Gathering of Brother Hilarius Part 10

"Nay, he was not my husband, but these are his children, his and mine. Some hold 'tis a sin to live thus, and perhaps because of it this evil hath fallen upon me."

She looked at the babe lying on her lap, its waxen face drawn and shrunk with the stress of its short life.

Hilarius spoke gently:-

"It is indeed a grievous sin against G.o.d and His Church to live together out of holy wedlock, and perchance 'tis true that for this very thing thou hast been afflicted, even as David the great King.

But since thou didst sin ignorantly the Lord in His mercy sent me to serve thee in thy sore need; ay, and in very truth, Our Lady herself showed me where the coney lay snared. Let us pray G.o.d by His dear Mother to forgive us our sins and to have mercy on these little ones."

And kneeling there in the firelight he besought the great Father for his new-found family.

Five days pa.s.sed, and despite extreme care victuals were short.

Hilarius dug up roots from the hedgerows, and went hungry, but at last the pinch came; the woman was too weak and ill to walk, the babe scarce in life--there could be no thought of flight--and the little maid grew white, and wan and silent. Then it came to Hilarius that he would once again beg food in the village where he had sought help before.

He went slowly, for he had eaten little that his maid might be the better fed, and he was very sad. When he reached the village he found his errand like to be vain. News of the Plague was coming from many parts, and each man feared for his own skin. At every house they questioned him: "Art thou from a hamlet where the Plague hath been?" and when he answered "Yea," the door was shut.

Very soon men, angry and afraid, came to drive him from the place.

He gained the village cross, and prayed them for love of the Saviour and His holy Rood to give him bread for his little maid and her mother. Let them set it in the street, he would take it and cross no man's threshold. Surely they could not; for shame, let a little child die of want?

"Nay, 'tis better they die, so are we safe," cried a voice; then they fell upon him and beat him, and drove him from the village with blows and curses.

Bruised and panting, he ran from them, and at last the chase ceased; breathless and exhausted he flung himself under a hedge.

A hawk swooped, struck near him, and rose again with its prey.

Hilarius shuddered; but perhaps the hawk had nestlings waiting open-mouthed for food? His little maid! His eyes filled with tears as he thought of those who awaited him. He picked up a stone, and watched if perchance a coney might show itself. He had never killed, but were not his nestlings agape?

Nothing stirred, but along the road came a waggon of strange shape and gaily painted.

He rose to his feet, praying the great Mother to send him help in his awful need.

The waggon drew near; the driver sat asleep upon the shaft, the horse took his own pace. It pa.s.sed him before he could pluck up heart to ask an alms, and from the back dangled a small sack and a hen. If he begged and was refused his little maid must die. A minute later the sack and the hen had changed owners--but not un.o.bserved; a clear voice called a halt; the waggon stood fast; two figures sprang out, a girl and a boy: and Hilarius stood before them on the white highway--a thief.

"Seize the knave!" cried the girl sharply.

Hilarius stared at her and she at him. It was his dancer, and she knew him, ay, despite the change of dress and scene, she knew him.

"What! The worthy novice turned worldling and thief! Nay, 'tis a rare jest. What of thy fine sermons now, good preacher?"

But Hilarius answered never a word; overcome by shame, grief, and hunger, sudden darkness fell upon him.

When he came to himself he was sitting propped against the hedge; the waggon was drawn up by the roadside, and the dancer and her brother stood watching him.

"Fetch bread and wine," said the girl, and to Hilarius who tried to speak, "Peace, 'til thou hast eaten."

Hilarius ate eagerly, and when he had made an end the dancer said:-

"Now tell thy tale. Prithee, since when didst thou leave thy Saints and thy nursery for such an ill trade as this?"

Hilarius told her all, and when he had finished he wept because of his little maid, and his were not the only tears.

The dancer went to the waggon and came back with much food taken from her store, to which she added the hen; the sack held but fodder.

"But, Gia," grumbled her brother, "there will be naught for us to- night."

"Thou canst eat bread, or else go hungry," she retorted, and filled a small sack with the victuals.

Hilarius watched her, hardly daring to hope. She held it out to him: "Now up and off to thy little maid."

Hilarius took the sack, but only to lay it down again. Kneeling, he took both her little brown hands, and his tears fell fast as he kissed them.

"Maid, maid, canst forgive my theft, ay, and my hard words in the forest? G.o.d help me for a poor, blind fool!"

"Nay," she answered, "there is naught to forgive; and see, thou hast learnt to hunger and to love! Farewell, little brother, we pa.s.s here again a fortnight hence, and I would fain have word of thy little maid. Ay, and shouldst thou need a home for her, bring her to us; my old grandam is in the other waggon and she will care for her."

Hilarius ran across the fields, full of sorrow for his sin, and yet greatly glad because of the wonderful goodness of G.o.d.

When he got back his little maid sat alone by the fire. He hastened to make food ready, but the child was far spent and would scarcely eat. Then he went out to find the woman.

He saw her standing in the doorway of an empty hovel, and she cried to him to keep back.

"My babe is dead, and I feel the sickness on me. I went to the houses seeking meal, even to Gammer Harden's; and I must die. As for thee, thou shalt not come near me, but bide with the child; so maybe G.o.d will spare the innocent."

Hilarius besought her long that she would at least suffer him to bring her food, but she would not.

"Nay, I could not eat, the fever burns in my bones; let me alone that I may die the sooner."

Hilarius went back with a heavy heart, and lay that night with the little maid in his arms on the settle by the hearth. Despite his fear he slept heavily and late: when he rose the sun was high and the child awake.

He fed her, and, bidding her bide within, went out to gain tidings of the poor mother. He called, but no one answered; and the door of the hovel in which she had taken shelter stood wide. Then, as he searched the fields, fearing the fever had driven her abroad, he saw the flutter of garments in a ditch; and lo! there lay the woman, dead, with her dead babe on her breast. She had lain down to die alone with G.o.d in the silence, that haply the living might escape; and on her face was peace.

Later, Hilarius laid green boughs tenderly over mother and babe, and covered them with earth, saying many prayers. Then he went back to his fatherless, motherless maid.

She ailed naught that he could see, and there was food and to spare; but each day saw her paler and thinner, until at last she could not even sit, but lay white and silent in Hilarius' tender arms; and he fought with death for his little maid.

Then on a day she would take no food, and when Hilarius put tiny morsels in her mouth she could not swallow; and so he sat through the long hours, his little maid in his arms, with no thought beside. The darkness came, and he waited wide-eyed, praying for the dawn. When the new day broke and the east was pale with light he carried the child out that he might see her, for a dreadful fear possessed him. And it came to pa.s.s that when the light kissed her little white face she opened her eyes and smiled at Hilarius, and so smiling, died.

The dancer, true to her promise, scanned the road as the waggon drew near the place of Hilarius' first and last theft: he was standing by the wayside alone. The waggon pa.s.sed on carrying him with it; and the dancer looked but once on his face and asked no question.

PART III--THE FRUIT

CHAPTER I--HOW LONG, O LORD, HOW LONG!