The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-06-11
The City
By the Sea
A FANcIFUL SKETCH.
BY JEROME K. JEROME.

BY JEROME K. JEROME. ,
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They say, the chroniclers who have
written the history of that low lying
wind swept coast, that years ago the foam
fringe of the ocean ley farther to the east
so that where now the North sea creeps
among the treacherous sand reefs it was
once dry land. In those days between
the abbey and the sea there stood a town
of seven towers and four rich churches,
surrounded by a wall of IL stones thick.
ness, making it, as men reckoned then, a
place of strength and much import, and
the monks, glancing their eyes downward
from the abbey garden on the hill, saw
beneath their feet its narrow streets, gay
with the ever passing of rich merchan-
disc; saw its many wharfs and water
ways, ever noisy with the babel of
strange tongues; saw its many painted
masts, wagging their grave heads above
the dormer roofs and quantity carved oak
gables.
Thus the town prospered till there came
a night when it did evil in the sight of
God and man. Those were troublous
times to Saxon jewellers by the sea, for
the Danish water rats swarmed around
each river mouth, seenting treasure from
afar, and by none was the white fash of
their sharp strong teeth more often seen
than by the men Of eastern Anglia and
by none in eastern Anglia more often
than by the watchers on the walls of the
town Of seven towers that once stood
upon the dry land, but which now lies 20
fathoms deep below the waters. Many
a bloody fight waged now without and
now within it's walls OF IL stones thick
ness. Many a groan of dying man.
many a Shrek of murdered woman, many
a wall of mangled child. knocked at the
abbey door npon its way to heaven, call
ing the trembling monks from their beds
to pray for the souls that were passing
by.
But at length peace came to the long
troubled land; Dane and Saxon agreeing
TO dwell in friendship side by side, East
Anglia being wide, and there being room
for both, and all men rejoiced greatly, for
all were weary of a strife in which little
had been gained on either side beyond
hard blows, and their thoughts were of
the ingle nook. So the long bearded
Danes. their thirsty axes harmless on
their backs, passed to and fro in strag-
Cling bands, seeking where, undisturbed
and understanding, they might build their
homes. and thus it came about that Haar-
fager and his company, as the sun was
going down, drew near to the town of
seven towers, that in those days stood on
dry land between the abbey and the sea.
And the men of the town, seeing the
Danes, opened wide their gates, saying:
sWe have fought, but now there is
peace. Enter, and make merry with US,
and tomorrow go your way"
But Haarfager made answer:
Il am an old man; | pray you do not
take my word amiss. There is peace be-
tween US, as you say, and we thank you
for your courtesy. but the stains are still
fresh upon our swords. Let us camp
here without your walls, ard a little
later, when the grass has grown upon the
fields where we have striven and our
young men have had time to forget, we
will make merry together, as men should
who dwell side by side in the same land"
But the men of the town still urged
Haarfager, calling his people neighbors,
and the abbot, who had FASTENED down.
fearing there might be strife, added his
words to theirs. saying:
"Pass in. my children, Let there in
deed be peace between you that the bless
ing of God may be upon the land and
upon both Dane and Saxon" for the alb
bot saw that the .townsmen were well
disposed toward the Danes and knew
that men when they have Toasted and
drunk together think kinder of one an
other
Then answered Haarfager, who knew
the abbot for a holy man:
Hold up your staff, my father, that
the shadow of the cross your people wor-
ship may fall upon our path, SO we will
pass into the town and there shall be
peace between us; for though your gods
are not our gods, faith between man and
man is of all affairs"
And the abbot held his staff aloft be-
tween Haarfager's people and the sun, it
being fashioned in the form of cross.
and under it's shadow the Danes passed
being with them, with the women and
the children, nearly 1000 souls, and the
gates were made fast behind them.
So they who had fought face to face
Toasted side by side, pledging one another
in the wine cup, as was the custom, and
Haarfager's men, knowing themselves
among men. had cast aside their arms,
and when the feast was done, being
weary. they lay down to sleep.
Then an evil voice arose in the town
ard said:
TWho are these that have come among
us to share our land? Are not the stones
of our streets red with the blood of wife
and child that they have slain? Do men
let the wolf go free when they have trap
ped him with meat? Let US fall upon
them now that they are heavy with food
and wine. so that not one among them
shall escape Thus no further harm shall
come to us from them nor from their chill
dren."
And the voice Of evil prevailed and the
men of the town of seven towers fell
upon the Danes with whom they had
broken meat. even to the women and the
little children. and the blood of the peo-
pie of Haarfager cried with loud voice at
the abbey door; through the long night it
cried, saying:
81 trusted in your spoken word.
broke meat with you. | put my faith IN
you and in your God. passed beneath
the shadow of your cross to enter your
doors. Let your God make answer"
Nor was there silence till the dawn.
Then the abbot rose from where he
knelt and called to God saying:
''Thou hast heard. o God; make an
swer.''
And there came great sound from the
sea as though a tongue had been given
to the deep sea, so that the monks fell
upon their knees in fear, but the abbot
answered:
at is the voice of God speaking
through the waters. He hath made an
swer"
And that winter mighty storm rose,
the like of which no man had known be-
fore, for the sea was piled upon the dry
land until the highest tower of the town
of seven towers was not more high, and
the waters moved forward over the dry
land. And the men of the town Of seven
towers fed from the oncoming of the wa
tiers, but the waters overlook them so
that not one of them escaped. And the
town of the seven towers and OF the four
churches and of the many streets and
quays was buried underneath the waters,
and the feet Of the waters still moved till
they came to the hill wherein the abbey
stood. Then the abbot prayed to God
that the waters might be staid, and God
heard, and the sea came no farther.
And that this tale Is true and not
fable made by, the weayeFs Of words DO