Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1890-09-05
CEDRIC, THE WISE,

In that town of our dear land of
England, in which | was born and grew
up to manhood, the folks are wont to tell
many tales anent the good King Alfred.
Albeit those who dwelt at the same time
as that good kias bave bad SONS and
daughters. ana these IN their tGrn cbi!-
drer, and these again yet other children.
and 50 on till the years be many taat lie
betwixt our time and his, yet does the
renown of King Alfred last among u. and
Is spoken of even now. He it was Sho
fought the wicked Danes and beat them,
driving them all out of our country 10
their own, save only those whom he slew so
that they could work no more woe and this,
indeed, is the only sure way to torefend
against Dane doing i'll, for they are of a
truth bad men and given to all manner of
knavery and sin.
Now my father has often told 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 jewels by
the roadside. ana there they would stay
untouched save by him who owned them
! And this was SO not because there were no
evil men in the land-for they are every
where to be found save in the kingdom OF
eur Lord alone-but because doomsmen
were hated by all who did not righteous!y,
according 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 none 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
crooked and uplifting the small against
the great, the feeble folk against the
strong. Now the talk OF his righteousness
| spread, as when a stone drops in a sea
the ripples Of it spread until they touch
the shore, so that even to the kings ears
came the name of fDoomsman Cedric, the
son of Hend.
And the king said to 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 Il 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 habted
himself like unto simple knight at arms,
and rode forth from London, 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 folks
ate their supper he heard them talk as
they qnafIed their ale or mead of Cedric
the Doomsman and the wonder of his
wisdom and his rightfulness, until the king
began to grow hot within him at the end
less babble, as it seemed to him, concern
ing the worthiness of this one man.
So he rode until he came to Staines, and
as he was abou, to pass over the bridge he
saw, lying in the dust at the wayside, a
beggar, habited in rags, and begging aims
from the passers by.
''Hclp me, oh, strangerl" said the beg
gar.
with oil 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 beggar.
Thou art greedy varlct" said the
king; "ykat more dat thau wantf"
II 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 heart, replied the king,
and straightway set him foul as he was
upon bis 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 beg
gar, "Whcre 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 un-
scurvily were l to pitch thee off my horse
into the runnel there by the side of Us"
"Hast thou the face to call it thy horscl"
quoth the beggarman. ''Thou shameless
thing thou knowest well the horse belongs
to me-"
'"Thy horsei" shouted the king
"Ay! mine," said the beggar.
eve will see about that. " said the king.
1--WE truely will, )" said the beggar, and
with that he made loud out-cry, calling
aloud: ''thie! thief 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 u foreigner
to them all, had been wronged.
Then both the beggar and the king told
each his tale Now the tale of the beggar
was in this wise: That he, riaing toward
the town of Reading, had met the king,
albeit he knew not, nor did the Reading
men that he was a king but thought him
a simple wayfarer, and seeing he was afoot
and weary. had offer to him to ride before
him on his horse, "The which" said the
beggar, "does he now, with foul threats
and evil knocks, try to take by force from
me, saying it is bis own, though it is plain
to be seen that | am old and weak and he
is young and lusty."
And after the king had told his truthful
tale, how that it was he who had been rid
ing toward the town and had in kindness
set TIE beggar behind him and helped 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 teller and which
was the liar. After some had talked this
way and some that, an elder among them
said: "Let us have them both and also the
horse before Cedric, our doomsman, and be
will tell Us which we shall believe"
Nothing loath was the king, nor did the
beggar dare to say them nay, and so it
came to pass that in no great while they
stood before Cedric, the son Of Hend, in
IA. ~ ,,.haru Ia .aa. d.,