Читать книгу Sir Knight of the Splendid Way - William Edward Cule - Страница 8

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THE traveller who met Sir Constant on the morning of that day was plain of dress and humble of mien. He bore the marks of labour, and was clearly one who knew the traffic of toil and the company of lowly folk; yet he wore his simple garb with grace, and there was dignity in his bearing. When Sir Constant greeted him he answered courteously.

“I see the badge of the Great King’s Service,” said the knight. “That Service is mine also. Shall we then journey together?”

“Surely,” said the Traveller. “Glad am I to walk with those who will walk with me.”

They went on together, and kept that companionship for the whole of the day. The stranger told the knight that he was a Carpenter, and that he often came a day’s journey on that road. Moreover, he knew the road well, for he had companied many travellers who had passed that way to the City of the Great King. Some of their names he knew, for he kept them in his heart; and when Sir Constant questioned him he spoke gently of them, giving due honour to their valiant deeds and noble worth. Nor had our knight met any man who could speak of the Great King as this man spoke, or whose words bore so much of the music of hope and faith and courage. Nay, so greatly was he stirred in heart that he saw not the lowliness of the stranger’s garb nor the marks of toil upon his hands.

“Truly,” he cried, “this is a day of joy for me. Promise now that we shall travel together as far as thy course may lie with mine.”

Then the Carpenter, smiling, looked into his face. “It is for thee to say, Sir Knight,” he answered. “I will not leave thee if thou leave not me.”

Sir Constant laughed in his gladness, and lightly promised. He found so great joy in the company of the stranger that the hours passed speedily, but there was more than joy in his heart. This humble traveller was wise in the counsels of the King, and held a rich treasure of noble thoughts; and as the day sped, it seemed to our good knight that this journey was as another which two men had taken long ago. One who seemed a stranger had joined them unawares, and by his words had made their hearts burn within them. In the evening he had sat at meat with them, and suddenly they had known him for the beloved Master whom they had lost. “Such a power has this Carpenter,” mused the knight. “It may be that we shall rest for the night together; for he will not leave me as that stranger left his friends.”

It was not thus that the night was spent. At sunset they drew near the end of the day’s journey, and it was then that the stranger said: “A little way and we reach the cottage of a woodman who is known to me. If his home is not too humble, Sir Knight, it will hold a welcome for thee.”

Sir Constant smiled at the thought, but ere the smile had left his lips the words were almost forgotten. For beside the road he saw a lordly gate, and at the gate two squires, standing and waiting. Beyond the gate in a spacious park stood a palace of marble, shaded by lofty trees and surrounded by beds of costly flowers. And even as he looked and wondered, the squires came forward and addressed him courteously.

“Fair knight,” said one, “my lord, Sir Joyous, sets us here to greet and welcome any knight of the King’s Service. He would claim thee as his guest.”

“Where many of the Service have found rest and pleasure,” said the other. “See, our lord comes to welcome thee.”

The knight looked, and saw a man of noble mien coming down to the gate. “Is not this a place where we may rest?” he asked of his friend of the day. “Let us go in.”

“The welcome is for thee only,” answered the Carpenter. “Me they have not asked.”

Now the knight saw that this was so, and for the moment he was confused. Swiftly he remembered that this man was but a Carpenter, despite his gracious speech and gentle courtesy. In that instant the squires led him within the gate to meet their master.

Sir Joyous was courteous and gracious, richly clad and of a generous hospitality. He begged that the knight would honour his house, where he should meet with none but friends: for it was his joy, he said, to serve and shelter the King’s knights. But when Sir Constant looked back to the gate, and spoke haltingly of his companion, this lord was filled with surprise.

“Is that a friend of thine?” he said. “Perchance he joined thee on the journey? He is a good fellow, but a Carpenter, and visits a certain woodman whose cottage stands a short space along the road. It is there that he will spend the night, but that is surely no place for thee. We have a knightlier lodging here.”

Now those words worked so powerfully that our knight forgot his promise of the morning, and was almost ashamed that he should have companied with one so humble. Nor had he time to see the baseness of his thought, for Sir Joyous took his arm to lead him, and at the same time there came from the palace the sound of ravishing music. So he suffered himself to be led, though more reluctant than willing: and when he once glanced behind he saw the Carpenter, with down-bent head, moving sorrowfully away from the gates.