第25章 The Frost Lifts

The frost went on the eighty-second day, and it went in the night, and in the morning the lane was black with mud, and the mud was soft, and the hedge had dripped overnight, and the river had come up off the grass in the first vapour of the season, and the lane was the lane and the lane was wet. Kessin stood at the yard gate at six and she watched the vapour come up, and the vapour came off the grass and off the hedge and off the lane, and it came up in sheets and it lay on the ground like a thing with no wind, and the lane was gone under it, and only the stones showed, and the stones were wet, and the chalk was still white on them, and the chalk would not come off in the frost, and the chalk would not come off in the vapour. Peth came in with his case and his boots, and his boots were wet to the ankle, and he stood at the foot of the wheel and he said, "The frost is gone." "The frost is gone," said Kessin. "The frost is gone," said Peth. "And the mud is here." "The mud is here," said Kessin. "I walked the lane," said Peth. "The chalk is still on the stones." "The chalk is still on the stones," said Kessin. "Then the stones are kept," said Peth. "Then the stones are kept," said Kessin. Brin came in through the gate with the cart, and the cart was muddy, and the cart had come from Gillanwick, and he stood at the foot of the cart and he took the sacks off, and the sacks were salt, and the salt was dry, and he said, "Dorl is back." "Dorl is back," said Kessin. "Dorl is back," said Brin. "And Dorl will be at the hall." "Dorl will be at the hall," said Kessin. Dorl Kesson came up the lane at eight with his hat and his sack and his boots, and his boots were black with the mud of the lane, and he stood at the yard gate and he looked at the vapour, and he said, "The frost is gone." "The frost is gone," said Kessin. "The frost is gone," said Dorl. "And my father would have said the frost is gone." "Your father would have said the frost is gone," said Kessin. "My father would have said it at six," said Dorl. "And he would have said it to no one." "He would have said it to no one," said Kessin. "He would have said it to the lane," said Dorl. "He would have said it to the lane," said Kessin. Dorl took his hat off and set it on the wheel, and he sat down on the wheel, and he took the bread from the bench that Turrel had set there, and he ate it, and he did not ask for more, and the donkey came through the hall door and stood at the foot of the stove, and Clack looked at Dorl, and Dorl looked at the donkey, and Dorl said, "He remembers me." "He remembers you," said Kessin. "My father brought bread to this yard," said Dorl. "In the frost, in the rain, in the snow, and Clack ate the bread, and Clack was in this yard when I was a boy, and I know him, because he is the same." "He is the same," said Kessin. "Then Clack is the yard," said Dorl. "Clack is the yard," said Kessin. Turrel came out with the coffee and she gave Dorl a cup, and Dorl drank it, and he set the cup on the table, and he said, "I have worked the lane for nineteen years." "I know," said Kessin. "I have worked the lane for nineteen years," said Dorl. "And the hall did not pay me for nineteen years, because the hall did not have a keeper, and the hall did not have a board, and the hall did not have a card." "The hall did not have a card," said Kessin. "The hall did not have a card," said Dorl. "And the hall had the lane, and the lane was the lane, and the hall had nothing to give the lane." "The hall had nothing to give the lane," said Kessin. "Then the hall will give the lane now," said Dorl. "Then the hall will give the lane now," said Kessin. "One crown for the lane in the mud." "One crown for the lane in the mud," said Dorl. "And one crown for the salt in the frost." "And one crown for the salt in the frost," said Kessin. "I will walk the lane every month," said Dorl. "And I will carry the salt when the salt comes." "I will carry the salt when the salt comes," said Kessin. "And the hall will pay you two crowns." "Two crowns," said Dorl. "Two crowns," said Kessin. "And the hall will have the lane, and the hall will have the salt, and the hall will have the frost, and the hall will have the mud." "The hall will have all of it," said Dorl. "The hall will have all of it," said Kessin. She wrote the card and she set it on the board, and the board had twelve cards on it, and the tenth was white, and Dorl looked at the board through the yard gate and he saw the white card, and he did not ask about it, because a man who has walked a lane for nineteen years does not ask about a card he does not know, and he took his hat and he put it on and he took his sack and he went out through the gate. Brin stood at the foot of the cart with his hat off, and he looked at the board, and he said, "The hall has twelve cards." "The hall has twelve cards," said Kessin. "The hall has nine fares," said Brin. "The hall has nine fares," said Kessin. "The hall has eleven pounds and nine shillings and fourpence," said Brin. "The hall has eleven pounds and nine shillings and fourpence," said Kessin. "And the hall has nine fares." "Then the hall has not paid the debt," said Brin. "Then the hall has not paid the debt," said Kessin. "Then the hall will not pay the debt this month," said Brin. "Then the hall will not pay the debt this month," said Kessin. "And the hall will pay the debt next year." "Next year," said Brin. "The hall has been owed for four years." "The hall has been owed for four years," said Kessin. "Then the hall will be owed for five years," said Brin. "The hall will be owed for five years," said Kessin. "And the hall will have twelve cards," said Brin. "The hall will have twelve cards," said Kessin. "And the hall will have a boy," said Brin. "And the hall will have a donkey, and the hall will have a watch, and the hall will have a traveller, and the hall will have a man with a sack of salt." "The hall will have all of it," said Kessin. "Then the hall will have the seventh name," said Brin. "The hall will have the seventh name," said Kessin. "And the seventh name is blank," said Brin. "The seventh name is blank," said Kessin. "And the white card is white," said Brin. "The white card is white," said Kessin. He put his hat on and he took the cart and he went out through the gate, and the cart wheels turned on the mud, and the lane went away down the hill, and the vapour came up off the grass, and the yard was the yard, and the board had twelve cards on it, and the tenth was white. ---