CHAPTER II
THE WITCH'S TENT
There are many accounts still extant of the various doings at EastMolesey Fair on this 2nd of October in the year of our Lord 1553, andseveral chroniclers--Renard is conspicuous among the latter--makemention of the events which very nearly turned the gay and varyingcomedies of that day into weird and tragic drama.
Certainly the witch's tent was a mistake.
But what would you? No doubt the worthy individual, who for purposes ofmystification called himself "Abra," had tried many means of earning alivelihood before he and his associate in business took to thelucrative, yet dangerous trade of necromancy.
He was tall and gaunt, with hooked nose and deep-sunk eyes; he hadcultivated a long, grey beard, and could call forth the powers of Mirrabthe Witch with a remarkably solemn and guttural voice.
As for Mirrab herself, no one was allowed to see her. That was part ofthe business. She was a witch, a dealer in magic potions, charms andphilters, a reader of the stars, and--softly be it spoken--a friend andcompanion of the devil! She only appeared enveloped in a thick veil,with divining wand held lightly in her hand, the ends of her goldtresses alone visible below the heavy covering which swathed her head.
It was the mystery of it all--cheap devices at best--which from thefirst had irritated the country-folk who thronged the Fair.
The tent itself was unlike any other ever seen at East Molesey. It stoodhigh upon a raised wooden platform, to which a few rough steps gaveaccess. On the right was a tall flagstaff, with black flag emblazonedwith white skull and cross-bones, fluttering lazily in the breeze.
On the left a huge elm tree, with great heavy branches overshadowing thetent, had been utilized to support a placard bearing the words--
"Mirrab! the World-famed Necromancer! Sale of Magic Charms and Love Philters Horoscope Casting and Elixir of Life!"
Perched on the platform, and assisted by a humbler henchman, armed withbig drum and cymbals, the worthy Abra, in high-peaked cap and flowingmantle covered with strange devices, had all day long invited customersto his booth by uttering strange, mysterious promises.
"This way, this way, my masters," he would say with imposing solemnity;"the world-famous necromancer, Mirrab, will evoke for you the spirits ofMars, of Saturn, or of the moon."
"She will show you the Grand Grimorium. . . !"
Now what was the Grand Grimorium? The very sound of the words suggestedsome agency of the devil; no Christian man had ever heard or spoken ofthe Grand Grimorium.
"She will show you the use of the blasting rod and the divining wand.She will call forth the elementary spirits. . . ."
Some people would try to laugh. Who had ever heard of the elementaryspirits? Perhaps if some of the more enlightened town worthies happenedto be nigh the booth, one or two of them would begin to chaff thenecromancer.
"And prithee, friend wizard," a solemn burgher would suggest, "pritheewhat are the elementary spirits?"
But Abra was nothing if not ready-witted.
"The elementary spirits," he would explain with imperturbable gravity,"are the green butterfly, the black pullet, the queen of the hairyflies, and the screech owl."
The weird nomenclature was enough to make any one's hair stand on end.Even the sedate burgesses would shake their heads and silently edgeaway, whilst their womenkind would run swiftly past the booth, mutteringa quick _Ave_ to the blessed Virgin or kissing the Holy Scapulary hungbeneath their kerchiefs, as their terrified glances met the cabalisticsigns on the black flag.
The humbler country-folk frankly spat upon the ground three timeswhenever they caught sight of the flag, and that is a sure way ofsending the devil about his business.
The shadows now were beginning to lengthen.
The towers and cupolas of Hampton Court Palace were studded with goldand gems by the slanting rays of the setting sun.
It had been a glorious afternoon and, except in the open spaceimmediately in front of the witch's tent, the fun of the fair had lostnone of its zest.
The witch's booth alone was solitary--weird-looking beneath thespreading branches of the overhanging elm.
The tent seemed lighted from within, for as the evening breeze stirredits hangings, gleams of brilliant red, more glowing than the sunset,appeared in zigzag streaks between its folds.
Behind, and to the right and left of it, the gentle murmur of the sisterstreams sounded like ghostly whisperings of evening sprites, busyspreading their grey mantles over the distant landscape.
As the afternoon wore on, the crowd in the other parts of the Fair hadgrown more and more dense, and now, among the plainer garb of theburgesses and townsfolk, and the jerkins and worsted hose of the yokels,could be seen quite frequently a silken doublet or velvet trunk, amasked face perhaps beneath a plumed bonnet, or the point of a swordgleaming beneath the long, dark mantle, denoting the Court gallant.
Now and then, too, hooded and closely swathed forms would flit quicklythrough the crowd, followed by the inquisitive glances of the humblerfolk, as the dainty tip of a broidered shoe or the richly wrought hem ofa silken kirtle, protruding below the cloak, betrayed the lady of rankand fashion on gay adventure bent.
Most of these veiled figures had found their way up the rough woodensteps which led to the witch's tent. The fame of Mirrab, the Soothsayer,had reached the purlieus of the palace, and Abra, the magician, had morethan once seen his lean palm crossed with gold.
"This way, noble lords! this way!"
He was even now trying to draw the attention of two cloaked figures, whohad just emerged in sight of the booth.
Two gentlemen of the Court evidently, for Abra's quick eye had caught aglimpse of richly chased sword-hilts, as the wind blew the heavy, darkmantles to one side.
But these gentlemen were paying little heed to the worthy magician'sblandishments. They were whispering excitedly to one another, whilsteagerly scanning the crowd all round them.
"They were ladies from the Court, I feel sure," said the taller man ofthe two; "I swear I have seen the hem of that kirtle before."
"Carramba!" replied the other, "it promised well, but methinks we'velost track of them now."
He spoke English very fluently, yet with a strong, guttural intonation,whilst the well-known Spanish oath which he uttered betrayed hisnationality.
"Pardi!" he added impatiently, "I could have sworn that the damsels werebent on consulting the witch."
"Nay, only on seeing the fun of the Fair apparently," rejoined theother; "we've lain in wait here now for nigh on half an hour."
"Mirrab the Soothsayer will evoke for you the spirits of the moon, ohnoble lords!" urged Abra, with ever-increasing persuasiveness. "She willgive you the complaisance of the entire female sex."
"What say you, my lord," said the Englishman after a while, "shall wegive up the quest after those elusive damsels and woo these obligingspirits of the moon? They say the witch has marvellous powers."
"Bah, milor!" rejoined the Spaniard gaily, "a veiled female! Think onit! Those who have entered yon mysterious tent declare that scarce anoutline of that soothsayer could they glean, beneath the folds of thickdraperies which hide her from view. What is a shapeless woman? I askyou, milor. And in England, too," he added with affected gallantry whichhad more than a touch of sarcasm in it, "where all women are shapely."
"Mirrab, the world-famous necromancer, will bring to your arms the ladyof your choice, oh most noble lords!" continued the persistent Abra,"even if she were hidden beyond the outermost corners of the earth."
"By my halidame! this decides me," quoth the Englishman merrily. "I prayyou come, my lord. This adventure promises better than the other. And,who knows?" he added in his turn with thinly-veiled, pleasant irony,"you Spaniards are so persuasive--the witch, if she be young and fair,might lift her veil for you."
"Allons!" responded the other, "since 'tis your wish, milor, let usconsult the spirits."
And, standing aside with the courtly grace peculiar t
o those of hisnationality, he allowed his companion to precede him up the steps whichled to Mirrab's tent.
Then he too followed, and laughing and chattering the two mendisappeared behind the gaudily painted draperies.
Not, however, without tossing a couple of gold pieces into the hands ofthe wizard. Abra, obsequious, smiling, thoroughly contented, sat himselfdown to rest awhile beside his patient, hard-worked henchman.