Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-13

1
what sort of an up-bringing Is that?'
Quoth Alleyne
Come. Brother Stephen. ne hath some
tincture of letters" said the melancholy
man. more hopefully HE may be the bet
ter judge, since he hath no call TO side
with either OF u.s. Now, attention. friend.
ana let your ears work as well as your
neither jaw. Judex. Damnatur-you know
| the Old saw. Here am l upholding the
good fame of the learned Duns scotus
against the foolish quibblings and poor
silly rsasoniilgs OF Willie Ockham''
while l, rcoth the otner, loudly ..do
maintain the good sense and extraordinary
wisdom of that most learned William
| against the crack-brained fantasies of the
muddy Scotchman, who hath hid such lit
| tie wit as he has under so vast pile of
words. that it is like one drop of Gascony
| in frkin of ditch-water Solomon his
| wisdom would not suffice to say what the
rogue means"
| "Certes. Stephen Hapgood. his wisdom
| doth not suffice, cried the other. II; is as
though mole cried out against the morn
ing star, because he could not see 1t. But
our dispute, friend is concerning the nature
OF that subtle essence which we call
thought For / hold with the learned
Seotps that thought is in very truth a
thing, even as vapor or fumes. many
other substances which our gross bodily
eyes are blind TO. For, look you. that which
produces thing must be itself thing,
and If mans thought may produce
written book, then must thought itself be
material thing. even as the book Is Have
l expressed 1t? Do make ii plain?''
Whereas / hold" shouted the other
with my revered preceptor, doctor pre-
clarus ct excelentissimus, that all things
are but thought, for when thought is gone.
l prithee where are the things then? Here
are trees about us. and / see them because
think | see them, but If 1 have swooned,
| or sleep or am in wine, then, my thought
having gone forth from me, 10! the trees
go forth also. How now, coz; have
touched thee on the raw?'
Alleyne sat between them. munching his
bread, while the twain disputed across his
| knees. leaning forward with flushed faces
and darling hands, in all the heat of argu-
ment. Never had he heard such jargon of
scholastic philosophy, such fine-drawn dis
tinctionS, such croSs-fire of major and
minor, proposition, sylogism attack and
refutation. Question clattered upon answer
like sword on a buckler. The ancients.
the fathers of the church, the moderns, the
Scriptures. the Arahians. were each sent
hurting against one another, while the rain
still dripped and the dark holly-leaves
glistened with the moisture. At last tbs
fat man seemed to weary of it, for he set
to work quietly upon his meal, while his
opponent. as proud the rooster who is
left unchallenged upon the hidden, crowed
away in last long burst of quotation and
deduction. Suddenly however. his eyes
dropped upon his food, and he gave a howl
of disrnay.
You double thief.' he cried; you have
| eaten my behring's, and / without bite or
sup since morning
That" quoth the other complacently,
twas my final argument, my crowning eff
fort, or peroratia, as the orators have it.
For coz, since all thoughts are things, you
have but to think a pair of behring's, and
then conjure up bottle of milk wherewith
to wash them down."
"A brave piece of reasoning" cried the
other land / know of but one reply 10 it,
On which, leaning forward, he caught his
conn ade rousing smack across his rosy
| cheek. Nay. take 1t not amiss.'' he said.
al NJ nrn hYtf thn,, rhr f,a,r
that also is but thought, and may be dis
| regarded
This last argument. however. by no
means commended itself to the pupil of
Ockham who plucked a great stick from
the ground and signified his dissent by
sr1itlng the realist over the pate with il.
By good fortune, the wood was light
and rotten that 1t went to thousand
splinters; but A1leyne thought it best 10
leave the twain to settle the matter at
their leisure, the more so as the sun was
shining brightly once more. Looking back
down the pool-strewn road, he saw the two
excited philosophers waving their hands
and shouting at each other, but their bah
bic soon became a mere drone in the dis
lance, and turn in the road hid them
from his sight.
And now, after passing Holmesey Walk
and the Wooten Heath, the forest began
to shred out into scattered belts of trees,
with CLEAN of corn-field and stretch of
pasture-land between. Here and there by
the way-s.de stood little knots of waffle
and-daub huts. with shock-haired laborers
lounging by the doors, and red-cheeked
children sprawing in the roadway. Back
among the groves he could the high
gable-endc and matched roofs of the frank
Inns houses, on whose fields these men
found employ ment, or more often thick,
dark column of smoke marked their posi-
ton and limited at the coarse plenty with
in. BY these signs Alleyne knew that he
was on the very fringe of the forest. and
therefore, no great way from Christ
church. The sun was lying low in the
west and shooting its level rays across the
long sweep of rich green country, glinting
on the white-feeced sheep. and throwing
long shadows from the red kline who waded
knee-deep in the juicy clover. Right glad
was the traveller to see the high tower of
Christchurch Priory cleaning in the mel
low evening light, and gladder still when,
on rounding a corner, he came upon his
comrades of the morning, seated astraddle
upon fallen tree. They had fiat space
before them, on which they alternately
threw little square pieces of bone, and Were
so intent upon their occupation that they
never raised eye as he approached them.
He observed with establishment, as he drew
near that the archer's bow was on Johns
back. the archers sword by Johns side,
and the steel cap laid upon the tree-trunk
between them.
Mort de ma viev Awkward shouted
looking down at the dice Never had l
such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones!
l have not thrown a good main since l left
Navarro. A one and three, En- avant,
-Four and three cried Horde John,
counting on his great fingers that makes
seven. Ho, archer, l have thy cap! Now
have at thee for thy jerkin!'
Mon Dieui' he growled, II like to
reach Christchurch in my shirt" Then,
suddenly glancing up, 'Hola, by the SPLEEN
dor of heaven, here is our cher petit. Now
by my ten finger bones this is a rare sight
to mine eyes"
He sprung up and threw his arms round
Aleynes neck, while John no less pleased,
but more backward and Saxon in his hab-
its, stood grinning and bobbing by the
wayside, with his newly steel cap
stuck wrong side foremost upon his tangle
of red hair.
Hast come to stop?' cried the bow
man, patting Alleyne all over in his de-
light. Shall not get away from us again!'
Il wish no better said he. with q pring-
ling in the eyes at this hearty greeting.
We'll said. lad!'' cried big John. I'VE
three shall to the wars together. and the
devil may fly away with the Abbot of
Beaulieu! But your feet and hosen are all
besmudged. Hast been in the water. or I
am the more mistaken.
81 have, in good sooth," Alleyne an
Swered, and then. as they j0urneyed on