"So that several of his foresters follow in his train, eh! is't so?"
"They do; he rides in state, for, as thou knowest, 'tis the pride of the old Pike to be followed by a whole troop. I saw him pass along the road as I lay perdue in the covert. Twenty of his fellows in coat and badge, with green and yellow feathers in their hats,[14] and as many falconers to make up the train."
"And that in truth makes a fair field for us," said Shakespeare. "What say ye, my masters all? Shall we be minions of the moon to-night? Shall we strike a buck at Charlecote?"
To men of the wild and peculiar disposition of the assembled party, nothing could be more pleasant than an excursion of the sort.
A midnight visit to the woodlands was by no means an uncommon circumstance in their lives; but hitherto they had pursued their sport in localities somewhat more removed from the town in which they dwelt. To the bold and imaginative Shakespeare, as his eye glanced into the moonlit orchard, the excursion had charms known only to himself. He had once or twice before watched the deer in the glades of Fulbrook, and he now joined in the expedition heart and hand.
Preparations were accordingly forthwith commenced, and the entire party made themselves ready for an exploit, which in those days, and with such men, was attended with something more of circumstance than in our own.
In the first place, a large closet in the bedchamber of the portly Froth was ransacked for such change of garment as was necessary for pushing through the more thick and tangled cover. Cross-bows and other weapons of the chase were then lugged out, and, amongst other articles, a sort of theatrical dress was produced; and being carefully packed up, was strapped upon the shoulder of Diccon Snare, to be used as occasion might serve.
This latter article of apparel had been purloined from the wardrobe of a company of masquers, who were in the habit of visiting Stratford. It was neither more nor less than the dress of "Mors, or dreary Death," a character then enacting in one of the tedious moral plays of the period.
It was fashioned so as to represent a skeleton; and seen in the woodlands in the night, would be likely to scare a forester out of his wits, and consequently, should the party be molested during their exploit, enables them to escape without collision or discovery.
By the time the party had indued their forest gear, the curfew proclaimed that it was time for them to set out; and once more seating themselves round the board, they arranged their plan of proceedings.