Utopias -- Fiction; Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Fiction
The second day's march was like the first; but the little army was now
swelling beyond all expectations. At the close of the second day it
numbered a thousand, and commissariat difficulties began. Here the
company of women proved useful. They were all country girls, able to
ride and drive; they 'borrowed' the carts of the farm-houses, and,
escorted by soldiers, drove about the country requisitioning provisions.
It became necessary to have wagons: these also were borrowed, and in a
short time the army dragged at its heels an immense train of wagons
loaded with ammunition, provisions, and stores of all kinds. For
everything that was taken, an order for its value was left behind,
stamped with the signature of 'Chester.'
At the close of the second day's march, being then near Bury St Edmunds,
they were two thousand strong; at the end of the third, being on
Newmarket Heath, they were five thousand; and here, because the place
was open and the position good, a halt of three days was resolved upon,
in which the men might be drilled, taught to act together, and divided
into corps; also, sham fights would be fought, and the men, some of whom
were little more than boys, could grow accustomed to the discharge of
guns and the use of their weapons. The camp was protected by sentinels,
and the cavalry scoured the country for recruits and information. As yet
no sign had been made by the Government. But on Sunday morning, being
the third day of the halt, the scouts brought in a deputation from the
House of Peeresses, consisting of two Sisters of the Holy Preaching
Order, and a guard of twenty-five policewomen. Lord Chester and his
staff rode out to meet them.
'What is your message?' he asked.
'The terms offered by the House to the insurgents,' replied one of the
Sisters, 'are, first laying down of arms, and dispersion of the men;
secondly, the immediate submission of the leaders.'
'And what then?' asked Lord Chester.
'Justice,' replied the Sister sternly. 'Now stand aside and let us
address the men.'
Lord Chester laughed.
'Go call a dozen of the women's company,' he ordered. 'Now,' when they
came, 'take these two Sisters, and march them through the camp with drum
and fife. These are the women who are trained to terrify the men with
lying threats, false fears, and vain superstitions. As for you
policewomen, you can go back and tell the House that I will myself
inform them of my terms.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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