Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-13
THE WHITE COMPANY
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.
CHAPTER x.
How Horde John Found Man Whom
He Might Follow.

3
He Might Follow.
If he might not return to Beauleu within
a year. and IL his brothers dogs were TO be
set upon him If he showed face upon Min
stead land, then indeed he was adrift upon
the earth North, south. east and west
he might turn where he would. but all was
equally chill and cherries. The abbot lad
rolled ten silver crowns in a lettuce-leaf,
and hid them away in the bottom OF his
scrip; but that would be a sorry support
for twelve long months. In all the lark
ness there was but the one bright spot of
the sturdy comrades whom he had left that
morning; IL he could find them again, all
would be well. The afternoon was not very
advanced. for all that had befalien him
When a man is afoot at cock-crow, much
may be done in the day. If he walked fast,
he might yet overtalxe his friends, ere they
reached their destination. He pushed on,
therefore. now walking and now running.
AS he journeyed he bit into crust which
remained from his Beaulieu bread, and he
washed 1t down by draught from WOOD
land stream.
1t was no easy or light thing to journey
through this great forest which was some
twenty miles from east to west. and good
sixteen from Bramshaw Woods, In the north,
to Huntington. in the south Alieyne, now
ever had the good fortune to fall IN with
H.,
in the very direction that he wished to 60
With his guidance he passed the fringe OF
Bolderwood Walk, famous for old ash ana
yew, through Mark Ash with its giant beecn
trees and on through the knlghtwood
groves, where the giant oak was already
great tree but only one of many comeiy
brothers. They plodded along together, the
woodman and Alleyne, with little tax on
either side, for their thoughts were as lar
asunder as the poles. The peasants Cos
sip had been of the hunt. of the broken;
of the gray-headed kites that mao
nested in Wood Fidley, and OF the great
boats of Pitts Deep. The clerks mind was
on his brother, on his future-above all, on
this strange, fierce, melting, beauti1ui wo-
man who had broken SO suddenly INTO ms
lle and as suddenly had passed out OF 1t
again. So distract was he, and so ranoom
his answers, that the woodman TOOK 10
whistling and soon branched off upon the
track to Burnley. leaving Aleyne upon the
main Christchurch road.
Down this he pushed as fast as he might,
hoping at every turn and rise to eaten slghl
of his companions of the morning. From
Vinney Ridge to Rhinefield Walk the WOODS
grow thick and dense up to the very edges
of the track, but beyond the country opens
up into broad, dun-colored moors, hecked
with dumps of trees, and topping one an
other in long, low curves up to the dark
lines of forest in the furthest distance.
Clouds of insects danced and buzzed i'll the
golden autumn light, and the air was fuii
of the piping of the song BIRDS. Long,
glinting dragon-fiies shot across the path,
or hung tremuous with gauzy wings and
cleaning bodies Once whlte-necked sea-
eagle scared screaming high over the trav-
elers head. and again flock or brown pus-
tardss popped up from among the bracken,
and blundered away in their clumsy fash
ion, half running, half flying, with strident
cry and whir of wings.
There were folk, too, to be met upon the
road, beggars and couriers, chapmen ard
tinkers-cheery fellows, for the most part,
with a rough jest and homely greeting for
one another and for Alleyne. Near Shot
wood he came upon five seamen, on their
way from Poole to Southampton-rude red
faced men, who shouted at him in a jargon
which he could scarce understand and held
out to him great pot from which they had
been drinking-nor would they let him pass
until he had dipped pannikin in and taken
a mouthful which set him coughing and
choking, with the tears running down his
cheeks Further on he met sturdy, black
bearded man, mounted on brown horse,
with a rosary in his right hand and a long.
wo-handed sword janglfng against his STIR
rup-iron. By his black robe and the eight
pointed cross upon his sleeve Alleyne rec
ognized him one of the Knights Hospi-
tallers of St John of Jerusalem, whose pres
bvtery was at Baddesley. He held up two
fingers as he passed, with "Benedice, file
meusr whereat Alleyne DOTTED his hat and
bent knee. looking with much reverence at
one who had devoted his life to the over
throw of the infidel. Poor, simple ladi he
had not learned yet that what men are and
what men profess to be are very wide asun-
der and that the Knights of st. John, hav-
ing come into large part of the riches of
the Inflated Templars, were very much too
comfortable to think of exchanging their
palace for tent, or the cellars of England
for the thirsty deserts of Syria. Yet ignor-
ance may be more precious than wisdom
for IAlleyne, he walked on, braced him
self to a higher life by the thought of this
others sacrifice, and strengthened himself
Nv his ayamnlp which he could have
done had he known that the Hospitallers
mind ran more upon malmsey than on
Mamalukes, and on venison rather than
victories.
AS he pressed on the plain turned to
woods once more in the region of Wilverley
Walk. and cloud swept up from the south,
with the sun shining through the chinks of
it. A few great drops came paatering
loudly down, and then in a moment the
steady swish of a brisk shower, with the
dripping and dropping of the leaves. AL
leyne, glancins round for shelter. saw
thick and lofty holly bush, so followed out
beneath that no house could have been
dryer. Under this canopy of green two
men were already squatted, who waved
their hands to Alleyne that he should join
them. AS he approached he saw that they
had five dried behring's laid out in front of
them, with a great bunch of wheaton bread
and a leather flask full of milk; but instead
of setting to at their food they appeared to
have forgotten all about 1t, and were dis
putting together, with flushed faces and
angry gestures. 1t was easy to see by their
dress and manner that they were two of
those wandering students who formed about
this time so enormous a multitude in every
country in Europe The one was long and
thin with melancholy features while the
other was fat and sleek, with loud voice
and the air of man who is not to be gain
said
Come. hither, good youth" he cried
come hitheri Vultus ingenui puer. Heed
not the face of my good coz here. Foenum
habet in cornu. as Dan Horace has it; but
warrant him harmless, for all that"
stint your bulls bellowing!' exclaimed
the other IF it come to Horace, l have a
line in my mind: Loquaces ST sapiat-.
How doth it run? The English OF being
that man of sense should ever avoid a
great talker. That being So if all were men
of sense, then thou wouldst be lonesome
man. coz"
Alas! Dicon, I fear that your logic is as
bad as your philosophy or your divinity
and God wot. 1t would be hard to saw a
worse word than that for it. For, bark We:
granting, propter argumentum, that I am
a talker. then the true reasoning runs that
since all men of sense should avoid
me, and thou hast not avoided me.
but art at the present moment eating
herrings with me under a holly bush. ergo,
you are no man of sense which is exactly
what l have been DINING into your long
al re ave ci I fi,ot oil,