Philip Augustus; or, The Brothers in Arms

by G. P. R. James

"Thou'lt never serve him more, fool!" cried Jodelle, his eyes gleaming with sanguinary satisfaction; "I have paid him, too, for the blow he gave me--and for more things than that! His head is off by this time, juggler! I heard the order given myself--ay, and I caused that order. Ha! canst thou do a feat like that?"

"Haw, haw! Haw, haw, haw!" screamed Gallon, wriggling his snout hither and thither, and holding his sides with laughter. "Haw, haw! thou dolt! thou ass! thou block! thou stump of an old tree! By the Lord! thou must be a wit after all, to invent such a piece of uncommon stupidity.--Haw, haw, haw! Haw, haw! Didst thou think, that I would have furnished thee with a good tale against the Coucy, and given thee means of speech with the chancellor himself, without taking care to get the cow-killing, hammer-fisted homicide out of the way first?--Haw, haw! thou idiot. Haw, haw, haw!--Lord! what an ass a coterel is!--Haw, haw, haw!"

"Not such an ass as thou dreamest, fiend!" muttered Jodelle, setting his teeth close, and almost resolved to aim a blow with his dagger at the juggler as he rode beside him. But Gallon had always one of his eyes, at least, fixed upon his companion; and, in truth, Jodelle had seen so much of his extraordinary activity and strength that he held Gallon in some dread, and scarcely dared to close with him in fair and equal fight. He had smothered his vengeance for long, however, and he had no inclination to delay it much longer, as the worthy Brabançois had more reasons than one for resolving to rid himself of the society of a person so little trustworthy as Gallon, in the most summary manner possible--but the only question was how to take him at a disadvantage.

For this purpose, it was necessary to cover every appearance of wrath, that the juggler might be thrown off his guard. Jodelle smoothed his brow therefore, and, after a moment, affected to join in Gallon's laugh. "Thou art a cunning dealer!" said he--"thou art a cunning dealer, sir Gallon! But, in troth, I should like to know how thou didst contrive to beguile this De Coucy away from the army, as thou sayest, at such a moment."

"Haw, haw!" cried Gallon--"haw, haw! 'Twas no hard work. How dost thou catch a sparrow, sire Jodelle? Is it not by spreading out some crumbs? Well, by the holy rood! as he says himself, I sent him a goose's errand all the way down the river, to reconnoitre a party of men whom I made Ermold the page, make Hugo the squire, make Coucy the knight, believe were going to take the king's host on the flank!--Haw, haw! Oh rare!"

"By St. Peter! thou hast betrayed what I told thee when we were drinking two nights since," cried Jodelle. "Fool! thou wilt have my dagger in thee if thou heedest not!"

"Oh rare!" shouted Gallon, "Oh rare! What then, did I tell the Coucy true, when I said Count Julian of the Mount, and William de la Roche Guyon, were there with ten thousand men?--Haw, haw! did I tell him true, coterel? Talk not to me of daggers, lout, or I'll drive mine in under thy fifth rib, and leave thee as dead as a horse's bones on a common. Haw, haw! I thought the Coucy would have gone down with all the men of Tankerville, and have chined me that fair-faced coward, that once fingered this great monument of my beauty;" and he laid his finger on his long unnatural snout, with so mingled an expression of face, that it was difficult to decide whether he spoke in vanity or mockery. "But he only went down to reconnoitre," added the juggler. "The great ninny! he might have swallowed father and lover up at a mouthful, and then married the heiress if he had liked! And he calls me fool, too! Oh rare!--But where art thou going, beau sire Jodelle? I saw all your army a-foot before I left them to come after you; and I dreamed that they were going to cut off the king at the passage by Bovines; and doubtless thou art bearer of an order to Sir Julian, and Count William, with the Duke of Limburg and the men of Ardennes, to take him in the rear. Haw, haw! there will be fine smashing of bones, and hacking of flesh. I must be there to have the picking of the dead men."

Thus ran on Gallon, rambling from subject to subject, but withal betraying so clear a knowledge of all the plans of the imperial army, that Jodelle believed his information to be little less than magical; though indeed Gallon was indebted for it to strolling amongst the tents of the Germans the night before, and catching here and there, while he amused the knights and squires with his tricks of jonglerie, all the rumours that were afloat concerning the movements of the next day. From these, with a happiness that madness sometimes has, he jumped at conclusions, which many a wiser brain would have missed, and, like a blind man stumbling on a treasure, hit by accident upon the exact truth.

As his conversation with Jodelle arrived at this particular point, the road which they were pursuing opened out upon a little irregular piece of ground, bisected by another by-path, equally ornamented by high rough banks. Nevertheless, neither of these roads traversed the centre of the little green or common; the one which the travellers were pursuing skirting along the side, under the sort of cliff by which it was flanked, and the other edging the opposite extreme. At the intersection of the paths, however, on the very top of the farther bank, stood a tall elm tree, which Gallon measured with his eye as they approached.

"Haw, haw!" cried he, delighting in every recollection that might prove unpleasant to his neighbours.--"Haw, haw! Beau sire Jodelle! Monstrous like the tree on which they were going to hang you, near the Pont de l'Arche! Haw, haw, haw! The time when you were like to be hanged, and I saved you--you remember?"