told to keep quiet he retired into his own world and was perfectly happy even at night his felicity was unbroken he could lie in bed and string himself tales of travel and adventure while harry was downstairs uncle harry s going to die said who now lived almost entirely with very sorry said black sheep he told me that a long time ago heard the conversation will nothing check your wicked tongue she said angrily there were blue circles round her eyes black sheep retreated to the nursery and read up as a flower with deep and interest he had been forbidden to read it on account of its but the bonds of the universe were crumbling and was in great grief black sheep i m glad said black sheep she s unhappy now it wasn t a lie though knew he told me not to tell that night black sheep woke with a start harry was not in the room and there was a sound of sobbing on the next floor voice of uncle harry singing the song of the battle of cut through the darkness our was the asia the and he s getting well thought black sheep who knew the song through all its seventeen verses but the blood at his little heart as he thought the voice leaped an and rang shrill as a s pipe and next came on the lovely rose the her fire ship closed and the little brisk was sore exposed that day at that day at uncle harry shouted black sheep half wild with excitement and fear of he knew not what a door opened and screamed up the staircase hush for god s sake hush you little devil uncle harry is dead black the third bag journeys end in lovers meeting every wise man s son know i wonder what will happen to me now thought black sheep when the semi pagan rites peculiar to the burial of the dead in middle class houses had been accomplished and awful in black had returned to this life i don t think i ve done anything bad that she knows of i suppose will soon she will be very cross after uncle harry s dying and harry will be cross too i ll keep in the nursery unfortunately for punch s plans it was decided that he should be sent to a day school which harry attended this meant a morning walk with harry and perhaps an evening one but the prospect of freedom in the interval was refreshing harry ll tell everything do but i won t do anything said black sheep fortified with this virtuous resolution he went to school only to find that harry s version of his character had preceded him and that life was a burden in consequence he took stock of his associates some of them were some of them talked in dialect many dropped their h s and there were two jews and a negro or some one o black sheep quite as dark in the assembly that s a said black sheep to himself even used to laugh at a don t think this is a proper place he was indignant for at least an hour till he reflected that any on his part would be by into showing off and that harry would tell the boys how do you like school said at the end of the day i think it is a very nice place said punch quietly suppose you warned the boys of black sheep s character said to harry oh yes said the of black sheep s morals they know all about him if i was with my father said black sheep stung to the quick m shouldn t s aa to those boys he wouldn t let me they live in shops i saw them go into shops where their fathers live and sell things you re too good for that school are you said with a bitter smile you ought to be grateful black sheep that those boys speak to you at all it isn t every school that takes little harry did not fail to make much capital out of black sheep s ill considered remark with the result that several boys including the black sheep i to black sheep the eternal equality of the human race by his head and his consolation from was that it served him right for being vain he learned however to keep his opinions to himself and by harry in carrying books and the like to secure a little peace his existence was not too joyful from nine till twelve he was at school and from two to four except on in the evenings he was sent down into the nursery to prepare his lessons for the next day and every night came the dreaded cross at harry s hand of he saw but little she was deeply religious at six years of age religion is easy to come by and sorely divided between her natural love for black sheep and her love for who could do wrong the lean woman returned that love with interest and when she dared took advantage of this for the of black sheep s failures in lessons at school were punished at home by a week without reading other than school books and harry brought the news of such a failure with glee further black sheep was then bound to repeat his lessons at to harry who generally succeeded in making him break down and consoled him by for the morrow harry was at once spy practical	39
i black sheep and s he filled his many posts to admiration from his actions now that uncle harry was dead there was no appeal black sheep had not been permitted to keep any self respect at school at home he was of course utterly and grateful for any pity that the servant girls they changed frequently at lodge because they too were might show you re just fit to row in the same boat with black sheep was a ent that each new jane or might expect to hear before a month was over from s lips and black sheep was used to ask new girls whether they had yet been compared to him harry was master harry in their mouths was miss but black sheep was never anything more than black sheep court as time went on and the memory of papa and mamma became wholly by the unpleasant task of writing them letters under s eye each sunday black sheep forgot what manner of life he had led in the beginning of things even s appeals to try and remember about failed to him can t remember he said know i used to give orders and mamma kissed me black sheep will kiss you if you are good pleaded don t want to be kissed by she d say was doing it to get something more to eat the weeks lengthened into months and the holidays came but just before the holidays black sheep fell into deadly sin among the many boys whom harry had to punch black sheep s head because he t hit back was one more than the rest who in an unlucky moment fell upon black sheep when harry was not near the blows stung and black sheep struck back at random with all the power at his command the boy dropped and black sheep was astounded at his own act but feeling the body under him shook it with both his hands in blind fury and then began to his enemy meaning honestly to him there was a and black sheep was torn off the body by harry and some and home but was her arrival harry sent himself to lecture black sheep on the sin of murder which he described as the offence of why didn t you fight him fair what did you hit him when he was down for you little cur black sheep black sheep looked up at harry s throat and then at a knife on the dinner table don t understand he said wearily you always set him on me and told me i was a coward when i will you leave me alone until comes in she ll beat me if you tell her ought to be beaten so it s all right it s all wrong said harry you nearly killed him and shouldn t wonder if he dies will he die said black sheep i dare say said harry and then you ll be hanged all right said black sheep possessing himself of the table knife then i ll kill you now you say things and do things and and don t know how things happen and you never leave me alone and i don t cave what happens he ran at the boy with the knife and harry fled upstairs to his room promising black sheep the finest in the world when returned black sheep sat at the bottom of the stairs the table knife in his hand and wept for that he had not killed harry the came up from the kitchen took the knife away and consoled him but black sheep was beyond consolation he would be badly beaten by then there would be another beating at harry s hands then would not black sheep be allowed to speak to him then the tale would be told at school and then there was no one to help and no one to care and the best way out of the business was by death a knife would hurt but had told him a year ago that if he sucked paint he would die he went into the nursery the now s ark and sucked the paint off as many animals as remained it tasted abominable but he had licked s dove clean by the time and returned he went upstairs and greeted them with please believe i ve nearly killed a boy at school and i ve tried to kill harry and when you ve done all about god and hell will you beat me and get it over the tale of the assault as told by harry could only be explained on the ground of possession by the devil wherefore black sheep was not only most beaten once by and once when thoroughly cow d down by harry but he was further prayed for at family prayers together with jane who had stolen a cold from the and audibly as her was brought before the throne ot grace black sheep was sore and stiff but triumphant he would die that very night and be rid of them all no he would ask for no forgiveness from harry and at black sheep would stand no questioning at harry s hands even though addressed as young been beaten said he and i ve done other things i don t care what i do if you to me to night harry tu get out and try to kill you now you can kill me if you like harry took his bed into the spare room and black sheep lay down to die it may be that the makers of s know that their animals are likely to find their way into young mouths and paint them accordingly certain it is that the common weary next morning broke through the windows and found black sheep quite well and a good deal ashamed of himself but richer by the knowledge	39
that he could in extremity secure himself against harry for the future when he descended to breakfast on the first day of the holidays he was greeted with the news that harry and were going away to while black sheep was to stay in the house with the servant his latest outbreak suited s plans admirably it gave her good excuse for leaving the extra boy behind papa in who really seemed to know a young sinner s wants to the hour sent that week a of new books and with these and the society of jane on black sheep was left alone for a month black sheep j the books lasted for ten days they were eaten too quickly in long of four and twenty hours at a time then came days of doing absolutely nothing of dreaming dreams and marching imaginary armies up and downstairs of counting the number of and of measuring the length and breadth of every room in fifty down the side thirty across and fifty back again jane made many friends and after receiving black sheep s assurance that he would not tell of her went out daily for long hours black sheep would follow the rays of the sinking sun from the kitchen to the dining room and thence upward to his own bed room until all was grey dark and he ran down to the kitchen fire and read by its light he was happy in that he was left alone and could read as much as he pleased but later he grew afraid of the shadows of and the flapping of doors and the creaking of shutters he went out into the garden and the rustling of the laurel bushes frightened him he was glad when they all returned harry and full of news and laden with gifts who could help loving loyal little in return for all her merry black sheep confided to her that the distance from the hall door to the top of the first black sheep landing was exactly one hundred and eighty four he had found it out himself then the old life but with a difference and a new sin to his other black sheep had now added a was as unfit to trust in action as he was in word he himself could not account for everything he touched glasses as he put his hand out and his head against doors that were shut there was a grey haze upon all his world and it month by month until at last it left black sheep almost alone with the flapping curtains that were so like ghosts and the nameless terrors of broad daylight that were only coats on after all holidays came and holidays went and black sheep was taken to see many people whose faces were all exactly alike was beaten when occasion demanded and ed by harry on all possible occasions but defended by through good and evil report though she drew upon herself the wrath of the weeks were interminable and papa and mamma were clean forgotten harry had left school and was a clerk in a office freed from his presence black sheep resolved that he should no longer be deprived of his allowance of pleasure reading consequently when he failed black sheep at school he reported that all was well and conceived a large contempt for as he saw how easy it was to deceive her she says i m a little liar when i don t tell lies and now i do she doesn t know thought black sheep had him in the past with petty cunning and that had never entered into his head by the light of the sordid knowledge that she had revealed to him he paid her back full tale in a household where the most innocent of his motives his natural yearning for a little affection had been interpreted into a desire for bread and jam or to himself with strangers and so put harry into the background his work was easy could penetrate certain kinds of but not all he set his child s wits against hers and was no more beaten it grew monthly more and more of a trouble to read the school books and even the pages of the open print story books danced and were dim so black sheep in the shadows that fell about him and cut him off from the world horrible for dear harry or another line of the tangled web of deception that he wrapped round then the crash came and the were broken it was impossible to foresee everything made personal inquiries as to black black sheep sheep s progress and received information that startled her step by step with a delight as keen as when she convicted an of the of cold she followed the trail of black sheep s for weeks and weeks in order to escape from the book shelves he had made a fool of of harry of god of all the world horrible most horrible and evidence of an utterly mind black sheep counted the cost it will only be one big beating and then she ll put a card with liar on my back same as she did before harry will me and pray for me and she will pray for me at prayers and tell me fm a child of the devil and give me hymns to learn but i ve done all my reading and she never knew she ll say she knew all along she s an old too said he for three days black sheep was shut in his own bedroom to prepare his heart that means two one at school and one here that one will hurt most and it fell even as he thought he was at school before the jews and the for the crime of bringing home false reports of progress he was at	39
home by on the same count and then the was produced it between his black sheep shoulders and bade him go for a walk with it upon him if you make me do that said black sheep very quietly i shall burn this house down and perhaps i ll kill you i don t know whether i can kill you re so but i ll try no punishment followed this though black sheep held himself ready to work his way to s withered throat and grip there till he was beaten off perhaps afraid for black sheep having reached the of sin bore himself with a ne v in the midst of all the trouble there came a visitor from over the seas to lodge who knew papa and mamma and was to see punch and black sheep was sent to the drawing room and charged into a solid laden with china gently gently little man said the visitor turning black sheep s face to the light slowly what s that big bird on the what bird asked black sheep the visitor looked deep down into black sheep s eyes for half a minute and then said suddenly good god the little chap s nearly blind it was a most business like visitor he gave orders on his own responsibility that black black sheep sheep was not to go to school or open a book until mamma came home she ll be three weeks as you know of course said he and i m ushered you into this wicked world young man and a nice use you seem to have made of your time you must do nothing whatever can you do that yes said punch in a dazed way he had known that mamma was coming there was a chance then of another beating thank heaven papa wasn t coming too had said of late that he ought to be beaten by a man for the next three weeks black sheep was strictly allowed to do nothing he spent his time in the old nursery looking at the broken toys for all of which account must be rendered to mamma hit him over the hands if even a wooden boat were broken but that sin was of small importance compared to the other revelations so darkly hinted at by when your mother comes and hears what have to tell her she may appreciate you properly she said grimly and mounted guard over lest that small maiden should attempt to comfort her brother to the peril of her own soul and mamma came in a four and a flutter of tender excitement such a mamma she was young young and beautiful black sheet with delicately flushed cheeks eyes that shone like stars and a voice that needed no additional appeal of outstretched arms to draw little ones to her heart ran straight to her but black sheep hesitated could this wonder be showing off she would not put out her arms when she knew of his crimes meantime was it possible that by she wanted to get anything out of black sheep only all his love and all his confidence but that black sheep did not know withdrew and left mamma kneeling between her children half laughing half crying in the very hall where punch and had wept five years before well do you remember me no said frankly but i said god bless papa and mamma night a little said black sheep remember i wrote to you every week anyhow that isn t to show off but cause of what comes afterward what comes after what should come after my darling boy and she drew him to her again he came awkwardly with many angles not used to said the quick the girl is she s too little to hurt any one thought black sheep and if said i d kill her she d be afraid i wonder what will tell there was a constrained late dinner at the end b f black sheep of which mamma picked up and put her to bed with manifold little had shown her from already and that lady resented it bitterly black sheep rose to leave the room come and say good night said offering a withered cheek said black sheep i never kiss you and i m not going to show off tell that woman what ive done and see what she says black sheep climbed into bed feeling that he lost heaven after a glimpse through the gates in half an hour that woman was bending over him black sheep flung up his right arm it wasn t fair to come and hit him in the dark even never tried that but no blow followed are you showing of won t tell you anything more than has and she doesn t know everything said black sheep as clearly as he could for the arms round his neck oh my son my little little son it was my fault my fault darling and yet how could we help it forgive me punch the voice died out in a broken whisper and two hot tears fell on black sheep s forehead has she been making you cry too he asked you should see jane cry but you re nice and jane is a born liar says so black sheep hush punch hush my boy don t talk like that try to love me a little bit a little bit you don t know how i want it punch come back to me i am your mother your own mother and never mind the rest i know yes i know dear it doesn t matter now punch won t you care for me a little it is astonishing how much a big boy of ten can endure when he is quite sure that there is no one to laugh at him black	39
sheep had never been make much of before and here was this beautiful woman treating him black sheep the child of the devil and the of flame as though he were a small god i care for you a great deal mother dear he whispered at last and i m glad you ve come back but are you sure told you everything everything what it matter but the voice broke with a sob that was also laughter punch my poor dear half blind darling don t you think it was a little foolish of you no it saved a mamma shuddered and slipped away in the darkness to write a long letter to papa here is an extract is a dear plump little who the woman and wears with as much gravity as her religious opinions only eight black sheep jack l venerable horse hair which she calls her bustle i have just burned it and the child is asleep in my as i write she will come to me at once punch i cannot quite understand he is well nourished but seems to have been worried into a system of small which the woman into deadly sins don t you recollect our own up bringing dear when the fear of the lord was so often the beginning of falsehood shall win punch to me before long am taking the children away into the country to get them to know me and on the whole am content or shall be when you come home dear boy and then thank god we shall be all under one roof again at last three months later punch no longer black sheep has discovered that he is the veritable owner of a real live lovely mamma who is also a sister and friend and that he must protect her till the father comes home deception does not suit the part of a protector and when one can do anything without question where is the use of deception mother would be awfully cross if you walked through that ditch says continuing a conversation mother s never angry says punch she d just say you re a little and that s not nice but show punch walks through the ditch and him black sheep self to the knees mother dear he shouts tm just as dirty as can ly be then change your clothes as quickly as you ly can rings out mother s clear voice from the house and don t be a little there told you so says punch it s all different now and we are just as much mother s as if she had never gone not altogether o punch for when young lips have drunk deep of the bitter waters of hate suspicion and despair all the love in the world will not wholly take away that knowledge though it may turn darkened eyes for a while to the light and teach faith where no faith was his m the king his majesty the king where the word of a king is there is power and who may say unto him what thou i and to sleep at ve foot of ve bed and ve pink book and ve cause i will be in ve night and s all miss and now give me one kiss and i ll go to sleep so quiet owl ve pink book has under ve pillow and ve is miss miss come and me up miss his majesty the king was going to bed and poor patient miss who had advertised herself humbly as a young person european accustomed to the care of little children was forced to wait upon his royal t e going to bed was always a process because his majesty had a convenient of forgetting which of his many friends from the son to the s daughter he had prayed for and lest the deity should take offence was used to toil through his little prayers in all reverence five times in one evening his majesty the king believed in the of i his majesty the king prayer as devoutly as he believed in the patient or miss who could reach him down his gun with caps ones from the upper shelves of the big nursery cupboard at the door of the nursery his authority stopped beyond lay the empire of his father and mother two very terrible people who had no time to waste upon his majesty the king his voice was lowered when he passed the frontier of his own his actions were and his soul was filled with awe because of the grim man who lived among a wilderness of and the most fascinating pieces of red and the wonderful woman who was always getting into or stepping out of the big carriage to the one belonged the mysteries of the room to the other the great reflected wilderness of the s room where the shiny scented dresses hung on miles and miles up in the air and the just seen of the toilet table revealed an of bags and there was no room for his majesty the king either in official reserve or he had discovered that ages and ages ago before even came to the house or miss had ceased over a packet of greasy his majesty the king letters which appeared to be her chief treasure on earth his majesty the king therefore wisely confined himself to his own where only miss and she feebly disputed his sway from miss he had picked up his simple and it to the legends of gods and devils that he had learned in the servants quarters to miss he confided with equal trust his tattered garments and his more serious she would make everything whole she knew exactly how the earth had been born and had reassured the trembling soul of his	39
majesty the king that terrible time in july when it rained for seven days and seven nights and there was no ark ready and all the had flown away she was the most powerful person with whom he was brought into contact always excepting the two remote and silent people beyond the nursery door how was his majesty the king to know that six years ago in the summer of his birth mrs turning over her husband s papers had come upon the letter of a foolish woman who had been carried away by the silent man s strength and personal beauty how could he tell what evil the overlooked slip of note paper had wrought in the mind of a desperately jealous his majesty the king wife how could he despite his wisdom guess that his mother had chosen to make of it excuse for a bar and a division between herself and her husband that strengthened and grew harder to break with each year that she having this skeleton in the cupboard had trained it into a household god which should be about their path and about their bed and poison all their ways these things were beyond the province of his majesty the king he only knew that his father was daily absorbed in some mysterious work for a thing called the and that his mother was the victim alternately of the and the to these she was escorted by a captain man for whom his majesty the king had no regard he doesn t he argued with miss who would fain have taught him charity he only makes faces his and when he wants to o muse me i am wo o mused and his majesty the king shook his head as one who knew the of this world morning and evening it was his duty to salute his father and mother the former with a grave shake of the hand and the latter with an equally grave kiss once indeed he had put his arms round his mother s neck in the fashion he used toward miss the of his his majesty the king sleeve edge caught in an and the last stage of his majesty s little was a suppressed scream and summary dismissal to the nursery it s w thought his majesty the king to in ears i will he never repeated the experiment miss it must be confessed spoiled him as much as his nature admitted in some sort of for what she called the hard ways of his papa and mamma she like her charge knew nothing of the trouble between man and the savage contempt for a woman s stupidity on the one side or the dull anger on the other miss had looked after many little children in her time and served in many being a discreet woman she observed little and said less and when her pupils went over the sea to the great unknown which she with touching confidence in her hearers called home packed up her slender and sought for employment afresh all her love on each successive of only his majesty the king had repaid her affection with interest and in his ears she had told the tale of nearly all her hopes her aspirations the hopes that were dead and the dazzling glories of her home in c close to square his majesty the king everything above the average was in the eyes of his majesty the king good when miss had crossed his royal will he reversed the epithet to vex that lady and all things evil were until the tears of repentance swept away spite bad now and again miss begged for him the rare pleasure of a day in the society f the s child the wilful four year old who to the intense amazement of his majesty the king was by her parents on thinking the question out at length by roads unknown to those who have left childhood behind he came to the conclusion that was because she wore a big blue and yellow hair this precious discovery he kept to himself the yellow hair was absolutely beyond his power his own wig being brown but something might be done toward the blue he tied a large knot in his curtains in order to remember to consult on their next meeting she was the only child he had ever spoken to and almost the only one that he had ever seen the little memory and the very large and ragged knot held good lend me your blue said his majesty the king you ll it said doubtfully his majesty the king of certain fearful committed on her doll no i won t it s for me to year said boys don t wear sa ashes s only for i didn t know the face of his majesty the king fell who wants are you playing horses said the s wife stepping into the wanted my explained i don t now said his majesty the king hastily feeling that with one of these terrible grown his poor little secret would be from him and perhaps most burning of all laughed at til give you a cap said the s wife come along with me and we ll choose it the cap was a stiff three pointed and splendor his majesty the king fitted it on his royal brow the s wife had a face that children instinctively trusted and her action as she adjusted the middle was tender will it do as well stammered his majesty ihe king as what little one his majesty the as ve oh quite go and look at yourself in the glass the words were spoken in all sincerity and to help forward any absurd dressing up amusement that the children might take into their minds but the young savage has a keen sense of the ludicrous	39
his majesty the king swung the great glass down and saw his head crowned with the staring horror of a fool s cap a thing which his father would to pieces if it ever came into his office he plucked tt and burst into tears said the s wife gravely you shouldn t give way to temper i am very sorry to see it it s wrong his majesty the king sobbed and the heart of s mother was touched she drew the child on to her knee clearly it was not temper alone what is it won t you tell me aren t you well the torrent of sobs and speech met and fought for a time with and and then in a sudden rush his majesty the king was delivered of a few inarticulate sounds followed by the words go a way you dirty little what do you mean his majesty the king lt s what he d say i know it is he said when was only a little little mess on my t t and he d say it again and laugh if i went in on my head who would say that m m my papa and i fought if i had ve blue he d let me play in ve waste paper basket under ve table what blue ve same had ve big blue w w wound my t what is it there s something on your mind tell me all about it and perhaps i can help isn t his majesty of his manhood and raising his head from the bosom upon which it was resting i only fought you you cause she had ve blue and and if i d had ve blue too m my papa w would pet me the secret was out and his majesty the king sobbed bitterly in spite of the arms round him and the murmur of comfort on his heated little forehead enter embarrassed by several of the s pet rod along s a in and i ve told to his majesty the king watch him till we turn if we him his tail will go and fall off turn along can t said his majesty the king climbing down from the s wife s knee after a hasty kiss two minutes later the s tail was on the of the and the children were gravely it with from the to urge its exhausted vitality into just one more cause it doesn t hurt the s wife stood in the doorway and watched poor little a blue and my own precious i wonder if the best of us or we who love them best ever understand what goes on in their little heads a big tear on the s wife s wedding ring and she went indoors to devise a tea for the benefit of his majesty the king their souls aren t in their at that age in this climate said the s wife but they are not far off i wonder if i could make mrs understand poor little fellow with simple craft the s wife called on mrs and spoke long and his majesty the king about children inquiring specially for his majesty the king he s with his said mrs and the tone intimated that she was not interested the s wife in the art of war continued her don t know said mrs these things are left to miss and of course she does not ill treat the child the s wife left hastily the last sentence upon her nerves doesn t ill treat the child as if that were all wonder what tom would say if i only didn t his majesty the king was an honored guest at the s house and the chosen friend of with whom he into as many as the compound and the servants quarters afforded s mamma was always ready to give counsel help and sympathy and if need were and few to enter into their games with an abandon that would have shocked the sleek haired who painfully in their chairs when they came to call on her whom they mother bunch yet in spite of and s mamma and the love that these two upon him his majesty the king his majesty the king fell from grace and committed no less a sin than that of unknown it is true but there came a man to the door one day when his majesty was playing in the hall and the bearer had gone to dinner with a packet for his majesty s mamma arid he put it upon the hall table said that there was no answer and departed presently the pattern of the ceased to interest his majesty while the packet a white neatly wrapped one of fascinating shape interested him very much indeed his mamma was out so was miss and there was pink string round the packet he greatly desired pink string it would help him in many of his little the across the floor of his small cane chair the of who could never understand harness and so forth if he took the string it would be his own and nobody would be any the wiser he certainly could not pluck up sufficient courage to ask mamma for it wherefore mounting upon a chair he carefully the string and behold the stiff white paper spread out in four directions and revealed a beautiful little leather box with gold lines upon it he tried to replace the string but that was a failure so he opened the box to get full satisfaction for his an i his majesty the king saw a most beautiful star that shone and winked and was altogether lovely and desirable said his majesty is a like what will wear when i go to heaven i will wear it on my	39
head miss says so i would like to wear it now i would like to play it i will take it away and play it very careful until mamma asks for it i it was bought for me to play same as my cart his majesty the king was arguing against his conscience and he knew it for he thought immediately after never mind will keep it to play until mamma says where is it and then i will say i it and i am sorry i will not hurt it because it is a but miss will tell me to put it back i will not show it to miss if mamma had come in at that moment all would have gone well she did not and his majesty the king stuffed paper case and jewel into the breast of his and marched to the nursery when mamma asks i will tell was the that he laid upon his conscience but mamma never asked and for three whole days his majesty the king over his treasure it was of no earthly use to him but it was splendid and for aught he knew something dropped from the his majesty the king heavens themselves still mamma made no inquiries and it seemed to him in his as though the shiny stones grew dim what was the use of a if it made a little boy feel all bad in his inside he had the pink string as well as the other treasure but greatly he wished that he had not gone beyond the string it was his first experience of and it pained him after the flush of possession and secret delight in the had died away each day that he delayed rendered confession to the people beyond the nursery doors more impossible now and again he determined to put himself in the path of the beautifully attired lady as she was going out and explain that he and no one else was the possessor of a most beautiful and quite for but she passed hurriedly to her carriage and the opportunity was gone before his majesty the king could draw the deep breath which noble resolve the dread secret cut him off from miss and the s wife and doubly hard fate when he over it said and told her mother that he was cross t ie days were very long to his majesty the king and the nights longer still miss had informed him more than once what was his majesty the king the ultimate destiny of and when he passed the interminable mud of the central jail he shook in his little shoes but release came after an afternoon spent in playing boats by the edge of the at the bottom of the garden his majesty the king went to tea and for the first time in his memory the meal him his nose was very cold and his cheeks were burning hot there was a weight about his feet and he pressed his head several times to make sure that it was not swelling as he sat i feel funny said his majesty the king rubbing his nose s a in my head he went to bed quietly miss was out and the bearer him the sin of the sparkle was forgotten in the of the discomfort to which he roused after a leaden sleep of some hours he was thirsty and the bearer had forgotten to leave the drinking water miss miss i m so no answer miss had leave to attend the wedding of a his the king had forgotten that i want a of water he cried but his voice was dried up in his throat i want a is ve glass his majesty the king he sat up in bed and looked round there was a murmur of voices from the other side of the nursery door it was better to face the terrible unknown than to choke in the dark he slipped out of bed but his feet were strangely wilful and he once or twice then he pushed the door open and staggered a puffed and purple faced little into the brilliant light of the dining room full of pretty ladies hot tm moaned his majesty the king clinging to the and s no water in ve glass and tm so give me a of water an apparition in black and white his majesty the king could hardly see distinctly lifted him up to the level of the table and felt his wrists and forehead the water came and he drank deeply his teeth chattering against the edge of the then every one seemed to go away every one except the huge man in black and white who carried him back to his bed the mother and father following and the sin of the rushed back and took possession of the terrified soul i m a he gasped i want to tell miss i m a is miss miss had come and was bending over him i m a he whispered a his majesty the king like ve men in the but i ll tell now i i ve when the man that came left it in ve hall i ve paper and ve little box and it looked shiny and i it to play and i was it s in ve box at ve bottom no one never asked for it but was oh go an get ve box miss stooped to the lowest shelf of the and the big paper box in which his majesty the king kept his dearest possessions under the tin soldiers and a of mud for a bow winked and blazed a diamond star wrapped roughly in a half sheet of note paper whereon were a few words somebody was crying at the head of the bed and a man s hand touched the	39
forehead of his majesty the king who grasped the packet and spread it on the bed is ve he said and wept bitterly for now that he had made he would fain have kept the shining splendor with him it concerns you too said a voice at the head of the bed read the note this is not the time to keep back anything the note was very much to the point and signed by a single if you wear this his majesty the king to morrow night i shall know what to expect the date was three weeks old a whisper followed and the deeper voice returned and you drifted as far apart as that i i think it makes us now doesn t it oh can t we drop this folly once and for all is it worth it darling kiss me too said his majesty the king you isn t is you the fever burned itself out and his majesty the king slept when he it was in a new world peopled by his father and mother as well as miss and there was much love in that world and no morsel of fear and more than was good for several little boys his majesty the king was too young to on the uncertainty of things human or he would have been impressed with the singular advantages of crime ay black sin behold he had stolen the and his reward was love and the right to play in the waste paper basket under the table for always he trotted over to spend an afternoon with and the s wife would have kissed him no not said his majesty the king with superb insolence one his majesty the king comer of his mouth with his hand s my mamma s place she kisses me said the s wife briefly then to herself well i suppose i ought to be glad for his sake children are little i ve got my the drums of the fore and aft the drums of the fore and aft m and a little child shall lead them in the army list they still stand as the fore and fit princess s own royal loyal light district a but the army through all its and knows them now as the fore and aft they may in time do something that shall make their new title honorable but at present they are bitterly ashamed and the who calls them fore and aft does so at the risk of the head which is on his shoulders two words breathed into the stables of a certain cavalry regiment will bring the men out into the streets with and and bad language but a whisper of fore and aft will bring out this regiment with their one excuse is that they came again and did their best to finish the job in style but for a time all their world knows that they were openly beaten whipped dumb shaking and afraid the men know it their officers know it the horse guards know it and when the drums of the fore and aft the next war comes the enemy will know it also there are two or three of the line that have a black mark against their names which they will then wipe out and it will be excessively inconvenient for the troops upon whom they do their wiping the courage of the british soldier is supposed to be above proof and as a general rule it is so the exceptions are decently out of sight only to be referred to in the of talk that occasionally a mess table at midnight then one hears strange and horrible stories of men not following their officers of orders being given by those who had no right to give them and of disgrace that but for the standing luck of the british army might have ended in brilliant disaster these are unpleasant stories to listen to and the tell them under their breath sitting by the big wood fires and the young officer bows his head and thinks to himself please god his men shall never behave the british soldier is not altogether to be blamed for occasional but this verdict he should not know a intelligent general will waste six months in the craft of the particular war that he may be a colonel may utterly the capacity of his regiment for three months the of the fore and aft after it has taken the field and even a company commander may and be deceived as to the temper and temperament of his own handful wherefore the soldier and the soldier of to day more particularly should not be blamed for falling back he should be shot or hanged afterward pour les but he should not be in newspapers for that is want of tact and waste of space he has let us say been in the service of the for perhaps four years he will leave in another two years he has no inherited morals and four years are not to drive into his fibre or to teach him how holy a thing is his regiment he wants to drink he wants to enjoy himself in india he wants to save money and he does not in the least like getting hurt he has received just sufficient education to make him understand half the purport of the orders he receives and to on the nature of clean and wounds thus if he is told to under fire preparatory to an attack he knows that he runs a very great risk of being killed while he is and that he is being thrown away to gain ten minutes time he may either with desperate swiftness or he may or bunch or break according to the discipline under which he has lain for four years lo the drums of the fore and aft	39
armed with imperfect knowledge cursed with the of an imagination by the intense selfishness of the lower classes and by any associations this young man is suddenly introduced to an enemy who in eastern lands is always ugly generally tall and hairy and frequently noisy if he looks to the right and the left and sees old soldiers men of twelve years service who he knows know what they are about taking a charge rush or demonstration without embarrassment he is consoled and applies his shoulder to the butt of his rifle with a stout heart his peace is the greater if he hears a senior who has taught him his and broken his head on occasion whispering they ll shout and carry on like this for five minutes then they ll rush in and then we ve got em by the short hairs but on the other hand if he sees only men of his own term of service turning white and playing with their and saying what the hell s up now while the company are into their sword and shouting front rank fix steady there steady sight for three hundred no for five lie down all steady front rank kneel and so forth he becomes unhappy and grows miserable when he hears a comrade turn over with the rattle of fire irons falling into the l the drums of the fore and aft and the of a pole ox if he can be moved about a little and allowed to watch the effect of his own fire on the enemy he feels and may be then worked up tp the blind passion of fighting which is contrary to general belief controlled by a chilly devil and shakes men like if he is not moved about and begins to feel cold at the pit of the stomach and in that crisis is badly and hears orders that were never given he will break and he will break badly and of all things under the sight of the sun there is nothing more terrible than a broken british regiment when the worst comes to the worst and the panic is really the men must be e en let go and the company had better escape to the enemy and stay there for safety s sake if they can be made to come again they are not pleasant men to meet because they will not break twice about thirty years from this date when we have succeeded in half everything that wears trousers our army will be a beautifully machine it will know too much and it will do too little later still when all men are at the mental level of the officer of to day it will sweep the earth speaking roughly you must employ either or gentlemen or best of all commanded by gentlemen to do butcher s work with io the drums of the fore and aft and despatch the ideal soldier should of course think for himself the says so unfortunately to attain this virtue he has to pass through the phase of thinking of himself and that is genius a may be slow to think for himself but he is anxious to kill and a little punishment teaches him how to guard his own skin and another s a powerfully regiment by rank is perhaps one degree more terrible in action than a hard bitten thousand of irish led by most improper young but these things prove the rule which is that the men are not to be trusted alone they have ideas about the value of life and an that has not taught them to go on and take the chances they are carefully with a of comrades who have been shot over and until that is re introduced as a great many intend it shall be they are more liable to disgrace themselves than the size of the empire or the dignity of the army allows their officers are as good as good can be because their training begins early and god has arranged that a clean run youth of the british middle classes shall in the matter of brains and all other youths for this reason a child of the drums of the fore and aft eighteen will stand up doing nothing with a tin sword in his hand and joy in his heart until he is dropped if he dies he dies like a gentleman if he lives he writes home that he has been or cut over and sits down to government for a wound until the next little war out when he himself before a medical board his colonel burns incense round his and is allowed to go to the front once more which brings me directly to a brace of the most finished little that ever drum or in the band of a british regiment they ended their sinful career by open and and were shot for it their names were and and they were bold bad boys both of them frequently by the drum major of the fore and aft was a child of fourteen and was about the same age when not looked after they smoked and drank they swore habitually after the manner of the room which is cold swearing and comes from between teeth and they fought once a week had sprung from some london and may or may not have passed through dr s hands ere he arrived at the dignity of no the drums of the fore and aft boy could remember nothing except the regiment and the delight of listening to the band from his earliest years he hid somewhere in his little soul a genuine love for music and was most furnished with the head of a that beautiful ladies who watched the regiment in church were wont to speak of him as a darling they never heard	39
his comments on their manners and morals as he walked back to with the band and fresh causes of offence against the other boys hated both lads on account of their conduct might be or might be rubbing s head in the dirt but any attempt at on the part of an was met by the combined forces of and and the consequences were painful the boys were the of the corps but wealthy for they sold battles in alternate weeks for the sport of the when they were not against other boys and thus money on this particular day there was in the camp they had just been convicted afresh of smoking which is bad for little boys who use tobacco and s was that had so bad from the pipe in pocket that he and he alone was re the drums of the fore and aft in for the they were both under i tell you i id the pipe back o said you re a liar said without heat you re a little said strong in the knowledge that his own was unknown now there is one word in the extended of room abuse that cannot pass without comment may call a man a thief and risk nothing you may even call him a coward without finding more than a boot past your ear but you must not call a man a unless you are prepared to prove it on his front teeth you might ha that till i wasn t so sore said sorrowfully round s guard i ll make you said and got home on s forehead all would have gone well and this story as the books say would never have been written had not his evil fate prompted the s son a long man of five and twenty to put in an appearance after the first round he was in need of money and knew that the boys had silver the drums of the fore and aft fighting again said he tu report you to my father and he ll report you to the color s that to you said with an unpleasant of the nostrils oh nothing to me you ll get into trouble and you ve been up too often to afford that what the hell do you know about what we ve done asked the you aren t in the army you he closed in on the man s left flank cause you find two gentlemen their with their you stick in your ugly nose where you aren t wanted run ome to your caste of a ma or we ll give you what for said the man attempted by knocking the boys heads together the scheme would have succeeded had not him vehemently in the stomach or had refrained from kicking his they fought together bleeding and breathless for half an hour and after heavy punishment triumphantly pulled down their opponent as pull down a now gasped i ll give you what for he proceeded to pound the man s features while stamped on the portions of his chivalry is not a strong point in the composition of the average the drums of the fore and aft boy he fights as do his to make his mark ghastly was the ruin that escaped and awful was the wrath of the awful too was the scene in orderly room when the two appeared to answer the charge of a the for a criminal action and his son lied the boys stood to attention while the black clouds of evidence accumulated you little devils are more trouble than the rest of the regiment put together said the colonel angrily one might as well and i can t well put you in or under you must be again beg y pardon sir can t we say in our own defence sir hey what are you going to argue with me said the colonel no sir said but if a man come to you sir and said he was going to report you sir for a bit of a turn up with a friend sir an wanted to get money out o you sir the orderly room exploded in a roar of laughter well said the colonel that was what that me there did sir and e d a done it sir if we t prevented im we didn t it im much sir e t no manner right to interfere with us sir i don t the drums of the fore and aft mind bein by the drum major sir nor yet reported by any but i m but i don t think it s fair sir for a to come an talk over a man in the army a second shout of laughter shook the but the colonel was grave what sort of characters have these boys he asked of the major to the sir returned that official the only soul in the regiment whom the boys feared they do everything but lie sir is it like we d go for that man for fun sir said pointing to the oh said the colonel and when the boys had gone he read the s son a lecture on the sin of and gave orders that the should keep the drums in better discipline if either of you come to practice again with so much as a scratch on your two ugly little faces thundered the i ll tell the drum major to take the skin off your backs understand that you young devils then he repented of his speech for just the length of time that looking like a in red took the place of one of the trumpets in hospital and rendered the drums of the fore and aft the echo of a battle piece certainly was a and had often in his more exalted moments expressed a yearning to master every	39
in of the band there s nothing to prevent your becoming a said the who had composed of his own and worked day and night in the interests of the band what did he say demanded after practice said i might be a an be asked in to ave a glass wine on mess nights ho said you might be a non did e that s just about e would say when i ve put in my boy s service it s a shame that doesn t count for i ll take on a then i ll be a lance in a year what i know about the ins an o things in three years i ll be a won t marry then not i i ll old on and learn the ways an apply for exchange into a ment that doesn t know all about me then i ll be a then i ll ask you to ave a glass o wine an you ll well ave to stay in the room while the mess brings it to your dirty s pose m going to be a not ii the drums of the fore and aft i quite i ll be a too there s like taking to a thing an to it the says the ment don t go ome for another seven years i ll be a lance then or near to thus the boys discussed their and conducted themselves with piety for a week that is to say started a with the color s daughter aged thirteen not as he explained to with any intention o matrimony but by way o my and in and the black haired enjoyed that more than previous ones and the other boys raged furiously together and preached sermons on the dangers of bein tangled along o but neither love nor virtue would have held long in the paths of propriety had not the gone abroad that the regiment w s to be sent on active service to take part in a war which for the sake of we will call the war of the lost tribes the had the almost before the mess room and of all the nine hundred men in not ten had seen a shot fired in anger the colonel had twenty years ago assisted at a frontier expedition one of the had seen service at the cape a confirmed in e company had helped to clear streets in ireland the drums of the fore and aft but that was all the regiment had been put by for many years the overwhelming mass of its rank and file had from three to four years service the non officers were under thirty years old and men and alike had forgotten to speak of the stories written in brief upon the colors the new colors that had been formally blessed by an in england ere the regiment came away they wanted to go to the front they were anxious to go but they had no knowledge of what war meant and there was none to tell them they were an educated regiment the of school in their ranks was high and most of the men could do more than read and write they had been in loyal of the idea but they themselves had no notion of that idea they were made up of from an district the system had put flesh and muscle upon their small bones but it could not put heart into the sons of those who for generations had done work for pay had in stooped over among white lead and shivered on lime the men had found food and rest in the army and now they were going to fight people who ran away if you shook a stick at them ii the drums of the fore and aft wherefore they cheered when the ran and the shrewd non officers on the chances of and of saving their pay at men said the fore and fit have never been under fire within the last generation let us therefore break them in easily by setting them to guard lines of communication and this would have been done but for the fact that british were wanted badly wanted at the front and there were doubtful native that could fill the minor duties em with two strong said they may be knocked about a bit but they ll learn their business before they come through nothing like a night alarm and a little cutting up of to make a regiment smart in the field wait till they ve had half a dozen throats cut the colonel wrote with delight that the temper of his men was excellent that the regiment was all that could be wished and as sound as a bell the smiled with a sober joy and the in pairs down the mess room after dinner and nearly shot themselves at revolver practice but there was consternation in the hearts of and what was to be done with the drums would the band go to the front how many of the drums would accompany the regiment the drums of the fore and aft they took council together sitting in a tree and smoking it s more than a toss up they ll leave us be ind at the with the women you ll like that said cause o y mean s a woman or a t o women o the of field service you know i m as keen on goin as you said wish i was a said sadly they ll take tom along that i can plaster a wall with an like as not they won t take us then let s go an make tom so sick e can t no more you old is an i ll kick him said on the branch that ain t no good neither we	39
ment he said you re a little liar said but her heart her for was not in the habit of lying liar yourself said slipping an arm round her i m goin when the regiment out you ll see me with em all and gay give us another kiss on the strength of it if you d on y a stayed at the t where you ought to ha bin you could get as many of em as as you dam please putting up her mouth mt s ard grant you it s ard but what s a man to do if i d a stayed at the t you wouldn t think anything of me like as not but i d ave you with me an all the in the world isn t like the drums of the fore and aft an all the in the world isn t like a to wear on the front o your coat you won t get no oh i shall though me an are the only acting that ll be took along all the rest is full men an we ll get our with them they might ha taken anybody but you you ll get killed you re so stay with me down at the t an i ll love you true forever ain t you goin to do that now you said you was o course i am but th other s more comfortable wait till you ve a bit you aren t no taller than me now i ve bin in the army for two years an i m not goin to get out of a o service an don t you try to make me do so i ll come back an when i take on as a man i ll marry you marry you when i m a lance promise reflected on the future as arranged by a short time previously but s mouth was very near to his own i promise s me said he slid an arm round his neck i won t old you back no more go away an get your an i ll make you a the drums of the fore and aft new button bag as nice as i know how she whispered put some o your air into it keep it in my pocket so long s i m alive then wept anew and the interview ended public feeling among the boys rose to fever pitch and the lives of and became not only had they been permitted to two years before the boy s age fourteen but by virtue it seemed of their extreme youth they were allowed to go to the front which thing had not happened to acting within the knowledge of boy the band which was to accompany the regiment had been cut down to the twenty men the returning to the ranks and were attached to the band as though they would much have preferred being company don t matter much said after the medical inspection be thankful that we re to go at all the doctor e said if we could stand what we took from the s son we d stand pretty nigh anything which we will said looking tenderly at the ragged and ill made that had given him with a lock of her hair worked into a l upon the cover the drums of the fore and aft it was the best i could she sobbed i wouldn t let mother nor the s tailor me keep it always an remember love you true they marched to the railway station nine hundred and sixty strong and every soul in turned out to see them go the their teeth at and marching with the band the married women wept upon the platform and the regiment cheered its noble self black in the face a nice level lot said the colonel to the second in command as they watched the first four companies fit to do anything said the second in command but it seems to me they re a thought too young and tender for the work in hand it s bitter cold up at the front now they re sound enough said the colonel we must take our chance of sick so they went northward ever northward past and of armies of camp followers and of laden the throng day by day till with a shriek the train pulled up at a hopelessly where six lines of temporary track six forty wagon trains where blew and officers the drums of the fore and aft swore from dawn till far into the night amid the wind driven of the and the of a thousand hurry up badly wanted at the front was the message that greeted the fore and aft and the occupants of the red cross carriages told the same tale t so much the fighting gasped a of to a knot of admiring fore and t so much the though there s enough o that it s the food an the climate frost all night when it and sun all day and the water fit to knock you down i got my like a egg i ve got too an my is all out order tain t no in those parts i can tell you are the like demanded a private there s some prisoners in that train yonder go an look at em they re the aristocracy o the country the common folk are a dashed sight if you want to know what they fight with reach under my seat an pull out the long knife that s there they dragged out and beheld for the first time the grim bone handled knife it was almost as long as the drums of the fore and aft that s the thing to ye said the feebly it can take off a man	39
s arm at the shoulder as easy as butter i the beggar that used that un but there s more of his likes up above they don t understand but they re devils to the men strolled across the tracks to inspect the prisoners they were unlike any that the fore and aft had ever met these huge black haired sons of the as the men stared the freely and muttered one to another with lowered eyes my eyes awful swine said who was in the rear of the procession say old man how you got eh you wasn t hanged for your ugly face hey the of the company turned his at the movement and stared at the boy see he cried to his fellows in they send children against us what a people and what fools said nodding his head cheerily you go down country get get live like a ke that s a better than get it in your good bye man take care o your beautiful figure ed an try to look the drums of the fore and aft the men laughed and fell in for their first march when they began to realize that a soldier s life was not all beer and they were much impressed with the size and ferocity of the whom they had now learned to call and more with the exceeding discomfort of their own surroundings twenty old soldiers in the corps would have taught them how to make themselves snug at night but they had no old soldiers and as the troops on the line of march said they lived like pigs they learned the heart breaking of camp and and the of an e p tent and a wrung mule they studied in water and developed a few cases of in their study at the end of their third march they were surprised by the arrival in their camp of a iron which fired from a at seven hundred yards out the brains of a private seated by the fire this robbed them of their peace for a night and was the beginning of a long range fire carefully calculated to that end in the they saw nothing except an occasional of smoke from a above the line of march at night there were distant of flame and occasional which set the whole camp blazing into the gloom and occasionally into opposite tents the drums of the fore and aft then they swore vehemently and vowed that this was magnificent but not war indeed it was not the regiment could not halt for against x t oi country side its duty was to go forward and make connection with the scotch and troops with which it was the knew this and knew too after their first shots that they were dealing with a raw regiment thereafter they devoted themselves to the task of keeping the fore and aft on the strain not for anything would they have taken equal liberties with a with the wicked little whose delight it was to lie out in the open on a dark night and stalk their with the terrible big men dressed in women s clothes who could be heard praying to their god in the night watches and whose peace of mind no amount of could or with those vile who marched so unprepared and who dealt out such grim reward to those who tried to profit by that this white regiment was different quite different it slept like a and like a charged in every direction when it was roused its walked with a that could be heard for a quarter of a mile would fire at anything that moved even a driven donkey and when they had once fired i the drums of the fore and aft could be rushed and laid out a horror and an offence against the morning sun then there were camp followers who and could be cut up without fear their shrieks would disturb the white boys and the loss of their services would inconvenience them sorely thus at every march the hidden enemy became bolder and the regiment and twisted under attacks it could not the crowning triumph was a sudden night rush ending in the cutting of many tent ropes the of the canvas and a glorious of the men who struggled and kicked below it was a great deed neatly carried out and it shook the already shaken nerves of the fore and aft all the courage that they had been required to exercise up to this point was the two o clock in the morning courage and they so far had only succeeded in shooting their comrades and losing their sleep sullen discontented cold savage sick with their and the fore and aft joined their i i hear you had a tough time of it coming i up said the but when he saw the i hospital sheets his face fell i this is bad said he to himself they re as rotten as sheep and aloud to the colonel i m afraid we can t spare you just yet we the drums of the fore and aft want all we have else i should have given you ten days to in the colonel on my honor sir he returned there is not the least necessity to think of us my men been rather and upset without a fair return they only want to go in somewhere where they can see what s before them can t say i think much of the fore and fit said the in confidence to his major they ve lost all their and by the trim of them might have marched through the country from the other side a more out set of men i never put eyes on oh they ll improve as the work goes on the parade has been rubbed off a little	39
but they ll put on field polish before long said the major they ve been and they quite don t understand it they did not all the was on one side and it was cruelly hard with that made them sick there was also the real sickness that laid hold of a strong man and dragged him howling to the grave worst of all their officers knew just as little of the country as the men themselves and looked as if they did the fore and aft were in a thoroughly unsatisfactory condition but they believed that all t he drums of the fore and aft would be well if they could once get a fair go in at the enemy pot shots up and down the valleys were unsatisfactory and the never seemed to get a chance perhaps it was as well for a long with a knife had a reach of eight feet and could carry away enough lead to three englishmen the fore and fit would like some rifle practice at the enemy all seven hundred blazing together that wish showed the mood of the men the walked into their camp and in broken room english strove to with them offered them pipes of tobacco and stood them treat at the but the fore and aft not knowing much of the nature of the treated them as they would treat any other and the little men in green trotted back to their firm friends the and with many confided to them that dam white regiment no dam use sulky any for the smote the as to the head and told them not to a british regiment and the grinned for the were their elder brothers and entitled to the privileges of the common soldier who touches a is more than likely to have his head open three days later the arranged a battle the drums of the fore and aft according to the rules of war and the peculiarity of the temperament the enemy were in inconvenient strength among the hills and the moving or many green standards warned him that the tribes were up in aid of the regular troops a and a half of represented the available cavalry and two screw guns borrowed from a thirty miles away the at the general s disposal if they stand as i ve a very strong notion that they will fancy we shall see an fight that will be worth watching said the we ll do it in style each regiment shall be played into action by its band and well hold the cavalry in reserve for all the reserve somebody asked for all the reserve because we re going to them up said the who was an extraordinary and did not believe in the value of a reserve when dealing with and indeed when you come to think of it had the british army waited for in all its little affairs the boundaries of our empire would have stopped at beach that battle was to be a glorious battle the three from three separate after duly crowning the heights above were to from the centre left the drums of the fore and aft and right upon what we will call the army then stationed toward the lower extremity of a flat valley thus it will be seen that three sides of the valley practically belonged to the english while the fourth was strictly property in the event of defeat the had the rocky hills to fly to where the fire from the tribes in aid would cover their retreat in the event of victory these same tribes would rush down and lend their weight to the of the british the screw guns were to shell the head of each rush that was made in close formation and the cavalry held in reserve in the right were to gently the break up which would follow on the combined attack the sitting upon a rock overlooking the valley would watch the battle at his feet the fore and aft would from the central the from the left and the from the right for the reason that the left flank of the enemy seemed as though it required the most it was not every day that an force would take ground in the open and the was resolved to make the most of it if we only had a few more men he said we could surround the creatures and em up thoroughly as it is i m the drums of the fore and aft ij afraid we can only cut them up as they run it s a great pity the fore and aft had enjoyed unbroken peace for five days and were beginning in spite of to recover their nerve but they were not happy for they did not know the work in hand and had they known would not have known how to do it throughout those five days in which old soldiers might have taught them the craft of the game they discussed together their in the past how such an one was alive at dawn and dead ere the dusk and with what shrieks and struggles such another had given up his soul under the knife death was a new and horrible thing to the sons of who were used to die decently of disease and their careful in had done nothing to make them look upon it with less dread very early in the dawn the began to blow and the fore and aft filled with a enthusiasm turned out without waiting for a cup of coffee and a and were rewarded by being kept under arms in the cold while the other leisurely prepared for the all the world knows that it is ill taking the oflf a it is much to try to make him stir unless he is convinced of the necessity for haste the drums of	39
the fore and aft the fore and aft awaited leaning upon their and listening to the of their empty the colonel did his best to remedy the of as soon as it was borne in upon him that the affair would not begin at once and so well did he succeed that the was just ready when the men moved oflf their band leading even then there had been a mistake in time and the fore and aft came out into the valley ten minutes before the proper hour their band wheeled to the right after reaching the open and retired behind a little rocky still playing while the regiment went past it was not a pleasant sight that opened on the view for the lower end of the valley appeared to be filled by an army in position real and actual attired in red coats of this there was no doubt firing bullets which cup up the ground a hundred yards in front of the leading company over that marked ground the regiment had to pass and it opened the ball with a general and profound courtesy to the in perfect time as though it had been on a rod being half capable of thinking for itself it fired a by the simple process of its rifle into its shoulder and pulling the the bullets may have accounted for some of the on the but they certainly did the drums of the fore and aft not the mass of enemy in front while the noise of the drowned any orders that might have been given good god said the sitting on the rock high above all that regiment has spoiled the whole show hurry up the others and let the screw guns get off but the screw guns in working round the heights had stumbled upon a s nest of a small mud fort which they at eight hundred yards to the huge discomfort of the occupants who were to weapons of such devilish precision the fore and aft continued to go forward but with stride where were the other and why did these use they took open order instinctively lying down and firing at random rushing a few paces forward and lying down again according to the once in this formation each man felt himself desperately alone and edged in toward his fellow for comfort s sake then the crack of his neighbor s rifle at his ear led him to fire as rapidly as he could again for the sake of the comfort of the noise the reward was not long delayed five plunged the in smoke impenetrable to the eye and the bullets began to take ground twenty or thirty yards in front of the as the weight the drums of the fore and aft of the dragged down and to the right arms wearied with holding the kick of the leaping the company peered helplessly through the smoke the more nervous trying to fan it away with their high and to the left a captain till he was hoarse no cease firing and let it drift away a bit three and four times the shrieked the order and when it was obeyed the fore and aft looked that their foe should be lying before them in of men a light wind drove the smoke to and showed the enemy still in position and apparently unaffected a quarter of a ton of lead had been buried a in front of them as the ragged earth that was not they were waiting for the mad riot to die down and were firing quietly into the heart of the smoke a private of the fore and aft spun up his company shrieking with agony another was kicking the earth and gasping and a third through the lower by a jagged bullet was calling aloud on his comrades to put him out of his pain these were the and they were not soothing to hear or see the smoke cleared to a dull haze the drums of the fore and aft then the foe began to shout with a great shouting and a mass a black mass detached itself from the main body and rolled over the ground at horrid speed it was composed of perhaps three hundred men who would shout and fire and if the rush of their fifty comrades who were determined to die carried home the fifty were half with and wholly mad with religious when they rushed the british fire ceased and in the lull the order was given to close ranks and meet them with the any one who knew the business could have told the fore and aft that the only way of dealing with a rush is by at long because a man who means to die who desires to die who will gain heaven by dying must in nine cases out of ten kill a man who has a lingering prejudice in favor of life if he can close with the latter where they should have closed and gone forward the fore and aft opened out and and where they should have opened out and fired they closed and waited a man dragged from his blankets half awake and is never in a pleasant frame of mind nor does his happiness increase when he watches the of the eyes of three hundred six foot upon whose the foam is lying upon the drums of the fore and aft whose tongues is a roar of wrath and in whose hands are three foot knives the fore and aft heard the bringing that regiment forward at the double while the of the pipes came from the left they strove to stay where they were though the wavered down the line like the oars of a ragged boat then they felt body to body the amazing physical strength of their foes a shriek of pain ended the	39
rush and the knives fell amid scenes not to be told the men together and smote blindly as often as not at their own fellows their front like paper and the fifty passed on their now drunk with success fighting as madly as they then the rear ranks were to close up and the dashed into the alone for the rear rank had heard the in front the and the of pain and had seen the dark stale blood that makes afraid they were not going to stay it was the rushing of the over again let their officers go to hell if they chose they would get away from the knives come on shrieked the and their men cursing them drew back each closing into his neighbor and round and of the last the drums of the fore and aft company faced their death alone in the belief that their men would follow youve killed me you sobbed and dropped cut from the shoulder to the centre of the chest and a fresh of his men retreating always retreating trampled him under foot as they made for the pass whence they had emerged i kissed her in the kitchen and i kissed her in the hall child un child un follow me oh said the cook is he to kiss us all the were pouring through the left and over the heights at the double to the invitation of their the black rocks were crowned with dark green as the gave tongue in the morning in the morning by the bright light i when blows his trumpet in the i the rear companies tripped and over loose stones the front halted for a moment to take stock of the valley and to settle stray boot then a happy little sigh of contentment down the ranks and it was as though the land smiled for behold there below was the enemy and it was to meet them that the had doubled so hastily the drums of the fore and aft there was much enemy there would be amusement the little men their well to hand and at their officers as grin ere the stone is cast for them to fetch the ground downward to the valley and they enjoyed a fair view of the proceedings they sat the to watch for their officers were not going to waste their wind in assisting to a rush more than half a mile away let the white men look to their own front hi said the major who was dam fools yonder stand close order this is no time for close order it s the time for amused and indignant the beheld the retirement let us be gentle of the fore and aft with a running chorus of oaths and they run the white men run colonel may we also do a little running murmured the senior but the colonel would have none of it let the beggars be cut up a little said he serves em right they ll be into facing round in a minute he looked through his field glasses and caught the of an officer s sword beating em with the flat damned con the drums of the fore and aft how the are walking into them said he the fore and aft heading back bore with them their officers the of the pass forced the mob into solid formation and the rear rank delivered some sort of a wavering the drew off for they did not know what the might hide moreover it was never wise to chase white men too far they returned as wolves return to cover satisfied with the slaughter that had done and only stopping to at the wounded on the ground a quarter of a mile had the fore and aft retreated and now in the pass was quivering with pain shaken and with fear while the officers beyond control smote the men with the and the of their swords get get back you you women right about face column of companies form you hounds shouted the colonel and the swore aloud but the regiment wanted to go to go anywhere out of the range of those merciless knives it swayed to and fro with shouts and while from the right the dropped after of bullets at long range into the mob of the returning to their own troops the drums of the fore and aft the fore and aft band though protected from direct fire by the rocky under which it had sat down fled at the first rush and would have fled also but their short legs left them fifty yards in the rear and by the time the band had mixed with the regiment they were painfully aware that they would have to close in alone and get back to that rock gasped they won t see us there and they returned to the scattered instruments of the band their hearts nearly bursting their ribs here s a nice show for s said throwing himself full length on the ground a fine show for british oh the devils they ve gone an left us alone here took possession of a cast oflf water bottle which naturally was full of rum and drank till he again drink said he shortly they ll come back in a minute or two you see drank but there was no sign of the regiment s return they could hear a dull from the head of the valley of retreat and saw the back their pace as the fired at them we re all that s left of the band an we ll be cut up as sure as death said the drums of the fore and aft i ll die game then said thickly with his tiny s sword the drink was working on his brain as it was on s old on i	39
know something better than said stung by the splendor of a sudden thought due chiefly to rum tip our yonder the word to come back the beggars are well away come on we won t get hurt take the an give me the drum the old step for all your are worth there s a few of our men coming back now stand up ye drunken little by your right quick march he slipped the drum over his shoulder thrust the into s hand and the two boys marched out of the cover of the rock into the open making a hideous of the first bars of the british as had said a few of the fore and aft were coming back sullenly and under the of blows and abuse their red coats shone at the head of the valley and behind them were wavering but between this shattered line and the enemy who with suspicion feared that the hasty retreat meant an and had not moved therefore lay half a mile of a level ground dotted only by the wounded the drums of the fore and aft the tune settled into full swing and the boys kept shoulder to shoulder the drum as one possessed the one made a thin and pitiful but the tune carried far even to the come on you dogs muttered to himself are we to play was staring straight in front of him and marching more stiffly than ever he had done on parade and in bitter mockery of the distant mob the old tune of the old line and rattled some talk of alexander and some of of and and such great names as these there was a far oflf clapping of hands from the and a roar from the in the distance but never a shot was fired by british or the two little red moved forward in the open parallel to the enemy s front but of all the world s great heroes there s none that can compare with a tow row row row row row to the british i the men of the fore and aft were gathering thick at the entrance into the plain the on the heights far above was speechless with the drums of the fore and aft rage still no movement from the enemy the day stayed to watch the children halted and beat the long roll of the assembly while the right about face hold up you re drunk said they wheeled and marched back those heroes of antiquity ne er saw a cannon ball nor knew the force o powder here they come said go on to scare their foes withal the fore and aft were pouring out of the valley what officers had said to men in that time of shame and humiliation will never be known for neither officers nor men speak of it now they are coming anew shouted a priest among the do not kill the boys take them alive and they shall be of our faith but the first had been fired and dropped on his face stood for a minute spun round and as the fore and aft came forward the of their officers in their ears and in their hearts the shame of open shame half the men had seen the die and they made no sign they did not even shout the drums of the fore and aft they doubled out straight across the plain in open order and they did not fire this said the colonel of softly ms the real attack as it ought to have been delivered come on my children lu lu lu the and came down with a joyful of those vicious knives on the right there was no rush the their souls to god for it matters as much to a dead man whether he has been shot in a border or at opened out and fired according to their custom that is to say without heat and without intervals while the screw guns having disposed oi the impertinent mud fort dropped shell after shell into the clusters round the flickering green standards on the heights is an unfortunate necessity murmured the color of the right company of the it makes the men so but i am that it will come to a if these black devils much longer man firing into the eye of the sun and he ll not take any harm for government a foot lower and a great deal slower what are the english doing they re very quiet there in the centre running again the drums of the fore and aft the english were not running they were and and for though one white man is seldom physically a for an in a or coat yet through the pressure of many white men behind and a certain thirst for revenge in his heart he becomes capable of doing much with both ends of his rifle the fore and aft held their fire till one bullet could drive through five or six men and the front of the force gave on the they then selected their men and them with deep and short and of leather against strained bodies and realized for the first time that an attacked is far less formidable than an attacking which fact old soldiers might have told them but they had no old soldiers in their ranks the stall at the was the for the men were engaged to a nasty noise as of beef being cut on the block with the which they preferred to the well knowing how the hates the half moon blade as the wavered the green standards on the mountain moved down to assist them in a last rally which was unwise the in the right had thrice despatched their only as to report on the progress of affairs on the third occasion he re the drums of the fore and	39
s to the of the to the of the t route we re on relief over t a day my name it i ve heard the other verses the ballad of east and west oh it and west it and never the twain meet the last s lay to death the ballad of the king s mercy the chief of him it the told the ballad of the king s jest when the desert with a to the wreath of banquet lay withered on the neck the ballad of da this it the ballad of da the lament of the border cattle thief o woe it me for the merry life contents page the rhyme of the three captains at the of a winter day the ballad of the it our war ship c the ballad of the men from all the world back to again the sacrifice of er ir beyond the hills of ao the explanation lore and death once ceased their strife the gift of the sea the dead child lay in the and his gods head here t this is the story of man the of the when the flush of a new born son fell first on s green and gold the legend of evil this b the sorrowful story the english flag winds of the world give answer i they are to and fro cleared help for a it distressed a spirit hurt an imperial now this is the of the council the german contents page now gave up the ghost in hit house in square l to life s my new cut takes the light l there s a whisper down the field where the year has shot her yield the seas i pi p the cities are full of pride the seven seas a song of the english fair is our lot o goodly is our i the lights our brows are bound with and the weed is on our knees the or the dead hear now the song of the in the north by the torn edges the deep sea the above m j their dust drops down from afar the op the sons one from the ends of the gifts at an open ix contents page the song op the cities royal and royal i the queen england s answer truly ye come of the blood slower to than to ban the first mine was the woman to me i round her the last thus said the lord in the vault above the the king solomon drew m s hymn lord thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream the miracles i sent a message to my dear the native born we ve drunk to the queen god bless her the king m farewell romance the cave men said the rhyme of the three away by the lands of the the i was the of our fleet the answer a rose in on the garden path x contents page the song of the couldn t pack a half a mile the she s a lady the ihe i a lady an the never looks nor s contract the rear was on the cattle for the gale was on the y anchor song i walk her round heave ah heave her short again i many inventions the lost there s a that never was the sea wife there dwells a wife by the northern gate hymn before action the earth is full of anger to the true romance thy race is far from this our war u many inventions the flowers boy my english the last rhyme of true thomas the king has called for priest and cup in the age in the age savage warfare did i the story of once on a glittering ice field ages and ages ago xi pack the three s full thirty foot the from in an american if the led call it i the mary i tb paid for y our i tc humoured your whim of the tramp royal in i ire tried em all back to the army again i m ere in an a broken at birds of prey march march the mud u good about our soldier an sailor too at i into the ditch aboard o the when the were dried an the earth did appear that day it got beyond all an it got beyond all the men that fought at j the men fought at they in thai tune camp we re got the in camp ii i than forty xii contents pace the ladies ive taken my fun where i ve found it bill at anybody bill the mother lodge there station matter follow me ome there no one like im or foot the s warned er the jacket through the of we the the in it blindness bows down to wood an stone the shut eye the junior orderly mary pity women you call yourself a man for to admire the ocean an smiles l when earth s last picture is painted and the are and dried illustrations the three non route the last room and other verses to beyond the path of the sun through utter darkness hurled further than ever or star dust live such as fought and sailed and ruled and loved and made our world they are of pride because they died they know the worth of their they sit at wine with the maidens nine and the gods of the elder days it is their will to serve or be still as our father s praise tis theirs to sweep through the ringing deep where s are or a path through the pit s red wrath when god goes out to war or hang with the reckless on the rein of a	39
red star they take their mirth in the joy of the earth they dare not grieve for her pain they know of toil and the end of toil they know god s law is plain so they whistle the devil to make them sport who know that sin is vain and our wise lord god of every trade and tells them tales of his daily toil of newly made and they rise to their feet as he passes by gentlemen to these who are of base desire sorrow and lust and gods for they knew the hearts of men men for they stooped to fame borne on the breath that men call death my brother s spirit came he scarce had need to his pride or the of earth e en as he trod that day to god so walked he from his birth in and gentleness and honour and clean mirth so cup to lip in fellowship they gave him welcome high and made him place at the banquet board the strong men ranged thereby who had done his work and held his peace and had no fear to die beyond the loom of the last lone star through open darkness hurled further than rebel dared or star swarm sits he with those that praise our god for that they his world room to t a i have made for you a song and it may be right or wrong but only you can tell me true i have tried for to explain both your pleasure and your pain and thomas here s my best respects to you i o there ll surely come a day when they ll give you all your pay and treat you as a christian ought to do so until that day comes round heaven keep you safe and sound and thomas here s my best respects to you what are the for said on parade to turn you out to turn you out the colour said what makes you look so white so white said on parade i m what i ve got to watch the colour said for they re you can hear the dead march play the regiment s in square they re him to day they ve taken of his buttons off an cut his away an they re dan y in the what makes the rear rank breathe so ard said on parade it s bitter cold it s bitter cold the colour said what makes that front rank man fall down said on parade a touch o sun a touch o sun the colour said they are they are of im round they ave by is coffin on the ground an e ll swing in a minute for a hound o they re in the is cot was right and cot to mine said on parade e s out an far to night the colour said i ve drunk is beer a score o times said on parade e s bitter beer alone the colour said they are you must mark im to is place for e shot a comrade you must look im in the face nine of is county an the regiment s disgrace while they re in the what s that so black the sun said on parade it s ard for life the colour said what s that that over said on parade it s s soul that s now the colour said for they re done with you can ear the play the regiment s in column an they re us away ho the young are shaking an they ll want their beer to day after in the i went into a public to get a pint o beer the v e up an we serve no red coats here the girls be ind the bar they laughed an fit to die i into the street again an to myself i o it s this an that an go away n but it s thank you when the band begins to play the band begins to play my boys the band begins to play o it s thank you when the band begins to play i went into a theatre as sober as could be they gave a drunk room but t none for me they sent me to the gallery or round the music but when it comes to lord i they ll me in the for it s this an that an wait outside but it s special train for when the s on the tide the s on the tide my boys the s on the tide o it s special train for when the s on the tide yes mock o that guard you while you sleep is cheaper than them an they re starvation cheap an drunken soldiers when they re goin large a bit is five times better business than in full then it s this an that an ow s yer soul but it s thin red line of when the drums begin to roll the drums begin to roll my boys the drums begin to roll o it s thin red line of when the drums begin to roll we aren t no thin red nor we aren t no too but single men in most remarkable like you an if sometimes our isn t all your fancy why single men in don t grow into plaster saints while it s this an that an fall be ind but it s please to walk in front sir when there s trouble in the wind there s trouble in the wind my boys there s trouble in the wind o it s please to walk in front sir when there s trouble in the wind you talk o better food for us an schools an fires an all we ll wait for if you treat us rational	39
don t mess about the cook room but prove it to our face the widow s uniform is not the soldier man s disgrace for it s this an that an him out the brute but it s of is country when the guns begin to shoot an it s this an that an anything you please an ain t a fool you bet that sees force we ve fought with many men the seas an some of em was brave an some was not the an the an but the was the finest o the lot we never got a ha s change of im e in the an our e cut our up at an e played the cat an with our forces so ere s to you at your ome in the you re a pore but a first class man we gives you your an if you want it signed we ll come an ave a with you whenever you re inclined we took our among the ills the knocked us silly at a mile the give us an a us up in style but all we ever got from such as they was pop to what the made us we our own the papers say but man for man the knocked us then ere s to you an the and the kid our orders was to break you an of course we went an did we you with an it wasn t fair but for all the odds you you broke the square e t got no papers of is own e t got no nor rewards so we must the skill e s shown in of is long two swords when e s in an out among the bush with is coffin shield an spear an day with on the rush will last an for a year so ere s to you an your friends which are no more if we t lost some we would you to but give an take s the gospel an we ll call the bargain fair for if you ave lost more than us you up the square i e rushes at the smoke when we let drive an before we know e s at our e s all ot sand an when alive an e s generally when e s dead e s a e s a e s a lamb e s a rubber idiot on the e s the on y thing that doesn t give a damn for a regiment o british so ere s to you at your ome in the you re a pore but a first class man an ere s to you with your ay of air you big black beggar for you broke a british square soldier soldier soldier soldier come from the wan why don t you march with my true love we re fresh from off the ship an e s maybe give the slip an you d best go look for a new love new love true love best go look for a new love the dead they cannot rise an you d better dry your eyes an you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier come from the wars what did you see o my true love seed im serve the queen in a suit o rifle green an you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier come from the wars did ye see no more o my true love i seed im by when the shots begun to fly but you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier soldier soldier come from the wars did aught take arm to my true love i couldn t see the fight for the smoke it lay so white an you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier come from the wars i ll up an tend to my true love e s lying on the dead with a bullet through is an you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier come from the wars down an die with my true love the pit we dug ll im an the twenty men beside im an you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier come from the wars do you bring no sign from my true love i bring a lock of air that e used to wear an you d best go look for a new love soldier soldier come from the wars then i know it s true i ve lost my true love an i tell you truth again when you ve lost the feel o pain you d best take me for your true love true love new love best take im for a new love the dead they cannot rise an you d better dry your eyes an you d best take im for your true love screw guns my pipe on the the cool i walks in my old brown along o my old brown mule with seventy be ind me an never a beggar forgets it s only the pick of the army that handles the dear little for you all love the screw guns the screw guns they all love you so when we call round with a few guns o course you will know what to jest send in your chief an surrender it s worse if you fights or you runs you can go where you please you can up the trees but you don t get away from the guns t they sends us along where the roads are but mostly we goes where they ain t we d climb up the side of a sign board an trust to the stick o the paint h screw guns we ve the an we ve give the fits for we fancies	39
ourselves at two thousand we guns that are built in two bits for you all love the screw guns if a man doesn t work why we im an teaches im ow to behave if a beggar can t march why we im an im into is grave you ve got to stand up to our business an spring without or fuss d you say that you sweat with the field guns by god you must with us for you all love the screw guns the is around us the river s a below we re clear o the pine an the oak we re out on the rocks an the snow an the wind is as thin as a whip lash what carries away to the plains the rattle an stamp o the lead the o the chains for you all love the screw guns there s a wheel on the horns o the an a wheel on the edge o the pit an a drop into beneath you as straight as a beggar can spit screw guns with the sweat out o your shirt sleeves an the sun off the snow in your face an o the men on the drag ropes to hold the old gun in er place for you all love the screw guns my pipe on the the cool i in my old brown along o my old brown mule the monkey can say what our road was the e knows where we passed stand easy you long old s out with hold fast for you all love the screw guns the screw guns they all love you so when we take tea with a few guns o course you will know what to do jest send in your chief an surrender it s worse if you fights or you runs vou may hide in the they ll be only your graves but you can t get away from the guns i ve a head like a i ve a tongue like a button stick i ve a mouth like an old and i m more than a little sick but i ve had my fun o the s guard i ve made the fly and i m here in the for a thundering drink and the s eye with a second hand overcoat under my head and a beautiful view of the yard o it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard mad drunk and resisting the guard but i it them hard so it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard i started o porter i finished o beer but a dose o gin that a mate slipped in it was that that brought me here that and an double guard that rubbed my nose in the dirt but i fell away with the s stock and the best of the s shirt i left my cap in a public house my boots in the public road and lord knows where and i don t care my belt and my they ll stop my pay they ll cut away the i used to wear but i left my mark on the s face and i think he ll keep it there my wife she cries on the gate my kid in the yard it ain t that i mind the ly room it s that that cuts so hard i ll take my oath before them both that i will sure but as soon as i m in with a mate and gin i know i ll do it again with a second hand overcoat under my head and a beautiful view of the yard yes it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard mad drunk and resisting the guard but i it them hard so it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard din you may talk o gin and beer when you re safe out ere an you re sent to penny fights an it but when it comes to slaughter you will do your work on water an you ll the boots of im that s got it now in s sunny where i used to spend my time a of er majesty the queen of all them crew the finest man i knew was our din he was din din din you lump o brick dust hi slippery water get it l you old idol din t the uniform e wore was much before bring water swiftly din an rather less than o that be ind for a piece o rag an a water bag was all the field e could find when the troop train lay in a through the day where the eat would make your crawl we shouted harry till our throats were dry then we im cause e couldn t serve us all it was din din din you where the mischief ave you been you put some in it or i ll you this minute if you don t fill up my e would dot an carry one till the longest day was done an e didn t seem to know the use o fear if we charged or broke or cut you could bet your nut e d be fifty paces right flank rear with is on is back e would with our attack an watch us till the made retire an for all is dirty e was white clear white inside when e went to tend the wounded under fire mr s for o brother be quick hit you water din it was din din din with the bullets dust spots on the green when the ran out you	39

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