When they arose in the sunshine, Simon went straightway to see tothe horses, while Christopher stayed by the fire to dight their victuals; hewas merry enough, and sang to himself the while; but when Simon cameback again, Christopher looked on him sharply, but for a while Simonwould not meet his eye, though he asked divers questions of himconcerning little matters, as though he were fain to hear Christopher'svoice; at last he raised his eyes, and looked on him steadily, and thenChristopher said: "Well, wayfarer mine, and whither away thismorning?"
Said the lad: "Well, thou keepest thy tidings so close, that I will askthee no more till we come to the Long Pools; since there, forsooth, thoumust needs tell me; unless we sunder company there, whereof I werenought grieving."
"Mayhappen thou shalt fare a long way to-day," muttered Simon.
But the lad cried out aloud, while his eye glittered and his cheekflushed: "Belike thou hadst well-nigh opened the door thereto lastnight!" And therewith he leapt to his feet and drew his short-sword, andwith three deft strokes sheared asunder an overhanging beech-bough asthick as a man's wrist, that it fell crashing down, and caught Simonamongst the fall of its leafy twigs, while Christopher stood laughing onhim, but with a dangerous lofty look in his eyes: then he turned awayquietly toward the horses and mounted his nag, and Simon followed anddid the like, silently; crestfallen he looked, with brooding fierceness in hisface.
So they rode their ways, and spake but little each to each till they cameto where the trees of the wood thinned speedily, and gave out at last at thefoot of a low stony slope but little grassed; and when they had ridden up tothe brow and could see below, Christopher stretched out his hand, and said:"Lo thou the Long Pools, fellow wayfarer! and lo some of the tramping;Said Simon: "As thou wottest, to the Long Pools."
horses that woke thee and not me last night."
Forsooth there lay below them a great stretch of grass, which whilesran into mere quagmire, and whiles was sound and better grassed; and thesaid plain was seamed by three long shallow pools, with, as it were, grassycauseways between them, grown over here and there with ancient aldertrees; but the stony slope whereon they had reined up bent round the plainmostly to the east, as though it were the shore of a great water; and faraway to the south the hills of the forest rose up blue, and not so low at themost, but that they were somewhat higher than the crest of the WhiteHorse as ye may see it from the little Berkshire hills above the Thames.Down on the firm greensward there was indeed a herd of wild horsesfeeding; mallard and coot swam about the waters; the whimbrel laughedfrom the bent-sides, and three herons stood on the side of the causewayseeking a good fishing-stead.
Simon sat a-horseback looking askance from the marish to Christopher,and said nothing a while; then he spake in a low croaking voice, and said:"So, little King, we have come to the Long Pools; now I will ask thee, hastthou been further southward than this marish land?"
"That have I," said the lad, "a day's journey further; but according tothe tales of men it was at the peril of my life."
Simon seemed as if he had not noted his last word; he said: "Well then,since thou knowest the wild and the wood, knowest thou amidst of thethickets there, two lumps of bare hills, like bowls turned bottom up, thatrise above the trees, and on each a tower, and betwixt them a long house."
"Save us, Allhallows!" quoth Christopher, "but thou wilt mean theTofts! Is it so, sir squire?"
"Even so," said Simon.
"And thou knowest what dwellest there, and wouldst have me leadthee thither?" said the lad.
"I am so bidden," said Simon; "if thou wilt not do my bidding, seekthou some place to hide thee in from the hand of the Earl Marshal."
Said the youngling: "Knowest thou not Jack of the Tofts and hisseven sons, and what he is, and that he dwelleth there?"
Said Simon: "I know of him; yea, and himself I know, and that he dwelleth there; and I wot that men call him an outlaw, and that many richmen shall lack ere he lacks. What then?"
"This," said Christopher, "that, as all tales tell, he will take my life if Iride thither. And," said he, turning to Simon, "this is belike what thouwouldest with me?" And therewith he drew out his sword, for his bow wasunstrung.
But Simon sat still and let his sword abide, and said, sourly enough:"Thou art a fool to think I am training thee to thy death by him; for I haveno will to die, and why shall he not slay me also? Now again I say untothee, thou hast the choice, either to lead me to the Tofts, where shall be thedeed for thee to do, or to hide thee in some hole, as I said afore, from thevengeance of the Lord of Oakenrealm. But as for thy sword, thou maystput it up, for I will not fight with thee, but rather let thee go with a stringto thy leg, if thou wilt not be wise and do as thy lords ordain for thee."
Christopher sheathed his sword, and a smile came into his face, as ifsome new thought were stirring in him, and he said: "Well, since thouwilt not fight with me, and I but a lad, I will e'en do thy will and thineerrand to Jack of the Tofts. Maybe he is not so black as he is painted, andnot all tales told of him are true. But some of them I will tell thee as weride along."
"And some thereof I know already, O woodland knight," said Simon,as they rode down the bent, and Christopher led on toward the greencauseway betwixt the waters. "Tell me," quoth he, when they had riddenawhile, "is this one of thy tales, how Jack of the Tofts went to the Yulefeast of a great baron in the guise of a minstrel, and, even as they bore inthe boar's head, smote the said baron on the neck, so that his head lay bythe head of the swine on the Christmas board?"
"Yea," said Christopher, "and how Jack cried out: 'Two heads ofswine, one good to eat, one good to burn.' But, my master, thou shalt knowthat this manslaying was not for nought: whereas the Baron of Greenlakehad erewhile slain Jack's father in felon wise, where he could strike nostroke for life; and two of his brethren also had he slain, and made the saidJack an outlaw, and he all sackless. In the Uttermost March we deemthat he had a case against the baron."