So to the journey's end. The Gulf was there Steaming and soundless, and the weary feet Were stayed at last from following the Queen. The great _dhow_ nosed the creek; slow water lapped About her burnished; burnished in her sat Unmoving bronze, her oarsmen. Then they rose: "Hail, Bringers of the Queen!" "Hail, ship! you bear What cargo hence?" "We carry on your charge." "But leave us nothing--nothing in exchange?" "Only the ancient story of a slave. There lies a secret buried none too deep." Thus the chief rower. This the far-off tale. I dwelled beside the impulsive Rhone, a child that loved to be alone. The forest was my nursery. My happiness was all my own. I knew by name each cloud that lowers the sunshine through in liquid showers. Deep in the tangled undergrowth I caught the singing of the flowers. Our minstrels sang of rape and arson, all the joys of private wars. The forest wall was calm and tall. My tutor laughed, and drank to Mars. Bald, vulture-like upon its perch, our crag-born castle seemed to search The gorge for prey, its shade to still the bells a-twitter in the church Where, cheek by jowl with fearsome fowl and gargoyle, ghostly men, in foul Incense that tried to stifle me, recited magic formulæ. At home clanked metal psalm and spur; but, oh the woods ...! I tried to tame A wolf-cub that the gardener called Life. He knew. The preacher came. I see him yet, his visage wet with hot emotion, tears, and sweat. Contorted in the market-place he shrieked that all must pay a debt To one Jehovah and His Son, by bursting eastward as the Hun Had scourged the West. In unison we all replied 'twere nobly done, For he explained that heaven was gained more featly--wrenching Saint Jerome-- From Palestine than Christendom. That night no peasant durst go home. His words were like a wind that fanned a grass-fire: God would lend His hand To purge away the infidel whose breath profaned the Holy Land. He showered indulgences, and kissed the brows of those who would enlist To take a chance of martyrdom or give the devil's tail a twist.