"CAMELOT -- Camelot," said I
to myself. "I don't seem to remember
hearing of it before. Name of
the asylum, likely."
It was a soft, reposeful summer
landscape, as lovely as a dream,
and as lonesome as Sunday. The
air was full of the smell of
flowers, and the buzzing of insects,
and the twittering of birds,
and there were no people, no
wagons, there was no stir of
life, nothing going on. The road
was mainly a winding path with
hoof-prints in it, and now and
then a faint trace of wheels
on either side in the grass --
wheels that apparently had a
tire as broad as one's hand.
Presently a fair slip of a
girl, about ten years old, with
a cataract of golden hair streaming
down over her shoulders, came
along. Around her head she wore
a hoop of flame-red poppies.
It was as sweet an outfit as
ever I saw, what there was of
it. She walked indolently along,
with a mind at rest, its peace
reflected in her innocent face.
The circus man paid no attention
to her; didn't even seem to see
her. And she -- she was no more
startled at his fantastic make-up
than if she was used to his like
every day of her life. She was
going by as indifferently as
she might have gone by a couple
of cows; but when she happened
to notice me, THEN there was
a change! Up went her hands,
and she was turned to stone;
her mouth dropped open, her eyes
stared wide and timorously, she
was the picture of astonished
curiosity touched with fear.
And there she stood gazing, in
a sort of stupefied fascination,
till we turned a corner of the
wood and were lost to her view.
That she should be startled at
me instead of at the other man,
was too many for me; I couldn't
make head or tail of it . And
that she should seem to consider
me a spectacle, and totally overlook
her own merits in that respect,
was another puzzling thing, and
a display of magnanimity, too,
that was surprising in one so
young. There was food for thought
here. I moved along as one in
a dream.
As we approached the town,
signs of life began to appear.
At intervals we passed a wretched
cabin, with a thatched roof,
and about it small fields and
garden patches in an indifferent
state of cultivation. There were
people, too; brawny men, with
long, coarse, uncombed hair that
hung down over their faces and
made them look like animals.
They and the women, as a rule,
wore a coarse tow-linen robe
that came well below the knee,
and a rude sort of sandal, and
many wore an iron collar. The
small boys and girls were always
naked; but nobody seemed to know
it. All of these people stared
at me, talked about me, ran into
the huts and fetched out their
families to gape at me; but nobody
ever noticed that other fellow,
except to make him humble salutation
and get no response for their
pains.
In the town were some substantial
windowless houses of stone scattered
among a wilderness of thatched
cabins; the streets were mere
crooked alleys, and unpaved;
troops of dogs and nude children
played in the sun and made life
and noise; hogs roamed and rooted
contentedly about, and one of
them lay in a reeking wallow
in the middle of the main thoroughfare
and suckled her family. Presently
there was a distant blare of
military music; it came nearer,
still nearer, and soon a noble
cavalcade wound into view, glorious
with plumed helmets and flashing
mail and flaunting banners and
rich doublets and horse-cloths
and gilded spearheads; and through
the muck and swine, and naked
brats, and joyous dogs, and shabby
huts, it took its gallant way,
and in its wake we followed.
Followed through one winding
alley and then another, -- and
climbing, always climbing --
till at last we gained the breezy
height where the huge castle
stood. There was an exchange
of bugle blasts; then a parley
from the walls, where men-at-arms,
in hauberk and morion, marched
back and forth with halberd at
shoulder under flapping banners
with the rude figure of a dragon
displayed upon them; and then
the great gates were flung open,
the drawbridge was lowered, and
the head of the cavalcade swept
forward under the frowning arches;
and we, following, soon found
ourselves in a great paved court,
with towers and turrets stretching
up into the blue air on all the
four sides; and all about us.the
dismount was going on, and much
greeting and ceremony, and running
to and fro, and a gay display
of moving and intermingling colors,
and an altogether pleasant stir
and noise and confusion. |