'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
bar, 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 with him because
he could not lend; the Barons were wroth too because they heard that he
would have lent to the King; and Adah was wroth with 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 Runnymede?' said Puck,
as Kadmiel laughed noiselessly.

'Nay. Who am I to meddle with things too high for me? I returned to
Bury, and lent money on the autumn crops. Why not?'

There was a crackle overhead. A cock-pheasant that had sheered aside
after being hit spattered down almost on top of them, driving up the dry
leaves like a shell. _Flora_ and _Folly_ threw themselves at it; the
children rushed forwar