"I have a mind to do porter for once," Havelok said. "Then I can at
least earn somewhat to take back to the dame tonight."
"If you do so," I answered, "I will wait here for you. But you will have
to fight for the place."
Now the steward bought all that he needed, and that was bread for the
whole palace for the day, and again he called for porters. Whereon
Havelok got up from the bridge rail and went towards him in no great
hurry, so that the idlers were in a crowd before him.
"Ho! friends," cried Havelok, "let the good cook see all of us and make
his choice. He can only take one at a time."
"One, forsooth," said a man from the crowd; "why, there is a load for
four men there."
"Well, then, let him pick four little ones, and give these little ones a
chance of being seen."
Now I do not think that he would have troubled with the matter any more;
but whether the men knew that this was the last load that the steward
had to send home, or whether they quarrelled, I cannot say, but in their
eagerness to raise the two great baskets they fell to struggling over
them, and the steward tried to quiet the turmoil by a free use of his
staff, and there was a danger that the bread should be scattered.
"Here will be waste of what there is none too much of just now," said
Havelok; and with that he went to the aid of the steward, picking up and
setting aside the men before him, and then brushing the struggling
rivals into a ruefully wondering heap from about the baskets, so that he
and the steward faced each other, while there fell a silence on the
little crowd that had gathered.
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