The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-08-01
CEDRIC THE WISE.

Idu0' Al inc winch was born and grew up
to manhood. the folk are wont to tel many
tales anent the good King Alfred Albeit
! those who dwelt ii the same time rs that
! good king have had sons and daaghters,
/ and these in their turn children. and these
again yet other children, and so on till the
| years be many that lie betwi:t our time
and his, yet does the rehownecf King Al
1 frod last among US, and Is s&oken Of even
now. He it was who feaght the wicked
Danes and beat them, driving theIa ali out
of our country to their own, save only
those whom he slew 50 that they could
work no more wo; and this, indeed, is the
only sure way to foTefend against Dane
doing i'll, for they are Of a truth bad men
and given TO all manner of knayery and
sin.
Now my father has often tofdto me how
that when King Alfred had driven,out the
Danes he ruled SO wisely and so well that
men could hang chains of gold and Jewels
by the roadside, and there they would stay
untouched save by him who owned them.
And this was so not because there were no
evil men in the tanG-for these are every
where to be found save in the kingdom of
our Lord afone-but because doomsnen
were set up by the king, before whom were
"
coTding to their faults they were doomed.
1t followed in its course that among these
doomsmen some were wiser than others
and more even handed; but among them
all was nome to be found more righteous
and more blameless in his findings than
Cedric, the son of Hend
In Reading was his dwelling, and over
the men of that borough he sat in the
doomsman's chair every day in the church
yard setting straight that which was crook
ed and uplifting the small against the
great, the feeble folk against the strong
Now the talk of his righteousness spread,
as when stone drops in mere the ripples
of it spread until they touch the shore, so
that even to the kings ears came the name
of DoOmsman Cedric, the son of Hend
And the king said unto himself: per
chance these be but fond tidings which are
told to me, and yet again there may be
truth in them; but strange it is that man
should be not only so righteous but so
wise that none make plant touching any
of the dooms he gives FORTH" and he
so pondered over this thing that in the end
he habited himself like unto a simple
knight at arms, and rode forth from Lon
don. taking the high road to Reading to
see for himself what manner Of man this
Cedric might be- Ditton he passed and
Windsor also, and wherever he tarried for
the night as folk ate their supper he heard
them talk as they quaffed their ale or
mead Of Cedric the Doomsman and the
wonder of his wisdom and his rightful-
ness, until the king began to grow hot
within him at the endless babble, as is
seemed to him, concerning the worthineaz
OF this one man.
So he rode until be came to Staines, and
as he was about to pass over the bridge he
saw, lying in the dust at the wayside, q
beggar, habited In rags, and begging aims
from the passers by.
Help me, oh, Stranger said the beggar.
with all my heart, >" answered the king,
and took from his pouch three pennies,
which he gave to the beggar.
Help me, oh, stranger" quoth once
more the bcggar.
Thou art a greedy varletP' said the
king; what more dost thou want?"
81 am old and weak" answered the beg
gar. "Wilt thou not set me behind thee
on thy horse and carry me to Reading
town?'
"With all my hearth replied once more
the king, and straightway set him foul as
he was upon his horse, and in that wise
rode over the bridge and along the high
road into the town of Reading. As they
went down the High street the king said
TO the beggar, where wilt thou that set
thee DOWN."
To which made answer the other: NAY,
but rather where wilt thou that set thee
down?"
Thou art a saucy varlet," quoth the
king; and it would be using thee not I'M
scurrily were l to pitch thee off my horse
into the runnel there by the side ofus."
Hast thou the face to call it thy horse?"
quoth the beggarman. Thou shameless
thingl thou knowest well the horse belongs
to ne"
Thy horse?" shouted the king.
CAY. mine" said the begyar.
1--WE will see about that" said the king.
eve truly will" said the beggar, and
with that he made loud cutlery, calling
aloud: Thief! thiefr' so that they who
passed by stopped and, wondering at the
noise, asked who might be the thief, and in
what the beggar, who was foreigner to
them all, had been wronged.
Then both the beggar and the king told
each his tale Now the tale OF the beggsr
was in this wise: That he, riding toward
the town Of Reading, had met the king,
albeit he knew not, nor did the Reading
men. that he w2s king, but thought him
a simple wayfarer, and seeing he was
afeot and weary, had offered TO him to
ride before him on his horse. ''The
which" said the beggar, docs be now,
with foul threats end evil knocks, try TO
take by force from me, saying it is his
own, though it is plain to be seen that
am old and weak and he is young and
lusJy."
And after the king had told his truthful
tale, how that ii was he who had been nd
ing toward the town and had in kindness
set the beGgar behind hip and holpen him
on his way with but scurvy payment for
his pains, the men Of Reading were sore
beSet in their minds as to which OF the
twain might be the truth taller and which
the liar. After some had talked this way
and some that, an elder among them said:
Let US hale them both and also the horse
before Cedric, our doomsman, and ne viii
tell Us which we shall believe"
Nothing loath was the king. nor did the
beggar dare to say them nay, and so it
came 10 pass that in no great while they
stood betore Cedric, the son Of Hend, IN
the church yard where his seaS WIS. But
they were not the first corners, and so had
to wait until two trials had been held The
first was a quarrel between scrivener and
a hedger concerning . woman. The scriv-
ener said that shevas his wife, and had
besn taken from him by the hedger, and
the hedger, indeei. said no; THAI she had
always besn his wife, aud thai the scTiver>
er had no lawful right to her. The woman
said nothing, whereat all marveled- When
each had told his tale Cedric pondsTed and