Part 11 (1/2)
He was off in a twinkling, running for his very life. Nicol and I remounted, and rode onward, coming to Leyden at the hour of one on the Sabbath morning-a thing which I much regretted.
CHAPTER V
THE FIRST SUNDAY OF MARCH
I slept late on the next morning, so that it was near nine o'clock ere I was up and dressed. By the time that I broke my fast I had had some leisure to reflect upon the events of the preceding night and the consequences which should ensue. Nicol came to me as soon as the meal was over, and together we sat down to consult.
”This is the Sabbath, your honour,” said Nicol, ”so ye may consider yoursel' free for the day at ony rate.”
”Not so free,” said I, for I knew my cousin Gilbert. ”The men I've to deal with have no more respect for the Lord's day than you have for a Popish fast, so we must put that out of account.”
”Weel, weel,” said Nicol, ”if that's sae it maun be sae. Will ye gang oot wi' him the day?”
”No,” said I, ”not that I am caring for the day, for you mind the proverb, 'the better the day the better the work,' but, being in a foreign land, I am loth to break with the customs of my country. So we'll keep the Sabbath, Nicol my lad, and let Gilbert whistle.”
Now I would not have him who may read this narrative think, from my conduct on this occasion, that I was whiggishly inclined, for, indeed, I cared naught about such little matters. I would have a man use the Sabbath like any other day, saving that, as it seems to me, it is a day which may profitably be used for serious reading and meditation. But I was ever of a curious disposition, liking to be always in mind of Tweeddale and the folk there, so that I kept the Sabbath during my life abroad as strictly as a covenanting minister on the moors of Ayr.
”Weel, Laird, that means ye'll no see the body though he comes,” said Nicol, ”and, G.o.d help me, if ye dae that there'll be a terrible stramash at the street door. I'se warrant auld Mistress Vanderdecker 'll get her ribs knockit in if she tries to keep them oot.”
”They can make all the noise they please,” said I hotly, ”but if it comes to that the two of us are as good as their bit officers. I ask for nothing better than to take some of the pride out of Gilbert's friends with the flat of my sword. Then if they come to-day and are refused entrance, they will come back to-morrow, and all will be well.”
”Then what am I to dae? When the bodies come to the door, I'm to say, 'His lords.h.i.+p's compliments, but his lords.h.i.+p's busy keeping the Sabbath in his upper chamber, and if ye will come back the morn he'll look into your claims.' 'Faith, it's awfu' like auld Sanders Blackett, the lawyer at Peebles, when I gaed to him seeking the law o' the miller o' Rachan.
It was about nine o'clock yae winter's nicht when I got there, and Sanders was at supper. He stappit his heid oot o' the window and, says he, 'Gang awa', my man, and come back the morn. I'm busy takin' the books.' But I saw by the een o' him that he was daein' nae siccan thing. 'Oh,' says I, 'if ye ca' kippered saumon and schnapps the books, I'm content. I'll just come in and help ye to tak them tae.' But he says verra angry, 'Go away, ye impious man, lest the judgment of Heaven light upon you. I've G.o.dly Maister Clovenclaws a.s.sisting me in the solemn ordinance.' 'Awa' wi' your Clovenclaws,' says I, 'I've come ten mile to speak wi' ye, and I'll no gang hame wi'oot it.' But I was just thinkin' I would have to gang back after a', when a voice comes frae the inside, 'Sanders, ye limb o' the deil, whaur's the sugar?' I kenned Maister Clovenclaws' voice ower weel, so Sanders begins to think that it wadna dae to let it be telled a' ower the toun that him and the minister had been birling at the wine thegither. So 'Come in, Maister Plenderleith,' says he verra cannily, and in I gaed, and sic a nicht's drinking I never saw. I put Sanders in his bed, honest man, about twae o'clock i' the morning, and syne Clovenclaws and me gaed at it till daylicht. I want.i.t to see the body below the table afore I gaed, and he want.i.t to see me, so we sat at it till I was fain to drap for very decency's sake. So what does the man dae but lift me on his shouther and walk as straucht ower to the manse as if he were new oot o' his bed; and there he gied me some guid advice about no presumin' to contend wi'
my superiors, and let me oot at a back door. 'Faith, it was an awfu'
time.”
”You will say to them that I am busy with other work, and that I will be glad to see them to-morrow about the matter they know of. Most like they will go away quietly, and if they do not it will be the worse for their own skins. You take my meaning?”
”I'll dae your orders, sir, to the letter,” said Nicol, and I was well aware that he would.
I got my books out and set to work to read the gospel of John in Greek for my spiritual benefit, but I made little speed. This was mainly the fault of Nicol, who every few minutes came into the little room where I sat, on some feigned errand. I soon divined the reason, for the same chamber contained a great window, whence one might view the whole length of the narrow street wherein the house was situate, and even some little portion of the great Breedestraat at the head. It was plain that my servant was not a little concerned on my account.
”Are ye sure that your honour's guid wi' the small-swird?” he asked mournfully. ”If this room were a wee bit braider and the day no what it is I micht gie ye a lesson.”
I did not know whether to laugh or to be angry. ”Why, you rascal,” I cried, ”do you know anything of these matters? There are many better swordsmen than I in the world, but I think I am more than a match for you.”
”Weel,” said Nicol modestly, ”I've gien some folk a gey fricht wi' the swird, but let that be. I'll be blithe if ye get the better o' him and a waefu' man I'll be if he kills ye. Lord, what 'll I dae? I'll hae to become a sodger in this heathen land, or soom hame, whilk is a thing I am no capable o'.” And he began to sing with a great affectation of grief:
The craw killed the p.u.s.s.ie O, The craw killed the p.u.s.s.ie O, The wee bit kittlin' sat and grat In Jennie's wee bit hoosie O.
-in which elegant rhyme the reader will observe that my cousin stood for the crow, I for the p.u.s.s.ie, and my servant for the kittlin'.
I laughed; but it is not seemly to stand by while your own servant sings a song which compares you to a cat, so I straightway flung a Greek lexicon at his head, and bade him leave the room. I much regretted the act, for it was my only copy of the book, Master Struybroek's, and the best obtainable, and by the fall some leaves came out, and one, [Greek: _polypenthes_] to [Greek: _polypous_], has not been renewed to this day.
After Nicol had gone I amused myself by looking out of the window and watching the pa.s.sers-by. Some, sober Dutch citizens with Bibles beneath their arms and their goodly persons habited in decent black, were striding solemnly to church, while their wives and children came more slowly behind. Others of the lighter sort were wandering aimlessly on no purpose but their own pleasure, but all I marked were dressed out in their finest clothes. What I noted most of all was the greater colour in the streets than we have in our own land. For there, you will see little but blacks and drabs and browns, while here the women were often gaily arrayed in bright tints which gave a pleasing look to the causeway.
I had not sat long when I noted two gentlemen coming down the alley from the Breedestraat, very finely clad, and with a great air of distinction in their faces. They kept the causeway in such a fas.h.i.+on that all whom they met had to get into the middle of the road to let them pa.s.s. I half guessed their errand, the more as the face of one of them seemed to me familiar, and I fancied that he had been one of the guests at the supper at Alphen. My guess was confirmed by their coming to a halt outside the door of my lodging and attentively considering the house.