Citation and Examination of William Shakspeare | Page 9

look again! Christ deliver us! all the
shadows save one go leftward; that one lieth right upon the river. It
seemeth a big, squat monster, shaking a little, as one ready to spring
upon its prey!'"
SIR THOMAS.
"A dead man in his last agonies, no doubt! Your deer-stealer doth
boggle at nothing. He hath alway the knife in doublet and the devil at
elbow.
"I wot not of any keeper killed or missing. To lose one's deer and
keeper too were overmuch.
"Do, in God's merciful name, hand unto me a glass of sack, Master
Silas! I wax faintish at the big, squat man. He hath harmed not only me,
but mine. Furthermore, the examination is grown so long."
Then was the wine delivered by Sir Silas into the hand of his worship,
who drank it off in a beaker of about half a pint,--but little to his
satisfaction, for he said shortly afterward, -
"Hast thou poured no water into the sack, good Master Silas? It
seemeth weaker and washier than ordinary, and affordeth small comfort
unto the breast and stomach."
"Not I, truly, sir," replied Master Silas "and the bottle is a fresh and
sound one. The cork reported on drawing, as the best diver doth on
sousing from Warwick bridge into Avon. A rare cork! as bright as the
glass bottle, and as smooth as the lips of any cow."
SIR THOMAS.
"My mouth is out of taste this morning; or the same wine, mayhap, hath
a different force and flavor in the dining-room and among friends. But
to business--what more?"
"Euseby Treen, what may it be?" said I.
"I know," quoth he, "but dare not breathe it."
SIR THOMAS.
"I thought I had taken a glass of wine, verily. Attention to my duty as a

magistrate is paramount. I mind nothing else when that lies before me.
"Carnaby! I credit thy honesty, but doubt thy manhood. Why not
breathe it, with a vengeance?"
JOSEPH CARNABY.
"It was Euseby who dared not."
SIR THOMAS.
"Stand still! Say nothing yet; mind my orders. Fair and softly! compose
thyself."
They all stood silent for some time, and looked very composed,
awaiting the commands of the knight. His mind was clearly in such a
state of devotion that peradventure he might not have descended for a
while longer to his mundane duties, had not Master Silas told him that,
under the shadow of his wing, their courage had returned and they were
quite composed again.
"You may proceed," said the knight.
JOSEPH CARNABY.
"Master Treen did take off his cap and wipe his forehead. I, for the sake
of comforting him in this his heaviness, placed my hand upon his
crown; and truly I might have taken it for a tuft of bents, the hair on
end, the skin immovable as God's earth!"
Sir Thomas, hearing these words, lifted up his hands above his own
head, and in the loudest voice he had yet uttered did he cry, -
"Wonderful are thy ways in Israel, O Lord!"
So saying, the pious knight did strike his knee with the palm of his
right hand; and then gave he a sign, bowing his head and closing his
eyes, by which Master Carnaby did think he signified his pleasure that
he should go on deposing. And he went on thus:-
JOSEPH CARNABY.
"At this moment one of the accomplices cried, 'Willy! Willy! prithee
stop! enough in all conscience! First thou divertedst us from our
undertaking with thy strange vagaries, thy Italian girls' nursery sigh, thy
Pucks and pinchings, and thy Windsor whimsies. No kitten upon a bed
of marum ever played such antics. It was summer and winter, night and
day with us within the hour; and in such religion did we think and feel
it, we would have broken the man's jaw who gainsaid it. We have slept
with thee under the oaks in the ancient forest of Arden, and we have
wakened from our sleep in the tempest far at sea. {29a} Now art thou

for frightening us again out of all the senses thou hadst given us, with
witches and women more murderous than they.'
"Then followed a deeper voice: 'Stouter men and more resolute are few;
but thou, my lad, hast words too weighty for flesh and bones to bear up
against. And who knows but these creatures may pop amongst us at last,
as the wolf did, sure enough, upon him, the noisy rogue, who so long
had been crying WOLF! and WOLF!
SIR THOMAS.
"Well spoken, for two thieves; albeit I miss the meaning of the most
part. Did they prevail with the scapegrace and stop him?"
JOSEPH CARNABY.
"The last who had spoken did slap him on the shoulder, saying, 'Jump
into the punt, lad, and across.'