the mud, but I saw well that if the evil thing
remained, or if even the hope of finding it remained, the King would not
sign the New Laws, and the land would perish.'

'Oh, Marvel!' said Puck, beneath his breath, rustling in the dead leaves.

'When the boat was loaded I washed my hands seven times, and pared beneath
my nails, for I would not keep one grain. I went out by the little gate
where the Castle's refuse is thrown. I dared not hoist sail lest men
should see me; but the Lord commanded the tide to bear me carefully, and I
was far from land before the morning.'

'Weren't you afraid?' said Una.

'Why? There were no Christians in the boat. At sunrise I made my prayer,
and cast the gold--all--all that gold into the deep sea! A King's ransom--no,
the ransom of a People! When I had loosed hold of the last bars, the Lord
commanded the tide to return me to a haven at the mouth of a river, and
thence I walked across a wilderness to Lewes, where I have brethren. They
opened the door to me, and they say--I had not eaten for two days--they say
that I fell across the threshold, crying, "I have sunk an army with
horsemen in the sea!"'

'But you hadn't,' said Una. 'Oh, yes! I see! You meant that King John
might have spent it on that?'

'Even so,' said Kadmiel.

The firing broke out again close behind them. The pheasants poured over
the top of a belt of tall firs. They could see young Mr. Meyer, in his new
yellow gaiters, very busy and excited at the end of the line, and they
could hear the thud of the falling birds.

'But what did Elias of Bury do?' Puck demanded. 'He had promised money to
the King.'

Kadmiel smiled grimly. 'I sent him word from London that the Lord was on
my side. When he heard that the Plague had broken out in Pevensey, and
that a Jew had been thrust into the Castle to cure it, he understood my
word was true. He and Adah hurried to Lewes and asked me for an
accounting. He still looked on the gold as his own. I told them where I
had laid it, and I gave them full leave to pick it up.... Eh, well! The
curses of a fool and the dust of a journey are two things no wise man can
escape.... But I pitied Elias! The King was wroth at him because he could
not lend; the Barons were wroth at him because they heard that he would
have lent to the King; and Adah was wroth at him because she was an odious
woman. They took ship from Lewes to Spain. That was wise!'

'And you? Did you see the signing of the Law at Runn