Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · English Edition
The Keepers of the People
A Critical Edition of the 1898 Novel
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
English Edition · Branch 167 of 254
Chapter X · Ruth Comes to Varandaleel · pp. 220–235
The Keepers of the People
p. 228“Ah, we are indeed hungry and thirsty,” said the missionary.
“Hadn’t you better read the burial service over poor Morrel? It’s your business, don’t you know?” said Lord Lisdor.
The missionary paused a moment; then he said firmly, “No: the young man was a papist. It is no business of mine;” and he came down the road after them.
They found Ruth sitting on her horse under the trees, two mutes waiting on her while she ate; and while Lord Lisdor and his party refreshed themselves, Prince Ralph made his dispositions. He sent a man for Ruth’s side-saddle; had it girthed on the horse he had chosen for her; then he sent on the wounded, of whom there were some half-dozen. As soon as they were on their way, he picked out ten of the most skilful scouts to bring him word of the strength of the nearest body of the Russians and of where they lay. Then with his horsemen in a column, and an advance guard a mile in front, in case they should fall in with another party of Russians, they set out briskly for the pass. Ruth rode between him and Lord Lisdor; and as they rode Lord Lisdor told him of their meeting with the Cossacks, their capture, escape, and flight through the forest.
When they came to the foot of the pass, they found a body of two hundred horsemen, sent by Colonel Sayers, awaiting them; and Ruth and Lord Lisdor dismounted and slept for a while under a tree, while Prince Ralph made his further dispositions. He sent out two bodies of twenty horsemen to scour the country, and learn all they could of the other two bodies of Russians.
When these had ridden off, he roused Ruth and Lord Lisdor.
“I am going to dismiss your native servants,” he said to Lord Lisdor.
“Very good,” said Lord Lisdor.
“And I am going to send this missionary along with them,” said Prince Ralph.
“I follow the Earl and Countess! I gather that there is a great country over the mountains. There is my vineyard! There is my work!” cried the missionary.
“You gather that there is a great country over the mountains? How did you gather it?” said Prince Ralph slowly, gazing at him with piercing eyes. “Your dress — the soldiers” faltered the missionary, uneasy under the gaze. “Beside I have heard of the estate of Mr. Falcon. I am called to it.”
Socrates
Reading The Keepers of the People · Book II, Chapter X · Ruth Comes to Varandaleel · Book II, Chapter X · Ruth Comes to Varandaleel · pp. 220–235
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Edgar Jepson’s The Keepers of the People begins as a late-Victorian lost-kingdom romance and becomes an unsettling political argument. Ralph Falcon moves from an English country house to the hidden state of Varandaleel, where laughter, secrecy, violence, education, and the duties of rulers are tested against one another.
Historical Text
The novel was first published in London in 1898 by C. Arthur Pearson. This reading text follows the owner-supplied critical edition, whose copy-text is the Methuen Colonial Library issue of the same year digitised by the Internet Archive. The supplied editorial note records the edition’s corrections, normalisations, limits, and unresolved textual risks.
About This Edition
This English Edition preserves the complete supplied text and apparatus: the introduction, reading guide, key words, plot outline, editorial note, both books and all thirty chapters, and the end notes. Its reader branches end at paragraph boundaries, with the original chapter structure and chapter page references mapped to the 1898 printing.
Rights
Edgar Jepson’s 1898 novel is in the public domain. The introduction, reader’s guide, key words, outline, editorial note, notes, editorial arrangement, and design of the supplied edition are © 2026 Diotimos Editions.