his might, neither animal moved forward. The front wheel of the waggon was sunk to its axle and the whole vehicle slanted over at an angle.
Barnaby Gill was quick to apportion blame.
'This is your doing, Master Bracewell.'
'I could not drive around the hole, sir.'
'The waggon is too heavy since you brought the whole company aboard. Their weight is your downfall.'
'I could not ask them to walk in such mud, Master Gill. It would ruin their shoes and spatter their hose.'
'That would be better than this calamity.'
'Do something, Nick!' ordered Firethorn.
'I will, sir.'
'And with all speed.'
Nicholas jumped down from the driving seat and waved everyone else off the waggon. It was then laboriously unloaded. He used an axe to cut a stout length of timber then wedged it under the side of the waggon where the wheel was encumbered. With the help of three others, he used his lever to lift the vehicle up. There was a loud sucking noise as the wheel came out of its prison. The horses were slapped, they strained between the shafts and the waggon rolled clear of its problem. As it was loaded up again, Lawrence Firethorn reached for the law.
'The parishioners should be indicted!
'They cannot mend every hole in the road,' said Hoode reasonably. 'We must travel with more care.
'I'll have them at assizes and quarter sessions.'
'And what will Westfield's Men do while you ride off to start this litigation? Must we simply wait here?'
'Do nor mock me, Edmund.'
'Then do not set yourself up for mockery, Lawrence.'
'They should be clapped in irons, every one of them.'
'How could they repair the roads, thus bound?'
They were ready to depart and trundled on with a few of the hired men now walking gingerly at the rear to avoid the worst of the mud. When they crossed the border into Huntingdonshire, they found the worst stretch of all along the Great North Road. Skirting the edge of the Fen Country, it supported more traffic than anywhere other than the immediate approaches to London, and the surface was badly broken up. Extra caution had to be exercised and progress was painfully slow. They were relieved when Huntingdon itself finally came in sight.
Richard Honeydew was bubbling with questions. Have you been to the town before, Master Bracewell? Once or twice, lad.' What sort of place is it?' There are two things of note, Dick.'
'What might they be?'
A bowling green and a gallows.'
'Shall we see a hanged man, sir?'
'Several, if Master Firethorn has his way.'
'And will they let us play there?'
'I am certain of it.'
But the book holder's assurance was too optimistic. When they rolled past St Bennet's Church to the Shire Hall, they met no official welcome. Banbury's Men had sucked the town dry with a performance of Double Deceit.
It was another play stolen from Westfield's Men and it sent Firethorn into a tigerish rage. There was worse to come. One or the Town Council had lately returned from Lincolnshire. He told them of a performance by Banbury's Men at Stamford of Marriage and Mischief--also purloined from their rivals--and of the staging of Pompey the Great at Grantham before an enthusiastic audience that included his own august self. When he went on to praise the acting of Giles Randolph in the title role, Firethorn had to be held down lest he do the man a mischief.
Foaming at the mouth, the actor-manager was borne off to the nearest inn and given a pint of sack to sweeten his disposition. Barnaby Gill, Edmund Hoode and Nicholas Bracewell were with him. Firethorn was vengeful.
'By heaven, I'll slit him from head to toe for this!'
'We have to find him first,' reminded Nicholas.
'To filch my part in my play before my adoring audience! Ha! The man has the instincts of a jackal and the talent of a three-legged donkey with the staggers.'
Gill could not resist a thrust at his pride.
'That fellow spoke well of Master Randolph.'
'A polecat in human form!'
'Yet he carried the day with his Pompey.'
'My Pompey! My, my, my Pompey!'
'And mine,' said Hoode soulfully. 'Much work and worry went into the making of that play. It grieves me to hear that Banbury's Men play it free of charge.'
Nicholas had sympathy with the author. His work was protected by no laws. Once he had been paid five pounds for its delivery, the work went out of his hands and into the repertoire of Westfield's Men. He had little influence over its staging and even
The Trip to Jerusalem less over its casting. The one consolation was that he had written a cameo role for himself as an ambitious young tribune.
'Who played Sicinius?' he mused.
'All that matters is who played Pompey!' howled Firethorn, banging the table until their tankards bounced up and down. 'Randolph should be hanged from the nearest tree for his impertinence!'
'How have Banbury's Men done it?' asked Gill.
'I have the way,' said Nicholas.
'Well, sir.'
'They have enlisted our players against us.'
'Monstrous!' exclaimed Firethorn.
'There is only one complete copy of each play,' said Nicholas, 'and I keep that closely guarded. Rut I cannot shield it during rehearsal or performance. If some of our fellows memorized a work between them, they could put the meat of it down with the aid of a scrivener. And it is off that meat that Master Randolph has been feeding.'
'Who are these rogues, Nick?' said Hoode.
'How many' of them are there?' added Gill.
'I have neither names nor numbers,' admitted the book holder. 'But I have been going through an inventory of the hired men we have employed this year. Several left disgruntled with good cause to harm us. If enough money was put in enough pockets, they would have turned their coat and helped out Banbury's Men.'
'Aye,' said Firethorn, 'and been given a place in that vile company by way of reward. If we but overtake them, we shall find out who these varlets are.
'They are too far ahead,' argued Nicholas, and we will meet but further outrage if we visit towns where they have been before us. Stay your anger, Master Firethorn, until the occasion serves. We must change our route and find fresh fields.'
'This advice makes much sense,' said Hoode. 'Where should we go, Nick?'
'To Nottingham. We stay on this road for a while yet then head north-west through Oakham and Melton Mowbray. Haply, those towns may like some entertainment.'
Firethorn and Hoode gave their approval. Gill was the only dissenter, pointing out that the minor roads would be even worse than the one on which they had just travelled, and throwing up his usual obstruction to any idea that emanated from the book holder. He was outvoted by the others and shared his pique with his drink.
Still thirsting for blood, Firethorn accepted that he might have to wait before he could collect it by the pint from Banbury's Men. Nicholas's idea grew on him. Their new destination made its own choice of play.
'Nottingham, sirs! We'll give 'em Robin Hood!'
It was all decided.
In referring the matter to a higher authority, Miles Melhuish knew that he was doing the correct thing. Not only was he relieving himself of a problem that caused him intense personal anxiety, but he was handing it over to a man who could solve it with peremptory speed. The Dean was feared throughout Nottingham. One glance of his eye
