“Never thee knack under, Jan, or never coom
naigh Hexmoor no more.”
With that it was all up with me. A simmering
buzzed in my heavy brain, and a light came through
my eyeplaces. At once I set both fists again,
and my heart stuck to me like cobbler’s wax.
Either Robin Snell should kill me, or I would conquer
Robin Snell. So I went in again with my courage
up, and Bob came smiling for victory, and I hated him
for smiling. He let at me with his left hand,
and I gave him my right between his eyes, and he blinked,
and was not pleased with it. I feared him not,
and spared him not, neither spared myself. My
breath came again, and my heart stood cool, and my
eyes struck fire no longer. Only I knew that
I would die sooner than shame my birthplace. How
the rest of it was I know not; only that I had the
end of it, and helped to put Robin in bed.
THE WAR-PATH OF THE DOONES
[Illustration: 014.jpg Illustrated Capital]
From Tiverton town to the town of Oare is a very long
and painful road, and in good truth the traveller
must make his way, as the saying is; for the way is
still unmade, at least, on this side of Dulverton,
although there is less danger now than in the time
of my schooling; for now a good horse may go there
without much cost of leaping, but when I was a boy
the spurs would fail, when needed most, by reason of
the slough-cake. It is to the credit of this
age, and our advance upon fatherly ways, that now
we have laid down rods and fagots, and even stump-oaks
here and there, so that a man in good daylight need
not sink, if he be quite sober. There is nothing
I have striven at more than doing my duty, way-warden
over Exmoor.
But in those days, when I came from school (and good
times they were, too, full of a warmth and fine hearth-comfort,
which now are dying out), it was a sad and sorry business
to find where lay the highway. We are taking
now to mark it off with a fence on either side, at
least, when a town is handy; but to me his seems of
a high pretence, and a sort of landmark, and channel
for robbers, though well enough near London, where
they have earned a race-course.
We left the town of the two fords, which they say
is the meaning of it, very early in the morning, after
lying one day to rest, as was demanded by the nags,
sore of foot and foundered. For my part, too,
I was glad to rest, having aches all over me, and
very heavy bruises; and we lodged at the sign of the
White Horse Inn, in the street called Gold Street,
opposite where the souls are of John and Joan Greenway,
set up in gold letters, because we must take the homeward
way at cockcrow of the morning. Though still
John Fry was dry with me of the reason of his coming,
and only told lies about father, and could not keep
them agreeable, I hoped for the best, as all boys
will, especially after a victory. And I thought,
perhaps father had sent for me because he had a good
harvest, and the rats were bad in the corn-chamber.
