The devil had brought us to.
By Isaac understand I may
Jesus Who was obedient ay,
His Father’s will to work alway,
His death to undergo.”
VII
The Shepherds’ Play
Many were the exclamations of wonder and delight at the performance, and many the congratulations to the parents of the little actor, when The Sacrifice of Isaac passed on its way to the next halting-place. Indeed so excited and talkative were the guests at the house of Master Harpham, that the four following pageants received little attention from them.
“The poor child will be worn out before evening comes!” declared the women again and again, and Giles’ mother agreed. “Though he so loves playing,” she said, “that I don’t think he feels the fatigue as much as one might imagine. I know who will be worn out, though!” she exclaimed, turning to Mistress Short. “Your little ones ought to go and rest awhile. It’s altogether too long a day for them.”
Colin and Margery protested, but their mother was firm, and they were obliged to follow her to Mistress Harpham’s guest-room, the grandest they had ever seen, where Margery was placed on the big four-posted bed of oak, and Colin, grumbling a great deal, was forced to lie down on a little truckle-bed at its foot.
“You’ll be all the fresher, and enjoy the plays all the better for a bit of a sleep,” Mistress Harpham assured them. “And you shall be called in time for the Shepherds’ play—that I promise you.”