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Of he and his kind it says: “Nevâ€" er yetlwa-s there such misery in the land; never did heabhen m-en worse than they. Christ slept, and all The castle of Hilgay stoodi‘bn-the hill itself, and was surrounded by a small village, built in the latter years cf Henry’s reign. It was one of the most modern buildings in East Anglia. Here, surrounded by his men-atâ€"arms, vil‘leins. and serfs, Geoffroi de la, Bourne lived secure, am; kept the countryâ€"side in stern obedience. The Saxon Chronicle, which at the time was being writâ€" ten in the Monastery of Pet-crborâ€" cugh, says of him: “He took all these he thought had any goods, bath by night and day, men and wo- men alike, and put them in prison to get their gold and silver, and tortured them with tortures unâ€" speakable.” ' Great Fen. At the (bottom of the hill ran the wide river 01156, and b‘yond it stretched the treacher- ous wastes. a For many mil-es the fans spread under the sky from Ely to King’s Lynn, then but a few fisher huts. Hilgay itself rose 1,11) on an emin- ence towards the south of the The a‘boslute anarchy of the coun- try in 1136â€"the dark age in which this story of Hyla beginsâ€"secured to each petty baron an overwhelmâ€" ing power, and Geoffroi do 1a Bourne was king, in all but name, of the fans, hills, and corn-lands, from Thorney to Thetford, and the undoubted 10rd of the Southfolk. _ Very high'in the air a few birds of the plover species wailed sadly to 'their mates, grieving that; day was over. These sounrls - f busy life were oc- casionally mingled with noises which came from the castle and vil- lage on the high grounds which bordered the fen on the south. Now an? again the sound of hammers beating upon metal floated over the water, showing that they were working in the armoner’s shop. A bc‘l‘. rang frequently, and some one Wat‘s learning to blow calls upon a, hcrn‘ for occasionally the clear, sweet n-ote's abruptly changed into a windy lowing, like a bull in pain. The man in the puntwas busy catching eels with a pronged pol-e, tinned with iron. He drove the ptflc through the water again and again till a fish was transfixed, and added to the heap in the bottom of thr: boat. He 'Wasia short, thick- seo fellow, with arms which were too long for his body, and huge hands and feet. No hair grew upon his face, which was heavy and without expression. though there was. evidence of intelligence in the light green-grey eyes. His arms were bare, and on one oi them. just below the forearm, was a- red circle the size of a penny burnt, into the flesh, and bearing some marks arranged in a. regular pattern. T‘l‘is was Hyla, one of the serfs belonging to Geoffroi de la. Bourne, Bar-on of Hilgay, and the holder of lands near Mortain, in France. The marsh frogs were barking to each other with small elfin voices, and diving into the pools in play. There was a continual sucking sound. as thousands of great ee'ls drew in the air with their heads just rising from the water. Now and, again some heavy fish would leap out of the pools with a great noise, and the bitterns called to each other like copper gangs. Round his neck a; thin ring of iron was soldered, and where the tW) ends had been joined together another and smaller ring had been fixed. He was dressed in a cot of leather, black with age and dirt, but, strong and supple. This de- scended almost to his knees, and was caught. in round the middle by a leather strap, which was fasten- ed with an iron pin. 'A main sat in a roughly-chustrucâ€" teu punt or raft, low down among th: rushes, one hot. evening in June. The sun was setting in banks of blood-red light, which turned all thL innumerable waterways" and pcols of the-fen frOm black to crimâ€" son. In .the'.fierce light the tall reeds and grasses I‘C so high into the alt, like spears stained with blood. Although there was no wind to play among ther rushes and give the reeds a voice,“ the 'air was full of gonnd,and an enormous life pal- pitated and moved all round. FREEDOM All- LAST CHAPTER I. History of a Man Who Lived in .‘Misery and Torture 1 He moored the punt, and, string- }in‘; his eels upon an iron hook, married them up the hill in the wanâ€" ;iug light. The very last lights of ithe day were now expiring, and the ls‘ccne was full of peace and rest, Fax; night threw her cloak over the iworld. A rabbit ran across Hyla’s ipath from side to side of the road, ;a. dusky flash; and. high up in the lair, a bird suddenly began to thrill ltlie night; a welcome. Hyla knew him well. When he was free from 1115 duties in the castle, Hyla and his Wife worked in this man’s fields for a load: of wastre‘l bread or a chance ra'b'bit, and he was in a sense their immedi- ate employer and patron. It was at the order of Pierce that Hyla had been fishing that evenâ€" ing. The soldier chuckled on, re- “Hylal” came the answer, and there was strength and music in it. Something seemed to tickle the ‘scfldier to immediate merrim‘ent whcn'flm heard the identity of the man with the ads. The lessons learnt at Tenchebrai had sunk deep in the mind of this fell-ow; and when any dirty work was aloof or any foul-deed to be done, to Pierce was given the do- ing of it. AS Hyla approached, he stopped his whistling, and broke- out into the words of the song, which, filthy and obscene as it. was, bad. enormous popularity all over the countryside. Then he noticed the serf’s ap- proach. “Who are you ‘5” he called out in a patois of Norman-French and English, with the curious sea- suw of French accentuation in his voice. ‘ - Sitting by the roadside in the dusk. he could distinguish the fig; ure of Pierce, one of the menâ€"at- arms. He was oiling the trigger and ‘barrel Of a crossbow, and pol- ishing the steel parts with a soft skin. The manâ€"at-arms lived in the village. with his Wife, .and was prac- tically in the posit-ion of'a villein, holding some fields from Lord Gebf» hvi in return for military service. He was from B0ulogne, and had been in the garrison of one of Robâ€" ert ,de Belleme’s castles in Nor- mandy. The man walked slowly, lurching alvng with his head bent down, and seeing nothing of the evening time. About; halfâ€"way up the hill he heard firmeone whistling a comic song, with which a wandering! minstrel had convulsed the inmates of the castle a night or two before. Hyla’s punt glidéd over the still waters till it reached a \x‘ell‘built landing-stage of stone steps de- scending into the river. Several pun’ts and boats were tied up to mooring stakes.~ Hard by, the sew- age from the castle was carried dfvs'n'by a little ,brook, and the air aliabout the landing~p’lace was stagnant and foul. There was something very stately in the View from the river, a‘l] irâ€" radiated as it was by the ruddy evâ€" ening light. The castle itself was :1- massive and imposing place, of great stl'engbh and large 'area. At; one corner of the keep stood a, great tower, the highest for many miles I'o'und, ‘which was covered with a. pointed roof of tiles, like that. of a Fr-cnch chateau. This was known as the Outfangthef Towcr,’and Geoffroi and his daughter, Lady Allce, had their private chambers in it.‘ ' ' Aft-er several minutes of twisting and turning, the ditch widened inâ€" to a,_ large, still pool, over which the flies were dancing, and beyond it; was the black expanse of the river itself. As the boat swung out into the main stream, the castle .came plain to the View. A' well- locaten road fringed with grass, among which bright golden kingâ€" eups were shining, led up to the walls. (flustered roundfihe walls wma little'irillage of sheds, huts, and houses, where the laborers and Ferfs who Were employed on the fiannlands lived. His ‘saints.”. Hyla had been spearing‘ his eels in various - backwaters and fenâ€" pmgls which wound in and out from tle great- l'iVCI‘. When 'his catch was sufliirient, he laid down the hident. and, taking up the punt pc’le, set sel'imlsly about the busi- ncs~"of return. The red lights of the sky turned opal and grew dim a4 hevy'sent his puAnt gliaixfé stvivf‘ély in and out among the rushes. In 1133 itl was established as a general truth and legal adage, by the Justicair of England himself, that no subject might coin“ silver money. The adulteration practis- ed in the baronial mints hid re- duced coins‘, which pretend-ed to be of ‘silver, inbo=an alloy which was principally composed of a bastard copper. A feW* exceptions were made to the law, but all private mints were supposed to be under“ t‘hv‘, direct superintendence of crown officials. .In the anarchy of Ste- phen’s reign this rule became inop- erative, and many ‘barons' and bishops coined money for themâ€" selves“ Few did this so completely and; well as Gggffroi de la, Bourne. ' (To be continued.) ’ Eustace, the head armorer, had a house here, the best in the vil- lage” roofed with shingle and built of solid timber. The men-atâ€"arms; Pierce among them, who were mar- ried, or lived with women takén in battle; had their dwellings there; and one thatched Saxon house ~be- longed to Lewin, the worker in me- tal. and chief of Baron Gooffroifs mint. ' ‘ ; ' Hyla was'a laborer in the mint, and, under the orders of Lewin the Jew. There was. no room for comfor- table dwelling-places inside the castle itself for the cyowd of in- ferior officers and menâ€"at-arms. Ac- cordingly they made their home in the village at; its- walls, and could retreat int-0 safety in times of war. Past the fields the road widened out; into a square of y~el1ow dust- pcwdered grassâ€"the village green â€"and round this were set some of the principal houses. He soon' came to a few pasture fields on the outskirts of} the vil- lage, some parts of them .2111 silver- uhite with “iady-smocks.” Hardy ‘little cows, goats, and-sheep roam- ed in the meadows, which were en- clc sed with rough stone walls. A herd of pigs were wallowing in‘ the mud w‘hich lined the banks of the sewage stream, for,» with their usual ignorance. the castle archi- tects allowed this to run right through the pastures on the hill slope. The cows were lowing uneasily ‘06th other, for they were torâ€" monted by hosts cf gnats and marsh-begotten flies which rose up from the fen below. ‘ He slunk away“ fr‘om' the .man-at- alm's without, a word, and toiled‘ on up the hill. He fancied he could hear Pierce laughing down below him, and he spat qpon the‘ground inr impotent rage. He blazed his bold' eyes at the sm-f. and his ‘iwarthy face and coalâ€" bmck hair seemed bristling with arger and disdain. His face was deeply pitted Wit-h marks which our: of the. numerous varieties of the plague had left upon it. and as his whitefitrmlg teeth flashed in anger through the gloom, he looked, SQ Hyla- thought, like the glinning devil-face of stone carved ave) the servants’ 'wicket at Icombe Abbey. ’ 2', v i “We'll I remember, in the Welsh {Marchr how we hanged men like 23% u up by the teet, and smoked them with {Oiilismoko 'gSom-e were hanged up by their thumbs, others by the hind, and burning things were hung on to their feet. We 3v! knotted strings about their heads, and writ‘hed them till they- wcnt into the brain. We put men into prisonswhere adders, snakes a'm‘ toads were crawling. and so we tormented them. And the whiles We took their wives and daughters for ou-r 0wn"‘pl-easure. Hear you that», Hyla, my friend! 639‘ you off to my .wife with the ocls, you old dog.” “God's teeth I” cried the Soldier, with a nasty sna‘rl'and complete changeoftone, “your wife, your girls! ‘Man, man! we have been two good 1:0 the serfs of late. See t( this now, when -I was in the twin of my Lord de Bellemé. both in France and here, we'killed serfs like rabbits. “Duke Christ forbid!” said Hy- lu. giving the Saviour the highest name heknew ; “had I not my chilâ€" dren and my wife, I should be poor indeed.” * ' “Very gladly,” said Hyla, “for there are many mouths tb fill.” “Oh! that can be altered,” said the sflldier, with a, grin; “your family can 'bQ used in other ways, and. live in other houses than un- der your roofâ€"twee.” "‘Take theméfi) my wife,” .said the soldiené “and take whaty‘ou want? of them for yourself and your Leople." “ . l sf“ ' garding the serf with obvious amusement;though‘for whit rea‘sOu he could not- imagine. He was shown the hook of great eels, some‘of Whic‘h still \\'1_‘ith'ed slcwly} in torture.._ " “Show your'caftph,” he said at ast. The ordinarily good charac- ter..who succumbs to temptation, such as the thieving servant. the shoplifter, and those guilty of em- bgzzlement. Their‘ number remains fairly constant. There is no good reason to suppose that the stand- 1 The “habituals,” who live on crime. The latest police estimate of their total number is 4.255. There are reasons for thinking that; they are decreasing._ 'The increase in indictable‘loffeiicâ€" es in 1908 was 6,735, the totalwb'eâ€" ing.68,116. Such a rate of increase he» not been exceeded since 1861. More than half of the increase oc- curred in Lancashire, Durham, and the East and West Ridings; less than one-sixth of it in the London district; and nearly all the rest in the mining and manufacturing regions. It has only to be recalled that 1908 was a year of great deâ€" pression, of mining, shipbuilding and cotton disputes, as well as prolonged cold and wet. The crim- inal authorities are driven to con- nect these facts. 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