第17章

The man stood like one transfixed,and the ladle,with which he had aimed a blow at me,now hung in the air like the hand which held it;his mouth was extended,and his cheeks became of a pale yellow,save alone that place which bore the mark which I have already described,and this shone now portentously,like fire.He stood in this manner for some time;at last the ladle fell from his hand,and its falling appeared to rouse him from his stupor.

'I say,wifelkin,'said he,in a faltering tone,'did you ever see the like of this here?'

But the woman had retreated to the tent,from the entrance of which her loathly face was now thrust,with an expression partly of terror and partly of curiosity.After gazing some time longer at the viper and myself,the man stooped down and took up the ladle;then,as if somewhat more assured,he moved to the tent,where he entered into conversation with the beldame in a low voice.Of their discourse,though I could hear the greater part of it,I understood not a single word;and I wondered what it could be,for I knew by the sound that it was not French.At last the man,in a somewhat louder tone,appeared to put a question to the woman,who nodded her head affirmatively,and in a moment or two produced a small stool,which she delivered to him.He placed it on the ground,close by the door of the tent,first rubbing it with his sleeve,as if for the purpose of polishing its surface.

MAN.Now,my precious little gentleman,do sit down here by the poor people's tent;we wish to be civil in our slight way.Don't be angry,and say no;but look kindly upon us,and satisfied,my precious little God Almighty.

WOMAN.Yes,my gorgeous angel,sit down by the poor bodies'fire,and eat a sweetmeat.We want to ask you a question or two;only first put that serpent away.

MYSELF.I can sit down,and bid the serpent go to sleep,that's easy enough;but as for eating a sweetmeat,how can I do that?Ihave not got one,and where am I to get it?

WOMAN.Never fear,my tiny tawny,we can give you one,such as you never ate,I daresay,however far you may have come from.

The serpent sank into its usual resting-place,and I sat down on the stool.The woman opened a box,and took out a strange little basket or hamper,not much larger than a man's fist,and formed of a delicate kind of matting.It was sewed at the top;but,ripping it open with a knife,she held it to me,and I saw,to my surprise,that it contained candied fruits of a dark green hue,tempting enough to one of my age.'There,my tiny,'said she;'taste,and tell me how you like them.'

'Very much,'said I;'where did you get them?'

The beldame leered upon me for a moment,then,nodding her head thrice,with a knowing look,said,'Who knows better than yourself,my tawny?'

Now,I knew nothing about the matter;but I saw that these strange people had conceived a very high opinion of the abilities of their visitor,which I was nothing loth to encourage.I therefore answered boldly,'Ah!who indeed!'

'Certainly,'said the man;'who should know better than yourself,or so well?And now,my tiny one,let me ask you one thing-you didn't come to do us any harm?'

'No,'said I,'I had no dislike to you;though,if you were to meddle with me-'

MAN.Of course,my gorgeous,of course you would;and quite right too.Meddle with you!-what right have we?I should say,it would not be quite safe.I see how it is;you are one of them there;-and he bent his head towards his left shoulder.

MYSELF.Yes,I am one of them-for I thought he was alluding to the soldiers,-you had best mind what you are about,I can tell you.

MAN.Don't doubt we will for our own sake;Lord bless you,wifelkin,only think that we should see one of them there when we least thought about it.Well,I have heard of such things,though I never thought to see one;however,seeing is believing.Well! now you are come,and are not going to do us any mischief,I hope you will stay;you can do us plenty of good if you will.

MYSELF.What good could I do you?

MAN.What good?plenty!Would you not bring us luck?I have heard say that one of them there always does,if it will but settle down.Stay with us,you shall have a tilted cart all to yourself if you like.We'll make you our little God Almighty,and say our prayers to you every morning!

MYSELF.That would be nice;and,if you were to give me plenty of these things,I should have no objection.But what would my father say?I think he would hardly let me.

MAN.Why not?he would be with you;and kindly would we treat him.

Indeed,without your father you would be nothing at all.

MYSELF.That's true;but I do not think he could be spared from his regiment.I have heard him say that they could do nothing without him.

MAN.His regiment!What are you talking about?-what does the child mean?

MYSELF.What do I mean!-why,that my father is an officer-man at the barracks yonder,keeping guard over the French prisoners.

MAN.Oh!then that sap is not your father?

MYSELF.What,the snake?Why,no!Did you think he was?

MAN.To be sure we did.Didn't you tell me so?

MYSELF.Why,yes;but who would have thought you would have believed it?It is a tame one.I hunt vipers,and tame them.

MAN.O-h!

'O-h!'grunted the woman,'that's it,is it?'

The man and woman,who during this conversation had resumed their former positions within the tent,looked at each other with a queer look of surprise,as if somewhat disconcerted at what they now heard.They then entered into discourse with each other in the same strange tongue which had already puzzled me.At length the man looked me in the face,and said,somewhat hesitatingly,'So you are not one of them there after all?'

MYSELF.One of them there?I don't know what you mean.

MAN.Why,we have been thinking you were a goblin-a devilkin!