A circus procession of buffoons, with
dromedaries, elephants, sham giants, and pasteboard whales and
dragons, seems to have consoled them for all their misery.
CHAPTER IX
THE STORY OF ST. EVERMAIRE: A COUNTRY PAGEANT
Once upon a time there was a good man called St. Evermaire, who went
on a pilgrimage to a part of Belgium called the Hesbaye, which is near
the River Meuse. As he and his companions were journeying along, they
came, when it was growing dark one evening, to a great wood. Being
afraid of losing their way, they went to a village to ask for shelter.
This village belonged to a fierce robber, called Hacco, and it was at
his door that the pilgrims knocked. The door was opened by Hacco's
wife, who received them kindly, but told them that her husband was a
robber, and that, though he was away from home, it would not be safe
for them to remain there long. So very early next morning, as soon as
it was light, they went into the wood, and lay down to sleep beside a
fountain among the trees.
They had scarcely gone when Hacco, who had been out all night looking
for people to rob, came home.
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