"I am out of it,
Captain Percy," he announced with a rueful face. "My lord there
asks me to give him my place. When we were hunting yesterday,
and the stag turned upon me, he came between and thrust his knife
into the brute, which else might have put an end to my hunting
forever and a day: so you see I can't refuse him. Plague take it all!
and Dorothy Gookin sitting there watching!"
My lord and I stood forward, each with a bowl in his hand. We
looked toward the Governor. "My lord first, as becometh his rank,"
he said. My lord stooped and threw, and his bowl went swiftly over
the grass, turned, and rested not a hands'-breadth from the jack. I
threw. "One is as near as the other!" cried Master Macocke for the
judges. A murmur arose from the crowd, and my lord swore
beneath his breath. He and I retreated to our several sides, and
Rolfe and West took our places. While they and those that
followed bowled, the crowd, attentive though it was, still talked
and laughed, and laid wagers upon its favorites; but when my lord
and I again stood forth, the noise was hushed, and men and women
stared with all their eyes. He delivered, and his bowl touched the
jack. He straightened himself, with a smile, and I heard Jeremy
Sparrow behind me groan; but my bowl too kissed the jack. The
crowd began to laugh with sheer delight, but my lord turned red
and his brows drew together.
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