said Una . ` Never , ' Sir Richard answered , smiling . ' I had made me a little hut of wood up the hill , and there I did justice and slept ... De Aquila wheeled aside , and his shield shook on his back . `` No matter , boy , '' said he . `` I will remit the homage for a year . '' ' ` He meant Sir Richard need n't give him dinner there the first year , ' Puck explained . ` De Aquila stayed with me in the hut , and Hugh , who could read and write and cast accounts , showed him the Roll of the Manor , in which were written all the names of our fields and men , and he asked a thousand questions touching the land , the timber , the grazing , the mill , and the fish-ponds , and the worth of every man in the valley . But never he named the Lady Ælueva 's name , nor went he near the Great Hall . By night he drank with us in the hut . Yes , he sat on the straw like an eagle ruffled in her feathers , his yellow eyes rolling above the cup , and he pounced in his talk like an eagle , swooping from one thing to another , but always binding fast . Yes ; he would lie still awhile , and then rustle in the straw , and speak sometimes as though he were King William himself , and anon he would speak in parables and tales , and if at once we saw not his meaning he would yerk us in the ribs with his scabbarded sword . ' `` Look you , boys , '' said he , `` I am born out of my due time . Five hundred years ago I would have made all England such an England as neither Dane , Saxon , nor Norman should have conquered . Five hundred years hence I should have been such a counsellor to Kings as the world hath never dreamed of . 'T is all here , '' said he , tapping his big head , `` but it hath no play in this black age . Now Hugh here is a better man than thou art , Richard . '' He had made his voice harsh and croaking , like a raven 's . ' `` Truth , '' said I. `` But for Hugh , his help and patience and long-suffering , I could never have kept the Manor . '' ' `` Nor thy life either , '' said De Aquila . `` Hugh has saved thee not once , but a hundred times .
Be still , XXXXX ! ''
Hall Hugh Manor Norman Una anon counsellor night raven year