Part 1 (2/2)
”No, but the ad him to call the free foresters and ”
”I have a list of those families that still profess the true faith
Almost to a man they place their country before their Church, and prefer to fight for their heretic Queen rather than the Holy Mother of Heaven”
”The fiery pit yawns for thest these herds of goats Two have I brought withdwells with thes of this world and the comforts of the body They are sworn to serve the Holy Church to the death” The speaker turned to two rather hang-dog felloere squatted beside the hearth ”Kneel,frost men!”
”Tush!+ my son,” said Father Jerohly The blessing I bestow is greater far than he is who bestows it; the gift is greater than the giver”
The whole company fell upon their knees, and Father Jero in his sallow face, cruelty in the corners of his mouth He held his hands aloft and spoke low and mysteriously
”When the Holy Father called avethrice repeated, and bestowed uponto others The blessing then that ye receive at s have begged for it and have not obtained it; but ye are greater than kings” The disguised priest--for such was Father Jero Latin invocation At the end of this he addressed the faruiled into the plot, speaking in plain, forcible English
”Your country,” he exclaimed, ”s in heresy and other deadly sins
For years hath it openly flouted and resisted the Church The hour of retribution is near By sword and by fire eance and punishment are appointed, and the least of these ah the heavens a faithful prince shall hold power in this land
Many who are now in high estate shall be flung down, and there are sohtily exalted Think of that, my sons, and be true to the trust reposed in you!”
Father Jero audience with a well-chosen word of praise, proement for each one Then he bade the farmer set meat and ale before the two foresters, and took his two clerical spies to the -seat, where he conversed with them in low tones
”Thy two recruits, son Basil, are not overburdened with brains”
”The better shall they serve our purpose,men I have them in the hollow of my hand
Thews and sinews are theirs, and an intie of the woods
If they will but carry outwithout question, I shall be well content”
”Thou art right--And now, son John, how hast thou sped upon thine errands?”
”Well, father, the bracken will be fit to cut in a month I have ordered loads to be prepared for me in all parts of the forest The soil of the woodlands is everywhere green with the curling fronds; and where I do not cut, the foresters andheaps to carry away for litter and bedding By the end of July the forest beneath the oaks will be covered with a carpet of stuff as combustible as tinder Let us but fire it at Newnham, Littledean, Blakeney, Coleford, and at Speech by the courthouse, and we shall lay tens of thousands of oaks in blackened ruin Philip of Spain has but to scatter the present sland, for noto oppose his landing”
”Thou hast done well Our plans are fully ripe, but apparently the time is not quite co The admiral's suspicions are aroused If we suddenly disappear at thefor us, his fears will be allayed But at the appointed , do our work, and begone again Our tools htened into secrecy I will do that Let us now join them at breakfast”
It was not the fault of Father Jerome that the breakfast party was not a happy affair Perfectly at ease hi's work, he was in the h his two ied in a few feeble jests, the farmer and foresters hardly vouchsafed a word or a smile In part, maybe, this was due to the poverty of the wit of their sable companions, but the three were obviously ill at ease
Greed and a sort of religious fanaticisht them into the ranks of the conspirators, but their national instincts were rebuking them each moment They felt traitors, and not all the sophistries of the priests--which put the Church first, and country a long way after--could ease their minds of a burden of shame The chief conspirator watched theh his , and it behoved the plotters to separate
The leader gave them a feords of caution and coh nothing unusual was afoot; the rest would vanish one by one into the surrounding woods or across the river
One of the foresters betook hi on to Fra an ostensible reason for his presence on the wrong side of the Severn He was a hard-faced felloith a pair of s blue eyes Father Jero, and theto his palain He strode aith a buoyant step, his one for the while