"Why does Mrs.Yeobright give parties of this sort?"Eustacia asked, a little surprised to hear merriment so pronounced.
"It is not one of her bettermost parlour-parties.She's asked the plain neighbours and workpeople without drawing any lines, just to give 'em a good supper and such like.
Her son and she wait upon the folks."
"I see," said Eustacia.
"'Tis the last strain, I think," said Saint George, with his ear to the panel."A young man and woman have just swung into this corner, and he's saying to her, 'Ah, the pity; 'tis over for us this time, my own.'""Thank God," said the Turkish Knight, stamping, and taking from the wall the conventional lance that each of the mummers carried.Her boots being thinner than those of the young men, the hoar had damped her feet and made them cold.
"Upon my song 'tis another ten minutes for us,"said the Valiant Soldier, looking through the keyhole as the tune modulated into another without stopping.
"Grandfer Cantle is standing in this corner, waiting his turn.""'Twon't be long; 'tis a six-handed reel," said the Doctor.
"Why not go in, dancing or no? They sent for us,"said the Saracen.
"Certainly not," said Eustacia authoritatively, as she paced smartly up and down from door to gate to warm herself.
"We should burst into the middle of them and stop the dance, and that would be unmannerly.""He thinks himself somebody because he has had a bit more schooling than we," said the Doctor.
"You may go to the deuce!" said Eustacia.
There was a whispered conversation between three or four of them, and one turned to her.
"Will you tell us one thing?" he said, not without gentleness.
"Be you Miss Vye? We think you must be.""You may think what you like," said Eustacia slowly.
"But honourable lads will not tell tales upon a lady.""We'll say nothing, miss.That's upon our honour.""Thank you," she replied.
At this moment the fiddles finished off with a screech, and the serpent emitted a last note that nearly lifted the roof.When, from the comparative quiet within, the mummers judged that the dancers had taken their seats, Father Christmas advanced, lifted the latch, and put his head inside the door.
"Ah, the mummers, the mummers!" cried several guests at once.
"Clear a space for the mummers."
Humpbacked Father Christmas then made a complete entry, swinging his huge club, and in a general way clearing the stage for the actors proper, while he informed the company in smart verse that he was come, welcome or welcome not;concluding his speech with "Make room, make room, my gallant boys, And give us space to rhyme;We've come to show Saint George's play, Upon this Christmas time."The guests were now arranging themselves at one end of the room, the fiddler was mending a string, the serpent-player was emptying his mouthpiece, and the play began.
First of those outside the Valiant Soldier entered, in the interest of Saint George--"Here come I, the Valiant Soldier;
Slasher is my name";
and so on.This speech concluded with a challenge to the infidel, at the end of which it was Eustacia's duty to enter as the Turkish Knight.She, with the rest who were not yet on, had hitherto remained in the moonlight which streamed under the porch.
With no apparent effort or backwardness she came in, beginning--"Here come I, a Turkish Knight, Who learnt in Turkish land to fight;I'll fight this man with courage bold:
If his blood's hot I'll make it cold!"
During her declamation Eustacia held her head erect, and spoke as roughly as she could, feeling pretty secure from observation.But the concentration upon her part necessary to prevent discovery, the newness of the scene, the shine of the candles, and the confusing effect upon her vision of the ribboned visor which hid her features, left her absolutely unable to perceive who were present as spectators.On the further side of a table bearing candles she could faintly discern faces, and that was all.
Meanwhile Jim Starks as the Valiant Soldier had come forward, and, with a glare upon the Turk, replied--"If, then, thou art that Turkish Knight, Draw out thy sword, and let us fight!"And fight they did; the issue of the combat being that the Valiant Soldier was slain by a preternaturally inadequate thrust from Eustacia, Jim, in his ardour for genuine histrionic art, coming down like a log upon the stone floor with force enough to dislocate his shoulder.
Then, after more words from the Turkish Knight, rather too faintly delivered, and statements that he'd fight Saint George and all his crew, Saint George himself magnificently entered with the well-known flourish--"Here come I, Saint George, the valiant man, With naked sword and spear in hand, Who fought the dragon and brought him to the slaughter, And by this won fair Sabra, the King of Egypt's daughter;What mortal man would dare to stand Before me with my sword in hand?"This was the lad who had first recognized Eustacia;and when she now, as the Turk, replied with suitable defiance, and at once began the combat, the young fellow took especial care to use his sword as gently as possible.Being wounded, the Knight fell upon one knee, according to the direction.
The Doctor now entered, restored the Knight by giving him a draught from the bottle which he carried, and the fight was again resumed, the Turk sinking by degrees until quite overcome--dying as hard in this venerable drama as he is said to do at the present day.
This gradual sinking to the earth was, in fact, one reason why Eustacia had thought that the part of the Turkish Knight, though not the shortest, would suit her best.A direct fall from upright to horizontal, which was the end of the other fighting characters, was not an elegant or decorous part for a girl.
But it was easy to die like a Turk, by a dogged decline.
