I got into my old place again on the steps of the cross,Will Green beside me,and above me John Ball and Jack Straw again.
The moon was half-way up the heavens now,and the short summer night had begun,calm and fragrant,with just so much noise outside our quiet circle as made one feel the world alive and happy.
We waited silently until we had heard John Ball and the story of what was to do;and presently he began to speak.
"Good people,it is begun,but not ended.Which of you is hardy enough to wend the road to London to-morrow?""All!All!"they shouted.
"Yea,"said he,"even so I deemed of you.Yet forsooth hearken!London is a great and grievous city;and mayhappen when ye come thither it shall seem to you overgreat to deal with,when ye remember the little townships and the cots ye came from.
"Moreover,when ye dwell here in Kent ye think forsooth of your brethren in Essex or Suffolk,and there belike an end.But from London ye may have an inkling of all the world,and over-burdensome maybe shall that seem to you,a few and a feeble people.
"Nevertheless I say to you,remember the Fellowship,in the hope of which ye have this day conquered;and when ye come to London be wise and wary;and that is as much as to say,be bold and hardy;for in these days are ye building a house which shall not be overthrown,and the world shall not be too great or too little to hold it:for indeed it shall be the world itself,set free from evil-doers for friends to dwell in."He ceased awhile,but they hearkened still,as if something more was coming.Then he said:
"To-morrow we shall take the road for Rochester;and most like it were well to see what Sir John Newton in the castle may say to us:for the man is no ill man,and hath a tongue well-shapen for words;and it were well that we had him out of the castle and away with us,and that we put a word in his mouth to say to the King.And wot ye well,good fellows,that by then we come to Rochester we shall be a goodly company,and ere we come to Blackheath a very great company;and at London Bridge who shall stay our host?
"Therefore there is nought that can undo us except our own selves and our hearkening to soft words from those who would slay us.
They shall bid us go home and abide peacefully with our wives and children while they,the lords and councillors and lawyers,imagine counsel and remedy for us;and even so shall our own folly bid us;and if we hearken thereto we are undone indeed;for they shall fall upon our peace with war,and our wives and children they shall take from us,and some of us they shall hang,and some they shall scourge,and the others shall be their yoke-beasts--yea,and worse,for they shall lack meat more.
"To fools hearken not,whether they be yourselves or your foemen,for either shall lead you astray.
"With the lords parley not,for ye know already what they would say to you,and that is,`Churl,let me bridle thee and saddle thee,and eat thy livelihood that thou winnest,and call thee hard names because I eat thee up;and for thee,speak not and do not,save as I bid thee.'
"All that is the end of their parleying.
"Therefore be ye bold,and again bold,and thrice bold!Grip the bow,handle the staff,draw the sword,and set on in the name of the Fellowship!"He ended amid loud shouts;but straight-way answering shouts were heard,and a great noise of the winding of horns,and Imisdoubted a new onslaught;and some of those in the throng began to string their bows and handle their bills;but Will Green pulled me by the sleeve and said: