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ide the yeomen of the Barons, and in the midst King John. He rides to where the barges lie in readiness, and the great Barons step forth from their ranks to meet him. He greets them with a smile and laugh, and pleasant honeyed words, as though it were some feast in his honour to which he had been invited. But as he rises to dismount, he casts one hurried glance from his own French mercenaries drawn up in the rear to the grim ranks of the Barons’ men that hem him in. Is it too late? One fierce blow at the unsuspecting horseman at his side, one cry to his French troops, one desperate charge upon the unready lines before him, and these rebellious Barons might rue the day they dared to thwart his plans! A bolder hand might have turned the game even at that point. Had it been a Richard there! the cup of liberty might have been dashed from England’s lips, and the taste of freedom held back for a hundred years. But the heart of King John sinks before the stern faces of the English fighting men, and the arm of King John drops back on to his rein, and he dismounts and takes his seat in the foremost barge. And the Barons follow in, with each mailed hand upon the sword-hilt, and the word is given to let go. Slowly the heavy, bright-decked barges leave the shore of Runningmede. Slowly against the swift current they work their ponderous way, till, with a low grumble, they grate against the bank of the little island that from this day will bear the name of Magna Charta Island. And King John has stepped upon the shore, and we wait in breathless silence till a great shout cleaves the air, and the great cornerstone in England’s temple of liberty has, now we know, been firmly laid. Chapter XII. Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn.—Disadvantages of living in same house with pair of lovers.—A trying time for the English nation.—A night search for the picturesque.— Homeless and houseless.—Harris prepares to die.—An 98
angel comes along.—Effect of sudden joy on Harris.—A little supper.—Lunch.—High price for mustard.—A fearful battle.—Maidenhead.—Sailing.—<strong>Three</strong> fishers.—We are cursed. I was sitting on the bank, conjuring up this scene to myself, when George remarked that when I was quite rested, perhaps I would not mind helping to wash up; and, thus recalled from the days of the glorious past to the prosaic present, with all its misery and sin, I slid down into the boat and cleaned out the frying-pan with a stick of wood and a tuft of grass, polishing it up finally with George’s wet shirt. We went over to Magna Charta Island, and had a look at the stone which stands in the cottage there and on which the great Charter is said to have been signed; though, as to whether it really was signed there, or, as some say, on the other bank at “Runningmede,” I decline to commit myself. As far as my own personal opinion goes, however, I am inclined to give weight to the popular island theory. Certainly, had I been one of the Barons, at the time, I should have strongly urged upon my comrades the advisability of our getting such a slippery customer as King John on to the island, where there was less chance of surprises and tricks. There are the ruins of an old priory in the grounds of Ankerwyke House, which is close to Picnic Point, and it was round about the grounds of this old priory that Henry VIII. is said to have waited for and met Anne Boleyn. He also used to meet her at Hever Castle in Kent, and also somewhere near St. Albans. It must have been difficult for the people of England in those days to have found a spot where these thoughtless young folk were not spooning. Have you ever been in a house where there are a couple courting? It is most trying. You think you will go and sit in the drawing-room, and you march off there. As you open the door, you hear a noise as if somebody had suddenly recollected something, and, when you get in, Emily is over by the window, full of interest in the opposite side of the road, and your friend, John Edward, is at the other end of the room with his whole soul held in thrall by photographs of other people’s relatives. “Oh!” you say, pausing at the door, “I didn’t know anybody was 99
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Three Men In A Boat Jerome K. Jerom
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a modified form, and, so far as tha
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every 6 hours. 1 ten-mile walk ever
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You start on Monday with the idea i
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said he should be all right, and wo
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The only one who was not struck wit
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why.” If Harris’s eyes fill wit
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of people are kicking you, and you
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Chapter III. Arrangements settled.
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could find it; and we would each di
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It is lumber, man—all lumber! Thr
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In the present instance, we all tal
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At the end of that trip we met toge
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“What’s yours?” I said, turni
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eputation. Visitors said they had n
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and makes my life a misery. I dream
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worried the teaspoons, and he prete
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clothes off him, and Harris landed
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oth would keep on steadily for the
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table, carted out our luggage on to
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said he had seen it at number three
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No, there would be too many of them
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people who do care for it have to p
Page 47 and 48: great in the years 2000 and odd? Wi
Page 49 and 50: save the beating of one’s own hea
Page 51 and 52: they turned brought them back to th
Page 53 and 54: want him to take to blue as a backg
Page 55 and 56: eply, and covertly draw rugs and co
Page 57 and 58: screeching out the while: “I’m
Page 59 and 60: longer. I shall withdraw my account
Page 61 and 62: end to it by the exertion of a litt
Page 63 and 64: Pianist. Moment arrives for Harris
Page 65 and 66: young fellows, students, just retur
Page 67 and 68: He finished amid a perfect shriek o
Page 69 and 70: given up the attempt now. I suppose
Page 71 and 72: change; change is good for everyone
Page 73 and 74: ound, it was gone!” And they seem
Page 75 and 76: tower and towed was witnessed by Ge
Page 77 and 78: “I see. Give me out my red shawl,
Page 79 and 80: we both wondered if we were both as
Page 81 and 82: etter get the canvas up first, befo
Page 83 and 84: It is a good plan, too, if you are
Page 85 and 86: talked. George said why could not w
Page 87 and 88: The boat seemed stuffy, and my head
Page 89 and 90: Chapter XI. How George, once upon a
Page 91 and 92: “Well, and how many did you want
Page 93 and 94: thinking of the thing had given him
Page 95 and 96: ound at him he was sure to be perfo
Page 97: other bank, and lean upon their arm
Page 101 and 102: Henry would have blushed and said,
Page 103 and 104: Then George spoke up. He said Harri
Page 105 and 106: assumed), with a can of beer in one
Page 107 and 108: Then Harris tried to open the tin w
Page 109 and 110: heart is throbbing against hers! He
Page 111 and 112: Cookham, past the Quarry Woods and
Page 113 and 114: seconds to last an ordinarily respe
Page 115 and 116: and a fairly appreciable proportion
Page 117 and 118: smoking a short clay. Fruiterer’s
Page 119 and 120: description. It was very exciting.
Page 121 and 122: Half-way up the backwater, we got o
Page 123 and 124: afternoon, Wargrave, nestling where
Page 125 and 126: peeling. We also put in a cabbage a
Page 127 and 128: any man; added to which, Montmorenc
Page 129 and 130: more piano as he went on, and the l
Page 131 and 132: four islands or more, or whether we
Page 133 and 134: the night?” he asked indignantly.
Page 135 and 136: the other,” George retorted on Ha
Page 137 and 138: stick in his hand. Your first sensa
Page 139 and 140: noticed, as a curious circumstance,
Page 141 and 142: George said he had often longed to
Page 143 and 144: me, and I withdrew behind a tree. O
Page 145 and 146: satisfactory explanation of the phe
Page 147 and 148: abbey, great John of Gaunt was marr
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She had wandered about the woods by
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thought, fairly well; but the old h
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simplify matters, he made up his mi
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“Yes, sir,” replied the genial
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drowning.—A difficult bit of wate
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“Look at your boat, sir; you in t
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edroom, or ever finding his bed whe
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“Oh, drat the man!” she would e
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and my surmise seemed to me a very
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Indeed, Harris and I were quite ent
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I thought his heart or his jaw must
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estaurant I have before described,
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