Christopher was six weeks ere he could come and go as he was wont;but it was but a few days ere he was well enough to tell his tale to Jack ofthe Tofts and his seven bold sons; and they cherished him and made muchof him, and so especially did David, the youngest son, to his board-fellowand troth-brother.
On a day when he was well-nigh whole, as he sat under an oak-treenigh the house, in the cool of the evening, Jack of the Tofts came to himand sat beside him, and made him tell his tale to him once more, and whenhe was done he said to him: "Foster-son, for so I would have thee deemof thyself, what is the thing that thou rememberest earliest in thy days?"
Said Christopher: "A cot without the Castle walls at the UttermostMarches, and a kind woman therein, big, sandy-haired, and freckled, and alad that was white-haired and sturdy, somewhat bigger than I. And Imind me standing up against the door-post of the cot and seeing men-at-arms riding by in white armour, and one of them throwing an apple to me,and I raised my arm to throw it back at him, but my nurse (for somehow Iknew she was not my mother) caught my hand and drew me back indoors,and I heard the men laughing behind me. And then a little after my nursetook me into the Castle court, and there was again the man who hadthrown me the apple, sitting on a bench therein, clad in a scarlet gownfurred with brown fur; and she led me up to him, and he stooped down andchucked me under the chin and put his hand on my head, and looked at mynurse and said: 'Yea, he is a big lad, and groweth apace, whereas he isbut of six winters.' 'Nay, Lord,' said my nurse, 'he is but scantly five.'He knit his brows and said: 'Nay, I tell thee he is six.' She shook her head,but said nought, and the great man scowled on her and said: 'Mistress,wilt thou set thy word against mine? Know now that this child is of sixyears. Now then, how old is he?' She said faintly: 'Six years.' Said he:'Look to it that thy head and thy mouth forget it not, else shall we makethy back remember it.' Then he put his hand on my head again, and said:'Well, I say thou art a big lad for six years;' and therewith he gave me asilver penny; and even as he spake, came up a grey-clad squire to him andlooked on me curiously. Then I went away with my nurse, and wonderedwhy she was grown so pale, whereas she was mostly red-cheeked andjolly. But when she had brought me into the cot again, she kissed me andclipped me, weeping sorely the while; wherefore I wept, though I knewnot why. Sithence, I soon came to know that the man was the lord andgovernor of the Castle, as ye may well wot; but to this hour I know notwhat he meant by threatening my nurse."