"Be careful with it, lad," he said; "not so much because of the use
that it may be to you, but because, were you seized and searched by
robbers, and others, the sight of the gold might awake suspicions that
you were not what you seemed, and might lead to a long detention. Keep
your eye on Brother Roger, and see that he does not indulge too much in
the wine cups, and that he comports himself rather in keeping with his
attire, than with his natural disposition; and if you have any
difficulty in restraining him, or if he does not obey your orders, send
him back, at once. Will you see him again this evening?"
"He is waiting for me in my apartment, now, my lord, having come for
the money for the purchase of a palfrey, which I bade him get."
"Send him to me, when you get there."
When the monk appeared before Hotspur, the latter said, "See here,
monk, I have saved you from punishment, and become, as it were, your
surety. See that you do not discredit me. You will remember that,
although my young esquire may ask your advice, and benefit by your
experience, he is your leader; and his orders, when he gives them, are
to be obeyed as promptly as if it were I myself who spoke, to one of my
men-at-arms. He is my representative in the matter, and is obeying my
orders, as you will obey his. The mission is one of importance, and if
it fails from any fault of yours, you had better drown yourself in the
first river you come to, than return to Northumberland."
"I think that you can trust me, my lord," the monk said, calmly. "I am
a very poor monk, but methinks that I am not a bad soldier; and
although I go in the dress of the one, I shall really go as the other.
I know that my duty, as a soldier, will be to obey. Even as regards my
potations, which I own are sometimes deeper than they should be,
methinks that, as a soldier, I shall be much less thirsty than I was as
a monk. If the enterprise should fail from any default of mine, your
lordship may be sure that I shall bear your advice in mind."
"I doubt not that you will do well, Roger. I should not have sent you
with my esquire, on such a business, had I not believed that you would
prove yourself worthy of my confidence. I know that a man may be a good
soldier, and even a wise counsellor, though he may be a very bad monk."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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