Scene Twelfth. The Grove

Enter M. Barnes and M. Goursey.

M. Gou. Harke! theres one holloes.

M. Bar. And theres another.

M. Gour. And every where we come, I heere some hollo,
And yet it is our haps to meete with none.

M. Bar. I marvell where your Hodge is, and my man.

M. Gour. I, and our wives; we cannot meet with them,
Nor with the boye, nor Mall, nor Franke, nor Phillip,
Nor yet with Coomes, and yet we nere stood still.
Well, I am very angry with my wife,
And she shall finde I am not pleasd with her,
If we meete nere so soone: but tis my hope.
She hath had as blind a journey ont as we;
Pray God, she have, and worse, if worse may be!

M. Bar. This is but short liv'de envie, maister Goursey:
But, come, what say yee to my pollicie?

M. Gou. I faith, tis good, and we will practise it;
But, sir, it must be handeled cunningly,
Or all is mard; our wives have subtill heads,
And they will soone perceive a drift devise.

Enter Sir Raphe Smith.

Raph. So ho!

M. Gour. So ho!

Raph. Whose there?

M. Bar. Heers on[e] or two.

Raph. Is Will there?

M. Bar. No. Phillip?

M. Gour. Franke?

Raph. No, no.—
Was ever man deluded thus like me?
I thinke some spirit leads me thus amisse,
As I have often heard that some have bin
Thus in the nights.
But yet this mases me; where ere I come,
Some askes me still for Franke or Phillip,
And none of them can tell me where Will is. [Aside.]

Wil. So ho! }

Phil. So ho! }

Hodg. So ho!} They hollo within.

Boy. So ho! }

Rap. Sownes, now I heere foure hollo at the least!
One had a little voice; then thats the wench
My man hath lost: well, I will answer all. [Aside.]
So ho!

[Enter Hodge.]

Hodg. Whope, whope!

Raph. Whose there? Will?

Hod. No, sir; honest Hodge: but, I pray yee, sir, did yee not meete with a boye with a torche? he is runne away from me, a plague on him!

Raph. Hey day, from Franke and Phillip to a torche,
And to a boye! nay, sownes, then, hap as twill. [Aside.]

[Exeunt Sir Raph and Hodge severally.]

M. Gour. Who goes there?

[Enter Will.]

Wil. Gesse heere.

M. Bar. Phillip?

Wil. Phillip! no, faith; my names Will,—ill will, for I was never worse: I was even now with him, and might have been still, but that I fell into a ditch and lost him, and now I am going up and downe to seeke him.

M. Gor. What wouldst thou do with him?

Wil. Why, I would have him go with me to my maisters.

M. Gou. Whose thy maister?

Wil. Why, sir Raphe Smith; and thether he promist me he would come; if he keepe his worde, so tis.

M. Ba. What was he doing when thou first found him?

Wil. Why, he holloed for one Francis, and Francis hollod for him; I hallod for my maister, and my maister for me; but we mist still, meeting contrary, Phillip and Francis with me and my maister, and I and my maister with Philip and Franke.

M. Gou. Why, wherefore is sir Raphe so late abroade?

Wil. Why, he ment to kill a buck,—Ile say so to save his honestie, but my Nan was his marke [Aside]—and when he sent me for his bow, and when I came, I hollod for him; but I never saw such luck to misse him, it hath almost made me mad.

M. Bar. Well, stay with us; perhaps sir Raphe and he Will come anon: harke! I do heere one hollo.

Enter Phillip [from the fields.]

Phil. Is this broad waking in a winters night?
I am broad walking in a winters night,—
Broad indeed, because I am abroad,—
But these broad fields methinks are not so broad
That they may keepe me foorth of narrow ditches.
Heers a hard world!
For I can hardly keep myself upright in it:
I am marvellous dutifull—but, so ho!

Wil. So ho!

Phil. Whose there?

Wil. Heeres Will.

Ph. What, Will! how scapst thou?

Wil. What, sir?

Ph. Nay, not hanging, but drowning: wert thou in a pond or a ditche?

Wil. A pestilence on it! ist you, Phillip? no, faith, I was but durty a little: but heeres one or two askt for yee.

Phil. Who be they, man?

M. Bar. Philip, tis I and maister Goursey.

Phi. Father, O father, I have heard them say
The dayes of ignorance are past and done;
But I am sure the nights of ignorance
Are not yet past, for this is one of them.
But wheres my sister?

M. Bar. Why, we cannot tell.

Ph. Wheres Francis?

M. Gour. Neither saw we him.

Phi. Why, this is fine.
What, neither he nor I, nor she nor you,
Nor I nor she, nor you and I, till now,
Can meet, could meet, or nere, I thinke, shall meete!
Cal ye this woing? no, tis Christmas sport
Of Hob man blind: all blind, all seek to catch,
All misse,—but who comes heere?

Enter Franke and his Boye [with torch].

Fra. O, have I catcht yee, sir? it was your dooing
That made me have this pretty daunce to night;
Had not you spoake, my mother had not scard me:
But I will swinge ye for it.

Phil. Keepe the kings peace!

Fran. How! art thou become a constable?
Why, Phillip, where hast thou bin all this while?

Ph. Why, where you were not: but, I pray, whers my sister?

Fran. Why, man, I saw her not; but I have sought her
As I should seeke seeke—

Phil. A needle, have yee not?
Why, you, man, are the needle that she seekes
To worke withall. Well, Francis, do you heere?
You must not answere so, that you have sought her;
But have yee found her? faith, and if you have,
God give yee joy of that ye found with her!

Fra. I saw her not: how could I finde her?

M. Gou. Why, could yee misse from maister Barnses house
Unto his cunnyberry?

Fran. Whether I could or no, father, I did.

Phil. Father, I did! well, Franke, wilt thou beleeve me,
Thou dost not know how much this same doth greeve me:
Shall it be said thou mist so plaine a way,
When as so faire a wenche did for thee stay?

Fra. Sownes, man!

Phi. Sownes, man! and if thou hadst bin blinde,
The cunny-borow thou needst must finde.
I tell thee, Francis, had it bin my case,
And I had bin a woer in thy place,
I would have laide my head unto the ground,
And sented out my wenches way, like a hound;
I would have crept upon my knees all night,
And have made the flint stones linckes to give me light.
Nay, man, I would—

Fran. Good Lord, what you would doe!
Well, we shall see one day how you can woe.

M. Gor. Come, come, we see that we have all bin crost;
Therefore lets go, and seeke them we have lost.

Exeunt.