Robin Hood's Barn 



grow mettlesome ? Then would he not rouse him- 

 self from feigned indifference, and choosing 

 so to speak, the leaden casket, give and hazard 

 all he had? And with what clemency and high 

 disdain — I had not decided which — should I be 

 led to spurn my glittering chance. 



Daydreaming I was caught. It was not the 

 scion, but the butler who took flame from my 

 quiet dignity, and stepped forth from the pantry 

 to champion my cause. Had not stout hearts 

 once beat beneath the weight of breastplates? 

 Then why should I suppose his paralyzed to a 

 mechanical inertia by a mere starched front? It 

 was moved kindly from the first by my impris- 

 oned youth. Constant were his little acts of lib- 

 eration. Sometimes a nosegay from the garden 

 where flowers were not to pluck. Sometimes a 

 tidbit from the kitchen where he ruled as Chanti- 

 cleer. Sometimes a shiUing-shocker from the 

 hbrary that circulated below stairs. And all 

 proffered with impassive mien, silently, obse- 

 quiously, with no comment for offense. How 

 should I suspect I had a "follower" even when 

 one day upon a solitary ramble, I heard his hur- 



[i88] 



