“Let no one leave this place,” said he,
“until I have said what I want to say; for saving
of ill-will among us; and growth of cheer and comfort.
May be I have carried things too far, even to the bounds
of churlishness, and beyond the bounds of good manners.
I will not unsay one word I have said, having never
yet done so in my life; but I would alter the manner
of it, and set it forth in this light. If you
folks upon Exmoor here are loath and wary at fighting,
yet you are brave at better stuff; the best and kindest
I ever knew, in the matter of feeding.”
Here he sat down with tears in his eyes, and called
for a little mulled bastard. All the maids, who
were now come back, raced to get it for him, but Annie
of course was foremost. And herein ended the expedition,
a perilous and a great one, against the Doones of
Bagworthy; an enterprise over which we had all talked
plainly more than was good for us. For my part,
I slept well that night, feeling myself at home again,
now that the fighting was put aside, and the fear
of it turned to the comfort of talking what we would
have done.
CHAPTER XV
QUO WARRANTO?
[Illustration: 118.jpg Illustrated Capital]
On the following day Master Huckaback, with some show
of mystery, demanded from my mother an escort into
a dangerous part of the world, to which his business
compelled him. My mother made answer to this that
he was kindly welcome to take our John Fry with him;
at which the good clothier laughed, and said that
John was nothing like big enough, but another John
must serve his turn, not only for his size, but because
if he were carried away, no stone would be left unturned
upon Exmoor, until he should be brought back again.
Hereupon my mother grew very pale, and found fifty
reasons against my going, each of them weightier than
the true one, as Eliza (who was jealous of me) managed
to whisper to Annie. On the other hand, I was
quite resolved (directly the thing was mentioned)
to see Uncle Reuben through with it; and it added much
to my self-esteem to be the guard of so rich a man.
Therefore I soon persuaded mother, with her head upon
my breast, to let me go and trust in God; and after
that I was greatly vexed to find that this dangerous
enterprise was nothing more than a visit to the Baron
de Whichehalse, to lay an information, and sue a warrant
against the Doones, and a posse to execute it.
Stupid as I always have been, and must ever be no
doubt, I could well have told Uncle Reuben that his
journey was no wiser than that of the men of Gotham;
that he never would get from Hugh de Whichehalse a
warrant against the Doones; moreover, that if he did
get one, his own wig would be singed with it.
But for divers reasons I held my peace, partly from
youth and modesty, partly from desire to see whatever
please God I should see, and partly from other causes.
