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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16654-h.zip b/16654-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e5065a --- /dev/null +++ b/16654-h.zip diff --git a/16654-h/16654-h.htm b/16654-h/16654-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..360ce8c --- /dev/null +++ b/16654-h/16654-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14124 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + body {background:#ffffff; + color:black; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size:14pt; + margin-top:70px; + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align:justify} + h1 {text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.05em} + h2 {text-align: center; letter-spacing: 0.04em} + h3 {text-align: center; letter-spacing: 0.04em} + hr {height: 5px} + pre {text-align: center; font-size: 10pt;} + p {text-indent: 4% } + caption {text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 18pt; font-weight: bold; + letter-spacing: 0.04em; font-family: "Arial";} + td { font-family: "Arial";} + thead { font-weight: bold;} + td.ltoc { letter-spacing: 0.04em; font-weight: bold; font-size: 18pt; + text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; vertical-align: top } + td.rtoc { font-weight: bold; font-size: 18pt; text-align: left} +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn, by Evelyn Everett-Green + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn + A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot + +Author: Evelyn Everett-Green + +Release Date: September 5, 2005 [EBook #16654] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TREASURE OF TREVLYN *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Robb + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn</h1> +<h2>A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot</h2> +<h2>by Evelyn Everett-Green</h2> +<hr /> +<table align="center" summary="Table of Contents"> +<caption>Contents</caption> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch1">Chapter 1</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Inmates Of The Old Gate House.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch2">Chapter 2</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Inmates Of Trevlyn Chase.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch3">Chapter 3:</a></td> +<td class="rtoc">The Lost Treasure.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch4">Chapter 4</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">A Night On Hammerton Heath.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch5">Chapter 5</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The House On The Bridge.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch6">Chapter 6</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Martin Holt's Supper Party.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch7">Chapter 7</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Life Of A Great City.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch8">Chapter 8</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Cuthbert And Cherry Go Visiting.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch9">Chapter 9</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Wise Woman.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch10">Chapter 10</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Hunted Priest.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch11">Chapter 11</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Lone House On The River.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch12">Chapter 12</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">May Day In The Forest.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch13">Chapter 13</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Gipsy's Tryst.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch14">Chapter 14</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Long Robin.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch15">Chapter 15</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Petronella.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch16">Chapter 16</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Pixies' Dell.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch17">Chapter 17</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Brother And Sister.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch18">Chapter 18</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">"Saucy Kate."</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch19">Chapter 19</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Cross Way House.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch20">Chapter 20</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">How It Fared With Cherry.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch21">Chapter 21</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">The Gipsy's Warning.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch22">Chapter 22</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Whispers Abroad.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch23">Chapter 23</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Peril For Trevlyn.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch24">Chapter 24</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Kate's Courage.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch25">Chapter 25</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">"On The Dark Flowing River."</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch26">Chapter 26</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Jacob's Devotion.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="ltoc"><a href="#Ch27">Chapter 27</a>:</td> +<td class="rtoc">Yuletide At The Cross Way House.</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch1" id="Ch1">1</a>: The Inmates Of The Old +Gate House.</h2> +<p>"Dost defy me to my face, sirrah?"</p> +<p>"I have no desire to defy you, father, but--"</p> +<p>"But me no 'buts,' and father me no 'fathers,'" stormed the +angry old man, probably quite unconscious of the Shakespearian +smack of his phrase; "I am no father to heretic spawn--a plague and +a curse be on all such! Go to, thou wicked and deceitful boy; thou +wilt one day bitterly rue thy evil practices. Thinkest thou that I +will harbour beneath my roof one who sets me at open defiance; one +who is a traitor to his house and to his faith?"</p> +<p>A dark flush had risen in the face of the tall, slight youth, +with the thoughtful brow and resolute mouth, as his father's first +words fell upon his ears, and throwing back his head with a haughty +gesture, he said: "I am not deceitful. You have no call to taunt me +with that vice which I despise above all others. I have never used +deceit towards you. How could you have known I had this day +attended the service of the Established Church had I not told you +so myself?"</p> +<p>The veins on the old man's forehead stood out with anger; he +brought his fist heavily down on the table, with a bang that caused +every vessel thereon to ring. A dark-eyed girl, who was listening +in mute terror to the stormy scene, shrank yet more into herself at +this, and cast an imploring look upon the tall stripling whose face +her own so much resembled; but his fiery eyes were on his father's +face, and he neither saw nor heeded the look.</p> +<p>"And have I not forbid--ay, and that under the heaviest +penalties--any child of mine from so much as putting the head +inside one of those vile heretic buildings? Would God they were +every one of them destroyed! Heaven send some speedy judgment upon +those who build and those who dare to worship therein! What wonder +that a son turns in defiance upon his father, when he stuffs his +ears with the pestilent heresies with which the wicked are making +vile this earth!"</p> +<p>Nicholas Trevlyn's anger became so great at this point as well +nigh to choke him. He paused, not from lack of words, but from +inability to utter them; and his son, boldly taking advantage of +the pause, struck in once more in his own defence.</p> +<p>"Father, you talk of pestilent heresies, but what know you of +the doctrines taught within walls you never enter? Is it a +pestilent heresy that Christ died to save the world; that He rose +again for our justification; that He sent the Holy Spirit into the +world to sanctify and gather together a Church called after His +name? That is the doctrine I heard preached today, and methinks it +were hard to fall foul of it. If you had heard it yourself from one +of our priests, sure you would have found it nothing amiss."</p> +<p>"Silence, boy!" thundered the old man, his fury suddenly +changing to a white heat of passion, which was more terrible than +the bluster that had gone before. "Silence, lest I strike thee to +the ground where thou standest, and plunge this dagger in thine +heart sooner than hear thee blaspheme the Holy Church in which thou +wast reared! How darest thou talk thus to me? as though yon +accursed heretic of a Protestant was a member of the Church of +Christ. Thou knowest that there is but one fold under one shepherd, +and he the Pope of Rome. A plague upon those accursed ones who have +perverted the true faith and led a whole nation astray! But they +shall not lead my son after them; Nicholas Trevlyn will look well +to that!"</p> +<p>Father and son stood with the table between them, gazing fixedly +at one another like combatants who, having tested somewhat the +strength each of the other, feel a certain doubt as to the +termination of the contest, but are both ready and almost eager for +the final struggle which shall leave the victory unequivocally on +one side or the other.</p> +<p>"I had thought that the Shepherd was Christ," said Cuthbert, in +a low, firm tone, "and that the fold was wide enough to embrace all +those baptized into His name."</p> +<p>"Then thou only thinkest what is one more of those damnable +heresies which are ruining this land and corrupting the whole +world," cried Nicholas between his shut teeth. "Thou hast learned +none such vile doctrine from me."</p> +<p>"I have learned no doctrine from you save that the Pope is lord +of all----of things temporal and things spiritual--and that all who +deny this are in peril of hell fire," answered the young man, with +no small bitterness and scorn. "And here, in this realm, those who +hold this to be so are in danger of prison and death. Truly this is +a happy state of things for one such as I. At home a father who +rails upon me night and day for a heretic--albeit I vow I hold not +one single doctrine which I cannot stand to and prove from the Word +of God."</p> +<p>"Which thou hast no call to have in thine hands!" shouted his +father; "a book which, if given to the people, stirs up everywhere +the vilest heresies and most loathsome errors. The Bible is God's +gift to the Church. It is not of private interpretation. It is for +the priests to give of its treasures to the people as they are able +to bear them."</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, and what are the people to do when the priests deny +them their rightful food?" cried Cuthbert, as hotly as his father. +"Listen to me, sir. Yes, this once I wilt speak! In years gone by, +when, however quietly, secretly, and privately, we were visited by +a priest and heard the mass, and received at his hands the Blessed +Sacrament, did I revolt against your wish in matters spiritual? Was +I not ever willing to please you? Did I not love the Church? Was +not I approved of the Father, and taught many things by him, +including those arts of reading and penmanship which many in my +condition of life never attain unto? Did I ever anger you by +disobedience or revolt?"</p> +<p>"What of that, since you are doing so now?" questioned Nicholas +in a quieter tone, yet one full of suspicion and resentment. "What +use to talk of what is past and gone? Thou knowest well of late +years how thou hast been hankering after every vile and villainous +heresy that has come in thy way. It is thy mother's blood within +thee belike. I did grievous wrong ever to wed with one reared a +Protestant, however she might abjure the errors in which she was +brought up. False son of a false mother--"</p> +<p>"Hold, sir! You shall not miscall my mother! No son will stand +by and hear that!"</p> +<p>"I will say what I will in mine own house, thou evil, malapert +boy!" roared the old man. "I tell thee that thy mother was a false +woman, that she deceived me bitterly. After solemnly abjuring the +errors in which she had been reared, and being received into the +true fold, she, as years went by, lapsed more and more into her +foul heretical ways of thought and speech; and though she went to +her last reckoning (unshriven and unassoiled, for she would have no +priest at her dying bed) before ye twain were old enough to have +been corrupted by her precept and example, ye must have sucked in +heresy with your mother's milk, else how could son of mine act in +the vile fashion that thou art acting?"</p> +<p>"I am acting in no vile fashion. I am no heretic. I am a true +son of the true Church."</p> +<p>Cuthbert spoke with a forced calmness which gave his words +weight, and for a moment even the angry man paused to listen to +them, eying the youth keenly all the while, as though measuring his +own strength against him. Physically he was far more than a match +for the slightly-built stripling of one-and-twenty, being a man of +great height and muscular power--power that had in no wise +diminished with advancing years, though time had turned his black +locks to iron gray, and seamed his face with a multitude of +wrinkles. Pride, passion, gloomy defiance, and bitter hatred of his +kind seemed written on that face, which in its youth must have been +handsome enough. Nicholas Trevlyn was a disappointed, embittered +man, who added to all other faults of temperament that of a +hopeless bigot of the worst kind. He was the sort of man of whom +Inquisitors must surely have been made--without pity, without +remorse, without any kind of natural feeling when once their +religious convictions were at stake.</p> +<p>As a young man he had watched heretics burning in Smithfield +with a fierce joy and delight; and when with the accession of +Elizabeth the tide had turned, he had submitted without a murmur to +the fines which had ruined him and driven him, a poverty-stricken +dependent, to the old Gate House. He would have died a martyr with +the grim constancy that he had seen in others, and never lamented +what he suffered for conscience' sake. But he had grown to be a +thoroughly soured and embittered man, and had spent the past twenty +or more years of his life in a ceaseless savage brooding which had +made his abode anything but a happy place for his two children, the +offspring of a late and rather peculiar marriage with a woman by +birth considerably his inferior.</p> +<p>The firmness without the bitterness of his father's face was +reflected in that of the son as Cuthbert fearlessly finished his +speech.</p> +<p>"I am a true son of the Church. I am no outcast--no heretic. But +I will not suffer my soul to be starved. It is the law of this land +that whatever creed men hold in their hearts--whether the tenets of +Rome or those of the Puritans of Scotland--that they shall +outwardly conform themselves to the forms prescribed by the +Establishment, and shall attend the churches of the land; and you +know as well as I do that there be many priests of our faith who +bid their flocks obey this law, and submit themselves to the powers +that be. And yet even with all this I would have restrained myself +from such attendance, knowing that it is an abhorrence unto you, +had there been any other way open to me of hearing the Word of God +or receiving the Blessed Sacrament. But since King James has come +to the throne, the penal laws have been more stringently enforced +against our priests than in the latter days of the Queen. What has +been the result for us? Verily that the priest who did from time to +time minister to us is fled. We are left without help, without +guidance, without teaching, and this when the clouds of peril and +trouble are like to darken more and more about our path."</p> +<p>"And what of that, rash boy? Would you think to lessen the peril +by tampering with the things of the Evil One; by casting aside +those rules and doctrines in which you both have been reared, and +consorting with the subverters of the true faith?"</p> +<p>"But I cannot see that they are subverters of the faith," +answered the youth hotly. "That is where the kernel of the matter +lies. I have heard their preachings. I have talked with my cousins +at the Chase, who know what their doctrine is."</p> +<p>But at these words the old man fairly gnashed his teeth in fury; +he made a rush at his son and took him by the collar of his +doublet, shaking him in a frenzy of rage.</p> +<p>"So!" he cried, "so! Now we get at the whole heart of the +matter. You have been learning heresy from those false Trevlyns at +the Chase--those renegade, treacherous, time-serving Trevlyns, who +are a disgrace to their name and their station! Wretched boy! have +I not warned you times and again to have no dealings with those +evil relatives? Kinsmen they may be, but kinsmen who have disgraced +the name they bear. I would I had Richard Trevlyn here beneath my +hand now, that I might stuff his false doctrine down his false +throat to choke him withal! And to think that he has corrupted my +son, as if the rearing of his own heretic brood was not +enough!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was unable to speak; his father's hand pressed too +tightly on his throat. He did not struggle or resist. Those were +days when sons--ay, and daughters too--were used to receiving +severe chastisement from the parental hand without murmur: and +Nicholas Trevlyn had not been one to spare the rod where his son +had been concerned. His wrath seemed to rise as he felt the slight +form of the lad sway beneath his strong grasp. Surely that slim +stripling could be reduced to obedience; but the lesson must be a +sharp one, for plainly the poison was working, and had already +produced disastrous results.</p> +<p>"Miserable boy!" cried Nicholas, his eyes blazing in their +cavernous hollows, "the time has come when this matter must be +settled betwixt us twain. Swear that thou wilt go no more to the +churches of the Protestant faction, be the laws what they may; +swear that thou wilt hold no more converse on matters of religion +with thy cousins at the Chase--swear these things with a solemn and +binding oath, and all may yet be well. Refuse, and thou shalt yet +learn, as thou hast not learned before, what the wrath of a wronged +and outraged father can be!"</p> +<p>Petronella, the dark-eyed girl, who had all this while been +crouching back in her high-backed chair in an attitude of shrinking +terror, now sprang suddenly towards her brother, crying: "O +Cuthbert, Cuthbert! prithee do not anger him more!</p> +<p>"Father, O dear sir, let but him go this once! He does not +willingly anger you; he does but--"</p> +<p>"Peace, foolish girl, and begone! This is no time for woman's +whining. Thy brother and I can settle this business betwixt us +twain. But stay, go thou to my room and fetch thence the strong +whip wherewith I chastise the unruly hounds. Those who disobey like +dogs must be beaten like dogs.</p> +<p>"But, an thou wilt swear to do my bidding in the future, and +avoid all pestilent controversy with those false scions of thy +house, thy chastisement shall be light. Defy me, and thou shalt +feel the full weight of my arm as thou hast never felt it +before."</p> +<p>Petronella had never seen her father so angry in all her life +before. True, he had always been a harsh, stern man, an unloving +father, a captious tyrant in his own house. But there had been +limits to his anger. It had taken more generally the form of sullen +brooding than of wild wrath, and the irritation and passion which +had lately been increasing visibly in him was something +comparatively new.</p> +<p>Of late, however, there had been growing friction between +Cuthbert and his father. The youth, who had remained longer a boy +in his secluded life than he would have done had his lot been cast +in a wider sphere, was awakening at last to the stirrings of +manhood within him, and was chafing against the fetters, both +physical and spiritual, laid upon him by the life he was forced to +lead through the tyrannical will of his father. He was beginning, +in a semi-conscious fashion, to pant for freedom, and to rebel +against the harsh paternal yoke.</p> +<p>When a struggle of wills commences, the friction continues a +long while before the spark is produced; but when some unwonted +contest has ignited this, the flame often bursts out in wonderful +fury, and the whole scene is thence forward changed.</p> +<p>If the old man's blood was up today, Cuthbert's was no less so. +He shook himself free for a moment from his father's grasp and +stood before him, tall, upright, indignant, no fear in his face, +but a deep anger and pain; and his words were spoken with great +emphasis and deliberation.</p> +<p>"I will swear nothing of all that. I claim for myself the right +of a man to judge for myself and act for myself. I am a boy no +longer; I have reached man's estate. I will be threatened and +intimidated no longer by any man, even though he be my father. I am +ready and willing to leave your house this very day. I am weary of +the life here. I would fain carve out fortune for myself. It is +plain that we cannot be agreed; wherefore it plainly behoves us to +part. Let me then go, but let me go in peace. It may be when I +return to these doors you may have learned to think more kindly of +me."</p> +<p>But the very calmness of these words only stung Nicholas to +greater fury. He had in full force that inherent belief, so deeply +rooted in the minds of many of the sons of Rome, that conviction as +well as submission could be compelled--could be driven into the +minds and consciences of recalcitrant sons and daughters by sheer +force and might. Gnashing his teeth in fury, he sprang once more +upon his son, winding his strong arms about him, and fairly lifting +him from the ground in his paroxysm of fury.</p> +<p>"Go! ay, we will see about that. Go, and carry your false +stories and falser thoughts out into the world, and pollute others +as you yourself have been polluted! we will think of that anon. +Here thou art safe in thy father's care, and it will be well to +think further ere we let so rabid a heretic stray from these walls. +Wretched boy! the devil himself must sure have entered into thee. +But fiends have been exorcised before now. It shall not be the +fault of Nicholas Trevlyn if this one be not quickly forced to take +flight!"</p> +<p>All this while the infuriated man had been partly dragging, +partly carrying his son to a dreary empty room in the rear of the +dilapidated old house inhabited by Nicholas and his children. It +was a vault-like apartment, and the roof was upheld in the centre +by a stout pillar such as one sees in the crypts of churches, and +suspended round this pillar were a pair of manacles and a leather +belt. Cuthbert had many times been tied up to this pillar before, +his hands secured above his head in the manacles, and his body +firmly fastened to the pillar by the leather thong. Sometimes he +had been left many hours thus secured, till he had been ready to +drop with exhaustion. Sometimes he had been cruelly beaten by his +stern sire in punishment for some boyish prank or act of +disobedience. Even the gentle and timid Petronella had more than +once been fastened to the pillar for a time of penance, though the +manacles and the whip had been spared to her. The place was even +now full of terrors for her--a gruesome spot, always dim and dark, +always full of lurking horrors. Her eyes dilated with agony and +fear as she beheld her brother fastened up--not before his stout +doublet had been removed--and her knees almost gave way beneath her +as her father turned sharply upon her and said: "Where is the whip, +girl?"</p> +<p>It was seldom that the maiden had the courage to resist her, +stern father; but today, love for her brother overcoming every +other feeling, she suddenly sank on her knees before him, clasping +her hands in piteous supplication, as she cried, with tears +streaming down her face: "O father, sweet father, spare him this +time! for the love of heaven visit not his misdoings upon him! Let +me but talk to him; let me but persuade him! Oh, do not treat him +so harshly! Indeed he may better be won by love than driven by +blows!"</p> +<p>But Nicholas roughly repulsed the girl, so that she almost fell +as he brushed past her.</p> +<p>"Tush, girl! thou knowest not what thou sayest. Disobedience +must be flogged out of the heretic spawn. I will have no son of +mine sell himself to the devil unchecked. A truce to such tears and +vain words! I will none of them. And take heed that thine own turn +comes not next. I will spare neither son nor daughter that I find +tampering with the pestilent doctrines of heretics!"</p> +<p>So saying, the angry man strode away himself in search of the +weapon of chastisement, and whilst Petronella sobbed aloud in her +agony of pity, Cuthbert looked round with a strange smile to say: +"Do not weep so bitterly, my sister; it will soon be over, and it +is the last beating I will ever receive at his hands. This settles +it--this decides me. I leave this house this very night, and I +return no more until I have won my right to be treated no longer as +a slave and a dog."</p> +<p>"Alas, my brother! wilt thou really go?"</p> +<p>"Ay, that will I, and this very night to boot."</p> +<p>"This night! But I fear me he will lock thee in this chamber +here."</p> +<p>"I trust he may; so may I the better effect my purpose. Listen, +sister, for he will return right soon, and I must be brief. I have +been shut up here before, and dreaming of some such day as this, I +have worked my way through one of yon stout bars to the window; and +it will fall out now with a touch. Night falls early in these dark +November days. When the great clock in the tower of the Chase tolls +eight strokes, then steal thou from the house bearing some victuals +in a wallet, and my good sword and dagger and belt. Meet me by the +ruined chantry where we have sat so oft. I will then tell thee all +that is in my heart--for which time lacks me to speak now.</p> +<p>"Hist! there is his returning step. Leave me now, and weep not. +I care naught for hard blows; I have received too many in my time. +But these shall be the last!"</p> +<p>Petronella, trembling in every limb, shrank silently away in the +shadows as her father approached, the sight of his grim, stern face +and the cruel-looking weapon in his hands bringing quick thrills of +pain and pity to her gentle heart. Petronella was a very tender +floweret to have been reared amidst so much hardness and sorrow. It +was wonderful that she had lived through the helpless years of +infancy (her mother had died ere she had completed her second year) +with such a father over her, or that having so lived she had +preserved the sweetness and clinging softness of temperament which +gave to her such a strange charm--at least in the opinion of one. +Doubtless she owed much of her well being to the kindly care of an +old deaf and dumb woman, the only servant in that lonely old house, +who had entered it to nurse the children's mother through her last +illness, and had stayed on almost as a matter of course, receiving +no wage for her untiring service, but only the coarse victuals that +all shared alike, and such scanty clothing as was absolutely +indispensable.</p> +<p>To this old crone Petronella fled with white face and tearful +eyes, as the sound of those terrible blows smote upon her ears with +the whistling noise that well betrayed the force with which they +were dealt. She quickly made the faithful old creature aware of +what was going on, and her sympathy was readily aroused on behalf +of the sufferer. The dumb request for food was also understood and +complied with. No doubt there had been times before when the girl +had crept with bread and meat in her apron to the solitary captive, +who was shut up alone without food till he should come to a better +mind.</p> +<p>Of Cuthbert's intended flight she made no attempted revelation. +She must act now, and explain later, if she could ever make the old +woman understand, that her brother had fled, and had not been done +to death by his hard-hearted father.</p> +<p>Supper was over. It had been at the close of that meal that the +explosion had taken place. She would not be called upon to meet her +father again that day. Fleeing up the broken stone staircase just +as his feet were heard returning from the vaulted room, she heard +him bang to the door of the living room before she dared to steal +into the little bare chamber where her brother slept, and where all +his worldly possessions were stored.</p> +<p>The old Gate House was a strange habitation. Formerly merely the +gateway to the Castle, which had once reared its proud head upon +the crest of the hill to the westward, it had but scant +accommodation for a family--one living room below, flanked on one +side by the kitchen, and on the other by the vaulted chamber, once +possibly a guardroom, but so bitterly cold and damp now that it was +never used save for such purposes as had been witnessed there that +evening. A winding, broken stone stairway led upwards to a few very +narrow chambers above of irregular shape, and all lighted by +loophole windows deeply splayed. The lowest of these was the place +where Nicholas slept, and there was a slight attempt at furniture +and comfort; but the upper chambers, where Petronella and Cuthbert +retired out of the way of their father's sullen and morose temper, +were bare of all but actual necessities, and lacked many things +which would be numbered amongst essentials in later days. The stone +floors had not even a carpeting of rushes, the pallet beds lay on +the hard stone floor, and only the girl possessed a basin and ewer +for washing. Cuthbert was supposed to perform his ablutions in the +water of the moat without, or at the pump in the yard.</p> +<p>But Petronella had small notion of the hardness of her life. She +had known no other, and only of late had she begun to realize that +other girls were more gently reared and tended. Since the family +had come to live at the Chase--which had only happened within the +past year--her ideas had begun to enlarge; but so far this had not +taught her discontent with her surroundings.</p> +<p>She knew that her father had fled to the Gate House as a place +of retirement in the hour of his danger and need, and that nobody +had denied his right to remain there, though the whole property was +in the possession of Sir Richard Trevlyn, the nephew of her morose +parent. Nicholas, however, as may have been already gathered, bore +no goodwill towards his nephew, and would fain have hindered his +children from so much as exchanging a word with their kinsfolks. +But blood is thicker than water, and the young naturally consort +together. Nicholas had married so late in life that his children +were much about the same age as those of his nephew--indeed the +Trevlyns of the Chase were all older than Petronella. Sir Richard +had striven to establish friendly relations with his uncle when he +had first brought his family to the Chase, and had only given up +the attempt after many rebuffs. He encouraged his children to show +kindness to their cousins, as they called each other, and since +that day a ray of sunshine had stolen into Petronella's life, +though she was almost afraid to cherish it, lest it should only be +withdrawn again.</p> +<p>As she hurried to the tryst that evening, this fear was only +second to the bitter thought of parting with Cuthbert. Yet she did +not wish him to stay. Her father's wrath and suspicion once fully +aroused, no peace could be hoped for or looked for. Terribly as she +would miss him, anything was better than such scenes as the one of +today. Cuthbert was no longer a child; he was beginning to think +and reason and act for himself. It was better he should fly before +worse had happened; only the girl could not but wonder what her own +life would be like if, after his departing, her stern father should +absolutely forbid her seeing or speaking to her cousins again.</p> +<p>She knew he would gladly do it; knew that he hated and grudged +the few meetings and greetings that did pass between them from time +to time. Any excuse would gladly be caught at as a pretext for an +absolute prohibition of such small overtures, and what would life +be like, she wondered with a little sob, if she were to lose +Cuthbert, and never to see Philip?</p> +<p>Her brother was at the trysting place first. She could not see +his face, but could distinguish the slight figure seated upon the +crumbling fragment of the wall. He was very still and quiet, and +she paused as she drew near, wondering if he had not heard her +light footfall upon the fallen leaves.</p> +<p>"Is that thou, my sister?" asked a familiar voice, though feeble +and hollow in its tones. The girl sprang quickly to his side.</p> +<p>"Yes, Cuthbert, it is I; and I have brought all thou biddest me, +and as much beside as I could make shift to carry. Alack, Cuthbert +are you sorely hurt? I heard that cruel whip!"</p> +<p>"Think no more of that! I will think no more myself once the +smart be past. Think of the freedom thy brother will enjoy; would +that thou couldst share it, sweet sister! I like not faring thus +forth and leaving thee, but for the nonce there be no other +way.</p> +<p>"Petronella, I know thou wouldst ask whither I go and what I do. +And that I scarce know myself as yet. But sitting here in the dark +there has come a new purpose, a new thought to my mind. What if I +were to set myself to the discovery of the lost treasure of Trevlyn +Chase?"</p> +<p>The girl started in the darkness, and laid her hand on her +brother's arm.</p> +<p>"Ah, Cuthbert, that lost treasure! Would that thou couldst find +it! But how canst thou hope to do so when so many besides have +failed?"</p> +<p>"That is not the fashion in which men think when they mean to +triumph, my sister," said Cuthbert, and she knew by his voice that +he was smiling. "How this thing may be done I know not. Where the +long-lost treasure be hid I know not, nor that I may ever be the +one to light on it. But this I do know, that it is somewhere; that +some hand buried it; that even now some living soul may know the +secret of the hiding place. Petronella, hast thou ever thought of +it? Hast thou ever wondered if our father may know aught of +it?"</p> +<p>"Our father! nay, Cuthbert; but he would be the first to show +the place and claim his share of spoil."</p> +<p>"I know not that. He hates Sir Richard. Methinks he loved not +his own brother, the good knight's father. He was in the house what +time the treasure vanished. Might he not have had some hand in the +mystery?"</p> +<p>The girl shook her head again doubtfully.</p> +<p>"Nay, how can I say? Yet methinks our father, who sorely laments +his poverty and dependence for a home upon Sir Richard's kindness, +would no longer live at the old Gate House had he riches hidden +away upon which he might lay his hand. Nay, Cuthbert, methinks thou +art not on the right track in thinking of him. But I do not rightly +know the story of that lost treasure."</p> +<p>"Marry, nor I neither. I have heard our father rave of it. I +have heard a word here, a whisper there, but never a full account +of the matter. But that there is some great treasure lost or made +away with all men who know aught of the Trevlyns know well. And if, +as all affirm, this same treasure is but buried in some hiding +place, the clue to which none possesses, why should not I find it? +Why should not I be the man at last to track and to discover +it?"</p> +<p>Why not indeed? Petronella, full of ardent youthful imaginings, +fired instantly with the thought. Why should not her brother do +this thing? Why not indeed? She looked at him with eyes that shone +in the gloom like stars.</p> +<p>"Yes, Cuthbert, be it thine to do what none else has been able. +Be it thine to discover this lost treasure. Would that I could help +thee in that quest! But I can give thee just this one morsel of +counsel. Start not till thou hast been to the Chase and heard all +the story from our cousins there. They will tell thee what there is +to know, and he is twice armed who has this knowledge."</p> +<p>"I will follow thy good counsel, my sister, and commend thee to +their kindly care. And now, let us say farewell, and be brief; for +such moments do but wring the heart and take the manliness from +one. Farewell, and farewell, my sweetest sister. Heaven be thy +guide and protector; and be sure of one thing, that if I live I +will see thee soon again, and that if I have success in my search +thou and I will rejoice in it together."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch2" id="Ch2">2</a>: The Inmates Of Trevlyn +Chase.</h2> +<p>Trevlyn Chase was a fine Tudor structure, standing on the site +of the more ancient castle that had been destroyed during the +tumultuous days of the Wars of the Roses. Instead of the grim pile +of gray masonry that had once adorned the crest of the wooded hill, +its narrow loopholes and castellated battlements telling of matters +offensive and defensive, a fair and home-like mansion of red brick +overlooked the peaceful landscape, adorned with innumerable oriel +windows, whose latticed casements shone brilliantly in the south +sunlight as it fell upon the handsome frontage of the stately +house. Great timbers deeply carved adorned the outer walls, and the +whole building was rich in those embellishments which grace the +buildings of that period. A fine terrace ran the whole length of +the south front, and was bounded at either side by a thick hedge of +yew. Stone steps led down into a terraced garden upon which much +care had been bestowed, and which in summer was bright with all the +flowers then known and cultivated in this country. Even in gloomy +winter there was more of order and trimness than was often found in +such places, and the pleasaunces and shrubberies and gardens of +Trevlyn Chase, with the wide fish ponds and terraced paths, formed +a pleasant place of resort almost at any season, and were greatly +delighted in by the children of the present owner, who had only +recently made acquaintance with their ancient family home.</p> +<p>The setting sun was shining brightly now upon the windows of the +house which faced the south, with half a point of west, so that in +winter the sunlight shone to the very time of its setting into the +lofty and decorated chambers. The glow from blazing fires within +likewise shone and twinkled hospitably through the clear glass, and +one long window of one of the rooms stood open to the still evening +air, and a little group was gathered together just outside.</p> +<p>A tall young man of some five-and-twenty summers, with the +regular Trevlyn features and a pair of honest gray eyes, was +standing out on the terrace with his face towards the red sky, a +couple of sporting dogs frisking joyously about him, as if hoping +he was bent upon a stroll in the woods. By his side stood a tall +slim maiden, bright faced and laughing eyed, straight as a dart, +alert and graceful in her movements, with an expression of courage +and resolution on her fair face that stamped it at once with a +strong individuality of its own. She was dressed simply, though in +soft and rich textures, as became her station, and she held her +hood in her hands, leaving her ruffled curly hair to be the sport +of the light night breeze. She had very delicate features and an +oval face, and from the likeness that existed between them the pair +were plainly brother and sister.</p> +<p>Just within the open window were two more girls, dressed in the +same fashion as the first, and plainly her sisters, though they +were more blonde in type, and whilst very pretty, lacked the +piquant originality that was the great characteristic of the dark +girl's beauty. They were not quite so tall, and the elder of the +blonde pair was not nearly so slim, but had something of womanly +deliberation and dignity about her. She was plainly the eldest of +the three sisters, as the little maid beside her was the youngest. +All three were engrossed in some sort of talk that appeared full of +interest for them.</p> +<p>"I wish he would not do it," said Philip, turning his eyes in an +easterly direction, towards a hollow in the falling ground, where +the ruins of the ancient wall could still be dimly traced. The old +Gate House itself could not be seen from this side of the house, +but it was plain that the thoughts of all had turned in that +direction. "It is brave of him to obey his conscience rather than +his father; but yon man is such a veritable tiger, that I fear me +there will be dark work there betwixt them if the lad provoke him +too far. Nicholas Trevlyn is not one to be defied with impunity. I +would that Cuthbert had as much prudence as he has courage."</p> +<p>"So do not I," answered Kate quickly, turning her flashing eyes +full upon her brother. "I hate prudence--the prudence of cowardice! +I am right glad that Cuthbert thinks first of his conscience and +second of his father's wrath. What man who ever lived to do good in +the world was deterred from the right by craven fears? I honour him +for his single mindedness. He is a bold youth, and I would fain +help him an I could see the way."</p> +<p>"We would all gladly do that," answered Philip; "the hard thing +being to find the way."</p> +<p>"We shall find it anon, I doubt not," answered Kate. "Things +cannot go on ever as they are now."</p> +<p>"No; methinks one day we may chance to hear that the old Papist +has done his son to death in a fit of blind fury. Then perhaps, my +sister, thou wilt join with me in wishing that the lad had shown +more regard for his stern sire's word."</p> +<p>"Nay, Philip, sure thou fearest too much," spoke Cecilia from +her station beside the window. "Nicholas Trevlyn may be a dark and +sour man, but he scarce would lift a hand against his own flesh and +blood! I cannot believe it of any father."</p> +<p>"Fathers of his type have done as bad ere now," answered Philip, +with gravity, "and there is no bigot like the Papist bigot, who is +soured and embittered by persecution himself. Cuthbert has told me +things ere this which show what an iron soul his father's is. He +believes that he would wring the neck of little Petronella sooner +than see her turn out of the path of unreasoning Papistry in which +he has brought her up," and Philip's face darkened suddenly as he +turned it towards his sisters.</p> +<p>"But sure the King would protect them if he knew," said Bessie, +the youngest of the sisters. "Why, the law bids all loyal subjects +go to church, and punishes those who stay away. The King would be +sorely angry, would he not, were he to hear that any man dared use +force to hinder his children from going."</p> +<p>Kate's delicate lips curved into a smile of derision, and Philip +shrugged his broad shoulders.</p> +<p>"The King, my dear Bessie, is naught but a miserable pedant, who +loves nothing so well as hearing himself talk, and prating by the +hour together on matters of law and religion, and on the divine +right of kings. He is not the King such as England has been wont to +know--a King to whom his subjects might gain access to plead his +protection and ask his aid. I trow none but a fool would strive to +win a smile from the Scottish James. He is scarce a man, by all we +hear, let alone a King. I sometimes think scorn of us as a nation +that we so gladly and peaceably put our necks beneath the sceptre +of such an atomy. Sure had the Lady Arabella but been a man, we +should scarce have welcomed so gladly this son of Mary Stuart as +our monarch."</p> +<p>"Have a care, my children, and talk not rank treason in such +open fashion," said a deep voice behind them, and the daughters +started to see the tall form of their father in the room behind +them. "We Trevlyns are none too safe from suspicion that we need +endanger ourselves wilfully. Whatever else James Stuart may be, he +has shown that he means to be a monarch as absolute as any who have +gone before him. Wherefore it behoves us to be cautious even in the +sanctuary of this peaceful home.</p> +<p>"What is the matter, Kate, that thou art thus scornful towards +his majesty? In what has he offended thee, my saucy princess?"</p> +<p>As Kate stepped within the room, followed by her brother, it was +plain from the lighting of her father's eyes that she was the +favourite daughter with him. He laid his hand lightly on her +shoulder, and she stood up close beside him, her bright face +upraised, a saucy gleam in her eyes, and both her attitude and +bearing bespoke an affectionate confidence between father and child +less common in those ceremonious days than it has since become.</p> +<p>"Father, we were talking of Cuthbert. Did you see him at church +today? He was there both in the morning and the afternoon."</p> +<p>"I thought I saw him. I was not sure. I am glad his father has +had the sense to relent thus far with him."</p> +<p>"But he has not relented," answered Kate quickly. "Cuthbert +comes in defiance of his commands; and Philip says he misdoubts if +his father may not do him some grievous bodily harm in his rage and +fury. Bessie did ask if the King would not interfere to save him;" +and then Kate broke off with her rippling, saucy laugh. "I was just +answering that question when you came. But sure, father, something +might be done for him. It is a cruel thing for a boy to be treated +as he is treated, and all for striving to obey the law of the +land."</p> +<p>Sir Richard Trevlyn stood in silent thought awhile. He was a +fine-looking man, with a thoughtful, benevolent countenance, and +eyes that Kate had inherited. He had known something of peril and +trouble himself in his day, and could feel for the troubles of +others. But he also knew the difficulties of dealing with such a +man as his kinsman Nicholas; and without bringing him to the notice +of the authorities as a concealed Papist--an idea repugnant to him +where one of his own name and blood was concerned--it was difficult +to see what could be done for the protection of the hapless +Cuthbert and his sister.</p> +<p>Sir Richard Trevlyn did not wish to draw public attention upon +himself. It was his desire to live as quietly and privately as +possible. The Trevlyns had been for many generations a family +stanch to the doctrines and traditions of the Church of Rome, and +they had won for themselves that kind of reputation which clings +tenaciously to certain families even when it has ceased to be a +fact. The present Sir Richard's father had broken through the +traditions of his race in marrying a lady of the Reformed faith. It +was a love match, and all other considerations went to the winds. +The lady was no theologian, and though believing all she had been +taught, had no horror of Popery or of her husband's creed. They had +lived happily together in spite of their respective opinions; but +either through the influence of his wife, or through other causes +less well understood, Sir Richard the elder in his later life +became gradually weaned from the old faith, and embraced that of +his wife. Some said this was done from motives of policy, since +Elizabeth was on the throne, and the edicts against Papists, though +only rigidly enforced by fits and starts, were always in existence, +and had been the ruin of many ancient families. However that may +have been, the only son of this union had been trained up a +Protestant, and had brought up his own children as members of the +Established Church of the land.</p> +<p>But still the old tradition remained that all Trevlyns must of +necessity be rank Papists, and Nicholas had certainly done all he +could to encourage this idea, and had ruined himself by his +contumacious resistance to the laws. Both his brother and his +nephew had suffered through their close relationship to such an +unruly subject, and there had been dark days enough for the family +during the Armada scare, when every Papist became a mark for +popular hatred, and professions of loyalty and good faith were +regarded with distrust.</p> +<p>Now, however, the family seemed to have lived through its +darkest days. Peace had been made with men in high places. Sir +Richard had done good service to the State on more than one +occasion; and latterly he had felt sufficiently safe to retire from +the neighbourhood of the Court, where he had been holding some +small office, and settle down with his wife and family in his +ancestral home. His marriage with Lady Frances de Grey, the +daughter of the Earl of Andover, had given him excellent +connections; for the Andovers were stanch supporters of the +Reformed faith, and had been for several generations, so that they +were high in favour, and able to further the fortunes of their less +lucky kinsman. It had taken many years to work matters to a safe +and happy conclusion, but at the present moment there seemed to be +no clouds in the sky.</p> +<p>The new King had been as gracious as it was in his nature to be +to Sir Richard, and did not appear to regard him with any +suspicion. The knight breathed freely again after a long period of +anxiety, for the tenacious memory and uncertain temper of the late +Queen had kept him in a constant ferment.</p> +<p>It had been a kindly and courageous thing for Sir Richard to +permit his contumacious and inimical kinsman to retain the +possession of the old Gate House. Nicholas had no manner of right +to it, though he was fond of putting forward a pretended claim; and +the close proximity of a rank and bitter Papist of his own name and +race was anything but a pleasant thing. But the sense of family +feeling, so strongly implanted in the English race, had proved +stronger than prudential scruple, and Nicholas had not been +ejected, his nephew even striving at the first to establish some +kind of friendly relations with the old man, hoping perhaps to draw +him out of his morose ways, and lead him to conformity and +obedience to the existing law.</p> +<p>Nicholas had refused all overtures; but his lonely son and +daughter had been only too thankful for notice, and the whole +family at the Chase became keenly interested in them. It was plain +from the first that their father's bitterness and rigid rule had +done anything but endear his own views to his children. Petronella +accepted the creeds and dogmas instilled into her mind with a +childlike faith, and dreamed her own devotional dreams over her +breviary and her book of saints--the only two volumes she +possessed. She was content, in the same fashion that a little child +is content, with just so much as was given her. But Cuthbert's mind +was of a different stamp, and he had long been panting to break the +bonds that held both body and soul in thrall, and find out for +himself the meaning of those questions and controversies that were +convulsing the nation and the world.</p> +<p>Intercourse with his kinsfolk had given him his first real +insight into the burning questions of the hour, and his attendance +from time to time at the parish church had caused him fresh access +of wonder at what his father could object to in the doctrines there +set forth. They might not embody everything a popish priest would +bid him believe, but at least they appeared to the boy to contain +all the integral truths of Christianity. He began dimly to +understand that the Papists were not half so much concerned in the +matter of cardinal doctrines of the faith as in asserting and +upholding the temporal as well as the spiritual power of the Pope; +and that this should be made the matter of the chiefest moment +filled the boy's soul with a loathing and disgust which were strong +enough to make him half a Protestant at once.</p> +<p>Sir Richard had seen almost as much, and was greatly interested +in the lad; but it was difficult to know how to help him in days +when parental authority was so absolute and so rigidly +exercised.</p> +<p>"We must do what we can," said Sir Richard, waking from his +reverie and shaking his head. "But we must have patience too; and +it will not be well for the boy to irritate his father too greatly. +Tomorrow I will go to the Gate House and see my uncle, and speak +for the boy. He ought to have the liberty of the law, and the law +bids all men attend the services of the Established Church. But it +is ill work reasoning with a Papist of his type; and short of +reporting the case to the authorities, meaning more persecution for +my unlucky kinsman, I know not what may be done."</p> +<p>"We must strive so to win upon him by gentle means that he +permits his children free intercourse with ours," said gentle Lady +Frances from her seat by the glowing hearth. "It seems to me that +that is all we may hope to achieve in the present. Perchance as +days and weeks pass by we may find a way to that hard and flinty +heart."</p> +<p>"And whilst we wait it may well be that Cuthbert will be goaded +to desperation, or be done to death by his remorseless sire," +answered impetuous Kate, who loved not counsels of prudence. +"Methinks that waiting is an ill game. I would never wait were I a +man. I would always aet--ay, even in the teeth of deadly peril. +Sure the greatest deeds have been achieved by men of action, not by +men of counsel and prudence."</p> +<p>Sir Richard smiled, as he stroked her hair, and told her she +should have lived a hundred or so years back, when it was the +fashion to do and dare regardless of consequences. And gradually +the talk drifted away from the inmates of the old Gate House, +though Philip was quite resolved to pay an early visit there on the +morrow, and learn how it had fared with his cousin.</p> +<p>Supper followed in due course, and was a somewhat lengthy meal. +Then the ladies retired to the stately apartment they had been in +before, and the mother read a homily to her daughters, which was +listened to with dutiful attention. But Kate's bright eyes were +often bent upon the casement of one window, the curtain of which +she had drawn back with her own hand before sitting down; and as +the moon rose brighter and brighter in the sky and bathed the world +without in its clear white beams, she seemed to grow a little +restless, and tapped the floor with the point of her dainty +shoe.</p> +<p>Kate Trevlyn was a veritable sprite for her love of the open +air, by night as well as day, in winter cold as well as summer +heat. "The night bird" was one of her father's playful names for +her, and if ever she was able to slip away on a fine night, nothing +delighted her more than to wander about in the park and the woods, +listening to the cries of the owls and night jars, watching the +erratic flight of the bats, and admiring the grand beauty of the +sleeping world as it lay beneath the rays of the peaceful moon.</p> +<p>As the reading ceased, a step on the terrace without told Kate +that Philip was out for an evening stroll. Gliding from the room +with her swift undulating motion, and quickly donning cloak and +clogs, she slipped after him and joined him before he had got many +yards from the house.</p> +<p>"Take me with thee, Philip," she said. "It is a lovely night for +a stroll. I should love to visit the chantry; it looks most +witching at this hour of the night."</p> +<p>They took the path that led thither. The great clock in the +tower had boomed the hour of eight some time since. The moon had +shaken itself free from the veil of cloud, and was sailing +majestically in the sky. As they descended the path, Kate suddenly +laid her hand on her brother's arm, and whispered:</p> +<p>"Hist! Methinks I hear the sound of steps. Surely there is some +one approaching us from below!"</p> +<p>Philip paused and listened. Yes, Kate's quick ears had not +deceived her. There was the sound of a footstep advancing towards +them along the lonely tangled path. Philip instinctively felt for +the pistol he always carried in his belt, for there were often +doubtful and sometimes desperate men in hiding in woods and lonely +places; but before he had time to do more than feel if the weapon +were safe, Kate had darted suddenly from his side, and was speeding +down the path.</p> +<p>"Marry but it is Cuthbert!" she called back to him as he bid her +stop, and Philip himself started forward to meet and greet the +newcomer.</p> +<p>"We have been talking of you and wondering how it fared with +you," he said, as they reached the side of the youth "I am right +glad to see you here tonight."</p> +<p>Cuthbert did not answer for a moment. He seemed to pant for +breath. A ray of moonlight striking down upon his face showed it to +be deadly white. His attitude bespoke the extreme of fatigue and +weakness.</p> +<p>"Why, there is something amiss with you!" cried Philip, taking +his cousin by the arm. "Some evil hap has befallen you."</p> +<p>"His father has half killed him, I trow!" cried Kate, with +sudden energy. "He could not else have received injury in these few +hours. Speak, Cuthbert; tell us! is it not so?"</p> +<p>"I have been something rough handled," answered the lad in a low +voice; "but I did not feel it greatly till I began to climb the +hill.</p> +<p>"I thank you, good Philip. I will be glad of your arm. But I am +better already."</p> +<p>"You look like a veritable ghost," said Kate, still brimming +over with pity and indignation. "What did that miserable man do to +you?"</p> +<p>"Why, naught that he has not done a score of times before--tied +me to the pillar and flogged me like a dog. Only he laid his blows +on something more fiercely than is his wont, and doubled the number +of them. Perchance he had some sort of inkling that it was his last +chance, and used it accordingly."</p> +<p>The bare trees did not screen the beams of the moon, and both +Philip and Kate could see the expression on Cuthbert's face. What +they read there caused Kate to ask suddenly and eagerly:</p> +<p>"What meanest thou by that, Cuthbert? What plan hast thou in +thine head?"</p> +<p>"Why, a mighty simple one--so simple that I marvel I have not +carried it out before. I could not live worse were I to beg my +bread from door to door, and I should at least have my liberty; and +if whipped for a vagabond, should scarce be so badly used as my +father uses me. Moreover, I have a pair of strong arms and some +book learning; and I trow I need never sink to beggary. I mind not +what I do. I will dig the fields sooner than be worse treated than +a dog. My mind is made up. I have left my father's house never to +return. I am going forth into the world to see what may befall me +there, certain that nothing can be worse than what I have left +behind."</p> +<p>"Thou hast run away from thy cruel father? Marry, that is good +hearing!" cried Kate, with sparkling eyes. "I marvel we had none of +us thought of that plan ourselves; it is excellent."</p> +<p>"It seemed the one thing left--the only thing possible. I could +not endure such thralldom longer," answered Cuthbert, speaking +wearily, for he was in truth well nigh worn out with the tumult of +his own feelings and the savage treatment he had received. "But I +know not if I shall accomplish it even now. My father may discover +my flight, pursue and bring me back. This very day I asked to leave +his house, and he refused to let me go. If he overtakes me I shall +be shut up in strait confinement; I shall be punished sorely for +this night's work. I must make shift to put as many miles as may be +betwixt myself and the Gate House tonight."</p> +<p>"Nay, thou shalt do no such thing!" answered Kate, quickly and +warmly. "I have a better plan than that. Thou shalt come home with +us. My good father will gladly give thee shelter and protection. +Thou shalt remain in hiding with us till the hue and cry (if there +be any) shall be over past, and till thy wounds be healed and thou +hast regained thy strength and spirit; and then thou shalt start +forth reasonably equipped to seek thy fortune in the world; and if +thou wilt go to merry London, as I would were I a man with mine own +fortune to carve out, methinks I can give thee a letter to one +there that will secure thee all that thou needest in the present, +and may lead to advancement and good luck."</p> +<p>Kate's thoughts always worked like magic. No sooner was an idea +formed in her busy brain than she saw the whole story unwinding +itself in glowing colours; and to hear her bright chatter as the +three pursued their way to the house, one would have thought her +cousin's fortune already made. A soft red glow had stolen into her +cheeks as she had spoken of the missive she could furnish, and +Philip gave her a quick glance, a smile crossing his face.</p> +<p>Cuthbert was too faint and bewildered to take in all the sense +of Kate's words, but he understood that for the moment he was to be +cared for and concealed, and that was enough. Philip echoed his +sister's invitation to his father's house as his first stage on his +journey, and all that the lad remembered of the next few hours was +the dancing of lights before his dazzled eyes, the sound of +friendly voices in his ears, and the gentle ministrations of kindly +hands, as he was helped to bed and cosseted up, and speedily made +so comfortable that he fell off almost immediately into a calm +refreshing sleep that was like to be the best medicine he could +have.</p> +<p>When Sir Richard rejoined his family, it was with a stern +expression on his face.</p> +<p>"The boy has been grossly maltreated," he said. "It is no mere +paternal chastisement he has received this day, but such a flogging +as none but the lowest vagabond would receive at the hands of the +law. The very bone is in one place laid bare, and there be many +traces of savage handling before this. Were he not mine own uncle, +bearing mine own name, I would not let so gross an outrage pass. +But at least we can do this much--shelter the lad and send him +forth, when he is fit for the saddle, in such sort that he may +reach London in easy fashion, as becomes one of his race. The lad +has brains and many excellent qualities. There is no reason why he +should not make his way in life."</p> +<p>"If he can be cured of his Papist beliefs," said Lady Frances; +"but no man holding them gets on in these days, and Cuthbert has +been bred up in the very worst of such tenets."</p> +<p>"So bad that he is half disgusted with them before he can +rightly say why," answered Sir Richard with a smile. "There is too +much hatred and bitterness in Nicholas Trevlyn's religion to endear +it to his children. The boy has had the wit to see that the +Established Church of the land uses the same creeds and holds the +same cardinal doctrines as he has been bred up in. For the Pope he +cares no whit; his British blood causes him to think scorn of any +foreign potentate, temporal or spiritual. He has the making of a +good churchman in him. He only wants training and teaching. +Methinks it were no bad thing to send him to his mother's kindred +for that. They are as stanch to the one party as old Nicholas to +the other. The lad will learn all he needs there of argument and +controversy, and will be able to weigh the new notions against the +old.</p> +<p>"Verily, the more I think of it the better I like the plan. He +is scarce fit for a battle with the world on his own account. Food +and shelter and a home of some sort will be welcome to him whilst +he tries the strength of his wings and fits them for a wider +flight."</p> +<p>"His mother's kindred," repeated Kate quickly, and with a shade +of hauteur in her manner. "Why, father, I have ever thought that on +their mother's side our cousins had little cause to be proud of +their parentage. Was not their mother--"</p> +<p>"The daughter of a wool stapler, one Martin Holt, foster brother +to my venerated father, the third Earl of Andover," said Lady +Frances, quietly. "Truly, my daughter, these good folks are not in +birth our equal, and would be the first to say so; nevertheless +they are worthy and honest people, and I can remember that Bridget, +my mother's maid, who astonished us and deeply offended her +relations by a sudden and ill-judged marriage with Nicholas +Trevlyn, was a wonderfully well-looking woman. How and why such a +marriage was made none may rightly know now. I can remember that +the dark-browed Nicholas, who was but little loved at our house, +took some heed to this girl, greatly younger than himself, though +herself of ripening age when she let herself be persuaded into that +loveless wedlock. It was whispered that he had made a convert of +her; the Jesuits and seminary priests were hard at work, striving +to win back their lost power by increasing the number of their +flock and recruiting from all classes of the people. Nicholas was +then a blind tool in the hands of these men, and I always suspected +that this was one of his chief motives for so ill judged a step. At +any rate, Bridget pronounced herself a Romanist, and was married by +a priest of that Church according to its laws. Her family cast her +off, and Nicholas would let us have no dealings with her. Poor +Bridget! I trow she lived to rue the day; and the change of her +faith was but a passing thing, for I know she returned to her old +beliefs when time had allowed her to see things more clearly.</p> +<p>"But to return to the beginning. If Bridget's brother, Martin +Holt, yet lives and carries on his father's business, as is most +like, on London Bridge, his house would be no bad shelter for this +poor lad, who will scarce have means or breeding as yet to take his +place with those of higher quality."</p> +<p>"That is very true," said Sir Richard. "The lad is a right +honest lad, and his gentle blood shows in a thousand little ways; +but his upbringing has not fitted him for mingling with the high +ones of the world, and it would be well for him to rub off +something of his rustic shyness and awkwardness ere he tries to cut +a fine figure. I doubt not that Martin Holt would receive his +sister's son."</p> +<p>"A wool stapler!" muttered Kate, with a slight pout of her +pretty lips. "I was going to have sent him to Culverhouse with a +letter, to see what he would do for my cousin."</p> +<p>"Lord Culverhouse could not do much," answered her father, with +a smile. "He is but a stripling himself, and has his own way yet to +make. And remember too, dear Lady Disdain, that in these times of +change and upheaval it boots not to speak thus scornfully of honest +city folks, be they wool staplers or what you will, who gain their +wealth by trading on the high seas and with foreign lands. Bethink +you that even the King himself, despite his fine phrases on divine +right, has to sue something humbly to his good citizens of London +and his lowlier subjects for those very supplies that insure his +kingly pomp. So, saucy girl, put not into young Cuthbert's head +notions that ill befit one who has naught to call his own save the +clothes upon his back. If he goes to these kinsfolk, as I believe +it will be well for him to do, it will behove him to go right +humbly and reverently. Remember this in talking with him. It were +an ill thing to do to teach him to despise the home where his +mother first saw light, and the kinsfolks who are called by her +name."</p> +<p>Kate's sound sense and good feeling showed her the truth of her +father's words, and she dutifully promised not to transgress; but +she did not altogether relish the thought of the prospect in store +for her cousin, and as she went upstairs with Bessie to the +comfortable bed chamber they shared together, she whispered, with a +mischievous light dancing in her eyes:</p> +<p>"Ah, it is one thing for the grave and reverend elders to plan, +but it is another for the young to obey. Methinks Cuthbert will +need no hint from me to despise the home of the honest wool +stapler. He has been bred in woods and forests. He has the blood of +the Trevlyns in his veins. I trow the shop on London Bridge will +have small charms for him. Were it me, I would sooner--tenfold +sooner--join myself to one of those bands of freebooters who ravage +the roads, and fatten upon sleek and well-fed travellers, than +content myself with the pottering life of a trader! Ah, we shall +see, we shall see! I will keep my word to my father. But for all +that I scarce think that when Cuthbert starts forth again it will +be for London Bridge that he will be bound!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch3" id="Ch3">3: The Lost Treasure.</a></h2> +<p>"And so it is to London thou wilt go--to the worthy wool stapler +on the Bridge?" and Kate, mindful of her promise to her parents, +strove to suppress the little grimace with which she was disposed +to accompany her words--"at least so my father saith."</p> +<p>"Yes: he has been giving me good counsel, and methinks that were +a good beginning. I would gladly see London. Men talk of its +wonders, and I can but sit and gape. I am aweary of the life of the +forest--the dreary life of the Gate House. In London I shall see +men--books--all the things my heart yearns after. And my mother's +kindred will scarce deny me a home with them till I can find +somewhat to do; albeit I barely know so much as their name, and my +father has held no manner of communication with them these many +years."</p> +<p>"Perchance they will not receive thee," suggested Kate, with a +laughing look in her eyes. "Then, good Cuthbert, thou wilt be +forced to trust to thine own mother wit for a livelihood. Then +perchance thou wilt not despise my poor little letter to my good +cousin Lord Culverhouse."</p> +<p>"Despise aught of yours, sweet Kate! Who has dared to say such a +thing?" asked Cuthbert hotly. "Any missive delivered to my keeping +by your hands shall be doubly precious. I will deliver it without +fail, be it to mine own advancement or no."</p> +<p>"Belike I shall claim your good offices yet, Master Letter +Carrier," answered Kate, with a laugh and a blush; "and I trow my +cousin will like you none the less for being bearer of my epistle. +But I am not to commend you to his good graces, as once I meant. It +is to your relatives you are first to look for help. It is like +rubbing the bloom off a ripe peach--all the romance is gone in a +moment! I had hoped that a career of adventure and glory lay before +you, and behold the goal is a home beneath a wool stapler's +roof!"</p> +<p>But there Kate caught herself up and blushed, bethinking what +her parents would say could they hear her words.</p> +<p>But Cuthbert did not read the underlying scorn in merry Kate's +tones. He was a very simple-minded youth, and his life and training +had not been such as to teach him much about the various grades in +the world, or how greatly these grades differed one from the other. +He was looking at his cousin's bright face with thoughtful, +questioning eyes, so much so that the girl asked him of what he was +thinking.</p> +<p>"Marry of thee, Mistress Kate," he answered; for though +encouraged to speak on terms of equality with his kinsfolk, he +found some difficulty in remembering to do so, and they certainly +appeared to him in the light of beings from another and a higher +sphere than his own. "I was longing to ask of thee a question."</p> +<p>"Ask on, good Master Cuthbert," was the ready reply; "I will +answer to the best of my humble ability."</p> +<p>"I have heard of this Lord Culverhouse from many beneath this +roof since I have been here. I would fain know who he is."</p> +<p>"That is easy told. He is the eldest son of mine uncle, my +mother's brother, the fourth Earl of Andover. His eldest son bears +the title of Viscount Culverhouse, and he is, of course, our +cousin. When we were in London we saw much of these relatives of +ours, and were grieved to part from them when we left. Now, is it +understood?"</p> +<p>"Yes, verily. And tell me this one thing more, fair cousin, if +it be not a malapert question. Is it not true that thou art to wed +with this Lord Culverhouse one day?"</p> +<p>Kate's face was dyed by a most becoming blush. Her eyes sparkled +in a charming fashion. Her expression, half arch, half grave, was +bewitching to see, but she laid her fingers on her lips as she +whispered:</p> +<p>"Hush, hush! who told thee that, good Cuthbert? Methinks thou +hast over-sharp eyes and ears."</p> +<p>"I prithee pardon me if I have seen and heard too much," +answered Cuthbert; "but I had a fancy--"</p> +<p>He stopped, stammering, blushing, and Kate took pity on his +confusion.</p> +<p>"I am not vexed," she said, smiling; "and in very sooth thou +hast divined what is in part the truth. But we do not dare talk of +it yet. There be so many weighty matters against us."</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked keenly interested. He was very fond of this +sprightly cousin of his, who was so amusing, so kindly, and so +sisterly in her ways. She had more ease of manner, as well as +brightness of temperament, than her sisters, and her company had +been a source of great pleasure to him. The girl saw the look of +sympathetic curiosity upon his face, and she drew her chair a +little nearer to that which he occupied, stirring up the logs upon +the glowing hearth into a brighter blaze.</p> +<p>"I' faith, Cuthbert, I will gladly tell thee all there is to +know, it is not much; and I like thee well, and trust thee to boot. +Nor is it such a mighty secret that Culverhouse would fain make me +his bride, and that I would give myself to him tomorrow an I might. +I am not ashamed of loving him," cried the girl, her dark eyes +flashing as she threw hack her dainty head with a gesture of pride +and womanly dignity, "for he is a right noble gentleman, and worthy +of any maiden's love; but whether we shall ever be united in +wedlock--ah, that is a vastly different matter!" and she heaved a +quick little sigh.</p> +<p>"But wherefore not?" asked Cuthbert quickly. "Where could he +find a more beauteous or worthy wife?"</p> +<p>Kate gave him a little bow of acknowledgment for his compliment, +but her face was slightly more grave as she made answer:</p> +<p>"It is not, alack! a question of dislike to me. Were that all, I +might hope to win the favour of stern hearts, and bring the matter +to a happy conclusion. But no; mine uncle of Andover likes me well. +He openly says as much, and he has been a kind friend to us. And +yet I may not wed his son; and his kindness makes it the harder for +Culverhouse to do aught to vex or defy him."</p> +<p>"But why may you not?" asked Cuthbert quickly.</p> +<p>"There be more reasons than one, but I will tell you all in +brief. My own father mislikes the thought of the match, for that we +are cousins of the first degree; and though we Trevlyns of the +older branch no longer call ourselves the servants and followers of +Rome, yet old traditions linger long in the blood, and my father +has always set his face against a marriage betwixt cousins nearest +akin."</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked thoughtful. That certainly was a difficulty hard +to be got over. He made no comment, but merely asked:</p> +<p>"And my Lord of Andover--is that the objection with him?"</p> +<p>"Not near so much. He would easily overlook that. There are no +such strict rules with Protestants, and his family have been for +many generations of the Reformed faith. But there is just as +weighty an argument on his side--namely, that my father can give me +but a scanty dower, and it is a very needful thing for Culverhouse +to wed with one who will fill his coffers with broad gold pieces. +The Trevlyns, as thou doubtless knowest, have been sorely +impoverished ever since the loss of the treasure. My father can +give no rich dower with his daughters; wherefore they be no match +for the nobles of the land. Oh, why was that treasure lost? Why +could no man be wise enough to trace and find it, when sure there +must have been many in the secret? Now that a generation has gone +by, what hope is there left? But for that loss my Lord of Andover +would have welcomed me gladly. The lost treasure of Trevlyn has +much to answer for."</p> +<p>Kate spoke half laughingly, half impatiently, and tapped the +rush-strewn floor with the point of her shoe. Into Cuthbert's eyes +a sudden light had sprung, and leaning forward in the firelight, he +laid his hand upon his cousin's.</p> +<p>"Kate," he said, in a low voice, "I have said naught of it +before--I feared it would sound but an idle boast, an idle dream; +but I am pledged to the search after the lost treasure. If it yet +lies hid, as men say it does, Cuthbert Trevlyn will find it."</p> +<p>Kate gazed at him with wide-open eyes; but there was no trace of +mockery in them, rather an eager delight and excitement that was in +itself encouragement and stimulus.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, what meanest thou?"</p> +<p>"Verily no more and no less than I say. Listen, Kate. I too am a +like sufferer with others of the race of Trevlyn. I have nor +wealth, nor hope, nor future, save what I may carve out for myself; +and my heritage, as well as yours, lies buried somewhere in these +great woods, no man may say where. It came upon me as I sat in pain +and darkness, the last hour I passed beneath my father's roof, that +this might be the work given to me to do--to restore to the house +of Trevlyn the treasure whose loss has been so sore a blow. I said +as much to my sister when we bid each other adieu in the moonlit +chantry; and she bid me, ere I started on the quest, come hither to +you and ask the story of that loss. We know but little ourselves; +our father tells us naught, and it is but a word here and a word +there we have gathered. But you know--"</p> +<p>"We know well. We have been told the story by our mother from +the days of our childhood. I trow we know all there is to know. Why +hast thou not asked before, Cuthbert?"</p> +<p>The lad blushed a little at the question.</p> +<p>"Methought it would sound but folly in your ears," he said. "It +was easier to speak to Petronella in the dark chantry. Kate, wilt +thou tell me all thou knowest of this lost treasure? How and +wherefore was it lost, and why has no man since been able to find +it?"</p> +<p>"Ay, wherefore? that is what we all ask," answered Kate, with +eyes that flashed and glowed. "When we were children and stayed +once a few months here, we spent days together scouring the woods +and digging after it. We were sure we should succeed where others +had failed; but the forest yet keeps its secret, and the treasure +has never seen the light. Again and yet again have I said to Philip +that were I a man I would never rest till it was found. But he +shakes his wise head and says that our grandfather and father and +many another have wasted time and expended large sums of money on +the work of discovery, and without success. All of our name begin +to give credence to the story that the concealed treasure was found +and spirited away by the gipsy folks, who hated our house, and that +it has long since been carried beyond the seas and melted into coin +there. Father and Philip alike believe that the Trevlyns will see +it again no more."</p> +<p>"Dost thou believe that, too?"</p> +<p>"Nay, not I. I believe it will yet come back to us, albeit not +without due search and travail and labour. O Cuthbert, thy words +rejoice me. Would I were a man, to fare forth with thee on the +quest! What wilt thou do? How wilt thou begin? And how canst thou +search for the lost treasure an thou goest to thine uncle's house +in London?"</p> +<p>"I must fain do that for a while," answered Cuthbert; "I dare +not linger so close to my father's home at this time. Moreover, the +winter is fast coming upon us, when the ground will be deep in +snow, and no man not bred to it could make shift to live in the +forest. To London must I go first. I trow the time will not be +wasted; for I will earn money in honest fashion, that I may have +the wherewithal to live when I go to seek this lost treasure.</p> +<p>"And now, my cousin, tell me all the tale. I know not rightly +how the treasure was lost, and I have never heard of the gipsy +folks or their hatred to our house. It behoves me to know all ere I +embark on the quest."</p> +<p>"Yea, verily; and I will tell thee all I know. Thou knowest well +that of old the Trevlyns were stanch sons to the Church of Rome, +and that in the days of Bloody Mary, as men call her now (and well +she merits the name), the Trevlyns helped might and main in hunting +down wretched Protestants and sending them to prison and the +stake?"</p> +<p>"I have heard my father speak of these things," answered +Cuthbert, with a light shudder, calling to mind his father's fierce +and terrible descriptions of the scenes he had witnessed and taken +part in during those short but fearful years of Mary's reign, "but +I knew not it had aught to do with the loss of the treasure."</p> +<p>"It had this much to do," answered Kate, "that my grandfather +and your father, who of course were brothers, were so vehemently +hated by the Protestant families, many of whose members had been +betrayed to death by their means--your father in particular was +relentless in his efforts to hunt down and spy out miserable +victims--that when the Queen was known to be dead, and her +successor and Protestant sister had been proclaimed in London, the +Trevlyns felt that they had cause to tremble for their own safety. +They had stirred up relentless enmity by their own relentless +conduct, and the sudden turn in fortune's wheel had given these +enemies the upper hand."</p> +<p>"Ah!" breathed Cuthbert, "I begin to see."</p> +<p>"The Trevlyns had not served the Bloody Queen and her minions +without reward," continued Kate, with flashing eyes; "they had +heaped together no small treasure whilst this traffic in treachery +had been going on, and in many cases the valuables of the victims +they had betrayed to death had passed into the keeping of the +betrayer.</p> +<p>"Oh, it is a detestable thing to think of!" cried the girl, +stamping her foot. "No wonder the judgment of God fell upon that +unhallowed treasure, and that it was taken from its possessors! No +wonder it was doomed to lie hidden away till those who had gotten +it had passed to their last account, and could never enjoy the +ill-gotten gain. And they were punished too--ay, they were well +punished. They were fined terrible sums; they had to give back sums +equal to the spoil they had filched from others. Thy father, as +thou knowest, was ruined; and we still feel that pinch of poverty +that will be slow to depart altogether from our house. Yet it +serves us right--it serves us right! It is meet that the children +should suffer for the sins of their parents. I have not complained, +and I will not complain;" and Kate threw back her head, whilst her +eyes flashed with the stress of her feeling.</p> +<p>"But the treasure?" questioned Cuthbert, eager to know more; "I +have not yet heard how it was lost."</p> +<p>Thus recalled to her subject, Kate took up her narrative +again.</p> +<p>"You doubtless know that Queen Mary died in November of the year +of grace fifteen hundred and fifty-eight. In that year, some months +earlier, my father was born, and at the time of the proclamation of +the new Queen he was a tender infant. My grandfather was in London +about the Court, and his wife and child were here in this +house--the sumptuous mansion he and his father had built--not +dreaming of harm or ill. They had not heard of the death of one +Queen or the proclamation of the other till one dark winter's night +when, just as the household were about to retire to bed, my +grandfather and your father, Cuthbert, arrived at the house, their +faces pale with anxiety and apprehension, their clothes stained +with travel; the state of both riders and horses showing the speed +with which they had travelled, and betraying plainly that something +urgent had happened. The news was quickly told. Queen Mary was +dead. Bonfires in London streets were blazing in honour of +Elizabeth. The Protestants were everywhere in a transport of joy +and triumph. The Papists were trembling for their lives and for +their fortunes. No one knew the policy of the new Queen. All felt +that it was like enough she would inflict bloody chastisement on +those who had been the enemies of herself and of her Protestant +subjects. Even as the Trevlyn brothers had passed through the +streets of the city on their way out, they had been hissed and +hooted and even pelted by the crowd, some amongst which knew well +the part they had played in the recent persecutions. They had been +not a little alarmed by threats and menaces hurled at them even in +the precincts of St. James's, and it had become very plain to them +that they would speedily become the objects of private if not of +public vengeance. That being so, my grandfather was eager and +anxious to return to the Chase, to place his wife and child in some +place of safety; whilst your father's fear was all for the treasure +in gold and plate and valuables stored up in the house, which might +well fall an easy prey to the rapacious hands of spoilers, should +such (as was but too likely) swoop down upon the house to strive to +recover the jewels and gold taken from them when they were helpless +to oppose or resent such spoliation."</p> +<p>"Then it was all laid by at the Chase--all the money and +precious things taken from others?"</p> +<p>"Yes, and a vast quantity of silver and gold plate which had +come into the possession of former Trevlyns ever since the rise of +the family in the early days of the Tudors. The seventh Henry and +the eighth alike enriched our forefathers, and I know not what +wealth was stored up in the treasure room of this house now so +drearily void. But I mind well the story our grandam told us when +we were little children, standing at her knee in the ruddy +firelight, of that night when all this treasure was packed up in +great chests and boxes, and carried at dead of night by trusty +servants into the heart of the forest, and buried beneath a certain +giant oak many times pointed out to us, and well-nigh killed in +after years by the diggings around it in search of the missing +hoard. To secure this treasure, and bury it out of the reach of +rapacious and covetous hands, was the aim and object of that +hurried journey taken on the evening of the Queen's decease. None +were in the secret save three old servants, whose faithful loyalty +to the family had been tested in a thousand different ways. Those +three, together with my grandfather and your father, packed and +transported with their own hands this great treasure into the wood, +and there entombed it. None else knew of that night's work. No +other eye saw what was done. They worked the whole night through, +and by the tardy dawn all was done, and even the soil of the forest +so cleverly arranged that none could guess at the existence of that +deep grave. And who would guess the secret of that tangled forest? +Even were it thought that the gold and silver had been hid, who +would have such skill as to guess the spot, and go and filch it +thence? And yet it must have been carried away full soon. For +Nicholas Trevlyn, in his anxious greed, visited the spot not many +weeks later--visited it by stealth, for he and his brother were +alike in hiding, waiting for the first burst of vengeful fury to be +over--and he found it gone! He thought on the first survey that all +was well; but on more closely examining the ground his heart +misgave him, for it appeared to him as if the soil had been moved. +With anxious haste he began to dig, and soon his spade struck the +lid of one of the chests. For a moment he breathed again; but he +was impelled to carry his search farther. He uncovered the chest +and raised the lid--it was empty! In a wild fear and fury he dug +again and again, and with the same result. Every chest or box was +in its place, but every one was empty! The treasure had been +spirited away by some spoiler's hand; the treasure of Trevlyn was +lost from that night forward!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was leaning forward drinking all in with eager +curiosity.</p> +<p>"My father discovered the loss--my father?"</p> +<p>Kate nodded her head, and seemed to divine the thought in his +mind, for she answered as if he had spoken it aloud.</p> +<p>"We have all thought of that. I know it is sometimes in my +father's mind as he looks at his kinsman's grim face; but our grand +sire never suspected him for a moment--nay, he vowed he was certain +he had had no part nor lot in the matter. For there was nothing but +accord between the brothers; they shared good and evil hap alike. +It was with his son, my father, who abjured the old faith and +became a Protestant, that your father picked a quarrel. He hated +his brother's wife, it is true; but he never appeared to hate his +brother. And he suffered more than any in the years that followed. +He lost his all, and has been a ruined man since. If he had a +secret hoard, sure he would scarce live the life he does now."</p> +<p>"I know not. It seems scarce like; and yet I can never answer +for my father's moods, they are so wild and strange. But there is +yet one thing more I would ask. You spoke awhile ago of gipsies--of +a hatred they bore to our house. Tell me of that, I pray. Might it +have somewhat to do with the stealing of the treasure?"</p> +<p>"That is what some have thought, though with what truth none can +say. The story of that is soon told. Many long years agone now, the +Trevlyn whose portrait hangs below in the hall--our great +grandfather--gave sentence upon an old gipsy woman that she should +be burnt as a witch. Men said of her that she had overlooked their +children and their cattle: that the former had become sick or +silly, and that the latter had incontinently died of diseases none +had heard of before. There was such a hue and cry about her, and so +many witnesses to testify the harm she had done, that all men held +the case proven, and she was burnt in the sight of all the village +out upon the common yonder by order of our forefather, whose office +it was to see the law enforced. There were then many of these gipsy +folk scattered about the common and forest, and this old witch +belonged to them. They mustered strong upon the heath, and it was +said that if the villagers had not been too strong for them they +would have rescued the witch as she was led out to die. But the +Trevlyns, when a thing has to be done, are wont to carry it +through; and your grandfather, Cuthbert, was prepared against any +such attempt, and the thing was done as had been decreed. The old +woman went bravely to her death, but she turned as she passed Sir +Richard and cursed him with a terrible curse. Later on some rude +verses were found fastened to the wall of the church, and it was +said by those who had heard the curse that these verses contained +the same words. The paper was burnt by the haughty knight; but my +grandam remembered some of the lines--she had got a sight of the +paper--and used to tell them to us. I cannot recall them to memory +now, but there was something about loss of gold and coming woe, +years of strife and vengeful foe. And when years after the Trevlyn +treasure was lost, there were many who vowed that it had been the +work of the gipsy tribe, who had never forgotten or forgiven, and +who had been waiting their turn to take vengeance upon the +descendants of their old enemy."</p> +<p>"It seems not unlike," said Cuthbert, thoughtfully; "and if that +be so, the treasure will most like be dissipated to the four winds +by now. It would be divided amongst the tribe, and never be seen +within the walls of Trevlyn again."</p> +<p>"That I know not," answered Kate, and she drew a little nearer +to her cousin. "Cuthbert, dost thou believe in old saws? Dost thou +believe those predictions which run in old families, and which men +say work themselves out sometimes--in after generations?"</p> +<p>"I scarce know," answered Cuthbert, "I hear so little and see so +little. I know not why they should not be true. Men of old used to +look into the future, and why not now? But why speakest thou thus, +sweet cousin?"</p> +<p>"Marry that will I tell thee, Cuthbert; but my mother chides me +for such talk, and says it befits not a discreet and godly maiden. +Yet I had it from mine own grandam, my father's mother, and she was +a godly woman, too."</p> +<p>"And what did she tell thee?"</p> +<p>"My grandam was a Wyvern," said Kate, "as perchance thou +knowest, since the match pleased not thy father. And she was not +the first Wyvern who had married a Trevlyn. It was Isabel Wyvern, +her aunt, who had wedded with the redoubtable Sir Richard who had +burnt the old witch, and I trow had he been married when the old +beldam was brought before him he would have dealt more mercifully +with her; for the Wyverns ever protected and helped the gipsy folk, +and thought better of them than the rest of the world. Well, be +that as it may, my grandam had many stories about them and their +strange ways, their fashion of fortune telling and divining, and +the wonderful things they could foretell. Many a time had a Wyvern +been saved from danger and perhaps from death by a timely warning +from one of the gipsy folk; and from a child she went fearlessly +amongst them, though all men else shunned and hated them."</p> +<p>"But the prediction--the prediction?" demanded Cuthbert +eagerly.</p> +<p>"I am coming to that," answered Kate. "It is a prediction about +the descendants of the Wyverns. My grandam knew it by heart--she +had a wondrous memory--but my mother would never let me write down +such things. She loved them not, and said they had better be +forgotten. But though I cannot recall the words, the meaning stays +still with me. It was that though death might thin the ranks of the +Wyverns, and their name even die out amongst men, yet in the future +they should bring good hap to those who wed with them, and that +some great treasure trove should come to the descendants in another +generation. Now, Cuthbert, though the name of Wyvern has died +out--for the sons went to the Spanish main, and were killed +fighting for the honour of England and the Queen in the days of +Elizabeth; and the daughters are married, and have lost their title +to the old name--yet thou and I have their blood in our veins. Your +grandam and mine were alike of the house of Wyvern. Wherefore it +seems to me that if this treasure is to be the treasure trove of +the old saw, it behoves some of us to find it, and why not thou as +well as another? Philip is like to our mother, who loves not and +believes not such saws. Our father says that if stolen the treasure +must long since have been scattered and lost. Of all our house +methinks I am the only one who believes it will yet be found, as I +know my grandam did. And so I say to thee, 'Go forth, and good hap +attend thee.' Thou art as much a Wyvern as I, and we will have +faith that all will be yet restored."</p> +<p>Cuthbert rose to his feet and shook back his hair. His dark eyes +flashed with the fixity of his purpose.</p> +<p>"I will never despair till the treasure is found. Prithee, good +cousin, show me the spot where it was buried first."</p> +<p>Cuthbert never stirred outside the house till after dark. He was +still in hiding from his father, who knew not his whereabouts, and +was still on the watch for the truant, believing him to be lurking +about in the forest around his home. Philip had once contrived to +see Petronella and soothe her fears, telling her that her brother +was safe, and would be sent forth to their kinsfolk in London so +soon as he was fit for the long ride. But many evening rambles had +been taken by the youth, who panted for the freedom of the forest, +to which he was so well used; and Kate delighted in any excuse for +a moonlight stroll.</p> +<p>The place was soon found. Kate had visited it so often that the +tangled path which led thither was as familiar to her as if it had +been a well-beaten road. It lay right away in the very heart of the +forest, and save for the majestic size of the oak beneath which the +chests had been buried, had nothing to mark the spot. Now there +were traces of much digging. The ground all around had been +disturbed again and yet again by eager searchers, each hopeful to +come upon some clue missed by all the rest. But nothing, save the +remains of a few iron-bound chests, served to show that anything +had once been secreted there; and the moonlight shone steadily and +peacefully down upon the scene of so many heart-burnings and +grievous disappointments, as though such things did not and could +not exist in such a still and lovely place.</p> +<p>"Ah, if she would but tell us all she has seen!" said Kate, +looking up towards the silver Queen of Night. But the moon kept her +own secret, and presently the pair turned away.</p> +<p>"Shall we go back by the chantry?" asked Cuthbert, with some +hesitation; "I should like to see it once again."</p> +<p>"Let us," answered Kate; "we are not like to meet thy father. He +has given up by now his watch around the house. Moreover, I have +eyes and ears like a wildcat. None can approach unawares upon us. I +can feel a human presence ere I see it."</p> +<p>Cuthbert did not lack courage, and was quite willing to chance +the small risk there was of an encounter with his father. He felt +that he could slip away unseen were that stern man to be on the +watch. Each day that had passed beneath his uncle's roof had helped +him to realize more of the freedom of the subject; and very soon he +would be beyond the reach of pursuit, and on his way to London.</p> +<p>As they approached the chantry Kate laid a hand upon his +arm.</p> +<p>"Hist!" she said softly. "Pause a moment; I hear voices!"</p> +<p>He stopped instantly; and making a sign of caution to him, Kate +glided a few steps onward. Then she paused again, and made a sign +to him to come.</p> +<p>"It is all well--there is no fear. It is Philip and +Petronella."</p> +<p>"Petronella, my sister! Nay, but this is a happy chance!" cried +Cuthbert, springing eagerly forward; and the next moment +Petronella, with a little cry of mingled joy and fear, had flung +herself into her brother's arms.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, dear Cuthbert! How I have longed to see thee once +again! Hast thou come to say farewell?"</p> +<p>"In truth, methinks it must be farewell," answered Cuthbert, +holding her tenderly to him, whilst he caressed her hair and her +soft cheek with his hand. "I may not linger too long in my kind +uncle's house, lest the matter should come to my father's ears, and +a worse breach be made that might cause thee to suffer more, sweet +sister. And now, since I may be faring forth tomorrow, tell me of +thyself. How go matters at the Gate House? What said our father to +my flight?"</p> +<p>"He is right furious thereat, and raged for two days like a +madman, so that I durst not venture near him."</p> +<p>"He laid no hand on thee?" asked Cuthbert quickly clinching his +hand in the darkness.</p> +<p>"Nay, he did but threaten; but as I told him all I knew, he +could do no more. I said that thou hadst fled--that thou couldst +brook such a life no longer, and had told him so many times +thyself. I did not know myself where thou hadst gone when first he +spoke, and he has asked me no question since. Tell me not too much, +lest I have to tell it to him."</p> +<p>"Nay, once in London and I fear him not," answered Cuthbert. +"There the law would protect me, since my father's only complaint +against me is that I conform to that. I go first to our mother's +relatives, sweet sister, They will give me food and shelter and a +home, I trow, during the inclement months of the winter now before +us. Later on "--he bent his head and whispered in her ear--"later +on, if kind fortune befriend me, I shall return to these parts and +commence that search of which we have spoken before now. My sister, +if thou canst glean anything from our father anent the treasure, +when his less gloomy moods be upon him, store up in thine heart +every word, for some think even yet that he knows more than others. +I am sad at heart to leave thee in such a home! I would fain take +thee with me."</p> +<p>"Nay, that may not be. I should be but a stay and a burden; and +I can help thee better here at home by my prayers. I will pray each +hour of the day that the Holy Virgin will watch over thee and bless +thee, and give us a happy meeting in the days to come."</p> +<p>"And I will charge myself to watch over Petronella," said +Philip, stepping forward out of the shadow. "I will be a +protector--a brother--to her whilst thou art away. She shall not +feel too heavily her harsh father's rule. Amongst us we will find a +way to ease her of a part of that burden."</p> +<p>The glance turned upon Philip by those big shadowy eyes told a +tale of trustful confidence that set the young man's heart beating +in glad response. He took in his the little hand trustingly held +out, and drew Petronella towards him.</p> +<p>"You will trust her to me, good Cuthbert?"</p> +<p>"Gladly, thankfully, confidently!" answered the lad, with great +earnestness; and he thought within himself that if he had the whole +of the Trevlyn treasure to lay at the feet of these kinsmen, it +could hardly be enough to express his gratitude to them for their +timely and generous help in his hour of sore need.</p> +<p>"I will win it back--I will, I will!" he said in his heart, as +he walked up the hill with Kate tripping lightly beside him, Philip +having lingered to watch Petronella safely within the shelter of +the gloomy walls of the Gate House. "She shall have her dower, that +she may wed this gay Lord Culverhouse. My sweet sister shall be +dowered, too, and in no danger of spending all her youth and +sweetness shut up between those gloomy walls. Fortune will smile +once more upon all those who have the blood of the Trevlyns and +Wyverns in their veins. I believe in the old prediction. I believe +that the treasure trove will come, and that it will prove to be the +lost treasure of the house of Trevlyn!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch4" id="Ch4">4</a>: A Night On Hammerton +Heath.</h2> +<p>"Farewell, Cuthbert, farewell, farewell! Heaven speed you on +your way! We shall look for tidings of you some day. And when the +long summer days come upon the green world, perchance you may even +make shift to ride or walk the twenty miles that separates us from +London to tell of your own well being and ask of ours."</p> +<p>These and many like words were showered on Cuthbert as he sat +his steed at the door of Trevlyn Chase, as the dusk was beginning +to gather, and his uncle and cousins stood clustered together on +the steps to see him ride forth to seek his fortune, as Kate +insisted on calling it, though her father spoke of it rather as a +visit to his mother's kinsfolks.</p> +<p>Cuthbert had been very loath to go. He had found himself happier +beneath his uncle's roof than ever he had been before (Sir Richard +was in point of fact his cousin, but the lad had given him the +title of uncle out of respect, and now never thought of him as +anything else), but he knew that to linger long would be neither +safe nor possible.</p> +<p>Only his strange and savage life had prevented the news of his +son's present quarters from coming to the knowledge of the angry +Nicholas, and all were feeling it better for the young man to take +his departure. Now the moment of parting had really come, and +already the hope of a flying visit to the Chase in the summer next +to follow was the brightest thought to lighten the regrets of the +present.</p> +<p>"Ay, that will I gladly do!" cried the lad, with kindling eyes. +"Why, twenty miles is naught of a journey when one can rise with +the midsummer sun. I trow I shall pine after the forest tracks +again. I shall have had enough and to spare of houses and cities by +the time the summer solstice is upon us."</p> +<p>"We shall look for you, we shall wait for you!" cried Kate, +waving her hand; and as it was fast growing dark, Sir Richard made +a sign of dismissal and farewell, and Cuthbert moved slowly along +the dark avenue, Philip walking beside his bridle rein for a few +last words.</p> +<p>Cuthbert would have liked his sister to have seen him go forth, +but that was not thought advisable. He wore an old riding suit of +Philip's, which had fitted the latter before his shoulders had +grown so broad and his figure assumed its present manly +proportions. It suited Cuthbert well, and in spite of its having +seen some service from its former owner, was a far better and +handsomer dress than anything he had ever worn before, His own +meagre wardrobe and few possessions were packed in the saddlebag +across the saddle. His uncle had made no attempt to send him out +equipped as a relative of the house of Trevlyn, and Cuthbert was +glad that there should be no false seeming as to his condition when +he appeared at Martin Holt's door. Sir Richard had given him at +parting a small purse containing a couple of gold pieces and a few +silver crowns, and had told him that he might in London sell the +nag he bestrode and keep the price himself. He was not an animal of +any value, and had already seen his best days, but he would carry +Cuthbert soberly and safely to London town; and as the lad was +still somewhat weak from his father's savage treatment, he was not +sorry to be spared the long tramp over the deep mud of winter +roads.</p> +<p>"I would not have you travel far tonight," said Philip, as he +paced beside the sure-footed beast, who leisurely picked his way +along the familiar road. "The moon will be up, to be sure, ere +long; but it is ill travelling in the night. It is well to get +clear of this neighbourhood in the dark, for fear your father might +chance to espy you and make your going difficult. Yet I would have +you ask shelter for your steed and yourself tonight at the little +hostelry you will find just this side Hammerton Heath. The heath is +an ill place for travellers, as you doubtless know. If you should +lose the road, as is like enough, it being as evil and rough a +track as well may be, you will like enough plunge into some bog or +morass from which you may think yourself lucky to escape with life. +And if you do contrive to keep to the track, the light-heeled +gentlemen of the road may swoop down upon you like birds of prey, +and rob you of the little worldly wealth that you possess. +Wherefore I counsel you to pause ere you reach that ill-omened +waste, and pass the night at the hostel there. The beds may be +something poor, but they will be better than the wet bog, and you +will be less like to be robbed there than on the road."</p> +<p>"I will take your good counsel, cousin," said Cuthbert. "I have +not much to lose, but that little is my all. I will stop at the +place you bid me, and only journey forth across the heath when the +morrow's sun be up."</p> +<p>"You will do well. And now farewell, for I must return. I will +do all that in me lies to watch over and guard Petronella. She +shall be to me as a sister, and I will act a brother's part by her, +until I may have won a right to call her something more. Have no +fears for her. I will die sooner than she shall suffer. Her father +shall not visit on her his wrath at your escape."</p> +<p>The cousins parted on excellent terms, and Cuthbert turned, with +a strange smile on his brave young face, for a last look at the old +Gate House, the gray masonry of which gleamed out between the dark +masses of the leafless trees, a single light flickering faintly in +an upper casement.</p> +<p>"Petronella's light!" murmured Cuthbert to himself. "I trow well +she is thinking of me and praying for me before the little shrine +in the turret. May the Holy Saints and Blessed Virgin watch over +and protect her! I trust the day may come ere long when I may have +power to rescue her from that evil home, and give to her a dower +that shall make her not unworthy of being Philip's wife."</p> +<p>By which it may be seen that Cuthbert's thoughts were still +running on the lost treasure, and that he had by no means +relinquished his dream of discovery through hearing how others had +sought and failed.</p> +<p>"If I may but win a little gold in these winter days when the +forest is too inhospitable to be scoured and searched, I can give +the whole of the summer to the quest. I will find these gipsies or +their descendants and live amongst them as one of them. I will +learn their ways, win their trust, and gradually discover all that +they themselves know. Who dare say that I may not yet be the one to +bring back the lost luck to the house of Trevlyn? Has it always +been the prosperous and rich that have won the greatest prize? A +humble youth such as I may do far more in the wild forest than +those who have been bred to ease and luxury, and have to keep state +and dignity."</p> +<p>Thus musing, Cuthbert rode slowly along in the light of the +rising moon, his thoughts less occupied with the things he was +leaving behind than with thoughts of the future and what it was to +bring forth. The lad had all the pride of his house latent within +him, and it delighted him to picture the day when he might return +all Sir Richard's benefits a thousandfold by coming to him with the +news of the lost treasure, and bidding him take the elder brother's +share before ever his own father even knew that it had been found +at last. His heart beat high as he pictured that day, and thought +how he should watch the light coming into Kate's bright eyes, as +the obstacle to her nuptials should be thus removed. Sure she could +coax her father to remove his veto and overlook the cousinship if +she had dower to satisfy Lord Andover. And if the Trevlyn treasure +were but half what men believed, there would be ample to dower all +three daughters and fill the family coffers, too.</p> +<p>"In truth it is a thing well worth living for!" cried the eager +lad, as he pushed his way out of the wood and upon the highroad, +where for a time travelling was somewhat better. "And why should I +not succeed even though others have failed? My proud kinsmen have +never lived in the forest themselves, learning its every secret +winding track, making friends of its wild sons and daughters, +learning the strange lore that only the children of the forest +gather. What chance had they of learning secrets which but few may +know? I trow none. I will not believe that great treasure has been +cast away to the four winds. I verily believe it is still hidden +away beneath the earth in some strange resting place known but to a +few living souls. What do these wild gipsy folks want with gold and +silver and jewels? They have all they need with the heavens above +them and the earth beneath. They may love to have a buried hoard; +they may love to feel that they have treasure at command if they +desire it; but I can better believe they would keep it safe hidden +in their forest or moorland home than that they would scatter it +abroad by dividing it amongst their tribe. Moreover, any such +sudden wealth would draw upon them suspicion and contumely. They +would be hunted down and persecuted like the Jews in old days. No: +they may well have stolen it out of revenge, but I believe they +have hidden it away as they took it. It shall be my part to learn +where it lies; and may the Holy Saints aid and bless me in the +search!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert crossed himself as he invoked the Saints, for at heart +he was a Romanist still, albeit he had had the wit to see that the +same cardinal doctrines were taught by the Established Church of +the land, whose services he had several times attended. And even as +he made the gesture he became suddenly aware that he was not alone +on the road. A solitary traveller mounted on a strong horse was +standing beneath the shadow of a tree hard by, and regarding his +approach with some curiosity, though the lad had not been aware of +his close proximity until his horse paused and snorted.</p> +<p>"Good even, young man," said this traveller, in a pleasant voice +that bespoke gentle birth. "I was waiting to see if I had an enemy +to deal with in the shape of one of those rogues of the road, +cutpurses or highwaymen, of whom one bears so many a long tale. But +these travel in companies, and it behoves wise travellers to do +likewise. How comes it that a stripling like you are out alone in +this lone place? Is it a hardy courage or stern necessity?"</p> +<p>"I know not that it is one or the other," answered Cuthbert. +"But I have not far to go this night, and I have not much to lose, +though as that little is my all I shall make a fight ere I part +with it. But by what I hear there is little danger of molestation +till one reaches Hammerton Heath. And I propose to halt on the edge +of that place, and sleep at the hostelry there."</p> +<p>"If you follow my counsel, my young friend," said the stranger +as he paced along beside Cuthbert, "you will not adventure yourself +in that den of thieves. Not long ago it was a safe place for a +traveller, but now it is more perilous to enter those doors than to +spend the darkest night upon the road. The new landlord is in +league with the worst of the rogues and foot pads who frequent the +heath, and no traveller who dares to ask a night's shelter there is +allowed to depart without suffering injury either in person or +pocket. Whither are you bound, my young friend, if I may ask the +question?"</p> +<p>"For London, sir. I have an uncle there whom I am about to seek. +But the way is something strange to me when the heath be passed, +and I know not if I can find it in the dark."</p> +<p>"I also am bound for London," answered the stranger, "and in +these days it is better to travel two than one, and four than two. +But being no more than two, we must e'en hope for the best if we +fall not in with other belated travellers. My business brooked not +delay; wherefore I came alone. I mislike the fetter of a retinue of +servants, and I have had wonderful good hap on the roads; but there +be others who tell a different tale, and I often join company when +I find a traveller to my liking going my way."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was glad enough to have a companion. This man was many +years his senior, so that he was somewhat flattered by the +proposition of riding in his company; moreover, he was plainly a +gentleman of some condition, whose fancy it was (not his necessity) +to travel thus unattended. Also he was speedily conscious of a +strange sense of fascination which this stranger exercised upon +him, for which he could not in the least account; and he quickly +found himself answering the questions carelessly addressed to him +with a freedom that surprised himself; for why should there be such +pleasure in talking of himself and his prospects to one whose name +he did not even know?</p> +<p>When first he had pronounced his name, he observed that the +stranger gave him a quick, keen glance; and after they had been +some time in conversation, he spoke with a sudden gravity and +earnestness that was decidedly impressive.</p> +<p>"Young man, I trust that you are loyal and true to the faith of +those forefathers of yours who have been one of England's brightest +ornaments. In these latter days there has been a falling away. Men +have let slip the ancient truths. Love of the world has been +stronger within them than love of the truth. They have let +themselves be corrupted by heresy; they have lost their first love. +I trust it is not so with you. I trust you are one of the faithful +who are yet looking for brighter days for England, when she shall +be gathered again to the arms of the true Church. But a few minutes +ago I saw you make the holy sign, and my heart went out to you as +to a brother. These Protestants deny and contemn that symbol, as +they despise and contemn in their wantonness the ordinances of God +and the authority of His Vicar. I trust you have not fallen into +like error; I trust that you are a true son of the old stock of +Trevlyn?"</p> +<p>"I know little of such disputed matters," answered Cuthbert, +made a little nervous by the ardent glance bent upon him from the +bright eyes of the speaker. He had a dark, narrow face, pale and +eager, a small, pointed beard trimmed after the fashion of the +times, and the wide-brimmed sugar-loaf hat drawn down upon his +brows cast a deep shadow over his features. But his voice was +peculiarly melodious and persuasive, and there was a nameless +attraction about him that Cuthbert was quick to feel. Others in the +days to follow felt it to their own undoing, but of that the lad +knew nothing. He only wished to retain the good opinion this +stranger seemed to have formed of him.</p> +<p>"I have led but a hermit's life, as I have told you. I have been +bred up in the faith of my forefathers, and that faith I believe. +What perplexes me is that those who hold the Established or +Reformed faith, as men term it, have the same creeds, the same +doctrines as we ourselves. I have from time to time conformed to +the law, and gone to the services, and I have not heard aught +spoken within their walls that our good priest in old days used not +to tell me was sound doctrine. There be things he taught me that +these men say naught about; but no man may in one discourse touch +upon every point of doctrine. I freely own that I have been sorely +perplexed to know whence comes all this strife, all these heart +burnings."</p> +<p>"Thou wilt know and understand full soon, when once thou hast +seen the life of the great city and the strife of faction there," +answered his companion, lapsing into the familiar "thou" as he +spoke with increased earnestness. "In thy hermit's life thou hast +had no knowledge of the robbery, the desecration, the pollution +which our Holy Mother Church has undergone from these pestilent +heretics, who have thought to denude her of her beauty and her +glory, whilst striving to retain such things as jump with their +crabbed humours, and may be pared down to please their poisoned and +vicious minds. Ah! it makes the blood boil in the veins of the true +sons of the Church, as thou wilt find, my youthful friend, when +thou gettest amongst them. But it will not always last. The day of +reckoning will come--nay, is already coming when men shall find +that the Blessed and Holy Church may not be defiled and downtrodden +with impunity for ever. Ah yes! the day will come--it is even at +the door--when God shall arise and his enemies be scattered. +Scattered--scattered! verily that is the word. And the sons of the +true faith throughout the length and breadth of the land shall +arise and rejoice, and the heretics shall stand amazed and +confounded!"</p> +<p>As he spoke these words his figure seemed to expand, and he +raised his right hand to heaven with a peculiar gesture of mingled +menace and appeal. Cuthbert was silent and amazed. He did not +understand in the least the tenor of these wild words, but he was +awed and impressed, and felt at once that the strife and stress of +the great world into which he was faring was something very +different from anything he had conceived of before.</p> +<p>By this time the travellers had reached the dreary waste called +by the inhabitants Hammerton Heath. At some seasons of the year it +was golden with gorse or purple with ling, but in this drear winter +season it was bare and colourless, and utterly desolate. The +outline of dark forests could be seen all around on the horizon; +but the road led over the exposed ground, where not a tree broke +the monotony of the way. Cuthbert was glad enough to have a +companion to ride by his side over the lonely waste, which looked +its loneliest in the cold radiance of the moon. He did not reply to +the strange words he had just heard, and his companion, after a +brief pause, resumed his discourse in a different tone, telling the +lad more about London and the life there than ever he had heard in +his life before. But the moral of his discourse was always the +sufferings, the wrongs, the troubles of the Roman Catholics, who +had looked for better times under Mary Stuart's son; and gradually +raising within the breast of the youth a feeling of warm sympathy +with those of his own faith, and a distrust and abhorrence of the +laws that made life well nigh impossible for the true sons of the +Church.</p> +<p>"Ruined in estate, too often injured in body, hated, despised, +hunted to death like beasts of the earth, what is left for us but +some great struggle after our lives and liberties?" concluded the +speaker, in his half melancholy, half ardent way. "Verily, when +things be so bad that they cannot well be worse, then truly men +begin to think that the hour of action is at hand. Be the night +never so long, the dawn comes at last. And so will our day dawn for +us--though it may dawn in clouds of smoke and vapour, and with a +terrible sound of destruction."</p> +<p>But these last words were hardly heard by Cuthbert, whose +attention had been attracted by the regular beat of horse hoofs +upon the road behind. Although the track was but a sandy path full +of ruts and holes, the sound travelled clearly through the still +night air. Whoever these new travellers were, they were coming +along at a brisk pace, and Cuthbert drew rein to look behind +him.</p> +<p>"There be horsemen coming this way!" he said.</p> +<p>"Ay, verily there be; and moreover I mislike their looks. Honest +folks do not gallop over these bad roads in yon headlong fashion. I +doubt not they be robbers, eager to overtake and despoil us. We +must make shift to press on at the top of our speed. This is an ill +place to be overtaken. We have no chance against such numbers. +Luckily our steeds are not way worn; they have but jogged +comfortably along these many miles. Push your beast to a gallop, my +lad; there is no time to lose."</p> +<p>Cuthbert essayed to do this; but honest old Dobbin had no notion +of a pace faster than a leisurely amble. Most of his work had been +done in the plough, and he had no liking for the rapid gallop +demanded by his rider.</p> +<p>The lad soon saw how it stood with him, and called out to his +well-mounted companion not to tarry for him, but to leave him to +chance and kind fortune.</p> +<p>"I have so little to lose that they may not think me worth the +robbing, belike. But you, sir, must not linger. Your good steed is +equal to theirs, I doubt not, and will carry you safe across the +heath."</p> +<p>"Ay, verily he will. I purchased him for that same speed, and it +has never failed me yet. I fear not pursuit. My only peril lies in +the chance of meeting a second band watching the road farther on. I +like not thus to leave you, boy; but I have no choice. I may not +risk being robbed of my papers. There be more in them than must be +suffered to be scanned by any eyes for which they were not meant. +My gold might go, and welcome, but I must save my papers. And if +thou hast any small valuables about thee, I will charge myself with +the care of them, and thou canst call at my lodging in London when +thou gettest there to claim thine own again. 'Twill be the better +chance than leaving yon gentlemen to rid thee of them."</p> +<p>The smile with which the stranger uttered these words was so +winning and frank, that Cuthbert placed his purse in the +outstretched hand without a qualm.</p> +<p>"When thou wantest thine own again, go to the Cat and Fiddle in +the thoroughfare of Holborn, and ask news there of Master Robert +Catesby. It is an eating house and tavern where I am constantly to +be met with. If I be not lodging there at that very time, thou wilt +have news of me there. Farewell; and keep up a brave heart. These +fellows are less harsh with poor travellers than rich. Let them see +you have small fear, and it will be the better for all."</p> +<p>These last words were faintly borne back to Cuthbert on the +wings of the wind, as his companion galloped with long easy strides +across the heath. A little dip in the ground hid for a moment their +pursuers from sight, and before they emerged upon the crest of the +undulation, Master Robert Catesby was practically out of sight; for +a cloud had obscured the brightness of the moon, and only a short +distance off objects became invisible.</p> +<p>Cuthbert rode slowly on his way, trying to compose himself to +the state of coolness and courage that he would like to show in the +hour of danger. He felt the beatings of his heart, but they were +due as much to excitement as to fear. In truth he was more excited +than afraid; for he had absolutely nothing to lose save a suit of +old clothes and his horse, and both of these were in sorry enough +plight to be little tempting to those hardy ruffians, who were +accustomed to have travellers to rob of a far superior stamp.</p> +<p>Nearer and nearer came the galloping horse hoofs, and a loud, +rough voice ordered him to stop.</p> +<p>Cuthbert obeyed, and wheeled round on his placid steed, who +showed no sign of disquietude or excitement, but at once commenced +to nibble the short grass that grew beside the sandy track.</p> +<p>"And what do you want of me, gentlemen?" asked Cuthbert, as he +found himself confronted by half-a-dozen stalwart fellows, with +swarthy faces and vigorous frames. They were all armed and well +mounted, and would have been formidable enough to a wealthy +traveller with his stuff or valuables about him.</p> +<p>"Your money--or your life!" was the concise reply and Cuthbert +was able to smile as he replied:</p> +<p>"Marry then, it must be my life, for money I have none. I have +naught but an old suit of clothes and a breviary in yon bag. You +are welcome to both an ye will condescend to wear such habiliments; +but I trow ye would find them sorry garments after those ye now +display."</p> +<p>"Tut, tut! we will see to that. There be many cunning fashions +of hiding money, and we are used to such tales as yours. Where is +your companion, young man?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I have no companion," answered Cuthbert, who was +sufficiently imbued with the spirit of his father's creed not to +hesitate for a moment to utter an untruth in a good cause, and +think no shame of it; "I am journeying forth to London alone, to +seek a relative there, who methinks will help me to earn an honest +livelihood. I would I were the rich man you take me for. But even +the dress I wear is mine through the charity of a kinsman, as is +also the nag I ride. And I misdoubt me if you would find him of +much use to you in your occupation."</p> +<p>One or two of the men laughed. They looked at Dobbin and then at +his rider, and seemed to give credence to this tale. Cuthbert's +boyish face and fearless manner seemed to work in his favour, and +one of the band remarked that he was a bold young blade, and if in +search of a fortune, might do worse than cast in his lot with +them.</p> +<p>"Yet I verily thought there had been two," grumbled another of +the band; "I wonder if he speaks sooth."</p> +<p>"I warrant me he does, else where should the other be? It was a +trick of the moonlight; it often deceives us so.</p> +<p>"Come now, my young cockerel; you can crow lustily, it seems, +and keep a bold face where others shrink and tremble and flee. How +say you? will you follow us to our lodging place for the night? And +if we find no money concealed about you, and if your story of your +poverty be true, you can think well whether you will choose to cast +in your lot with us. Many a poor man has done so and become rich, +and the life is a better one than many."</p> +<p>All this was spoken in a careless, mocking way, and Cuthbert did +not know if the proposal were made in good faith or no. But it was +plain that no harm was meant to his life or person, and as he was +in no fear from any search of his clothes and bag, he was ready and +willing to accept the invitation offered, and by no means sorry to +think he should be relieved from spending the night in the +saddle.</p> +<p>"I will gladly go with you," he answered. "I have spoken naught +but sooth, and I have no fear. My person and my goods are in your +hands. Do as you will with them; I have too little to lose to make +a moan were you to rob me of all."</p> +<p>"We rob not the poor; we only rob the rich--those arrogant, +purse-proud rogues who batten and fatten on what they wring from +the poor," answered, in quick, scornful accents, the man who +appeared to be the leader of this little band. "On them we have +scant pity. They have but stolen, in cunning though lawful fashion, +what we wrest from them, lawlessly it may be, yet with as good a +right in the sight of the free heavens as any they practise. But we +filch not gold nor goods from the poor, the thrifty, the sons of +toil; nay, there be times when we restore to these what has been +drained from them by injustice and tyranny. We be not the common +freebooters of the road, who set on all alike, and take human life +for pure love of killing. We have our own laws, our own ways, our +own code of right and wrong; and we recruit our ranks from bold +lads like you, upon whom fortune has not smiled, and who come to us +to see if we can help them to better things."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was greatly interested in this adventure. He looked +into the dark, handsome face of the man who rode beside him, and +wondered if some gipsy blood might not run in his veins. The gipsy +people of whom Kate had spoken were well known in all this region, +and despite the roving life they led, appeared to be rooted to a +certain extent to this wild and wooded tract. He had seen dark +faces like this before in the woods; he had often heard stories of +the doings of the gipsies around. Before, he had not thought much +of this; but now, his interest was keenly excited, and he was +delighted to have this opportunity of studying them at close +quarters.</p> +<p>"Where are we going, Tyrrel?" asked one of the followers. "It is +a bitter cold night, now the wind has shifted, and we are far +enough away from Dead Man's Hole."</p> +<p>"I am not bound for Dead Man's Hole. We will to the ruined mill, +and ask Miriam to give us shelter for the night. We have ridden +far, and our steeds are weary. I trow she will give us a +welcome."</p> +<p>This proposition seemed to give general satisfaction. The men +plodded on after their leader, who kept Cuthbert close beside him, +and they all moved across the heath in an irregular fashion, +following some path known only to themselves, until they reached +the wooded track to the left, and plunged into the brushwood again, +picking their way carefully as they went, and all the while +descending lower and lower into the hollow, till the rush of water +became more and more distinctly audible, and Cuthbert knew by the +sound that they must be approaching a waterfall of some kind.</p> +<p>One of the men had ridden forward to give notice of their +approach, and soon in the flickering moonlight the gray walls of an +ancient mill, now greatly fallen to decay, became visible to the +travellers' eyes. From the open door streamed out a flood of ruddy +light, cheering indeed to cold and weary men; whilst framed in this +ruddy glow was a tall and picturesque figure--the figure of an old +woman, a scarlet kerchief tied over her white hair, whilst her +dress displayed that picturesque medley of colours that has always +been the prevailing characteristic of the gipsy race.</p> +<p>"You are welcome, son Tyrrel," quoth the mistress of this lone +dwelling, as the little cavalcade drew up at the door. "It is long +since you favoured old Miriam with a visit. Yet you come at no ill +time, since Red Ronald brought us in a fat buck but yesternight, +and I have made oaten cakes today, and pies of the best. But who is +that with you! I like not new faces in my dwelling place. It were +well you should remember this ere you bring a stranger with +you."</p> +<p>The old woman's face suddenly darkened as she spoke these last +words, and her wonderful eyes, so large and dark as to resemble +rather those of a deer than a human being, flashed fiercely, whilst +she seemed about to close the door in Tyrrel's face. But he pushed +in with a light laugh, leading Cuthbert with him, and saying as he +did so:</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, mother, be not so fierce. He is an honest lad enough, +I trow; if not, 'twill be the worse for him anon. We have brought +him hither to search him if he carries gold concealed. If not, and +he proves to have spoken sooth, he may go his way or join with us, +whichever likes him best. We could do with a few more bold lads, +since death has been something busy of late; and he seems to have +the grit in him one looks for in those who join with us. Moreover, +he has the dark eyes, and would soon have the swarth skin, that +distinguish our merry men all.</p> +<p>"How now, mother! Thou hast eyes for none but the lad! Why +lookst thou at him so?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert, too, gazed wonderingly at the handsome old gipsy, who +continued to keep her eyes fixed upon him, as if by a species of +fascination. He could no more withdraw his gaze than can the bird +whom the snake is luring to destruction.</p> +<p>"Boy, what is thy name?" she asked, in a quick, harsh +whisper.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn," he answered, without hesitation, and at the +name a wild laugh rang out through the vaulted room, illumined by +the glow of a huge fire of logs, whilst all present started and +looked at one another.</p> +<p>"I knew it--I knew it!" cried the old woman, with a wild gesture +of her withered arms, which were bare to the elbow, as though she +had been engaged in culinary tasks. "I knew it--I knew it! I knew +it the moment the light fell upon his face. Trevlyn--Trevlyn! one +of that accursed brood! Heaven be praised, the hour of vengeance +has come! We will do unto one of them even as they did unto us;" +and she waved her arms again in the air, and glanced towards the +glowing fire on the hearth with a look in her wild eyes that for a +moment caused Cuthbert's heart to stand still. For he remembered +the story of the witch burned by his grand sire's mandate, and he +felt he was not mistaken in the interpretation he had put upon the +old woman's words.</p> +<p>But Tyrrel roughly interposed.</p> +<p>"No more of that, mother," he said. "We have wiped out that old +score long ago. The lad is a bold lad, Trevlyn or no. Let us to +supper now, and forget those accursed beldam's tales. Where is Long +Robin, and what is he doing? and where is Joanna tonight?"</p> +<p>"Here," answered a clear, full voice from the shadows of the +inglenook, and forth there stepped a very queenly-looking woman, in +the prime of life, when youth's bloom has not been altogether left +behind, and yet all the grace of womanhood, with its dignity and +ease, has come to give an added charm. One glance from the old +woman's face to that of the young one showed them to be mother and +daughter, and it did not take a sharp eye to see that Tyrrel, as he +was always called, was deeply enamoured of the beautiful Joanna, +though treated by her with scant notice, and as though he were yet +a boy, scarce worthy of being looked at or spoken to.</p> +<p>She stood in the glow of the fire, a tall, graceful presence, to +the full as picturesque as her gipsy mother, and far more +attractive. Cuthbert's eyes turned upon her with an unconscious +appeal in them; for it suddenly dawned upon him that for a Trevlyn +to adventure himself amongst these wild gipsy folks was like +putting the head into a lion's mouth.</p> +<p>It almost seemed as though Joanna read this doubt and this fear; +for a flashing smile crossed her dark face, and she held out a +shapely hand to lead the guest to the table.</p> +<p>"Thou art welcome to our board, Cuthbert Trevlyn," she said, "as +is any hapless stranger in these wilds, be he Trevlyn or no. Thou +shalt eat our salt this night, and then woe betide the man who +dares to lay hand on thee;" and such a glance was flashed around +from her magnificent dark eyes as caused each one that met it to +resolve to take good heed to his ways. "Thou shalt come and go +unmolested; Joanna the Gipsy Queen has so decreed it!"</p> +<p>Every one present, the old woman included, bent the head at +these words, and Cuthbert felt by some instinct that his life was +now safe.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch5" id="Ch5">5</a>: The House On The +Bridge.</h2> +<p>"Keren Happuch."</p> +<p>"Yes, aunt."</p> +<p>The reply came only after a brief pause, as though the +rosy-cheeked maiden at the casement would fain have declined to +answer to that abhorred name had she dared--which was indeed pretty +much the case; for though it was undeniably her own, and she could +not gainsay the unpalatable fact, nobody in the world but Aunt +Susan ever aggrieved her by using it. Even her grave father had +adopted the "Cherry" that was universal alike with relatives and +friends, and the girl never heard the clumsy and odious appellation +without a natural longing to box the offender's ears.</p> +<p>"What art doing, child?" questioned the voice from below.</p> +<p>Now Cherry was undeniably idling away the morning hours by +looking out of her window at the lively scene below; and perhaps it +was scarce wonderful that the sights and sounds without attracted +her. It was a sunny November morning, and the sun was shining quite +hotly; for the soft wind from the south was blowing--it had +suddenly veered round in the night--and all nature seemed to be +rejoicing in the change. The river ran sparkling on its way to the +sea; the barges and wherries, and larger craft that anchored in the +stream or plied their way up and down, gave animation and +brightness to the great water way; whilst the old bridge, with its +quaint-timbered houses with their projecting upper stories, its +shops with their swinging signs, and noisy apprentices crying their +masters' wares or playing or quarrelling in the open street, and +its throngs of passers by, from the blind beggar to the gay court +gallant, provided a shifting and endless panorama of entertainment +to the onlooker, which pretty Mistress Cherry certainly +appreciated, if no one else in that grave Puritan household did the +like. But possibly she thought that her aunt's question must not be +too literally answered, for she hastily skipped across the panelled +chamber, seized her distaff, and answered meekly;</p> +<p>"I am about to spin, aunt."</p> +<p>"Humph!" the answer sounded more like a grunt than anything +else, and warned Cherry that Mistress Susan, her father's sister, +who had ruled his household for the past ten years, since the death +of his wife, was in no very amiable temper.</p> +<p>"I know what that means. Thy spinning is a fine excuse for +idling away thy time in the parlour, when thou mightest be learning +housewifery below. Much flax thou spinnest when I am not by to +watch! It is a pity thou wert not a fine lady born!"</p> +<p>Cherry certainly was decidedly of this opinion herself, albeit +she would not have dared to say as much. She liked soft raiment, +bright colours, dainty ways, and pretty speeches. Looking down from +her window upon the passers by, it was her favourite pastime to +fancy herself one of the hooped and powdered and +gorgeously-apparelled ladies, with their monstrous farthingales, +their stiff petticoats, their fans, their patches, and their saucy, +coquettish ways to the gentlemen in their train. All this +bedizenment, which had by no means died out with the death of a +Queen who had loved and encouraged it, was dear to the eyes of the +little maiden, whose own sad-coloured garments and severe +simplicity of attire was a constant source of annoyance to her. Not +that she wished to ape the fine dames in her small person. She knew +her place better than that. She was a tradesman's daughter, and it +would ill have beseemed her to attire herself in silk and velvet, +even though the sumptuary laws had been repealed. But she did not +see why she might not have a scarlet under-petticoat like Rachel +Dyson, her own cousin, or a gay bird's wing to adorn her hat on +holiday occasions. The utmost she had ever achieved for herself was +a fine soft coverchief for her head, instead of the close +unyielding coif which all her relatives wore, which quite concealed +their hair, and gave a quaint severity to their square and homely +faces. Cherry's face was not square, but a little pointed, piquant +countenance, from which a pair of long-lashed gray eyes looked +forth with saucy, mischievous brightness. Her skin was very fair, +with a peach-like bloom upon it, and her pretty hair hung round it +in a mass of red gold curls.</p> +<p>Cherry, it must be confessed, would have liked to leave her hair +uncovered, but this was altogether against the traditions of her +family. But she had contrived to assume the softly-flowing +coverchief, more like a veil than a cap, which was infinitely +becoming to the sweet childish face, and allowed the pretty curls +to be seen flowing down on either side till they reached the +shoulders. For the rest, her dress was severely plain in its +simplicity: the snow-white kerchief, crossed in front and made fast +behind; the under-petticoat of gray homespun, just showing the +black hose and buckled shoes beneath; and the over-dress of sombre +black or dark brown, puffed out a little over the hips in the +pannier fashion, but without any pretence at following the +extravagances of the day. The sleeves buttoned tightly to the lower +arm, though wider at the cuff, and rose high upon the shoulder with +something of a puff. It was a simple and by no means an unbecoming +style of costume; but Cherry secretly repined at the monotony of +always dressing in precisely the same fashion. Other friends of her +own standing had plenty of pretty things suited to their station, +and why not she? If she asked the question of any, the answer she +always got was that her father followed the Puritan fashions of +dressing and thinking and speaking, and that he held fine clothes +in abhorrence. Cherry would pout a little, and think it a hard +thing that she had been born a Puritan's daughter; but on the whole +she was happy and contented enough, only she did reckon the rule of +Aunt Susan in her father's house as something of a hardship.</p> +<p>But it did not do to offend that worthy dame, who was the very +model of all housewives, and whose careful management and excellent +cookery caused Martin Holt's house to be something of a proverb and +a pattern to other folks' wives. So now the girl replied +submissively:</p> +<p>"I need not spin, an it please thee not, aunt. Hast thou aught +for me to do below?"</p> +<p>"Ay, plenty, child, if thou canst give thy mind to work. Abraham +Dyson and Anthony Cole sup with us tonight, and I am making a +herring pie."</p> +<p>A herring pie was a serious undertaking in the domestic economy +of the house on the bridge, and Mistress Susan prided herself on +her skill in the concoction of this delicate dish above almost any +other achievement. She had a mysterious receipt of her own for it, +into the secret of which she would let no other living soul, not +even the dutiful nieces who assisted at the manufacture of the +component parts. Cherry heaved a sigh when she heard what was in +prospect, but laid aside her distaff and proceeded to don a great +coarse apron, and to unbutton and turn back her sleeves, leaving +her pretty round white arms bare for her culinary task. But there +was a little pucker of perplexity and vexation on her forehead, +which was not caused by any distaste of cookery.</p> +<p>"If Uncle Abraham comes, sure he will bring Jacob with him; he +always does. If it were Rachel I would not mind; but I cannot abear +Jacob, with his great hairy hands and fat cheeks. And if I be pert +to him, my father chides; and if I be kind, he makes me past all +patience with his rolling eyes and foolish ways and words. I know +what they all think; but I'll none of him! He had better try for +Kezzie, who would jump down his throat as soon as look at him. She +fair rails on me for not treating him well. Let her take him +herself, the loutish loon!"</p> +<p>And tossing her head so that her coverchief required +readjusting, Cherry slipped down the narrow wooden staircase into +the rooms that lay below.</p> +<p>Kitchen and dining parlour occupied the whole of this floor, +which was not the ground floor of the house. That was taken up by +the shop, in which Martin Holt's samples of wools and stuffs were +exposed. He was more (to borrow a modern expression) in the +wholesale than the retail line of business, and his shop was +nothing very great to look at, and did not at all indicate the +scope of his real trade and substance; but it was a convenient +place for customers to come to, to examine samples and talk over +their orders. Martin Holt sat all day long in a parlour behind the +shop, pretty well filled with bales and sacks and other impedimenta +of his trade, and received those who came to him in the way of +business. He had warehouses, too, along the wharves of Thames +Street, and visited them regularly; but he preferred to transact +business in his own house, and this dull-looking shop was quite a +small centre for wool merchants, wool manufacturers, and even for +the farmers who grew the wool on the backs of the sheep they bred +in the green pastures. No more upright and fair-dealing man than +Martin Holt was to be found in all London town; and though he had +not made haste to be rich, like some, nor had his father before +him, having a wholesome horror of those tricks and shifts which +have grown more and more common as the world has grown older, yet +honest dealing and equitable trading had had its own substantial +reward, and wealth was now steadily flowing into Martin's coffers, +albeit he remained just the same simple, unassuming man of business +as he had ever been when the golden stream of prosperity had not +reached his doors.</p> +<p>But the ground floor of the bridge house being occupied in +business purposes, the first floor had of necessity been given up +to cookery and feeding. The front room was the eating parlour, and +was only furnished by a long table and benches, with one +high-backed armchair at either end. It overlooked the street and +the river, like the living parlour above; and behind lay the +kitchen, with a back kitchen or scullery beyond. From the windows +of either of these back rooms the busy cooks could fling their +refuse into the river, and exceedingly handy did they find this, as +did likewise their neighbours. Nor did the fact that the river +water was drunk by themselves and a large number of the inhabitants +of the city in any way interfere with their satisfaction at the +convenience of these domestic arrangements. The beat, beat of the +great water wheel was always in their ears to remind them; but no +misgivings had yet assailed our forefathers as to the desirability +of drinking water polluted by sewage and other abominations. True, +the plague was constantly desolating the city, and had been raging +so violently but a single year back that the King's coronation had +well nigh had to be postponed, and he dared not adventure himself +into London itself, nor summon his Parliament to meet him there. +But it was for another generation to put together cause and effect, +and wonder how far tainted water was responsible for the spread of +the fatal malady.</p> +<p>As Cherry entered the eating parlour, her two sisters looked up +from their tasks, as if with a smile of welcome. Jemima was busy +with the almond paste, which was an important ingredient of the +herring pie; Keziah was stoning the dates, grating the manchet, and +preparing the numerous other ingredients--currants, gooseberries, +barberries--which, being preserved in bottles in the spring and +summer, were always ready to hand in Mistress Susan's cookery. From +the open door of the kitchen proceeded a villainous smell of +herrings, which caused Cherry to turn up her pretty nose in a +grimace that set Keziah laughing. Both these elder damsels, who +were neither blooming nor pretty nor graceful, like their youngest +sister, though they bid fair to be excellent housewives and docile +and tractable spouses, delighted in the beauty and wit and +freshness of Cherry. They had never envied her her pretty ways and +charming face, but had taken the same pleasure in both that a +mother or affectionate aunt might do. They spoke of her and thought +of her as "the child," and if any hard or disagreeable piece of +work had to be done, they both vied with each other in contriving +that it should not fall to Cherry's lot.</p> +<p>Cherry, although she dearly loved her homely sisters, as well +she might, never could quite realize that they were her sisters, +and not her aunts. Although Keziah was only six years her senior, +it seemed more like ten, and Jemima had three years' start of +Keziah. They treated her with an indulgence rare between sisters, +and from the fact of their being so staid and grave for their +years, Cherry could scarcely be blamed for feeling as though she +was the only young thing in the house. Her father talked of grave +matters with her aunt and sisters, whilst she sat gaping in +weariness or got a book in which to lose herself. They understood +those mysterious theological and political discussions which were a +constant source of perplexity and irritation to Cherry.</p> +<p>"As if it mattered one way or another," she would say to +herself. "I can't see that one way is a bit better than another! I +wonder folks can care to make such a coil about it."</p> +<p>"Hast come to help us with the pie, Cherry?" asked Jemima +kindly. "There, then, take my place with the paste; 'tis almost +ready, but would do with a trifle more beating. And there be fowls +to draw and get ready for the oven, and I know thou lovest not such +a task."</p> +<p>Cherry shuddered at the thought, and gladly took Jemima's place, +tasting the almond with an air of relish, and going about her tasks +with a dainty air that would have angered Aunt Susan, but which +honest Keziah regarded with admiration.</p> +<p>"How many be coming to supper tonight?" asked Cherry. "Is it to +be a gathering?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I scarce know. I have only heard what aunt said to thee. +Father spoke of guests without saying the number, and she said our +uncle would be there, and Master Anthony Cole and his son. Whether +there be any others I know not; belike Rachel and Jacob may come +too."</p> +<p>"Now I am sore puzzled anent this Anthony Cole," said Cherry, as +she beat her paste and leaned towards Keziah, so that her voice +might not carry as far as the kitchen.</p> +<p>"And wherefore art thou puzzled, child?"</p> +<p>"Marry, because it was but a short while ago that we were forbid +even to speak with him or any in his house, neighbours though we +be; and now he comes oft, and father gives him good welcome, and +bids him to sup with us. It fairly perplexes me to know why."</p> +<p>Keziah also lowered her voice as she replied:</p> +<p>"We were forbid his house because that he and his household be +all Papists."</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, that I know. But they be none the less Papists now, +and yet we give them good day when we meet, and sit at the same +board with them in all amity. Are they turning Protestant then, or +what?"</p> +<p>Keziah shook her head.</p> +<p>"It is not that," she said.</p> +<p>Nay, then, what is it?"</p> +<p>"Marry, methinks it is that we are companions in distress, and +that a common trouble draws us the closer together. Thou must have +heard--"</p> +<p>"Oh, I hear words, words, words! but I heed them not. It is like +eating dust and ashes."</p> +<p>"Nay, thou art but a child, and these things are not for +children," answered Keziah, indulgently. "And, indeed, they are +hard to be understood, save by the wise and learned. But this much +I gather: When the King came to the throne, all men hoped for +better days--liberty to think each according to his conscience, +liberty each to follow his own priest or pastor, and join without +fear in his own form of worship. The Papists believed that the son +of Mary Stuart would scarce show severity to them. The Puritans +were assured that one bred up by the Presbyterians of Scotland +would surely incline to their ways of worship and thought. But the +King has disappointed both, and has allied himself heart and soul +with the Episcopal faction and the Church of the Establishment; +and, not content with that, is striving to enforce the penal +statutes against all who do not conform as they were never enforced +in the Queen's time. Wherefore, as thou mayest understand, the +Papists and the Puritans alike suffer, and so suffering are +something drawn together as friends, albeit in doctrine they are +wide asunder--wider than we from the Establishment or they from it. +But trouble drives even foes to make common cause sometimes."</p> +<p>Cherry sighed impatiently.</p> +<p>"I would that men would e'en forget all these vexed doctrines +and dry dogmas, and learn to enjoy life as it might be enjoyed. Why +are we for ever lamenting evils which none may put right? What does +it matter whether we pray to God in a fine church or a homely room? +I would fain go to church with the fine folk, since the King will +have it so, and strive to find God there as well as in the bare +barn where Master Baker holds his meeting. They bid us read our +Bibles, but they will not let us obey the commands laid down--"</p> +<p>"Nay, hush, Cherry! hush, hush! What and if Aunt Susan +heard?"</p> +<p>"Let her hear!" cried the defiant Cherry, though she lowered her +voice instinctively at the warning; "I am saying naught to be +ashamed of. I know naught about these matters of disputing; I only +know that the Bible bids folks submit themselves to the powers that +be, whether they be kings, or rulers, or magistrates, because the +powers that be are of God. So that I see not why we go not to +church as the King bids us. And again I read that wherever two or +three are gathered together in Christ's name, there will He be in +the midst of them. So why we cannot go peacefully to church, since +He will be there with us, I for one cannot see. I trow even the +boldest Papist or Puritan would not dare deny that He was as much +in the midst of those congregations as in ours. If they do they be +worse than Pagans, for every one that goes to church goes to pray +to God and to Jesus Christ."</p> +<p>Keziah looked flustered and scared. Cherry's words, though +spoken in some temper and despite, contained certain elements of +shrewd insight and sound common sense, which she had doubtless +inherited from her father. She had something of the boldness and +independence of mind that a spoiled child not unfrequently +acquires, and she was not accustomed to mince her words when +speaking with her sisters.</p> +<p>Hush! oh hush, child! Father would not list to hear such words +from a daughter of his. It is for women to learn, and not to teach; +to listen, but not to speak."</p> +<p>"Oh yes, well do I know that. Have I not listened, and listened, +and listened, till I have well nigh fallen asleep; and what sense +is there in all the wranglings and disputations? Why cannot men +think as they like, and let other folks alone? What harm does it do +any that another should have a different opinion of his own?"</p> +<p>"I trow that is what father really thinks," said Keziah, +thoughtfully; "but all men declare that it is needful for there to +be outward uniformity of worship. And I trow that father would be +willing to conform if they would but let our preachers and teachers +alone to hold private meetings in peace. But so long as they badger +and persecute and imprison them, he will have naught to do with the +bishops and clergy who set them on, nor will he attend their +churches, be the law what it may. He says it is like turning back +in the hour of peril: that is not his way."</p> +<p>"I like that feeling," answered Cherry, with kindling eyes. "If +that be so, I mind it less. Father is a good man, and full of +courage; but I grow full weary of these never-ending talks. Kezzie, +thinkest thou that he will be put in prison for keeping from church +with his whole house? Some men have been sent to prison for +less."</p> +<p>"I know not how that may be," answered Keziah, gravely. "He is a +useful citizen, and a man of substance; and by what I hear, such as +these are left alone so long as they abide quiet and peaceable. +Just now the Papists are being worse treated than we. Methinks that +is why father is so sorry for them."</p> +<p>"Too much talk! too much talk!" cried Aunt Susan's voice from +the adjoining kitchen. "Hands lag when tongues wag; wherefore do +your work in silence. Is that almond paste ready, Keren Happuch? +Then bring it quickly hither; and your manchet and sugar, Keziah, +for the skins are ready to be stuffed."</p> +<p>And as the girls obediently brought the required ingredients, +they found themselves in a long, low room, at the end of which a +huge fire burned in a somewhat primitive stove, whilst a tall, +angular, and powerful-looking dame, with her long upper robe well +tucked up, and her gray hair pushed tightly away beneath a +severe-looking coif, was superintending a number of culinary tasks, +Jemima and a serving wench obeying the glance of her eye and the +turn of her hand with the precision of long practice.</p> +<p>Certainly it was plain that Martin Holt's guests would not +starve that night. The herring pie was only the crowning delicacy +of the board, which was to groan beneath a variety of appetizing +dishes. The Puritans were a temperate race, and the baneful habit +of sack drinking at all hours, of perpetual pledgings and +toastings, and the large consumption of fiery liquors, was at a +discount in their houses; but they nevertheless liked a good table +as well as the rest of their kind, and saw no hurt in sitting down +to a generously supplied board, whilst they made up for their +abstemiousness in the matter of liquor by the healthy and voracious +appetite which speedily caused the good cheer to melt away.</p> +<p>Mistress Susan was so intent on her preparations that she +scarcely let her nieces pause to eat their frugal midday dinner. +Martin himself was out on business, and would dine abroad that day, +and nothing better pleased the careful housewife than to dispense +with any formal dinner when there was a company supper to be +cooked, and thus save the attendant labour of washing up as well as +the time wasted in the consumption of the meal.</p> +<p>Jemima and Keziah never dreamed of disputing their aunt's will; +but Cherry pouted and complained that it was hard to work all day +without even the dinner hour as a relief. Mistress Susan gave her a +sharp rebuke that silenced without subduing her; and she kept +throwing wistful glances out of the window, watching the play of +sunshine on the water, and longing to be out in the fresh air--for +such a day as this was too good to be wasted indoors. Tomorrow +belike the sun would not shine, and the wind would be cold and +nipping.</p> +<p>Jemima and Keziah saw the wistful glances, and longed to +interpose on behalf of their favourite; but Mistress Susan was not +one it was well to interfere with, and Cherry was not in favour +that day. But an inspiration came over Jemima at last, and she +suddenly exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Sure, but how badly we need some fresh rushes for the parlour +floor! There be not enough to cover it, and they all brown and old. +There has been scarce any frost as yet. I trow the river rushes +will be yet green, and at least they will be fresh. Could not the +child be spared to run out to try and get some? She is a better +hand at that than at her cooking. I will finish her pastry if thou +wilt spare her to get the reeds. I love not a floor like you, and +methinks father will chide an he sees."</p> +<p>Mistress Susan cast a quick glance at the rush-strewn floor, and +could not but agree with her niece. She had all the true +housewife's instinct of neatness and cleanliness in every detail. +The filthy habit of letting rushes rot on the floor, and only +piling fresh ones on the top as occasion demanded, found no favour +in this house. It was part of Cherry's work and delight to cut them +fresh as often as there was need, but a spell of wet weather had +hindered her from her river-side rambles of late, with the +consequence that the supply was unwontedly low.</p> +<p>"Oh, any one can do Keren Happuch's work and feel nothing added +to her toil," was the sharp response. "Small use are her hands in +any kitchen. We had better make up our minds to wed her to a fine +gentleman, who wants naught of his wife but to dress up in grand +gowns, and smirk and simper over her fan; for no useful work will +he get out of her. If rushes are wanted, she had better go quickly +and cut them--</p> +<p>"And mind, do not stray too far along the banks, child; and +watch the sky, and be in before the sun is down. The evenings draw +in so quick now; and I would not have you abroad after nightfall +for all the gold of Ophir."</p> +<p>Cherry had no desire for such a thing to happen either. London +in the darkness of the night was a terrible place. Out from all the +dens of Whitefriars and other like places swarmed the ruffian and +criminal population that by day slunk away like evil beasts of +night into hiding. The streets were made absolutely perilous by the +bands of cutthroats and cutpurses who prowled about, setting upon +belated pedestrians or unwary travellers, and robbing, insulting, +and maltreating them--not unfrequently leaving the wretched victim +dead or dying, to be found later by the cowardly watchman, who +generally took good care not to be near the spot at the time of the +affray. Ladies of quality never went abroad unattended even by day; +but Cherry was no fine lady, and Martin Holt had no notion of +encouraging the child's native vanity by making any difference +betwixt her and her sisters. Jemima and Keziah had been always +accustomed to go about in the neighbourhood of their home +unmolested, and thought nothing of it; and though Cherry's rosy +cheeks, slim, graceful figure, and bright, laughing eyes might +chance to take the fancy of some bold roisterer or dandy, and lead +to an address which might frighten or annoy the maid, her father +considered this the less danger than bringing her up to think +herself too captivating to go about unguarded; and up till now she +had met with no unwelcome admiration or annoyance of any kind in +her limited rovings.</p> +<p>So she set forth blithely this afternoon, her cloak and hood +muffling well both face and figure, her clogs on her feet, since +the river bank would be muddy and treacherous at this time of year, +and a long, open basket on her arm, thinking of nothing but the +delights of escaping from the weary monotony of pastry making and +herb shredding, and from the overpowering odour of that mysterious +herring pie. Cherry liked well enough to eat of it when it was +placed upon the board, but she always wished she had not known +anything of the process; she thought she should enjoy it so much +the more.</p> +<p>Crossing the bridge, and exchanging many greetings as she +tripped along, for every neighbour was in some sort a friend, and +bright-eyed Cherry was a favourite with all--she turned to the +right as she quitted the bridge, and walked in a westerly direction +along the river bank, towards the great beds of reeds and rushes +that stretched away in endless succession so soon as the few houses +and gardens springing up on this side the river had been passed +by.</p> +<p>Certainly there was no lack of green rushes. The autumn had been +mild, and though the past few days had been chill and biting, it +had not told to any great extent upon the rushes yet. Cherry +plunged eagerly amongst them, selecting and cutting with a +precision and rapidity that told of long practice. She was resolved +to take home as many as ever she could carry, and these all of the +best, since the supply would soon cease, and she knew the +difference in the lasting power of the full, thick rushes and the +little flimsy ones.</p> +<p>But it was later than she had known when she left home. The +brightness of the sunshine had deceived her, and she had been +detained a few minutes upon the bridge, first by one and then by +another, all asking kindly questions of her. Then her fastidious +selection of her rushes caused her to wander further and further +along the banks in search of prizes; and when at last her big +basket was quite full, and correspondingly heavy, she looked round +her with a start almost of dismay; for the gray twilight was +already settling down over the dark river, and she was full a mile +away from home, with a heavy load to carry.</p> +<p>Cherry's heart fluttered a little, but it was rather in fear of +her aunt's displeasure than of any mischance likely to happen to +herself. She had been often to these osier beds, and had never +encountered a living soul there, and she would soon reach the +region of walls and gardens that adjoined the southern end of the +bridge. So taking her basket on her arm, she pushed her way upwards +from the river to the path along which lay her road, and turning +her face homeward, made all the haste she could to get back.</p> +<p>But how dark it looked to the eastward! Did ever evening close +in so fast? And how black and cold the river looked! She never +remembered to have seen it quite so cheerless and gloomy before. A +thick white fog was rising from the marshy lands, and she could not +see the friendly twinkling lights upon the bridge. Despite her +exertions, which were great, she felt chill and shivery; and when +at last she heard the sound of a lusty shout behind her, her heart +seemed to stand still with terror, and she stopped short and gazed +wildly back, to see whence the noise came.</p> +<p>What she saw by no means reassured her. Some fifty yards behind, +but mounted on fine horses, were two young gentlemen, plainly in a +state of tipsy merriment, and by no means disposed to allow any +prey, in the shape of a woman old or young, to escape them without +some sort of pleasantry on their part. Cherry heard their laughter +and their coarse words without understanding what it all meant; but +a great terror took hold of her, and leaving her basket in the +middle of the path, in the vain hope of tripping up the tipsy +riders, she fled wildly along in the direction of home. Her hood +falling back, disclosed her pretty floating curls beneath, and so +gave greater zest to the pursuit. Fleet of foot she might be, but +what availed that against the speed of the two fine horses? She +heard their galloping hoofs closer and closer behind her. She knew +that they were almost up with her now. Even the osier beds would +afford her no protection from horsemen, and she feared to trust +herself to the slippery ooze when the daylight had fled. With a +short, sharp cry she sank upon the ground, exhausted and half dead +with terror, and she heard the brutal shout of triumph with which +the roisterers hailed this sight.</p> +<p>In another moment they would be upon her. She heard them +shouting to their horses as they pulled them up. But was there not +another sound, too? What was the meaning of that fierce demand in a +very different voice? She lifted her head to see a third rider +spurring up at a hand gallop, and before she had time to make up +her mind whether or not this was a third foe, or a defender +suddenly arisen as it were from the very heart of the earth, she +felt herself covered as by some protecting presence, and heard a +firm voice above her saying:</p> +<p>"The first man who dares attempt to touch her I shoot dead!"</p> +<p>There was a great deal of blustering and swearing and hectoring. +Cherry, still crouched upon the ground, shivered at the hideous +imprecations levelled at her protector, and feared every moment to +see him struck to the ground. But he held his position +unflinchingly, and the tipsy gallants contented themselves with +vituperation and hard words. Perhaps they thought the game not +worth the candle. Perhaps they deemed a simple city maid not worth +the trouble of an encounter. Perhaps they were too unsteady on +their legs to desire to provoke the hostile overtures of this tall, +dark-faced stripling, who appeared ready to do battle with the pair +of them, and that without the least fear. At any rate, after much +hard swearing, the estimable comrades mounted their horses again, +and rode on in the gathering darkness; whilst Cherry felt herself +lifted up with all courtesy and reverence, and a pleasant voice +asked in bashful accents, very unlike the firm, defiant tones +addressed to her persecutors, whether she were hurt.</p> +<p>"Not hurt, only frightened, fair sir," answered Cherry, +beginning to recover her breath and her self possession, as she +divined that her protector was now more embarrassed at the +situation than she was herself. "How can I thank you for your +timely help? I was well nigh dead with terror till I heard your +voice holding them at bay. Right bold it was of you to come to my +assistance when you had two foes against you."</p> +<p>"Nay, fair lady, I were less than a man had I stayed for +twenty."</p> +<p>"I like you none the less for your brave words, sir, and I +believe that you have courage to face an army. But I may not linger +here even to speak my thanks. I shall be in sore disgrace at home +for tarrying out thus long in the dark."</p> +<p>"But you will grant to me to see you safe to your door, +lady?"</p> +<p>"Ay, truly will I, an you will," answered Cherry, as much from +real nervous fear as from the coquetry which made such +companionship pleasant. "But I would fain go back a few paces for +my poor reeds, that I go not home empty handed. And you must catch +your steed, Sir Knight; he seems disposed to wander away at his own +will."</p> +<p>"My steed will come at a call. He is a faithful beast, and not +addicted to errant moods. Let us fetch your basket, lady, and then +to your home.</p> +<p>"Is this it? Prithee, let me carry it; its weight is too much +for you. See, I will place it so on Dobbin's broad back, and then +we can jog along easily together."</p> +<p>Cherry, her fears allayed, and her imaginative fancy pleased by +the termination to this adventure, chatted gaily to her tall +companion; and as they neared the bridge with its many twinkling +lights, she pointed out one of the houses in the middle, and told +her companion that she dwelt there. His face turned eagerly upon +her at hearing that.</p> +<p>"I am right glad to hear it, for perchance you can then direct +me to the dwelling of Master Martin Holt, the wool stapler, if he +yet plies his trade there as his father did before him."</p> +<p>"Martin Holt!" cried Cherry, eagerly interrupting. "Why, good +sir, Martin Holt is my father."</p> +<p>The young man stopped short in amaze, and then said slowly, +"Verily, this is a wondrous hap, for Martin Holt is mine own uncle. +I am Cuthbert Trevlyn, the son of his sister Bridget."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch6" id="Ch6">6</a>: Martin Holt's Supper +Party.</h2> +<p>Six o'clock was the almost universal hour for supper amongst the +well-to-do classes, both gentle and simple, and Martin Holt's +family sat down to the well-spread board punctually to the minute +every day of their lives. But though there was no eating before +that hour, the invited guests who were intimate at the house +generally arrived about dusk, and were served with hot ginger wine +with lumps of butter floating in it, or some similar concoction +accounted a delicacy in those days of coarse feeding, and indulged +in discussion and conversation which was the preliminary to the +serious business of supper.</p> +<p>At four o'clock, then, Mistress Susan's table was set, the +homespun cloth of excellent texture and whiteness spread upon the +board, which was further adorned by plates and tankards, knives and +even forks, though these last-named articles were quite a novelty, +and rather lightly esteemed by Mistress Susan, who was a rigid +conservative in all domestic matters. All the cold provisions had +been laid upon the table. The serving woman in the kitchen had +received full instruction as to those that remained in or about the +stove. The ladies had doffed their big aprons, and had donned their +Sunday coifs and kerchiefs and better gowns, and were now assembled +in the upper parlour, where the spinning wheels stood, ready to +receive the guests when they should come.</p> +<p>Cherry's absence had not yet excited any uneasiness, although +her aunt had made one or two severe remarks as to her love for +junketing abroad, and frivolity in general. Her sisters had laid +out her dress in readiness for her, and had taken her part with +their accustomed warmth and goodwill. They were not at all afraid +of her not turning up safe and sound. Cherry had many friends, and +it was just as likely as not that she would stop and gossip all +along the bridge as she came home. She took something of the +privilege of a spoiled child, despite her aunt's rigid training. +She knew her sisters never looked askance at her; that her father +found it hard to scold severely, however grave he might try to look +to please Aunt Susan; and it was perfectly well known in the house +that she had no liking for those grave debates that formed the +prelude to the supper downstairs. It was like enough she would +linger without as long as she dared, and then spend as much time as +possible strewing her rushes and dressing herself, so that she +should not have long to listen to the talk of the elders.</p> +<p>Jemima and Keziah had long since trained themselves to that +perfect stillness and decorous silence that was deemed fitting for +women, and especially young women, in presence of their elders, +They had even begun to take a certain interest in the questions +discussed. But to Cherry it was simple penance to have to sit for +one hour or more, her tongue and her active limbs alike chained, +and her sisters were quite prepared for the absence of the younger +girl when the guests dropped in one by one.</p> +<p>Their uncle, Abraham Dyson, was the first arrival, and behind +him followed his son and daughter, Jacob and Rachel. Rachel was a +buxom young woman of five-and-twenty, shortly to be advanced to the +dignity of a wedded wife. She would have been married before but +for the feeble health of her mother; but the ceremony was not to be +postponed much longer on that account, for fear the bridegroom, a +silk mercer in thriving way of business, should grow weary of +delay, and seek another partner for his hand and home. But Abraham +Dyson saw another way of getting his sick wife properly looked to, +and had whispered his notion in the ear of his brother-in-law. The +Dysons and the Holts had had intimate business dealing with each +other for generations, and there had been many matrimonial +connections between them in times past. Martin himself had married +Abraham's sister, and he listened with equanimity and pleasure to +the proposal to ally one of his daughters with the solid and stolid +Jacob.</p> +<p>Jacob was not much to look at, but he would be a man of +considerable substance in time, and he had a shrewd head enough for +business. As it had not pleased Providence to bless Martin Holt +with sons, the best he could do was to find suitable husbands for +his daughters, and seek amongst his sons-in-law for one into whose +hands his business might worthily be intrusted. Daughters were +still, and for many generations later, looked upon very much in the +light of chattels to be disposed of at will by their parents and +guardians, and it had not entered honest Martin's head that his +wilful little Cherry would dare to set up her will in opposition to +his.</p> +<p>Jacob, who had been taken into the confidence of his elders, had +expressed his preference for the youngest of his three cousins; and +though not a word had been spoken to the girl upon the subject as +yet, Martin looked upon the matter as settled.</p> +<p>Scarcely had the bustle of the first arrivals died down before +the remaining two guests arrived--a tall, bent man with the face of +a student and book lover, followed by his son, also a man of rather +distinguished appearance for his station in life. The two Coles, +father and son, were amongst those many Roman Catholic sufferers +who had been ruined on account of their religion during the last +reign; and now they gained a somewhat scanty livelihood by keeping +a second-hand book shop on the bridge, selling paper and parchment +and such like goods, and acting as scriveners to any who should +desire to avail themselves of their skill in penmanship.</p> +<p>They were both reputed to be men of considerable learning, and +as they had fallen from a different position, they were looked up +to with a certain amount of respect. Some were disposed to sneer at +and flout them, but they were on the whole well liked amongst their +neighbours. They were very quiet people, and never spoke one word +of the matters which came to their knowledge through the letters +they were from time to time called upon to write. Almost every +surrounding family had in some sort or another intrusted them with +some family secret or testamentary deposition, and would on this +account alone have been averse to quarrelling with them, for fear +they might let out the secret.</p> +<p>Martin found his neighbour Anthony by far the most interesting +of his acquaintances, and the fact of this common disappointment in +the new King, and the common persecution instituted against both +Romanists and Puritans, had drawn them more together of late than +ever before. Both were men of considerable enlightenment of mind; +both desired to see toleration extended to all (though each might +have regarded with more complacency an act of uniformity that +strove to bring all men to his own particular way of thinking and +worship), and both agreed in a hearty contempt for the mean and +paltry King, who had made such lavish promises in the days of his +adversity, only to cancel them the moment he had the power, and +fling himself blindly into the arms of the dominant faction of the +Episcopacy.</p> +<p>All the guests were cordially welcomed by the family of Martin +Holt. The three elder men sat round the fire, and plunged into +animated discussion almost at once. Jacob Dyson got into a chair +somehow beside Keziah, and stared uneasily round the room; whilst +Walter Cole took up his position beside Jemima, and strove to +entertain her by the account of some tilting and artillery practice +(as archery was still called) that he had been witnessing in Spital +Fields. He spoke of the courage and prowess of the young Prince of +Wales, and how great a contrast he presented to his father. The +contempt that was beginning to manifest itself towards the luckless +James in his English subjects was no more plainly manifested than +in the London citizens. Elizabeth, with all her follies and her +faults, had been the idol of London, as her father before her. Now +a reaction had set in, and no scorn could be too great for her +undignified and presumptuous successor. This contempt was well +shown by the dry reply of the Lord Mayor some few years later, when +the King, in a rage at being refused a loan he desired of the +citizens, threatened to remove his Court and all records and jewels +from the Tower and Westminster Hall to another place, as a mark of +his displeasure. The Lord Mayor listened calmly to this terrible +threat, and then made submissive answer.</p> +<p>"Your Majesty hath power to do what you please," he said, "and +your city of London will obey accordingly; but she humbly desires +that when your Majesty shall remove your Courts, you would +graciously please to leave the Thames behind you."</p> +<p>But to return to the house on the bridge and the occupants of +Martin Holt's parlour. Whilst Jemima and Keziah listened eagerly to +the stories of the student's son, with the delight natural to +Puritan maidens denied any participation in such scenes of +merriment, Jacob was looking rather dismally round the room, and +presently broke in with the question:</p> +<p>"But where, all this time, is Cherry?"</p> +<p>"Strewing rushes in the eating parlour, I doubt not," answered +Keziah. "She went out a while back to cut them. She loveth not dry +disputings and learned talk. Belike she will linger below till nigh +on the supper hour an Aunt Susan call her not."</p> +<p>"I love not such disputings neither," said Jacob, with unwonted +energy. "Good Kezzie, let us twain slip below to help Cherry over +her task."</p> +<p>Keziah gave a quick glance at the face of her stern aunt, who +loved not this sort of slipping away during times of ceremony; but +she had her back to them and to the door, and was engrossed in the +talk as well as in the stocking fabric upon her needles. Jemima and +Walter were still talking unrebuked in a low key. Perchance this +flitting could be accomplished without drawing down either notice +or remark. To please Jacob, Keziah would have done much, even to +running the risk of a scolding from her aunt. She had none of saucy +Cherry's scorn of the big boorish fellow with the red face and +hairy hands. She looked below the surface, and knew that a kindly +heart beat beneath the ungainly habit; and being but plain herself, +Keziah would have taken shame to herself for thinking scorn of +another for a like defect.</p> +<p>Putting her finger on her lip in token of caution, she effected +a quiet retreat, and the next moment the two cousins stood flushed +but elated in the eating parlour below. But though it was now past +five o'clock, there was no sign of Cherry or her rushes, and Keziah +looked both surprised and uneasy.</p> +<p>"Belike she came in with dirty clogs and skirt, and has gone up +to her bed chamber to change them, for fear of Aunt Susan telling +her she was cluttering up the parlour," said the sister, anxiously. +"I will run and see. Sure she can never have lingered so late +beside the river! The sun has been long down, and the fog is +rising."</p> +<p>Keziah tripped upstairs lightly enough, but speedily came down +with a grave face.</p> +<p>"She is not there," was her answer to Jacob's glance of inquiry. +"What must we do? If we make a coil about it, and she comes in, +having only gossiped awhile with the neighbours along the bridge, +aunt will surely chide her sharply, and send her to bed supperless. +But if she should have met some mischance--" and Keziah broke off, +looking frightened enough, for it was no light matter to meet +mischance alone and unprotected in the dark.</p> +<p>"I will go forth to seek her," cried Jacob, with unwonted +animation. "It boots not for a man to be abroad after dark, but for +a maid it is an ill tiding indeed. Which way went she? to the osier +beds! Sure I must find her ere long. Were it not well for me to go, +good Kezzie?"</p> +<p>"I would that some would go, but I trow thou hadst better not +adventure thyself alone. Belike Master Walter would be thy +companion. If there be peril abroad, it is better there should be +twain than one. And you will want lanterns and stout staffs, +too."</p> +<p>"Run thou and light the lanterns, good coz, and I will to Walter +and ask his company. It grows thicker and darker every moment. If +Cherry be not within, it behoves us to make search for her."</p> +<p>Keziah's face was pale with terror as she flew to do Jacob's +bidding. She had a terrible fear of London streets, at night, as +well she might, and the open country beyond was even worse to her +excited imagination. And Cherry was so pretty, so simple, so +credulous, and withal so utterly defenceless should there be any +sort of attack made upon her. Keziah's hands shook as she lighted +the lantern; and as minutes were fast slipping away and still there +was no sign of the truant, she was rather relieved than terrified +to hear the sharp accents of her aunt's voice mingling with her +father's deeper tones as the whole party came tramping down the +stairs. It was plain that Jacob had let the secret ooze out, and +that all the company had become alarmed. Cherry's name was on all +lips, and Martin was asking his sister somewhat sternly why she had +overlooked the non-return of the girl at dusk.</p> +<p>Miss Susan was sharply defending herself on the score of her +manifold duties and Cherry's well-known gadding propensities. She +never looked to see her home before dusk, as she was certain to +stay out as long as she dared, and since then she had taken it for +granted that the little hussy had come in, and was doing over the +floor with her rushes.</p> +<p>Martin paid small heed to this shrill torrent of words, but with +anxious face was pulling on his long outer hoots, and selecting the +stoutest oaken staff of the number stacked in the corner, inviting +his guests to arm themselves in like fashion.</p> +<p>Jemima and Keziah, feeling as though some blame attached to +them, looked on with pale faces, whilst Rachel chattered volubly of +the horrors she had often heard of as being perpetrated in the +streets. Her brother turned upon her roughly at last, and bid her +cease her ill-omened croaking; whereat she tossed her head and +muttered a good many scornful interjections, and "could not see why +she need be called to task like that."</p> +<p>The whole party descended to the door when the preparations for +the start were complete. It was striking half after five on many of +the city clocks as Martin threw open his door. But he had scarcely +stepped across the threshold before he heard a familiar little +shriek; there was a rush of steps from somewhere in the darkness +without, and Cherry, with an abandon very foreign to the times and +her training, and indicative of much agitation and emotion, flung +herself upon his breast, and threw her arms about his neck.</p> +<p>"Here I am, father; there has no hurt befallen me!" she cried in +broken gasps. "But I know not what fearful thing was like to have +happened had it not been for the help of this gallant gentleman, +who came in the very nick of time to drive off my assailants and +bring me safe home. And oh, my father, such a wonderful thing! I +can scarce believe it myself! This gentleman is no stranger; +leastways he may not so be treated, for he is our very own flesh +and blood--my cousin, thy nephew. He is Cuthbert Trevlyn, son to +that sister Bridget of thine of whom we have sometimes heard thee +speak!"</p> +<p>A strange dead silence fell on the group clustered in the +doorway with lanterns and staffs. All looked out into the darkness +in a mist of perplexity and doubt, to see, as their eyes grew used +to the obscurity, the tall figure of a slim, dark-faced youth +standing beside a tired-looking horse, and steadying upon the +saddle a large basket of rushes.</p> +<p>Martin Holt, after one minute of utter silence, released the +clinging arms from about his neck, pushed Cherry not ungently +towards her sisters, and stepped forward towards her preserver.</p> +<p>"This is a strange thing my daughter tells me, young sir," he +said, as he scanned the horseman's face narrowly by the light of +his lantern. "I find it hard to credit my senses. Art sure that she +has understood thee aright? Is Cuthbert Trevlyn truly thy +name?"</p> +<p>"Ay, truly it is; and my mother's was Bridget Holt, and she left +her home long years ago as waiting maid to my Lady Adelaide de +Grey, and led a happy life till some evil hap threw her across the +path of Nicholas Trevlyn, who made her his wife. I trow she many a +time rued the day when she was thus persuaded; but repentance came +too late, and death soon relieved her of her load of misery. That +she bequeathed to her children; and here am I this day a wanderer +from my father's house, constrained to seek shelter from her +kindred, since flesh and blood can no longer endure the misery of +dwelling beneath his roof."</p> +<p>"Jacob," said Martin Holt, "take yon steed to the stables of +Master Miller, and ask him for fodder and tendance for the beast +for this night.</p> +<p>"Young sir, thou hast a strange story to tell, and I would hear +it anon. If thou hadst not succoured my daughter in her hour of +need, I must have bid thee welcome to my house and my table. Since +thou hast done this also, I do it the more readily. I scarce knew +that my misguided sister had borne a son. Whether he lived or died +I had no means of knowing. But if thou art he, come in, and be +welcome. I will hear thy tale anon. Meantime stand no longer +without in the cold."</p> +<p>If this welcome were something coldly given, Cuthbert was not +aware of it. Used as he was to his father's fierce sullenness and +taciturnity, any other manner seemed warm and pleasant. He followed +this new uncle up the dark staircase without any misgiving, and +found himself quickly in the well-warmed and well-lighted eating +parlour, where Mistress Susan was already bustling about in a very +noisy fashion, getting the viands ready for serving. A dark frown +was on her face, and her whole aspect was thundery.</p> +<p>The sisters and Rachel had all vanished upstairs to hear +Cherry's story as they got her ready for the supper table, +excitement in this new arrival of an unknown kinsman having saved +the girl from any chiding or questioning from father or aunt. The +Coles, father and son, had returned to the upper parlour with the +discretion and refinement of feeling natural to them; so that only +Abraham Dyson witnessed the next scene in the little domestic +drama, for Jacob had obediently gone off with the horse.</p> +<p>Martin Holt pushed his nephew before him into the lighted room, +and looked him well over from head to foot.</p> +<p>"There is little of thy mother about thee, boy," he said, with +some stern bitterness of tone. "I fear me thou art all thy father's +son."</p> +<p>"My father says not so," answered Cuthbert, facing his uncle +fearlessly. "He has flung it again and yet again in my teeth that I +am the heretic son of my heretic mother."</p> +<p>Martin Holt uttered an inarticulate exclamation and came a step +nearer.</p> +<p>"Say that again, boy--say that again! Can it be true that thy +unhappy and deluded mother repented of her Popish errors ere she +died, and turned back to the pure faith of her childhood? If that +be so, it is like a mill stone rolled from off my heart. I have +wept for her all these years as for one of the lost."</p> +<p>"I was too young when she died to remember aught of her +teaching, but I have seen those who tell me she was fearfully +unhappy with my father, and abjured his faith ere she died. I know +that he reviles her memory, and he forbids even her children to +speak of her. He would scarce have branded her with the hateful +name of heretic had she adhered to his faith till her death."</p> +<p>"Susan, dost hear that?" cried Martin Holt, turning exultantly +to his sister. "It was as our mother fondly said. She was not lost +for ever; she returned to her former faith. Nay, I doubt not that +in some sort she died for it--died through the harshness and +sternness of her husband. Susan, dost hear--dost understand?"</p> +<p>But Susan only turned a sour face towards her brother.</p> +<p>"I hear," she answered ungraciously. "But the boy has doubtless +been bred a Papist. Who can believe a word he says? Doubtless he +has been sent here to corrupt your daughters, as Bridget was +corrupted by his father. I would liefer put my hand in the maw of a +mad dog than my faith in the word of a Papist."</p> +<p>Cuthbert did not wince beneath this harsh speech, he was too +well inured to such; he only looked at his aunt with grave +curiosity as he answered thoughtfully:</p> +<p>"Methinks it is something hard to believe them, always. Yet I +have known them speak sooth as well as other men. But I myself +would sooner put confidence in the word of one of the other faith. +They hold not with falsehood in a good cause as our father +confessors do. Wherefore, if it were for that alone, I would sooner +be a heretic, albeit there be many things about my father's faith +that I love and cling to."</p> +<p>This answer caused Martin to look more closely at his nephew, +discerning in him something of the fearless Puritan spirit, as well +as that instinctive desire to weigh and judge for himself that was +one of his own characteristics. Papist the lad might be by training +and inheritance, but it was plain that at present he was no bigot. +He would not strive to corrupt his cousins; rather were they likely +to influence and draw him.</p> +<p>Susan flounced back to the kitchen without another word, only +muttering to herself prognostications of evil if such a popinjay +were admitted into the household. Not that Cuthbert's sober riding +suit merited such a criticism, for there was nothing fine about it +at all; yet it had been fashionably cut in its day, and still had +the nameless air that always clings to a thoroughly well-made +garment, even when it has seen its best days; and the Puritans were +already beginning to show, by their plain and severe dress, their +contempt for frivolity and extravagance, though the difference +between their clothes and those of other men was not so marked as +it became in the next reign.</p> +<p>However, there was not much more time for conversation on +private themes. Jacob returned from stabling the horse; the girls +from above descended, full of curiosity about this new cousin. The +Coles, father and son, joined the party assembled round the table, +and were introduced to Cuthbert, whom, as a Trevlyn, they regarded +with considerable interest, and then the guests and the family were +all placed--Mistress Susan and the two elder nieces only seating +themselves at the last, when they had finished putting all the +savoury dishes on the table. Cuthbert's eyes grew round with amaze +at the sight of all the good cheer before him. Even at Trevlyn +Chase he had never seen quite such an array of dishes and meats; +and as he was the greatest stranger and a traveller to boot, he was +helped with the greatest liberality, and pressed to partake of +every dish.</p> +<p>Cherry was called upon for an account of her adventures, and was +chidden sharply by her aunt for her folly and carelessness after +being warned not to be overtaken by the darkness. But her father +was too thankful to have her safe home to say much; and Rachel, who +sat on Cuthbert's other side, plied him with questions about his +own share in the adventure, and praised him in warm terms for his +heroism, till the lad grew shamefaced and abashed, and was glad +when the talk drifted away from private to public matters, and he +could listen without being called upon to speak.</p> +<p>Moreover, he was all eagerness to hear what he could of such +topics. He knew so little what was stirring in the country, and was +eager to learn more. He kept hearing the words "Bye" and "Main" +bandied about amongst the speakers, and at last he asked his +neighbour in a whisper what was meant by the terms.</p> +<p>"Marry, two villainous Popish plots," answered Rachel, who was +glib enough with her tongue. "And many heads have fallen already, +and perhaps more will yet fall; for Sir Walter Raleigh is still in +the Tower, and my Lord Grey, too. Confusion to all traitors and +plotters, say I! Why cannot men live pleasantly and easily? They +might well do so, an they would cease from their evil practices, +and from making such a coil about what hurts none. If they would +but go to church like sensible Christians, nobody would have a word +against them; but they are like mules and pigs, and they can +neither be led nor driven straight. I go to church every Sunday of +my life, and what there is to fall foul of I never can guess. But +men be such blind, obstinate fools, they must always be putting a +rope round their necks. They say London is seething now with plots, +and no man can feel safe for a day nor an hour."</p> +<p>Cuthbert gave one swift backward thought to his companion of the +road and the strange words he had uttered; and he asked with +increasing interest of his lively neighbour:</p> +<p>"But what do men think to gain by such plots? What is the object +of them?"</p> +<p>"Beshrew me if I know or care! My father says they be all mad +together, the moonstruck knaves! They say that the 'Bye' was an +attempt to make prisoner of the King's Majesty, and to keep him in +captivity till he had sworn to change his laws and his +ministers--as they say was done once in Scotland, when he was +trying to rule his turbulent subjects there. As for the 'Main,' +that was worse; nothing better than the murder of the King and +Royal family, so that the Lady Arabella might be Queen in his +stead. But neither came to good; it seemeth to me that these +villainous plots never do, And all that results from them is that +the laws are made harsher and harsher, and men groan and writhe +under them, and curse the King and his ministers, when they had +better be cursing their own folly and wickedness in trying to +overthrow the government of their lawful rulers."</p> +<p>"That is one side of the question, Mistress Rachel," said Walter +Cole, in his quiet voice; "but if none had ever revolted against +tyranny, we had all been slaves this day instead of a free nation +of subjects, imposing our just will upon a sovereign in return for +the privileges he grants us. There be limits to endurance. There be +times when those limits are over past, and to submit becomes +weakness and coward folly. Thou speakest as one swimming easily +with the stream. Thou knowest little of the perils of the shoals +and quicksands."</p> +<p>Rachel tossed her head, but was too wary to be drawn into an +argument with the man of books. She could air her father's opinions +second hand with an assumption of great assurance, but she was no +hand at argument or fence, and had no desire for an encounter of +wits.</p> +<p>But Cuthbert stepped eagerly into the breach, and the two men +became engrossed in talk. Cuthbert heard of acts of tyranny and +oppression, cruel punishments and ruinous fines imposed upon +hapless Romanists, guiltless of any other offence than of growing +up in the faith of their forefathers. He heard, on the other hand, +of Puritan preachers deprived of their cures and hunted about like +criminals, though nothing save the crime of unlicensed preaching +could be adduced against them. Cuthbert's blood was young and hot, +and easily stirred within him. He began to understand how it was +that the nation and this great city were never at rest. It seemed +to him as though he had stepped down out of a region of snow and +ice into the very crater of some smouldering volcano which might at +any moment burst out into flames. The sensation was strange and a +little intoxicating. He marvelled how he had been content so long +to know so little of the great world in which he lived.</p> +<p>The party broke up all too soon for him; but after the guests +had gone he had yet another interview to go through with his uncle, +after the womenkind had been dismissed to bed.</p> +<p>Firstly, Martin questioned the boy closely as to the +circumstances of his past life--his relations with his father, his +training, intellectual and religious, and his final resolve to +escape, carried out by the help of Sir Richard and his family. +Next, he went on to ask the youth of his wishes concerning his +future; and finding these as vague as might be expected from his +vast inexperience, he smiled, and said that question could stand +over for the present. There was no difficulty about employing +talent and energy in this city of London; and if his nephew +developed capacity in any direction, it could doubtless be turned +to good account. Meantime he had better dwell beneath this roof, +and accustom himself to new ways and new sights, after which they +would talk of his future again.</p> +<p>Nothing could be more to Cuthbert's mind than such a decision; +but when he tried to express his gratitude, he was speedily +silenced.</p> +<p>"Not a word, boy; not a word! Thou art a near kinsman. Thou hast +had a hard life with thy father, and having claimed the protection +of thy mother's brother, shalt have it, and welcome. But now to +another matter. How art thou off for money? I trow by what thou +sayest of thy father that he had little to give or spend."</p> +<p>"He never gave me aught in his life save the poor clothes and +food that were needful. My uncle gave me a few gold pieces ere I +left--I mean my good cousin, Sir Richard."</p> +<p>"Ay, boy, ay. But I trow that thine own uncle can do better by +thee than that. Didst ever know that thy mother once looked to have +a fortune of her own, albeit a modest one?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert shook his head, and Martin rose from his seat and +disappeared from the room for a few minutes. When he came back he +had a coffer in his hands that seemed to be heavy. He placed it on +the table, and went on with his speech as though he had not been +interrupted.</p> +<p>"Yes. Our father was a man of substance, and he had but three +children--myself, Susan, and Bridget. To me he willed his house, +his business, and all the money locked up in that. To Susan and +Bridget he divided the savings of his lifetime that had not been +used in enlarging the business. There was two thousand pounds +apiece for them when he died."</p> +<p>Cuthbert's eyes dilated with astonishment, but he said nothing, +and his uncle continued speaking.</p> +<p>"You doubtless marvel why you have received none of this before. +I will tell you why. When Bridget married a Papist, our father was +in a great rage, and vowed she should never have a penny of his +money. He scratched her name out of his will, and bid us never +speak her name again. But as he lay a-dying, other thoughts came +into his mind, and he was unhappy in this thing. He bid me get +together the two thousand pounds that had once been Bridget's +portion, and when I did so--with some trouble at a short notice--he +counted it all over, and with his own hands locked it away in this +chest "--laying his hand on the weighty iron-bound box. "Then he +turned to me and said, 'Martin, I verily believe that thy sister is +dead. Something tells me that I shall see her before I see any of +you. The dead are ever forgiven. Take this coffer and keep it for +thy sister's children, if she have had the misfortune to bring +children into this world of sorrow. Keep it for them till they be +grown. Let not their evil father know aught of it. And even then be +cautious. Prove and see if they be worthy of wealth--if they will +make good use of it. It is thine in trust for them. Keep or +withhold as thou thinkest right; but be honest and be true, so +shall my blessing follow thee even after death.' Those were amongst +the last words he spoke. I took the chest, and I have kept it until +now. I have thought often of it; but no word reached me of my +sister, and time has failed me to seek her abroad. I knew her +children, if any lived, could but just have reached man or woman's +estate, and I have waited to see what would chance.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn, this chest and all it contains may one day be +thine. I give it not yet into thy keeping, for I must prove thee +first; but I tell thee what is within it and what was thy grand +sire's charge, that thou mayest know I have no desire save to do +what is right by thee and thy sister, and that I trust and hope the +day may come when I may deliver the chest to thee, to divide with +her the portion bequeathed to your hapless mother."</p> +<p>Cuthbert's astonishment was so great he hardly knew what to say. +For himself he cared but little. He was a man, and could fight his +own way in the world. But those golden coins would make a dowry for +his sister that many a high-born dame might envy. A flush came into +his cheek as he thought of Philip's eager words overheard by him. +If Petronella was the mistress of a fair fortune, why should any +forbid them to be wed?</p> +<p>Martin liked the lad none the less that his first thought was +for his sister. But for the present Petronella was beneath her +father's roof, and could not be benefited thereby. Still, it would +be something for Cuthbert to know, and to look forward to in the +future, and therein he rejoiced.</p> +<p>The chest was carefully restored to its hiding place and +securely locked away, and then the kindly uncle took from his own +pocket a small purse and put it into the reluctant hands of the +lad.</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, thou must not be proud, boy; though I like thee none +the less for thy pride and thine independence of spirit. But thou +must not be penniless as thou goest about this city; and if one +uncle gave thee gold, why not another? So no more words about it. +Take it, and begone to thy chamber; for we are simple folks that +keep early hours, and I am generally abed an hour ere this."</p> +<p>So Cuthbert went to his queer little attic chamber beneath the +high-pitched gable, with a mind confused yet happy, and limbs very +weary with travel. Yet sleep fell upon him almost before his head +touched the pillow, for he had slept but brokenly since leaving his +father's house, and nature, in spite of all obstacles, was claiming +her due at last.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch7" id="Ch7">7</a>: The Life Of A Great +City.</h2> +<p>And so a new life began for Cuthbert beneath the roof of his +uncle.</p> +<p>He found favour in the sight of Martin Holt because of his +unpretending ways, his willingness, nay, his eagerness to learn, +his ready submission to the authority exercised by the master of +the house upon all beneath his roof, and the absence of anything +like presumption or superciliousness on his nephew's part on the +score of his patrician birth on his father's side. Trevlyn though +he was, the lad conformed to all the ways and usages of the humbler +Holts; and even Mistress Susan soon ceased to look sourly at him, +for she found him as amenable to her authority as to that of +Martin, and handy and helpful in a thousand little nameless +ways.</p> +<p>He was immensely interested in everything about him. He would as +willingly sit and baste a capon on the spit as ramble abroad in the +streets, if she would but answer his host of inquiries about +London, its ways and its sights. Mistress Susan was not above being +open to the insidious flattery of being questioned and listened to; +and to find herself regarded as an oracle of wisdom and a mine of +information could not but be soothing to her vanity, little as she +knew that she possessed her share of that common feminine +failing.</p> +<p>Then Cuthbert was a warm appreciator of her culinary talents. +The poor boy, who had lived at the Gate House on the scantiest of +commons, and had been kept to oaten bread and water sometimes for a +week together for a trifling offence, felt indeed that he had come +to a land of plenty when he sat down day after day to his uncle's +well-spread table, and was urged to partake of all manner of +dishes, the very name of which was unknown to him. His keen relish +of her dainties, combined with what seemed to her a very modest +consumption of them, pleased Mistress Susan not a little; whilst +for his own part Cuthbert began to look heartier and stronger than +he had ever done before. The slimness of attenuation was merged in +that of wiry strength and muscle. His dark eyes no longer looked +out from hollow caverns, and the colour which gradually stole into +his brown cheek bespoke increase of health and well being.</p> +<p>Martin and Susan looked on well pleased by the change. They +liked the lad, and found his Popery of such a mild kind that they +felt no misgiving as to its influence upon the girls. Cuthbert was +as willing to go to a privately conducted Puritan service as to +mass, and liked the appointed service of the Establishment rather +better than either. Martin did not hinder his attending the parish +church, though he but rarely put in an appearance himself. He was +not one of the bitter opponents of the Establishment, but he was a +bitter opponent of persecution for conscience' sake, and he was +naturally embittered by the new rigour with which the old laws of +conformity were enforced. However, he was true to his principles in +that he let Cuthbert go his own way freely, and did not forbid +Cherry to accompany him sometimes to church, where she found much +entertainment and pleasure in watching the fashionable people come +and go; and perhaps her father divined that she would give more +attention to the mode of the ladies' headgears and hair dressing +and the cut of their farthingales than to any matters of doctrine +that might be aired in the pulpit.</p> +<p>As for Cuthbert, he drank in voraciously all that he heard and +all that he saw in this strange place, which seemed to him like the +Babylon of old that the Puritan pastors raved over in their +pulpits. He was to be allowed his full liberty for some weeks, to +see the sights of the city and learn his way about it. Perhaps +after Christmastide his uncle would employ him in his shop or +warehouse, but Martin wished to take the measure of the lad before +he put him to any task.</p> +<p>So Cuthbert roamed the London streets wondering and amazed. He +saw many a street fight waged between the Templars and 'prentices, +and got a broken head himself from being swept along the tide of +mimic battle. He saw the rude and rabble mob indulging in their +favourite pastime of upsetting coaches (hell carts as they chose to +dub them), and roaring with laughter as the frightened occupants +strove to free themselves from the clumsy vehicles. Cuthbert got +several hard knocks as a reward for striving to assist these +unlucky wights when they chanced to be ladies; but he was too well +used to blows to heed them over much, and could generally give as +good as he got.</p> +<p>The fighting instinct often got him into tight places, as when +he suddenly found himself surrounded by a hooting mob of ruffians +in one of the slums of "Alsatia," as Whitefriars was called, where +he had imprudently adventured himself. And this adventure might +have well had a fatal termination for him, as this was a veritable +den of murderers and villains of the deepest dye, and even the +authorities dared not venture within its purlieus to hunt out a +missing criminal without a guard of soldiers with them. The abuse +of "Sanctuary" was well exemplified by the existing state of things +here; and though Cuthbert was doing no ill to any soul, but merely +gratifying his curiosity by prowling about the narrow dens and +alleys, the cry of "A spy! a spy!" soon brought a mob about him, +whilst his readiness to engage in battle caused the tumult to +redouble itself in an instant.</p> +<p>The lad had just realized his danger, and faced the fact that +the chances of escaping alive were greatly against him, when a +window in a neighbouring house was thrown open, and a stern, +musical voice exclaimed:</p> +<p>"For shame, my children, for shame! Is it to be one against a +hundred? Is that Alsatia's honour? What has the lad done?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert raised his eyes and beheld the tonsured head of a +priest clad in a rusty black cassock, who was standing at the only +window to be seen in a blank wall somewhat higher than that of the +other houses surrounding it. The effect of those words on the angry +multitude was wonderful. The hands raised to strike were lowered, +and voices on all sides exclaimed:</p> +<p>"It is Father Urban; we may not withstand him."</p> +<p>Still the anger of the mob was not calmed in a moment, and +fierce voices exclaimed in threatening accents:</p> +<p>"A spy! he is a spy!"</p> +<p>"Then bring him hither to me; I will judge him," said the +priest, in the same tones of calm assurance. "If I find him worthy +of death, I will give him over to your hands again."</p> +<p>"That will do; Father Urban shall judge him!" cried a brawny +fellow who seemed to be something of a leader with his fellows. +"The Father never lied to us yet. He will give him back if he finds +him a spy."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was now jostled and hustled, but not in the same angry +fashion, to a small narrow door in a deep embrasure, and when this +door presently swung back on its hinges, the crowd surged quickly +backwards as though in some sort afraid. Within the narrow doorway +stood the priest, a small, slim man in rusty black, with a crucifix +suspended from his rosary, which he held up before the crowd, who +most of them crossed themselves with apparent devotion.</p> +<p>"Peace be with you, my children!" was his somewhat incongruous +salutation to the blood-thirsty mob; and then turning his bright +but benignant eyes upon Cuthbert, he said:</p> +<p>"This is a leper house, my son. Yet methinks thou wilt be safer +here a while than in the street. Dost thou fear to enter? If thou +dost, we must e'en talk where we are."</p> +<p>"I have no fear," answered Cuthbert, who indeed only experienced +a lively curiosity.</p> +<p>The priest seemed pleased with the answer, and drew him within +the sheltering door; and Cuthbert followed his guide into a long, +low room, where a table was spread with trenchers and pitchers, +whilst an appetizing odour arose from a saucepan simmering on the +fire and stirred by one of the patients, upon whom Cuthbert gazed +with fascinated interest.</p> +<p>"He is well nigh cured," answered the priest. "Our sick abide on +the floor above; but there be not many here now. The plague carried +off above half our number last year.</p> +<p>"But now of thine own matters, boy: how comest thou hither? Thou +art a bold lad to venture a stranger into these haunts, unless thou +be fleeing a worse peril from the arm of the law; and neither thy +face nor thy dress looks like that. Hast thou not heard of +Whitefriars and its perils? or art thou a rustic knave, unversed in +the ways of the town?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert told his story frankly enough. He had lost himself in +the streets, and was in the forbidden region before he well knew. A +few kindly and dexterous questions from Father Urban led him to +tell all that there was to know about himself, his parentage and +his past; and the priest listened with great attention, scanning +the face of the youth narrowly the while.</p> +<p>"Trevlyn--the name is known to us. It was a good old name once, +and may be still again. I have seen thy father, Nicholas Trevlyn. +It may be I shall see him again one day. Be true to thy father's +faith, boy; be not led away by hireling shepherds. The day is +coming on England when the true faith shall spread from end to end +of the land, and all heretics shall be confounded! See that thou +art in thy place in that day! See that thou art found by thy +father's side in the hour of victory!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert hung his head a little, and a flush crept into his +cheek; but the priest did not appear to heed these slight +indications of embarrassment, as he moved slowly up the stairs to +the window above to tell the expectant crowd to disperse, as their +victim was no spy, but an honest country lad, whose father was +known to the priest, and who had lost his way in London, and +strayed inadvertently into their midst.</p> +<p>Then the crowd having dispersed to seek fresh amusement, the +priest, at Cuthbert's desire, showed him all over this leper house, +and told him much respecting the condition of the miserable inmates +before they had been admitted to this place of refuge; and Cuthbert +gazed with awe-stricken eyes at the scarred and emaciated +sufferers, filled with compassion and not loathing, and at last +drew forth one of his golden pieces from his purse and asked the +priest to expend it for the benefit of the poor lepers.</p> +<p>"That will I gladly do, my son. But I must not let thee linger +longer here; for although I myself hold that the whole and sound +are not affected by the taint, there be leeches of repute who swear +'tis death to abide long beside the leper."</p> +<p>"Thou hast not found it so, Father. Dost thou live here?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I have no home. I go hither and thither as duty calls me. +But I am often here with these sick folks of mine, whom so few men +will dare approach unto. But I myself have never been the worse for +my ministrations here, and I have no fears for thee, though I would +not have thee linger. We will be going now, and I will be thy guide +out of these dens of the earth, else might some more untoward thing +befall thee when none might be nigh to succour thee."</p> +<p>The priest and the youth passed out together. The early dusk was +beginning to fall, and Cuthbert was glad enough of the protection +of Father Urban's companionship. All saluted the priest as he +passed by, and few even looked askance at his comrade. The +influence of these Roman Catholics over the hearts and feelings of +the masses has always been very great--something of an enigma and a +grievance to those who would fain see naught but evil within the +fold of Rome. But facts are stubborn things, and the facts have +been in this matter in their favour. England as a nation was slowly +but surely throwing off the Papal yoke, and emerging from a region +of darkness and superstition. Nevertheless, the influence of the +priest was a living and often a beneficent influence amongst the +most degraded of the people, and he could and did obtain a reverent +hearing when no man else coming in the name of Christ would have +been listened to for a single moment.</p> +<p>As the pair moved along the dark, noisome streets, Father Urban +spoke again in his quick, imperious way.</p> +<p>"Thou spakest awhile ago of one Master Robert Catesby; hast thou +seen aught of him since thy arrival in London?"</p> +<p>"No," answered Cuthbert; "I have had much else to do and to +think of. But I must to him one day, and demand my purse again, +else may he think I have been left for dead on the highway."</p> +<p>"He is a good man and a true," said the priest. "Thou wilt do +well to keep his friendship an thou mayest. Catesby and Trevlyn +come of a good stock; it were well they should consort +together."</p> +<p>Cuthbert recalled some of the strange words spoken by Master +Robert on the road, and wondered if he recalled them aright. They +seemed to partake of the character of fierce threats. He was not +certain that he altogether relished the thought of such +friendship.</p> +<p>"Mine uncle might not wish me to consort with him," said the +lad, with a little hesitation. "He is but a wool stapler, as I have +told thee, and his friends are simple folks like himself. He +meddles not in matters that gentlefolks love. He has no fine +company to his house. Since it be my lot to abide beneath his +roof--"</p> +<p>"Thou must needs conform to his ways; is that so, boy?" asked +the Father, interrupting the rather lame and confused speech, and +smiling as he did so. "Ay, conform, conform! Conformity is the way +of the world today! I would not bid thee do otherwise. Yet one bit +of counsel will I give thee ere we part. Think not that thou canst +not conform and yet do thy duty by the true faith, too. Be a +careful, watchful inmate of thine uncle's house; yet fear not to +consort with good men, too, when thy chance comes. Thou needst not +tell thine uncle all. Thou hast reached man's estate, and it is +ordained of God that men should shake off the fetters that bind +them in youth, and act and judge for themselves. My counsel is +this: be wary, be prudent, be watchful, and lose no opportunity of +gaining the trust of all men. So wilt thou one day live to do +service to many; and thou wilt better understand my words the +longer thou livest in this great city, and learnest more of what is +seething below the surface of men's lives."</p> +<p>And with a few words of dismissal and blessing the Father sent +Cuthbert on his way, standing still and looking after him till the +slight figure was lost to sight in the darkness.</p> +<p>"There goes a man who by his face might have a great future +before him," mused the priest. "It is with such faces as that that +men have gone to prison and to death."</p> +<p>Cuthbert bent his steps towards the bridge, interested and +excited by his recent adventure, his thoughts directed into a new +channel, his memory recalling the first companion of his lonely +journey, and the charm of that companion's personality and address. +So many other things had passed since, impressions had jostled so +quickly one upon the other, that he had scarce thought again of +Master Robert Catesby or the purse he had to claim from him. His +new uncle's liberality had made him rich, and a certain natural +reserve had held him silent in his Puritan relative's house about +any person not likely to find favour in Martin Holt's estimation. +He had been equally reticent about his strange adventure with the +gipsies, though he scarce knew why he should not speak of that. +But, as a matter of fact, every day brought with it such a crowd of +new impressions that the earlier ones had already partially faded +from his mind.</p> +<p>But the words of the priest had awakened a new train of thought. +Cuthbert resolved not to delay longer the reclamation of his own +property. He spoke to Cherry that same evening about his lost +purse, giving her a brief account of his ride across Hammerton +Heath, and she was eager for him to ask his own, lest he should +lose it altogether.</p> +<p>"For gay gallants are not always to be trusted, for all that +they look so fine and speak so fair," she said, nodding her pretty +curly head, an arch smile in her big gray eyes. "I have heard my +father say so a hundred times. I would go quickly and claim mine +own again. But tell me the rest of the adventure. What didst thou, +left thus alone upon the lone heath? I trow it was an unmanly and +unmannerly act to leave thee thus. What befell thee then?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked round cautiously; but there was no one listening +to the chatter of this pair of idlers in the window. Mistress +Susan's voice was heard below scolding the serving wench, and +Martin Holt was poring over some big ledger whilst Jemima called +over the figures of a heap of bills. Keziah was at her spinning +wheel, which hummed merrily in the red firelight; and Cherry was +seizing advantage of her aunt's absence to chatter instead of +work.</p> +<p>Cherry had from the first been Cuthbert's confidante and friend. +It was taken for granted by this time that this should be so. +Nobody was surprised to see them often together, and Cherry had +never found the house on the bridge so little dull as when Cuthbert +came in night by night to give her the most charming and exciting +accounts of his doings and adventures. Once, too, she had gone with +him to see some sights. They had paraded Paul's Walk together, and +Cuthbert had been half scandalized and wholly astonished to see a +fine church desecrated to a mere fashionable promenade and lounging +place and mart. They had watched some gallants at their tennis +playing another day, and had even been present at the baiting of a +bear, when they had come unawares upon the spectacle in their +wanderings. But Cuthbert's ire had been excited through his +humanity and love for dumb animals, and Cherry had been frightened +and sickened by the brutality of the spectacle. And when Martin +Holt had inveighed against the practice with all a Puritan's +vehemence, Cuthbert had cordially agreed, and had thus drawn as it +were one step nearer the side of the great coming controversy which +his uncle had embraced.</p> +<p>These expeditions together had naturally drawn the cousins into +closer bonds of intimacy. Cherry felt privileged to ask questions +of Cuthbert almost at will, and he had no wish to hide anything +from her.</p> +<p>"I will tell thee that adventure some day when we are alone," he +answered. "I have often longed to share the tale with thee, but we +have had so much else to speak of. I was taken prisoner by the +robbers, and conveyed to a ruined mill, where some of their +comrades and some wild gipsies dwell, as I take it, for the greater +part of the inclement winter. I thought my end had surely come when +first I saw the fierce faces round me; but there was one who called +herself their queen, and who made them quit their evil purpose. She +put me to sit beside her at the board, and when the morning came +she fed me again and bid me ride forth without fear. She told me +certain things to boot, which I must not forget: but those I will +not speak of till you know the whole strange story. I may not tell +it here. I would not that any should know it but thee, Cherry. But +some day when we can get into some lonely place together I will +tell thee all, and we will think together how the thing on which my +mind is set may be accomplished."</p> +<p>Cherry's eyes were dilated with wonder and curiosity. Her cousin +all at once took rank as a hero and knight of romance. He had +already experienced a wonderful adventure, and there was plainly +some mystery behind which was to be made known to her later.</p> +<p>What a proud thing it was to have such a cousin! How she +despised honest Jacob now, with his large hands and heavy ways! She +had laughed at him ever since she could remember, and had ordered +him about much as though he were a faithful dog always ready to do +her bidding; but she had never quite realized what a clumsy boor he +was till their handsome, dark-faced Trevlyn cousin had come amongst +them, with his earnest eyes, his graceful movements, and his slim, +attractive person. Cuthbert's manners, that in fine society would +have been called rustic and unformed, were a great advance on +anything Cherry had seen in her own home, save in the person of +Anthony Cole and his son. She admired him immensely, and he was +rapidly becoming the sun and centre of her life; whilst Cuthbert, +who had always been used to the companionship of a sister, and who +found several fanciful resemblances as well as so many points of +contrast between the lively Cherry and the pensive Petronella, was +glad enough of her sisterly friendship and counsel, and did not +lose in favour with his uncle that he succeeded in pleasing and +brightening the life of his youngest born, who was in truth the +idol of his heart, though he would sooner have cut off his right +hand than have let her know as much too plainly.</p> +<p>As Cherry also was of opinion that Cuthbert ought to reclaim his +money, he resolved to do so upon the morrow without any further +loss of time. Cherry advised him not to speak openly of his visit +to the tavern, for her father held all such places in abhorrence, +and would likely speak in slighting terms of any person who could +frequent them. He had better prosecute his errand secretly, and +tell her the result at the end. Cherry dearly loved a little bit of +mystery, and was very anxious that Cuthbert should continue to +occupy his present position in her father's good graces.</p> +<p>The Cat and Fiddle was none too well looking a place when +Cuthbert succeeded at last in finding it. It had one door in the +thoroughfare of Holborn, but it ran back some way, and its other +doors opened into a narrow alley turning off from the main street +under a low archway. As Cuthbert pushed open the door of the public +room, he saw several men with faces of decidedly unprepossessing +type sitting together at a table engrossed in talk, and these all +looked quickly up as he entered, and gazed at him with undisguised +suspicion.</p> +<p>A burly man, who had the look of a host, came forward, and asked +his business rather roughly. Strangers did not appear to meet any +warmth of welcome at this place. Cuthbert answered that he sought +news of Master Robert Catesby, who had bidden him inquire at that +place for him. As that name passed his lips he saw a change pass +over the face of his questioner, and the answer was given with a +decided access of friendliness.</p> +<p>"He is not here now, but he will be here anon. He comes to dine +shortly after noon, and will spend some hours here today on +business. If it please you, you can wait for him."</p> +<p>"I thank you, but I will come again later," answered Cuthbert, +who was by no means enamoured of the place or the company.</p> +<p>He was surprised that his travelling companion, who appeared a +man of refined speech and habits, should frequent such an +evil-looking place as this. But the habits of the dwellers in +cities were as yet strange to him, and it might be his ignorance, +he thought, which made it appear suspicious to him.</p> +<p>"And if he asks who has inquired for him, what shall I say?" +asked the host, whilst the men at the table continued to stare and +listen with every appearance of interest.</p> +<p>"My name is Trevlyn," answered Cuthbert shortly, disliking, he +hardly knew why, the aspect and ways of the place.</p> +<p>He fancied that a slight sensation followed this announcement. +Certainly the landlord bowed lower than there was occasion for as +he held open the door for his visitor to pass out. Cuthbert was +puzzled, and a little annoyed. He was half inclined not to go there +again; but curiosity got the better of his resolve as the afternoon +hours drew on. After all, what did it matter what manner of man +this was, since he need never see him again after today? It would +be foolish not to reclaim his money, and might lead Master Robert +Catesby to inquire for him at his uncle's house, and that he did +not wish. The thing had better be done, and be done quickly. How +foolish it would be to go back to Cherry and say he had not +accomplished his errand because some odd-looking men had stared at +him, and because the tavern was ill smelling and dirty!</p> +<p>It was three o'clock, however, before the youth again entered +the unsavoury abode. As December had already come, the days were +approaching their shortest limit; and as heavy clouds hung in the +sky, the streets already began to look dark. Within the ill-lighted +tavern the obscurity was still greater. Cuthbert pushed his way +through the door, and found himself amongst the afternoon drinkers, +who were making the room ring with ribald songs and loud laughter. +But the host quickly singled him out, and approached with an air of +deference.</p> +<p>"The gentleman you asked for is upstairs. He directed that you +should be sent to him on your arrival. I am too busy to go up the +stairs with you, but you cannot miss the way. He is in the room +upon the first floor; the first door to the right hand will lead +you to him. He has one or two gentlemen with him, but he will be +glad to see you, too."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was glad to get out of the noisy room below, and, +shutting the door behind him, mounted the dark stairs. He opened +the first door to the right, after knocking once or twice in vain, +and found himself in a very small apartment, very ill lighted by a +tiny window, and altogether empty.</p> +<p>He looked round in surprise. Dim as was the twilight, he could +not be mistaken in the emptiness of the room. He wondered if the +man had misled him purposely, and a little vague uneasiness stole +over him. The noises from below had hitherto drowned any other +sound; but as for some cause unknown to himself these suddenly and +entirely ceased for the space of some half minute, he became aware +of voices close at hand; and almost before he realized his +position, he had caught several quickly and eagerly spoken +sentences.</p> +<p>"They show no mercy; let no mercy be shown to them!" said one +voice, in low, menacing accents. "Six saintly priests have died in +cruel agonies by the bloody hangman's hands but a few weeks past; +and look ye, what has been the fate of that godly, courageous old +man of Lancashire who has dared to raise his voice in reprobation +of these barbarities? Fined, imprisoned, despoiled of all; and all +but condemned to be nailed to the pillory, that his ears might be +sliced off! Even that fate was all but inflicted by yon infamous +Star Chamber, who respect neither virtue nor gray hairs, so they +may fill the King's coffers and destroy all godliness in the land! +It was but by two votes he escaped that last anguish and +degradation. How say ye, friends? Can any scheme be too desperate +if it rids us of such tyrants and rulers at one blow?"</p> +<p>An eager murmur arose at that--assent, indignation, wrath--and +again the same voice spoke in the same low, eager tones:</p> +<p>"And the way is open; the house is ours. But a few feet of +masonry to tunnel through, and the thing is done. Shall we shrink? +shall we hesitate? I trow not. Strong arms, silent tongues, a high +courage--that is all we want."</p> +<p>"And a few more strong arms to help us at the work, for it will +be a labour of Hercules to get it done."</p> +<p>At that moment the noise from below burst out anew, and Cuthbert +heard no more of this mysterious colloquy. He had not time to think +over the meaning of the words he had heard, or indeed to attach any +particular significance to them. He was always hearing fierce +threats bandied about between ardent partisans of Romanist and +Puritan, and was beginning to pay small heed to such matters. He +did not realize now that he had surprised any conspirators at their +work. He knocked boldly at the door of the room, to which the place +where he stood was plainly the antechamber, and a loud voice bid +him enter.</p> +<p>There was no light in the apartment, save that which filtered in +through the dirty window, and it was plain that the meeting, +whatever its nature, was breaking up. Several men were standing +about in their cloaks and hats, the latter slouched down upon their +brows, so that their faces could not be distinguished in the gloom. +Two or three passed Cuthbert hastily as he entered, before he had +time even to see if one of them was the companion of his journey; +but though he found some trouble in distinguishing features, his +own were visible enough as he stood facing the window, and out of +the shadows stepped a tall man, who greeted him with extended +hand.</p> +<p>"Good e'en to you, Cuthbert Trevlyn, and a fair welcome to +London town! I trust you have not been in dangers and difficulties, +and that you but now come to claim your own again? How fared it +with you on the heath that night? Were you in any wise maltreated +or rough handled by the gentlemen of the road?"</p> +<p>"Nay; I was rather treated to a good supper and a night's +lodging, and not so much as deprived of my steed. I trow had he +shown something more of mettle I might not have so preserved him; +but one or two of them who mounted him pronounced him of no use +even as a pack horse."</p> +<p>Catesby laughed pleasantly, and putting his hand into his +doublet drew forth the purse intrusted to him, and placed it in +Cuthbert's hands.</p> +<p>"They would not have been so obliging, I fear, had you chanced +to have this upon your person. Take it, boy, and look within and +see that all is safe. I have not parted with it since the night of +our journey. I trow you will find your treasure as it left your +hand."</p> +<p>"I am sure of it," answered Cuthbert gratefully; "and I return +you many thanks for your goodwill and sound counsel in the matter. +But for your good offices I should have lost all. I trust you +yourself escaped without misadventure?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was now anxious to be gone. His errand was +accomplished. The atmosphere of this place was offensive to him, +and he was uneasy without well knowing why. His companion seemed to +divine this; and the room being now cleared of all other guests, he +put his hat on his head and said, "We will go out into the fresh +air. The Cat and Fiddle is better as a resort by day than by night. +I would fain know something of your whereabouts and fortunes, boy. +I have taken a liking for you, and the name of Trevlyn sounds +pleasantly in mine ears."</p> +<p>The old sense of fascination began to fall upon Cuthbert, as +Catesby, taking him familiarly by the arm, led him out into the +street, and walked along with him in the direction of his home, +drawing him out by questions, and throwing in bits of anecdote, +jest, and apt remark, that made his conversation a pleasure and an +education. Cuthbert forgot his anxieties and vague suspicions in +his enjoyment of the conversation of an accomplished man of the +world; and there was a subtle flattery in the sense that this man, +scholar and gentleman as he was, had condescended to a liking for +and an interest in his insignificant self, and was of his own +accord inviting confidence and friendship.</p> +<p>"I once had a young brother; thou something favourest him," was +the only explanation he gave of the sudden fancy formed when +Cuthbert spoke gratefully of his kindness. "I am growing out of +youth myself, but I like the companionship of youth when I can get +it. I would fain see more of thee, boy, an thou art thine own +master, and can come and visit me at the place I may appoint."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was pleased and flattered, and said he should be proud +to come, but hoped it would not be at the tavern, as his uncle +misliked such places of entertainment.</p> +<p>"It is an ill-smelling spot; I mislike it myself," answered +Catesby. "Nay, we can do better than that now. There is a house at +Lambeth where I often frequent with my friends. It is something +lonely; but thou art a brave lad, and wilt not fear that."</p> +<p>He turned and looked Cuthbert keenly over as he spoke, and +heaved a short sigh.</p> +<p>"Thou art marvellous like the brother I lost," he said. "I would +that I might have thee for my servant; but thou art too gently born +for that, I trow."</p> +<p>Cuthbert had well-nigh promised lifelong service on the spot, so +peculiar was the influence and fascination exercised upon him by +this man; but he remembered his uncle and his duty to him, and +pulled himself up as he replied soberly:</p> +<p>"I am poor enow--poorer than many a servant--having naught but +what is given me by others. But I have mine uncle's will to do. I +may take no step without asking counsel of him."</p> +<p>"Ay, verily; and this secret of our friendship thou must hide +from him. Thou knowest that I am of the forbidden faith, and my +presence in London must be hid. I may trust thee thus far with my +secret? Thou wilt not reveal my name to others?"</p> +<p>"Never, since thou hast told me not."</p> +<p>"Good lad; I knew thou mightest be trusted. And thou wilt come +to see me as I shall ask?"</p> +<p>"If I can make shift to do so I will very willingly."</p> +<p>"I shall remind thee of thy promise. And now, farewell. I have +business in another quarter. We shall meet again anon."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch8" id="Ch8">8</a>: Cuthbert And Cherry Go +Visiting.</h2> +<p>All this while Kate's letter to her cousin Lord Culverhouse had +lain stowed away in the safe leathern pocket of Cuthbert's riding +dress, into which her deft white hands had sewed it for safety, and +he had made no attempt to deliver it to its owner, nor to see +whether the young Viscount would have will or power to further his +own success in life.</p> +<p>The reason for this delay was no lack of goodwill on the part of +the youth, but was simply due to the fact that Lord Andover and his +family were not in London at this season, but were in their family +place in Hampshire, and not expected to reach London much before +the Christmas season.</p> +<p>This much Cuthbert had discovered early on in his stay in town; +for Kate had described to him the situation of her uncle's house in +the Strand, and he had made inquiry at the porter's lodge the very +first time he had passed by. But hearing this, and not wishing to +entrust the letter into any hands but those of Lord Culverhouse +himself, he had gone away again, and the excitements of the new +life had speedily driven the thought of Kate's commission out of +his mind.</p> +<p>But now the merry Christmas season was close at hand. Mistress +Susan was thrice as busy and as sharp tongued as usual, getting +forward her preparations for that time of jollity and good cheer, +and making the bridge house fairly reek with the mixed flavours of +her numerous concoctions and savoury dishes.</p> +<p>Martin Holt's Puritanism, which would prevent his countenancing +anything like drunkenness, revelling, or the gross sports and +amusements which still held full sway over the people at festive +seasons, did not withhold him from keeping a well-spread table at +which to ask his friends to sit, still less from sending out to his +poorer neighbours portions of the good cheer which has always +seemed appropriate to the Christmas season. So he raised no protest +against the lavish expenditure in meats and spices, rose water, +ambergris, sugar and herbs, nor complained that his sister and +daughters seemed transformed for the nonce into scullions, and had +scarce time to sit down to take a meal in peace, for fear that some +mishap occurred to one of the many stew pans crowding each other +upon the stove.</p> +<p>He was used to it, and it appeared the inevitable preliminary to +Yuletide; though Cuthbert looked on in amaze, and marvelled how any +household could consume the quantities of victuals under +preparation, be their hospitality and generosity what it might.</p> +<p>As he walked abroad in the streets he saw much the same sort of +thing everywhere going on. Cooks and scullions were scouring the +streets and markets for all manner of dainties. Farmers were +driving through the streets flocks of young porkers, squealing +lustily and jostling the passers by; and cooks and housewives would +come rushing out from the houses to secure a pig and carry it off +in triumph; whilst here and there a servant in livery might be seen +with a basket from which a peacock's tail floated, carrying off +this costly prize to adorn the table of some nobleman or wealthy +merchant.</p> +<p>Passing by Lord Andover's house in the Strand on the day before +the eve of Christmas, Cuthbert saw, by the stir and bustle and +liveliness of the courtyard, that the family had plainly returned. +On making inquiry he discovered that his surmise was correct, and +he walked home resolving to lose no more time in delivering his +letter, and wondering if he could contrive to take Cherry with him +when he paid the visit, to secure for her a sight of the gay +streets and a peep into Lord Andover's big house. The poor child +had been regularly mewed up at home the whole of the past week +helping her sharp-tongued aunt. It was nothing but fair that she +should taste a little enjoyment now; and he determined to try to +get his uncle's consent before speaking a word to Cherry herself. +Susan Holt never opposed her brother, though she often disapproved +of his lenience towards his youngest child, whose love of pleasure +she looked upon as a peril and a snare.</p> +<p>When Cuthbert made his modest request to take Cherry out on the +morrow to see the sights of the streets, and the houses all decked +with holly, the father smiled an indulgent smile and gave a ready +assent. If Cuthbert would be careful where he took her, and not let +her be witness of any of the vile pastimes of cock fighting, bull +or bear baiting, or the hearer of scurrilous or blasphemous +language, he might have her companionship and welcome; and it would +doubtless amuse her to go into Lord Andover's kitchen, where +messengers generally waited who had brought notes or messages for +members of the family, being treated to cups of sack and other +hospitality; and as he was a good man, his household would be well +ordered, and the maid would be treated with due civility and +respect.</p> +<p>"The child is kept something strait by her good aunt," said +Martin, a smile hovering round the corner of his lips. "We are not +all cut to the same pattern, and Cherry takes not as kindly to the +gravity of life as did her sisters. A little change will do her no +harm. It boots not too far to resist the promptings of nature."</p> +<p>How Cherry's eyes laughed and sparkled, and how her pretty face +flushed and dimpled when Cuthbert whispered to her of the pleasure +in store for her. She had been looking a little harassed and weary +after her long seclusion from the fresh air, striving to please +Aunt Susan, who never would be pleased; but this made amends for +all. Worthy Susan sniffed and snorted when Martin told her to give +the child a holiday on the morrow; but as all her preparations were +well-nigh complete, she did not really want the girl, and contented +herself with hoping that her indulgent father would not live to rue +the day when he thought fit to indulge her wanton love for +unhallowed sights and amusements.</p> +<p>Martin did not reply. Perhaps he felt that his sister was more +consistent and stanch to the Puritan principles than he was himself +in this matter; but he did not rescind his decision. And after a +surreptitious meal behind the pantry door together on the morrow, +whilst Mistress Susan was engaged upstairs over the weighty matter +of the linen to adorn the festal board that evening and on +Christmas Day itself, the pair stole quietly off about eleven +o'clock, leaving word with Martin in passing out that they would be +back before dark.</p> +<p>Cherry danced along as though she had wings to her feet, as they +quitted the bridge and plunged into the narrow but bustling and +busy streets. She had always been kept rigorously at home on all +occasions of public rejoicing and merriment, and it was a perfect +delight to her to see the holiday look about the passers by, and +exchange friendly good wishes with such acquaintances as she met by +the way. She had put on her best gown, and a little ruff round her +neck: her aunt would not let her wear such "gewgaws" in a general +way, but the girl loved to fabricate them out of odds and ends, in +imitation of the ladies she saw passing in the street. She wore the +gray cloak and hood she had had on when first Cuthbert had come to +her assistance by the river, and her rosy laughing face peeped +roguishly out from the warm and becoming head gear. But suddenly, +as they were passing a house in East Cheape, she paused and glanced +up at Cuthbert with a bewitching little look of pleading.</p> +<p>"Wait but here for me a little five minutes," she said; "I have +an errand to my cousin Rachel."</p> +<p>She was gone in a moment, slipping through the open door and +leaving Cuthbert outside in the street. He knew the house for her +uncle Dyson's, and was in no way alarmed about her. Nor was she +long in rejoining him again. But when she came out, laughing, +blushing, and dimpling, he scarce knew her for the moment, so +transformed was she; and he stood perfectly mute before the radiant +young vision his eyes encountered.</p> +<p>The sober black under-petticoat had been replaced by one of +vivid scarlet taffeta, quilted with elaboration, and further +adorned with embroidery in white silk. The gray upper robe was the +same as before, the soft stuff and quiet tone harmonizing and +contrasting well with the bright hue of the petticoat. The little +feet were encased in the daintiest of strong buckled shoes, and in +scarlet hose to match the quilted skirt; whilst the cloak and hood +were now of soft white lamb's-wool cloth, such as Abraham Dyson +made a specialty of in his business; and the vivid delicate colour +upon the girl's laughing face as it peeped out of the snowy hood +was set off to the greatest possible advantage by the pure white +frame, so suited to the child's infantile style of beauty.</p> +<p>"Why, Cherry, I scarce know thee!" cried Cuthbert, amazed.</p> +<p>"I scarce know myself," answered the laughing girl, blushing and +dimpling with mischievous pleasure; "and I trust none else will +know me neither if we meet more friends by the way. I will pull my +hood well over my face, for I would not have this frolic reach Aunt +Susan's ears. She would make a mighty coil anent it. But oh, I have +so longed for pretty things such as Rachel wears Why is it wrong to +love bright colours and soft fabrics? I will not believe it is. +When I am grown to woman's estate, and have a home of my own to +regulate, I will wear what I choose and what becomes me best. It is +folly to think God loves not beauty and brightness. Has He not made +the sky blue, the trees green, the flowers of every hue of the +rainbow? Does He not paint the sky with brilliant hues? Why is man +alone of his creatures to be dull and sad?"</p> +<p>"Nay, I know not; I am unlearned in these questions. But how got +you these fine clothes? Did Mistress Rachel lend them?"</p> +<p>"Rachel has always longed to give this petticoat to me. She is +weary of it, and it is something too short for her; but I knew I +might never wear it, and that Aunt Susan would chide me roundly for +bringing such a thing home. So Rachel said she would lay it by for +me when her new robe came home at Christmastide. Then she whispered +to me last week that her father had a present for me--a cloak and +hood that he thought my father would let me wear, albeit Aunt Susan +might ill like it. So passing the house today, methought I might +slip in and ask Rachel if I might wear the new cloak and hood to +Lord Andover's; and forthwith she had me up to her room and into +this scarlet petticoat in a twinkling, and mine uncle brought the +white cloak and hood himself and fastened it on me, and Jacob came +with the shoes and said he had had them made strong for the muddy +streets, but smart with the buckles on the top. And here I be the +happiest girl in all London town! Nay, Cuthbert, but I feel as if +my feet could dance of themselves all the way!"</p> +<p>Her happiness was infectious. Cuthbert felt more like a +light-hearted boy than ever he had done in his life before. His +lively little companion, clinging to his arm and chattering like a +magpie, effectually drove away all grave thoughts. The sun shone +brightly in the steely-blue sky; the frost had made the streets +absolutely clean and dry. Walking, even in the most trodden places, +was easy and pleasant, and everybody seemed in excellent good +humour.</p> +<p>Many admiring glances were levelled at the pair as they passed +along--the charming blushing damsel in the white hood, and the +distinguished-looking youth with the grave dark face. Cuthbert +gratified the little girl's curiosity by taking her up and down +Paul's Walk as they passed through St. Paul's Churchyard, and by +the time they gained Fleet Street and Temple Bar she had reached +the limit of her farthest walk westward.</p> +<p>They spent several minutes before the clock of St. Dunstan's in +the West, and watched the bronze figures striking on their bells as +the hour of midday sounded forth from many steeples. Then Cherry +must needs go down to the river banks between the gentlemen's +gardens and see how the river looked from here. She was a little +awed by the grandeur of the houses all along the Strand, and +wondered mightily what it could feel like to be one of the fine +Court dames who drove in and out of the great gates in gilded +coaches, or ambled forth upon snow-white palfreys, attended by +lackeys afoot and on horseback.</p> +<p>Another hour had passed in delighted watching of the street +sights and the fine folks who dwelt in these parts, before Cuthbert +led her under the archway of the great courtyard, and told her that +this was Lord Andover's house. It was one of the finest in the +Strand, and it was plain that some gay festivity was in foot or in +preparation; for there was such a to-ing and fro-ing of serving +men, lackeys and scullions, such a clatter of voices, such an air +of hurry and jollity on every face, that Cherry could have looked +and listened for ever, but that Cuthbert hurried her through the +crowd towards a big door opening into the courtyard, and whispered +in her ear:</p> +<p>"They all be too busy to heed me here. Come to the house, and +see what hap we have there. I may deliver this letter to none other +save Lord Culverhouse himself."</p> +<p>The great door which stood wide open proved to be that of the +kitchen--a vast hall in itself, along the farther side of which +were no less than six huge fireplaces. Cooks and scullions stood at +each of these, shouting out orders and moving to and fro; while a +perfect crowd of menials and servants, messengers and idlers, stood +or sat about, chatting, laughing, and even gaming in corners. Huge +tankards of ale, hot and strongly spiced, stood upon the table, and +every one who passed by appeared permitted to help himself at +will.</p> +<p>Busy and noisy as this place was, an air of good fellowship and +good humour pervaded it which was reassuring and pleasant; and +before the cousins had stood many minutes in their corner, a +serving man came up and asked them civilly enough of their +business. Cuthbert replied that he had a letter which he had been +charged to give into Lord Culverhouse's own hands; and hearing +that, the servant gave a keen look at the pair, and apparently +satisfied with his inspection, bid them follow him.</p> +<p>He took them up a wide staircase, and brought them out into +another large hall, where servants of a different class were +gathered together--the liveried footmen and pages and lackeys, and +some waiting women, very grandly attired, who speedily beckoned +Cherry amongst them, and began making much of her, rather as though +she were a little child, feeding her with comfits and cakes and +spiced wine, examining her soft white cloak, and asking a host of +questions as to where she got it, who was the maker, and if her +uncle sold his wares to the public.</p> +<p>Cherry had pretty, dainty little ways of her own, and was not in +the least shy where she felt herself liked. She did not even miss +Cuthbert when he was summoned away, so happy was she to be talked +to by these fine waiting women, who were kind and comfortable souls +enough. She learned on her side that there was to be a play given +in half-an-hour's time within the house itself, and that all the +serving men and women were permitted to witness it. She was pressed +to stay and see it herself, and her eyes beamed with delight at the +bare thought. To see a play had always been the very height of her +youthful ambition, and had not father said that she could get no +hurt at Lord Andover's house?</p> +<p>Presently Cuthbert came back, his face aglow with pleasure.</p> +<p>"Cherry," said he, "I have seen Lord Culverhouse, and methinks +Kate's letter was like a talisman; for after reading it he bid me +welcome as though I were in some sort a kinsman, and said that I +must stay and see the mask that is to be played here in a short +while, and remain as a guest at the feast which will follow, where +the boar's head is to be brought in, and all sorts of revelry are +to be held. I told him I could not stay till dark, for that we had +promised to be home ere that; but that I would gladly see the play +acting an I might. And then I told him of thee, and he bid me go +fetch thee. My cousin, said he, must i' faith be in some sort his +cousin, since Kate, who was his cousin, also spoke of me as one. I +told him nay, but that thou wert cousin only on my mother's side; +but he laughed, and would not listen, and bid me fetch thee, that +he might place thee well to see the mummery. So come with me, fair +cousin, for we must not keep him waiting."</p> +<p>Cherry's cheeks were dyed with bewitching blushes, and her big +gray eyes were shining like stars, as she followed her cousin, +accompanied by a little murmur of congratulation from the waiting +women, who had all fallen in love with the charming child. She +looked a perfect picture as she stood before Lord Culverhouse in +her scarlet petticoat and snow-white hood, making her pretty quaint +reverence to him, hardly daring to raise her eyes, but quite lost +in the glamour of the honour done to her in being thus noticed by a +real lord and good humouredly dubbed a cousin.</p> +<p>And then her hand was actually taken by this handsome and +elegant young gallant, and she felt herself being conducted through +rooms the magnificence of which she could not take in in her timid, +hasty glances. She had almost begun to think it all a dream from +which she must soon awaken, when she heard her companion say in his +sweet voice:</p> +<p>"Mother mine, have you room beneath your ample wing for a little +city guest--a cousin of Cuthbert Trevlyn, who has brought me a most +welcome missive from my dear cousin Kate?"</p> +<p>And then Cherry looked up with a pretty, frightened, trusting +glance, to find herself being examined and smiled at by quite a +bevy of wonderfully-dressed ladies, who after one good look began +to laugh in a very reassuring and kindly way, and made room in +their midst for the little city maiden with that ease of true good +breeding which has ever been the truest test of the blue blood of +the English aristocracy. She looked such a child, in her pretty +confusion and bashfulness, that not one of them resented her +presence amongst them. Courtesy and kindliness had always been Lady +Andover's salient characteristics, and there was a native +refinement and quaint simplicity about Cherry that would have gone +far to disarm severer critics than the present company round Lady +Andover.</p> +<p>"Come, my pretty child," she said; "thou shalt sit beside me, +and tell me all about thyself. The name of Trevlyn is well known +and well loved in this house. Thou comest under good auspices."</p> +<p>And so Cherry again found herself the plaything and pet of a +group of good-humoured people, though this time they were fine +ladies in dresses that fairly took away her breath, as she ventured +to study them with eager, furtive glances. She answered all their +questions with pretty, candid frankness; told of her adventure in +the osier beds, and of Cuthbert's timely rescue; told of her life +under her father's roof, and her simple daily duties and pleasures. +And the grand ladies listened and laughed, and made much of her; +and her soft white hood was removed and admired, and passed round +almost as it had been amongst the waiting women. Cherry felt quite +bashful at sitting amongst those fine ladies with no cover for her +head but her own curls; but she noted that the younger ladies +present had no adornment beside that, unless it were a bow of +ribbon or a few sparkling pins: so she took courage, and her hot +cheeks burned less brightly, though she could not help her eyes +sparkling and dancing beneath their long lashes as she wondered +what in the world her aunt Susan would say could she see her for a +moment in her present surroundings.</p> +<p>And then the play began, and Cherry sat entranced from the +moment the curtain rose till it fell again. She had never seen +anything of the sort before, and was perfectly captivated and +carried away, living in the glamour of absolute enchantment, and +amusing her fashionable companions almost as much by her artless +admiration and enthusiasm as the players did by their mummery and +stage tricks.</p> +<p>But time was flying all too fast, and almost as soon as the +curtain fell for the last time, Cuthbert came up and carried her +away, Lord Culverhouse walking with them once more through the long +rooms, and insisting on their partaking of some spiced wine and +game pasty before going out into the cold air again.</p> +<p>What with the fumes of the wine, the extraordinary grandeur of +the house, and the wonderful nature of the adventure altogether, +Cherry hardly knew whether or not she any longer trod on solid +ground as she pursued her way along the streets clinging tight to +Cuthbert's arm. It was growing dusk now, and Cuthbert was anxious +to get his charge home before the early darkness should have fallen +upon the city. They hardly spoke as they wended their way. Cherry +gave a little gasp from time to time indicative of her unbounded +delight, whilst Cuthbert was thinking pleasantly of the kind and +cordial reception he had met with from Lord Culverhouse.</p> +<p>Both felt more or less in dreamland till they reached Abraham +Dyson's house, where Cherry ran indoors again to rid herself of her +finery.</p> +<p>When she emerged once more into the familiar streets of the +city, her cheeks had lost a little of their bloom, her eyes some of +their star-like brightness; and heaving a great sigh as she took +Cuthbert's arm, she said:</p> +<p>"Ah me! it is a hard fate to be a city maid and a Puritan's +daughter. I shall never see such lovely sights again! And oh, how +happy I should be if only I could be a lady, and live where +everything is soft and beautiful and gentle! Oh how I shall dream +of it all now! But it will never be anything but a dream!" and a +great tear like a diamond sparkled on the thick lashes and rolled +down the girl's soft cheek.</p> +<p>Cuthbert had been thinking hard as he stood there in the +gathering darkness. He was rather taken out of himself, which was +perhaps the reason he forgot all prudence and reserve. Bending +suddenly over Cherry, he kissed away the tears on her cheeks, and +said in low, passionate tones:</p> +<p>"Nay, sweet Cherry, weep not for that. I will make thee yet a +lady, whom none shall dare flout. I have loved thee, sweet cousin, +from the day I found thee by the river in hapless plight. And when +I have found the lost treasure of Trevlyn, and have brought luck +and fortune to each one that bears the old name, then will I come +and wed thee, sweet coz; and thou wilt be a Trevlyn then, and none +shall dare to scorn thee for thy good father's honest name. My +father did wed a Holt, and his son shall do the same. Tell me, +Cherry, dost thou love me well enough to be my little wife one day? +for by the mass I will have none other; and if thou lovest me not I +will go unwed all the days of my life!"</p> +<p>Cherry turned hot and cold, flushed scarlet, and then grew pale +as this speech proceeded, till at the last words the red came back +in a flood, and hiding her face on Cuthbert's shoulder, she sobbed +out:</p> +<p>"Oh, how could I love anybody else? O Cuthbert, how happy thou +hast made me! Art sure thou speakest sooth?"</p> +<p>"Sooth! ay, that I do. Thou art the sweetest maid the sun e'er +looked on. Thou wert the fairest of all that gay company at my Lord +Andover's, and many beside myself said as much. Cherry, thou shalt +one day be my own true wife; and if kind fortune do but favour me, +thou shalt have gold and jewels and fine robes enow, and shalt hold +up thy head with the best of them: see if it be not so!"</p> +<p>A boy and girl wooing certainly, but none the less hearty for +that. The love had been growing silently for many weeks, the young +folks scarcely knowing what they were learning to be to each other. +And now these sudden burning words had revealed all, and Cherry +felt more than ever that she trod on air and moved in a dream; only +this time there was the pleasant sense that the dream would not +vanish away in smoke, but would become more and more a living +reality.</p> +<p>But there was something Cuthbert had said which yet required +explanation, and presently she looked up and asked:</p> +<p>"What didst thou mean when thou spokest of a lost treasure? What +is it, and who has lost it?"</p> +<p>And then Cuthbert forthwith plunged into the story of the lost +treasure of Trevlyn, as he had heard it from his cousin Kate; and +Cherry listened with parted lips, thinking that it was almost like +living in some play to be hearing this strange tale.</p> +<p>When she heard of the gipsies and their vengeful words, she +stopped suddenly short and gazed intently at Cuthbert.</p> +<p>"This is the second time thou hast spoken of gipsies," she said, +in a whisper. "Thou hast yet to tell me the tale of how thou didst +spend a night in the gipsies' cave. Cuthbert, were those gipsies +thou didst light upon that night of thy flight the same as have +stolen the treasure from Trevlyn?"</p> +<p>"Cherry, I trow that they are," he answered, in a very low +voice, bending his head closer over her as he spoke. "Listen, and I +will tell thee all. There was an old fierce woman, with hair as +white as driven snow, among them, who, when she heard the name of +Trevlyn, launched at me a glance of hatred that I never can forget; +and I knew well by her looks and her words that, had she had her +will, I should have suffered the same fate that her mother had done +from the hands of my grandfather. I knew not then that it was her +mother who had been burnt by him as a witch; but I saw the evil +purposed me, and knew she was my foe. But a stately woman--the old +gipsy's daughter, as I later learned--interposed on my behalf, and +her all obeyed as queen, even her mother bowing down before her. +She protected me, and bid me sit at table with them, saw me served +with the best, and at night showed me herself to a ruinous bed +chamber where, however, a weary man might comfortably lodge. There +she left me, but bid me not to undress; and presently after I had +slept, I know not how many hours, I was awakened by her entrance +with a dim light, and she bid me rise but speak low, as she had +somewhat of moment to say to me. She asked me then of myself and my +kindred; and I asked her many things, and to my questions she gave +ready response. Last of all, I dared to name the lost treasure, and +I saw a new look come upon her face. I said that I had heard enough +to make me think it had been stolen and hidden in the forest, and I +asked her if in her wanderings there she had heard aught of it. I +saw that the question moved her. I saw her flashing glance rest on +me again and again, and her lips tremble as though she fain would +speak, and yet was half afraid to do so. Every moment I suspected +more and more that she knew somewhat; but whether or no she would +reveal this I dared not guess. At the last the eager light died out +of her eyes. She answered that she had heard somewhat of the story, +but that she herself knew naught. The treasure had been lost many +years before she had first seen the light, and men had long ceased +to look for it, albeit there were many traditions that it would one +day be found. As to that she knew naught; but she promised me this +thing, that she would ask and strive to learn if any in the forest +knew more than she. And she bid me meet her at a certain cave in +the heart of the forest upon May Day next, when she said she would +speak with me again anent this same matter."</p> +<p>Cherry's lips were parted, her eyes were full of wonder and +curiosity. She shivered with excitement and surprise.</p> +<p>"Thinkest thou that she knows the place?"</p> +<p>"That I know not, but I trow well that she knows more than she +said then, and that I shall learn more when I seek her again, and +we are not in a walled place where eavesdroppers may lurk with +itching ears."</p> +<p>"Then thou wilt keep the tryst?"</p> +<p>"Assuredly I will."</p> +<p>"And thou art not afraid that harm will befall thee? Oh beware, +Cuthbert, of that wicked, fierce old woman!"</p> +<p>"Oh, I fear her not. Their queen has bidden me. They dare not +defy her. I shall go to the forest and keep the tryst. I trow there +be much yet for me to know."</p> +<p>Cherry hesitated and trembled, and hesitated again, and finally +said in a low whisper:</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, it may be that there is a speedier and a safer way of +discovering what thou wouldst know."</p> +<p>"And what way is that, sweet coz?"</p> +<p>Again came the little pause of hesitation, and then Cherry +said:</p> +<p>"We might consult the wise woman.</p> +<p>"The wise woman! and who is she?"</p> +<p>"There be many of them," answered Cherry, still speaking in a +very low and rapid whisper. "But breathe not a word at home, for +father says they be surely in league with the devil, if they be not +impostors who deserve whipping at the cart's tail. But Rachel went +to one three years back, and the dame told her a husband would come +wooing within three short months, and told the colour of his hair +and his eyes. And sure enough it all came true, and now she is +quickly to be wed. And others have done the like, and the things +have all come true. And she is not a wicked woman neither, for she +cures agues and fevers, and the leeches themselves ask her simples +of her. There may be wicked women plying this trade too; I know not +how that may be. But this dame is not wicked; Rachel goes to her +still, and she has never deceived her yet. But she liveth very +secretly now, as a wise woman must needs to in these times; for the +King, they say, is very wroth against all such, and in the country +men are going about from him and burning all who practise such +arts, and otherwise cruelly maltreating them. So no man speaks +openly of them now, though they still ply their trade in +secret."</p> +<p>"Hast thou ever been to one thyself, Cherry?"</p> +<p>Her face was all in a glow. She clung closer to Cuthbert's +arm.</p> +<p>"Chide me not, and tell not my father; but I went with Rachel +once, when she went to have a wart charmed that was causing her +much vexation. I asked nothing of the dame myself; but she took my +hand and looked into my eyes, and she nodded her head and chuckled +and made strange marks upon a bit of paper, which she said was +casting my horoscope. And then she told me that I had an ugly lover +that I loved not, but that another more gently born should come in +time, and that we should love each other well and be faithful +through all, and that I should end by being a lady with all I +wanted at command."</p> +<p>And there Cherry stopped, blushing and palpitating with +happiness and shy joy; whilst Cuthbert, struck by this very +remarkable and original specimen of fortune telling, began to think +he might do worse than consult this same wise woman who had gauged +his sweetheart's case so fairly.</p> +<p>He himself had no scruples. He had a strong belief in +necromancy, and had never heard that there was sin in its practice. +He was still Romanist enough at heart to look upon the confessional +as an easy and pleasant way of getting rid of the burden of an +uneasy conscience. His mind was very open to conviction and +impression in religious matters. He was no bigot, but he had a +constitutionally inherited tendency towards the old faith that was +possibly stronger than he knew. Had he seen his father's party in +power, persecuting and coercing, he would have had scant sympathy +or love for them and their ways; but as the contrary was now the +case, and he saw them downtrodden and abused, he felt considerable +drawings towards them, and these drawings were not the less strong +from the intercourse he was enjoying almost daily with Anthony Cole +and his son Walter.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's love of learning and eager wish to improve his +scholarship drew him almost daily to the dark little shop in the +bridge, wedged in, as it were, between two larger and more imposing +structures, where the father and son plied a modest trade and lived +somewhat hazardously; for they did not hesitate to circulate +pamphlets and leaflets the sale of which had been forbidden, and +which might at any time get them into serious trouble with the +authorities, and lead to imprisonment, if not to death.</p> +<p>But to return to the pair now closely approaching their home, +and lagging somewhat in their walk to prolong the talk for a few +minutes. Cherry was in a fever of curiosity and impatience, and +longed to hear her lover speak the word.</p> +<p>"It is so long to wait till May Day; and I trow that she could +tell us all. Say, Cuthbert, shall we go to her?"</p> +<p>It was sweet to Cuthbert to hear the little word "we" dropping +so naturally from Cherry's lips. He pressed the hand that lay upon +his arm, and looked down into the upraised eager face.</p> +<p>"Wilt thou go with me an I go?"</p> +<p>"To be sure I will. I should love to be thy companion."</p> +<p>"And brave thy father's wrath should he find out?"</p> +<p>Cherry clung yet closer to his arm.</p> +<p>"I fear nothing when thou art beside me, Cuthbert. I would go +with thee to death."</p> +<p>He stooped and kissed her eagerly, passionately.</p> +<p>"Then thy sweet will shall be law," he answered, "and I will go +as soon as thou canst make shift to take me."</p> +<p>Cherry uttered a little cry of delight.</p> +<p>"Ah, how pleased I am--how pleased I am! We will go this very +week, so soon as the Yuletide stir be past. O Cuthbert, Cuthbert, +what a wondrous day this has been! Methinks it must surely be a +dream. But thou art no dream; thou art real and true. So long as +thou art near me and with me, I shall know that it is all +true."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch9" id="Ch9">9</a>: The Wise Woman.</h2> +<p>"Cuthbert! alas, Cuthbert!"</p> +<p>"Why, how now? What ails thee, Cherry?"</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, my father hath been speaking with me."</p> +<p>"Well, and wherefore not? Thy father is no stern tyrant like +mine, sweet coz."</p> +<p>Cherry was panting with excitement and what appeared like +terror. She clung fast to Cuthbert's arm, and her eyes were dilated +with fear. She was an excitable little mortal, so he did not feel +any great alarm at her looks, but strove to reassure her in a +friendly, brotherly fashion. The Christmas festivities and +excitements, which had lasted above a week, had doubtless done +something to upset the balance of her mind. She had been so +extravagantly and overwhelmingly happy with the remembrance of her +adventure at Lord Andover's house, and her knowledge of the secret +between herself and Cuthbert, that the young man had felt half +afraid lest she should contrive to betray it to others by her +blushes, her bright, fitful glances, and her newborn softness in +his presence, which gave a sweeter quality to her childish charms. +He himself did not wish Martin Holt to be aware that anything had +passed between him and Cherry till he could come boldly forward and +ask her at her father's hands, having the wherewithal to support +her. He had been surprised into an admission of youthful devotion, +and he by no means wished the words unsaid; for the secret +understanding now existing betwixt himself and Cherry was the +sweetest element in his daily life, and he was more and more in +love every day with his charming cousin. But he knew that until he +could come with his share of the Trevlyn treasure in his hands, he +could scarce hope or look for a patient hearing from the shrewd man +of business. And though he himself was increasingly confident that +the treasure had been hidden out of spite, and not really made away +with, and that some day it would be found, he knew that this +opinion would be regarded by the world at large as a chimera of +ardent youth, and that Martin Holt for one would bid him lay aside +all such vain and idle dreams, and strive by steady perseverance in +business to win for himself a modest independence. Only to the +young, the ardent, the lovers of imaginative romance, had the +notion of hidden treasure any charm.</p> +<p>And here was Cherry crying, palpitating, trembling in his arms +as though some great trouble menaced them.</p> +<p>"What ails thee, sweetheart?" he asked, with playful tenderness; +and Cherry choked back her sobs to answer:</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, he has spoken to me of marriage--my father. He has +told me plainly what he purposes for me. He and my uncle Dyson have +talked of it together. I am to wed my cousin Jacob. O Cuthbert, +Cuthbert! what must I do? what must I say?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert heard the news in silence. It was not altogether +unexpected, but he had scarce looked to have heard the subject +openly broached so soon. Cherry had been regarded in her home as +such a child, and her father, sisters, and aunt had so combined to +speak and think of her as such, that although her eighteenth +birthday was hard at hand, and she was certainly of marriageable +age, he had not looked to have to face this complication in the +situation quite so quickly. But as he stood holding Cherry in his +arms (for she had come to him in the upper parlour at an hour when +all the household were elsewhere engaged, and there was no fear of +interruption), a look of stern purpose and resolution passed across +the young man's face--an expression which those who knew the +Trevlyn family would have recognized as a true Trevlyn look. His +face seemed to take added years and manliness as that expression +crossed it; and looking tenderly down at the quivering Cherry, he +asked:</p> +<p>"Thinkest thou that he has seen or suspected aught?"</p> +<p>"I know not. He said no word of that, only looked hard at me as +be spoke of Jacob."</p> +<p>"And what saidst thou?"</p> +<p>"Alack! what could I say? I did but tell him I had no thoughts +of such a thing. I prayed he would not send me from him. I told him +I was over young to think of marriage, and besought him to speak of +it no more. And as my tears began to flow I could say no more."</p> +<p>"And he?"</p> +<p>"He reminded me that many another girl was a wedded wife and +mother at my age; and then I turned and said that since Jemima and +Kezzie were yet unwed--ay, and Rachel too, for all her rosy cheeks +and her dowry--it was hard that I should have to be the one to be +turned first out of the nest. And at that I cried the more; and he +put his arm about me, and said he had no thought to grieve me, and +did not think that Jacob would wish me vexed in the matter. And I +begged for a year's grace; and, after thinking and pondering +awhile, he answered that he had no wish to hurry things on--that I +was full young to leave my girlhood behind and be saddled with the +cares of a household. And then it came out that the haste was all +Uncle Dyson's doing. Rachel is to be wed at Easter, and he wants +his son to bring home a wife to nurse Aunt Rebecca and mind his +house. And when I heard that I was in a pretty rage; for I cannot +abide Aunt Rebecca, who is as cross as a bear with a sore head, and +she cannot abear the sight of me. I know not wherefore I have +offended her, but so it is. And I know naught of managing a house, +and so Aunt Susan will tell them an they ask her. So I dared to +stamp my foot, and to tell father I would not wed Jacob to be made +his mother's slave; that I would rather live and die a maid like +the good Queen who has been taken from us. And father, he scarce +seemed to know what to say. I know he muttered something about its +being a sore pity it was not Jemima or Kezzie that had been chosen. +And then he bethought him that it was not right to let a daughter +see too much of his mind, or speak too much of her own; and he bid +me begone something sternly, declaring he would think the matter +over, but that he looked for dutiful obedience from any child of +his, and that I was not to think I might set up mine own will +against his whatever his decision might be in the end."</p> +<p>Cherry's tempest of tears was by this time ended, and she spoke +collectedly enough, raising her eyes now and then to the grave face +of her lover to mark the effect of her words upon him. Cuthbert's +face was grave but not unhopeful, and taking Cherry's hand firmly +in his as she ended her tale, he said:</p> +<p>"If he will but put the matter off for a year, all will be well. +If the treasure is to be found at all, I shall have found it by +then. Let these dark winter days but change to the long soft ones +of spring, and I go forth into the forest upon my quest. When I +return laden with my share of the spoil, I trow I shall be able to +win and wed my Cherry, be there never so many Jacobs in the field +before me!"</p> +<p>Cherry laughed a soft little laugh, and her fears and tremblings +ceased for the time being. Looking fondly up into Cuthbert's face, +she said:</p> +<p>"And why wait till the spring to begin? Hast forgotten what we +spoke of not long since? The wise woman--let us go to her! Thou +hast money, and I trow she will be able to tell thee somewhat of +the treasure. Men say that she hath a marvellous gift."</p> +<p>Waiting was slow work, and Cuthbert was by no means averse to +testing the skill of the old sorceress. He had a certain amount of +faith in the divinations of magic, and at least it could do no harm +to see what the beldam would say. He would but have to risk a gold +or silver piece, and it would satisfy Cherry that he was not +loitering and half hearted.</p> +<p>"I will go gladly an thou canst come with me. But when shall it +be? I have heard that these witches and diviners only exercise +their skill at night, and how couldst thou be abroad with me then? +There would be a pretty coil if it were discovered that we were not +within doors."</p> +<p>But Cherry was full of invention, and had all a woman's wit and +readiness of resource. She was a true daughter of Eve, this little +rosy-cheeked maiden; and when her heart was set on a thing, she, +could generally find the means to carry it out.</p> +<p>"Listen!" she said, after pausing a few moments to think the +thing out. "Any time after dark will do for the wise woman. It +matters not for it to be late in the night, so long as the sun be +down and the world wrapped in gloom. That happens early enow in +these winter days. Now do thou listen and heed me, Cuthbert. Thou +hast heard of good Master Harlow, hast thou not?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily! I have heard of little else these many days!" +answered Cuthbert, with a touch of impatience in his voice. "I am +well nigh weary of the sound of his name. He is a notable Puritan +preacher, is he not?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, most notable and most wearisome!" answered Cherry, +with a delightful little grimace. "Thou speakest of being weary of +the sound of his name. Thou wouldst be tenfold more weary of the +sound of his voice didst thou but attend one of his preachings. I +have known him discourse for four hours at a time--all men hanging +on his words as if they were those of God Himself, and only poor +little me well nigh dead from weariness and hunger"</p> +<p>"I marvel not at that," answered Cuthbert. "Four hours would tax +the patience of the most ardent disciple."</p> +<p>"Nay, but thou little knowest. There be those amongst my +father's sect who call it all too short, who would listen, I verily +believe, till they dropped from their benches with starvation. But +however that may be, this Master Harlow is one of the hunted +martyrs of the cause, and he is not allowed to exercise his gifts +save by stealth; and the preaching, of which thou hast heard these +many whispers, is to be held by night, and in some obscure cellar +underground, where they who go will be safe from all molestation +from spies and foes."</p> +<p>"Ah!" said Cuthbert, looking quickly at her, "and thou thinkest +that this will be our chance?"</p> +<p>"Let them but once start forth without us and all will be well," +answered Cherry quickly. "The only trouble will be that Aunt Susan +loves to drag me whither she knows I love not to go, and father +thinks that these wearisome discourses are for the saving of souls. +He will wish to take the twain of us. It must be ours to escape him +and abide at home."</p> +<p>"And how can we compass that?"</p> +<p>"For thee it will be easy," answered Cherry. "Thou must promise +Walter Cole to assist him with some task of printing or binding +that same evening, and tell my father that thou art not seasoned to +long discourses, and hast no desire to fill the room of another who +would fain hear the words of life from the notable man. There will +be more crowding to hear him than the room will hold, so that it +will be no idle plea on thy part. Once thou art gone I can yawn and +feign some sort of ache or colic that will make me plead to go to +bed rather than attend the preaching. Aunt Susan will scold and +protest it is but mine idleness and sinfulness in striving to avoid +the godly discourse; but father will not compel me to go. And when +all have started thou canst return, and we will together to the +wise woman; and be she never so long with her divinations, we shall +have returned long ere they have done, and none will know of the +visit."</p> +<p>Cuthbert agreed willingly to this plan. A bit of mischief and +frolic was as palatable to young folks in the seventeenth century +as it is in the nineteenth, and as a frolic those two regarded the +whole business. They were both full of curiosity about the wise +woman and her divinations, and it seemed to Cherry that to fail in +taking advantage of her skill when they had the chance of doing so +would be simple folly and absurdity. If she could read the secrets +of the future, surely she must be able to tell them somewhat of the +lost treasure.</p> +<p>Cherry's plan was carried out to the letter without the least +real difficulty, and without raising any suspicion. Martin Holt was +not particularly anxious that the exact locality of the underground +meeting place should be known to his nephew, who had not professed +himself by any means on the Puritan side as yet, though listening +with dutiful and heedful attention whenever his uncle spoke to him +on the matter of his tenets. As for Cherry, her dislike to sermons +had long been openly declared, and it was scarcely expected that +she would patiently endure another of the discourses that had +caused her such distaste before.</p> +<p>And so it came about that upon a chill, frosty January night, +Cuthbert and Cherry stood before a small, narrow house in Budge +Row--a house that seemed to be jammed in between its two +neighbours, and almost crushed by their overhanging gables and +heavy beams; and Cherry, with a trembling hand, gave a peculiar +knock, thrice repeated, upon the stout panels of the narrow door, +that at the third summons opened slowly and noiselessly, as if +without any human agency.</p> +<p>The dark passage thus revealed to view was black as pitch, and +Cuthbert involuntarily recoiled. But Cherry had been here before, +and knew the place, and laid her hand upon his arm.</p> +<p>"Courage!" she said, in a voice that quivered with excitement +and not with fear; "it is always so here. Walk boldly in; there is +naught to hurt us. When the door has closed we shall see a +light."</p> +<p>Stepping across the threshold, and keeping fast hold of Cherry's +arm, his quick glance roving from side to side in search of any +possible foe lurking in the shadows, Cuthbert entered this strange +abode, and felt rather than saw that the door closed noiselessly +behind them, whilst he heard the shooting of a heavy bolt, and +turned with a start, for it seemed impossible that this could have +been done without some human hand to accomplish the deed. But his +sense of touch assured him that he and Cherry were the only persons +at this end of the narrow passage, and with a light shiver at the +uncanny occurrence, he made up his mind to follow this adventure to +the end.</p> +<p>"See, there is the light!" whispered Cherry, who was quivering +with excitement. "That is the sign that the wise woman is ready. We +have to follow it. It will lead us to her."</p> +<p>The light was dim enough, but it showed plainly in the pitchy +darkness of the passage, and seemed to be considerably above +them.</p> +<p>"We must mount the stairs," whispered Cherry, feeling her way +cautiously to the foot of the rickety flight; and the cousins +mounted carefully, the dun light, which they did not see--only the +reflections it cast brightening the dimness--going on before, until +they reached an upper chamber, the door of which stood wide open, a +soft radiance shining out, whilst a strange monotonous chanting was +heard within.</p> +<p>Upon the threshold of the room stood a huge black cat with +bristling tail and fiery eyes. It seemed as though he would dispute +the entrance of the strangers, and Cuthbert said to himself that he +had never seen an uglier-looking brute of the kind since the +monster wildcat he had killed in the forest about his home. He drew +Cherry a pace backwards, for the creature looked crouching for a +spring.</p> +<p>"It is the wise woman's cat, her familiar spirit!" whispered the +girl, in a very low voice. "Show him a piece of money; then he will +let us pass. He takes toll of those who come to the wise woman. +Show him the gold, and then place it within that shell. After that +he will let us go in."</p> +<p>Cuthbert took a small piece of gold from his purse. He held it +up before the formidable-looking creature, and then let it drop +into a shell fixed in the outer wall of the room. He heard it fall +as if through a slot, and fancied that some person within the room +had taken it out and examined it. There was a slight peculiar call, +and the cat, whose tail had begun to grow less, and whose snarlings +had ceased at sight of the coin, now sprang suddenly backwards and +vanished within the room, whilst a cracked voice was heard bidding +them enter.</p> +<p>"That is the voice of the wise woman," said Cherry. "Come, +Cuthbert, and fear nothing."</p> +<p>Together the pair stepped over the threshold, and again the door +closed noiselessly behind them, and the bolt flew as it seemed of +itself into its socket. Cuthbert did not altogether relish this +locking of doors behind them as they went; but Cherry, who had been +here before, did not seem to mind, and doubtless it was but +prudence that had taught the old woman to carry on her arts +secretly if she wished to escape imprisonment or death.</p> +<p>Glancing curiously round him, Cuthbert saw himself in a long, +low, narrow room that was all in deep shadow save at the upper end, +where a soft bright light was burning, carefully shaded at one +side, and so arranged that whilst it illuminated the features of +those who stood beside the table behind which the oracle sat, it +left the features of the wise woman herself in the deepest shadow, +a pair of small black beady eyes being at first glance the only +feature Cuthbert could distinguish.</p> +<p>The lamp stood upon a table, and the old woman, clad from head +to foot in a long black mantle, sat on the farther side. There were +a few implements of her profession about her--one or two big books, +a crystal bowl containing some black fluid very clear and +sparkling, an ebony wand, and a dusky mirror in a silver frame. She +fixed her bright bead-like eyes upon her guests as they advanced, +and asked in her cracked, harsh tones:</p> +<p>"Who comes here?"</p> +<p>"Two persons desirous of testing your skill," answered Cuthbert +boldly. "It is told me that you can read the future; I would ask if +you can also look back into the past?"</p> +<p>He felt the snake-like glance bent fixedly upon him. There was a +subtle fascination in those eyes, and he looked into them fixedly +whether he would or no. As his eyes became used to the dimness in +which the old woman sat, he saw that her face was brown and +wrinkled like a fragment of ancient parchment, that her features +were very sharp and wasted, and that there was something weird and +witch-like in her whole aspect. He felt as though he had seen +before some face that that withered one faintly resembled, but in +the confusion of the moment he could put no name to it. He wanted +to keep his head, and to retain his firmness and acuteness, but he +was conscious of a strange whirling in his brain as the old woman +continued to gaze and gaze upon him as though she would never be +satisfied with her inspection.</p> +<p>At last she spoke again.</p> +<p>"And who art thou that comest so boldly to pry into the dead +secrets of the past?"</p> +<p>"I am one Cuthbert Trevlyn, son of a house that has suffered +sore vicissitudes. I come to ask the skill of the wise woman in +discovering a secret long hidden from our family."</p> +<p>He stopped suddenly, for the woman held up her hand as if to +stop him, and her voice took a strange hissing tone.</p> +<p>"Silence! Enough--thou hast spoken enough. Let me now tell thee +the rest. I will tell thee what thou hast come to seek for. +Silence! I will consult the spirits; they will tell me all."</p> +<p>Drawing nearer to her the crystal bowl, the old woman bent her +head over it, and whispered incantations, as it seemed, over its +contents. For a while there was deep silence in the room, and +Cherry felt chill with excitement and wonder. This was very +different from the reception she and her cousin Rachel had met. +They had but been bidden to show their hands, and had then seen +some cabalistic characters formed by the wise woman, from which she +had told them all they wished to know. But there had been nothing +half so mysterious as this, and the girl felt certain that the wise +woman regarded Cuthbert and his questions with far greater interest +than any she had bestowed upon the fortunes or the ailments of +Rachel.</p> +<p>Presently there arose, as if in the far, far distance, a sound +of voices faint and confused. Cherry clung to Cuthbert's arm, and +looked about her with a pale, scared face, half expecting to see +the room filled with disembodied spirits; but his glance never +shifted from the down-bent face of the wise woman, and he half +suspected that the sounds proceeded in some way from her, albeit +they seemed to float about in the air round them, and to approach +and die away at will.</p> +<p>Suddenly the old woman raised her head and spoke.</p> +<p>"Thy mission to me this day is to ask news of the lost treasure +of Trevlyn."</p> +<p>Cherry started, and so did Cuthbert. There could be no doubting +the old woman's power now. If she could see so much in her bowl, +could she not likewise see where that lost treasure lay buried?</p> +<p>"Thou speakest sooth, mother," he said boldly. "It is of the +lost treasure I would speak. Canst tell me if it still remains as +it was when it was lost? Canst tell me the spot where it lies hid, +that I may draw it thence? If thou canst lead me to it, thou shalt +not lose thy reward; thou shalt be rich for life."</p> +<p>The youth spoke eagerly; but a curious smile crept over the old +woman's face at his words.</p> +<p>"Foolish boy!" she said. "Seest thou not that if gold were my +desire I have but to discover the place where the treasure lies to +some stalwart knave sworn to do my bidding, and all would be mine? +Could I not sell this golden secret to the highest bidder, an +wealth was all I craved? Foolish, foolish boy--impetuous like all +thy race! What hast thou to offer me that I may not obtain by one +wave of this wand?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was silent, wondering alike at the old woman and her +words. If she was not disposed to sell her golden secret (and what +she said was but too true--that the treasure would be more to her +than any reward), what hope was there of her revealing it to him? +He stood silent and perplexed, waiting for the old woman to speak +again.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn," she said, after a long pause, "methought +that the hope of finding the treasure had long since been abandoned +by thy race."</p> +<p>"That may well be, but it has not been so abandoned by me. +Whilst I have youth and health and strength, I will not give up +that hope. I, the grandson of Isabel Wyvern, will not cease to +strive till I have won back the lost luck that was to return to +that house through the daughters' sons."</p> +<p>It was almost at random that Cuthbert had spoken these words, +but some recollection had come over him of the story he had heard +of the devotion of certain gipsy people to the family of the +Wyverns, and their prognostications concerning them. This woman, +with the brown and crumpled skin and the beady black eyes, was very +like some of those wild gipsy folk he had seen from time to time in +the forest. Was it not just possible that she might be one of their +tribe, who for some reason or some physical infirmity had abandoned +the wandering life, and had set up for a wise woman in the heart of +the great city? Was there not some strange community of knowledge +and interest amongst all these wandering people? and might she not +in any case know something about the families of foe and friend, +and the loss of the vast treasure one day to be restored?</p> +<p>As his grandmother's name passed his lips, Cuthbert was certain +that he saw a flicker pass across the wise woman's face; but she +bent her head again over her bowl, and for some minutes remained in +deep silence. Then she looked up and scanned his face again.</p> +<p>"Let me see thy hand," she said.</p> +<p>He held it out fearlessly, and she bent over it for some +time.</p> +<p>"It is a good hand," she said at length, "and its owner may look +for prosperity in life, But he must heed one thing, and that is his +own over-bold rashness. He must beware of trusting all men. He must +beware of fatal fascination. He must beware of a darkly-flowing +river, and the dark cellar beyond. He must have the courage to say +'nay'--the courage to fly as well as to fight. Young man, thou hast +over-much curiosity. In these times of peril men must walk warily. +Choose the safe path, and keep therein. Think not to play with edge +tools and yet keep thy fingers unscarred."</p> +<p>Cuthbert felt the colour rising in his face. He felt the home +thrust embodied in these words. He knew that they were a warning +addressed to that side of his character which urged him to make +friends on all sides, and strive to see good in all men, and to +avoid joining himself to any one party in Church or State whilst in +measure belonging to all. For a man of quality he knew such a +course would be impossible and foolishly perilous, but he had felt +secure in his own insignificance. He, however, well understood the +warning, and so he marked the words about the flowing river and +dark cellar, and though by no means understanding them now, he +resolved that he would not forget.</p> +<p>But Cherry was shivering with excitement, and at last she could +keep silence no longer. The wise woman had been kind to her before; +surely she would not resent it if she spoke now.</p> +<p>"But the treasure, mother, the treasure," she urged. "Canst not +thou help us there?"</p> +<p>The old woman shifted her bright eyes to the flushed face of the +girl, and a flicker passed over her face as she repeated:</p> +<p>"Us--us? And what part or lot has Martin Holt's daughter in the +lost treasure of Trevlyn? What, my pretty child, has thy handsome +lover come so soon? and art thou looking already to be made a lady +of by him?"</p> +<p>The girl hid her blushing face on Cuthbert's shoulder, whilst he +answered with boyish straightforwardness:</p> +<p>"I will wed my cousin Cherry or none else. We have plighted our +troth secretly, and she shall one day be my bride. If thou canst +help me in this matter, it will make our lot easier; but, poor or +rich, she shall be mine!"</p> +<p>The old woman nodded her head several times, and Cuthbert +fancied that a greater benignity of expression crossed her wrinkled +face.</p> +<p>"Brave words! brave words!" she muttered, "and a brave heart +behind. Grandson to Isabel Wyvern! Ay, so it is; and there is +Wyvern in that face as well as Trevlyn. For her sake--for her sake! +Ay, I would do much for that.</p> +<p>"Boy," she said suddenly, raising her voice and speaking in her +witch-like accents again, "thou hast spoken a name which is as a +talisman, and though thou hast asked a hard thing, I will help thee +an I can. Yet I myself know naught. It is the familiar spirits that +know, and they will not always come even at my call; they will not +always speak sooth at my bidding. I can but use my arts; the rest +lies with them; and this is a secret that has been long-time +hid."</p> +<p>"Ay, and the time has now come when it should be revealed," +answered Cuthbert boldly. "Use what arts thou wilt! I ask the +answer to my question. I would know where the lost treasure +lies."</p> +<p>As he spoke these words the room became suddenly darkened. +Around them again as they stood there seemed to float voices and +whispers, though not one articulate word could either hear. In the +gloom they saw nothing save the fiery eyes of the great cat, which +appeared to be crouched upon the table beside its mistress. The +whisperings and voices, sometimes accompanied by soft or mocking +laughter, continued for the space of several moments, and appeared +to be interrupted at last by the tap of the wise woman's wand upon +the table, which three times repeated enforced a sudden +silence.</p> +<p>The silence was for a moment more awe inspiring than what had +gone first; but before Cherry had more time than sufficed to nip +Cuthbert hard by the hand, they heard the old woman's voice, in an +accent of stern command, uttering one single word:</p> +<p>"Speak!"</p> +<p>There was a brief pause, and then a sweet low voice rose in the +room and seemed to float round them, whilst the words with their +rhythmic cadence fell distinctly on the ears of the listening +pair:</p> +<pre> +"Three times three--on a moonlight night, +The oak behind, the beech to right; +Three times three--over ling and moss, +Robin's gain is Trevlyn's loss. + +"Three times three--the war is long, +Yet vengeance hums, and the back is strong; +Three times three--the dell is deep, +It knows its secret well to keep. + +"Three times three--the bones gleam white, +None dare pass by day or night; +Three times three--the riddle tell! +The answer lies in the pixies' well." +</pre> +<p>The voice ceased as suddenly as it had begun.</p> +<p>"Is that all?" asked the harsh accents of the wise woman.</p> +<p>"That is all the spirits choose to tell," answered the soft +voice, already, as it seemed, far away; and in another moment the +lamp shone forth again.</p> +<p>The cat leaped down from the table with a hissing sound, and the +old woman was revealed in her former position, resting her two +elbows on the table, her withered face supported in the palm of her +hand.</p> +<p>"Thou hast heard?"</p> +<p>"Ay, but I have not understood. Canst thou read the riddle to +me?"</p> +<p>But the old woman shook her head.</p> +<p>"That may not be; that thou must do for thyself. I will write +down the words for thee, that thou mayest not forget; but thou, and +thou alone, must find the clue."</p> +<p>With swift fingers she transcribed some characters on a fragment +of parchment, and Cuthbert marvelled at the skill in penmanship the +old woman displayed when she gave the paper into his hands. It was +with a beating heart that he scanned the mysterious characters; but +the old woman had risen to her feet, and motioned them away.</p> +<p>"Begone!" she cried, "begone! I have no more to say. Heed my +warning. Beware of menaced perils. The perils of the forest are +less than the perils of the city; and an open foe is better than a +false friend--a friend who lures those that trust him to a common +destruction, even though he himself be ready to share it. Harden +thine heart--beware of thine own merciful spirit. Turn a deaf ear +to the cry of the pursued. Swim with the current, and strive not to +stem it. And now go! I have said my say. Thou hast fortune within +thy grasp an thou hast wits to find it and hold it."</p> +<p>There was no disobeying the imperious gesture of the old woman. +Cuthbert would fain have lingered to ask more questions, but he +dared not do so. With a few brief words of thanks and farewell, he +took Cherry's hand and turned away. The bolt of the door flew back; +the door opened of itself again. The cat stalked on before down the +dark staircase, and a faint gleam from above showed them the way +down. The outer door sprang open before and closed behind them, and +the next minute Cuthbert was hurrying his companion along the dark +street, pulling her into the shadow of a doorway if any sounds +announced the approach of any of the tavern roisterers, and so +protecting her from any danger or peril till they stood at last in +safety beneath Martin Holt's roof, and looked wonderingly into each +other's eyes, as if questioning whether it had not all been part +and parcel of a dream.</p> +<p>They had not been long gone; a bare hour had elapsed since they +had stolen out into the darkness together. There was no fear that +any other member of Martin Holt's household would be back for a +considerable time. The two conspirators bent over the scrap of +parchment they placed between them on the table, and pored +earnestly over it together.</p> +<p>"What does it mean, Cuthbert? what can it mean? Canst read the +words aright?"</p> +<p>"Ay, it is well writ. I can read it, but I know not what it +means."</p> +<p>"Read it again to me."</p> +<p>He obeyed, and she forthwith began to ask a hundred +questions.</p> +<p>"'Three times three'--that comes so many times. What can that +mean, Cuthbert? it must mean something."</p> +<p>"Yes, doubtless, but I know not what."</p> +<p>"And again, 'Robin's gain is Trevlyn's loss.' Cuthbert, who may +Robin be?"</p> +<p>"I know not: Yet stop--hold! Yes, I have it now. Not that it may +be aught of import. Robin is a name a score of men may bear even in +one village. But when the robbers of the road found themselves at +the ruined mill where the gipsies were, I heard the leader ask, +'Where is Long Robin?'"</p> +<p>"And was he there?" asked Cherry eagerly.</p> +<p>"I know not: none answered the question, and I heeded it no +more. Most like he was but some serving man they wanted to take the +horses."</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, it seems plain that some Robin has stolen this +treasure, and carried it off and hidden it. The verses must mean +that!"</p> +<p>"Ay, I doubt it not, Cherry," answered Cuthbert, smiling; "but +see you not, fair cousin, that almost any person knowing of this +lost treasure and the legend of the gipsies' hate could have strung +together words like these? All men hold that it may still be hidden +in the forest around the Chase; but there be deep dells by the +dozen, and the pixies, men say, have all fled away. And there be +wells that run dry, and men find fresh ones bursting out where +never water was before. These lines scarce show me more than I have +known or thought before."</p> +<p>"But they do, they do!" cried Cherry excitedly. "They tell that +it was Robin who has stolen it. Cuthbert, when thou goest to the +forest next thou must find this Long Robin and see if it can be +he."</p> +<p>The young man smiled at her credulity and enthusiasm. He was not +so entirely sceptical as to some possible clue being given by these +verses as he would have her believe, but he could not see any +daylight yet, and wished to save her from disappointment.</p> +<p>"That is scarce like to be. The treasure was stolen nigh on +fifty years agone, and he must have been a lusty robber who stole +it then--scarce like to be living now. But we will think of this +more. The wise woman must have dealings with a familiar, else how +could she have known our errand? We must heed her words well; they +may be words of wisdom. She knew strange things from my hand. I +marvel how she could read it all there."</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked upon his palm and shook his head. It was all a +mystery to him. But he had greater faith in the wise woman than he +altogether felt prepared to admit, and as he sought his couch that +night he kept saying over and over to himself the magic words he +had heard.</p> +<p>"'Three times three--three times three!' What can that signify? +In the forest perchance I shall read the riddle aright. Or +perchance the gipsy queen, the dark-eyed Joanna, will aid me in the +search. If I could but trust her, she might see things that I +cannot in these lines. Would that the winter were past; would that +the summer were about to come! The perils of the forest are to be +less to me than the perils of the city. I wonder what perils menace +me here. Beneath my father's roof I oft went in peril of my life; +but here--why, here I feel safer than ever in my life before!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch10" id="Ch10">10</a>: The Hunted +Priest.</h2> +<p>The two friends that Cuthbert had made of his own sex during the +first weeks spent beneath his uncle's roof were the same two guests +he had seen at the supper table on the evening of his arrival--Walter +Cole and Jacob Dyson.</p> +<p>Both these men were several years older than himself, but in a +short time he became exceedingly intimate with the pair, and thus +obtained insight into the home life of persons belonging to the +three leading parties in the realm. The Puritan element was +strongly represented in Martin Holt's house, the Romanist in that +of the Coles, whilst the Dysons, although springing from a Puritan +stock, had been amongst those willing to conform to the laws as +laid down in the late Queen's time. Both Rachel and Jacob preferred +the Episcopal form of worship to any other, and openly marvelled at +the taste of those who still frequented the private conventicles, +where unlicensed preachers, at the risk of liberty and even life, +held forth by the hour together upon their favourite doctrines and +arguments.</p> +<p>But honest Jacob was no theologian. He did not hesitate to +assert openly his ignorance of all controversy, and his opinion +that it mattered uncommonly little what a man believed, so long as +he led an upright life and did his duty in the world. He was "fair +sick" of long-drawn arguments, the splitting of hairs, and those +questions which the theologians of all parties took such keen joy +in discussing--though, as nobody ever moved his opponent one whit, +the disputes could only be held for the love the disputants felt +for hearing themselves talk. Jacob had long since claimed for +himself the right to leave the room when politics and religion came +under discussion. As an only son, he had some privileges accorded +him, and this was one he used without stint.</p> +<p>Honest Jacob had taken an immediate and great liking for +Cuthbert Trevlyn from the first appearance of that youth at his +uncle's house. Though himself rough and uncouth of aspect, clumsy +of gait and slow of speech, he was quick to see and admire beauty +and wit in others. He had picked out Cherry from amongst her +sisters for those qualities of brightness and vivacity in which he +felt himself so deficient, and it seemed as though he took to +Cuthbert for very much the same reason.</p> +<p>Cuthbert was ready enough to accept the advances of this +good-natured youth. He was a stranger in this great city, whilst +Jacob knew it well. He was eager to hear and see and learn all he +could; and though Jacob's ideas were few and his powers of +observation limited, he was still able to answer a great many of +the eager questions that came crowding to the lips of the stranger +as they walked the streets together. And when Cuthbert accompanied +Jacob to his home, Abraham Dyson could fill up all the blank in his +son's story, and was secretly not a little pleased with Cuthbert's +keen intelligence and ready interest.</p> +<p>The Dysons were merchants in a small way of business, but were +thriving and thrifty folks. They and the Holts had been in close +relations one with the other for more than one generation, and any +relative of Martin Holt's would have been welcome at their house. +Cuthbert was liked on his own account; and soon he became greatly +fascinated by the river-side traffic, took the greatest interest in +the vessels that came to the wharves to be unladed, and delighted +in going aboard and making friends with the sailors. He quickly +came to learn the name of every part of the ship, and to pick up a +few ideas on the subject of navigation. Whenever a vessel came in +from the New World but recently discovered, he would try to get on +board and question the sailors about the wonders they had seen. +Afterwards he would discourse to Jacob or to Cherry of the things +he had learned, and would win more and more admiration from both by +his brilliant powers of imagination and description.</p> +<p>So the river became, as it were, a second home to him. Abraham +Dyson had more than one wherry of his own in which Cuthbert was +welcome to skim about upon the broad bosom of the great river. He +soon became so skillful with the rude oars or the sail, that he was +a match for the hardiest waterman on the river, and more than once +Cherry had been permitted to accompany Cuthbert and Jacob upon some +excursion up or down stream.</p> +<p>And now, after many weeks of pleasant comradeship, Cuthbert +found himself in the unenviable position of standing rival to his +friend in the affections of Cherry, and the more he thought about +it the less he liked the situation. He could not give Cherry +up--that was out of the question; besides, had he renounced her +twenty times over, that would not improve Jacob's case one whit. +Cherry was her father's own daughter, and, with all her kittenish +softness, had a very decided will of her own. She was not the sort +of daughter to be bought and sold, or calmly made over like a bale +of wool. She would certainly insist on having a voice in the +matter, and her choice was not likely at any time to fall upon the +worthy but unprepossessing Jacob.</p> +<p>All this Cuthbert understood with the quick apprehension of a +lover; but it was very doubtful if Jacob would so see things, and +Cuthbert felt as though there was something of treachery in +accepting and returning his many advances of friendship whilst all +the time he was secretly affianced to the girl for whose hand Jacob +had made formal application, and had been formally accepted, though +for the present, on account of the maiden's tender years, the +matter was allowed to stand over.</p> +<p>With Walter Cole there was no such hindrance to friendship, and +just at this juncture Cuthbert prosecuted and confirmed his +intimacy at that house by constant visits there. He was greedy of +information and book learning, and in this narrow dim dwelling, +literally stacked with books, papers, and pamphlets of all kinds, +and partially given over to the mysteries of the printing press, +seldom worked save at dead of night, Cuthbert's expanding mind +could revel to its full content.</p> +<p>He devoured every book upon which he could lay hands--history, +theology, philosophy; nothing came amiss to him. He would sit by +the hour watching Anthony Cole at work setting type, asking him +innumerable questions about what he had been last reading, and +finding the white-headed bookseller a perfect mine of +information.</p> +<p>Controversy and the vexed topics of the day were generally +avoided by common consent. The Coles had learned through bitter +experience the necessity for silence and reticence. Everybody knew +them for ardent and devoted sons of Rome, and they were under +suspicion of issuing many of the pamphlets against the policy of +the King that raised ire in the hearts of the great ones of the +land. But none of these "seditious" writings had so far been traced +to them, and they still lived in comparative peace, although the +tranquillity somewhat resembled that of the peaceful dwellers upon +the sides of a volcanic mountain, within whose crater grumblings +and mutterings are heard from time to time.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's frequent visits, and the manifest pleasure he took in +their society, were a source of pleasure to both father and son; +and though they never showed this pleasure too openly, or asked him +to continue his visits or help them in their night work, they did +not refuse his help when offered, and sometimes would look at each +other and say:</p> +<p>"He is drawing nearer; he is drawing nearer. Old traditions, +race instincts, are telling upon him. He is too true a Trevlyn not +to become a member of the true fold. His vagrant fancy is straying +here and there. He is tasting the bitter-sweet fruit of knowledge +and restless search after the wisdom of this world. But already he +begins to turn with loathing from the cold, lifeless Puritan code. +Anon he will find that the Established Church has naught to give +him save the husk, from which the precious grain has been carefully +extracted."</p> +<p>"Father Urban thinks well of him," Walter once remarked, as they +discussed the youth after his departure one evening. "He has met +him, I know not where, and believes that there may be work for him +to do yet. We want those with us who have the single mind and +honest heart, the devotion that counts not the cost. All that is +written on the lad's face. If he breaks not away from us, he may +become a tool in a practised hand to do a mighty work."</p> +<p>Cuthbert, however, went on his way all unconscious of the notice +he was arousing in certain quarters. His mind was filled just now +with other matters than those of religious controversy. He had +become rather weary of the strife of tongues, and was glad to busy +himself with the practical concerns of life that did not always +land him in a dilemma or a difficulty.</p> +<p>Abraham Dyson was having a new sloop built for trading purposes, +and both Jacob and Cuthbert took the keenest interest in the +progress of the work. The sloop was to be called the Cherry Blossom +when complete, and it was Abraham Dyson's plan that the christening +of the vessel by Cherry herself should be the occasion of her +formal betrothal to his son.</p> +<p>This ceremony, however, would not take place for some while yet, +as at present the little vessel was only in the earlier stages of +construction. Neither Jacob nor Cuthbert had heard anything about +this secondary plan, but both took the greater interest in the +sloop from the fact that she was to be named after Cherry.</p> +<p>Cuthbert visited her daily, and Jacob as often as his duties at +his father's warehouse allowed him. On this particular bright +February afternoon the pair had been a great part of their time on +the river, skimming about in the wherry, and examining every part +of the little vessel under the auspices of the master builder. Dusk +had fallen upon the river before they landed, and a heavy fog +beginning to rise from the water made them glad to leave it behind. +They secured the wherry to the landing stage, leaving the oars in +her, as they not unfrequently did when returning late, and were +pursuing their way up the dark and unsavoury streets, when the +sound of a distant tumult smote upon their ears, and they arrested +their steps that they might listen the better.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's quick ears were the first to gather any sort of +meaning from the discordant shouts and cries which arose.</p> +<p>"They are chasing some wretched fugitive!" he said in a low +voice. "That is the sound of pursuit. Hark! they are coming this +way. Who and what are they thus hounding on?"</p> +<p>Nearer and nearer came the surging sound of many voices and the +hurried trampling of feet.</p> +<p>"Stop him--catch him--hold him!" shouted a score of hoarse +voices, rolling along through the fog-laden air long before +anything could be seen. "Stop him, good folks, stop him! stop the +runaway priest--stop the treacherous Jesuit! He is an enemy to +peace--a stirrer up of sedition and conspiracy! Down with him--to +prison with him! it is not fit for such a fellow to live. Down with +him--stop him!"</p> +<p>"A priest!" exclaimed Cuthbert between his shut teeth, a sudden +gleam corning into his eyes. "Jacob, heard you that? A priest--a +man of God! one man against a hundred! Canst thou stand by and see +such a one hunted to death? that cannot I."</p> +<p>Jacob cared little for priests--indeed, he had no very good +opinion of the race, and none of Cuthbert's traditional reverence; +but he had all an Englishman's love of fair play, and hated the +cruelty and cowardice of an angry mob as he hated anything mean and +vile, and he doubled back his wrist bands and clinched his horny +fists as he answered:</p> +<p>"I am with thee, good Cuthbert. We will stand for the weaker +side. Priest or no, he shall not be hounded to death in the streets +without one blow struck in his defence. But how to find him in this +fog?"</p> +<p>"We need not fight; that were mere madness," answered Cuthbert +in rapid tones. "Ours is to hurry the fugitive into the wherry, +loose from shore, and out into the river; and then they may seek as +they will, they can never find us. Mist! hark! the cries come +nigher. If the quarry is indeed before them, it must be very nigh. +Mark! I hear a gliding footfall beside the wall. Keep close to me; +I go to the rescue."</p> +<p>Cuthbert sprang swiftly through the darkness, and in a moment he +felt the gown of a priest in his hand, and heard the sound of the +distressed breathing of one hunted well nigh to the verge of +exhaustion. As the hunted man felt the clasp upon his robe he +uttered a little short, sharp cry, and made as if he would have +stopped short; but Cuthbert had him fast by the arm, and hurried +him along the narrow alley towards the river, upholding him over +the rough ground, and saying in short phrases: "Fear nothing from +us, holy Father; we are friends. We have come to save you. Trust +only to us and, believe me, in three more minutes we shall be +beyond the reach of these savage pursuers. The river is before us, +though we see it not, and our boat awaits us there. Once aboard, +they may weary themselves in their vain efforts to catch us; they +will never find us in this fog.</p> +<p>"Here is the water side. Have a care how you step--Jacob, hold +fast the craft whilst the Father steps in. So. All is well; cast +off and I will follow."</p> +<p>There was the sound of a light spring; the boat gave a slight +lurch, and then, gliding off into the mysterious darkness of the +great river, was lost to sight of shore in the wreaths of foggy +vapour.</p> +<p>"Where is the hound? where is the caitiff miscreant? Has he +thrown himself into the river? Drowning is too good for such a dog +as he!" shouted angry voices on the river's bank, and through the +still air the sound of trampling footsteps could be heard up and +down the little wharf which formed the landing stage.</p> +<p>"I hear the sound of oars!" shouted one.</p> +<p>"He has escaped us--curse the cunning of that Papist brood!" +yelled another.</p> +<p>"Let us get a boat and follow," counselled a third; but this was +more easily said than done, as there was no other boat tied up at +that landing stage, and the fog rendered navigation too difficult +and dangerous to be lightly attempted. With sullen growls and many +curses the mob seemed to break up and disperse; but the leaders +appeared to stand in discussion for some moments after the rest had +gone, and several sentences were distinctly heard by those in the +boat, who thought it safer to drift with the tide awhile close to +the shore than to use their oars and betray their close proximity +to their foes.</p> +<p>"We shall know him again; and if he dares to show his face in +the city, we will have him at last, even if we have to search for +him in Alsatia with a band of soldiers. He has too long escaped the +doom he merits, the plotter and schemer, the vile dog of a seminary +priest! Once let us get him into our hands and he shall be hanged, +drawn, and quartered, like those six of his fellows. No mercy for +the Jesuits; it is not fit that such fellows should camber the +earth. There will be no peace for this realm till we have destroyed +them root and branch."</p> +<p>The boat had now drifted too far for the conversation to be any +longer audible. Jacob gave a long, low whistle, and took to the +oars. Cuthbert, who sat beside the priest in the stern, had his +hand upon the tiller; and as the fog cloud lifted just a little, so +that the darkness about them became hardly more than that of +twilight, he looked at the silent, motionless figure beside him, +and exclaimed in surprise:</p> +<p>"Father Urban!"</p> +<p>A slight smile hovered for a moment over the wan face of the +priest. He lifted his thin hand and said solemnly:</p> +<p>"Peace be with thee, my son."</p> +<p>Cuthbert bent his head in reverence, and then turned again +towards the Father.</p> +<p>"What hast thou done that they should rail at thee thus--thou +the friend of the poor, the friend even of the leper? What has come +to them that they turn thus against thee? Sure, but a few short +weeks ago and thou didst hold back an angry crowd by the glance of +thine eye."</p> +<p>"My son, trust not in the temper of the crowd, in the goodwill +of the multitude. Was it not the same crowd who on the Sabbath +shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' that on the Friday yelled, +'Crucify Him! crucify Him!' Never put faith in man, still less in +the multitude that is ever swayed like a reed, and may be driven +like a wave of the sea hither and thither as the wind listeth.</p> +<p>"And then I was not amongst mine own flock. I had--rashly, +perchance--adventured myself further than I ought, for I had a +message of consequence to execute, and I have not been wont to hide +myself from my fellow men. But there is no knowing in these fearful +times of lawlessness and savage hate what will be the temper either +of rulers or people. It seems that I am known--that there is some +warrant out against me. So be it. If I must flee from this city to +another, holier men have done the like ere now. I would mine errand +had been completed. I would I had accomplished my task. But--"</p> +<p>The priest's voice had been growing fainter for some moments. +Cuthbert supposed it to be a natural caution on his part, lest even +Jacob should hear him as he plied his oars; but as he came to this +sudden stop, he felt that the slight frame collapsed in some way, +and leaned heavily against him as he sat. Turning his eyes from the +dim, rippling water, so little of which could be seen in the +darkness and the fog, to the face of the priest, he saw that it had +turned ghastly pale, and that the eyes were glazing over as if with +the approach of death. Plainly the fugitive had received some +bodily hurt of which he had not spoken, and the question what to do +with their helpless burden became a difficult one to answer.</p> +<p>"My father will not receive him," said Jacob, shaking his head, +as he leaned upon his oars and let the boat drift along with the +tide that was carrying them towards the bridge. "He hates the +priests worse than your good uncle and mine, who has something of a +fellow feeling for them in these days of common persecution; and +you know well what sort of a welcome we should receive from him did +we arrive with a seminary priest in our arms."</p> +<p>"And I trow the mob would be upon us ere we had got him safe +housed, and for aught we could do to stop it might tear him limb +from limb in our very sight."</p> +<p>"Ay, there is always some rumour afoot of a new Papist plot; and +whether it be true or no, the people set on to harry the priests as +dogs harry the hunted hare. I know not what to do. To land with him +will do neither good to him nor to us. A fine coil there would be +at home if my father heard of me mixing myself up with Jesuit +traitors; and Martin Holt would not be much better pleased +neither."</p> +<p>"Martin Holt is not my father," answered Cuthbert, with a touch +of haughtiness; "and let him say what he will, I must save this +man's life, even if it cost me mine own. Thou knowest how he saved +me that day in the dens of Whitefriars. To leave him to the mercy +of the howling mob would be an act of blackest treachery; it would +disgrace my manhood for ever."</p> +<p>"Tush, man, who asked that of thee?" answered Jacob, with +something of a smile at the lad's impetuosity. "I love not a black +cassock nor a tonsured head so passing well; but a man is a man, +even though he be a priest, and I call shame upon those who would +thus maltreat a brother man, and the more so when he is one who has +visited the sick and tended the leper, and been the friend of those +who have no friends in this great city. I would no sooner than thou +give him up to the will of the mob; but we must bethink ourselves +where he may be in safety stowed, else the mob will have him +whether we will or no. All I was meaning by my words was that +neither my home nor thine could be the place for him."</p> +<p>"I ask thy pardon, good Jacob, for my heat," answered Cuthbert +humbly. "I should have known better thy good heart than to have +thought such a thing of thee."</p> +<p>"Nay, nay; I am no hero."</p> +<p>"Thou art a kindly hearted and an honest man, which I misdoubt +me if all the world's heroes are," answered Cuthbert quickly. "And +now, Jacob, it behoves us to think. Yes, I have it. We must ask +counsel of Master Anthony Cole. He would be the one to hide Father +Urban if it could be done. Let me land nigh to the bridge, and go +to them and tell them all; and do thou push out once more and +anchor the craft beneath the pier on which their house rests. +Methinks when I have taken counsel with them I can make shift to +slip down the wooden shaft of that pier, and so hold parley with +thee. Walter has done the like before now, and I am more agile in +such feats than he; moreover, I can swim like a duck if I should +chance to miss my hold, and so reach the water unawares. That will +be the best, for the boat may not linger at the wharf side. We know +not what news may be afoot in the city, nor that there may not be +searchers bent on finding Father Urban, let him land where he +may."</p> +<p>Whether or not Jacob relished this adventure, he was too stanch +and too honest hearted to turn back now. The priest lay insensible +at the bottom of the boat, his head pillowed upon the cloaks the +youths had sacrificed for his better comfort. It was plainly a +matter of consequence that he should soon be housed in some +friendly shelter. His gray face looked ghastly in the dim moonlight +which began to struggle through the fog wreaths. When Cuthbert +leaped lightly ashore hard by the bridge, and Jacob sheered off +again in the darkness, he felt as though he were out alone on the +black river, with only a corpse for company.</p> +<p>"If it were but for Cherry's sake, I would do ten-fold more," he +murmured, as he glanced up in the direction of the wool stapler's +shop, and pictured pretty Cherry stepping backwards and forwards at +her spinning wheel. "But I trow she will hear naught of it; or if +she does, she will think only of Cuthbert's share. Alack! I fear me +she will never think of me now. Why should she, when so proper a +youth is nigh? If he should go away and leave her, perchance her +heart might turn to me for comfort; but I fear me he looks every +day more tenderly into her bright eyes. How could he live beneath +the roof and not learn to love her? He would be scarce human, +scarce flesh and blood, were he to fail in loving her; and what is +my chance beside his? I might, almost as well yield her at once, +and take good Kezzie instead. Kezzie would make a better +housewife--my mother has told me so a hundred times; and I am fond +of her, and methinks she--"</p> +<p>But there Jacob stopped short, blushing even in the darkness at +the thought of what he had nearly said. Anchoring against the +wooden piles of the bridge, and letting his fancy run riot as it +would, he indulged in a shifting daydream, in which pain and a +vague sense of consolation were oddly blended. He sighed a good +many times, but he smiled once or twice likewise, and at last he +gave himself a shake and spoke out aloud.</p> +<p>"At least it shall make no cloud and no bitterness betwixt us +twain. He is a fine lad and a noble one, and he deserves more at +Dame Fortune's hands than such a clown as I. Shall I grudge him his +luck if he gets her? never a whit! There may not be more than one +Cherry in the world, but there are plenty of good wives and honest +maidens who will brighten a man's home for him."</p> +<p>Musing thus, Jacob kept his watch, and was not long in hearing +strange and cautious sounds above his head. Looking up, he beheld a +lithe form slipping, in something of a snake fashion, down the +woodwork of the bridge, and the next moment Cuthbert sprang softly +down, so deftly that the wherry only rolled a little at the +shock.</p> +<p>"Hast thought me long? Hast been frozen with cold? I have made +all the haste I could. All is planned. This is not strange work to +them. See, I have brought with me this cradle of cord. We can place +Father Urban within, and they will draw him up from above, that no +man shall see him enter their house. All the windows be shuttered +and barred by now. None will see or hear. They have harboured many +a fugitive before, I take it. They had all the ropes and needful +gear ready beneath their hand at a moment's notice."</p> +<p>Whilst he was speaking, Cuthbert was wrapping the inanimate +figure in the cloaks, and placing it gently in the hammock, as we +should call it, that, suspended by strong cords from above, had +assisted him in his descent to the boat. Then at a given signal +this hammock, with its human load, was slowly and steadily drawn +upwards, with a cautious, silent skill that betokened use and +experience; and as the eager watchers pushed out their boat a +little further into the river, they saw the bulky object vanish at +last within the dimly-lighted window of the tall, narrow house. A +light was flashed for a moment from the window, and then all was +wrapped in darkness.</p> +<p>"All is well," exclaimed Cuthbert, with an accent of relief; +"and I trow that not a living soul but our two selves knows whither +the priest has fled. He is safe from that savage, howling mob. +Methinks I hear their cries still! It was just so they yelled and +hooted round me when Father Urban came so timely to my rescue."</p> +<p>Mistress Susan chid Cuthbert somewhat roundly for being late for +supper that night. But when he said he had been belated by the fog +on the river with Jacob, the excuse was allowed to stand. Cherry +was eager to know the progress making with her namesake, and no +inconvenient questions were asked of Cuthbert when once her +chattering tongue had been unloosed.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's dreams were a little troubled and uneasy that night; +but he woke in good spirits, and was anxious to know the state of +Father Urban. He made an early excuse for visiting the Coles' +abode, and found the elder man busy over his type.</p> +<p>He looked up with a smile as Cuthbert appeared, but laid his +fingers on his lips.</p> +<p>"Be cautious; he has but just sunk to sleep after a night of +wakeful pain. He is anxious to see thee. He asked for thee a score +of times in the night; but he must not be wakened now. Thou hast +done a good deed, boy. Had Father Urban fallen a victim to yon +hooting mob last eve, a deadly blow would have been dealt to the +faith of this land."</p> +<p>"And is his sickness very sore? has he any grievous hurt?"</p> +<p>"He was sore knocked about and bruised ere he first wrenched +himself from the officer of the law who sprang upon him with an +order of arrest. Two of his ribs be broke; and that long and +fearful race for his life did cause him sore pain and greater +injury, so that a fever has been set up, and he has had to lose +much blood to allay it. But he is quiet and at rest just now. Thou +hadst better come again at sundown; he will doubtless be awake +then. He has somewhat to say to thee, I know. I believe that he has +some mission to entrust to thee. Thou hast a kindly heart and a +strong arm. I trow thou wilt not fail him now."</p> +<p>Anthony Cole looked fixedly into the boy's face, and Cuthbert +returned the glance unflinchingly. He was possessed by the generous +feeling all young and ardent natures know of keen desire to assist +further any person already indebted to them for past grace. The +fact that already he had run some risk on account of Father Urban +only made Cuthbert the more anxious to help him in whatever manner +might best conduce to his well being and comfort. He looked full at +his interlocutor, and said:</p> +<p>"Whatever I may with honour and right do for Father Urban shall +not be lacking. I owe him my life. I can never grudge any service +for him, be it great or small."</p> +<p>"Well spoken, my boy," answered the bookseller, with his calm, +penetrating smile. "May the blessed saints long preserve untainted +that true nobility of soul."</p> +<p>Cuthbert spent a restless day, wondering what mission the priest +had for him, and whether his uncle would be angry at him for +meddling in any such matters. But Martin Holt was friendly with +several of the Papist families about him, notably with the Coles +themselves; and Cuthbert had a growing sense of his own +independence and the right to choose his own associates and his own +path in life.</p> +<p>It was growing dusk when he stood beside the narrow bed on which +Father Urban lay. The light filtered in scantily through the narrow +window pane, and illumined a face lined by pain and white with +exhaustion. Upon the bed lay a packet which looked like papers, and +one of the priest's wasted hands lay upon it as if to guard it. As +Cuthbert bent over him and spoke his name, Father Urban looked up, +and a dim light crept into his eyes.</p> +<p>"Is it thou, my son, come at last?"</p> +<p>"Yes, Father. What may I do for thee?"</p> +<p>"Wilt thou do one small service more for me, my son?"</p> +<p>"Willingly, Father, if it lies within my power."</p> +<p>"It is well within thy power, boy. It is not the power I +question, but the will. We live in dangerous days. Art willing to +partake of the peril which compasses the steps of those who tread +in the old ways wherein the fathers trod?"</p> +<p>"Try me and see," was the quiet reply.</p> +<p>Perhaps none could better have suited the astute reader of +character. The hollow eyes lighted, and the old man bent upon +Cuthbert a searching glance whilst he seemed to pause to gather +strength.</p> +<p>"I would have thee take this packet," he said, speaking slowly +and with some pain and difficulty. "There is no superscription; and +sooner than let them be found by others on thy person, fling them +into the river, or cut them to fragments with thy dagger; and +plunge thy dagger into thine own heart sooner than be taken with +them upon thee. But with caution and courage and strength (and I +know that thou hast all of these) thou canst avoid this peril. What +thy part is, is but this: Deliver this packet into the hand of +Master Robert Catesby himself. Thou knowest him. Thou wilt make no +error. Seek him not at any tavern or public place. Go to a lone +house at Lambeth, with moss-grown steps down to the water's edge. +Go by thine own wherry thither, and go alone. Thou canst not +mistake the house. There is none like it besides. It stands upon +the water, and none other building is nigh at hand; but a giant elm +overshadows it, and there is a door scarce above high water level +and steps that lead from it. Knock three times, thus, upon that +door"--and the priest gave a curious tap, which Cuthbert repeated +by imitation; "and when thou art admitted, ask for Robert Catesby, +and give him the packet. That is all. Thy mission will then be +done. Wilt thou do as much for me?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert answered, without the least hesitation:</p> +<p>"I will."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch11" id="Ch11">11</a>: The Lone House On The +River.</h2> +<p>"Cuthbert, do not go--ah, do not go!"</p> +<p>"And wherefore not, my Cherry?"</p> +<p>"I am afraid. I had such dreams last night. And, Cuthbert, didst +thou not heed? Notedst thou not how in handing the salt at supper +thy hand shook, and it was spilled? I like not such auguries; they +fill my heart with fear. Do not go--ah, do not!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert smiled as he caressed his little love, not averse to +feeling her soft arms clinging round his neck, yet quite disposed +to laugh at her youthful terrors.</p> +<p>"But what dost thou fear, sweetheart?"</p> +<p>"I fear everything," she replied, with inconsequent vehemence. +"I remember the stories I have heard of the wiles of the priests, +and how they tempt unwary men to their destruction. What is this +Father Urban to thee, that thou shouldst risk aught for him? I will +not let thee go--I will not!"</p> +<p>"Father Urban saved my life."</p> +<p>"And thou hast saved his. That debt is paid in full," was the +prompt response. "He saved thee at no peril to himself; thou hast +saved him when it might have cost thee thy life. Thou owest him +nothing--nothing! Why should he ask this further service of +thee?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert smiled. Cherry's petulance and vehemence amused him. +Her little spoiled-child tempers and exactions were beginning to +have a great charm. He scarcely knew how much of the deeper fears +of dawning womanhood were beginning to intermingle with the +"child's" eager love of her own way. Love was gradually +transforming Cherry, but the transformation was as yet scarcely +seen, and the added charm of her new softness and timidity had +hardly begun to be observed by those about her.</p> +<p>"He is sorely sick, sweetheart, and he has asked this thing of +me. I have passed my word. Thou wouldst not have me go back +therefrom?"</p> +<p>"He should not have asked thee; he had no right," flashed out +Cherry, in some despite. "Why did he not ask Walter Cole? he was a +fitter person than thou."</p> +<p>"And wherefore so?"</p> +<p>"Why, everybody knows him for a pestilent Papist!" answered +Cherry, with a flash of her big eyes. "Nothing he did would +surprise anybody. He is suspected already; whilst thou--nay, +Cuthbert, wherefore dost thou laugh?"</p> +<p>"Marry, at the logic of thy words, sweetheart! Father Urban +desires a safe and secret messenger, and thou wouldst have him +employ one already suspected and watched! That were a strange way +of setting to work, Why, I may come and go unquestioned. No man has +suspected me of aught, and I am one of those who willingly conform +to the laws. With Walter things be far different: he might be +stopped and searched by any suspicious knave who saw him pushing +forth into the river."</p> +<p>"And a good riddance, too!" cried Cherry, who was in no humour +to be tolerant of the Romanists, who were, as she thought, putting +her lover in peril. "I hate those plotting, secret, cunning +Papists! They are like men who are always mining in the dark, +working and striving in deadly secret, no man knowing what will +next be heard or seen. I like not such ways. I like not that thou +shouldst meddle with them. Those be treasonable papers, I doubt +not. Cuthbert, it is not meet that thou shouldst have dealings with +traitors!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert smiled, but the earnestness with which Cherry spake +impressed him in spite of himself. It had been one thing to make +this promise to the sick priest who trusted him, but it was a +different matter to be told that he was meddling in treason. Still, +what did Cherry know about it? She was but a child.</p> +<p>"I know that there be treasons and treacherous plots enow in the +world," answered Cherry, as he put the question to her. "I hear +more than men think; and since thou hast been here, Cuthbert, I +have listened and heeded as I was not wont to do. All men whisper +of the treachery and malice of the Papists. All men know that had +they their will the King would be sent to death or imprisonment, +and some other person placed upon the throne."</p> +<p>"I know not how that may be," answered Cuthbert slowly, "and I +have no concern in such matters. All I have to do is to give these +papers to one whom I know, and who has befriended me; and that must +I do at all cost, for my word is pledged, and thou wouldst not have +me go back from that, wouldst thou, Cherry?"</p> +<p>"I would not have thee run into danger," answered Cherry, +sticking persistently to her point with true feminine insistence, +"and I know better than thou canst do what evil haps befall them +who meddle in matters too hard for them, and that they reek not +of.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert," drawing a little nearer and speaking in a breathless +whisper, "dost call to mind what the wise woman said: how thou wast +to beware of the dark river--the flowing river? And yet thou wilt +venture forth upon it this eve! I like it not; I like it not! I +would that I could make a prisoner of thee, that thou mightest not +go."</p> +<p>"It were sweet imprisonment to be held in such thrall," answered +Cuthbert, smiling, as he loosed the clasp of the warm arms from +about his neck; "but this time, sweetheart, I must needs go. I will +be cautious and careful. I are too much upon the river in the +wherry for any to question my coming or going. None knew aught of +our rescue of the hunted priest; none but thyself knows of him nor +where he lies. It is impossible that any can suspect me yet; and +for the future, for thy sweet sake, I will be cautious how I +adventure myself into any like peril, if peril there be."</p> +<p>With that Cherry had to be content, for Cuthbert was immovable +where his word was pledged, and she had perforce to let him go, +since he would not be stayed.</p> +<p>"Tell thy father that I sup tonight with Abraham Dyson," said +Cuthbert, as he kissed her for the last time before he left. "It +may be I shall not be home in time for the supper, and I would not +be too close questioned on my return. I will go thither when I have +landed once more. Good Jacob will wish for news of Father +Urban."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was gone, Cherry looking wistfully after him. She had +already begun to know something of the pain as well as of the joy +of love. She felt that there was in Cuthbert's nature a strain of +self devotion and heroism which frightened her whilst it enthralled +her fancy. She had an instinct that he would never turn back in any +quest he had undertaken for the peril he might have to face. She +felt that in him she was realizing her vague ideals of knightly +prowess and dauntless courage; but all the same, unless she might +be at his side to share the peril, she would almost have felt +happier had this fearless bravery been somewhat less.</p> +<p>Cuthbert meantime pursued his way with a light heart, his packet +of papers securely buttoned in the breast of his doublet. The keen +air of the February afternoon fanned his face. His heart was full +of tender thoughts of Cherry and her sweet affection for him. How +soon would it be possible, he wondered, to claim her as his own; +and what would Martin Holt say to the frustration of one of his +favourite schemes?</p> +<p>Of his present mission, and of any peril likely to accrue to him +therefrom, Cuthbert thought little or nothing. He did not see how +he could possibly come under suspicion simply from fulfilling the +priest's request. It would have been brutal to refuse; and what +harm could he do to himself or others by simply delivering a packet +of papers?</p> +<p>He had almost promised Master Robert Catesby before this to +visit him in his river-side house. Doubtless this was the very +place for which he was now bound. Anything like an adventure was +agreeable to one of Cuthbert's imaginative nature, and a spice of +possible danger did not detract from the sense of fascination, even +though he might not see wherein the danger lay.</p> +<p>The wherry he was wont to use lay moored near to the Three +Cranes, and no one heeded or questioned him as he stepped in and +pushed off into the river. A couple of soldiers were lounging upon +the little wharf and watching the small craft as they came and +went. They appeared to take some note of Cuthbert, as of others who +passed by, but they did not speak to him, and he wondered what +their business was there.</p> +<p>A fragment of talk between two watermen reached him as he began +rowing out in the direction of the Cherry Blossom; for he did not +wish to take the upstream direction till twilight should have +fallen and his movements would escape unheeded, and the voices of +these men as they passed him reached him clearly over the +water.</p> +<p>"On the lookout for the runaway priest, I take it. Thou surely +didst hear how he gave them the slip in the fog, just when they +thought they had him safe. He had been well bruised and battered. +It was a marvel how he got free. But he knew the narrow lanes well, +and doubled like a hare. Doubtless he had his friends in waiting, +for he slipped into some craft and eluded pursuit. But for the fog +they would have made sure of him that time. They say he--"</p> +<p>But the rest of the sentence was lost in the distance, and +Cuthbert laughed silently as he plied his oars.</p> +<p>"Beshrew me, but they make a mighty coil anent this good Father +Urban. One would have thought they could have made shift to lay +hands on him before were he so notable a miscreant. He was not in +hiding when I saw him first; he appeared to go about the city +fearlessly. Doubtless it is but some new panic on the part of the +King. God help us all now that we be ruled over by such a poor +poltroon!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert had caught the prevailing contempt for the foolish and +feeble James that was shared by the nation in general, and London +in particular.</p> +<p>They put up with him to avoid the horrors and confusion of a +disputed succession and a possible repetition of the bloody strife +of the Roses; but there was not one section of the community with +whom he was popular: even the ecclesiastics of the Episcopal party +despised whilst they flattered and upheld him. Cuthbert felt an +access of zeal in his present mission in the thought that it would +be displeasing to the unkingly mind of the King. He had seen the +ungainly monarch riding through Westminster one day not long since, +and the sight of his slovenly and undignified figure, trapped out +in all the extravagance of an extravagant age, his clumsy seat on +horseback (of which, nevertheless, he was not a little proud), and +his goggle eyes and protruding tongue, filled the young man with +disgust and dislike. But for the noble bearing and boyish beauty of +the Prince of Wales, who rode beside his father, his disgust would +have been greater; and all men were somewhat more patient with the +defects of the father in prognosticating better and happier times +when young Henry should succeed to the throne.</p> +<p>Nevertheless treasonable plottings at this juncture did not +appear as fearful and horrible as they had done in the days of +"good Queen Bess," who, with all her faults and follies, contrived +to keep her people's affection in a marvellous fashion, as her sire +had done before her. Men who would have recoiled with horror at a +whisper against the Queen's Majesty, shrugged their shoulders with +comparative indifference when they heard vague whispers of Popish +or Puritan plots directed more or less against the person of King +James. Any warm personal love and loyalty was altogether lacking to +the nation, and with it was lacking the element which has always +been the strongest bulwark of the sovereign's safety.</p> +<p>James appears to have been dimly conscious of this, always +insisting on wearing heavy and cumbersome garments, quilted so +strongly as to defy the thrust of a dagger. A monarch who goes +about in habitual fear of assassination betrays his knowledge that +he has failed to win the love or veneration of his subjects.</p> +<p>Cuthbert mused idly of these things as he pushed out into the +middle of the river, and then eased up and looked about him to see +if his movements were observed. It was beginning to grow dusk now. +The sun had dipped behind the trees and buildings. The two sentries +on the wharf had turned their backs upon the river, and were +entering a tavern. The other wherries were all making for the +shore, and the tide was running in strongly and carrying Cuthbert's +boat upstream for him in the direction whither he would go.</p> +<p>Letting himself drift with the tide, and contenting himself with +keeping the prow in the right direction, Cuthbert drifted on his +way quite as fast as he cared to. He had not often been as far up +the stream as this, since business always took him down towards the +shipping in the mouth of the river. He had never before gone higher +up than the Temple Stairs, and now as he drifted past these and saw +the fine pile of Westminster rising before his eyes, he felt a +thrill of admiration and awe, and turned in his seat the better to +observe and admire.</p> +<p>Westminster was almost like another town in those days, divided +from the busy walled city of London by fields and gardens and fine +mansions standing in their own grounds. On the south side of the +river the houses were few and far between, and save at Southwark, +hardly any attempt at regular building had been made. Past the +great Palace of Whitehall and Westminster, with its Parliament +Houses rising majestic against the darkening sky, drifted the +lonely little boat. And then Cuthbert took his oars and pulled for +the southern bank; for he knew that Lambeth was not very much +farther away, and he recalled to mind the directions of the priest, +how to find it and know it.</p> +<p>Trees fringed the southern bank here, leafless at this season, +but still imparting a certain dark dreariness to the scene. The +hoot of an owl occasionally broke the silence, and sent light +shivers through Cuthbert's frame. He was not free from +superstition, and the evil-omened bird was no friend of his. He +would rather not have heard its harsh note just at this time; and +he could have wished that the river did not look so inky black, or +that the trees did not cast such weird shadows.</p> +<p>But the tide ran strong beneath the overhanging bank, and +Cuthbert was carried onwards without any effort of his own. There +was something just a little uncanny in this swift force. It +reminded Cuthbert of relentless destiny sweeping him onward whether +or not he would go.</p> +<p>But it was too late to consider or turn back even if such had +been his desire. Already he began to see white gleams as of stone +work along the water's edge. The willow trees came to an end; a +wall bounded the river for fifty yards or more, and then there +arose before his eyes the structure of the lonely old house, +guarded by its giant elms--a house seeming to be actually built +upon the water itself, one door, as Cuthbert had been told, opening +upon the flight of steps which at high water were almost +covered.</p> +<p>It was well nigh high water now, and Cuthbert could bring the +prow of his boat to within a foot of the door. There were rings all +along the topmost step for the mooring of small craft, and he +quickly made fast his wherry and stood at the iron-clamped +portal.</p> +<p>How dark and silent and lonely the house looked, rising gaunt +and dim in the uncertain light! Who would choose such a spot for a +home? Surely only those whose deeds would not bear the light of +day. And why that deadly silence and torpor in a house inhabited by +human beings? It seemed unnatural and uncanny, and as a great white +owl swept by on silent wing with a hollow note of challenge, +Cuthbert felt a chill sense of coming ill creep through his veins +and run down his spine; and fearful lest his resolution should +desert him at the last, he raised his hand and gave the +thrice-repeated knock he had been taught by Father Urban.</p> +<p>He doubted if the signal would be heard. He could scarcely +believe that the house boasted any inhabitants, but soon he heard a +heavy yet cautious tread approach the door from the other side. +Some heavy bolts were drawn back, and the door was opened a little +way.</p> +<p>"Who is there?" asked a muffled voice.</p> +<p>"One wishful to see Master Robert Catesby."</p> +<p>"Why come to this back door, then? Why not approach the house by +the front way, like an honest man?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was rather taken aback by this question. He answered +with a touch of sharpness:</p> +<p>"I came the way I was bidden to come. If I am in fault, the +blame lies with him who sent me."</p> +<p>"And who is that?"</p> +<p>"Father Urban."</p> +<p>At the sound of that name the door was cautiously opened a +little further, and Cuthbert felt himself confronted by a man whose +face still remained in deep shadow.</p> +<p>"You come from Father Urban, and with a message to Robert +Catesby?"</p> +<p>"Not a message; a packet which methinks contains papers. I was +bidden to deliver them into no hand but his, and to destroy both +them and myself sooner than let them fall into alien hands."</p> +<p>At that the door opened wider yet, and Cuthbert could look along +a dark stone passage, at the end of which glowed a light. His +companion's first suspicions now appeared laid to rest.</p> +<p>"Come in, come in. Speak not thus aloud without, even at this +dead hour of dim loneliness. Men like ourselves stand in sore need +of every caution. Come in, and let me lock the door behind us. +There may be spies lurking even round these walls."</p> +<p>"Spies!" echoed Cuthbert, as he strode along the passage towards +the light. "I fear no spies; I have naught to conceal!"</p> +<p>But the other man was drawing the heavy bolts, and did not hear +this remark. He followed Cuthbert into the great vaulted kitchen, +which was illumined by a noble fire, the warmth of which was very +welcome to the youth after his chilly voyage on the river. There +was some cooking going on at the stove, and an appetizing odour +filled the air.</p> +<p>Cuthbert turned his curious glance upon the custodian of this +strange place, and saw a man who was evidently a gentleman, though +very plainly and simply dressed, and employed at this moment in +menial toil. He had a thin, worn face, and his eyes gleamed +brightly under their heavy brows. He looked like one who had seen +both trouble and suffering, and had grown somewhat reckless under +successive miseries,</p> +<p>He on his side was attentively regarding Cuthbert.</p> +<p>"Thy name, good youth?" he asked abruptly.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn," was the unhesitating rejoinder.</p> +<p>The lad had not yet learned the prudence of reticence in dealing +with strangers. He was neither ashamed of his errand nor of his +name.</p> +<p>"Trevlyn--Trevlyn. It is a good name, and I have heard it +before. I have heard Catesby speak of thee. So thou hast come with +papers for him? Art thou indeed to be one of us?"</p> +<p>The question was asked almost in a whisper, accompanied by a +very keen and searching glance. Cuthbert did not exactly know what +to make of it.</p> +<p>He shook his head as he replied:</p> +<p>"Nay, I know naught of that. I am but a messenger from Father +Urban, who was in sore straits but two days back, and well-nigh +fell into the hands of his foes with these papers upon him. I had +the good hap to help him to escape the peril; and as he was sore +hurt, he begged of me to carry them to Master Catesby and deliver +them with mine own hand. This have I come to do. He bid me seek +this house, for that I should likely find him here. If he be not +so, I pray you direct me where he may be found; for I have no mind +to return with my task unfulfilled, nor yet to carry about with me +these same papers an hour longer than need be."</p> +<p>"Heaven forfend!" ejaculated the custodian of the place with +unfeigned anxiety. "Father Urban in peril! Father Urban sore hurt! +We must know more of this business, and that without delay. Art +sure he is safe for the present? Art sure he hath not fallen into +the hands of the King's hirelings?"</p> +<p>"He is safe enow for the nonce."</p> +<p>"And where--where is he hidden?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert gave the man a keen look as he answered:</p> +<p>"That will I tell to none save Master Robert Catesby himself, +whom I know. You, good sir, are a stranger to me, albeit, I doubt +not, a very worthy gentleman."</p> +<p>The man's thin face lighted up with a gleam of approval.</p> +<p>"You are i' the right, young sir; you are i' the right of it," +he said. "In these days of peril and trouble men cannot walk too +warily. My name is Robert Kay, and the fate which has been your +father's has been mine, too. I have been ruined and beggared for my +devotion to my faith; and but for Master Robert Catesby and others +who have given me assistance and employment, I might well have +starved in some garret ere now. Yet I was gently born and nurtured, +and mine only cause of offence was the religion which but a +generation back all men in this realm honoured and loved. +Well-a-day! alack-a-day! we have fallen on evil times. Yet there is +still a God in the heavens above us, and our turn may come--yea, +our turn may come!"</p> +<p>The fierce wild gesture that accompanied these words recalled to +Cuthbert's mind the same sort of prediction and menace uttered by +Catesby on the night of their journey together over Hammerton +Heath. He felt at once a lively curiosity and a sense of awe and +repulsion; but he made no remark, and Kay quickly recovered +himself.</p> +<p>"It boots not to linger. We must to Catesby without delay. He +must hear your news, young man, and must learn of you the fate of +Father Urban. You will come with me to find him?"</p> +<p>"Very gladly, an you know where he is to be found."</p> +<p>A curious expression flitted across the man's face.</p> +<p>"Ay, that do I know well; nor is he far from here. We shall soon +reach him in that wherry of yours. He is but across the river at +Westminster, in the house of Thomas Percy, who has a lodging there +in right of his office and stewardship to my Lord of Northumberland."</p> +<p>Kay glanced rather keenly into Cuthbert's face as he spoke these +words, but they evoked no answering spark of intelligence, and +again the mask fell, leaving the face expressionless and weary as +before.</p> +<p>"I can take you across in my boat right well," answered +Cuthbert; "and the sooner we start the better I shall be pleased, +for I have a dark journey back tonight, and there be sentries on +the watch along the banks who may perchance ask somewhat too +curiously of my movements an I be detained late."</p> +<p>"Nay, then let us hurry," said Kay restlessly; "for Catesby will +not be back for many hours, and we must needs find him. I will but +tarry to get my cloak, and then we will to the boat."</p> +<p>He vanished as he spoke through an open door, and Cuthbert stood +looking inquisitively about him. There were several deep recesses +in this vault-like place, and in one of these were piled a large +number of small barrels, the contents of which Cuthbert guessed to +be wine or spirits. He was rather amused at the store thus got +together, and thought that Master Kay and his companions knew how +to enjoy themselves, even though they did lead lonely and troubled +lives. His eyes were still fixed upon the barrels when Kay +returned, and a smile hovered round the corners of his lips. The +man seemed to note the glance, and looked sharply at him.</p> +<p>"Thou knowest the meaning of those?" he said suddenly; and +Cuthbert smiled again as he answered readily:</p> +<p>"Ay, verily that do I."</p> +<p>That was all which then passed. Kay took up a lantern and led +the way. Cuthbert followed, and soon the door was unbarred and +barred again behind them, the wherry was pushed out into deep +water, and Cuthbert's strong arms were soon propelling it across +the river, Kay steering carefully, and with the air of a man well +used to the transit.</p> +<p>He cautioned quietness as they neared the shore, but in the +little creek where the boat was pushed up not a living thing was +seen. Another boat somewhat larger in build was already in the +creek, and there was a post to which craft could he made fast +whilst the owners landed. Kay dexterously performed this office, +and taking Cuthbert by the arm, bid him muffle his face in the +collar of his cloak, and walk cautiously and with circumspection. +They quickly reached the great block of buildings of which the +Houses of Parliament formed the most conspicuous feature; and +diving down a narrow entry, Kay paused suddenly before a low-browed +door, and gave the peculiar knock Cuthbert had learned from the +priest.</p> +<p>The door was quickly opened, and a rough head thrust forth.</p> +<p>"Who goes there?"</p> +<p>"It is I, good Bates--I and a gentleman--one of us--come on +business that brooks no delay with Master Robert Catesby. Go summon +thy master, good knave, without delay. It is needful this gentleman +speak with him at once."</p> +<p>Kay had been leading Cuthbert along a passage with the +familiarity of a friend of the house, whilst the serving man barred +the door, and answered somewhat gruffly, as though disturbed by the +interruption:</p> +<p>"Nay, if he is one of us, let him seek the master below. He is +there, and hard at work, and will not be best pleased at being +called away. I have but just come up myself. I am weary as a hunted +hare and thirsty as a fish in a desert. Find my master thyself, +Master Kay; I am no servant of thine."</p> +<p>Kay appeared in no way astonished at this rough answer. He went +on before without any remark, and Cuthbert, not knowing what else +to do, followed. Presently they reached the head of a long flight +of stairs that seemed to descend into the very heart of the earth, +and from below there arose strange hollow sounds--the sound of +blows steadily struck upon some hard substance; it seemed as though +they were struck upon the very rock itself.</p> +<p>Greatly amazed, and wondering not a little what it could mean, +Cuthbert paused at the head of this long flight, and saw his +companion prepare to descend; but just at that moment the sound of +blows ceased. A cry and confusion of voices arose, as if the +speakers were somewhere in the heart of the earth; and almost +immediately there dashed up the stairs a man with stained garments, +bloodshot eyes, and a white, scared face, crying out in fearful +terror:</p> +<p>"The bell! the bell! the tolling bell! God and the Holy Saints +protect us! It is our death knell--our death knell!"</p> +<p>Kay seized the man by the arm.</p> +<p>"What ails you, man? what is it?" he asked, quickly and sternly; +but at that moment the pale face of Robert Catesby appeared, and he +was followed by a tall bearded man of very soldierly bearing, who +said, in calm, authoritative accents:</p> +<p>"I have here some holy water, blessed by the Pope himself. If we +do but sprinkle the walls with that and bid the daring fiend cease, +all will be well. It is no work of God; it is a work of the devil, +striving to turn us aside from our laudable and righteous purpose. +Prove me if it be not so. If yon booming bell sounds again after +this holy water has been sprinkled, then will I own that it is God +fighting against us; but if it cease after this has been sprinkled, +then shall we know that heaven is on our side and only the powers +of darkness against us."</p> +<p>"So be it," answered Catesby, quickly and decisively; "thou +shalt make trial of it, good Guido. I trow we shall learn by that +token that God is on our side."</p> +<p>All this Cuthbert saw and heard, as he stood in the shadow at +the top of the stairs consumed by a burning curiosity. Something +had occurred of such overwhelming interest as to obliterate even +from Kay's mind for the moment the errand on which he had come, and +his presence in the house at this moment awoke no question amongst +the men assembled there, who were plainly otherwise engrossed. All +vanished again down the stairs, and Cuthbert stole after them with +cautious footfalls, too eager to discover what could be so moving +them to consider what he was doing.</p> +<p>It was easy to track, by their voices and the light they +carried, the men who had preceded him. The long flight of stairs +terminated in a long stone passage, deadly cold; and this led in +turn to a great cellar, at the far end of which a group of seven +men was assembled. They appeared to be standing round the entrance +to a small tunnel, and this tunnel they had plainly been making +themselves; for a number of tools for boring and picking lay about, +and the faces, hands, and clothes of the assembled party plainly +indicated the nature of their toil, albeit from their speech and +bearing it was plain that all were gentlemen.</p> +<p>Robert Catesby was sprinkling the walls of this tunnel with some +water, using words of supplication and exorcism, and his companions +stood bare headed around him. A great hush fell upon all as this +ceremony ceased, and all seemed to listen intently.</p> +<p>"There is no sound; the devil hath taken flight. I knew how it +would be!" spoke the tall dark man exultantly. "And now, comrades, +to work again, for we have heard the last of our knell tonight. No +powers of darkness can stand before the charm of His Holiness's +power."</p> +<p>With an air of relief and alacrity the gentlemen seized their +tools, and again the hollow or ringing sounds commenced to sound in +that dim place; but Kay had plucked Robert Catesby by the sleeve, +and was whispering some words in his ear.</p> +<p>Catesby turned quickly round, made a few strides towards the +staircase, and then catching sight of Cuthbert, stopped short, and +seized Kay by the arm.</p> +<p>"Fool!" he cried, in a low, hissing tone, "what possessed you to +bring him here? We are undone!"</p> +<p>"Nay, but he knows; he is one of us."</p> +<p>"He is not; it is a lie! If he said so, he is a foul spy!"</p> +<p>And then striding up to Cuthbert with eyes that gleamed +murderously, he looked into the youth's face, and suddenly the fury +died out of his own.</p> +<p>"Why, it is Cuthbert Trevlyn! Good luck to you, good youth! I +had feared I know not what. But thou art stanch and true; thou art +a chip of the old block. If it had to be some one, better thee than +any other. Boy, thou hast seen a sight tonight that must have +awakened thy curiosity. Swear to secrecy--swear to reveal +nothing--and I will tell thee all."</p> +<p>"Nay, tell me nothing," answered Cuthbert firmly; "I love not +mysteries. I would fain forget all I have heard and seen. Let me +tell thee of Father Urban--let me give thee his letters; but tell +me naught in return. I will not know--I will not."</p> +<p>Cuthbert spoke with sudden vehemence. He and Catesby were +mounting the stairs together. As they reached the dim vestibule +above, Catesby took him by the arm and looked him searchingly in +the face, as he said:</p> +<p>"Maybe thou art in the right. It may be better so. But thou must +swear one thing ere thou goest hence, and that is--to reveal to no +living soul what thou hast seen this night. Know, boy, that if thou +wilt not swear this--"</p> +<p>But Cuthbert shook himself free, and looked proudly at his +interlocutor.</p> +<p>"Nay, threaten me not, good Master Catesby, else I may be moved +to defy thee and thy power. For the goodwill I bear thee, and for +that I loathe and abhor those craven souls who will betray their +fellow men to prison and death, I will give thee my word of honour +to hold sacred all that I have seen and heard in this house this +night. I know not what it means, nor do I desire to know. Be it for +good or be it for ill, it is thy secret, not mine, and with me it +is safe. But I will not be threatened nor coerced--no, not by any +man. What I will not give for friendship and brotherly love, no man +shall wrest from me through fear."</p> +<p>Catesby looked at the lad with his flashing eyes and +proudly-held head, and a smile illuminated his features. Whether or +not his companions would have been satisfied with this pledge, he +himself was content, and with a kindly grip of the hand he +said:</p> +<p>"Enough, boy, enough! I like thy spirit, and I ask thy pardon +for dreaming of treating thee in any unworthy fashion. And now let +us talk of Father Urban and what has befallen him; and give to me +these papers of which thou hast been such a careful custodian."</p> +<p>An hour later, Cuthbert's wherry floated out into midstream once +more, and swiftly sped along the dark water, propelled by a pair of +strong young arms. Could any have seen the rower's face, it would +have been seen to be grave and rather pale. The lights of the +bridge beginning to gleam ahead of him as he looked over his +shoulder, Cuthbert muttered to himself:</p> +<p>"This has been a strange night's work, and there be more in all +than I can rightly understand. Pray Heaven I be not further +entangled in such mysteries and secrets! Well did the wise woman +bid me beware of underground cellars. Would I had never been into +that ill place this night!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch12" id="Ch12">12</a>: May Day In The +Forest.</h2> +<p>"Canst put up with my company, good Cuthbert? for I have a mind +to travel with thee."</p> +<p>Cuthbert turned quickly as these words fell upon his ear, and +found himself face to face with a gay-looking youth dressed all in +forester's green, whom at first he took for a stranger, till the +young man with a laugh removed his wide-brimmed hat, so that the +evening light fell full upon his handsome boyish face; and Cuthbert +exclaimed, with a start of surprise:</p> +<p>"Verily, it is Lord Culverhouse!"</p> +<p>"And thy very good cousin, Cuthbert Trevlyn," said the Viscount, +as he linked his arm within that of his would-be comrade. "So let +there be no more ceremony betwixt thee and me; for we are both bent +upon a merry time in the forest, and we will fare forth thither +together as brothers and friends."</p> +<p>"With all my heart," answered Cuthbert warmly; for he loved +companionship, and greatly liked what he had seen of Kate's cousin +and lover, the gay and handsome Lord Culverhouse. He had been once +or twice recently to the great house in the Strand, generally +rowing himself up to the garden steps, and sometimes taking the +Viscount upon the river with him. In this way they had struck up a +certain friendliness and intimacy; and Cuthbert had spoken to Lord +Culverhouse of his proposed visit to the forest on May Day, +although without explaining to him the real and chief object of +that journey. Culverhouse had not at the time expressed any desire +to accompany him, though he had asked a good many questions +respecting the forest and the forest fetes held upon that day. +Cuthbert had observed an unwonted animation in his eyes as he had +done so; but nothing in the young nobleman's manner had prepared +him for this freak on his part, and he had actually failed at the +first moment to recognize this fanciful figure in its smart +forester's dress when first saluted by the wearer. But he was glad +enough of the meeting, and the proposition of travelling in company +was very welcome, though he still had one qualm to set at rest.</p> +<p>"I only go on foot, my lord. Doubtless you have a horse in +waiting, and will soon outride me."</p> +<p>"A horse! not I. I have neither beast nor man in waiting. I +travel alone and on foot, and for the nonce am no more Lord +Culverhouse, but only Rupert de Grey--thy trusty comrade +Rupert--and a would-be follower of bold Robin Hood, did he but hold +his court with his merry, merry men in the free forest now. See, I +wear his livery. I feel as free as air. I marvel I never thought of +such a masquerade before. We will have a right merry time this +joyous springtide. How long dost thou purpose to remain in the +greenwood thyself?"</p> +<p>"I know not," answered Cuthbert, as the pair strode southward +together, quickly leaving behind the last houses of London, and +striking away in the direction of the forest whither both were +bound. It was the last day in April: the soft south wind was +blowing in their faces, the trees were beginning to hang out their +tassels of tender green, the hawthorn was bursting into bloom and +filling the air with its fragrance. It was, in fact, the eve of one +of those old-fashioned May Days which seem utterly to have gone by +now, and all nature was rejoicing in the sweet exaltation of the +happy springtide, full of the promises of the golden summer to +come.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's heart swelled with delight as he looked about him and +felt that the strife and bustle of the great city were at last +shaken off. In spite of the spell exercised upon him by the life of +London, he had for some weeks been pining like a caged bird for the +freedom of the country again, the vault of the sky alone above him, +the songs of the birds in his ears. The spring had brought to him +yearnings and desires which he scarcely understood, and latterly he +had been counting the days which must pass ere he should find +himself in the forest once again.</p> +<p>In his uncle's house matters were growing a little strained. +Martin Holt undoubtedly suspected something of the matter betwixt +him and Cherry, and as plainly disapproved. He looked upon Cherry +as promised to her cousin Jacob, and doubtless he thought the +steady, plodding, slow-witted son of the house of Dyson a far safer +husband for his feather-brained youngest than handsome Cuthbert +Trevlyn, with his gentler birth, his quick and keen intelligence, +and his versatile, inquiring mind, which was always inclining him +to meddle in matters better left alone, and to judge for himself +with an independence that was perilous in times like these. Not +that Martin Holt was himself averse to independence of judgment, +rather the reverse; but he knew the dangers besetting the path of +those who were resolved to think and judge for themselves, and he +would fain have seen his youngest and dearest child safely made +over to the care of one who would be content to go through life +without asking troublesome questions or intermeddling with matters +of danger and difficulty, and would conform to all laws, civil and +religious, without a qualm, recognizing the King's will as supreme +in all matters, temporal and spiritual, without a doubt or a +scruple. Cherry would be safe with Jacob, that was Martin's +feeling, whilst with Cuthbert he could have no such security. +Cuthbert had still his way to make in the world, and it had not yet +appeared that he would be of any use in business matters. He was +clever with his pen. He was a good scholar, and had been able to +make himself useful to his uncle in a number of small matters where +his quickness and sharp wits had room to work. He was also of no +small use in the matter of the building and fitting up of the new +sloop, in which he took such keen interest. He would go over every +bit of the work, comparing it with what he saw in other vessels, +and learning quickly to distinguish good workmanship from bad. He +became so ready of resource and suggestion when any small +difficulty occurred, that both Martin Holt and Abraham Dyson +learned to think exceedingly well of his abilities, and employed +him largely in matters where quickness of observation and +apprehension was wanted. But for all that, and despite the fact +that he had earned some considerable sum of money (as he reckoned +it) during the winter and spring months, he had shown no great +desire to settle himself down to any steady occupation or trade, +and neither of the elder men saw any opening for him that should +give him regular and permanent occupation.</p> +<p>"He has too much of the gay gallant about him for my taste," +Abraham would say. "He is more Trevlyn than Holt; and some folks +say more Wyvern than Trevlyn. Be that as it may, he is a gentleman +to the fingertips; and one might as well try to tame an eagle as +set him down to the round of work that comes natural to lads like +Jacob."</p> +<p>And Martin Holt would nod assent, feeling that there was +something about his sister's son that would never assimilate with +the life of a merchant tradesman. He liked his nephew, and thought +well of him in many ways; but he was not sorry to receive his +request for leave to revisit his old haunts and his own kindred +when the long spring days were upon the world; and he bid the lad +please himself for the future, and return or not as he best liked. +There was the gold to be given up to him when he should make formal +claim for it. Martin had satisfied himself by now that he was +worthy to be intrusted with it; but Cuthbert intended Petronella to +have the bulk of that, so that she might wed Philip, if they were +both inclined that way. As for himself, he was still bent on +finding the lost treasure of Trevlyn, and he had vowed the whole of +the long summer to the search, resolved that he would find it, be +the perils and perplexities what they might.</p> +<p>So that although he saw by his uncle's manner that he was not +especially anxious to see him back soon, and shrewdly guessed that +this was in part on Cherry's account, he did not let the matter +distress him. When good Jacob had had his turn, and had failed in +winning Cherry's hand, and when he himself should return laden with +the treasure which should enable him to place his little love in a +nest in all ways worthy of her, surely then his uncle would give +her up to him without opposition. This was how he spoke to Cherry, +comforting her as the hour for his departure drew near, and vowing +eternal constancy and unchanging love. He was beginning to feel +that he was doing his cause more harm than good by lingering on, +unable to declare himself, yet betraying himself, as he often felt, +in a hundred little nameless ways. It would be better for all when +the wrench was finally made; and neither he nor Cherry doubted for +a moment that he would be successful in his search, and would come +riding up at last to the house on the bridge, the gayest of gay +gallants, to claim Cherry in the sight of all, lifting her upon his +horse, and riding away with her in the fashion of the bold knights +of old, whose deeds of prowess they both so greatly admired.</p> +<p>It was this brilliant prospect of glory to come which consoled +Cherry and reconciled her to the parting of the present. Hard as it +would be to live without Cuthbert, she would strive to do so in the +thought that he would come again ere long and take her away for +ever from the life which was becoming odious to her, she scarce +knew why. So they had parted in hope as well as in sorrow, and +Cuthbert felt all his elasticity of spirit returning to him as he +strode along by his unexpected comrade's side.</p> +<p>"I know not how long I shall be absent from London," he said in +answer to Culverhouse's question. "There be many things depending +on that. I have set myself a task, and I know not how long a time +it will take to accomplish. And you, my good lord, how goes it with +you? Are you about to visit Trevlyn Chase, as you will be thus +near, and see your kinsfolks there?"</p> +<p>"Call me not good lord, call me Rupert, as I have bidden thee +before!" was the quick response, as a flush dyed for the moment the +smooth fair cheek of the Viscount. "Cuthbert, since we are to +travel together, I must needs tell thee my secret. I am not bound +for Trevlyn Chase. My father has forbidden me for the nonce to +visit there, not for any ill will he bears our kinsfolk, but--but +that--"</p> +<p>"But that he fears the bright eyes of Mistress Kate, and hopes +by keeping you apart to help thee to forget? Is it not so, +Rupert?"</p> +<p>"Marry, thou hast well guessed. Or has it been no guess? Hast +thou heard aught?"</p> +<p>"My cousin Kate herself told me somewhat of it," answered +Cuthbert; "but she laughed to scorn the artifice. She is not made +of the stuff that forgets."</p> +<p>"Heaven's blessing be upon her for a true-hearted maiden!" cried +Culverhouse, with a lover's easily-stirred enthusiasm. "Cuthbert, +since thou knowest so much, thou shalt know more. I have made shift +to write to Kate about this purpose of mine to visit the forest +glades on blithe May Day; and she has sent me a little missive, +fresh and sweet and dainty like herself, to tell me that she will +ride forth herself into the forest that day, and giving the slip to +her sisters or servants, or any who may accompany her, will meet me +without fail in a certain dell that doubtless I shall find from the +directions she gives. There is a giant yew tree in the midst that +would hide six men in its hollow trunk, and a laughing streamlet +circles well-nigh round it. She tells me it has got the name of +Oberon's Horseshoe."</p> +<p>"I know the place well," answered Cuthbert. "I can guide thee +thither. So Mistress Kate will meet thee there! It is like her. She +has a daring spirit. I would I could help her to her dowry."</p> +<p>"Her dowry! thou!" echoed Culverhouse in surprise; and then as +they walked onwards through the dewy night, Cuthbert could not but +tell a little of his purpose to the comrade who had intrusted him +with his own secret; and Culverhouse listened with the greatest +interest, albeit without quite the same sanguine hope of success +that Cuthbert himself entertained. Still, he was of opinion that a +patient search and inquiry instituted by an obscure lad like +Cuthbert, used to rough ways and the life of the forest, would be +more likely to succeed than one set on foot by any person better +known. If the old tradition were true that the gipsies had hidden +the gold again in spite, it was possible that after this lapse of +time the old hatred would have died out, and that somebody might be +willing to betray the precious secret for a sufficient reward. At +any rate Cuthbert's idea of living in the forest and cultivating +and studying these strange folk was amply worth a trial. If his +quest succeeded, the whole Trevlyn family would be once more +wealthy and prosperous; if not, no harm would have been done, and +the youth would have enjoyed his free life and new experiences +after the winter spent in the confinement of the great city.</p> +<p>The travellers walked on through the twilight and until long +after moonrise. They had put a good twelve miles between them and +London before they talked of halting. They had no intention of +seeking shelter for the night in any wayside hostelry. A hollow +tree would give them all the cover they needed, and both had +brought with them such supply of provision as would render them +independent of chance hospitality for twenty-four hours at +least.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's quick eyes soon sought out the sort of resting place +they desired--a great oak, into whose hollowed trunk the dead +leaves had drifted, and were now piled up into a soft heap. Lying +luxuriously upon this easy couch, the two travellers took such +refreshment as each needed; and as Cuthbert saw in the distance +before them the bold outlines of the high ground, part of which +went by the name of Hammerton Heath, he recounted to his companion +his adventure there the November previous, and by what means he had +saved his purse from the hands of the robbers.</p> +<p>Culverhouse listened to the story, and when it was done he +said:</p> +<p>"Take heed, good Cuthbert, that thou dost not meet with a worse +mischance than the loss of thy purse. I would sooner have mine +filched from me by freebooters than owe aught to Robert Catesby +that could give him any claim upon me."</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked up quickly. Since that night when he had +delivered the papers to Catesby, and had seen and heard so much +that was mysterious, he had gradually let the strange incident slip +from his memory. Nothing had occurred to recall it, or to render +him in any wise uneasy. He had seen nothing of Catesby or his +companions. Father Urban had said that they had all dispersed into +the country. He himself shortly took leave of the Coles, and was +taken off by a boat on a dark night to reach a vessel about to +start for Spain. The whole incident seemed more like a dream than a +reality now; and Cuthbert's vague sense of uneasiness had by this +time died quite away.</p> +<p>"What dost thou mean?" he asked, as the Viscount's words fell on +his ear.</p> +<p>"No more than this, that yon Catesby is a dangerous man. I know +naught against him, save that he is a Papist of the type I like +not--a plotting, designing, desperate type, that ofttimes injure +themselves far more than they injure others, yet too often drag +their friends and those who trust them to destruction with +them--and all for some wild and foolish design which they have not +the wits to carry through, and against which Heaven itself fights +to its overthrow. Have no dealings with this same Catesby, good +Cuthbert; thou wilt rue it an thou dost."</p> +<p>"I am not like to see him again," answered Cuthbert slowly. "He +is gone I know not whither. If men look thus darkly upon him, +doubtless he will not adventure himself in London again."</p> +<p>"I know not how that may be. My father hath heard disquieting +rumours of late, and the name of Robert Catesby is mingled in all +of them. However, he speaks little to me of matters of state. Men +in high places are for ever hearing whispers and rumours, and it +boots not to give over-much credence to every idle tale. Only, what +thou spakest of this Catesby recalled the matter to my mind. He is +a man to fear, to avoid. He has a way with him that wins men's +hearts; yet it is but the fatal fascination of the glittering +snake, that snares the fluttering bird to its destruction. So, at +least, I have heard."</p> +<p>Cuthbert made no direct reply. He would have liked to tell +Culverhouse of the incident of the lonely house on the river, and +the dark cellar in which Catesby and others had been at work; but +his tongue was bound by his promise. Moreover, the hour for sleep +was at hand, and the travellers, wrapping themselves in their +cloaks and stretching their limbs upon their soft couch, were soon +lost in the land of dreams.</p> +<p>The following morning dawned as fair and clear and bright as +heart could wish. It was just such a May Day as one pictures in +reading of those old-time festivities incident to that joyous +season. And the forest that day was alive with holiday makers and +rustic folks, enjoying themselves to the full in all the green +glades and bosky dells. Culverhouse and Cuthbert found it hard to +push along upon their way into the heart of the forest, so +attractive were the scenes enacted in every little clearing that +had become the site of a tiny hamlet or village, so full of +hospitality to wayfarers was every house they passed, and so merry +were the dances being footed on the greensward, in which every +passer by was expected to take a part.</p> +<p>Culverhouse, in his green forester's dress, daintily faced with +silver, a silver hunting horn slung round his neck, was an object +of universal admiration, and the fact that he was plainly some +wealthy gentleman masquerading and playing a part did not in any +way detract from the interest his appearance excited. His merry, +courteous ways and well-turned compliments won the hearts of +maidens and matrons alike, whilst his deft and elegant dancing was +the admiration of all who watched; and he was besought on all hands +to stay, and found no small difficulty in pursuing his way into the +forest itself.</p> +<p>However, they had made an early start, and as they drew near to +the denser part of the wood interruptions became less frequent, and +presently ceased altogether. Cuthbert found a track he knew which +led straight to the trysting place with Kate; and though from time +to time the travellers heard distant sounds of mirth and revelry +proceeding from the right hand or the left, they did not come upon +any groups of gipsies or freebooters, who were doubtless enjoying +the day after their own fashion, and the two pursued their way +rapidly and without molestation.</p> +<p>"This is the place," said Cuthbert at length, as the underwood +grew thick and tangled and the path became almost lost. "And see, +yonder is a lady's palfrey tethered to a tree. Mistress Kate is the +first at the tryst. Go down thither to her, and I will wait here +and guard her steed; for there be many afoot in the forest this +day, and all may not be so bent on pleasure taking that they will +not wander about in search of gain, and a fair palfrey like yon +would be no small prize."</p> +<p>Culverhouse readily consented to this arrangement, and for some +time Cuthbert was left to a solitary enjoyment of the forest. He +caressed the horse, which responded with great gentleness and +goodwill; and then he lay down in luxurious ease, his hands crossed +behind his head, his face turned upwards towards the clear blue of +the sunny sky, seen through the delicate tracery of the bursting +buds of elm and beech. It was a perfect feast for eye and ear to +lie thus in the forest, listening to the songs of the birds, and +watching the play of light and shadow. Fresh from the roar and the +bustle of the city, Cuthbert enjoyed it as a thirsty traveller in +the desert enjoys a draught of clear cold water from a spring. He +was almost sorry when at last the sound of voices warned him that +the lovers' stolen interview was at an end, and that they were +approaching him at last.</p> +<p>Kate's bright face was all alight with happiness and joy as she +appeared, holding fast to her lover's arm. She greeted Cuthbert +with the prettiest air of cousinly affection, asked of himself and +his welfare with undisguised interest, and then told them of some +rustic sports being held at a village only three miles distant, and +begged Culverhouse to take her to see the spectacle. She had set +her heart upon it all day, and there would be no danger of her +being seen in the crowd sure to be assembled there to witness the +sights. Her sisters had no love for such shows, and nobody would be +greatly troubled at her hardihood in escaping from the escort of +her servants. She was always doing the like, and no harm had ever +befallen her. Her father was wont to call her his Madcap, and her +mother sometimes chided, and feared she would come to ill by her +wild freaks; but she had always turned up safe and sound, and her +independent ways had almost ceased to excite comment or uneasiness. +On May Day, when all the world was abroad and in good humour, they +would trouble still less on her account. Kate had no fear of being +overtaken and brought back, and had set her heart on going with +Culverhouse to this village fete and fair. She had heard much of +it, yet had never seen it. Sure this was the very day on which to +go.</p> +<p>Culverhouse would have gone to the moon with her had she asked +it--or would at least have striven to do so--and his assent was +cordially given. Cuthbert knew the place well; and Kate was quickly +mounted on the palfrey, Culverhouse walking at her bridle-rein, +whilst Cuthbert walked on ahead to choose the safest paths, and +warn them of any peril in the road. He could hear scraps of +lover-like dialogue, that sent his heart back to Cherry, and made +him long to have her beside him; but that being impossible, he gave +himself up to the enjoyment of the present, and found pleasure in +everything about him.</p> +<p>He had been before to this gay fair, held every May Day, to +which all the rustic folks from far and near flocked with one +accord. He knew well the look of the tents and booths, the bright +dresses of the women, the feats of skill and strength carried on +between the younger men, the noise, the merriment, the revelry that +towards sundown became almost an orgie.</p> +<p>But in the bright noon-day light all was at its best. Kate was +delighted with everything, especially with the May Queen upon her +throne, surrounded by her attendant maidens in their white holiday +dresses, with their huge posies in their hands. This was the place +for love making, and it attracted the lovers not a little. +Cuthbert, who undertook to tie up the horse in some safe place, and +then wandered alone through the shifting throng, found them still +upon the green when he rejoined them after his ramble. Plainly +there was something of interest greater than before going on in +this quarter. People were flocking to the green, laughing, +chattering, and questioning. Blushing girls were being led along by +their ardent swains; some were protesting, others laughing. +Cuthbert could not make out what it was all about, and presently +asked a countryman why the folks were all in such a coil.</p> +<p>"Why? because the priest has come, and all who will may be wed +by him. He comes like this every May Day, and he stands in the +church porch, and he weds all who come to him for a silver +sixpence, and asks no questions. Half our folks are so wed year by +year, for there be no priest or parson here this many years, not +since the last one was hunted to death by good Queen Bess--Heaven +rest her soul! The church is well nigh falling to pieces as it +stands; but the porch is the best part of it, and the priest who +comes says it is consecrated ground, and so he can use it for his +weddings. That is what the coil is about, young sir. You be a +stranger in these parts, I take it?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was not quite a stranger, but he had never heard before +of these weddings.</p> +<p>"Are they lawfully wed whom he marries?" he asked; but the man +only shook his head.</p> +<p>"Nay, as for that I know naught, nor do any of the folks +hereabouts neither. But he is a priest, and he says the right +words, and joins their hands and calls them man and wife. No man +can do more so far as my poor wits tell me. Most of our young +folks--ay, and some of the old ones too--have been married that +fashion, and I can't see that there is aught amiss with them. They +be as happy and comfortable as other folks."</p> +<p>Cuthbert moved on with the interested crowd to see these +haphazard weddings. It was plain that the marrying of a number of +young couples was looked upon as part of the May Day sports. It was +a pretty enough sight to see some of the flower-crowned blushing +girls in their festal white, led along by their gaily-bedecked +swains in the direction of the church, which was hard by the open +village green. Some other importunate youths were eagerly pleading +their cause, and striving to drag their mistresses to the nuptial +altar amid the laughter and encouragement of the bystanders. +Cuthbert moved along in search of his companions, greatly amused by +all he saw and heard; and presently he caught sight of Kate and +Culverhouse standing together close beside the church, half hidden +within a small embrasure enclosed between two buttresses. Her face +was covered with brilliant blushes, whilst he had hold of her hand, +and seemed to be pleading with her with impassioned earnestness. As +Cuthbert approached he heard these words:</p> +<p>"Nay, sweetest Kate, why hold back? Have we not loved each other +faithfully and long? Why dost thou fear?"</p> +<p>"O Culverhouse, methinks it would be wrong. How can we know that +such wedlock would be lawful? Methinks my mother would break her +heart did she think the knot had been thus loosely tied."</p> +<p>"Nay, but, Kate, thou scarce takest my meaning as yet. This +pledge given betwixt us before yon priest would be to us but the +betrothal troth plight. I doubt myself whether such wedlock would +be lawful; nor would I dare to call thee my wife did none but he +tie the knot. But listen, sweet coz: if we go before him and thus +plight our troth and join our hands together, none will dare to bid +us wed another. It will be too solemn a pledge to be lightly +broken. Men think gravely of such matters as solemn betrothal, and +in days to come if they should urge upon thee or me to wed with +another, we have but to tell of what was done this day, and they +will cease to strive to come between us more.</p> +<p>"O sweetest mistress, fairest Kate, let us not part today +without some pledge of mutual faith and constancy! Let me hold this +little hand and place my token on thy finger; then be the time of +waiting never so long, I shall know that at last I may call thee +mine before all the world!"</p> +<p>Kate was quivering, blushing, trembling with excitement, though +not with fear; for she loved Culverhouse too completely to feel +aught but the most perfect confidence in him and his honour and +faith.</p> +<p>"If only I could be sure it was not wrong!" she faltered.</p> +<p>"Wrong to plight thy hand, when thy heart is long since given?" +he asked, with tender playfulness. "Where can the wrong be +there?"</p> +<p>"I know not. I would fain be altogether thine. But what would my +father and mother say?"</p> +<p>It was plain already that she was yielding. Culverhouse drew her +tenderly towards him.</p> +<p>"Nay, sweet coz, there be times when the claim of the parent +must give place to the closer claim of the lover, the husband. Does +not Scripture itself tell us as much? Trust me, I speak for our +best good. Let us but go together before this priest and speak the +words that, said in church, would make us man and wife, and none +will dare to keep us apart for ever, or bid us wed with another. +Such words must be binding upon the soul, be the legal bond little +or much. It is hard to say what the force of such a pledge may be; +but well I know that neither my father nor thine would dare to try +to break it, once they were told how and when it had been made. +Thou wilt be mine for ever, Kate, an thou wilt do this thing."</p> +<p>The temptation was too great to be resisted. To plight her troth +thus to Culverhouse, in a fashion which might not be wholly ignored +or set aside, was a thing but too congenial to the daring and +ardent temperament of the girl. With but a few more quivers of +hesitation she let herself be persuaded; and Culverhouse, turning +round with a radiant smile of triumph, saw that Cuthbert was +standing beside them, sympathy and interest written upon his +face.</p> +<p>"Thou wilt be witness to our espousals, good cousin," he said +gaily, as he led his betrothed to the porch, where the crowd made +way for them right and left, seeing well the purpose for which +these gentlefolks had come. It pleased them mightily that this fine +young forester with his air of noble birth, and this high-born +maiden in her costly riding dress, should condescend to come before +the priest here in their own little church porch, and plight their +troth as their own young folks were doing.</p> +<p>A hush of eager expectation fell upon the crowd as Culverhouse +led his betrothed love before the priest; and when the ring, bought +from an old peddler who always attended at such times and found +ready sale for his wares, was placed on Kate's slim finger, a +murmur of applause and sympathy ran through the crowd, and Kate +quivered from head to foot at the thought of her own daring.</p> +<p>The thing was done. She and Culverhouse had plighted themselves +in a fashion solemn enough to hinder any person from trying to make +light of their betrothal. Right or wrong, the deed was done, and +neither looked as though he or she wished the words unsaid.</p> +<p>But Kate dared not linger longer. Cuthbert fetched her palfrey, +and Culverhouse lifted her to the saddle; and hiring a steed from a +farmer for a brief hour, promising to bring it back in time for the +good man to jog home again at dusk, the newly-plighted pair rode +off into the forest together, he promising to see her to within +sight of her own home before taking a last adieu.</p> +<p>Cuthbert stood looking after them with a smile on his lips.</p> +<p>"Now, if Heaven will but speed my quest and give me happy +success, I trow those twain may yet be wed again, no man saying +them nay; for if sweet Mistress Kate can but bring with her the +dower the treasure will afford, none will forbid the union: she +will be welcomed by Lord Andover as a fitting wife for his son and +heir!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch13" id="Ch13">13</a>: The Gipsy's +Tryst.</h2> +<p>"This is surely the spot. Methinks she will not fail me. +Moonrise was the hour she named. I will wait with what patience I +may till she comes to keep the tryst."</p> +<p>So said Cuthbert to himself as, at the close of that long and +varied day, he stood at the mouth of a natural cave, half hidden by +tangled undergrowth, which had been appointed months ago by Joanna +the gipsy as the place where on May Day evening she would meet him, +and tell him more of the matter so near to his heart.</p> +<p>Culverhouse and he had parted company when the former had +escorted towards her home the lady of his choice, to whom his troth +had been so solemnly plighted a short while before. The young +Viscount was going to make his way rapidly to London again; but +Cuthbert purposed a long stay in the forest. The search for the +lost treasure might be a matter of weeks, possibly of months. But +he was very well resolved not to give it up until the search had +been pursued with unabated zeal to the last extremity, and he +himself was fully satisfied as to its fate. Nothing but actual +knowledge that it had been dissipated and dispersed should induce +him to abandon the quest.</p> +<p>Standing at the mouth of the cave, leaning against the rocky +wall, and enjoying the deep solitude of the forest and its tranquil +stillness, Cuthbert revolved many matters in his mind, and it +seemed more certain than ever that the finding of the treasure +alone could save him and many that he loved from manifold +difficulties and perplexities. How that treasure would smooth the +path and bring happiness and ease to the Trevlyn family! Surely it +was well worth a more vigorous search than had long been made! +Cuthbert took from his pocket the bit of parchment containing the +mystic words of the wise woman, or her familiar spirit, and perused +them again and again, albeit he knew them well nigh by heart.</p> +<p>"Thou art here! It is well."</p> +<p>Cuthbert started at the sound of the rich, deep tones, and found +himself confronted by the queenly-looking gipsy. He had not heard +her approach. She seemed to have risen from the very ground at his +feet. But he was scarcely surprised. She had the air of one who +could come and go at will even upon the wings of the wind.</p> +<p>"I am here," answered Cuthbert, making a courteous salutation. +"I thank thee that thou hast not forgotten the tryst."</p> +<p>"I never forget aught, least of all a promise," answered Joanna, +with her queenly air of dignity. "I come to strive to do my share +to atone a wrong and render restitution where it is due. What paper +is that, boy, that thou studiest with such care?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert handed her the scrap of parchment. He did not know if +she would have learning to decipher it; but the writing appeared to +have no difficulties for her. She read the words in the clear light +of the May evening, albeit the sun had set and the crescent moon +was hanging like a silver lamp in the sky; and as she did so she +started slightly, and fixed a keenly penetrating glance upon +Cuthbert.</p> +<p>"Where didst thou get these lines, boy?"</p> +<p>"They were given me by a wise woman, whom I consulted to see if +she could aid me in this matter."</p> +<p>"A wise woman! And where didst thou find her?"</p> +<p>"In London town, where she practises her arts, and many come +unto her by secret. She is veritably that which she professes, for +she told me the object of my quest ere I had told mine errand to +her."</p> +<p>"But thou hadst told her thy name?"</p> +<p>"Yes, verily, I had done that."</p> +<p>"And knowing that, she divined all. Verily thou hast seen Esther +the witch! And this was all she knew--this was all she knew!"</p> +<p>Joanna's head was bent over the parchment. Her eyes were full of +fire. Her words seemed addressed rather to herself than to +Cuthbert, and they excited his ardent curiosity.</p> +<p>"And who is Esther? and dost thou know her? thou speakest as if +thou didst."</p> +<p>"All of us forest gipsies know Esther well. She is one of us, +though she has left the forest to dwell in cities. According to the +language of men, she is my aunt. She is sister to old Miriam, whom +thou sawest in the forest mill, and who would have done thee to +death an I had not interposed to save thee. And Miriam is my +mother, albeit I am her queen, and may impose my will on her."</p> +<p>"And does she know aught of the lost treasure?" asked Cuthbert, +with eager impatience.</p> +<p>"I had hoped she did," answered Joanna slowly, her eyes still +bent on the paper. "I have seen her myself since I saw thee last. I +have spoken with her on this same matter. I could not draw from her +what I strove to do; but I see now that I prepared the way, and +that when thou didst go by chance to her, she was ready for thee. +But if this is all she knows, it goes not far. Still it may +help--it may help. In a tangled web, no one may say which will be +the thread which patiently followed may unravel the skein."</p> +<p>"Belike she knows more than she would say," suggested Cuthbert +quickly. "If she can look into the future, sure she may look into +the past likewise--"</p> +<p>But Joanna stopped him by a strange gesture.</p> +<p>"Peace, foolish boy! Thinkest thou if gipsy lore could unravel +the riddle, that it had not long ago become known to me? We have +our gifts, our powers, our arts, and well we know how to use them +be it for good or ill. But we know full well what the limits are. +And if men know it not, it is more their blindness than our skill +that keeps them in ignorance. And if they give us more praise and +wonder than we merit, do they not also give us hatred and enmity in +like meed? Have we not gone through fire and sword when men have +risen up against us and called us sorcerers? Have we not suffered +for our reputation; and do we not therefore deserve to wear it with +what honour we may?"</p> +<p>The woman spoke with a strange mixture of bitterness, +earnestness, and scorn--scorn, as it seemed, almost of herself and +of her tribe, yet a scorn so proudly worn that it scarce seemed +other than a mark of distinction to the wearer. Cuthbert listened +in amaze and bewilderment. It was all so different from what he had +looked for. He had hoped to consult an oracle, to learn hidden +secrets of which the gipsies had cognizance through their +mysterious gifts; and, behold, he was almost told that these same +gifts were little more than the idle imagining of superstitious and +ignorant men.</p> +<p>"Then canst thou tell me nothing?" he asked.</p> +<p>"I can tell thee much," was the steady answer, "albeit not all +that thou wouldst know; that will still be thine to track out with +patience and care. But these lines may help; they may contain a +clue. I wonder how and where Esther learned them! But come within +the cave. The evening air grows chill, and I and thou have both +walked far, and stand in need of refreshment. All is ready for us +within. Come; I will lead the way."</p> +<p>Joanna stepped on before, and Cuthbert followed. He had thought +the cave a small and shallow place before, but now he discovered +that this shallow cavity in the rock was but the antechamber, as it +were, to a larger cavern, where twenty men might sit or lie at +ease; and the entrance to this larger place was through a passage +so narrow and low that none who did not know the secret would think +it possible to traverse it.</p> +<p>Cuthbert wondered if he were letting himself be taken in a trap +as he followed the gipsy through this narrow way; but he trusted +Joanna with the confidence of instinct which is seldom deceived, +and presently felt that they had emerged into some larger and wider +place. In a few moments the gipsy had produced a light, and the +proportions of the larger cavern became visible. It was a vaulted +place that had been hollowed out of the ruddy sandstone either by +some freak of nature or by the device of men, and had plainly been +adapted by the wandering gipsy tribes as a place of refuge and +resort. There were several rude pieces of furniture about--a few +pallet beds, some benches, and a table. On this table was now +spread the wherewithal for a modest repast--some cold venison, some +wheaten bread, a piece of cheese, and a flagon of wine. Cuthbert, +who had fared but scantily all that day, was ready enough to obey +the gipsy's hospitable invitation, and seated himself at the board. +She helped him liberally to all that was there, but appeared to +want nothing herself; and whilst Cuthbert satisfied his hunger she +commenced the tale, part of which in its bare outline was already +known to him.</p> +<p>"Thou knowest the story of the witch burned on the village +common, nigh to Trevlyn Chase, by the order of the knight then +ruling in that house? Dost know too that that woman was my grandam, +the mother of Miriam and of Esther?"</p> +<p>"I knew that not," answered Cuthbert.</p> +<p>"But so it was," pursued Joanna, her big dark eyes fixed upon +the flickering flame of the lamp she had kindled. "I never saw my +grandam myself; she had met her doom before I saw the light. Yet I +have heard the tale so ofttimes told that methinks I see myself the +threatening crowd hooting the old woman to her fiery death, the +stern knight and his servants watching that the cruel law was +carried out, and the gipsy tribe hanging on the outskirts of the +wood, yet not daring to adventure themselves into the midst of the +infuriated villagers, watching all, and treasuring up the curses +and maledictions poured upon the proud head of Sir Richard as the +old woman went to her death."</p> +<p>"A cruel death, in all truth," said Cuthbert. "Yet why hold Sir +Richard in fault? He was not the maker of that law; he was but the +instrument used for its enforcement, the magistrate bound to see +the will of the sovereign performed. Most like he could not help +himself, were his heart never so pitiful. I trow the Trevlyns have +always done their duty; yet I misdoubt me if by nature they have +been sterner or more cruel than other men."</p> +<p>A faint smile flickered round the lips of the gipsy. She went on +with her story without heeding this plea.</p> +<p>"They had made shift to see her once before her death--my +mother, my father, and Esther with them. Upon those three she had +laid a solemn charge--a charge to be handed down to their children, +and passed throughout all the tribe--a charge of deadly hatred to +all that bore the name of Trevlyn--a charge to deal them one day +some terrible blow in vengeance for her death, a vengeance that +should be felt to the third and fourth generation."</p> +<p>"I have heard somewhat of that," said Cuthbert.</p> +<p>"Ay, the old woman raved out her curses in the hearing of all as +she was fastened to the stake and the flames leaped about her. All +heard and many treasured up those words, and hence the tradition +always in men's mouths that the treasure of Trevlyn was filched by +the gipsy folks in fulfilment of that curse. But now another word. +My grandam laid another charge upon the tribe and all who claimed +kindred with her; and that charge was that all should give loving +and watchful care and tender service to the house of Wyvern; that +all bearing that name should be the especial care of the +gipsies--they and their children after them, whether bearing the +old name or not. The Wyverns had been true friends to the gipsy +folk, had protected them in many an hour of peril, had spoken them +gently and kindly when all men else spoke ill of them, had given +them food and shelter and a place to live in; and to my grandam had +given a home and sanctuary one bitter winter's night, when, pursued +by foes who strove then to get her into their hands and do her to +death, she flung herself upon their charity, and received a welcome +and a home in her hour of peril and sore need. It was beneath the +roof of the Wyverns that Esther first saw the light; and in +gratitude for their many acts of charity and kindness my grandam, +ere she died, laid instructions on all who owned her sway that the +Wyverns and all descended from them should be sacred to the +gipsies--watched over and guarded from all ill."</p> +<p>"Ah!" said Cuthbert, drawing a long breath; "and shortly after +that a Wyvern wedded with this same Sir Richard."</p> +<p>"Ay, and that but just one short month before his house was to +have been burned about his head, and he himself slain had he come +forth alive. All the plans were laid, and it was to be done so soon +as he should return to the Chase after long absence. Long Robin had +planned it all, and he had a head as clever and a will as firm as +any man that ever lived. He had thought of all--he had everything +in order; and then came the news that the knight had wed with +Isabel Wyvern, the tenderest, the sweetest, the gentlest maiden +that ever drew breath; and when they knew that, even Long Robin +knew that no hand could thenceforward be raised against the +knight."</p> +<p>"Long Robin--who is he?" questioned Cuthbert eagerly.</p> +<p>"He is Miriam's husband--my father," answered Joanna, a strange +shadow passing across her face.</p> +<p>"And does he yet live?"</p> +<p>The gipsy paused and hesitated.</p> +<p>"Ask any other member of the tribe, and they will tell thee that +he does; but for me, I do not know, I cannot tell."</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked at her in amaze.</p> +<p>"Not know, and he thy father!"</p> +<p>A curious smile crossed her face.</p> +<p>"We think little of such ties amongst the gipsy folk. The tie +betwixt us all is stronger than the simple one of blood. We are all +of one race--of one stock; that is enough for us. The lesser is +swallowed up of the greater."</p> +<p>"But thy mother lives; she must know?"</p> +<p>Joanna's dark eyes glowed strangely.</p> +<p>"Ay, she verily must know; but will she tell what she knows? If +it be as I suspect, she must be in the plot."</p> +<p>"What plot?" asked Cuthbert, beginning to feel bewildered with +all this intricacy of mystery.</p> +<p>"Thou hadst better hear my story to the end," answered Joanna +with a slight smile; "then thou wilt better comprehend. Listen to +me, and ask thy questions when I have done."</p> +<p>"Speak on, then," said Cuthbert, glad enough to hold his peace; +"I will give good heed to all thou sayest."</p> +<p>And Joanna continued her tale.</p> +<p>"Sir Richard, wedded to Isabel Wyvern, might no longer be the +mark for the gipsy's curse. Esther was then queen of the tribe, and +with her, love for the Wyverns far outweighed hatred towards the +Trevlyns. She gave it out that no hair of his head should be hurt; +the vengeance must wait. If it were to be carried out, it must be +upon another generation. So said the queen, and none dared openly +lift the voice against her; but there were angry mutterings and +murmurings in the tribe, and none were more wroth at this decree +than Miriam and Long Robin."</p> +<p>"Her sister and that sister's husband."</p> +<p>"Ay. Long Robin was the head of the tribe, and loved not to +yield to the sway of a woman; but amongst us there has always been +a queen, and he was powerless to hinder the rest from owning +Esther's rule. But he and Miriam withdrew in wrathful indignation +for a time from the rest of the tribe, and brooded over schemes of +vengeance, and delighted themselves in every misfortune that befell +the house of Trevlyn. It was whispered by many that these two had a +hand in the death of more than one fair child. If their beasts +sickened, or any mischance happened, men laid it to the door of +Miriam and Long Robin. But for mine own part, I trow that they had +little to do with any of these matters. Trouble is the lot of many +born into this world. The Trevlyns had no more than their fair +share of troubles that I can see. One fine stalwart son grew up to +manhood, and in time he too wedded into the house of +Wyvern--married thy grandam the fair Mistress Gertrude, whose eyes +thou hast, albeit in many points a Trevlyn."</p> +<p>"And what said Miriam then?"</p> +<p>"She liked it not well. Sullen, brooding hatred had gained +possession of her and of Long Robin. As Esther and some of the +tribe had learned to forgive Trevlyn for the sake of Wyvern, those +twain and a few others had come to hate Wyvern for their alliance +with Trevlyn.</p> +<p>"All this I have been told by Esther. I was not born till after +the treasure had been stolen--born when my mother had long ceased +to look for offspring, and had no love for the infant thrust upon +her care. I was taken from my infancy by Esther, who trained me up, +with the consent of all the tribe, to take her place as their queen +when I should have grown to womanhood. Esther loved not the roving +life of the forest; she had other wishes for herself. She practised +divination and astrology and many dark arts, and wished a settled +place of abode for herself when she could leave the tribe. She +brought me up and taught me all I knew; and she has told me all she +knows about that strange night on which the treasure of Trevlyn was +taken--and lost!"</p> +<p>"Lost--lost by the Trevlyns truly; but surely thou dost not mean +that they who stole it lost it likewise!"</p> +<p>Joanna's dark eyes were fixed. She seemed to be looking +backwards to a far-distant time. Her voice was low and monotonous +as she proceeded with her tale.</p> +<p>"The years had flown by since Miriam and Long Robin had divided +themselves from the tribe; and they had long since returned, though +still keeping aloof in part from the rest--still forming, as it +were, a separate party of their own. Long Robin had dealings with +the robbers of the King's highway; he often accompanied them on +their raids, he and some of the men with him. The tribe began to +have regular dealings with the freebooters, as thou hast seen. They +come to us for shelter and for food. They divide their spoil with +us from time to time. Since the hand of all men has been against +us, our hands have been raised freely against the world. Our +younger men all go out to join the highwaymen. We are friends and +brothers, and the wronged and needy resort to us, and are made +welcome."</p> +<p>Joanna threw back her proud head as though rejoicing in this +lawless freedom; and then giving herself a little moment for +recollection, she returned to the main course of her narrative.</p> +<p>"It was easy for us gipsies, roving hither and thither and +picking up the news from travellers on the road, to know all that +was going on about us and in the world beyond. We had scouts all +over the forest. We knew everything that passed; and when the +treasure was borne in the dead of night from Trevlyn Chase, and +hidden beneath the giant oak in the forest, we knew where and +wherefore it was so hidden, and the flame of vengeance long +deferred leaped into Miriam's eyes.</p> +<p>"'This is our hour!' she cried; 'this the day for which we have +had long patience! Thus can we smite the false Trevlyns, yet do +them no bodily hurt; thus can we smite them, and lay no hand upon +the house of Wyvern. It is the Trevlyns that love the red gold; the +grasping, covetous Trevlyns who will feel most keenly this blow! +Upon the gentler spirits of the ladies the loss of wealth will fall +less keenly. The proud men will feel it. They will gnash their +teeth in impotent fury. Our vow of vengeance will be accomplished. +We shall smite the foe by taking away from him the desire of his +heart, and yet lay no hand upon any who is loved by a Wyvern.'</p> +<p>"And this desire after vengeance took hold of all those gathered +in the ruined mill that night, whilst into Long Robin's eyes there +crept a gleam which Esther liked not to see; for it spoke of a lust +after gold for its own sake which she had striven to quench amongst +her children, and she wished not to see them enriched beyond what +was needful for their daily wants, knowing that the possession of +gold and treasure would bring about the slackening of those bonds +which had hitherto bound them together."</p> +<p>Joanna paused, and looked long into Cuthbert's attentive face. +He asked no question, and presently she continued:</p> +<p>"Esther laid this charge upon those who were to go forth after +the treasure: They might move it from its present resting place, +and hide it somewhere in the forest, as securely as they would; but +no man should lay hands upon the spoil. It should be hidden away +intact as it was found. It should belong to none, but be guarded by +all; so that if the day should come when the Trevlyns should have +won the love and trust of their whilom foes, we should have the +power to make restitution to them in full."</p> +<p>Cuthbert started, and his eyes gleamed beneath their dark brows; +but Joanna lifted her hand and continued:</p> +<p>"Remember I am telling the tale as I learned it from Esther. As +she spoke those words she saw a dark gleam shine in Robin's +eyes--saw a glitter of rage and wrath that told her he would defy +her if he dared. The rest opposed her not. The wild, free life of +the forest had not bred in them any covetous lust after gold. So +long as the day brought food and raiment sufficient for their needs +they asked no more. Men called them robbers, murderers, +freebooters; but though they might deserve these names, there was +yet much good in them. They robbed the rich alone; to the poor they +showed themselves kindly and generous. They were eager to find and +secrete this treasure, but agreed by acclamation that it should not +be touched. Only Robin answered not, but looked askance with evil +eye; and him alone of the eight men intrusted with the task did she +distrust."</p> +<p>"Then why was he sent?"</p> +<p>"Verily because he was too powerful to be refused. It would have +made a split in the camp, and the end of that might no man see. She +was forced to send him in charge of the expedition; and he alone of +the eight that went forth ever returned to the mill."</p> +<p>"What!" cried Cuthbert, "did some mischance befall them?"</p> +<p>"That is a thing that no man knows," answered Joanna darkly. "It +is as I have said: Long Robin, and he alone, ever came back to the +mill. He was five days gone, and men said he looked ten years older +in those days. He told a strange tale. He said that the treasure +had been found and secreted, but that the sight of the gold had +acted like strong drink upon his seven comrades: that they had +vowed to carry it away and convert it into money, that they might +be rich for the rest of their days; and that when he had opposed +them, bidding them remember the words of the queen, they had set +upon him, had bound him hand and foot, and had left him to perish +in a cave, whence he had only been released by the charity of a +passer by, when he was well-nigh starved with hunger and cold. He +said that he had gone at once to the place where the treasure had +been hid, and had found all of it gone. The seven covetous men had +plainly carried it off, and he prophesied that they would never be +seen again."</p> +<p>"And they never were?"</p> +<p>"Never!" answered Joanna, in that same dark way; "for they were +all dead men!"</p> +<p>"Dead! how came they so?"</p> +<p>"Listen, and I will tell thee. I cannot prove my words. The fate +of the seven lies wrapped in mystery; but Esther vows that they +were all slain in the heart of the forest by Long Robin. She is as +certain of it as though she saw the deed. She knows that as the men +were carrying their last loads to the hiding place, wherever that +might be, Long Robin lay in wait and slew them one by one, taking +them unawares and plunging his knife into the neck of each, so that +they fell with never a cry. She knows it from strange words uttered +by him in sleep; knows it from the finding in the forest not many +years since of a number of human bones and seven skulls, all lying +near together in one place. Some woodmen found the ghastly remains; +and from that day forward none has cared to pass that way. It was +whispered that it was the work of fairies or gnomes, and the dell +is shunned by all who have ever heard the tale."</p> +<p>"As the lines say!" cried Cuthbert, in great excitement. +"Thinkest thou that it is in that dell that the treasure lies +hid?"</p> +<p>"Esther thinks so, but she knows not; and I have hunted and +hunted in vain for traces of digging and signs of disturbance in +the ground, but I have sought in vain. Long Robin keeps his secret +well. If he knows the place, no living soul shares his knowledge. +It may be that long since all has been removed. It may be he has +vast wealth stored up in some other country, awaiting the moment +when he shall go forth to claim it."</p> +<p>A puzzled look crossed Cuthbert's face. He put his hand to his +head.</p> +<p>"Thou speakest of Robin as though he were yet alive, and yet +thou hast said thou thinkest him dead. And there is Miriam--surely +she knows all. I am yet more than half in the dark."</p> +<p>"None may wholly know what all this means," answered Joanna; +"but upon me has Esther laid the charge to strive that restitution +be done, since now the house of Trevlyn has become the friend and +champion of the poor and oppressed, and the present knight is a +very proper gentleman, well worthy of being the son and the +grandson of the house of Wyvern. This charge she laid upon me five +long years agone, when she bid the tribe own me their queen, for +that her age and infirmities hindered her from acting longer as +such. Ever since then I have been pondering and wondering how this +thing may be done; but I have had to hold my peace, for if but a +whisper got abroad and so came to Miriam's ears, I trow that the +treasure, if still it lies hidden in the forest, would forthwith be +spirited away once more."</p> +<p>"Then Miriam knows the hiding place?"</p> +<p>"I say not that, I think not that. I have watched, and used +every art to discover all I may; and I well believe that Miriam +herself knows not the spot, but that she knows it lies yet in the +forest, and that when the hour is come she and Robin together will +bear it away, and keep it for ever from the house of Trevlyn."</p> +<p>"But sure if they are ever to enjoy their ill-gotten gains it +should be soon," said Cuthbert. "Miriam is old, and Long Robin can +scarce be younger--"</p> +<p>"Hold! I have not done. Long Robin, her husband, was older by +far than she. If the old man who goes by that name be indeed he, he +must be nigh upon fourscore and ten. But I have long doubted what +no man else doubts. I believe not that yon gray-beard is Robin; I +believe that it is another who masquerades in old man's garb, but +has the strength and hardihood of youth beneath that garb and that +air of age."</p> +<p>"Marry! yet how can that be?"</p> +<p>"It might not be so hard as thou deemest. In our tribe our men +resemble each other closely, and have the same tricks of voice and +speech. Nay, it was whispered that many of the youths were in very +truth sons to Robin; and one of these so far favoured him that they +were ever together, and he was treated in all ways like a son. +Miriam loved him as though he had been her own. Where Long Robin +went there went this other Robin, too. He was as the shadow of the +other. And a day came when they went forth together to roam in +foreign lands, and Miriam with them. They were gone for full three +years. We gave up the hope of seeing them more. But suddenly they +came amongst us again--two of them, not three. They said the +younger Robin had died of the plague in foreign lands, and all men +gave heed to the tale. But from the first I noted that Long Robin's +step was firmer than when he went forth, that there was more power +in his voice, more strength in his arm. True, he goes about with +bowed back; but I have seen him lift himself up when he thought +there was none to see him, and stretch his long arms with a +strength and ease that are seldom seen in the very aged. He can +accomplish long rides and rambles, strange in one so old; and our +people begin to regard him with awe, as a man whom death has passed +by. But I verily believe that it was old Robin who passed away, and +that this man is none other but young Robin; and that in him and +him alone is reposed the secret of the lost treasure, that he may +one day have it for his own."</p> +<p>"And why to him?" questioned Cuthbert, drawing his brows +together in the effort to understand; "why to him rather than to +Miriam or any other of the tribe?"</p> +<p>"Verily because he was the one being in the world beloved of +Long Robin. Miriam he trusted not, for that she was a woman, and he +held that no woman, however faithful, might be trusted with a +secret. I have heard him say so a hundred times, and have seen her +flinch beneath the words, whilst her eyes flashed fire. Methinks +that Long Robin loved gold with the miser's greed--loved to hoard +and not to spend--loved to feel it in his power, but desired not to +touch it. Miriam was content so long as vengeance on the Trevlyns +had been taken. She wanted not the gold herself so long as it was +hidden from them. But the secret was one that must not die, and to +young Robin it has been intrusted. And if I mistake me not, he has +other notions regarding it, and will not let it lie in its hiding +place for ever. He is sharp and shrewd as Lucifer. He knows by some +instinct that I suspect and that I watch him, and never has he +betrayed aught to me. But sure am I that the secret rests with him; +and if thou wouldst find it out, it is Long Robin's steps that thou +must dog and watch."</p> +<p>"I will watch him till I have tracked him to his lair!" cried +Cuthbert, springing to his feet in great excitement. "I will never +rest, day nor night, until the golden secret is mine!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch14" id="Ch14">14</a>: Long Robin.</h2> +<p>The gipsy had left him, gliding away in the moonlight like a +veritable shadow; and Cuthbert, left alone in the dim cave, buried +his face in his hands and sank into a deep reverie.</p> +<p>This, then, was the meaning of it all: the long-deferred +vengeance of the gipsy tribe; the avaricious greed of one amongst +their number, who had committed dastardly crimes so as to keep the +secret hiding place in his own power alone; the secret passed on +(as it seemed) to one who feigned to be what he was not, and was +cunningly awaiting time and opportunity to remove the gold, and +amass to himself this vast hoard; none beside himself of all the +tribe heeding or caring for it, all holding to the story told long +ago of the seven men who had disappeared bearing away to foreign +lands the stolen treasure. A generation had well-nigh passed since +that treasure had been filched from the grasp of the Trevlyns. The +stalwart fellows who had been bred up amongst the gipsies, or had +joined the bands of freebooters with whom they were so closely +connected, knew little of and cared nothing for the tradition of +the hidden hoard. They found gold enough in the pockets of the +travellers they waylaid to supply their daily needs; the free life +of the forest was dear to them, and left them no lingering longings +after wealth that might prove a burden instead of a joy to its +possessor.</p> +<p>Out of those who had been living when the treasure was stolen +and lost, only Miriam and Long Robin (if indeed it were he) and +Esther remained alive. Esther had retired to London, and was lost +to her people. Miriam had done everything to encourage the belief +that the treasure had been made away with by the seven helpers who +had gone forth, but had never returned to tell the tale. Esther, +who had thought very differently, had confined her suspicious for a +time to her own bosom, and later on had spoken of them only to +Joanna. Upon her had she laid the charge to strive to make +restitution, now that vengeance had been inflicted and the curse of +the old witch fulfilled. To Joanna it belonged to restore +prosperity to the house of Wyvern through the daughters' sons, and +it was for her to strive to learn where the treasure lay, and give +notice of the spot to the Trevlyns.</p> +<p>The queen had done all that she could. She had watched with +close attention the pair with whom Esther believed the secret to +lie. Miriam, her mother, knew not the spot, of that she was +convinced; but she did know that the treasure had been hidden +somewhere in the forest by her husband, and that the exact place +was known to the white-bearded man whom she and others called Long +Robin.</p> +<p>About that weird old man, said to be well-nigh a hundred years +old, a flavour of romance existed. Men looked upon him as bearing a +charmed existence. He went his lonely way unheeded by all. He was +said to have dealings with the fairies and the pixies of the +forest. All regarded him with a species of awe. He had drawn, as it +were, a charmed circle about himself and his ways. None desired to +interfere with him; none questioned his coming or going. All +brought to him a share of the spoil taken on the roads as a matter +of right and due, but none looked to receive aught in return from +him. He and Miriam, from their great age, lived as it were apart. +They took the place of patriarchal heads of the tribe, and were +treated with reverence and filial respect by all.</p> +<p>The question Cuthbert had pressed home on Joanna was why, this +being so, the treasure had not been moved away before this, so that +Miriam should end her days in peace and luxury, instead of growing +old in the wilds of the forest.</p> +<p>Joanna's reply had been that she did not think Miriam had ever +really wished to leave the free forest life; that with her, +vengeance upon the Trevlyns had been the leading impulse of her +life; and that she had no covetous desires herself after the gold. +Old Robin had loved it with the miser's love; but doubtless the +younger Robin (if indeed the long-bearded man were he) was waiting +till such time as Miriam should be dead, and he alone in full +possession of the golden secret. Then he would without doubt bear +it away and live like a prince the rest of his days; but for the +present he made no move, and Joanna was very certain that he +suspected her of watching him, as indeed she did, and he had shown +himself as cunning as any fox in baffling her when she had sought +to discover any of his haunts. Her watching had been in vain, +because she was suspected of a too great knowledge, and was looked +upon as dangerous. But where she failed Cuthbert might succeed, for +he was absolutely unknown to Robin, and if the two were to meet +face to face in the forest, it would be impossible that the wily +old man (if old he were) should suspect him of any ulterior +purpose.</p> +<p>Robin had not been at the mill the night that Cuthbert had been +brought there by Tyrrel and his companions. Joanna had described +him so graphically that the lad was certain of knowing him were he +to come across him in the forest. She had also indicated to him the +region in which she suspected him most generally to lurk when he +spent days and sometimes weeks alone in the forest. She believed +that during the summer months, when the forest became the resort of +many wandering bands of gipsies or of robbers and outlaws, he kept +a pretty close and constant watch upon the spot where his treasure +lay hid. The dell, at the head of which the bones of the seven +murdered men had been found, was certainly a favourite spot of his; +and she believed it was owing to some trickery of his that men +still declared it haunted by evil or troubled spirits. Travellers +passing that way had been scared almost out of their senses by the +sight of a ghostly white figure gliding about, or by the sound of +hollow moans and the rattling of chains. None but the ignorant +stranger ever ventured within half-a-mile of that ill-omened spot. +Cuthbert, as he sat thinking over the gipsy's words and charge, saw +clearly that there was ample room for suspicion that here the +treasure might lie, since Robin took such pains to scare away all +men from the spot.</p> +<p>The light burned dim; but Cuthbert still sat on beside the rude +table where he had supped. Before him lay the scrap of parchment +with the doggerel lines of the wise woman inscribed upon them. It +had been something of a shock to his faith to find that the wise +woman knew all his story beforehand, and had had no need to dive +into the spirit world to ask the nature of his errand. He felt +slightly aggrieved, as though he had been tricked and imposed upon. +He was very nearly burning the parchment in despite; but Joanna had +bidden him keep it, and had added, with a slight significant +smile:</p> +<p>"Keep it, boy; and think not too hardly of those who juggle with +men's fears and fancies, to obtain the greater sway upon them. It +is not always used amiss. As for those lines, there may be more in +them yet than thou or I can see at this moment. For there may be +words in them that have been spoken by Long Robin in his dreams. +Esther has told me such before now. She knew not their meaning, nor +do I; but that they have a meaning she is very sure. 'Three times +three'--that was what he was muttering ever. It was the burden of +his thought, even as she made it the burden of her song. Keep the +lines; they may serve thy turn yet. Esther is a wise woman. She did +not give thee that paper for naught."</p> +<p>The day had well-nigh dawned before Cuthbert flung himself upon +one of the pallet beds in the cave, and fell asleep from sheer +weariness of mind and body; but he was young, and sleep came +quickly and held him in a fast embrace. The silence and darkness of +this underground place were favourable to a long spell of repose. +The youth did not open his eyes till the sun had passed its +meridian many hours, though no ray of daylight glinted into that +dim abode.</p> +<p>It might have been the middle of the night for all he knew when +he opened his eyes once again; and when he did so he lay perfectly +still, for he was convinced that he was yet in the midst of some +strange dream. He was in the cave of red sandstone where he had +fallen asleep, lying in the darkest corner of all upon a straw +pallet, with his sad-coloured cloak over him; but the cave itself +was lighter than it had been when he had fallen asleep. Two torches +flamed upon the table, and by the bright flame they cast upon the +objects near to them, Cuthbert saw a strange and weird-looking +figure.</p> +<p>This figure was that of a man, who was seated at table, and had +evidently been partaking of some refreshment. He was dressed in +outlandish garb, and in a fashion which was only affected now by +very old men, who had worn such garments all their lives, and were +averse to change. Cuthbert had occasionally seen such a dress +amongst the aged folks about his home, but this was more fanciful +than any assumed by a mere rustic, and gave to the tall thin figure +a certain air of distinction. A soft felt hat with a high crown lay +upon the table; and the light shone full upon a face that was +seamed by tiny wrinkles, and upon a thick head of hair that was +either flaxen or white, Cuthbert could scarcely say which. The face +was almost entirely hidden by a tangled growth of beard as white as +snow, which beard descended almost to the man's waist, and was of +wonderful fineness and bushiness. At the first glance the +impression produced by this strange apparition was that he was a +man immensely old; but a closer examination might well raise +doubts. The air and bearing of the man were strangely alert for an +octogenarian, and the way in which he tackled the hard bread and +cheese which still stood before him was scarcely like the fashion +in which the aged generally eat.</p> +<p>Cuthbert held his breath as he gazed. Was this a dream--the +outcome of his talk with the gipsy? No, he was awake; he became +more and more sure of it. But lying perfectly still, and not +betraying his presence by so much as a deeply-drawn breath, he +gazed and gazed as if fascinated upon the face of this strange +being, and in his heart he said:</p> +<p>"Long Robin himself!"</p> +<p>He was certain of it; there could be no manner of mistake. +Dress, air, everything corresponded with Joanna's description. For +a moment a sick fear crossed his mind lest he should have left upon +the table the fragment of parchment with the mystic words upon it, +for he had had no idea that the cave would be invaded that night. +But no; the habit of caution had been strong within him, and he had +put the paper away before retiring to his corner. Plainly the man +before him had no suspicion that any living soul was near. The deep +shadows of the cave hid Cuthbert completely from view, and the +secret entrance to the inner cave was doubtless known to very few. +None would suspect the presence of a hidden stranger there.</p> +<p>As Cuthbert watched as if fascinated, Robin ceased eating, and +pushed back his stool, rising to his feet quickly, and showing the +grand proportions of his tall figure, which certainly deserved the +epithet of "long." He stretched his arms, and swung them backwards +and forwards with a gesture strangely unlike that of age; and +throwing back his broad shoulders, he began pacing to and fro in +the cave with a firm, elastic tread seldom seen after the meridian +of life is passed.</p> +<p>"Joanna is right," thought Cuthbert, crouching closer against +the wall and into the shadows; for he had no wish to be discovered +by this giant, who would probably have scant mercy upon an observer +who might have taken his measure and discovered his secret now that +he was off his guard. "In all truth this man is not old; he can +scarce be above forty years. It is by some clever artifice that he +whitens his beard to that snow-like hue. He himself is young and +strong. He shows it in every movement."</p> +<p>He certainly did, pacing to and fro with rapid strides; and +presently he began to mutter words and phrases to himself, Cuthbert +listening with all his ears.</p> +<p>"A curse upon the women!" he said more than once; "they are the +very plague of my life! Miriam's besotted love, Joanna's suspicions +and her accursed watch upon me, both hinder my plans. If the twain +were in league together, it could not be worse. Miriam implores me +with tears and lamentations to wait till she be laid in the tomb +for the fulfilment of my cherished dream. And if I thwart her too +far, there is no telling what she may not say or do. Love and hate +in jealous natures such as hers are terribly near akin, and the +love may change to burning hatred if once I provoke her too far. +She knows not all, but she knows too much. She could spoil my hand +full well if she did but tell all she knows. And that jade Joanna, +how I hate her! She has been well drilled by that witch Esther, who +ought long ere this to have been hanged or burned. I would I could +set the King's officers on her now, but if I did I should have the +whole tribe at my throat like bloodhounds, and not even my great +age would serve to save me from their fury.</p> +<p>"Ha, ha! ha, ha!" and a sardonic laugh rang through the cave. +"Would that I could wed Joanna to Tyrrel, who would give his soul +to call her his. Once the wife of a member of the band, and some of +her power would go. I misdoubt me if any would long call her queen; +and when she had babes to fill her mind and her thoughts, she would +soon cease to watch me with those suspicions eyes of hers, and to +make me fear continually for my secret. Would that they were both +dead! Would that I could kill them even as he killed the other +seven who had a share in the golden secret! I would strangle them +with my own hands if I did but dare. Once those two removed from my +path and my way would be plain. I could remove it all, bit by bit +and piece by piece, away from this accursed forest, of which I am +sick to the death. Then in some far-off foreign land of perpetual +sunshine, I could reign a prince and a king, and life would be one +long dream of ease and delight; no more toil, no more privation, no +more scorching summer heat or biting winter cold. I have seen what +the life of the East is like--the kneeling slaves, the harem of +beauteous dark-eyed women, the dream-like indolence and ease. That +is the life for me. That is whither I and my treasure will go. A +plague upon old Miriam, that she clings to these cold forests and +the sordid life we live here! But for her insane jealousy and love +I would defy Joanna and go. But the pair of them are too much for +me. I must find a way of ridding myself of one or both. I will not +be bound like this for ever!"</p> +<p>The man raised his right hand and shook it with a vehement, +threatening gesture; and then relapsing into sudden moody silence, +continued his pacing to and fro, wrapped in gloomy thought.</p> +<p>Cuthbert held his breath as this monologue proceeded, and a +sense of unlooked-for triumph made his heart swell within him. Here +was proof positive that the treasure lay still in the forest; that +it had not been taken thence and dissipated; that it still remained +to be found by his unremitting endeavours. The youth felt almost as +though the victory were already his. What might not a few weeks of +patient perseverance bring? He would dog Robin's' steps like a +bloodhound. He had not been brought up to hardship and forest life +for nothing. To sleep in the open, to live scantily on such fare as +might be picked up at the huts of the woodmen or in the camps of +the gipsies, was nothing to him. He would live on roots and wild +fruits sooner than abandon his quest. Nothing should come between +him and his overmastering resolve to win back for the house of +Trevlyn the long-lost treasure.</p> +<p>But as he mused and Robin impatiently paced the floor of the +cavern, the torches burned slowly down, till one flickered and went +out and the other showed signs of speedy extinction. Robin, with a +start and an oath, stopped in his walk and muttered that he must be +gone. He placed upon his head the slouched hat, that at once +concealed his features, and gave a different expression to his +face. As he donned his hat and took up a heavy oaken staff that lay +upon the table, his whole aspect changed. He seemed to don likewise +a new action, a new outward appearance altogether. His straight +back bent and assumed a stoop such as one sees in men who have long +grown old. There came a feebleness into his gait, a slight +uncertainty into his movements. And all this was done so naturally, +so cleverly, that Cuthbert, as he gazed fascinated at the figure +before him, could scarcely believe that his eyes had not played him +some strange trick--could scarcely credit that this could be the +same being as the upright, stalwart man, whose movements he had +been watching during the past half hour. But all this only went to +show how shrewd Joanna's surmise had been, and every corroborating +fact increased Cuthbert's confidence in all that she had told +him.</p> +<p>Leaving the last torch to die into obscurity by itself, Long +Robin made for the opening in the wall which led to the outer cave, +and Cuthbert rose swiftly and silently and crept after him, gaining +the opening in time to see the tall figure slouching across the +moorland track in the direction of the westering sun.</p> +<p>Afraid of following too closely, and so of being seen, Cuthbert +retreated once more into the cave, and had the forethought to fill +his wallet with the remains of the meal of which both he and Long +Robin had partaken. He did not know exactly what was his best +course to pursue, but it seemed a pity to let Long Robin out of his +sight without tracking him to some one of his lairs or hiding +places.</p> +<p>Cuthbert now knew that he had slept during the greater part of +the day, and taking a draught of mead, and rapidly munching some +bread and cheese, he fortified himself for his evening stroll, and +then, before the torch actually expired, found his way to the +opening again, and so out upon the moor.</p> +<p>Far away, but still distinctly visible against the bright sky, +was the tall figure of the gipsy. Cuthbert was not afraid of being +seen at so great a distance, but he still took the precaution of +keeping all the tallest bushes and clumps of flowering gorse +between him and the quarry he was following; and when at length the +trees of the wooded tracts rose up before his eyes, he quickened +his pace slightly, and gained decidedly upon Robin before he glided +into the dark pine forest.</p> +<p>Before doing this, the gipsy turned back and looked carefully +round; but Cuthbert was already crouching behind a bush, and +escaped observation. As soon as Robin had fairly disappeared, the +youth rose and ran quickly after him, and soon caught glimpses of +the tall, stooping figure wending its way amongst the ruddy pine +stems, now dyed golden and crimson in the glow of the bright +sunset.</p> +<p>On and on he went in the fading light, and on and on went +Cuthbert in steady pursuit. This part of the forest was strange to +the youth, but it was familiar enough to the gipsy. From the +mechanical way in which he chose his track, and the direct +certainty with which he walked, it was plain that he knew every +inch of the road, and could have found the path by night as well as +by day.</p> +<p>"Sure it must lead to the haunted dell," thought Cuthbert, as +the gloom deepened around him and the wood grew denser and denser. +The pines began to be mingled with other trees. The undergrowth was +thicker and more tangled. It was not always easy for Cuthbert to +force his way along. He paused sometimes in fear lest his steps and +the cracking of the boughs should be heard by the man in advance of +him.</p> +<p>On and on they went, and now the track became more distinct, and +it led downwards. An owl in a tree overhead hooted as Cuthbert +passed by, and something of a cold shiver ran through the young +man's frame; he stumbled over the outspread root of a gnarled old +oak, and fell, making more noise than he liked.</p> +<p>The owl flew away, hooting ominously as it seemed to his +strained nerves, and the hooting was answered as from the very +heart of the dell, if dell it was, mingled with many other strange +and fierce sounds. Cuthbert rose to his feet and crept forward with +a beating heart, and as he did so he heard a shout of demoniacal +laughter which chilled the very blood in his veins, and seemed to +raise the hair upon his head, so unearthly was the sound.</p> +<p>But making the sign of the cross upon his brow, and striving to +keep his presence of mind and his courage unimpaired by ghostly +terrors, Cuthbert still pursued his way downwards into this dim, +strange place. He felt more and more certain that this was the +pixies' dell of which the verses spoke--the dell wherein some deed +of darkness had been committed that caused it to be shunned of all; +and it needed all his native stoutness of heart to enable him to +conquer his fears and pursue his way, as he reflected on the foul +murders that had been committed not far off, and wondered if indeed +the restless souls of those to whom Christian burial had been +denied hovered by night about the ill-omened spot, to fright away +all travellers who strove to pass that way.</p> +<p>For a while the fearful sounds of hooting and laughter +continued, under cover of which he crept nearer and nearer to the +centre of the dell. Presently they ceased, and a death-like silence +ensued. Cuthbert dared not move, and scarcely dared to breathe. +This was the most trying experience he had yet had. He had felt far +less fear on the darkly-flowing river and in that strange +underground cellar, against both of which the wise woman had warned +him.</p> +<p>But after a long pause of silence he heard another and a +different laugh--a laugh in which he recognized the sardonic +intonation he had recently heard from the lips of Long Robin.</p> +<p>"I trow that has been enow," spoke a voice nigh at hand, though +the speaker was invisible owing to the thick growth of bushes. "If +that sound were caused by aught but a rabbit or wildcat, I wager +the hardy traveller has taken to his heels and fled. But I misdoubt +me that it was anything human. There be sounds and to spare in the +forest at night. It is long since I have been troubled by visitors +to this lone spot. The pixies and I have the dell to ourselves. Ha, +ha!"</p> +<p>"Robin's voice again!" whispered Cuthbert to himself, creeping +forward with the cautious, snake-like movement that he had learned +when snaring birds or rabbits to furnish the scanty larder at the +Gate House. He advanced by slow degrees, and soon gained what he +desired--a view of his quarry and of the heart of the dell.</p> +<p>In the fading light he could see both plainly. Long Robin was +seated upon a low stone wall overgrown with moss, that seemed to be +built around a well; for it was of circular construction, and to +the listener was borne the faint sound of running water, though the +sound seemed to come from the very heart of the earth. Round this +well was a space of smooth greensward--sward that appeared to have +been untouched for centuries. All around, the sides of the dell +rose up, covered with a thick growth of wood and copse. It was a +lovely spot in all truth, but lonely to the verge of desolation. +Cuthbert dimly remembered having heard fragments of legends +respecting a pixies' dell in the heart of the forest--a dell +avoided by all, for that no man who ventured in came forth alive. +Most likely this was the place; most likely the legend of fear +surrounding it was due to some exaggerated version of old Robin's +ghastly crime in bygone years.</p> +<p>Cuthbert gazed and gazed with a sense of weird fascination. He +fully believed that in some spot not many yards from where he stood +lay hidden the lost treasure of Trevlyn, and that the secret of +that resting place remained known to one man only in the whole +world; and that was the man before him!</p> +<p>A wild impulse seized Cuthbert to spring upon that bowed figure, +and, holding a knife to the man's throat, to demand a full +revelation of that secret as the price of life. Perhaps had he not +seen but an hour before how upright, powerful, and stalwart that +bending figure could be, he would have done it then and there. But +with that memory clear in his mind, together with his knowledge of +the perfectly unscrupulous character of the gipsy, he felt that +such a step would be the sheerest madness; and after gazing his +fill at the motionless figure, he softly crept away once more.</p> +<p>He lay hidden in the bushes till he heard Long Robin leave the +dell and go crashing through the underwood with heavy steps, +cursing as he went the two women who stood between him and his +desire. It was plain from his muttered words that he was going back +to the camp now. Plainly he had paid his visit to the hoard and +found all safe and undisturbed. Cuthbert was more and more +convinced that the treasure lay here, as Esther had always +believed; and it would be strange indeed, being so near, if he +could not find it in time.</p> +<p>But he would not search tonight; he had the whole summer before +him. Plainly Long Robin was not going to take any immediate step +for the removal of the treasure; and during the last hours a great +longing had come upon Cuthbert to see Petronella again. He was +within ten miles of his old home now, and the thoughts of his +sister had been mingling with these other thoughts of the lost +treasure. Surely he could find his way to the Gate House from this +lonely dell, and once there, by making a signal at his sister's +window, he could advise her of his presence and gain a stolen +interview.</p> +<p>So taking his bearings from the moon, he struck boldly across +the lonely waste of forest that lay between him and his former +home, and soon found himself tramping over the ling and moss of the +high ridge of common land with which the woody tracts of the forest +were frequently interspersed.</p> +<p>As he thus tramped the words of the verses began singing in his +head: "Three times three--o'er ling and moss." What was that three +times three? The question mingled with his dreams of his sister, +and suddenly the thought came to him, Could the three times three +be miles--miles from the giant oak from beneath which the treasure +had been taken? Three times three--it might well be so. The +distance was surely about nine miles. The spot where the Trevlyns +had hid their treasure lay directly in Cuthbert's way as he marched +steadily towards the Gate House. He saw the giant oak rise up +before him in the moonlight, and he hastened to the spot and stood +beneath the overhanging branches.</p> +<p>Standing beneath it with the oak behind him, he looked straight +along the way he had come across the bog and moss. Surely there +were nine miles, and little more or less, between the one spot and +the other. And again, with the oak behind there was a beech at his +right hand, and straight before him the road to the pixies' dell. +Well, it might not be much, yet it seemed like a link in the chain. +Esther had perchance heard Robin mutter these numbers in his +troubled sleep. Surely he had been thinking or dreaming of that +long nine miles' tramp, and the words he had used to direct the men +whom afterwards he had foully and treacherously murdered!</p> +<p>"I am on the track! I am on the track!" cried Cuthbert +exultantly, as he pursued his way. "The secret lies hid in the +pixies' dell. Surely if I have learned as much as that, I cannot be +long in finding out the whole!"</p> +<p>And with thoughts of his sister, of Cherry, of Kate, warm in his +heart, Cuthbert sped gaily along in the direction of his old +home.</p> +<p>Midnight struck from the clock in the turret of Trevlyn Chase as +the youth approached the gray walls of the old Gate House. How grim +and hoary it looked in the white moonlight! Something of a faint +shiver of repulsion ran through Cuthbert's frame as he looked upon +the familiar outline of the building. Was it possible that all but +the few last months of his life had been spent there? It seemed to +him that the old life was already like a dim and distant dream, and +that the fuller life he had enjoyed since leaving was the only one +that had any reality about it.</p> +<p>But he well knew the habits and the sullen ferocity of the grim +old man his father, and it was with cautious steps that he +approached the walls. No light burned in any window. The inmates of +the building were doubtless wrapped in sleep. He well knew his +sister's window, and cutting himself a long hazel bough, he gently +swept it to and fro across the glass. This had always been a signal +between them in their childhood, and many had been their nocturnal +rambles taken together when Cuthbert had contrived to escape from +the house before it was locked up, and had then called Petronella +and assisted her down by the tangled ivy that clung to the gray old +walls. He knew she would recognize in a moment who was outside when +she heard the tapping of that hazel wand; and it seemed indeed as +if she did, for in a moment the window was opened, and a soft +tremulous voice asked eagerly:</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, can it be thou?"</p> +<p>"It is indeed I, sweet sister. Canst thou come to me? Hast thou +lost thy cunning or thy lightness of foot? I am here to help +thee."</p> +<p>"I will come to thee anon; but the little postern door is seldom +locked since thou art gone, and I can get out thus. Linger not +beside the house, Cuthbert; speed to the chantry--I will meet thee +there. He might hear or see thee here. Do not linger; go. I will be +with thee anon; I will not keep thee but a few short minutes. But +do not tarry; go!"</p> +<p>There was such earnestness in her soft whispers that Cuthbert +did not attempt to reply save by a brief nod. He slid away in the +darkness and took the familiar but now tangled path to the chantry, +looking round the old ruin with loving eyes; for it was the one +spot connected with his home not fraught with memories of pain and +fear.</p> +<p>"Poor little timid Petronella!" he mused. "Was I right to leave +her thus alone with our harsh father? Yet I could do nothing for +her; and it seemed as though my presence in the house stirred him +up to continual fury. I would I had a home to bring her to. I would +I might carry her off with me now. But what could she do in the +forest, away from the haunts of men? Nay, she must tarry here but a +little while. Then will I come and claim her. Then will she have +dowry worthy her name and state. Oh that lost treasure, that lost +treasure! what happiness will there be in store for very many when +that lost treasure is found!"</p> +<p>And then he paused and held out his arms, for light steps were +speeding towards him through the dewy grass, and Petronella, with a +little sobbing cry, flung herself upon him, to be enfolded in a +strong embrace.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch15" id="Ch15">15</a>: Petronella.</h2> +<p>"Cuthbert, is it--can it really be thou?"</p> +<p>"Petronella--sister! What happiness to see thee once more!"</p> +<p>She clung to him almost sobbing in the excitement of pure +happiness. He could feel that she trembled in his arms, and he +enfolded the slight frame ever closer and closer.</p> +<p>"Sweetest sister, fear not! Dost fear I could not protect thee +from harm? Believe me, thou hast a wondrous different brother now +from the cowed and timorous lad who went forth from these doors but +six short months back. Fear not, my sister; look up, and let me see +thy face. I would learn how it has fared with thee since we parted +that night on this very spot, though it now seems so long ago."</p> +<p>Petronella heaved a long sigh, and her tremblings gradually +ceased. It seemed as though the brotherly clasp of those strong +arms stilled her fears and brought comfort and soothing. But as +Cuthbert held her closely to him, it seemed to him almost as though +he clasped a phantom form rather than one of solid flesh and blood. +There seemed nothing of the girl but skin and bone; and looking +anxiously into the small oval face, he noted how wistful and hollow +the great dark eyes had grown, and how pinched and worn every +feature. Had it always been so with her? He scarce knew, for we +heed little the aspect of those about us when we are young and +inexperienced.</p> +<p>Petronella had always been somewhat shadowy and wan, had always +been slight and slim and small. But was she always as wan and +slight as she now seemed? or did he observe it the more from the +contrast it presented to Cherry's blooming beauty, to which his +eyes had grown used? He asked the question anxiously of himself, +but could not answer it.</p> +<p>Then drawing Petronella into the full light of the silver moon, +he made her sit beside him on a fragment of mouldering wall, and +holding her thin hands in a warm clasp, he scanned her face with +glances of earnest scrutiny.</p> +<p>"My sister, hast thou been ill?"</p> +<p>She shook her head with a pathetic little smile.</p> +<p>"Alas, no! Methinks I am a true Trevlyn for that. Sickness +passes me by and seizes upon others who might so much better be +spared."</p> +<p>"Why dost thou say 'alas' to that, sweet sister?"</p> +<p>"Verily because there be times when I would so gladly lay down +my head never to lift it more. For me death would be sweeter than +life. The dead rest in God's peaceful keeping--my good aunt at the +Chase has told me so, and I no longer fear the scorching fires of +purgatory. I have a little New Testament now of my own, full of +sweet promises and words of love and peace. When I read of the +pearly gates and the streets of gold, and the city into which +nothing unholy may enter, I long sorely to leave behind this world +of sin and sorrow and find a refuge there.</p> +<p>"But I would know more of thee, Cuthbert, and of what thou hast +seen and done since thou hast left the Gate House. For me I have +naught to tell. Life here is ever the same. But thou must have done +and seen so much. May I not hear thy tale? May I not learn how it +has fared with thee?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was willing enough to outpour his story to her, sitting +beside her in the old chantry, where so many happy hours of their +shadowed childhood had been spent. He told of his adventures by the +way, of his night with the gipsies, of his timely rescue of Cherry +and his admittance to his uncle's house. He told of his uncle's +wonderful story of the gold that was to be all for his sister; told +of the life at the bridge house, and his attachment to his cousin +Cherry. The only matter he named not was that of his meeting with +Master Robert Catesby, and all that had followed in which he was +concerned. Petronella would only be bewildered by so many strange +things. It was enough to tell her of his recent adventures in the +forest, and his growing hopes of coming upon traces of the lost +treasure.</p> +<p>Petronella listened to the whole of this tale with parted lips +and wide-open eyes, as a child listens to a tale of fairy romance +and wonder. She could scarce believe that all these strange things +had befallen her own brother; but as she questioned and he +answered, she gradually began to understand, to enter into his +feelings, and to obtain a clearer comprehension of the situation of +affairs. Her intercourse with the Trevlyns of the Chase had done +something to widen her knowledge of life, and Cuthbert found that +her mind had matured and expanded in a fashion he had hardly +expected. He wondered where she had picked up some of the bits of +experience that fell from her lips from time to time, and he looked +somewhat searchingly into her face.</p> +<p>"Methinks, my sister, that time has not stood still with thee +since I went away. Thou art wondrous wise for thy years. Who has +been thy instructor?"</p> +<p>Even in the moonlight he could see the sudden flush that dyed +her cheek and neck at the question.</p> +<p>"I have been to the Chase as much as our father would +permit--indeed, I fear me I have been oftener; but I was very +lonely, and they were all so kind. And Philip, he has been often +here. He has been in very truth a--a--brother to me in thy place. +Methinks but for him I should almost have died. But, O Cuthbert, it +is hard, it is hard!"</p> +<p>The last words were spoken with such sudden passion and +vehemence that the youth started and looked once again at his +sister. Of old, Petronella had always been so gentle, so meek and +yielding, that to hear such an outburst from her startled him not a +little.</p> +<p>"What is hard, sweet sister?"</p> +<p>"To be the daughter of--of--such a father as ours," she +answered, lowering her voice and speaking with infinite sadness +now. "Heaven knows I have striven to love him, have striven to obey +him, have striven to be all a daughter should!"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily thou hast!" answered Cuthbert warmly. "I have +chidden thee many a time before this for the meekness that raised +no protest let him be never so harsh. Thou hast done more than thy +share, sweet Petronella. None can blame thee for rebellious +thoughts or words. If he will none of our love or service, the +fault is his, not ours--thine least of all, for thou wast ever +gentle and meek."</p> +<p>"I have tried," repeated Petronella sadly; "and when thou hadst +gone and the tempest had something subsided, I tried as never +before to be a loving daughter, and make up to him for the loss of +his son. But he would have none of my love. He drove me from his +presence with bitter words. I had perforce to seek others, if I +were to live at all; and though he hurled taunts and harsh speeches +at me oftentimes, he did not forbid me that house, albeit he scarce +knew perchance how oft I was there, since he shut himself up more +and more, and sometimes saw me not from one week's end to the +other."</p> +<p>"What a lone life for thee, my sister!"</p> +<p>"Yes, it was lone, save for the comradeship of our cousins. But +that was better, far better, than what followed."</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked quickly at her, and his eyes darkened.</p> +<p>"And what did follow, Petronella?"</p> +<p>She bent her head a little, that he might not see the expression +of her face. Her words were falteringly spoken.</p> +<p>"It was not many weeks since--it was when the days began to +lengthen out, and the forest paths to grow decked with flowers--that +some evil thoughts of suspicion came into his head, I know not how, +and he dogged my steps as I wandered in the woods; and twice--nay, +thrice--he came suddenly upon us as we walked together in the woodland +dells."</p> +<p>"'We? who was with thee, sister?"</p> +<p>"Philip," she answered very softly, and there was something in +the tender intonation with which she spoke the name that told a +tale Cuthbert was not slow to read. He had guessed as much before, +but this made assurance doubly sure; and with the sympathy of the +ardent young lover, he put his hand on Petronella's and pressed it +tenderly. She understood the meaning of that clasp, and looked +gratefully at him, going on with more confidence afterwards.</p> +<p>"It was with Philip that he found me; and the sight filled him +with a sullen fury--the fury that thou knowest, brother, which +brooks no opposition, no words. He would not hear Philip speak. He +struck him on the mouth--a cruel blow that caused the blood to +spring forth; and he dragged me away by main force, and locked me +up in the pillared chamber, vowing to keep me a prisoner all my +life an I would not promise never to speak with Philip again."</p> +<p>"And thou?"</p> +<p>"I told him I would promise naught save to meet him no more in +the forest. I was glad to promise that; for I feared our savage +father might kill him in a fit of fury were he to find us again +together. I should have been terrified to wander forth with him +more. I promised that, but I would promise no more."</p> +<p>"And did that satisfy him?" asked Cuthbert breathlessly. "Tell +me all, my sister. He did not dare lay hands on thee?"</p> +<p>Petronella smiled faintly.</p> +<p>"Methinks he would dare anything he wished; but he let himself +be satisfied with that pledge. Only he kept me many days in that +dim place of terror, and gave me but scant prisoner's fare the +while. Cuthbert, as thou art free and thou art nigh, wilt thou to +Trevlyn Chase for me ere thou goest back into the forest, and tell +Philip what has befallen me, and that I may no more hope to meet +him in our favourite haunts? Tell him all I have told to thee, and +bid him keep himself from this house. It is an ill place! an ill +place! Ah, Cuthbert, were I but a man like thee, I would fare forth +as thou hast done. I would not stay beneath yon roof to be starved +in soul and body and spirit. O father, father!"</p> +<p>The cry was one of exceeding bitterness, and yet in it spoke a +patience that moved Cuthbert strangely.</p> +<p>"Sister, my sister!" he cried, in accents of suppressed +agitation, "I know not how to leave thee here. Petronella, why not +forth with me to the forest? Sure I could protect thee there and +give thee a better home beneath the greenwood trees than our father +does beneath yon grim walls. And, sister, I could take thee to our +uncle, Martin Holt. Sure he would give thee asylum with him, as he +gave to me. Thou wouldst have Cherry for a sister. Thou--"</p> +<p>But Petronella shrank away a little, and looked scared at the +thought. Hers was one of those timid natures that find it easier to +endure even a terrible wrong than to take a bold step to escape +from it. The life of the forest might have attracted her, for she +loved the freedom of the woodlands, and had no fears of loneliness +or privation. But she had heard from Cuthbert of the bands of +outlaws and gipsies, of Long Robin and his murderous hatred; and of +other perils which she felt she had scarce courage to face. She +feared that if she let Cuthbert carry her off she would but prove a +burden and a care, whilst the thought of London and the strange +relations there filled her with distaste and dread.</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, my brother; I have borne much--I will bear a little +more. I love the old Gate House as thou hast never loved it; and +perchance after this storm there may be a lull of quiet peace. I +should but hamper thee, and hold thee back from that great purpose; +and--"</p> +<p>"But Martin Holt, he would welcome thee; and once beneath his +roof--"</p> +<p>"Nay, Cuthbert, it might well be that our father would guess +whither I had fled, and would come and drag me back. I am not of an +age to resist him. And I am a helpless woman, not a man. I have +thought many times of flight, but I fear me it would but lead to +worse."</p> +<p>"I know not that," answered Cuthbert thoughtfully. "Our uncle +Martin is a good man; and, Petronella, remember that whether or no +thy brother finds the lost treasure, he holds in his keeping a +dowry for thee that will make thee no unworthy mate for Philip +Trevlyn when the day comes for him to claim thee as his bride. Nay, +hide not thy face, sister."</p> +<p>"Alas, alas, my brother! that day will never come! My +father--"</p> +<p>"Nay, courage, sweetheart; our father's power lasts not for +ever, and we will be happy yet in spite of him. And, sister mine, +we must have kinsfolks somewhere of the house of Wyvern. Our father +never speaks to us of any such matters; but hast thou heard aught +at the Chase?"</p> +<p>Petronella looked quickly up at him.</p> +<p>"Ay, I have heard them speak of kinsfolk of that family, albeit +I heeded not greatly what they said. Are they our kinsfolk +likewise?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily, inasmuch as our grandam was a Wyvern; and there +have been Wyverns of two generations that have wed with the +Trevlyns, as thou hast heard in the story of the lost treasure, +which I have told to thee. Sister, it might be that thou mightest +find a refuge with them safer than with mine uncle of the bridge, +who might perchance think I asked too much were I to bring my +sister to him, albeit he is a kind man and a just; but--"</p> +<p>"But I trust I may not have to flee," said Petronella, with the +same air of shrinking that she had shown before. "I have borne so +much; surely I can bear the rest, until thou hast found the +treasure, and all is changed for us. When thou art rich and great, +and high in favour with all, then perchance thou canst prevail even +with our stern father, and win his leave to carry hence thy poor +little sister. Till then I will strive to remain."</p> +<p>Cuthbert took her hand and held it between his.</p> +<p>"Petronella, I like it not--I like not to leave thee here; but +it must be as thou desirest. Only, remember one thing, my sister. I +am nigh at hand. I am in the forest, not many miles away; and if +things should become worse with thee, thou canst fly to me thither; +thou wilt find me, doubtless, in or about the pixies' dell, of +which thou hast heard me speak, for it is there that my closest +watch will be held. Thinkest thou that thou canst find the +place?"</p> +<p>"I trow so; thou hast told me how to do so. Nine miles across +the open forest, starting from the Trevlyn oak, with the great +beech to the right. If I am forced to fly, I will fly thither by +night, and the stars will be my guide. Brother, it is good to feel +that thou art near."</p> +<p>"Ay, Petronella, I am glad indeed; for I fear me sometimes that +our father--"</p> +<p>"What, Cuthbert?"</p> +<p>"That he must surely be going mad. It is hard to believe he +could so persecute his children were it not so, and it is not +fitting that thou shouldest dwell beneath the roof of a +madman."</p> +<p>The girl shivered slightly, and her dark eyes dilated.</p> +<p>"Thinkest thou so, Cuthbert? Sure I had thought it was his wrath +at finding that we loved not the faith in which he has brought us +up; that first thou and then I have learned to find comfort in the +holy Book he has denied to us, and to find that there be other holy +things than our priests have taught us, and purer truths than +methinks they know themselves. I thought that was why his anger +burned so hotly against us. That was his quarrel with thee, and +methinks he must have suspected me, else would he scarce have +dogged my steps as he did."</p> +<p>"It may be so," answered Cuthbert; "but I fear me he has brooded +over his wrongs and his sins until he is well-nigh beside himself. +My sister, let not thy patience lead thee into peril. Remember what +I have said, and whither I may be found. I will take thy message to +Philip. He shall be bidden not to anger thy father further by +seeking thee. After that it is for thee to decide whether thou +canst still live in such solitude as must then be thine at the Gate +House, or whether thou wilt fly to me in the forest."</p> +<p>"I will remember," answered Petronella, rising to her feet; for +even here, and at this hour, and with her brother for her +companion, she dared not linger long. "Tell my kind aunt that the +Testament she gave me is the solace and happiness of my life. I +think of her words every day, and they are written on my heart. +Though I see her not, my blessing rests upon her. I would that she +could know what peace and joy she has helped to bring into my +lonely lot."</p> +<p>"I will tell her," answered Cuthbert, as he took the slight form +into his arms. "She will be rejoiced to hear it, I doubt not. I +too, my sister, have shared some of that peace myself. I have found +that the faith in which we were reared, albeit it holds much of +golden truth, has been so overlaid by artifice of man that the gold +is sadly tarnished. I have some deep love for it yet, but I love +better the purer faith that I have learned from the written Word of +God, and have heard from the lips of godly men of the Established +Church of the land. I have seen and heard much in yon great city, +and methinks that all creeds have much that is true--much that is +the same; but it seems the nature of man to fight and wrangle over +the differences, instead of rejoicing in the unity of a common +faith; wherefore there be misery and strife and jealousy abounding, +and the adversaries may well blaspheme. But I came not to talk such +matters with thee, sweet sister; they baffle the wisdom of the +wisest. Keep fast hold of the peace thou hast found, and let no man +take it from thee. I would I lived not in the midst of such weary +war of words. There be times when the heart sickens at it, and one +is fain to lay all aside sooner than have to own allegiance to any +one party, when one sees the bad as well as the good of all."</p> +<p>Petronella's eyes were wide with astonishment and perplexity. +She felt as though she had a very Solon for a brother when Cuthbert +talked after this serious fashion. But she too had heard from the +Trevlyns of the Chase somewhat of the burning questions of the day, +and she was not wholly uninstructed in the matter.</p> +<p>"That is one boon granted to us weak women," she said, with a +shadowy little smile. "We are not called upon to take part in the +world's battlefield. We may think our own thoughts, and go our +quiet way in the main unheeded and unmolested. But I am glad that +thou dost see as I do, my brother. It is sweet to find accord in +those we love. And now I must be gone; I dare not linger longer. +Heaven bless and keep thee ever! I shall carry my daily load more +lightly for this happy hour spent together."</p> +<p>Cuthbert kissed her many times before he let her go, reminded +her again of the place where he himself might be found, and then +walked slowly with her towards the old Gate House, only letting her +go when she desired it, and watching her glide towards the little +door with a sense of sinking at heart which he could hardly +explain.</p> +<p>As for Petronella, she stole within the door, which she bolted +behind her, as she had found it, and felt her way up the narrow +winding stairs that led to the ground floor of the house. The +postern door was below that level, and had a little stair of its +own leading to the house, from which it was again shut off by +another door at the top. When Petronella had stolen out to meet +Cuthbert, she had left this door open, so as to avoid all needless +noise; but when she reached the head of the stairs she found it +closed, and her heart gave a sudden throb of dismay as she stood +quite still listening and wondering.</p> +<p>Surely she had left it open? her memory had not deceived her! +No; she remembered debating the matter with herself and deciding to +do so. Could it have shut by itself afterwards? She could scarcely +believe it. It was a heavy oaken door, that moved ponderously on +its hinges; and the night was calm and breathless. No current of +air could have blown upon it. Had some person from above come down +and shut it after her? and if so, who could that person be? and had +he suspected that she had slipped out into the night, and for what +purpose?</p> +<p>With a wildly-beating heart and a frame that felt ready to sink +into the ground with fear, Petronella tried the latch of the door, +and found it yield to her hand. She pressed it open and then stood +suddenly still, a gasp of terror and dismay escaping her; for +there, in the middle of the hall, the moonlight falling full upon +his tall rugged figure, stood her father, waiting with folded arms +for his truant daughter, a look upon his stern face that she +shivered to behold.</p> +<p>"So, girl!" he exclaimed, making one stride forward and catching +the frail wrist in a vice-like grasp which almost extorted a cry of +pain--"so, my daughter, thou hast come in from this midnight tryst +with thy lover! And what dost thou think is the reward a father +bestows upon a daughter who leaves his house at this dead hour of +the night to meet the man he has bidden her eschew for ever?"</p> +<p>Petronella's agitation was so great that she was well-nigh +swooning. Her nerves had been on the strain for some time. The +excitement of seeing Cuthbert again, of hearing his story and +telling her own, had been considerable. And now to be confronted by +a furious father, and accused of having broken her solemn pledge, +and of having met her lover at an hour of the night when no +virtuous maiden would dream of such a tryst, was more than she +could bear. Slipping to her knees, she laid her hand upon her +father's robe, and clutching hold of it, as if for support, she +gasped out the one word:</p> +<p>"Pardon! pardon!"</p> +<p>"Thou mayest well sue for pardon, false jade; but to win it is +another matter. Say, vile girl, whom I blush to call my +daughter--say how oft hast thou thus gone forth to meet thy +lover?"</p> +<p>"Father--father, revile me not thus!" cried the girl, beside +herself with agitation, fearful of betraying Cuthbert's near +presence to the Gate House, lest the angry man should contrive to +do him some injury or gain some hold upon him, yet terrified at the +accusations levelled at her own head, which seemed to bear some +show of reason. "Father, have pity; drive me not to despair, as +thou didst drive my brother. I am so lonely and so miserable. Pity +me! pardon me!"</p> +<p>"Answer my question, base girl. How oft hast thou done this deed +before tonight?"</p> +<p>"Never before, my father, never before! Ah, do not be too hard +upon me! I have done no wrong--I swear it!"</p> +<p>"Keep thy false oaths for thy false lover!" cried the angry man; +"I will have none of them. Thou hast passed me thy word once, and I +believed thee, and thou hast played me false. I will never believe +thee again--never, never! Thou hast made thy bed, and thou shalt +lie upon it."</p> +<p>And with that the angry man flung the kneeling girl from him +with such violence that she fell against the wall, and striking her +head sharply, sank stunned and unconscious at his feet.</p> +<p>"Serve her right well, the false minx, the evil jade!" spoke the +heartless father, as he strode back to his own room without so much +as going across to the girl to know if she were severely hurt. "She +will be safe enow for this night. She will not seek to go forth +again. She shall smart for this bare-faced defiance. I will not be +set at naught by both of my children. I will not--I will not!"</p> +<p>When Petronella awoke from what seemed to her a long dream, she +found herself in her own bed, tended by the deaf-and-dumb servant, +who was sitting beside her and watching her with wistful glances. A +glad smile lighted up the woman's face as Petronella made a sign +that showed she recognized her; but no speech was possible between +them, and the girl was too weary to care to ask questions by means +of the series of signals long since established between them. She +turned her eyes from the light, and fell asleep again like a tired +child.</p> +<p>For several days her life was more like one long sleep than +anything else. It was some while before she remembered any of the +events immediately preceding this mysterious attack of illness; and +when she did remember, the events of that night seemed to stand out +in fearful colours.</p> +<p>Yet there was one thought of comfort: Cuthbert was not far away. +Since her father had openly accused her of vileness, deceit, and +treachery; since he had struck her down so cruelly, and had not +even come to see her in her helplessness and weakness, must not +Cuthbert's surmise be the true one--must he not surely be mad? She +could see by the old woman's cowering looks if the door moved on +its hinges, how much she feared the terrible master; and when +Petronella was sufficiently recovered to be able to enter into the +kind of conversation by means of signals which in some sort +resembled the finger talking of more modern times, she learned that +indeed her father was in a more black and terrible mood than ever +before, and that old Martha herself went in fear of her life.</p> +<p>Bit by bit the old woman made the girl understand what had +happened. Shortly after the day upon which she had found her young +mistress lying cold and insensible on the stone floor of the hall, +Philip Trevlyn had come to the Gate House, and had demanded an +interview with the owner. Right well did both the women know the +nature of that errand, though none had been present but the young +lover and the enraged father. There could be no manner of doubt but +that, incited to it by Cuthbert's tale, he had come to make a +definite offer of marriage, and doubtless had tried to bribe the +avaricious old man by some tempting offer of gold or land. But +whatever had been the terms in which the proposal was couched, +anger had proved a stronger passion with Nicholas than greed. +Philip had been driven from the house with a fury that threatened +actual violence, and for hours afterwards Nicholas had raged up and +down the house like a wild beast in a cage. He had once gone up to +his daughter's room with a face so full of fury that the old woman +had feared he meant to fall upon her then and there; but even he +had been calmed by a glance at the still, unconscious face upon the +pillow, so white and bloodless and death-like; and the man had gone +down with a quieter footfall than he had mounted, but had been +brooding in sullen fury ever since, so that the old servant had +feared to approach him even to bring him his needful food. She had +spent almost all her time up with her young mistress, afraid to +leave her by night or day lest some mischance should befall +her.</p> +<p>All this the girl gradually understood as she became strong +enough to take in the silent talk of the old woman. She knew that +she must have lain some days in this state of unconsciousness, for +the trees were greener than they had been when she had seen them +last, and the sunlight was fast gaining its golden summer-like +glow. There was something exhilarating in the beauty and richness +of reviving nature, and even Petronella's wan cheek kindled into a +flush of pleasure as she looked forth once again upon the fair +world around her dismal home.</p> +<p>Home? no, that was no longer the word for it. Slowly but surely +the knowledge had come to her that Cuthbert had been right, and +that this house could no longer be a home to her. Right well did +she credit now, what had never entered her mind before, that her +father had brooded and brooded until his very mind had become +unhinged. He was not master of his words when he spoke to her as he +had done upon that terrible night; he was not master of his actions +when he had flung her away and left her lying unconscious on the +stone floor. There was even some slight comfort in this thought, +though it settled for ever the doubt in her mind. She must leave +the Gate House so soon as she was strong enough to walk, and she +must find her brother in the forest, and place herself beneath his +care.</p> +<p>The old servant approved the plan. She herself could find a +refuge at Trevlyn Chase; but that house would be no shelter for her +young mistress. Her father's authority would be enough to carry her +back into captivity; and what her fate would be, were she to have +escaped him once and be again brought back, was a thought to +shudder at.</p> +<p>"I must go back to Cuthbert," she said to herself, as she looked +over the fair landscape, and thought longingly of the cool, dim +woods, and the free life of the forest. Her own home was nothing +now but a prison house. She knew that if she presented herself +before her father sound and whole, she would at once be placed +under some close restraint that would effectually hinder her from +carrying out her plan. He would sooner kill her, as she verily +believed, than permit her such liberty as might enable her to meet +by accident or design any member of the household from the Chase. +If she were to succeed in her escape, the attempt must be made +whilst her father still believed her too feeble to stir from her +bed; after that she would be too closely watched for it to be +possible.</p> +<p>The old woman entered into this scheme with alacrity and zeal. +Petronella kept to her bed; and when Nicholas Trevlyn demanded by +signs how it fared with his daughter, he was answered by solemn +shakings of the head. If he mounted the stairs to see with his own +eyes how she was, he saw her lying upon the bed with closed eyes +and wan face, and would smile with an evil smile and mutter that +she was safe enough now--safe enough now.</p> +<p>Yet each day hope and the good food the shrewd old woman +contrived to provide for her did its work upon Petronella's frail +body, and she grew better every hour. Indeed, after some while she +felt stronger than she had done for many weeks before her illness; +and in due time even the fond old woman began to see that there was +no need to postpone longer the scheme of escape.</p> +<p>It was a simple little scheme, yet one which promised success if +carefully carried out. Nicholas Trevlyn was accustomed to take +night by night a posset of mead, brewed in some particular way by +Martha. She was, upon the night planned as the one for the escape +of Petronella, to add to this posset some drops of a concoction +prepared by herself from herbs, which would infallibly produce +sound and deep sleep within two hours. The master of the house +asleep, all would be simple. The two women would sally forth by the +postern door, and make for the forest. With the first light of the +dawn, Martha would seek the shelter of Trevlyn Chase, whilst +Petronella sought her brother in the pixies' dell. Nicholas Trevlyn +would awake the next morning to find himself alone in the old Gate +House that he had made intolerable for any other inmate.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch16" id="Ch16">16</a>: The Pixies' Dell.</h2> +<p>After leaving Petronella close to her home, and watching the +slight figure vanish within the postern door, Cuthbert turned his +own steps towards the Chase, resolved to see Philip and tell him +what had passed between him and his sister before returning to the +forest dell where he had resolved to keep his watch.</p> +<p>He would not make any disturbance at the house at this dead hour +of the night; but as he was familiar with the place, he quickly +found his way to a small pavilion in the garden, the door of which +was not locked at night, and stretching himself upon a wooden +settle which stood there, he quickly fell asleep, and slept soundly +and well until awakened by the sound of a startled exclamation.</p> +<p>Springing to his feet, bewildered for a moment, and unable to +remember where he was, he found himself confronted by the eager, +startled face and big lustrous eyes of his cousin Kate.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert! thou here!" she exclaimed in amaze. "Thou surely hast +not brought me ill news of my--of Culverhouse!" and a deep flush +overspread her face as she spoke.</p> +<p>Cuthbert hastened to reassure her. He explained that he had not +seen Culverhouse since they parted in the forest, and that his own +errand was of a private nature, and concerned himself and his +sister.</p> +<p>"Ah, poor Petronella! methinks a hard lot is hers, Cuthbert. My +brother does what he may; yet that is but little, and of late he +has not been able so much as to get sight of her. Yet I see not +what thou canst do for her. Thy father is even more incensed +against thee than against us!"</p> +<p>"I came but to see with mine own eyes how she fared, and to +breathe a word of hope in her ear. Kate, sweet coz, let me breathe +that same word in thine; for thou wast the one to give me hope and +confidence when all besides looked on me as a wild dreamer. +Methinks I am on the track of the lost treasure. Methinks with +patience and care I shall find it yet."</p> +<p>Kate's eyes kindled and glowed.</p> +<p>"Nay, now, that is good hearing! Said I not ever that the old +saws spake sooth? And is not the luck to return to the house of +Wyvern through its daughters' sons? Cuthbert, tell me more--tell me +all! how is it thou hast succeeded where all besides have +failed?"</p> +<p>"I cannot lay claim to success as yet," answered Cuthbert, +smiling. "I have not said the treasure is mine, only that I trow I +know where soon I may lay hands upon it. Sweet Kate, when all that +gold is brought back to the halls of Trevlyn Chase whence it was +taken, sure thy dowry will be fair enough to win Lord Andover's +smiles. Sure thou wilt not then be afraid to own--"</p> +<p>But Kate laid her soft hand upon his lips and glanced round with +startled eyes. Courageous as she was to carry out a bold +resolution, she was not free from nervous timidity, too.</p> +<p>"Speak not the words, good Cuthbert, neither here nor yet within +the walls of the Chase. I have not dared to breathe to them at home +the thing I have done. Heaven pardon me if it were a sin; but I may +not wish it undone. It is so sweet to feel myself his; and if it be +as thou sayest, we may not have long to wait ere he may claim me +before the world. But if thou findest the treasure thyself, will it +not be all thine?"</p> +<p>"I trow not, and I trust thou hast no such evil thoughts of me, +fair cousin, as to think that I would keep all, when but a portion +was my father's share, and that will scarce be mine whilst he +lives. I do but hope to restore it to those to whom it rightfully +belongs. I trow there will be enough to make all glad and happy, +and I doubt not that something of good hap may come to me thereby. +But to lay claim to all--why, that would be a scurvy thought, +unworthy a man of honour."</p> +<p>Kate's bright face was full of eager sympathy and approval.</p> +<p>"I like thee, Cuthbert," she cried; "I like thy honest thoughts +and words. Thou art in sooth a very proper youth. Thou art worthy +of thy Wyvern blood, which I hold to be purer than that of Trevlyn, +which has times and again been stained by acts of malice, greed, +and violence. But see, the sun is rising in the sky! We must back +to the house for the morning meal. And, Cuthbert, good Cuthbert, +thou wilt keep my secret? Thou wilt not tell of our meeting on May +Day in the forest?"</p> +<p>"Never a word an thou biddest me not," answered Cuthbert, with a +smile. "So that is to be a secret, Lady Culverhouse?"</p> +<p>She recoiled with a little start, her eyes dancing, her cheeks +aglow.</p> +<p>"O Cuthbert, I had not thought that my name was changed. Lady +Culverhouse! What a pleasant sound it has! But oh, not a word at +home! I dare not tell them aught till Culverhouse be by my side. I +misdoubt me that I did right to let him persuade me thus; and yet I +could not say him nay, and I longed to hear the words spoken that +should bind us to each other. But I dare not tell my father! I trow +both he and my mother would chide full sternly. In truth, I fear me +it were scarce a maidenly act. But, O Cuthbert, love is so +strong--so hard a task master. Where he drives, it seems that one +needs must go;" and she looked up at him with such arch appeal that +he felt those glances would go far to soften the sternest parental +heart.</p> +<p>"In truth, I believe thee, fair coz, and I will keep thy secret +faithfully. It is safe with me; and I trust that all will end +happily when the lost treasure shall return to the house of +Trevlyn."</p> +<p>And talking eagerly upon this theme, which was also to be kept +secret from all the world besides, the cousins walked towards the +house. Cuthbert received a warm and hearty greeting from all his +kinsfolks there, who were pleased that he should have kept his +promise and have come to see them with the long days of early +summer.</p> +<p>Sir Richard and his wife were both pleased with the fashion in +which the youth had developed; his intelligence and information +were now plainly apparent, and had taken a fresh impetus from the +new surroundings in which he had found himself. He could talk with +discrimination and insight on all the leading topics of the day, +had plainly lost much of his old rusticity of thought and speech, +and had become an interesting and self-possessed youth.</p> +<p>But his errand was really to Philip, and to him he spoke in +private of his sister's story, and how she had promised to obey her +father and to see him no more. Cuthbert could assure the +disappointed lover that this was no indication of coldness on +Petronella's part, but that it was done from a sense of filial +duty, combined with a fear of some violence on her father's part +towards her lover should he be provoked too far. Cuthbert was as +certain as Philip could wish that Petronella's heart was entirely +his. He had read the girl's secret in the tones of her voice and in +the shy glances of her soft eyes. He told Philip, too, of the gold +that was awaiting the girl in her uncle's keeping, and added that +he was certain sure that Martin Holt would be glad enough to give +it over to his niece if she had a sturdy husband of the Reformed +faith to take care of her and it. His only fear was of its falling +into the hands of the Papists, which thing would have been +abhorrent to the grand sire whose legacy the money was. That fear +laid to rest, he would be glad to be rid of the charge, and to give +over the gold to its rightful owner.</p> +<p>Philip's heart was with Petronella, and he had not concerned +himself as yet with any thoughts as to her poverty and his own +somewhat impecunious position as his father's heir, but with three +sisters to be provided for out of the revenues of the impoverished +estate. He was man of the world enough to know that this dowry +would do much to smooth his path when the time should come for +making known his case to his parents, but for the moment his +thoughts were all with the lonely girl shut up so relentlessly by +her father.</p> +<p>"I will see Nicholas Trevlyn," he said, with stern decision. +"Things have gone too far not to go further. I will see him, and +make formal application for his daughter's hand. He can but refuse +me, and I shall tell him plainly that I decline to give her up at +any word of his. I can wait with patience till she is of age to +judge for herself; but she is the woman of my choice, and her alone +will I wed if she will have me."</p> +<p>Cuthbert's face was grave and troubled.</p> +<p>"And waiting for that, she may well be done to death within +those walls, as I should have been had I not fled. I am in trouble +of heart anent my sister. I pray she may find her way to me yet in +the free forest!"</p> +<p>Philip started and looked surprised.</p> +<p>"Is there likelihood of that?"</p> +<p>"I know not. I bid her come if our father should grow more +harsh, and told her where I likeliest might be found. I purpose to +dwell for a while myself in the forest, albeit thou wouldst mock me +if thou knewest the wherefore."</p> +<p>"To search for the lost treasure, I doubt not," said Philip with +a smile, remembering the talk of the autumn previous. "Marry thou +hast my best wishes for a happy quest. But what couldst thou do +with a tender maid out in the woods with thee?"</p> +<p>"I scarce know that myself; but anything would be better than +life with a madman--as I trow our father is like to become an he +change not his habit of life. Belike I would take her to mine uncle +on the bridge; yet perchance he would not thank me for adding to +his charges.</p> +<p>"If we had other relatives--"</p> +<p>"Why, and so ye have, even as we have. Hast never heard of my +Lady Humbert and Mistress Dowsabel Wyvern? They must be kinsfolk of +thine as well as of ours, and they dwell not very far distant from +here, albeit I myself have never visited them."</p> +<p>Cuthbert raised his head and looked eagerly at Philip.</p> +<p>"I would know more of that," he said.</p> +<p>"It is not much I can tell thee. This Lady Humbert is a widow, +and is sister to that Gertrude Wyvern who was my grandam and thy +aunt. Mistress Dowsabel is her younger sister; and albeit they are +both now of a good old age, they dwell together, with only servants +for company, in a house thou wouldst have passed on the road to +London hadst thou not taken the lonelier way across the heath. My +father and mother go each year to see after their welfare, and a +letter comes now and again from them with greetings or questions. +We of the younger generation have never been to visit them, since +they are too old to wish for the presence of the young, and love +not to see the changeless current of their lives interrupted. I +remember that of old, when we were in disgrace for some prank, our +grandam would shake her head at us and vow we should be sent to her +sister Dowsabel for chastisement, and stay with her till we learned +better manners. So we have grown up in the fancy that these +kinswomen be something stern and redoubtable ladies. Nevertheless, +if thou wast to put thy sister beneath their care, I trow they +would receive her with kindness and treat her well, and she would +scarce regret the Gate House were the captivity never so hard. Nor +would Nicholas Trevlyn be like to seek her there, though at the +Chase he would find her at once, were we to strive to aid her +flight as we aided thine."</p> +<p>Cuthbert saw this plainly, and asked a few more eager questions +about these ladies and where they might be found. He hardly knew +whether or not he expected Petronella to flee away to him, but at +least it would do no harm to be prepared in case she did so.</p> +<p>Philip told him all he knew, which was not much. The house would +be easily found, as it stood upon the highroad just a mile from a +large village, its gates opening straight upon the road, although +at the back were gardens and pleasaunces and a clear trout stream. +It seemed to Cuthbert as he listened that such a place as this +might prove a safe haven of refuge for his sister should one be +needed, and he resolved that if she once came to him he would +persuade her to place herself beneath the protection of these +ladies.</p> +<p>He would well have liked to see her again, to have whispered +something of this new plan into her ears. But though he lingered +much about the house during the two short weeks he spent at the +Chase, he saw no glimpse of his sister, and he did not dare to +summon her out to meet him at night, lest haply the suspicions of +the grim old tyrant should be aroused.</p> +<p>Leaving Philip fully determined to see Nicholas Trevlyn ere +long, to lay before him his formal proposal for Petronella's hand, +and confident that all at the Chase would befriend her as far as it +was possible; Cuthbert, afraid to linger longer in the immediate +vicinity of the Gate House, took his departure for the forest, +resolved to give himself over heart and soul to the search after +the missing treasure, and not to give it up until every nook and +corner of the pixies' dell had been subjected to the closest +scrutiny.</p> +<p>It was easy to obtain from Philip all such tools as would be +needful for the task of excavation. Although the young man himself +had small hopes of Cuthbert's success, he was interested in spite +of himself in the proposed plan, and would have been more so had he +known how much had been already discovered. But Cuthbert kept much +of that to himself, not willing that tattling tongues should spread +the rumour. Only to real believers in the hidden treasure did he +care to speak of the gipsy's strange words and the visit to the +wise woman of Budge Row. Philip, he thought, would smile, and +perhaps he would speak of the matter to his father, who in turn +might name it to some one else, and so it might come round, through +the gipsy spies and watchers, to the ears of Long Robin himself. +That, as Cuthbert well knew, would be well-nigh destruction to all +his cherished hopes; yet one who believed not would smile at his +fears, and could scarce be expected to observe the needful +caution.</p> +<p>As Cuthbert started for his nine miles' tramp in the cool of the +evening, with his tools slung across his shoulders, he was glad to +think that he had resisted the temptation to speak openly of this +matter to any but Petronella and Kate. With them he well knew the +secret was safe, for they entertained for Long Robin just the same +suspicious fear as he did himself, and their lips were sealed even +as his own.</p> +<p>The walk was nothing for his strong young limbs; but as he +approached the lonely dell, he instinctively slackened his speed, +and proceeded with greater caution. The thick growth of the trees +made the place dark in spite of the moon, which hung low in the sky +and shone between the trees in long silvery beams; and the tangled +path which once had led to the forest well had been long overgrown +with a mass of bramble and underwood, through which it was hard to +force a way.</p> +<p>But Cuthbert cautiously proceeded, listening intently for any +sounds of life to indicate the presence of Long Robin, the only +being likely to be near at such an hour; but all appeared to be +intensely still, and presently he commenced his cautious descent +into the dell itself, and at last stood beside the old stone wall +that guarded the mouth of the well.</p> +<p>Cuthbert had heard something of that well since he had been at +his uncle's house. Some of the old servants at the Chase knew the +forest well, and he had been told the story of the pixies' dell: +how it had once been a noted spot in the forest, and how travellers +turned aside to drink the waters, which were not only fresh and +clear and cold, even on the most sultry summer's day, but were +reported to possess healing properties, especially if taken at +certain hours of the night and in certain phases of the moon. Long +ago there had been a monastery near the well, and the monks had +dispensed the waters to the applicants who came. But the monastery +had fallen into ruins and had disappeared, and after that the +pixies were given the credit of the healing waters. People came to +drink them, though less frequently than before; and as the place +grew more lonely and deserted, rumours began to float about that +the pixies were inimical to man, and that the waters no longer +possessed their old power. Later on still, a more terrible thing +was discovered: it was said that it was death to approach that dell +and drink the waters. Men's bones had been found in great numbers +close about that spot, and it was plain that they must belong to +the unhappy wights who, disregarding cautions, had ventured to the +place, and had died before they could get away from thence.</p> +<p>After that, as may well be guessed, no sick folks had cared to +trouble the dell again. Travellers made a wide circuit to avoid it, +and it was held to be the place of most evil repute in the +forest.</p> +<p>All this story was well understood by Cuthbert, who felt no fear +of the spot, only a little natural awe as he recollected the deed +that had once been done there. The moon was going down as he looked +about him; the dark hour before morning was about to fall upon the +world. He looked about for a resting place in which to conceal +himself till he could commence his search, and found the place he +desired in a hollow tree, just beyond the circle of smooth sward +that surrounded the well itself.</p> +<p>Plainly this tree had been used before for a like purpose. The +leaves had been carefully raked together within, and were covered +by a warm rug, in which Cuthbert was not sorry to wrap himself, for +the night air was sharp and chilly though the days were hot.</p> +<p>"Long Robin's rug, or I greatly mistake me," he said with a +smile. "I trow he would be sore amazed were he to come and find me +here. Howbeit he would but take me for a passing wayfarer, since he +knows not my face, and I misdoubt me if he come tonight. He fears +too much Joanna's watchful eyes and Miriam's jealous ones. I will +sleep in peace till daylight dawns, and then I will begin my +search."</p> +<p>Sleep came quickly to the lad's eyes, but it was only light, for +with the first blush of dawn he awoke and prepared to commence his +work.</p> +<p>His tools he had hidden away beneath the heap of leaves which +had formed his bed, and he did not disturb them for the time being, +but walked forth and examined the dell for himself before making +any excavation.</p> +<p>First his attention was given to the patch of greensward around +the well; but this was so smooth and even that it seemed as if it +had not been disturbed for ages. Such soft emerald turf, as +Cuthbert well knew, was the growth of centuries, and there was no +sort of trace or seam to indicate the handiwork of man.</p> +<p>Round and round the open space he paced, his eyes fixed upon the +ground beneath his feet, his quick glance shifting from spot to +spot, as he strove for some indication, however faint, of the +existence of some hidden hoard.</p> +<p>"Yet it is certain to be well hid. It were strange if I did +light upon it in the first hour," he said to himself at length, +covering his disappointment with a smile. "I will break my fast +with the good fare given me by my fair cousin Kate, and will taste +the waters of the magic well. I trow I shall take no harm from +them. Long Robin will scarce have poisoned the spring from which he +himself must ofttimes drink."</p> +<p>Whilst he partook of his simple meal, he looked about him with +keen and eager glances, wondering where he should next search, and +striving to see traces of footsteps in the sandy sides of the dell, +or breaks in the tangled growth of underwood that would indicate +some track used by Robin. Cuthbert shrewdly suspected that he would +not be able to resist the temptation of going frequently to the +spot where the buried treasure lay, to see if the ground remained +undisturbed, and he thought that the surest way of discovering this +spot was to seek for traces likely to be left by him; or, failing +these, to watch patiently from some obscure spot till the gipsy +came again to the dell, when it was probable he might betray the +secret by his own movements.</p> +<p>"If I dig and delve before the clue is mine, I may chance to put +him on his guard, and find nothing. No; I will be patient--I will +be very cautious. Success comes to him that can wait. Long Robin is +a foe not to be despised or trifled with; I can tell that from his +own words and Joanna's. He would take a hundred lives to save his +golden secret. He is cautious and cunning and wary. I must try to +be the same."</p> +<p>All that long summer's day Cuthbert prowled up and down the +dell, searching for some trace, however slight, which should give +him the clue, and searching in vain. The only path where the +undergrowth was in any way trodden was the one by which he and +Robin alike approached the well, the old, half-obliterated track +that once had been so freely used. All around the sides of the +dell, fern and bramble, hazel and undergrowth of all kinds, grew in +wild confusion. Search as he would, Cuthbert could find nothing +like a path of any kind. Did Robin indeed trust to that tangled +undergrowth to keep his secret hid? And if so, what chance was +there of its being found unless the whole dell was dug up?</p> +<p>A short while back it seemed so much to have found out this +dell. When he had been resolved to search the whole forest through, +no wonder the task had been practically impossible; but when he had +had indications of a confined locality, he had looked upon his work +as well-nigh accomplished, and had come here with a heart full of +high hopes. And now he was confronted by difficulties that appeared +almost as insurmountable as before; for he plainly saw the +hopelessness of attempting single-handed to delve the whole dell +over. Robin would return before the task was more than begun. He +would guess the import, would set a close watch, and would slay the +bold invader of his haunted dell without pity or remorse. Whilst +the only other plan, that of bringing a gang of men to work strong +enough to be a guard to themselves, was simply out of the question +for Cuthbert. He had no money himself. His uncle Martin would +certainly not give him the gold in the box for any such +hare-brained scheme; whilst to appeal to Sir Richard, with nothing +to back his statements but what would be looked upon as old wives' +fables and gipsy delusions, would only be to provoke ridicule and +scorn. The Trevlyns had long given up the treasure as lost beyond +recall. They had no sort of hope of recovering it, and the present +owner of the Chase and his lady were in particular very greatly +averse to any sort of dealings with occult magic and gipsy +lore.</p> +<p>Cuthbert had a shrewd notion that there was little enough of +magic in any of the words and dark sayings he had heard. He had +been let just a very little behind the scenes, and had his own +opinions on the subject. His faith in spirits and familiars had +been greatly shaken; but he knew that his story would sound wild +and improbable, and he was by no means sure that even Joanna would +consent to appear before Sir Richard and repeat it all to him. She +was anxious to do her part towards making restitution; but, having +put the clue in Cuthbert's hands, would very likely consider that +part done, and decline to be questioned further by any one.</p> +<p>"What I do I must do alone," said Cuthbert to himself, with a +sigh, at the close of that day of toil and discouragement. "Well, I +should have been mightily surprised had I lighted on the treasure +at the close of the first day. I ought not to be thus discouraged, +and yet I am. Still there is one more thing to do. If I can but +watch Long Robin, surely I shall learn somewhat from him. I vow +that that is better far than prowling aimlessly about the dell. Let +me spend my time and strength in building for myself some nook high +up in one of yon trees, from which vantage ground I may spy upon +his doings. If I can but get me up high enough, I can watch him +from spot to spot. Sure I should be stupider than a daylight owl an +I could not learn somewhat from his looks and actions on his next +visit. And it will be safer for me to have mine own perch. I will +venture to sleep one more night in the tree; but after that I will +sleep by day and watch by night, for it is plain that he is a night +bird in his visits here."</p> +<p>The next day Cuthbert set to work with a better heart. It was +not difficult to find the sort of nook he wanted high up in the +branches of a great sycamore. The oaks were hardly thick enough yet +to conceal him, and the foliage of the elm was somewhat scanty +still, for all that the season was forward. But by good hap there +chanced to be, amongst the tall trees that fringed the round of +sward, a noble sycamore in full leaf and very thick; and by +skillful contrivance, and with the help of his tools, Cuthbert +quickly built himself up there a small but secure and commodious +platform, upon which he could perch himself at ease and watch the +whole of the dell. Even if he fell asleep, he was in no danger of +falling; and if he could obtain the needful supplies of food, he +could keep watch there unseen for an indefinite time. He had plenty +of provision so far, for he had been supplied with dry and salted +provisions enough to last a week. These he took up to his nest, and +also his tools, which he resolved to keep beside him for safety; +and having spent the best part of the day in this labour of +ingenuity and patience, and having then quenched his thirst by long +draughts of clear cold water, he ascended to his perch with an +armful of dried bracken--the eighth such load he had carried +up--and as he arranged his riding cloak upon the soft and fragrant +cushion thus prepared, he said to himself with a smile that he +could afford to be patient now, for he had a commodious castle all +his own, and could await with patience the advance of the foe.</p> +<p>His patience was not, however, destined to be very sorely taxed. +He had fallen into a light sleep, and was dreaming of a +hand-to-hand struggle with Long Robin, when some unwonted sound +smote upon his ears, and he started up all alert on the +instant.</p> +<p>He knew that sound; he had heard it before. It was the wild, +unearthly noise made by Robin to increase the fear of this dell in +the hearts of any chance wayfarers who might haply be within +hearing. In a few more seconds Cuthbert, peering down from his +leafy canopy, saw the tall form thrusting itself through the +underwood; and Robin, with a loud laugh, threw himself upon the low +wall of the pixies' well.</p> +<p>He was talking and muttering to himself, but Cuthbert could not +catch the words. He seemed in a merry mood, for he laughed aloud +once or twice, and drank of the well and laughed again. Once +Cuthbert thought he caught the words "treasure" and "safe," but of +that he could not be certain; and it was not easy to see how Robin +could know this, seeing he had not stirred three paces from the +well.</p> +<p>And then a sudden flash came into Cuthbert's soul like one of +inspiration. Suppose the treasure was in the well itself? What more +likely? Would not that be the safest place of all? For the precious +metals would not hurt through contact with the water; and had he +not heard that the waters of this well possessed peculiar +properties for preserving anything thrown into them?</p> +<p>Cuthbert's heart beat so fast that he almost feared Robin would +hear his deep breathing; but the man was looking down into the +well, laughing to himself in the peculiarly malevolent fashion that +Cuthbert had heard before. He never moved from the side of the well +for the long hour he remained; and Cuthbert, waiting in feverish +impatience till he should be gone, felt as though he had never +known an hour so long.</p> +<p>But it ended at last. The tall figure reared itself upright, and +he heard the voice distinctly now.</p> +<p>"I must be going--I must be going. Miriam will be asking +questions. That hag is the plague of my life. All safe--all safe. +And now I will depart."</p> +<p>The tall figure put on its stooping gait, which appeared to be +second nature, and went slouching away through the underwood along +the narrow track. Cuthbert waited till there had been a long spell +of perfect silence, and then he glided with cat-like caution to the +ground.</p> +<p>"I may not be able to see anything by this light, not even the +glint of gold beneath the clear waters. But he seemed to see. He +looked down and muttered, 'Safe--safe!' Beshrew me but I trow I +have the secret now! The pixies' well--the hidden secret it guards +so well. All is true! all is true! Why did I not think of it +before?"</p> +<p>Creeping to the side of the well, Cuthbert peered over the edge +and gazed fixedly into the dark water. What was it he saw? Was that +moonlight shining and glinting there; or was it--could it be--Hold, +what is this?</p> +<p>With a stifled cry Cuthbert strove to spring to his feet; but +the attempt was vain. He was encircled in the bear-like grip of a +pair of arms that were strong as bands of iron around him. He felt +as though all the breath were being pressed out of him, and in his +ear there rang a hideous laugh, the sound of which he knew but too +well.</p> +<p>"Fool!" cried a hoarse voice, hissing the words in his +ears--"fool of a mad boy to trust a treacherous gipsy tale! So thou +thoughtest to outwit Long Robin! Thou thoughtest to win back the +lost treasure to the house of Trevlyn! Mad boy--fool of a hardy +knave! But yet thou shalt have thy wish--thou shalt have thy will. +Thou shalt see with thine own eyes that long-lost treasure."</p> +<p>There was a cruel sneer in the man's eyes, a mocking inflection +in his voice, that sent a thrill of cold horror through Cuthbert's +veins. He was absolutely powerless in that merciless clasp. He felt +the strength leaving his limbs and his head turning giddy. He only +just knew it when he was laid upon the grass, his captor's knee +firmly planted on his chest; and then he felt his hands and feet +being tightly and securely bound, whilst the stars in the sky +seemed to reel and dance before his eyes, and he said to himself, +without realizing the import of his own words:</p> +<p>"He is going to kill me; he is going to kill me."</p> +<p>"Yes, I am going to kill thee, mad boy," said Long Robin coolly, +as though he had heard the spoken word. "I am going to kill thee, +as I kill all those who dare to thwart my will or cross my path. I +shall kill thee; but thou shalt first have the desire of thine eyes +and of thine heart. Thou shalt see and thou shalt touch the +long-lost treasure! Thou shalt learn the secret ere thou diest, and +thy ghost can impart it to thy friends."</p> +<p>With a brutal and almost diabolical laugh, Long Robin rose to +his feet and leaned over the well. He seemed to be raising from it +some heavy weight, and Cuthbert heard a heavy thud fall upon the +grass.</p> +<p>"Now, thou shalt go to join the lost treasure. The Trevlyns when +they find it will find their lost kinsman, too! Ha, ha! they are +welcome to that find; they are welcome to it!" and the man stooped +to lift the bound and helpless Cuthbert in his strong arms.</p> +<p>Cuthbert closed his eyes. He knew well what was coming. A fall, +a sullen splash, one brief ineffectual struggle, and then black +darkness. He tried to breathe a prayer, but could form no words. He +thought of Cherry, of Petronella, and sharp stabs of pain seemed to +run through him. One minute more and all would be over. But what an +endless minute that was, whilst he felt the grip upon his body +growing firmer as the giant prepared to lift him.</p> +<p>What was that?</p> +<p>"Crack!"--a sudden flash from the dark underwood, and with a +loud cry his captor dropped him, and staggered backwards, to fall a +few paces farther on, where he lay rigid and motionless. Then from +the thicket there came the sound of a quick sharp cry, and a slim +figure rushed forward with the gasping question:</p> +<p>"Is he dead? Oh, have I killed him?"</p> +<p>And Cuthbert, raising his head, and scarce believing aught of +this could be anything but a fevered dream, uttered the one +word:</p> +<p>"Petronella!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch17" id="Ch17">17</a>: Brother And +Sister.</h2> +<p>"Petronella! thou here!"</p> +<p>"Brother--brother mine--art thou hurt?"</p> +<p>"Never a whit, though I looked to be a dead man ere this. +Sister, take my knife and cut my bonds; yon man may rise again, and +I must be free to defend myself and thee."</p> +<p>Petronella cast a scared and fearful glance at the long dark +figure lying face downwards upon the sward, showing signs of life +only by a spasmodic twitching of the limbs; and then drawing +Cuthbert's long hunting knife from his belt, she cut the cords that +bound his hands and feet, and in another moment he sprang up and +shook himself, keeping a wary eye all the while upon the prostrate +foe. But he did not go to his side at once; he was too keenly +aroused and interested by this sudden appearance of his sister.</p> +<p>"Petronella! I can scarce credit my senses. How comest thou +here, and at such an hour?"</p> +<p>"I am doing as thou biddest me," she answered in a low voice: "I +am flying from our home, even as thou wast forced to fly. I verily +believe that thou art right, and that our father is well-nigh mad. +I dared not remain. Even old Martha feared to linger longer under +that roof. She has found safe refuge, I trust, at Trevlyn Chase. +Thou didst go there, my brother, after parting from me?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily I did, and stayed there a matter of some two weeks, +ever hoping to see thy face again, and to hear how it fared with +thee. But thou camest not."</p> +<p>"I could not," answered the girl, in the same low tone; "I was +in my bed, unable to move hand or foot, unable to know night from +day. Cuthbert, the night I went forth to thee in the chantry our +father missed me from the house. He thought I had gone to meet +Philip in the wood at night. He reviled me cruelly, and I feared to +tell him it was thou I had gone to see. Then, I know not how, but I +fear he struck me. A great blackness came before mine eyes; and +when I opened them again a week or more had passed, and I knew, as +I began to understand what had chanced, that I could no longer +remain beneath the roof of the Gate House."</p> +<p>Cuthbert ground his teeth in sudden fury.</p> +<p>"Struck thee, my gentle sister! Nay, I can scarce credit it; and +were he any other than my father--"</p> +<p>"But he is our father," answered the girl gently. "And truly +methinks, Cuthbert, that his lonely brooding has something unhinged +his mind. Let us think of him only with pity."</p> +<p>Cuthbert put his arm about her tenderly.</p> +<p>"Tell me the rest of thy story, sister. How camest thou here so +opportunely, to play the part of Amazon and save thy brother's +life?"</p> +<p>She shivered a little, as if afraid even to think what she had +done, but her words were quietly and clearly spoken.</p> +<p>"That is soon told. Old Martha nursed me back to health again, +and our stern father hindered her not in her tendance of me. And +this very night we made our plans, and she put a concoction of +herbs into his nightly potion, which caused him to sleep too sound +to awake for any sound within or without the house. Then we softly +stole away without let or hindrance--she to go to the Chase, I to +walk across the moorland and forest as thou hadst bidden me, to +find thee here."</p> +<p>"And thou didst arm thyself ere thou wentest forth?"</p> +<p>She looked up with strange earnestness into his face.</p> +<p>"I know not if the thought were sin, Cuthbert," she said, "but +as I slipped through the dark house ere our flight, my eyes fell +upon that pair of heavy pistols always loaded that our father keeps +ever on the mantle shelf of the hall. I thought of the lessons thou +hadst given me in old days, and knew I could pull the trigger were +I so minded, and send the bullet whizzing through the air. I had no +thought of harming any man as I put forth my hand and took one of +the weapons. I was thinking rather of myself. I had heard men speak +of perils worse than death that may beset weak and helpless women +alone in the world. I knew not if I might find thee as I hoped. I +could not but fear that some mischance might keep us sundered. I +thought of my father's cruel wrath should he discover my flight, +and pursue and overtake. It seemed to me, standing in the darkness +of the old Gate House, that it would be better to perish than to be +dragged thither again to die of misery and harsh captivity. I said +within myself, 'Sure, if it be sin, it is one that God would +pardon. It is not well for me to go forth without some weapon which +might end all, were it to be the less peril to die than to live.' +And so I took the pistol and carried it in my girdle."</p> +<p>"And then?"</p> +<p>"Then we went forth together, and Martha walked with me awhile. +But as I felt the clear fresh air of the night fanning my cheek, +and the dewy sweetness of the grass beneath my feet, I grew strong +and full of courage. I felt certain by what thou hadst told me that +I was on the right track. The moon and the stars shone in the sky +and guided my steps. I sent Martha away, and journeyed on alone. It +was sweet to find myself free, to see the heavens above my head, +and to hear the soft night breezes. In the clear brightness of the +night I could see far about me, and I knew that I was alone and had +naught to fear. Thanks to Martha's good nursing and the food she +had contrived for me, I was stronger than I had been for many long +days and weeks. It was happiness to use my limbs, and I was not +wearied by my journey. I entered the forest track at last, and +quickly found the path that thou hadst spoken to me of. I knew then +that I was near my journey's end, and my heart was light within +me."</p> +<p>"Didst thou not fear the dark wood and the many strange sounds +of the night?"</p> +<p>"I feared somewhat, but chided myself for that fear. But it was +well I felt it, else might I not have crept along as I did with +such mouse-like stillness; and but for that, yon man"--with a +shuddering glance at Long Robin on the ground--"would surely have +found me."</p> +<p>Cuthbert started and asked her how that was.</p> +<p>"I will tell thee, brother. I was drawing very nigh this dell, +and I felt as by some instinct that it was close at hand, when I +heard the sound of footsteps coming thence, and I well-nigh ran +forth calling thee by name, for I felt assured it must be thou. But +then some impulse of fear possessed me, and I trembled in every +limb, and instead of running forth to meet him who was coming, I +hid myself within the shadows of a deep hollow tree, scarce daring +to breathe lest I should be discovered. And scarce had I done this +before a tall figure crept out along the path, and halted so close +beside me that I well-nigh screamed aloud in my terror, for I +thought for sure I was discovered. But no: he had not paused for +that, and as he stood scarce three ells from my hiding place I +heard him mutter to himself; and I knew by what thou hadst told me, +and by his tall form and long white beard, that it was Long Robin +who was so near.</p> +<p>"And couldst thou hear what he said?"</p> +<p>"I could hear many words, and fierce ones, too--words that made +my flesh creep, and turned me sick with fear for thee, my brother. +He muttered that he was watched and spied upon. He spoke of other +footfalls than his own in the dell, and cursed Joanna for striving +to outwit him, vowing he would slay her if once he found that she +had dared to set others to watch him. He spoke the name of Trevlyn +once or twice. It was as if he had heard somewhat of thee and of +thine errand to the Gipsy Queen--something he must surely have +heard, else could he not have spoken of the 'Trevlyn spawn,' and +what he would do if one of that 'brood' dared to come betwixt him +and his design. And then he leaned against a tree and waited, +listening with an intentness that showed a deep suspicion; and he +must have heard sounds that I could not--for my heart beat so +wildly I feared he would hear it where he stood--and he smote his +hands softly together and laughed a low laugh like that of a +demon."</p> +<p>"I have heard that laugh; I know it well," whispered Cuthbert. +"It is indeed what thou callest it. Doubtless he heard my cautious +descent from the tree. What did he then?"</p> +<p>"I heard his next words plainly, and they sent a thrill of cold +horror through me, for too well I divined their import.</p> +<p>"'He is there!' he hissed between his teeth--'he is there! I +shall catch him red handed in the act. Good! He shall not leave the +dell alive; he shall join the seven who strove before to know too +much. Long Robin's hand has not lost its cunning, and it will +strike the more heartily when aimed against one of the false, +hateful brood.'</p> +<p>"And then, Cuthbert, I saw it all in a moment. I knew that thou +wert in the glen, and that he was going forward to kill thee. And +for a moment my head swam, and I well-nigh swooned with terror, and +could not even lift my voice to shout to thee and warn thee to fly +for thy life."</p> +<p>"It was well thou didst not," answered Cuthbert; "for I should +scarce have heard or understood, and he would but have turned his +destroying hand against thee ere he went forward to slay me. Thou +didst do better than cry aloud, my sister."</p> +<p>She shivered slightly and pressed close up to him.</p> +<p>"When the mist passed from my eyes and I could see, Long Robin +was no more there, and in awful fear what might even then be +happening, I stole down as fast as my trembling limbs would carry +me towards the centre of the dell. Ere I could see aught I heard +thy voice raised in a sharp cry, Cuthbert, and then I heard fierce, +cruel words spoken, mingled with that laugh that makes the blood +run chill in the veins. I crept as fast as I could through the +tangled underwood, and then I saw before me a terrible sight. Yon +man was binding thee hand and foot with bonds that thou couldst not +break, and I knew that he would kill thee without mercy, even as he +had threatened. It was then that I remembered for the first time +the weapon I carried at my side, and as I took it in my hands I +felt a strange coldness come upon me. I trembled no longer. I felt +calm and resolute and fearless. I crept cautiously out of the +brushwood, though I kept still in the shadow of the trees, and I +drew nearer and nearer, expecting every instant to be seen. I dared +not fire till I was very close. It was long since I had discharged +such a weapon, and I knew well that thy life and mine both hung +upon that one charge. Robin rose suddenly to his feet after binding +thee, and I thought for certain I was seen. But no; he turned and +leaned over the well, and drew forth from it yon huge round slab of +stone, which he flung there on the grass as thou seest it. When his +back was thus turned I crept nearer yet. I would have fired then, +but still feared to miss. Then he bent over thee and lifted thee in +his arms. He could not see me then, he was too much engrossed in +his task. I saw well what he meant to do--to fling thee bound and +helpless into the well, where the lost treasure, methinks from his +words, must lie.</p> +<p>"The rest thou knowest. Coming up close behind, I fired my +pistol. He dropped thee and fell himself, and I feared that he was +dead. Brother, it is something fearful to have killed a man, though +it was to save life. Wilt thou not go to him and see if he yet +lives? We ought to show charity even to our foes."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was willing enough to do this since he had heard his +sister's story, which had not taken many minutes in the telling. He +went across to the spot where Long Robin lay, and turned him gently +over.</p> +<p>Although the sight of death was by no means familiar to +Cuthbert, it took only one glance to show him that this man was +dying or dead. His face was ghastly and drawn, and his limbs were +already growing rigid and motionless. The heavy charge of the +pistol had done its work surely and fully: the bullet had passed +through the spine, and had entered the vital organs. There was +little effusion of blood, but death was delayed only a few minutes. +Even as Cuthbert looked at him, the man gave a deep groan. His +eyelids flickered a few moments, and then his jaw dropped, a quiver +passed through his frame, which then became absolutely still.</p> +<p>Cuthbert shook his head.</p> +<p>"He is dead!" cried Petronella, in a voice of compunction and +awe--"he is dead; and I have killed him!"</p> +<p>She put her hands before her eyes and shivered. It was something +of a terror to her that she should have done this thing. She shook +in every limb.</p> +<p>"I did not mean to kill him--I never thought of killing him; I +only thought of how to save thee, Cuthbert. O brother, brother, +what shall I do? Will they hang me for it?"</p> +<p>"Never," cried Cuthbert, throwing his strong arm about her and +smiling at her words. "Sweet Petronella, thou hast naught to fear. +This man has long been an outlaw and a robber. He has many lives to +answer for himself, as well as innumerable acts of violence with +robbery. Even were it not so, thou couldest not be held in any wise +guilty by law either of God or man. May Heaven forgive me if I sin, +but I am right glad thy bullet did its work so well. Our enemy thus +removed from our path, the secret of the lost treasure lies with +thee and me. Petronella, I doubt it not for a moment now, that +treasure lies at the bottom of the pixies' well. My only wonder is +that none have thought of this before."</p> +<p>Petronella pointed to the circular slab lying wet and sparkling +in the moonlight upon the sward beside the well.</p> +<p>"Look there!" she said: "it is that that has helped to hide the +secret so long. Robin is cunning. He is deep, he is full of +artifice. He has given to the well a false bottom, of which +perchance none knows but himself. He knows how to raise it from the +well, as I saw him do; but all the world beside would hold it in +truth to be the well's bottom. Beneath yon slab the treasure lies. +Cuthbert, thou hast found the secret. Thou wilt be the one to +restore the fortunes of our house."</p> +<p>"Methinks it will be more thou than I, sweet sister," answered +Cuthbert, gladly and proudly, as he leaned over the low stone wall +and gazed eagerly into the deep, dark water. "And right glad am I +that we should be together when we find the treasure trove. Canst +see aught in yon deep hole, Petronella?"</p> +<p>She shook her head.</p> +<p>"Nor I neither. We must wait for daylight for that, and then +perchance it will not reveal itself to our eyes. Yet it is there. I +am certain sure of it; and although it may be something difficult +to rescue even now, I doubt not that with patience and time we may +succeed. Petronella, I will tomorrow to the village nighest at +hand, whilst thou dost rest up in yon tree out of the way of all +harm, where I have prepared a place of comfort. I will purchase +there a suit of boy's clothes for thee to wear whilst thou dost +share my forest life; it will be safer for thee, and more +commodious likewise. I will also buy us victuals and a coil of +rope. Then we twain can set to work over our task, and it will be +strange indeed if we be balked in it, seeing that the hardest part +is already accomplished. The secret is ours!"</p> +<p>Petronella's eyes sparkled beneath their heavy fringes. There +was a spice of adventure and romance about this that could not but +be delightful to any young spirit.</p> +<p>"Thou wilt not then tell our kinsfolk at the Chase, and ask +their aid in this?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert shook his head.</p> +<p>"I will tell no man aught. I will ask for nothing till the +treasure is in mine own hands!" he cried, with a gesture of triumph +and pride. "They would believe naught when I spoke of the treasure +before. They might even yet laugh us to scorn were we to tell our +tale and point to the well as the place. No: we have done all alone +thus far; let us do all alone even to the end. Time presses not. We +have the summer before us. We have possession of this dell, where +no foot but that of yon dead man ever dared to tread. He thus +removed from our path, none else will spy upon us nor hinder us. We +are safer here than in any other spot in the forest.</p> +<p>"Say, sister, wilt thou be my helper in this labour, be it small +or great?"</p> +<p>She laid her hand trustingly in his; her dark eyes glowed.</p> +<p>"Gladly, gladly will I share the labour and the toil, my +brother. O Cuthbert, it seems a happy and a fitting thing that the +luck of the house should return to the Trevlyns of the Chase +through the two poor cousins whom they befriended in their hour of +need. They were kind to us when our life was darkest; it will be +sweet to think that they will win happiness through us."</p> +<p>"Ay, and Philip's bride will be no longer a portionless damsel, +but will have gold enough and to spare. Sweet sister, Philip hath +spoken to me openly of his love. He hath been ere this to ask thee +at thy father's hand."</p> +<p>"Ay, and was driven forth with blows and curses."</p> +<p>"Thou hast heard it? But thinkest thou he will take that for an +answer? Nay, Petronella, thou wilt one day be his bride; and I will +give thee to him with a joyful heart, for he loved thee in the days +of our poverty and distress; so that one knows his love is for thee +and thee alone, not for the fair dowry thou wilt presently +bring."</p> +<p>Petronella hid her happy, blushing face on her brother's +shoulder, and thus they stood awhile, till the girl drew back with +a light shiver and said:</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, can it be right for us thus to stand thinking of our +own happiness, whilst he lies there so still and cold?"</p> +<p>"I was just about to bid thee give me leave to bury him, whilst +thou dost rest thyself awhile. We will not grudge him that last +service; and it will be safer and better to do it here than to give +notice of his death to the gipsies and outlaws, and so bring them +down upon us in this place, provoking perchance their vengeance +upon ourselves. I have here a spade, brought to dig after the +treasure. I little thought it would first be used to dig Long +Robin's grave. But the task had better be done, and that quickly. +The man is dead as a stone. We will bury him away out of our sight +ere we do aught beside."</p> +<p>Petronella assented with a slight shudder. She could not regret +the death of the giant gipsy, who himself made so light of human +life, and would have slain her brother before her eyes without a +qualm. But she shivered each time she looked at the motionless +form, and was glad when, after some hours of hard work beneath the +trees, Cuthbert succeeded in dragging the corpse away and in +covering it up from sight. Kneeling beside the rude grave, the girl +breathed a prayer for the soul of the departed man, and repeated +many an ave and paternoster, in the hope of smoothing for him his +passage into eternity (being still considerably imbued with the +teachings of her early life, which the newer and clearer faith had +by no means eradicated), and then she rose comforted and relieved, +feeling as though a dark weight had passed from her spirit.</p> +<p>Daylight had now come, and the girl was very weary. She looked +so wan and white that Cuthbert was alarmed, and fed her tenderly +with the best his wallet could supply; after which he took her up +to his nest in the sycamore, first bringing the rug that was lying +in the hollow tree to wrap around her. There he succeeded in making +her so comfortable and secure that she fell asleep almost at once, +and he was hopeful she would sleep the whole time of his absence, +for she was worn out with fatigue, and only just recovering from an +illness. How she had borne the fatigues of that night he scarce +knew; but she possessed her share of the Trevlyn tenacity of +purpose, and her strong will had conquered the feebleness of her +frame.</p> +<p>It was a satisfaction to see her sink into a tranquil sleep, and +secure in the certainty that she could not be seen by any person +entering the dell. Certain that none but a chance traveller ever +did come nigh this haunted spot, he was not afraid to leave her; +and after studying the simple contrivance by which the round slab +was raised and lowered in the well, he dropped it to its former +position, and went on his way to the village with a light +heart.</p> +<p>The secret of the lost treasure, he was fully certain, was now +his; and though the work of rescue might require time and patience +and labour, he was convinced it could be accomplished, and that he, +with the help of his sister, should find himself competent for the +task.</p> +<p>It was evening before he returned, but he found Petronella where +he had left her. She had slept almost unbrokenly throughout the +day, and was now greatly refreshed and invigorated. The air of the +forest and the sweet breath of the pines were enough, as she said, +to give her new life; and she descended eagerly to meet and greet +her brother, and to examine the purchases he had made.</p> +<p>The first excitement was the ass who bore the heavy load. +Cuthbert had had some trouble in making a way for the creature to +pass down into the dell; but once here, he would never stray away +of his own accord. Indeed, he appeared to have no disposition that +way, for he began at once to crop the emerald sward around the well +with an air of great contentment, whilst Cuthbert unloaded him and +displayed his purchases to his sister.</p> +<p>"There is thy suit, young Peter," he said with a smile. "I trow +thou wilt make a pretty boy, and wilt find thyself more fitted for +our new life thus habited, and canst rove in the forest thus clad, +an thou hast a mind that way, more safely than thou couldest in a +maid's dress. And here is wine to put some colour into thy pale +cheeks, and food to last us many a day, and blankets to wrap about +us by night when the wind blows chill, and this heavy cloak to keep +the rain from thee when the skies weep. And see, here is a rope +which I trow will let me to the very bottom of the well, an we can +once turn the water some other way; and the ass can drag me forth +again--and the treasure likewise--when once this matter has been +accomplished. The hot, dry weather is coming apace. Men say already +that the springs be something low. All this favours our plans; and +if I can find the spring that feeds this well, as like enough I +may, then will I make shift to turn its waters another way, and the +pixies' well shall be dry!"</p> +<p>Petronella gazed at him in surprise.</p> +<p>"Brother, whence comes all this knowledge to thee? I should +never have dreamed such a thing might be!"</p> +<p>"But I have read of such things being done ere now," answered +Cuthbert eagerly. "I have spent many an hour at Master Cole's shop +upon the bridge reading of such matters--how men mine and +counter-mine, and dig and delve, and sink wells and drain them, and +do many strange things of which we never dreamed in past days. In +times of war it is wondrous how many shifts of that or like kind +they think of and perform. I little thought how soon I myself +should want some such thing accomplished; but I read all eagerly, +and Master Anthony Cole explained much that perplexed me; and I +trow I might e'en do some such thing myself, with thee and this +patient beast to help me in my toil!"</p> +<p>It was with undisguised admiration that Petronella regarded her +brother, and very happy and merry was the meal taken together +beside the well under the green-wood trees. It was hard to realize +that this smiling girl, with the faint pink bloom in her cheek, and +the bright eager eyes, was the cowed and sorrowful Petronella of a +few days back. Cuthbert looked at her with glad pride as she talked +to him and petted the docile ass, who came and stood beside them +and got a full share of such things as were pleasant to his palate. +Petronella had never had the care of a live thing before, and was +delighted with the affection shown towards her at once by the +gentle creature.</p> +<p>Her sleep that night in the tree was sound and refreshing; and +when she joined Cuthbert, dressed in her suit of boys' garments; +laughing, blushing, and delighted with the freedom of motion that +they gave her; he found it hard to believe it was really +Petronella, and vowed it would not be hard to call her Peter, for +that there was little enough of the Petronella of old days to be +found in her.</p> +<p>And from that day forward a happy life began for the brother and +sister thus strangely located in the pixies' dell. Each day saw the +girl growing stronger, brighter, and happier, till she could +scarcely believe it was so short a time since she had fled from her +father's house; whilst Cuthbert, intent upon his plans and his +engineering operations, grew brown and muscular and self reliant, +watching carefully and tenderly over his sister, but spending his +time in healthful toil, and in working out self-imposed problems, +confident that these would in the end succeed in enabling him to +carry out the purpose of his heart.</p> +<p>The pixies' well proved very deep. Soundings taken by the rope +showed that only too clearly. The water flowed three feet over the +false bottom Robin had contrived the better to conceal his hiding +place, whilst below that there was fully ten feet of water; and +Petronella's face grew long as she saw the result of the sounding, +for she could not imagine how any treasure could be got at that lay +thirteen feet below the surface of the water.</p> +<p>"Never mind that, sister mine," said Cuthbert. "Belike it is to +that very fact that it owes its long safety. Even Robin must have +known that to bring it forth again must be a matter of time and +patience. He could not visit it in a moment of haste or fright, and +filch a piece away as he would. Doubtless the place was chosen by +the old Long Robin of past days for the very difficulty there must +be in bringing forth the prize. I have often thought that no buried +treasure could so long have escaped prying hands and covetous +spirits. Bit by bit some would have gone. It is the water that has +been the best protection."</p> +<p>Petronella saw the force of that argument; but as she leaned +over the wall, trying to peer into the dark depths whilst Cuthbert +talked of his scheme for draining it dry, she heaved a little sigh, +and said:</p> +<p>"And what if, after all that long labour, there be no treasure +there in spite of all we believe?"</p> +<p>He looked a little taken aback, but was struck by the practical +nature of the suggestion. He pondered awhile, and then he +spoke.</p> +<p>"That is a thought worthy of consideration," he said. "It were a +foolish thing to waste the whole summer only to be deceived in the +end.</p> +<p>"Peter," he added suddenly, as if struck by a new idea, "I am no +fearer of water. I can dive and swim, and I have long wind, and can +hold my breath a great while. Thinkest thou that if I were to leap +into the well and dive to the bottom, thou couldst give me the rope +when I reappeared, and with the aid of the ass pull me forth again? +I can dive through the water, I trow, albeit the well is none too +wide. But I could not climb the steep stone sides; thou and the ass +must help me there."</p> +<p>Petronella was a little timid of the experiment lest harm should +befall her brother, and persuaded him at last to tie the rope about +him ere he dived, so that in the event of his striking his head, or +in any other way hurting himself, she would have power to pull him +up and out, even if he should have lost consciousness. After making +her promise not to use this power unless she were fully persuaded +he was in some difficulty and unable to help himself, Cuthbert +consented to this amendment; and when all preparations were +complete he balanced himself for a moment on the edge of the well, +and then launched himself downwards in a line as straight as an +arrow.</p> +<p>Eagerly and breathlessly Petronella watched for his +reappearance, holding her own breath the while, as though in some +way that would help the diver. He was long gone, as it seemed to +her. She had been forced to take one deep respiration, and was +almost tempted to pull at the rope in her hand, when the water +suddenly became again disturbed and full of bubbles, and a head +appeared above it again.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert!" she exclaimed, in a tone of glad relief, "O +Cuthbert, what hast thou found?"</p> +<p>He was clinging to the rope with one hand; the other was beneath +the water out of sight. He raised his eyes, and said between his +gasping breaths:</p> +<p>"Draw me up; the water is chill as ice!"</p> +<p>From the sound of his voice she could not tell whether success +had crowned the attempt or not. She turned without another word, +and led the donkey onwards, gently drawing Cuthbert from the depths +of the well. As she did so he gave a sudden shout of triumph, and +springing over the side of the wall, flung at her feet a solid +golden flagon richly chased, with the arms of the Trevlyns engraved +upon it.</p> +<p>"I scarce dared to look at what I had got as I came up!" he +cried, as he sprang high into the air in the exuberance of his +spirit; "but that will lay all doubt at rest. The lost treasure of +Trevlyn is lost no longer, and Cuthbert and Petronella have found +it!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch18" id="Ch18">18</a>: "Saucy Kate."</h2> +<p>"Wife, what ails the child?"</p> +<p>Lady Frances Trevlyn raised her calm eyes from her embroidery, +and gave one swift glance around the room, as if to make sure that +she and her husband were alone.</p> +<p>"Dost thou speak of Kate?" she asked then in a low voice.</p> +<p>"Ay, marry I do," answered Sir Richard, as he took the seat +beside the glowing hearth, near to his wife's chair, which was his +regular place when he was within doors. "I scarce know the child +again in some of her moods. She was always wayward and capricious, +but as gay and happy as the day was long--as full of sunshine as a +May morning. Whence come, then, all these vapours and reveries and +bursts of causeless weeping? I have found her in tears more oft +these last three months than in all the years of her life before; +and though she strives to efface the impression by wild outbreaks +of mirth, such as we used of old to know, there is something hollow +and forced about these merry moods, and the laugh will die away the +moment she is alone, and a look will creep upon her face that I +like not to see."</p> +<p>"Thou hast watched her something closely, Richard."</p> +<p>"Ay, truly I have. I would have watched any child of mine upon +whom was passing so strange a change; but thou knowest that Kate +has ever been dear to me--I have liked to watch her in her tricksy +moods. She has been more full of affection for me than her graver +sisters, and even her little whims and faults that we have had to +check have but endeared her to me the more. The whimsies of the +child have often brought solace to my graver cares. I love Kate +right well, and like not to see this change in her. What dost thou +think of it, goodwife?"</p> +<p>Lady Frances shook her head gravely.</p> +<p>"Methinks the child has something on her mind, and her sisters +think so likewise, but what it is we none of us can guess. She +keeps her secret well."</p> +<p>"It is not like Kate to have a secret; it is still less like her +to hide it."</p> +<p>"That is what I feel. I have looked day by day and hour by hour +for her to come to me or to thee to tell what is in her mind. But +the weeks have sped by and her lips are still sealed, and, as thou +sayest, she is losing her gay spirits, or else her gaiety is over +wild, but doth not ring true; and there is a look in her eyes that +never used to be there, and which I like not."</p> +<p>"I know the look well--one of wistful, unsatisfied longing. It +goes to my heart to see it there. And hast thou noted that the +bloom is paling in her cheeks, and that she will sit at home long +hours, dreaming in the window seat or beside the hearth, when of +old she was for ever scouring the woods, and coming home laden with +flowers or ferns or berries? I like it not, nor do I understand it. +And thou sayest her sisters know not the cause? I thought that +young maidens always talked together of their secrets."</p> +<p>"Kate doth not. I have talked with Cecilia anent the matter, and +she knows not the cause. Bess has opined that this change first +appeared when it was decided that we went not to London this year, +as we had talked of doing earlier in the summer. Bess says she +noted then how disappointed Kate appeared; and she is of opinion +that she has never been the same since."</p> +<p>Sir Richard stroked his beard with meditative gravity, and +looked into the fire.</p> +<p>"It is true that the change has come upon her since that +decision was made; and yet I find it something difficult to think +that such was the cause. Kate never loved the life of the city, and +was wild with delight when she first tasted the sweets of freedom +in these woods and gardens. She loves her liberty right well, and +has said a thousand times how glorious a thing it is to range at +will as she does here. Capricious as the child has often shown +herself, it is hard to believe that she is pining already for what +she left with so glad a heart. It passes my understanding; I know +not what to think."</p> +<p>Lady Frances raised her eyes for a moment to her husband's face, +and then asked quietly:</p> +<p>"Hast thou ever thought whether some secret love may be the +cause of all?"</p> +<p>The knight started and looked full at his wife.</p> +<p>"I have indeed thought some such thing, but I can scarce believe +that such is the case with our Kate."</p> +<p>"Yet it is often so when maidens change and grow pale and +dreamy, and sit brooding and thinking when erst they laughed and +played. Kate is double the woman she was six months gone by. She +will sit patiently at her needle now, when once she would throw it +aside after one short hour; and she will seek to learn all manner +of things in the still room and pantry that she made light of a +short while back, as matters of no interest or concern to her. She +would make an excellent housewife if she had the mind, as I have +always seen; and now she does appear to have the mind, save when +her fits of gloom and sadness be upon her, and everything becomes a +burden."</p> +<p>Sir Richard looked aroused and interested. A smile stole over +his face.</p> +<p>"Our saucy Kate in love, and that secretly! Marry, that is +something strange; and yet I am not sorry at the thought, for I +feared her fancy was something too much taken by her cousin +Culverhouse; and since his father must look for a large dower for +his son's bride, our Kate could never have been acceptable to him. +Nor do I like the marriage of cousins so close akin, albeit in +these times men are saying that there be no ill in such +unions."</p> +<p>Lady Frances shook her head gravely.</p> +<p>"I would sooner see daughter of mine wedded in a lowlier sphere. +My heart shrinks from the thought of seeing any child of ours in +the high places of this world. There be snares and pitfalls +abounding there. We have seen enough to know so much. There be +bitter strivings and envyings and hatreds amongst those of lofty +degree. I would have my children wed with godly and proper men; but +I would sooner give them to simple gentlemen of no high-sounding +title, than to those whose duties in life will call them to places +round about the throne, and will throw them amidst the turmoil of +Court life."</p> +<p>Sir Richard smiled at this unworldly way of looking at things; +but the Trevlyns had suffered from being somewhat too well known at +Court, and he understood the feeling.</p> +<p>"Truly we live in perilous times," he said thoughtfully, "and +obscurity is often the best security for happiness and well being. +But to return to Kate. If she is truly forgetting her girlish fancy +for her cousin, as I would gladly believe--and she has not set eyes +on him this year and more--towards whom can her fancy be +straying?"</p> +<p>"Thou dost not think she can be pining after her cousin?"</p> +<p>"Nay, surely not," was the quick and decided answer. "Had she +pined it would have been at the first, when they were separated +from each other, and thou knowest how gay and happy she was then. +It is but these past few months that we have seen the change. +Depend upon it, there is some one else. Would that it might be good +Sir Robert Fortescue, who has been here so much of late, and has +paid much attention to our saucy Kate! Wife, what thinkest thou of +that? He is an excellent good man, and would make a stanch and true +husband. He is something old for the child, for sure; but there is +no knowing how the errant fancy of maidenhood will stray."</p> +<p>"I would it might be so," answered Lady Frances. "Sir Robert is +a good and a godly man, and I would gladly give our restless, +capricious Kate to one who could be father and husband in one. But +I confess the thought had not come to me, nor had I thought that he +came hither to seek him a wife."</p> +<p>Sir Richard smiled meaningly.</p> +<p>"Nor had I until of late; but I begin to think that is his +object. He pays more heed to the girls than he did when first he +came to visit us, and he has dropped a word here and a hint there, +all pointing in one direction. And dost thou not note that our Kate +is often brightest and best when he is by? I had never thought +before that her girlish fancy might have been caught by his gray +hair and soldier-like air; yet many stranger things have happened. +Wife, dost thou think it can be?"</p> +<p>"I would it were; it would be well for all. I will watch and +see, and do thou likewise. I had not thought the child's fancy thus +taken; but if it were so, I should rejoice. He would be a good +husband and a kind one, and our headstrong second daughter will +need control as well as love in the battle of life."</p> +<p>So the parents watched with anxious eyes, eager to see some +indication which should encourage them in this newly-formulated +hope. When once the idea had been started, it seemed to both as if +nothing could be better than a marriage between their high-spirited +but affectionate and warm-hearted daughter and this knight of forty +summers, who had won for himself wealth and fame, and a soldier's +reputation for unblemished honour and courage in many foreign +lands. If not exactly the man to produce an immediate impression on +the heart of a young girl, he might well win his way to favour in +time; and certainly it did seem as though Kate took pleasure in +listening to his stories of flood and field, whilst her bright eyes +and merry saucy ways (for she was still her old bright self at +times, and never more frequently so than in the company of Sir +Robert) appeared very attractive to him.</p> +<p>When we are increasingly wishful for a certain turn in affairs, +and begin sedulously to watch for it, unconsciously setting +ourselves to work to aid and abet, and push matters on to the +desired consummation, it is wonderful how easy it is to believe all +is going as we wish, and to see in a thousand little trifling +circumstances corroboration of our wishes. Before another fortnight +had sped by, Kate's parents had almost fully persuaded themselves +of the truth of their suspicion. They were convinced that the +attachment between their child and their guest was advancing +rapidly, and a day came when Sir Richard sought his wife with a +very happy expression of countenance.</p> +<p>"Well, wife, the doubt will shortly be at an end. Sir Robert has +spoken openly at last."</p> +<p>"Spoken of his love for our Kate?"</p> +<p>"Not in these words, but the meaning is the same. He has asked +me if I am willing to entrust one of my daughters to his +keeping."</p> +<p>"One of our daughters?" repeated Lady Frances. "And did he not +name Kate? He cannot love them all."</p> +<p>"He spoke of Cecilia and Kate both," answered Sir Richard. "Sir +Robert is not a hot-headed youth, full of the fire of a first +passion. He wishes an alliance with our house, and he sees that +Cecilia, with her four years' seniority, would perchance in the +eyes of the world be the more suitable wife; and he admires her +beauty, and thinks well of her dutifulness, her steadiness, and her +many virtues. Yet it is Kate that takes his fancy most, and if he +could hope to win the wayward fancy and the warm heart of our +second child, she is the one whom he would fain choose as his own. +He has spoken freely and frankly to me, and it comes to this: he +would willingly marry Cecilia, and doubtless make her an excellent +husband, and value the connection with the house of Trevlyn; but if +he could succeed in winning the love of our saucy Kate, he would +sooner have her than the more staid sister, only he fears his gray +hairs and his wrinkles will unfit him as a suitor for the child. +But we, who suspect her heart of turning towards him, have little +fear of this. Kate's sharp eyes have looked beneath the surface. +She has shown that she has a wise head upon her shoulders. So I +told Sir Robert--"</p> +<p>"Not that the child had loved him unbidden, I trust, my husband? +I would not have him think that!"</p> +<p>"Verily no, goodwife; but I told him there was no man living to +whom I would more gladly give a daughter of mine; and that I would +sound both of the maidens, and see how their hearts were set +towards him. But I trow he went away happy, thinking he might win +Kate after all. I could not but whisper a word of hope, and tell +him how wondrous tame the wild bird had latterly become, and how +that her mother had wondered whether thoughts of love had entered +into her head."</p> +<p>Lady Frances smiled, half shaking her head the while, yet not +entirely displeased even with such an admission as that. She had +been watching her daughter closely of late, and she had tried to +think as she wished to think; the consequence being that she had +reached a very decided conclusion in accordance with her desires, +and had small doubts as to the state of her daughter's heart.</p> +<p>"I verily believe the child's sadness has come from the fear +that her youth will stand as a bar to her happiness. She knows Sir +Robert is old enough to be her father, and fears that his +attentions are paid as to a child. Thus has she striven to grow +more wise, more womanly, more fit to be the mistress of his house. +Methinks I see it all. And what is the next thing to be done? Must +we speak with the child?"</p> +<p>"Ay, verily; for I have promised an answer to Sir Robert before +many days have passed. He is to come again at the week's end, and +his bride is to be presented to him. Thinkest thou that Cecilia +will be grieved to find her younger sister preferred before her? +Does she, too, think aught of Sir Robert?"</p> +<p>"I trow she likes him well, though whether she has thought of +him as husband or lover I know not. She is more discreet than Kate, +and can better hide her feelings. I doubt not were her hand asked +she would give it gladly; but more than that I cannot say."</p> +<p>"Then let us hope her heart has not been deeply touched, for I +should be sorry to give her pain. But let us incontinently send for +Kate hither at once to us. I shall rejoice to see the light of +untroubled happiness shining once again in those bright eyes. I +would fain see my saucy Kate her own self again ere she leaves us +as a wedded wife."</p> +<p>So Kate was summoned, and came before her parents with something +of timidity in her aspect, looking furtively from one to the other, +as if a question trembled on her lips that she did not dare to +utter.</p> +<p>She had changed in many ways from the gay, laughing girl of a +few months back. There were the same resolution and individuality +in the expression of the face, and the delicate features had by no +means lost all their old animation and bloom; but there was greater +depth in the dark eyes, and more earnestness and gravity in the +expression of both eyes and mouth. There was added sweetness as +well as added thoughtfulness; and mingling strangely with these +newer expressions was one still stranger on the face of Kate--a +look of shrinking, almost of fear, as though she were treading some +dangerous path, where lurked hidden perils that might at any moment +overwhelm her.</p> +<p>The swift look of wistful questioning, the nervous movements of +the slim hands, the parted lips and quickly coming breath, were not +lost upon the parents, who were watching the advance of their +daughter with no small interest and curiosity. But the smile upon +both faces seemed to reassure the girl; and as her father held out +his hand, she came and stood beside him willingly, looking from one +to the other with fluttering breath and changing colour.</p> +<p>"You sent for me, my father?"</p> +<p>"Yes, Kate; we have somewhat to say to thee, thy mother and I. +Canst guess what that something is?"</p> +<p>A vivid blush for a moment dyed her cheek and as quickly faded; +but she did not speak, only shook her head.</p> +<p>Sir Richard gave his wife a quick smile, and took Kate's hand in +his.</p> +<p>"My child," he said, with unwonted tenderness, "why hast thou +been keeping a secret from thy mother and me?"</p> +<p>Kate started and drew her hand away, moving a pace farther off, +and regarding her father with wide open, dilated eyes.</p> +<p>"A secret!" she faltered, and grew very pale.</p> +<p>Sir Richard smiled, and would have taken her hand once more, but +that she glided from his reach, still watching him with an +expression he found it hard to read. Her mother laid down her +embroidery, and studied her face with a look of aroused uneasiness; +but the father was utterly without suspicion of approaching any +hidden peril, and continued in the same kindly tones.</p> +<p>"Nay, now, my girl, thou needest not fear!" he said. "All young +maidens give their hearts away in time; and so as thou givest thine +worthily, neither thy father nor thy mother will chide."</p> +<p>Kate gave one or two gasps, and then spoke with impassioned +earnestness.</p> +<p>"O father, I could not help it! I strove against it as long as I +might. I feared it was a thing that must not be. But love was too +strong. I could not fight for ever."</p> +<p>"Tut--tut, child! why shouldest thou fight? Why didst thou not +speak to thy mother? Girls may breathe a secret into a mother's ear +that is not to be spoke elsewhere. Thou shouldest have told her, +child, and have spared thyself much weary misery."</p> +<p>Kate's head was hung very low; neither parent could see her +face.</p> +<p>"I did not dare," she answered softly; "I knew that I was wrong. +I feared to speak."</p> +<p>"Thou art a strange mixture of courage and fear, my saucy Kate. +I would once have vowed that thou wouldst fear not to speak aloud +every thought of thy heart. But love changes all, I ween, and makes +sad cowards of the boldest of us. And so thou didst wait till he +declared his love, and fretted out thy heart in silence the +while?"</p> +<p>Kate lifted her head and looked at her father, a faint +perplexity in her eyes.</p> +<p>"Nay, I ever knew he loved me. It was that I feared thy +displeasure, my father. I had heard thee say--"</p> +<p>"Nothing against Sir Robert, I warrant me," cried Sir Richard +heartily; whilst Kate took one backward step and exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Methought Sir Robert was Cecilia's lover! Why speak you to me +of him, my father?"</p> +<p>Sir Richard rose to his feet in great perplexity, looking at his +wife, who was pale and agitated.</p> +<p>"Cecilia's lover--what meanest thou, child?" he asked quickly. +"I was speaking to thee of thine own lover. Sir Robert would fain +wed with thee, and methought thou hadst already given him thy +heart."</p> +<p>"No--no--no!" cried Kate, shrinking yet further away. "I had no +thoughts of him. O father, how couldst thou think it? He is a kind +friend; but I have thought him Cecilia's knight, and I trow she +thinks of him thus herself."</p> +<p>Lady Frances now spoke to her daughter for the first time, +fixing her eyes upon her, and addressing her with composure, +although visibly struggling against inward agitation.</p> +<p>"Listen to me, daughter Kate. Thou hast spoken words which, if +they refer not to Sir Robert, as thy father and I believed, have +need to be explained. Thou hast spoken of loving and of being +beloved; what dost thou mean by that? Who is he that has +dared--"</p> +<p>"O mother, thou knowest that; thou hast heard it a hundred +times. It is Culverhouse, my cousin, who--"</p> +<p>But Sir Richard's face had clouded suddenly over. He had set his +heart on marrying Kate to his friend Sir Robert, who would, he +believed, make her an excellent husband; and he had long ago given +a half pledge to Lord Andover to thwart and oppose the youthful +attachment which was showing itself between Kate and Culverhouse. +The Earl wished a grand match for his son, and the Trevlyn pride +was strong in Sir Richard, who would never have had a daughter of +his wed where she was not welcome. He also disliked marriages +between first cousins, and made of that a pretext for setting his +face against the match, whilst remaining on perfectly friendly +terms with the Viscount and all his family. He had hoped and quite +made up his mind that that boy-and-girl fancy had been laid at rest +for ever, and was not a little annoyed at hearing the name of her +cousin fall so glibly from Kate's lips.</p> +<p>"Silence, foolish girl!" he said sternly. "Hast thou not been +told a hundred times to think no more of him? How dost thou dare to +answer thy mother thus? Culverhouse! thou knewest well that he is +no match for thee. It is wanton folly to let thy wayward fancy +dwell still on him. Methought thou hadst been cured of that +childish liking long since. But if it has not been so, thou shalt +soon be cured now!"</p> +<p>Kate shrank back, for her father had seldom looked so stern, and +there was an inflexibility about his aspect that was decidedly +formidable. No one knew better than his favourite daughter that +when once the limit of his forbearance was reached, there was no +hope of any further yielding, and that he could be hard as flint or +adamant; so it was with a look of terror in her eyes that she +shrank yet further away as she asked:</p> +<p>"What dost thou mean, my father? what dost thou mean?"</p> +<p>"I mean, Kate," answered Sir Richard, not unkindly, but so +resolutely that his words fell upon her ear like a knell, "that the +best and safest plan of curing thee of thy fond and foolish fancy, +which can never come to good, is to wed thee with a man who will +make thee a kind and loving husband, and will maintain thee in the +state to which thou hast been born. Wherefore, prepare to wed with +Sir Robert Fortescue without delay, for to him I will give thy hand +in wedlock so soon as we can have thee ready to be his bride."</p> +<p>Kate stood for a moment as if transfixed and turned to stone, +and then she suddenly sank upon her knees at her father's feet.</p> +<p>"Father," she said, in a strange, choked voice, that indicated +an intense emotion and agitation, "thou canst not make me the wife +of another; for methinks I am well nigh, if not altogether, the +wife of my cousin Culverhouse."</p> +<p>"What?" almost shouted Sir Richard, making one step forward and +seizing his daughter by the arm. "Wretched girl, what is this that +thou sayest? The wife of thy cousin Culverhouse! Shame upon thee +for so base a falsehood! How dost thou dare to frame thy lips to +it?"</p> +<p>"It is no falsehood!" answered Kate, with flashing eyes, +springing to her feet and confronting her parents with all her old +courage, and with a touch of defiance. "I would have kneeled to ask +your pardon for my rashness, for my disobedience, for the long +concealment; but I am no liar, I speak but the truth. Listen, and I +will tell all. It was on May Day, and I rode forth into the forest +and distanced pursuit, and joined my cousin Culverhouse, as we had +vowed to do. We thought then of naught but the joy of a day +together in the forest, and had not dreamed of such a matter as +wedlock. But then to the church porch came one calling himself a +priest. They say he comes every year, and weds all who will come to +him. And many did. And Culverhouse and I stood before him, and he +joined our hands, and we made our vows, and he pronounced us man +and wife before all assembled there. And whether it be binding +wedlock or no, it is to us a solemn betrothal made before God and +man; and not all the commands thou couldst lay upon me, my father, +could make me stand up and vow myself to another as I have vowed +myself to Culverhouse. I should hold myself forsworn; I should be +guilty of the vilest crime in the world. Thou wilt not ask it of +me. Thou canst not know, even as I do not know, whether that +wedlock is not valid before man, as it is before God."</p> +<p>A thunderbolt falling between them could scarcely have produced +more astonishment and dismay. Lady Frances sank back in her seat +white with horror and bewilderment, whilst Sir Richard stood as if +turned to stone; and when at last he was able to speak, it was to +order Kate to her room in accents of the sternest anger, bidding +her not to dare to leave it until he brought her forth himself.</p> +<p>Kate fled away gladly enough, her mind rent in twain betwixt +remorse at her own disobedience and deceit, triumph in having +stopped Sir Robert's suit by so immovable an obstacle, and relief +that the truth was out at last, even though her own dire disgrace +was the result. The secret had preyed terribly on her mind of late, +and had been undermining her health and spirits. Terrible as the +anger of her parents might be, anything to her open nature seemed +better than concealment; and she dashed up to her own room in a +whirl of conflicting emotions, sinking down upon the floor when she +reached it to try to get into order her chaotic thoughts.</p> +<p>Meantime husband and wife, left alone to their astonishment, +stood gazing at each other in blank amaze.</p> +<p>"Husband," said Lady Frances at last, "surely such wedlock is +not lawful?"</p> +<p>"I cannot tell," he answered gloomily; "belike it is not. Yet a +troth plight made in so solemn a fashion, and before so many +witnesses, is no light thing; and the child may not be wedded to +another whilst the smallest shadow of doubt remains. Doubtless +Culverhouse foresaw this, the bold knave, and persuaded the child +into it. Well it has served his purpose. Sir Robert must be content +with Cecilia. But the artfulness of the little jade! I never +thought Kate would so deceive us--"</p> +<p>"It is that that breaks my heart!" cried the mother--"that, and +the thought that she should be willing to go before some Popish +priest and take her vows to him. Oh, it cannot be binding on the +child--it cannot be binding! And Sir Robert is stanch in the +Reformed faith; he is just the husband that wild girl needs. +Husband, can nothing be done?"</p> +<p>Sir Richard looked very grave.</p> +<p>"That would be hard to tell without strict inquiries. I doubt me +if we could learn all before next May Day, when we might get hold +of the man himself and find out who and what he is. Such wedlock as +his cannot be without flaw, and might be made invalid by law; but, +wife, there is no getting over this, that the child took her vows +in the name of God, and I dare not act as though such vows were +unspoken. Her youth and ignorance may plead in part for her. She +scarce knew the solemnity of the step she was taking. Culverhouse +won upon her and over persuaded her, I do not doubt. I do not seek +to excuse her. I am grievously displeased and disappointed. But I +cannot and I will not give her to Sir Robert; Cecilia must be his +wife."</p> +<p>"Then Kate must be sent away," said Lady Frances, gravely and +severely; "I cannot and will not have her here, mixing as before +with her sisters with this cloud hanging upon her, with this secret +still shadowing her life. She has proved unworthy of our +confidence. I am more pained and displeased than I can say. She +must go. She must not be able to tell Cecilia that she might have +been Lady Fortescue but for her marriage with Culverhouse. She is +no longer to be trusted. She must go forth from home as a +punishment for her wrongdoing. I feel that I cannot bear to see her +about the house, knowing how she has deceived us. She shall go +forth this very day."</p> +<p>Sir Richard stood considering. He too was deeply displeased with +his daughter, though he had some sympathy with the ardent and +impulsive lovers, who had got themselves into a queer plight, and +had thrown much perplexity upon others. But he decidedly agreed +with his wife that it would be better for Kate to go--and to go in +disgrace, that she might feel herself punished by being severed +from her sisters when the first wedding of the family was taking +place (save her own woodland nuptials). And it would doubtless save +some natural embarrassment to Sir Robert himself to have one of the +sisters out of the way before he formally espoused the other; +though, to be sure, such a proposition as his had been was a common +enough thing in those days.</p> +<p>"It would be good to send her away; but whither can she go?"</p> +<p>"Where better than to Lady Humbert and Mistress Dowsabel, who +have ofttimes asked us to send a daughter to enliven their dull +solitude? We have ever excused them on account of their youth and +high spirits, fearing they would be moped to death in that dismal +place; but it will be the very house for our wayward Kate to go to +repent of her ill deeds. If you will write a letter to them, we +will send it forthwith by a mounted messenger, and the answer will +be back before dark. If she is to go, she can start with the first +light of tomorrow morning, and we can get her mails packed ready +tonight; for she must not disgrace her state, but must be furnished +with all things fitting to her condition."</p> +<p>Sir Richard thought that no other plan better than this could be +devised for his erring daughter; and though he could not but feel +some compassion for the girl, condemned to be the companion of a +pair of aged and feeble gentlewomen such as his aunts had long +been, was nevertheless of opinion that the captivity and dullness +would be salutary, and despatched his letter without delay.</p> +<p>That same night Kate, who had passed the long hours in weeping +and rejoicing, and in all those conflicting phases of feeling +common to the young, heard with a mixture of' pleasure and dismay +that she was to be sent in disgrace to the keeping of her great +aunts, and that without delay; also that she was not even to say +goodbye to her sisters, or to see them again until something had +been decided as to her future and the validity of her wilful +espousals. She was made to feel that she had committed a terrible +sin, and one that her parents would find it hard to forgive; yet +she could not help exulting slightly in the thought that they had +been obliged to take the matter so seriously; and she had a dim +hope that her aged relatives, when she did come to them, might not +prove altogether so crabbed and cross as she had always been led to +suppose. Perhaps she might find a warm corner even in their old +hearts.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch19" id="Ch19">19</a>: The Cross Way +House.</h2> +<p>With the first light of day the start was to be made. Kate, who +had slept little, was ready betimes, had dressed herself in her +riding suit long before she was sent for, and was employing herself +in wondering if she would after all be permitted to say farewell to +her sisters, and whether she should have an opportunity of asking +her mother's pardon for her wrongdoing in this matter of her secret +espousals.</p> +<p>The girl had suffered a good deal during these past months. She +had not realized when yielding to Culverhouse's persuasions how +hard it would be to live beneath her parents' roof with this secret +preying on her mind. She had not realized what a weight it would +become in time, and she had looked for a speedy meeting with her +cousin and betrothed in London, whither Sir Richard had intended +taking his family for a while before the autumn set in. Kate had +looked forward then to making her confession to her parents and +his, and winning pardon for them both, as she felt sure of doing +when she had his support in the telling of the tale. But the change +of her father's plans, and the absence from England of Lord +Culverhouse, who had been sent on a mission to France by his +father, put an end to all these hopes, and she had felt the burden +of her secret heavy indeed. Moreover, she was fearful lest +Culverhouse should in some sort repent him of the step he had taken +and wish it undone. Kate had but a small share of vanity, and only +a very modest appreciation of her own attractions, and it seemed to +her as though her cousin, moving as he did in the gay world of +fashion, must surely see many other maidens tenfold more beautiful +and graceful. Suppose he were to repent of his secret betrothal; +suppose his troth plight weighed heavy on his spirit? what misery +that would be for both! And during these long months of silence +such thoughts and fears had preyed upon the girl's spirit, and had +produced in her the change that both her parents had observed.</p> +<p>Wherefore now that the confession had been made, and the +burdensome secret was a secret no longer, a reaction set in that +was almost like relief. She felt certain, since all was known, that +Culverhouse would come forward and stand boldly beside her and lay +claim to her hand before the world as he had talked of doing when +he had led her to the troth plight on that May Day that seemed so +long ago now.</p> +<p>Even the thought of the journey and the visit to her father's +great aunts was not altogether distasteful. She was more afraid of +meeting her mother's sorrowful glances than stern ones from +strangers. Kate had no lack of courage, and the love of variety and +change was implanted in her as strongly as it is in most young +things; so that when Philip knocked at her door as the first rays +of the October sun were gilding the trees and fields, it was with a +smiling face that she opened to him, whilst he looked at her with +something of smiling surprise in his glance.</p> +<p>"Art ready, my sister? the horses will be at the door in a few +short minutes. I am glad to see thee so bright and happy. I had +feared to discover thee bathed in tears of woe."</p> +<p>"Perchance I ought to be heavier hearted than I am," answered +Kate, with a swift glance at Philip through her long lashes. "I do +repent me that I have angered our father and mother. I know that I +have been wrong to keep the secret; perchance I was wrong to let +Culverhouse persuade me. But that the thing is done I cannot truly +repent; the only thing which would make me wish that vow unsaid +would be if Culverhouse were to wish to be free of his troth +plight."</p> +<p>"Which I trow he never will be," answered Philip warmly, as he +laid his hand on Kate's shoulder.</p> +<p>Those two were very near akin in spirit and in sympathy. Kate +knew all his love for Petronella, and his anxiety for her since her +flight (though he fully believed her to be in hiding with Cuthbert +in the forest, albeit he had not been able to discover them), and +he had strong fellow feeling with the impulsive lovers.</p> +<p>"He has never loved any but thee, my sister, since the days we +played together as children. Save that concealment ever leads to +trouble, and that wedlock vows are too sacred to be made playthings +of, I could find it in my heart to wish that Petronella and I were +wed in like fashion. But our mother is sorely grieved at what thou +hast done--going before a tonsured priest, with none of thine own +kindred by, to take vows which should have had the sanction of thy +parents before they passed thy lips, and should have been made in +different fashion and in a different place. Howbeit no doubt time +will soften her anger, and she will grow reconciled to the thought. +When we have made all inquiries anent this priest and his ways, my +father and I will to London to speak with Lord Andover of this +business. I trust all will end well for thee, sister. But thou must +learn in thy captivity to be a patient and discreet maiden, that +they do not fear to give thee to Culverhouse at last, since it must +needs be so."</p> +<p>Kate looked up gratefully, comforted by the kind tone of her +brother's words.</p> +<p>"In very sooth I will try, Philip. I thank thee for thy good +counsel. I will be patient and discreet towards my great aunts. I +will strive to show them all due reverence, that they may satisfy +my mother when she makes inquiry of them."</p> +<p>Kate long remembered the ride with her father and brother +through the forest and across the heath that day. Her father was +stern and grave, and scarcely addressed a single word to her. +Philip and she talked a little, but were affected by this silence +of displeasure, and observed a befitting decorum and quietness. Sir +Richard made his daughter take him to the spot of her troth plight, +and show him exactly how and where it had taken place. As they +stopped to bait the horses at the little hostelry, he made various +inquiries concerning the priest and his annual visitation to the +wake on May Day, and his face looked none the less severe as he +heard the replies.</p> +<p>"Methinks the knot hath been something tightly tied--too tight +for it to be easily unloosed," whispered Philip to his sister as he +lifted her to the saddle after the noontide halt; and she could not +but answer by a bright smile, which she saw reflected in his +face.</p> +<p>The day, which had been bright and fine, turned dull and +lowering as the riders neared the Cross Way House, as the residence +of Lady Humbert was called; and Kate looked curiously at the house +as they approached it, wondering what sort of a life its inmates +led.</p> +<p>To her eyes, accustomed to the seclusion of park and grounds, +the most striking feature of this house was that it stood actually +upon the road itself. It occupied an angle of the cross formed by +the junction of four roads, and its north and east windows looked +out straight upon these two highways, with nothing intervening +between them but some twenty feet of paved walk enclosed behind +walls ten feet high, and guarded by strong gates of wrought +iron.</p> +<p>Doubtless to the south and west there were gardens and grounds. +The walls seemed to run a long way along the road, and Kate felt +certain that she should find seclusion and privacy there. She could +see tall trees rearing their heads above the wall, and was certain +from the aspect of the house, which was sufficiently imposing, that +she should find within the ease and luxury to which she was +accustomed.</p> +<p>On the whole, she rather liked the prospect of looking out upon +the roads. If Culverhouse were to ride by, she could signal to him +from the windows. She could watch the fine folk passing to and fro +on their way to London. Possibly a belated traveller might ask +shelter at the house, and amuse them with tales of adventure and +peril. Kate had time to think of many things as their horses stood +at the gates awaiting admittance; and when these were thrown back +at last, and they rode through an archway and into a centre +courtyard round which the house was built, the girl was delighted +with everything; for the quadrangular structure was a novelty to +her, and a novelty which took her fancy not a little. There were +servants to look after the horses; and it was plain the travellers +were expected, for they were quickly ushered into the house by one +of the great doors which opened on a wide flight of steps leading +down into the court, and were there met by an aged majordomo, who +greeted them with ceremonious solemnity.</p> +<p>"My lady is looking for you, sir," he said to Sir Richard; and +turning to Kate, he added, in the same mechanical fashion, "Your +maid will show you to your room, madam. My lady will see you after +you have recovered from the fatigues of the journey."</p> +<p>Kate was not in the least fatigued, but she was too well brought +up to remonstrate in any way. The maid was hovering in the +background; an elderly woman with a capable face and slightly +repellent manner. It was plain to Kate that her relatives would not +receive her till they had learned more of the details of her +banishment from home from her father, and had made up their minds +how to treat her. She felt that even the serving woman regarded her +somewhat in the light of a culprit, and it was with a mind divided +betwixt amusement and girlish shame that she followed the attendant +into the bed chamber that had been prepared for her.</p> +<p>This was a more sumptuous apartment than her room at home, and +looked comfortable enough in the glow of the great fire of logs. +The hangings of the bed were dark and heavy, and the carved oak +furniture was also sombre in its polished blackness; but there was +a thick square carpet on the floor, which was a luxury Kate had +never possessed in her bed chamber before, and the mirrors and +silver sconces for the candles all bespoke an ease and luxury that +reminded Kate of what life would be like when she lived as a +Countess or Viscountess in her own house, with Lord Culverhouse as +lord and master.</p> +<p>"This is your room," said the woman. "Your mails arrived earlier +in the day, and your things have been put away in the cupboard +there and in the bureau yonder. My lady gave orders you were to be +served with something to eat and drink in your own room, and that +she would visit you later. There is another young lady visiting in +the house; she will come and see you if you will permit her."</p> +<p>"Very willingly," answered Kate, who was always ready for +company, and very curious to know something about these great aunts +of hers, whom she had never seen as yet. "I shall be glad of food, +as I liked not what they served us with at the inn in the forest. +As for the young lady, albeit I know not who she can be, I should +gladly welcome her. I have no love for too much of my own company; +wherefore the sooner she comes the better shall I be pleased."</p> +<p>The woman withdrew, and Kate removed her hat and gloves, and +looked about her with quick, searching glances.</p> +<p>"A good room in sooth, and no bad prison, if prisoner I am to +be. And since I may have company, I can scarce be in such dire +disgrace as that. I wonder who this visitor may be? Some Wyvern, +belike; but doubtless we shall learn to take pleasure in each +other.</p> +<p>"Soft! are those steps without? Yes; and some one knocks at the +door.</p> +<p>"Enter, enter, I pray. I am right glad--What! do my eyes deceive +me? Sure I am in some strange dream! Petronella! Surely it cannot +be Petronella! The features are the same; but the Petronella I once +knew was wan and frail as a fair wood lily, and thou--nay, but it +cannot be!"</p> +<p>"But it is--it is!" cried the girl, making a bound forward and +flinging her arms round Kate's neck in an ecstasy of happiness; +"and, O Kate, I have seen him again! I saw him ride to the door by +thy side! Perchance I shall even have words with him ere he journey +forth again! Ah, how rejoiced was I when I heard that thou wert +coming! O Kate, I have such news for thee--such news, such +news!"</p> +<p>The two girls were folded in each other's arms. Between every +few words they paused to kiss and laugh in the very exuberance of +their happiness. It seemed like a dream to Kate; she could scarce +believe her eyes.</p> +<p>"Petronella--but how earnest thou here?"</p> +<p>"I came when the weather grew so inclement that Cuthbert would +no longer let me share his forest life. He brought me to this +house, and our aunts, when they heard our story, opened their doors +to me; and I have been here three whole weeks--ever since the +summer's heats broke in storms of rain. But here I go by the name +of Ellen Wyvern, lest haply it should come to my father's ears that +I am here, and he should fetch me away. But I have almost ceased to +quake at that thought; I have had my freedom so long."</p> +<p>"I scarce know thee, thou art so changed--so full of sunshine +and courage," cried Kate. "Erstwhile thou wert like a creature of +moonlight and vapour; a breath seemed as though it would blow thee +away. What has befallen to change thee so? What hast thou been +doing all this while? And where is Cuthbert?"</p> +<p>"Cuthbert is yet in the forest," answered Petronella, sinking +her voice to the merest whisper, as if afraid that even the walls +would have ears. "His task is not yet finished. It is one that +takes great skill and patience and watchfulness. But it is being +accomplished by slow and sure degrees. Ah, Kate! what news thinkest +thou that I have for thee? The time has not yet come when the world +may know all; but I trow that thou mayest know, for thou hast ever +been with us in the secret of the quest."</p> +<p>Kate's face flushed and paled; her heart beat fast with hope and +wonder. She well knew what difference to her future would be made +by the restoration to the house of Trevlyn of that lost treasure. +She could scarce frame the words she longed to speak, but her eyes +asked the question for her; and Petronella, putting her lips close +to her cousin's ear, whispered the wondrous news that the lost +treasure was found.</p> +<p>"Found--really found!" and Kate gave a great gasp. "Nay, but, +Petronella, tell me how."</p> +<p>Petronella laid a warning hand upon Kate's lips.</p> +<p>"Nay, cousin, but thou must call me Ellen here. And we must wait +till the household be at rest, and we share the same bed, ere I +dare to pour into thine ears all the tale. And thou must promise to +breathe no word of it, bad nor good, till the moment has come for +the world to know. It will not be long now, I trow; but we are +pledged, and were it not that I know well thou art stanch and true, +I dared not have shared the joyful secret with thee."</p> +<p>"It is safe with me," cried Kate; "I will never betray it. O +Ellen, how I long to hear the whole! But since that may not be now, +tell me more of these great aunts of ours. What treatment am I to +look for beneath their roof? Am I to be received as kinswoman or as +prisoner? for marry I know not myself."</p> +<p>Petronella's face kindled into smiles, those bright happy smiles +that gave it a charm never seen in past days. She bent an arch +glance upon her cousin, and then made reply.</p> +<p>"The Lady Humbert is a fine stately dame, before whom my heart +quailed mightily when first I stood before her. Her voice is sharp; +her eyes look you through and through; her frown sets you quaking, +and makes you wish the earth would swallow you up. But for all +that, when once you get to know her, you find that a warm heart +beats beneath her stiff bodice, and that though she will speak +sharply to you before your face, she will do you many a kind act of +which you know little or nothing. Mistress Dowsabel is younger, +smaller, less fearsome to the eye; indeed she is timorous and often +full of fears herself. She too is kind, though I truly think that +Lady Humbert has the larger heart. They love each other well, and +are willing to befriend all who have claims of kindred. For the +rest, they live much secluded from the world, and think that the +times are sadly changed for the worse since the days when they were +young."</p> +<p>"And what think they of me?" asked Kate, with natural girlish +self consciousness.</p> +<p>Petronella repeated her arch glance.</p> +<p>"To me they say that thou art a wilful maid who needest watching +and stern guarding. They shake their heads at such loose marriage, +and tell me to take warning and not fall into like folly and sin +through overmuch love of my own way. But I heard them talking +together of thee when they forgot that I was by; and then there was +something different in their words, and I could scarce forbear to +smile."</p> +<p>"What said they then?" asked Kate eagerly.</p> +<p>"My Lady Humbert, she said that Lord Andover was a good man and +stanch, and that all spoke well of his son. They added that if thou +wouldst one day be Countess of Andover, they would gladly think +that thou wouldst worthily fill that place. Aunt Dowsabel asked if +thou hadst made a good beginning in this hasty marriage or troth +plight of thine; whereat Lady Humbert gave a laugh, and said she +was glad that thou hadst had the spirit of thy ancestors in thee, +and that for her part, if you were both true and stanch in your +love, she saw small harm in letting love have the mastery over +prudence. And then it turned out, as I learned from their talk, +that she herself had run away to be married when she was a girl, +and that she had never for one hour repented the act. So she +plainly felt that thou wast her own kinswoman in all faith; and +although she may speak to thee with stern rebuke, thou mayest know +in thy heart that she thinks kindly of thee, and that she will +stand thy friend with thy father, and make the peace with thy +mother if she may."</p> +<p>Kate's face flushed happily.</p> +<p>"Nay, now, that is good hearing! Why did we not know these good +aunts before? I can go before them with a light heart now. I repent +me of nothing save that I displeased my parents, and hid the matter +from them all this while. I trow I shall never repent that I let +Culverhouse persuade me to plight my troth to him."</p> +<p>Kate was glad of the assurance Petronella's words had given her +when she was presently summoned before her relatives, and stood in +the dim panelled room before their straight-backed chairs, feeling +the stern eyes of Lady Humbert fixed full upon her, whilst she +heard that her father and brother had already left, since it was +only pain and grief to them to be beneath the same roof as their +obdurate and disobedient daughter and sister.</p> +<p>Kate received the lecture addressed her by the mistress of the +house with all becoming humility, and without that sinking of heart +that she might otherwise have felt at the cold stern tone; and she +gladly passed her word, when desired to do so, not to go beyond the +precincts of the great walled garden without special permission. In +her walks and rides abroad she was always to be attended, and was +to promise never to slip away from her escort. If she would +faithfully promise this, she might be allowed the companionship of +Ellen Wyvern, now a guest beneath the roof of Cross Way House; and +to give this promise cost Kate no pang, for she had no feverish +desire after unfettered liberty, but was content to await the time +she knew must shortly come now, when Culverhouse would come to +claim her for his own, and would find her no longer the portionless +maiden she once had been, but dowered with some of the rich spoil +from that long-lost hoard.</p> +<p>Supper was served in solemn state in the dining parlour, and the +two girls sat with their aged relatives to partake of it. +Petronella was a little sad that Philip had gone without even +knowing of her presence beneath that roof: but she was certain +their meeting would not be much longer delayed, and was content to +wait. The Wyvern sisters did not keep a great establishment, as +their means were not large, though they clung to the old house +which had come down to them, and would have sacrificed much rather +than sell it. But Kate soon discovered that the largest rooms were +shut up and partially dismantled in order that comfort should reign +in those parts of the house that were habitually used; that the +staff of servants was but small; and that of these nearly all were +old men and women who had grown gray and enfeebled in the service +of the family, and were kept on by the present mistresses, who +themselves disliked any changes in their establishment, and who +could hardly see their way to finding the wages that able-bodied +servants would look to receive. So they lived in this very quiet +fashion, surrounded by retainers almost as aged as themselves, and +led on the whole a happy and a placid life. Petronella was proving +of so much use that the burden of her maintenance was not felt, and +Sir Richard Trevlyn made generous arrangements for the cost of his +daughter. But there was something altogether quaint and curious in +the life of the house, and Kate thought it exceedingly interesting +even before the first evening had passed.</p> +<p>Yet all the while she was longing to hear Petronella's tale, and +was glad when the tapestry work was put away, and formal good +nights had been exchanged. The girls ran up to the guest chamber +prepared for Kate, which they had agreed to share together from +that time forth. It did not take them long to slip into bed; and +old Dyson, the waiting woman, who also acted as housekeeper, came +quickly in to see that the lights were safely extinguished, after +which only the glow of the fire illuminated the darkness of the big +room; and Kate in an eager whisper begged Petronella to lose no +time in telling her tale.</p> +<p>With breathless eagerness she heard of the girl's flight from +home, and of her rescue of Cuthbert from the very jaws of death. +She could not understand Petronella's shuddering horror at the +thought of having killed a man.</p> +<p>"I would have killed fifty, and been glad to rid the earth of +them were they such wretches as Long Robin!" she cried.</p> +<p>Then in deep silence she heard of Cuthbert's dive into the well, +and of the golden flagon he had brought up as an earnest of what +was to come. Petronella went on to say that, having made absolutely +sure of the presence of the treasure in the well, Cuthbert had then +directed all his energies to detecting the sources of the hidden +springs that fed it, and after long search and patience had +satisfied himself that it was filled by two, both rising in the +high ground not far distant.</p> +<p>He had then set to work to see how these waters could be +diverted so as to leave the well dry at his will; and though it had +taken months to perform this feat, and had only been done at the +cost of immense labour and trouble, still it had been done, and one +day in early September the brother and sister had stood together to +see the water ebbing slowly and more slowly away, until at last +their eyes beheld a vast quantity of silver and gold lying exposed +at the bottom of the well, and knew that the lost treasure of +Trevlyn was theirs indeed.</p> +<p>But their labours were not yet ended. It was plain to both that +they must quickly find some safe spot whither they could transport +it all, else some passing traveller might even now see and report +what he had seen, and so rob them of the fruit of their toil.</p> +<p>Afraid to go to Trevlyn Chase for help, lest the news should in +some way leak out to Nicholas at the Gate House, and also because +the brother and sister had set their hearts on accomplishing the +task entirely alone, it suddenly entered Cuthbert's head to take +his sister to the Cross Way House, and ask of its owners protection +for her through the approaching inclement season; and then, if +satisfied that these Wyvern kinswomen were to be trusted, and were +friendly of disposition towards them, to whisper the secret of the +treasure trove in their ears, and ask leave to deposit it all +within the great strongroom underground, that the Wyvern house had +always boasted, and of which the secret was known to very few.</p> +<p>This was the plan that had been carried out. His reception by +Lady Humbert, and her kindness to the lonely Petronella when her +pitiful story was told, quite decided Cuthbert to confide the +golden secret to her. She listened in amaze, but was highly pleased +at being the first person to know it. She laid her hand on +Cuthbert's head, and spoke to him of the old saw which predicted +that fortune should return to the Wyverns through the daughters' +sons, and declared that he was fulfilling the prophecy she had +longed to live to see come true. Cuthbert trusted that such indeed +would be the case, but did not know whether the Wyverns had any lot +or share in the treasure trove. Whereat the old lady smiled, and +said that she laid no claim to the gold--it was none of theirs, and +never would be; but still, with her hand on Cuthbert's head, she +declared that after herself and her sister he should reign at the +Cross Way House, and that his share of the treasure, which in all +sooth should be a large one, since but for him it might never have +been found, would go to restore the fallen fortunes of the house, +and to fulfil in very truth the fondly-cherished prediction.</p> +<p>Cuthbert's amazement had naturally been great; but this fair +prospect held out to him had but given greater zest to his +enterprise. Not to a single soul in the house would Lady Humbert +confide the secret, lest amongst themselves the faithful old +servants should gossip, and rumour get abroad that the lonely house +was worth attacking. In the dead of night, upon appointed dates, +Cuthbert brought to a certain iron-barred window the laden ass +bearing his costly burden, and Petronella and Lady Humbert +themselves received the treasure and bore it piece by piece to the +secret room. Not a creature slept on that side of the house--not a +living being knew what was passing in the dead hours of the night; +and in this fashion the treasure was being brought, Cuthbert +descending the well, into which a little water had now +filtered--enough to conceal the treasure from a passing observer if +such there should chance to be--and with the assistance of their +four-footed friend, drawing up as much as the patient beast could +carry, and transporting it by night to this very house.</p> +<p>"When all is done," concluded Petronella--"and every load we +think must surely be the last, there is so much of it--then he will +forth to seek the gipsy in the forest, and tell her that the task +is done. After that he will to London, to see how it fares with his +cousins there, and to tell my uncle something of his tale, +demanding, as I right well believe, the hand of our cousin Cherry +in wedlock, since he may now support a wife in all comfort and +ease. When that is done he will hither again, and Lady Humbert will +ask to her house a gathering of kinsfolk for the Yuletide festival. +And then the great secret will be told. The treasure will be +divided between the Trevlyns assembled beneath this roof; and I +trow, sweet Kate, that my Lord Culverhouse will contrive to be +here, and that when the good news has been told to all, he will +have small work in getting the parental blessing for those nuptials +that will be celebrated anew with pomp and rejoicing, and will make +thee in very truth, and without shadow of a doubt, the Viscountess +Culverhouse."</p> +<p>Kate, laughing and quivering, clasped Petronella in her arms, as +she cried between laughter and tears:</p> +<p>"And when that good hap befalls me, sweet Petronella, I will +warrant that Philip will be in no wise behind in claiming his +bride, and that thou as well as I shalt find that the recovered +treasure of Trevlyn has smoothed our path to wedded happiness!"</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch20" id="Ch20">20</a>: How It Fared With +Cherry.</h2> +<p>"Gramercy! what next, I wonder! Here's a pretty kettle of fish! +I always did say that no good came of letters. I wish folks had +more sense than to spend their time writing! I never get a letter +but what it brings a peck of bother with it."</p> +<p>Mistress Susan Holt was the speaker. She held in her hand a +piece of paper which she was eying with many a scornful sniff. It +had been left at the bridge house by a courier riding through to +Westminster from the south country, and Martin Holt had called his +sister down to his business parlour to open and read the +missive.</p> +<p>He now looked up from his books with a pardonable curiosity to +say:</p> +<p>"Well, sister Susan, letters do not trouble thee oft. And what +may be the news in this one? and from whom comes it?"</p> +<p>"From Prudence Dyson."</p> +<p>"Prudence at the Cross Way House? And what says she? it is long +since we had news of her."</p> +<p>"So long that I had almost forgot where she was: and I marvel +she should trouble us thus. Thy daughters are not serving wenches, +Martin. What can Prudence be thinking of?"</p> +<p>Martin smiled slightly. It seemed to him that beneath his +sister's iron rule his daughters did little but toil after the +fashion of serving wenches from morning to night. As for Susan +herself, she worked harder than any servant she had ever had +beneath her sway.</p> +<p>"What says the letter?" he asked briefly; "what is the matter +that angers thee?"</p> +<p>"I am not angry," answered Susan sharply. "I trust I know my +duty better as a Christian than to be angered over trifles. I am +but surprised at such a request. Prudence Dyson asks if I can spare +one of my nieces and thy daughters to dwell for a while at Cross +Way House, to help her with her duties there."</p> +<p>Martin Holt did not appear to see anything very unreasonable or +extraordinary in that request.</p> +<p>"What has caused her to wish it?" he asked quietly. "Is she in +any way ill or disabled?"</p> +<p>"It is not that; it is that there be two young ladies of gentle +birth dwelling now beneath Lady Humbert's care. Prudence desires to +give them all due tendance and service; but as thou knowest, +Martin, the household purse there is not deep, and Prudence strives +might and main to do all she can to save her kind mistress from +needless cost. She is striving now to attend herself upon all four +ladies; and she says that the young maidens are very kindly and +gentle and helpful. But she likes not to see them wait upon +themselves, and she knows that my Lady Humbert would wish them to +have all needful service. Wherefore she asks if thou couldst spare +a daughter to go thither for a while to help her by waiting on the +young damsels. And I--"</p> +<p>"Well, and wherefore not?" said Martin, stroking his chin +thoughtfully. "Prudence is a good woman, and my dead wife loved her +best of all her family. I know that Lady Humbert is a woman into +whose house any father might trust his daughter without a fear. As +for the question of serving wenches, I trow the wench who goes will +have an easier time than the sisters who abide at home. Susan, I +think it only right to help Prudence in this matter; I can see no +reason against so doing."</p> +<p>Susan seldom opposed the master of the house, but she looked a +little sour and displeased.</p> +<p>"We shall have Christmas upon us right soon; we can ill spare +any hands then," she said.</p> +<p>"O--ho! So it is the thought of thine own pies and stuffed meats +that weighs with thee!" said Martin with a laugh. "Then I will tell +thee what I will do. I will send Cherry, whom thou art ever chiding +for being useless to thee. She shall go to wait upon the two young +madams and help good Prudence at the Cross Way House, and thou +shalt keep thy two useful nieces at home with thee."</p> +<p>Susan's brow cleared somewhat, but she made a movement of her +bony shoulders indicative of scorn.</p> +<p>"Cherry may go with all my heart, for she is idler and more +useless than ever, and does naught from morning to night but sit at +the window, watching the folks in the street, and turning from red +to pale and pale to red as though she were a bride looking for the +arrival of her bridegroom. I have no patience with such ways. I +knew no good would come of always spoiling the child. I can do +naught with her now; she heeds not a word I say. Ofttimes she does +not even know that I am speaking to her. She may go, and welcome! +but I misdoubt me that Prudence will thank thee for the loan. Much +good and much service she will get out of Keren Happuch!"</p> +<p>Martin Holt looked thoughtfully at his sister.</p> +<p>"That is partly why I am glad the child should go. I too have +seen a change in her. Methinks she is feeling the long hot summer +in the city. There be many that have told me that she is not +looking as she should do. This idleness shows something of +indisposition, I take it. Doubtless she will receive benefit from a +change of air and occupation. She loves to be in the open air, and +at the Cross Way House there will be gardens and pleasaunces and +orchards where she may perchance be suffered to wander at will. +Prudence will be kind to her, and I shall send her gladly."</p> +<p>Susan again made her peculiar gesture, as much as to say that +she washed her hands of responsibility in the matter.</p> +<p>"She is thy daughter--do as thou wilt, Martin; but I warn thee +that no good will come of it. Going amongst ladies will make her +think herself a finer lady than ever: and now as it is she will +scarce deign to soil her dainty hands with anything coarser than +the making of light pastry. Thou wilt spoil her for a city man's +wife; and I know not how Abraham Dyson will take it. Prudence is +his sister, to be sure, and it is to do her a kindness; but Jacob +wants a useful wife--and, as I understood, they were resolved not +to delay the marriage beyond Christmas. Rachel has been six months +wed, and the house wants a mistress who can move about and look to +things."</p> +<p>Martin was looking very thoughtful. He did not reply for a +while, and then he said slowly:</p> +<p>"Send the child to me, Susan; I will speak to her of this +myself."</p> +<p>"Ay, thou hadst best do so, for I might as well speak to the +walls as to Keren Happuch," said Mistress Susan as she went on her +way up the stairs, by no means pleased at the easy fashion in which +her brother took this matter.</p> +<p>Susan loved a grand fuss and talk and discussion over every +trifle in the day's round, and this was more than a trifle. Her +tongue was as active as her hands, and she would talk by the hour +as she worked, until those about her grew weary of the very sound +of her voice.</p> +<p>Martin Holt, who was fully alive to his sister's many virtues +and valuable qualities, did find her something of a trial also, and +it never struck him as at all inexplicable that the self willed and +impetuous little Cherry should often be at loggerheads with her +aunt.</p> +<p>As she stole down the staircase and stood before him with a +wondering, questioning look in her big eyes, he eyed her keenly, +and could not but see that some of the bloom had faded from her +cheeks, and that she had in some way changed during the past +months.</p> +<p>"Cherry," he said, taking her small hand in his and speaking in +an unwontedly gentle way, "has thy aunt told thee wherefore I want +thee?"</p> +<p>"No, father; she said that thou wouldst tell me."</p> +<p>"And so I will; but tell me first if there is aught amiss with +thee. I have missed thy laugh of late, and thou hast lost some of +thy roses. Does aught ail thee, child?"</p> +<p>Sudden tears welled up in Cherry's eyes; her lip began to +tremble.</p> +<p>"I know not, I know not," she answered, with a little sob. "It +only seems sometimes as though I could not bear the life any +longer; it is all so drear, so dull, so dead! one day like +another--always the same. Sometimes I think the narrow house will +stifle me! O father, chide me not; I have struggled against the +feeling, but the life is killing me! I know not how to bear +it--alone."</p> +<p>The last word was almost a whisper, and escaped Martin's ears. +He was regarding his child with a thoughtful and perplexed +countenance. He fancied that he was somewhat in the position of a +mother hen who sees its foster brood of ducklings take to the water +for the first time. He did not understand this outburst in the +least. Cherry's restless discontent was an enigma to him. But he +saw that it was real, and that it was a source of trouble and +suffering to herself; and he wisely resolved neither to rebuke nor +condemn her, but simply to treat it as the symptom of a malady of +the body which might be cured by a few months' change and +relaxation.</p> +<p>The child was half frightened at her own boldness, and stood +trembling before him, Her aunt would have boxed her ears and sent +her to bed for such a confession; but her father only looked at her +as though he were trying to read her very soul, and Cherry +instinctively dropped her eyes, as if fearful that another secret +would be read there--a secret which she kept locked up closely in +her breast, and would not for the world that any other should +know.</p> +<p>"Cherry," said Martin Holt, speaking slowly and quietly, "I know +not what to think of thy words, save that thy disordered fancies +come from a disordered health. Thou hast been looking less robust +than I like to see thee; wherefore I think it well that thou +shouldest have some change in thy life, and see if that will cure +thee. Thy good aunt Prudence Dyson, a younger sister of thy mother, +has sent to ask me if I will spare her one of my daughters to help +wait upon some young madams staying with my Lady Humbert. Thou hast +not been brought up to such duties, but thou hast quick hands and +eyes, and, I trust, a willing heart, and I have resolved to send +thee. Thou wilt be in the country, and the change will doubtless be +good for thee. I shall look to receive thee back restored to thine +old self again. The Cross Way House stands south from this by some +seventeen miles, and is not very far away from the forest of which +Cuthbert used to talk, and Trevlyn Chase where his kinsfolk live. +Thou mayest hear somewhat of him there, for methinks the ladies +Wyvern are in some sort his kinsfolk, too. I marvel that all these +months have gone by without a word or a sign from him. Thou canst +ask if aught has been heard of him. I trust no mishap has befallen +the lad. He promised us news of himself ere now."</p> +<p>Had the room been less dim and dark, Martin might have seen the +sudden alternations of red and white in Cherry's cheek as these +last words were spoken; but the twilight was drawing in apace, and +she kept her face down bent. But her heart was beating fast with +throbs of gladness as well as astonishment. The idea of being sent +away from home to the house of strangers was something fearful, but +the last clause had given her food for eager anticipation. Where +would she not go for news of Cuthbert, for whom she was now pining, +and pining all the more sadly because she might speak to none of +her anxiety and trouble?</p> +<p>Cuthbert had said he should be some months away; but she had +looked for him at Michaelmas, and now October was speeding along, +and yet there was no sign. Cherry had all a London girl's terror of +the forests and their perils. She remembered how he had spoken of +danger when last he had ridden through, and how nearly the terrible +old gipsy had fulfilled her vow of vengeance by wreaking it upon +his head. Might she not have found him and have slain him when he +lived hidden away in the forest? Might not his search for the lost +treasure have led him into many deadly perils? If living and free, +why had he not written or appeared to her by this time? Could it +be--oh, could it be--that he had forgotten her, and was keeping +purposely away? Almost sooner would she believe him dead; but +either fear filled her with dread and dismay.</p> +<p>And now a new throb of hope was in her heart. Once near the +forest and what might she not hear or see? Might she not even find +him herself? In her ignorance and inexperience anything seemed +possible if only she might escape from the trammels of city life, +and from the Argus eye of her aunt Susan.</p> +<p>"And am I to go and help my aunt Prudence, father?"</p> +<p>"Yes; I think it is but right and kind that thou shouldst do so. +Thou art willing thyself?--and wilt thou be docile and +teachable?"</p> +<p>"I will strive in all things to please her."</p> +<p>"That is well. I shall trust thee to do credit to thy name."</p> +<p>"And when am I to go, father?"</p> +<p>"So soon as I can find escort for thee; and that methinks will +not be long, since the house stands directly on the road betwixt +London and Southampton. Thou hadst best look to thy clothes and +such things as thou mayest need there; for I would not lose a +chance of sending thee safely guarded. I shall to Abraham Dyson +this very evening, to ask what business is doing by road with +Southampton just now."</p> +<p>"And how long shall I be away, father?"</p> +<p>"Nay, child, that I know not. Prudence makes no mention of that. +Haply, I take it, a matter of three months or so, since had the +ladies been leaving shortly she would scarce have sent so urgently +for thee. Thou wilt not be home for thy Christmas, I fear; but thou +wilt be in a good and a godly house, with thine own aunt to watch +over thee; and I trow that thou wilt so act and comport thyself as +to bring credit and not disgrace upon the name thou bearest."</p> +<p>"I will try, good father," answered Cherry with great meekness; +and her father kissed her and bid her begone, for that he was about +to go forth and talk to Abraham Dyson on this matter.</p> +<p>Cherry went up to her room feeling bewildered, half frightened, +and yet elated and pleased. Something had come to break at last the +long monotony of the life which she felt was crushing the spirit +out of her. She was going to a place where it seemed that she must +surely have news of Cuthbert, and where, if she did not pass him on +the road, she would certainly be nearer to him.</p> +<p>Her sisters, greatly astonished, could scarcely believe their +ears when told that Cherry was really going away; and Keziah hung +over her with wistful eyes, assisting her to get her clothes ready, +and wondering what the house would seem like without its rebellious +and most attractive member.</p> +<p>"Methinks it will be duller than ever," she said. "Jacob will +scarce care to come if thou art gone."</p> +<p>"Jacob! why, I trow he will but come the more," answered Cherry, +with a saucy gleam in her eye as she looked in Kezzie's grave face. +"He will come to thee for comfort, my sister, and I trow that thou +wilt give it him in full measure."</p> +<p>Keziah's grave face lighted up somewhat.</p> +<p>"Thinkest thou that? Indeed I would gladly try. Jacob is a good +lad and a kind one. I marvel thou dost not treat him better, +Cherry."</p> +<p>"I like Jacob; he is very good. We are great friends," answered +Cherry hastily, "but--"</p> +<p>There she broke off and busied herself over her trunk, saying as +she leaned so far into it that her face could not be seen, "Kezzie, +if Cuthbert should come back, thou wilt tell him where I have gone. +Tell him I am with his kinsfolk, and ask him if he goes that way to +pay a visit to them."</p> +<p>"I will," answered Keziah, who had her own ideas about +Cuthbert's sudden and entire disappearance; "but I fear me we shall +see Cuthbert no more. He--"</p> +<p>"Why sayest thou so? What dost thou know? What dost thou mean, +Keziah? Hast thou heard aught of him?"</p> +<p>"Bless the child--no--" answered Keziah hastily "How should I +know aught of him? But, Cherry, my sweet sister, be not angry with +me if I say it. Cuthbert is a Trevlyn, for all that our aunt was +his mother. He is of rank above ours. He may have made friends in +his own walk in life. He may repent him of the friendships he made +at the bridge house. Be not wroth with me for saying it, but men +before him have gone forth and returned not to those who looked for +them. But if he comes I will tell him--I will tell him all. Only do +not too greatly count upon it. I grieve so lest thou shouldest be +disappointed."</p> +<p>Cherry said nothing. She would not even by a word seem to doubt +Cuthbert's fidelity. Keziah, if she did not know how matters stood +betwixt them, knew enough to have a very shrewd suspicion of it. +She had been in some sort Cherry's confidante. Both the sisters had +some knowledge of each other's secret.</p> +<p>The next evening, just before it grew dark, as Cherry was +sitting alone in the upper parlour, exempt from household toil that +she might get her own wardrobe ready, and now having laid her +needle aside because she could no longer see, the door opened, and +the tall, loose figure of Jacob Dyson appeared framed against the +dark background of the staircase behind, and the girl sprang to her +feet with a little exclamation of pleasure and welcome.</p> +<p>"I thought that thou wouldst come to see me, Jacob. Thou hast +heard that I am going away?"</p> +<p>"Ay, I have heard it. Art thou glad to be going, Cherry?"</p> +<p>"Yes, verily I am. I am sick at heart for news of him, and +perchance I may get it where I be going. I shall be near his home +and his kinsfolk."</p> +<p>Jacob had sat down, and was turning his cap round and round in +those large red hands that were such an offence to the girl. After +a few moments of silence he looked up and said:</p> +<p>"Cherry, hast thou ever thought of the things thou hast said to +me--of the promise thou hast given?"</p> +<p>She bent her head low, and the whispered "Yes," was barely +audible.</p> +<p>"Thou wilt not go back from thy word?"</p> +<p>She raised her head suddenly and said:</p> +<p>"No, Jacob, I will not go back from my word. Thou hast been very +good and kind and patient; and if in time to come it should be +proved that Cuthbert is dead, or has wed another and been false to +me, then I will say naught against thee, but will do as my father +saith, and strive to make thee a good wife. But I have never +promised to love thee as a wife should love her husband. Thou must +not expect that of me, Jacob."</p> +<p>She lifted her eyes to his with a look that sent a quick thrill +through him. He put out one of his hands and took hers, saying in +very gentle tone, though his gestures were slightly uncouth:</p> +<p>"I will only strive might and main to win thy love, sweetheart. +Methinks if thy heart were once free again thou mightest learn the +lesson."</p> +<p>She shook her head and answered very low:</p> +<p>"Thou couldst learn to love again, good Jacob; but I--never. I +would that thou couldst look around thee, and find a good and +useful wife whom thy mother would welcome; who would love thee +well, and whom thou couldst love without let. There be such--I am +well assured of it. As for me, even though some day thou shouldst +gain my hand, my heart can never be thine."</p> +<p>Jacob looked at her with a wistful, dog-like devotion, and +heaved a heavy sigh. That unselfish and faithful youth was going +through a rather hard probation, such as so often falls upon the +best and warmest hearted of earth's sons, who have been denied +those outward graces that charm the fancy and take the eye. He had +long since divined the secret of the attachment betwixt Cuthbert +and Cherry; and when urged by his father to press his own suit, had +been backward in so doing. On Cuthbert's disappearance he had one +day spoken openly to Cherry of his suspicions, and she had frankly +told him all, begging him to keep their secret, and to hold off his +own suit until Cuthbert's quest should be over, and he could come +to claim her as his own.</p> +<p>Truth to tell, Jacob had little belief in the finding of the +lost treasure; but he did believe in Cuthbert, whom he loved only +second to Cherry, and whom he would any day have set before +himself. He made Cherry a promise that it should be as she desired; +that he would give her time to test Cuthbert's sincerity before he +spoke another word of marriage with her. But he also timidly asked +in return for the sacrifice he was making, and as a reward for his +championship, that if Cuthbert should never return, if harm should +befall him in the forest, or if some other maiden should win his +heart and hand, that then Cherry should become his wife, and let +him try to comfort her by his own devoted and life-long love.</p> +<p>Cherry had given the promise without overmuch persuasion. What +good would life be to her without Cuthbert? she had argued. If she +could make any one else happy, she might as well do it as not. +Jacob was very good. He would be kind to her and patient with her, +whilst her aunt Susan would be just the reverse. Life under such +conditions, beneath that unsympathetic rule, would be well-nigh +unendurable. It would be better for her own sake to wed Jacob and +escape from it all. And when the promise had been given, it seemed +so little likely that she would be called upon to fulfil it! Even +now she scarcely contemplated it seriously, for her heart was +filled with hope. Was she herself not going towards the forest and +Cuthbert? Surely she would hear somewhat of him there!</p> +<p>"I shall ask none other woman to be my wife until I know that +thou canst never be mine, Cherry," answered Jacob, with gentle +obstinacy. "I shall never wish aught of ill to Cuthbert. Thou +knowest that I would stand betwixt him and peril an I might. But +till he stands at thy side and claims thee as his own, I will not +give thee up. I can bide my time--I can wait and watch."</p> +<p>She looked at him with suddenly dilating eyes, as though a qualm +of fear had smitten her.</p> +<p>"But, Jacob, if he were to come hither when I be gone, thou +wouldst not hinder him from finding me; thou wouldst not do him any +ill turn that we might be kept apart? That would not be fair; it +would be an ill thing. It would be--"</p> +<p>She stopped suddenly short, for Jacob had risen, and seemed to +stand towering above her, with something majestic in his air that +she had certainly never observed there before.</p> +<p>"Cherry! for what dost thou take me?" he asked, his voice +quivering with an emotion that showed him to be deeply moved. "Hast +thou so vile an opinion of the man thou mayest some day call thy +husband, the man who bears the name of thy dead mother, that thou +canst think such evil thoughts of him? No, Cherry, I will not +hinder him from finding thee. I will in no wise stand between you. +I will aid him with all that is in my power to find thee. If peril +should menace him and I could stand betwixt him and it, I would do +so gladly. I would lay down my life for him, if by so doing thou +and he might one day be happy. Dost think that I prize my life so +high, since I may not win the crown that would make its happiness? +If I may not live for thee, Cherry, methinks I would sooner die for +thee, if by so doing I might win thee happiness and love. I love +thee and I love Cuthbert. I ask nothing better than that I may in +some sort serve and save you twain."</p> +<p>And with a gesture of rugged dignity of which Cherry was keenly +aware, and which raised Jacob to an altogether different level in +her mind, he held out his hand as if to seal the compact, and +without waiting for her broken words of explanation and apology, +turned and walked out of the room.</p> +<p>Two days later Cherry started forth upon her travels. Her father +went part of the way with her, and left her but seven miles from +the end of her journey. She was escorted by a body of merchants and +their servants, who were transporting some merchandise to +Southampton, and were a goodly company in themselves for fear of +assault from the robbers of the road. As they had quantities of +valuables with them, they intended to travel only during the +daylight hours, and after leaving Cherry at the Cross Way House, +would put up for the night at the nearest town on the southern side +of the forest.</p> +<p>How Cherry's heart beat as her fellow travellers pointed out the +wall and chimneys of her destination, and the whole party reined up +at the door! The Cross Way House was well known to travellers as +being one of the regular landmarks along the road. It was a +hospitable mansion for any wayfarers in distress, and its mistress +was held in high repute, and had never yet been molested or +threatened by the highway bands, who might have been troublesome to +the members of any household whose walls abutted so close upon the +road. Lady Humbert was reaping the reward for the renowned kindness +of heart of the whole Wyvern family towards all the lowly, the +unfortunate, and the oppressed; and though many a fugitive fleeing +from the robbers had found shelter within her walls, these had +proved as safe shelter as the walls of any ancient sanctuary; for +once within Lady Humbert's gates and not even the most hated and +hunted foe need fear further molestation.</p> +<p>Cherry had heard some such words as these as the party had +jogged onwards together; and now she found herself standing timidly +at the back entrance of the house, her box beside her, and one of +her uncle's friends at her side. When the door was opened and her +guardian spoke her name and errand, she was quickly made welcome to +enter, and after saying a hasty goodbye to the kindly merchant, +found herself traversing several long stone passages, till she was +finally ushered into a low parlour, where an elderly woman sat +brewing over the fire some concoction which looked like one of +Mistress Susan's compounds of berries and spice.</p> +<p>"Sure it is my good aunt, Prudence Dyson," said Cherry, as the +woman looked quickly round. "Methinks I should have guessed that +anywhere, thou art so like to my uncle."</p> +<p>The woman came forward and saluted her niece gravely and +kindly.</p> +<p>"Thou art Martin Holt's daughter? What is thy name, child? I +could scarce make it out from Susan's letter, for she is no +scholar, as she ofttimes says. I am right glad to welcome thee, and +I trust thou comest to us with a willing heart?"</p> +<p>"A right willing heart," answered the girl, smiling bravely, +despite the strangeness of her surroundings; for there was +something home-like and comforting in the aspect of her aunt and in +the sound of her voice. "I was glad my father's choice lighted on +me, and I will strive to please in all I do. My name is Cherry--at +least that is how I am always called. And who are the ladies upon +whom I am to wait?"</p> +<p>"The one whom thou wilt chiefly serve is Mistress Kate Trevlyn, +a daughter of Sir Richard Trevlyn of the Chase. I know not if thou +knowest aught of the family, but most like thou art aware that thy +aunt Bridget made a luckless marriage with one Nicholas Trevlyn, +whereby she cast herself adrift from all her family. Why, child, +what a colour thou hast! What dost thou know of this matter?"</p> +<p>"I know my cousin Cuthbert Trevlyn," answered Cherry, trying to +speak naturally, though her heart beat wildly all the while. "He +came to us a year ago, and remained beneath my father's roof till +the summer had well-nigh come. From him we learned much of the +family; and right glad am I to think that I may serve Mistress +Kate, who was a kind friend to him in times past. My cousin +Cuthbert was much beloved by all our house whilst he remained +beneath our roof. We have not heard of him this many a day. Dost +thou know aught of him, my aunt?"</p> +<p>Prudence Dyson gave her niece a quick, sharp glance, and then +answered a little evasively:</p> +<p>"Thou must ask that question of Mistress Kate, my dear, if she +will please to talk with thee. She may have had news of him belike. +As for us of this household, we hear but little of what happens in +the world beyond. We are all growing old together."</p> +<p>Had it not been for the earnestness with which they were +talking, the aunt and niece might have heard a light footfall down +the passage. The door was softly pushed open, and a clear voice +asked:</p> +<p>"Is Mistress Dowsabel's hot posset ready, Dyson? she has asked +for it more than once."</p> +<p>Both women started and turned round, and Cherry uttered a little +involuntary cry, whilst the name "Cuthbert" sprang to her lips so +fast that she was not sure that she had not uttered it aloud. Her +eyes were fixed upon the face of the dark-eyed girl who had brought +the message.</p> +<p>"I will take it at once," said Dyson, hastily lifting it from +the fire. "I crave my lady's pardon for being late with it; but my +niece from London has but just arrived, and I was hindered for the +moment.</p> +<p>"Cherry, wait here till I return, and then I will speak more +with thee."</p> +<p>Dyson hurried away with the posset, and the two girls stood +gazing at each other, a light of welcome and amaze in both their +eyes.</p> +<p>"Cherry! did she call thee Cherry? and from London, too? And +Kate bath ofttimes said that--Oh, why waste words?" cried the girl, +breaking off quickly. "Tell me, art thou Martin Holt's daughter? +art thou my brother Cuthbert's Cherry?"</p> +<p>"Thy brother? then thou art Petronella!" cried Cherry, in a maze +of bewilderment; and even as she spoke the name she felt +Petronella's arms about her, and they were laughing and kissing, +questioning and exclaiming, all in the most incoherent fashion, yet +contriving to make each other understand some fragments of their +respective stories, till at last Petronella drew herself away and +laid her hand on Cherry's arm, saying as she did so:</p> +<p>"But remember that here I am Ellen Wyvern, and not even good +Dyson knows more than that. Be on thy guard, good coz, and only +speak familiarly to me in secret. O Cherry, how I have longed to +see thee--Cuthbert's Cherry, of whom I have heard so much! And how +comest thou hither? Has he sent thee?"</p> +<p>"He? I have not seen him these six months past. Petronella, +sweet cousin, give me good news of him."</p> +<p>"Why, so I can--the very best. He has found the treasure. It is +safely lodged here. And he has gone forth into the forest again, +first to tell the tale to the gipsy queen, who has been his friend +through all, and then to return to London to thy father's house to +seek his Cherry once again, and claim her hand before all the +world."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch21" id="Ch21">21</a>: The Gipsy's +Warning.</h2> +<p>"Thy task is done, and it is well done. But now get thee from +the forest with all speed, for there is peril to thee here."</p> +<p>So said Joanna, standing before Cuthbert in the pixies' dell, +her hand upon the low stone wall, her tall figure drawn up to its +full height. She had been looking thoughtfully down into the +sparkling water, which was now filling the well as of old, whilst +Cuthbert told his tale with graphic power. An expression of calm +triumph was on her face as she heard how the long-lost hoard was +lying safely stored within the house of the Wyverns--a house sacred +to the gipsies and safe from any raids of robbers, such was the +esteem in which that name was held. She looked like one whose task +is done, who feels a heavy load lifted from the mind; but the +glance fixed upon Cuthbert's eager face was also one of gravity and +meaning.</p> +<p>"The forest is no place for thee now," she said; "get thee hence +as fast as thou canst."</p> +<p>"And wherefore so?" asked Cuthbert, surprised. "Methought the +peril ceased with the death of--"</p> +<p>"Hush!" said the gipsy, almost sternly; "bethink thee that there +may be listeners even now about us in these thick bushes, and guard +thy words with caution. Remember the strange links that bind +together those of the wild gipsy blood; and remember that Long +Robin lies in his bloody grave not far from here."</p> +<p>She lowered her voice as she spoke, and Cuthbert instinctively +followed her example.</p> +<p>"But no man knows that."</p> +<p>"How canst thou tell?"</p> +<p>"None saw the deed. It was done in the dead of night. Ere +morning came he was laid below the earth. Thou thyself knew not +what had befallen him till I spoke the word."</p> +<p>He looked at her as if in momentary distrust; but the calm gaze +and the noble countenance of the gipsy seemed to reassure him. +Joanna, who had read his thought, smiled slightly.</p> +<p>"Nay, boy, thou needst not fear treachery from Joanna, and the +gipsy queen will give thee all protection in her power. Have I not +told thee that upon me, when I received that title, was laid the +charge of seeing the stolen treasure restored to the house of +Trevlyn? To thy courage and resolve and perseverance and skill +belongs it that this charge is now fulfilled. Thou needst not fear +that any ill will or lack of caution on Joanna's part will cause +evil to light upon thy head. But there are others with whom thou +mayest have to reckon. There is Miriam, to whom Long Robin was as +the apple of the eye."</p> +<p>"Yet he was not her husband (he is no aged man), and he can +scarce have been her son."</p> +<p>"No matter. As I have told thee ere this, there be strange bonds +betwixt us of the gipsy blood, binding closer and firmer than ever +ties of kinship do. Miriam loved yon man with a love passing all +others. She has missed him these many weeks. She is frantic with +anxious grief. She is convinced that some ill has befallen him. She +is rousing to anger and vengeance the whole tribe. They have vowed +that they will find Robin, whether he be dead or alive, and that if +dead they will avenge them on his murderer. Already suspicion has +fallen upon thee. Dost think thy many journeys through the forest +have passed unnoted by us?"</p> +<p>"I have never seen a soul; I had not known myself watched."</p> +<p>"Luckily for thee thou hast not been watched, else would little +of the treasure have been placed in safe keeping. Thou hast reaped +the benefit Robin hoped to reap himself alone when he surrounded +this dell as with a barrier that no man might pass. Even the most +daring spirits of our tribe dare not come here; and Miriam, who +bids them scour the forest in all other directions, fears to tell +them to come hither, albeit I well know she will shortly search the +spot herself if Robin come not soon. Then she will find the grave; +it will not escape her eyes. First she will think the lost treasure +lies there, for I am convinced that Robin never told her the full +secret. Then when she looks farther, she will find what that grave +really contains; and thou hadst best be far away ere that day +comes. Thou hast been seen. Thy journeyings in the forest have +provoked wonder and curiosity. Let Miriam once learn that Robin +lies there, and the whole truth will flash upon her; and then look +thou to thyself!"</p> +<p>These words were spoken with such significance that Cuthbert +experienced an involuntary qualm of fear.</p> +<p>"I thank thee for the warning," he said; "I will avail myself of +thy kind counsel. I had thought of journeying to London ere this. +There, it may be, I shall be hidden from their malice."</p> +<p>"Thou wilt be safer there than here," answered the gipsy +quietly; "I will not say thou wilt be truly safe in any spot if +Miriam's ire be once roused against thee. She has a wondrous fierce +spirit, and she has influence with our people second only to mine. +And then there hung about Long Robin a mysterious charm. Men loved +him not--they feared and distrusted him; and yet, were it to be +known that he had met his death by violence, Miriam would have but +small trouble in stirring up the hearts of a score of stout fellows +vowed to vengeance. In the forest thou wilt have small chance of +thy life."</p> +<p>"Perchance they will follow me to London," said Cuthbert; "if +so, it will be small use to fly."</p> +<p>"In London our folks have fears for themselves," answered the +gipsy queen. "Half of them are outlawed; the other half lie beneath +the suspicion of sorcery, which in these days is almost worse. They +may hover about the dens of the city, but they will fear to molest +thee elsewhere. Thou must take heed how thou venturest beyond the +city walls, for Tyrrel and his men may be lurking beyond on the +watch."</p> +<p>"Methought Tyrrel and Miriam were no such friends," said +Cuthbert, recollecting the night when he had been brought to the +mill. "Will he take up her quarrel?"</p> +<p>"If she can make him believe that Robin had the secret of the +lost treasure, and that thou didst force the secret from him ere +thou laidest him in his grave, he will take up the quarrel in right +good earnest, and rest not till he has learned where the treasure +has been hid. We of the gipsy tribe have as little believed in that +hid treasure as the house of Trevlyn, hence its safety all these +years. But let Miriam once tell what she knows--which is something, +I warrant--and there may be many who will then believe that the +secret was in Robin's keeping. They will be certain sure that thou +wouldst not have killed the man until thou hadst made sure of the +treasure. It would be acting like the fabled yokel who killed the +goose that laid the golden eggs. Wherefore be gone. Hide thyself in +London town. In a few weeks or months the chase may be over; but +for the time being beware of the forest!"</p> +<p>"I will," answered Cuthbert. "I thank thee for thy good counsel. +I will be speedily gone."</p> +<p>Joanna stood looking reflectively at him.</p> +<p>"Thou wouldst he safest within the walls that shelter the +treasure--with thy kinsfolk of the house of Wyvern."</p> +<p>"Nay, but I must first go to London," answered Cuthbert quickly; +"I have been long absent. My kinsfolk there will be looking for +news of me. And perchance my presence in the house of my kinswomen +might imperil them. I would not be a cause of danger to them."</p> +<p>"Thou art a bold and true-hearted lad," answered Joanna; "and it +may be well that for the nonce thou shouldest keep away from the +Cross Way House. Thy presence there might awaken suspicion; though +I scarce believe that any lust of gold would drive our people to +attack that house. Go then to London, and lose thyself there +awhile. Presently thou mayest return and see how thy sister fareth; +but not too soon--not too soon!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert started.</p> +<p>"My sister!" he said; "how knowest thou that?"</p> +<p>Joanna smiled her lofty smile.</p> +<p>"Ask a gipsy how she knoweth what takes place within the limits +of her domain! Tush, boy! thinkest thou that I do not know all that +passes in the forest? Thy sister has done well to find a shelter +there. She is safer at the Cross Way House than in this dell with +thee."</p> +<p>"If she is safe I can well look to myself," answered Cuthbert, +with the confidence of youth and strength. "To be warned where the +peril lies is half the battle. I will be cautious--I will be wary; +and having naught to keep me in the forest, I will start for London +town this very day."</p> +<p>"Ay, do so, and without an hour's delay. Old Miriam is raging +like a fury. Tyrrel may at any moment return, and I trow she will +rouse him to bitter enmity towards thee. Fly, before any strive to +stay thee. And when thou hast reached the city, go once again to +Esther. Tell her that the deed is done, the treasure found, that it +lies in the house of the Wyverns, and that the luck has come back +to the house, as was always said, through the daughters' sons."</p> +<p>"I will," answered Cuthbert; and bidding a farewell to the +gipsy, to whose protection and goodwill he owed so much, he left +the dell and made his way rapidly through the forest, till he +struck the road which would lead him to London.</p> +<p>He would not turn out of the direct way to go to the Cross Way +House, though he would gladly have seen his sister and Kate and his +aged kinswomen again. He did not wish them to know of the peril +which might threaten his own path, nor did he desire to draw +attention to that house by directing his steps thither in broad +daylight. Plainly his presence in the forest had already excited +remark. He had been seen far oftener than he had known. If he did +not linger, but pursued his way to London without delay, he might +reach it by nightfall, and that was no small inducement to him. +Petronella knew that he was bound thither; she would not reckon on +seeing him again. And there was Cherry at the other end. The +thought of seeing her again that very day drew him onwards like a +magnet. During these long weeks of search and hard toil, the +thought of Cherry had been the best sweetener of his labour. He had +talked of her with his sister, he had dreamed of her when he lay +down to sleep at night, and now he was on his way to see her, to +tell her all the tale, and ask her at her father's hand. The +thought was sweet to intoxication, and his eager anticipation +seemed to put wings to his feet.</p> +<p>How different were his feelings as he drew near to the great +city this second time! It was just about a year since he had +entered it for the first time, a stranger, homeless, well-nigh +penniless, and very uncertain of the reception he should receive +from his kinsfolk on the bridge. Now he stepped towards the region +of shining lights with all confidence and joy. He was rich past his +wildest hopes, for the treasure had proved to be far greater than +even his fondest dreams had credited; and he knew that when +division was made, it would be no niggard portion that would fall +to the share of the finder. He had won for himself such goodwill +from his kinsfolk as would stand him in good stead in days to come. +He had enlarged his scholarship, made for himself a number of +friends of all degrees, and, above all, had won the love of his +cousin Cherry, and a position which would enable him speedily to +ask her at her father's hands. He would fulfil his boyish promise +made last Yuletide, when he vowed her that the day should come when +she should no longer pine for the innocent gaieties and luxuries of +wealth, but should herself be a lady of some degree, and should +have her house and her horses and servants, and a bright and happy +future with the husband of her choice.</p> +<p>Now he had set foot upon the bridge, and was eagerly traversing +the familiar roadway, as the short daylight faded and the lights +from the houses shone out brighter and brighter in the gloom. His +uncle's house was almost in sight. His heart was beating high with +anticipation and delight, when a hand was laid suddenly upon his +shoulder, and he turned to find himself face to face with Anthony +Cole.</p> +<p>He was about to exclaim in words of pleasure and welcome, when +his attention was arrested by the strange expression upon the thin, +eager face--an expression so strange that it checked the +commonplace words of greeting that sprang naturally to Cuthbert's +lips, and he waited in silence for what Anthony should say.</p> +<p>"Thou hast come! it is well," said the latter, in tones that +were little above a whisper. "Methought that thou wouldst not be +absent at such a time. Well doth it behove every true son of the +Church to rally round her at such a moment. I felt assured that +thou wouldst be here. Others beside me have been watching for thee. +It is well. Keep thine own counsel; be wary, be discreet. And now +go. It boots not that we be seen talking together thus. When thou +hast fitting opportunity, come secretly to my house; thou wilt be +welcome there."</p> +<p>And half pushing Cuthbert from him before the bewildered youth +had time to speak a single word, the printer disappeared within his +own door, and Cuthbert was left to make his way to his uncle's +house.</p> +<p>"Beshrew me if I know what Master Anthony means!" said Cuthbert +to himself. "I trow there be matters stirring in London town of +which we in the country know nothing. How strange it is that one +can hardly set foot in this great seething city without hearing +words of mystery--without feeling oneself enwrapped in its strange +atmosphere of doubt and perplexity. Something is doubtless astir of +which I know naught; but at my uncle's house I shall hear all."</p> +<p>The shutters were just being put up at Martin Holt's as Cuthbert +stepped across the threshold. The servant uttered a cry of +astonishment as he saw his master's nephew, and Martin himself came +forward from the little room behind.</p> +<p>"Bless me, is it thou, Cuthbert?" he exclaimed in surprise. +"Well, boy, thou art welcome since thou art come, though we had +almost begun to think thou hadst forgot us and thy promise to +return. Come upstairs and greet thy aunt and cousins. Hast thou +seen aught of Cherry, as thou comest from the south?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert stepped back a pace, and some of the light went out of +his face.</p> +<p>"Cherry!" he stammered, taken aback. "How should I have seen +her? Is she not here?"</p> +<p>"Not for a matter of four days. She is helping her aunt, +Prudence Dyson at the Cross Way House, to wait upon some guests the +ladies are entertaining. Methought if you had come that way you +might have chanced upon her."</p> +<p>A keen thrill of disappointment ran through Cuthbert's frame. To +think how near he had been to Cherry and had never guessed it! If +only he had called at the Cross Way House that day!</p> +<p>"I have not been there for the matter of a week. I was last at +Trevlyn Chase; but mine uncle and his son have gone to London, as I +heard. I had hoped to find Cherry here."</p> +<p>"Well, thou wilt find all but her. Go up, go up! Thou wilt need +refreshment after thy journey, and thou shalt hear the news as we +sup. Thine old room shall be made ready for thee. I am glad to see +thy face again, boy; and would hear thy story anon."</p> +<p>Cuthbert received a warmer welcome than he had looked for from +the aunt and cousins upstairs. Perhaps they were all missing the +brightness that had left them when Cherry went. Perhaps the vacant +place at the board day by day was an offence to the conservative +eye of Mistress Susan. But whatever was the cause, there was no +denying the cordiality of the reception accorded to him; and after +the lonely life of the forest, and all his wanderings there, his +strange resting places, and many hours of watching, toil, and +anxious fear, it seemed pleasant indeed to be sitting at this +hospitable board, warmed by the friendly glow of the fire, and +discussing the savoury viands that always adorned a table of +Mistress Susan's spreading, and which did indeed taste well after +the hardy and sometimes scanty fare he had known in the forest.</p> +<p>But his open-air life had done him good in many ways. His uncle +smiled, and told him he had grown to be a very son of Anak, and +that he was as brown as a gipsy; whilst his cousins looked at him +with furtive admiration, and Keziah could almost have wept that +Cherry was not there to welcome him.</p> +<p>Cuthbert, however, quickly got over his disappointment on this +score, and after swallowing a few sighs, was content to think that +it might indeed be best so. Cherry would learn where he was from +Petronella, and would hear from her that his heart was still her +own, and that success had crowned his search after the lost +treasure. He could go to seek her shortly, when the gipsy tribe +should have drawn away from that part of the forest into the +quarters they preferred during the winter months. Were she to be +here, he must surely betray himself, and should have to speak +immediately to Martin Holt of his desire to make Cherry his wife. +Somehow, when face to face with his uncle, he felt less confident +of winning his sanction for this step than he had done when away +from him in the forest. There it had seemed perfectly simple so +long as he could show the father that he had the means to keep a +wife in comfort. Now he began to wonder if this would be enough. +Hints were dropped by both the Holts regarding Cherry's approaching +marriage with Jacob Dyson. Mistress Susan openly regretted her +absence from home as hindering that ceremony; and although Martin +Holt spoke with more reticence, it was plain he was still +cherishing the hope of the match when his wilful youngest should be +a little older.</p> +<p>It might be that Cherry's absence at this time was fortunate +rather than the reverse. Cuthbert, at any rate, was relieved from +the necessity for immediate action; and when he had spoken a little +of himself, his kinsfolk, and the visits he had paid during his +wanderings in the forest (keeping the real object of those +wanderings quite out of the talk), he turned his conversation to +other matters, and asked what was passing in London, and what was +chiefly stirring men's minds.</p> +<p>"Marry it is the opening of Parliament that is the chiefest +thing," said Martin Holt. "It is said in the city that his Majesty +loves not his good Parliament; and truly it looks like it, since he +has put off its opening so many a time. First it was to have been +last February, then not till the third of this present month. Now +it is again prolongued till the fifth of November next; but I trow +his Majesty will scarce dare to postpone again. His people like not +those rulers who fear to meet those who are chosen by them to +debate on matters of the state. It looks not well for the sovereign +to fear to meet his people."</p> +<p>Cuthbert, who knew little about such matters, asked many +questions about Parliament and its assemblies. His uncle answered +him freely and fully, and explained to him exactly the site of the +building where the great body assembled.</p> +<p>"Thou canst take the wherry thou used to love so well, and row +thyself to Westminster one of these days, and look well at the +Parliament Houses," said Martin Holt. "It is a grand spectacle to +see the King come in state to open the assembly. Thou mayest see +that sight, too, an thou purposest to stay with us so long."</p> +<p>"I would gladly do so," answered Cuthbert, who remembered that +he was bidden not to return to the forest too quickly. He knew +that, now he was safely away, Joanna would allow all search to be +made after him there, and that it would soon be ascertained that he +had fled. But whilst that search was going on, he was safest in +London, and was glad enough of the opportunity of seeing any gay +pageant.</p> +<p>As he lay in his narrow bed that night, enjoying the comfort of +it after his chilly nook in the tree, which had been his best +shelter of late, and somewhat disturbed by the noises that from +time to time arose from the street below, he recalled to mind the +strange greeting he had received from Anthony Cole, and wondered +anew at his mysterious words.</p> +<p>And then his fancy somehow strayed to the great Parliament +Houses of which his uncle had spoken. He remembered that strange +dark journey across the river from Lambeth and the lonely house +there to Westminster and its lofty palaces. He recalled the +locality of the house he had entered, where Catesby and his friends +were assembled at some strange toil, and the terrified aspect these +men all wore when some unexpected sound had smitten upon their +ears. He recalled the sudden fierce grip of Catesby's hand upon his +arm before he recognized the face of the stranger within their +midst. He recollected the threats he had striven to speak binding +him to the silence he was so willing to promise.</p> +<p>What did it all mean? what could it mean? Lying in the dark, and +turning the matter over and over in his mind, Cuthbert began to +feel some fearful and sinister suspicions.</p> +<p>The month when all this had happened had been early in the year; +was it January, or early February? He could scarce remember, but he +knew it was one or the other. And had not his uncle said that +Parliament was to have met in February? Now that it was about to +meet soon again, had not Anthony spoken words implying that some +muster of friends was looked for in London; and had not Anthony and +his son always regarded him in the light of a friend and ally?</p> +<p>Cuthbert was by this time aware that he had but little love left +for the creed in which he had been reared. It seemed to him that +all, or at any rate far the greater part, of what was precious in +that creed was equally open to him in the Church established in the +land, together with the liberty to read the Scriptures for himself, +and to exercise his own freedom of conscience as no priest of the +Romish Church would ever let him exercise it. With him there had +been no wild revulsion of feeling, no sense of tearing and rending +away from one faith to join himself to another. His own convictions +had been of gradual growth, and he still felt and would always feel +a certain loving loyalty towards the Church of his childhood. +Still, he was increasingly convinced of the fact that it was not +within that fold that he himself could ever find true peace and +conviction of soul; and though no ardent theologian, and by no +means given over to controversy and dogmatism, he had reached a +steady conclusion as to his own faith, and one that was little +likely to be shaken.</p> +<p>At the same time he was kindly disposed to those of his +countrymen who were still beneath the Papal yoke, and were +suffering for their old allegiance. He honoured their constancy, +and felt even a boyish sense of shame in having, as it were, +deserted the weaker side when it was in trouble and undergoing +persecution. He felt a qualm of uneasiness when he thought of this, +and would gladly have shared the perils if he could have shared the +convictions of those who had striven to make him their friend. +Cuthbert was a little in advance of his times in the facility with +which he set aside matters of opinion in the choosing of his +friends. Those were days in which men were seldom able to do this. +They still divided themselves into opposing camps, and hated not +only the opinions embraced by their rivals, but the rivals +themselves, without any discrimination at all. To be intimate and +friendly with those of hostile opinions was far more rare then than +it has since become; and Cuthbert, who possessed that faculty, was +liable to be greatly misunderstood, and to run into perils of which +he little dreamed.</p> +<p>Thinking of those things he had seen that strange night led him +to wonder more and more what it could all mean; and, accordingly, +upon the morrow the first visit he paid was to Anthony Cole on the +bridge, hoping that through him this curiosity might be in some way +satisfied.</p> +<p>Cuthbert took the privilege accorded him in old times, and +walked through the house and up the narrow staircase without +pausing in the shop below. It was still early, and business had not +yet begun. The house was very silent; but he heard low-toned voices +above, and pursued his way towards them. As he did so a door, the +existence of which had never been discovered by him before, though +he thought the house was well known by him from attic to basement, +suddenly opened from the staircase, and a head appeared for a +single instant, and was as suddenly withdrawn. The door closed +sharply, and he heard the click as of a spring falling back to its +place. He passed his hand across his eyes as he exclaimed beneath +his breath:</p> +<p>"Sure that was Father Urban--"</p> +<p>But he began to feel doubtful as to his right to come and go in +this house at will, and was about to descend the stairs quietly +again, when a door opened from above, and some one came hastily +down the stairs. Cuthbert fancied he saw the gleam of some weapon +in the hand of the advancing figure, and felt that he had better be +upon his guard.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn!" exclaimed a familiar voice, and a hand was +slipped beneath the doublet, and there was no further gleam of cold +steel. "I am right glad to welcome thee. It is well for friends to +muster at such a time. Comest thou with news?"</p> +<p>Walter Cole was the speaker. His face too wore something of the +look which Cuthbert had observed on the father's the previous +evening--an expression of strained expectancy, as if with long +waiting mind and spirit had alike grown worn and over anxious. The +bright eyes scanned his face eagerly. Cuthbert felt half ashamed of +his ignorance of and indifference to the burning questions of the +day.</p> +<p>"I have heard naught, I know naught. I have been living the life +of the forests these past months," he answered, following Walter +into a small room where they had often worked together. "I have +heard no word of what was passing in the world; I come to learn +that here."</p> +<p>The eagerness faded from Walter's face. He spoke much more +quietly.</p> +<p>"Belike thou wert right to hide and live thus obscure; many of +our leaders have done the like. It is ofttimes the best and the +safest plan. But the time is at hand, and we must rally around them +now. When the hour has struck and when the deed is done, then will +it be for us to work--then will our hour of toil come. East and +west, north and south, must we spur forth with the tidings. The +whole nation must hear it and be roused. The blow must be struck +whilst the iron is hot. Thus and only thus can we be secure of the +promised victory."</p> +<p>Walter spoke quietly, yet with an undercurrent of deep +enthusiasm that struck an answering chord in Cuthbert's heart. All +true and deep feeling moved him to sympathy. His friend was talking +in riddles to him; but he felt the earnestness and devotion of the +man, and his sympathy was at once aroused.</p> +<p>"What hour? what blow? what deed?" he asked wonderingly. "I know +not of what thou speakest."</p> +<p>Walter drew his brows together and regarded him with an +expression of intense and wondering scrutiny. When he spoke it was +in a different tone, as though he were carefully weighing his every +word, as though he were a little uncertain of the ground on which +he stood. There was something of evasive vagueness in his tone, +whilst his eyes were fixed on Cuthbert's face as though he would +read his very soul.</p> +<p>"Methought thou knewest how cruelly we suffered, and that we +trust some stroke of kind fortune's wheel may ere long make life +something better for us. The King meets his Parliament soon. Then +is the time when men's grievances may be discussed, and when there +is hope for all that wiser and more merciful laws may be passed. We +have gathered together at this time to see what may be done. We are +resolved, as thou must surely know, not to suffer like this for +ever. Half the people of the realm be with us. It were strange if +nothing could be accomplished. Cuthbert Trevlyn, answer me this: +thou dost wish us well; thou art not a false friend--one who would +deceive and betray?"</p> +<p>"Never, never, never!" answered Cuthbert, with all the heat of +youth and generous feeling. "I would never betray those who have +trusted me, not though they were my foes. And I too hate and +abominate these iniquitous laws that persecute men's bodies for +what they hold with their minds and souls. I have suffered +persecution myself. I know how bitter a thing it is. I would have +every man free to believe that which his conscience approves. I +would join with any who would implore the King to show mercy and +clemency to his persecuted subjects."</p> +<p>Walter's face relaxed; he looked relieved and pleased.</p> +<p>"Methought that we could trust thee, Cuthbert. Thou art a +Trevlyn; it must needs be thou art stanch. I am right glad that +thou art here. There may be work yet for thee to do. Thou wilt +abide in thine uncle's house until--"</p> +<p>"Until Parliament opens at least," answered Cuthbert quickly. "I +have said as much to him, I would fain be there then and see it +all. And my presence in the forest is known by foes; it is no place +for me longer."</p> +<p>Then breaking off, for he had not meant to say so much, and had +no wish to be further questioned on the subject, he asked in a low +tone:</p> +<p>"Sure it was Father Urban whose face I saw on the stairs but +now?"</p> +<p>"Hist! silence!" whispered Walter, with a glance enforcing +caution; "do not breathe that name even within these walls. He is +here at risk of his life; but at such a moment he will not be away. +A warrant is out against him. He may not venture abroad by night or +day. But he can be useful in a thousand ways, for he knows more +than any other man of some matters appertaining to the state. And +if our hopes be realized, then he will emerge from his prison and +rove the country from end to end. He has friends in every place. To +him we shall look for guidance in a hundred ways."</p> +<p>Walter's eyes glowed. He looked like one to whom triumph is a +certainty--one who anticipates success and already tastes the +sweets thereof. Cuthbert was growing uncomfortable. He felt as +though he were hearing more than he ought to do. True, the Coles +had talked in very much this fashion all through the dark days of +the previous winter when he had been so much with them. They were +always looking for a day of release, always dwelling on the bright +prospects of the future. But some instinct told Cuthbert that there +was a difference now in the fashion of their talk, and he was made +uncomfortable by it though he scarce knew why.</p> +<p>He rose to go.</p> +<p>"I have but just returned. I have many visits to pay. I will +come again anon," he said.</p> +<p>"Ay, but come not too openly. Let us not be seen consorting +together. And as thou walkest the street, keep thine eyes and thine +ears open and attent, and learn ever what men say and think. If +thou hearest aught of moment, bring it to us. Every whisper may be +of value. And now farewell. Come not again by day, but slip in by +the door in the archway when all be wrapped in gloom. So it is +safest."</p> +<p>Cuthbert drew a deep breath of relief when he stood once again +in the fresh air. He walked rapidly through the familiar sunny +streets and strove to forget the impression made upon him by the +recent interview.</p> +<p>"Plots, plots, plots!" he muttered--"nothing but dark plots, and +the hope that things will thus be set right. I misdoubt me if it +will ever be by such means. Poor souls! I pity them with all my +heart; but I like not their ways. They are not the ways of truth, +of uprightness, of equity. Methinks I had better hold aloof and +have no dealings with them. They seem to think because I like +them--the men themselves--and mislike these persecutions even as +they do, that I am one with them and understand their ways and +their deeds. But I do not, I do not, and I think not that I ever +shall. I will go mine own way, and they must go theirs. It were +best not to meddle too much in strange matters. Now I will go and +seek honest Jacob. From him methinks I shall get as warm a welcome, +but a welcome that is not tinged with these mysteries and dark +words."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch22" id="Ch22">22</a>: Whispers Abroad.</h2> +<p>"Have naught to do with them, Cuthbert! I like them not."</p> +<p>"Yet they be good men, and stanch and true. Thou hast said so +thyself a score of times in my hearing, good Jacob. Why should I +avoid them now? What have they done amiss?"</p> +<p>Jacob passed his large hand across his face, and looked at +Cuthbert with an expression of perplexity.</p> +<p>"They are Papists," he said at last, in a slightly vague and +inconclusive fashion.</p> +<p>Cuthbert laughed aloud.</p> +<p>"Why, that I know well; and I am not scared by the name, as some +of your Puritan folk seem to be. Papists, after all, are fellow +men--and fellow Christians too, if it comes to that. It was a +Christian act of theirs to take to their home that hunted priest +whom we rescued that foggy night, Jacob. Many would have made much +ado ere they had opened their doors to one in such plight. Thou +canst not deny that there was true Christian charity in that +act."</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, I would not try to deny it," answered Jacob, in his +calm, lethargic way, still regarding Cuthbert with a look of +admiration and curiosity, somewhat as a savage regards a white man, +scarce knowing from moment to moment what his acts will be. "Yet +for all that I would warn thee to keep away from that house. Men +whisper that there be strange doings there. I know not the truth of +what is spoken. But we walk in slippery places; it were well to +take heed to our steps."</p> +<p>Cuthbert returned Jacob's look with one equally tinged with +curiosity.</p> +<p>"Nay now, speak more openly. What dost thou mean, good Jacob? +What do men say anent these Coles?"</p> +<p>Jacob glanced round and instinctively lowered his voice.</p> +<p>"It is not of the Coles alone that they speak; it is of the +whole faction of the Papists. I know not what is said or what is +known in high places; but this I know, that there be strange +whispers abroad."</p> +<p>Cuthbert's eyes lighted. A slight thrill ran through him. He +recalled the words recently spoken to him by his whilom friends. +But all he said was:</p> +<p>"Verily men are ever whispering. It was the same cry when I was +here a year agone, and no great thing has happened; wherefore this +new fear?"</p> +<p>Jacob shook his head. His answer was spoken in a slow, ponderous +fashion.</p> +<p>"Men will speak and whisper; yet the world wags on as before, +and men well-nigh cease to listen or heed. But mark my word, +Cuthbert, there be no smoke where there is not fire; and these +Papists, who are for ever plotting, plotting, plotting, will one +day spring some strange thing upon the world. There be so many +cries of 'Wolf!' that folks begin to smile and say the real wolf +will never come. But that follows not. I like not this +ever-restless secret scheming and gathering together in dark +corners. It is not for their religion that I hate and distrust the +Papists. I know little about matters of controversy. I meddle not +in things too high for me. But I hate them for their subtlety, +their deceitful ways, their lying, and their fraud. Thou knowest +how they schemed and plotted the death of good Queen Bess; we +citizens of London find it hard to forgive them that! We love not +the son of this same Mary Stuart, whom of old the Papists strove to +give us for our Queen; yet he is our lawful King, accepted by the +nation as our sovereign; and failing him I know not whom we might +choose to reign over us. Wherefore say I, Down with these schemers +and plotters! If men wish their grievances redressed, let them work +in the light and not in the dark. We Protestants know that it is +Bible law that evil must never be done that good may come; but the +Papists hold that they may do never so many crimes and evil deeds +if they may but win some point of theirs at last. Thou dost not +hold such false doctrine, I trow, Cuthbert? thou art a soul above +such false seeming."</p> +<p>Cuthbert drew his brows together in a thoughtful reverie.</p> +<p>"I trow thou hast the right of it, Jacob," he answered. "I love +not dark scheming, nor love I these endless plots. Yet in these +days of oppression it must be hard for men to act openly. If they +be driven to secret methods, the fault is less theirs than that of +their rulers."</p> +<p>"There be faults on both sides, I doubt not," answered Jacob, +with calm toleration. "But two evils make not one good; and the +Puritans who suffer in like fashion do not plot to overthrow their +rulers."</p> +<p>"How knowest thou that the Papists do?" asked Cuthbert +quickly.</p> +<p>"It has always been their way," answered Jacob; "and though I +know but little of the meaning of the sinister whispers I hear, we +have but to look back to former days to see how it has ever been. +Think of the two plots of this very reign, the 'Bye' and the +'Main'! What was their object but the subversion of the present +rulers? What they have tried before they will try again; and we who +live beside this great river, and mingle with those who come from +beyond the seas, do see and hear many things that others would not +know. There have been comings and goings of late that I have not +liked. It may be that mine eyes have played me false, but methought +one dark night I saw a figure strangely like Father Urban land at +the wharf, and he was incontinently joined by Walter Cole, who took +him hastily and secretly away."</p> +<p>Cuthbert started slightly, and Jacob continued:</p> +<p>"And yet when I whispered a question to Walter a few days later +concerning the priest, of whose welfare I have asked from time to +time since I had a hand in his rescue, he told me that he was still +beyond the seas, and that it was not like he would ever set foot on +English soil again."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was silent. But he presently asked a question.</p> +<p>"But who is this Father Urban? and why should his appearance +mean aught, or disturb thee?"</p> +<p>"Father Urban is a Jesuit, and one of those they call seminary +priests, and all such are held in detestation and suspicion above +all other Papists. When men lay hands on them they show them scant +mercy. It is a saying in this land that when treason and murder and +wickedness is abroad, a seminary priest is sure to be the leading +spirit. When those two last plots were hatching, this Father Urban +was in the country. He has returned now, and many men are looking +abroad with fear, wondering how soon the calm will be interrupted. +I like it not; I like it not; and I caution thee to keep away from +yon house, and to have no dealings with the Papists. They be +treacherous friends as well as wily foes. It were best and safest +for thee to keep away from all such. Thou art not one of them; why +shouldest thou consort with them?"</p> +<p>"I do not consort with them," answered Cuthbert; "but I have +none of thy hatred for the name, and these men have been kind and +friendly to me. I owe much to the lessons Anthony Cole has taught +me. I have no knowledge of their secrets, but I cannot see why I +may not speak a friendly word with them; even my uncle does +that."</p> +<p>"Ay, but he goes not to their house--and his name is not +Trevlyn."</p> +<p>"But what of that? the Trevlyns are now a stanch family, in +favour with the King and his counsellors."</p> +<p>"Ay, but the name is not forgotten in many quarters as belonging +to a race of persecuting Papists. It takes long for old memories to +die out. Thou hadst better take heed, Cuthbert. A whisper against +thee would soon spread and take root. I prithee meddle not in such +matters, lest some ill befall thee!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert thanked honest Jacob for his goodwill and for his +warning, but he could not see that it was needed. He was but an +obscure youth, of no note in the world. He had no dealings with any +of those plots of which men were whispering, and he could not see +how any act of his could raise suspicion of any sort against him. +He was growing intensely curious about the seething fire beneath +the outer crust of quietness and security. If some great plot were +hatching, if some great upheaval were at hand, why might not he +scent out something beforehand? Why might not he discover what was +baffling the sagacity of others? He had no wish to be a spy or an +informer; he had too much generous sympathy with the oppressed for +that. But he was intensely curious about it all, and he felt as +though his youth and obscurity would be his best protection if he +chose to make some investigations on his own account.</p> +<p>The old eager thirst for knowledge was coming upon him. The old +love of adventure, which had run him into many perils already, had +not been quenched by his recent experiences. Success had crowned +his labours in the forest; why should that success desert him now? +And then the thought came to him that he might by chance discover +something which might be of use to his own kinsmen. He knew that +Sir Richard Trevlyn and his son Philip--Petronella's lover--were in +London. Might it not be possible that they had better be elsewhere +at such a time? Jacob's words about the Trevlyns might perchance be +true. He had heard his uncle say the same before. If any possible +peril should be menacing them, how gladly would he find it out and +warn them in time! It began to appear to the youth in the light of +a duty to pursue his investigation, and it was just such a task as +best appealed to his ardent and fiery temperament.</p> +<p>But he scarce knew what the first step had better be; so he gave +up the day following to seeking out Lord Culverhouse, and learning +from him what was the feeling in high quarters.</p> +<p>Culverhouse greeted him warmly, and at once begged him to ride +out with him into the pleasant regions where the parks now stand, +which were then much larger, and only just taking any semblance of +park, being more like fields with rides running across them. Each +succeeding king did something for the improvement of this region, +though the open ground became considerably diminished as stately +buildings grew up around it.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert," said the Viscount, when they had left the busy +streets and were practically alone and out of earshot of any chance +passers by, "dost thou know that the matter of our secret wedding +is now known?"</p> +<p>"I heard so from Mistress Kate, who has been sent away from home +in disgrace, but is bearing her captivity cheerfully, with my +sister for her companion."</p> +<p>Culverhouse was eager to hear everything Cuthbert could tell +him, and was delighted that his lady love was happy in her +honourable captivity. When he had asked every question he could +think of, he went on with his own side of the story.</p> +<p>"There was a fine coil when Sir Richard brought the news, and I +was rated more soundly than I have been since I was a little lad +and lost my father's best falcon through letting it loose when the +falconer was not by to whistle it back. There has been a mighty +talking and arguing as to whether such wedlock as ours be lawful, +and no man seems rightly to know. That we must be wed again in more +orderly fashion all agree, if we are to live together as man and +wife; but none will dare to say that we may break the pledge we +gave each to the other that day. My father talked at first of +moving some high court to set us free; but my mother shook her head +and said that vows so solemnly spoken before God and in His name +might never rightly be annulled by man. She was grieved and as +angered as she knows how to be at our hot-headed rashness, and +spoke to me words which hurt me more than my father's ratings. Yet +she holds steadfastly to this--that we are betrothed too firmly to +be parted; and what she holds she can generally make my father +hold, for he thinks much of her piety and true discernment."</p> +<p>"So that thou art out of thy trouble for the nonce?"</p> +<p>Culverhouse laughed and shrugged his shoulders.</p> +<p>"I say not that, for they tell us it will be many years ere we +can hope to be wed again in due form; and waiting is weary +work."</p> +<p>"And why should you wait?"</p> +<p>Culverhouse laughed again.</p> +<p>"That is soon answered. My father has always told me that I must +wed a lady of wealth if I am to wed young. Our estates are +encumbered. We have more state to keep up than we well know how to +manage. We have had troubles and losses even as the Trevlyns have. +I have known this well. I cannot complain of my father. +Nevertheless I chose my Kate without any dowry before all the world +beside, and I am prepared to abide by my choice. But we shall have +to wait; we shall have to possess our souls in patience. They all +tell us that; and I gainsay them not. I am young. I have friends in +high places. I will win a name for myself, and a fortune too, ere +my head be gray. Alas for the old days of chivalry, when men might +ride forth to fame and glory, and win both that and wealth in a few +short years! Those bright days are gone for ever. Still methinks I +will conquer fate yet!"</p> +<p>Culverhouse looked as though fitted indeed for some career of +chivalrous daring. He and Cuthbert would gladly have ridden forth +together upon some knightly quest; but the days for such things had +gone by, as both recognized with a sigh. Still there was brightness +in Cuthbert's eyes as he said:</p> +<p>"Mistress Kate will spend her Christmas at the Cross Way House, +and I trow that others of the Trevlyns will do the like. If thou +wilt be one of the party there upon that day, I doubt not that +there will be a welcome for thee; and perchance thou wilt find then +that thy nuptials need not be so long postponed. A golden key may +be found which will unlock many doors."</p> +<p>Culverhouse looked quickly and eagerly at his companion, but +could ask no more even had he wished, as they were at that moment +joined by two friends of his, young men about the Court, who at +once began to talk of the approaching opening of Parliament and the +grand show that would accompany the act.</p> +<p>The King's love for fine dress, fine pageants, and fine shows, +of which he was the sun and centre (in his own opinion at least), +was well known by this time. These young sprigs of the nobility +amused themselves by making game freely of his Majesty behind his +back, ridiculing his vanity, mimicking his ungainly action, +especially upon horseback (though he considered himself a most +finished and accomplished rider), and describing to Culverhouse the +fine new robes he had ordered for the occasion, and which were to +surpass in grandeur anything he had ever worn before.</p> +<p>"Folks talked of the vanity of our good Queen Bess, and called +her mighty extravagant; but beshrew me if she were half as vain or +extravagant as our noble King Jamie! It is a marvel he cannot see +how ten-fold uglier he makes his ugly person by trapping himself +out in all such frippery and gorgeous apparel."</p> +<p>So the young men chatted on in lightsome fashion, and Cuthbert, +who listened to every word, could not gather that the smallest +uneasiness had penetrated the minds of those who moved in these +high places. Culverhouse talked with equal gaiety and security. +Certainly he had no suspicion of coming ill. The mutterings of +discontent the seething of the troubled waters, the undefined +apprehensions of many of the classes of the people, were apparently +unknown and unheeded here. All was sunshine and brightness in the +region of palaces. But if these youths had entertained any secret +misgivings, they would have discussed them freely together.</p> +<p>Culverhouse kept Cuthbert to dinner, and he was kindly received +by the Earl's family. Lady Andover even remembered to ask after +Cherry, and won Cuthbert's heart by so doing. She questioned him in +private about the marriage in the church porch, of which he had +been witness, and plainly all he told her only went to strengthen +her conviction that the matter had gone too far to admit of any +drawing back without some breach of faith that was akin to +sacrilege.</p> +<p>After the meal, which seemed stately and long to Cuthbert, +Culverhouse asked him would he like to see the Houses of +Parliament, where the King would shortly meet his Lords and +Commons. Cuthbert eagerly assented, and the two youths spent some +time in wandering about the stately buildings, to which Culverhouse +could obtain easy admittance; the Viscount explaining to his +companion where the King sat and where his immediate counsellors, +to all of which Cuthbert listened with marked attention.</p> +<p>There were several attendants and ushers within the building, +and Culverhouse told him that orders had been given to keep strict +watch over the building both by night and day.</p> +<p>"The King is not like our good Queen--Heaven rest her soul!" +said the Viscount, laughing. "He does not trust his people. He is +always in fear of some mischance either through accident or design. +Well may the great Shakespeare have said: 'Uneasy lies the head +that wears a crown!' Albeit the King would do better to have a +little more courage."</p> +<p>This was the first word Cuthbert had heard of any uneasiness in +high quarters, and he asked with some eagerness:</p> +<p>"Meanest thou that the King fears some evil to himself at this +time?"</p> +<p>"No; I have heard naught of that. The country seems unwontedly +quiet. It is the fear which never leaves him--the fear that makes +him wear a doublet so thickly quilted that it would suffice to turn +the sharpest blade, even as a suit of chain mail. He is always +dreading assassination. That is why he wills such close watch to be +kept, lest haply any evil-disposed person might find hiding within +the walls and spring upon him unawares. Methinks it is an unkingly +fear, but there it be, and he carries it ever with him. The Queen +had none such--nor had she need; and as thou knowest, when once an +assassin did approach her when she was alone in her garden, the +glance of her eye kept him cowed and at bay till her gentlemen +could hasten to her side. She was a Queen in very truth! I would we +had more of her like!"</p> +<p>Culverhouse spoke out aloud, careless of being overheard, for he +was but speaking the thoughts of the whole nation. Cuthbert echoed +his wish with all sincerity; and still looking round and about him +with keen interest, went through a certain mental calculation which +caused him at last to ask:</p> +<p>"And what buildings lie around or beneath this?"</p> +<p>"I know not exactly how that may be. There is a house close +beside this where methinks I have heard that Master Thomas Percy +dwells, the steward to my Lord of Northumberland. I know not what +lies beneath; it may be some sort of cellar.</p> +<p>"Dost thou know, fellow, whether there be cellars beneath this +place?"</p> +<p>Culverhouse spoke to a man-at-arms who appeared to be on duty +there, and who had for some moments been regarding Cuthbert with +close scrutiny, and had now drawn slowly near them. Cuthbert was +vaguely aware that the man's face was in some way familiar to him, +but he had no recollection where he had seen him before.</p> +<p>"Master Thomas Percy has rented the cellar beneath, where his +coals be stored," answered the man carelessly; and Cuthbert, who +had asked the question rather haphazard and without exactly knowing +why, moved away to examine a piece of fine carving close at +hand.</p> +<p>Whilst he was doing this he knew that the man-at-arms asked +Culverhouse a question, to which the latter gave ready reply, and +he heard the name of Trevlyn pass his lips. At the moment he heeded +this little, but the remembrance came back to him later.</p> +<p>As he passed out he noted that the man still continued to gaze +after him, as though wishful to read his face by heart. He was +standing beside a companion warder then, pointing out, as it +seemed, the visitor to the other fellow. Was it only fancy, or did +Cuthbert really hear the name of Father Urban pass in a whisper +between them? Puzzled, and even a shade uneasy, he followed +Culverhouse to the outer door, A flash of memory seemed then to +recall to him the faces of these two men. Had he not seen them +keeping watch at the wharf for Father Urban that day so long ago? +He was almost certain it had been so. But what of that? How could +they possibly connect him with the fugitive priest?</p> +<p>It would soon be dusk now, so the comrades said adieu to each +other and went their several ways. Cuthbert had come as far as the +Strand by boat, and had only to drop down and find it there; but +somehow he felt more disposed to linger about these solemn old +buildings, and try to piece together the things he had seen and +heard.</p> +<p>Hardly knowing what he was doing, he wandered round the great +pile till he came to the narrow entry he had once traversed, +leading up from the river to the door of the house where he had +seen Catesby and his companions at their mysterious toil. The house +looked dark as night now. Not a single gleam penetrated the gloom. +Already the last of the twilight had faded into night, but no ray +of any kind shone from any of the casements.</p> +<p>Cuthbert stood looking thoughtfully up at the house, hardly +knowing why he did so, his fancy running riot in his excited brain +and conjuring up all manner of fantastic visions, when suddenly and +silently the door opened. A gleam of light from behind showed in +relief the figure of a tall man muffled in a cloak, a soft felt hat +being drawn over the brow and effectually concealing the features; +but one glance sufficed to convince Cuthbert that this cloaked and +muffled individual was none other than the same tall dark man who +had produced the holy water blessed by the Pope and had had it +sprinkled around the spot where those mysterious men were at work +in Percy's house. Filled with a burning curiosity that rendered him +impervious to the thought of personal risk, Cuthbert first shrank +into a dark recess, and then with hushed and noiseless footfall +followed the tall figure in its walk.</p> +<p>The cloaked man walked quietly, but without any appearance of +fear. He skirted round the great block of buildings of which the +Houses of Parliament were composed, until he reached a door in the +rear of that building, within a deep arch sunk a little way below +the level of the ground, and this door he opened, but closed it +after him, and locked it on the inside.</p> +<p>Unable to follow further, Cuthbert put his ear to the keyhole, +and heard distinctly the sound of footsteps descending stone stairs +till the sound changed to the unbarring of a lower door, and then +all was silence.</p> +<p>Cuthbert looked keenly around him, and soon made out that these +steps must certainly lead down to the cellar beneath the Parliament +Houses of which he had recently heard. That other cellar he had +visited so many months before was close at hand--close to these +great buildings; and this tall dark man seemed to have some +mysterious connection with both.</p> +<p>What could it all mean? what did it mean? Cuthbert felt as +though he were on the eve of some strange discovery, but what that +discovery could be he could not guess.</p> +<p>He was aroused from his reverie by the sound of approaching +footfalls along the roadway, and he hastily stood upright and +walked onwards to meet the advancing pedestrian. The man carried a +light which he flashed in Cuthbert's face, and the youth saw that +it was one of the men-at-arms on guard over these buildings.</p> +<p>"What are you doing here?" asked the man civilly, though in +slightly peremptory fashion.</p> +<p>"I did not know that this road was anything but public," +answered Cuthbert, with careless boldness. "I have walked in London +streets before now, no man interfering with me."</p> +<p>"Have a care how and where you walk at night," returned the man, +passing by without further comment. "There be many perils abroad in +the streets--more than perchance you wot of."</p> +<p>Cuthbert thanked him for the hint, and went on his way. He would +have liked well enough to linger till the tall man emerged again, +but he saw that to do so would only excite suspicion.</p> +<p>Although it was quite dark by this time, it was not really late; +for it was the last day of October save one, and masses of heavy +cloud obscured the sky. Now and again a ray of moonlight glinted +through these ragged masses, but for the rest it was profoundly +dark in the narrow streets, and only a little lighter on the open +river.</p> +<p>The tide was running in fast, with a strong cold easterly wind. +Cuthbert saw that it would be hard work to row against it.</p> +<p>"Better wait for the ebb; it will not be long in coming now," he +said to himself as he noted the height of the tide; and stepping +into his boat, he pulled idly out into midstream, as being a safer +place of waiting than the dark wharf, to find himself drifting up +with the strong current, which he did not care to try to stem.</p> +<p>"Beware of the dark-flowing river!" spoke a voice within him; +"beware of the black cellar!"</p> +<p>He started, for it almost seemed as though some one had spoken +the words in his ear, and a little thrill of fear ran through him. +But all was silent save for the wash of the current as it bore him +rapidly onwards, and he knew that the voice was one in his own +head.</p> +<p>Upwards and upwards he drifted; was it by his own will, or not? +He did not himself know, he could not have said. He only knew that +a spell seemed upon him, that an intense desire had seized him to +look once again upon that lonely house beside the river bank. He +had no wish to try to obtain entrance there. He felt that he was +treading the dark mazes of some unhallowed plot. But this very +suspicion only increased his burning curiosity; and surely there +could no harm come of one look at that dark and lonely place.</p> +<p>No volition of his own was needed to carry him onwards; wind and +tide did all that. He had merely to keep his place and steer his +little bark up the wide river. He saw against the sky the great +pile of Westminster. He had drifted almost across the river by that +time. He was seated in the bow of the boat, just dipping an oar +from time to time as it slipped along beneath the trees. And now +the moon shone out for a few minutes clear and bright. It did not +shine upon his own craft, gliding so stealthily beneath the bare +trees that fringed the wall of the very house he had come to see; +but it did gleam upon another wherry out in midstream, rowed by a +strong man wrapped in a cloak, and directed straight for the same +spot. Cuthbert started, and caught hold of a bough of a weeping +willow, bringing his boat to a standstill in a place where the +shadow was blackest. He had no wish to be found in this strange +position. He would remain hidden until this other boat had landed +at the steps. He would be hidden well where he was. He had better +be perfectly silent, and so remain.</p> +<p>A sound of voices above his head warned him that he was not the +only watcher, and for a moment he feared that, silent as had been +his movements, his presence had been discovered. But some one spoke +in anxious accents, and in that voice he recognized the clear and +mellow tones of Robert Catesby. He was speaking in a low voice to +some companion.</p> +<p>"If he comes not within a short while, I shall hold that all is +lost. I fear me we did wrong to send him. That letter--that +letter--that luckless letter! who can have been the writer?"</p> +<p>"Tresham, I fear me without doubt, albeit he denied it with such +steadfast boldness. Would to heaven that fickle hound had never +been admitted to our counsels! That was thy doing, Catesby."</p> +<p>"Ay, and terribly do I repent me of it, Winter. I upbraid myself +as bitterly as any can upbraid me for the folly. But hark--listen! +I hear the plash of oars. See, there is a boat! It is he--it is +Fawkes! I know him by his height and his strong action. Heaven be +praised! All cannot yet be lost! Move upwards yet a few paces, and +we will speak to him here alone before we take him within doors to +the others.</p> +<p>"Guido Fawkes! Good Guy, is that verily thou?"</p> +<p>"Verily and in truth, my masters. Has the time seemed long?"</p> +<p>"Terribly long. How foundest thou all?"</p> +<p>"All well--all as I left it weeks ago. There has been no soul +within. Gunpowder, faggots, iron bars, and stones--all are as +before; and above, the coal and faggots carefully concealing all. +Why this anxiety and fear, Catesby? it was not wont to be so with +thee."</p> +<p>"No; but I have something of terrible import to reveal to thee, +good Guy. And first I must ask thy pardon for thus exposing thee to +peril as this day I did. I sent thee on this mission of inspection; +but I ought first to have told thee that we are in fear and +trembling lest we have been betrayed!"</p> +<p>"Betrayed!" echoed Fawkes with a fierce oath, "and by whom?"</p> +<p>"That we know not. But some days since, my Lord Mounteagle +received a mysterious warning bidding him absent himself from this +meeting of Parliament, for that a blow should then be struck, no +man seeing who dealt it. Wherefore we fear--"</p> +<p>"Mounteagle!" cried Fawkes, interrupting fiercely; "then the +traitor is yon false hound Tresham!"</p> +<p>"So we all thought till we charged him with it, and had he +blenched or shrunk our daggers should have been buried in his +heart!" answered Winter in low, fierce accents; "but he swore he +knew naught of it, and that with so bold a front and so open an air +that for very doubt of his guilt we could not smite him. There may +be other traitors in the camp. There was that lad thou, or thy fool +of a servant, Catesby, once brought amongst us. I liked it not +then. He should not have been let go without solemn oath taken on +pain of death. Trevlyn, methinks, was the name. I hear he has been +seen in London again of late. Why does he haunt us? what does he +suspect?"</p> +<p>"Tush! thou art dreaming. Trevlyn! why, that is a good name, and +the lad knows nothing, and is, moreover, stanch.</p> +<p>"Guido, thou hast not said that thou dost pardon us for sending +thee on so perilous an errand this day."</p> +<p>"Thou needst not repent, Catesby. I should have adventured +myself the same had I known all. I have sworn myself to this task, +and I go not back to mine own country till all be +accomplished."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch23" id="Ch23">23</a>: Peril For +Trevlyn.</h2> +<p>Cuthbert stood at the door of the narrow house in Budge Row, +seeking speech of the wise woman.</p> +<p>It was a blustering night--the first night in November. The wind +howled and shrieked round the corners of the streets; the rain +pattered down and splashed the garments of the few pedestrians who +had braved the storm. It was but seven of the clock, yet Budge Row +was dark and quiet as though midnight had settled down upon the +city. Scarce any gleams of light filtered through the cracks in the +shutters, and only the sound of a distant watchman's cry broke the +silence of the night.</p> +<p>Cuthbert had once before sought this house, but had knocked in +vain for admittance. Either the wise woman was from home, or else +she had no intention of receiving visitors. Since then his mind had +been engrossed by other matters, and he had not thought again of +Joanna's charge concerning Esther. But recent mysterious +occurrences had made him desirous not only of telling her his own +tale, but of seeking information from her; and here he stood in the +wind and rain making request for admittance.</p> +<p>Softly and silently the door swung open at last, and he saw +before him the dark passage he had traversed a year before with +Cherry, the dim light from above just guiding his steps as he +moved. The same juggleries were repeated as on that occasion. The +outer door swung back and bolted itself behind him. The invisible +light wavered and flickered and showed him his way. The black cat +appeared ready to dispute his entrance into the room till he had +dropped his coin into the box; and when he entered the dim place +where the wise woman ensconced herself, he saw her as before, +seated behind the lamp which shed its light upon him, but left her +face in deep shadow. All was precisely as it had been upon a former +occasion--all but his reception by the wise woman herself.</p> +<p>That, however, was altogether different; for the moment she saw +who her visitor was, she rose suddenly from her chair and exclaimed +in excited tones:</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn, why hast thou not come hither sooner?"</p> +<p>"I did, but could not find thee."</p> +<p>She made an impatient exclamation.</p> +<p>"And thou wert content not to find me, and came not again and +yet again! Foolish boy! Did not Joanna warn thee to seek me out and +tell me all? I know well that she did. She is loyal and true. And +so, boy, the lost treasure is found, and is safe beneath the roof +of that house which shelters the honoured heads of the +Wyverns?"</p> +<p>"Yes, it is all there."</p> +<p>The old woman flung up her arms with a gesture of triumph.</p> +<p>"I knew it: I knew it I knew that the prophecy would fulfil +itself, for all Miriam's spite and Long Robin's greed. Boy, thou +hast done well, thou hast done very well. But thou hast been more +bold than secret. Thou art suspected. Miriam has been here. She is +raging like a lioness robbed of her whelps. She loved yon fierce +man who called himself Long Robin, yet was neither husband of hers, +still less her son, with a love more wild and fierce than thou wilt +ever understand. She vows that she will be revenged. She vows that +the Trevlyns shall yet smart. She suspects not thee alone, but all +who bear the name. Boy, boy, why didst thou not seek me +earlier?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert made no response. He was looking in amaze at this old +woman, who had now come forth from her nook behind the table, and +was speaking to him without any assumption of prophetic power, but +as one anxious human creature to another. He saw in her a strange +likeness to old Miriam, and to the dark gipsy queen; but he +marvelled at the excitement she evinced, and the eager intensity of +her gaze. It was so different from her aspect when last he had seen +her, so much more natural and full of human concern and +anxiety.</p> +<p>"I have looked for thee day by day. I said in my heart, surely +thou wouldst come quickly. And now, in lieu of seeking safety and +counsel, thou hast been running blindly into those very perils of +which I warned thee long ago. As if it were not enough to have +Tyrrel and all his crew, with old Miriam at their back, resolved to +hunt thee down and wrest the treasure from thee!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert started and looked intently at her.</p> +<p>"Miriam! Tyrrel! what can they know?"</p> +<p>"Miriam can piece together facts as well as I," answered Esther +in rapid tones; "and thou oughtest by this to know what power that +gives to those who possess the gift. In brief, I will tell thee +what I myself have learned from her and others. She missed Long +Robin, waited for his return till despair took the place of +expectation. She knew that one of two things had happened--either +that he had made off with the treasure, or that he had been done to +death in the forest by some secret foe. Burning with fear and fury, +she caused search to be made. The grave was found where the body +lay. Rage filled the hearts of all the tribe, for the strange old +man was venerated and feared, albeit he was not greatly beloved; +and as thou knowest, amongst our people an injury done to one is +avenged by all. Thou hadst been seen in the forest, seen moving to +and fro in mysterious fashion. Many had wondered what thy business +was, but none had interfered; for thou wast known to be under the +protection of Joanna, and the word of the queen is sacred. But now +that may serve no longer to protect thee. Miriam has declared aloud +that Robin was the keeper of the long-lost treasure, that he was +hoarding it up in some secret spot, ready to divide it amongst the +whole tribe when the moment should have come. In fervid words she +described the golden hoard--the hoard which I know well that evil +man meant to make all his own when the time came that he might +escape from the jealous watch kept upon him by Miriam. He was but +waiting for her death, which may not be far distant, since she is +subject to strange seizures of the heart which defy all our skill +in curing. Then would he have fled, and taken all the treasure with +him. He would have shared the spoil with none, as Miriam well +knows. But she is using her power and her half knowledge of the +secret for her own ends, and one of those ends is--"</p> +<p>The old woman paused, looking straight at Cuthbert, who regarded +her fixedly, and now asked in a low voice:</p> +<p>"Is what?"</p> +<p>"The destruction of the house of Trevlyn, root and branch."</p> +<p>A gleam of angry defiance shone in his eyes.</p> +<p>"Still that mad hatred? But why should we fear her? Let her do +her worst!"</p> +<p>Esther raised a warning hand.</p> +<p>"Peace, boy!" she said; "be not so full of recklessness and +scorn. Miriam is an adversary not to be despised. Miriam is sworn +to the task of vengeance upon thy house. She will not let this +fresh deed of thine pass without striving might and main to fulfil +that vengeance which thou hast now made void."</p> +<p>"Made void?"</p> +<p>"Ay, by the finding of the treasure. She is assured that this is +what thou hast done. She has persuaded Tyrrel and his band of it, +and all are resolved to find it for themselves. She is acting with +the craftiness of her nature. She has persuaded them that all the +Trevlyns are in the golden secret. Wherefore vengeance is not +directed against thee alone, but against all who bear thy name--Sir +Richard and his son, who are in this city now."</p> +<p>Cuthbert drew his brows together in a frown.</p> +<p>"They know naught of it," he said hastily.</p> +<p>"That may be; but they are Trevlyns, and that is enough for +Miriam. It is not the gold she covets; it is vengeance upon all who +bear that name. She stirs the avarice and cupidity of others, that +they may do the work she wishes done. And she works in other dark +ways, too. She has tools which few suspect, and she uses them for +her own ends without scruple. And thou, foolish boy, blind and self +willed as thou art, unheeding my warnings, hast played into her +hands; and now others as well as thyself may be brought into sore +peril through thine own foolhardy recklessness."</p> +<p>The old woman's eyes were gleaming brightly. They were fixed +upon Cuthbert with keen intensity. He felt himself change colour +beneath their glance, and he answered with some uneasiness:</p> +<p>"What hast thou to chide me with? Wherein have I been guilty of +recklessness that may be hurtful to others?"</p> +<p>"Did I not charge thee to beware the dark-flowing river; to +avoid the black cellar; to have no dealings with strange men; to +have the courage to say nay to what was asked of thee? Hast. thou +avoided these perils? No! thou hast been led on by thy reckless +hardihood and insensate curiosity. Hast thou said no to what has +been asked of thee! No! thou hast ever done the things required of +thee, making excuse to forget warnings and disobey those who have +counselled thee for thy good. And what has come of it? Verily, that +the name of Trevlyn has been whispered amongst the names of +traitors suspected of foul crimes, and that thine own kindred now +stand in dire peril from thine own defiant hardihood."</p> +<p>Cuthbert started and made a step forward.</p> +<p>"Woman, what meanest thou?" he asked with breathless eagerness. +"I understand not the meaning of thy words."</p> +<p>Esther continued to gaze at him with her bright keen eyes.</p> +<p>"Understandest thou not that there be on foot at this very +moment a vile plot for the destruction at one blow of the King, the +nobles, and the whole house of his Peers--a plot to blow them all +into the air at the moment of their assembly upon the fifth day of +this month?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert recoiled in horror. A sudden illumination came upon +him. He put together chance words dropped, expressions used, things +he had seen as well as what he had heard, and his face grew pale +with conflicting emotions and his extreme bewilderment.</p> +<p>"What?" he gasped; "is that what it means? Is that the hideous +deed to be done? Great Heavens protect us from such men, if it has +come to that!</p> +<p>"How knowest thou this thing?" he added, turning almost fiercely +upon the old woman, who was still regarding him steadily. "If it be +as thou sayest, sure such a fearful secret would be held sacred +from all."</p> +<p>Esther smiled her strange smile.</p> +<p>"Secrets known to many have a wondrous fashion of leaking out. +And, moreover, the wise woman has means thou knowest naught of for +learning the things concealed from the world. Cuthbert Trevlyn, +look back, search thy memory, and thou wilt surely know that I have +spoken naught but the truth. If thou art not one of them, thou +knowest their dark secrets; thou canst not deny it!"</p> +<p>Again he recoiled from her.</p> +<p>"I know their secrets! I one of them! Woman, dost thou believe +this vile thing of me?</p> +<p>"No, I believe it not. I know that thou hast but let thyself be +led into dire peril through that foolish, generous weakness of +youth and thy Trevlyn blood, against which I have warned thee--and +warned thee in vain. But dost thou think thou canst despise the +warnings of the wise woman and escape deadly peril? Cuthbert +Trevlyn, listen to me and heed me well. This thing is known--is +known in high places. The King and his counsellors have had +intelligence thereof. The deed of darkness will be frustrated, and +heads will fall beneath the axe of the executioner. Already +whispers are going abroad--already the guilty ones are watched and +spied upon; and with the guilty there are those suspected who know +naught of this vile deed. Shall I say more, or can thine own quick +wits supply the rest?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert had turned a little pale. His eyes were fixed upon this +woman's face.</p> +<p>"Tell me all," he said hoarsely. "What dost thou mean by these +dark sayings?"</p> +<p>"I mean," she answered, in clear low tones, "that there is peril +for Trevlyn in this thing. Thine own rashness, Miriam's spite and +quickness of wit to avail herself of every trifling matter that +passes, the presence in London of Sir Richard and his son at this +time, the old tradition surrounding the name of Trevlyn--all are +helping on the work; all are pointing in one direction. Rash boy, +thou hast been seen with Father Urban in the streets--a Jesuit, a +seminary priest, a man suspected of many plots and many daring acts +of courage and cunning. Thou art suspected to have been concerned +in his escape one dark and foggy night, when thou wert on the river +in thy wherry; and he must have been taken on board some such +craft. Thou hast been seen with others who are suspected of being +mixed up in this business. Thou hast appeared within the city walls +when they appeared; when they were absent thou wast absent +likewise. Thou wouldst not heed warnings when yet there was time; +thou must now take double heed to thy steps--"</p> +<p>"Thou spokest of Sir Richard and his son but now," cried +Cuthbert, interrupting hastily. "For myself, I must take the +consequences of my rashness. The fault is mine, and if harm comes +to me I can bear it; but if others have been imperilled through me, +I should never forgive myself. Tell me plainly if this has been so; +keep me not in suspense! How can one word be breathed against the +loyalty of a man faithful and true as Sir Richard, and a stanch +Protestant to boot?"</p> +<p>The old woman shook her head meaningly.</p> +<p>"A man's character and reputation and life may too easily be +whispered away in these evil times. But listen to me, Cuthbert +Trevlyn, and all may yet be well. Thou hast been noted, spied upon, +observed. There be those who have seen thee in strange places and +strange company, and it behoves thee to look well to thyself. But +for thy kinsmen, methinks that no whisper regarding them has as yet +reached high quarters. As thou sayest, Sir Richard's loyalty is +known, and men will not easily believe such ill of him. Yet he were +best to be gone. Miriam is at work. Miriam has tools that even I +wot not of, and she hates the head of Trevlyn's house with a bitter +and undying hatred. Let but this thing be known--as known it will +be to all the world in a few more days--and she will leave no stone +unturned to overwhelm him in the ruin that must then fall upon so +many. Vengeance such as that would be dear to her heart. She would +weave her web right skilfully to entrap his unsuspecting steps. +Wherefore let him begone--let all who bear the name of Trevlyn +begone, and that right speedily. Flight will not be thought flight +now; for this thing is as yet a profound secret, and thou must not +breathe a word that I have spoken to thee abroad, else thou mayest +do harm of which thou little reckest. Let him go speedily; and go +thou likewise, and do not tarry. If thou wouldst undo the harm thy +rashness has well-nigh brought to thy kinsfolk, carry them this +warning, and make them listen."</p> +<p>"That will I do right speedily," answered Cuthbert, whose heart +was beating high with excitement and agitation. "Did harm befall +them through deed of mine, I should never forgive myself."</p> +<p>"Go then," answered Esther; "go, and be thou cautious and wary. +Remember thou hast many foes, and that the hour of peril darkens +over this land. Strange things will be heard and seen ere many days +have passed. Take heed that thou be far away from hence ere the day +of reckoning comes. Take heed that Miriam's vow of vengeance be not +accomplished, and that the house of Trevlyn be drawn into the +vortex!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert descended the stairs with uncertain steps, his mind in +a whirl of conflicting feelings. He believed that Esther was +sincere in her desire for the welfare of the house of Trevlyn. He +trusted her, and he saw that she had in some way or another become +possessed of information concerning himself of a very particular +and intimate kind. This being so, it was easy to believe that she +had discovered other matters of hidden import; and he was quite +disposed to give her credit for dealings in magic and charms which +should show her the things that were to be.</p> +<p>The horror of the knowledge of this plot was upon him as he went +forth into the streets and felt the keen air and the cold rain +dashing in his face. He could not doubt the truth of Esther's +words. All he had seen and heard tallied too well with it to leave +in his mind any room for doubt. A plot of some sort he had always +suspected--he would have been foolish indeed to have come to any +other conclusion; but a plot of such malignity and such diabolical +scope would never have presented itself to his mind. He found it +hard to believe that such a terrible thing could be menaced against +the King and the nobles of the land, many amongst whom must surely +be of the same faith as those conspirators who were plotting in the +dark.</p> +<p>And then the peril that menaced the Trevlyns--what of that? +Cuthbert remembered the looks bent upon him a few days back by the +men-at-arms in the Parliament House. He remembered the light of the +sentry flashing in his face as he turned away from the door in at +which the tall man they called Guido Fawkes had vanished but a few +moments before. He knew that he had been observed more than once +with some attention as he had stepped on board his wherry, or had +brought it up to the mooring place. Could it be that he was really +watched and suspected? It seemed like it, indeed. And what was more +serious still, his kinsmen were like to fall under suspicion +through his rash disregard of warnings.</p> +<p>For himself Cuthbert cared comparatively little--perhaps rather +too little--for he possessed a strong dash of his father's +stubbornness of disposition; and in him the Trevlyn courage was +intermingled with a good deal of absolute rashness and hardihood; +but the thought that Sir Richard and his family should suffer for +his sake was intolerable. That must at all cost be prevented. +Surely he could warn them and avert the danger.</p> +<p>As the youth walked rapidly westward through the miry streets, +he was revolving the situation rapidly in his mind, and at last he +reached a conclusion which he muttered aloud as he went.</p> +<p>"That will be the best: I will to mine uncle and Philip and tell +them that. It will make them hasten away at once; but I will not go +with them. If I am suspected I must not be seen with them, nor seem +to have dealings with them. If they leave town and I remain, none +will suspect that I have warned them and sent them forth. To fly +with them would at once raise such thoughts. Here must I remain, +and let myself be seen abroad, so will they the better escape +Miriam's evil intent. Sir Richard has friends at Court. Lord +Andover and others will speak for him if need be. I doubt me much, +he being quietly gone, whether any will dare to strive to bring his +name into disgrace. There be those to find who are the guilty ones. +Sure they may let the innocent go free. As for me, I will not flee. +I would fain see the end of this matter. And perchance I might even +warn Master Robert Catesby of the peril that hangs over his head. +Strange how so gentle and courteous a gentleman can sell himself to +a work of such devilish wickedness!"</p> +<p>Divided betwixt horror of the deed and pity for the conspirators +who had been practically discovered and frustrated in their evil +work, and who had doubtless persuaded themselves and been persuaded +by their ghostly advisers that it was an act of virtue and justice +and right, Cuthbert walked on, wondering more and more at the +strange vagaries of human conscience, and at the extraordinary self +delusion possible to the sons of the Romish faction.</p> +<p>It was long since he had decided definitely and of resolute +conviction to cast in his lot with those who held the Reformed +faith; but had he ever had any secret doubts and leanings towards +the faith in which he had been reared, the revelations of that +night would have proved enough for him. He knew--none better--that +this diabolic deed was planned and executed with the full consent, +approbation, and blessing of the Romanist priests, and might even +be known to the Pope himself. Sorrowful and indignant as Cuthbert +had often been for the persecuted Romanists, and keenly as his +sympathies would have been stirred had they risen in man-like +fashion to claim liberty of conscience and fight boldly for the +cause in which their hearts were bound up, he could regard a plot +like this with nothing but loathing and horror. He wondered that +men could be found willing to sell themselves to such iniquity. Yet +he knew, from what he had himself seen, that these were no mere +hirelings bought over with money to do this thing, but that they +were gentlemen, most of them of noble birth and large means, all of +them actuated by motives of devotion and religious enthusiasm; and +that they did not prize their own lives or regard them as in any +way precious, but would gladly offer them up so that this thing +might be accomplished.</p> +<p>Well, it was a mystery, and one that he could not fathom. He +could only feel thankful that no compulsion lay upon him to make +known what he had seen and heard. His word had been pledged to +Catesby and Father Urban, and how to have broken it he knew not. +But there was no call for him even to think of this. It was not he +who had discovered this strange plot. The knowledge of it was +already with the King and his ministers. The conspirators +themselves were half aware of this; Cuthbert well remembered the +words of fear concerning some letter spoken in the lonely garden at +Lambeth but a couple of days back.</p> +<p>How dared they, knowing so much, pursue their dark scheme? The +youth shuddered as he marvelled at them. Did they believe +themselves yet secure? What a fearful thing security such as that +might become! Cuthbert longed to warn them, yet feared to +intermeddle further in such a matter. And at least his first +business lay in the warning he must instantly convey to Sir +Richard, and that without revealing more of the truth than was +absolutely necessary. Cuthbert was worldly wise enough to be well +aware that the greatest protection his kinsmen could have against +suspicion was absolute ignorance of the matter of which they stood +suspected.</p> +<p>Sir Richard was absent when Cuthbert asked for him, but his son +was at home, and the visitor was ushered into a room where Philip +and Culverhouse were sitting together conversing by the glow of a +bright fire of sea coal.</p> +<p>He was made very welcome by his cousin, and quickly plunged into +the matter in hand.</p> +<p>"Philip," he said, "I have come to ask whether the business that +has brought you to town is yet accomplished."</p> +<p>"Yes, verily," answered Philip, surprised. "We came to talk of +Kate's rash marriage with Culverhouse there, and if it was such as +might safely be ignored. My Lord and Lady of Andover, however, had +adjudged that their son is too far pledged to draw back, and that +for the sake of the lady's honour and happiness they must be held +to be solemnly betrothed. Their punishment will be the long waiting +ere they may truly wed; but Culverhouse means to tell all his tale +in the ears of the Prince of Wales, and he holds that the kindly +youth will doubtless give him some post about his royal person that +may be a stepping stone to further wealth and advancement."</p> +<p>"My Lord Culverhouse need scarce do that," said Cuthbert, +speaking in short, abrupt sentences. "Let me tell my news in a few +words. The lost treasure of Trevlyn is found. It is hidden in the +Cross Way House, where Mistress Kate and my sister Petronella are +at this moment sheltering. It was thought the safest spot, for that +the gipsies and the robbers of the road alike think kindly of the +ladies of the Wyvern family, and hold their abode sacred--"</p> +<p>Cuthbert was at this moment arrested by a storm of questions and +eager exclamations, which he had some small trouble in answering or +setting aside. When he had so far satisfied his eager listeners as +to be able to take up the thread of what he was saying, he went on +in the same quick, abrupt fashion as before.</p> +<p>"I thought the treasure safe when I hid it there; but I have had +a warning this night from one who knows well the temper of the +gipsy folk. I hear that suspicion has been aroused in the +tribe--that there is a resolve abroad to win it back. There is a +man called Tyrrel, a notable highway robber, who has vowed to +regain it for himself and his men. If this be so, I fear me that +even the sanctuary of the Wyvern House will not suffice. In that +house there are but women and a few old men--servants, little able +to withstand a concerted attack. I have heard this news but +tonight, and I have come straight on to tell thee, Philip. If your +business in London be done, why shouldst not thou and thy father +return forthwith home, and abide awhile at the Cross Way House, to +see what fares there, and to protect the household should Tyrrel +and his men attack? Methinks that they may stand in need of the +presence of kinsmen at such a time as that. I hear that ill is +meant by these fierce men to all who bear the name of Trevlyn. Two +of the women within those doors bear that name; wherefore--"</p> +<p>But Cuthbert had no need to complete his sentence; both young +men had started at once to their feet.</p> +<p>"Kate in peril!" cried Culverhouse, between his shut teeth; +"then verily her husband must find his way to her side."</p> +<p>"Petronella at the Cross Way House, exposed to alarm and +attack!" cried Philip; "then must I be there to shelter and protect +her."</p> +<p>"We will forth this very night!" cried Culverhouse. "I will to +the house and get ready my servants to accompany me."</p> +<p>"I will make all preparation here!" echoed Philip, "and only +await my father's return.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert, thinkest thou that they are in peril this very night? +Speak; tell us all!"</p> +<p>"I trow not," answered Cuthbert with some decision, knowing that +his object was well accomplished and that the Trevlyns would make +all speed to leave London, yet scarcely himself wishing them to +hurry off in the night like fugitives in fear for themselves. "I am +certain sure that no immediate peril hangs over them, or I should +have been more urgently warned. I would not have you hasten thus. I +trow it would more alarm the ladies to be aroused by you in the +middle of the night than to see you come riding thither later in +the day on the morrow. Surely it would be better to wait for day. +The night is black and tempestuous; it will be hard to find the +road. Tomorrow with the first of the sunlight you may well ride +forth."</p> +<p>Culverhouse and Philip both saw the soundness and reasonableness +of this counsel, and knew that their respective fathers would both +concur in this opinion, though their own impatience chafed at the +delay.</p> +<p>"And thou--what wilt thou do thyself, Cuthbert?" asked Philip; +"come with us to Cross Way House?"</p> +<p>Cuthbert hesitated a few moments, debating within himself what +were best. He had been warned on the one hand to flee the forest, +on the other to flee the city. If his mysterious gipsy friends were +right, for him there was peril in both places. But it certainly +seemed to him that his own presence and company would add to the +perils of his kinsmen; and his decision was speedily taken.</p> +<p>"I hope to join you there anon," he said; "but I have something +set my heart upon seeing this grand pageant when his Majesty shall +open his Parliament on the fifth. Methinks I will stay for that, +and then perchance I will forth to the Cross Way House."</p> +<p>He looked keenly at both his companions as he spoke, but neither +face wore the least look of any secret intelligence. He was certain +that no whisper of the plot had reached their ears.</p> +<p>"Ay, do so, and come and tell us all," said Culverhouse gaily. +"I had thought to be there myself, but I must to my Kate's +side.</p> +<p>"Philip, thy father will be something loath to leave London ere +that day. Thinkest thou that thou canst persuade him?"</p> +<p>"I trow I can," answered Philip; and then they both turned on +Cuthbert, asking him for a more detailed account of his search +after and his discovery of the lost treasure, hanging with eager +interest on his words.</p> +<p>It was late ere he left their lodgings, and the family at the +bridge house had retired to rest. He found his way to his room; but +little sleep visited his eyes that night, and the fitful dreams +which came to him betwixt waking and sleeping seemed charged with +ominous warnings.</p> +<p>Sir Richard Trevlyn heard his son's story in great surprise, but +he hesitated not a moment as to the course of action they must +pursue.</p> +<p>"I would it had been brought to Trevlyn Chase. We have a +household of men there, and could well defy these rogues of the +road. But Cross Way House has no such defences, and it is tenanted +mainly by helpless women, and we must lose no time in going to +their assistance. I have heard long since of this man--Tyrrel. He +is a notable outlaw, and there is a price upon his head. The forest +will be well freed of him if we can overthrow him. He has owed his +safety again and again to his reckless riding and the alliance and +good fellowship he has with the forest gipsies. It is time the +whole brood were smoked out from their hiding places. They want +destroying, root and branch!"</p> +<p>Sir Richard found it easier to remember that the treasure had +been stolen and hidden by the gipsy people than that it had been +restored partly through the assistance of the woman Joanna, the +queen. However, there was little time for further talk. The night +was already advanced, and on the morrow they were to make as early +a start as was practicable.</p> +<p>Sir Richard had not many servants of his own, but Culverhouse +could bring a good dozen men with him. Unluckily the storm raged +all through the earlier hours of the following day, and it was not +till noon that a start could be made. However, the seventeen miles' +ride could be easily made before dark, although the roads were deep +in mud, and travelling in the open country was both tedious and +bad.</p> +<p>The last of the scattered hamlets had been passed. The sun +glowed red before them in an angry, lowering sky. Sir Richard and +his son and Lord Culverhouse paused on the brow of the ridge to +look both before and behind. They had in their impatience outridden +their servants, who, less well mounted, found some difficulty in +spurring along the deep mire of the ill-made roads. They could but +just see them on the horizon of the last ridge, coming onwards at +an even jog trot, which seemed the swiftest pace they aspired +to.</p> +<p>Before lay the long waste of forest--trees and heather +intermixed in long stretches alternating one with the other. A good +seven miles lay between them and their destination, and the sun was +already nearing the horizon, and would soon dip behind it.</p> +<p>"We must push on something faster," said Culverhouse +impatiently, "if we are to reach Cross Way House before dark."</p> +<p>"We have already far outridden our men," said Sir Richard, +frowning slightly as he turned his head to look over his shoulder; +"and this is the worst part of the road before us."</p> +<p>"But we are well mounted and well armed," urged Culverhouse, +"and if we wait for the men we shall lose the rest of the daylight. +Surely if there be any footpads about, the fact that we are +followed by so goodly a train will serve to scare them away. And we +have no valuables upon our persons. They will get cold steel and +hot lead for their pains, an they venture to molest us, instead of +silver or gold."</p> +<p>"Very true," said Philip, who was as eager as his cousin and +endued with full share of Trevlyn courage and impetuosity; "we can +never wait till those sluggards have come up. The fault is not +theirs: they are not so well mounted as ourselves. We shall never +keep our horses to their pace, try we never so hard."</p> +<p>"Forward then, and let us ride as fast as our steeds can carry +us!" said Sir Richard with a smile; "for if we wait not for our +men, the daylight is our best friend. We are all familiar with the +road, and our horses likewise. Forward! and all eyes keep a sharp +lookout to left and right. At least we will not be set upon +unawares."</p> +<p>Putting spurs to their horses very gladly, the younger men +placed themselves one on each side of Sir Richard, and the good +horses settled themselves to a steady hand gallop, which was the +best and surest pace for getting over those rough muddy roads.</p> +<p>Three miles had been safely traversed. Absolute solitude and +silence seemed to reign throughout the woodland tracks. But the +darkest of the forest still lay ahead of them, and the red ball of +the sun had just dipped behind the ridge in front.</p> +<p>"It will be dark beneath the trees," said Sir Richard; "have a +care, lads, how you ride.</p> +<p>"Philip, thine eyes are better than mine. Dost thou see aught +there to the right of the road, just beneath that great oak?"</p> +<p>Philip had seen already, and his answer was quickly spoken.</p> +<p>"They be horsemen," he said--"horsemen drawn up and, as it were, +awaiting us. I fear me we shall not pass without molestation. But +my counsel is not to pause, rather to gallop still on steadily, as +though we saw them not. But let us be ready; and if they dare to +molest us, let us with one accord discharge our pieces in their +faces. That will disconcert them for a moment, and we may perchance +outride them. We are but three miles and a half from Cross Way +House. I trow we can make shift to reach its friendly shelter; and +once there we shall be safe."</p> +<p>"It is useless to pause now," answered Sir Richard, who was +always cool and self possessed in moments of real peril. "Our men +are a mile behind, and to hesitate would be to lose all. A bold +front is our greatest safeguard. We are all well skilled in the use +of arms. Be watchful and vigilant, and make you sure that every +shot and every stroke will tell. We have need of all our strength, +if we are attacked. But they may let us pass unmolested; they may +guess that our followers are behind."</p> +<p>Culverhouse said nothing, but he set his teeth hard and his eyes +flashed ominously. He had never tasted real warfare before, and it +seemed to fire the blood in his veins and send it tingling through +his body. Each rider so shifted his carbine that it could be +readily used at a moment's notice.</p> +<p>And now they had reached the forest aisle. Their good horses, +still galloping freely and easily, bore them rapidly onwards. They +had almost reached that silent, motionless band awaiting them with +sinister quietude. In another moment they would have passed them, +when, on a sudden, a voice rang out clear and sharp through the +still air:</p> +<p>"Halt! stand! Stand, or we fire!"</p> +<p>"Ride on and fire!" said Sir Richard in calm tones; and the next +moment the echoes were awakened by three sharp reports of firearms +and by a yell--three yells--of human rage and pain. A roar of +execration and menace arose from twenty throats, and twenty blades +gleamed brightly in the gathering dusk. But already the riders had +passed the little band, sweeping by before they were well aware of +it. And as they did so, they heard a voice exclaim, sharpened by +rage and pain:</p> +<p>"It is they--it is our foes! I knew it--I knew it! Those are the +Trevlyn brood that we were warned would pass--the false sire and +his son and nephew. After them, my men! Let them not escape your +vengeance! Take them, or slay them, but let them not escape! They +have the treasure. We will have them. The vengeance of the gipsy +tribe shall be consummated! They shall not make it void. They shall +give life for life--blood for blood!"</p> +<p>"They shall! they shall! They shall not escape us. We will be +avenged, and the red gold shall be our reward!"</p> +<p>Sir Richard set his teeth as he heard these words, and dug his +spurs into the sides of his horse, causing the noble animal, who +seemed to share his master's knowledge of the deadly peril they +were in, to spring forward with redoubled speed.</p> +<p>"We must save ourselves by flight; they are six to one!" he said +in low tones to his companions, who kept pace for pace at his side. +"It will be a race for life; and if we are beaten, all we can do is +to sell our lives as dearly as may be. It is not robbery alone, it +is vengeance, the old grudge against the Trevlyns. But if we can +but make Cross Way House ere we are outridden, we may save +ourselves yet."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch24" id="Ch24">24</a>: Kate's Courage.</h2> +<p>Lady Humbert had left the Cross Way House for a three days' +visit to a sick relative who had sent an urgent message to her. +Mistress Dowsabel remained in charge of the house and its small +establishment, lessened considerably by the removal of four of the +men servants who had attended their mistress on her journey.</p> +<p>Mistress Dowsabel would gladly have accompanied her sister, for +she was always nervous and ill at ease in her absence, but she was +withheld by two considerations. In the first place, she was +suffering from what was then termed a rheum, which we should call a +bad cold in the head, so that the idea of a wet cold journey of +some hours' duration was exceedingly unwelcome; in the second, it +was not thought seemly by either sister that the young girls, their +guests, should be left in the house without some guardian and +protector; and Mistress Dowsabel therefore decided to put her fears +on one side and remain in charge.</p> +<p>"And beside, what is there to fear?" Lady Humbert had said, in +her decisive and cheery fashion. "We are quiet and peaceable folks, +and have naught to dread either at home or abroad. I shall strive +to be but three nights absent; and our merry Kate will uphold thy +spirits, sister, till my return. Thou wilt be better by the +fireside than journeying in the saddle this tempestuous +weather."</p> +<p>This fact was self evident, and Mistress Dowsabel had no desire +to leave the fireside.</p> +<p>"I must e'en do the best I can without thee, sister," she said. +"I doubt not my fears be foolish. I will strive that the girls be +not affected thereby."</p> +<p>"I trow it would be no easy matter to teach them to Kate," said +Lady Humbert with a smile. "She has all the spirit of Wyvern and +Trevlyn combined. She will be a stanch protector for thee, +Dowsabel, if thou art troubled by strange noises in the wainscot, +or by the barking of the dogs without."</p> +<p>"Thou thinkest me a sad coward, sister; and so perchance I am," +said meek Mistress Dowsabel. "But if ever thou art absent from the +house, I am beset by a thousand fears that assail me not at any +other time. My heart is heavy as lead within me now."</p> +<p>But Lady Humbert could not delay her journey on that account. +She said something equivalent to "Fiddle dee dee!" and hastened +forward her preparations with her customary energy. Kate flitted +about and chattered merrily to her, having won her way by that time +to a very soft spot in the heart of her ancient kinswoman.</p> +<p>"I am glad to leave thee with thy aunt Dowsabel, child," said +Lady Humbert before she left. "Ellen will read to her and see to +her possets and her little fire-side comforts; but thou wilt assist +her to overlook the household and servants, and cheer up her +spirits and her courage if either should flag. She is strangely +timid when I am not by. Thou must do what thou canst to keep away +her fears."</p> +<p>"Fears!" echoed Kate, laughing; "why, wherefore should we +fear?"</p> +<p>"There is small cause, but Dowsabel is by nature timorous, and +she will lean on thee, child though thou art, when I am gone. There +be certain charges I would lay upon thee. The men will be gone, all +but old Thomas within doors and Joshua without; wherefore I will +ask thee to go round the house thyself at dusk each eve, and see +that all bolts and bars be securely drawn. That is Andrew's work, +but he will be with me. Dyson and thou hadst better go together--or +thou and Cherry. Thou wilt not be afraid of such a task?"</p> +<p>"Afraid? marry no! Cherry and I will do it gladly. She is a +merry-hearted lassie, and I like her well. Is there aught else, my +lady aunt?"</p> +<p>Lady Humbert, standing beside the fire and drawing on her riding +gloves, looked into Kate's bright face with a thoughtful smile.</p> +<p>"If I could trust thy discretion as I trust thy courage and +sense, my giddy-pated maiden, there is one more charge I would lay +upon thee."</p> +<p>The light of laughter in Kate's eyes changed suddenly to +something deeper and graver. She came one step nearer and laid her +hand on Lady Humbert's arm.</p> +<p>"Try me," she said simply. "Methinks I am not so giddy as they +deem me. I have thought, I have suffered, I have been forced to +possess my soul in patience. Try and see if I may not be trusted in +this thing."</p> +<p>Lady Humbert gazed a moment into the clear eyes, and then +said:</p> +<p>"I will try thee, child. It is no such heavy charge I would lay +upon thee, yet it is one that thy aunt Dowsabel would fear to +undertake. She would fain close the doors of the Cross Way House +against all strangers and wayfarers who come to them in the absence +of the mistress; but that is not my wish. Dost thou know, child, +the name the Cross Way House has ever held with those who fare +through the forest tracks?"</p> +<p>"I have heard it spoken of as a place where none in need is ever +turned away," answered Kate.</p> +<p>"Ay, and so it was in those good old days when Wyverns held open +house here, and were beloved from far and near. Alas! those good +old days are passed away; for our fortunes are fallen, and we have +no longer the power to entertain in such bounteous fashion. And yet +I have striven, as thou hast doubtless seen, that the poor, the +aged, the sick, and the needy are never turned from these doors +without bite or sup to cheer their hearts and send them rejoicing +on their way. Strange persons come to the house from time to time; +but all are admitted to such good cheer as is ours to offer, and +never has my hospitality been abused. Fugitives from the robbers of +the road have been admitted here; yet never has this lone house +been attacked. Wounded robbers have sought shelter here, bleeding +nigh to death, and their wounds have been dressed by these hands, +and their lives saved through our ministrations. To the cry of +poverty or distress the doors have ever opened, be the distressed +one worthy or no. Never have we had cause to regret what we have +done for evil men or good. Never has our hospitality been repaid by +treachery or deceit."</p> +<p>"And now?" asked Kate as Lady Humbert paused.</p> +<p>"Now my timid sister would have the doors closed for the days +that I am absent and the men with me. She says she fears for the +treasure. She says there is more peril now than of old. She may be +right; but I see not why the danger be greater, since none know the +secret save those who are pledged to keep it, and it goes against +me that the traditions of the house should be broken. Can I trust +thee, Kate, to take my place in this? Wilt thou strive to still thy +aunt's fears and keep watch over all who come and go, that our +doors may still open to the poor, whilst no needless terrors be +inflicted on the timid women who will be forced to keep guard +alone?"</p> +<p>"I will gladly strive to do all I may," answered Kate, who had +been Lady Humbert's companion now long enough to know much of her +methods.</p> +<p>"It may well be that none will come," said Lady Humbert +cheerfully, with a smile and a nod of approval. "These be ill days +for travellers, and in the winter season few pass this way. But +such as do seek shelter from the storm or from hunger or peril must +not be turned away disappointed. Look to it, Kate. I trust that +matter to thee. I shall ask thee for the account of thy stewardship +on my return."</p> +<p>And then the mistress of the house gathered her train together +and set forth, riding her steady old horse as fearlessly as though +she had been fifty years younger, and nodding a brisk farewell all +round as she turned out of the gate upon the highway so close at +hand.</p> +<p>Mistress Dowsabel wept feebly for a short while, and seemed +disposed to start and tremble at every sound. But Petronella got a +book and settled herself to read to her, whilst she forgot her +fears in the intricacies of her well-beloved tapestry work. As for +Kate, she called to Cherry, and began to set about those household +duties which the mistress of the house had given into her charge, +so that the timid invalid might be spared all trouble and +anxiety.</p> +<p>Cherry was a very happy girl in those days. Her position in that +household was slightly anomalous, and at first it had been a little +difficult to find the right niche for her. As the niece of Dyson, +who had summoned her thither to act in the capacity of lady's maid, +her place would by rights have been the servants' hall and kitchen; +but then, as Kate had seen at once, it would scarce be right for +Cuthbert Trevlyn's future wife to take so lowly a station as that +of a serving wench.</p> +<p>Cuthbert was no longer the impecunious son of Nicholas Trevlyn, +dependent upon his own wit and energy for the place he might hold +in the world. He was the finder of that vast hoard of lost +treasure, which had proved so far more valuable than the most +sanguine hopes had pictured. By every rule of right and justice a +large share of this treasure should come to him. He would be a man +of wealth and station; and it had been openly announced by these +sisters of the house of Wyvern that they intended to make him their +heir. They had taken a great liking to him. They had no near +kindred of their own. He was the grandson of one of the Wyverns, +and a degree nearer them than the other Trevlyns, so they were +quite resolved upon this step.</p> +<p>So when Kate, with the courage and frankness inherent in her +nature, had told the old ladies of Cuthbert's betrothal, Petronella +adding all she knew of the constancy of her brother's attachment to +Martin Holt's daughter, Lady Humbert recognized in a moment that it +would not do to treat the girl as a mere dependent. She must be +admitted to some other position, and trained for that station in +life to which her marriage would entitle her.</p> +<p>Lady Humbert had all the class exclusiveness of her race; but +she was a large-hearted woman to boot, and had an uncommon share of +common sense. She would have been glad had Cuthbert's choice fallen +elsewhere; but as it had not done so, and as Cherry was as faithful +to him as he to her, there was only one thing to be done, and that +was to make the best of the matter, and strive to see the best side +only. The girl must be admitted to the position of companion to +Petronella and Kate. She must be taught the refinements of life in +another station, and gradually fitted for the life that lay before +her.</p> +<p>It had been a great relief to find the girl so pretty, so gentle +in her ways, so eager to please, so naturally dainty and +particular. Cherry had quick apprehension and ready adaptability of +nature. She took to the new ways like a duck to the water. She had +a sweet voice and a refined fashion of speaking. In a very short +while she looked as much at home in the presence of the ladies as +Petronella herself. Kate found indeed that the city-bred maiden was +more advanced in many things than the recluse of the Gate House. +She set herself busily to the task of drilling both her companions +in the arts of dancing, deportment, the use of the globes, and of +playing upon the harpsichord; and found in both apt and eager +pupils. Both girls had much natural grace and a great desire to +improve themselves. Petronella was by nature dreamy and studious, +whilst Cherry was all life, brightness, and vivacity. She and Kate +gradually drew together, and would spend hours rambling in the +extensive gardens and shrubberies behind the house, or riding out, +with Andrew in attendance, through some of the forest tracks.</p> +<p>Petronella, on the other hand, preferred remaining at home, +reading to the elderly ladies, and being by them instructed in many +matters of political and religious import. Her mind was rapidly +enlarging. She was unconsciously fitting herself daily more and +more to be Philip's wife; whilst their very differences seemed to +draw the three girls more closely together, and they felt by this +time like sisters as well as companions.</p> +<p>Lady Humbert's absence was a matter of some excitement to Kate +and Cherry, upon whom many small duties now devolved.</p> +<p>The house certainly felt lonely with so many of its ordinary +inhabitants absent. The great empty rooms were kept strictly +locked. The gates in front of the house were likewise locked by day +as well as night, and only the small door at the back was to be +opened until the return of the mistress. So the timid Dowsabel had +decreed; and she had directed that the keys of the outer doors +should be brought to her; and by day they were laid in her sight +upon the chimney ledge, whilst at night they were placed beneath +her pillow. Kate made a wry face, but did not otherwise protest. +Time was passing quietly by, and there seemed little probability +that their tranquillity would be disturbed.</p> +<p>"I would fain wish for some small adventure in Lady Humbert's +absence, just to show that she has not put her faith in us in +vain!" said Kate, as the girls sought their couch on the second +night of the mistress's absence. "There has not been so much as a +beggar to the gate. These storms of wind and rain seem to keep all +within doors."</p> +<p>"I fear me I am but a coward," answered Petronella, "for I am +glad when night follows day and there be naught to alarm us. +Perchance sitting with our aunt Dowsabel so much, I learn somewhat +of her fears from her."</p> +<p>"A truce to fear!" cried Kate, as she unbound her hair and +tossed the heavy mane out of her eyes and over her shoulders. +"Would that we lived in days when women might do and dare somewhat +for those they loved, or for their country! I should love to have +to hold this house against a rabble of hooting foes!"</p> +<p>"So should not I," answered Petronella. "I love not strife and +warfare; I am for quietude and peace," and she smiled into Kate's +flushed face, whilst Cherry looked from one to the other, scarce +knowing with which she sided.</p> +<p>She had something of Kate's daring, and dearly admired it in +her; but she shared in part Petronella's shrinking from strife and +danger, a shrinking that to Kate was inexplicable.</p> +<p>The night came and went in quietness and peace. The day passed +without any event. Kate paced impatiently up and down the big hall +as the sun went down in red and gold, sullen and lowering as it +neared the horizon, but shining to the last. She had not been +beyond the limits of the garden since Lady Humbert had gone. Now it +seemed as if a restless fit had come upon her, and grasping Cherry +by the arm, she cried:</p> +<p>"Let us go into the long gallery overhead and +dance--dance--dance! My feet are fairly aching for some exercise. +Come thou and dance with me."</p> +<p>Kate's word was almost always law to Cherry, though she thought +it a dreary place to select just at this hour of approaching +darkness. Still, there would be a little light glimmering in +through that long row of windows, and with Kate who would be +afraid?</p> +<p>The key was in the door. The polished boards of the long +ballroom lay gleaming with ghostly shimmer in the fading light. The +pictures on the walls seemed to stare at the two intruders with +cold displeasure. Cherry shivered slightly as the chill struck her. +It seemed to her as if these stately knights and dames themselves +must surely come down from their frames at such an hour as this; +and silently disport themselves in this long gallery. She was glad +to feel Kate's arm about her as she commenced circling round and +round in her light and airy fashion. As the warm blood began +tingling in their veins the pace grew faster and faster, and +Cherry's chilliness and fear alike left her. Up and down, round and +round, flew the light girlish feet. The exercise was delightful to +both after the inaction of two long days. Up and down, round and +round, as though they would never tire; and as they danced the +twilight changed to night, and only glimmering moonbeams fell +within the row of windows, lighted the long gallery, and fell upon +the flickering figures of the two girls.</p> +<p>But their eyes had grown used to the darkness, and they heeded +it not. Cherry's thoughts had flown off to Cuthbert, Kate's to +Culverhouse. The rapid exercise stimulated thought, and both hearts +beat high with the glowing hope of youth. When at last they paused, +laughing and breathless, at the upper end of the long room, their +eyes were shining brightly, there was a vivid colour in their +checks. They only wished to gather breath and then on again.</p> +<p>"It is hot--it is stifling!" cried Kate, as she threw back her +tumbled hair. "I must have air--air! I will open this window; we +can look out such a way from it. O Cherry, think--this big window +looks straight out towards London! Ah, why are not our eyes strong +enough to see our loved ones there!"</p> +<p>Cherry laughed and blushed in the darkness, and Kate's strong +hand undid the bolt and latch and flung the great casement wide. +The cool night air rushed in, and both girls, heated with exercise, +were glad to rest their elbows on the stone mullion and lean out +into the breezy night.</p> +<p>"It is delicious!" cried Kate; "it is the elixir of life!"</p> +<p>Then the girls were silent for a few moments, till they both +started at the same sound.</p> +<p>"That was a gun!" cried Kate suddenly, leaning further out of +the window. "Listen, Cherry! There again--another shot! That can +only mean one thing!"</p> +<p>"What thing?" asked Cherry, growing suddenly pale with +excitement and fear.</p> +<p>"Highwaymen attacking travellers!" answered her companion, +standing straight up, but with her head still inclined in an +attitude of keen attention. "Listen, Cherry, listen! Is it the +beating of my heart, or is that sound the galloping of horses' +hoofs upon the road? Hark! Yes, they grow louder they come this +way! Down, Cherry! We must rush to the gates and have them open and +take them in!</p> +<p>"Cherry, listen! Be calm, be quiet! Run thou to old Thomas and +to Dyson and the rest; tell them what we have heard. I must for the +keys. I must have them whether our aunt wills it or no. There be no +place of refuge save this for miles around. Here must they find +shelter from their foes. It is Lady Humbert's will; I must fulfil +it."</p> +<p>All the while Kate spoke she was running swiftly along the +boarded floor, with Cherry keeping pace at her side; and as she +dashed down the staircase she paused for a moment and took from the +place where they hung two matchlocks, which she knew were always +kept loaded, and these she laid quietly down in the hall. Then she +opened the parlour door, and walked boldly forward to the spot +where the keys lay. Possessing herself of these, she said +quietly:</p> +<p>"Be not affrighted, Aunt Dowsabel, but there be folks in trouble +on the road. They are pursued by robbers, I fear. I am about to +unlock the gates, that we may draw them into safe shelter +here."</p> +<p>Petronella sprang to her feet, and Mistress Dowsabel uttered a +sharp scream of terror.</p> +<p>"Kate, I forbid it--I forbid it!" she gasped. "The gates shall +not be unlocked! Dost hear, child? They shall not be unlocked! We +shall have the whole horde upon us, we poor unprotected women! +Kate, come back, come back! The keys are mine; I am mistress here! +It shall not be done! Girl, I will not be thus defied!"</p> +<p>But Kate was already half through the hall, where the terrified +servants were mustering. She had seized up the matchlocks, and now +thrust one of them into old Thomas's shaking hands.</p> +<p>"Take it!" she said, "and when I am gone lock and bolt the door +behind me an your lady desires it. But I will not disobey my Lady +Humbert, and she would have done as I do now. I go to the gate and +I hold it open. I draw within its shelter the pursued, and I strive +to close it against the pursuers. All within these walls will be +safe.</p> +<p>"Thy place is here, Thomas, beside thy mistress. She will die +with terror if thou leave her. I am strong enough to unbar the +gates alone, and I have this weapon, which I know how to use.</p> +<p>"Hark! there be cries along the road. The pursuit draws +nigh."</p> +<p>Kate flung open the great door and sprang out into the dusky +darkness beyond, and Petronella and Cherry, casting one glance at +each other, caught up a gleaming weapon from the wall, where many +hung, and dashed out after her.</p> +<p>"Shut and lock the door behind us, an you fear for yourselves!" +cried Kate, as she led the way down the short flight of steps.</p> +<p>"Girls!" she cried, turning her flushed and resolute face upon +her companions, "we three will stand together for weal or woe this +night. It may be that we shall save life. We can but lose our own, +come what may. Are you ready to face the peril? for these gates +must be unbarred."</p> +<p>"We are ready," answered both, as they stood beside her holding +her weapon, whilst her strong young hands turned the ponderous key +in the lock and slipped back the heavy bolts.</p> +<p>All this while the thundering thud of galloping horse hoofs was +approaching nearer and nearer, mingling with the fierce vindictive +shouts of the pursuers, that sent thrills of terror through the +hearts of two of the girls, but made Kate set her teeth together, +and braced her nerves and muscles till they felt as if turned to +steel.</p> +<p>"Girls," she said, "listen! I open this gate--so, and stand here +with my weapon. As the pursued make for this house, as they most +surely will, I shout to them as they near it to fling themselves +from their horses and rush in. If they understand, they will do so; +but there may be delay. If the pursuers are close at hand, I shall +fire at the foremost, and methinks I shall not miss. My hands will +be thus occupied. It must be your task to swing to and shut the +gate behind the pursued. If any assailant strive to follow, strike +him down without mercy. Methinks a woman's arm can deal a hard +blow! I trow mine could. But, above all, be it your task to guard +the gate. Is it understood?"</p> +<p>"It is!" answered both girls in a breath.</p> +<p>They looked back at the house, so close behind them that it was +hard to feel afraid. The door stood ajar, and faces peered out into +the darkness; but Mistress Dowsabel's shrill voice was still heard +within, and she was plainly hindering any of the servants from +going forth to the assistance of the brave girls without, terrified +almost out of her wits at what might occur.</p> +<p>The high wall hid the road from the three who stood beside the +gate, but the gasping breath of the horses could now be heard, +whilst the fierce cries of pursuit had changed to an ominous +silence, as though not even a breath was to be wasted--every nerve +being strained to the effort of the chase.</p> +<p>It was terrible to be able to see nothing. Petronella suddenly +made a rush towards the wall, and finding foothold here and there +in the chinks of the brick work, contrived to swing upwards her +light frame till she could look over the top.</p> +<p>"There be three pursued," she cried to those below; "and +methinks the hindermost is wounded, he sways so terribly in the +saddle. The pursuers are close behind; it seems well nigh as if +they must come up with them.</p> +<p>"Oh, well done, good horses; oh, well done!</p> +<p>"Kate, they be close at hand; they are making for the gate as a +dove to its nest!"</p> +<p>Then Kate suddenly threw both doors wide and stood out in the +dim moonlight.</p> +<p>"Fling yourselves from your horses, gentlemen, and come in!" she +cried, in clear, penetrating tones. "There is shelter behind these +walls. And the first man who dares to follow I shoot dead!"</p> +<p>Then as the foremost horseman obeyed her, flinging himself from +the saddle, and staggering rather than walking within the gates, at +either one of which stood one of the two girlish guardians, ready +at a moment's notice to fling them together again, a quick sharp +cry broke from Kate's lips, together with the one word:</p> +<p>"Father!"</p> +<p>The second horseman was now within the gates; the third was +close behind. But there was a yell as of triumph, and suddenly +Kate's eyes flashed fire. There was the sharp report of a gun. The +girl flung the smoking weapon in the face of a second assailant, +and dragged within the gate the prostrate form of the third +traveller. Cherry and Petronella banged to the iron portals in the +very faces of the foremost assailants, who had recoiled for a +moment before Kate's blows, and drew the heavy bolts; whilst the +shower of oaths and curses which arose from the rest of the band, +who rode up at that moment, showed how fully they recognized their +defeat.</p> +<p>Even the horses had escaped them; for the sagacious animals had +recognized their locality, and had made for the yard door at the +back, where Joshua had admitted them without delay, glad enough to +do anything to assist the hardly-beset travellers in their hour of +need.</p> +<p>The travellers had sunk down just within the gates, so +breathless and exhausted that for the first few seconds they did +not even know how and by whom their rescue had been effected. But +the banging to of the gates, and the sullen murmurs of the +highwaymen as they had drawn off, recognizing their defeat, showed +those within that for the moment the peril was past. The doors were +then thrown open; lights streamed forth into the darkness. Sir +Richard Trevlyn rose to his feet, passing his hand across his brow, +to find his son passionately embracing the dark-eyed Petronella, +who clung to him, fairly sobbing in her excitement and wonder; +whilst Kate knelt beside the prostrate figure of Culverhouse, who +lay with closed eyes almost like one dead.</p> +<p>"Kate, my girl, is it to thee we owe our deliverance?"</p> +<p>"Father, is he dead--is he dead?"</p> +<p>The cry was so full of anguish that it went to the father's +heart; and disregarding the shrill welcome and asseverations of +Mistress Dowsabel, who had just recognized, to her immense relief, +that they had admitted their own kinsmen to their doors, he bent +over the Viscount, and lifted him in his arms.</p> +<p>"Dead! not a bit of it. Dead men do not ride as he did. But he +was wounded in the arm, and has been losing blood fast, and +doubtless fainted the moment the strain was over. See, we will lay +him here on this settle beside the fire. Give him some wine, and +bind up that arm, my girl. Thou wilt choose to wait upon him +thyself, I trow. He will soon be able to thank thee for this timely +rescue. I must hear more of thy tale when I have spoken with thine +aunt."</p> +<p>All was confusion now in the house, but confusion of a pleasant +and bustling kind. Joshua brought news that the highwaymen had +retreated in disappointment and dudgeon, but, true to their +principles, without any attempt at taking vengeance upon the Cross +Way House. Sir Richard was striving to soothe the agitation of the +timid Dowsabel, and hearing of the absence of the mistress of the +house; whilst servants hurried to and fro, setting the table for +supper, and vying with each other to provide comforts for the weary +travellers, who had been through so much peril and hard riding.</p> +<p>Petronella sat beside Philip in a deep embrasure, and had eyes +and ears for him alone. Kate and Cherry, under the direction of +Dyson, bound up Lord Culverhouse's arm, and soon had the +satisfaction of seeing the colour come back into his face, and his +closed eyes slowly open.</p> +<p>When they did this they dwelt for some moments upon Kate's face +in a dreamy fashion, as though their owner thought himself still in +some sort of a dream; but when she raised his head and put a cup to +his lips, he seemed to awake with a start, and after thirstily +draining the contents of the vessel, he caught her hand, +exclaiming:</p> +<p>"Kate--my Kate!--is it truly thou?"</p> +<p>She gave a little cry of joy at hearing him speak in tones so +like his own. He pressed the hand he held, whilst she knelt beside +him and whispered softly in his ear:</p> +<p>"It is I, indeed, thy little wife. O Culverhouse--and I thought +that thou hadst but come hither to die!"</p> +<p>There was a catch in her voice that told how great had been the +strain of the past minutes--greater than he could know just then. +She found it hard to keep back the tears as she knelt beside him, +listening whilst he whispered to her of all that had been said +about that sudden marriage of theirs, and how that none would dare +to call him free of his plighted word.</p> +<p>"And so thou art in very truth my betrothed wife, sweet Kate," +he said, "and none may part us now. It was as I said when I bid +thee come and plight thy troth. It was a pledge too solemn to be +broken. My father and mother say so, and so does thy father. We may +not be able to wed just yet; but if what I hear be true, sure our +day of waiting need not be so very long."</p> +<p>The colour had come back into her face now; her eyes were +sparkling in their old fashion. She looked indeed the same "saucy +Kate" that he had known and loved ever since his early boyhood.</p> +<p>There were steps behind them, and Sir Richard emerged from the +room where he had been holding counsel with Mistress Dowsabel. He +looked at the two beside the fireplace, and at that other pair in +the window, both too much absorbed in each other to heed him; and +with a smile upon his face he strode forward and laid his hand upon +Kate's shoulder.</p> +<p>"And so, my headstrong daughter, it is to that strong will of +thine, and the reckless courage I have sometimes chidden, that we +owe our lives and our safety today?" he said.</p> +<p>Culverhouse looked up eagerly.</p> +<p>"What sayest thou, sir?" he asked, whilst Kate's face crimsoned +over from brow to chin.</p> +<p>"Say, my lad? why, I say that but for this hardy wench of mine, +who, instead of retreating behind the strong walls of the house, +flung open with her own hands the iron gates to let us in, we +should by this time have been in sorry plight enow, had we not all +been dead men. It was she who opened those gates when all else +feared to do so--she who (aided by her two companions, whom she +inspired by her own courage) saved us from our foes. It was she who +shot down the foremost enemies, who would else have had thy life, +Culverhouse, and with her own hands dragged thee, all unconscious +as thou wert, within these gates.</p> +<p>"Wherefore, as to thee, boy, I owe my life (for that thou didst +receive in thine arm the charge that else would have dashed out my +brains), and that to her we both owe this timely rescue, methinks +that no wife nor daughter could do more, and that we must let +bygones be bygones and wed you so soon as may be. I will give my +fatherly blessing to you twain, for you are worthy of each other, +and have proved it this night. And so soon as you can win the +sanction of your good parents to your nuptials, Culverhouse, I will +give my saucy Kate to you without a doubt or a fear."</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch25" id="Ch25">25</a>: "On The Dark Flowing +River."</h2> +<p>"That is our man! Seize him, bind him, and bring him before the +chief!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert heard these words spoken in a clear low tone not far +away; but the fog wreaths were hanging upon the river, and he could +not see the speakers. Instinctively he bent harder to his oar. The +wherry shot at redoubled speed through the dull, gleaming water; +but there were sounds astern of other plashing oars, the sound of +voices low yet eager, and Cuthbert felt sure he heard the name of +Trevlyn spoken in accents of subdued fierceness. He could hear by +the sound of the oars in the rowlocks that there were many rowers +in the pursuing boat. That they were in pursuit of him he could not +doubt, and he set his teeth hard as he plied his oars, for he felt +that the issue of this chase might mean life or death to him.</p> +<p>Esther's warning was ringing in his ears: "Beware the +dark-flowing river--the lone house--the black cellar!"</p> +<p>How had he regarded that warning? He had not heeded it at all. +He had let his curiosity and love of adventure conquer both +prudence and caution; and now he was well aware that he was in some +immediate and imminent peril.</p> +<p>He had been warned to fly from London, but he had not obeyed +that warning. This had been partly out of generosity to his +kinsmen, for it seemed to him that by his presence amongst them he +might be increasing the peril in which they stood, and he had been +told that that was in great part due to his own rashness and +hardihood.</p> +<p>He had remained in London. This day was the very eve of that +fifth of November on which the King's Parliament was to assemble in +state. All the city was silent and tranquil. The vague sense of +expectation and excitement that Cuthbert had observed amongst some +of his acquaintances a few days back seemed now to have died down. +Was it the hush that immediately precedes the breaking of the storm +cloud; or had the fearful tale whispered to him by the wise woman +been but the product of her weird fancy, and all his fears and +terrors groundless?</p> +<p>This was the question which had been agitating Cuthbert during +the past two days; and upon this dim, foggy afternoon he had taken +his wherry and resolved to find out for himself the whole truth of +the matter.</p> +<p>Cuthbert had not forgotten Robert Catesby, or the priest to whom +he always felt he owed his life. If any plot were in hand at this +juncture, both these men were most certainly concerned in it. And +at the lone house at Lambeth he could surely get speech of Catesby, +or learn where he was to be found; and it seemed to Cuthbert that +he could not sleep another night until he had set at rest the +doubts and fears crowding his mind.</p> +<p>Did he go with a view of warning Catesby that the plot was +discovered--that the dark secret was out? He himself scarcely knew. +He was not at all sure that he believed himself in the hideous +magnitude of the contemplated deed as Esther had described it. +Remembering as he did all he had heard and seen, he could not doubt +that some secret plot was afoot, but he thought it highly probable +that the scope and purpose of it had been misunderstood; and there +was certainly this feeling in his mind, that a timely word of +warning to those concerned might serve to avert a terrible doom +from any who might lie already under suspicion.</p> +<p>He had not been able to gain speech with Father Urban; for +although he was convinced the priest was in hiding within the house +of the Coles, both father and son resolutely denied this, and it +seemed of late as though they distrusted Cuthbert himself, and +desired no more of his company.</p> +<p>Martin Holt and honest Jacob Dyson had warned him to be cautious +in his dealings with any of the Romish persuasion, and Cuthbert had +been content to take this advice. But this last afternoon before +the great day so long anticipated might surely be put to some good +purpose, and the thought that those men in that Lambeth house might +be unwittingly remaining to be caught in a trap impelled Cuthbert +to strive to have speech with Master Robert Catesby and put him on +his guard, if he could not persuade him to abandon whatever rash +scheme he had in his head.</p> +<p>Sympathy with the persecuted went some small way in blinding +Cuthbert's eyes to the terrible nature of the purposed crime. +Moreover, he thought it like enough that Esther had heard a grossly +exaggerated account of what was determined. Still, what she had +heard others might have heard, and nothing was too bad to find +credit with those who planned and desired the ruin of all who held +views different from their own.</p> +<p>These and similar thoughts had been occupying Cuthbert's mind as +he bent to his oars and propelled his light wherry upstream towards +the lonely house. The tide was running out, and rowing was hard +work; but he was making progress steadily, and had no thought of +any personal peril until the sound of voices through the fog broke +upon his ear, and he realized that he himself was an object of +pursuit.</p> +<p>Then the wise woman's warnings flashed across him with vivid +distinctness. Had she not bidden him beware of just those perils +which he seemed resolved to court? Why had he forgotten or +disregarded her words? Had they not proved words of wisdom again +and again? And now here was he on the dark-flowing river alone, +unarmed save for the dagger in his belt, and far from all chance of +help.</p> +<p>Just behind was a boat in hot pursuit, and there were many +rowers in that boat, as the sounds told him. If he could hear their +oars, they could hear his. And though the twilight was creeping on, +the fog seemed to be lifting. Only the vapour wreaths hid him from +the gaze of his foes. If these were to be dispersed his last chance +was gone.</p> +<p>The river was absolutely lonely and deserted at this time of +year and at this spot. Lower down, schooners and barges were +moored. Near to the bridge he might have had some hope of being +heard had he shouted aloud for aid; here there was no such hope. He +was away on the Lambeth side: there were no houses and no boats of +any kind. His only chance lay in reaching the shore, springing to +land, and trusting to his fleetness to carry him into hiding. The +lonely house could not be far away. Perchance within its walls he +might find a hiding place, or gain admittance within its doors. At +least that was the only chance he had; and inspired by this thought +he drove his light wherry swiftly through the water, and felt the +keel grate against the bank almost before he was prepared for +it.</p> +<p>The pursuers were still coming on, but did not appear to be +distressing themselves. Probably they felt so secure of their prey +that they could afford to be moderately cautious in the midst of +these fog wreaths that made river travelling somewhat perilous. +Cuthbert shipped his oars and sprang lightly ashore, leaving the +wherry to its fate. Then he raced like a hunted hare along the +margin of the river, and before five minutes had passed he had +scrambled up and leaped the wall of this lonely river-side house, +and was crouching breathless and exhausted in a thick covert upon +the farther side, straining his ears for sounds of pursuit.</p> +<p>These were not long in coming. He heard regular steps +approaching the wall, and a voice said:</p> +<p>"Here are the tracks. He got over here. Follow, and find him +now. He is in a trap!"</p> +<p>"Am I indeed in a trap?" thought Cuthbert, setting his teeth +hard; "that remains to be proved!"</p> +<p>And gliding out from the covert with that noiseless movement he +had learned during his residence in the forest, he raced like a +veritable shadow in the direction of the house.</p> +<p>He had reached the building rising black and grim against the +darkening sky; he had almost laid his hand upon the knocker, +intending to make known his presence and his peril, and demand +admittance and speech with Master Robert Catesby, when forth from +the shadows of the porch stepped a tall dark figure, and he felt a +shiver of dismay run through him as a loaded pistol was levelled at +his head.</p> +<p>"It is the spy again--the spy I have sworn to sweep from our +path. False Trevlyn, thine hour has come!"</p> +<p>A puff of smoke--a loud report. Cuthbert had flung up his hand +to shield his face, for the barrel was aimed straight at his +temple. He was conscious of a sudden stinging pain in his wrist. A +momentary giddiness seized him, and he stumbled and fell. A +sardonic laugh seemed to ring in his ears. He thought he heard the +banging of a door and the drawing of heavy bolts. Probably the man +who had fired was so certain of his aim that he did not even pause +to see how the shot had told.</p> +<p>"Your tongue will not wag again before the morrow!"</p> +<p>Those words seemed to be ringing in Cuthbert's ears, and then +for a moment all was blackness and darkness, with a sense of +distress and suffocation and stabs of sudden pain.</p> +<p>When he awoke from what he first thought had been a nightmare +dream, he was puzzled indeed to know where he was, and for a while +believed that he was dreaming still, and that he should soon awake +to find himself in his little attic chamber in the bridge house. +But as his senses gradually cleared themselves he became aware that +he was in no such safe or desirable spot. He was lying on some +cloaks in the bow of a large boat, which was being rowed steadily +and silently up stream by four stalwart men. The daylight was gone, +but so too was the fog, and the moon was shining down and giving a +sufficient light. In the stern of the boat sat two other men, whose +faces Cuthbert could dimly see, though their hats were drawn down +over their brows. These faces did not seem entirely unfamiliar, yet +he could not remember where it was he had seen them before. His +senses were cloudy and confused. He felt giddy and exhausted. He +had no disposition to try to move; but he soon found that even had +he been so disposed he could have accomplished little. His feet +were bound together by a cord, and his right hand was bound up and +utterly powerless. He remembered the shot levelled at him in the +garden of the river-side house, and felt certain that his wrist was +broken.</p> +<p>And who were these men who were carrying him away captive, and +what was their motive? He imagined that they must surely be those +fierce pursuers who had striven to capture him upon the river, and +who had followed him into the garden where he had hoped to hide +himself from their malice. Doubtless they had found him as he lay +in a momentary faint, and had borne him back to their boat; though +what was their motive in thus capturing him, and whither they were +now transporting him, he could not imagine. His mind was still +confused and weak. Esther's words of warning seemed to mingle with +the gurgle of the water against the bows of the boat. His temples +throbbed, there was burning pain in his wounded arm; but the night +wind fanned his brow, and brought with it a certain sense of +refreshment.</p> +<p>Hitherto there had been unbroken silence in the boat, and the +rowers had steadily plied their oars without uttering a word; but +now that they were out in mid river, without the smallest fear of +pursuit, far away from sight or sound from the shore, they paused +as by common consent, and one of them suddenly said:</p> +<p>"Now, comrades, we must settle which it is to be. Are we to take +him to Miriam or to Tyrrel?"</p> +<p>Those words told Cuthbert who were his captors. He was in the +hands of the gipsies or highwaymen--probably the prisoner of a +mixed band who had joined together to effect his capture. As the +discussion went on it became more evident that there were two +parties and two factions, both anxious to possess his person, and +he listened with bated breath and a beating heart to every word +that passed.</p> +<p>"I say to Miriam," spoke up one swarthy fellow, with a backward +look towards the prisoner in the bow. "Miriam is wild to have him. +She is certain sure he has killed Long Robin. She would give her +two eyes to have vengeance on some Trevlyn. Why not let her have +the boy, to do with as she will?"</p> +<p>"Because all she cares for is to burn him alive, as her old +mother was burnt by some Trevlyn long ago; and what good would that +do to the rest of us? Long Robin was no such friend to us. If +Miriam's story be true, he was a treacherous fox, and deserved the +fate he got. If he it was who stole and hid the treasure, and kept +the secret all these years, hoping to enjoy the fruits of it alone, +why, he was a knave and a villain, say I; and that old hag is +little better. What do we care for her vow of vengeance? what is it +to us? Tyrrel, now, wants the prisoner for a purpose. This lad +knows where the treasure is, and he must give up the secret to us. +Once we know where he found it, and if moved where he has stowed +it, we shall speedily be rich for the rest of our days. You all +know that the forest is getting something too hot for us. Tyrrel +has decreed that we must go elsewhere, where we are less known. It +would be a thousand pities to go without this treasure, since it +really lies beneath our hand. A curse upon Long Robin, say I, for +keeping it hid all these years! It was a scurvy trick! and Miriam +was privy to it. I will raise no hand to help her. She may die with +her vow unfulfilled for all I care. Had she but acted fairly by us, +then would we have given yon lad up to her tender mercies; but not +now--not now!"</p> +<p>A murmur of assent ran through the whole party. The only one to +demur was the first speaker.</p> +<p>"The old woman got her death blow when Robin's corpse was found. +She will not last many weeks more, they say. I should well like to +bring her a bit of happiness at the end; and her one cry is for +vengeance upon the Trevlyn brood. She would well like to have yon +prisoner brought bound to her, Why not lead him first to Tyrrel and +then to Miriam?"</p> +<p>"When Tyrrel has him, he will decree what is done with him, not +we," said another voice. "He has no love for Miriam and her +insensate hate. Miriam and Long Robin have both played us false; +and Tyrrel loves the dark-eyed Joanna, and she will not stoop to +any deed of cruelty or tyranny. He will have a care how he treats +the boy over whom her mantle has once been thrown. But the secret +of the gold he must and will have. We will not let him go without +that."</p> +<p>"To Tyrrel then!" cried several voices with one accord. "I trow +he will have scant patience with any son of the house of Trevlyn, +since he was so bested by those other Trevlyns but two short +evenings back. He will be glad enow to have this lad brought before +him, for he verily feared that the whole brood had found shelter +within the gates of the Cross Way House."</p> +<p>Cuthbert listened eagerly to these last words, which told him +that his kinsmen at least had escaped peril and had found a safe +shelter where the treasure lay. Knowing that this was so, and that +the treasure was under their safe keeping, even did these men throw +aside the tradition of years and make a raid upon the home of the +Wyverns, his mind became somewhat calmed, although his own fate was +terribly uncertain, and he might have to pay the penalty of his +rashness with his life.</p> +<p>The rowers bent to their oars once again when this knotty point +had been settled. They rowed on steadily for a short time, and then +out of the darkness came a sharp clear hail.</p> +<p>"Who goes there?"</p> +<p>"Friends. We have caught the quarry; we are bringing him to +Tyrrel."</p> +<p>"Good. He has been waiting with impatience this two hours for +news. His wound doth not make him the more patient."</p> +<p>"We bring him at least the best medicine.</p> +<p>"Easy, lads! Ship your oars. Catch hold of her prow, Toby. So +here we are safe and sound, and there is the prisoner!"</p> +<p>Cuthbert had raised his head, and supporting himself on his left +elbow was gazing about him from side to side. He was still in the +middle of the river; but the boat was now alongside a big barge +moored in midstream, and from this barge several lights were +gleaming, whilst voices were answering and asking questions, and +the name of Tyrrel passed continually from mouth to mouth.</p> +<p>Then the rowers in the bow came and lifted him bodily in their +arms, taking care not to be needlessly rough with the broken arm +that gave him considerable pain; and so soon as he was placed upon +the barge, the rope that bound his feet was cut, somebody remarking +that it was needless now to hobble him, since he was safely on +board and beneath the eye of the whole crew.</p> +<p>"And where is Tyrrel?" asked several voices.</p> +<p>"Below in the cabin, and waiting impatiently for news. Go, and +take the boy with you; the sight of him will be the best medicine +for him."</p> +<p>Cuthbert was led along, dazed and bewildered, but calm from a +sense of his own helplessness, and perhaps from bodily weakness, +too. This weakness surprised him, for he did not know how much +blood he had lost, and he could not account for the way in which +the lights swam before his eyes and his steps reeled, as he was +taken down a dark ladder-like staircase and into a low long room +with a swinging lamp suspended from the ceiling. It felt close and +airless after the coldness of the night, and everything swam in a +mist before his eyes; but he heard a voice not altogether +unfamiliar say in authoritative accents: "Let him sit down, and +give him a stoup of wine;" and presently his vision cleared, and he +found himself sitting at one side of a rude table opposite the +highway chieftain Tyrrel, whose face he well remembered. They were +surrounded by a ring of stalwart men, some of whose faces were +vaguely familiar to him from having been seen at the old mill a +year ago from now.</p> +<p>He noted that Tyrrel's face was pale, and that his head was +bandaged. It was plain that he had received recent injuries, and +apparently these did not smooth his temper. His face was dark and +stern, and the eyes that looked straight at Cuthbert gleamed +ominously beneath their heavy brows.</p> +<p>"Well, boy," he said at length, seeing Cuthbert's gaze fasten +upon him with inquiry and recognition, "so we meet again."</p> +<p>Cuthbert answered nothing. He did not intend to speak a needless +word. He had some inkling now of the motive for his capture, but he +was not going to show his hand.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert Trevlyn," said Tyrrel, in brief, terse sentences, "I +have not brought thee here to bandy words with thee; I will to the +point at once. I will tell thee why thou art here. Thou art in +deadly peril from without. There is a vile Popish plot but recently +discovered. The perpetrators and conspirators will all be seized +upon the morrow. Thou art held to be one of these. Thou wilt be +seized amongst others. Innocent or guilty, it matters not. Thou +wilt die the traitor's death--the hideous doom of those accused of +high treason. Thou wilt be lucky if thou art not racked first to +make thee confess what men hold (whether truly or falsely) that +thou knowest. I have interposed to save thee from that fate. I have +had thee pursued and brought hither to me. I can and I will save +thee and hide thee till all pursuit is over. But thou must purchase +my protection at a price."</p> +<p>Cuthbert listened as one in a dream. He knew that Tyrrel might +be speaking truth. He knew that he had received warnings before +telling him he was suspected and watched. He recalled many past +moments when he had felt that he had placed himself in a false +position and might have laid himself open to misconstruction. But +he had never thought himself in actual peril from the arm of the +law. Was Tyrrel speaking the truth now, or was he only striving to +intimidate him for his own ends?</p> +<p>Fixing his dark eyes full upon the face of the man opposite, he +asked:</p> +<p>"And what is that price?"</p> +<p>"The secret of the Trevlyn treasure," was the calm reply--"the +secret thou didst learn from Long Robin ere thou didst lay him in +his bloody grave, and which now thou holdest alone. Where is the +treasure, boy? Speak, and all will be well. For bethink thee, if +thou holdest thy peace I give thee up on the morrow to the +myrmidons of the law, and the golden secret will perish with thee, +none profiting thereby. Tell it but to me, and by that honour which +I have ever held sacred, thou shalt be released and placed in a +secure hiding place till all hue and cry be past. Speak, then, for +thy silence can aid none--least of all thyself. Tell the whole +story and guide us to the treasure, and all will be well."</p> +<p>Cuthbert sat silent and motionless, turning the matter rapidly +over in his mind. What should he do? Would it be a lasting disgrace +to yield to thoughts of personal peril, and reveal all he knew? +That revelation would not place the treasure in Tyrrel's hands. He +might fear to assail the Cross Way House; and now that house might +be so well guarded that it could defy attack.</p> +<p>Should he risk it? Should he tell all? For a moment he was half +disposed to do so; but another thought followed, and the words were +checked ere they had reached his lips.</p> +<p>What if further business had taken away Sir Richard and his son +from the lonely house? What if, in the tumult and alarm that the +news of such a plot would spread through the kingdom, the household +within those walls should be left unprotected by these kinsmen, who +might have occasion to make their way to their own home to see how +it fared with those left there?</p> +<p>He knew the fearless character of Lady Humbert. She would never +keep Sir Richard from his wife at a time of anxiety and possible +peril. They might already have left the Cross Way House for Trevlyn +Chase (for Lady Humbert knew that the secret of the treasure lay +with none but themselves, and would have no fears for that). And if +in the dead of night the whole force of the gipsy folk and the +highwaymen--or even these latter alone, if they could not get the +gipsies to join with them--were to sweep down and attack that +solitary house, what chance would its inmates have against them? +None, absolutely none! The golden hoard would speedily be made away +with; the treasure would be lost to Trevlyn for ever, and all the +golden hopes and dreams that had been centred upon it would be +dispersed to the winds.</p> +<p>Should he have it always on his mind that he had sold the secret +from craven fear? Should he ever know peace of mind or self respect +again?</p> +<p>Never! he would die first. And surely since he had no dealings +in this plot, and was innocent of all thought of treason, no hurt +could come to him even were he given up. Surely he could prove his +innocence, though with his head so confused as it now was he scarce +knew how he should be able to parry and answer the questions +addressed to him. Perchance some knowledge of his peril would reach +the ears of Lord Culverhouse, and he would come to his aid. At +least he would not be coerced and threatened into betraying his +secret. Tyrrel might do his worst; he would defy him.</p> +<p>He looked straight at the robber chief, who sat awaiting his +reply with a cold smile of triumph on his face, and answered +briefly:</p> +<p>"I shall tell you nothing."</p> +<p>A gleam of anger shone in the man's eyes.</p> +<p>"Have a care how thou answerest me. Remember that thy secret +will perish with thee when thou goest to the traitor's death."</p> +<p>"It will not," answered Cuthbert coolly. "There be others of my +kindred that know it. The treasure will be saved for Trevlyn, do +what thou wilt with me."</p> +<p>"I shall do as I have said," answered Tyrrel, speaking very +clearly and distinctly. "My plans are all well laid. If within two +hours thou hast not altered thy mind, thou wilt be rowed ashore by +my men, bound hand and foot. Thou wilt then be given in custody to +some good friends of ours on shore, who lie not under suspicion as +we do. By them thou wilt be guarded till morning breaks, and then +all London will be ringing with the news of this foul plot, and men +will be ready to tear limb from limb all those who are so much as +suspected to have had dealings with the false traitors who have +planned all. Then wilt thou, Cuthbert Trevlyn, whose name has +already been whispered abroad as one having cognizance of this +matter, be handed over to the tender mercies of the law. It will be +told of thee how thou wast caught in the very garden of the house +where these vile conspirators resort, and that thou didst fight +like a fury to save thyself from capture. Thy dealings with Father +Urban will be remembered against thee, and many another thing +beside. A traitor's death will be thine end; and thou wilt wish in +vain when those dark hours come upon thee thou hadst saved thyself +when yet there was time. I give thee two hours to bethink thee of +these things. If thou wilt speak plainly, tell us all thou knowest, +and help to place the treasure in our hands, we will save thee from +the fate that awaits thee on shore. If not, we will give thee over +to it; and then no power on earth can save thee."</p> +<p>But Cuthbert's mind had already been made up, and he did not +waver. He knew himself innocent of all complicity in the plot, and +he clung to the hope that his innocence might be proved. In no case +would he purchase his freedom by a loss of self respect, by a +cowardly yielding up of that very treasure it had been the dream of +his life to restore to the house of Trevlyn. Argument and menace +were alike thrown away upon him; and two hours later, bound hand +and foot, as Tyrrel had said, he was thrown roughly into the bottom +of the wherry, and rowed downstream in dead silence, he knew not +whither.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch26" id="Ch26">26</a>: Jacob's Devotion.</h2> +<p>"If thou wouldst save thy friend from a terrible fate, come +hither to me without delay."</p> +<p>Jacob stood gazing at this scrap of parchment as one in a dream, +his slow wits only taking in by degrees the meaning of the +mysterious words.</p> +<p>"Thy friend," he repeated slowly, "thy friend! What friend? I +have many. Terrible fate! Saints preserve us, what means that? Can +it be Cuthbert who is in peril--that rash Cuthbert, for ever diving +into matters he had far, far better let alone, and burning his +fingers for naught? Can it be of him it speaks? Belike it may. +There have been ugly whispers abroad of late. Mine uncle told me +only this day that some constables came to his door asking some +trivial questions anent his household, and speaking of Cuthbert by +name. It would be like his folly at such a moment to run his head +into a noose.</p> +<p>"But he shall not be hurt if I can help it. Who is this wise +woman who sends the message? Methinks I have heard Rachel speak of +her ere now. Well, I can but go visit her and hear what she would +have to say. I know the house in Budge Row; I took Rachel to the +door once. For myself, I love not such hocus pocus; but if it be a +matter of Cuthbert's safety, I will e'en go and listen to her tale. +If she wants to filch money from me for foul purposes, she will +find she has come to the wrong man. I will pay for nothing till I +have got my money's worth."</p> +<p>It was already dark. Jacob had been partaking of one of Martin +Holt's hospitable suppers. Cuthbert had been absent, and Mistress +Susan had remarked with some acrimony that the young man was +growing a deal too fine in his ways for them. He came and went just +at pleasure; and she did not think it well to encourage him in his +idleness and irregularities. Martin opined that he had been amusing +himself by watching the preparations for the grand doings on the +morrow. The King was in London, and would open his Parliament the +next day. Little was being talked of but that event all over London +that night.</p> +<p>And now, on reaching his home, Jacob found this brief missive +awaiting him, and started forth again, wondering not a little +whither it would lead him. The streets were almost empty. Budge Row +was dark and silent as the grave. Yet as he looked up at the tall +narrow house, a window from above was softly opened, and a low +voice over his head spoke in soft, urgent accents:</p> +<p>"Hist! make no sound. Wait but a moment. I will open to +you."</p> +<p>Jacob waited, and almost immediately the door was cautiously +opened, and a head looked round, a pair of dark eyes peering up +into his face.</p> +<p>"It is well, Jacob Dyson, thou hast come," said the same voice, +in the lowest of low whispers. "But I may not speak with thee here. +Thou must come with me elsewhere. Tyrrel's men are in this house, +carousing in their cups. But they have ears like the wild things of +the forest. I may not bring thee within the door. They think that I +be gone to my chamber to sleep. They will seek me no more tonight. +And before the morrow dawns our task must be accomplished."</p> +<p>"And what is that task?" asked Jacob breathlessly.</p> +<p>"To free Cuthbert Trevlyn from the bonds that hold him; to save +him from the power of those who will, when the morning dawns; +deliver him up to the emissaries of the law as one who has taken +part in the vilest plot that has ever been conceived by heart of +man!"</p> +<p>Jacob started, and faced his companion, who was hurrying him +along the dark streets at a rapid pace.</p> +<p>"Plot, woman! what dost thou mean?" he cried, alarmed and +distrustful, and yet impelled to let her lead him whither she +would, dominated by the power of her strong will. "I must know more +of this matter ere I go further. I have heard fell whispers ere +now, but I know not what their truth be. I am a peaceable, +law-abiding citizen. I mix myself not up in such doubtful matters. +Speak plainly, and tell me what thou knowest, and what evil or harm +threatens Cuthbert Trevlyn, or I vow I will go no further with +thee. I will not be made a tool of; I will not walk in the +dark."</p> +<p>He stopped short, and she did the same, still holding his arm in +a close clutch. They had reached one of the many city churches; the +big building loomed up before them dark and tall. The wise woman +drew her companion within the shelter of the deep porch. Here they +could speak at will; none could overhear them now.</p> +<p>"I will tell thee all in as few words as may be. Thou knowest me +as the wise woman of Budge Row; but once I was the queen of the +woodland, the queen of the gipsy tribes there, and I still hold +some power over the children of the forest. They still bring me +news of all that passes there. Cuthbert Trevlyn has found the lost +treasure, and in finding it has killed one of the tribe. Hatred and +greed have been alike stirred up. Many are bound together against +him. If he cannot be snatched this night from the clutches into +which he has let himself fall--oh, why would he not heed my +warnings?--nothing can avail to save him.</p> +<p>"Listen, Jacob Dyson. Tyrrel, the notable highwayman, upon whose +head a price has long been set, has this night taken Cuthbert +Trevlyn prisoner, hoping to win from him the secret of the hidden +treasure which now lies in his keeping. Cuthbert has refused to +tell him aught; and now he purposes to strive to turn this to good +account for himself by delivering him up to the officers of the law +upon the morrow, as being concerned in a fearful plot that tomorrow +will make the ears of all England tingle.</p> +<p>"Dost thou stare at that? hast thou indeed heard aught of it? +There have been whispers abroad; but the matter hath been kept +wondrous close. Cuthbert Trevlyn has by his hardihood, his +curiosity, and his fidelity to friends, who are no true friends to +him, placed himself in jeopardy. He ought to be in hiding now; for +if upon the morrow the name of Trevlyn gets noised abroad, there +will be scant mercy shown him by the judges of this land."</p> +<p>"Cuthbert a prisoner! Cuthbert delivered up to judgment!" cried +Jacob, aghast. "What meanest thou, woman? What hath he done?"</p> +<p>"He bath done no evil; but he hath shown himself imprudent and +reckless. He has been seen in company he ought to have fled; he has +visited places against which he was warned. Tyrrel knows this. +Tyrrel knows how to turn to his advantage everything of like +nature. Tyrrel will give him up at the moment when hue and cry is +being made for all concerned in this matter. He will give him up, +and men will bear witness where and how he was seized, where and +how he has been seen before this. Men's minds will be all aflame +with rage and fear. The wildest tale will obtain credence, and +there be nothing so wild in what they may truly say of Cuthbert +Trevlyn. The Tower gates will close upon him, and they will only +open to him when he is led forth to die. Have I not lived long +enough to know that? If he he not saved tonight, nothing can avail +to save him afterwards."</p> +<p>Jacob felt a strange thrill run through him at these words,</p> +<p>"And why dost thou tell me this, of all men, woman? What can I +do to save him?"</p> +<p>He saw that she had raised her face as if to strive to scan the +expression on his; but the darkness foiled her, neither could he +see aught but the gleam of her dark eyes.</p> +<p>"I come to thee because time presses, and I know not where else +to turn. Thou hast been his friend before; wilt thou play a +friend's part now, even if it be fraught with peril?"</p> +<p>Jacob paused a few seconds before replying, and then said +simply, "What can I do?"</p> +<p>"I will tell thee," answered Esther, speaking rapidly. "Cuthbert +Trevlyn lies bound in a house not far away. Tomorrow, so soon as +the news of the plot is noised abroad, and all is in commotion to +discover the conspirators, he will be delivered up to those who are +searching for these; and if thou knewest as much as I, thou wouldst +know that nothing then can save him. But there be yet twelve hours +before this can happen, and if he can be rescued within those +twelve hours, and lodged with me in my house at Budge Row, I will +undertake to hide him so well till all hue and cry be past and over +that none shall find him; and before the glad Yuletide season has +come to rejoice men's hearts, he shall be free to go where he will +and show his face with the best of them."</p> +<p>This and much more did the eager gipsy pour into Jacob's +astonished ears as he stood in the shadow of the deep porch. Every +detail of the capture was made known to him, the whole plot laid +bare, as she had heard it from the lips of the men who had borne +Cuthbert ashore, and had then been so cunningly plied with heating +liquor by the astute old woman that they had babbled freely of +those very things that Tyrrel would fain have had held secret as +the grave, at least for twenty-four hours longer.</p> +<p>Jacob listened, and as he listened his mind was strangely +stirred. Here was his rival in deadly peril of his life; and if +Cuthbert were once to be removed from his path, had not Cherry +almost promised, in time, to be his wife? And had he not done all +he knew to warn Cuthbert from just those friendships and +associations which had ended by placing him in this terrible peril? +Could anything more be looked for from him? What did this strange +woman think that he could accomplish?</p> +<p>Cuthbert was truly his friend and comrade. He had proved it once +by risking his life to aid and abet him. But now what could he do? +And surely in these perilous times, when all men knew they must +walk warily, it behoved him to take heed to his steps.</p> +<p>"And what can I do?" he asked, as the woman paused.</p> +<p>"Art thou willing to strive to save him at some peril to +thyself?"</p> +<p>Jacob paused for a full minute. A host of tumultuous feelings +rushed and surged through his brain. A thousand conflicting +impulses swayed him as he revolved the situation with all the +rapidity of quickened thought.</p> +<p>It was but a minute, yet it seemed like an hour to him before he +placed his hand upon that of the eager woman and answered +steadily:</p> +<p>"I am willing."</p> +<p>She clutched his hand and held it fast.</p> +<p>"My heart did not deceive me. I knew that thou wert a true man. +Jacob Dyson, listen to my words, and take good heed to them, and I +will strive so to work that no harm shall befall thee, albeit I may +not deny that thou mayest stand in some jeopardy. Take and put on +this long cloak that I carry beneath my arm; wrap it well about +thee, and turn up its collar that it hide well thy face. Pull thy +hat down over thy eyes--so. And now take this ring and put it upon +thy finger. I have told thee where Cuthbert Trevlyn is lodged this +night. Go to the house and ask speech of Master Dibbler. When thou +seest him, show him that ring, and tell him that Esther, the wise +woman, has sent thee with it, and that she desires him to let thee +have a brief interview alone with his prisoner, who has something +to say to thee for me of the utmost value to all. Show not thy +face, show only the ring, and unless I be greatly deceived, he will +take thee to the prisoner forthwith, and lock thee up together +alone. The rest thou canst almost divine. Thou must lose no time, +but cut the cords that bind him, wrap him in this cloak--ye are +much of a height--and so muffled he may well pass out in the +darkness unheeded. Thou must stay behind in the prison bound as he +was bound. In the morning thou wilt be given over to the officers +of the law; for I misdoubt me much that Dibbler will ever find out +the trick that has been played upon him. He never saw Cuthbert +Trevlyn before, and I trow he has scarce observed what manner of +man he is. He will deliver thee up for one Cuthbert Trevlyn, taken +in the act of fleeing to the house where the conspirators are known +to lodge.</p> +<p>"But I trow that thy father's solid weight and Esther's +acuteness can soon serve to set thee at liberty. It will be an easy +task to show to all the world that thou art Jacob Dyson, a +peaceable citizen, and that thou hast been wrongly apprehended in +the place of another. Thou wilt be able to prove that at the hour +men say they found thee in that dark garden thou wast in thy +father's or thine uncle's house. Thy captors will be confused, +enraged, bewildered, and will have to explain how they come to be +striving to pass off Jacob Dyson as an evil doer. I trow well we +can turn the tables upon them.</p> +<p>"Art thou willing to run some small peril for the sake of +serving one who has called thee friend?"</p> +<p>And Jacob, with scarce a moment's pause, replied once again, "I +am willing."</p> +<p>Next day, the morning of the fifth of November, 1605, dawned +clear and still and bright. London was early astir; for was not the +King to open his Parliament that day? and were not hundreds of +loyal subjects going to line the streets to see the procession +pass? If the King were not popular, the Prince of Wales, Prince +Henry, was; and a sight was a sight to the simple folk of those +days, even as it is still.</p> +<p>But before long a curious change passed over the face of the +London streets. A breath--a whisper--a fleeting rumour. Men's faces +grew suddenly pale and grave. Women uttered sharp exclamations of +astonishment and fear. People pressed together into knots, asking +quick questions and awaiting the answers in breathless expectancy; +and presently the whispers became changed into open cries and +shouts. A smothered roar as of execration and menace ran through +the streets, being caught up and passed from mouth to mouth till it +was surging along like a great billow on the wide Atlantic sea.</p> +<p>"A Popish plot!"</p> +<p>"Down with the Papists!"</p> +<p>"Blow up the whole of the Parliament Houses--King, Lords, and +Commons!"</p> +<p>"Heard ye ever the like before?"</p> +<p>"Taken in the very act--with the barrels of gunpowder laid +ready, and the slow match in his hand!"</p> +<p>"A curse upon all such vile traitors!"</p> +<p>"A curse upon the Papists!"</p> +<p>"England will never know peace till she has destroyed them root +and branch!"</p> +<p>"Down with the whole brood of them--the vile scum of a vile +race!"</p> +<p>These and many like cries were passing through the crowd in +great, gusty shouts. Martin Holt, standing at the door of his shop, +was just taking in the sense of what was passing, and anxiously +ruminating upon the fact that Cuthbert had not been home all the +night, when Abraham Dyson came hurrying up, his face pale with +apprehension.</p> +<p>"Good Master Holt, hast thou heard the news?"</p> +<p>"That the Papists have tried to blow up the Parliament Houses? +Can such a thing be true?"</p> +<p>"As true as daylight; there is no manner of doubt as to that. +But I have another trouble than that, which has been happily +averted. They tell me my boy has been arrested as one of the +conspirators. I am about to hasten down and inquire into it.</p> +<p>"Martin, where is Cuthbert?"</p> +<p>"I have not seen him since yesterday noon. What of him? Has +he--the foolish, hot-headed boy--gone and run himself into like +trouble?"</p> +<p>"I know not--I know naught of him; only methought they might be +together, being such friends and comrades."</p> +<p>"They were not together yesterday. Jacob supped here with us, +and knew naught of Cuthbert then."</p> +<p>"Supped with you last night! that is good hearing, for men say +he was seen at Lambeth then, where the conspirators have some house +or hiding place. Come thou with me, good Martin, I prithee. I must +take solid men to witness for my lad, and bring him safely home +again. I warrant me he has had no dealings in yon foul plot! He +hates the very name of Popery and scheming."</p> +<p>Martin Holt lost not a moment in following his friend, who was +joined by several sober and wealthy merchants and citizens, all +deeply indignant at the insult received by their friend in this +false accusation of Jacob.</p> +<p>Abraham Dyson had been warned by a letter of the peril in which +his son stood--a mysteriously-worded letter, but one that was +evidently written by a friend. It advised that Dyson and his +friends should proceed at once to Westminster and Whitehall, where +the excitement would be at its height, and there they would find +Jacob in custody, and would doubtless be able speedily to obtain +his release, since he had been arrested under a +misapprehension.</p> +<p>Whoever had written these words had plainly known the truth; for +when the city men had almost fought their way through a howling and +wildly excited mob, they found Jacob, bound and guarded, being just +led before some of the King's counsellors under the name of +Cuthbert Trevlyn.</p> +<p>"That man is not Cuthbert Trevlyn," shouted old Abraham, +forgetting all but the fact that he saw his son in dire and deadly +peril. "This is a quiet and peaceable Protestant citizen. Here am I +with friends ready to testify the same. This is nothing but another +vile Papist plot, conceived to strive to do to death good, +peaceable citizens of contrary faith, while they escape the doom +their traitorous villainy deserves!"</p> +<p>This astute form of vindication roused another clamour from the +crowd. There was not the smallest difficulty in proving Jacob's +identity, in establishing his innocence and obtaining his release. +Those in authority saw at once that it was one of those innumerable +cases of mistaken identity, and did not even care to waste time +over a close inquiry into circumstances; whilst the bystanders were +raving in indignant sympathy, perfectly convinced that it was all +the work of the conspirators themselves, to try to throw their own +guilt upon the innocent, and by no means sure that their own turn +might not come next.</p> +<p>When Jacob was free, he turned to the King's counsellors and +said:</p> +<p>"If it please you gentlemen to fall upon and make away with a +notable band of outlaws and robbers, who have long made the terror +of the southern roads, they be all beneath your very hand +today--gathered together in an old barge not far above Lambeth, +where they be waiting the issue of this day's work, knowing far +more about it than peaceable and well-minded men should do. Tyrrel +is the name of the leader, and he and the best part of his band +will hold high revel there this night. They will fall an easy prey +in your hands if it please you to send and take them."</p> +<p>The crowd shouted in delight. There was no love lost between the +citizens of London and those freebooters who made all travel so +perilous, and the name of Tyrrel was widely known and widely +feared. The counsellors conferred together awhile and asked many +questions of Jacob, and then they released him with courteous words +of regret, intimating that if good came of this hunt after the +outlaws he should not lose his reward.</p> +<p>His father lost no time in getting him safely home, and +questioning him closely as to how he came to find himself in such a +predicament; but all he answered was that he and Cuthbert had been +about a good deal together, and that they had been mistaken for one +another. As for Cuthbert, he was safe enough, but would remain in +hiding for some few weeks. He was innocent of all complicity in the +plot; but his carelessness had caused him to be suspected of some +knowledge of it, and suspicion at a moment of popular frenzy was +almost as fatal as actual guilt. When the real culprits had been +discovered and had paid the penalty of their crime, smaller persons +would be safe once more. Silence and obscurity were the safest +shields for the present, and to no living soul did he reveal the +secret of Cuthbert's hiding place.</p> +<p>London was soon ringing with the news of the death or capture of +the plotters of the Gunpowder Treason, as it quickly began to be +called; and those interested in the matter heard with satisfaction +that Tyrrel and his band had been surprised, and all upon the barge +had been either apprehended or slain. Tyrrel had died sword in +hand, as became a man of his calling, and the few who had escaped +to their old haunts had warned their comrades there, who had fled +the south country forthwith, and were scattered no man knew +whither.</p> +<p>Only to one person did Jacob presently tell the whole story of +that strange night when he set out to rescue Cuthbert from dire +peril, and that person was his cousin Keziah. The tale aroused her +deepest interest, and from that moment Jacob became to her a hero +as well as an idol. The honest youth had never been idolized +before--never in his wildest moments had he hoped to rise to the +level of a hero; and there was something so wonderful in finding +himself so regarded that it began to have a softening and even an +elevating effect upon him, and to draw forth an answering +admiration and love.</p> +<p>The end of it was that before the Yuletide season had come, he +went blushing to Martin Holt to ask for the hand of his second +daughter Keziah in marriage instead of that of Cherry, whose heart +had from the first been given elsewhere; and it was arranged that +the marriage should take place almost at once, for Jacob pleaded he +had waited long enough for his wife, and Keziah's only wish was to +please her future lord and master.</p> +<h2>Chapter <a name="Ch27" id="Ch27">27</a>: Yuletide At The Cross +Way House.</h2> +<p>Lady Humbert had got her own way--she generally did when her +mind was set upon a thing--and a large and merry party was +assembled beneath the hospitable roof of the Cross Way House to +spend the festive Yuletide there together.</p> +<p>Sir Richard was not sorry just at this juncture to extend his +visit to these kinswomen, whose known loyalty and adhesion to the +Protestant cause had made the name of Wyvern respected and held in +high repute even at the King's Court. It had been with equal +satisfaction that he had married his eldest daughter Cecilia to Sir +Robert Fortescue, and had allowed Lord Culverhouse openly to +proclaim his betrothal with Kate.</p> +<p>For strange things had been happening in the world of London +since the discovery of that abortive Gunpowder Treason; and, in the +first panic, the name of Trevlyn had freely been whispered abroad. +Sir Richard's friends had trembled for him, and had counselled him +to keep perfectly quiet and let the evil whisper die a natural +death if it would.</p> +<p>For two long weeks the family at the Chase lived upon +tenterhooks. Every day they feared to hear the approach of some +messenger with tidings of woe. There was terror in many hearts when +a loud explosion in the middle of the night roused them all from +their beds; but it was quickly seen that this explosion did not +immediately concern them, and that it must have proceeded from the +old Gate House, which was already wrapped in flames. The servants +hurried down to assist, but were too late. It was only many hours +later that the charred remains of what had once been two human +beings were found amongst the smoking ruins. A whisper went abroad +that a certain well-known seminary priest, by name Father Urban, +had fled from London, and had taken refuge with Nicholas Trevlyn. +It was surmised that the two must have been preparing themselves +for a siege, and that their ammunition had unexpectedly ignited and +caused the catastrophe.</p> +<p>To say that any one deplored the fate of the gloomy old man, who +was supposed to be little better than a maniac, would be going +altogether too far. Petronella shed a few tears, but they were +tears rather of relief than of sorrow; while Sir Richard felt that +he could breathe more freely when his contumacious kinsman had +ceased to live at his door.</p> +<p>The whisper which had alarmed his friends died a natural death +so soon as the real facts connected with the plot came to be known, +and the number and names of the true conspirators discovered. +Indeed, further inquiry appeared to elicit the fact that Cuthbert +Trevlyn had been striving to unravel and expose the plot, and that +he had been shot down by one of the genuine plotters as a spy and a +foe. As he had not since been seen or heard of, considerable +anxiety was felt in some quarters for his safety. Sir Richard was +causing inquiries to be made in London. Cherry was beginning to go +about looking pale and hollow eyed. Lady Humbert, who always +cheerily avowed that everything would come right in time, was +secretly not a little anxious, until a few days before the Yuletide +season, when she was called out into her own back regions to +interview a strange woman who was asking for her, and found herself +face to face with Joanna, the gipsy queen.</p> +<p>For a moment she scarcely knew the woman again, for she had put +off her distinctive dress, and was habited like a simple +countrywoman. Her face, too, had lost its brilliant colouring, and +her eyes were softer than of yore. She told the astonished Lady +Humbert that her mother Miriam was lately dead, that the tribe over +whom she ruled had been dispersed and scattered she knew not +whither, and that she had no wish to gather about her the remnants +of the gipsy folk, who had long been more disposed to consort with +robbers and outlaws than to submit to her sway. She was weary of +the old life, and desired something more tranquil. She asked if she +could serve Lady Humbert in the capacity of dairy woman or +laundress, and was promptly answered in the affirmative.</p> +<p>She then went on to whisper that first she must to London, and +that she would bring back Cuthbert Trevlyn with her, and be with +them again on the Christmas Eve. More than this she would not say; +but Lady Humbert trusted her implicitly, and after that she went +about the house with a bright face and brisk step, laughed at +Cherry's wistful looks, and declared that she would wait no longer +for the absentee, but on Christmas Eve would have up out of the +strongroom all the treasure hidden there, and would hand it over to +its lawful owners, the Trevlyns--Sir Richard, as head of the house, +being the fittest person now to have charge of it.</p> +<p>There was a little murmur of remonstrance, Cuthbert's name being +mentioned. Was it fair to do anything till he returned? But some +persons began to fear he never would be seen again. All were deeply +interested in the treasure; and Lady Humbert clinched the matter by +declaring that her mind was made up, and that she would do as she +had said.</p> +<p>What a wonderful sight it was as piece after piece of rich old +plate, some gold, some silver, all richly chased and embossed, was +brought by the servants and placed by Lady Humbert's direction upon +the long tables in the old banqueting hall, now unused for half a +century! Breathless and wondering, the Trevlyns stood by watching, +Sir Richard exclaiming in delighted recognition of various family +heirlooms he had often heard described, and which transcended even +the fancies he had formed about them. And, besides the wonderful +plate, there were jewels and gold in abundance, small coffers +filled with golden coins and precious stones, sufficient for a +king's ransom.</p> +<p>Kate stood clinging to Culverhouse's arm, her eyes as bright as +stars. It was to her the realization of a wonderful dream; and as +she gazed and gazed upon the sparkling hoard, which she knew would +smooth her own path in life and that of the lover of her choice, +she glanced up at him with kindling glances to say:</p> +<p>"Nay, but what a splendid treasure! I never dreamed of aught +like this! But oh, it seems to spoil it all not to have Cuthbert! +It was he who found it, when nearly all the rest of the world +derided the hope of such a thing. Oh, why is he not here to be with +us today?"</p> +<p>"Why not, indeed?"</p> +<p>A door at the far end of the room was thrown suddenly open. Lady +Humbert, who had withdrawn herself for a few moments, came forward +smiling and beaming, and behind her--who?</p> +<p>Petronella, who was standing at Philip's side, not far away, +uttered a quick, sharp cry of rapture, and flung herself into +Cuthbert's arms.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert!" cried Kate, with a forward bound; and the next +minute Cuthbert was surrounded by a crowd of eager questioners, and +so belaboured with greetings, inquiries, and congratulations that +he himself could not get in a word, but stood looking smilingly +from one to another till his eyes met the eager, wistful glance of +a pair of limpid blue ones, and with a quick cry of "Cherry!" he +shook off the detaining clasp of all other hands, and went straight +across to the spot where she stood blushing, quivering, and hardly +able to believe the evidences of her senses.</p> +<p>All made way for him smilingly, for the secret of his love was +an open one now, and Cherry had endeared herself to all the family +by her gentleness and pretty, clinging ways.</p> +<p>"Sweetheart," he said, "I come to claim thee at last, and to +claim thee with thy good father's ready consent and promised +blessing. Cherry, it is to Jacob's devotion and generosity that we +owe this happiness, for he it was who saved my life, and might well +have risked his own to do so. But he thought not of that; he only +thought how he might serve me, and redeem a promise he had made to +thee. And now he has his reward. He was wedded to thy sister a +short week back, being unwilling to wait longer. And he bids me +give thee a brother's love and greeting, hoping that thou wilt find +a place for a brother in thine heart, and wilt give to him a +sister's love."</p> +<p>"Oh, that indeed I will! Good Jacob! kind Jacob!" cried Cherry, +who, bewildered by this rush of happiness, scarce knew what she +said or did; but it was enough that she had Cuthbert back again +safe and sound.</p> +<p>To her the voices questioning and exclaiming and eagerly +displaying to her lover the treasure he had never been able to +examine and had never seen massed together, sounded like the murmur +of troubled waters. She stood with Cuthbert's hand in hers, gazing +at him as one in a dream, and it was only when Lady Humbert took +her hand and imprinted a kiss upon her cheek that she seemed +suddenly to awake from her trance.</p> +<p>"There, little one! I trow thou dost not half know what is in +store for thee! We shall lose our merry Kate, who must be +transformed into the Viscountess Culverhouse, instead of going home +chastened and repentant for her mad folly, as was once hoped, after +her imprisonment here. And as for our quiet Petronella, she too is +to find a home of her own with Master Philip, whose share of this +golden treasure will give him all he needs. But as for thee, little +one, Cross Way House will still be thy home; for Cuthbert will be +content to abide here with us so long as we live, and reign here +with thee after we are gone.</p> +<p>"So thou wilt still be beneath the stern rule of an aunt, little +one. How wilt thou like that? But thou wilt have a husband to +protect thee, so that thou needest not fear too greatly.</p> +<p>"Say, pretty child, art thou content with Cross Way House for a +home; or dost thou wish to seek for another?"</p> +<p>Cherry's answer was to put her arms timidly but lovingly about +Lady Humbert's neck, as she answered, with a little sob of pure +happiness:</p> +<p>"With Cuthbert I should be happy anywhere, and I love Cross Way +House dearly. If you will have me, I will gladly stay and strive to +be a daughter to you and Mistress Dowsabel. It is all like some +wonderful, beautiful dream. I never thought the lost treasure of +Trevlyn could bring such happiness with it!"</p> +<p>THE END.</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn +by Evelyn Everett-Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TREASURE OF TREVLYN *** + +***** This file should be named 16654-h.htm or 16654-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/5/16654/ + +Produced by Martin Robb + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn + A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot + +Author: Evelyn Everett-Green + +Release Date: September 5, 2005 [EBook #16654] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TREASURE OF TREVLYN *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Robb + + + + + +The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn +A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot + + +by Evelyn Everett-Green. + + +Chapter 1: The Inmates Of The Old Gate House. +Chapter 2: The Inmates Of Trevlyn Chase. +Chapter 3: The Lost Treasure. +Chapter 4: A Night On Hammerton Heath. +Chapter 5: The House On The Bridge. +Chapter 6: Martin Holt's Supper Party. +Chapter 7: The Life Of A Great City. +Chapter 8: Cuthbert And Cherry Go Visiting. +Chapter 9: The Wise Woman. +Chapter 10: The Hunted Priest. +Chapter 11: The Lone House On The River. +Chapter 12: May Day In The Forest. +Chapter 13: The Gipsy's Tryst. +Chapter 14: Long Robin. +Chapter 15: Petronella. +Chapter 16: The Pixies' Dell. +Chapter 17: Brother And Sister. +Chapter 18: "Saucy Kate." +Chapter 19: The Cross Way House. +Chapter 20: How It Fared With Cherry. +Chapter 21: The Gipsy's Warning. +Chapter 22: Whispers Abroad. +Chapter 23: Peril For Trevlyn. +Chapter 24: Kate's Courage. +Chapter 25: "On The Dark Flowing River." +Chapter 26: Jacob's Devotion. +Chapter 27: Yuletide At The Cross Way House. + + + +Chapter 1: The Inmates Of The Old Gate House. + + +"Dost defy me to my face, sirrah?" + +"I have no desire to defy you, father, but--" + +"But me no 'buts,' and father me no 'fathers,'" stormed the angry +old man, probably quite unconscious of the Shakespearian smack of +his phrase; "I am no father to heretic spawn--a plague and a curse +be on all such! Go to, thou wicked and deceitful boy; thou wilt one +day bitterly rue thy evil practices. Thinkest thou that I will +harbour beneath my roof one who sets me at open defiance; one who +is a traitor to his house and to his faith?" + +A dark flush had risen in the face of the tall, slight youth, with +the thoughtful brow and resolute mouth, as his father's first words +fell upon his ears, and throwing back his head with a haughty +gesture, he said: "I am not deceitful. You have no call to taunt me +with that vice which I despise above all others. I have never used +deceit towards you. How could you have known I had this day +attended the service of the Established Church had I not told you +so myself?" + +The veins on the old man's forehead stood out with anger; he +brought his fist heavily down on the table, with a bang that caused +every vessel thereon to ring. A dark-eyed girl, who was listening +in mute terror to the stormy scene, shrank yet more into herself at +this, and cast an imploring look upon the tall stripling whose face +her own so much resembled; but his fiery eyes were on his father's +face, and he neither saw nor heeded the look. + +"And have I not forbid--ay, and that under the heaviest +penalties--any child of mine from so much as putting the head +inside one of those vile heretic buildings? Would God they were +every one of them destroyed! Heaven send some speedy judgment upon +those who build and those who dare to worship therein! What wonder +that a son turns in defiance upon his father, when he stuffs his +ears with the pestilent heresies with which the wicked are making +vile this earth!" + +Nicholas Trevlyn's anger became so great at this point as well nigh +to choke him. He paused, not from lack of words, but from inability +to utter them; and his son, boldly taking advantage of the pause, +struck in once more in his own defence. + +"Father, you talk of pestilent heresies, but what know you of the +doctrines taught within walls you never enter? Is it a pestilent +heresy that Christ died to save the world; that He rose again for +our justification; that He sent the Holy Spirit into the world to +sanctify and gather together a Church called after His name? That +is the doctrine I heard preached today, and methinks it were hard +to fall foul of it. If you had heard it yourself from one of our +priests, sure you would have found it nothing amiss." + +"Silence, boy!" thundered the old man, his fury suddenly changing +to a white heat of passion, which was more terrible than the +bluster that had gone before. "Silence, lest I strike thee to the +ground where thou standest, and plunge this dagger in thine heart +sooner than hear thee blaspheme the Holy Church in which thou wast +reared! How darest thou talk thus to me? as though yon accursed +heretic of a Protestant was a member of the Church of Christ. Thou +knowest that there is but one fold under one shepherd, and he the +Pope of Rome. A plague upon those accursed ones who have perverted +the true faith and led a whole nation astray! But they shall not +lead my son after them; Nicholas Trevlyn will look well to that!" + +Father and son stood with the table between them, gazing fixedly at +one another like combatants who, having tested somewhat the +strength each of the other, feel a certain doubt as to the +termination of the contest, but are both ready and almost eager for +the final struggle which shall leave the victory unequivocally on +one side or the other. + +"I had thought that the Shepherd was Christ," said Cuthbert, in a +low, firm tone, "and that the fold was wide enough to embrace all +those baptized into His name." + +"Then thou only thinkest what is one more of those damnable +heresies which are ruining this land and corrupting the whole +world," cried Nicholas between his shut teeth. "Thou hast learned +none such vile doctrine from me." + +"I have learned no doctrine from you save that the Pope is lord of +all----of things temporal and things spiritual--and that all who +deny this are in peril of hell fire," answered the young man, with +no small bitterness and scorn. "And here, in this realm, those who +hold this to be so are in danger of prison and death. Truly this is +a happy state of things for one such as I. At home a father who +rails upon me night and day for a heretic--albeit I vow I hold not +one single doctrine which I cannot stand to and prove from the Word +of God." + +"Which thou hast no call to have in thine hands!" shouted his +father; "a book which, if given to the people, stirs up everywhere +the vilest heresies and most loathsome errors. The Bible is God's +gift to the Church. It is not of private interpretation. It is for +the priests to give of its treasures to the people as they are able +to bear them." + +"Ay, verily, and what are the people to do when the priests deny +them their rightful food?" cried Cuthbert, as hotly as his father. +"Listen to me, sir. Yes, this once I wilt speak! In years gone by, +when, however quietly, secretly, and privately, we were visited by +a priest and heard the mass, and received at his hands the Blessed +Sacrament, did I revolt against your wish in matters spiritual? Was +I not ever willing to please you? Did I not love the Church? Was +not I approved of the Father, and taught many things by him, +including those arts of reading and penmanship which many in my +condition of life never attain unto? Did I ever anger you by +disobedience or revolt?" + +"What of that, since you are doing so now?" questioned Nicholas in +a quieter tone, yet one full of suspicion and resentment. "What use +to talk of what is past and gone? Thou knowest well of late years +how thou hast been hankering after every vile and villainous heresy +that has come in thy way. It is thy mother's blood within thee +belike. I did grievous wrong ever to wed with one reared a +Protestant, however she might abjure the errors in which she was +brought up. False son of a false mother--" + +"Hold, sir! You shall not miscall my mother! No son will stand by +and hear that!" + +"I will say what I will in mine own house, thou evil, malapert +boy!" roared the old man. "I tell thee that thy mother was a false +woman, that she deceived me bitterly. After solemnly abjuring the +errors in which she had been reared, and being received into the +true fold, she, as years went by, lapsed more and more into her +foul heretical ways of thought and speech; and though she went to +her last reckoning (unshriven and unassoiled, for she would have no +priest at her dying bed) before ye twain were old enough to have +been corrupted by her precept and example, ye must have sucked in +heresy with your mother's milk, else how could son of mine act in +the vile fashion that thou art acting?" + +"I am acting in no vile fashion. I am no heretic. I am a true son +of the true Church." + +Cuthbert spoke with a forced calmness which gave his words weight, +and for a moment even the angry man paused to listen to them, eying +the youth keenly all the while, as though measuring his own +strength against him. Physically he was far more than a match for +the slightly-built stripling of one-and-twenty, being a man of +great height and muscular power--power that had in no wise +diminished with advancing years, though time had turned his black +locks to iron gray, and seamed his face with a multitude of +wrinkles. Pride, passion, gloomy defiance, and bitter hatred of his +kind seemed written on that face, which in its youth must have been +handsome enough. Nicholas Trevlyn was a disappointed, embittered +man, who added to all other faults of temperament that of a +hopeless bigot of the worst kind. He was the sort of man of whom +Inquisitors must surely have been made--without pity, without +remorse, without any kind of natural feeling when once their +religious convictions were at stake. + +As a young man he had watched heretics burning in Smithfield with a +fierce joy and delight; and when with the accession of Elizabeth +the tide had turned, he had submitted without a murmur to the fines +which had ruined him and driven him, a poverty-stricken dependent, +to the old Gate House. He would have died a martyr with the grim +constancy that he had seen in others, and never lamented what he +suffered for conscience' sake. But he had grown to be a thoroughly +soured and embittered man, and had spent the past twenty or more +years of his life in a ceaseless savage brooding which had made his +abode anything but a happy place for his two children, the +offspring of a late and rather peculiar marriage with a woman by +birth considerably his inferior. + +The firmness without the bitterness of his father's face was +reflected in that of the son as Cuthbert fearlessly finished his +speech. + +"I am a true son of the Church. I am no outcast--no heretic. But I +will not suffer my soul to be starved. It is the law of this land +that whatever creed men hold in their hearts--whether the tenets of +Rome or those of the Puritans of Scotland--that they shall +outwardly conform themselves to the forms prescribed by the +Establishment, and shall attend the churches of the land; and you +know as well as I do that there be many priests of our faith who +bid their flocks obey this law, and submit themselves to the powers +that be. And yet even with all this I would have restrained myself +from such attendance, knowing that it is an abhorrence unto you, +had there been any other way open to me of hearing the Word of God +or receiving the Blessed Sacrament. But since King James has come +to the throne, the penal laws have been more stringently enforced +against our priests than in the latter days of the Queen. What has +been the result for us? Verily that the priest who did from time to +time minister to us is fled. We are left without help, without +guidance, without teaching, and this when the clouds of peril and +trouble are like to darken more and more about our path." + +"And what of that, rash boy? Would you think to lessen the peril by +tampering with the things of the Evil One; by casting aside those +rules and doctrines in which you both have been reared, and +consorting with the subverters of the true faith?" + +"But I cannot see that they are subverters of the faith," answered +the youth hotly. "That is where the kernel of the matter lies. I +have heard their preachings. I have talked with my cousins at the +Chase, who know what their doctrine is." + +But at these words the old man fairly gnashed his teeth in fury; he +made a rush at his son and took him by the collar of his doublet, +shaking him in a frenzy of rage. + +"So!" he cried, "so! Now we get at the whole heart of the matter. +You have been learning heresy from those false Trevlyns at the +Chase--those renegade, treacherous, time-serving Trevlyns, who are +a disgrace to their name and their station! Wretched boy! have I +not warned you times and again to have no dealings with those evil +relatives? Kinsmen they may be, but kinsmen who have disgraced the +name they bear. I would I had Richard Trevlyn here beneath my hand +now, that I might stuff his false doctrine down his false throat to +choke him withal! And to think that he has corrupted my son, as if +the rearing of his own heretic brood was not enough!" + +Cuthbert was unable to speak; his father's hand pressed too tightly +on his throat. He did not struggle or resist. Those were days when +sons--ay, and daughters too--were used to receiving severe +chastisement from the parental hand without murmur: and Nicholas +Trevlyn had not been one to spare the rod where his son had been +concerned. His wrath seemed to rise as he felt the slight form of +the lad sway beneath his strong grasp. Surely that slim stripling +could be reduced to obedience; but the lesson must be a sharp one, +for plainly the poison was working, and had already produced +disastrous results. + +"Miserable boy!" cried Nicholas, his eyes blazing in their +cavernous hollows, "the time has come when this matter must be +settled betwixt us twain. Swear that thou wilt go no more to the +churches of the Protestant faction, be the laws what they may; +swear that thou wilt hold no more converse on matters of religion +with thy cousins at the Chase--swear these things with a solemn and +binding oath, and all may yet be well. Refuse, and thou shalt yet +learn, as thou hast not learned before, what the wrath of a wronged +and outraged father can be!" + +Petronella, the dark-eyed girl, who had all this while been +crouching back in her high-backed chair in an attitude of shrinking +terror, now sprang suddenly towards her brother, crying: "O +Cuthbert, Cuthbert! prithee do not anger him more! + +"Father, O dear sir, let but him go this once! He does not +willingly anger you; he does but--" + +"Peace, foolish girl, and begone! This is no time for woman's +whining. Thy brother and I can settle this business betwixt us +twain. But stay, go thou to my room and fetch thence the strong +whip wherewith I chastise the unruly hounds. Those who disobey like +dogs must be beaten like dogs. + +"But, an thou wilt swear to do my bidding in the future, and avoid +all pestilent controversy with those false scions of thy house, thy +chastisement shall be light. Defy me, and thou shalt feel the full +weight of my arm as thou hast never felt it before." + +Petronella had never seen her father so angry in all her life +before. True, he had always been a harsh, stern man, an unloving +father, a captious tyrant in his own house. But there had been +limits to his anger. It had taken more generally the form of sullen +brooding than of wild wrath, and the irritation and passion which +had lately been increasing visibly in him was something +comparatively new. + +Of late, however, there had been growing friction between Cuthbert +and his father. The youth, who had remained longer a boy in his +secluded life than he would have done had his lot been cast in a +wider sphere, was awakening at last to the stirrings of manhood +within him, and was chafing against the fetters, both physical and +spiritual, laid upon him by the life he was forced to lead through +the tyrannical will of his father. He was beginning, in a +semi-conscious fashion, to pant for freedom, and to rebel against +the harsh paternal yoke. + +When a struggle of wills commences, the friction continues a long +while before the spark is produced; but when some unwonted contest +has ignited this, the flame often bursts out in wonderful fury, and +the whole scene is thence forward changed. + +If the old man's blood was up today, Cuthbert's was no less so. He +shook himself free for a moment from his father's grasp and stood +before him, tall, upright, indignant, no fear in his face, but a +deep anger and pain; and his words were spoken with great emphasis +and deliberation. + +"I will swear nothing of all that. I claim for myself the right of +a man to judge for myself and act for myself. I am a boy no longer; +I have reached man's estate. I will be threatened and intimidated +no longer by any man, even though he be my father. I am ready and +willing to leave your house this very day. I am weary of the life +here. I would fain carve out fortune for myself. It is plain that +we cannot be agreed; wherefore it plainly behoves us to part. Let +me then go, but let me go in peace. It may be when I return to +these doors you may have learned to think more kindly of me." + +But the very calmness of these words only stung Nicholas to greater +fury. He had in full force that inherent belief, so deeply rooted +in the minds of many of the sons of Rome, that conviction as well +as submission could be compelled--could be driven into the minds +and consciences of recalcitrant sons and daughters by sheer force +and might. Gnashing his teeth in fury, he sprang once more upon his +son, winding his strong arms about him, and fairly lifting him from +the ground in his paroxysm of fury. + +"Go! ay, we will see about that. Go, and carry your false stories +and falser thoughts out into the world, and pollute others as you +yourself have been polluted! we will think of that anon. Here thou +art safe in thy father's care, and it will be well to think further +ere we let so rabid a heretic stray from these walls. Wretched boy! +the devil himself must sure have entered into thee. But fiends have +been exorcised before now. It shall not be the fault of Nicholas +Trevlyn if this one be not quickly forced to take flight!" + +All this while the infuriated man had been partly dragging, partly +carrying his son to a dreary empty room in the rear of the +dilapidated old house inhabited by Nicholas and his children. It +was a vault-like apartment, and the roof was upheld in the centre +by a stout pillar such as one sees in the crypts of churches, and +suspended round this pillar were a pair of manacles and a leather +belt. Cuthbert had many times been tied up to this pillar before, +his hands secured above his head in the manacles, and his body +firmly fastened to the pillar by the leather thong. Sometimes he +had been left many hours thus secured, till he had been ready to +drop with exhaustion. Sometimes he had been cruelly beaten by his +stern sire in punishment for some boyish prank or act of +disobedience. Even the gentle and timid Petronella had more than +once been fastened to the pillar for a time of penance, though the +manacles and the whip had been spared to her. The place was even +now full of terrors for her--a gruesome spot, always dim and dark, +always full of lurking horrors. Her eyes dilated with agony and +fear as she beheld her brother fastened up--not before his stout +doublet had been removed--and her knees almost gave way beneath her +as her father turned sharply upon her and said: "Where is the whip, +girl?" + +It was seldom that the maiden had the courage to resist her, stern +father; but today, love for her brother overcoming every other +feeling, she suddenly sank on her knees before him, clasping her +hands in piteous supplication, as she cried, with tears streaming +down her face: "O father, sweet father, spare him this time! for +the love of heaven visit not his misdoings upon him! Let me but +talk to him; let me but persuade him! Oh, do not treat him so +harshly! Indeed he may better be won by love than driven by blows!" + +But Nicholas roughly repulsed the girl, so that she almost fell as +he brushed past her. + +"Tush, girl! thou knowest not what thou sayest. Disobedience must +be flogged out of the heretic spawn. I will have no son of mine +sell himself to the devil unchecked. A truce to such tears and vain +words! I will none of them. And take heed that thine own turn comes +not next. I will spare neither son nor daughter that I find +tampering with the pestilent doctrines of heretics!" + +So saying, the angry man strode away himself in search of the +weapon of chastisement, and whilst Petronella sobbed aloud in her +agony of pity, Cuthbert looked round with a strange smile to say: +"Do not weep so bitterly, my sister; it will soon be over, and it +is the last beating I will ever receive at his hands. This settles +it--this decides me. I leave this house this very night, and I +return no more until I have won my right to be treated no longer as +a slave and a dog." + +"Alas, my brother! wilt thou really go?" + +"Ay, that will I, and this very night to boot." + +"This night! But I fear me he will lock thee in this chamber here." + +"I trust he may; so may I the better effect my purpose. Listen, +sister, for he will return right soon, and I must be brief. I have +been shut up here before, and dreaming of some such day as this, I +have worked my way through one of yon stout bars to the window; and +it will fall out now with a touch. Night falls early in these dark +November days. When the great clock in the tower of the Chase tolls +eight strokes, then steal thou from the house bearing some victuals +in a wallet, and my good sword and dagger and belt. Meet me by the +ruined chantry where we have sat so oft. I will then tell thee all +that is in my heart--for which time lacks me to speak now. + +"Hist! there is his returning step. Leave me now, and weep not. I +care naught for hard blows; I have received too many in my time. +But these shall be the last!" + +Petronella, trembling in every limb, shrank silently away in the +shadows as her father approached, the sight of his grim, stern face +and the cruel-looking weapon in his hands bringing quick thrills of +pain and pity to her gentle heart. Petronella was a very tender +floweret to have been reared amidst so much hardness and sorrow. It +was wonderful that she had lived through the helpless years of +infancy (her mother had died ere she had completed her second year) +with such a father over her, or that having so lived she had +preserved the sweetness and clinging softness of temperament which +gave to her such a strange charm--at least in the opinion of one. +Doubtless she owed much of her well being to the kindly care of an +old deaf and dumb woman, the only servant in that lonely old house, +who had entered it to nurse the children's mother through her last +illness, and had stayed on almost as a matter of course, receiving +no wage for her untiring service, but only the coarse victuals that +all shared alike, and such scanty clothing as was absolutely +indispensable. + +To this old crone Petronella fled with white face and tearful eyes, +as the sound of those terrible blows smote upon her ears with the +whistling noise that well betrayed the force with which they were +dealt. She quickly made the faithful old creature aware of what was +going on, and her sympathy was readily aroused on behalf of the +sufferer. The dumb request for food was also understood and +complied with. No doubt there had been times before when the girl +had crept with bread and meat in her apron to the solitary captive, +who was shut up alone without food till he should come to a better +mind. + +Of Cuthbert's intended flight she made no attempted revelation. She +must act now, and explain later, if she could ever make the old +woman understand, that her brother had fled, and had not been done +to death by his hard-hearted father. + +Supper was over. It had been at the close of that meal that the +explosion had taken place. She would not be called upon to meet her +father again that day. Fleeing up the broken stone staircase just +as his feet were heard returning from the vaulted room, she heard +him bang to the door of the living room before she dared to steal +into the little bare chamber where her brother slept, and where all +his worldly possessions were stored. + +The old Gate House was a strange habitation. Formerly merely the +gateway to the Castle, which had once reared its proud head upon +the crest of the hill to the westward, it had but scant +accommodation for a family--one living room below, flanked on one +side by the kitchen, and on the other by the vaulted chamber, once +possibly a guardroom, but so bitterly cold and damp now that it was +never used save for such purposes as had been witnessed there that +evening. A winding, broken stone stairway led upwards to a few very +narrow chambers above of irregular shape, and all lighted by +loophole windows deeply splayed. The lowest of these was the place +where Nicholas slept, and there was a slight attempt at furniture +and comfort; but the upper chambers, where Petronella and Cuthbert +retired out of the way of their father's sullen and morose temper, +were bare of all but actual necessities, and lacked many things +which would be numbered amongst essentials in later days. The stone +floors had not even a carpeting of rushes, the pallet beds lay on +the hard stone floor, and only the girl possessed a basin and ewer +for washing. Cuthbert was supposed to perform his ablutions in the +water of the moat without, or at the pump in the yard. + +But Petronella had small notion of the hardness of her life. She +had known no other, and only of late had she begun to realize that +other girls were more gently reared and tended. Since the family +had come to live at the Chase--which had only happened within the +past year--her ideas had begun to enlarge; but so far this had not +taught her discontent with her surroundings. + +She knew that her father had fled to the Gate House as a place of +retirement in the hour of his danger and need, and that nobody had +denied his right to remain there, though the whole property was in +the possession of Sir Richard Trevlyn, the nephew of her morose +parent. Nicholas, however, as may have been already gathered, bore +no goodwill towards his nephew, and would fain have hindered his +children from so much as exchanging a word with their kinsfolks. +But blood is thicker than water, and the young naturally consort +together. Nicholas had married so late in life that his children +were much about the same age as those of his nephew--indeed the +Trevlyns of the Chase were all older than Petronella. Sir Richard +had striven to establish friendly relations with his uncle when he +had first brought his family to the Chase, and had only given up +the attempt after many rebuffs. He encouraged his children to show +kindness to their cousins, as they called each other, and since +that day a ray of sunshine had stolen into Petronella's life, +though she was almost afraid to cherish it, lest it should only be +withdrawn again. + +As she hurried to the tryst that evening, this fear was only second +to the bitter thought of parting with Cuthbert. Yet she did not +wish him to stay. Her father's wrath and suspicion once fully +aroused, no peace could be hoped for or looked for. Terribly as she +would miss him, anything was better than such scenes as the one of +today. Cuthbert was no longer a child; he was beginning to think +and reason and act for himself. It was better he should fly before +worse had happened; only the girl could not but wonder what her own +life would be like if, after his departing, her stern father should +absolutely forbid her seeing or speaking to her cousins again. + +She knew he would gladly do it; knew that he hated and grudged the +few meetings and greetings that did pass between them from time to +time. Any excuse would gladly be caught at as a pretext for an +absolute prohibition of such small overtures, and what would life +be like, she wondered with a little sob, if she were to lose +Cuthbert, and never to see Philip? + +Her brother was at the trysting place first. She could not see his +face, but could distinguish the slight figure seated upon the +crumbling fragment of the wall. He was very still and quiet, and +she paused as she drew near, wondering if he had not heard her +light footfall upon the fallen leaves. + +"Is that thou, my sister?" asked a familiar voice, though feeble +and hollow in its tones. The girl sprang quickly to his side. + +"Yes, Cuthbert, it is I; and I have brought all thou biddest me, +and as much beside as I could make shift to carry. Alack, Cuthbert +are you sorely hurt? I heard that cruel whip!" + +"Think no more of that! I will think no more myself once the smart +be past. Think of the freedom thy brother will enjoy; would that +thou couldst share it, sweet sister! I like not faring thus forth +and leaving thee, but for the nonce there be no other way. + +"Petronella, I know thou wouldst ask whither I go and what I do. +And that I scarce know myself as yet. But sitting here in the dark +there has come a new purpose, a new thought to my mind. What if I +were to set myself to the discovery of the lost treasure of Trevlyn +Chase?" + +The girl started in the darkness, and laid her hand on her +brother's arm. + +"Ah, Cuthbert, that lost treasure! Would that thou couldst find it! +But how canst thou hope to do so when so many besides have failed?" + +"That is not the fashion in which men think when they mean to +triumph, my sister," said Cuthbert, and she knew by his voice that +he was smiling. "How this thing may be done I know not. Where the +long-lost treasure be hid I know not, nor that I may ever be the +one to light on it. But this I do know, that it is somewhere; that +some hand buried it; that even now some living soul may know the +secret of the hiding place. Petronella, hast thou ever thought of +it? Hast thou ever wondered if our father may know aught of it?" + +"Our father! nay, Cuthbert; but he would be the first to show the +place and claim his share of spoil." + +"I know not that. He hates Sir Richard. Methinks he loved not his +own brother, the good knight's father. He was in the house what +time the treasure vanished. Might he not have had some hand in the +mystery?" + +The girl shook her head again doubtfully. + +"Nay, how can I say? Yet methinks our father, who sorely laments +his poverty and dependence for a home upon Sir Richard's kindness, +would no longer live at the old Gate House had he riches hidden +away upon which he might lay his hand. Nay, Cuthbert, methinks thou +art not on the right track in thinking of him. But I do not rightly +know the story of that lost treasure." + +"Marry, nor I neither. I have heard our father rave of it. I have +heard a word here, a whisper there, but never a full account of the +matter. But that there is some great treasure lost or made away +with all men who know aught of the Trevlyns know well. And if, as +all affirm, this same treasure is but buried in some hiding place, +the clue to which none possesses, why should not I find it? Why +should not I be the man at last to track and to discover it?" + +Why not indeed? Petronella, full of ardent youthful imaginings, +fired instantly with the thought. Why should not her brother do +this thing? Why not indeed? She looked at him with eyes that shone +in the gloom like stars. + +"Yes, Cuthbert, be it thine to do what none else has been able. Be +it thine to discover this lost treasure. Would that I could help +thee in that quest! But I can give thee just this one morsel of +counsel. Start not till thou hast been to the Chase and heard all +the story from our cousins there. They will tell thee what there is +to know, and he is twice armed who has this knowledge." + +"I will follow thy good counsel, my sister, and commend thee to +their kindly care. And now, let us say farewell, and be brief; for +such moments do but wring the heart and take the manliness from +one. Farewell, and farewell, my sweetest sister. Heaven be thy +guide and protector; and be sure of one thing, that if I live I +will see thee soon again, and that if I have success in my search +thou and I will rejoice in it together." + + + +Chapter 2: The Inmates Of Trevlyn Chase. + + +Trevlyn Chase was a fine Tudor structure, standing on the site of +the more ancient castle that had been destroyed during the +tumultuous days of the Wars of the Roses. Instead of the grim pile +of gray masonry that had once adorned the crest of the wooded hill, +its narrow loopholes and castellated battlements telling of matters +offensive and defensive, a fair and home-like mansion of red brick +overlooked the peaceful landscape, adorned with innumerable oriel +windows, whose latticed casements shone brilliantly in the south +sunlight as it fell upon the handsome frontage of the stately +house. Great timbers deeply carved adorned the outer walls, and the +whole building was rich in those embellishments which grace the +buildings of that period. A fine terrace ran the whole length of +the south front, and was bounded at either side by a thick hedge of +yew. Stone steps led down into a terraced garden upon which much +care had been bestowed, and which in summer was bright with all the +flowers then known and cultivated in this country. Even in gloomy +winter there was more of order and trimness than was often found in +such places, and the pleasaunces and shrubberies and gardens of +Trevlyn Chase, with the wide fish ponds and terraced paths, formed +a pleasant place of resort almost at any season, and were greatly +delighted in by the children of the present owner, who had only +recently made acquaintance with their ancient family home. + +The setting sun was shining brightly now upon the windows of the +house which faced the south, with half a point of west, so that in +winter the sunlight shone to the very time of its setting into the +lofty and decorated chambers. The glow from blazing fires within +likewise shone and twinkled hospitably through the clear glass, and +one long window of one of the rooms stood open to the still evening +air, and a little group was gathered together just outside. + +A tall young man of some five-and-twenty summers, with the regular +Trevlyn features and a pair of honest gray eyes, was standing out +on the terrace with his face towards the red sky, a couple of +sporting dogs frisking joyously about him, as if hoping he was bent +upon a stroll in the woods. By his side stood a tall slim maiden, +bright faced and laughing eyed, straight as a dart, alert and +graceful in her movements, with an expression of courage and +resolution on her fair face that stamped it at once with a strong +individuality of its own. She was dressed simply, though in soft +and rich textures, as became her station, and she held her hood in +her hands, leaving her ruffled curly hair to be the sport of the +light night breeze. She had very delicate features and an oval +face, and from the likeness that existed between them the pair were +plainly brother and sister. + +Just within the open window were two more girls, dressed in the +same fashion as the first, and plainly her sisters, though they +were more blonde in type, and whilst very pretty, lacked the +piquant originality that was the great characteristic of the dark +girl's beauty. They were not quite so tall, and the elder of the +blonde pair was not nearly so slim, but had something of womanly +deliberation and dignity about her. She was plainly the eldest of +the three sisters, as the little maid beside her was the youngest. +All three were engrossed in some sort of talk that appeared full of +interest for them. + +"I wish he would not do it," said Philip, turning his eyes in an +easterly direction, towards a hollow in the falling ground, where +the ruins of the ancient wall could still be dimly traced. The old +Gate House itself could not be seen from this side of the house, +but it was plain that the thoughts of all had turned in that +direction. "It is brave of him to obey his conscience rather than +his father; but yon man is such a veritable tiger, that I fear me +there will be dark work there betwixt them if the lad provoke him +too far. Nicholas Trevlyn is not one to be defied with impunity. I +would that Cuthbert had as much prudence as he has courage." + +"So do not I," answered Kate quickly, turning her flashing eyes +full upon her brother. "I hate prudence--the prudence of cowardice! +I am right glad that Cuthbert thinks first of his conscience and +second of his father's wrath. What man who ever lived to do good in +the world was deterred from the right by craven fears? I honour him +for his single mindedness. He is a bold youth, and I would fain +help him an I could see the way." + +"We would all gladly do that," answered Philip; "the hard thing +being to find the way." + +"We shall find it anon, I doubt not," answered Kate. "Things cannot +go on ever as they are now." + +"No; methinks one day we may chance to hear that the old Papist has +done his son to death in a fit of blind fury. Then perhaps, my +sister, thou wilt join with me in wishing that the lad had shown +more regard for his stern sire's word." + +"Nay, Philip, sure thou fearest too much," spoke Cecilia from her +station beside the window. "Nicholas Trevlyn may be a dark and sour +man, but he scarce would lift a hand against his own flesh and +blood! I cannot believe it of any father." + +"Fathers of his type have done as bad ere now," answered Philip, +with gravity, "and there is no bigot like the Papist bigot, who is +soured and embittered by persecution himself. Cuthbert has told me +things ere this which show what an iron soul his father's is. He +believes that he would wring the neck of little Petronella sooner +than see her turn out of the path of unreasoning Papistry in which +he has brought her up," and Philip's face darkened suddenly as he +turned it towards his sisters. + +"But sure the King would protect them if he knew," said Bessie, the +youngest of the sisters. "Why, the law bids all loyal subjects go +to church, and punishes those who stay away. The King would be +sorely angry, would he not, were he to hear that any man dared use +force to hinder his children from going." + +Kate's delicate lips curved into a smile of derision, and Philip +shrugged his broad shoulders. + +"The King, my dear Bessie, is naught but a miserable pedant, who +loves nothing so well as hearing himself talk, and prating by the +hour together on matters of law and religion, and on the divine +right of kings. He is not the King such as England has been wont to +know--a King to whom his subjects might gain access to plead his +protection and ask his aid. I trow none but a fool would strive to +win a smile from the Scottish James. He is scarce a man, by all we +hear, let alone a King. I sometimes think scorn of us as a nation +that we so gladly and peaceably put our necks beneath the sceptre +of such an atomy. Sure had the Lady Arabella but been a man, we +should scarce have welcomed so gladly this son of Mary Stuart as +our monarch." + +"Have a care, my children, and talk not rank treason in such open +fashion," said a deep voice behind them, and the daughters started +to see the tall form of their father in the room behind them. "We +Trevlyns are none too safe from suspicion that we need endanger +ourselves wilfully. Whatever else James Stuart may be, he has shown +that he means to be a monarch as absolute as any who have gone +before him. Wherefore it behoves us to be cautious even in the +sanctuary of this peaceful home. + +"What is the matter, Kate, that thou art thus scornful towards his +majesty? In what has he offended thee, my saucy princess?" + +As Kate stepped within the room, followed by her brother, it was +plain from the lighting of her father's eyes that she was the +favourite daughter with him. He laid his hand lightly on her +shoulder, and she stood up close beside him, her bright face +upraised, a saucy gleam in her eyes, and both her attitude and +bearing bespoke an affectionate confidence between father and child +less common in those ceremonious days than it has since become. + +"Father, we were talking of Cuthbert. Did you see him at church +today? He was there both in the morning and the afternoon." + +"I thought I saw him. I was not sure. I am glad his father has had +the sense to relent thus far with him." + +"But he has not relented," answered Kate quickly. "Cuthbert comes +in defiance of his commands; and Philip says he misdoubts if his +father may not do him some grievous bodily harm in his rage and +fury. Bessie did ask if the King would not interfere to save him;" +and then Kate broke off with her rippling, saucy laugh. "I was just +answering that question when you came. But sure, father, something +might be done for him. It is a cruel thing for a boy to be treated +as he is treated, and all for striving to obey the law of the +land." + +Sir Richard Trevlyn stood in silent thought awhile. He was a +fine-looking man, with a thoughtful, benevolent countenance, and +eyes that Kate had inherited. He had known something of peril and +trouble himself in his day, and could feel for the troubles of +others. But he also knew the difficulties of dealing with such a +man as his kinsman Nicholas; and without bringing him to the notice +of the authorities as a concealed Papist--an idea repugnant to him +where one of his own name and blood was concerned--it was difficult +to see what could be done for the protection of the hapless +Cuthbert and his sister. + +Sir Richard Trevlyn did not wish to draw public attention upon +himself. It was his desire to live as quietly and privately as +possible. The Trevlyns had been for many generations a family +stanch to the doctrines and traditions of the Church of Rome, and +they had won for themselves that kind of reputation which clings +tenaciously to certain families even when it has ceased to be a +fact. The present Sir Richard's father had broken through the +traditions of his race in marrying a lady of the Reformed faith. It +was a love match, and all other considerations went to the winds. +The lady was no theologian, and though believing all she had been +taught, had no horror of Popery or of her husband's creed. They had +lived happily together in spite of their respective opinions; but +either through the influence of his wife, or through other causes +less well understood, Sir Richard the elder in his later life +became gradually weaned from the old faith, and embraced that of +his wife. Some said this was done from motives of policy, since +Elizabeth was on the throne, and the edicts against Papists, though +only rigidly enforced by fits and starts, were always in existence, +and had been the ruin of many ancient families. However that may +have been, the only son of this union had been trained up a +Protestant, and had brought up his own children as members of the +Established Church of the land. + +But still the old tradition remained that all Trevlyns must of +necessity be rank Papists, and Nicholas had certainly done all he +could to encourage this idea, and had ruined himself by his +contumacious resistance to the laws. Both his brother and his +nephew had suffered through their close relationship to such an +unruly subject, and there had been dark days enough for the family +during the Armada scare, when every Papist became a mark for +popular hatred, and professions of loyalty and good faith were +regarded with distrust. + +Now, however, the family seemed to have lived through its darkest +days. Peace had been made with men in high places. Sir Richard had +done good service to the State on more than one occasion; and +latterly he had felt sufficiently safe to retire from the +neighbourhood of the Court, where he had been holding some small +office, and settle down with his wife and family in his ancestral +home. His marriage with Lady Frances de Grey, the daughter of the +Earl of Andover, had given him excellent connections; for the +Andovers were stanch supporters of the Reformed faith, and had been +for several generations, so that they were high in favour, and able +to further the fortunes of their less lucky kinsman. It had taken +many years to work matters to a safe and happy conclusion, but at +the present moment there seemed to be no clouds in the sky. + +The new King had been as gracious as it was in his nature to be to +Sir Richard, and did not appear to regard him with any suspicion. +The knight breathed freely again after a long period of anxiety, +for the tenacious memory and uncertain temper of the late Queen had +kept him in a constant ferment. + +It had been a kindly and courageous thing for Sir Richard to permit +his contumacious and inimical kinsman to retain the possession of +the old Gate House. Nicholas had no manner of right to it, though +he was fond of putting forward a pretended claim; and the close +proximity of a rank and bitter Papist of his own name and race was +anything but a pleasant thing. But the sense of family feeling, so +strongly implanted in the English race, had proved stronger than +prudential scruple, and Nicholas had not been ejected, his nephew +even striving at the first to establish some kind of friendly +relations with the old man, hoping perhaps to draw him out of his +morose ways, and lead him to conformity and obedience to the +existing law. + +Nicholas had refused all overtures; but his lonely son and daughter +had been only too thankful for notice, and the whole family at the +Chase became keenly interested in them. It was plain from the first +that their father's bitterness and rigid rule had done anything but +endear his own views to his children. Petronella accepted the +creeds and dogmas instilled into her mind with a childlike faith, +and dreamed her own devotional dreams over her breviary and her +book of saints--the only two volumes she possessed. She was +content, in the same fashion that a little child is content, with +just so much as was given her. But Cuthbert's mind was of a +different stamp, and he had long been panting to break the bonds +that held both body and soul in thrall, and find out for himself +the meaning of those questions and controversies that were +convulsing the nation and the world. + +Intercourse with his kinsfolk had given him his first real insight +into the burning questions of the hour, and his attendance from +time to time at the parish church had caused him fresh access of +wonder at what his father could object to in the doctrines there +set forth. They might not embody everything a popish priest would +bid him believe, but at least they appeared to the boy to contain +all the integral truths of Christianity. He began dimly to +understand that the Papists were not half so much concerned in the +matter of cardinal doctrines of the faith as in asserting and +upholding the temporal as well as the spiritual power of the Pope; +and that this should be made the matter of the chiefest moment +filled the boy's soul with a loathing and disgust which were strong +enough to make him half a Protestant at once. + +Sir Richard had seen almost as much, and was greatly interested in +the lad; but it was difficult to know how to help him in days when +parental authority was so absolute and so rigidly exercised. + +"We must do what we can," said Sir Richard, waking from his reverie +and shaking his head. "But we must have patience too; and it will +not be well for the boy to irritate his father too greatly. +Tomorrow I will go to the Gate House and see my uncle, and speak +for the boy. He ought to have the liberty of the law, and the law +bids all men attend the services of the Established Church. But it +is ill work reasoning with a Papist of his type; and short of +reporting the case to the authorities, meaning more persecution for +my unlucky kinsman, I know not what may be done." + +"We must strive so to win upon him by gentle means that he permits +his children free intercourse with ours," said gentle Lady Frances +from her seat by the glowing hearth. "It seems to me that that is +all we may hope to achieve in the present. Perchance as days and +weeks pass by we may find a way to that hard and flinty heart." + +"And whilst we wait it may well be that Cuthbert will be goaded to +desperation, or be done to death by his remorseless sire," answered +impetuous Kate, who loved not counsels of prudence. "Methinks that +waiting is an ill game. I would never wait were I a man. I would +always aet--ay, even in the teeth of deadly peril. Sure the +greatest deeds have been achieved by men of action, not by men of +counsel and prudence." + +Sir Richard smiled, as he stroked her hair, and told her she should +have lived a hundred or so years back, when it was the fashion to +do and dare regardless of consequences. And gradually the talk +drifted away from the inmates of the old Gate House, though Philip +was quite resolved to pay an early visit there on the morrow, and +learn how it had fared with his cousin. + +Supper followed in due course, and was a somewhat lengthy meal. +Then the ladies retired to the stately apartment they had been in +before, and the mother read a homily to her daughters, which was +listened to with dutiful attention. But Kate's bright eyes were +often bent upon the casement of one window, the curtain of which +she had drawn back with her own hand before sitting down; and as +the moon rose brighter and brighter in the sky and bathed the world +without in its clear white beams, she seemed to grow a little +restless, and tapped the floor with the point of her dainty shoe. + +Kate Trevlyn was a veritable sprite for her love of the open air, +by night as well as day, in winter cold as well as summer heat. +"The night bird" was one of her father's playful names for her, and +if ever she was able to slip away on a fine night, nothing +delighted her more than to wander about in the park and the woods, +listening to the cries of the owls and night jars, watching the +erratic flight of the bats, and admiring the grand beauty of the +sleeping world as it lay beneath the rays of the peaceful moon. + +As the reading ceased, a step on the terrace without told Kate that +Philip was out for an evening stroll. Gliding from the room with +her swift undulating motion, and quickly donning cloak and clogs, +she slipped after him and joined him before he had got many yards +from the house. + +"Take me with thee, Philip," she said. "It is a lovely night for a +stroll. I should love to visit the chantry; it looks most witching +at this hour of the night." + +They took the path that led thither. The great clock in the tower +had boomed the hour of eight some time since. The moon had shaken +itself free from the veil of cloud, and was sailing majestically in +the sky. As they descended the path, Kate suddenly laid her hand on +her brother's arm, and whispered: + +"Hist! Methinks I hear the sound of steps. Surely there is some one +approaching us from below!" + +Philip paused and listened. Yes, Kate's quick ears had not deceived +her. There was the sound of a footstep advancing towards them along +the lonely tangled path. Philip instinctively felt for the pistol +he always carried in his belt, for there were often doubtful and +sometimes desperate men in hiding in woods and lonely places; but +before he had time to do more than feel if the weapon were safe, +Kate had darted suddenly from his side, and was speeding down the +path. + +"Marry but it is Cuthbert!" she called back to him as he bid her +stop, and Philip himself started forward to meet and greet the +newcomer. + +"We have been talking of you and wondering how it fared with you," +he said, as they reached the side of the youth "I am right glad to +see you here tonight." + +Cuthbert did not answer for a moment. He seemed to pant for breath. +A ray of moonlight striking down upon his face showed it to be +deadly white. His attitude bespoke the extreme of fatigue and +weakness. + +"Why, there is something amiss with you!" cried Philip, taking his +cousin by the arm. "Some evil hap has befallen you." + +"His father has half killed him, I trow!" cried Kate, with sudden +energy. "He could not else have received injury in these few hours. +Speak, Cuthbert; tell us! is it not so?" + +"I have been something rough handled," answered the lad in a low +voice; "but I did not feel it greatly till I began to climb the +hill. + +"I thank you, good Philip. I will be glad of your arm. But I am +better already." + +"You look like a veritable ghost," said Kate, still brimming over +with pity and indignation. "What did that miserable man do to you?" + +"Why, naught that he has not done a score of times before--tied me +to the pillar and flogged me like a dog. Only he laid his blows on +something more fiercely than is his wont, and doubled the number of +them. Perchance he had some sort of inkling that it was his last +chance, and used it accordingly." + +The bare trees did not screen the beams of the moon, and both +Philip and Kate could see the expression on Cuthbert's face. What +they read there caused Kate to ask suddenly and eagerly: + +"What meanest thou by that, Cuthbert? What plan hast thou in thine +head?" + +"Why, a mighty simple one--so simple that I marvel I have not +carried it out before. I could not live worse were I to beg my +bread from door to door, and I should at least have my liberty; and +if whipped for a vagabond, should scarce be so badly used as my +father uses me. Moreover, I have a pair of strong arms and some +book learning; and I trow I need never sink to beggary. I mind not +what I do. I will dig the fields sooner than be worse treated than +a dog. My mind is made up. I have left my father's house never to +return. I am going forth into the world to see what may befall me +there, certain that nothing can be worse than what I have left +behind." + +"Thou hast run away from thy cruel father? Marry, that is good +hearing!" cried Kate, with sparkling eyes. "I marvel we had none of +us thought of that plan ourselves; it is excellent." + +"It seemed the one thing left--the only thing possible. I could not +endure such thralldom longer," answered Cuthbert, speaking wearily, +for he was in truth well nigh worn out with the tumult of his own +feelings and the savage treatment he had received. "But I know not +if I shall accomplish it even now. My father may discover my +flight, pursue and bring me back. This very day I asked to leave +his house, and he refused to let me go. If he overtakes me I shall +be shut up in strait confinement; I shall be punished sorely for +this night's work. I must make shift to put as many miles as may be +betwixt myself and the Gate House tonight." + +"Nay, thou shalt do no such thing!" answered Kate, quickly and +warmly. "I have a better plan than that. Thou shalt come home with +us. My good father will gladly give thee shelter and protection. +Thou shalt remain in hiding with us till the hue and cry (if there +be any) shall be over past, and till thy wounds be healed and thou +hast regained thy strength and spirit; and then thou shalt start +forth reasonably equipped to seek thy fortune in the world; and if +thou wilt go to merry London, as I would were I a man with mine own +fortune to carve out, methinks I can give thee a letter to one +there that will secure thee all that thou needest in the present, +and may lead to advancement and good luck." + +Kate's thoughts always worked like magic. No sooner was an idea +formed in her busy brain than she saw the whole story unwinding +itself in glowing colours; and to hear her bright chatter as the +three pursued their way to the house, one would have thought her +cousin's fortune already made. A soft red glow had stolen into her +cheeks as she had spoken of the missive she could furnish, and +Philip gave her a quick glance, a smile crossing his face. + +Cuthbert was too faint and bewildered to take in all the sense of +Kate's words, but he understood that for the moment he was to be +cared for and concealed, and that was enough. Philip echoed his +sister's invitation to his father's house as his first stage on his +journey, and all that the lad remembered of the next few hours was +the dancing of lights before his dazzled eyes, the sound of +friendly voices in his ears, and the gentle ministrations of kindly +hands, as he was helped to bed and cosseted up, and speedily made +so comfortable that he fell off almost immediately into a calm +refreshing sleep that was like to be the best medicine he could +have. + +When Sir Richard rejoined his family, it was with a stern +expression on his face. + +"The boy has been grossly maltreated," he said. "It is no mere +paternal chastisement he has received this day, but such a flogging +as none but the lowest vagabond would receive at the hands of the +law. The very bone is in one place laid bare, and there be many +traces of savage handling before this. Were he not mine own uncle, +bearing mine own name, I would not let so gross an outrage pass. +But at least we can do this much--shelter the lad and send him +forth, when he is fit for the saddle, in such sort that he may +reach London in easy fashion, as becomes one of his race. The lad +has brains and many excellent qualities. There is no reason why he +should not make his way in life." + +"If he can be cured of his Papist beliefs," said Lady Frances; "but +no man holding them gets on in these days, and Cuthbert has been +bred up in the very worst of such tenets." + +"So bad that he is half disgusted with them before he can rightly +say why," answered Sir Richard with a smile. "There is too much +hatred and bitterness in Nicholas Trevlyn's religion to endear it +to his children. The boy has had the wit to see that the +Established Church of the land uses the same creeds and holds the +same cardinal doctrines as he has been bred up in. For the Pope he +cares no whit; his British blood causes him to think scorn of any +foreign potentate, temporal or spiritual. He has the making of a +good churchman in him. He only wants training and teaching. +Methinks it were no bad thing to send him to his mother's kindred +for that. They are as stanch to the one party as old Nicholas to +the other. The lad will learn all he needs there of argument and +controversy, and will be able to weigh the new notions against the +old. + +"Verily, the more I think of it the better I like the plan. He is +scarce fit for a battle with the world on his own account. Food and +shelter and a home of some sort will be welcome to him whilst he +tries the strength of his wings and fits them for a wider flight." + +"His mother's kindred," repeated Kate quickly, and with a shade of +hauteur in her manner. "Why, father, I have ever thought that on +their mother's side our cousins had little cause to be proud of +their parentage. Was not their mother--" + +"The daughter of a wool stapler, one Martin Holt, foster brother to +my venerated father, the third Earl of Andover," said Lady Frances, +quietly. "Truly, my daughter, these good folks are not in birth our +equal, and would be the first to say so; nevertheless they are +worthy and honest people, and I can remember that Bridget, my +mother's maid, who astonished us and deeply offended her relations +by a sudden and ill-judged marriage with Nicholas Trevlyn, was a +wonderfully well-looking woman. How and why such a marriage was +made none may rightly know now. I can remember that the dark-browed +Nicholas, who was but little loved at our house, took some heed to +this girl, greatly younger than himself, though herself of ripening +age when she let herself be persuaded into that loveless wedlock. +It was whispered that he had made a convert of her; the Jesuits and +seminary priests were hard at work, striving to win back their lost +power by increasing the number of their flock and recruiting from +all classes of the people. Nicholas was then a blind tool in the +hands of these men, and I always suspected that this was one of his +chief motives for so ill judged a step. At any rate, Bridget +pronounced herself a Romanist, and was married by a priest of that +Church according to its laws. Her family cast her off, and Nicholas +would let us have no dealings with her. Poor Bridget! I trow she +lived to rue the day; and the change of her faith was but a passing +thing, for I know she returned to her old beliefs when time had +allowed her to see things more clearly. + +"But to return to the beginning. If Bridget's brother, Martin Holt, +yet lives and carries on his father's business, as is most like, on +London Bridge, his house would be no bad shelter for this poor lad, +who will scarce have means or breeding as yet to take his place +with those of higher quality." + +"That is very true," said Sir Richard. "The lad is a right honest +lad, and his gentle blood shows in a thousand little ways; but his +upbringing has not fitted him for mingling with the high ones of +the world, and it would be well for him to rub off something of his +rustic shyness and awkwardness ere he tries to cut a fine figure. I +doubt not that Martin Holt would receive his sister's son." + +"A wool stapler!" muttered Kate, with a slight pout of her pretty +lips. "I was going to have sent him to Culverhouse with a letter, +to see what he would do for my cousin." + +"Lord Culverhouse could not do much," answered her father, with a +smile. "He is but a stripling himself, and has his own way yet to +make. And remember too, dear Lady Disdain, that in these times of +change and upheaval it boots not to speak thus scornfully of honest +city folks, be they wool staplers or what you will, who gain their +wealth by trading on the high seas and with foreign lands. Bethink +you that even the King himself, despite his fine phrases on divine +right, has to sue something humbly to his good citizens of London +and his lowlier subjects for those very supplies that insure his +kingly pomp. So, saucy girl, put not into young Cuthbert's head +notions that ill befit one who has naught to call his own save the +clothes upon his back. If he goes to these kinsfolk, as I believe +it will be well for him to do, it will behove him to go right +humbly and reverently. Remember this in talking with him. It were +an ill thing to do to teach him to despise the home where his +mother first saw light, and the kinsfolks who are called by her +name." + +Kate's sound sense and good feeling showed her the truth of her +father's words, and she dutifully promised not to transgress; but +she did not altogether relish the thought of the prospect in store +for her cousin, and as she went upstairs with Bessie to the +comfortable bed chamber they shared together, she whispered, with a +mischievous light dancing in her eyes: + +"Ah, it is one thing for the grave and reverend elders to plan, but +it is another for the young to obey. Methinks Cuthbert will need no +hint from me to despise the home of the honest wool stapler. He has +been bred in woods and forests. He has the blood of the Trevlyns in +his veins. I trow the shop on London Bridge will have small charms +for him. Were it me, I would sooner--tenfold sooner--join myself to +one of those bands of freebooters who ravage the roads, and fatten +upon sleek and well-fed travellers, than content myself with the +pottering life of a trader! Ah, we shall see, we shall see! I will +keep my word to my father. But for all that I scarce think that +when Cuthbert starts forth again it will be for London Bridge that +he will be bound!" + + + +Chapter 3: The Lost Treasure. + + +"And so it is to London thou wilt go--to the worthy wool stapler on +the Bridge?" and Kate, mindful of her promise to her parents, +strove to suppress the little grimace with which she was disposed +to accompany her words--"at least so my father saith." + +"Yes: he has been giving me good counsel, and methinks that were a +good beginning. I would gladly see London. Men talk of its wonders, +and I can but sit and gape. I am aweary of the life of the +forest--the dreary life of the Gate House. In London I shall see +men--books--all the things my heart yearns after. And my mother's +kindred will scarce deny me a home with them till I can find +somewhat to do; albeit I barely know so much as their name, and my +father has held no manner of communication with them these many +years." + +"Perchance they will not receive thee," suggested Kate, with a +laughing look in her eyes. "Then, good Cuthbert, thou wilt be +forced to trust to thine own mother wit for a livelihood. Then +perchance thou wilt not despise my poor little letter to my good +cousin Lord Culverhouse." + +"Despise aught of yours, sweet Kate! Who has dared to say such a +thing?" asked Cuthbert hotly. "Any missive delivered to my keeping +by your hands shall be doubly precious. I will deliver it without +fail, be it to mine own advancement or no." + +"Belike I shall claim your good offices yet, Master Letter +Carrier," answered Kate, with a laugh and a blush; "and I trow my +cousin will like you none the less for being bearer of my epistle. +But I am not to commend you to his good graces, as once I meant. It +is to your relatives you are first to look for help. It is like +rubbing the bloom off a ripe peach--all the romance is gone in a +moment! I had hoped that a career of adventure and glory lay before +you, and behold the goal is a home beneath a wool stapler's roof!" + +But there Kate caught herself up and blushed, bethinking what her +parents would say could they hear her words. + +But Cuthbert did not read the underlying scorn in merry Kate's +tones. He was a very simple-minded youth, and his life and training +had not been such as to teach him much about the various grades in +the world, or how greatly these grades differed one from the other. +He was looking at his cousin's bright face with thoughtful, +questioning eyes, so much so that the girl asked him of what he was +thinking. + +"Marry of thee, Mistress Kate," he answered; for though encouraged +to speak on terms of equality with his kinsfolk, he found some +difficulty in remembering to do so, and they certainly appeared to +him in the light of beings from another and a higher sphere than +his own. "I was longing to ask of thee a question." + +"Ask on, good Master Cuthbert," was the ready reply; "I will answer +to the best of my humble ability." + +"I have heard of this Lord Culverhouse from many beneath this roof +since I have been here. I would fain know who he is." + +"That is easy told. He is the eldest son of mine uncle, my mother's +brother, the fourth Earl of Andover. His eldest son bears the title +of Viscount Culverhouse, and he is, of course, our cousin. When we +were in London we saw much of these relatives of ours, and were +grieved to part from them when we left. Now, is it understood?" + +"Yes, verily. And tell me this one thing more, fair cousin, if it +be not a malapert question. Is it not true that thou art to wed +with this Lord Culverhouse one day?" + +Kate's face was dyed by a most becoming blush. Her eyes sparkled in +a charming fashion. Her expression, half arch, half grave, was +bewitching to see, but she laid her fingers on her lips as she +whispered: + +"Hush, hush! who told thee that, good Cuthbert? Methinks thou hast +over-sharp eyes and ears." + +"I prithee pardon me if I have seen and heard too much," answered +Cuthbert; "but I had a fancy--" + +He stopped, stammering, blushing, and Kate took pity on his +confusion. + +"I am not vexed," she said, smiling; "and in very sooth thou hast +divined what is in part the truth. But we do not dare talk of it +yet. There be so many weighty matters against us." + +Cuthbert looked keenly interested. He was very fond of this +sprightly cousin of his, who was so amusing, so kindly, and so +sisterly in her ways. She had more ease of manner, as well as +brightness of temperament, than her sisters, and her company had +been a source of great pleasure to him. The girl saw the look of +sympathetic curiosity upon his face, and she drew her chair a +little nearer to that which he occupied, stirring up the logs upon +the glowing hearth into a brighter blaze. + +"I' faith, Cuthbert, I will gladly tell thee all there is to know, +it is not much; and I like thee well, and trust thee to boot. Nor +is it such a mighty secret that Culverhouse would fain make me his +bride, and that I would give myself to him tomorrow an I might. I +am not ashamed of loving him," cried the girl, her dark eyes +flashing as she threw hack her dainty head with a gesture of pride +and womanly dignity, "for he is a right noble gentleman, and worthy +of any maiden's love; but whether we shall ever be united in +wedlock--ah, that is a vastly different matter!" and she heaved a +quick little sigh. + +"But wherefore not?" asked Cuthbert quickly. "Where could he find a +more beauteous or worthy wife?" + +Kate gave him a little bow of acknowledgment for his compliment, +but her face was slightly more grave as she made answer: + +"It is not, alack! a question of dislike to me. Were that all, I +might hope to win the favour of stern hearts, and bring the matter +to a happy conclusion. But no; mine uncle of Andover likes me well. +He openly says as much, and he has been a kind friend to us. And +yet I may not wed his son; and his kindness makes it the harder for +Culverhouse to do aught to vex or defy him." + +"But why may you not?" asked Cuthbert quickly. + +"There be more reasons than one, but I will tell you all in brief. +My own father mislikes the thought of the match, for that we are +cousins of the first degree; and though we Trevlyns of the older +branch no longer call ourselves the servants and followers of Rome, +yet old traditions linger long in the blood, and my father has +always set his face against a marriage betwixt cousins nearest +akin." + +Cuthbert looked thoughtful. That certainly was a difficulty hard to +be got over. He made no comment, but merely asked: + +"And my Lord of Andover--is that the objection with him?" + +"Not near so much. He would easily overlook that. There are no such +strict rules with Protestants, and his family have been for many +generations of the Reformed faith. But there is just as weighty an +argument on his side--namely, that my father can give me but a +scanty dower, and it is a very needful thing for Culverhouse to wed +with one who will fill his coffers with broad gold pieces. The +Trevlyns, as thou doubtless knowest, have been sorely impoverished +ever since the loss of the treasure. My father can give no rich +dower with his daughters; wherefore they be no match for the nobles +of the land. Oh, why was that treasure lost? Why could no man be +wise enough to trace and find it, when sure there must have been +many in the secret? Now that a generation has gone by, what hope is +there left? But for that loss my Lord of Andover would have +welcomed me gladly. The lost treasure of Trevlyn has much to answer +for." + +Kate spoke half laughingly, half impatiently, and tapped the +rush-strewn floor with the point of her shoe. Into Cuthbert's eyes +a sudden light had sprung, and leaning forward in the firelight, he +laid his hand upon his cousin's. + +"Kate," he said, in a low voice, "I have said naught of it +before--I feared it would sound but an idle boast, an idle dream; +but I am pledged to the search after the lost treasure. If it yet +lies hid, as men say it does, Cuthbert Trevlyn will find it." + +Kate gazed at him with wide-open eyes; but there was no trace of +mockery in them, rather an eager delight and excitement that was in +itself encouragement and stimulus. + +"Cuthbert, what meanest thou?" + +"Verily no more and no less than I say. Listen, Kate. I too am a +like sufferer with others of the race of Trevlyn. I have nor +wealth, nor hope, nor future, save what I may carve out for myself; +and my heritage, as well as yours, lies buried somewhere in these +great woods, no man may say where. It came upon me as I sat in pain +and darkness, the last hour I passed beneath my father's roof, that +this might be the work given to me to do--to restore to the house +of Trevlyn the treasure whose loss has been so sore a blow. I said +as much to my sister when we bid each other adieu in the moonlit +chantry; and she bid me, ere I started on the quest, come hither to +you and ask the story of that loss. We know but little ourselves; +our father tells us naught, and it is but a word here and a word +there we have gathered. But you know--" + +"We know well. We have been told the story by our mother from the +days of our childhood. I trow we know all there is to know. Why +hast thou not asked before, Cuthbert?" + +The lad blushed a little at the question. + +"Methought it would sound but folly in your ears," he said. "It was +easier to speak to Petronella in the dark chantry. Kate, wilt thou +tell me all thou knowest of this lost treasure? How and wherefore +was it lost, and why has no man since been able to find it?" + +"Ay, wherefore? that is what we all ask," answered Kate, with eyes +that flashed and glowed. "When we were children and stayed once a +few months here, we spent days together scouring the woods and +digging after it. We were sure we should succeed where others had +failed; but the forest yet keeps its secret, and the treasure has +never seen the light. Again and yet again have I said to Philip +that were I a man I would never rest till it was found. But he +shakes his wise head and says that our grandfather and father and +many another have wasted time and expended large sums of money on +the work of discovery, and without success. All of our name begin +to give credence to the story that the concealed treasure was found +and spirited away by the gipsy folks, who hated our house, and that +it has long since been carried beyond the seas and melted into coin +there. Father and Philip alike believe that the Trevlyns will see +it again no more." + +"Dost thou believe that, too?" + +"Nay, not I. I believe it will yet come back to us, albeit not +without due search and travail and labour. O Cuthbert, thy words +rejoice me. Would I were a man, to fare forth with thee on the +quest! What wilt thou do? How wilt thou begin? And how canst thou +search for the lost treasure an thou goest to thine uncle's house +in London?" + +"I must fain do that for a while," answered Cuthbert; "I dare not +linger so close to my father's home at this time. Moreover, the +winter is fast coming upon us, when the ground will be deep in +snow, and no man not bred to it could make shift to live in the +forest. To London must I go first. I trow the time will not be +wasted; for I will earn money in honest fashion, that I may have +the wherewithal to live when I go to seek this lost treasure. + +"And now, my cousin, tell me all the tale. I know not rightly how +the treasure was lost, and I have never heard of the gipsy folks or +their hatred to our house. It behoves me to know all ere I embark +on the quest." + +"Yea, verily; and I will tell thee all I know. Thou knowest well +that of old the Trevlyns were stanch sons to the Church of Rome, +and that in the days of Bloody Mary, as men call her now (and well +she merits the name), the Trevlyns helped might and main in hunting +down wretched Protestants and sending them to prison and the +stake?" + +"I have heard my father speak of these things," answered Cuthbert, +with a light shudder, calling to mind his father's fierce and +terrible descriptions of the scenes he had witnessed and taken part +in during those short but fearful years of Mary's reign, "but I +knew not it had aught to do with the loss of the treasure." + +"It had this much to do," answered Kate, "that my grandfather and +your father, who of course were brothers, were so vehemently hated +by the Protestant families, many of whose members had been betrayed +to death by their means--your father in particular was relentless +in his efforts to hunt down and spy out miserable victims--that +when the Queen was known to be dead, and her successor and +Protestant sister had been proclaimed in London, the Trevlyns felt +that they had cause to tremble for their own safety. They had +stirred up relentless enmity by their own relentless conduct, and +the sudden turn in fortune's wheel had given these enemies the +upper hand." + +"Ah!" breathed Cuthbert, "I begin to see." + +"The Trevlyns had not served the Bloody Queen and her minions +without reward," continued Kate, with flashing eyes; "they had +heaped together no small treasure whilst this traffic in treachery +had been going on, and in many cases the valuables of the victims +they had betrayed to death had passed into the keeping of the +betrayer. + +"Oh, it is a detestable thing to think of!" cried the girl, +stamping her foot. "No wonder the judgment of God fell upon that +unhallowed treasure, and that it was taken from its possessors! No +wonder it was doomed to lie hidden away till those who had gotten +it had passed to their last account, and could never enjoy the +ill-gotten gain. And they were punished too--ay, they were well +punished. They were fined terrible sums; they had to give back sums +equal to the spoil they had filched from others. Thy father, as +thou knowest, was ruined; and we still feel that pinch of poverty +that will be slow to depart altogether from our house. Yet it +serves us right--it serves us right! It is meet that the children +should suffer for the sins of their parents. I have not complained, +and I will not complain;" and Kate threw back her head, whilst her +eyes flashed with the stress of her feeling. + +"But the treasure?" questioned Cuthbert, eager to know more; "I +have not yet heard how it was lost." + +Thus recalled to her subject, Kate took up her narrative again. + +"You doubtless know that Queen Mary died in November of the year of +grace fifteen hundred and fifty-eight. In that year, some months +earlier, my father was born, and at the time of the proclamation of +the new Queen he was a tender infant. My grandfather was in London +about the Court, and his wife and child were here in this +house--the sumptuous mansion he and his father had built--not +dreaming of harm or ill. They had not heard of the death of one +Queen or the proclamation of the other till one dark winter's night +when, just as the household were about to retire to bed, my +grandfather and your father, Cuthbert, arrived at the house, their +faces pale with anxiety and apprehension, their clothes stained +with travel; the state of both riders and horses showing the speed +with which they had travelled, and betraying plainly that something +urgent had happened. The news was quickly told. Queen Mary was +dead. Bonfires in London streets were blazing in honour of +Elizabeth. The Protestants were everywhere in a transport of joy +and triumph. The Papists were trembling for their lives and for +their fortunes. No one knew the policy of the new Queen. All felt +that it was like enough she would inflict bloody chastisement on +those who had been the enemies of herself and of her Protestant +subjects. Even as the Trevlyn brothers had passed through the +streets of the city on their way out, they had been hissed and +hooted and even pelted by the crowd, some amongst which knew well +the part they had played in the recent persecutions. They had been +not a little alarmed by threats and menaces hurled at them even in +the precincts of St. James's, and it had become very plain to them +that they would speedily become the objects of private if not of +public vengeance. That being so, my grandfather was eager and +anxious to return to the Chase, to place his wife and child in some +place of safety; whilst your father's fear was all for the treasure +in gold and plate and valuables stored up in the house, which might +well fall an easy prey to the rapacious hands of spoilers, should +such (as was but too likely) swoop down upon the house to strive to +recover the jewels and gold taken from them when they were helpless +to oppose or resent such spoliation." + +"Then it was all laid by at the Chase--all the money and precious +things taken from others?" + +"Yes, and a vast quantity of silver and gold plate which had come +into the possession of former Trevlyns ever since the rise of the +family in the early days of the Tudors. The seventh Henry and the +eighth alike enriched our forefathers, and I know not what wealth +was stored up in the treasure room of this house now so drearily +void. But I mind well the story our grandam told us when we were +little children, standing at her knee in the ruddy firelight, of +that night when all this treasure was packed up in great chests and +boxes, and carried at dead of night by trusty servants into the +heart of the forest, and buried beneath a certain giant oak many +times pointed out to us, and well-nigh killed in after years by the +diggings around it in search of the missing hoard. To secure this +treasure, and bury it out of the reach of rapacious and covetous +hands, was the aim and object of that hurried journey taken on the +evening of the Queen's decease. None were in the secret save three +old servants, whose faithful loyalty to the family had been tested +in a thousand different ways. Those three, together with my +grandfather and your father, packed and transported with their own +hands this great treasure into the wood, and there entombed it. +None else knew of that night's work. No other eye saw what was +done. They worked the whole night through, and by the tardy dawn +all was done, and even the soil of the forest so cleverly arranged +that none could guess at the existence of that deep grave. And who +would guess the secret of that tangled forest? Even were it thought +that the gold and silver had been hid, who would have such skill as +to guess the spot, and go and filch it thence? And yet it must have +been carried away full soon. For Nicholas Trevlyn, in his anxious +greed, visited the spot not many weeks later--visited it by +stealth, for he and his brother were alike in hiding, waiting for +the first burst of vengeful fury to be over--and he found it gone! +He thought on the first survey that all was well; but on more +closely examining the ground his heart misgave him, for it appeared +to him as if the soil had been moved. With anxious haste he began +to dig, and soon his spade struck the lid of one of the chests. For +a moment he breathed again; but he was impelled to carry his search +farther. He uncovered the chest and raised the lid--it was empty! +In a wild fear and fury he dug again and again, and with the same +result. Every chest or box was in its place, but every one was +empty! The treasure had been spirited away by some spoiler's hand; +the treasure of Trevlyn was lost from that night forward!" + +Cuthbert was leaning forward drinking all in with eager curiosity. + +"My father discovered the loss--my father?" + +Kate nodded her head, and seemed to divine the thought in his mind, +for she answered as if he had spoken it aloud. + +"We have all thought of that. I know it is sometimes in my father's +mind as he looks at his kinsman's grim face; but our grand sire +never suspected him for a moment--nay, he vowed he was certain he +had had no part nor lot in the matter. For there was nothing but +accord between the brothers; they shared good and evil hap alike. +It was with his son, my father, who abjured the old faith and +became a Protestant, that your father picked a quarrel. He hated +his brother's wife, it is true; but he never appeared to hate his +brother. And he suffered more than any in the years that followed. +He lost his all, and has been a ruined man since. If he had a +secret hoard, sure he would scarce live the life he does now." + +"I know not. It seems scarce like; and yet I can never answer for +my father's moods, they are so wild and strange. But there is yet +one thing more I would ask. You spoke awhile ago of gipsies--of a +hatred they bore to our house. Tell me of that, I pray. Might it +have somewhat to do with the stealing of the treasure?" + +"That is what some have thought, though with what truth none can +say. The story of that is soon told. Many long years agone now, the +Trevlyn whose portrait hangs below in the hall--our great +grandfather--gave sentence upon an old gipsy woman that she should +be burnt as a witch. Men said of her that she had overlooked their +children and their cattle: that the former had become sick or +silly, and that the latter had incontinently died of diseases none +had heard of before. There was such a hue and cry about her, and so +many witnesses to testify the harm she had done, that all men held +the case proven, and she was burnt in the sight of all the village +out upon the common yonder by order of our forefather, whose office +it was to see the law enforced. There were then many of these gipsy +folk scattered about the common and forest, and this old witch +belonged to them. They mustered strong upon the heath, and it was +said that if the villagers had not been too strong for them they +would have rescued the witch as she was led out to die. But the +Trevlyns, when a thing has to be done, are wont to carry it +through; and your grandfather, Cuthbert, was prepared against any +such attempt, and the thing was done as had been decreed. The old +woman went bravely to her death, but she turned as she passed Sir +Richard and cursed him with a terrible curse. Later on some rude +verses were found fastened to the wall of the church, and it was +said by those who had heard the curse that these verses contained +the same words. The paper was burnt by the haughty knight; but my +grandam remembered some of the lines--she had got a sight of the +paper--and used to tell them to us. I cannot recall them to memory +now, but there was something about loss of gold and coming woe, +years of strife and vengeful foe. And when years after the Trevlyn +treasure was lost, there were many who vowed that it had been the +work of the gipsy tribe, who had never forgotten or forgiven, and +who had been waiting their turn to take vengeance upon the +descendants of their old enemy." + +"It seems not unlike," said Cuthbert, thoughtfully; "and if that be +so, the treasure will most like be dissipated to the four winds by +now. It would be divided amongst the tribe, and never be seen +within the walls of Trevlyn again." + +"That I know not," answered Kate, and she drew a little nearer to +her cousin. "Cuthbert, dost thou believe in old saws? Dost thou +believe those predictions which run in old families, and which men +say work themselves out sometimes--in after generations?" + +"I scarce know," answered Cuthbert, "I hear so little and see so +little. I know not why they should not be true. Men of old used to +look into the future, and why not now? But why speakest thou thus, +sweet cousin?" + +"Marry that will I tell thee, Cuthbert; but my mother chides me for +such talk, and says it befits not a discreet and godly maiden. Yet +I had it from mine own grandam, my father's mother, and she was a +godly woman, too." + +"And what did she tell thee?" + +"My grandam was a Wyvern," said Kate, "as perchance thou knowest, +since the match pleased not thy father. And she was not the first +Wyvern who had married a Trevlyn. It was Isabel Wyvern, her aunt, +who had wedded with the redoubtable Sir Richard who had burnt the +old witch, and I trow had he been married when the old beldam was +brought before him he would have dealt more mercifully with her; +for the Wyverns ever protected and helped the gipsy folk, and +thought better of them than the rest of the world. Well, be that as +it may, my grandam had many stories about them and their strange +ways, their fashion of fortune telling and divining, and the +wonderful things they could foretell. Many a time had a Wyvern been +saved from danger and perhaps from death by a timely warning from +one of the gipsy folk; and from a child she went fearlessly amongst +them, though all men else shunned and hated them." + +"But the prediction--the prediction?" demanded Cuthbert eagerly. + +"I am coming to that," answered Kate. "It is a prediction about the +descendants of the Wyverns. My grandam knew it by heart--she had a +wondrous memory--but my mother would never let me write down such +things. She loved them not, and said they had better be forgotten. +But though I cannot recall the words, the meaning stays still with +me. It was that though death might thin the ranks of the Wyverns, +and their name even die out amongst men, yet in the future they +should bring good hap to those who wed with them, and that some +great treasure trove should come to the descendants in another +generation. Now, Cuthbert, though the name of Wyvern has died +out--for the sons went to the Spanish main, and were killed +fighting for the honour of England and the Queen in the days of +Elizabeth; and the daughters are married, and have lost their title +to the old name--yet thou and I have their blood in our veins. Your +grandam and mine were alike of the house of Wyvern. Wherefore it +seems to me that if this treasure is to be the treasure trove of +the old saw, it behoves some of us to find it, and why not thou as +well as another? Philip is like to our mother, who loves not and +believes not such saws. Our father says that if stolen the treasure +must long since have been scattered and lost. Of all our house +methinks I am the only one who believes it will yet be found, as I +know my grandam did. And so I say to thee, 'Go forth, and good hap +attend thee.' Thou art as much a Wyvern as I, and we will have +faith that all will be yet restored." + +Cuthbert rose to his feet and shook back his hair. His dark eyes +flashed with the fixity of his purpose. + +"I will never despair till the treasure is found. Prithee, good +cousin, show me the spot where it was buried first." + +Cuthbert never stirred outside the house till after dark. He was +still in hiding from his father, who knew not his whereabouts, and +was still on the watch for the truant, believing him to be lurking +about in the forest around his home. Philip had once contrived to +see Petronella and soothe her fears, telling her that her brother +was safe, and would be sent forth to their kinsfolk in London so +soon as he was fit for the long ride. But many evening rambles had +been taken by the youth, who panted for the freedom of the forest, +to which he was so well used; and Kate delighted in any excuse for +a moonlight stroll. + +The place was soon found. Kate had visited it so often that the +tangled path which led thither was as familiar to her as if it had +been a well-beaten road. It lay right away in the very heart of the +forest, and save for the majestic size of the oak beneath which the +chests had been buried, had nothing to mark the spot. Now there +were traces of much digging. The ground all around had been +disturbed again and yet again by eager searchers, each hopeful to +come upon some clue missed by all the rest. But nothing, save the +remains of a few iron-bound chests, served to show that anything +had once been secreted there; and the moonlight shone steadily and +peacefully down upon the scene of so many heart-burnings and +grievous disappointments, as though such things did not and could +not exist in such a still and lovely place. + +"Ah, if she would but tell us all she has seen!" said Kate, looking +up towards the silver Queen of Night. But the moon kept her own +secret, and presently the pair turned away. + +"Shall we go back by the chantry?" asked Cuthbert, with some +hesitation; "I should like to see it once again." + +"Let us," answered Kate; "we are not like to meet thy father. He +has given up by now his watch around the house. Moreover, I have +eyes and ears like a wildcat. None can approach unawares upon us. I +can feel a human presence ere I see it." + +Cuthbert did not lack courage, and was quite willing to chance the +small risk there was of an encounter with his father. He felt that +he could slip away unseen were that stern man to be on the watch. +Each day that had passed beneath his uncle's roof had helped him to +realize more of the freedom of the subject; and very soon he would +be beyond the reach of pursuit, and on his way to London. + +As they approached the chantry Kate laid a hand upon his arm. + +"Hist!" she said softly. "Pause a moment; I hear voices!" + +He stopped instantly; and making a sign of caution to him, Kate +glided a few steps onward. Then she paused again, and made a sign +to him to come. + +"It is all well--there is no fear. It is Philip and Petronella." + +"Petronella, my sister! Nay, but this is a happy chance!" cried +Cuthbert, springing eagerly forward; and the next moment +Petronella, with a little cry of mingled joy and fear, had flung +herself into her brother's arms. + +"Cuthbert, dear Cuthbert! How I have longed to see thee once again! +Hast thou come to say farewell?" + +"In truth, methinks it must be farewell," answered Cuthbert, +holding her tenderly to him, whilst he caressed her hair and her +soft cheek with his hand. "I may not linger too long in my kind +uncle's house, lest the matter should come to my father's ears, and +a worse breach be made that might cause thee to suffer more, sweet +sister. And now, since I may be faring forth tomorrow, tell me of +thyself. How go matters at the Gate House? What said our father to +my flight?" + +"He is right furious thereat, and raged for two days like a madman, +so that I durst not venture near him." + +"He laid no hand on thee?" asked Cuthbert quickly clinching his +hand in the darkness. + +"Nay, he did but threaten; but as I told him all I knew, he could +do no more. I said that thou hadst fled--that thou couldst brook +such a life no longer, and had told him so many times thyself. I +did not know myself where thou hadst gone when first he spoke, and +he has asked me no question since. Tell me not too much, lest I +have to tell it to him." + +"Nay, once in London and I fear him not," answered Cuthbert. "There +the law would protect me, since my father's only complaint against +me is that I conform to that. I go first to our mother's relatives, +sweet sister, They will give me food and shelter and a home, I +trow, during the inclement months of the winter now before us. +Later on "--he bent his head and whispered in her ear--"later on, +if kind fortune befriend me, I shall return to these parts and +commence that search of which we have spoken before now. My sister, +if thou canst glean anything from our father anent the treasure, +when his less gloomy moods be upon him, store up in thine heart +every word, for some think even yet that he knows more than others. +I am sad at heart to leave thee in such a home! I would fain take +thee with me." + +"Nay, that may not be. I should be but a stay and a burden; and I +can help thee better here at home by my prayers. I will pray each +hour of the day that the Holy Virgin will watch over thee and bless +thee, and give us a happy meeting in the days to come." + +"And I will charge myself to watch over Petronella," said Philip, +stepping forward out of the shadow. "I will be a protector--a +brother--to her whilst thou art away. She shall not feel too +heavily her harsh father's rule. Amongst us we will find a way to +ease her of a part of that burden." + +The glance turned upon Philip by those big shadowy eyes told a tale +of trustful confidence that set the young man's heart beating in +glad response. He took in his the little hand trustingly held out, +and drew Petronella towards him. + +"You will trust her to me, good Cuthbert?" + +"Gladly, thankfully, confidently!" answered the lad, with great +earnestness; and he thought within himself that if he had the whole +of the Trevlyn treasure to lay at the feet of these kinsmen, it +could hardly be enough to express his gratitude to them for their +timely and generous help in his hour of sore need. + +"I will win it back--I will, I will!" he said in his heart, as he +walked up the hill with Kate tripping lightly beside him, Philip +having lingered to watch Petronella safely within the shelter of +the gloomy walls of the Gate House. "She shall have her dower, that +she may wed this gay Lord Culverhouse. My sweet sister shall be +dowered, too, and in no danger of spending all her youth and +sweetness shut up between those gloomy walls. Fortune will smile +once more upon all those who have the blood of the Trevlyns and +Wyverns in their veins. I believe in the old prediction. I believe +that the treasure trove will come, and that it will prove to be the +lost treasure of the house of Trevlyn!" + + + +Chapter 4: A Night On Hammerton Heath. + + +"Farewell, Cuthbert, farewell, farewell! Heaven speed you on your +way! We shall look for tidings of you some day. And when the long +summer days come upon the green world, perchance you may even make +shift to ride or walk the twenty miles that separates us from +London to tell of your own well being and ask of ours." + +These and many like words were showered on Cuthbert as he sat his +steed at the door of Trevlyn Chase, as the dusk was beginning to +gather, and his uncle and cousins stood clustered together on the +steps to see him ride forth to seek his fortune, as Kate insisted +on calling it, though her father spoke of it rather as a visit to +his mother's kinsfolks. + +Cuthbert had been very loath to go. He had found himself happier +beneath his uncle's roof than ever he had been before (Sir Richard +was in point of fact his cousin, but the lad had given him the +title of uncle out of respect, and now never thought of him as +anything else), but he knew that to linger long would be neither +safe nor possible. + +Only his strange and savage life had prevented the news of his +son's present quarters from coming to the knowledge of the angry +Nicholas, and all were feeling it better for the young man to take +his departure. Now the moment of parting had really come, and +already the hope of a flying visit to the Chase in the summer next +to follow was the brightest thought to lighten the regrets of the +present. + +"Ay, that will I gladly do!" cried the lad, with kindling eyes. +"Why, twenty miles is naught of a journey when one can rise with +the midsummer sun. I trow I shall pine after the forest tracks +again. I shall have had enough and to spare of houses and cities by +the time the summer solstice is upon us." + +"We shall look for you, we shall wait for you!" cried Kate, waving +her hand; and as it was fast growing dark, Sir Richard made a sign +of dismissal and farewell, and Cuthbert moved slowly along the dark +avenue, Philip walking beside his bridle rein for a few last words. + +Cuthbert would have liked his sister to have seen him go forth, but +that was not thought advisable. He wore an old riding suit of +Philip's, which had fitted the latter before his shoulders had +grown so broad and his figure assumed its present manly +proportions. It suited Cuthbert well, and in spite of its having +seen some service from its former owner, was a far better and +handsomer dress than anything he had ever worn before, His own +meagre wardrobe and few possessions were packed in the saddlebag +across the saddle. His uncle had made no attempt to send him out +equipped as a relative of the house of Trevlyn, and Cuthbert was +glad that there should be no false seeming as to his condition when +he appeared at Martin Holt's door. Sir Richard had given him at +parting a small purse containing a couple of gold pieces and a few +silver crowns, and had told him that he might in London sell the +nag he bestrode and keep the price himself. He was not an animal of +any value, and had already seen his best days, but he would carry +Cuthbert soberly and safely to London town; and as the lad was +still somewhat weak from his father's savage treatment, he was not +sorry to be spared the long tramp over the deep mud of winter +roads. + +"I would not have you travel far tonight," said Philip, as he paced +beside the sure-footed beast, who leisurely picked his way along +the familiar road. "The moon will be up, to be sure, ere long; but +it is ill travelling in the night. It is well to get clear of this +neighbourhood in the dark, for fear your father might chance to +espy you and make your going difficult. Yet I would have you ask +shelter for your steed and yourself tonight at the little hostelry +you will find just this side Hammerton Heath. The heath is an ill +place for travellers, as you doubtless know. If you should lose the +road, as is like enough, it being as evil and rough a track as well +may be, you will like enough plunge into some bog or morass from +which you may think yourself lucky to escape with life. And if you +do contrive to keep to the track, the light-heeled gentlemen of the +road may swoop down upon you like birds of prey, and rob you of the +little worldly wealth that you possess. Wherefore I counsel you to +pause ere you reach that ill-omened waste, and pass the night at +the hostel there. The beds may be something poor, but they will be +better than the wet bog, and you will be less like to be robbed +there than on the road." + +"I will take your good counsel, cousin," said Cuthbert. "I have not +much to lose, but that little is my all. I will stop at the place +you bid me, and only journey forth across the heath when the +morrow's sun be up." + +"You will do well. And now farewell, for I must return. I will do +all that in me lies to watch over and guard Petronella. She shall +be to me as a sister, and I will act a brother's part by her, until +I may have won a right to call her something more. Have no fears +for her. I will die sooner than she shall suffer. Her father shall +not visit on her his wrath at your escape." + +The cousins parted on excellent terms, and Cuthbert turned, with a +strange smile on his brave young face, for a last look at the old +Gate House, the gray masonry of which gleamed out between the dark +masses of the leafless trees, a single light flickering faintly in +an upper casement. + +"Petronella's light!" murmured Cuthbert to himself. "I trow well +she is thinking of me and praying for me before the little shrine +in the turret. May the Holy Saints and Blessed Virgin watch over +and protect her! I trust the day may come ere long when I may have +power to rescue her from that evil home, and give to her a dower +that shall make her not unworthy of being Philip's wife." + +By which it may be seen that Cuthbert's thoughts were still running +on the lost treasure, and that he had by no means relinquished his +dream of discovery through hearing how others had sought and +failed. + +"If I may but win a little gold in these winter days when the +forest is too inhospitable to be scoured and searched, I can give +the whole of the summer to the quest. I will find these gipsies or +their descendants and live amongst them as one of them. I will +learn their ways, win their trust, and gradually discover all that +they themselves know. Who dare say that I may not yet be the one to +bring back the lost luck to the house of Trevlyn? Has it always +been the prosperous and rich that have won the greatest prize? A +humble youth such as I may do far more in the wild forest than +those who have been bred to ease and luxury, and have to keep state +and dignity." + +Thus musing, Cuthbert rode slowly along in the light of the rising +moon, his thoughts less occupied with the things he was leaving +behind than with thoughts of the future and what it was to bring +forth. The lad had all the pride of his house latent within him, +and it delighted him to picture the day when he might return all +Sir Richard's benefits a thousandfold by coming to him with the +news of the lost treasure, and bidding him take the elder brother's +share before ever his own father even knew that it had been found +at last. His heart beat high as he pictured that day, and thought +how he should watch the light coming into Kate's bright eyes, as +the obstacle to her nuptials should be thus removed. Sure she could +coax her father to remove his veto and overlook the cousinship if +she had dower to satisfy Lord Andover. And if the Trevlyn treasure +were but half what men believed, there would be ample to dower all +three daughters and fill the family coffers, too. + +"In truth it is a thing well worth living for!" cried the eager +lad, as he pushed his way out of the wood and upon the highroad, +where for a time travelling was somewhat better. "And why should I +not succeed even though others have failed? My proud kinsmen have +never lived in the forest themselves, learning its every secret +winding track, making friends of its wild sons and daughters, +learning the strange lore that only the children of the forest +gather. What chance had they of learning secrets which but few may +know? I trow none. I will not believe that great treasure has been +cast away to the four winds. I verily believe it is still hidden +away beneath the earth in some strange resting place known but to a +few living souls. What do these wild gipsy folks want with gold and +silver and jewels? They have all they need with the heavens above +them and the earth beneath. They may love to have a buried hoard; +they may love to feel that they have treasure at command if they +desire it; but I can better believe they would keep it safe hidden +in their forest or moorland home than that they would scatter it +abroad by dividing it amongst their tribe. Moreover, any such +sudden wealth would draw upon them suspicion and contumely. They +would be hunted down and persecuted like the Jews in old days. No: +they may well have stolen it out of revenge, but I believe they +have hidden it away as they took it. It shall be my part to learn +where it lies; and may the Holy Saints aid and bless me in the +search!" + +Cuthbert crossed himself as he invoked the Saints, for at heart he +was a Romanist still, albeit he had had the wit to see that the +same cardinal doctrines were taught by the Established Church of +the land, whose services he had several times attended. And even as +he made the gesture he became suddenly aware that he was not alone +on the road. A solitary traveller mounted on a strong horse was +standing beneath the shadow of a tree hard by, and regarding his +approach with some curiosity, though the lad had not been aware of +his close proximity until his horse paused and snorted. + +"Good even, young man," said this traveller, in a pleasant voice +that bespoke gentle birth. "I was waiting to see if I had an enemy +to deal with in the shape of one of those rogues of the road, +cutpurses or highwaymen, of whom one bears so many a long tale. But +these travel in companies, and it behoves wise travellers to do +likewise. How comes it that a stripling like you are out alone in +this lone place? Is it a hardy courage or stern necessity?" + +"I know not that it is one or the other," answered Cuthbert. "But I +have not far to go this night, and I have not much to lose, though +as that little is my all I shall make a fight ere I part with it. +But by what I hear there is little danger of molestation till one +reaches Hammerton Heath. And I propose to halt on the edge of that +place, and sleep at the hostelry there." + +"If you follow my counsel, my young friend," said the stranger as +he paced along beside Cuthbert, "you will not adventure yourself in +that den of thieves. Not long ago it was a safe place for a +traveller, but now it is more perilous to enter those doors than to +spend the darkest night upon the road. The new landlord is in +league with the worst of the rogues and foot pads who frequent the +heath, and no traveller who dares to ask a night's shelter there is +allowed to depart without suffering injury either in person or +pocket. Whither are you bound, my young friend, if I may ask the +question?" + +"For London, sir. I have an uncle there whom I am about to seek. +But the way is something strange to me when the heath be passed, +and I know not if I can find it in the dark." + +"I also am bound for London," answered the stranger, "and in these +days it is better to travel two than one, and four than two. But +being no more than two, we must e'en hope for the best if we fall +not in with other belated travellers. My business brooked not +delay; wherefore I came alone. I mislike the fetter of a retinue of +servants, and I have had wonderful good hap on the roads; but there +be others who tell a different tale, and I often join company when +I find a traveller to my liking going my way." + +Cuthbert was glad enough to have a companion. This man was many +years his senior, so that he was somewhat flattered by the +proposition of riding in his company; moreover, he was plainly a +gentleman of some condition, whose fancy it was (not his necessity) +to travel thus unattended. Also he was speedily conscious of a +strange sense of fascination which this stranger exercised upon +him, for which he could not in the least account; and he quickly +found himself answering the questions carelessly addressed to him +with a freedom that surprised himself; for why should there be such +pleasure in talking of himself and his prospects to one whose name +he did not even know? + +When first he had pronounced his name, he observed that the +stranger gave him a quick, keen glance; and after they had been +some time in conversation, he spoke with a sudden gravity and +earnestness that was decidedly impressive. + +"Young man, I trust that you are loyal and true to the faith of +those forefathers of yours who have been one of England's brightest +ornaments. In these latter days there has been a falling away. Men +have let slip the ancient truths. Love of the world has been +stronger within them than love of the truth. They have let +themselves be corrupted by heresy; they have lost their first love. +I trust it is not so with you. I trust you are one of the faithful +who are yet looking for brighter days for England, when she shall +be gathered again to the arms of the true Church. But a few minutes +ago I saw you make the holy sign, and my heart went out to you as +to a brother. These Protestants deny and contemn that symbol, as +they despise and contemn in their wantonness the ordinances of God +and the authority of His Vicar. I trust you have not fallen into +like error; I trust that you are a true son of the old stock of +Trevlyn?" + +"I know little of such disputed matters," answered Cuthbert, made a +little nervous by the ardent glance bent upon him from the bright +eyes of the speaker. He had a dark, narrow face, pale and eager, a +small, pointed beard trimmed after the fashion of the times, and +the wide-brimmed sugar-loaf hat drawn down upon his brows cast a +deep shadow over his features. But his voice was peculiarly +melodious and persuasive, and there was a nameless attraction about +him that Cuthbert was quick to feel. Others in the days to follow +felt it to their own undoing, but of that the lad knew nothing. He +only wished to retain the good opinion this stranger seemed to have +formed of him. + +"I have led but a hermit's life, as I have told you. I have been +bred up in the faith of my forefathers, and that faith I believe. +What perplexes me is that those who hold the Established or +Reformed faith, as men term it, have the same creeds, the same +doctrines as we ourselves. I have from time to time conformed to +the law, and gone to the services, and I have not heard aught +spoken within their walls that our good priest in old days used not +to tell me was sound doctrine. There be things he taught me that +these men say naught about; but no man may in one discourse touch +upon every point of doctrine. I freely own that I have been sorely +perplexed to know whence comes all this strife, all these heart +burnings." + +"Thou wilt know and understand full soon, when once thou hast seen +the life of the great city and the strife of faction there," +answered his companion, lapsing into the familiar "thou" as he +spoke with increased earnestness. "In thy hermit's life thou hast +had no knowledge of the robbery, the desecration, the pollution +which our Holy Mother Church has undergone from these pestilent +heretics, who have thought to denude her of her beauty and her +glory, whilst striving to retain such things as jump with their +crabbed humours, and may be pared down to please their poisoned and +vicious minds. Ah! it makes the blood boil in the veins of the true +sons of the Church, as thou wilt find, my youthful friend, when +thou gettest amongst them. But it will not always last. The day of +reckoning will come--nay, is already coming when men shall find +that the Blessed and Holy Church may not be defiled and downtrodden +with impunity for ever. Ah yes! the day will come--it is even at +the door--when God shall arise and his enemies be scattered. +Scattered--scattered! verily that is the word. And the sons of the +true faith throughout the length and breadth of the land shall +arise and rejoice, and the heretics shall stand amazed and +confounded!" + +As he spoke these words his figure seemed to expand, and he raised +his right hand to heaven with a peculiar gesture of mingled menace +and appeal. Cuthbert was silent and amazed. He did not understand +in the least the tenor of these wild words, but he was awed and +impressed, and felt at once that the strife and stress of the great +world into which he was faring was something very different from +anything he had conceived of before. + +By this time the travellers had reached the dreary waste called by +the inhabitants Hammerton Heath. At some seasons of the year it was +golden with gorse or purple with ling, but in this drear winter +season it was bare and colourless, and utterly desolate. The +outline of dark forests could be seen all around on the horizon; +but the road led over the exposed ground, where not a tree broke +the monotony of the way. Cuthbert was glad enough to have a +companion to ride by his side over the lonely waste, which looked +its loneliest in the cold radiance of the moon. He did not reply to +the strange words he had just heard, and his companion, after a +brief pause, resumed his discourse in a different tone, telling the +lad more about London and the life there than ever he had heard in +his life before. But the moral of his discourse was always the +sufferings, the wrongs, the troubles of the Roman Catholics, who +had looked for better times under Mary Stuart's son; and gradually +raising within the breast of the youth a feeling of warm sympathy +with those of his own faith, and a distrust and abhorrence of the +laws that made life well nigh impossible for the true sons of the +Church. + +"Ruined in estate, too often injured in body, hated, despised, +hunted to death like beasts of the earth, what is left for us but +some great struggle after our lives and liberties?" concluded the +speaker, in his half melancholy, half ardent way. "Verily, when +things be so bad that they cannot well be worse, then truly men +begin to think that the hour of action is at hand. Be the night +never so long, the dawn comes at last. And so will our day dawn for +us--though it may dawn in clouds of smoke and vapour, and with a +terrible sound of destruction." + +But these last words were hardly heard by Cuthbert, whose attention +had been attracted by the regular beat of horse hoofs upon the road +behind. Although the track was but a sandy path full of ruts and +holes, the sound travelled clearly through the still night air. +Whoever these new travellers were, they were coming along at a +brisk pace, and Cuthbert drew rein to look behind him. + +"There be horsemen coming this way!" he said. + +"Ay, verily there be; and moreover I mislike their looks. Honest +folks do not gallop over these bad roads in yon headlong fashion. I +doubt not they be robbers, eager to overtake and despoil us. We +must make shift to press on at the top of our speed. This is an ill +place to be overtaken. We have no chance against such numbers. +Luckily our steeds are not way worn; they have but jogged +comfortably along these many miles. Push your beast to a gallop, my +lad; there is no time to lose." + +Cuthbert essayed to do this; but honest old Dobbin had no notion of +a pace faster than a leisurely amble. Most of his work had been +done in the plough, and he had no liking for the rapid gallop +demanded by his rider. + +The lad soon saw how it stood with him, and called out to his +well-mounted companion not to tarry for him, but to leave him to +chance and kind fortune. + +"I have so little to lose that they may not think me worth the +robbing, belike. But you, sir, must not linger. Your good steed is +equal to theirs, I doubt not, and will carry you safe across the +heath." + +"Ay, verily he will. I purchased him for that same speed, and it +has never failed me yet. I fear not pursuit. My only peril lies in +the chance of meeting a second band watching the road farther on. I +like not thus to leave you, boy; but I have no choice. I may not +risk being robbed of my papers. There be more in them than must be +suffered to be scanned by any eyes for which they were not meant. +My gold might go, and welcome, but I must save my papers. And if +thou hast any small valuables about thee, I will charge myself with +the care of them, and thou canst call at my lodging in London when +thou gettest there to claim thine own again. 'Twill be the better +chance than leaving yon gentlemen to rid thee of them." + +The smile with which the stranger uttered these words was so +winning and frank, that Cuthbert placed his purse in the +outstretched hand without a qualm. + +"When thou wantest thine own again, go to the Cat and Fiddle in the +thoroughfare of Holborn, and ask news there of Master Robert +Catesby. It is an eating house and tavern where I am constantly to +be met with. If I be not lodging there at that very time, thou wilt +have news of me there. Farewell; and keep up a brave heart. These +fellows are less harsh with poor travellers than rich. Let them see +you have small fear, and it will be the better for all." + +These last words were faintly borne back to Cuthbert on the wings +of the wind, as his companion galloped with long easy strides +across the heath. A little dip in the ground hid for a moment their +pursuers from sight, and before they emerged upon the crest of the +undulation, Master Robert Catesby was practically out of sight; for +a cloud had obscured the brightness of the moon, and only a short +distance off objects became invisible. + +Cuthbert rode slowly on his way, trying to compose himself to the +state of coolness and courage that he would like to show in the +hour of danger. He felt the beatings of his heart, but they were +due as much to excitement as to fear. In truth he was more excited +than afraid; for he had absolutely nothing to lose save a suit of +old clothes and his horse, and both of these were in sorry enough +plight to be little tempting to those hardy ruffians, who were +accustomed to have travellers to rob of a far superior stamp. + +Nearer and nearer came the galloping horse hoofs, and a loud, rough +voice ordered him to stop. + +Cuthbert obeyed, and wheeled round on his placid steed, who showed +no sign of disquietude or excitement, but at once commenced to +nibble the short grass that grew beside the sandy track. + +"And what do you want of me, gentlemen?" asked Cuthbert, as he +found himself confronted by half-a-dozen stalwart fellows, with +swarthy faces and vigorous frames. They were all armed and well +mounted, and would have been formidable enough to a wealthy +traveller with his stuff or valuables about him. + +"Your money--or your life!" was the concise reply and Cuthbert was +able to smile as he replied: + +"Marry then, it must be my life, for money I have none. I have +naught but an old suit of clothes and a breviary in yon bag. You +are welcome to both an ye will condescend to wear such habiliments; +but I trow ye would find them sorry garments after those ye now +display." + +"Tut, tut! we will see to that. There be many cunning fashions of +hiding money, and we are used to such tales as yours. Where is your +companion, young man?" + +"Nay, I have no companion," answered Cuthbert, who was sufficiently +imbued with the spirit of his father's creed not to hesitate for a +moment to utter an untruth in a good cause, and think no shame of +it; "I am journeying forth to London alone, to seek a relative +there, who methinks will help me to earn an honest livelihood. I +would I were the rich man you take me for. But even the dress I +wear is mine through the charity of a kinsman, as is also the nag I +ride. And I misdoubt me if you would find him of much use to you in +your occupation." + +One or two of the men laughed. They looked at Dobbin and then at +his rider, and seemed to give credence to this tale. Cuthbert's +boyish face and fearless manner seemed to work in his favour, and +one of the band remarked that he was a bold young blade, and if in +search of a fortune, might do worse than cast in his lot with them. + +"Yet I verily thought there had been two," grumbled another of the +band; "I wonder if he speaks sooth." + +"I warrant me he does, else where should the other be? It was a +trick of the moonlight; it often deceives us so. + +"Come now, my young cockerel; you can crow lustily, it seems, and +keep a bold face where others shrink and tremble and flee. How say +you? will you follow us to our lodging place for the night? And if +we find no money concealed about you, and if your story of your +poverty be true, you can think well whether you will choose to cast +in your lot with us. Many a poor man has done so and become rich, +and the life is a better one than many." + +All this was spoken in a careless, mocking way, and Cuthbert did +not know if the proposal were made in good faith or no. But it was +plain that no harm was meant to his life or person, and as he was +in no fear from any search of his clothes and bag, he was ready and +willing to accept the invitation offered, and by no means sorry to +think he should be relieved from spending the night in the saddle. + +"I will gladly go with you," he answered. "I have spoken naught but +sooth, and I have no fear. My person and my goods are in your +hands. Do as you will with them; I have too little to lose to make +a moan were you to rob me of all." + +"We rob not the poor; we only rob the rich--those arrogant, +purse-proud rogues who batten and fatten on what they wring from +the poor," answered, in quick, scornful accents, the man who +appeared to be the leader of this little band. "On them we have +scant pity. They have but stolen, in cunning though lawful fashion, +what we wrest from them, lawlessly it may be, yet with as good a +right in the sight of the free heavens as any they practise. But we +filch not gold nor goods from the poor, the thrifty, the sons of +toil; nay, there be times when we restore to these what has been +drained from them by injustice and tyranny. We be not the common +freebooters of the road, who set on all alike, and take human life +for pure love of killing. We have our own laws, our own ways, our +own code of right and wrong; and we recruit our ranks from bold +lads like you, upon whom fortune has not smiled, and who come to us +to see if we can help them to better things." + +Cuthbert was greatly interested in this adventure. He looked into +the dark, handsome face of the man who rode beside him, and +wondered if some gipsy blood might not run in his veins. The gipsy +people of whom Kate had spoken were well known in all this region, +and despite the roving life they led, appeared to be rooted to a +certain extent to this wild and wooded tract. He had seen dark +faces like this before in the woods; he had often heard stories of +the doings of the gipsies around. Before, he had not thought much +of this; but now, his interest was keenly excited, and he was +delighted to have this opportunity of studying them at close +quarters. + +"Where are we going, Tyrrel?" asked one of the followers. "It is a +bitter cold night, now the wind has shifted, and we are far enough +away from Dead Man's Hole." + +"I am not bound for Dead Man's Hole. We will to the ruined mill, +and ask Miriam to give us shelter for the night. We have ridden +far, and our steeds are weary. I trow she will give us a welcome." + +This proposition seemed to give general satisfaction. The men +plodded on after their leader, who kept Cuthbert close beside him, +and they all moved across the heath in an irregular fashion, +following some path known only to themselves, until they reached +the wooded track to the left, and plunged into the brushwood again, +picking their way carefully as they went, and all the while +descending lower and lower into the hollow, till the rush of water +became more and more distinctly audible, and Cuthbert knew by the +sound that they must be approaching a waterfall of some kind. + +One of the men had ridden forward to give notice of their approach, +and soon in the flickering moonlight the gray walls of an ancient +mill, now greatly fallen to decay, became visible to the +travellers' eyes. From the open door streamed out a flood of ruddy +light, cheering indeed to cold and weary men; whilst framed in this +ruddy glow was a tall and picturesque figure--the figure of an old +woman, a scarlet kerchief tied over her white hair, whilst her +dress displayed that picturesque medley of colours that has always +been the prevailing characteristic of the gipsy race. + +"You are welcome, son Tyrrel," quoth the mistress of this lone +dwelling, as the little cavalcade drew up at the door. "It is long +since you favoured old Miriam with a visit. Yet you come at no ill +time, since Red Ronald brought us in a fat buck but yesternight, +and I have made oaten cakes today, and pies of the best. But who is +that with you! I like not new faces in my dwelling place. It were +well you should remember this ere you bring a stranger with you." + +The old woman's face suddenly darkened as she spoke these last +words, and her wonderful eyes, so large and dark as to resemble +rather those of a deer than a human being, flashed fiercely, whilst +she seemed about to close the door in Tyrrel's face. But he pushed +in with a light laugh, leading Cuthbert with him, and saying as he +did so: + +"Nay, nay, mother, be not so fierce. He is an honest lad enough, I +trow; if not, 'twill be the worse for him anon. We have brought him +hither to search him if he carries gold concealed. If not, and he +proves to have spoken sooth, he may go his way or join with us, +whichever likes him best. We could do with a few more bold lads, +since death has been something busy of late; and he seems to have +the grit in him one looks for in those who join with us. Moreover, +he has the dark eyes, and would soon have the swarth skin, that +distinguish our merry men all. + +"How now, mother! Thou hast eyes for none but the lad! Why lookst +thou at him so?" + +Cuthbert, too, gazed wonderingly at the handsome old gipsy, who +continued to keep her eyes fixed upon him, as if by a species of +fascination. He could no more withdraw his gaze than can the bird +whom the snake is luring to destruction. + +"Boy, what is thy name?" she asked, in a quick, harsh whisper. + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn," he answered, without hesitation, and at the +name a wild laugh rang out through the vaulted room, illumined by +the glow of a huge fire of logs, whilst all present started and +looked at one another. + +"I knew it--I knew it!" cried the old woman, with a wild gesture of +her withered arms, which were bare to the elbow, as though she had +been engaged in culinary tasks. "I knew it--I knew it! I knew it +the moment the light fell upon his face. Trevlyn--Trevlyn! one of +that accursed brood! Heaven be praised, the hour of vengeance has +come! We will do unto one of them even as they did unto us;" and +she waved her arms again in the air, and glanced towards the +glowing fire on the hearth with a look in her wild eyes that for a +moment caused Cuthbert's heart to stand still. For he remembered +the story of the witch burned by his grand sire's mandate, and he +felt he was not mistaken in the interpretation he had put upon the +old woman's words. + +But Tyrrel roughly interposed. + +"No more of that, mother," he said. "We have wiped out that old +score long ago. The lad is a bold lad, Trevlyn or no. Let us to +supper now, and forget those accursed beldam's tales. Where is Long +Robin, and what is he doing? and where is Joanna tonight?" + +"Here," answered a clear, full voice from the shadows of the +inglenook, and forth there stepped a very queenly-looking woman, in +the prime of life, when youth's bloom has not been altogether left +behind, and yet all the grace of womanhood, with its dignity and +ease, has come to give an added charm. One glance from the old +woman's face to that of the young one showed them to be mother and +daughter, and it did not take a sharp eye to see that Tyrrel, as he +was always called, was deeply enamoured of the beautiful Joanna, +though treated by her with scant notice, and as though he were yet +a boy, scarce worthy of being looked at or spoken to. + +She stood in the glow of the fire, a tall, graceful presence, to +the full as picturesque as her gipsy mother, and far more +attractive. Cuthbert's eyes turned upon her with an unconscious +appeal in them; for it suddenly dawned upon him that for a Trevlyn +to adventure himself amongst these wild gipsy folks was like +putting the head into a lion's mouth. + +It almost seemed as though Joanna read this doubt and this fear; +for a flashing smile crossed her dark face, and she held out a +shapely hand to lead the guest to the table. + +"Thou art welcome to our board, Cuthbert Trevlyn," she said, "as is +any hapless stranger in these wilds, be he Trevlyn or no. Thou +shalt eat our salt this night, and then woe betide the man who +dares to lay hand on thee;" and such a glance was flashed around +from her magnificent dark eyes as caused each one that met it to +resolve to take good heed to his ways. "Thou shalt come and go +unmolested; Joanna the Gipsy Queen has so decreed it!" + +Every one present, the old woman included, bent the head at these +words, and Cuthbert felt by some instinct that his life was now +safe. + + + +Chapter 5: The House On The Bridge. + + +"Keren Happuch." + +"Yes, aunt." + +The reply came only after a brief pause, as though the rosy-cheeked +maiden at the casement would fain have declined to answer to that +abhorred name had she dared--which was indeed pretty much the case; +for though it was undeniably her own, and she could not gainsay the +unpalatable fact, nobody in the world but Aunt Susan ever aggrieved +her by using it. Even her grave father had adopted the "Cherry" +that was universal alike with relatives and friends, and the girl +never heard the clumsy and odious appellation without a natural +longing to box the offender's ears. + +"What art doing, child?" questioned the voice from below. + +Now Cherry was undeniably idling away the morning hours by looking +out of her window at the lively scene below; and perhaps it was +scarce wonderful that the sights and sounds without attracted her. +It was a sunny November morning, and the sun was shining quite +hotly; for the soft wind from the south was blowing--it had +suddenly veered round in the night--and all nature seemed to be +rejoicing in the change. The river ran sparkling on its way to the +sea; the barges and wherries, and larger craft that anchored in the +stream or plied their way up and down, gave animation and +brightness to the great water way; whilst the old bridge, with its +quaint-timbered houses with their projecting upper stories, its +shops with their swinging signs, and noisy apprentices crying their +masters' wares or playing or quarrelling in the open street, and +its throngs of passers by, from the blind beggar to the gay court +gallant, provided a shifting and endless panorama of entertainment +to the onlooker, which pretty Mistress Cherry certainly +appreciated, if no one else in that grave Puritan household did the +like. But possibly she thought that her aunt's question must not be +too literally answered, for she hastily skipped across the panelled +chamber, seized her distaff, and answered meekly; + +"I am about to spin, aunt." + +"Humph!" the answer sounded more like a grunt than anything else, +and warned Cherry that Mistress Susan, her father's sister, who had +ruled his household for the past ten years, since the death of his +wife, was in no very amiable temper. + +"I know what that means. Thy spinning is a fine excuse for idling +away thy time in the parlour, when thou mightest be learning +housewifery below. Much flax thou spinnest when I am not by to +watch! It is a pity thou wert not a fine lady born!" + +Cherry certainly was decidedly of this opinion herself, albeit she +would not have dared to say as much. She liked soft raiment, bright +colours, dainty ways, and pretty speeches. Looking down from her +window upon the passers by, it was her favourite pastime to fancy +herself one of the hooped and powdered and gorgeously-apparelled +ladies, with their monstrous farthingales, their stiff petticoats, +their fans, their patches, and their saucy, coquettish ways to the +gentlemen in their train. All this bedizenment, which had by no +means died out with the death of a Queen who had loved and +encouraged it, was dear to the eyes of the little maiden, whose own +sad-coloured garments and severe simplicity of attire was a +constant source of annoyance to her. Not that she wished to ape the +fine dames in her small person. She knew her place better than +that. She was a tradesman's daughter, and it would ill have +beseemed her to attire herself in silk and velvet, even though the +sumptuary laws had been repealed. But she did not see why she might +not have a scarlet under-petticoat like Rachel Dyson, her own +cousin, or a gay bird's wing to adorn her hat on holiday occasions. +The utmost she had ever achieved for herself was a fine soft +coverchief for her head, instead of the close unyielding coif which +all her relatives wore, which quite concealed their hair, and gave +a quaint severity to their square and homely faces. Cherry's face +was not square, but a little pointed, piquant countenance, from +which a pair of long-lashed gray eyes looked forth with saucy, +mischievous brightness. Her skin was very fair, with a peach-like +bloom upon it, and her pretty hair hung round it in a mass of red +gold curls. + +Cherry, it must be confessed, would have liked to leave her hair +uncovered, but this was altogether against the traditions of her +family. But she had contrived to assume the softly-flowing +coverchief, more like a veil than a cap, which was infinitely +becoming to the sweet childish face, and allowed the pretty curls +to be seen flowing down on either side till they reached the +shoulders. For the rest, her dress was severely plain in its +simplicity: the snow-white kerchief, crossed in front and made fast +behind; the under-petticoat of gray homespun, just showing the +black hose and buckled shoes beneath; and the over-dress of sombre +black or dark brown, puffed out a little over the hips in the +pannier fashion, but without any pretence at following the +extravagances of the day. The sleeves buttoned tightly to the lower +arm, though wider at the cuff, and rose high upon the shoulder with +something of a puff. It was a simple and by no means an unbecoming +style of costume; but Cherry secretly repined at the monotony of +always dressing in precisely the same fashion. Other friends of her +own standing had plenty of pretty things suited to their station, +and why not she? If she asked the question of any, the answer she +always got was that her father followed the Puritan fashions of +dressing and thinking and speaking, and that he held fine clothes +in abhorrence. Cherry would pout a little, and think it a hard +thing that she had been born a Puritan's daughter; but on the whole +she was happy and contented enough, only she did reckon the rule of +Aunt Susan in her father's house as something of a hardship. + +But it did not do to offend that worthy dame, who was the very +model of all housewives, and whose careful management and excellent +cookery caused Martin Holt's house to be something of a proverb and +a pattern to other folks' wives. So now the girl replied +submissively: + +"I need not spin, an it please thee not, aunt. Hast thou aught for +me to do below?" + +"Ay, plenty, child, if thou canst give thy mind to work. Abraham +Dyson and Anthony Cole sup with us tonight, and I am making a +herring pie." + +A herring pie was a serious undertaking in the domestic economy of +the house on the bridge, and Mistress Susan prided herself on her +skill in the concoction of this delicate dish above almost any +other achievement. She had a mysterious receipt of her own for it, +into the secret of which she would let no other living soul, not +even the dutiful nieces who assisted at the manufacture of the +component parts. Cherry heaved a sigh when she heard what was in +prospect, but laid aside her distaff and proceeded to don a great +coarse apron, and to unbutton and turn back her sleeves, leaving +her pretty round white arms bare for her culinary task. But there +was a little pucker of perplexity and vexation on her forehead, +which was not caused by any distaste of cookery. + +"If Uncle Abraham comes, sure he will bring Jacob with him; he +always does. If it were Rachel I would not mind; but I cannot abear +Jacob, with his great hairy hands and fat cheeks. And if I be pert +to him, my father chides; and if I be kind, he makes me past all +patience with his rolling eyes and foolish ways and words. I know +what they all think; but I'll none of him! He had better try for +Kezzie, who would jump down his throat as soon as look at him. She +fair rails on me for not treating him well. Let her take him +herself, the loutish loon!" + +And tossing her head so that her coverchief required readjusting, +Cherry slipped down the narrow wooden staircase into the rooms that +lay below. + +Kitchen and dining parlour occupied the whole of this floor, which +was not the ground floor of the house. That was taken up by the +shop, in which Martin Holt's samples of wools and stuffs were +exposed. He was more (to borrow a modern expression) in the +wholesale than the retail line of business, and his shop was +nothing very great to look at, and did not at all indicate the +scope of his real trade and substance; but it was a convenient +place for customers to come to, to examine samples and talk over +their orders. Martin Holt sat all day long in a parlour behind the +shop, pretty well filled with bales and sacks and other impedimenta +of his trade, and received those who came to him in the way of +business. He had warehouses, too, along the wharves of Thames +Street, and visited them regularly; but he preferred to transact +business in his own house, and this dull-looking shop was quite a +small centre for wool merchants, wool manufacturers, and even for +the farmers who grew the wool on the backs of the sheep they bred +in the green pastures. No more upright and fair-dealing man than +Martin Holt was to be found in all London town; and though he had +not made haste to be rich, like some, nor had his father before +him, having a wholesome horror of those tricks and shifts which +have grown more and more common as the world has grown older, yet +honest dealing and equitable trading had had its own substantial +reward, and wealth was now steadily flowing into Martin's coffers, +albeit he remained just the same simple, unassuming man of business +as he had ever been when the golden stream of prosperity had not +reached his doors. + +But the ground floor of the bridge house being occupied in business +purposes, the first floor had of necessity been given up to cookery +and feeding. The front room was the eating parlour, and was only +furnished by a long table and benches, with one high-backed +armchair at either end. It overlooked the street and the river, +like the living parlour above; and behind lay the kitchen, with a +back kitchen or scullery beyond. From the windows of either of +these back rooms the busy cooks could fling their refuse into the +river, and exceedingly handy did they find this, as did likewise +their neighbours. Nor did the fact that the river water was drunk +by themselves and a large number of the inhabitants of the city in +any way interfere with their satisfaction at the convenience of +these domestic arrangements. The beat, beat of the great water +wheel was always in their ears to remind them; but no misgivings +had yet assailed our forefathers as to the desirability of drinking +water polluted by sewage and other abominations. True, the plague +was constantly desolating the city, and had been raging so +violently but a single year back that the King's coronation had +well nigh had to be postponed, and he dared not adventure himself +into London itself, nor summon his Parliament to meet him there. +But it was for another generation to put together cause and effect, +and wonder how far tainted water was responsible for the spread of +the fatal malady. + +As Cherry entered the eating parlour, her two sisters looked up +from their tasks, as if with a smile of welcome. Jemima was busy +with the almond paste, which was an important ingredient of the +herring pie; Keziah was stoning the dates, grating the manchet, and +preparing the numerous other ingredients--currants, gooseberries, +barberries--which, being preserved in bottles in the spring and +summer, were always ready to hand in Mistress Susan's cookery. From +the open door of the kitchen proceeded a villainous smell of +herrings, which caused Cherry to turn up her pretty nose in a +grimace that set Keziah laughing. Both these elder damsels, who +were neither blooming nor pretty nor graceful, like their youngest +sister, though they bid fair to be excellent housewives and docile +and tractable spouses, delighted in the beauty and wit and +freshness of Cherry. They had never envied her her pretty ways and +charming face, but had taken the same pleasure in both that a +mother or affectionate aunt might do. They spoke of her and thought +of her as "the child," and if any hard or disagreeable piece of +work had to be done, they both vied with each other in contriving +that it should not fall to Cherry's lot. + +Cherry, although she dearly loved her homely sisters, as well she +might, never could quite realize that they were her sisters, and +not her aunts. Although Keziah was only six years her senior, it +seemed more like ten, and Jemima had three years' start of Keziah. +They treated her with an indulgence rare between sisters, and from +the fact of their being so staid and grave for their years, Cherry +could scarcely be blamed for feeling as though she was the only +young thing in the house. Her father talked of grave matters with +her aunt and sisters, whilst she sat gaping in weariness or got a +book in which to lose herself. They understood those mysterious +theological and political discussions which were a constant source +of perplexity and irritation to Cherry. + +"As if it mattered one way or another," she would say to herself. +"I can't see that one way is a bit better than another! I wonder +folks can care to make such a coil about it." + +"Hast come to help us with the pie, Cherry?" asked Jemima kindly. +"There, then, take my place with the paste; 'tis almost ready, but +would do with a trifle more beating. And there be fowls to draw and +get ready for the oven, and I know thou lovest not such a task." + +Cherry shuddered at the thought, and gladly took Jemima's place, +tasting the almond with an air of relish, and going about her tasks +with a dainty air that would have angered Aunt Susan, but which +honest Keziah regarded with admiration. + +"How many be coming to supper tonight?" asked Cherry. "Is it to be +a gathering?" + +"Nay, I scarce know. I have only heard what aunt said to thee. +Father spoke of guests without saying the number, and she said our +uncle would be there, and Master Anthony Cole and his son. Whether +there be any others I know not; belike Rachel and Jacob may come +too." + +"Now I am sore puzzled anent this Anthony Cole," said Cherry, as +she beat her paste and leaned towards Keziah, so that her voice +might not carry as far as the kitchen. + +"And wherefore art thou puzzled, child?" + +"Marry, because it was but a short while ago that we were forbid +even to speak with him or any in his house, neighbours though we +be; and now he comes oft, and father gives him good welcome, and +bids him to sup with us. It fairly perplexes me to know why." + +Keziah also lowered her voice as she replied: + +"We were forbid his house because that he and his household be all +Papists." + +"Ay, verily, that I know. But they be none the less Papists now, +and yet we give them good day when we meet, and sit at the same +board with them in all amity. Are they turning Protestant then, or +what?" + +Keziah shook her head. + +"It is not that," she said. + +Nay, then, what is it?" + +"Marry, methinks it is that we are companions in distress, and that +a common trouble draws us the closer together. Thou must have +heard--" + +"Oh, I hear words, words, words! but I heed them not. It is like +eating dust and ashes." + +"Nay, thou art but a child, and these things are not for children," +answered Keziah, indulgently. "And, indeed, they are hard to be +understood, save by the wise and learned. But this much I gather: +When the King came to the throne, all men hoped for better +days--liberty to think each according to his conscience, liberty +each to follow his own priest or pastor, and join without fear in +his own form of worship. The Papists believed that the son of Mary +Stuart would scarce show severity to them. The Puritans were +assured that one bred up by the Presbyterians of Scotland would +surely incline to their ways of worship and thought. But the King +has disappointed both, and has allied himself heart and soul with +the Episcopal faction and the Church of the Establishment; and, not +content with that, is striving to enforce the penal statutes +against all who do not conform as they were never enforced in the +Queen's time. Wherefore, as thou mayest understand, the Papists and the +Puritans alike suffer, and so suffering are something drawn together as +friends, albeit in doctrine they are wide asunder--wider than we from +the Establishment or they from it. But trouble drives even foes to +make common cause sometimes." + +Cherry sighed impatiently. + +"I would that men would e'en forget all these vexed doctrines and +dry dogmas, and learn to enjoy life as it might be enjoyed. Why are +we for ever lamenting evils which none may put right? What does it +matter whether we pray to God in a fine church or a homely room? I +would fain go to church with the fine folk, since the King will +have it so, and strive to find God there as well as in the bare +barn where Master Baker holds his meeting. They bid us read our +Bibles, but they will not let us obey the commands laid down--" + +"Nay, hush, Cherry! hush, hush! What and if Aunt Susan heard?" + +"Let her hear!" cried the defiant Cherry, though she lowered her +voice instinctively at the warning; "I am saying naught to be +ashamed of. I know naught about these matters of disputing; I only +know that the Bible bids folks submit themselves to the powers that +be, whether they be kings, or rulers, or magistrates, because the +powers that be are of God. So that I see not why we go not to +church as the King bids us. And again I read that wherever two or +three are gathered together in Christ's name, there will He be in +the midst of them. So why we cannot go peacefully to church, since +He will be there with us, I for one cannot see. I trow even the +boldest Papist or Puritan would not dare deny that He was as much +in the midst of those congregations as in ours. If they do they be +worse than Pagans, for every one that goes to church goes to pray +to God and to Jesus Christ." + +Keziah looked flustered and scared. Cherry's words, though spoken +in some temper and despite, contained certain elements of shrewd +insight and sound common sense, which she had doubtless inherited +from her father. She had something of the boldness and independence +of mind that a spoiled child not unfrequently acquires, and she was +not accustomed to mince her words when speaking with her sisters. + +Hush! oh hush, child! Father would not list to hear such words from +a daughter of his. It is for women to learn, and not to teach; to +listen, but not to speak." + +"Oh yes, well do I know that. Have I not listened, and listened, +and listened, till I have well nigh fallen asleep; and what sense +is there in all the wranglings and disputations? Why cannot men +think as they like, and let other folks alone? What harm does it do +any that another should have a different opinion of his own?" + +"I trow that is what father really thinks," said Keziah, +thoughtfully; "but all men declare that it is needful for there to +be outward uniformity of worship. And I trow that father would be +willing to conform if they would but let our preachers and teachers +alone to hold private meetings in peace. But so long as they badger +and persecute and imprison them, he will have naught to do with the +bishops and clergy who set them on, nor will he attend their +churches, be the law what it may. He says it is like turning back +in the hour of peril: that is not his way." + +"I like that feeling," answered Cherry, with kindling eyes. "If +that be so, I mind it less. Father is a good man, and full of +courage; but I grow full weary of these never-ending talks. Kezzie, +thinkest thou that he will be put in prison for keeping from church +with his whole house? Some men have been sent to prison for less." + +"I know not how that may be," answered Keziah, gravely. "He is a +useful citizen, and a man of substance; and by what I hear, such as +these are left alone so long as they abide quiet and peaceable. +Just now the Papists are being worse treated than we. Methinks that +is why father is so sorry for them." + +"Too much talk! too much talk!" cried Aunt Susan's voice from the +adjoining kitchen. "Hands lag when tongues wag; wherefore do your +work in silence. Is that almond paste ready, Keren Happuch? Then +bring it quickly hither; and your manchet and sugar, Keziah, for +the skins are ready to be stuffed." + +And as the girls obediently brought the required ingredients, they +found themselves in a long, low room, at the end of which a huge +fire burned in a somewhat primitive stove, whilst a tall, angular, +and powerful-looking dame, with her long upper robe well tucked up, +and her gray hair pushed tightly away beneath a severe-looking +coif, was superintending a number of culinary tasks, Jemima and a +serving wench obeying the glance of her eye and the turn of her +hand with the precision of long practice. + +Certainly it was plain that Martin Holt's guests would not starve +that night. The herring pie was only the crowning delicacy of the +board, which was to groan beneath a variety of appetizing dishes. +The Puritans were a temperate race, and the baneful habit of sack +drinking at all hours, of perpetual pledgings and toastings, and +the large consumption of fiery liquors, was at a discount in their +houses; but they nevertheless liked a good table as well as the +rest of their kind, and saw no hurt in sitting down to a generously +supplied board, whilst they made up for their abstemiousness in the +matter of liquor by the healthy and voracious appetite which +speedily caused the good cheer to melt away. + +Mistress Susan was so intent on her preparations that she scarcely +let her nieces pause to eat their frugal midday dinner. Martin +himself was out on business, and would dine abroad that day, and +nothing better pleased the careful housewife than to dispense with +any formal dinner when there was a company supper to be cooked, and +thus save the attendant labour of washing up as well as the time +wasted in the consumption of the meal. + +Jemima and Keziah never dreamed of disputing their aunt's will; but +Cherry pouted and complained that it was hard to work all day +without even the dinner hour as a relief. Mistress Susan gave her a +sharp rebuke that silenced without subduing her; and she kept +throwing wistful glances out of the window, watching the play of +sunshine on the water, and longing to be out in the fresh air--for +such a day as this was too good to be wasted indoors. Tomorrow +belike the sun would not shine, and the wind would be cold and +nipping. + +Jemima and Keziah saw the wistful glances, and longed to interpose +on behalf of their favourite; but Mistress Susan was not one it was +well to interfere with, and Cherry was not in favour that day. But +an inspiration came over Jemima at last, and she suddenly +exclaimed: + +"Sure, but how badly we need some fresh rushes for the parlour +floor! There be not enough to cover it, and they all brown and old. +There has been scarce any frost as yet. I trow the river rushes +will be yet green, and at least they will be fresh. Could not the +child be spared to run out to try and get some? She is a better +hand at that than at her cooking. I will finish her pastry if thou +wilt spare her to get the reeds. I love not a floor like you, and +methinks father will chide an he sees." + +Mistress Susan cast a quick glance at the rush-strewn floor, and +could not but agree with her niece. She had all the true +housewife's instinct of neatness and cleanliness in every detail. +The filthy habit of letting rushes rot on the floor, and only +piling fresh ones on the top as occasion demanded, found no favour +in this house. It was part of Cherry's work and delight to cut them +fresh as often as there was need, but a spell of wet weather had +hindered her from her river-side rambles of late, with the +consequence that the supply was unwontedly low. + +"Oh, any one can do Keren Happuch's work and feel nothing added to +her toil," was the sharp response. "Small use are her hands in any +kitchen. We had better make up our minds to wed her to a fine +gentleman, who wants naught of his wife but to dress up in grand +gowns, and smirk and simper over her fan; for no useful work will +he get out of her. If rushes are wanted, she had better go quickly +and cut them-- + +"And mind, do not stray too far along the banks, child; and watch +the sky, and be in before the sun is down. The evenings draw in so +quick now; and I would not have you abroad after nightfall for all +the gold of Ophir." + +Cherry had no desire for such a thing to happen either. London in +the darkness of the night was a terrible place. Out from all the +dens of Whitefriars and other like places swarmed the ruffian and +criminal population that by day slunk away like evil beasts of +night into hiding. The streets were made absolutely perilous by the +bands of cutthroats and cutpurses who prowled about, setting upon +belated pedestrians or unwary travellers, and robbing, insulting, +and maltreating them--not unfrequently leaving the wretched victim +dead or dying, to be found later by the cowardly watchman, who +generally took good care not to be near the spot at the time of the +affray. Ladies of quality never went abroad unattended even by day; +but Cherry was no fine lady, and Martin Holt had no notion of +encouraging the child's native vanity by making any difference +betwixt her and her sisters. Jemima and Keziah had been always +accustomed to go about in the neighbourhood of their home +unmolested, and thought nothing of it; and though Cherry's rosy +cheeks, slim, graceful figure, and bright, laughing eyes might +chance to take the fancy of some bold roisterer or dandy, and lead +to an address which might frighten or annoy the maid, her father +considered this the less danger than bringing her up to think +herself too captivating to go about unguarded; and up till now she +had met with no unwelcome admiration or annoyance of any kind in +her limited rovings. + +So she set forth blithely this afternoon, her cloak and hood +muffling well both face and figure, her clogs on her feet, since +the river bank would be muddy and treacherous at this time of year, +and a long, open basket on her arm, thinking of nothing but the +delights of escaping from the weary monotony of pastry making and +herb shredding, and from the overpowering odour of that mysterious +herring pie. Cherry liked well enough to eat of it when it was +placed upon the board, but she always wished she had not known +anything of the process; she thought she should enjoy it so much +the more. + +Crossing the bridge, and exchanging many greetings as she tripped +along, for every neighbour was in some sort a friend, and +bright-eyed Cherry was a favourite with all--she turned to the +right as she quitted the bridge, and walked in a westerly direction +along the river bank, towards the great beds of reeds and rushes +that stretched away in endless succession so soon as the few houses +and gardens springing up on this side the river had been passed by. + +Certainly there was no lack of green rushes. The autumn had been +mild, and though the past few days had been chill and biting, it +had not told to any great extent upon the rushes yet. Cherry +plunged eagerly amongst them, selecting and cutting with a +precision and rapidity that told of long practice. She was resolved +to take home as many as ever she could carry, and these all of the +best, since the supply would soon cease, and she knew the +difference in the lasting power of the full, thick rushes and the +little flimsy ones. + +But it was later than she had known when she left home. The +brightness of the sunshine had deceived her, and she had been +detained a few minutes upon the bridge, first by one and then by +another, all asking kindly questions of her. Then her fastidious +selection of her rushes caused her to wander further and further +along the banks in search of prizes; and when at last her big +basket was quite full, and correspondingly heavy, she looked round +her with a start almost of dismay; for the gray twilight was +already settling down over the dark river, and she was full a mile +away from home, with a heavy load to carry. + +Cherry's heart fluttered a little, but it was rather in fear of her +aunt's displeasure than of any mischance likely to happen to +herself. She had been often to these osier beds, and had never +encountered a living soul there, and she would soon reach the +region of walls and gardens that adjoined the southern end of the +bridge. So taking her basket on her arm, she pushed her way upwards +from the river to the path along which lay her road, and turning +her face homeward, made all the haste she could to get back. + +But how dark it looked to the eastward! Did ever evening close in +so fast? And how black and cold the river looked! She never +remembered to have seen it quite so cheerless and gloomy before. A +thick white fog was rising from the marshy lands, and she could not +see the friendly twinkling lights upon the bridge. Despite her +exertions, which were great, she felt chill and shivery; and when +at last she heard the sound of a lusty shout behind her, her heart +seemed to stand still with terror, and she stopped short and gazed +wildly back, to see whence the noise came. + +What she saw by no means reassured her. Some fifty yards behind, +but mounted on fine horses, were two young gentlemen, plainly in a +state of tipsy merriment, and by no means disposed to allow any +prey, in the shape of a woman old or young, to escape them without +some sort of pleasantry on their part. Cherry heard their laughter +and their coarse words without understanding what it all meant; but +a great terror took hold of her, and leaving her basket in the +middle of the path, in the vain hope of tripping up the tipsy +riders, she fled wildly along in the direction of home. Her hood +falling back, disclosed her pretty floating curls beneath, and so +gave greater zest to the pursuit. Fleet of foot she might be, but +what availed that against the speed of the two fine horses? She +heard their galloping hoofs closer and closer behind her. She knew +that they were almost up with her now. Even the osier beds would +afford her no protection from horsemen, and she feared to trust +herself to the slippery ooze when the daylight had fled. With a +short, sharp cry she sank upon the ground, exhausted and half dead +with terror, and she heard the brutal shout of triumph with which +the roisterers hailed this sight. + +In another moment they would be upon her. She heard them shouting +to their horses as they pulled them up. But was there not another +sound, too? What was the meaning of that fierce demand in a very +different voice? She lifted her head to see a third rider spurring +up at a hand gallop, and before she had time to make up her mind +whether or not this was a third foe, or a defender suddenly arisen +as it were from the very heart of the earth, she felt herself +covered as by some protecting presence, and heard a firm voice +above her saying: + +"The first man who dares attempt to touch her I shoot dead!" + +There was a great deal of blustering and swearing and hectoring. +Cherry, still crouched upon the ground, shivered at the hideous +imprecations levelled at her protector, and feared every moment +to see him struck to the ground. But he held his position +unflinchingly, and the tipsy gallants contented themselves with +vituperation and hard words. Perhaps they thought the game not +worth the candle. Perhaps they deemed a simple city maid not worth +the trouble of an encounter. Perhaps they were too unsteady on +their legs to desire to provoke the hostile overtures of this tall, +dark-faced stripling, who appeared ready to do battle with the pair +of them, and that without the least fear. At any rate, after much +hard swearing, the estimable comrades mounted their horses again, +and rode on in the gathering darkness; whilst Cherry felt herself +lifted up with all courtesy and reverence, and a pleasant voice +asked in bashful accents, very unlike the firm, defiant tones +addressed to her persecutors, whether she were hurt. + +"Not hurt, only frightened, fair sir," answered Cherry, beginning +to recover her breath and her self possession, as she divined that +her protector was now more embarrassed at the situation than she +was herself. "How can I thank you for your timely help? I was well +nigh dead with terror till I heard your voice holding them at bay. +Right bold it was of you to come to my assistance when you had two +foes against you." + +"Nay, fair lady, I were less than a man had I stayed for twenty." + +"I like you none the less for your brave words, sir, and I believe +that you have courage to face an army. But I may not linger here +even to speak my thanks. I shall be in sore disgrace at home for +tarrying out thus long in the dark." + +"But you will grant to me to see you safe to your door, lady?" + +"Ay, truly will I, an you will," answered Cherry, as much from real +nervous fear as from the coquetry which made such companionship +pleasant. "But I would fain go back a few paces for my poor reeds, +that I go not home empty handed. And you must catch your steed, Sir +Knight; he seems disposed to wander away at his own will." + +"My steed will come at a call. He is a faithful beast, and not +addicted to errant moods. Let us fetch your basket, lady, and then +to your home. + +"Is this it? Prithee, let me carry it; its weight is too much for +you. See, I will place it so on Dobbin's broad back, and then we +can jog along easily together." + +Cherry, her fears allayed, and her imaginative fancy pleased by the +termination to this adventure, chatted gaily to her tall companion; +and as they neared the bridge with its many twinkling lights, she +pointed out one of the houses in the middle, and told her companion +that she dwelt there. His face turned eagerly upon her at hearing +that. + +"I am right glad to hear it, for perchance you can then direct me +to the dwelling of Master Martin Holt, the wool stapler, if he yet +plies his trade there as his father did before him." + +"Martin Holt!" cried Cherry, eagerly interrupting. "Why, good sir, +Martin Holt is my father." + +The young man stopped short in amaze, and then said slowly, +"Verily, this is a wondrous hap, for Martin Holt is mine own uncle. +I am Cuthbert Trevlyn, the son of his sister Bridget." + + + +Chapter 6: Martin Holt's Supper Party. + + +Six o'clock was the almost universal hour for supper amongst the +well-to-do classes, both gentle and simple, and Martin Holt's +family sat down to the well-spread board punctually to the minute +every day of their lives. But though there was no eating before +that hour, the invited guests who were intimate at the house +generally arrived about dusk, and were served with hot ginger wine +with lumps of butter floating in it, or some similar concoction +accounted a delicacy in those days of coarse feeding, and indulged +in discussion and conversation which was the preliminary to the +serious business of supper. + +At four o'clock, then, Mistress Susan's table was set, the homespun +cloth of excellent texture and whiteness spread upon the board, +which was further adorned by plates and tankards, knives and even +forks, though these last-named articles were quite a novelty, and +rather lightly esteemed by Mistress Susan, who was a rigid +conservative in all domestic matters. All the cold provisions had +been laid upon the table. The serving woman in the kitchen had +received full instruction as to those that remained in or about the +stove. The ladies had doffed their big aprons, and had donned their +Sunday coifs and kerchiefs and better gowns, and were now assembled +in the upper parlour, where the spinning wheels stood, ready to +receive the guests when they should come. + +Cherry's absence had not yet excited any uneasiness, although her +aunt had made one or two severe remarks as to her love for +junketing abroad, and frivolity in general. Her sisters had laid +out her dress in readiness for her, and had taken her part with +their accustomed warmth and goodwill. They were not at all afraid +of her not turning up safe and sound. Cherry had many friends, and +it was just as likely as not that she would stop and gossip all +along the bridge as she came home. She took something of the +privilege of a spoiled child, despite her aunt's rigid training. +She knew her sisters never looked askance at her; that her father +found it hard to scold severely, however grave he might try to look +to please Aunt Susan; and it was perfectly well known in the house +that she had no liking for those grave debates that formed the +prelude to the supper downstairs. It was like enough she would +linger without as long as she dared, and then spend as much time as +possible strewing her rushes and dressing herself, so that she +should not have long to listen to the talk of the elders. + +Jemima and Keziah had long since trained themselves to that perfect +stillness and decorous silence that was deemed fitting for women, +and especially young women, in presence of their elders, They had +even begun to take a certain interest in the questions discussed. +But to Cherry it was simple penance to have to sit for one hour or +more, her tongue and her active limbs alike chained, and her +sisters were quite prepared for the absence of the younger girl +when the guests dropped in one by one. + +Their uncle, Abraham Dyson, was the first arrival, and behind him +followed his son and daughter, Jacob and Rachel. Rachel was a buxom +young woman of five-and-twenty, shortly to be advanced to the +dignity of a wedded wife. She would have been married before but +for the feeble health of her mother; but the ceremony was not to be +postponed much longer on that account, for fear the bridegroom, a +silk mercer in thriving way of business, should grow weary of +delay, and seek another partner for his hand and home. But Abraham +Dyson saw another way of getting his sick wife properly looked to, +and had whispered his notion in the ear of his brother-in-law. The +Dysons and the Holts had had intimate business dealing with each +other for generations, and there had been many matrimonial +connections between them in times past. Martin himself had married +Abraham's sister, and he listened with equanimity and pleasure to +the proposal to ally one of his daughters with the solid and stolid +Jacob. + +Jacob was not much to look at, but he would be a man of +considerable substance in time, and he had a shrewd head enough for +business. As it had not pleased Providence to bless Martin Holt +with sons, the best he could do was to find suitable husbands for +his daughters, and seek amongst his sons-in-law for one into whose +hands his business might worthily be intrusted. Daughters were +still, and for many generations later, looked upon very much in the +light of chattels to be disposed of at will by their parents and +guardians, and it had not entered honest Martin's head that his +wilful little Cherry would dare to set up her will in opposition to +his. + +Jacob, who had been taken into the confidence of his elders, had +expressed his preference for the youngest of his three cousins; and +though not a word had been spoken to the girl upon the subject as +yet, Martin looked upon the matter as settled. + +Scarcely had the bustle of the first arrivals died down before the +remaining two guests arrived--a tall, bent man with the face of a +student and book lover, followed by his son, also a man of rather +distinguished appearance for his station in life. The two Coles, +father and son, were amongst those many Roman Catholic sufferers +who had been ruined on account of their religion during the last +reign; and now they gained a somewhat scanty livelihood by keeping +a second-hand book shop on the bridge, selling paper and parchment +and such like goods, and acting as scriveners to any who should +desire to avail themselves of their skill in penmanship. + +They were both reputed to be men of considerable learning, and as +they had fallen from a different position, they were looked up to +with a certain amount of respect. Some were disposed to sneer at +and flout them, but they were on the whole well liked amongst their +neighbours. They were very quiet people, and never spoke one word +of the matters which came to their knowledge through the letters +they were from time to time called upon to write. Almost every +surrounding family had in some sort or another intrusted them with +some family secret or testamentary deposition, and would on this +account alone have been averse to quarrelling with them, for fear +they might let out the secret. + +Martin found his neighbour Anthony by far the most interesting of +his acquaintances, and the fact of this common disappointment in +the new King, and the common persecution instituted against both +Romanists and Puritans, had drawn them more together of late than +ever before. Both were men of considerable enlightenment of mind; +both desired to see toleration extended to all (though each might +have regarded with more complacency an act of uniformity that +strove to bring all men to his own particular way of thinking and +worship), and both agreed in a hearty contempt for the mean and +paltry King, who had made such lavish promises in the days of his +adversity, only to cancel them the moment he had the power, and +fling himself blindly into the arms of the dominant faction of the +Episcopacy. + +All the guests were cordially welcomed by the family of Martin +Holt. The three elder men sat round the fire, and plunged into +animated discussion almost at once. Jacob Dyson got into a chair +somehow beside Keziah, and stared uneasily round the room; whilst +Walter Cole took up his position beside Jemima, and strove to +entertain her by the account of some tilting and artillery practice +(as archery was still called) that he had been witnessing in Spital +Fields. He spoke of the courage and prowess of the young Prince of +Wales, and how great a contrast he presented to his father. The +contempt that was beginning to manifest itself towards the luckless +James in his English subjects was no more plainly manifested than +in the London citizens. Elizabeth, with all her follies and her +faults, had been the idol of London, as her father before her. Now +a reaction had set in, and no scorn could be too great for her +undignified and presumptuous successor. This contempt was well +shown by the dry reply of the Lord Mayor some few years later, when +the King, in a rage at being refused a loan he desired of the +citizens, threatened to remove his Court and all records and jewels +from the Tower and Westminster Hall to another place, as a mark of +his displeasure. The Lord Mayor listened calmly to this terrible +threat, and then made submissive answer. + +"Your Majesty hath power to do what you please," he said, "and your +city of London will obey accordingly; but she humbly desires that +when your Majesty shall remove your Courts, you would graciously +please to leave the Thames behind you." + +But to return to the house on the bridge and the occupants of +Martin Holt's parlour. Whilst Jemima and Keziah listened eagerly to +the stories of the student's son, with the delight natural to +Puritan maidens denied any participation in such scenes of +merriment, Jacob was looking rather dismally round the room, and +presently broke in with the question: + +"But where, all this time, is Cherry?" + +"Strewing rushes in the eating parlour, I doubt not," answered +Keziah. "She went out a while back to cut them. She loveth not dry +disputings and learned talk. Belike she will linger below till nigh +on the supper hour an Aunt Susan call her not." + +"I love not such disputings neither," said Jacob, with unwonted +energy. "Good Kezzie, let us twain slip below to help Cherry over +her task." + +Keziah gave a quick glance at the face of her stern aunt, who loved +not this sort of slipping away during times of ceremony; but she +had her back to them and to the door, and was engrossed in the talk +as well as in the stocking fabric upon her needles. Jemima and +Walter were still talking unrebuked in a low key. Perchance this +flitting could be accomplished without drawing down either notice +or remark. To please Jacob, Keziah would have done much, even to +running the risk of a scolding from her aunt. She had none of saucy +Cherry's scorn of the big boorish fellow with the red face and +hairy hands. She looked below the surface, and knew that a kindly +heart beat beneath the ungainly habit; and being but plain herself, +Keziah would have taken shame to herself for thinking scorn of +another for a like defect. + +Putting her finger on her lip in token of caution, she effected a +quiet retreat, and the next moment the two cousins stood flushed +but elated in the eating parlour below. But though it was now past +five o'clock, there was no sign of Cherry or her rushes, and Keziah +looked both surprised and uneasy. + +"Belike she came in with dirty clogs and skirt, and has gone up to +her bed chamber to change them, for fear of Aunt Susan telling her +she was cluttering up the parlour," said the sister, anxiously. "I +will run and see. Sure she can never have lingered so late beside +the river! The sun has been long down, and the fog is rising." + +Keziah tripped upstairs lightly enough, but speedily came down with +a grave face. + +"She is not there," was her answer to Jacob's glance of inquiry. +"What must we do? If we make a coil about it, and she comes in, +having only gossiped awhile with the neighbours along the bridge, +aunt will surely chide her sharply, and send her to bed supperless. +But if she should have met some mischance--" and Keziah broke off, +looking frightened enough, for it was no light matter to meet +mischance alone and unprotected in the dark. + +"I will go forth to seek her," cried Jacob, with unwonted +animation. "It boots not for a man to be abroad after dark, but for +a maid it is an ill tiding indeed. Which way went she? to the osier +beds! Sure I must find her ere long. Were it not well for me to go, +good Kezzie?" + +"I would that some would go, but I trow thou hadst better not +adventure thyself alone. Belike Master Walter would be thy +companion. If there be peril abroad, it is better there should be +twain than one. And you will want lanterns and stout staffs, too." + +"Run thou and light the lanterns, good coz, and I will to Walter +and ask his company. It grows thicker and darker every moment. If +Cherry be not within, it behoves us to make search for her." + +Keziah's face was pale with terror as she flew to do Jacob's +bidding. She had a terrible fear of London streets, at night, as +well she might, and the open country beyond was even worse to her +excited imagination. And Cherry was so pretty, so simple, so +credulous, and withal so utterly defenceless should there be any +sort of attack made upon her. Keziah's hands shook as she lighted +the lantern; and as minutes were fast slipping away and still there +was no sign of the truant, she was rather relieved than terrified +to hear the sharp accents of her aunt's voice mingling with her +father's deeper tones as the whole party came tramping down the +stairs. It was plain that Jacob had let the secret ooze out, and +that all the company had become alarmed. Cherry's name was on all +lips, and Martin was asking his sister somewhat sternly why she had +overlooked the non-return of the girl at dusk. + +Miss Susan was sharply defending herself on the score of her +manifold duties and Cherry's well-known gadding propensities. She +never looked to see her home before dusk, as she was certain to +stay out as long as she dared, and since then she had taken it for +granted that the little hussy had come in, and was doing over the +floor with her rushes. + +Martin paid small heed to this shrill torrent of words, but with +anxious face was pulling on his long outer hoots, and selecting the +stoutest oaken staff of the number stacked in the corner, inviting +his guests to arm themselves in like fashion. + +Jemima and Keziah, feeling as though some blame attached to them, +looked on with pale faces, whilst Rachel chattered volubly of the +horrors she had often heard of as being perpetrated in the streets. +Her brother turned upon her roughly at last, and bid her cease her +ill-omened croaking; whereat she tossed her head and muttered a +good many scornful interjections, and "could not see why she need +be called to task like that." + +The whole party descended to the door when the preparations for the +start were complete. It was striking half after five on many of the +city clocks as Martin threw open his door. But he had scarcely +stepped across the threshold before he heard a familiar little +shriek; there was a rush of steps from somewhere in the darkness +without, and Cherry, with an abandon very foreign to the times and +her training, and indicative of much agitation and emotion, flung +herself upon his breast, and threw her arms about his neck. + +"Here I am, father; there has no hurt befallen me!" she cried in +broken gasps. "But I know not what fearful thing was like to have +happened had it not been for the help of this gallant gentleman, +who came in the very nick of time to drive off my assailants and +bring me safe home. And oh, my father, such a wonderful thing! I +can scarce believe it myself! This gentleman is no stranger; +leastways he may not so be treated, for he is our very own flesh +and blood--my cousin, thy nephew. He is Cuthbert Trevlyn, son to +that sister Bridget of thine of whom we have sometimes heard thee +speak!" + +A strange dead silence fell on the group clustered in the doorway +with lanterns and staffs. All looked out into the darkness in a +mist of perplexity and doubt, to see, as their eyes grew used to +the obscurity, the tall figure of a slim, dark-faced youth standing +beside a tired-looking horse, and steadying upon the saddle a large +basket of rushes. + +Martin Holt, after one minute of utter silence, released the +clinging arms from about his neck, pushed Cherry not ungently +towards her sisters, and stepped forward towards her preserver. + +"This is a strange thing my daughter tells me, young sir," he said, +as he scanned the horseman's face narrowly by the light of his +lantern. "I find it hard to credit my senses. Art sure that she has +understood thee aright? Is Cuthbert Trevlyn truly thy name?" + +"Ay, truly it is; and my mother's was Bridget Holt, and she left +her home long years ago as waiting maid to my Lady Adelaide de +Grey, and led a happy life till some evil hap threw her across the +path of Nicholas Trevlyn, who made her his wife. I trow she many a +time rued the day when she was thus persuaded; but repentance came +too late, and death soon relieved her of her load of misery. That +she bequeathed to her children; and here am I this day a wanderer +from my father's house, constrained to seek shelter from her +kindred, since flesh and blood can no longer endure the misery of +dwelling beneath his roof." + +"Jacob," said Martin Holt, "take yon steed to the stables of Master +Miller, and ask him for fodder and tendance for the beast for this +night. + +"Young sir, thou hast a strange story to tell, and I would hear it +anon. If thou hadst not succoured my daughter in her hour of need, +I must have bid thee welcome to my house and my table. Since thou +hast done this also, I do it the more readily. I scarce knew that +my misguided sister had borne a son. Whether he lived or died I had +no means of knowing. But if thou art he, come in, and be welcome. I +will hear thy tale anon. Meantime stand no longer without in the +cold." + +If this welcome were something coldly given, Cuthbert was not aware +of it. Used as he was to his father's fierce sullenness and +taciturnity, any other manner seemed warm and pleasant. He followed +this new uncle up the dark staircase without any misgiving, and +found himself quickly in the well-warmed and well-lighted eating +parlour, where Mistress Susan was already bustling about in a very +noisy fashion, getting the viands ready for serving. A dark frown +was on her face, and her whole aspect was thundery. + +The sisters and Rachel had all vanished upstairs to hear Cherry's +story as they got her ready for the supper table, excitement in +this new arrival of an unknown kinsman having saved the girl from +any chiding or questioning from father or aunt. The Coles, father +and son, had returned to the upper parlour with the discretion and +refinement of feeling natural to them; so that only Abraham Dyson +witnessed the next scene in the little domestic drama, for Jacob +had obediently gone off with the horse. + +Martin Holt pushed his nephew before him into the lighted room, and +looked him well over from head to foot. + +"There is little of thy mother about thee, boy," he said, with some +stern bitterness of tone. "I fear me thou art all thy father's +son." + +"My father says not so," answered Cuthbert, facing his uncle +fearlessly. "He has flung it again and yet again in my teeth that I +am the heretic son of my heretic mother." + +Martin Holt uttered an inarticulate exclamation and came a step +nearer. + +"Say that again, boy--say that again! Can it be true that thy +unhappy and deluded mother repented of her Popish errors ere she +died, and turned back to the pure faith of her childhood? If that +be so, it is like a mill stone rolled from off my heart. I have +wept for her all these years as for one of the lost." + +"I was too young when she died to remember aught of her teaching, +but I have seen those who tell me she was fearfully unhappy with my +father, and abjured his faith ere she died. I know that he reviles +her memory, and he forbids even her children to speak of her. He +would scarce have branded her with the hateful name of heretic had +she adhered to his faith till her death." + +"Susan, dost hear that?" cried Martin Holt, turning exultantly to +his sister. "It was as our mother fondly said. She was not lost for +ever; she returned to her former faith. Nay, I doubt not that in +some sort she died for it--died through the harshness and sternness +of her husband. Susan, dost hear--dost understand?" + +But Susan only turned a sour face towards her brother. + +"I hear," she answered ungraciously. "But the boy has doubtless +been bred a Papist. Who can believe a word he says? Doubtless he +has been sent here to corrupt your daughters, as Bridget was +corrupted by his father. I would liefer put my hand in the maw of a +mad dog than my faith in the word of a Papist." + +Cuthbert did not wince beneath this harsh speech, he was too well +inured to such; he only looked at his aunt with grave curiosity as +he answered thoughtfully: + +"Methinks it is something hard to believe them, always. Yet I have +known them speak sooth as well as other men. But I myself would +sooner put confidence in the word of one of the other faith. They +hold not with falsehood in a good cause as our father confessors +do. Wherefore, if it were for that alone, I would sooner be a +heretic, albeit there be many things about my father's faith that I +love and cling to." + +This answer caused Martin to look more closely at his nephew, +discerning in him something of the fearless Puritan spirit, as well +as that instinctive desire to weigh and judge for himself that was +one of his own characteristics. Papist the lad might be by training +and inheritance, but it was plain that at present he was no bigot. +He would not strive to corrupt his cousins; rather were they likely +to influence and draw him. + +Susan flounced back to the kitchen without another word, only +muttering to herself prognostications of evil if such a popinjay +were admitted into the household. Not that Cuthbert's sober riding +suit merited such a criticism, for there was nothing fine about it +at all; yet it had been fashionably cut in its day, and still had +the nameless air that always clings to a thoroughly well-made +garment, even when it has seen its best days; and the Puritans were +already beginning to show, by their plain and severe dress, their +contempt for frivolity and extravagance, though the difference +between their clothes and those of other men was not so marked as +it became in the next reign. + +However, there was not much more time for conversation on private +themes. Jacob returned from stabling the horse; the girls from +above descended, full of curiosity about this new cousin. The +Coles, father and son, joined the party assembled round the table, +and were introduced to Cuthbert, whom, as a Trevlyn, they regarded +with considerable interest, and then the guests and the family were +all placed--Mistress Susan and the two elder nieces only seating +themselves at the last, when they had finished putting all the +savoury dishes on the table. Cuthbert's eyes grew round with amaze +at the sight of all the good cheer before him. Even at Trevlyn +Chase he had never seen quite such an array of dishes and meats; +and as he was the greatest stranger and a traveller to boot, he was +helped with the greatest liberality, and pressed to partake of +every dish. + +Cherry was called upon for an account of her adventures, and was +chidden sharply by her aunt for her folly and carelessness after +being warned not to be overtaken by the darkness. But her father +was too thankful to have her safe home to say much; and Rachel, who +sat on Cuthbert's other side, plied him with questions about his +own share in the adventure, and praised him in warm terms for his +heroism, till the lad grew shamefaced and abashed, and was glad +when the talk drifted away from private to public matters, and he +could listen without being called upon to speak. + +Moreover, he was all eagerness to hear what he could of such +topics. He knew so little what was stirring in the country, and was +eager to learn more. He kept hearing the words "Bye" and "Main" +bandied about amongst the speakers, and at last he asked his +neighbour in a whisper what was meant by the terms. + +"Marry, two villainous Popish plots," answered Rachel, who was glib +enough with her tongue. "And many heads have fallen already, and +perhaps more will yet fall; for Sir Walter Raleigh is still in the +Tower, and my Lord Grey, too. Confusion to all traitors and +plotters, say I! Why cannot men live pleasantly and easily? They +might well do so, an they would cease from their evil practices, +and from making such a coil about what hurts none. If they would +but go to church like sensible Christians, nobody would have a word +against them; but they are like mules and pigs, and they can +neither be led nor driven straight. I go to church every Sunday of +my life, and what there is to fall foul of I never can guess. But +men be such blind, obstinate fools, they must always be putting a +rope round their necks. They say London is seething now with plots, +and no man can feel safe for a day nor an hour." + +Cuthbert gave one swift backward thought to his companion of the +road and the strange words he had uttered; and he asked with +increasing interest of his lively neighbour: + +"But what do men think to gain by such plots? What is the object of +them?" + +"Beshrew me if I know or care! My father says they be all mad together, +the moonstruck knaves! They say that the 'Bye' was an attempt to make +prisoner of the King's Majesty, and to keep him in captivity till he +had sworn to change his laws and his ministers--as they say was done +once in Scotland, when he was trying to rule his turbulent subjects +there. As for the 'Main,' that was worse; nothing better than the +murder of the King and Royal family, so that the Lady Arabella might +be Queen in his stead. But neither came to good; it seemeth to me that +these villainous plots never do, And all that results from them is that +the laws are made harsher and harsher, and men groan and writhe under +them, and curse the King and his ministers, when they had better be +cursing their own folly and wickedness in trying to overthrow the +government of their lawful rulers." + +"That is one side of the question, Mistress Rachel," said Walter +Cole, in his quiet voice; "but if none had ever revolted against +tyranny, we had all been slaves this day instead of a free nation +of subjects, imposing our just will upon a sovereign in return for +the privileges he grants us. There be limits to endurance. There be +times when those limits are over past, and to submit becomes +weakness and coward folly. Thou speakest as one swimming easily +with the stream. Thou knowest little of the perils of the shoals +and quicksands." + +Rachel tossed her head, but was too wary to be drawn into an +argument with the man of books. She could air her father's opinions +second hand with an assumption of great assurance, but she was no +hand at argument or fence, and had no desire for an encounter of +wits. + +But Cuthbert stepped eagerly into the breach, and the two men +became engrossed in talk. Cuthbert heard of acts of tyranny and +oppression, cruel punishments and ruinous fines imposed upon +hapless Romanists, guiltless of any other offence than of growing +up in the faith of their forefathers. He heard, on the other hand, +of Puritan preachers deprived of their cures and hunted about like +criminals, though nothing save the crime of unlicensed preaching +could be adduced against them. Cuthbert's blood was young and hot, +and easily stirred within him. He began to understand how it was +that the nation and this great city were never at rest. It seemed +to him as though he had stepped down out of a region of snow and +ice into the very crater of some smouldering volcano which might at +any moment burst out into flames. The sensation was strange and a +little intoxicating. He marvelled how he had been content so long +to know so little of the great world in which he lived. + +The party broke up all too soon for him; but after the guests had +gone he had yet another interview to go through with his uncle, +after the womenkind had been dismissed to bed. + +Firstly, Martin questioned the boy closely as to the circumstances +of his past life--his relations with his father, his training, +intellectual and religious, and his final resolve to escape, +carried out by the help of Sir Richard and his family. Next, he +went on to ask the youth of his wishes concerning his future; and +finding these as vague as might be expected from his vast +inexperience, he smiled, and said that question could stand over +for the present. There was no difficulty about employing talent and +energy in this city of London; and if his nephew developed capacity +in any direction, it could doubtless be turned to good account. +Meantime he had better dwell beneath this roof, and accustom +himself to new ways and new sights, after which they would talk of +his future again. + +Nothing could be more to Cuthbert's mind than such a decision; but +when he tried to express his gratitude, he was speedily silenced. + +"Not a word, boy; not a word! Thou art a near kinsman. Thou hast +had a hard life with thy father, and having claimed the protection +of thy mother's brother, shalt have it, and welcome. But now to +another matter. How art thou off for money? I trow by what thou +sayest of thy father that he had little to give or spend." + +"He never gave me aught in his life save the poor clothes and food +that were needful. My uncle gave me a few gold pieces ere I left--I +mean my good cousin, Sir Richard." + +"Ay, boy, ay. But I trow that thine own uncle can do better by thee +than that. Didst ever know that thy mother once looked to have a +fortune of her own, albeit a modest one?" + +Cuthbert shook his head, and Martin rose from his seat and +disappeared from the room for a few minutes. When he came back he +had a coffer in his hands that seemed to be heavy. He placed it on +the table, and went on with his speech as though he had not been +interrupted. + +"Yes. Our father was a man of substance, and he had but three +children--myself, Susan, and Bridget. To me he willed his house, +his business, and all the money locked up in that. To Susan and +Bridget he divided the savings of his lifetime that had not been +used in enlarging the business. There was two thousand pounds +apiece for them when he died." + +Cuthbert's eyes dilated with astonishment, but he said nothing, and +his uncle continued speaking. + +"You doubtless marvel why you have received none of this before. I +will tell you why. When Bridget married a Papist, our father was in +a great rage, and vowed she should never have a penny of his money. +He scratched her name out of his will, and bid us never speak her +name again. But as he lay a-dying, other thoughts came into his +mind, and he was unhappy in this thing. He bid me get together the +two thousand pounds that had once been Bridget's portion, and when +I did so--with some trouble at a short notice--he counted it all +over, and with his own hands locked it away in this chest "--laying +his hand on the weighty iron-bound box. "Then he turned to me and +said, 'Martin, I verily believe that thy sister is dead. Something +tells me that I shall see her before I see any of you. The dead are +ever forgiven. Take this coffer and keep it for thy sister's +children, if she have had the misfortune to bring children into +this world of sorrow. Keep it for them till they be grown. Let not +their evil father know aught of it. And even then be cautious. +Prove and see if they be worthy of wealth--if they will make good +use of it. It is thine in trust for them. Keep or withhold as thou +thinkest right; but be honest and be true, so shall my blessing +follow thee even after death.' Those were amongst the last words he +spoke. I took the chest, and I have kept it until now. I have +thought often of it; but no word reached me of my sister, and time +has failed me to seek her abroad. I knew her children, if any +lived, could but just have reached man or woman's estate, and I +have waited to see what would chance. + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn, this chest and all it contains may one day be +thine. I give it not yet into thy keeping, for I must prove thee +first; but I tell thee what is within it and what was thy grand +sire's charge, that thou mayest know I have no desire save to do +what is right by thee and thy sister, and that I trust and hope the +day may come when I may deliver the chest to thee, to divide with +her the portion bequeathed to your hapless mother." + +Cuthbert's astonishment was so great he hardly knew what to say. +For himself he cared but little. He was a man, and could fight his +own way in the world. But those golden coins would make a dowry for +his sister that many a high-born dame might envy. A flush came into +his cheek as he thought of Philip's eager words overheard by him. +If Petronella was the mistress of a fair fortune, why should any +forbid them to be wed? + +Martin liked the lad none the less that his first thought was for +his sister. But for the present Petronella was beneath her father's +roof, and could not be benefited thereby. Still, it would be +something for Cuthbert to know, and to look forward to in the +future, and therein he rejoiced. + +The chest was carefully restored to its hiding place and securely +locked away, and then the kindly uncle took from his own pocket a +small purse and put it into the reluctant hands of the lad. + +"Nay, nay, thou must not be proud, boy; though I like thee none the +less for thy pride and thine independence of spirit. But thou must +not be penniless as thou goest about this city; and if one uncle +gave thee gold, why not another? So no more words about it. Take +it, and begone to thy chamber; for we are simple folks that keep +early hours, and I am generally abed an hour ere this." + +So Cuthbert went to his queer little attic chamber beneath the +high-pitched gable, with a mind confused yet happy, and limbs very +weary with travel. Yet sleep fell upon him almost before his head +touched the pillow, for he had slept but brokenly since leaving his +father's house, and nature, in spite of all obstacles, was claiming +her due at last. + + + +Chapter 7: The Life Of A Great City. + + +And so a new life began for Cuthbert beneath the roof of his uncle. + +He found favour in the sight of Martin Holt because of his +unpretending ways, his willingness, nay, his eagerness to learn, +his ready submission to the authority exercised by the master of +the house upon all beneath his roof, and the absence of anything +like presumption or superciliousness on his nephew's part on the +score of his patrician birth on his father's side. Trevlyn though +he was, the lad conformed to all the ways and usages of the humbler +Holts; and even Mistress Susan soon ceased to look sourly at him, +for she found him as amenable to her authority as to that of +Martin, and handy and helpful in a thousand little nameless ways. + +He was immensely interested in everything about him. He would as +willingly sit and baste a capon on the spit as ramble abroad in the +streets, if she would but answer his host of inquiries about +London, its ways and its sights. Mistress Susan was not above being +open to the insidious flattery of being questioned and listened to; +and to find herself regarded as an oracle of wisdom and a mine of +information could not but be soothing to her vanity, little as she +knew that she possessed her share of that common feminine failing. + +Then Cuthbert was a warm appreciator of her culinary talents. The +poor boy, who had lived at the Gate House on the scantiest of +commons, and had been kept to oaten bread and water sometimes for a +week together for a trifling offence, felt indeed that he had come +to a land of plenty when he sat down day after day to his uncle's +well-spread table, and was urged to partake of all manner of +dishes, the very name of which was unknown to him. His keen relish +of her dainties, combined with what seemed to her a very modest +consumption of them, pleased Mistress Susan not a little; whilst +for his own part Cuthbert began to look heartier and stronger than +he had ever done before. The slimness of attenuation was merged in +that of wiry strength and muscle. His dark eyes no longer looked +out from hollow caverns, and the colour which gradually stole into +his brown cheek bespoke increase of health and well being. + +Martin and Susan looked on well pleased by the change. They liked +the lad, and found his Popery of such a mild kind that they felt no +misgiving as to its influence upon the girls. Cuthbert was as +willing to go to a privately conducted Puritan service as to mass, +and liked the appointed service of the Establishment rather better +than either. Martin did not hinder his attending the parish church, +though he but rarely put in an appearance himself. He was not one +of the bitter opponents of the Establishment, but he was a bitter +opponent of persecution for conscience' sake, and he was naturally +embittered by the new rigour with which the old laws of conformity +were enforced. However, he was true to his principles in that he +let Cuthbert go his own way freely, and did not forbid Cherry to +accompany him sometimes to church, where she found much +entertainment and pleasure in watching the fashionable people come +and go; and perhaps her father divined that she would give more +attention to the mode of the ladies' headgears and hair dressing +and the cut of their farthingales than to any matters of doctrine +that might be aired in the pulpit. + +As for Cuthbert, he drank in voraciously all that he heard and all +that he saw in this strange place, which seemed to him like the +Babylon of old that the Puritan pastors raved over in their +pulpits. He was to be allowed his full liberty for some weeks, to +see the sights of the city and learn his way about it. Perhaps +after Christmastide his uncle would employ him in his shop or +warehouse, but Martin wished to take the measure of the lad before +he put him to any task. + +So Cuthbert roamed the London streets wondering and amazed. He saw +many a street fight waged between the Templars and 'prentices, and +got a broken head himself from being swept along the tide of mimic +battle. He saw the rude and rabble mob indulging in their favourite +pastime of upsetting coaches (hell carts as they chose to dub +them), and roaring with laughter as the frightened occupants strove +to free themselves from the clumsy vehicles. Cuthbert got several +hard knocks as a reward for striving to assist these unlucky wights +when they chanced to be ladies; but he was too well used to blows +to heed them over much, and could generally give as good as he got. + +The fighting instinct often got him into tight places, as when he +suddenly found himself surrounded by a hooting mob of ruffians in +one of the slums of "Alsatia," as Whitefriars was called, where he +had imprudently adventured himself. And this adventure might have +well had a fatal termination for him, as this was a veritable den +of murderers and villains of the deepest dye, and even the +authorities dared not venture within its purlieus to hunt out a +missing criminal without a guard of soldiers with them. The abuse +of "Sanctuary" was well exemplified by the existing state of things +here; and though Cuthbert was doing no ill to any soul, but merely +gratifying his curiosity by prowling about the narrow dens and +alleys, the cry of "A spy! a spy!" soon brought a mob about him, +whilst his readiness to engage in battle caused the tumult to +redouble itself in an instant. + +The lad had just realized his danger, and faced the fact that the +chances of escaping alive were greatly against him, when a window +in a neighbouring house was thrown open, and a stern, musical voice +exclaimed: + +"For shame, my children, for shame! Is it to be one against a +hundred? Is that Alsatia's honour? What has the lad done?" + +Cuthbert raised his eyes and beheld the tonsured head of a priest +clad in a rusty black cassock, who was standing at the only window +to be seen in a blank wall somewhat higher than that of the other +houses surrounding it. The effect of those words on the angry +multitude was wonderful. The hands raised to strike were lowered, +and voices on all sides exclaimed: + +"It is Father Urban; we may not withstand him." + +Still the anger of the mob was not calmed in a moment, and fierce +voices exclaimed in threatening accents: + +"A spy! he is a spy!" + +"Then bring him hither to me; I will judge him," said the priest, +in the same tones of calm assurance. "If I find him worthy of +death, I will give him over to your hands again." + +"That will do; Father Urban shall judge him!" cried a brawny fellow +who seemed to be something of a leader with his fellows. "The +Father never lied to us yet. He will give him back if he finds him +a spy." + +Cuthbert was now jostled and hustled, but not in the same angry +fashion, to a small narrow door in a deep embrasure, and when this +door presently swung back on its hinges, the crowd surged quickly +backwards as though in some sort afraid. Within the narrow doorway +stood the priest, a small, slim man in rusty black, with a crucifix +suspended from his rosary, which he held up before the crowd, who +most of them crossed themselves with apparent devotion. + +"Peace be with you, my children!" was his somewhat incongruous +salutation to the blood-thirsty mob; and then turning his bright +but benignant eyes upon Cuthbert, he said: + +"This is a leper house, my son. Yet methinks thou wilt be safer +here a while than in the street. Dost thou fear to enter? If thou +dost, we must e'en talk where we are." + +"I have no fear," answered Cuthbert, who indeed only experienced a +lively curiosity. + +The priest seemed pleased with the answer, and drew him within the +sheltering door; and Cuthbert followed his guide into a long, low +room, where a table was spread with trenchers and pitchers, whilst +an appetizing odour arose from a saucepan simmering on the fire and +stirred by one of the patients, upon whom Cuthbert gazed with +fascinated interest. + +"He is well nigh cured," answered the priest. "Our sick abide on +the floor above; but there be not many here now. The plague carried +off above half our number last year. + +"But now of thine own matters, boy: how comest thou hither? Thou +art a bold lad to venture a stranger into these haunts, unless thou +be fleeing a worse peril from the arm of the law; and neither thy +face nor thy dress looks like that. Hast thou not heard of +Whitefriars and its perils? or art thou a rustic knave, unversed in +the ways of the town?" + +Cuthbert told his story frankly enough. He had lost himself in the +streets, and was in the forbidden region before he well knew. A few +kindly and dexterous questions from Father Urban led him to tell +all that there was to know about himself, his parentage and his +past; and the priest listened with great attention, scanning the +face of the youth narrowly the while. + +"Trevlyn--the name is known to us. It was a good old name once, and +may be still again. I have seen thy father, Nicholas Trevlyn. It +may be I shall see him again one day. Be true to thy father's +faith, boy; be not led away by hireling shepherds. The day is +coming on England when the true faith shall spread from end to end +of the land, and all heretics shall be confounded! See that thou +art in thy place in that day! See that thou art found by thy +father's side in the hour of victory!" + +Cuthbert hung his head a little, and a flush crept into his cheek; +but the priest did not appear to heed these slight indications of +embarrassment, as he moved slowly up the stairs to the window above +to tell the expectant crowd to disperse, as their victim was no +spy, but an honest country lad, whose father was known to the +priest, and who had lost his way in London, and strayed +inadvertently into their midst. + +Then the crowd having dispersed to seek fresh amusement, the +priest, at Cuthbert's desire, showed him all over this leper house, +and told him much respecting the condition of the miserable inmates +before they had been admitted to this place of refuge; and Cuthbert +gazed with awe-stricken eyes at the scarred and emaciated +sufferers, filled with compassion and not loathing, and at last +drew forth one of his golden pieces from his purse and asked the +priest to expend it for the benefit of the poor lepers. + +"That will I gladly do, my son. But I must not let thee linger +longer here; for although I myself hold that the whole and sound +are not affected by the taint, there be leeches of repute who swear +'tis death to abide long beside the leper." + +"Thou hast not found it so, Father. Dost thou live here?" + +"Nay, I have no home. I go hither and thither as duty calls me. But +I am often here with these sick folks of mine, whom so few men will +dare approach unto. But I myself have never been the worse for my +ministrations here, and I have no fears for thee, though I would +not have thee linger. We will be going now, and I will be thy guide +out of these dens of the earth, else might some more untoward thing +befall thee when none might be nigh to succour thee." + +The priest and the youth passed out together. The early dusk was +beginning to fall, and Cuthbert was glad enough of the protection +of Father Urban's companionship. All saluted the priest as he +passed by, and few even looked askance at his comrade. The +influence of these Roman Catholics over the hearts and feelings of +the masses has always been very great--something of an enigma and a +grievance to those who would fain see naught but evil within the +fold of Rome. But facts are stubborn things, and the facts have +been in this matter in their favour. England as a nation was slowly +but surely throwing off the Papal yoke, and emerging from a region +of darkness and superstition. Nevertheless, the influence of the +priest was a living and often a beneficent influence amongst the +most degraded of the people, and he could and did obtain a reverent +hearing when no man else coming in the name of Christ would have +been listened to for a single moment. + +As the pair moved along the dark, noisome streets, Father Urban +spoke again in his quick, imperious way. + +"Thou spakest awhile ago of one Master Robert Catesby; hast thou +seen aught of him since thy arrival in London?" + +"No," answered Cuthbert; "I have had much else to do and to think +of. But I must to him one day, and demand my purse again, else may +he think I have been left for dead on the highway." + +"He is a good man and a true," said the priest. "Thou wilt do well +to keep his friendship an thou mayest. Catesby and Trevlyn come of +a good stock; it were well they should consort together." + +Cuthbert recalled some of the strange words spoken by Master Robert +on the road, and wondered if he recalled them aright. They seemed +to partake of the character of fierce threats. He was not certain +that he altogether relished the thought of such friendship. + +"Mine uncle might not wish me to consort with him," said the lad, +with a little hesitation. "He is but a wool stapler, as I have told +thee, and his friends are simple folks like himself. He meddles not +in matters that gentlefolks love. He has no fine company to his +house. Since it be my lot to abide beneath his roof--" + +"Thou must needs conform to his ways; is that so, boy?" asked the +Father, interrupting the rather lame and confused speech, and +smiling as he did so. "Ay, conform, conform! Conformity is the way +of the world today! I would not bid thee do otherwise. Yet one bit +of counsel will I give thee ere we part. Think not that thou canst +not conform and yet do thy duty by the true faith, too. Be a +careful, watchful inmate of thine uncle's house; yet fear not to +consort with good men, too, when thy chance comes. Thou needst not +tell thine uncle all. Thou hast reached man's estate, and it is +ordained of God that men should shake off the fetters that bind +them in youth, and act and judge for themselves. My counsel is +this: be wary, be prudent, be watchful, and lose no opportunity of +gaining the trust of all men. So wilt thou one day live to do +service to many; and thou wilt better understand my words the +longer thou livest in this great city, and learnest more of what is +seething below the surface of men's lives." + +And with a few words of dismissal and blessing the Father sent +Cuthbert on his way, standing still and looking after him till the +slight figure was lost to sight in the darkness. + +"There goes a man who by his face might have a great future before +him," mused the priest. "It is with such faces as that that men +have gone to prison and to death." + +Cuthbert bent his steps towards the bridge, interested and excited +by his recent adventure, his thoughts directed into a new channel, +his memory recalling the first companion of his lonely journey, and +the charm of that companion's personality and address. So many +other things had passed since, impressions had jostled so quickly +one upon the other, that he had scarce thought again of Master +Robert Catesby or the purse he had to claim from him. His new +uncle's liberality had made him rich, and a certain natural reserve +had held him silent in his Puritan relative's house about any +person not likely to find favour in Martin Holt's estimation. He +had been equally reticent about his strange adventure with the +gipsies, though he scarce knew why he should not speak of that. +But, as a matter of fact, every day brought with it such a crowd of +new impressions that the earlier ones had already partially faded +from his mind. + +But the words of the priest had awakened a new train of thought. +Cuthbert resolved not to delay longer the reclamation of his own +property. He spoke to Cherry that same evening about his lost +purse, giving her a brief account of his ride across Hammerton +Heath, and she was eager for him to ask his own, lest he should +lose it altogether. + +"For gay gallants are not always to be trusted, for all that they +look so fine and speak so fair," she said, nodding her pretty curly +head, an arch smile in her big gray eyes. "I have heard my father +say so a hundred times. I would go quickly and claim mine own +again. But tell me the rest of the adventure. What didst thou, left +thus alone upon the lone heath? I trow it was an unmanly and +unmannerly act to leave thee thus. What befell thee then?" + +Cuthbert looked round cautiously; but there was no one listening to +the chatter of this pair of idlers in the window. Mistress Susan's +voice was heard below scolding the serving wench, and Martin Holt +was poring over some big ledger whilst Jemima called over the +figures of a heap of bills. Keziah was at her spinning wheel, which +hummed merrily in the red firelight; and Cherry was seizing +advantage of her aunt's absence to chatter instead of work. + +Cherry had from the first been Cuthbert's confidante and friend. It +was taken for granted by this time that this should be so. Nobody +was surprised to see them often together, and Cherry had never +found the house on the bridge so little dull as when Cuthbert came +in night by night to give her the most charming and exciting +accounts of his doings and adventures. Once, too, she had gone with +him to see some sights. They had paraded Paul's Walk together, and +Cuthbert had been half scandalized and wholly astonished to see a +fine church desecrated to a mere fashionable promenade and lounging +place and mart. They had watched some gallants at their tennis +playing another day, and had even been present at the baiting of a +bear, when they had come unawares upon the spectacle in their +wanderings. But Cuthbert's ire had been excited through his +humanity and love for dumb animals, and Cherry had been frightened +and sickened by the brutality of the spectacle. And when Martin +Holt had inveighed against the practice with all a Puritan's +vehemence, Cuthbert had cordially agreed, and had thus drawn as it +were one step nearer the side of the great coming controversy which +his uncle had embraced. + +These expeditions together had naturally drawn the cousins into +closer bonds of intimacy. Cherry felt privileged to ask questions +of Cuthbert almost at will, and he had no wish to hide anything +from her. + +"I will tell thee that adventure some day when we are alone," he +answered. "I have often longed to share the tale with thee, but we +have had so much else to speak of. I was taken prisoner by the +robbers, and conveyed to a ruined mill, where some of their +comrades and some wild gipsies dwell, as I take it, for the greater +part of the inclement winter. I thought my end had surely come when +first I saw the fierce faces round me; but there was one who called +herself their queen, and who made them quit their evil purpose. She +put me to sit beside her at the board, and when the morning came +she fed me again and bid me ride forth without fear. She told me +certain things to boot, which I must not forget: but those I will +not speak of till you know the whole strange story. I may not tell +it here. I would not that any should know it but thee, Cherry. But +some day when we can get into some lonely place together I will +tell thee all, and we will think together how the thing on which my +mind is set may be accomplished." + +Cherry's eyes were dilated with wonder and curiosity. Her cousin +all at once took rank as a hero and knight of romance. He had +already experienced a wonderful adventure, and there was plainly +some mystery behind which was to be made known to her later. + +What a proud thing it was to have such a cousin! How she despised +honest Jacob now, with his large hands and heavy ways! She had +laughed at him ever since she could remember, and had ordered him +about much as though he were a faithful dog always ready to do her +bidding; but she had never quite realized what a clumsy boor he was +till their handsome, dark-faced Trevlyn cousin had come amongst +them, with his earnest eyes, his graceful movements, and his slim, +attractive person. Cuthbert's manners, that in fine society would +have been called rustic and unformed, were a great advance on +anything Cherry had seen in her own home, save in the person of +Anthony Cole and his son. She admired him immensely, and he was +rapidly becoming the sun and centre of her life; whilst Cuthbert, +who had always been used to the companionship of a sister, and who +found several fanciful resemblances as well as so many points of +contrast between the lively Cherry and the pensive Petronella, was +glad enough of her sisterly friendship and counsel, and did not +lose in favour with his uncle that he succeeded in pleasing and +brightening the life of his youngest born, who was in truth the +idol of his heart, though he would sooner have cut off his right +hand than have let her know as much too plainly. + +As Cherry also was of opinion that Cuthbert ought to reclaim his +money, he resolved to do so upon the morrow without any further +loss of time. Cherry advised him not to speak openly of his visit +to the tavern, for her father held all such places in abhorrence, +and would likely speak in slighting terms of any person who could +frequent them. He had better prosecute his errand secretly, and +tell her the result at the end. Cherry dearly loved a little bit of +mystery, and was very anxious that Cuthbert should continue to +occupy his present position in her father's good graces. + +The Cat and Fiddle was none too well looking a place when Cuthbert +succeeded at last in finding it. It had one door in the +thoroughfare of Holborn, but it ran back some way, and its other +doors opened into a narrow alley turning off from the main street +under a low archway. As Cuthbert pushed open the door of the public +room, he saw several men with faces of decidedly unprepossessing +type sitting together at a table engrossed in talk, and these all +looked quickly up as he entered, and gazed at him with undisguised +suspicion. + +A burly man, who had the look of a host, came forward, and asked +his business rather roughly. Strangers did not appear to meet any +warmth of welcome at this place. Cuthbert answered that he sought +news of Master Robert Catesby, who had bidden him inquire at that +place for him. As that name passed his lips he saw a change pass +over the face of his questioner, and the answer was given with a +decided access of friendliness. + +"He is not here now, but he will be here anon. He comes to dine +shortly after noon, and will spend some hours here today on +business. If it please you, you can wait for him." + +"I thank you, but I will come again later," answered Cuthbert, who +was by no means enamoured of the place or the company. + +He was surprised that his travelling companion, who appeared a man +of refined speech and habits, should frequent such an evil-looking +place as this. But the habits of the dwellers in cities were as yet +strange to him, and it might be his ignorance, he thought, which +made it appear suspicious to him. + +"And if he asks who has inquired for him, what shall I say?" asked +the host, whilst the men at the table continued to stare and listen +with every appearance of interest. + +"My name is Trevlyn," answered Cuthbert shortly, disliking, he +hardly knew why, the aspect and ways of the place. + +He fancied that a slight sensation followed this announcement. +Certainly the landlord bowed lower than there was occasion for as +he held open the door for his visitor to pass out. Cuthbert was +puzzled, and a little annoyed. He was half inclined not to go there +again; but curiosity got the better of his resolve as the afternoon +hours drew on. After all, what did it matter what manner of man +this was, since he need never see him again after today? It would +be foolish not to reclaim his money, and might lead Master Robert +Catesby to inquire for him at his uncle's house, and that he did +not wish. The thing had better be done, and be done quickly. How +foolish it would be to go back to Cherry and say he had not +accomplished his errand because some odd-looking men had stared at +him, and because the tavern was ill smelling and dirty! + +It was three o'clock, however, before the youth again entered the +unsavoury abode. As December had already come, the days were +approaching their shortest limit; and as heavy clouds hung in the +sky, the streets already began to look dark. Within the ill-lighted +tavern the obscurity was still greater. Cuthbert pushed his way +through the door, and found himself amongst the afternoon drinkers, +who were making the room ring with ribald songs and loud laughter. +But the host quickly singled him out, and approached with an air of +deference. + +"The gentleman you asked for is upstairs. He directed that you +should be sent to him on your arrival. I am too busy to go up the +stairs with you, but you cannot miss the way. He is in the room +upon the first floor; the first door to the right hand will lead +you to him. He has one or two gentlemen with him, but he will be +glad to see you, too." + +Cuthbert was glad to get out of the noisy room below, and, shutting +the door behind him, mounted the dark stairs. He opened the first +door to the right, after knocking once or twice in vain, and found +himself in a very small apartment, very ill lighted by a tiny +window, and altogether empty. + +He looked round in surprise. Dim as was the twilight, he could not +be mistaken in the emptiness of the room. He wondered if the man +had misled him purposely, and a little vague uneasiness stole over +him. The noises from below had hitherto drowned any other sound; +but as for some cause unknown to himself these suddenly and +entirely ceased for the space of some half minute, he became aware +of voices close at hand; and almost before he realized his +position, he had caught several quickly and eagerly spoken +sentences. + +"They show no mercy; let no mercy be shown to them!" said one +voice, in low, menacing accents. "Six saintly priests have died in +cruel agonies by the bloody hangman's hands but a few weeks past; +and look ye, what has been the fate of that godly, courageous old +man of Lancashire who has dared to raise his voice in reprobation +of these barbarities? Fined, imprisoned, despoiled of all; and all +but condemned to be nailed to the pillory, that his ears might be +sliced off! Even that fate was all but inflicted by yon infamous +Star Chamber, who respect neither virtue nor gray hairs, so they +may fill the King's coffers and destroy all godliness in the land! +It was but by two votes he escaped that last anguish and +degradation. How say ye, friends? Can any scheme be too desperate +if it rids us of such tyrants and rulers at one blow?" + +An eager murmur arose at that--assent, indignation, wrath--and +again the same voice spoke in the same low, eager tones: + +"And the way is open; the house is ours. But a few feet of masonry +to tunnel through, and the thing is done. Shall we shrink? shall we +hesitate? I trow not. Strong arms, silent tongues, a high +courage--that is all we want." + +"And a few more strong arms to help us at the work, for it will be +a labour of Hercules to get it done." + +At that moment the noise from below burst out anew, and Cuthbert +heard no more of this mysterious colloquy. He had not time to think +over the meaning of the words he had heard, or indeed to attach any +particular significance to them. He was always hearing fierce +threats bandied about between ardent partisans of Romanist and +Puritan, and was beginning to pay small heed to such matters. He +did not realize now that he had surprised any conspirators at their +work. He knocked boldly at the door of the room, to which the place +where he stood was plainly the antechamber, and a loud voice bid +him enter. + +There was no light in the apartment, save that which filtered in +through the dirty window, and it was plain that the meeting, +whatever its nature, was breaking up. Several men were standing +about in their cloaks and hats, the latter slouched down upon their +brows, so that their faces could not be distinguished in the gloom. +Two or three passed Cuthbert hastily as he entered, before he had +time even to see if one of them was the companion of his journey; +but though he found some trouble in distinguishing features, his +own were visible enough as he stood facing the window, and out of +the shadows stepped a tall man, who greeted him with extended hand. + +"Good e'en to you, Cuthbert Trevlyn, and a fair welcome to London +town! I trust you have not been in dangers and difficulties, and +that you but now come to claim your own again? How fared it with +you on the heath that night? Were you in any wise maltreated or +rough handled by the gentlemen of the road?" + +"Nay; I was rather treated to a good supper and a night's lodging, +and not so much as deprived of my steed. I trow had he shown +something more of mettle I might not have so preserved him; but one +or two of them who mounted him pronounced him of no use even as a +pack horse." + +Catesby laughed pleasantly, and putting his hand into his doublet +drew forth the purse intrusted to him, and placed it in Cuthbert's +hands. + +"They would not have been so obliging, I fear, had you chanced to +have this upon your person. Take it, boy, and look within and see +that all is safe. I have not parted with it since the night of our +journey. I trow you will find your treasure as it left your hand." + +"I am sure of it," answered Cuthbert gratefully; "and I return you +many thanks for your goodwill and sound counsel in the matter. But +for your good offices I should have lost all. I trust you yourself +escaped without misadventure?" + +Cuthbert was now anxious to be gone. His errand was accomplished. +The atmosphere of this place was offensive to him, and he was +uneasy without well knowing why. His companion seemed to divine +this; and the room being now cleared of all other guests, he put +his hat on his head and said, "We will go out into the fresh air. +The Cat and Fiddle is better as a resort by day than by night. I +would fain know something of your whereabouts and fortunes, boy. I +have taken a liking for you, and the name of Trevlyn sounds +pleasantly in mine ears." + +The old sense of fascination began to fall upon Cuthbert, as +Catesby, taking him familiarly by the arm, led him out into the +street, and walked along with him in the direction of his home, +drawing him out by questions, and throwing in bits of anecdote, +jest, and apt remark, that made his conversation a pleasure and an +education. Cuthbert forgot his anxieties and vague suspicions in +his enjoyment of the conversation of an accomplished man of the +world; and there was a subtle flattery in the sense that this man, +scholar and gentleman as he was, had condescended to a liking for +and an interest in his insignificant self, and was of his own +accord inviting confidence and friendship. + +"I once had a young brother; thou something favourest him," was the +only explanation he gave of the sudden fancy formed when Cuthbert +spoke gratefully of his kindness. "I am growing out of youth +myself, but I like the companionship of youth when I can get it. I +would fain see more of thee, boy, an thou art thine own master, and +can come and visit me at the place I may appoint." + +Cuthbert was pleased and flattered, and said he should be proud to +come, but hoped it would not be at the tavern, as his uncle +misliked such places of entertainment. + +"It is an ill-smelling spot; I mislike it myself," answered +Catesby. "Nay, we can do better than that now. There is a house at +Lambeth where I often frequent with my friends. It is something +lonely; but thou art a brave lad, and wilt not fear that." + +He turned and looked Cuthbert keenly over as he spoke, and heaved a +short sigh. + +"Thou art marvellous like the brother I lost," he said. "I would +that I might have thee for my servant; but thou art too gently born +for that, I trow." + +Cuthbert had well-nigh promised lifelong service on the spot, so +peculiar was the influence and fascination exercised upon him by +this man; but he remembered his uncle and his duty to him, and +pulled himself up as he replied soberly: + +"I am poor enow--poorer than many a servant--having naught but what +is given me by others. But I have mine uncle's will to do. I may +take no step without asking counsel of him." + +"Ay, verily; and this secret of our friendship thou must hide from +him. Thou knowest that I am of the forbidden faith, and my presence +in London must be hid. I may trust thee thus far with my secret? +Thou wilt not reveal my name to others?" + +"Never, since thou hast told me not." + +"Good lad; I knew thou mightest be trusted. And thou wilt come to +see me as I shall ask?" + +"If I can make shift to do so I will very willingly." + +"I shall remind thee of thy promise. And now, farewell. I have +business in another quarter. We shall meet again anon." + + + +Chapter 8: Cuthbert And Cherry Go Visiting. + + +All this while Kate's letter to her cousin Lord Culverhouse had +lain stowed away in the safe leathern pocket of Cuthbert's riding +dress, into which her deft white hands had sewed it for safety, and +he had made no attempt to deliver it to its owner, nor to see +whether the young Viscount would have will or power to further his +own success in life. + +The reason for this delay was no lack of goodwill on the part of +the youth, but was simply due to the fact that Lord Andover and his +family were not in London at this season, but were in their family +place in Hampshire, and not expected to reach London much before +the Christmas season. + +This much Cuthbert had discovered early on in his stay in town; for +Kate had described to him the situation of her uncle's house in the +Strand, and he had made inquiry at the porter's lodge the very +first time he had passed by. But hearing this, and not wishing to +entrust the letter into any hands but those of Lord Culverhouse +himself, he had gone away again, and the excitements of the new +life had speedily driven the thought of Kate's commission out of +his mind. + +But now the merry Christmas season was close at hand. Mistress +Susan was thrice as busy and as sharp tongued as usual, getting +forward her preparations for that time of jollity and good cheer, +and making the bridge house fairly reek with the mixed flavours of +her numerous concoctions and savoury dishes. + +Martin Holt's Puritanism, which would prevent his countenancing +anything like drunkenness, revelling, or the gross sports and +amusements which still held full sway over the people at festive +seasons, did not withhold him from keeping a well-spread table at +which to ask his friends to sit, still less from sending out to his +poorer neighbours portions of the good cheer which has always +seemed appropriate to the Christmas season. So he raised no protest +against the lavish expenditure in meats and spices, rose water, +ambergris, sugar and herbs, nor complained that his sister and +daughters seemed transformed for the nonce into scullions, and had +scarce time to sit down to take a meal in peace, for fear that some +mishap occurred to one of the many stew pans crowding each other +upon the stove. + +He was used to it, and it appeared the inevitable preliminary to +Yuletide; though Cuthbert looked on in amaze, and marvelled how any +household could consume the quantities of victuals under +preparation, be their hospitality and generosity what it might. + +As he walked abroad in the streets he saw much the same sort of +thing everywhere going on. Cooks and scullions were scouring the +streets and markets for all manner of dainties. Farmers were +driving through the streets flocks of young porkers, squealing +lustily and jostling the passers by; and cooks and housewives would +come rushing out from the houses to secure a pig and carry it off +in triumph; whilst here and there a servant in livery might be seen +with a basket from which a peacock's tail floated, carrying off +this costly prize to adorn the table of some nobleman or wealthy +merchant. + +Passing by Lord Andover's house in the Strand on the day before the +eve of Christmas, Cuthbert saw, by the stir and bustle and +liveliness of the courtyard, that the family had plainly returned. +On making inquiry he discovered that his surmise was correct, and +he walked home resolving to lose no more time in delivering his +letter, and wondering if he could contrive to take Cherry with him +when he paid the visit, to secure for her a sight of the gay +streets and a peep into Lord Andover's big house. The poor child +had been regularly mewed up at home the whole of the past week +helping her sharp-tongued aunt. It was nothing but fair that she +should taste a little enjoyment now; and he determined to try to +get his uncle's consent before speaking a word to Cherry herself. +Susan Holt never opposed her brother, though she often disapproved +of his lenience towards his youngest child, whose love of pleasure +she looked upon as a peril and a snare. + +When Cuthbert made his modest request to take Cherry out on the +morrow to see the sights of the streets, and the houses all decked +with holly, the father smiled an indulgent smile and gave a ready +assent. If Cuthbert would be careful where he took her, and not let +her be witness of any of the vile pastimes of cock fighting, bull +or bear baiting, or the hearer of scurrilous or blasphemous +language, he might have her companionship and welcome; and it would +doubtless amuse her to go into Lord Andover's kitchen, where +messengers generally waited who had brought notes or messages for +members of the family, being treated to cups of sack and other +hospitality; and as he was a good man, his household would be well +ordered, and the maid would be treated with due civility and +respect. + +"The child is kept something strait by her good aunt," said Martin, +a smile hovering round the corner of his lips. "We are not all cut +to the same pattern, and Cherry takes not as kindly to the gravity +of life as did her sisters. A little change will do her no harm. It +boots not too far to resist the promptings of nature." + +How Cherry's eyes laughed and sparkled, and how her pretty face +flushed and dimpled when Cuthbert whispered to her of the pleasure +in store for her. She had been looking a little harassed and weary +after her long seclusion from the fresh air, striving to please +Aunt Susan, who never would be pleased; but this made amends for +all. Worthy Susan sniffed and snorted when Martin told her to give +the child a holiday on the morrow; but as all her preparations were +well-nigh complete, she did not really want the girl, and contented +herself with hoping that her indulgent father would not live to rue +the day when he thought fit to indulge her wanton love for +unhallowed sights and amusements. + +Martin did not reply. Perhaps he felt that his sister was more +consistent and stanch to the Puritan principles than he was himself +in this matter; but he did not rescind his decision. And after a +surreptitious meal behind the pantry door together on the morrow, +whilst Mistress Susan was engaged upstairs over the weighty matter +of the linen to adorn the festal board that evening and on +Christmas Day itself, the pair stole quietly off about eleven +o'clock, leaving word with Martin in passing out that they would be +back before dark. + +Cherry danced along as though she had wings to her feet, as they +quitted the bridge and plunged into the narrow but bustling and +busy streets. She had always been kept rigorously at home on all +occasions of public rejoicing and merriment, and it was a perfect +delight to her to see the holiday look about the passers by, and +exchange friendly good wishes with such acquaintances as she met by +the way. She had put on her best gown, and a little ruff round her +neck: her aunt would not let her wear such "gewgaws" in a general +way, but the girl loved to fabricate them out of odds and ends, in +imitation of the ladies she saw passing in the street. She wore the +gray cloak and hood she had had on when first Cuthbert had come to +her assistance by the river, and her rosy laughing face peeped +roguishly out from the warm and becoming head gear. But suddenly, +as they were passing a house in East Cheape, she paused and glanced +up at Cuthbert with a bewitching little look of pleading. + +"Wait but here for me a little five minutes," she said; "I have an +errand to my cousin Rachel." + +She was gone in a moment, slipping through the open door and +leaving Cuthbert outside in the street. He knew the house for her +uncle Dyson's, and was in no way alarmed about her. Nor was she +long in rejoining him again. But when she came out, laughing, +blushing, and dimpling, he scarce knew her for the moment, so +transformed was she; and he stood perfectly mute before the radiant +young vision his eyes encountered. + +The sober black under-petticoat had been replaced by one of vivid +scarlet taffeta, quilted with elaboration, and further adorned with +embroidery in white silk. The gray upper robe was the same as +before, the soft stuff and quiet tone harmonizing and contrasting +well with the bright hue of the petticoat. The little feet were +encased in the daintiest of strong buckled shoes, and in scarlet +hose to match the quilted skirt; whilst the cloak and hood were now +of soft white lamb's-wool cloth, such as Abraham Dyson made a +specialty of in his business; and the vivid delicate colour upon +the girl's laughing face as it peeped out of the snowy hood was set +off to the greatest possible advantage by the pure white frame, so +suited to the child's infantile style of beauty. + +"Why, Cherry, I scarce know thee!" cried Cuthbert, amazed. + +"I scarce know myself," answered the laughing girl, blushing and +dimpling with mischievous pleasure; "and I trust none else will +know me neither if we meet more friends by the way. I will pull my +hood well over my face, for I would not have this frolic reach Aunt +Susan's ears. She would make a mighty coil anent it. But oh, I have +so longed for pretty things such as Rachel wears Why is it wrong to +love bright colours and soft fabrics? I will not believe it is. +When I am grown to woman's estate, and have a home of my own to +regulate, I will wear what I choose and what becomes me best. It is +folly to think God loves not beauty and brightness. Has He not made +the sky blue, the trees green, the flowers of every hue of the +rainbow? Does He not paint the sky with brilliant hues? Why is man +alone of his creatures to be dull and sad?" + +"Nay, I know not; I am unlearned in these questions. But how got +you these fine clothes? Did Mistress Rachel lend them?" + +"Rachel has always longed to give this petticoat to me. She is +weary of it, and it is something too short for her; but I knew I +might never wear it, and that Aunt Susan would chide me roundly for +bringing such a thing home. So Rachel said she would lay it by for +me when her new robe came home at Christmastide. Then she whispered +to me last week that her father had a present for me--a cloak and +hood that he thought my father would let me wear, albeit Aunt Susan +might ill like it. So passing the house today, methought I might +slip in and ask Rachel if I might wear the new cloak and hood to +Lord Andover's; and forthwith she had me up to her room and into +this scarlet petticoat in a twinkling, and mine uncle brought the +white cloak and hood himself and fastened it on me, and Jacob came +with the shoes and said he had had them made strong for the muddy +streets, but smart with the buckles on the top. And here I be the +happiest girl in all London town! Nay, Cuthbert, but I feel as if +my feet could dance of themselves all the way!" + +Her happiness was infectious. Cuthbert felt more like a +light-hearted boy than ever he had done in his life before. His +lively little companion, clinging to his arm and chattering like a +magpie, effectually drove away all grave thoughts. The sun shone +brightly in the steely-blue sky; the frost had made the streets +absolutely clean and dry. Walking, even in the most trodden places, +was easy and pleasant, and everybody seemed in excellent good +humour. + +Many admiring glances were levelled at the pair as they passed +along--the charming blushing damsel in the white hood, and the +distinguished-looking youth with the grave dark face. Cuthbert +gratified the little girl's curiosity by taking her up and down +Paul's Walk as they passed through St. Paul's Churchyard, and by +the time they gained Fleet Street and Temple Bar she had reached +the limit of her farthest walk westward. + +They spent several minutes before the clock of St. Dunstan's in the +West, and watched the bronze figures striking on their bells as the +hour of midday sounded forth from many steeples. Then Cherry must +needs go down to the river banks between the gentlemen's gardens +and see how the river looked from here. She was a little awed by +the grandeur of the houses all along the Strand, and wondered +mightily what it could feel like to be one of the fine Court dames +who drove in and out of the great gates in gilded coaches, or +ambled forth upon snow-white palfreys, attended by lackeys afoot +and on horseback. + +Another hour had passed in delighted watching of the street sights +and the fine folks who dwelt in these parts, before Cuthbert led +her under the archway of the great courtyard, and told her that +this was Lord Andover's house. It was one of the finest in the +Strand, and it was plain that some gay festivity was in foot or in +preparation; for there was such a to-ing and fro-ing of serving +men, lackeys and scullions, such a clatter of voices, such an air +of hurry and jollity on every face, that Cherry could have looked +and listened for ever, but that Cuthbert hurried her through the +crowd towards a big door opening into the courtyard, and whispered +in her ear: + +"They all be too busy to heed me here. Come to the house, and see +what hap we have there. I may deliver this letter to none other +save Lord Culverhouse himself." + +The great door which stood wide open proved to be that of the +kitchen--a vast hall in itself, along the farther side of which +were no less than six huge fireplaces. Cooks and scullions stood at +each of these, shouting out orders and moving to and fro; while a +perfect crowd of menials and servants, messengers and idlers, stood +or sat about, chatting, laughing, and even gaming in corners. Huge +tankards of ale, hot and strongly spiced, stood upon the table, and +every one who passed by appeared permitted to help himself at will. + +Busy and noisy as this place was, an air of good fellowship and +good humour pervaded it which was reassuring and pleasant; and +before the cousins had stood many minutes in their corner, a +serving man came up and asked them civilly enough of their +business. Cuthbert replied that he had a letter which he had been +charged to give into Lord Culverhouse's own hands; and hearing +that, the servant gave a keen look at the pair, and apparently +satisfied with his inspection, bid them follow him. + +He took them up a wide staircase, and brought them out into another +large hall, where servants of a different class were gathered +together--the liveried footmen and pages and lackeys, and some +waiting women, very grandly attired, who speedily beckoned Cherry +amongst them, and began making much of her, rather as though she +were a little child, feeding her with comfits and cakes and spiced +wine, examining her soft white cloak, and asking a host of +questions as to where she got it, who was the maker, and if her +uncle sold his wares to the public. + +Cherry had pretty, dainty little ways of her own, and was not in +the least shy where she felt herself liked. She did not even miss +Cuthbert when he was summoned away, so happy was she to be talked +to by these fine waiting women, who were kind and comfortable souls +enough. She learned on her side that there was to be a play given +in half-an-hour's time within the house itself, and that all the +serving men and women were permitted to witness it. She was pressed +to stay and see it herself, and her eyes beamed with delight at the +bare thought. To see a play had always been the very height of her +youthful ambition, and had not father said that she could get no +hurt at Lord Andover's house? + +Presently Cuthbert came back, his face aglow with pleasure. + +"Cherry," said he, "I have seen Lord Culverhouse, and methinks +Kate's letter was like a talisman; for after reading it he bid me +welcome as though I were in some sort a kinsman, and said that I +must stay and see the mask that is to be played here in a short +while, and remain as a guest at the feast which will follow, where +the boar's head is to be brought in, and all sorts of revelry are +to be held. I told him I could not stay till dark, for that we had +promised to be home ere that; but that I would gladly see the play +acting an I might. And then I told him of thee, and he bid me go +fetch thee. My cousin, said he, must i' faith be in some sort his +cousin, since Kate, who was his cousin, also spoke of me as one. I +told him nay, but that thou wert cousin only on my mother's side; +but he laughed, and would not listen, and bid me fetch thee, that +he might place thee well to see the mummery. So come with me, fair +cousin, for we must not keep him waiting." + +Cherry's cheeks were dyed with bewitching blushes, and her big gray +eyes were shining like stars, as she followed her cousin, +accompanied by a little murmur of congratulation from the waiting +women, who had all fallen in love with the charming child. She +looked a perfect picture as she stood before Lord Culverhouse in +her scarlet petticoat and snow-white hood, making her pretty quaint +reverence to him, hardly daring to raise her eyes, but quite lost +in the glamour of the honour done to her in being thus noticed by a +real lord and good humouredly dubbed a cousin. + +And then her hand was actually taken by this handsome and elegant +young gallant, and she felt herself being conducted through rooms +the magnificence of which she could not take in in her timid, hasty +glances. She had almost begun to think it all a dream from which +she must soon awaken, when she heard her companion say in his sweet +voice: + +"Mother mine, have you room beneath your ample wing for a little +city guest--a cousin of Cuthbert Trevlyn, who has brought me a most +welcome missive from my dear cousin Kate?" + +And then Cherry looked up with a pretty, frightened, trusting +glance, to find herself being examined and smiled at by quite a +bevy of wonderfully-dressed ladies, who after one good look began +to laugh in a very reassuring and kindly way, and made room in +their midst for the little city maiden with that ease of true good +breeding which has ever been the truest test of the blue blood of +the English aristocracy. She looked such a child, in her pretty +confusion and bashfulness, that not one of them resented her +presence amongst them. Courtesy and kindliness had always been Lady +Andover's salient characteristics, and there was a native +refinement and quaint simplicity about Cherry that would have gone +far to disarm severer critics than the present company round Lady +Andover. + +"Come, my pretty child," she said; "thou shalt sit beside me, and +tell me all about thyself. The name of Trevlyn is well known and +well loved in this house. Thou comest under good auspices." + +And so Cherry again found herself the plaything and pet of a group +of good-humoured people, though this time they were fine ladies in +dresses that fairly took away her breath, as she ventured to study +them with eager, furtive glances. She answered all their questions +with pretty, candid frankness; told of her adventure in the osier +beds, and of Cuthbert's timely rescue; told of her life under her +father's roof, and her simple daily duties and pleasures. And the +grand ladies listened and laughed, and made much of her; and her +soft white hood was removed and admired, and passed round almost as +it had been amongst the waiting women. Cherry felt quite bashful at +sitting amongst those fine ladies with no cover for her head but +her own curls; but she noted that the younger ladies present had no +adornment beside that, unless it were a bow of ribbon or a few +sparkling pins: so she took courage, and her hot cheeks burned less +brightly, though she could not help her eyes sparkling and dancing +beneath their long lashes as she wondered what in the world her +aunt Susan would say could she see her for a moment in her present +surroundings. + +And then the play began, and Cherry sat entranced from the moment +the curtain rose till it fell again. She had never seen anything of +the sort before, and was perfectly captivated and carried away, +living in the glamour of absolute enchantment, and amusing her +fashionable companions almost as much by her artless admiration and +enthusiasm as the players did by their mummery and stage tricks. + +But time was flying all too fast, and almost as soon as the curtain +fell for the last time, Cuthbert came up and carried her away, Lord +Culverhouse walking with them once more through the long rooms, and +insisting on their partaking of some spiced wine and game pasty +before going out into the cold air again. + +What with the fumes of the wine, the extraordinary grandeur of the +house, and the wonderful nature of the adventure altogether, Cherry +hardly knew whether or not she any longer trod on solid ground as +she pursued her way along the streets clinging tight to Cuthbert's +arm. It was growing dusk now, and Cuthbert was anxious to get his +charge home before the early darkness should have fallen upon the +city. They hardly spoke as they wended their way. Cherry gave a +little gasp from time to time indicative of her unbounded delight, +whilst Cuthbert was thinking pleasantly of the kind and cordial +reception he had met with from Lord Culverhouse. + +Both felt more or less in dreamland till they reached Abraham +Dyson's house, where Cherry ran indoors again to rid herself of her +finery. + +When she emerged once more into the familiar streets of the city, +her cheeks had lost a little of their bloom, her eyes some of their +star-like brightness; and heaving a great sigh as she took +Cuthbert's arm, she said: + +"Ah me! it is a hard fate to be a city maid and a Puritan's +daughter. I shall never see such lovely sights again! And oh, how +happy I should be if only I could be a lady, and live where +everything is soft and beautiful and gentle! Oh how I shall dream +of it all now! But it will never be anything but a dream!" and a +great tear like a diamond sparkled on the thick lashes and rolled +down the girl's soft cheek. + +Cuthbert had been thinking hard as he stood there in the gathering +darkness. He was rather taken out of himself, which was perhaps the +reason he forgot all prudence and reserve. Bending suddenly over +Cherry, he kissed away the tears on her cheeks, and said in low, +passionate tones: + +"Nay, sweet Cherry, weep not for that. I will make thee yet a lady, +whom none shall dare flout. I have loved thee, sweet cousin, from +the day I found thee by the river in hapless plight. And when I +have found the lost treasure of Trevlyn, and have brought luck and +fortune to each one that bears the old name, then will I come and +wed thee, sweet coz; and thou wilt be a Trevlyn then, and none +shall dare to scorn thee for thy good father's honest name. My +father did wed a Holt, and his son shall do the same. Tell me, +Cherry, dost thou love me well enough to be my little wife one day? +for by the mass I will have none other; and if thou lovest me not I +will go unwed all the days of my life!" + +Cherry turned hot and cold, flushed scarlet, and then grew pale as +this speech proceeded, till at the last words the red came back in +a flood, and hiding her face on Cuthbert's shoulder, she sobbed +out: + +"Oh, how could I love anybody else? O Cuthbert, how happy thou hast +made me! Art sure thou speakest sooth?" + +"Sooth! ay, that I do. Thou art the sweetest maid the sun e'er +looked on. Thou wert the fairest of all that gay company at my Lord +Andover's, and many beside myself said as much. Cherry, thou shalt +one day be my own true wife; and if kind fortune do but favour me, +thou shalt have gold and jewels and fine robes enow, and shalt hold +up thy head with the best of them: see if it be not so!" + +A boy and girl wooing certainly, but none the less hearty for that. +The love had been growing silently for many weeks, the young folks +scarcely knowing what they were learning to be to each other. And +now these sudden burning words had revealed all, and Cherry felt +more than ever that she trod on air and moved in a dream; only this +time there was the pleasant sense that the dream would not vanish +away in smoke, but would become more and more a living reality. + +But there was something Cuthbert had said which yet required +explanation, and presently she looked up and asked: + +"What didst thou mean when thou spokest of a lost treasure? What is +it, and who has lost it?" + +And then Cuthbert forthwith plunged into the story of the lost +treasure of Trevlyn, as he had heard it from his cousin Kate; and +Cherry listened with parted lips, thinking that it was almost like +living in some play to be hearing this strange tale. + +When she heard of the gipsies and their vengeful words, she stopped +suddenly short and gazed intently at Cuthbert. + +"This is the second time thou hast spoken of gipsies," she said, in +a whisper. "Thou hast yet to tell me the tale of how thou didst +spend a night in the gipsies' cave. Cuthbert, were those gipsies +thou didst light upon that night of thy flight the same as have +stolen the treasure from Trevlyn?" + +"Cherry, I trow that they are," he answered, in a very low voice, +bending his head closer over her as he spoke. "Listen, and I will +tell thee all. There was an old fierce woman, with hair as white as +driven snow, among them, who, when she heard the name of Trevlyn, +launched at me a glance of hatred that I never can forget; and I +knew well by her looks and her words that, had she had her will, I +should have suffered the same fate that her mother had done from +the hands of my grandfather. I knew not then that it was her mother +who had been burnt by him as a witch; but I saw the evil purposed +me, and knew she was my foe. But a stately woman--the old gipsy's +daughter, as I later learned--interposed on my behalf, and her all +obeyed as queen, even her mother bowing down before her. She +protected me, and bid me sit at table with them, saw me served with +the best, and at night showed me herself to a ruinous bed chamber +where, however, a weary man might comfortably lodge. There she left +me, but bid me not to undress; and presently after I had slept, I +know not how many hours, I was awakened by her entrance with a dim +light, and she bid me rise but speak low, as she had somewhat of +moment to say to me. She asked me then of myself and my kindred; +and I asked her many things, and to my questions she gave ready +response. Last of all, I dared to name the lost treasure, and I saw +a new look come upon her face. I said that I had heard enough to +make me think it had been stolen and hidden in the forest, and I +asked her if in her wanderings there she had heard aught of it. I +saw that the question moved her. I saw her flashing glance rest on +me again and again, and her lips tremble as though she fain would +speak, and yet was half afraid to do so. Every moment I suspected +more and more that she knew somewhat; but whether or no she would +reveal this I dared not guess. At the last the eager light died out +of her eyes. She answered that she had heard somewhat of the story, +but that she herself knew naught. The treasure had been lost many +years before she had first seen the light, and men had long ceased +to look for it, albeit there were many traditions that it would one +day be found. As to that she knew naught; but she promised me this +thing, that she would ask and strive to learn if any in the forest +knew more than she. And she bid me meet her at a certain cave in +the heart of the forest upon May Day next, when she said she would +speak with me again anent this same matter." + +Cherry's lips were parted, her eyes were full of wonder and +curiosity. She shivered with excitement and surprise. + +"Thinkest thou that she knows the place?" + +"That I know not, but I trow well that she knows more than she said +then, and that I shall learn more when I seek her again, and we are +not in a walled place where eavesdroppers may lurk with itching +ears." + +"Then thou wilt keep the tryst?" + +"Assuredly I will." + +"And thou art not afraid that harm will befall thee? Oh beware, +Cuthbert, of that wicked, fierce old woman!" + +"Oh, I fear her not. Their queen has bidden me. They dare not defy +her. I shall go to the forest and keep the tryst. I trow there be +much yet for me to know." + +Cherry hesitated and trembled, and hesitated again, and finally +said in a low whisper: + +"Cuthbert, it may be that there is a speedier and a safer way of +discovering what thou wouldst know." + +"And what way is that, sweet coz?" + +Again came the little pause of hesitation, and then Cherry said: + +"We might consult the wise woman. + +"The wise woman! and who is she?" + +"There be many of them," answered Cherry, still speaking in a very +low and rapid whisper. "But breathe not a word at home, for father +says they be surely in league with the devil, if they be not +impostors who deserve whipping at the cart's tail. But Rachel went +to one three years back, and the dame told her a husband would come +wooing within three short months, and told the colour of his hair +and his eyes. And sure enough it all came true, and now she is +quickly to be wed. And others have done the like, and the things +have all come true. And she is not a wicked woman neither, for she +cures agues and fevers, and the leeches themselves ask her simples +of her. There may be wicked women plying this trade too; I know not +how that may be. But this dame is not wicked; Rachel goes to her +still, and she has never deceived her yet. But she liveth very +secretly now, as a wise woman must needs to in these times; for the +King, they say, is very wroth against all such, and in the country +men are going about from him and burning all who practise such +arts, and otherwise cruelly maltreating them. So no man speaks +openly of them now, though they still ply their trade in secret." + +"Hast thou ever been to one thyself, Cherry?" + +Her face was all in a glow. She clung closer to Cuthbert's arm. + +"Chide me not, and tell not my father; but I went with Rachel once, +when she went to have a wart charmed that was causing her much +vexation. I asked nothing of the dame myself; but she took my hand +and looked into my eyes, and she nodded her head and chuckled and +made strange marks upon a bit of paper, which she said was casting +my horoscope. And then she told me that I had an ugly lover that I +loved not, but that another more gently born should come in time, +and that we should love each other well and be faithful through +all, and that I should end by being a lady with all I wanted at +command." + +And there Cherry stopped, blushing and palpitating with happiness +and shy joy; whilst Cuthbert, struck by this very remarkable and +original specimen of fortune telling, began to think he might do +worse than consult this same wise woman who had gauged his +sweetheart's case so fairly. + +He himself had no scruples. He had a strong belief in necromancy, +and had never heard that there was sin in its practice. He was +still Romanist enough at heart to look upon the confessional as an +easy and pleasant way of getting rid of the burden of an uneasy +conscience. His mind was very open to conviction and impression in +religious matters. He was no bigot, but he had a constitutionally +inherited tendency towards the old faith that was possibly stronger +than he knew. Had he seen his father's party in power, persecuting +and coercing, he would have had scant sympathy or love for them and +their ways; but as the contrary was now the case, and he saw them +downtrodden and abused, he felt considerable drawings towards them, +and these drawings were not the less strong from the intercourse he +was enjoying almost daily with Anthony Cole and his son Walter. + +Cuthbert's love of learning and eager wish to improve his +scholarship drew him almost daily to the dark little shop in the +bridge, wedged in, as it were, between two larger and more imposing +structures, where the father and son plied a modest trade and lived +somewhat hazardously; for they did not hesitate to circulate +pamphlets and leaflets the sale of which had been forbidden, and +which might at any time get them into serious trouble with the +authorities, and lead to imprisonment, if not to death. + +But to return to the pair now closely approaching their home, and +lagging somewhat in their walk to prolong the talk for a few +minutes. Cherry was in a fever of curiosity and impatience, and +longed to hear her lover speak the word. + +"It is so long to wait till May Day; and I trow that she could tell +us all. Say, Cuthbert, shall we go to her?" + +It was sweet to Cuthbert to hear the little word "we" dropping so +naturally from Cherry's lips. He pressed the hand that lay upon his +arm, and looked down into the upraised eager face. + +"Wilt thou go with me an I go?" + +"To be sure I will. I should love to be thy companion." + +"And brave thy father's wrath should he find out?" + +Cherry clung yet closer to his arm. + +"I fear nothing when thou art beside me, Cuthbert. I would go with +thee to death." + +He stooped and kissed her eagerly, passionately. + +"Then thy sweet will shall be law," he answered, "and I will go as +soon as thou canst make shift to take me." + +Cherry uttered a little cry of delight. + +"Ah, how pleased I am--how pleased I am! We will go this very week, +so soon as the Yuletide stir be past. O Cuthbert, Cuthbert, what a +wondrous day this has been! Methinks it must surely be a dream. But +thou art no dream; thou art real and true. So long as thou art near +me and with me, I shall know that it is all true." + + + +Chapter 9: The Wise Woman. + + +"Cuthbert! alas, Cuthbert!" + +"Why, how now? What ails thee, Cherry?" + +"Cuthbert, my father hath been speaking with me." + +"Well, and wherefore not? Thy father is no stern tyrant like mine, +sweet coz." + +Cherry was panting with excitement and what appeared like terror. +She clung fast to Cuthbert's arm, and her eyes were dilated with +fear. She was an excitable little mortal, so he did not feel any +great alarm at her looks, but strove to reassure her in a friendly, +brotherly fashion. The Christmas festivities and excitements, which +had lasted above a week, had doubtless done something to upset the +balance of her mind. She had been so extravagantly and overwhelmingly +happy with the remembrance of her adventure at Lord Andover's house, +and her knowledge of the secret between herself and Cuthbert, that +the young man had felt half afraid lest she should contrive to betray +it to others by her blushes, her bright, fitful glances, and her +newborn softness in his presence, which gave a sweeter quality to her +childish charms. He himself did not wish Martin Holt to be aware that +anything had passed between him and Cherry till he could come boldly +forward and ask her at her father's hands, having the wherewithal +to support her. He had been surprised into an admission of youthful +devotion, and he by no means wished the words unsaid; for the secret +understanding now existing betwixt himself and Cherry was the sweetest +element in his daily life, and he was more and more in love every day +with his charming cousin. But he knew that until he could come with his +share of the Trevlyn treasure in his hands, he could scarce hope or +look for a patient hearing from the shrewd man of business. And though +he himself was increasingly confident that the treasure had been hidden +out of spite, and not really made away with, and that some day it would +be found, he knew that this opinion would be regarded by the world at +large as a chimera of ardent youth, and that Martin Holt for one would +bid him lay aside all such vain and idle dreams, and strive by steady +perseverance in business to win for himself a modest independence. Only +to the young, the ardent, the lovers of imaginative romance, had the +notion of hidden treasure any charm. + +And here was Cherry crying, palpitating, trembling in his arms as +though some great trouble menaced them. + +"What ails thee, sweetheart?" he asked, with playful tenderness; +and Cherry choked back her sobs to answer: + +"Cuthbert, he has spoken to me of marriage--my father. He has told +me plainly what he purposes for me. He and my uncle Dyson have +talked of it together. I am to wed my cousin Jacob. O Cuthbert, +Cuthbert! what must I do? what must I say?" + +Cuthbert heard the news in silence. It was not altogether +unexpected, but he had scarce looked to have heard the subject +openly broached so soon. Cherry had been regarded in her home as +such a child, and her father, sisters, and aunt had so combined to +speak and think of her as such, that although her eighteenth +birthday was hard at hand, and she was certainly of marriageable +age, he had not looked to have to face this complication in the +situation quite so quickly. But as he stood holding Cherry in his +arms (for she had come to him in the upper parlour at an hour when +all the household were elsewhere engaged, and there was no fear of +interruption), a look of stern purpose and resolution passed across +the young man's face--an expression which those who knew the +Trevlyn family would have recognized as a true Trevlyn look. His +face seemed to take added years and manliness as that expression +crossed it; and looking tenderly down at the quivering Cherry, he +asked: + +"Thinkest thou that he has seen or suspected aught?" + +"I know not. He said no word of that, only looked hard at me as be +spoke of Jacob." + +"And what saidst thou?" + +"Alack! what could I say? I did but tell him I had no thoughts of +such a thing. I prayed he would not send me from him. I told him I +was over young to think of marriage, and besought him to speak of +it no more. And as my tears began to flow I could say no more." + +"And he?" + +"He reminded me that many another girl was a wedded wife and mother +at my age; and then I turned and said that since Jemima and Kezzie +were yet unwed--ay, and Rachel too, for all her rosy cheeks and her +dowry--it was hard that I should have to be the one to be turned +first out of the nest. And at that I cried the more; and he put his +arm about me, and said he had no thought to grieve me, and did not +think that Jacob would wish me vexed in the matter. And I begged +for a year's grace; and, after thinking and pondering awhile, he +answered that he had no wish to hurry things on--that I was full +young to leave my girlhood behind and be saddled with the cares of +a household. And then it came out that the haste was all Uncle +Dyson's doing. Rachel is to be wed at Easter, and he wants his son +to bring home a wife to nurse Aunt Rebecca and mind his house. And +when I heard that I was in a pretty rage; for I cannot abide Aunt +Rebecca, who is as cross as a bear with a sore head, and she cannot +abear the sight of me. I know not wherefore I have offended her, +but so it is. And I know naught of managing a house, and so Aunt +Susan will tell them an they ask her. So I dared to stamp my foot, +and to tell father I would not wed Jacob to be made his mother's +slave; that I would rather live and die a maid like the good Queen +who has been taken from us. And father, he scarce seemed to know +what to say. I know he muttered something about its being a sore +pity it was not Jemima or Kezzie that had been chosen. And then he +bethought him that it was not right to let a daughter see too much +of his mind, or speak too much of her own; and he bid me begone +something sternly, declaring he would think the matter over, but +that he looked for dutiful obedience from any child of his, and +that I was not to think I might set up mine own will against his +whatever his decision might be in the end." + +Cherry's tempest of tears was by this time ended, and she spoke +collectedly enough, raising her eyes now and then to the grave face +of her lover to mark the effect of her words upon him. Cuthbert's +face was grave but not unhopeful, and taking Cherry's hand firmly +in his as she ended her tale, he said: + +"If he will but put the matter off for a year, all will be well. If +the treasure is to be found at all, I shall have found it by then. +Let these dark winter days but change to the long soft ones of +spring, and I go forth into the forest upon my quest. When I return +laden with my share of the spoil, I trow I shall be able to win and +wed my Cherry, be there never so many Jacobs in the field before +me!" + +Cherry laughed a soft little laugh, and her fears and tremblings +ceased for the time being. Looking fondly up into Cuthbert's face, +she said: + +"And why wait till the spring to begin? Hast forgotten what we +spoke of not long since? The wise woman--let us go to her! Thou +hast money, and I trow she will be able to tell thee somewhat of +the treasure. Men say that she hath a marvellous gift." + +Waiting was slow work, and Cuthbert was by no means averse to +testing the skill of the old sorceress. He had a certain amount of +faith in the divinations of magic, and at least it could do no harm +to see what the beldam would say. He would but have to risk a gold +or silver piece, and it would satisfy Cherry that he was not +loitering and half hearted. + +"I will go gladly an thou canst come with me. But when shall it be? +I have heard that these witches and diviners only exercise their +skill at night, and how couldst thou be abroad with me then? There +would be a pretty coil if it were discovered that we were not +within doors." + +But Cherry was full of invention, and had all a woman's wit and +readiness of resource. She was a true daughter of Eve, this little +rosy-cheeked maiden; and when her heart was set on a thing, she, +could generally find the means to carry it out. + +"Listen!" she said, after pausing a few moments to think the thing +out. "Any time after dark will do for the wise woman. It matters +not for it to be late in the night, so long as the sun be down and +the world wrapped in gloom. That happens early enow in these winter +days. Now do thou listen and heed me, Cuthbert. Thou hast heard of +good Master Harlow, hast thou not?" + +"Ay, verily! I have heard of little else these many days!" answered +Cuthbert, with a touch of impatience in his voice. "I am well nigh +weary of the sound of his name. He is a notable Puritan preacher, +is he not?" + +"Ay, verily, most notable and most wearisome!" answered Cherry, +with a delightful little grimace. "Thou speakest of being weary of +the sound of his name. Thou wouldst be tenfold more weary of the +sound of his voice didst thou but attend one of his preachings. I +have known him discourse for four hours at a time--all men hanging +on his words as if they were those of God Himself, and only poor +little me well nigh dead from weariness and hunger" + +"I marvel not at that," answered Cuthbert. "Four hours would tax +the patience of the most ardent disciple." + +"Nay, but thou little knowest. There be those amongst my father's +sect who call it all too short, who would listen, I verily believe, +till they dropped from their benches with starvation. But however +that may be, this Master Harlow is one of the hunted martyrs of the +cause, and he is not allowed to exercise his gifts save by stealth; +and the preaching, of which thou hast heard these many whispers, is +to be held by night, and in some obscure cellar underground, where +they who go will be safe from all molestation from spies and foes." + +"Ah!" said Cuthbert, looking quickly at her, "and thou thinkest +that this will be our chance?" + +"Let them but once start forth without us and all will be well," +answered Cherry quickly. "The only trouble will be that Aunt Susan +loves to drag me whither she knows I love not to go, and father +thinks that these wearisome discourses are for the saving of souls. +He will wish to take the twain of us. It must be ours to escape him +and abide at home." + +"And how can we compass that?" + +"For thee it will be easy," answered Cherry. "Thou must promise +Walter Cole to assist him with some task of printing or binding +that same evening, and tell my father that thou art not seasoned to +long discourses, and hast no desire to fill the room of another who +would fain hear the words of life from the notable man. There will +be more crowding to hear him than the room will hold, so that it +will be no idle plea on thy part. Once thou art gone I can yawn and +feign some sort of ache or colic that will make me plead to go to +bed rather than attend the preaching. Aunt Susan will scold and +protest it is but mine idleness and sinfulness in striving to avoid +the godly discourse; but father will not compel me to go. And when +all have started thou canst return, and we will together to the +wise woman; and be she never so long with her divinations, we shall +have returned long ere they have done, and none will know of the +visit." + +Cuthbert agreed willingly to this plan. A bit of mischief and +frolic was as palatable to young folks in the seventeenth century +as it is in the nineteenth, and as a frolic those two regarded the +whole business. They were both full of curiosity about the wise +woman and her divinations, and it seemed to Cherry that to fail in +taking advantage of her skill when they had the chance of doing so +would be simple folly and absurdity. If she could read the secrets +of the future, surely she must be able to tell them somewhat of the +lost treasure. + +Cherry's plan was carried out to the letter without the least real +difficulty, and without raising any suspicion. Martin Holt was not +particularly anxious that the exact locality of the underground +meeting place should be known to his nephew, who had not professed +himself by any means on the Puritan side as yet, though listening +with dutiful and heedful attention whenever his uncle spoke to him +on the matter of his tenets. As for Cherry, her dislike to sermons +had long been openly declared, and it was scarcely expected that +she would patiently endure another of the discourses that had +caused her such distaste before. + +And so it came about that upon a chill, frosty January night, +Cuthbert and Cherry stood before a small, narrow house in Budge +Row--a house that seemed to be jammed in between its two +neighbours, and almost crushed by their overhanging gables and +heavy beams; and Cherry, with a trembling hand, gave a peculiar +knock, thrice repeated, upon the stout panels of the narrow door, +that at the third summons opened slowly and noiselessly, as if +without any human agency. + +The dark passage thus revealed to view was black as pitch, and +Cuthbert involuntarily recoiled. But Cherry had been here before, +and knew the place, and laid her hand upon his arm. + +"Courage!" she said, in a voice that quivered with excitement and +not with fear; "it is always so here. Walk boldly in; there is +naught to hurt us. When the door has closed we shall see a light." + +Stepping across the threshold, and keeping fast hold of Cherry's +arm, his quick glance roving from side to side in search of any +possible foe lurking in the shadows, Cuthbert entered this strange +abode, and felt rather than saw that the door closed noiselessly +behind them, whilst he heard the shooting of a heavy bolt, and +turned with a start, for it seemed impossible that this could have +been done without some human hand to accomplish the deed. But his +sense of touch assured him that he and Cherry were the only persons +at this end of the narrow passage, and with a light shiver at the +uncanny occurrence, he made up his mind to follow this adventure to +the end. + +"See, there is the light!" whispered Cherry, who was quivering with +excitement. "That is the sign that the wise woman is ready. We have +to follow it. It will lead us to her." + +The light was dim enough, but it showed plainly in the pitchy +darkness of the passage, and seemed to be considerably above them. + +"We must mount the stairs," whispered Cherry, feeling her way +cautiously to the foot of the rickety flight; and the cousins +mounted carefully, the dun light, which they did not see--only the +reflections it cast brightening the dimness--going on before, until +they reached an upper chamber, the door of which stood wide open, a +soft radiance shining out, whilst a strange monotonous chanting was +heard within. + +Upon the threshold of the room stood a huge black cat with +bristling tail and fiery eyes. It seemed as though he would dispute +the entrance of the strangers, and Cuthbert said to himself that he +had never seen an uglier-looking brute of the kind since the +monster wildcat he had killed in the forest about his home. He drew +Cherry a pace backwards, for the creature looked crouching for a +spring. + +"It is the wise woman's cat, her familiar spirit!" whispered the +girl, in a very low voice. "Show him a piece of money; then he will +let us pass. He takes toll of those who come to the wise woman. +Show him the gold, and then place it within that shell. After that +he will let us go in." + +Cuthbert took a small piece of gold from his purse. He held it up +before the formidable-looking creature, and then let it drop into a +shell fixed in the outer wall of the room. He heard it fall as if +through a slot, and fancied that some person within the room had +taken it out and examined it. There was a slight peculiar call, and +the cat, whose tail had begun to grow less, and whose snarlings had +ceased at sight of the coin, now sprang suddenly backwards and +vanished within the room, whilst a cracked voice was heard bidding +them enter. + +"That is the voice of the wise woman," said Cherry. "Come, +Cuthbert, and fear nothing." + +Together the pair stepped over the threshold, and again the door +closed noiselessly behind them, and the bolt flew as it seemed of +itself into its socket. Cuthbert did not altogether relish this +locking of doors behind them as they went; but Cherry, who had been +here before, did not seem to mind, and doubtless it was but +prudence that had taught the old woman to carry on her arts +secretly if she wished to escape imprisonment or death. + +Glancing curiously round him, Cuthbert saw himself in a long, low, +narrow room that was all in deep shadow save at the upper end, +where a soft bright light was burning, carefully shaded at one +side, and so arranged that whilst it illuminated the features of +those who stood beside the table behind which the oracle sat, it +left the features of the wise woman herself in the deepest shadow, +a pair of small black beady eyes being at first glance the only +feature Cuthbert could distinguish. + +The lamp stood upon a table, and the old woman, clad from head to +foot in a long black mantle, sat on the farther side. There were a +few implements of her profession about her--one or two big books, a +crystal bowl containing some black fluid very clear and sparkling, +an ebony wand, and a dusky mirror in a silver frame. She fixed her +bright bead-like eyes upon her guests as they advanced, and asked +in her cracked, harsh tones: + +"Who comes here?" + +"Two persons desirous of testing your skill," answered Cuthbert +boldly. "It is told me that you can read the future; I would ask if +you can also look back into the past?" + +He felt the snake-like glance bent fixedly upon him. There was a +subtle fascination in those eyes, and he looked into them fixedly +whether he would or no. As his eyes became used to the dimness in +which the old woman sat, he saw that her face was brown and +wrinkled like a fragment of ancient parchment, that her features +were very sharp and wasted, and that there was something weird and +witch-like in her whole aspect. He felt as though he had seen +before some face that that withered one faintly resembled, but in +the confusion of the moment he could put no name to it. He wanted +to keep his head, and to retain his firmness and acuteness, but he +was conscious of a strange whirling in his brain as the old woman +continued to gaze and gaze upon him as though she would never be +satisfied with her inspection. + +At last she spoke again. + +"And who art thou that comest so boldly to pry into the dead +secrets of the past?" + +"I am one Cuthbert Trevlyn, son of a house that has suffered sore +vicissitudes. I come to ask the skill of the wise woman in +discovering a secret long hidden from our family." + +He stopped suddenly, for the woman held up her hand as if to stop +him, and her voice took a strange hissing tone. + +"Silence! Enough--thou hast spoken enough. Let me now tell thee the +rest. I will tell thee what thou hast come to seek for. Silence! I +will consult the spirits; they will tell me all." + +Drawing nearer to her the crystal bowl, the old woman bent her head +over it, and whispered incantations, as it seemed, over its +contents. For a while there was deep silence in the room, and +Cherry felt chill with excitement and wonder. This was very +different from the reception she and her cousin Rachel had met. +They had but been bidden to show their hands, and had then seen +some cabalistic characters formed by the wise woman, from which she +had told them all they wished to know. But there had been nothing +half so mysterious as this, and the girl felt certain that the wise +woman regarded Cuthbert and his questions with far greater interest +than any she had bestowed upon the fortunes or the ailments of +Rachel. + +Presently there arose, as if in the far, far distance, a sound of +voices faint and confused. Cherry clung to Cuthbert's arm, and +looked about her with a pale, scared face, half expecting to see +the room filled with disembodied spirits; but his glance never +shifted from the down-bent face of the wise woman, and he half +suspected that the sounds proceeded in some way from her, albeit +they seemed to float about in the air round them, and to approach +and die away at will. + +Suddenly the old woman raised her head and spoke. + +"Thy mission to me this day is to ask news of the lost treasure of +Trevlyn." + +Cherry started, and so did Cuthbert. There could be no doubting the +old woman's power now. If she could see so much in her bowl, could +she not likewise see where that lost treasure lay buried? + +"Thou speakest sooth, mother," he said boldly. "It is of the lost +treasure I would speak. Canst tell me if it still remains as it was +when it was lost? Canst tell me the spot where it lies hid, that I +may draw it thence? If thou canst lead me to it, thou shalt not +lose thy reward; thou shalt be rich for life." + +The youth spoke eagerly; but a curious smile crept over the old +woman's face at his words. + +"Foolish boy!" she said. "Seest thou not that if gold were my +desire I have but to discover the place where the treasure lies to +some stalwart knave sworn to do my bidding, and all would be mine? +Could I not sell this golden secret to the highest bidder, an +wealth was all I craved? Foolish, foolish boy--impetuous like all +thy race! What hast thou to offer me that I may not obtain by one +wave of this wand?" + +Cuthbert was silent, wondering alike at the old woman and her +words. If she was not disposed to sell her golden secret (and what +she said was but too true--that the treasure would be more to her +than any reward), what hope was there of her revealing it to him? +He stood silent and perplexed, waiting for the old woman to speak +again. + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn," she said, after a long pause, "methought that +the hope of finding the treasure had long since been abandoned by +thy race." + +"That may well be, but it has not been so abandoned by me. Whilst I +have youth and health and strength, I will not give up that hope. +I, the grandson of Isabel Wyvern, will not cease to strive till I +have won back the lost luck that was to return to that house +through the daughters' sons." + +It was almost at random that Cuthbert had spoken these words, but +some recollection had come over him of the story he had heard of +the devotion of certain gipsy people to the family of the Wyverns, +and their prognostications concerning them. This woman, with the +brown and crumpled skin and the beady black eyes, was very like +some of those wild gipsy folk he had seen from time to time in the +forest. Was it not just possible that she might be one of their +tribe, who for some reason or some physical infirmity had abandoned +the wandering life, and had set up for a wise woman in the heart of +the great city? Was there not some strange community of knowledge +and interest amongst all these wandering people? and might she not +in any case know something about the families of foe and friend, +and the loss of the vast treasure one day to be restored? + +As his grandmother's name passed his lips, Cuthbert was certain +that he saw a flicker pass across the wise woman's face; but she +bent her head again over her bowl, and for some minutes remained in +deep silence. Then she looked up and scanned his face again. + +"Let me see thy hand," she said. + +He held it out fearlessly, and she bent over it for some time. + +"It is a good hand," she said at length, "and its owner may look +for prosperity in life, But he must heed one thing, and that is his +own over-bold rashness. He must beware of trusting all men. He must +beware of fatal fascination. He must beware of a darkly-flowing +river, and the dark cellar beyond. He must have the courage to say +'nay'--the courage to fly as well as to fight. Young man, thou hast +over-much curiosity. In these times of peril men must walk warily. +Choose the safe path, and keep therein. Think not to play with edge +tools and yet keep thy fingers unscarred." + +Cuthbert felt the colour rising in his face. He felt the home +thrust embodied in these words. He knew that they were a warning +addressed to that side of his character which urged him to make +friends on all sides, and strive to see good in all men, and to +avoid joining himself to any one party in Church or State whilst in +measure belonging to all. For a man of quality he knew such a +course would be impossible and foolishly perilous, but he had felt +secure in his own insignificance. He, however, well understood the +warning, and so he marked the words about the flowing river and +dark cellar, and though by no means understanding them now, he +resolved that he would not forget. + +But Cherry was shivering with excitement, and at last she could +keep silence no longer. The wise woman had been kind to her before; +surely she would not resent it if she spoke now. + +"But the treasure, mother, the treasure," she urged. "Canst not +thou help us there?" + +The old woman shifted her bright eyes to the flushed face of the +girl, and a flicker passed over her face as she repeated: + +"Us--us? And what part or lot has Martin Holt's daughter in the +lost treasure of Trevlyn? What, my pretty child, has thy handsome +lover come so soon? and art thou looking already to be made a lady +of by him?" + +The girl hid her blushing face on Cuthbert's shoulder, whilst he +answered with boyish straightforwardness: + +"I will wed my cousin Cherry or none else. We have plighted our +troth secretly, and she shall one day be my bride. If thou canst +help me in this matter, it will make our lot easier; but, poor or +rich, she shall be mine!" + +The old woman nodded her head several times, and Cuthbert fancied +that a greater benignity of expression crossed her wrinkled face. + +"Brave words! brave words!" she muttered, "and a brave heart +behind. Grandson to Isabel Wyvern! Ay, so it is; and there is +Wyvern in that face as well as Trevlyn. For her sake--for her sake! +Ay, I would do much for that. + +"Boy," she said suddenly, raising her voice and speaking in her +witch-like accents again, "thou hast spoken a name which is as a +talisman, and though thou hast asked a hard thing, I will help thee +an I can. Yet I myself know naught. It is the familiar spirits that +know, and they will not always come even at my call; they will not +always speak sooth at my bidding. I can but use my arts; the rest +lies with them; and this is a secret that has been long-time hid." + +"Ay, and the time has now come when it should be revealed," +answered Cuthbert boldly. "Use what arts thou wilt! I ask the +answer to my question. I would know where the lost treasure lies." + +As he spoke these words the room became suddenly darkened. Around +them again as they stood there seemed to float voices and whispers, +though not one articulate word could either hear. In the gloom they +saw nothing save the fiery eyes of the great cat, which appeared to +be crouched upon the table beside its mistress. The whisperings and +voices, sometimes accompanied by soft or mocking laughter, +continued for the space of several moments, and appeared to be +interrupted at last by the tap of the wise woman's wand upon the +table, which three times repeated enforced a sudden silence. + +The silence was for a moment more awe inspiring than what had gone +first; but before Cherry had more time than sufficed to nip +Cuthbert hard by the hand, they heard the old woman's voice, in an +accent of stern command, uttering one single word: + +"Speak!" + +There was a brief pause, and then a sweet low voice rose in the +room and seemed to float round them, whilst the words with their +rhythmic cadence fell distinctly on the ears of the listening pair: + +"Three times three--on a moonlight night, +The oak behind, the beech to right; +Three times three--over ling and moss, +Robin's gain is Trevlyn's loss. + +"Three times three--the war is long, +Yet vengeance hums, and the back is strong; +Three times three--the dell is deep, +It knows its secret well to keep. + +"Three times three--the bones gleam white, +None dare pass by day or night; +Three times three--the riddle tell! +The answer lies in the pixies' well." + +The voice ceased as suddenly as it had begun. + +"Is that all?" asked the harsh accents of the wise woman. + +"That is all the spirits choose to tell," answered the soft voice, +already, as it seemed, far away; and in another moment the lamp +shone forth again. + +The cat leaped down from the table with a hissing sound, and the +old woman was revealed in her former position, resting her two +elbows on the table, her withered face supported in the palm of her +hand. + +"Thou hast heard?" + +"Ay, but I have not understood. Canst thou read the riddle to me?" + +But the old woman shook her head. + +"That may not be; that thou must do for thyself. I will write down +the words for thee, that thou mayest not forget; but thou, and thou +alone, must find the clue." + +With swift fingers she transcribed some characters on a fragment of +parchment, and Cuthbert marvelled at the skill in penmanship the +old woman displayed when she gave the paper into his hands. It was +with a beating heart that he scanned the mysterious characters; but +the old woman had risen to her feet, and motioned them away. + +"Begone!" she cried, "begone! I have no more to say. Heed my +warning. Beware of menaced perils. The perils of the forest are +less than the perils of the city; and an open foe is better than a +false friend--a friend who lures those that trust him to a common +destruction, even though he himself be ready to share it. Harden +thine heart--beware of thine own merciful spirit. Turn a deaf ear +to the cry of the pursued. Swim with the current, and strive not to +stem it. And now go! I have said my say. Thou hast fortune within +thy grasp an thou hast wits to find it and hold it." + +There was no disobeying the imperious gesture of the old woman. +Cuthbert would fain have lingered to ask more questions, but he +dared not do so. With a few brief words of thanks and farewell, he +took Cherry's hand and turned away. The bolt of the door flew back; +the door opened of itself again. The cat stalked on before down the +dark staircase, and a faint gleam from above showed them the way +down. The outer door sprang open before and closed behind them, and +the next minute Cuthbert was hurrying his companion along the dark +street, pulling her into the shadow of a doorway if any sounds +announced the approach of any of the tavern roisterers, and so +protecting her from any danger or peril till they stood at last in +safety beneath Martin Holt's roof, and looked wonderingly into each +other's eyes, as if questioning whether it had not all been part +and parcel of a dream. + +They had not been long gone; a bare hour had elapsed since they had +stolen out into the darkness together. There was no fear that any +other member of Martin Holt's household would be back for a +considerable time. The two conspirators bent over the scrap of +parchment they placed between them on the table, and pored +earnestly over it together. + +"What does it mean, Cuthbert? what can it mean? Canst read the +words aright?" + +"Ay, it is well writ. I can read it, but I know not what it means." + +"Read it again to me." + +He obeyed, and she forthwith began to ask a hundred questions. + +"'Three times three'--that comes so many times. What can that mean, +Cuthbert? it must mean something." + +"Yes, doubtless, but I know not what." + +"And again, 'Robin's gain is Trevlyn's loss.' Cuthbert, who may +Robin be?" + +"I know not: Yet stop--hold! Yes, I have it now. Not that it may be +aught of import. Robin is a name a score of men may bear even in +one village. But when the robbers of the road found themselves at +the ruined mill where the gipsies were, I heard the leader ask, +'Where is Long Robin?'" + +"And was he there?" asked Cherry eagerly. + +"I know not: none answered the question, and I heeded it no more. +Most like he was but some serving man they wanted to take the +horses." + +"Cuthbert, it seems plain that some Robin has stolen this treasure, +and carried it off and hidden it. The verses must mean that!" + +"Ay, I doubt it not, Cherry," answered Cuthbert, smiling; "but see +you not, fair cousin, that almost any person knowing of this lost +treasure and the legend of the gipsies' hate could have strung +together words like these? All men hold that it may still be hidden +in the forest around the Chase; but there be deep dells by the +dozen, and the pixies, men say, have all fled away. And there be +wells that run dry, and men find fresh ones bursting out where +never water was before. These lines scarce show me more than I have +known or thought before." + +"But they do, they do!" cried Cherry excitedly. "They tell that it +was Robin who has stolen it. Cuthbert, when thou goest to the +forest next thou must find this Long Robin and see if it can be +he." + +The young man smiled at her credulity and enthusiasm. He was not so +entirely sceptical as to some possible clue being given by these +verses as he would have her believe, but he could not see any +daylight yet, and wished to save her from disappointment. + +"That is scarce like to be. The treasure was stolen nigh on fifty +years agone, and he must have been a lusty robber who stole it +then--scarce like to be living now. But we will think of this more. +The wise woman must have dealings with a familiar, else how could +she have known our errand? We must heed her words well; they may be +words of wisdom. She knew strange things from my hand. I marvel how +she could read it all there." + +Cuthbert looked upon his palm and shook his head. It was all a +mystery to him. But he had greater faith in the wise woman than he +altogether felt prepared to admit, and as he sought his couch that +night he kept saying over and over to himself the magic words he +had heard. + +"'Three times three--three times three!' What can that signify? In +the forest perchance I shall read the riddle aright. Or perchance +the gipsy queen, the dark-eyed Joanna, will aid me in the search. +If I could but trust her, she might see things that I cannot in +these lines. Would that the winter were past; would that the summer +were about to come! The perils of the forest are to be less to me +than the perils of the city. I wonder what perils menace me here. +Beneath my father's roof I oft went in peril of my life; but +here--why, here I feel safer than ever in my life before!" + + + +Chapter 10: The Hunted Priest. + + +The two friends that Cuthbert had made of his own sex during the +first weeks spent beneath his uncle's roof were the same two guests +he had seen at the supper table on the evening of his arrival--Walter +Cole and Jacob Dyson. + +Both these men were several years older than himself, but in a +short time he became exceedingly intimate with the pair, and thus +obtained insight into the home life of persons belonging to the +three leading parties in the realm. The Puritan element was +strongly represented in Martin Holt's house, the Romanist in that +of the Coles, whilst the Dysons, although springing from a Puritan +stock, had been amongst those willing to conform to the laws as +laid down in the late Queen's time. Both Rachel and Jacob preferred +the Episcopal form of worship to any other, and openly marvelled at +the taste of those who still frequented the private conventicles, +where unlicensed preachers, at the risk of liberty and even life, +held forth by the hour together upon their favourite doctrines and +arguments. + +But honest Jacob was no theologian. He did not hesitate to assert +openly his ignorance of all controversy, and his opinion that it +mattered uncommonly little what a man believed, so long as he led +an upright life and did his duty in the world. He was "fair sick" +of long-drawn arguments, the splitting of hairs, and those +questions which the theologians of all parties took such keen joy +in discussing--though, as nobody ever moved his opponent one whit, +the disputes could only be held for the love the disputants felt +for hearing themselves talk. Jacob had long since claimed for +himself the right to leave the room when politics and religion came +under discussion. As an only son, he had some privileges accorded +him, and this was one he used without stint. + +Honest Jacob had taken an immediate and great liking for Cuthbert +Trevlyn from the first appearance of that youth at his uncle's +house. Though himself rough and uncouth of aspect, clumsy of gait +and slow of speech, he was quick to see and admire beauty and wit +in others. He had picked out Cherry from amongst her sisters for +those qualities of brightness and vivacity in which he felt himself +so deficient, and it seemed as though he took to Cuthbert for very +much the same reason. + +Cuthbert was ready enough to accept the advances of this +good-natured youth. He was a stranger in this great city, whilst +Jacob knew it well. He was eager to hear and see and learn all he +could; and though Jacob's ideas were few and his powers of +observation limited, he was still able to answer a great many of +the eager questions that came crowding to the lips of the stranger +as they walked the streets together. And when Cuthbert accompanied +Jacob to his home, Abraham Dyson could fill up all the blank in his +son's story, and was secretly not a little pleased with Cuthbert's +keen intelligence and ready interest. + +The Dysons were merchants in a small way of business, but were +thriving and thrifty folks. They and the Holts had been in close +relations one with the other for more than one generation, and any +relative of Martin Holt's would have been welcome at their house. +Cuthbert was liked on his own account; and soon he became greatly +fascinated by the river-side traffic, took the greatest interest in +the vessels that came to the wharves to be unladed, and delighted +in going aboard and making friends with the sailors. He quickly +came to learn the name of every part of the ship, and to pick up a +few ideas on the subject of navigation. Whenever a vessel came in +from the New World but recently discovered, he would try to get on +board and question the sailors about the wonders they had seen. +Afterwards he would discourse to Jacob or to Cherry of the things +he had learned, and would win more and more admiration from both by +his brilliant powers of imagination and description. + +So the river became, as it were, a second home to him. Abraham +Dyson had more than one wherry of his own in which Cuthbert was +welcome to skim about upon the broad bosom of the great river. He +soon became so skillful with the rude oars or the sail, that he was +a match for the hardiest waterman on the river, and more than once +Cherry had been permitted to accompany Cuthbert and Jacob upon some +excursion up or down stream. + +And now, after many weeks of pleasant comradeship, Cuthbert found +himself in the unenviable position of standing rival to his friend +in the affections of Cherry, and the more he thought about it the +less he liked the situation. He could not give Cherry up--that was +out of the question; besides, had he renounced her twenty times +over, that would not improve Jacob's case one whit. Cherry was her +father's own daughter, and, with all her kittenish softness, had a +very decided will of her own. She was not the sort of daughter to +be bought and sold, or calmly made over like a bale of wool. She +would certainly insist on having a voice in the matter, and her +choice was not likely at any time to fall upon the worthy but +unprepossessing Jacob. + +All this Cuthbert understood with the quick apprehension of a +lover; but it was very doubtful if Jacob would so see things, and +Cuthbert felt as though there was something of treachery in +accepting and returning his many advances of friendship whilst all +the time he was secretly affianced to the girl for whose hand Jacob +had made formal application, and had been formally accepted, though +for the present, on account of the maiden's tender years, the +matter was allowed to stand over. + +With Walter Cole there was no such hindrance to friendship, and +just at this juncture Cuthbert prosecuted and confirmed his +intimacy at that house by constant visits there. He was greedy of +information and book learning, and in this narrow dim dwelling, +literally stacked with books, papers, and pamphlets of all kinds, +and partially given over to the mysteries of the printing press, +seldom worked save at dead of night, Cuthbert's expanding mind +could revel to its full content. + +He devoured every book upon which he could lay hands--history, +theology, philosophy; nothing came amiss to him. He would sit by +the hour watching Anthony Cole at work setting type, asking him +innumerable questions about what he had been last reading, and +finding the white-headed bookseller a perfect mine of information. + +Controversy and the vexed topics of the day were generally avoided +by common consent. The Coles had learned through bitter experience +the necessity for silence and reticence. Everybody knew them for +ardent and devoted sons of Rome, and they were under suspicion of +issuing many of the pamphlets against the policy of the King that +raised ire in the hearts of the great ones of the land. But none of +these "seditious" writings had so far been traced to them, and they +still lived in comparative peace, although the tranquillity +somewhat resembled that of the peaceful dwellers upon the sides of +a volcanic mountain, within whose crater grumblings and mutterings +are heard from time to time. + +Cuthbert's frequent visits, and the manifest pleasure he took in +their society, were a source of pleasure to both father and son; +and though they never showed this pleasure too openly, or asked him +to continue his visits or help them in their night work, they did +not refuse his help when offered, and sometimes would look at each +other and say: + +"He is drawing nearer; he is drawing nearer. Old traditions, race +instincts, are telling upon him. He is too true a Trevlyn not to +become a member of the true fold. His vagrant fancy is straying +here and there. He is tasting the bitter-sweet fruit of knowledge +and restless search after the wisdom of this world. But already he +begins to turn with loathing from the cold, lifeless Puritan code. +Anon he will find that the Established Church has naught to give +him save the husk, from which the precious grain has been carefully +extracted." + +"Father Urban thinks well of him," Walter once remarked, as they +discussed the youth after his departure one evening. "He has met +him, I know not where, and believes that there may be work for him +to do yet. We want those with us who have the single mind and +honest heart, the devotion that counts not the cost. All that is +written on the lad's face. If he breaks not away from us, he may +become a tool in a practised hand to do a mighty work." + +Cuthbert, however, went on his way all unconscious of the notice he +was arousing in certain quarters. His mind was filled just now with +other matters than those of religious controversy. He had become +rather weary of the strife of tongues, and was glad to busy himself +with the practical concerns of life that did not always land him in +a dilemma or a difficulty. + +Abraham Dyson was having a new sloop built for trading purposes, +and both Jacob and Cuthbert took the keenest interest in the +progress of the work. The sloop was to be called the Cherry Blossom +when complete, and it was Abraham Dyson's plan that the christening +of the vessel by Cherry herself should be the occasion of her +formal betrothal to his son. + +This ceremony, however, would not take place for some while yet, as +at present the little vessel was only in the earlier stages of +construction. Neither Jacob nor Cuthbert had heard anything about +this secondary plan, but both took the greater interest in the +sloop from the fact that she was to be named after Cherry. + +Cuthbert visited her daily, and Jacob as often as his duties at his +father's warehouse allowed him. On this particular bright February +afternoon the pair had been a great part of their time on the +river, skimming about in the wherry, and examining every part of +the little vessel under the auspices of the master builder. Dusk +had fallen upon the river before they landed, and a heavy fog +beginning to rise from the water made them glad to leave it behind. +They secured the wherry to the landing stage, leaving the oars in +her, as they not unfrequently did when returning late, and were +pursuing their way up the dark and unsavoury streets, when the +sound of a distant tumult smote upon their ears, and they arrested +their steps that they might listen the better. + +Cuthbert's quick ears were the first to gather any sort of meaning +from the discordant shouts and cries which arose. + +"They are chasing some wretched fugitive!" he said in a low voice. +"That is the sound of pursuit. Hark! they are coming this way. Who +and what are they thus hounding on?" + +Nearer and nearer came the surging sound of many voices and the +hurried trampling of feet. + +"Stop him--catch him--hold him!" shouted a score of hoarse voices, +rolling along through the fog-laden air long before anything could +be seen. "Stop him, good folks, stop him! stop the runaway +priest--stop the treacherous Jesuit! He is an enemy to peace--a +stirrer up of sedition and conspiracy! Down with him--to prison +with him! it is not fit for such a fellow to live. Down with +him--stop him!" + +"A priest!" exclaimed Cuthbert between his shut teeth, a sudden +gleam corning into his eyes. "Jacob, heard you that? A priest--a +man of God! one man against a hundred! Canst thou stand by and see +such a one hunted to death? that cannot I." + +Jacob cared little for priests--indeed, he had no very good opinion +of the race, and none of Cuthbert's traditional reverence; but he +had all an Englishman's love of fair play, and hated the cruelty +and cowardice of an angry mob as he hated anything mean and vile, +and he doubled back his wrist bands and clinched his horny fists as +he answered: + +"I am with thee, good Cuthbert. We will stand for the weaker side. +Priest or no, he shall not be hounded to death in the streets +without one blow struck in his defence. But how to find him in this +fog?" + +"We need not fight; that were mere madness," answered Cuthbert in +rapid tones. "Ours is to hurry the fugitive into the wherry, loose +from shore, and out into the river; and then they may seek as they +will, they can never find us. Mist! hark! the cries come nigher. If +the quarry is indeed before them, it must be very nigh. Mark! I +hear a gliding footfall beside the wall. Keep close to me; I go to +the rescue." + +Cuthbert sprang swiftly through the darkness, and in a moment he +felt the gown of a priest in his hand, and heard the sound of the +distressed breathing of one hunted well nigh to the verge of +exhaustion. As the hunted man felt the clasp upon his robe he +uttered a little short, sharp cry, and made as if he would have +stopped short; but Cuthbert had him fast by the arm, and hurried +him along the narrow alley towards the river, upholding him over +the rough ground, and saying in short phrases: "Fear nothing from +us, holy Father; we are friends. We have come to save you. Trust +only to us and, believe me, in three more minutes we shall be +beyond the reach of these savage pursuers. The river is before us, +though we see it not, and our boat awaits us there. Once aboard, +they may weary themselves in their vain efforts to catch us; they +will never find us in this fog. + +"Here is the water side. Have a care how you step--Jacob, hold fast +the craft whilst the Father steps in. So. All is well; cast off and +I will follow." + +There was the sound of a light spring; the boat gave a slight +lurch, and then, gliding off into the mysterious darkness of the +great river, was lost to sight of shore in the wreaths of foggy +vapour. + +"Where is the hound? where is the caitiff miscreant? Has he thrown +himself into the river? Drowning is too good for such a dog as he!" +shouted angry voices on the river's bank, and through the still air +the sound of trampling footsteps could be heard up and down the +little wharf which formed the landing stage. + +"I hear the sound of oars!" shouted one. + +"He has escaped us--curse the cunning of that Papist brood!" yelled +another. + +"Let us get a boat and follow," counselled a third; but this was +more easily said than done, as there was no other boat tied up at +that landing stage, and the fog rendered navigation too difficult +and dangerous to be lightly attempted. With sullen growls and many +curses the mob seemed to break up and disperse; but the leaders +appeared to stand in discussion for some moments after the rest had +gone, and several sentences were distinctly heard by those in the +boat, who thought it safer to drift with the tide awhile close to +the shore than to use their oars and betray their close proximity +to their foes. + +"We shall know him again; and if he dares to show his face in the +city, we will have him at last, even if we have to search for him +in Alsatia with a band of soldiers. He has too long escaped the +doom he merits, the plotter and schemer, the vile dog of a seminary +priest! Once let us get him into our hands and he shall be hanged, +drawn, and quartered, like those six of his fellows. No mercy for +the Jesuits; it is not fit that such fellows should camber the +earth. There will be no peace for this realm till we have destroyed +them root and branch." + +The boat had now drifted too far for the conversation to be any +longer audible. Jacob gave a long, low whistle, and took to the +oars. Cuthbert, who sat beside the priest in the stern, had his +hand upon the tiller; and as the fog cloud lifted just a little, so +that the darkness about them became hardly more than that of +twilight, he looked at the silent, motionless figure beside him, +and exclaimed in surprise: + +"Father Urban!" + +A slight smile hovered for a moment over the wan face of the +priest. He lifted his thin hand and said solemnly: + +"Peace be with thee, my son." + +Cuthbert bent his head in reverence, and then turned again towards +the Father. + +"What hast thou done that they should rail at thee thus--thou the +friend of the poor, the friend even of the leper? What has come to +them that they turn thus against thee? Sure, but a few short weeks +ago and thou didst hold back an angry crowd by the glance of thine +eye." + +"My son, trust not in the temper of the crowd, in the goodwill of +the multitude. Was it not the same crowd who on the Sabbath +shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' that on the Friday yelled, +'Crucify Him! crucify Him!' Never put faith in man, still less in +the multitude that is ever swayed like a reed, and may be driven +like a wave of the sea hither and thither as the wind listeth. + +"And then I was not amongst mine own flock. I had--rashly, +perchance--adventured myself further than I ought, for I had a +message of consequence to execute, and I have not been wont to hide +myself from my fellow men. But there is no knowing in these fearful +times of lawlessness and savage hate what will be the temper either +of rulers or people. It seems that I am known--that there is some +warrant out against me. So be it. If I must flee from this city to +another, holier men have done the like ere now. I would mine errand +had been completed. I would I had accomplished my task. But--" + +The priest's voice had been growing fainter for some moments. +Cuthbert supposed it to be a natural caution on his part, lest even +Jacob should hear him as he plied his oars; but as he came to this +sudden stop, he felt that the slight frame collapsed in some way, +and leaned heavily against him as he sat. Turning his eyes from the +dim, rippling water, so little of which could be seen in the +darkness and the fog, to the face of the priest, he saw that it had +turned ghastly pale, and that the eyes were glazing over as if with +the approach of death. Plainly the fugitive had received some +bodily hurt of which he had not spoken, and the question what to do +with their helpless burden became a difficult one to answer. + +"My father will not receive him," said Jacob, shaking his head, as +he leaned upon his oars and let the boat drift along with the tide +that was carrying them towards the bridge. "He hates the priests +worse than your good uncle and mine, who has something of a fellow +feeling for them in these days of common persecution; and you know +well what sort of a welcome we should receive from him did we +arrive with a seminary priest in our arms." + +"And I trow the mob would be upon us ere we had got him safe +housed, and for aught we could do to stop it might tear him limb +from limb in our very sight." + +"Ay, there is always some rumour afoot of a new Papist plot; and +whether it be true or no, the people set on to harry the priests as +dogs harry the hunted hare. I know not what to do. To land with him +will do neither good to him nor to us. A fine coil there would be +at home if my father heard of me mixing myself up with Jesuit +traitors; and Martin Holt would not be much better pleased +neither." + +"Martin Holt is not my father," answered Cuthbert, with a touch of +haughtiness; "and let him say what he will, I must save this man's +life, even if it cost me mine own. Thou knowest how he saved me +that day in the dens of Whitefriars. To leave him to the mercy of +the howling mob would be an act of blackest treachery; it would +disgrace my manhood for ever." + +"Tush, man, who asked that of thee?" answered Jacob, with something +of a smile at the lad's impetuosity. "I love not a black cassock +nor a tonsured head so passing well; but a man is a man, even +though he be a priest, and I call shame upon those who would thus +maltreat a brother man, and the more so when he is one who has +visited the sick and tended the leper, and been the friend of those +who have no friends in this great city. I would no sooner than thou +give him up to the will of the mob; but we must bethink ourselves +where he may be in safety stowed, else the mob will have him +whether we will or no. All I was meaning by my words was that +neither my home nor thine could be the place for him." + +"I ask thy pardon, good Jacob, for my heat," answered Cuthbert +humbly. "I should have known better thy good heart than to have +thought such a thing of thee." + +"Nay, nay; I am no hero." + +"Thou art a kindly hearted and an honest man, which I misdoubt me +if all the world's heroes are," answered Cuthbert quickly. "And +now, Jacob, it behoves us to think. Yes, I have it. We must ask +counsel of Master Anthony Cole. He would be the one to hide Father +Urban if it could be done. Let me land nigh to the bridge, and go +to them and tell them all; and do thou push out once more and +anchor the craft beneath the pier on which their house rests. +Methinks when I have taken counsel with them I can make shift to +slip down the wooden shaft of that pier, and so hold parley with +thee. Walter has done the like before now, and I am more agile in +such feats than he; moreover, I can swim like a duck if I should +chance to miss my hold, and so reach the water unawares. That will +be the best, for the boat may not linger at the wharf side. We know +not what news may be afoot in the city, nor that there may not be +searchers bent on finding Father Urban, let him land where he may." + +Whether or not Jacob relished this adventure, he was too stanch and +too honest hearted to turn back now. The priest lay insensible at +the bottom of the boat, his head pillowed upon the cloaks the +youths had sacrificed for his better comfort. It was plainly a +matter of consequence that he should soon be housed in some +friendly shelter. His gray face looked ghastly in the dim moonlight +which began to struggle through the fog wreaths. When Cuthbert +leaped lightly ashore hard by the bridge, and Jacob sheered off +again in the darkness, he felt as though he were out alone on the +black river, with only a corpse for company. + +"If it were but for Cherry's sake, I would do ten-fold more," he +murmured, as he glanced up in the direction of the wool stapler's +shop, and pictured pretty Cherry stepping backwards and forwards at +her spinning wheel. "But I trow she will hear naught of it; or if +she does, she will think only of Cuthbert's share. Alack! I fear me +she will never think of me now. Why should she, when so proper a +youth is nigh? If he should go away and leave her, perchance her +heart might turn to me for comfort; but I fear me he looks every +day more tenderly into her bright eyes. How could he live beneath +the roof and not learn to love her? He would be scarce human, +scarce flesh and blood, were he to fail in loving her; and what is +my chance beside his? I might, almost as well yield her at once, +and take good Kezzie instead. Kezzie would make a better +housewife--my mother has told me so a hundred times; and I am fond +of her, and methinks she--" + +But there Jacob stopped short, blushing even in the darkness at the +thought of what he had nearly said. Anchoring against the wooden +piles of the bridge, and letting his fancy run riot as it would, he +indulged in a shifting daydream, in which pain and a vague sense of +consolation were oddly blended. He sighed a good many times, but he +smiled once or twice likewise, and at last he gave himself a shake +and spoke out aloud. + +"At least it shall make no cloud and no bitterness betwixt us +twain. He is a fine lad and a noble one, and he deserves more at +Dame Fortune's hands than such a clown as I. Shall I grudge him his +luck if he gets her? never a whit! There may not be more than one +Cherry in the world, but there are plenty of good wives and honest +maidens who will brighten a man's home for him." + +Musing thus, Jacob kept his watch, and was not long in hearing +strange and cautious sounds above his head. Looking up, he beheld a +lithe form slipping, in something of a snake fashion, down the +woodwork of the bridge, and the next moment Cuthbert sprang softly +down, so deftly that the wherry only rolled a little at the shock. + +"Hast thought me long? Hast been frozen with cold? I have made all +the haste I could. All is planned. This is not strange work to +them. See, I have brought with me this cradle of cord. We can place +Father Urban within, and they will draw him up from above, that no +man shall see him enter their house. All the windows be shuttered +and barred by now. None will see or hear. They have harboured many +a fugitive before, I take it. They had all the ropes and needful +gear ready beneath their hand at a moment's notice." + +Whilst he was speaking, Cuthbert was wrapping the inanimate figure +in the cloaks, and placing it gently in the hammock, as we should +call it, that, suspended by strong cords from above, had assisted +him in his descent to the boat. Then at a given signal this +hammock, with its human load, was slowly and steadily drawn +upwards, with a cautious, silent skill that betokened use and +experience; and as the eager watchers pushed out their boat a +little further into the river, they saw the bulky object vanish at +last within the dimly-lighted window of the tall, narrow house. A +light was flashed for a moment from the window, and then all was +wrapped in darkness. + +"All is well," exclaimed Cuthbert, with an accent of relief; "and I +trow that not a living soul but our two selves knows whither the +priest has fled. He is safe from that savage, howling mob. Methinks +I hear their cries still! It was just so they yelled and hooted +round me when Father Urban came so timely to my rescue." + +Mistress Susan chid Cuthbert somewhat roundly for being late for +supper that night. But when he said he had been belated by the fog +on the river with Jacob, the excuse was allowed to stand. Cherry +was eager to know the progress making with her namesake, and no +inconvenient questions were asked of Cuthbert when once her +chattering tongue had been unloosed. + +Cuthbert's dreams were a little troubled and uneasy that night; but +he woke in good spirits, and was anxious to know the state of +Father Urban. He made an early excuse for visiting the Coles' +abode, and found the elder man busy over his type. + +He looked up with a smile as Cuthbert appeared, but laid his +fingers on his lips. + +"Be cautious; he has but just sunk to sleep after a night of +wakeful pain. He is anxious to see thee. He asked for thee a score +of times in the night; but he must not be wakened now. Thou hast +done a good deed, boy. Had Father Urban fallen a victim to yon +hooting mob last eve, a deadly blow would have been dealt to the +faith of this land." + +"And is his sickness very sore? has he any grievous hurt?" + +"He was sore knocked about and bruised ere he first wrenched +himself from the officer of the law who sprang upon him with an +order of arrest. Two of his ribs be broke; and that long and +fearful race for his life did cause him sore pain and greater +injury, so that a fever has been set up, and he has had to lose +much blood to allay it. But he is quiet and at rest just now. Thou +hadst better come again at sundown; he will doubtless be awake +then. He has somewhat to say to thee, I know. I believe that he has +some mission to entrust to thee. Thou hast a kindly heart and a +strong arm. I trow thou wilt not fail him now." + +Anthony Cole looked fixedly into the boy's face, and Cuthbert +returned the glance unflinchingly. He was possessed by the generous +feeling all young and ardent natures know of keen desire to assist +further any person already indebted to them for past grace. The +fact that already he had run some risk on account of Father Urban +only made Cuthbert the more anxious to help him in whatever manner +might best conduce to his well being and comfort. He looked full at +his interlocutor, and said: + +"Whatever I may with honour and right do for Father Urban shall not +be lacking. I owe him my life. I can never grudge any service for +him, be it great or small." + +"Well spoken, my boy," answered the bookseller, with his calm, +penetrating smile. "May the blessed saints long preserve untainted +that true nobility of soul." + +Cuthbert spent a restless day, wondering what mission the priest +had for him, and whether his uncle would be angry at him for +meddling in any such matters. But Martin Holt was friendly with +several of the Papist families about him, notably with the Coles +themselves; and Cuthbert had a growing sense of his own +independence and the right to choose his own associates and his own +path in life. + +It was growing dusk when he stood beside the narrow bed on which +Father Urban lay. The light filtered in scantily through the narrow +window pane, and illumined a face lined by pain and white with +exhaustion. Upon the bed lay a packet which looked like papers, and +one of the priest's wasted hands lay upon it as if to guard it. As +Cuthbert bent over him and spoke his name, Father Urban looked up, +and a dim light crept into his eyes. + +"Is it thou, my son, come at last?" + +"Yes, Father. What may I do for thee?" + +"Wilt thou do one small service more for me, my son?" + +"Willingly, Father, if it lies within my power." + +"It is well within thy power, boy. It is not the power I question, +but the will. We live in dangerous days. Art willing to partake of +the peril which compasses the steps of those who tread in the old +ways wherein the fathers trod?" + +"Try me and see," was the quiet reply. + +Perhaps none could better have suited the astute reader of +character. The hollow eyes lighted, and the old man bent upon +Cuthbert a searching glance whilst he seemed to pause to gather +strength. + +"I would have thee take this packet," he said, speaking slowly and +with some pain and difficulty. "There is no superscription; and +sooner than let them be found by others on thy person, fling them +into the river, or cut them to fragments with thy dagger; and +plunge thy dagger into thine own heart sooner than be taken with +them upon thee. But with caution and courage and strength (and I +know that thou hast all of these) thou canst avoid this peril. What +thy part is, is but this: Deliver this packet into the hand of +Master Robert Catesby himself. Thou knowest him. Thou wilt make no +error. Seek him not at any tavern or public place. Go to a lone +house at Lambeth, with moss-grown steps down to the water's edge. +Go by thine own wherry thither, and go alone. Thou canst not +mistake the house. There is none like it besides. It stands upon +the water, and none other building is nigh at hand; but a giant elm +overshadows it, and there is a door scarce above high water level +and steps that lead from it. Knock three times, thus, upon that +door"--and the priest gave a curious tap, which Cuthbert repeated +by imitation; "and when thou art admitted, ask for Robert Catesby, +and give him the packet. That is all. Thy mission will then be +done. Wilt thou do as much for me?" + +Cuthbert answered, without the least hesitation: + +"I will." + + + +Chapter 11: The Lone House On The River. + + +"Cuthbert, do not go--ah, do not go!" + +"And wherefore not, my Cherry?" + +"I am afraid. I had such dreams last night. And, Cuthbert, didst +thou not heed? Notedst thou not how in handing the salt at supper +thy hand shook, and it was spilled? I like not such auguries; they +fill my heart with fear. Do not go--ah, do not!" + +Cuthbert smiled as he caressed his little love, not averse to +feeling her soft arms clinging round his neck, yet quite disposed +to laugh at her youthful terrors. + +"But what dost thou fear, sweetheart?" + +"I fear everything," she replied, with inconsequent vehemence. "I +remember the stories I have heard of the wiles of the priests, and +how they tempt unwary men to their destruction. What is this Father +Urban to thee, that thou shouldst risk aught for him? I will not +let thee go--I will not!" + +"Father Urban saved my life." + +"And thou hast saved his. That debt is paid in full," was the +prompt response. "He saved thee at no peril to himself; thou hast +saved him when it might have cost thee thy life. Thou owest him +nothing--nothing! Why should he ask this further service of thee?" + +Cuthbert smiled. Cherry's petulance and vehemence amused him. Her +little spoiled-child tempers and exactions were beginning to have a +great charm. He scarcely knew how much of the deeper fears of +dawning womanhood were beginning to intermingle with the "child's" +eager love of her own way. Love was gradually transforming Cherry, +but the transformation was as yet scarcely seen, and the added +charm of her new softness and timidity had hardly begun to be +observed by those about her. + +"He is sorely sick, sweetheart, and he has asked this thing of me. +I have passed my word. Thou wouldst not have me go back therefrom?" + +"He should not have asked thee; he had no right," flashed out +Cherry, in some despite. "Why did he not ask Walter Cole? he was a +fitter person than thou." + +"And wherefore so?" + +"Why, everybody knows him for a pestilent Papist!" answered Cherry, +with a flash of her big eyes. "Nothing he did would surprise +anybody. He is suspected already; whilst thou--nay, Cuthbert, +wherefore dost thou laugh?" + +"Marry, at the logic of thy words, sweetheart! Father Urban desires +a safe and secret messenger, and thou wouldst have him employ one +already suspected and watched! That were a strange way of setting +to work, Why, I may come and go unquestioned. No man has suspected +me of aught, and I am one of those who willingly conform to the +laws. With Walter things be far different: he might be stopped and +searched by any suspicious knave who saw him pushing forth into the +river." + +"And a good riddance, too!" cried Cherry, who was in no humour to +be tolerant of the Romanists, who were, as she thought, putting her +lover in peril. "I hate those plotting, secret, cunning Papists! +They are like men who are always mining in the dark, working and +striving in deadly secret, no man knowing what will next be heard +or seen. I like not such ways. I like not that thou shouldst meddle +with them. Those be treasonable papers, I doubt not. Cuthbert, it +is not meet that thou shouldst have dealings with traitors!" + +Cuthbert smiled, but the earnestness with which Cherry spake +impressed him in spite of himself. It had been one thing to make +this promise to the sick priest who trusted him, but it was a +different matter to be told that he was meddling in treason. Still, +what did Cherry know about it? She was but a child. + +"I know that there be treasons and treacherous plots enow in the +world," answered Cherry, as he put the question to her. "I hear +more than men think; and since thou hast been here, Cuthbert, I +have listened and heeded as I was not wont to do. All men whisper +of the treachery and malice of the Papists. All men know that had +they their will the King would be sent to death or imprisonment, +and some other person placed upon the throne." + +"I know not how that may be," answered Cuthbert slowly, "and I have +no concern in such matters. All I have to do is to give these +papers to one whom I know, and who has befriended me; and that must +I do at all cost, for my word is pledged, and thou wouldst not have +me go back from that, wouldst thou, Cherry?" + +"I would not have thee run into danger," answered Cherry, sticking +persistently to her point with true feminine insistence, "and I +know better than thou canst do what evil haps befall them who +meddle in matters too hard for them, and that they reek not of. + +"Cuthbert," drawing a little nearer and speaking in a breathless +whisper, "dost call to mind what the wise woman said: how thou wast +to beware of the dark river--the flowing river? And yet thou wilt +venture forth upon it this eve! I like it not; I like it not! I +would that I could make a prisoner of thee, that thou mightest not +go." + +"It were sweet imprisonment to be held in such thrall," answered +Cuthbert, smiling, as he loosed the clasp of the warm arms from +about his neck; "but this time, sweetheart, I must needs go. I will +be cautious and careful. I are too much upon the river in the +wherry for any to question my coming or going. None knew aught of +our rescue of the hunted priest; none but thyself knows of him nor +where he lies. It is impossible that any can suspect me yet; and +for the future, for thy sweet sake, I will be cautious how I +adventure myself into any like peril, if peril there be." + +With that Cherry had to be content, for Cuthbert was immovable +where his word was pledged, and she had perforce to let him go, +since he would not be stayed. + +"Tell thy father that I sup tonight with Abraham Dyson," said +Cuthbert, as he kissed her for the last time before he left. "It +may be I shall not be home in time for the supper, and I would not +be too close questioned on my return. I will go thither when I have +landed once more. Good Jacob will wish for news of Father Urban." + +Cuthbert was gone, Cherry looking wistfully after him. She had +already begun to know something of the pain as well as of the joy +of love. She felt that there was in Cuthbert's nature a strain of +self devotion and heroism which frightened her whilst it enthralled +her fancy. She had an instinct that he would never turn back in any +quest he had undertaken for the peril he might have to face. She +felt that in him she was realizing her vague ideals of knightly +prowess and dauntless courage; but all the same, unless she might +be at his side to share the peril, she would almost have felt +happier had this fearless bravery been somewhat less. + +Cuthbert meantime pursued his way with a light heart, his packet of +papers securely buttoned in the breast of his doublet. The keen air +of the February afternoon fanned his face. His heart was full of +tender thoughts of Cherry and her sweet affection for him. How soon +would it be possible, he wondered, to claim her as his own; and +what would Martin Holt say to the frustration of one of his +favourite schemes? + +Of his present mission, and of any peril likely to accrue to him +therefrom, Cuthbert thought little or nothing. He did not see how +he could possibly come under suspicion simply from fulfilling the +priest's request. It would have been brutal to refuse; and what +harm could he do to himself or others by simply delivering a packet +of papers? + +He had almost promised Master Robert Catesby before this to visit +him in his river-side house. Doubtless this was the very place for +which he was now bound. Anything like an adventure was agreeable to +one of Cuthbert's imaginative nature, and a spice of possible +danger did not detract from the sense of fascination, even though +he might not see wherein the danger lay. + +The wherry he was wont to use lay moored near to the Three Cranes, +and no one heeded or questioned him as he stepped in and pushed off +into the river. A couple of soldiers were lounging upon the little +wharf and watching the small craft as they came and went. They +appeared to take some note of Cuthbert, as of others who passed by, +but they did not speak to him, and he wondered what their business +was there. + +A fragment of talk between two watermen reached him as he began +rowing out in the direction of the Cherry Blossom; for he did not +wish to take the upstream direction till twilight should have +fallen and his movements would escape unheeded, and the voices of +these men as they passed him reached him clearly over the water. + +"On the lookout for the runaway priest, I take it. Thou surely +didst hear how he gave them the slip in the fog, just when they +thought they had him safe. He had been well bruised and battered. +It was a marvel how he got free. But he knew the narrow lanes well, +and doubled like a hare. Doubtless he had his friends in waiting, +for he slipped into some craft and eluded pursuit. But for the fog +they would have made sure of him that time. They say he--" + +But the rest of the sentence was lost in the distance, and Cuthbert +laughed silently as he plied his oars. + +"Beshrew me, but they make a mighty coil anent this good Father +Urban. One would have thought they could have made shift to lay +hands on him before were he so notable a miscreant. He was not in +hiding when I saw him first; he appeared to go about the city +fearlessly. Doubtless it is but some new panic on the part of the +King. God help us all now that we be ruled over by such a poor +poltroon!" + +Cuthbert had caught the prevailing contempt for the foolish and +feeble James that was shared by the nation in general, and London +in particular. + +They put up with him to avoid the horrors and confusion of a +disputed succession and a possible repetition of the bloody strife +of the Roses; but there was not one section of the community with +whom he was popular: even the ecclesiastics of the Episcopal party +despised whilst they flattered and upheld him. Cuthbert felt an +access of zeal in his present mission in the thought that it would +be displeasing to the unkingly mind of the King. He had seen the +ungainly monarch riding through Westminster one day not long since, +and the sight of his slovenly and undignified figure, trapped out +in all the extravagance of an extravagant age, his clumsy seat on +horseback (of which, nevertheless, he was not a little proud), and +his goggle eyes and protruding tongue, filled the young man with +disgust and dislike. But for the noble bearing and boyish beauty of +the Prince of Wales, who rode beside his father, his disgust would +have been greater; and all men were somewhat more patient with the +defects of the father in prognosticating better and happier times +when young Henry should succeed to the throne. + +Nevertheless treasonable plottings at this juncture did not appear +as fearful and horrible as they had done in the days of "good Queen +Bess," who, with all her faults and follies, contrived to keep her +people's affection in a marvellous fashion, as her sire had done +before her. Men who would have recoiled with horror at a whisper +against the Queen's Majesty, shrugged their shoulders with +comparative indifference when they heard vague whispers of Popish +or Puritan plots directed more or less against the person of King +James. Any warm personal love and loyalty was altogether lacking to +the nation, and with it was lacking the element which has always +been the strongest bulwark of the sovereign's safety. + +James appears to have been dimly conscious of this, always +insisting on wearing heavy and cumbersome garments, quilted so +strongly as to defy the thrust of a dagger. A monarch who goes +about in habitual fear of assassination betrays his knowledge that +he has failed to win the love or veneration of his subjects. + +Cuthbert mused idly of these things as he pushed out into the +middle of the river, and then eased up and looked about him to see +if his movements were observed. It was beginning to grow dusk now. +The sun had dipped behind the trees and buildings. The two sentries +on the wharf had turned their backs upon the river, and were +entering a tavern. The other wherries were all making for the +shore, and the tide was running in strongly and carrying Cuthbert's +boat upstream for him in the direction whither he would go. + +Letting himself drift with the tide, and contenting himself with +keeping the prow in the right direction, Cuthbert drifted on his +way quite as fast as he cared to. He had not often been as far up +the stream as this, since business always took him down towards the +shipping in the mouth of the river. He had never before gone higher +up than the Temple Stairs, and now as he drifted past these and saw +the fine pile of Westminster rising before his eyes, he felt a +thrill of admiration and awe, and turned in his seat the better to +observe and admire. + +Westminster was almost like another town in those days, divided +from the busy walled city of London by fields and gardens and fine +mansions standing in their own grounds. On the south side of the +river the houses were few and far between, and save at Southwark, +hardly any attempt at regular building had been made. Past the +great Palace of Whitehall and Westminster, with its Parliament +Houses rising majestic against the darkening sky, drifted the +lonely little boat. And then Cuthbert took his oars and pulled for +the southern bank; for he knew that Lambeth was not very much +farther away, and he recalled to mind the directions of the priest, +how to find it and know it. + +Trees fringed the southern bank here, leafless at this season, but +still imparting a certain dark dreariness to the scene. The hoot of +an owl occasionally broke the silence, and sent light shivers +through Cuthbert's frame. He was not free from superstition, and +the evil-omened bird was no friend of his. He would rather not have +heard its harsh note just at this time; and he could have wished +that the river did not look so inky black, or that the trees did +not cast such weird shadows. + +But the tide ran strong beneath the overhanging bank, and Cuthbert +was carried onwards without any effort of his own. There was +something just a little uncanny in this swift force. It reminded +Cuthbert of relentless destiny sweeping him onward whether or not +he would go. + +But it was too late to consider or turn back even if such had been +his desire. Already he began to see white gleams as of stone work +along the water's edge. The willow trees came to an end; a wall +bounded the river for fifty yards or more, and then there arose +before his eyes the structure of the lonely old house, guarded by +its giant elms--a house seeming to be actually built upon the water +itself, one door, as Cuthbert had been told, opening upon the +flight of steps which at high water were almost covered. + +It was well nigh high water now, and Cuthbert could bring the prow +of his boat to within a foot of the door. There were rings all +along the topmost step for the mooring of small craft, and he +quickly made fast his wherry and stood at the iron-clamped portal. + +How dark and silent and lonely the house looked, rising gaunt and +dim in the uncertain light! Who would choose such a spot for a +home? Surely only those whose deeds would not bear the light of +day. And why that deadly silence and torpor in a house inhabited by +human beings? It seemed unnatural and uncanny, and as a great white +owl swept by on silent wing with a hollow note of challenge, +Cuthbert felt a chill sense of coming ill creep through his veins +and run down his spine; and fearful lest his resolution should +desert him at the last, he raised his hand and gave the +thrice-repeated knock he had been taught by Father Urban. + +He doubted if the signal would be heard. He could scarcely believe +that the house boasted any inhabitants, but soon he heard a heavy +yet cautious tread approach the door from the other side. Some +heavy bolts were drawn back, and the door was opened a little way. + +"Who is there?" asked a muffled voice. + +"One wishful to see Master Robert Catesby." + +"Why come to this back door, then? Why not approach the house by +the front way, like an honest man?" + +Cuthbert was rather taken aback by this question. He answered with +a touch of sharpness: + +"I came the way I was bidden to come. If I am in fault, the blame +lies with him who sent me." + +"And who is that?" + +"Father Urban." + +At the sound of that name the door was cautiously opened a little +further, and Cuthbert felt himself confronted by a man whose face +still remained in deep shadow. + +"You come from Father Urban, and with a message to Robert Catesby?" + +"Not a message; a packet which methinks contains papers. I was +bidden to deliver them into no hand but his, and to destroy both +them and myself sooner than let them fall into alien hands." + +At that the door opened wider yet, and Cuthbert could look along a +dark stone passage, at the end of which glowed a light. His +companion's first suspicions now appeared laid to rest. + +"Come in, come in. Speak not thus aloud without, even at this dead +hour of dim loneliness. Men like ourselves stand in sore need of +every caution. Come in, and let me lock the door behind us. There +may be spies lurking even round these walls." + +"Spies!" echoed Cuthbert, as he strode along the passage towards +the light. "I fear no spies; I have naught to conceal!" + +But the other man was drawing the heavy bolts, and did not hear +this remark. He followed Cuthbert into the great vaulted kitchen, +which was illumined by a noble fire, the warmth of which was very +welcome to the youth after his chilly voyage on the river. There +was some cooking going on at the stove, and an appetizing odour +filled the air. + +Cuthbert turned his curious glance upon the custodian of this +strange place, and saw a man who was evidently a gentleman, though +very plainly and simply dressed, and employed at this moment in +menial toil. He had a thin, worn face, and his eyes gleamed +brightly under their heavy brows. He looked like one who had seen +both trouble and suffering, and had grown somewhat reckless under +successive miseries, + +He on his side was attentively regarding Cuthbert. + +"Thy name, good youth?" he asked abruptly. + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn," was the unhesitating rejoinder. + +The lad had not yet learned the prudence of reticence in dealing +with strangers. He was neither ashamed of his errand nor of his +name. + +"Trevlyn--Trevlyn. It is a good name, and I have heard it before. I +have heard Catesby speak of thee. So thou hast come with papers for +him? Art thou indeed to be one of us?" + +The question was asked almost in a whisper, accompanied by a very +keen and searching glance. Cuthbert did not exactly know what to +make of it. + +He shook his head as he replied: + +"Nay, I know naught of that. I am but a messenger from Father +Urban, who was in sore straits but two days back, and well-nigh +fell into the hands of his foes with these papers upon him. I had +the good hap to help him to escape the peril; and as he was sore +hurt, he begged of me to carry them to Master Catesby and deliver +them with mine own hand. This have I come to do. He bid me seek +this house, for that I should likely find him here. If he be not +so, I pray you direct me where he may be found; for I have no mind +to return with my task unfulfilled, nor yet to carry about with me +these same papers an hour longer than need be." + +"Heaven forfend!" ejaculated the custodian of the place with +unfeigned anxiety. "Father Urban in peril! Father Urban sore hurt! +We must know more of this business, and that without delay. Art +sure he is safe for the present? Art sure he hath not fallen into +the hands of the King's hirelings?" + +"He is safe enow for the nonce." + +"And where--where is he hidden?" + +Cuthbert gave the man a keen look as he answered: + +"That will I tell to none save Master Robert Catesby himself, whom +I know. You, good sir, are a stranger to me, albeit, I doubt not, a +very worthy gentleman." + +The man's thin face lighted up with a gleam of approval. + +"You are i' the right, young sir; you are i' the right of it," he +said. "In these days of peril and trouble men cannot walk too +warily. My name is Robert Kay, and the fate which has been your +father's has been mine, too. I have been ruined and beggared for my +devotion to my faith; and but for Master Robert Catesby and others +who have given me assistance and employment, I might well have +starved in some garret ere now. Yet I was gently born and nurtured, +and mine only cause of offence was the religion which but a +generation back all men in this realm honoured and loved. +Well-a-day! alack-a-day! we have fallen on evil times. Yet there is +still a God in the heavens above us, and our turn may come--yea, +our turn may come!" + +The fierce wild gesture that accompanied these words recalled to +Cuthbert's mind the same sort of prediction and menace uttered by +Catesby on the night of their journey together over Hammerton +Heath. He felt at once a lively curiosity and a sense of awe and +repulsion; but he made no remark, and Kay quickly recovered +himself. + +"It boots not to linger. We must to Catesby without delay. He must +hear your news, young man, and must learn of you the fate of Father +Urban. You will come with me to find him?" + +"Very gladly, an you know where he is to be found." + +A curious expression flitted across the man's face. + +"Ay, that do I know well; nor is he far from here. We shall soon +reach him in that wherry of yours. He is but across the river at +Westminster, in the house of Thomas Percy, who has a lodging there +in right of his office and stewardship to my Lord of Northumberland." + +Kay glanced rather keenly into Cuthbert's face as he spoke these +words, but they evoked no answering spark of intelligence, and +again the mask fell, leaving the face expressionless and weary as +before. + +"I can take you across in my boat right well," answered Cuthbert; +"and the sooner we start the better I shall be pleased, for I have +a dark journey back tonight, and there be sentries on the watch +along the banks who may perchance ask somewhat too curiously of my +movements an I be detained late." + +"Nay, then let us hurry," said Kay restlessly; "for Catesby will +not be back for many hours, and we must needs find him. I will but +tarry to get my cloak, and then we will to the boat." + +He vanished as he spoke through an open door, and Cuthbert stood +looking inquisitively about him. There were several deep recesses +in this vault-like place, and in one of these were piled a large +number of small barrels, the contents of which Cuthbert guessed to +be wine or spirits. He was rather amused at the store thus got +together, and thought that Master Kay and his companions knew how +to enjoy themselves, even though they did lead lonely and troubled +lives. His eyes were still fixed upon the barrels when Kay +returned, and a smile hovered round the corners of his lips. The +man seemed to note the glance, and looked sharply at him. + +"Thou knowest the meaning of those?" he said suddenly; and Cuthbert +smiled again as he answered readily: + +"Ay, verily that do I." + +That was all which then passed. Kay took up a lantern and led the +way. Cuthbert followed, and soon the door was unbarred and barred +again behind them, the wherry was pushed out into deep water, and +Cuthbert's strong arms were soon propelling it across the river, +Kay steering carefully, and with the air of a man well used to the +transit. + +He cautioned quietness as they neared the shore, but in the little +creek where the boat was pushed up not a living thing was seen. +Another boat somewhat larger in build was already in the creek, and +there was a post to which craft could he made fast whilst the +owners landed. Kay dexterously performed this office, and taking +Cuthbert by the arm, bid him muffle his face in the collar of his +cloak, and walk cautiously and with circumspection. They quickly +reached the great block of buildings of which the Houses of +Parliament formed the most conspicuous feature; and diving down a +narrow entry, Kay paused suddenly before a low-browed door, and +gave the peculiar knock Cuthbert had learned from the priest. + +The door was quickly opened, and a rough head thrust forth. + +"Who goes there?" + +"It is I, good Bates--I and a gentleman--one of us--come on +business that brooks no delay with Master Robert Catesby. Go summon +thy master, good knave, without delay. It is needful this gentleman +speak with him at once." + +Kay had been leading Cuthbert along a passage with the familiarity +of a friend of the house, whilst the serving man barred the door, +and answered somewhat gruffly, as though disturbed by the +interruption: + +"Nay, if he is one of us, let him seek the master below. He is +there, and hard at work, and will not be best pleased at being +called away. I have but just come up myself. I am weary as a hunted +hare and thirsty as a fish in a desert. Find my master thyself, +Master Kay; I am no servant of thine." + +Kay appeared in no way astonished at this rough answer. He went on +before without any remark, and Cuthbert, not knowing what else to +do, followed. Presently they reached the head of a long flight of +stairs that seemed to descend into the very heart of the earth, and +from below there arose strange hollow sounds--the sound of blows +steadily struck upon some hard substance; it seemed as though they +were struck upon the very rock itself. + +Greatly amazed, and wondering not a little what it could mean, +Cuthbert paused at the head of this long flight, and saw his +companion prepare to descend; but just at that moment the sound of +blows ceased. A cry and confusion of voices arose, as if the +speakers were somewhere in the heart of the earth; and almost +immediately there dashed up the stairs a man with stained garments, +bloodshot eyes, and a white, scared face, crying out in fearful +terror: + +"The bell! the bell! the tolling bell! God and the Holy Saints +protect us! It is our death knell--our death knell!" + +Kay seized the man by the arm. + +"What ails you, man? what is it?" he asked, quickly and sternly; +but at that moment the pale face of Robert Catesby appeared, and he +was followed by a tall bearded man of very soldierly bearing, who +said, in calm, authoritative accents: + +"I have here some holy water, blessed by the Pope himself. If we do +but sprinkle the walls with that and bid the daring fiend cease, +all will be well. It is no work of God; it is a work of the devil, +striving to turn us aside from our laudable and righteous purpose. +Prove me if it be not so. If yon booming bell sounds again after +this holy water has been sprinkled, then will I own that it is God +fighting against us; but if it cease after this has been sprinkled, +then shall we know that heaven is on our side and only the powers +of darkness against us." + +"So be it," answered Catesby, quickly and decisively; "thou shalt +make trial of it, good Guido. I trow we shall learn by that token +that God is on our side." + +All this Cuthbert saw and heard, as he stood in the shadow at the +top of the stairs consumed by a burning curiosity. Something had +occurred of such overwhelming interest as to obliterate even from +Kay's mind for the moment the errand on which he had come, and his +presence in the house at this moment awoke no question amongst the +men assembled there, who were plainly otherwise engrossed. All +vanished again down the stairs, and Cuthbert stole after them with +cautious footfalls, too eager to discover what could be so moving +them to consider what he was doing. + +It was easy to track, by their voices and the light they carried, +the men who had preceded him. The long flight of stairs terminated +in a long stone passage, deadly cold; and this led in turn to a +great cellar, at the far end of which a group of seven men was +assembled. They appeared to be standing round the entrance to a +small tunnel, and this tunnel they had plainly been making +themselves; for a number of tools for boring and picking lay about, +and the faces, hands, and clothes of the assembled party plainly +indicated the nature of their toil, albeit from their speech and +bearing it was plain that all were gentlemen. + +Robert Catesby was sprinkling the walls of this tunnel with some +water, using words of supplication and exorcism, and his companions +stood bare headed around him. A great hush fell upon all as this +ceremony ceased, and all seemed to listen intently. + +"There is no sound; the devil hath taken flight. I knew how it +would be!" spoke the tall dark man exultantly. "And now, comrades, +to work again, for we have heard the last of our knell tonight. No +powers of darkness can stand before the charm of His Holiness's +power." + +With an air of relief and alacrity the gentlemen seized their +tools, and again the hollow or ringing sounds commenced to sound in +that dim place; but Kay had plucked Robert Catesby by the sleeve, +and was whispering some words in his ear. + +Catesby turned quickly round, made a few strides towards the +staircase, and then catching sight of Cuthbert, stopped short, and +seized Kay by the arm. + +"Fool!" he cried, in a low, hissing tone, "what possessed you to +bring him here? We are undone!" + +"Nay, but he knows; he is one of us." + +"He is not; it is a lie! If he said so, he is a foul spy!" + +And then striding up to Cuthbert with eyes that gleamed +murderously, he looked into the youth's face, and suddenly the fury +died out of his own. + +"Why, it is Cuthbert Trevlyn! Good luck to you, good youth! I had +feared I know not what. But thou art stanch and true; thou art a +chip of the old block. If it had to be some one, better thee than +any other. Boy, thou hast seen a sight tonight that must have +awakened thy curiosity. Swear to secrecy--swear to reveal +nothing--and I will tell thee all." + +"Nay, tell me nothing," answered Cuthbert firmly; "I love not +mysteries. I would fain forget all I have heard and seen. Let me +tell thee of Father Urban--let me give thee his letters; but tell +me naught in return. I will not know--I will not." + +Cuthbert spoke with sudden vehemence. He and Catesby were mounting +the stairs together. As they reached the dim vestibule above, +Catesby took him by the arm and looked him searchingly in the face, +as he said: + +"Maybe thou art in the right. It may be better so. But thou must +swear one thing ere thou goest hence, and that is--to reveal to no +living soul what thou hast seen this night. Know, boy, that if thou +wilt not swear this--" + +But Cuthbert shook himself free, and looked proudly at his +interlocutor. + +"Nay, threaten me not, good Master Catesby, else I may be moved to +defy thee and thy power. For the goodwill I bear thee, and for that +I loathe and abhor those craven souls who will betray their fellow +men to prison and death, I will give thee my word of honour to hold +sacred all that I have seen and heard in this house this night. I +know not what it means, nor do I desire to know. Be it for good or +be it for ill, it is thy secret, not mine, and with me it is safe. +But I will not be threatened nor coerced--no, not by any man. What +I will not give for friendship and brotherly love, no man shall +wrest from me through fear." + +Catesby looked at the lad with his flashing eyes and proudly-held +head, and a smile illuminated his features. Whether or not his +companions would have been satisfied with this pledge, he himself +was content, and with a kindly grip of the hand he said: + +"Enough, boy, enough! I like thy spirit, and I ask thy pardon for +dreaming of treating thee in any unworthy fashion. And now let us +talk of Father Urban and what has befallen him; and give to me +these papers of which thou hast been such a careful custodian." + +An hour later, Cuthbert's wherry floated out into midstream once +more, and swiftly sped along the dark water, propelled by a pair of +strong young arms. Could any have seen the rower's face, it would +have been seen to be grave and rather pale. The lights of the +bridge beginning to gleam ahead of him as he looked over his +shoulder, Cuthbert muttered to himself: + +"This has been a strange night's work, and there be more in all +than I can rightly understand. Pray Heaven I be not further +entangled in such mysteries and secrets! Well did the wise woman +bid me beware of underground cellars. Would I had never been into +that ill place this night!" + + + +Chapter 12: May Day In The Forest. + + +"Canst put up with my company, good Cuthbert? for I have a mind to +travel with thee." + +Cuthbert turned quickly as these words fell upon his ear, and found +himself face to face with a gay-looking youth dressed all in +forester's green, whom at first he took for a stranger, till the +young man with a laugh removed his wide-brimmed hat, so that the +evening light fell full upon his handsome boyish face; and Cuthbert +exclaimed, with a start of surprise: + +"Verily, it is Lord Culverhouse!" + +"And thy very good cousin, Cuthbert Trevlyn," said the Viscount, as +he linked his arm within that of his would-be comrade. "So let +there be no more ceremony betwixt thee and me; for we are both bent +upon a merry time in the forest, and we will fare forth thither +together as brothers and friends." + +"With all my heart," answered Cuthbert warmly; for he loved +companionship, and greatly liked what he had seen of Kate's cousin +and lover, the gay and handsome Lord Culverhouse. He had been once +or twice recently to the great house in the Strand, generally +rowing himself up to the garden steps, and sometimes taking the +Viscount upon the river with him. In this way they had struck up a +certain friendliness and intimacy; and Cuthbert had spoken to Lord +Culverhouse of his proposed visit to the forest on May Day, +although without explaining to him the real and chief object of +that journey. Culverhouse had not at the time expressed any desire +to accompany him, though he had asked a good many questions +respecting the forest and the forest fetes held upon that day. +Cuthbert had observed an unwonted animation in his eyes as he had +done so; but nothing in the young nobleman's manner had prepared +him for this freak on his part, and he had actually failed at the +first moment to recognize this fanciful figure in its smart +forester's dress when first saluted by the wearer. But he was glad +enough of the meeting, and the proposition of travelling in company +was very welcome, though he still had one qualm to set at rest. + +"I only go on foot, my lord. Doubtless you have a horse in waiting, +and will soon outride me." + +"A horse! not I. I have neither beast nor man in waiting. I travel +alone and on foot, and for the nonce am no more Lord Culverhouse, +but only Rupert de Grey--thy trusty comrade Rupert--and a would-be +follower of bold Robin Hood, did he but hold his court with his +merry, merry men in the free forest now. See, I wear his livery. I +feel as free as air. I marvel I never thought of such a masquerade +before. We will have a right merry time this joyous springtide. How +long dost thou purpose to remain in the greenwood thyself?" + +"I know not," answered Cuthbert, as the pair strode southward +together, quickly leaving behind the last houses of London, and +striking away in the direction of the forest whither both were +bound. It was the last day in April: the soft south wind was +blowing in their faces, the trees were beginning to hang out their +tassels of tender green, the hawthorn was bursting into bloom and +filling the air with its fragrance. It was, in fact, the eve of one +of those old-fashioned May Days which seem utterly to have gone by +now, and all nature was rejoicing in the sweet exaltation of the +happy springtide, full of the promises of the golden summer to +come. + +Cuthbert's heart swelled with delight as he looked about him and +felt that the strife and bustle of the great city were at last +shaken off. In spite of the spell exercised upon him by the life of +London, he had for some weeks been pining like a caged bird for the +freedom of the country again, the vault of the sky alone above him, +the songs of the birds in his ears. The spring had brought to him +yearnings and desires which he scarcely understood, and latterly he +had been counting the days which must pass ere he should find +himself in the forest once again. + +In his uncle's house matters were growing a little strained. Martin +Holt undoubtedly suspected something of the matter betwixt him and +Cherry, and as plainly disapproved. He looked upon Cherry as +promised to her cousin Jacob, and doubtless he thought the steady, +plodding, slow-witted son of the house of Dyson a far safer husband +for his feather-brained youngest than handsome Cuthbert Trevlyn, +with his gentler birth, his quick and keen intelligence, and his +versatile, inquiring mind, which was always inclining him to meddle +in matters better left alone, and to judge for himself with an +independence that was perilous in times like these. Not that Martin +Holt was himself averse to independence of judgment, rather the +reverse; but he knew the dangers besetting the path of those who +were resolved to think and judge for themselves, and he would fain +have seen his youngest and dearest child safely made over to the +care of one who would be content to go through life without asking +troublesome questions or intermeddling with matters of danger and +difficulty, and would conform to all laws, civil and religious, +without a qualm, recognizing the King's will as supreme in all +matters, temporal and spiritual, without a doubt or a scruple. +Cherry would be safe with Jacob, that was Martin's feeling, whilst +with Cuthbert he could have no such security. Cuthbert had still +his way to make in the world, and it had not yet appeared that he +would be of any use in business matters. He was clever with his +pen. He was a good scholar, and had been able to make himself +useful to his uncle in a number of small matters where his +quickness and sharp wits had room to work. He was also of no small +use in the matter of the building and fitting up of the new sloop, +in which he took such keen interest. He would go over every bit of +the work, comparing it with what he saw in other vessels, and +learning quickly to distinguish good workmanship from bad. He +became so ready of resource and suggestion when any small +difficulty occurred, that both Martin Holt and Abraham Dyson +learned to think exceedingly well of his abilities, and employed +him largely in matters where quickness of observation and +apprehension was wanted. But for all that, and despite the fact +that he had earned some considerable sum of money (as he reckoned +it) during the winter and spring months, he had shown no great +desire to settle himself down to any steady occupation or trade, +and neither of the elder men saw any opening for him that should +give him regular and permanent occupation. + +"He has too much of the gay gallant about him for my taste," +Abraham would say. "He is more Trevlyn than Holt; and some folks +say more Wyvern than Trevlyn. Be that as it may, he is a gentleman +to the fingertips; and one might as well try to tame an eagle as +set him down to the round of work that comes natural to lads like +Jacob." + +And Martin Holt would nod assent, feeling that there was something +about his sister's son that would never assimilate with the life of +a merchant tradesman. He liked his nephew, and thought well of him +in many ways; but he was not sorry to receive his request for leave +to revisit his old haunts and his own kindred when the long spring +days were upon the world; and he bid the lad please himself for the +future, and return or not as he best liked. There was the gold to +be given up to him when he should make formal claim for it. Martin +had satisfied himself by now that he was worthy to be intrusted +with it; but Cuthbert intended Petronella to have the bulk of that, +so that she might wed Philip, if they were both inclined that way. +As for himself, he was still bent on finding the lost treasure of +Trevlyn, and he had vowed the whole of the long summer to the +search, resolved that he would find it, be the perils and +perplexities what they might. + +So that although he saw by his uncle's manner that he was not +especially anxious to see him back soon, and shrewdly guessed that +this was in part on Cherry's account, he did not let the matter +distress him. When good Jacob had had his turn, and had failed in +winning Cherry's hand, and when he himself should return laden with +the treasure which should enable him to place his little love in a +nest in all ways worthy of her, surely then his uncle would give +her up to him without opposition. This was how he spoke to Cherry, +comforting her as the hour for his departure drew near, and vowing +eternal constancy and unchanging love. He was beginning to feel +that he was doing his cause more harm than good by lingering on, +unable to declare himself, yet betraying himself, as he often felt, +in a hundred little nameless ways. It would be better for all when +the wrench was finally made; and neither he nor Cherry doubted for +a moment that he would be successful in his search, and would come +riding up at last to the house on the bridge, the gayest of gay +gallants, to claim Cherry in the sight of all, lifting her upon his +horse, and riding away with her in the fashion of the bold knights +of old, whose deeds of prowess they both so greatly admired. + +It was this brilliant prospect of glory to come which consoled +Cherry and reconciled her to the parting of the present. Hard as it +would be to live without Cuthbert, she would strive to do so in the +thought that he would come again ere long and take her away for +ever from the life which was becoming odious to her, she scarce +knew why. So they had parted in hope as well as in sorrow, and +Cuthbert felt all his elasticity of spirit returning to him as he +strode along by his unexpected comrade's side. + +"I know not how long I shall be absent from London," he said in +answer to Culverhouse's question. "There be many things depending +on that. I have set myself a task, and I know not how long a time +it will take to accomplish. And you, my good lord, how goes it with +you? Are you about to visit Trevlyn Chase, as you will be thus +near, and see your kinsfolks there?" + +"Call me not good lord, call me Rupert, as I have bidden thee +before!" was the quick response, as a flush dyed for the moment the +smooth fair cheek of the Viscount. "Cuthbert, since we are to +travel together, I must needs tell thee my secret. I am not bound +for Trevlyn Chase. My father has forbidden me for the nonce to +visit there, not for any ill will he bears our kinsfolk, but--but +that--" + +"But that he fears the bright eyes of Mistress Kate, and hopes by +keeping you apart to help thee to forget? Is it not so, Rupert?" + +"Marry, thou hast well guessed. Or has it been no guess? Hast thou +heard aught?" + +"My cousin Kate herself told me somewhat of it," answered Cuthbert; +"but she laughed to scorn the artifice. She is not made of the +stuff that forgets." + +"Heaven's blessing be upon her for a true-hearted maiden!" cried +Culverhouse, with a lover's easily-stirred enthusiasm. "Cuthbert, +since thou knowest so much, thou shalt know more. I have made shift +to write to Kate about this purpose of mine to visit the forest +glades on blithe May Day; and she has sent me a little missive, +fresh and sweet and dainty like herself, to tell me that she will +ride forth herself into the forest that day, and giving the slip to +her sisters or servants, or any who may accompany her, will meet me +without fail in a certain dell that doubtless I shall find from the +directions she gives. There is a giant yew tree in the midst that +would hide six men in its hollow trunk, and a laughing streamlet +circles well-nigh round it. She tells me it has got the name of +Oberon's Horseshoe." + +"I know the place well," answered Cuthbert. "I can guide thee +thither. So Mistress Kate will meet thee there! It is like her. She +has a daring spirit. I would I could help her to her dowry." + +"Her dowry! thou!" echoed Culverhouse in surprise; and then as they +walked onwards through the dewy night, Cuthbert could not but tell +a little of his purpose to the comrade who had intrusted him with +his own secret; and Culverhouse listened with the greatest +interest, albeit without quite the same sanguine hope of success +that Cuthbert himself entertained. Still, he was of opinion that a +patient search and inquiry instituted by an obscure lad like +Cuthbert, used to rough ways and the life of the forest, would be +more likely to succeed than one set on foot by any person better +known. If the old tradition were true that the gipsies had hidden +the gold again in spite, it was possible that after this lapse of +time the old hatred would have died out, and that somebody might be +willing to betray the precious secret for a sufficient reward. At +any rate Cuthbert's idea of living in the forest and cultivating +and studying these strange folk was amply worth a trial. If his +quest succeeded, the whole Trevlyn family would be once more +wealthy and prosperous; if not, no harm would have been done, and +the youth would have enjoyed his free life and new experiences +after the winter spent in the confinement of the great city. + +The travellers walked on through the twilight and until long after +moonrise. They had put a good twelve miles between them and London +before they talked of halting. They had no intention of seeking +shelter for the night in any wayside hostelry. A hollow tree would +give them all the cover they needed, and both had brought with them +such supply of provision as would render them independent of chance +hospitality for twenty-four hours at least. + +Cuthbert's quick eyes soon sought out the sort of resting place +they desired--a great oak, into whose hollowed trunk the dead +leaves had drifted, and were now piled up into a soft heap. Lying +luxuriously upon this easy couch, the two travellers took such +refreshment as each needed; and as Cuthbert saw in the distance +before them the bold outlines of the high ground, part of which +went by the name of Hammerton Heath, he recounted to his companion +his adventure there the November previous, and by what means he had +saved his purse from the hands of the robbers. + +Culverhouse listened to the story, and when it was done he said: + +"Take heed, good Cuthbert, that thou dost not meet with a worse +mischance than the loss of thy purse. I would sooner have mine +filched from me by freebooters than owe aught to Robert Catesby +that could give him any claim upon me." + +Cuthbert looked up quickly. Since that night when he had delivered +the papers to Catesby, and had seen and heard so much that was +mysterious, he had gradually let the strange incident slip from his +memory. Nothing had occurred to recall it, or to render him in any +wise uneasy. He had seen nothing of Catesby or his companions. +Father Urban had said that they had all dispersed into the country. +He himself shortly took leave of the Coles, and was taken off by a +boat on a dark night to reach a vessel about to start for Spain. +The whole incident seemed more like a dream than a reality now; and +Cuthbert's vague sense of uneasiness had by this time died quite +away. + +"What dost thou mean?" he asked, as the Viscount's words fell on +his ear. + +"No more than this, that yon Catesby is a dangerous man. I know +naught against him, save that he is a Papist of the type I like +not--a plotting, designing, desperate type, that ofttimes injure +themselves far more than they injure others, yet too often drag +their friends and those who trust them to destruction with +them--and all for some wild and foolish design which they have not +the wits to carry through, and against which Heaven itself fights +to its overthrow. Have no dealings with this same Catesby, good +Cuthbert; thou wilt rue it an thou dost." + +"I am not like to see him again," answered Cuthbert slowly. "He is +gone I know not whither. If men look thus darkly upon him, +doubtless he will not adventure himself in London again." + +"I know not how that may be. My father hath heard disquieting +rumours of late, and the name of Robert Catesby is mingled in all +of them. However, he speaks little to me of matters of state. Men +in high places are for ever hearing whispers and rumours, and it +boots not to give over-much credence to every idle tale. Only, what +thou spakest of this Catesby recalled the matter to my mind. He is +a man to fear, to avoid. He has a way with him that wins men's +hearts; yet it is but the fatal fascination of the glittering +snake, that snares the fluttering bird to its destruction. So, at +least, I have heard." + +Cuthbert made no direct reply. He would have liked to tell +Culverhouse of the incident of the lonely house on the river, and +the dark cellar in which Catesby and others had been at work; but +his tongue was bound by his promise. Moreover, the hour for sleep +was at hand, and the travellers, wrapping themselves in their +cloaks and stretching their limbs upon their soft couch, were soon +lost in the land of dreams. + +The following morning dawned as fair and clear and bright as heart +could wish. It was just such a May Day as one pictures in reading +of those old-time festivities incident to that joyous season. And +the forest that day was alive with holiday makers and rustic folks, +enjoying themselves to the full in all the green glades and bosky +dells. Culverhouse and Cuthbert found it hard to push along upon +their way into the heart of the forest, so attractive were the +scenes enacted in every little clearing that had become the site of +a tiny hamlet or village, so full of hospitality to wayfarers was +every house they passed, and so merry were the dances being footed +on the greensward, in which every passer by was expected to take a +part. + +Culverhouse, in his green forester's dress, daintily faced with +silver, a silver hunting horn slung round his neck, was an object +of universal admiration, and the fact that he was plainly some +wealthy gentleman masquerading and playing a part did not in any +way detract from the interest his appearance excited. His merry, +courteous ways and well-turned compliments won the hearts of +maidens and matrons alike, whilst his deft and elegant dancing was +the admiration of all who watched; and he was besought on all hands +to stay, and found no small difficulty in pursuing his way into the +forest itself. + +However, they had made an early start, and as they drew near to the +denser part of the wood interruptions became less frequent, and +presently ceased altogether. Cuthbert found a track he knew which +led straight to the trysting place with Kate; and though from time +to time the travellers heard distant sounds of mirth and revelry +proceeding from the right hand or the left, they did not come upon +any groups of gipsies or freebooters, who were doubtless enjoying +the day after their own fashion, and the two pursued their way +rapidly and without molestation. + +"This is the place," said Cuthbert at length, as the underwood grew +thick and tangled and the path became almost lost. "And see, yonder +is a lady's palfrey tethered to a tree. Mistress Kate is the first +at the tryst. Go down thither to her, and I will wait here and +guard her steed; for there be many afoot in the forest this day, +and all may not be so bent on pleasure taking that they will not +wander about in search of gain, and a fair palfrey like yon would +be no small prize." + +Culverhouse readily consented to this arrangement, and for some +time Cuthbert was left to a solitary enjoyment of the forest. He +caressed the horse, which responded with great gentleness and +goodwill; and then he lay down in luxurious ease, his hands crossed +behind his head, his face turned upwards towards the clear blue of +the sunny sky, seen through the delicate tracery of the bursting +buds of elm and beech. It was a perfect feast for eye and ear to +lie thus in the forest, listening to the songs of the birds, and +watching the play of light and shadow. Fresh from the roar and the +bustle of the city, Cuthbert enjoyed it as a thirsty traveller in +the desert enjoys a draught of clear cold water from a spring. He +was almost sorry when at last the sound of voices warned him that +the lovers' stolen interview was at an end, and that they were +approaching him at last. + +Kate's bright face was all alight with happiness and joy as she +appeared, holding fast to her lover's arm. She greeted Cuthbert +with the prettiest air of cousinly affection, asked of himself and +his welfare with undisguised interest, and then told them of some +rustic sports being held at a village only three miles distant, and +begged Culverhouse to take her to see the spectacle. She had set +her heart upon it all day, and there would be no danger of her +being seen in the crowd sure to be assembled there to witness the +sights. Her sisters had no love for such shows, and nobody would be +greatly troubled at her hardihood in escaping from the escort of +her servants. She was always doing the like, and no harm had ever +befallen her. Her father was wont to call her his Madcap, and her +mother sometimes chided, and feared she would come to ill by her +wild freaks; but she had always turned up safe and sound, and her +independent ways had almost ceased to excite comment or uneasiness. +On May Day, when all the world was abroad and in good humour, they +would trouble still less on her account. Kate had no fear of being +overtaken and brought back, and had set her heart on going with +Culverhouse to this village fete and fair. She had heard much of +it, yet had never seen it. Sure this was the very day on which to +go. + +Culverhouse would have gone to the moon with her had she asked +it--or would at least have striven to do so--and his assent was +cordially given. Cuthbert knew the place well; and Kate was quickly +mounted on the palfrey, Culverhouse walking at her bridle-rein, +whilst Cuthbert walked on ahead to choose the safest paths, and +warn them of any peril in the road. He could hear scraps of +lover-like dialogue, that sent his heart back to Cherry, and made +him long to have her beside him; but that being impossible, he gave +himself up to the enjoyment of the present, and found pleasure in +everything about him. + +He had been before to this gay fair, held every May Day, to which +all the rustic folks from far and near flocked with one accord. He +knew well the look of the tents and booths, the bright dresses of +the women, the feats of skill and strength carried on between the +younger men, the noise, the merriment, the revelry that towards +sundown became almost an orgie. + +But in the bright noon-day light all was at its best. Kate was +delighted with everything, especially with the May Queen upon her +throne, surrounded by her attendant maidens in their white holiday +dresses, with their huge posies in their hands. This was the place +for love making, and it attracted the lovers not a little. +Cuthbert, who undertook to tie up the horse in some safe place, and +then wandered alone through the shifting throng, found them still +upon the green when he rejoined them after his ramble. Plainly +there was something of interest greater than before going on in +this quarter. People were flocking to the green, laughing, +chattering, and questioning. Blushing girls were being led along by +their ardent swains; some were protesting, others laughing. +Cuthbert could not make out what it was all about, and presently +asked a countryman why the folks were all in such a coil. + +"Why? because the priest has come, and all who will may be wed by +him. He comes like this every May Day, and he stands in the church +porch, and he weds all who come to him for a silver sixpence, and +asks no questions. Half our folks are so wed year by year, for +there be no priest or parson here this many years, not since the +last one was hunted to death by good Queen Bess--Heaven rest her +soul! The church is well nigh falling to pieces as it stands; but +the porch is the best part of it, and the priest who comes says it +is consecrated ground, and so he can use it for his weddings. That +is what the coil is about, young sir. You be a stranger in these +parts, I take it?" + +Cuthbert was not quite a stranger, but he had never heard before of +these weddings. + +"Are they lawfully wed whom he marries?" he asked; but the man only +shook his head. + +"Nay, as for that I know naught, nor do any of the folks hereabouts +neither. But he is a priest, and he says the right words, and joins +their hands and calls them man and wife. No man can do more so far +as my poor wits tell me. Most of our young folks--ay, and some of +the old ones too--have been married that fashion, and I can't see +that there is aught amiss with them. They be as happy and +comfortable as other folks." + +Cuthbert moved on with the interested crowd to see these haphazard +weddings. It was plain that the marrying of a number of young +couples was looked upon as part of the May Day sports. It was a +pretty enough sight to see some of the flower-crowned blushing +girls in their festal white, led along by their gaily-bedecked +swains in the direction of the church, which was hard by the open +village green. Some other importunate youths were eagerly pleading +their cause, and striving to drag their mistresses to the nuptial +altar amid the laughter and encouragement of the bystanders. +Cuthbert moved along in search of his companions, greatly amused by +all he saw and heard; and presently he caught sight of Kate and +Culverhouse standing together close beside the church, half hidden +within a small embrasure enclosed between two buttresses. Her face +was covered with brilliant blushes, whilst he had hold of her hand, +and seemed to be pleading with her with impassioned earnestness. As +Cuthbert approached he heard these words: + +"Nay, sweetest Kate, why hold back? Have we not loved each other +faithfully and long? Why dost thou fear?" + +"O Culverhouse, methinks it would be wrong. How can we know that +such wedlock would be lawful? Methinks my mother would break her +heart did she think the knot had been thus loosely tied." + +"Nay, but, Kate, thou scarce takest my meaning as yet. This pledge +given betwixt us before yon priest would be to us but the betrothal +troth plight. I doubt myself whether such wedlock would be lawful; +nor would I dare to call thee my wife did none but he tie the knot. +But listen, sweet coz: if we go before him and thus plight our +troth and join our hands together, none will dare to bid us wed +another. It will be too solemn a pledge to be lightly broken. Men +think gravely of such matters as solemn betrothal, and in days to +come if they should urge upon thee or me to wed with another, we +have but to tell of what was done this day, and they will cease to +strive to come between us more. + +"O sweetest mistress, fairest Kate, let us not part today without +some pledge of mutual faith and constancy! Let me hold this little +hand and place my token on thy finger; then be the time of waiting +never so long, I shall know that at last I may call thee mine +before all the world!" + +Kate was quivering, blushing, trembling with excitement, though not +with fear; for she loved Culverhouse too completely to feel aught +but the most perfect confidence in him and his honour and faith. + +"If only I could be sure it was not wrong!" she faltered. + +"Wrong to plight thy hand, when thy heart is long since given?" he +asked, with tender playfulness. "Where can the wrong be there?" + +"I know not. I would fain be altogether thine. But what would my +father and mother say?" + +It was plain already that she was yielding. Culverhouse drew her +tenderly towards him. + +"Nay, sweet coz, there be times when the claim of the parent must +give place to the closer claim of the lover, the husband. Does not +Scripture itself tell us as much? Trust me, I speak for our best +good. Let us but go together before this priest and speak the words +that, said in church, would make us man and wife, and none will +dare to keep us apart for ever, or bid us wed with another. Such +words must be binding upon the soul, be the legal bond little or +much. It is hard to say what the force of such a pledge may be; but +well I know that neither my father nor thine would dare to try to +break it, once they were told how and when it had been made. Thou +wilt be mine for ever, Kate, an thou wilt do this thing." + +The temptation was too great to be resisted. To plight her troth +thus to Culverhouse, in a fashion which might not be wholly ignored +or set aside, was a thing but too congenial to the daring and +ardent temperament of the girl. With but a few more quivers of +hesitation she let herself be persuaded; and Culverhouse, turning +round with a radiant smile of triumph, saw that Cuthbert was +standing beside them, sympathy and interest written upon his face. + +"Thou wilt be witness to our espousals, good cousin," he said +gaily, as he led his betrothed to the porch, where the crowd made +way for them right and left, seeing well the purpose for which +these gentlefolks had come. It pleased them mightily that this fine +young forester with his air of noble birth, and this high-born +maiden in her costly riding dress, should condescend to come before +the priest here in their own little church porch, and plight their +troth as their own young folks were doing. + +A hush of eager expectation fell upon the crowd as Culverhouse led +his betrothed love before the priest; and when the ring, bought +from an old peddler who always attended at such times and found +ready sale for his wares, was placed on Kate's slim finger, a +murmur of applause and sympathy ran through the crowd, and Kate +quivered from head to foot at the thought of her own daring. + +The thing was done. She and Culverhouse had plighted themselves in +a fashion solemn enough to hinder any person from trying to make +light of their betrothal. Right or wrong, the deed was done, and +neither looked as though he or she wished the words unsaid. + +But Kate dared not linger longer. Cuthbert fetched her palfrey, and +Culverhouse lifted her to the saddle; and hiring a steed from a +farmer for a brief hour, promising to bring it back in time for the +good man to jog home again at dusk, the newly-plighted pair rode +off into the forest together, he promising to see her to within +sight of her own home before taking a last adieu. + +Cuthbert stood looking after them with a smile on his lips. + +"Now, if Heaven will but speed my quest and give me happy success, +I trow those twain may yet be wed again, no man saying them nay; +for if sweet Mistress Kate can but bring with her the dower the +treasure will afford, none will forbid the union: she will be +welcomed by Lord Andover as a fitting wife for his son and heir!" + + + +Chapter 13: The Gipsy's Tryst. + + +"This is surely the spot. Methinks she will not fail me. Moonrise +was the hour she named. I will wait with what patience I may till +she comes to keep the tryst." + +So said Cuthbert to himself as, at the close of that long and +varied day, he stood at the mouth of a natural cave, half hidden by +tangled undergrowth, which had been appointed months ago by Joanna +the gipsy as the place where on May Day evening she would meet him, +and tell him more of the matter so near to his heart. + +Culverhouse and he had parted company when the former had escorted +towards her home the lady of his choice, to whom his troth had been +so solemnly plighted a short while before. The young Viscount was +going to make his way rapidly to London again; but Cuthbert +purposed a long stay in the forest. The search for the lost +treasure might be a matter of weeks, possibly of months. But he was +very well resolved not to give it up until the search had been +pursued with unabated zeal to the last extremity, and he himself +was fully satisfied as to its fate. Nothing but actual knowledge +that it had been dissipated and dispersed should induce him to +abandon the quest. + +Standing at the mouth of the cave, leaning against the rocky wall, +and enjoying the deep solitude of the forest and its tranquil +stillness, Cuthbert revolved many matters in his mind, and it +seemed more certain than ever that the finding of the treasure +alone could save him and many that he loved from manifold +difficulties and perplexities. How that treasure would smooth the +path and bring happiness and ease to the Trevlyn family! Surely it +was well worth a more vigorous search than had long been made! +Cuthbert took from his pocket the bit of parchment containing the +mystic words of the wise woman, or her familiar spirit, and perused +them again and again, albeit he knew them well nigh by heart. + +"Thou art here! It is well." + +Cuthbert started at the sound of the rich, deep tones, and found +himself confronted by the queenly-looking gipsy. He had not heard +her approach. She seemed to have risen from the very ground at his +feet. But he was scarcely surprised. She had the air of one who +could come and go at will even upon the wings of the wind. + +"I am here," answered Cuthbert, making a courteous salutation. "I +thank thee that thou hast not forgotten the tryst." + +"I never forget aught, least of all a promise," answered Joanna, +with her queenly air of dignity. "I come to strive to do my share +to atone a wrong and render restitution where it is due. What paper +is that, boy, that thou studiest with such care?" + +Cuthbert handed her the scrap of parchment. He did not know if she +would have learning to decipher it; but the writing appeared to +have no difficulties for her. She read the words in the clear light +of the May evening, albeit the sun had set and the crescent moon +was hanging like a silver lamp in the sky; and as she did so she +started slightly, and fixed a keenly penetrating glance upon +Cuthbert. + +"Where didst thou get these lines, boy?" + +"They were given me by a wise woman, whom I consulted to see if she +could aid me in this matter." + +"A wise woman! And where didst thou find her?" + +"In London town, where she practises her arts, and many come unto +her by secret. She is veritably that which she professes, for she +told me the object of my quest ere I had told mine errand to her." + +"But thou hadst told her thy name?" + +"Yes, verily, I had done that." + +"And knowing that, she divined all. Verily thou hast seen Esther +the witch! And this was all she knew--this was all she knew!" + +Joanna's head was bent over the parchment. Her eyes were full of +fire. Her words seemed addressed rather to herself than to +Cuthbert, and they excited his ardent curiosity. + +"And who is Esther? and dost thou know her? thou speakest as if +thou didst." + +"All of us forest gipsies know Esther well. She is one of us, +though she has left the forest to dwell in cities. According to the +language of men, she is my aunt. She is sister to old Miriam, whom +thou sawest in the forest mill, and who would have done thee to +death an I had not interposed to save thee. And Miriam is my +mother, albeit I am her queen, and may impose my will on her." + +"And does she know aught of the lost treasure?" asked Cuthbert, +with eager impatience. + +"I had hoped she did," answered Joanna slowly, her eyes still bent +on the paper. "I have seen her myself since I saw thee last. I have +spoken with her on this same matter. I could not draw from her what +I strove to do; but I see now that I prepared the way, and that +when thou didst go by chance to her, she was ready for thee. But if +this is all she knows, it goes not far. Still it may help--it may +help. In a tangled web, no one may say which will be the thread +which patiently followed may unravel the skein." + +"Belike she knows more than she would say," suggested Cuthbert +quickly. "If she can look into the future, sure she may look into +the past likewise--" + +But Joanna stopped him by a strange gesture. + +"Peace, foolish boy! Thinkest thou if gipsy lore could unravel the +riddle, that it had not long ago become known to me? We have our +gifts, our powers, our arts, and well we know how to use them be it +for good or ill. But we know full well what the limits are. And if +men know it not, it is more their blindness than our skill that +keeps them in ignorance. And if they give us more praise and wonder +than we merit, do they not also give us hatred and enmity in like +meed? Have we not gone through fire and sword when men have risen +up against us and called us sorcerers? Have we not suffered for our +reputation; and do we not therefore deserve to wear it with what +honour we may?" + +The woman spoke with a strange mixture of bitterness, earnestness, +and scorn--scorn, as it seemed, almost of herself and of her tribe, +yet a scorn so proudly worn that it scarce seemed other than a mark +of distinction to the wearer. Cuthbert listened in amaze and +bewilderment. It was all so different from what he had looked for. +He had hoped to consult an oracle, to learn hidden secrets of which +the gipsies had cognizance through their mysterious gifts; and, +behold, he was almost told that these same gifts were little more +than the idle imagining of superstitious and ignorant men. + +"Then canst thou tell me nothing?" he asked. + +"I can tell thee much," was the steady answer, "albeit not all that +thou wouldst know; that will still be thine to track out with +patience and care. But these lines may help; they may contain a +clue. I wonder how and where Esther learned them! But come within +the cave. The evening air grows chill, and I and thou have both +walked far, and stand in need of refreshment. All is ready for us +within. Come; I will lead the way." + +Joanna stepped on before, and Cuthbert followed. He had thought the +cave a small and shallow place before, but now he discovered that +this shallow cavity in the rock was but the antechamber, as it +were, to a larger cavern, where twenty men might sit or lie at +ease; and the entrance to this larger place was through a passage +so narrow and low that none who did not know the secret would think +it possible to traverse it. + +Cuthbert wondered if he were letting himself be taken in a trap as +he followed the gipsy through this narrow way; but he trusted +Joanna with the confidence of instinct which is seldom deceived, +and presently felt that they had emerged into some larger and wider +place. In a few moments the gipsy had produced a light, and the +proportions of the larger cavern became visible. It was a vaulted +place that had been hollowed out of the ruddy sandstone either by +some freak of nature or by the device of men, and had plainly been +adapted by the wandering gipsy tribes as a place of refuge and +resort. There were several rude pieces of furniture about--a few +pallet beds, some benches, and a table. On this table was now +spread the wherewithal for a modest repast--some cold venison, some +wheaten bread, a piece of cheese, and a flagon of wine. Cuthbert, +who had fared but scantily all that day, was ready enough to obey +the gipsy's hospitable invitation, and seated himself at the board. +She helped him liberally to all that was there, but appeared to +want nothing herself; and whilst Cuthbert satisfied his hunger she +commenced the tale, part of which in its bare outline was already +known to him. + +"Thou knowest the story of the witch burned on the village common, +nigh to Trevlyn Chase, by the order of the knight then ruling in +that house? Dost know too that that woman was my grandam, the +mother of Miriam and of Esther?" + +"I knew that not," answered Cuthbert. + +"But so it was," pursued Joanna, her big dark eyes fixed upon the +flickering flame of the lamp she had kindled. "I never saw my +grandam myself; she had met her doom before I saw the light. Yet I +have heard the tale so ofttimes told that methinks I see myself the +threatening crowd hooting the old woman to her fiery death, the +stern knight and his servants watching that the cruel law was +carried out, and the gipsy tribe hanging on the outskirts of the +wood, yet not daring to adventure themselves into the midst of the +infuriated villagers, watching all, and treasuring up the curses +and maledictions poured upon the proud head of Sir Richard as the +old woman went to her death." + +"A cruel death, in all truth," said Cuthbert. "Yet why hold Sir +Richard in fault? He was not the maker of that law; he was but the +instrument used for its enforcement, the magistrate bound to see +the will of the sovereign performed. Most like he could not help +himself, were his heart never so pitiful. I trow the Trevlyns have +always done their duty; yet I misdoubt me if by nature they have +been sterner or more cruel than other men." + +A faint smile flickered round the lips of the gipsy. She went on +with her story without heeding this plea. + +"They had made shift to see her once before her death--my mother, +my father, and Esther with them. Upon those three she had laid a +solemn charge--a charge to be handed down to their children, and +passed throughout all the tribe--a charge of deadly hatred to all +that bore the name of Trevlyn--a charge to deal them one day some +terrible blow in vengeance for her death, a vengeance that should +be felt to the third and fourth generation." + +"I have heard somewhat of that," said Cuthbert. + +"Ay, the old woman raved out her curses in the hearing of all as +she was fastened to the stake and the flames leaped about her. All +heard and many treasured up those words, and hence the tradition +always in men's mouths that the treasure of Trevlyn was filched by +the gipsy folks in fulfilment of that curse. But now another word. +My grandam laid another charge upon the tribe and all who claimed +kindred with her; and that charge was that all should give loving +and watchful care and tender service to the house of Wyvern; that +all bearing that name should be the especial care of the +gipsies--they and their children after them, whether bearing the +old name or not. The Wyverns had been true friends to the gipsy +folk, had protected them in many an hour of peril, had spoken them +gently and kindly when all men else spoke ill of them, had given +them food and shelter and a place to live in; and to my grandam had +given a home and sanctuary one bitter winter's night, when, pursued +by foes who strove then to get her into their hands and do her to +death, she flung herself upon their charity, and received a welcome +and a home in her hour of peril and sore need. It was beneath the +roof of the Wyverns that Esther first saw the light; and in +gratitude for their many acts of charity and kindness my grandam, +ere she died, laid instructions on all who owned her sway that the +Wyverns and all descended from them should be sacred to the +gipsies--watched over and guarded from all ill." + +"Ah!" said Cuthbert, drawing a long breath; "and shortly after that +a Wyvern wedded with this same Sir Richard." + +"Ay, and that but just one short month before his house was to have +been burned about his head, and he himself slain had he come forth +alive. All the plans were laid, and it was to be done so soon as he +should return to the Chase after long absence. Long Robin had +planned it all, and he had a head as clever and a will as firm as +any man that ever lived. He had thought of all--he had everything +in order; and then came the news that the knight had wed with +Isabel Wyvern, the tenderest, the sweetest, the gentlest maiden +that ever drew breath; and when they knew that, even Long Robin +knew that no hand could thenceforward be raised against the +knight." + +"Long Robin--who is he?" questioned Cuthbert eagerly. + +"He is Miriam's husband--my father," answered Joanna, a strange +shadow passing across her face. + +"And does he yet live?" + +The gipsy paused and hesitated. + +"Ask any other member of the tribe, and they will tell thee that he +does; but for me, I do not know, I cannot tell." + +Cuthbert looked at her in amaze. + +"Not know, and he thy father!" + +A curious smile crossed her face. + +"We think little of such ties amongst the gipsy folk. The tie +betwixt us all is stronger than the simple one of blood. We are all +of one race--of one stock; that is enough for us. The lesser is +swallowed up of the greater." + +"But thy mother lives; she must know?" + +Joanna's dark eyes glowed strangely. + +"Ay, she verily must know; but will she tell what she knows? If it +be as I suspect, she must be in the plot." + +"What plot?" asked Cuthbert, beginning to feel bewildered with all +this intricacy of mystery. + +"Thou hadst better hear my story to the end," answered Joanna with +a slight smile; "then thou wilt better comprehend. Listen to me, +and ask thy questions when I have done." + +"Speak on, then," said Cuthbert, glad enough to hold his peace; "I +will give good heed to all thou sayest." + +And Joanna continued her tale. + +"Sir Richard, wedded to Isabel Wyvern, might no longer be the mark +for the gipsy's curse. Esther was then queen of the tribe, and with +her, love for the Wyverns far outweighed hatred towards the +Trevlyns. She gave it out that no hair of his head should be hurt; +the vengeance must wait. If it were to be carried out, it must be +upon another generation. So said the queen, and none dared openly +lift the voice against her; but there were angry mutterings and +murmurings in the tribe, and none were more wroth at this decree +than Miriam and Long Robin." + +"Her sister and that sister's husband." + +"Ay. Long Robin was the head of the tribe, and loved not to yield +to the sway of a woman; but amongst us there has always been a +queen, and he was powerless to hinder the rest from owning Esther's +rule. But he and Miriam withdrew in wrathful indignation for a time +from the rest of the tribe, and brooded over schemes of vengeance, +and delighted themselves in every misfortune that befell the house +of Trevlyn. It was whispered by many that these two had a hand in +the death of more than one fair child. If their beasts sickened, or +any mischance happened, men laid it to the door of Miriam and Long +Robin. But for mine own part, I trow that they had little to do +with any of these matters. Trouble is the lot of many born into +this world. The Trevlyns had no more than their fair share of +troubles that I can see. One fine stalwart son grew up to manhood, +and in time he too wedded into the house of Wyvern--married thy +grandam the fair Mistress Gertrude, whose eyes thou hast, albeit in +many points a Trevlyn." + +"And what said Miriam then?" + +"She liked it not well. Sullen, brooding hatred had gained +possession of her and of Long Robin. As Esther and some of the +tribe had learned to forgive Trevlyn for the sake of Wyvern, those +twain and a few others had come to hate Wyvern for their alliance +with Trevlyn. + +"All this I have been told by Esther. I was not born till after the +treasure had been stolen--born when my mother had long ceased to +look for offspring, and had no love for the infant thrust upon her +care. I was taken from my infancy by Esther, who trained me up, +with the consent of all the tribe, to take her place as their queen +when I should have grown to womanhood. Esther loved not the roving +life of the forest; she had other wishes for herself. She practised +divination and astrology and many dark arts, and wished a settled +place of abode for herself when she could leave the tribe. She +brought me up and taught me all I knew; and she has told me all she +knows about that strange night on which the treasure of Trevlyn was +taken--and lost!" + +"Lost--lost by the Trevlyns truly; but surely thou dost not mean +that they who stole it lost it likewise!" + +Joanna's dark eyes were fixed. She seemed to be looking backwards +to a far-distant time. Her voice was low and monotonous as she +proceeded with her tale. + +"The years had flown by since Miriam and Long Robin had divided +themselves from the tribe; and they had long since returned, though +still keeping aloof in part from the rest--still forming, as it +were, a separate party of their own. Long Robin had dealings with +the robbers of the King's highway; he often accompanied them on +their raids, he and some of the men with him. The tribe began to +have regular dealings with the freebooters, as thou hast seen. They +come to us for shelter and for food. They divide their spoil with +us from time to time. Since the hand of all men has been against +us, our hands have been raised freely against the world. Our +younger men all go out to join the highwaymen. We are friends and +brothers, and the wronged and needy resort to us, and are made +welcome." + +Joanna threw back her proud head as though rejoicing in this +lawless freedom; and then giving herself a little moment for +recollection, she returned to the main course of her narrative. + +"It was easy for us gipsies, roving hither and thither and picking +up the news from travellers on the road, to know all that was going +on about us and in the world beyond. We had scouts all over the +forest. We knew everything that passed; and when the treasure was +borne in the dead of night from Trevlyn Chase, and hidden beneath +the giant oak in the forest, we knew where and wherefore it was so +hidden, and the flame of vengeance long deferred leaped into +Miriam's eyes. + +"'This is our hour!' she cried; 'this the day for which we have had +long patience! Thus can we smite the false Trevlyns, yet do them no +bodily hurt; thus can we smite them, and lay no hand upon the house +of Wyvern. It is the Trevlyns that love the red gold; the grasping, +covetous Trevlyns who will feel most keenly this blow! Upon the +gentler spirits of the ladies the loss of wealth will fall less +keenly. The proud men will feel it. They will gnash their teeth in +impotent fury. Our vow of vengeance will be accomplished. We shall +smite the foe by taking away from him the desire of his heart, and +yet lay no hand upon any who is loved by a Wyvern.' + +"And this desire after vengeance took hold of all those gathered in +the ruined mill that night, whilst into Long Robin's eyes there +crept a gleam which Esther liked not to see; for it spoke of a lust +after gold for its own sake which she had striven to quench amongst +her children, and she wished not to see them enriched beyond what +was needful for their daily wants, knowing that the possession of +gold and treasure would bring about the slackening of those bonds +which had hitherto bound them together." + +Joanna paused, and looked long into Cuthbert's attentive face. He +asked no question, and presently she continued: + +"Esther laid this charge upon those who were to go forth after the +treasure: They might move it from its present resting place, and +hide it somewhere in the forest, as securely as they would; but no +man should lay hands upon the spoil. It should be hidden away +intact as it was found. It should belong to none, but be guarded by +all; so that if the day should come when the Trevlyns should have +won the love and trust of their whilom foes, we should have the +power to make restitution to them in full." + +Cuthbert started, and his eyes gleamed beneath their dark brows; +but Joanna lifted her hand and continued: + +"Remember I am telling the tale as I learned it from Esther. As she +spoke those words she saw a dark gleam shine in Robin's eyes--saw a +glitter of rage and wrath that told her he would defy her if he +dared. The rest opposed her not. The wild, free life of the forest +had not bred in them any covetous lust after gold. So long as the +day brought food and raiment sufficient for their needs they asked +no more. Men called them robbers, murderers, freebooters; but +though they might deserve these names, there was yet much good in +them. They robbed the rich alone; to the poor they showed +themselves kindly and generous. They were eager to find and secrete +this treasure, but agreed by acclamation that it should not be +touched. Only Robin answered not, but looked askance with evil eye; +and him alone of the eight men intrusted with the task did she +distrust." + +"Then why was he sent?" + +"Verily because he was too powerful to be refused. It would have +made a split in the camp, and the end of that might no man see. She +was forced to send him in charge of the expedition; and he alone of +the eight that went forth ever returned to the mill." + +"What!" cried Cuthbert, "did some mischance befall them?" + +"That is a thing that no man knows," answered Joanna darkly. "It is +as I have said: Long Robin, and he alone, ever came back to the +mill. He was five days gone, and men said he looked ten years older +in those days. He told a strange tale. He said that the treasure +had been found and secreted, but that the sight of the gold had +acted like strong drink upon his seven comrades: that they had +vowed to carry it away and convert it into money, that they might +be rich for the rest of their days; and that when he had opposed +them, bidding them remember the words of the queen, they had set +upon him, had bound him hand and foot, and had left him to perish +in a cave, whence he had only been released by the charity of a +passer by, when he was well-nigh starved with hunger and cold. He +said that he had gone at once to the place where the treasure had +been hid, and had found all of it gone. The seven covetous men had +plainly carried it off, and he prophesied that they would never be +seen again." + +"And they never were?" + +"Never!" answered Joanna, in that same dark way; "for they were all +dead men!" + +"Dead! how came they so?" + +"Listen, and I will tell thee. I cannot prove my words. The fate of +the seven lies wrapped in mystery; but Esther vows that they were +all slain in the heart of the forest by Long Robin. She is as +certain of it as though she saw the deed. She knows that as the men +were carrying their last loads to the hiding place, wherever that +might be, Long Robin lay in wait and slew them one by one, taking +them unawares and plunging his knife into the neck of each, so that +they fell with never a cry. She knows it from strange words uttered +by him in sleep; knows it from the finding in the forest not many +years since of a number of human bones and seven skulls, all lying +near together in one place. Some woodmen found the ghastly remains; +and from that day forward none has cared to pass that way. It was +whispered that it was the work of fairies or gnomes, and the dell +is shunned by all who have ever heard the tale." + +"As the lines say!" cried Cuthbert, in great excitement. "Thinkest +thou that it is in that dell that the treasure lies hid?" + +"Esther thinks so, but she knows not; and I have hunted and hunted +in vain for traces of digging and signs of disturbance in the +ground, but I have sought in vain. Long Robin keeps his secret +well. If he knows the place, no living soul shares his knowledge. +It may be that long since all has been removed. It may be he has +vast wealth stored up in some other country, awaiting the moment +when he shall go forth to claim it." + +A puzzled look crossed Cuthbert's face. He put his hand to his +head. + +"Thou speakest of Robin as though he were yet alive, and yet thou +hast said thou thinkest him dead. And there is Miriam--surely she +knows all. I am yet more than half in the dark." + +"None may wholly know what all this means," answered Joanna; "but +upon me has Esther laid the charge to strive that restitution be +done, since now the house of Trevlyn has become the friend and +champion of the poor and oppressed, and the present knight is a +very proper gentleman, well worthy of being the son and the +grandson of the house of Wyvern. This charge she laid upon me five +long years agone, when she bid the tribe own me their queen, for +that her age and infirmities hindered her from acting longer as +such. Ever since then I have been pondering and wondering how this +thing may be done; but I have had to hold my peace, for if but a +whisper got abroad and so came to Miriam's ears, I trow that the +treasure, if still it lies hidden in the forest, would forthwith be +spirited away once more." + +"Then Miriam knows the hiding place?" + +"I say not that, I think not that. I have watched, and used every +art to discover all I may; and I well believe that Miriam herself +knows not the spot, but that she knows it lies yet in the forest, +and that when the hour is come she and Robin together will bear it +away, and keep it for ever from the house of Trevlyn." + +"But sure if they are ever to enjoy their ill-gotten gains it +should be soon," said Cuthbert. "Miriam is old, and Long Robin can +scarce be younger--" + +"Hold! I have not done. Long Robin, her husband, was older by far +than she. If the old man who goes by that name be indeed he, he +must be nigh upon fourscore and ten. But I have long doubted what +no man else doubts. I believe not that yon gray-beard is Robin; I +believe that it is another who masquerades in old man's garb, but +has the strength and hardihood of youth beneath that garb and that +air of age." + +"Marry! yet how can that be?" + +"It might not be so hard as thou deemest. In our tribe our men +resemble each other closely, and have the same tricks of voice and +speech. Nay, it was whispered that many of the youths were in very +truth sons to Robin; and one of these so far favoured him that they +were ever together, and he was treated in all ways like a son. +Miriam loved him as though he had been her own. Where Long Robin +went there went this other Robin, too. He was as the shadow of the +other. And a day came when they went forth together to roam in +foreign lands, and Miriam with them. They were gone for full three +years. We gave up the hope of seeing them more. But suddenly they +came amongst us again--two of them, not three. They said the +younger Robin had died of the plague in foreign lands, and all men +gave heed to the tale. But from the first I noted that Long Robin's +step was firmer than when he went forth, that there was more power +in his voice, more strength in his arm. True, he goes about with +bowed back; but I have seen him lift himself up when he thought +there was none to see him, and stretch his long arms with a +strength and ease that are seldom seen in the very aged. He can +accomplish long rides and rambles, strange in one so old; and our +people begin to regard him with awe, as a man whom death has passed +by. But I verily believe that it was old Robin who passed away, and +that this man is none other but young Robin; and that in him and +him alone is reposed the secret of the lost treasure, that he may +one day have it for his own." + +"And why to him?" questioned Cuthbert, drawing his brows together +in the effort to understand; "why to him rather than to Miriam or +any other of the tribe?" + +"Verily because he was the one being in the world beloved of Long +Robin. Miriam he trusted not, for that she was a woman, and he held +that no woman, however faithful, might be trusted with a secret. I +have heard him say so a hundred times, and have seen her flinch +beneath the words, whilst her eyes flashed fire. Methinks that Long +Robin loved gold with the miser's greed--loved to hoard and not to +spend--loved to feel it in his power, but desired not to touch it. +Miriam was content so long as vengeance on the Trevlyns had been +taken. She wanted not the gold herself so long as it was hidden +from them. But the secret was one that must not die, and to young +Robin it has been intrusted. And if I mistake me not, he has other +notions regarding it, and will not let it lie in its hiding place +for ever. He is sharp and shrewd as Lucifer. He knows by some +instinct that I suspect and that I watch him, and never has he +betrayed aught to me. But sure am I that the secret rests with him; +and if thou wouldst find it out, it is Long Robin's steps that thou +must dog and watch." + +"I will watch him till I have tracked him to his lair!" cried +Cuthbert, springing to his feet in great excitement. "I will never +rest, day nor night, until the golden secret is mine!" + + + +Chapter 14: Long Robin. + + +The gipsy had left him, gliding away in the moonlight like a +veritable shadow; and Cuthbert, left alone in the dim cave, buried +his face in his hands and sank into a deep reverie. + +This, then, was the meaning of it all: the long-deferred vengeance +of the gipsy tribe; the avaricious greed of one amongst their +number, who had committed dastardly crimes so as to keep the secret +hiding place in his own power alone; the secret passed on (as it +seemed) to one who feigned to be what he was not, and was cunningly +awaiting time and opportunity to remove the gold, and amass to +himself this vast hoard; none beside himself of all the tribe +heeding or caring for it, all holding to the story told long ago of +the seven men who had disappeared bearing away to foreign lands the +stolen treasure. A generation had well-nigh passed since that +treasure had been filched from the grasp of the Trevlyns. The +stalwart fellows who had been bred up amongst the gipsies, or had +joined the bands of freebooters with whom they were so closely +connected, knew little of and cared nothing for the tradition of +the hidden hoard. They found gold enough in the pockets of the +travellers they waylaid to supply their daily needs; the free life +of the forest was dear to them, and left them no lingering longings +after wealth that might prove a burden instead of a joy to its +possessor. + +Out of those who had been living when the treasure was stolen and +lost, only Miriam and Long Robin (if indeed it were he) and Esther +remained alive. Esther had retired to London, and was lost to her +people. Miriam had done everything to encourage the belief that the +treasure had been made away with by the seven helpers who had gone +forth, but had never returned to tell the tale. Esther, who had +thought very differently, had confined her suspicious for a time to +her own bosom, and later on had spoken of them only to Joanna. Upon +her had she laid the charge to strive to make restitution, now that +vengeance had been inflicted and the curse of the old witch +fulfilled. To Joanna it belonged to restore prosperity to the house +of Wyvern through the daughters' sons, and it was for her to strive +to learn where the treasure lay, and give notice of the spot to the +Trevlyns. + +The queen had done all that she could. She had watched with close +attention the pair with whom Esther believed the secret to lie. +Miriam, her mother, knew not the spot, of that she was convinced; +but she did know that the treasure had been hidden somewhere in the +forest by her husband, and that the exact place was known to the +white-bearded man whom she and others called Long Robin. + +About that weird old man, said to be well-nigh a hundred years old, +a flavour of romance existed. Men looked upon him as bearing a +charmed existence. He went his lonely way unheeded by all. He was +said to have dealings with the fairies and the pixies of the +forest. All regarded him with a species of awe. He had drawn, as it +were, a charmed circle about himself and his ways. None desired to +interfere with him; none questioned his coming or going. All +brought to him a share of the spoil taken on the roads as a matter +of right and due, but none looked to receive aught in return from +him. He and Miriam, from their great age, lived as it were apart. +They took the place of patriarchal heads of the tribe, and were +treated with reverence and filial respect by all. + +The question Cuthbert had pressed home on Joanna was why, this +being so, the treasure had not been moved away before this, so that +Miriam should end her days in peace and luxury, instead of growing +old in the wilds of the forest. + +Joanna's reply had been that she did not think Miriam had ever +really wished to leave the free forest life; that with her, +vengeance upon the Trevlyns had been the leading impulse of her +life; and that she had no covetous desires herself after the gold. +Old Robin had loved it with the miser's love; but doubtless the +younger Robin (if indeed the long-bearded man were he) was waiting +till such time as Miriam should be dead, and he alone in full +possession of the golden secret. Then he would without doubt bear +it away and live like a prince the rest of his days; but for the +present he made no move, and Joanna was very certain that he +suspected her of watching him, as indeed she did, and he had shown +himself as cunning as any fox in baffling her when she had sought +to discover any of his haunts. Her watching had been in vain, +because she was suspected of a too great knowledge, and was looked +upon as dangerous. But where she failed Cuthbert might succeed, for +he was absolutely unknown to Robin, and if the two were to meet +face to face in the forest, it would be impossible that the wily +old man (if old he were) should suspect him of any ulterior +purpose. + +Robin had not been at the mill the night that Cuthbert had been +brought there by Tyrrel and his companions. Joanna had described +him so graphically that the lad was certain of knowing him were he +to come across him in the forest. She had also indicated to him the +region in which she suspected him most generally to lurk when he +spent days and sometimes weeks alone in the forest. She believed +that during the summer months, when the forest became the resort of +many wandering bands of gipsies or of robbers and outlaws, he kept +a pretty close and constant watch upon the spot where his treasure +lay hid. The dell, at the head of which the bones of the seven +murdered men had been found, was certainly a favourite spot of his; +and she believed it was owing to some trickery of his that men +still declared it haunted by evil or troubled spirits. Travellers +passing that way had been scared almost out of their senses by the +sight of a ghostly white figure gliding about, or by the sound of +hollow moans and the rattling of chains. None but the ignorant +stranger ever ventured within half-a-mile of that ill-omened spot. +Cuthbert, as he sat thinking over the gipsy's words and charge, saw +clearly that there was ample room for suspicion that here the +treasure might lie, since Robin took such pains to scare away all +men from the spot. + +The light burned dim; but Cuthbert still sat on beside the rude +table where he had supped. Before him lay the scrap of parchment +with the doggerel lines of the wise woman inscribed upon them. It +had been something of a shock to his faith to find that the wise +woman knew all his story beforehand, and had had no need to dive +into the spirit world to ask the nature of his errand. He felt +slightly aggrieved, as though he had been tricked and imposed upon. +He was very nearly burning the parchment in despite; but Joanna had +bidden him keep it, and had added, with a slight significant smile: + +"Keep it, boy; and think not too hardly of those who juggle with +men's fears and fancies, to obtain the greater sway upon them. It +is not always used amiss. As for those lines, there may be more in +them yet than thou or I can see at this moment. For there may be +words in them that have been spoken by Long Robin in his dreams. +Esther has told me such before now. She knew not their meaning, nor +do I; but that they have a meaning she is very sure. 'Three times +three'--that was what he was muttering ever. It was the burden of +his thought, even as she made it the burden of her song. Keep the +lines; they may serve thy turn yet. Esther is a wise woman. She did +not give thee that paper for naught." + +The day had well-nigh dawned before Cuthbert flung himself upon one +of the pallet beds in the cave, and fell asleep from sheer +weariness of mind and body; but he was young, and sleep came +quickly and held him in a fast embrace. The silence and darkness of +this underground place were favourable to a long spell of repose. +The youth did not open his eyes till the sun had passed its +meridian many hours, though no ray of daylight glinted into that +dim abode. + +It might have been the middle of the night for all he knew when he +opened his eyes once again; and when he did so he lay perfectly +still, for he was convinced that he was yet in the midst of some +strange dream. He was in the cave of red sandstone where he had +fallen asleep, lying in the darkest corner of all upon a straw +pallet, with his sad-coloured cloak over him; but the cave itself +was lighter than it had been when he had fallen asleep. Two torches +flamed upon the table, and by the bright flame they cast upon the +objects near to them, Cuthbert saw a strange and weird-looking +figure. + +This figure was that of a man, who was seated at table, and had +evidently been partaking of some refreshment. He was dressed in +outlandish garb, and in a fashion which was only affected now by +very old men, who had worn such garments all their lives, and were +averse to change. Cuthbert had occasionally seen such a dress +amongst the aged folks about his home, but this was more fanciful +than any assumed by a mere rustic, and gave to the tall thin figure +a certain air of distinction. A soft felt hat with a high crown lay +upon the table; and the light shone full upon a face that was +seamed by tiny wrinkles, and upon a thick head of hair that was +either flaxen or white, Cuthbert could scarcely say which. The face +was almost entirely hidden by a tangled growth of beard as white as +snow, which beard descended almost to the man's waist, and was of +wonderful fineness and bushiness. At the first glance the +impression produced by this strange apparition was that he was a +man immensely old; but a closer examination might well raise +doubts. The air and bearing of the man were strangely alert for an +octogenarian, and the way in which he tackled the hard bread and +cheese which still stood before him was scarcely like the fashion +in which the aged generally eat. + +Cuthbert held his breath as he gazed. Was this a dream--the outcome +of his talk with the gipsy? No, he was awake; he became more and +more sure of it. But lying perfectly still, and not betraying his +presence by so much as a deeply-drawn breath, he gazed and gazed as +if fascinated upon the face of this strange being, and in his heart +he said: + +"Long Robin himself!" + +He was certain of it; there could be no manner of mistake. Dress, +air, everything corresponded with Joanna's description. For a +moment a sick fear crossed his mind lest he should have left upon +the table the fragment of parchment with the mystic words upon it, +for he had had no idea that the cave would be invaded that night. +But no; the habit of caution had been strong within him, and he had +put the paper away before retiring to his corner. Plainly the man +before him had no suspicion that any living soul was near. The deep +shadows of the cave hid Cuthbert completely from view, and the +secret entrance to the inner cave was doubtless known to very few. +None would suspect the presence of a hidden stranger there. + +As Cuthbert watched as if fascinated, Robin ceased eating, and +pushed back his stool, rising to his feet quickly, and showing the +grand proportions of his tall figure, which certainly deserved the +epithet of "long." He stretched his arms, and swung them backwards +and forwards with a gesture strangely unlike that of age; and +throwing back his broad shoulders, he began pacing to and fro in +the cave with a firm, elastic tread seldom seen after the meridian +of life is passed. + +"Joanna is right," thought Cuthbert, crouching closer against the +wall and into the shadows; for he had no wish to be discovered by +this giant, who would probably have scant mercy upon an observer +who might have taken his measure and discovered his secret now that +he was off his guard. "In all truth this man is not old; he can +scarce be above forty years. It is by some clever artifice that he +whitens his beard to that snow-like hue. He himself is young and +strong. He shows it in every movement." + +He certainly did, pacing to and fro with rapid strides; and +presently he began to mutter words and phrases to himself, Cuthbert +listening with all his ears. + +"A curse upon the women!" he said more than once; "they are the +very plague of my life! Miriam's besotted love, Joanna's suspicions +and her accursed watch upon me, both hinder my plans. If the twain +were in league together, it could not be worse. Miriam implores me +with tears and lamentations to wait till she be laid in the tomb +for the fulfilment of my cherished dream. And if I thwart her too +far, there is no telling what she may not say or do. Love and hate +in jealous natures such as hers are terribly near akin, and the +love may change to burning hatred if once I provoke her too far. +She knows not all, but she knows too much. She could spoil my hand +full well if she did but tell all she knows. And that jade Joanna, +how I hate her! She has been well drilled by that witch Esther, who +ought long ere this to have been hanged or burned. I would I could +set the King's officers on her now, but if I did I should have the +whole tribe at my throat like bloodhounds, and not even my great +age would serve to save me from their fury. + +"Ha, ha! ha, ha!" and a sardonic laugh rang through the cave. +"Would that I could wed Joanna to Tyrrel, who would give his soul +to call her his. Once the wife of a member of the band, and some of +her power would go. I misdoubt me if any would long call her queen; +and when she had babes to fill her mind and her thoughts, she would +soon cease to watch me with those suspicions eyes of hers, and to +make me fear continually for my secret. Would that they were both +dead! Would that I could kill them even as he killed the other +seven who had a share in the golden secret! I would strangle them +with my own hands if I did but dare. Once those two removed from my +path and my way would be plain. I could remove it all, bit by bit +and piece by piece, away from this accursed forest, of which I am +sick to the death. Then in some far-off foreign land of perpetual +sunshine, I could reign a prince and a king, and life would be one +long dream of ease and delight; no more toil, no more privation, no +more scorching summer heat or biting winter cold. I have seen what +the life of the East is like--the kneeling slaves, the harem of +beauteous dark-eyed women, the dream-like indolence and ease. That +is the life for me. That is whither I and my treasure will go. A +plague upon old Miriam, that she clings to these cold forests and +the sordid life we live here! But for her insane jealousy and love +I would defy Joanna and go. But the pair of them are too much for +me. I must find a way of ridding myself of one or both. I will not +be bound like this for ever!" + +The man raised his right hand and shook it with a vehement, +threatening gesture; and then relapsing into sudden moody silence, +continued his pacing to and fro, wrapped in gloomy thought. + +Cuthbert held his breath as this monologue proceeded, and a sense +of unlooked-for triumph made his heart swell within him. Here was +proof positive that the treasure lay still in the forest; that it +had not been taken thence and dissipated; that it still remained to +be found by his unremitting endeavours. The youth felt almost as +though the victory were already his. What might not a few weeks of +patient perseverance bring? He would dog Robin's' steps like a +bloodhound. He had not been brought up to hardship and forest life +for nothing. To sleep in the open, to live scantily on such fare as +might be picked up at the huts of the woodmen or in the camps of +the gipsies, was nothing to him. He would live on roots and wild +fruits sooner than abandon his quest. Nothing should come between +him and his overmastering resolve to win back for the house of +Trevlyn the long-lost treasure. + +But as he mused and Robin impatiently paced the floor of the +cavern, the torches burned slowly down, till one flickered and went +out and the other showed signs of speedy extinction. Robin, with a +start and an oath, stopped in his walk and muttered that he must be +gone. He placed upon his head the slouched hat, that at once +concealed his features, and gave a different expression to his +face. As he donned his hat and took up a heavy oaken staff that lay +upon the table, his whole aspect changed. He seemed to don likewise +a new action, a new outward appearance altogether. His straight +back bent and assumed a stoop such as one sees in men who have long +grown old. There came a feebleness into his gait, a slight +uncertainty into his movements. And all this was done so naturally, +so cleverly, that Cuthbert, as he gazed fascinated at the figure +before him, could scarcely believe that his eyes had not played him +some strange trick--could scarcely credit that this could be the +same being as the upright, stalwart man, whose movements he had +been watching during the past half hour. But all this only went to +show how shrewd Joanna's surmise had been, and every corroborating +fact increased Cuthbert's confidence in all that she had told him. + +Leaving the last torch to die into obscurity by itself, Long Robin +made for the opening in the wall which led to the outer cave, and +Cuthbert rose swiftly and silently and crept after him, gaining the +opening in time to see the tall figure slouching across the +moorland track in the direction of the westering sun. + +Afraid of following too closely, and so of being seen, Cuthbert +retreated once more into the cave, and had the forethought to fill +his wallet with the remains of the meal of which both he and Long +Robin had partaken. He did not know exactly what was his best +course to pursue, but it seemed a pity to let Long Robin out of his +sight without tracking him to some one of his lairs or hiding +places. + +Cuthbert now knew that he had slept during the greater part of the +day, and taking a draught of mead, and rapidly munching some bread +and cheese, he fortified himself for his evening stroll, and then, +before the torch actually expired, found his way to the opening +again, and so out upon the moor. + +Far away, but still distinctly visible against the bright sky, was +the tall figure of the gipsy. Cuthbert was not afraid of being seen +at so great a distance, but he still took the precaution of keeping +all the tallest bushes and clumps of flowering gorse between him +and the quarry he was following; and when at length the trees of +the wooded tracts rose up before his eyes, he quickened his pace +slightly, and gained decidedly upon Robin before he glided into the +dark pine forest. + +Before doing this, the gipsy turned back and looked carefully +round; but Cuthbert was already crouching behind a bush, and +escaped observation. As soon as Robin had fairly disappeared, the +youth rose and ran quickly after him, and soon caught glimpses of +the tall, stooping figure wending its way amongst the ruddy pine +stems, now dyed golden and crimson in the glow of the bright +sunset. + +On and on he went in the fading light, and on and on went Cuthbert +in steady pursuit. This part of the forest was strange to the +youth, but it was familiar enough to the gipsy. From the mechanical +way in which he chose his track, and the direct certainty with +which he walked, it was plain that he knew every inch of the road, +and could have found the path by night as well as by day. + +"Sure it must lead to the haunted dell," thought Cuthbert, as the +gloom deepened around him and the wood grew denser and denser. The +pines began to be mingled with other trees. The undergrowth was +thicker and more tangled. It was not always easy for Cuthbert to +force his way along. He paused sometimes in fear lest his steps and +the cracking of the boughs should be heard by the man in advance of +him. + +On and on they went, and now the track became more distinct, and it +led downwards. An owl in a tree overhead hooted as Cuthbert passed +by, and something of a cold shiver ran through the young man's +frame; he stumbled over the outspread root of a gnarled old oak, +and fell, making more noise than he liked. + +The owl flew away, hooting ominously as it seemed to his strained +nerves, and the hooting was answered as from the very heart of the +dell, if dell it was, mingled with many other strange and fierce +sounds. Cuthbert rose to his feet and crept forward with a beating +heart, and as he did so he heard a shout of demoniacal laughter +which chilled the very blood in his veins, and seemed to raise the +hair upon his head, so unearthly was the sound. + +But making the sign of the cross upon his brow, and striving to +keep his presence of mind and his courage unimpaired by ghostly +terrors, Cuthbert still pursued his way downwards into this dim, +strange place. He felt more and more certain that this was the +pixies' dell of which the verses spoke--the dell wherein some deed +of darkness had been committed that caused it to be shunned of all; +and it needed all his native stoutness of heart to enable him to +conquer his fears and pursue his way, as he reflected on the foul +murders that had been committed not far off, and wondered if indeed +the restless souls of those to whom Christian burial had been +denied hovered by night about the ill-omened spot, to fright away +all travellers who strove to pass that way. + +For a while the fearful sounds of hooting and laughter continued, +under cover of which he crept nearer and nearer to the centre of +the dell. Presently they ceased, and a death-like silence ensued. +Cuthbert dared not move, and scarcely dared to breathe. This was +the most trying experience he had yet had. He had felt far less +fear on the darkly-flowing river and in that strange underground +cellar, against both of which the wise woman had warned him. + +But after a long pause of silence he heard another and a different +laugh--a laugh in which he recognized the sardonic intonation he +had recently heard from the lips of Long Robin. + +"I trow that has been enow," spoke a voice nigh at hand, though the +speaker was invisible owing to the thick growth of bushes. "If that +sound were caused by aught but a rabbit or wildcat, I wager the +hardy traveller has taken to his heels and fled. But I misdoubt me +that it was anything human. There be sounds and to spare in the +forest at night. It is long since I have been troubled by visitors +to this lone spot. The pixies and I have the dell to ourselves. Ha, +ha!" + +"Robin's voice again!" whispered Cuthbert to himself, creeping +forward with the cautious, snake-like movement that he had learned +when snaring birds or rabbits to furnish the scanty larder at the +Gate House. He advanced by slow degrees, and soon gained what he +desired--a view of his quarry and of the heart of the dell. + +In the fading light he could see both plainly. Long Robin was +seated upon a low stone wall overgrown with moss, that seemed to be +built around a well; for it was of circular construction, and to +the listener was borne the faint sound of running water, though the +sound seemed to come from the very heart of the earth. Round this +well was a space of smooth greensward--sward that appeared to have +been untouched for centuries. All around, the sides of the dell +rose up, covered with a thick growth of wood and copse. It was a +lovely spot in all truth, but lonely to the verge of desolation. +Cuthbert dimly remembered having heard fragments of legends +respecting a pixies' dell in the heart of the forest--a dell +avoided by all, for that no man who ventured in came forth alive. +Most likely this was the place; most likely the legend of fear +surrounding it was due to some exaggerated version of old Robin's +ghastly crime in bygone years. + +Cuthbert gazed and gazed with a sense of weird fascination. He +fully believed that in some spot not many yards from where he stood +lay hidden the lost treasure of Trevlyn, and that the secret of +that resting place remained known to one man only in the whole +world; and that was the man before him! + +A wild impulse seized Cuthbert to spring upon that bowed figure, +and, holding a knife to the man's throat, to demand a full +revelation of that secret as the price of life. Perhaps had he not +seen but an hour before how upright, powerful, and stalwart that +bending figure could be, he would have done it then and there. But +with that memory clear in his mind, together with his knowledge of +the perfectly unscrupulous character of the gipsy, he felt that +such a step would be the sheerest madness; and after gazing his +fill at the motionless figure, he softly crept away once more. + +He lay hidden in the bushes till he heard Long Robin leave the dell +and go crashing through the underwood with heavy steps, cursing as +he went the two women who stood between him and his desire. It was +plain from his muttered words that he was going back to the camp +now. Plainly he had paid his visit to the hoard and found all safe +and undisturbed. Cuthbert was more and more convinced that the +treasure lay here, as Esther had always believed; and it would be +strange indeed, being so near, if he could not find it in time. + +But he would not search tonight; he had the whole summer before +him. Plainly Long Robin was not going to take any immediate step +for the removal of the treasure; and during the last hours a great +longing had come upon Cuthbert to see Petronella again. He was +within ten miles of his old home now, and the thoughts of his +sister had been mingling with these other thoughts of the lost +treasure. Surely he could find his way to the Gate House from this +lonely dell, and once there, by making a signal at his sister's +window, he could advise her of his presence and gain a stolen +interview. + +So taking his bearings from the moon, he struck boldly across the +lonely waste of forest that lay between him and his former home, +and soon found himself tramping over the ling and moss of the high +ridge of common land with which the woody tracts of the forest were +frequently interspersed. + +As he thus tramped the words of the verses began singing in his +head: "Three times three--o'er ling and moss." What was that three +times three? The question mingled with his dreams of his sister, +and suddenly the thought came to him, Could the three times three +be miles--miles from the giant oak from beneath which the treasure +had been taken? Three times three--it might well be so. The +distance was surely about nine miles. The spot where the Trevlyns +had hid their treasure lay directly in Cuthbert's way as he marched +steadily towards the Gate House. He saw the giant oak rise up +before him in the moonlight, and he hastened to the spot and stood +beneath the overhanging branches. + +Standing beneath it with the oak behind him, he looked straight +along the way he had come across the bog and moss. Surely there +were nine miles, and little more or less, between the one spot and +the other. And again, with the oak behind there was a beech at his +right hand, and straight before him the road to the pixies' dell. +Well, it might not be much, yet it seemed like a link in the chain. +Esther had perchance heard Robin mutter these numbers in his +troubled sleep. Surely he had been thinking or dreaming of that +long nine miles' tramp, and the words he had used to direct the men +whom afterwards he had foully and treacherously murdered! + +"I am on the track! I am on the track!" cried Cuthbert exultantly, +as he pursued his way. "The secret lies hid in the pixies' dell. +Surely if I have learned as much as that, I cannot be long in +finding out the whole!" + +And with thoughts of his sister, of Cherry, of Kate, warm in his +heart, Cuthbert sped gaily along in the direction of his old home. + +Midnight struck from the clock in the turret of Trevlyn Chase as +the youth approached the gray walls of the old Gate House. How grim +and hoary it looked in the white moonlight! Something of a faint +shiver of repulsion ran through Cuthbert's frame as he looked upon +the familiar outline of the building. Was it possible that all but +the few last months of his life had been spent there? It seemed to +him that the old life was already like a dim and distant dream, and +that the fuller life he had enjoyed since leaving was the only one +that had any reality about it. + +But he well knew the habits and the sullen ferocity of the grim old +man his father, and it was with cautious steps that he approached +the walls. No light burned in any window. The inmates of the +building were doubtless wrapped in sleep. He well knew his sister's +window, and cutting himself a long hazel bough, he gently swept it +to and fro across the glass. This had always been a signal between +them in their childhood, and many had been their nocturnal rambles +taken together when Cuthbert had contrived to escape from the house +before it was locked up, and had then called Petronella and +assisted her down by the tangled ivy that clung to the gray old +walls. He knew she would recognize in a moment who was outside when +she heard the tapping of that hazel wand; and it seemed indeed as +if she did, for in a moment the window was opened, and a soft +tremulous voice asked eagerly: + +"Cuthbert, can it be thou?" + +"It is indeed I, sweet sister. Canst thou come to me? Hast thou +lost thy cunning or thy lightness of foot? I am here to help thee." + +"I will come to thee anon; but the little postern door is seldom +locked since thou art gone, and I can get out thus. Linger not +beside the house, Cuthbert; speed to the chantry--I will meet thee +there. He might hear or see thee here. Do not linger; go. I will be +with thee anon; I will not keep thee but a few short minutes. But +do not tarry; go!" + +There was such earnestness in her soft whispers that Cuthbert did +not attempt to reply save by a brief nod. He slid away in the +darkness and took the familiar but now tangled path to the chantry, +looking round the old ruin with loving eyes; for it was the one +spot connected with his home not fraught with memories of pain and +fear. + +"Poor little timid Petronella!" he mused. "Was I right to leave her +thus alone with our harsh father? Yet I could do nothing for her; +and it seemed as though my presence in the house stirred him up to +continual fury. I would I had a home to bring her to. I would I +might carry her off with me now. But what could she do in the +forest, away from the haunts of men? Nay, she must tarry here but a +little while. Then will I come and claim her. Then will she have +dowry worthy her name and state. Oh that lost treasure, that lost +treasure! what happiness will there be in store for very many when +that lost treasure is found!" + +And then he paused and held out his arms, for light steps were +speeding towards him through the dewy grass, and Petronella, with a +little sobbing cry, flung herself upon him, to be enfolded in a +strong embrace. + + + +Chapter 15: Petronella. + + +"Cuthbert, is it--can it really be thou?" + +"Petronella--sister! What happiness to see thee once more!" + +She clung to him almost sobbing in the excitement of pure +happiness. He could feel that she trembled in his arms, and he +enfolded the slight frame ever closer and closer. + +"Sweetest sister, fear not! Dost fear I could not protect thee from +harm? Believe me, thou hast a wondrous different brother now from +the cowed and timorous lad who went forth from these doors but six +short months back. Fear not, my sister; look up, and let me see thy +face. I would learn how it has fared with thee since we parted that +night on this very spot, though it now seems so long ago." + +Petronella heaved a long sigh, and her tremblings gradually ceased. +It seemed as though the brotherly clasp of those strong arms +stilled her fears and brought comfort and soothing. But as Cuthbert +held her closely to him, it seemed to him almost as though he +clasped a phantom form rather than one of solid flesh and blood. +There seemed nothing of the girl but skin and bone; and looking +anxiously into the small oval face, he noted how wistful and hollow +the great dark eyes had grown, and how pinched and worn every +feature. Had it always been so with her? He scarce knew, for we +heed little the aspect of those about us when we are young and +inexperienced. + +Petronella had always been somewhat shadowy and wan, had always +been slight and slim and small. But was she always as wan and +slight as she now seemed? or did he observe it the more from the +contrast it presented to Cherry's blooming beauty, to which his +eyes had grown used? He asked the question anxiously of himself, +but could not answer it. + +Then drawing Petronella into the full light of the silver moon, he +made her sit beside him on a fragment of mouldering wall, and +holding her thin hands in a warm clasp, he scanned her face with +glances of earnest scrutiny. + +"My sister, hast thou been ill?" + +She shook her head with a pathetic little smile. + +"Alas, no! Methinks I am a true Trevlyn for that. Sickness passes +me by and seizes upon others who might so much better be spared." + +"Why dost thou say 'alas' to that, sweet sister?" + +"Verily because there be times when I would so gladly lay down my +head never to lift it more. For me death would be sweeter than +life. The dead rest in God's peaceful keeping--my good aunt at the +Chase has told me so, and I no longer fear the scorching fires of +purgatory. I have a little New Testament now of my own, full of +sweet promises and words of love and peace. When I read of the +pearly gates and the streets of gold, and the city into which +nothing unholy may enter, I long sorely to leave behind this world +of sin and sorrow and find a refuge there. + +"But I would know more of thee, Cuthbert, and of what thou hast +seen and done since thou hast left the Gate House. For me I have +naught to tell. Life here is ever the same. But thou must have done +and seen so much. May I not hear thy tale? May I not learn how it +has fared with thee?" + +Cuthbert was willing enough to outpour his story to her, sitting +beside her in the old chantry, where so many happy hours of their +shadowed childhood had been spent. He told of his adventures by the +way, of his night with the gipsies, of his timely rescue of Cherry +and his admittance to his uncle's house. He told of his uncle's +wonderful story of the gold that was to be all for his sister; told +of the life at the bridge house, and his attachment to his cousin +Cherry. The only matter he named not was that of his meeting with +Master Robert Catesby, and all that had followed in which he was +concerned. Petronella would only be bewildered by so many strange +things. It was enough to tell her of his recent adventures in the +forest, and his growing hopes of coming upon traces of the lost +treasure. + +Petronella listened to the whole of this tale with parted lips and +wide-open eyes, as a child listens to a tale of fairy romance and +wonder. She could scarce believe that all these strange things had +befallen her own brother; but as she questioned and he answered, +she gradually began to understand, to enter into his feelings, and +to obtain a clearer comprehension of the situation of affairs. Her +intercourse with the Trevlyns of the Chase had done something to +widen her knowledge of life, and Cuthbert found that her mind had +matured and expanded in a fashion he had hardly expected. He +wondered where she had picked up some of the bits of experience +that fell from her lips from time to time, and he looked somewhat +searchingly into her face. + +"Methinks, my sister, that time has not stood still with thee since +I went away. Thou art wondrous wise for thy years. Who has been thy +instructor?" + +Even in the moonlight he could see the sudden flush that dyed her +cheek and neck at the question. + +"I have been to the Chase as much as our father would +permit--indeed, I fear me I have been oftener; but I was very +lonely, and they were all so kind. And Philip, he has been often +here. He has been in very truth a--a--brother to me in thy place. +Methinks but for him I should almost have died. But, O Cuthbert, it +is hard, it is hard!" + +The last words were spoken with such sudden passion and vehemence +that the youth started and looked once again at his sister. Of old, +Petronella had always been so gentle, so meek and yielding, that to +hear such an outburst from her startled him not a little. + +"What is hard, sweet sister?" + +"To be the daughter of--of--such a father as ours," she answered, +lowering her voice and speaking with infinite sadness now. "Heaven +knows I have striven to love him, have striven to obey him, have +striven to be all a daughter should!" + +"Ay, verily thou hast!" answered Cuthbert warmly. "I have chidden +thee many a time before this for the meekness that raised no +protest let him be never so harsh. Thou hast done more than thy +share, sweet Petronella. None can blame thee for rebellious +thoughts or words. If he will none of our love or service, the +fault is his, not ours--thine least of all, for thou wast ever +gentle and meek." + +"I have tried," repeated Petronella sadly; "and when thou hadst +gone and the tempest had something subsided, I tried as never +before to be a loving daughter, and make up to him for the loss of +his son. But he would have none of my love. He drove me from his +presence with bitter words. I had perforce to seek others, if I +were to live at all; and though he hurled taunts and harsh speeches +at me oftentimes, he did not forbid me that house, albeit he scarce +knew perchance how oft I was there, since he shut himself up more +and more, and sometimes saw me not from one week's end to the +other." + +"What a lone life for thee, my sister!" + +"Yes, it was lone, save for the comradeship of our cousins. But +that was better, far better, than what followed." + +Cuthbert looked quickly at her, and his eyes darkened. + +"And what did follow, Petronella?" + +She bent her head a little, that he might not see the expression of +her face. Her words were falteringly spoken. + +"It was not many weeks since--it was when the days began to lengthen +out, and the forest paths to grow decked with flowers--that some evil +thoughts of suspicion came into his head, I know not how, and he +dogged my steps as I wandered in the woods; and twice--nay, thrice--he +came suddenly upon us as we walked together in the woodland dells." + +"'We? who was with thee, sister?" + +"Philip," she answered very softly, and there was something in the +tender intonation with which she spoke the name that told a tale +Cuthbert was not slow to read. He had guessed as much before, but +this made assurance doubly sure; and with the sympathy of the +ardent young lover, he put his hand on Petronella's and pressed it +tenderly. She understood the meaning of that clasp, and looked +gratefully at him, going on with more confidence afterwards. + +"It was with Philip that he found me; and the sight filled him with +a sullen fury--the fury that thou knowest, brother, which brooks no +opposition, no words. He would not hear Philip speak. He struck him +on the mouth--a cruel blow that caused the blood to spring forth; +and he dragged me away by main force, and locked me up in the +pillared chamber, vowing to keep me a prisoner all my life an I +would not promise never to speak with Philip again." + +"And thou?" + +"I told him I would promise naught save to meet him no more in the +forest. I was glad to promise that; for I feared our savage father +might kill him in a fit of fury were he to find us again together. +I should have been terrified to wander forth with him more. I +promised that, but I would promise no more." + +"And did that satisfy him?" asked Cuthbert breathlessly. "Tell me +all, my sister. He did not dare lay hands on thee?" + +Petronella smiled faintly. + +"Methinks he would dare anything he wished; but he let himself be +satisfied with that pledge. Only he kept me many days in that dim +place of terror, and gave me but scant prisoner's fare the while. +Cuthbert, as thou art free and thou art nigh, wilt thou to Trevlyn +Chase for me ere thou goest back into the forest, and tell Philip +what has befallen me, and that I may no more hope to meet him in +our favourite haunts? Tell him all I have told to thee, and bid him +keep himself from this house. It is an ill place! an ill place! Ah, +Cuthbert, were I but a man like thee, I would fare forth as thou +hast done. I would not stay beneath yon roof to be starved in soul +and body and spirit. O father, father!" + +The cry was one of exceeding bitterness, and yet in it spoke a +patience that moved Cuthbert strangely. + +"Sister, my sister!" he cried, in accents of suppressed agitation, +"I know not how to leave thee here. Petronella, why not forth with +me to the forest? Sure I could protect thee there and give thee a +better home beneath the greenwood trees than our father does +beneath yon grim walls. And, sister, I could take thee to our +uncle, Martin Holt. Sure he would give thee asylum with him, as he +gave to me. Thou wouldst have Cherry for a sister. Thou--" + +But Petronella shrank away a little, and looked scared at the +thought. Hers was one of those timid natures that find it easier to +endure even a terrible wrong than to take a bold step to escape +from it. The life of the forest might have attracted her, for she +loved the freedom of the woodlands, and had no fears of loneliness +or privation. But she had heard from Cuthbert of the bands of +outlaws and gipsies, of Long Robin and his murderous hatred; and of +other perils which she felt she had scarce courage to face. She +feared that if she let Cuthbert carry her off she would but prove a +burden and a care, whilst the thought of London and the strange +relations there filled her with distaste and dread. + +"Nay, nay, my brother; I have borne much--I will bear a little +more. I love the old Gate House as thou hast never loved it; and +perchance after this storm there may be a lull of quiet peace. I +should but hamper thee, and hold thee back from that great purpose; +and--" + +"But Martin Holt, he would welcome thee; and once beneath his +roof--" + +"Nay, Cuthbert, it might well be that our father would guess +whither I had fled, and would come and drag me back. I am not of an +age to resist him. And I am a helpless woman, not a man. I have +thought many times of flight, but I fear me it would but lead to +worse." + +"I know not that," answered Cuthbert thoughtfully. "Our uncle +Martin is a good man; and, Petronella, remember that whether or no +thy brother finds the lost treasure, he holds in his keeping a +dowry for thee that will make thee no unworthy mate for Philip +Trevlyn when the day comes for him to claim thee as his bride. Nay, +hide not thy face, sister." + +"Alas, alas, my brother! that day will never come! My father--" + +"Nay, courage, sweetheart; our father's power lasts not for ever, +and we will be happy yet in spite of him. And, sister mine, we must +have kinsfolks somewhere of the house of Wyvern. Our father never +speaks to us of any such matters; but hast thou heard aught at the +Chase?" + +Petronella looked quickly up at him. + +"Ay, I have heard them speak of kinsfolk of that family, albeit I +heeded not greatly what they said. Are they our kinsfolk likewise?" + +"Ay, verily, inasmuch as our grandam was a Wyvern; and there have +been Wyverns of two generations that have wed with the Trevlyns, as +thou hast heard in the story of the lost treasure, which I have +told to thee. Sister, it might be that thou mightest find a refuge +with them safer than with mine uncle of the bridge, who might +perchance think I asked too much were I to bring my sister to him, +albeit he is a kind man and a just; but--" + +"But I trust I may not have to flee," said Petronella, with the +same air of shrinking that she had shown before. "I have borne so +much; surely I can bear the rest, until thou hast found the +treasure, and all is changed for us. When thou art rich and great, +and high in favour with all, then perchance thou canst prevail even +with our stern father, and win his leave to carry hence thy poor +little sister. Till then I will strive to remain." + +Cuthbert took her hand and held it between his. + +"Petronella, I like it not--I like not to leave thee here; but it +must be as thou desirest. Only, remember one thing, my sister. I am +nigh at hand. I am in the forest, not many miles away; and if +things should become worse with thee, thou canst fly to me thither; +thou wilt find me, doubtless, in or about the pixies' dell, of +which thou hast heard me speak, for it is there that my closest +watch will be held. Thinkest thou that thou canst find the place?" + +"I trow so; thou hast told me how to do so. Nine miles across the +open forest, starting from the Trevlyn oak, with the great beech to +the right. If I am forced to fly, I will fly thither by night, and +the stars will be my guide. Brother, it is good to feel that thou +art near." + +"Ay, Petronella, I am glad indeed; for I fear me sometimes that our +father--" + +"What, Cuthbert?" + +"That he must surely be going mad. It is hard to believe he could +so persecute his children were it not so, and it is not fitting +that thou shouldest dwell beneath the roof of a madman." + +The girl shivered slightly, and her dark eyes dilated. + +"Thinkest thou so, Cuthbert? Sure I had thought it was his wrath at +finding that we loved not the faith in which he has brought us up; +that first thou and then I have learned to find comfort in the holy +Book he has denied to us, and to find that there be other holy +things than our priests have taught us, and purer truths than +methinks they know themselves. I thought that was why his anger +burned so hotly against us. That was his quarrel with thee, and +methinks he must have suspected me, else would he scarce have +dogged my steps as he did." + +"It may be so," answered Cuthbert; "but I fear me he has brooded +over his wrongs and his sins until he is well-nigh beside himself. +My sister, let not thy patience lead thee into peril. Remember what +I have said, and whither I may be found. I will take thy message to +Philip. He shall be bidden not to anger thy father further by +seeking thee. After that it is for thee to decide whether thou +canst still live in such solitude as must then be thine at the Gate +House, or whether thou wilt fly to me in the forest." + +"I will remember," answered Petronella, rising to her feet; for +even here, and at this hour, and with her brother for her +companion, she dared not linger long. "Tell my kind aunt that the +Testament she gave me is the solace and happiness of my life. I +think of her words every day, and they are written on my heart. +Though I see her not, my blessing rests upon her. I would that she +could know what peace and joy she has helped to bring into my +lonely lot." + +"I will tell her," answered Cuthbert, as he took the slight form +into his arms. "She will be rejoiced to hear it, I doubt not. I +too, my sister, have shared some of that peace myself. I have found +that the faith in which we were reared, albeit it holds much of +golden truth, has been so overlaid by artifice of man that the gold +is sadly tarnished. I have some deep love for it yet, but I love +better the purer faith that I have learned from the written Word of +God, and have heard from the lips of godly men of the Established +Church of the land. I have seen and heard much in yon great city, +and methinks that all creeds have much that is true--much that is +the same; but it seems the nature of man to fight and wrangle over +the differences, instead of rejoicing in the unity of a common +faith; wherefore there be misery and strife and jealousy abounding, +and the adversaries may well blaspheme. But I came not to talk such +matters with thee, sweet sister; they baffle the wisdom of the +wisest. Keep fast hold of the peace thou hast found, and let no man +take it from thee. I would I lived not in the midst of such weary +war of words. There be times when the heart sickens at it, and one +is fain to lay all aside sooner than have to own allegiance to any +one party, when one sees the bad as well as the good of all." + +Petronella's eyes were wide with astonishment and perplexity. She +felt as though she had a very Solon for a brother when Cuthbert +talked after this serious fashion. But she too had heard from the +Trevlyns of the Chase somewhat of the burning questions of the day, +and she was not wholly uninstructed in the matter. + +"That is one boon granted to us weak women," she said, with a +shadowy little smile. "We are not called upon to take part in the +world's battlefield. We may think our own thoughts, and go our +quiet way in the main unheeded and unmolested. But I am glad that +thou dost see as I do, my brother. It is sweet to find accord in +those we love. And now I must be gone; I dare not linger longer. +Heaven bless and keep thee ever! I shall carry my daily load more +lightly for this happy hour spent together." + +Cuthbert kissed her many times before he let her go, reminded her +again of the place where he himself might be found, and then walked +slowly with her towards the old Gate House, only letting her go +when she desired it, and watching her glide towards the little door +with a sense of sinking at heart which he could hardly explain. + +As for Petronella, she stole within the door, which she bolted +behind her, as she had found it, and felt her way up the narrow +winding stairs that led to the ground floor of the house. The +postern door was below that level, and had a little stair of its +own leading to the house, from which it was again shut off by +another door at the top. When Petronella had stolen out to meet +Cuthbert, she had left this door open, so as to avoid all needless +noise; but when she reached the head of the stairs she found it +closed, and her heart gave a sudden throb of dismay as she stood +quite still listening and wondering. + +Surely she had left it open? her memory had not deceived her! No; +she remembered debating the matter with herself and deciding to do +so. Could it have shut by itself afterwards? She could scarcely +believe it. It was a heavy oaken door, that moved ponderously on +its hinges; and the night was calm and breathless. No current of +air could have blown upon it. Had some person from above come down +and shut it after her? and if so, who could that person be? and had +he suspected that she had slipped out into the night, and for what +purpose? + +With a wildly-beating heart and a frame that felt ready to sink +into the ground with fear, Petronella tried the latch of the door, +and found it yield to her hand. She pressed it open and then stood +suddenly still, a gasp of terror and dismay escaping her; for +there, in the middle of the hall, the moonlight falling full upon +his tall rugged figure, stood her father, waiting with folded arms +for his truant daughter, a look upon his stern face that she +shivered to behold. + +"So, girl!" he exclaimed, making one stride forward and catching +the frail wrist in a vice-like grasp which almost extorted a cry of +pain--"so, my daughter, thou hast come in from this midnight tryst +with thy lover! And what dost thou think is the reward a father +bestows upon a daughter who leaves his house at this dead hour of +the night to meet the man he has bidden her eschew for ever?" + +Petronella's agitation was so great that she was well-nigh +swooning. Her nerves had been on the strain for some time. The +excitement of seeing Cuthbert again, of hearing his story and +telling her own, had been considerable. And now to be confronted by +a furious father, and accused of having broken her solemn pledge, +and of having met her lover at an hour of the night when no +virtuous maiden would dream of such a tryst, was more than she +could bear. Slipping to her knees, she laid her hand upon her +father's robe, and clutching hold of it, as if for support, she +gasped out the one word: + +"Pardon! pardon!" + +"Thou mayest well sue for pardon, false jade; but to win it is +another matter. Say, vile girl, whom I blush to call my +daughter--say how oft hast thou thus gone forth to meet thy lover?" + +"Father--father, revile me not thus!" cried the girl, beside +herself with agitation, fearful of betraying Cuthbert's near +presence to the Gate House, lest the angry man should contrive to +do him some injury or gain some hold upon him, yet terrified at the +accusations levelled at her own head, which seemed to bear some +show of reason. "Father, have pity; drive me not to despair, as +thou didst drive my brother. I am so lonely and so miserable. Pity +me! pardon me!" + +"Answer my question, base girl. How oft hast thou done this deed +before tonight?" + +"Never before, my father, never before! Ah, do not be too hard upon +me! I have done no wrong--I swear it!" + +"Keep thy false oaths for thy false lover!" cried the angry man; "I +will have none of them. Thou hast passed me thy word once, and I +believed thee, and thou hast played me false. I will never believe +thee again--never, never! Thou hast made thy bed, and thou shalt +lie upon it." + +And with that the angry man flung the kneeling girl from him with +such violence that she fell against the wall, and striking her head +sharply, sank stunned and unconscious at his feet. + +"Serve her right well, the false minx, the evil jade!" spoke the +heartless father, as he strode back to his own room without so much +as going across to the girl to know if she were severely hurt. "She +will be safe enow for this night. She will not seek to go forth +again. She shall smart for this bare-faced defiance. I will not be +set at naught by both of my children. I will not--I will not!" + +When Petronella awoke from what seemed to her a long dream, she +found herself in her own bed, tended by the deaf-and-dumb servant, +who was sitting beside her and watching her with wistful glances. A +glad smile lighted up the woman's face as Petronella made a sign +that showed she recognized her; but no speech was possible between +them, and the girl was too weary to care to ask questions by means +of the series of signals long since established between them. She +turned her eyes from the light, and fell asleep again like a tired +child. + +For several days her life was more like one long sleep than +anything else. It was some while before she remembered any of the +events immediately preceding this mysterious attack of illness; and +when she did remember, the events of that night seemed to stand out +in fearful colours. + +Yet there was one thought of comfort: Cuthbert was not far away. +Since her father had openly accused her of vileness, deceit, and +treachery; since he had struck her down so cruelly, and had not +even come to see her in her helplessness and weakness, must not +Cuthbert's surmise be the true one--must he not surely be mad? She +could see by the old woman's cowering looks if the door moved on +its hinges, how much she feared the terrible master; and when +Petronella was sufficiently recovered to be able to enter into the +kind of conversation by means of signals which in some sort +resembled the finger talking of more modern times, she learned that +indeed her father was in a more black and terrible mood than ever +before, and that old Martha herself went in fear of her life. + +Bit by bit the old woman made the girl understand what had +happened. Shortly after the day upon which she had found her young +mistress lying cold and insensible on the stone floor of the hall, +Philip Trevlyn had come to the Gate House, and had demanded an +interview with the owner. Right well did both the women know the +nature of that errand, though none had been present but the young +lover and the enraged father. There could be no manner of doubt but +that, incited to it by Cuthbert's tale, he had come to make a +definite offer of marriage, and doubtless had tried to bribe the +avaricious old man by some tempting offer of gold or land. But +whatever had been the terms in which the proposal was couched, +anger had proved a stronger passion with Nicholas than greed. +Philip had been driven from the house with a fury that threatened +actual violence, and for hours afterwards Nicholas had raged up and +down the house like a wild beast in a cage. He had once gone up to +his daughter's room with a face so full of fury that the old woman +had feared he meant to fall upon her then and there; but even he +had been calmed by a glance at the still, unconscious face upon the +pillow, so white and bloodless and death-like; and the man had gone +down with a quieter footfall than he had mounted, but had been +brooding in sullen fury ever since, so that the old servant had +feared to approach him even to bring him his needful food. She had +spent almost all her time up with her young mistress, afraid to +leave her by night or day lest some mischance should befall her. + +All this the girl gradually understood as she became strong enough +to take in the silent talk of the old woman. She knew that she must +have lain some days in this state of unconsciousness, for the trees +were greener than they had been when she had seen them last, and +the sunlight was fast gaining its golden summer-like glow. There +was something exhilarating in the beauty and richness of reviving +nature, and even Petronella's wan cheek kindled into a flush of +pleasure as she looked forth once again upon the fair world around +her dismal home. + +Home? no, that was no longer the word for it. Slowly but surely the +knowledge had come to her that Cuthbert had been right, and that +this house could no longer be a home to her. Right well did she +credit now, what had never entered her mind before, that her father +had brooded and brooded until his very mind had become unhinged. He +was not master of his words when he spoke to her as he had done +upon that terrible night; he was not master of his actions when he +had flung her away and left her lying unconscious on the stone +floor. There was even some slight comfort in this thought, though +it settled for ever the doubt in her mind. She must leave the Gate +House so soon as she was strong enough to walk, and she must find +her brother in the forest, and place herself beneath his care. + +The old servant approved the plan. She herself could find a refuge +at Trevlyn Chase; but that house would be no shelter for her young +mistress. Her father's authority would be enough to carry her back +into captivity; and what her fate would be, were she to have +escaped him once and be again brought back, was a thought to +shudder at. + +"I must go back to Cuthbert," she said to herself, as she looked +over the fair landscape, and thought longingly of the cool, dim +woods, and the free life of the forest. Her own home was nothing +now but a prison house. She knew that if she presented herself +before her father sound and whole, she would at once be placed +under some close restraint that would effectually hinder her from +carrying out her plan. He would sooner kill her, as she verily +believed, than permit her such liberty as might enable her to meet +by accident or design any member of the household from the Chase. +If she were to succeed in her escape, the attempt must be made +whilst her father still believed her too feeble to stir from her +bed; after that she would be too closely watched for it to be +possible. + +The old woman entered into this scheme with alacrity and zeal. +Petronella kept to her bed; and when Nicholas Trevlyn demanded by +signs how it fared with his daughter, he was answered by solemn +shakings of the head. If he mounted the stairs to see with his own +eyes how she was, he saw her lying upon the bed with closed eyes +and wan face, and would smile with an evil smile and mutter that +she was safe enough now--safe enough now. + +Yet each day hope and the good food the shrewd old woman contrived +to provide for her did its work upon Petronella's frail body, and +she grew better every hour. Indeed, after some while she felt +stronger than she had done for many weeks before her illness; and +in due time even the fond old woman began to see that there was no +need to postpone longer the scheme of escape. + +It was a simple little scheme, yet one which promised success if +carefully carried out. Nicholas Trevlyn was accustomed to take +night by night a posset of mead, brewed in some particular way by +Martha. She was, upon the night planned as the one for the escape +of Petronella, to add to this posset some drops of a concoction +prepared by herself from herbs, which would infallibly produce +sound and deep sleep within two hours. The master of the house +asleep, all would be simple. The two women would sally forth by the +postern door, and make for the forest. With the first light of the +dawn, Martha would seek the shelter of Trevlyn Chase, whilst +Petronella sought her brother in the pixies' dell. Nicholas Trevlyn +would awake the next morning to find himself alone in the old Gate +House that he had made intolerable for any other inmate. + + + +Chapter 16: The Pixies' Dell. + + +After leaving Petronella close to her home, and watching the slight +figure vanish within the postern door, Cuthbert turned his own +steps towards the Chase, resolved to see Philip and tell him what +had passed between him and his sister before returning to the +forest dell where he had resolved to keep his watch. + +He would not make any disturbance at the house at this dead hour of +the night; but as he was familiar with the place, he quickly found +his way to a small pavilion in the garden, the door of which was +not locked at night, and stretching himself upon a wooden settle +which stood there, he quickly fell asleep, and slept soundly and +well until awakened by the sound of a startled exclamation. + +Springing to his feet, bewildered for a moment, and unable to +remember where he was, he found himself confronted by the eager, +startled face and big lustrous eyes of his cousin Kate. + +"Cuthbert! thou here!" she exclaimed in amaze. "Thou surely hast +not brought me ill news of my--of Culverhouse!" and a deep flush +overspread her face as she spoke. + +Cuthbert hastened to reassure her. He explained that he had not +seen Culverhouse since they parted in the forest, and that his own +errand was of a private nature, and concerned himself and his +sister. + +"Ah, poor Petronella! methinks a hard lot is hers, Cuthbert. My +brother does what he may; yet that is but little, and of late he +has not been able so much as to get sight of her. Yet I see not +what thou canst do for her. Thy father is even more incensed +against thee than against us!" + +"I came but to see with mine own eyes how she fared, and to breathe +a word of hope in her ear. Kate, sweet coz, let me breathe that +same word in thine; for thou wast the one to give me hope and +confidence when all besides looked on me as a wild dreamer. +Methinks I am on the track of the lost treasure. Methinks with +patience and care I shall find it yet." + +Kate's eyes kindled and glowed. + +"Nay, now, that is good hearing! Said I not ever that the old saws +spake sooth? And is not the luck to return to the house of Wyvern +through its daughters' sons? Cuthbert, tell me more--tell me all! +how is it thou hast succeeded where all besides have failed?" + +"I cannot lay claim to success as yet," answered Cuthbert, smiling. +"I have not said the treasure is mine, only that I trow I know +where soon I may lay hands upon it. Sweet Kate, when all that gold +is brought back to the halls of Trevlyn Chase whence it was taken, +sure thy dowry will be fair enough to win Lord Andover's smiles. +Sure thou wilt not then be afraid to own--" + +But Kate laid her soft hand upon his lips and glanced round with +startled eyes. Courageous as she was to carry out a bold +resolution, she was not free from nervous timidity, too. + +"Speak not the words, good Cuthbert, neither here nor yet within +the walls of the Chase. I have not dared to breathe to them at home +the thing I have done. Heaven pardon me if it were a sin; but I may +not wish it undone. It is so sweet to feel myself his; and if it be +as thou sayest, we may not have long to wait ere he may claim me +before the world. But if thou findest the treasure thyself, will it +not be all thine?" + +"I trow not, and I trust thou hast no such evil thoughts of me, +fair cousin, as to think that I would keep all, when but a portion +was my father's share, and that will scarce be mine whilst he +lives. I do but hope to restore it to those to whom it rightfully +belongs. I trow there will be enough to make all glad and happy, +and I doubt not that something of good hap may come to me thereby. +But to lay claim to all--why, that would be a scurvy thought, +unworthy a man of honour." + +Kate's bright face was full of eager sympathy and approval. + +"I like thee, Cuthbert," she cried; "I like thy honest thoughts and +words. Thou art in sooth a very proper youth. Thou art worthy of +thy Wyvern blood, which I hold to be purer than that of Trevlyn, +which has times and again been stained by acts of malice, greed, +and violence. But see, the sun is rising in the sky! We must back +to the house for the morning meal. And, Cuthbert, good Cuthbert, +thou wilt keep my secret? Thou wilt not tell of our meeting on May +Day in the forest?" + +"Never a word an thou biddest me not," answered Cuthbert, with a +smile. "So that is to be a secret, Lady Culverhouse?" + +She recoiled with a little start, her eyes dancing, her cheeks +aglow. + +"O Cuthbert, I had not thought that my name was changed. Lady +Culverhouse! What a pleasant sound it has! But oh, not a word at +home! I dare not tell them aught till Culverhouse be by my side. I +misdoubt me that I did right to let him persuade me thus; and yet I +could not say him nay, and I longed to hear the words spoken that +should bind us to each other. But I dare not tell my father! I trow +both he and my mother would chide full sternly. In truth, I fear me +it were scarce a maidenly act. But, O Cuthbert, love is so +strong--so hard a task master. Where he drives, it seems that one +needs must go;" and she looked up at him with such arch appeal that +he felt those glances would go far to soften the sternest parental +heart. + +"In truth, I believe thee, fair coz, and I will keep thy secret +faithfully. It is safe with me; and I trust that all will end +happily when the lost treasure shall return to the house of +Trevlyn." + +And talking eagerly upon this theme, which was also to be kept +secret from all the world besides, the cousins walked towards the +house. Cuthbert received a warm and hearty greeting from all his +kinsfolks there, who were pleased that he should have kept his +promise and have come to see them with the long days of early +summer. + +Sir Richard and his wife were both pleased with the fashion in +which the youth had developed; his intelligence and information +were now plainly apparent, and had taken a fresh impetus from the +new surroundings in which he had found himself. He could talk with +discrimination and insight on all the leading topics of the day, +had plainly lost much of his old rusticity of thought and speech, +and had become an interesting and self-possessed youth. + +But his errand was really to Philip, and to him he spoke in private +of his sister's story, and how she had promised to obey her father +and to see him no more. Cuthbert could assure the disappointed +lover that this was no indication of coldness on Petronella's part, +but that it was done from a sense of filial duty, combined with a +fear of some violence on her father's part towards her lover should +he be provoked too far. Cuthbert was as certain as Philip could +wish that Petronella's heart was entirely his. He had read the +girl's secret in the tones of her voice and in the shy glances of +her soft eyes. He told Philip, too, of the gold that was awaiting +the girl in her uncle's keeping, and added that he was certain sure +that Martin Holt would be glad enough to give it over to his niece +if she had a sturdy husband of the Reformed faith to take care of +her and it. His only fear was of its falling into the hands of the +Papists, which thing would have been abhorrent to the grand sire +whose legacy the money was. That fear laid to rest, he would be +glad to be rid of the charge, and to give over the gold to its +rightful owner. + +Philip's heart was with Petronella, and he had not concerned +himself as yet with any thoughts as to her poverty and his own +somewhat impecunious position as his father's heir, but with three +sisters to be provided for out of the revenues of the impoverished +estate. He was man of the world enough to know that this dowry +would do much to smooth his path when the time should come for +making known his case to his parents, but for the moment his +thoughts were all with the lonely girl shut up so relentlessly by +her father. + +"I will see Nicholas Trevlyn," he said, with stern decision. +"Things have gone too far not to go further. I will see him, and +make formal application for his daughter's hand. He can but refuse +me, and I shall tell him plainly that I decline to give her up at +any word of his. I can wait with patience till she is of age to +judge for herself; but she is the woman of my choice, and her alone +will I wed if she will have me." + +Cuthbert's face was grave and troubled. + +"And waiting for that, she may well be done to death within those +walls, as I should have been had I not fled. I am in trouble of +heart anent my sister. I pray she may find her way to me yet in the +free forest!" + +Philip started and looked surprised. + +"Is there likelihood of that?" + +"I know not. I bid her come if our father should grow more harsh, +and told her where I likeliest might be found. I purpose to dwell +for a while myself in the forest, albeit thou wouldst mock me if +thou knewest the wherefore." + +"To search for the lost treasure, I doubt not," said Philip with a +smile, remembering the talk of the autumn previous. "Marry thou +hast my best wishes for a happy quest. But what couldst thou do +with a tender maid out in the woods with thee?" + +"I scarce know that myself; but anything would be better than life +with a madman--as I trow our father is like to become an he change +not his habit of life. Belike I would take her to mine uncle on the +bridge; yet perchance he would not thank me for adding to his +charges. + +"If we had other relatives--" + +"Why, and so ye have, even as we have. Hast never heard of my Lady +Humbert and Mistress Dowsabel Wyvern? They must be kinsfolk of +thine as well as of ours, and they dwell not very far distant from +here, albeit I myself have never visited them." + +Cuthbert raised his head and looked eagerly at Philip. + +"I would know more of that," he said. + +"It is not much I can tell thee. This Lady Humbert is a widow, and +is sister to that Gertrude Wyvern who was my grandam and thy aunt. +Mistress Dowsabel is her younger sister; and albeit they are both +now of a good old age, they dwell together, with only servants for +company, in a house thou wouldst have passed on the road to London +hadst thou not taken the lonelier way across the heath. My father +and mother go each year to see after their welfare, and a letter +comes now and again from them with greetings or questions. We of +the younger generation have never been to visit them, since they +are too old to wish for the presence of the young, and love not to +see the changeless current of their lives interrupted. I remember +that of old, when we were in disgrace for some prank, our grandam +would shake her head at us and vow we should be sent to her sister +Dowsabel for chastisement, and stay with her till we learned better +manners. So we have grown up in the fancy that these kinswomen be +something stern and redoubtable ladies. Nevertheless, if thou wast +to put thy sister beneath their care, I trow they would receive her +with kindness and treat her well, and she would scarce regret the +Gate House were the captivity never so hard. Nor would Nicholas +Trevlyn be like to seek her there, though at the Chase he would +find her at once, were we to strive to aid her flight as we aided +thine." + +Cuthbert saw this plainly, and asked a few more eager questions +about these ladies and where they might be found. He hardly knew +whether or not he expected Petronella to flee away to him, but at +least it would do no harm to be prepared in case she did so. + +Philip told him all he knew, which was not much. The house would be +easily found, as it stood upon the highroad just a mile from a +large village, its gates opening straight upon the road, although +at the back were gardens and pleasaunces and a clear trout stream. +It seemed to Cuthbert as he listened that such a place as this +might prove a safe haven of refuge for his sister should one be +needed, and he resolved that if she once came to him he would +persuade her to place herself beneath the protection of these +ladies. + +He would well have liked to see her again, to have whispered +something of this new plan into her ears. But though he lingered +much about the house during the two short weeks he spent at the +Chase, he saw no glimpse of his sister, and he did not dare to +summon her out to meet him at night, lest haply the suspicions of +the grim old tyrant should be aroused. + +Leaving Philip fully determined to see Nicholas Trevlyn ere long, +to lay before him his formal proposal for Petronella's hand, and +confident that all at the Chase would befriend her as far as it was +possible; Cuthbert, afraid to linger longer in the immediate +vicinity of the Gate House, took his departure for the forest, +resolved to give himself over heart and soul to the search after +the missing treasure, and not to give it up until every nook and +corner of the pixies' dell had been subjected to the closest +scrutiny. + +It was easy to obtain from Philip all such tools as would be +needful for the task of excavation. Although the young man himself +had small hopes of Cuthbert's success, he was interested in spite +of himself in the proposed plan, and would have been more so had he +known how much had been already discovered. But Cuthbert kept much +of that to himself, not willing that tattling tongues should spread +the rumour. Only to real believers in the hidden treasure did he +care to speak of the gipsy's strange words and the visit to the +wise woman of Budge Row. Philip, he thought, would smile, and +perhaps he would speak of the matter to his father, who in turn +might name it to some one else, and so it might come round, through +the gipsy spies and watchers, to the ears of Long Robin himself. +That, as Cuthbert well knew, would be well-nigh destruction to all +his cherished hopes; yet one who believed not would smile at his +fears, and could scarce be expected to observe the needful caution. + +As Cuthbert started for his nine miles' tramp in the cool of the +evening, with his tools slung across his shoulders, he was glad to +think that he had resisted the temptation to speak openly of this +matter to any but Petronella and Kate. With them he well knew the +secret was safe, for they entertained for Long Robin just the same +suspicious fear as he did himself, and their lips were sealed even +as his own. + +The walk was nothing for his strong young limbs; but as he +approached the lonely dell, he instinctively slackened his speed, +and proceeded with greater caution. The thick growth of the trees +made the place dark in spite of the moon, which hung low in the sky +and shone between the trees in long silvery beams; and the tangled +path which once had led to the forest well had been long overgrown +with a mass of bramble and underwood, through which it was hard to +force a way. + +But Cuthbert cautiously proceeded, listening intently for any +sounds of life to indicate the presence of Long Robin, the only +being likely to be near at such an hour; but all appeared to be +intensely still, and presently he commenced his cautious descent +into the dell itself, and at last stood beside the old stone wall +that guarded the mouth of the well. + +Cuthbert had heard something of that well since he had been at his +uncle's house. Some of the old servants at the Chase knew the +forest well, and he had been told the story of the pixies' dell: +how it had once been a noted spot in the forest, and how travellers +turned aside to drink the waters, which were not only fresh and +clear and cold, even on the most sultry summer's day, but were +reported to possess healing properties, especially if taken at +certain hours of the night and in certain phases of the moon. Long +ago there had been a monastery near the well, and the monks had +dispensed the waters to the applicants who came. But the monastery +had fallen into ruins and had disappeared, and after that the +pixies were given the credit of the healing waters. People came to +drink them, though less frequently than before; and as the place +grew more lonely and deserted, rumours began to float about that +the pixies were inimical to man, and that the waters no longer +possessed their old power. Later on still, a more terrible thing +was discovered: it was said that it was death to approach that dell +and drink the waters. Men's bones had been found in great numbers +close about that spot, and it was plain that they must belong to +the unhappy wights who, disregarding cautions, had ventured to the +place, and had died before they could get away from thence. + +After that, as may well be guessed, no sick folks had cared to +trouble the dell again. Travellers made a wide circuit to avoid it, +and it was held to be the place of most evil repute in the forest. + +All this story was well understood by Cuthbert, who felt no fear of +the spot, only a little natural awe as he recollected the deed that +had once been done there. The moon was going down as he looked +about him; the dark hour before morning was about to fall upon the +world. He looked about for a resting place in which to conceal +himself till he could commence his search, and found the place he +desired in a hollow tree, just beyond the circle of smooth sward +that surrounded the well itself. + +Plainly this tree had been used before for a like purpose. The +leaves had been carefully raked together within, and were covered +by a warm rug, in which Cuthbert was not sorry to wrap himself, for +the night air was sharp and chilly though the days were hot. + +"Long Robin's rug, or I greatly mistake me," he said with a smile. +"I trow he would be sore amazed were he to come and find me here. +Howbeit he would but take me for a passing wayfarer, since he knows +not my face, and I misdoubt me if he come tonight. He fears too +much Joanna's watchful eyes and Miriam's jealous ones. I will sleep +in peace till daylight dawns, and then I will begin my search." + +Sleep came quickly to the lad's eyes, but it was only light, for +with the first blush of dawn he awoke and prepared to commence his +work. + +His tools he had hidden away beneath the heap of leaves which had +formed his bed, and he did not disturb them for the time being, but +walked forth and examined the dell for himself before making any +excavation. + +First his attention was given to the patch of greensward around the +well; but this was so smooth and even that it seemed as if it had +not been disturbed for ages. Such soft emerald turf, as Cuthbert +well knew, was the growth of centuries, and there was no sort of +trace or seam to indicate the handiwork of man. + +Round and round the open space he paced, his eyes fixed upon the +ground beneath his feet, his quick glance shifting from spot to +spot, as he strove for some indication, however faint, of the +existence of some hidden hoard. + +"Yet it is certain to be well hid. It were strange if I did light +upon it in the first hour," he said to himself at length, covering +his disappointment with a smile. "I will break my fast with the +good fare given me by my fair cousin Kate, and will taste the +waters of the magic well. I trow I shall take no harm from them. +Long Robin will scarce have poisoned the spring from which he +himself must ofttimes drink." + +Whilst he partook of his simple meal, he looked about him with keen +and eager glances, wondering where he should next search, and +striving to see traces of footsteps in the sandy sides of the dell, +or breaks in the tangled growth of underwood that would indicate +some track used by Robin. Cuthbert shrewdly suspected that he would +not be able to resist the temptation of going frequently to the +spot where the buried treasure lay, to see if the ground remained +undisturbed, and he thought that the surest way of discovering this +spot was to seek for traces likely to be left by him; or, failing +these, to watch patiently from some obscure spot till the gipsy +came again to the dell, when it was probable he might betray the +secret by his own movements. + +"If I dig and delve before the clue is mine, I may chance to put +him on his guard, and find nothing. No; I will be patient--I will +be very cautious. Success comes to him that can wait. Long Robin is +a foe not to be despised or trifled with; I can tell that from his +own words and Joanna's. He would take a hundred lives to save his +golden secret. He is cautious and cunning and wary. I must try to +be the same." + +All that long summer's day Cuthbert prowled up and down the dell, +searching for some trace, however slight, which should give him the +clue, and searching in vain. The only path where the undergrowth +was in any way trodden was the one by which he and Robin alike +approached the well, the old, half-obliterated track that once had +been so freely used. All around the sides of the dell, fern and +bramble, hazel and undergrowth of all kinds, grew in wild +confusion. Search as he would, Cuthbert could find nothing like a +path of any kind. Did Robin indeed trust to that tangled +undergrowth to keep his secret hid? And if so, what chance was +there of its being found unless the whole dell was dug up? + +A short while back it seemed so much to have found out this dell. +When he had been resolved to search the whole forest through, no +wonder the task had been practically impossible; but when he had +had indications of a confined locality, he had looked upon his work +as well-nigh accomplished, and had come here with a heart full of +high hopes. And now he was confronted by difficulties that appeared +almost as insurmountable as before; for he plainly saw the +hopelessness of attempting single-handed to delve the whole dell +over. Robin would return before the task was more than begun. He +would guess the import, would set a close watch, and would slay the +bold invader of his haunted dell without pity or remorse. Whilst +the only other plan, that of bringing a gang of men to work strong +enough to be a guard to themselves, was simply out of the question +for Cuthbert. He had no money himself. His uncle Martin would +certainly not give him the gold in the box for any such +hare-brained scheme; whilst to appeal to Sir Richard, with nothing +to back his statements but what would be looked upon as old wives' +fables and gipsy delusions, would only be to provoke ridicule and +scorn. The Trevlyns had long given up the treasure as lost beyond +recall. They had no sort of hope of recovering it, and the present +owner of the Chase and his lady were in particular very greatly +averse to any sort of dealings with occult magic and gipsy lore. + +Cuthbert had a shrewd notion that there was little enough of magic +in any of the words and dark sayings he had heard. He had been let +just a very little behind the scenes, and had his own opinions on +the subject. His faith in spirits and familiars had been greatly +shaken; but he knew that his story would sound wild and improbable, +and he was by no means sure that even Joanna would consent to +appear before Sir Richard and repeat it all to him. She was anxious +to do her part towards making restitution; but, having put the clue +in Cuthbert's hands, would very likely consider that part done, and +decline to be questioned further by any one. + +"What I do I must do alone," said Cuthbert to himself, with a sigh, +at the close of that day of toil and discouragement. "Well, I +should have been mightily surprised had I lighted on the treasure +at the close of the first day. I ought not to be thus discouraged, +and yet I am. Still there is one more thing to do. If I can but +watch Long Robin, surely I shall learn somewhat from him. I vow +that that is better far than prowling aimlessly about the dell. Let +me spend my time and strength in building for myself some nook high +up in one of yon trees, from which vantage ground I may spy upon +his doings. If I can but get me up high enough, I can watch him +from spot to spot. Sure I should be stupider than a daylight owl an +I could not learn somewhat from his looks and actions on his next +visit. And it will be safer for me to have mine own perch. I will +venture to sleep one more night in the tree; but after that I will +sleep by day and watch by night, for it is plain that he is a night +bird in his visits here." + +The next day Cuthbert set to work with a better heart. It was not +difficult to find the sort of nook he wanted high up in the +branches of a great sycamore. The oaks were hardly thick enough yet +to conceal him, and the foliage of the elm was somewhat scanty +still, for all that the season was forward. But by good hap there +chanced to be, amongst the tall trees that fringed the round of +sward, a noble sycamore in full leaf and very thick; and by +skillful contrivance, and with the help of his tools, Cuthbert +quickly built himself up there a small but secure and commodious +platform, upon which he could perch himself at ease and watch the +whole of the dell. Even if he fell asleep, he was in no danger of +falling; and if he could obtain the needful supplies of food, he +could keep watch there unseen for an indefinite time. He had plenty +of provision so far, for he had been supplied with dry and salted +provisions enough to last a week. These he took up to his nest, and +also his tools, which he resolved to keep beside him for safety; +and having spent the best part of the day in this labour of +ingenuity and patience, and having then quenched his thirst by long +draughts of clear cold water, he ascended to his perch with an +armful of dried bracken--the eighth such load he had carried +up--and as he arranged his riding cloak upon the soft and fragrant +cushion thus prepared, he said to himself with a smile that he +could afford to be patient now, for he had a commodious castle all +his own, and could await with patience the advance of the foe. + +His patience was not, however, destined to be very sorely taxed. He +had fallen into a light sleep, and was dreaming of a hand-to-hand +struggle with Long Robin, when some unwonted sound smote upon his +ears, and he started up all alert on the instant. + +He knew that sound; he had heard it before. It was the wild, +unearthly noise made by Robin to increase the fear of this dell in +the hearts of any chance wayfarers who might haply be within +hearing. In a few more seconds Cuthbert, peering down from his +leafy canopy, saw the tall form thrusting itself through the +underwood; and Robin, with a loud laugh, threw himself upon the low +wall of the pixies' well. + +He was talking and muttering to himself, but Cuthbert could not +catch the words. He seemed in a merry mood, for he laughed aloud +once or twice, and drank of the well and laughed again. Once +Cuthbert thought he caught the words "treasure" and "safe," but of +that he could not be certain; and it was not easy to see how Robin +could know this, seeing he had not stirred three paces from the +well. + +And then a sudden flash came into Cuthbert's soul like one of +inspiration. Suppose the treasure was in the well itself? What more +likely? Would not that be the safest place of all? For the precious +metals would not hurt through contact with the water; and had he +not heard that the waters of this well possessed peculiar +properties for preserving anything thrown into them? + +Cuthbert's heart beat so fast that he almost feared Robin would +hear his deep breathing; but the man was looking down into the +well, laughing to himself in the peculiarly malevolent fashion that +Cuthbert had heard before. He never moved from the side of the well +for the long hour he remained; and Cuthbert, waiting in feverish +impatience till he should be gone, felt as though he had never +known an hour so long. + +But it ended at last. The tall figure reared itself upright, and he +heard the voice distinctly now. + +"I must be going--I must be going. Miriam will be asking questions. +That hag is the plague of my life. All safe--all safe. And now I +will depart." + +The tall figure put on its stooping gait, which appeared to be +second nature, and went slouching away through the underwood along +the narrow track. Cuthbert waited till there had been a long spell +of perfect silence, and then he glided with cat-like caution to the +ground. + +"I may not be able to see anything by this light, not even the +glint of gold beneath the clear waters. But he seemed to see. He +looked down and muttered, 'Safe--safe!' Beshrew me but I trow I +have the secret now! The pixies' well--the hidden secret it guards +so well. All is true! all is true! Why did I not think of it +before?" + +Creeping to the side of the well, Cuthbert peered over the edge and +gazed fixedly into the dark water. What was it he saw? Was that +moonlight shining and glinting there; or was it--could it be--Hold, +what is this? + +With a stifled cry Cuthbert strove to spring to his feet; but the +attempt was vain. He was encircled in the bear-like grip of a pair +of arms that were strong as bands of iron around him. He felt as +though all the breath were being pressed out of him, and in his ear +there rang a hideous laugh, the sound of which he knew but too +well. + +"Fool!" cried a hoarse voice, hissing the words in his ears--"fool +of a mad boy to trust a treacherous gipsy tale! So thou thoughtest +to outwit Long Robin! Thou thoughtest to win back the lost treasure +to the house of Trevlyn! Mad boy--fool of a hardy knave! But yet +thou shalt have thy wish--thou shalt have thy will. Thou shalt see +with thine own eyes that long-lost treasure." + +There was a cruel sneer in the man's eyes, a mocking inflection in +his voice, that sent a thrill of cold horror through Cuthbert's +veins. He was absolutely powerless in that merciless clasp. He felt +the strength leaving his limbs and his head turning giddy. He only +just knew it when he was laid upon the grass, his captor's knee +firmly planted on his chest; and then he felt his hands and feet +being tightly and securely bound, whilst the stars in the sky +seemed to reel and dance before his eyes, and he said to himself, +without realizing the import of his own words: + +"He is going to kill me; he is going to kill me." + +"Yes, I am going to kill thee, mad boy," said Long Robin coolly, as +though he had heard the spoken word. "I am going to kill thee, as I +kill all those who dare to thwart my will or cross my path. I shall +kill thee; but thou shalt first have the desire of thine eyes and +of thine heart. Thou shalt see and thou shalt touch the long-lost +treasure! Thou shalt learn the secret ere thou diest, and thy ghost +can impart it to thy friends." + +With a brutal and almost diabolical laugh, Long Robin rose to his +feet and leaned over the well. He seemed to be raising from it some +heavy weight, and Cuthbert heard a heavy thud fall upon the grass. + +"Now, thou shalt go to join the lost treasure. The Trevlyns when +they find it will find their lost kinsman, too! Ha, ha! they are +welcome to that find; they are welcome to it!" and the man stooped +to lift the bound and helpless Cuthbert in his strong arms. + +Cuthbert closed his eyes. He knew well what was coming. A fall, a +sullen splash, one brief ineffectual struggle, and then black +darkness. He tried to breathe a prayer, but could form no words. He +thought of Cherry, of Petronella, and sharp stabs of pain seemed to +run through him. One minute more and all would be over. But what an +endless minute that was, whilst he felt the grip upon his body +growing firmer as the giant prepared to lift him. + +What was that? + +"Crack!"--a sudden flash from the dark underwood, and with a loud +cry his captor dropped him, and staggered backwards, to fall a few +paces farther on, where he lay rigid and motionless. Then from the +thicket there came the sound of a quick sharp cry, and a slim +figure rushed forward with the gasping question: + +"Is he dead? Oh, have I killed him?" + +And Cuthbert, raising his head, and scarce believing aught of this +could be anything but a fevered dream, uttered the one word: + +"Petronella!" + + + +Chapter 17: Brother And Sister. + + +"Petronella! thou here!" + +"Brother--brother mine--art thou hurt?" + +"Never a whit, though I looked to be a dead man ere this. Sister, +take my knife and cut my bonds; yon man may rise again, and I must +be free to defend myself and thee." + +Petronella cast a scared and fearful glance at the long dark figure +lying face downwards upon the sward, showing signs of life only by +a spasmodic twitching of the limbs; and then drawing Cuthbert's +long hunting knife from his belt, she cut the cords that bound his +hands and feet, and in another moment he sprang up and shook +himself, keeping a wary eye all the while upon the prostrate foe. +But he did not go to his side at once; he was too keenly aroused +and interested by this sudden appearance of his sister. + +"Petronella! I can scarce credit my senses. How comest thou here, +and at such an hour?" + +"I am doing as thou biddest me," she answered in a low voice: "I am +flying from our home, even as thou wast forced to fly. I verily +believe that thou art right, and that our father is well-nigh mad. +I dared not remain. Even old Martha feared to linger longer under +that roof. She has found safe refuge, I trust, at Trevlyn Chase. +Thou didst go there, my brother, after parting from me?" + +"Ay, verily I did, and stayed there a matter of some two weeks, +ever hoping to see thy face again, and to hear how it fared with +thee. But thou camest not." + +"I could not," answered the girl, in the same low tone; "I was in +my bed, unable to move hand or foot, unable to know night from day. +Cuthbert, the night I went forth to thee in the chantry our father +missed me from the house. He thought I had gone to meet Philip in +the wood at night. He reviled me cruelly, and I feared to tell him +it was thou I had gone to see. Then, I know not how, but I fear he +struck me. A great blackness came before mine eyes; and when I +opened them again a week or more had passed, and I knew, as I began +to understand what had chanced, that I could no longer remain +beneath the roof of the Gate House." + +Cuthbert ground his teeth in sudden fury. + +"Struck thee, my gentle sister! Nay, I can scarce credit it; and +were he any other than my father--" + +"But he is our father," answered the girl gently. "And truly +methinks, Cuthbert, that his lonely brooding has something unhinged +his mind. Let us think of him only with pity." + +Cuthbert put his arm about her tenderly. + +"Tell me the rest of thy story, sister. How camest thou here so +opportunely, to play the part of Amazon and save thy brother's +life?" + +She shivered a little, as if afraid even to think what she had +done, but her words were quietly and clearly spoken. + +"That is soon told. Old Martha nursed me back to health again, and +our stern father hindered her not in her tendance of me. And this +very night we made our plans, and she put a concoction of herbs +into his nightly potion, which caused him to sleep too sound to +awake for any sound within or without the house. Then we softly +stole away without let or hindrance--she to go to the Chase, I to +walk across the moorland and forest as thou hadst bidden me, to +find thee here." + +"And thou didst arm thyself ere thou wentest forth?" + +She looked up with strange earnestness into his face. + +"I know not if the thought were sin, Cuthbert," she said, "but as I +slipped through the dark house ere our flight, my eyes fell upon +that pair of heavy pistols always loaded that our father keeps ever +on the mantle shelf of the hall. I thought of the lessons thou +hadst given me in old days, and knew I could pull the trigger were +I so minded, and send the bullet whizzing through the air. I had no +thought of harming any man as I put forth my hand and took one of +the weapons. I was thinking rather of myself. I had heard men speak +of perils worse than death that may beset weak and helpless women +alone in the world. I knew not if I might find thee as I hoped. I +could not but fear that some mischance might keep us sundered. I +thought of my father's cruel wrath should he discover my flight, +and pursue and overtake. It seemed to me, standing in the darkness +of the old Gate House, that it would be better to perish than to be +dragged thither again to die of misery and harsh captivity. I said +within myself, 'Sure, if it be sin, it is one that God would +pardon. It is not well for me to go forth without some weapon which +might end all, were it to be the less peril to die than to live.' +And so I took the pistol and carried it in my girdle." + +"And then?" + +"Then we went forth together, and Martha walked with me awhile. But +as I felt the clear fresh air of the night fanning my cheek, and +the dewy sweetness of the grass beneath my feet, I grew strong and +full of courage. I felt certain by what thou hadst told me that I +was on the right track. The moon and the stars shone in the sky and +guided my steps. I sent Martha away, and journeyed on alone. It was +sweet to find myself free, to see the heavens above my head, and to +hear the soft night breezes. In the clear brightness of the night I +could see far about me, and I knew that I was alone and had naught +to fear. Thanks to Martha's good nursing and the food she had +contrived for me, I was stronger than I had been for many long days +and weeks. It was happiness to use my limbs, and I was not wearied +by my journey. I entered the forest track at last, and quickly +found the path that thou hadst spoken to me of. I knew then that I +was near my journey's end, and my heart was light within me." + +"Didst thou not fear the dark wood and the many strange sounds of +the night?" + +"I feared somewhat, but chided myself for that fear. But it was +well I felt it, else might I not have crept along as I did with +such mouse-like stillness; and but for that, yon man"--with a +shuddering glance at Long Robin on the ground--"would surely have +found me." + +Cuthbert started and asked her how that was. + +"I will tell thee, brother. I was drawing very nigh this dell, and +I felt as by some instinct that it was close at hand, when I heard +the sound of footsteps coming thence, and I well-nigh ran forth +calling thee by name, for I felt assured it must be thou. But then +some impulse of fear possessed me, and I trembled in every limb, +and instead of running forth to meet him who was coming, I hid +myself within the shadows of a deep hollow tree, scarce daring to +breathe lest I should be discovered. And scarce had I done this +before a tall figure crept out along the path, and halted so close +beside me that I well-nigh screamed aloud in my terror, for I +thought for sure I was discovered. But no: he had not paused for +that, and as he stood scarce three ells from my hiding place I +heard him mutter to himself; and I knew by what thou hadst told me, +and by his tall form and long white beard, that it was Long Robin +who was so near. + +"And couldst thou hear what he said?" + +"I could hear many words, and fierce ones, too--words that made my +flesh creep, and turned me sick with fear for thee, my brother. He +muttered that he was watched and spied upon. He spoke of other +footfalls than his own in the dell, and cursed Joanna for striving +to outwit him, vowing he would slay her if once he found that she +had dared to set others to watch him. He spoke the name of Trevlyn +once or twice. It was as if he had heard somewhat of thee and of +thine errand to the Gipsy Queen--something he must surely have +heard, else could he not have spoken of the 'Trevlyn spawn,' and +what he would do if one of that 'brood' dared to come betwixt him +and his design. And then he leaned against a tree and waited, +listening with an intentness that showed a deep suspicion; and he +must have heard sounds that I could not--for my heart beat so +wildly I feared he would hear it where he stood--and he smote his +hands softly together and laughed a low laugh like that of a +demon." + +"I have heard that laugh; I know it well," whispered Cuthbert. "It +is indeed what thou callest it. Doubtless he heard my cautious +descent from the tree. What did he then?" + +"I heard his next words plainly, and they sent a thrill of cold +horror through me, for too well I divined their import. + +"'He is there!' he hissed between his teeth--'he is there! I shall +catch him red handed in the act. Good! He shall not leave the dell +alive; he shall join the seven who strove before to know too much. +Long Robin's hand has not lost its cunning, and it will strike the +more heartily when aimed against one of the false, hateful brood.' + +"And then, Cuthbert, I saw it all in a moment. I knew that thou +wert in the glen, and that he was going forward to kill thee. And +for a moment my head swam, and I well-nigh swooned with terror, and +could not even lift my voice to shout to thee and warn thee to fly +for thy life." + +"It was well thou didst not," answered Cuthbert; "for I should +scarce have heard or understood, and he would but have turned his +destroying hand against thee ere he went forward to slay me. Thou +didst do better than cry aloud, my sister." + +She shivered slightly and pressed close up to him. + +"When the mist passed from my eyes and I could see, Long Robin was +no more there, and in awful fear what might even then be happening, +I stole down as fast as my trembling limbs would carry me towards +the centre of the dell. Ere I could see aught I heard thy voice +raised in a sharp cry, Cuthbert, and then I heard fierce, cruel +words spoken, mingled with that laugh that makes the blood run +chill in the veins. I crept as fast as I could through the tangled +underwood, and then I saw before me a terrible sight. Yon man was +binding thee hand and foot with bonds that thou couldst not break, +and I knew that he would kill thee without mercy, even as he had +threatened. It was then that I remembered for the first time the +weapon I carried at my side, and as I took it in my hands I felt a +strange coldness come upon me. I trembled no longer. I felt calm +and resolute and fearless. I crept cautiously out of the brushwood, +though I kept still in the shadow of the trees, and I drew nearer +and nearer, expecting every instant to be seen. I dared not fire +till I was very close. It was long since I had discharged such a +weapon, and I knew well that thy life and mine both hung upon that +one charge. Robin rose suddenly to his feet after binding thee, and +I thought for certain I was seen. But no; he turned and leaned over +the well, and drew forth from it yon huge round slab of stone, +which he flung there on the grass as thou seest it. When his back +was thus turned I crept nearer yet. I would have fired then, but +still feared to miss. Then he bent over thee and lifted thee in his +arms. He could not see me then, he was too much engrossed in his +task. I saw well what he meant to do--to fling thee bound and +helpless into the well, where the lost treasure, methinks from his +words, must lie. + +"The rest thou knowest. Coming up close behind, I fired my pistol. +He dropped thee and fell himself, and I feared that he was dead. +Brother, it is something fearful to have killed a man, though it +was to save life. Wilt thou not go to him and see if he yet lives? +We ought to show charity even to our foes." + +Cuthbert was willing enough to do this since he had heard his +sister's story, which had not taken many minutes in the telling. He +went across to the spot where Long Robin lay, and turned him gently +over. + +Although the sight of death was by no means familiar to Cuthbert, +it took only one glance to show him that this man was dying or +dead. His face was ghastly and drawn, and his limbs were already +growing rigid and motionless. The heavy charge of the pistol had +done its work surely and fully: the bullet had passed through the +spine, and had entered the vital organs. There was little effusion +of blood, but death was delayed only a few minutes. Even as +Cuthbert looked at him, the man gave a deep groan. His eyelids +flickered a few moments, and then his jaw dropped, a quiver passed +through his frame, which then became absolutely still. + +Cuthbert shook his head. + +"He is dead!" cried Petronella, in a voice of compunction and +awe--"he is dead; and I have killed him!" + +She put her hands before her eyes and shivered. It was something of +a terror to her that she should have done this thing. She shook in +every limb. + +"I did not mean to kill him--I never thought of killing him; I only +thought of how to save thee, Cuthbert. O brother, brother, what +shall I do? Will they hang me for it?" + +"Never," cried Cuthbert, throwing his strong arm about her and +smiling at her words. "Sweet Petronella, thou hast naught to fear. +This man has long been an outlaw and a robber. He has many lives to +answer for himself, as well as innumerable acts of violence with +robbery. Even were it not so, thou couldest not be held in any wise +guilty by law either of God or man. May Heaven forgive me if I sin, +but I am right glad thy bullet did its work so well. Our enemy thus +removed from our path, the secret of the lost treasure lies with +thee and me. Petronella, I doubt it not for a moment now, that +treasure lies at the bottom of the pixies' well. My only wonder is +that none have thought of this before." + +Petronella pointed to the circular slab lying wet and sparkling in +the moonlight upon the sward beside the well. + +"Look there!" she said: "it is that that has helped to hide the +secret so long. Robin is cunning. He is deep, he is full of +artifice. He has given to the well a false bottom, of which +perchance none knows but himself. He knows how to raise it from the +well, as I saw him do; but all the world beside would hold it in +truth to be the well's bottom. Beneath yon slab the treasure lies. +Cuthbert, thou hast found the secret. Thou wilt be the one to +restore the fortunes of our house." + +"Methinks it will be more thou than I, sweet sister," answered +Cuthbert, gladly and proudly, as he leaned over the low stone wall +and gazed eagerly into the deep, dark water. "And right glad am I +that we should be together when we find the treasure trove. Canst +see aught in yon deep hole, Petronella?" + +She shook her head. + +"Nor I neither. We must wait for daylight for that, and then +perchance it will not reveal itself to our eyes. Yet it is there. I +am certain sure of it; and although it may be something difficult +to rescue even now, I doubt not that with patience and time we may +succeed. Petronella, I will tomorrow to the village nighest at +hand, whilst thou dost rest up in yon tree out of the way of all +harm, where I have prepared a place of comfort. I will purchase +there a suit of boy's clothes for thee to wear whilst thou dost +share my forest life; it will be safer for thee, and more +commodious likewise. I will also buy us victuals and a coil of +rope. Then we twain can set to work over our task, and it will be +strange indeed if we be balked in it, seeing that the hardest part +is already accomplished. The secret is ours!" + +Petronella's eyes sparkled beneath their heavy fringes. There was a +spice of adventure and romance about this that could not but be +delightful to any young spirit. + +"Thou wilt not then tell our kinsfolk at the Chase, and ask their +aid in this?" + +Cuthbert shook his head. + +"I will tell no man aught. I will ask for nothing till the treasure +is in mine own hands!" he cried, with a gesture of triumph and +pride. "They would believe naught when I spoke of the treasure +before. They might even yet laugh us to scorn were we to tell our +tale and point to the well as the place. No: we have done all alone +thus far; let us do all alone even to the end. Time presses not. We +have the summer before us. We have possession of this dell, where +no foot but that of yon dead man ever dared to tread. He thus +removed from our path, none else will spy upon us nor hinder us. We +are safer here than in any other spot in the forest. + +"Say, sister, wilt thou be my helper in this labour, be it small or +great?" + +She laid her hand trustingly in his; her dark eyes glowed. + +"Gladly, gladly will I share the labour and the toil, my brother. O +Cuthbert, it seems a happy and a fitting thing that the luck of the +house should return to the Trevlyns of the Chase through the two +poor cousins whom they befriended in their hour of need. They were +kind to us when our life was darkest; it will be sweet to think +that they will win happiness through us." + +"Ay, and Philip's bride will be no longer a portionless damsel, but +will have gold enough and to spare. Sweet sister, Philip hath +spoken to me openly of his love. He hath been ere this to ask thee +at thy father's hand." + +"Ay, and was driven forth with blows and curses." + +"Thou hast heard it? But thinkest thou he will take that for an +answer? Nay, Petronella, thou wilt one day be his bride; and I will +give thee to him with a joyful heart, for he loved thee in the days +of our poverty and distress; so that one knows his love is for thee +and thee alone, not for the fair dowry thou wilt presently bring." + +Petronella hid her happy, blushing face on her brother's shoulder, +and thus they stood awhile, till the girl drew back with a light +shiver and said: + +"Cuthbert, can it be right for us thus to stand thinking of our own +happiness, whilst he lies there so still and cold?" + +"I was just about to bid thee give me leave to bury him, whilst +thou dost rest thyself awhile. We will not grudge him that last +service; and it will be safer and better to do it here than to give +notice of his death to the gipsies and outlaws, and so bring them +down upon us in this place, provoking perchance their vengeance +upon ourselves. I have here a spade, brought to dig after the +treasure. I little thought it would first be used to dig Long +Robin's grave. But the task had better be done, and that quickly. +The man is dead as a stone. We will bury him away out of our sight +ere we do aught beside." + +Petronella assented with a slight shudder. She could not regret the +death of the giant gipsy, who himself made so light of human life, +and would have slain her brother before her eyes without a qualm. +But she shivered each time she looked at the motionless form, and +was glad when, after some hours of hard work beneath the trees, +Cuthbert succeeded in dragging the corpse away and in covering it +up from sight. Kneeling beside the rude grave, the girl breathed a +prayer for the soul of the departed man, and repeated many an ave +and paternoster, in the hope of smoothing for him his passage into +eternity (being still considerably imbued with the teachings of her +early life, which the newer and clearer faith had by no means +eradicated), and then she rose comforted and relieved, feeling as +though a dark weight had passed from her spirit. + +Daylight had now come, and the girl was very weary. She looked so +wan and white that Cuthbert was alarmed, and fed her tenderly with +the best his wallet could supply; after which he took her up to his +nest in the sycamore, first bringing the rug that was lying in the +hollow tree to wrap around her. There he succeeded in making her so +comfortable and secure that she fell asleep almost at once, and he +was hopeful she would sleep the whole time of his absence, for she +was worn out with fatigue, and only just recovering from an +illness. How she had borne the fatigues of that night he scarce +knew; but she possessed her share of the Trevlyn tenacity of +purpose, and her strong will had conquered the feebleness of her +frame. + +It was a satisfaction to see her sink into a tranquil sleep, and +secure in the certainty that she could not be seen by any person +entering the dell. Certain that none but a chance traveller ever +did come nigh this haunted spot, he was not afraid to leave her; +and after studying the simple contrivance by which the round slab +was raised and lowered in the well, he dropped it to its former +position, and went on his way to the village with a light heart. + +The secret of the lost treasure, he was fully certain, was now his; +and though the work of rescue might require time and patience and +labour, he was convinced it could be accomplished, and that he, +with the help of his sister, should find himself competent for the +task. + +It was evening before he returned, but he found Petronella where he +had left her. She had slept almost unbrokenly throughout the day, +and was now greatly refreshed and invigorated. The air of the +forest and the sweet breath of the pines were enough, as she said, +to give her new life; and she descended eagerly to meet and greet +her brother, and to examine the purchases he had made. + +The first excitement was the ass who bore the heavy load. Cuthbert +had had some trouble in making a way for the creature to pass down +into the dell; but once here, he would never stray away of his own +accord. Indeed, he appeared to have no disposition that way, for he +began at once to crop the emerald sward around the well with an air +of great contentment, whilst Cuthbert unloaded him and displayed +his purchases to his sister. + +"There is thy suit, young Peter," he said with a smile. "I trow +thou wilt make a pretty boy, and wilt find thyself more fitted for +our new life thus habited, and canst rove in the forest thus clad, +an thou hast a mind that way, more safely than thou couldest in a +maid's dress. And here is wine to put some colour into thy pale +cheeks, and food to last us many a day, and blankets to wrap about +us by night when the wind blows chill, and this heavy cloak to keep +the rain from thee when the skies weep. And see, here is a rope +which I trow will let me to the very bottom of the well, an we can +once turn the water some other way; and the ass can drag me forth +again--and the treasure likewise--when once this matter has been +accomplished. The hot, dry weather is coming apace. Men say already +that the springs be something low. All this favours our plans; and +if I can find the spring that feeds this well, as like enough I +may, then will I make shift to turn its waters another way, and the +pixies' well shall be dry!" + +Petronella gazed at him in surprise. + +"Brother, whence comes all this knowledge to thee? I should never +have dreamed such a thing might be!" + +"But I have read of such things being done ere now," answered +Cuthbert eagerly. "I have spent many an hour at Master Cole's shop +upon the bridge reading of such matters--how men mine and +counter-mine, and dig and delve, and sink wells and drain them, and +do many strange things of which we never dreamed in past days. In +times of war it is wondrous how many shifts of that or like kind +they think of and perform. I little thought how soon I myself +should want some such thing accomplished; but I read all eagerly, +and Master Anthony Cole explained much that perplexed me; and I +trow I might e'en do some such thing myself, with thee and this +patient beast to help me in my toil!" + +It was with undisguised admiration that Petronella regarded her +brother, and very happy and merry was the meal taken together +beside the well under the green-wood trees. It was hard to realize +that this smiling girl, with the faint pink bloom in her cheek, and +the bright eager eyes, was the cowed and sorrowful Petronella of a +few days back. Cuthbert looked at her with glad pride as she talked +to him and petted the docile ass, who came and stood beside them +and got a full share of such things as were pleasant to his palate. +Petronella had never had the care of a live thing before, and was +delighted with the affection shown towards her at once by the +gentle creature. + +Her sleep that night in the tree was sound and refreshing; and when +she joined Cuthbert, dressed in her suit of boys' garments; +laughing, blushing, and delighted with the freedom of motion that +they gave her; he found it hard to believe it was really +Petronella, and vowed it would not be hard to call her Peter, for +that there was little enough of the Petronella of old days to be +found in her. + +And from that day forward a happy life began for the brother and +sister thus strangely located in the pixies' dell. Each day saw the +girl growing stronger, brighter, and happier, till she could +scarcely believe it was so short a time since she had fled from her +father's house; whilst Cuthbert, intent upon his plans and his +engineering operations, grew brown and muscular and self reliant, +watching carefully and tenderly over his sister, but spending his +time in healthful toil, and in working out self-imposed problems, +confident that these would in the end succeed in enabling him to +carry out the purpose of his heart. + +The pixies' well proved very deep. Soundings taken by the rope +showed that only too clearly. The water flowed three feet over the +false bottom Robin had contrived the better to conceal his hiding +place, whilst below that there was fully ten feet of water; and +Petronella's face grew long as she saw the result of the sounding, +for she could not imagine how any treasure could be got at that lay +thirteen feet below the surface of the water. + +"Never mind that, sister mine," said Cuthbert. "Belike it is to +that very fact that it owes its long safety. Even Robin must have +known that to bring it forth again must be a matter of time and +patience. He could not visit it in a moment of haste or fright, and +filch a piece away as he would. Doubtless the place was chosen by +the old Long Robin of past days for the very difficulty there must +be in bringing forth the prize. I have often thought that no buried +treasure could so long have escaped prying hands and covetous +spirits. Bit by bit some would have gone. It is the water that has +been the best protection." + +Petronella saw the force of that argument; but as she leaned over +the wall, trying to peer into the dark depths whilst Cuthbert +talked of his scheme for draining it dry, she heaved a little sigh, +and said: + +"And what if, after all that long labour, there be no treasure +there in spite of all we believe?" + +He looked a little taken aback, but was struck by the practical +nature of the suggestion. He pondered awhile, and then he spoke. + +"That is a thought worthy of consideration," he said. "It were a +foolish thing to waste the whole summer only to be deceived in the +end. + +"Peter," he added suddenly, as if struck by a new idea, "I am no +fearer of water. I can dive and swim, and I have long wind, and can +hold my breath a great while. Thinkest thou that if I were to leap +into the well and dive to the bottom, thou couldst give me the rope +when I reappeared, and with the aid of the ass pull me forth again? +I can dive through the water, I trow, albeit the well is none too +wide. But I could not climb the steep stone sides; thou and the ass +must help me there." + +Petronella was a little timid of the experiment lest harm should +befall her brother, and persuaded him at last to tie the rope about +him ere he dived, so that in the event of his striking his head, or +in any other way hurting himself, she would have power to pull him +up and out, even if he should have lost consciousness. After making +her promise not to use this power unless she were fully persuaded +he was in some difficulty and unable to help himself, Cuthbert +consented to this amendment; and when all preparations were +complete he balanced himself for a moment on the edge of the well, +and then launched himself downwards in a line as straight as an +arrow. + +Eagerly and breathlessly Petronella watched for his reappearance, +holding her own breath the while, as though in some way that would +help the diver. He was long gone, as it seemed to her. She had been +forced to take one deep respiration, and was almost tempted to pull +at the rope in her hand, when the water suddenly became again +disturbed and full of bubbles, and a head appeared above it again. + +"Cuthbert!" she exclaimed, in a tone of glad relief, "O Cuthbert, +what hast thou found?" + +He was clinging to the rope with one hand; the other was beneath +the water out of sight. He raised his eyes, and said between his +gasping breaths: + +"Draw me up; the water is chill as ice!" + +From the sound of his voice she could not tell whether success had +crowned the attempt or not. She turned without another word, and +led the donkey onwards, gently drawing Cuthbert from the depths of +the well. As she did so he gave a sudden shout of triumph, and +springing over the side of the wall, flung at her feet a solid +golden flagon richly chased, with the arms of the Trevlyns engraved +upon it. + +"I scarce dared to look at what I had got as I came up!" he cried, +as he sprang high into the air in the exuberance of his spirit; +"but that will lay all doubt at rest. The lost treasure of Trevlyn +is lost no longer, and Cuthbert and Petronella have found it!" + + + +Chapter 18: "Saucy Kate." + + +"Wife, what ails the child?" + +Lady Frances Trevlyn raised her calm eyes from her embroidery, and +gave one swift glance around the room, as if to make sure that she +and her husband were alone. + +"Dost thou speak of Kate?" she asked then in a low voice. + +"Ay, marry I do," answered Sir Richard, as he took the seat beside +the glowing hearth, near to his wife's chair, which was his regular +place when he was within doors. "I scarce know the child again in +some of her moods. She was always wayward and capricious, but as +gay and happy as the day was long--as full of sunshine as a May +morning. Whence come, then, all these vapours and reveries and +bursts of causeless weeping? I have found her in tears more oft +these last three months than in all the years of her life before; +and though she strives to efface the impression by wild outbreaks +of mirth, such as we used of old to know, there is something hollow +and forced about these merry moods, and the laugh will die away the +moment she is alone, and a look will creep upon her face that I +like not to see." + +"Thou hast watched her something closely, Richard." + +"Ay, truly I have. I would have watched any child of mine upon whom +was passing so strange a change; but thou knowest that Kate has +ever been dear to me--I have liked to watch her in her tricksy +moods. She has been more full of affection for me than her graver +sisters, and even her little whims and faults that we have had to +check have but endeared her to me the more. The whimsies of the +child have often brought solace to my graver cares. I love Kate +right well, and like not to see this change in her. What dost thou +think of it, goodwife?" + +Lady Frances shook her head gravely. + +"Methinks the child has something on her mind, and her sisters +think so likewise, but what it is we none of us can guess. She +keeps her secret well." + +"It is not like Kate to have a secret; it is still less like her to +hide it." + +"That is what I feel. I have looked day by day and hour by hour for +her to come to me or to thee to tell what is in her mind. But the +weeks have sped by and her lips are still sealed, and, as thou +sayest, she is losing her gay spirits, or else her gaiety is over +wild, but doth not ring true; and there is a look in her eyes that +never used to be there, and which I like not." + +"I know the look well--one of wistful, unsatisfied longing. It goes +to my heart to see it there. And hast thou noted that the bloom is +paling in her cheeks, and that she will sit at home long hours, +dreaming in the window seat or beside the hearth, when of old she +was for ever scouring the woods, and coming home laden with flowers +or ferns or berries? I like it not, nor do I understand it. And +thou sayest her sisters know not the cause? I thought that young +maidens always talked together of their secrets." + +"Kate doth not. I have talked with Cecilia anent the matter, and +she knows not the cause. Bess has opined that this change first +appeared when it was decided that we went not to London this year, +as we had talked of doing earlier in the summer. Bess says she +noted then how disappointed Kate appeared; and she is of opinion +that she has never been the same since." + +Sir Richard stroked his beard with meditative gravity, and looked +into the fire. + +"It is true that the change has come upon her since that decision +was made; and yet I find it something difficult to think that such +was the cause. Kate never loved the life of the city, and was wild +with delight when she first tasted the sweets of freedom in these +woods and gardens. She loves her liberty right well, and has said a +thousand times how glorious a thing it is to range at will as she +does here. Capricious as the child has often shown herself, it is +hard to believe that she is pining already for what she left with +so glad a heart. It passes my understanding; I know not what to +think." + +Lady Frances raised her eyes for a moment to her husband's face, +and then asked quietly: + +"Hast thou ever thought whether some secret love may be the cause +of all?" + +The knight started and looked full at his wife. + +"I have indeed thought some such thing, but I can scarce believe +that such is the case with our Kate." + +"Yet it is often so when maidens change and grow pale and dreamy, +and sit brooding and thinking when erst they laughed and played. +Kate is double the woman she was six months gone by. She will sit +patiently at her needle now, when once she would throw it aside +after one short hour; and she will seek to learn all manner of +things in the still room and pantry that she made light of a short +while back, as matters of no interest or concern to her. She would +make an excellent housewife if she had the mind, as I have always +seen; and now she does appear to have the mind, save when her fits +of gloom and sadness be upon her, and everything becomes a burden." + +Sir Richard looked aroused and interested. A smile stole over his +face. + +"Our saucy Kate in love, and that secretly! Marry, that is +something strange; and yet I am not sorry at the thought, for I +feared her fancy was something too much taken by her cousin +Culverhouse; and since his father must look for a large dower for +his son's bride, our Kate could never have been acceptable to him. +Nor do I like the marriage of cousins so close akin, albeit in +these times men are saying that there be no ill in such unions." + +Lady Frances shook her head gravely. + +"I would sooner see daughter of mine wedded in a lowlier sphere. My +heart shrinks from the thought of seeing any child of ours in the +high places of this world. There be snares and pitfalls abounding +there. We have seen enough to know so much. There be bitter +strivings and envyings and hatreds amongst those of lofty degree. I +would have my children wed with godly and proper men; but I would +sooner give them to simple gentlemen of no high-sounding title, +than to those whose duties in life will call them to places round +about the throne, and will throw them amidst the turmoil of Court +life." + +Sir Richard smiled at this unworldly way of looking at things; but +the Trevlyns had suffered from being somewhat too well known at +Court, and he understood the feeling. + +"Truly we live in perilous times," he said thoughtfully, "and +obscurity is often the best security for happiness and well being. +But to return to Kate. If she is truly forgetting her girlish fancy +for her cousin, as I would gladly believe--and she has not set eyes +on him this year and more--towards whom can her fancy be straying?" + +"Thou dost not think she can be pining after her cousin?" + +"Nay, surely not," was the quick and decided answer. "Had she pined +it would have been at the first, when they were separated from each +other, and thou knowest how gay and happy she was then. It is but +these past few months that we have seen the change. Depend upon it, +there is some one else. Would that it might be good Sir Robert +Fortescue, who has been here so much of late, and has paid much +attention to our saucy Kate! Wife, what thinkest thou of that? He +is an excellent good man, and would make a stanch and true husband. +He is something old for the child, for sure; but there is no +knowing how the errant fancy of maidenhood will stray." + +"I would it might be so," answered Lady Frances. "Sir Robert is a +good and a godly man, and I would gladly give our restless, +capricious Kate to one who could be father and husband in one. But +I confess the thought had not come to me, nor had I thought that he +came hither to seek him a wife." + +Sir Richard smiled meaningly. + +"Nor had I until of late; but I begin to think that is his object. +He pays more heed to the girls than he did when first he came to +visit us, and he has dropped a word here and a hint there, all +pointing in one direction. And dost thou not note that our Kate is +often brightest and best when he is by? I had never thought before +that her girlish fancy might have been caught by his gray hair and +soldier-like air; yet many stranger things have happened. Wife, +dost thou think it can be?" + +"I would it were; it would be well for all. I will watch and see, +and do thou likewise. I had not thought the child's fancy thus +taken; but if it were so, I should rejoice. He would be a good +husband and a kind one, and our headstrong second daughter will +need control as well as love in the battle of life." + +So the parents watched with anxious eyes, eager to see some +indication which should encourage them in this newly-formulated +hope. When once the idea had been started, it seemed to both as if +nothing could be better than a marriage between their high-spirited +but affectionate and warm-hearted daughter and this knight of forty +summers, who had won for himself wealth and fame, and a soldier's +reputation for unblemished honour and courage in many foreign +lands. If not exactly the man to produce an immediate impression on +the heart of a young girl, he might well win his way to favour in +time; and certainly it did seem as though Kate took pleasure in +listening to his stories of flood and field, whilst her bright eyes +and merry saucy ways (for she was still her old bright self at +times, and never more frequently so than in the company of Sir +Robert) appeared very attractive to him. + +When we are increasingly wishful for a certain turn in affairs, and +begin sedulously to watch for it, unconsciously setting ourselves +to work to aid and abet, and push matters on to the desired +consummation, it is wonderful how easy it is to believe all is +going as we wish, and to see in a thousand little trifling +circumstances corroboration of our wishes. Before another fortnight +had sped by, Kate's parents had almost fully persuaded themselves +of the truth of their suspicion. They were convinced that the +attachment between their child and their guest was advancing +rapidly, and a day came when Sir Richard sought his wife with a +very happy expression of countenance. + +"Well, wife, the doubt will shortly be at an end. Sir Robert has +spoken openly at last." + +"Spoken of his love for our Kate?" + +"Not in these words, but the meaning is the same. He has asked me +if I am willing to entrust one of my daughters to his keeping." + +"One of our daughters?" repeated Lady Frances. "And did he not name +Kate? He cannot love them all." + +"He spoke of Cecilia and Kate both," answered Sir Richard. "Sir +Robert is not a hot-headed youth, full of the fire of a first +passion. He wishes an alliance with our house, and he sees that +Cecilia, with her four years' seniority, would perchance in the +eyes of the world be the more suitable wife; and he admires her +beauty, and thinks well of her dutifulness, her steadiness, and her +many virtues. Yet it is Kate that takes his fancy most, and if he +could hope to win the wayward fancy and the warm heart of our +second child, she is the one whom he would fain choose as his own. +He has spoken freely and frankly to me, and it comes to this: he +would willingly marry Cecilia, and doubtless make her an excellent +husband, and value the connection with the house of Trevlyn; but if +he could succeed in winning the love of our saucy Kate, he would +sooner have her than the more staid sister, only he fears his gray +hairs and his wrinkles will unfit him as a suitor for the child. +But we, who suspect her heart of turning towards him, have little +fear of this. Kate's sharp eyes have looked beneath the surface. +She has shown that she has a wise head upon her shoulders. So I +told Sir Robert--" + +"Not that the child had loved him unbidden, I trust, my husband? I +would not have him think that!" + +"Verily no, goodwife; but I told him there was no man living to +whom I would more gladly give a daughter of mine; and that I would +sound both of the maidens, and see how their hearts were set +towards him. But I trow he went away happy, thinking he might win +Kate after all. I could not but whisper a word of hope, and tell +him how wondrous tame the wild bird had latterly become, and how +that her mother had wondered whether thoughts of love had entered +into her head." + +Lady Frances smiled, half shaking her head the while, yet not +entirely displeased even with such an admission as that. She had +been watching her daughter closely of late, and she had tried to +think as she wished to think; the consequence being that she had +reached a very decided conclusion in accordance with her desires, +and had small doubts as to the state of her daughter's heart. + +"I verily believe the child's sadness has come from the fear that +her youth will stand as a bar to her happiness. She knows Sir +Robert is old enough to be her father, and fears that his +attentions are paid as to a child. Thus has she striven to grow +more wise, more womanly, more fit to be the mistress of his house. +Methinks I see it all. And what is the next thing to be done? Must +we speak with the child?" + +"Ay, verily; for I have promised an answer to Sir Robert before +many days have passed. He is to come again at the week's end, and +his bride is to be presented to him. Thinkest thou that Cecilia +will be grieved to find her younger sister preferred before her? +Does she, too, think aught of Sir Robert?" + +"I trow she likes him well, though whether she has thought of him +as husband or lover I know not. She is more discreet than Kate, and +can better hide her feelings. I doubt not were her hand asked she +would give it gladly; but more than that I cannot say." + +"Then let us hope her heart has not been deeply touched, for I +should be sorry to give her pain. But let us incontinently send for +Kate hither at once to us. I shall rejoice to see the light of +untroubled happiness shining once again in those bright eyes. I +would fain see my saucy Kate her own self again ere she leaves us +as a wedded wife." + +So Kate was summoned, and came before her parents with something of +timidity in her aspect, looking furtively from one to the other, as +if a question trembled on her lips that she did not dare to utter. + +She had changed in many ways from the gay, laughing girl of a few +months back. There were the same resolution and individuality in +the expression of the face, and the delicate features had by no +means lost all their old animation and bloom; but there was greater +depth in the dark eyes, and more earnestness and gravity in the +expression of both eyes and mouth. There was added sweetness as +well as added thoughtfulness; and mingling strangely with these +newer expressions was one still stranger on the face of Kate--a +look of shrinking, almost of fear, as though she were treading some +dangerous path, where lurked hidden perils that might at any moment +overwhelm her. + +The swift look of wistful questioning, the nervous movements of the +slim hands, the parted lips and quickly coming breath, were not +lost upon the parents, who were watching the advance of their +daughter with no small interest and curiosity. But the smile upon +both faces seemed to reassure the girl; and as her father held out +his hand, she came and stood beside him willingly, looking from one +to the other with fluttering breath and changing colour. + +"You sent for me, my father?" + +"Yes, Kate; we have somewhat to say to thee, thy mother and I. +Canst guess what that something is?" + +A vivid blush for a moment dyed her cheek and as quickly faded; but +she did not speak, only shook her head. + +Sir Richard gave his wife a quick smile, and took Kate's hand in +his. + +"My child," he said, with unwonted tenderness, "why hast thou been +keeping a secret from thy mother and me?" + +Kate started and drew her hand away, moving a pace farther off, and +regarding her father with wide open, dilated eyes. + +"A secret!" she faltered, and grew very pale. + +Sir Richard smiled, and would have taken her hand once more, but +that she glided from his reach, still watching him with an +expression he found it hard to read. Her mother laid down her +embroidery, and studied her face with a look of aroused uneasiness; +but the father was utterly without suspicion of approaching any +hidden peril, and continued in the same kindly tones. + +"Nay, now, my girl, thou needest not fear!" he said. "All young +maidens give their hearts away in time; and so as thou givest thine +worthily, neither thy father nor thy mother will chide." + +Kate gave one or two gasps, and then spoke with impassioned +earnestness. + +"O father, I could not help it! I strove against it as long as I +might. I feared it was a thing that must not be. But love was too +strong. I could not fight for ever." + +"Tut--tut, child! why shouldest thou fight? Why didst thou not +speak to thy mother? Girls may breathe a secret into a mother's ear +that is not to be spoke elsewhere. Thou shouldest have told her, +child, and have spared thyself much weary misery." + +Kate's head was hung very low; neither parent could see her face. + +"I did not dare," she answered softly; "I knew that I was wrong. I +feared to speak." + +"Thou art a strange mixture of courage and fear, my saucy Kate. I +would once have vowed that thou wouldst fear not to speak aloud +every thought of thy heart. But love changes all, I ween, and makes +sad cowards of the boldest of us. And so thou didst wait till he +declared his love, and fretted out thy heart in silence the while?" + +Kate lifted her head and looked at her father, a faint perplexity +in her eyes. + +"Nay, I ever knew he loved me. It was that I feared thy +displeasure, my father. I had heard thee say--" + +"Nothing against Sir Robert, I warrant me," cried Sir Richard +heartily; whilst Kate took one backward step and exclaimed: + +"Methought Sir Robert was Cecilia's lover! Why speak you to me of +him, my father?" + +Sir Richard rose to his feet in great perplexity, looking at his +wife, who was pale and agitated. + +"Cecilia's lover--what meanest thou, child?" he asked quickly. "I +was speaking to thee of thine own lover. Sir Robert would fain wed +with thee, and methought thou hadst already given him thy heart." + +"No--no--no!" cried Kate, shrinking yet further away. "I had no +thoughts of him. O father, how couldst thou think it? He is a kind +friend; but I have thought him Cecilia's knight, and I trow she +thinks of him thus herself." + +Lady Frances now spoke to her daughter for the first time, fixing +her eyes upon her, and addressing her with composure, although +visibly struggling against inward agitation. + +"Listen to me, daughter Kate. Thou hast spoken words which, if they +refer not to Sir Robert, as thy father and I believed, have need to +be explained. Thou hast spoken of loving and of being beloved; what +dost thou mean by that? Who is he that has dared--" + +"O mother, thou knowest that; thou hast heard it a hundred times. +It is Culverhouse, my cousin, who--" + +But Sir Richard's face had clouded suddenly over. He had set his +heart on marrying Kate to his friend Sir Robert, who would, he +believed, make her an excellent husband; and he had long ago given +a half pledge to Lord Andover to thwart and oppose the youthful +attachment which was showing itself between Kate and Culverhouse. +The Earl wished a grand match for his son, and the Trevlyn pride +was strong in Sir Richard, who would never have had a daughter of +his wed where she was not welcome. He also disliked marriages +between first cousins, and made of that a pretext for setting his +face against the match, whilst remaining on perfectly friendly +terms with the Viscount and all his family. He had hoped and quite +made up his mind that that boy-and-girl fancy had been laid at rest +for ever, and was not a little annoyed at hearing the name of her +cousin fall so glibly from Kate's lips. + +"Silence, foolish girl!" he said sternly. "Hast thou not been told +a hundred times to think no more of him? How dost thou dare to +answer thy mother thus? Culverhouse! thou knewest well that he is +no match for thee. It is wanton folly to let thy wayward fancy +dwell still on him. Methought thou hadst been cured of that +childish liking long since. But if it has not been so, thou shalt +soon be cured now!" + +Kate shrank back, for her father had seldom looked so stern, and +there was an inflexibility about his aspect that was decidedly +formidable. No one knew better than his favourite daughter that +when once the limit of his forbearance was reached, there was no +hope of any further yielding, and that he could be hard as flint or +adamant; so it was with a look of terror in her eyes that she +shrank yet further away as she asked: + +"What dost thou mean, my father? what dost thou mean?" + +"I mean, Kate," answered Sir Richard, not unkindly, but so +resolutely that his words fell upon her ear like a knell, "that the +best and safest plan of curing thee of thy fond and foolish fancy, +which can never come to good, is to wed thee with a man who will +make thee a kind and loving husband, and will maintain thee in the +state to which thou hast been born. Wherefore, prepare to wed with +Sir Robert Fortescue without delay, for to him I will give thy hand +in wedlock so soon as we can have thee ready to be his bride." + +Kate stood for a moment as if transfixed and turned to stone, and +then she suddenly sank upon her knees at her father's feet. + +"Father," she said, in a strange, choked voice, that indicated an +intense emotion and agitation, "thou canst not make me the wife of +another; for methinks I am well nigh, if not altogether, the wife +of my cousin Culverhouse." + +"What?" almost shouted Sir Richard, making one step forward and +seizing his daughter by the arm. "Wretched girl, what is this that +thou sayest? The wife of thy cousin Culverhouse! Shame upon thee +for so base a falsehood! How dost thou dare to frame thy lips to +it?" + +"It is no falsehood!" answered Kate, with flashing eyes, springing +to her feet and confronting her parents with all her old courage, +and with a touch of defiance. "I would have kneeled to ask your +pardon for my rashness, for my disobedience, for the long +concealment; but I am no liar, I speak but the truth. Listen, and I +will tell all. It was on May Day, and I rode forth into the forest +and distanced pursuit, and joined my cousin Culverhouse, as we had +vowed to do. We thought then of naught but the joy of a day +together in the forest, and had not dreamed of such a matter as +wedlock. But then to the church porch came one calling himself a +priest. They say he comes every year, and weds all who will come to +him. And many did. And Culverhouse and I stood before him, and he +joined our hands, and we made our vows, and he pronounced us man +and wife before all assembled there. And whether it be binding +wedlock or no, it is to us a solemn betrothal made before God and +man; and not all the commands thou couldst lay upon me, my father, +could make me stand up and vow myself to another as I have vowed +myself to Culverhouse. I should hold myself forsworn; I should be +guilty of the vilest crime in the world. Thou wilt not ask it of +me. Thou canst not know, even as I do not know, whether that +wedlock is not valid before man, as it is before God." + +A thunderbolt falling between them could scarcely have produced +more astonishment and dismay. Lady Frances sank back in her seat +white with horror and bewilderment, whilst Sir Richard stood as if +turned to stone; and when at last he was able to speak, it was to +order Kate to her room in accents of the sternest anger, bidding +her not to dare to leave it until he brought her forth himself. + +Kate fled away gladly enough, her mind rent in twain betwixt +remorse at her own disobedience and deceit, triumph in having +stopped Sir Robert's suit by so immovable an obstacle, and relief +that the truth was out at last, even though her own dire disgrace +was the result. The secret had preyed terribly on her mind of late, +and had been undermining her health and spirits. Terrible as the +anger of her parents might be, anything to her open nature seemed +better than concealment; and she dashed up to her own room in a +whirl of conflicting emotions, sinking down upon the floor when she +reached it to try to get into order her chaotic thoughts. + +Meantime husband and wife, left alone to their astonishment, stood +gazing at each other in blank amaze. + +"Husband," said Lady Frances at last, "surely such wedlock is not +lawful?" + +"I cannot tell," he answered gloomily; "belike it is not. Yet a +troth plight made in so solemn a fashion, and before so many +witnesses, is no light thing; and the child may not be wedded to +another whilst the smallest shadow of doubt remains. Doubtless +Culverhouse foresaw this, the bold knave, and persuaded the child +into it. Well it has served his purpose. Sir Robert must be content +with Cecilia. But the artfulness of the little jade! I never +thought Kate would so deceive us--" + +"It is that that breaks my heart!" cried the mother--"that, and the +thought that she should be willing to go before some Popish priest +and take her vows to him. Oh, it cannot be binding on the child--it +cannot be binding! And Sir Robert is stanch in the Reformed faith; +he is just the husband that wild girl needs. Husband, can nothing +be done?" + +Sir Richard looked very grave. + +"That would be hard to tell without strict inquiries. I doubt me if +we could learn all before next May Day, when we might get hold of +the man himself and find out who and what he is. Such wedlock as +his cannot be without flaw, and might be made invalid by law; but, +wife, there is no getting over this, that the child took her vows +in the name of God, and I dare not act as though such vows were +unspoken. Her youth and ignorance may plead in part for her. She +scarce knew the solemnity of the step she was taking. Culverhouse +won upon her and over persuaded her, I do not doubt. I do not seek +to excuse her. I am grievously displeased and disappointed. But I +cannot and I will not give her to Sir Robert; Cecilia must be his +wife." + +"Then Kate must be sent away," said Lady Frances, gravely and +severely; "I cannot and will not have her here, mixing as before +with her sisters with this cloud hanging upon her, with this secret +still shadowing her life. She has proved unworthy of our +confidence. I am more pained and displeased than I can say. She +must go. She must not be able to tell Cecilia that she might have +been Lady Fortescue but for her marriage with Culverhouse. She is +no longer to be trusted. She must go forth from home as a +punishment for her wrongdoing. I feel that I cannot bear to see her +about the house, knowing how she has deceived us. She shall go +forth this very day." + +Sir Richard stood considering. He too was deeply displeased with +his daughter, though he had some sympathy with the ardent and +impulsive lovers, who had got themselves into a queer plight, and +had thrown much perplexity upon others. But he decidedly agreed +with his wife that it would be better for Kate to go--and to go in +disgrace, that she might feel herself punished by being severed +from her sisters when the first wedding of the family was taking +place (save her own woodland nuptials). And it would doubtless save +some natural embarrassment to Sir Robert himself to have one of the +sisters out of the way before he formally espoused the other; +though, to be sure, such a proposition as his had been was a common +enough thing in those days. + +"It would be good to send her away; but whither can she go?" + +"Where better than to Lady Humbert and Mistress Dowsabel, who have +ofttimes asked us to send a daughter to enliven their dull +solitude? We have ever excused them on account of their youth and +high spirits, fearing they would be moped to death in that dismal +place; but it will be the very house for our wayward Kate to go to +repent of her ill deeds. If you will write a letter to them, we +will send it forthwith by a mounted messenger, and the answer will +be back before dark. If she is to go, she can start with the first +light of tomorrow morning, and we can get her mails packed ready +tonight; for she must not disgrace her state, but must be furnished +with all things fitting to her condition." + +Sir Richard thought that no other plan better than this could be +devised for his erring daughter; and though he could not but feel +some compassion for the girl, condemned to be the companion of a +pair of aged and feeble gentlewomen such as his aunts had long +been, was nevertheless of opinion that the captivity and dullness +would be salutary, and despatched his letter without delay. + +That same night Kate, who had passed the long hours in weeping and +rejoicing, and in all those conflicting phases of feeling common to +the young, heard with a mixture of' pleasure and dismay that she +was to be sent in disgrace to the keeping of her great aunts, and +that without delay; also that she was not even to say goodbye to +her sisters, or to see them again until something had been decided +as to her future and the validity of her wilful espousals. She was +made to feel that she had committed a terrible sin, and one that +her parents would find it hard to forgive; yet she could not help +exulting slightly in the thought that they had been obliged to take +the matter so seriously; and she had a dim hope that her aged +relatives, when she did come to them, might not prove altogether so +crabbed and cross as she had always been led to suppose. Perhaps +she might find a warm corner even in their old hearts. + + + +Chapter 19: The Cross Way House. + + +With the first light of day the start was to be made. Kate, who had +slept little, was ready betimes, had dressed herself in her riding +suit long before she was sent for, and was employing herself in +wondering if she would after all be permitted to say farewell to +her sisters, and whether she should have an opportunity of asking +her mother's pardon for her wrongdoing in this matter of her secret +espousals. + +The girl had suffered a good deal during these past months. She had +not realized when yielding to Culverhouse's persuasions how hard it +would be to live beneath her parents' roof with this secret preying +on her mind. She had not realized what a weight it would become in +time, and she had looked for a speedy meeting with her cousin and +betrothed in London, whither Sir Richard had intended taking his +family for a while before the autumn set in. Kate had looked +forward then to making her confession to her parents and his, and +winning pardon for them both, as she felt sure of doing when she +had his support in the telling of the tale. But the change of her +father's plans, and the absence from England of Lord Culverhouse, +who had been sent on a mission to France by his father, put an end +to all these hopes, and she had felt the burden of her secret heavy +indeed. Moreover, she was fearful lest Culverhouse should in some +sort repent him of the step he had taken and wish it undone. Kate +had but a small share of vanity, and only a very modest +appreciation of her own attractions, and it seemed to her as though +her cousin, moving as he did in the gay world of fashion, must +surely see many other maidens tenfold more beautiful and graceful. +Suppose he were to repent of his secret betrothal; suppose his +troth plight weighed heavy on his spirit? what misery that would be +for both! And during these long months of silence such thoughts and +fears had preyed upon the girl's spirit, and had produced in her +the change that both her parents had observed. + +Wherefore now that the confession had been made, and the burdensome +secret was a secret no longer, a reaction set in that was almost +like relief. She felt certain, since all was known, that +Culverhouse would come forward and stand boldly beside her and lay +claim to her hand before the world as he had talked of doing when +he had led her to the troth plight on that May Day that seemed so +long ago now. + +Even the thought of the journey and the visit to her father's great +aunts was not altogether distasteful. She was more afraid of +meeting her mother's sorrowful glances than stern ones from +strangers. Kate had no lack of courage, and the love of variety and +change was implanted in her as strongly as it is in most young +things; so that when Philip knocked at her door as the first rays +of the October sun were gilding the trees and fields, it was with a +smiling face that she opened to him, whilst he looked at her with +something of smiling surprise in his glance. + +"Art ready, my sister? the horses will be at the door in a few +short minutes. I am glad to see thee so bright and happy. I had +feared to discover thee bathed in tears of woe." + +"Perchance I ought to be heavier hearted than I am," answered Kate, +with a swift glance at Philip through her long lashes. "I do repent +me that I have angered our father and mother. I know that I have +been wrong to keep the secret; perchance I was wrong to let +Culverhouse persuade me. But that the thing is done I cannot truly +repent; the only thing which would make me wish that vow unsaid +would be if Culverhouse were to wish to be free of his troth +plight." + +"Which I trow he never will be," answered Philip warmly, as he laid +his hand on Kate's shoulder. + +Those two were very near akin in spirit and in sympathy. Kate knew +all his love for Petronella, and his anxiety for her since her +flight (though he fully believed her to be in hiding with Cuthbert +in the forest, albeit he had not been able to discover them), and +he had strong fellow feeling with the impulsive lovers. + +"He has never loved any but thee, my sister, since the days we +played together as children. Save that concealment ever leads to +trouble, and that wedlock vows are too sacred to be made playthings +of, I could find it in my heart to wish that Petronella and I were +wed in like fashion. But our mother is sorely grieved at what thou +hast done--going before a tonsured priest, with none of thine own +kindred by, to take vows which should have had the sanction of thy +parents before they passed thy lips, and should have been made in +different fashion and in a different place. Howbeit no doubt time +will soften her anger, and she will grow reconciled to the thought. +When we have made all inquiries anent this priest and his ways, my +father and I will to London to speak with Lord Andover of this +business. I trust all will end well for thee, sister. But thou must +learn in thy captivity to be a patient and discreet maiden, that +they do not fear to give thee to Culverhouse at last, since it must +needs be so." + +Kate looked up gratefully, comforted by the kind tone of her +brother's words. + +"In very sooth I will try, Philip. I thank thee for thy good +counsel. I will be patient and discreet towards my great aunts. I +will strive to show them all due reverence, that they may satisfy +my mother when she makes inquiry of them." + +Kate long remembered the ride with her father and brother through +the forest and across the heath that day. Her father was stern and +grave, and scarcely addressed a single word to her. Philip and she +talked a little, but were affected by this silence of displeasure, +and observed a befitting decorum and quietness. Sir Richard made +his daughter take him to the spot of her troth plight, and show him +exactly how and where it had taken place. As they stopped to bait +the horses at the little hostelry, he made various inquiries +concerning the priest and his annual visitation to the wake on May +Day, and his face looked none the less severe as he heard the +replies. + +"Methinks the knot hath been something tightly tied--too tight for +it to be easily unloosed," whispered Philip to his sister as he +lifted her to the saddle after the noontide halt; and she could not +but answer by a bright smile, which she saw reflected in his face. + +The day, which had been bright and fine, turned dull and lowering +as the riders neared the Cross Way House, as the residence of Lady +Humbert was called; and Kate looked curiously at the house as they +approached it, wondering what sort of a life its inmates led. + +To her eyes, accustomed to the seclusion of park and grounds, the +most striking feature of this house was that it stood actually upon +the road itself. It occupied an angle of the cross formed by the +junction of four roads, and its north and east windows looked out +straight upon these two highways, with nothing intervening between +them but some twenty feet of paved walk enclosed behind walls ten +feet high, and guarded by strong gates of wrought iron. + +Doubtless to the south and west there were gardens and grounds. The +walls seemed to run a long way along the road, and Kate felt +certain that she should find seclusion and privacy there. She could +see tall trees rearing their heads above the wall, and was certain +from the aspect of the house, which was sufficiently imposing, that +she should find within the ease and luxury to which she was +accustomed. + +On the whole, she rather liked the prospect of looking out upon the +roads. If Culverhouse were to ride by, she could signal to him from +the windows. She could watch the fine folk passing to and fro on +their way to London. Possibly a belated traveller might ask shelter +at the house, and amuse them with tales of adventure and peril. +Kate had time to think of many things as their horses stood at the +gates awaiting admittance; and when these were thrown back at last, +and they rode through an archway and into a centre courtyard round +which the house was built, the girl was delighted with everything; +for the quadrangular structure was a novelty to her, and a novelty +which took her fancy not a little. There were servants to look +after the horses; and it was plain the travellers were expected, +for they were quickly ushered into the house by one of the great +doors which opened on a wide flight of steps leading down into the +court, and were there met by an aged majordomo, who greeted them +with ceremonious solemnity. + +"My lady is looking for you, sir," he said to Sir Richard; and +turning to Kate, he added, in the same mechanical fashion, "Your +maid will show you to your room, madam. My lady will see you after +you have recovered from the fatigues of the journey." + +Kate was not in the least fatigued, but she was too well brought up +to remonstrate in any way. The maid was hovering in the background; +an elderly woman with a capable face and slightly repellent manner. +It was plain to Kate that her relatives would not receive her till +they had learned more of the details of her banishment from home +from her father, and had made up their minds how to treat her. She +felt that even the serving woman regarded her somewhat in the light +of a culprit, and it was with a mind divided betwixt amusement and +girlish shame that she followed the attendant into the bed chamber +that had been prepared for her. + +This was a more sumptuous apartment than her room at home, and +looked comfortable enough in the glow of the great fire of logs. +The hangings of the bed were dark and heavy, and the carved oak +furniture was also sombre in its polished blackness; but there was +a thick square carpet on the floor, which was a luxury Kate had +never possessed in her bed chamber before, and the mirrors and +silver sconces for the candles all bespoke an ease and luxury that +reminded Kate of what life would be like when she lived as a +Countess or Viscountess in her own house, with Lord Culverhouse as +lord and master. + +"This is your room," said the woman. "Your mails arrived earlier in +the day, and your things have been put away in the cupboard there +and in the bureau yonder. My lady gave orders you were to be served +with something to eat and drink in your own room, and that she +would visit you later. There is another young lady visiting in the +house; she will come and see you if you will permit her." + +"Very willingly," answered Kate, who was always ready for company, +and very curious to know something about these great aunts of hers, +whom she had never seen as yet. "I shall be glad of food, as I +liked not what they served us with at the inn in the forest. As for +the young lady, albeit I know not who she can be, I should gladly +welcome her. I have no love for too much of my own company; +wherefore the sooner she comes the better shall I be pleased." + +The woman withdrew, and Kate removed her hat and gloves, and looked +about her with quick, searching glances. + +"A good room in sooth, and no bad prison, if prisoner I am to be. +And since I may have company, I can scarce be in such dire disgrace +as that. I wonder who this visitor may be? Some Wyvern, belike; but +doubtless we shall learn to take pleasure in each other. + +"Soft! are those steps without? Yes; and some one knocks at the +door. + +"Enter, enter, I pray. I am right glad--What! do my eyes deceive +me? Sure I am in some strange dream! Petronella! Surely it cannot +be Petronella! The features are the same; but the Petronella I once +knew was wan and frail as a fair wood lily, and thou--nay, but it +cannot be!" + +"But it is--it is!" cried the girl, making a bound forward and +flinging her arms round Kate's neck in an ecstasy of happiness; +"and, O Kate, I have seen him again! I saw him ride to the door by +thy side! Perchance I shall even have words with him ere he journey +forth again! Ah, how rejoiced was I when I heard that thou wert +coming! O Kate, I have such news for thee--such news, such news!" + +The two girls were folded in each other's arms. Between every few +words they paused to kiss and laugh in the very exuberance of their +happiness. It seemed like a dream to Kate; she could scarce believe +her eyes. + +"Petronella--but how earnest thou here?" + +"I came when the weather grew so inclement that Cuthbert would no +longer let me share his forest life. He brought me to this house, +and our aunts, when they heard our story, opened their doors to me; +and I have been here three whole weeks--ever since the summer's +heats broke in storms of rain. But here I go by the name of Ellen +Wyvern, lest haply it should come to my father's ears that I am +here, and he should fetch me away. But I have almost ceased to +quake at that thought; I have had my freedom so long." + +"I scarce know thee, thou art so changed--so full of sunshine and +courage," cried Kate. "Erstwhile thou wert like a creature of +moonlight and vapour; a breath seemed as though it would blow thee +away. What has befallen to change thee so? What hast thou been +doing all this while? And where is Cuthbert?" + +"Cuthbert is yet in the forest," answered Petronella, sinking her +voice to the merest whisper, as if afraid that even the walls would +have ears. "His task is not yet finished. It is one that takes +great skill and patience and watchfulness. But it is being +accomplished by slow and sure degrees. Ah, Kate! what news thinkest +thou that I have for thee? The time has not yet come when the world +may know all; but I trow that thou mayest know, for thou hast ever +been with us in the secret of the quest." + +Kate's face flushed and paled; her heart beat fast with hope and +wonder. She well knew what difference to her future would be made +by the restoration to the house of Trevlyn of that lost treasure. +She could scarce frame the words she longed to speak, but her eyes +asked the question for her; and Petronella, putting her lips close +to her cousin's ear, whispered the wondrous news that the lost +treasure was found. + +"Found--really found!" and Kate gave a great gasp. "Nay, but, +Petronella, tell me how." + +Petronella laid a warning hand upon Kate's lips. + +"Nay, cousin, but thou must call me Ellen here. And we must wait +till the household be at rest, and we share the same bed, ere I +dare to pour into thine ears all the tale. And thou must promise to +breathe no word of it, bad nor good, till the moment has come for +the world to know. It will not be long now, I trow; but we are +pledged, and were it not that I know well thou art stanch and true, +I dared not have shared the joyful secret with thee." + +"It is safe with me," cried Kate; "I will never betray it. O Ellen, +how I long to hear the whole! But since that may not be now, tell +me more of these great aunts of ours. What treatment am I to look +for beneath their roof? Am I to be received as kinswoman or as +prisoner? for marry I know not myself." + +Petronella's face kindled into smiles, those bright happy smiles +that gave it a charm never seen in past days. She bent an arch +glance upon her cousin, and then made reply. + +"The Lady Humbert is a fine stately dame, before whom my heart +quailed mightily when first I stood before her. Her voice is sharp; +her eyes look you through and through; her frown sets you quaking, +and makes you wish the earth would swallow you up. But for all +that, when once you get to know her, you find that a warm heart +beats beneath her stiff bodice, and that though she will speak +sharply to you before your face, she will do you many a kind act of +which you know little or nothing. Mistress Dowsabel is younger, +smaller, less fearsome to the eye; indeed she is timorous and often +full of fears herself. She too is kind, though I truly think that +Lady Humbert has the larger heart. They love each other well, and +are willing to befriend all who have claims of kindred. For the +rest, they live much secluded from the world, and think that the +times are sadly changed for the worse since the days when they were +young." + +"And what think they of me?" asked Kate, with natural girlish self +consciousness. + +Petronella repeated her arch glance. + +"To me they say that thou art a wilful maid who needest watching +and stern guarding. They shake their heads at such loose marriage, +and tell me to take warning and not fall into like folly and sin +through overmuch love of my own way. But I heard them talking +together of thee when they forgot that I was by; and then there was +something different in their words, and I could scarce forbear to +smile." + +"What said they then?" asked Kate eagerly. + +"My Lady Humbert, she said that Lord Andover was a good man and +stanch, and that all spoke well of his son. They added that if thou +wouldst one day be Countess of Andover, they would gladly think +that thou wouldst worthily fill that place. Aunt Dowsabel asked if +thou hadst made a good beginning in this hasty marriage or troth +plight of thine; whereat Lady Humbert gave a laugh, and said she +was glad that thou hadst had the spirit of thy ancestors in thee, +and that for her part, if you were both true and stanch in your +love, she saw small harm in letting love have the mastery over +prudence. And then it turned out, as I learned from their talk, +that she herself had run away to be married when she was a girl, +and that she had never for one hour repented the act. So she +plainly felt that thou wast her own kinswoman in all faith; and +although she may speak to thee with stern rebuke, thou mayest know +in thy heart that she thinks kindly of thee, and that she will +stand thy friend with thy father, and make the peace with thy +mother if she may." + +Kate's face flushed happily. + +"Nay, now, that is good hearing! Why did we not know these good +aunts before? I can go before them with a light heart now. I repent +me of nothing save that I displeased my parents, and hid the matter +from them all this while. I trow I shall never repent that I let +Culverhouse persuade me to plight my troth to him." + +Kate was glad of the assurance Petronella's words had given her +when she was presently summoned before her relatives, and stood in +the dim panelled room before their straight-backed chairs, feeling +the stern eyes of Lady Humbert fixed full upon her, whilst she +heard that her father and brother had already left, since it was +only pain and grief to them to be beneath the same roof as their +obdurate and disobedient daughter and sister. + +Kate received the lecture addressed her by the mistress of the +house with all becoming humility, and without that sinking of heart +that she might otherwise have felt at the cold stern tone; and she +gladly passed her word, when desired to do so, not to go beyond the +precincts of the great walled garden without special permission. In +her walks and rides abroad she was always to be attended, and was +to promise never to slip away from her escort. If she would +faithfully promise this, she might be allowed the companionship of +Ellen Wyvern, now a guest beneath the roof of Cross Way House; and +to give this promise cost Kate no pang, for she had no feverish +desire after unfettered liberty, but was content to await the time +she knew must shortly come now, when Culverhouse would come to +claim her for his own, and would find her no longer the portionless +maiden she once had been, but dowered with some of the rich spoil +from that long-lost hoard. + +Supper was served in solemn state in the dining parlour, and the +two girls sat with their aged relatives to partake of it. +Petronella was a little sad that Philip had gone without even +knowing of her presence beneath that roof: but she was certain +their meeting would not be much longer delayed, and was content to +wait. The Wyvern sisters did not keep a great establishment, as +their means were not large, though they clung to the old house +which had come down to them, and would have sacrificed much rather +than sell it. But Kate soon discovered that the largest rooms were +shut up and partially dismantled in order that comfort should reign +in those parts of the house that were habitually used; that the +staff of servants was but small; and that of these nearly all were +old men and women who had grown gray and enfeebled in the service +of the family, and were kept on by the present mistresses, who +themselves disliked any changes in their establishment, and who +could hardly see their way to finding the wages that able-bodied +servants would look to receive. So they lived in this very quiet +fashion, surrounded by retainers almost as aged as themselves, and +led on the whole a happy and a placid life. Petronella was proving +of so much use that the burden of her maintenance was not felt, and +Sir Richard Trevlyn made generous arrangements for the cost of his +daughter. But there was something altogether quaint and curious in +the life of the house, and Kate thought it exceedingly interesting +even before the first evening had passed. + +Yet all the while she was longing to hear Petronella's tale, and +was glad when the tapestry work was put away, and formal good +nights had been exchanged. The girls ran up to the guest chamber +prepared for Kate, which they had agreed to share together from +that time forth. It did not take them long to slip into bed; and +old Dyson, the waiting woman, who also acted as housekeeper, came +quickly in to see that the lights were safely extinguished, after +which only the glow of the fire illuminated the darkness of the big +room; and Kate in an eager whisper begged Petronella to lose no +time in telling her tale. + +With breathless eagerness she heard of the girl's flight from home, +and of her rescue of Cuthbert from the very jaws of death. She +could not understand Petronella's shuddering horror at the thought +of having killed a man. + +"I would have killed fifty, and been glad to rid the earth of them +were they such wretches as Long Robin!" she cried. + +Then in deep silence she heard of Cuthbert's dive into the well, +and of the golden flagon he had brought up as an earnest of what +was to come. Petronella went on to say that, having made absolutely +sure of the presence of the treasure in the well, Cuthbert had then +directed all his energies to detecting the sources of the hidden +springs that fed it, and after long search and patience had +satisfied himself that it was filled by two, both rising in the +high ground not far distant. + +He had then set to work to see how these waters could be diverted +so as to leave the well dry at his will; and though it had taken +months to perform this feat, and had only been done at the cost of +immense labour and trouble, still it had been done, and one day in +early September the brother and sister had stood together to see +the water ebbing slowly and more slowly away, until at last their +eyes beheld a vast quantity of silver and gold lying exposed at the +bottom of the well, and knew that the lost treasure of Trevlyn was +theirs indeed. + +But their labours were not yet ended. It was plain to both that +they must quickly find some safe spot whither they could transport +it all, else some passing traveller might even now see and report +what he had seen, and so rob them of the fruit of their toil. + +Afraid to go to Trevlyn Chase for help, lest the news should in +some way leak out to Nicholas at the Gate House, and also because +the brother and sister had set their hearts on accomplishing the +task entirely alone, it suddenly entered Cuthbert's head to take +his sister to the Cross Way House, and ask of its owners protection +for her through the approaching inclement season; and then, if +satisfied that these Wyvern kinswomen were to be trusted, and were +friendly of disposition towards them, to whisper the secret of the +treasure trove in their ears, and ask leave to deposit it all +within the great strongroom underground, that the Wyvern house had +always boasted, and of which the secret was known to very few. + +This was the plan that had been carried out. His reception by Lady +Humbert, and her kindness to the lonely Petronella when her pitiful +story was told, quite decided Cuthbert to confide the golden secret +to her. She listened in amaze, but was highly pleased at being the +first person to know it. She laid her hand on Cuthbert's head, and +spoke to him of the old saw which predicted that fortune should +return to the Wyverns through the daughters' sons, and declared +that he was fulfilling the prophecy she had longed to live to see +come true. Cuthbert trusted that such indeed would be the case, but +did not know whether the Wyverns had any lot or share in the +treasure trove. Whereat the old lady smiled, and said that she laid +no claim to the gold--it was none of theirs, and never would be; +but still, with her hand on Cuthbert's head, she declared that +after herself and her sister he should reign at the Cross Way +House, and that his share of the treasure, which in all sooth +should be a large one, since but for him it might never have been +found, would go to restore the fallen fortunes of the house, and to +fulfil in very truth the fondly-cherished prediction. + +Cuthbert's amazement had naturally been great; but this fair +prospect held out to him had but given greater zest to his +enterprise. Not to a single soul in the house would Lady Humbert +confide the secret, lest amongst themselves the faithful old +servants should gossip, and rumour get abroad that the lonely house +was worth attacking. In the dead of night, upon appointed dates, +Cuthbert brought to a certain iron-barred window the laden ass +bearing his costly burden, and Petronella and Lady Humbert +themselves received the treasure and bore it piece by piece to the +secret room. Not a creature slept on that side of the house--not a +living being knew what was passing in the dead hours of the night; and +in this fashion the treasure was being brought, Cuthbert descending +the well, into which a little water had now filtered--enough to +conceal the treasure from a passing observer if such there should +chance to be--and with the assistance of their four-footed friend, +drawing up as much as the patient beast could carry, and transporting +it by night to this very house. + +"When all is done," concluded Petronella--"and every load we think +must surely be the last, there is so much of it--then he will forth +to seek the gipsy in the forest, and tell her that the task is +done. After that he will to London, to see how it fares with his +cousins there, and to tell my uncle something of his tale, +demanding, as I right well believe, the hand of our cousin Cherry +in wedlock, since he may now support a wife in all comfort and +ease. When that is done he will hither again, and Lady Humbert will +ask to her house a gathering of kinsfolk for the Yuletide festival. +And then the great secret will be told. The treasure will be +divided between the Trevlyns assembled beneath this roof; and I +trow, sweet Kate, that my Lord Culverhouse will contrive to be +here, and that when the good news has been told to all, he will +have small work in getting the parental blessing for those nuptials +that will be celebrated anew with pomp and rejoicing, and will make +thee in very truth, and without shadow of a doubt, the Viscountess +Culverhouse." + +Kate, laughing and quivering, clasped Petronella in her arms, as +she cried between laughter and tears: + +"And when that good hap befalls me, sweet Petronella, I will +warrant that Philip will be in no wise behind in claiming his +bride, and that thou as well as I shalt find that the recovered +treasure of Trevlyn has smoothed our path to wedded happiness!" + + + +Chapter 20: How It Fared With Cherry. + + +"Gramercy! what next, I wonder! Here's a pretty kettle of fish! I +always did say that no good came of letters. I wish folks had more +sense than to spend their time writing! I never get a letter but +what it brings a peck of bother with it." + +Mistress Susan Holt was the speaker. She held in her hand a piece +of paper which she was eying with many a scornful sniff. It had +been left at the bridge house by a courier riding through to +Westminster from the south country, and Martin Holt had called his +sister down to his business parlour to open and read the missive. + +He now looked up from his books with a pardonable curiosity to say: + +"Well, sister Susan, letters do not trouble thee oft. And what may +be the news in this one? and from whom comes it?" + +"From Prudence Dyson." + +"Prudence at the Cross Way House? And what says she? it is long +since we had news of her." + +"So long that I had almost forgot where she was: and I marvel she +should trouble us thus. Thy daughters are not serving wenches, +Martin. What can Prudence be thinking of?" + +Martin smiled slightly. It seemed to him that beneath his sister's +iron rule his daughters did little but toil after the fashion of +serving wenches from morning to night. As for Susan herself, she +worked harder than any servant she had ever had beneath her sway. + +"What says the letter?" he asked briefly; "what is the matter that +angers thee?" + +"I am not angry," answered Susan sharply. "I trust I know my duty +better as a Christian than to be angered over trifles. I am but +surprised at such a request. Prudence Dyson asks if I can spare one +of my nieces and thy daughters to dwell for a while at Cross Way +House, to help her with her duties there." + +Martin Holt did not appear to see anything very unreasonable or +extraordinary in that request. + +"What has caused her to wish it?" he asked quietly. "Is she in any +way ill or disabled?" + +"It is not that; it is that there be two young ladies of gentle +birth dwelling now beneath Lady Humbert's care. Prudence desires to +give them all due tendance and service; but as thou knowest, +Martin, the household purse there is not deep, and Prudence strives +might and main to do all she can to save her kind mistress from +needless cost. She is striving now to attend herself upon all four +ladies; and she says that the young maidens are very kindly and +gentle and helpful. But she likes not to see them wait upon +themselves, and she knows that my Lady Humbert would wish them to +have all needful service. Wherefore she asks if thou couldst spare +a daughter to go thither for a while to help her by waiting on the +young damsels. And I--" + +"Well, and wherefore not?" said Martin, stroking his chin +thoughtfully. "Prudence is a good woman, and my dead wife loved her +best of all her family. I know that Lady Humbert is a woman into +whose house any father might trust his daughter without a fear. As +for the question of serving wenches, I trow the wench who goes will +have an easier time than the sisters who abide at home. Susan, I +think it only right to help Prudence in this matter; I can see no +reason against so doing." + +Susan seldom opposed the master of the house, but she looked a +little sour and displeased. + +"We shall have Christmas upon us right soon; we can ill spare any +hands then," she said. + +"O--ho! So it is the thought of thine own pies and stuffed meats +that weighs with thee!" said Martin with a laugh. "Then I will tell +thee what I will do. I will send Cherry, whom thou art ever chiding +for being useless to thee. She shall go to wait upon the two young +madams and help good Prudence at the Cross Way House, and thou +shalt keep thy two useful nieces at home with thee." + +Susan's brow cleared somewhat, but she made a movement of her bony +shoulders indicative of scorn. + +"Cherry may go with all my heart, for she is idler and more useless +than ever, and does naught from morning to night but sit at the +window, watching the folks in the street, and turning from red to +pale and pale to red as though she were a bride looking for the +arrival of her bridegroom. I have no patience with such ways. I +knew no good would come of always spoiling the child. I can do +naught with her now; she heeds not a word I say. Ofttimes she does +not even know that I am speaking to her. She may go, and welcome! +but I misdoubt me that Prudence will thank thee for the loan. Much +good and much service she will get out of Keren Happuch!" + +Martin Holt looked thoughtfully at his sister. + +"That is partly why I am glad the child should go. I too have seen +a change in her. Methinks she is feeling the long hot summer in the +city. There be many that have told me that she is not looking as +she should do. This idleness shows something of indisposition, I +take it. Doubtless she will receive benefit from a change of air +and occupation. She loves to be in the open air, and at the Cross +Way House there will be gardens and pleasaunces and orchards where +she may perchance be suffered to wander at will. Prudence will be +kind to her, and I shall send her gladly." + +Susan again made her peculiar gesture, as much as to say that she +washed her hands of responsibility in the matter. + +"She is thy daughter--do as thou wilt, Martin; but I warn thee that +no good will come of it. Going amongst ladies will make her think +herself a finer lady than ever: and now as it is she will scarce +deign to soil her dainty hands with anything coarser than the +making of light pastry. Thou wilt spoil her for a city man's wife; +and I know not how Abraham Dyson will take it. Prudence is his +sister, to be sure, and it is to do her a kindness; but Jacob wants +a useful wife--and, as I understood, they were resolved not to +delay the marriage beyond Christmas. Rachel has been six months +wed, and the house wants a mistress who can move about and look to +things." + +Martin was looking very thoughtful. He did not reply for a while, +and then he said slowly: + +"Send the child to me, Susan; I will speak to her of this myself." + +"Ay, thou hadst best do so, for I might as well speak to the walls +as to Keren Happuch," said Mistress Susan as she went on her way up +the stairs, by no means pleased at the easy fashion in which her +brother took this matter. + +Susan loved a grand fuss and talk and discussion over every trifle +in the day's round, and this was more than a trifle. Her tongue was +as active as her hands, and she would talk by the hour as she +worked, until those about her grew weary of the very sound of her +voice. + +Martin Holt, who was fully alive to his sister's many virtues and +valuable qualities, did find her something of a trial also, and it +never struck him as at all inexplicable that the self willed and +impetuous little Cherry should often be at loggerheads with her +aunt. + +As she stole down the staircase and stood before him with a +wondering, questioning look in her big eyes, he eyed her keenly, +and could not but see that some of the bloom had faded from her +cheeks, and that she had in some way changed during the past +months. + +"Cherry," he said, taking her small hand in his and speaking in an +unwontedly gentle way, "has thy aunt told thee wherefore I want +thee?" + +"No, father; she said that thou wouldst tell me." + +"And so I will; but tell me first if there is aught amiss with +thee. I have missed thy laugh of late, and thou hast lost some of +thy roses. Does aught ail thee, child?" + +Sudden tears welled up in Cherry's eyes; her lip began to tremble. + +"I know not, I know not," she answered, with a little sob. "It only +seems sometimes as though I could not bear the life any longer; it +is all so drear, so dull, so dead! one day like another--always the +same. Sometimes I think the narrow house will stifle me! O father, +chide me not; I have struggled against the feeling, but the life is +killing me! I know not how to bear it--alone." + +The last word was almost a whisper, and escaped Martin's ears. He +was regarding his child with a thoughtful and perplexed +countenance. He fancied that he was somewhat in the position of a +mother hen who sees its foster brood of ducklings take to the water +for the first time. He did not understand this outburst in the +least. Cherry's restless discontent was an enigma to him. But he +saw that it was real, and that it was a source of trouble and +suffering to herself; and he wisely resolved neither to rebuke nor +condemn her, but simply to treat it as the symptom of a malady of +the body which might be cured by a few months' change and +relaxation. + +The child was half frightened at her own boldness, and stood +trembling before him, Her aunt would have boxed her ears and sent +her to bed for such a confession; but her father only looked at her +as though he were trying to read her very soul, and Cherry +instinctively dropped her eyes, as if fearful that another secret +would be read there--a secret which she kept locked up closely in +her breast, and would not for the world that any other should know. + +"Cherry," said Martin Holt, speaking slowly and quietly, "I know +not what to think of thy words, save that thy disordered fancies +come from a disordered health. Thou hast been looking less robust +than I like to see thee; wherefore I think it well that thou +shouldest have some change in thy life, and see if that will cure +thee. Thy good aunt Prudence Dyson, a younger sister of thy mother, +has sent to ask me if I will spare her one of my daughters to help +wait upon some young madams staying with my Lady Humbert. Thou hast +not been brought up to such duties, but thou hast quick hands and +eyes, and, I trust, a willing heart, and I have resolved to send +thee. Thou wilt be in the country, and the change will doubtless be +good for thee. I shall look to receive thee back restored to thine +old self again. The Cross Way House stands south from this by some +seventeen miles, and is not very far away from the forest of which +Cuthbert used to talk, and Trevlyn Chase where his kinsfolk live. +Thou mayest hear somewhat of him there, for methinks the ladies +Wyvern are in some sort his kinsfolk, too. I marvel that all these +months have gone by without a word or a sign from him. Thou canst +ask if aught has been heard of him. I trust no mishap has befallen +the lad. He promised us news of himself ere now." + +Had the room been less dim and dark, Martin might have seen the +sudden alternations of red and white in Cherry's cheek as these +last words were spoken; but the twilight was drawing in apace, and +she kept her face down bent. But her heart was beating fast with +throbs of gladness as well as astonishment. The idea of being sent +away from home to the house of strangers was something fearful, but +the last clause had given her food for eager anticipation. Where +would she not go for news of Cuthbert, for whom she was now pining, +and pining all the more sadly because she might speak to none of +her anxiety and trouble? + +Cuthbert had said he should be some months away; but she had looked +for him at Michaelmas, and now October was speeding along, and yet +there was no sign. Cherry had all a London girl's terror of the +forests and their perils. She remembered how he had spoken of +danger when last he had ridden through, and how nearly the terrible +old gipsy had fulfilled her vow of vengeance by wreaking it upon +his head. Might she not have found him and have slain him when he +lived hidden away in the forest? Might not his search for the lost +treasure have led him into many deadly perils? If living and free, +why had he not written or appeared to her by this time? Could it +be--oh, could it be--that he had forgotten her, and was keeping +purposely away? Almost sooner would she believe him dead; but +either fear filled her with dread and dismay. + +And now a new throb of hope was in her heart. Once near the forest +and what might she not hear or see? Might she not even find him +herself? In her ignorance and inexperience anything seemed possible +if only she might escape from the trammels of city life, and from +the Argus eye of her aunt Susan. + +"And am I to go and help my aunt Prudence, father?" + +"Yes; I think it is but right and kind that thou shouldst do so. +Thou art willing thyself?--and wilt thou be docile and teachable?" + +"I will strive in all things to please her." + +"That is well. I shall trust thee to do credit to thy name." + +"And when am I to go, father?" + +"So soon as I can find escort for thee; and that methinks will not +be long, since the house stands directly on the road betwixt London +and Southampton. Thou hadst best look to thy clothes and such +things as thou mayest need there; for I would not lose a chance of +sending thee safely guarded. I shall to Abraham Dyson this very +evening, to ask what business is doing by road with Southampton +just now." + +"And how long shall I be away, father?" + +"Nay, child, that I know not. Prudence makes no mention of that. +Haply, I take it, a matter of three months or so, since had the +ladies been leaving shortly she would scarce have sent so urgently +for thee. Thou wilt not be home for thy Christmas, I fear; but thou +wilt be in a good and a godly house, with thine own aunt to watch +over thee; and I trow that thou wilt so act and comport thyself as +to bring credit and not disgrace upon the name thou bearest." + +"I will try, good father," answered Cherry with great meekness; and +her father kissed her and bid her begone, for that he was about to +go forth and talk to Abraham Dyson on this matter. + +Cherry went up to her room feeling bewildered, half frightened, and +yet elated and pleased. Something had come to break at last the +long monotony of the life which she felt was crushing the spirit +out of her. She was going to a place where it seemed that she must +surely have news of Cuthbert, and where, if she did not pass him on +the road, she would certainly be nearer to him. + +Her sisters, greatly astonished, could scarcely believe their ears +when told that Cherry was really going away; and Keziah hung over +her with wistful eyes, assisting her to get her clothes ready, and +wondering what the house would seem like without its rebellious and +most attractive member. + +"Methinks it will be duller than ever," she said. "Jacob will +scarce care to come if thou art gone." + +"Jacob! why, I trow he will but come the more," answered Cherry, +with a saucy gleam in her eye as she looked in Kezzie's grave face. +"He will come to thee for comfort, my sister, and I trow that thou +wilt give it him in full measure." + +Keziah's grave face lighted up somewhat. + +"Thinkest thou that? Indeed I would gladly try. Jacob is a good lad +and a kind one. I marvel thou dost not treat him better, Cherry." + +"I like Jacob; he is very good. We are great friends," answered +Cherry hastily, "but--" + +There she broke off and busied herself over her trunk, saying as +she leaned so far into it that her face could not be seen, "Kezzie, +if Cuthbert should come back, thou wilt tell him where I have gone. +Tell him I am with his kinsfolk, and ask him if he goes that way to +pay a visit to them." + +"I will," answered Keziah, who had her own ideas about Cuthbert's +sudden and entire disappearance; "but I fear me we shall see +Cuthbert no more. He--" + +"Why sayest thou so? What dost thou know? What dost thou mean, +Keziah? Hast thou heard aught of him?" + +"Bless the child--no--" answered Keziah hastily "How should I know +aught of him? But, Cherry, my sweet sister, be not angry with me if +I say it. Cuthbert is a Trevlyn, for all that our aunt was his +mother. He is of rank above ours. He may have made friends in his +own walk in life. He may repent him of the friendships he made at +the bridge house. Be not wroth with me for saying it, but men +before him have gone forth and returned not to those who looked for +them. But if he comes I will tell him--I will tell him all. Only do +not too greatly count upon it. I grieve so lest thou shouldest be +disappointed." + +Cherry said nothing. She would not even by a word seem to doubt +Cuthbert's fidelity. Keziah, if she did not know how matters stood +betwixt them, knew enough to have a very shrewd suspicion of it. +She had been in some sort Cherry's confidante. Both the sisters had +some knowledge of each other's secret. + +The next evening, just before it grew dark, as Cherry was sitting +alone in the upper parlour, exempt from household toil that she +might get her own wardrobe ready, and now having laid her needle +aside because she could no longer see, the door opened, and the +tall, loose figure of Jacob Dyson appeared framed against the dark +background of the staircase behind, and the girl sprang to her feet +with a little exclamation of pleasure and welcome. + +"I thought that thou wouldst come to see me, Jacob. Thou hast heard +that I am going away?" + +"Ay, I have heard it. Art thou glad to be going, Cherry?" + +"Yes, verily I am. I am sick at heart for news of him, and +perchance I may get it where I be going. I shall be near his home +and his kinsfolk." + +Jacob had sat down, and was turning his cap round and round in +those large red hands that were such an offence to the girl. After +a few moments of silence he looked up and said: + +"Cherry, hast thou ever thought of the things thou hast said to +me--of the promise thou hast given?" + +She bent her head low, and the whispered "Yes," was barely audible. + +"Thou wilt not go back from thy word?" + +She raised her head suddenly and said: + +"No, Jacob, I will not go back from my word. Thou hast been very +good and kind and patient; and if in time to come it should be +proved that Cuthbert is dead, or has wed another and been false to +me, then I will say naught against thee, but will do as my father +saith, and strive to make thee a good wife. But I have never +promised to love thee as a wife should love her husband. Thou must +not expect that of me, Jacob." + +She lifted her eyes to his with a look that sent a quick thrill +through him. He put out one of his hands and took hers, saying in +very gentle tone, though his gestures were slightly uncouth: + +"I will only strive might and main to win thy love, sweetheart. +Methinks if thy heart were once free again thou mightest learn the +lesson." + +She shook her head and answered very low: + +"Thou couldst learn to love again, good Jacob; but I--never. I +would that thou couldst look around thee, and find a good and +useful wife whom thy mother would welcome; who would love thee +well, and whom thou couldst love without let. There be such--I am +well assured of it. As for me, even though some day thou shouldst +gain my hand, my heart can never be thine." + +Jacob looked at her with a wistful, dog-like devotion, and heaved a +heavy sigh. That unselfish and faithful youth was going through a +rather hard probation, such as so often falls upon the best and +warmest hearted of earth's sons, who have been denied those outward +graces that charm the fancy and take the eye. He had long since +divined the secret of the attachment betwixt Cuthbert and Cherry; +and when urged by his father to press his own suit, had been +backward in so doing. On Cuthbert's disappearance he had one day +spoken openly to Cherry of his suspicions, and she had frankly told +him all, begging him to keep their secret, and to hold off his own +suit until Cuthbert's quest should be over, and he could come to +claim her as his own. + +Truth to tell, Jacob had little belief in the finding of the lost +treasure; but he did believe in Cuthbert, whom he loved only second +to Cherry, and whom he would any day have set before himself. He +made Cherry a promise that it should be as she desired; that he +would give her time to test Cuthbert's sincerity before he spoke +another word of marriage with her. But he also timidly asked in +return for the sacrifice he was making, and as a reward for his +championship, that if Cuthbert should never return, if harm should +befall him in the forest, or if some other maiden should win his +heart and hand, that then Cherry should become his wife, and let +him try to comfort her by his own devoted and life-long love. + +Cherry had given the promise without overmuch persuasion. What good +would life be to her without Cuthbert? she had argued. If she could +make any one else happy, she might as well do it as not. Jacob was +very good. He would be kind to her and patient with her, whilst her +aunt Susan would be just the reverse. Life under such conditions, +beneath that unsympathetic rule, would be well-nigh unendurable. It +would be better for her own sake to wed Jacob and escape from it +all. And when the promise had been given, it seemed so little +likely that she would be called upon to fulfil it! Even now she +scarcely contemplated it seriously, for her heart was filled with +hope. Was she herself not going towards the forest and Cuthbert? +Surely she would hear somewhat of him there! + +"I shall ask none other woman to be my wife until I know that thou +canst never be mine, Cherry," answered Jacob, with gentle +obstinacy. "I shall never wish aught of ill to Cuthbert. Thou +knowest that I would stand betwixt him and peril an I might. But +till he stands at thy side and claims thee as his own, I will not +give thee up. I can bide my time--I can wait and watch." + +She looked at him with suddenly dilating eyes, as though a qualm of +fear had smitten her. + +"But, Jacob, if he were to come hither when I be gone, thou wouldst +not hinder him from finding me; thou wouldst not do him any ill +turn that we might be kept apart? That would not be fair; it would +be an ill thing. It would be--" + +She stopped suddenly short, for Jacob had risen, and seemed to +stand towering above her, with something majestic in his air that +she had certainly never observed there before. + +"Cherry! for what dost thou take me?" he asked, his voice quivering +with an emotion that showed him to be deeply moved. "Hast thou so +vile an opinion of the man thou mayest some day call thy husband, +the man who bears the name of thy dead mother, that thou canst +think such evil thoughts of him? No, Cherry, I will not hinder him +from finding thee. I will in no wise stand between you. I will aid +him with all that is in my power to find thee. If peril should +menace him and I could stand betwixt him and it, I would do so +gladly. I would lay down my life for him, if by so doing thou and +he might one day be happy. Dost think that I prize my life so high, +since I may not win the crown that would make its happiness? If I +may not live for thee, Cherry, methinks I would sooner die for +thee, if by so doing I might win thee happiness and love. I love +thee and I love Cuthbert. I ask nothing better than that I may in +some sort serve and save you twain." + +And with a gesture of rugged dignity of which Cherry was keenly +aware, and which raised Jacob to an altogether different level in +her mind, he held out his hand as if to seal the compact, and +without waiting for her broken words of explanation and apology, +turned and walked out of the room. + +Two days later Cherry started forth upon her travels. Her father +went part of the way with her, and left her but seven miles from +the end of her journey. She was escorted by a body of merchants and +their servants, who were transporting some merchandise to +Southampton, and were a goodly company in themselves for fear of +assault from the robbers of the road. As they had quantities of +valuables with them, they intended to travel only during the +daylight hours, and after leaving Cherry at the Cross Way House, +would put up for the night at the nearest town on the southern side +of the forest. + +How Cherry's heart beat as her fellow travellers pointed out the +wall and chimneys of her destination, and the whole party reined up +at the door! The Cross Way House was well known to travellers as +being one of the regular landmarks along the road. It was a +hospitable mansion for any wayfarers in distress, and its mistress +was held in high repute, and had never yet been molested or +threatened by the highway bands, who might have been troublesome to +the members of any household whose walls abutted so close upon the +road. Lady Humbert was reaping the reward for the renowned kindness +of heart of the whole Wyvern family towards all the lowly, the +unfortunate, and the oppressed; and though many a fugitive fleeing +from the robbers had found shelter within her walls, these had +proved as safe shelter as the walls of any ancient sanctuary; for +once within Lady Humbert's gates and not even the most hated and +hunted foe need fear further molestation. + +Cherry had heard some such words as these as the party had jogged +onwards together; and now she found herself standing timidly at the +back entrance of the house, her box beside her, and one of her +uncle's friends at her side. When the door was opened and her +guardian spoke her name and errand, she was quickly made welcome to +enter, and after saying a hasty goodbye to the kindly merchant, +found herself traversing several long stone passages, till she was +finally ushered into a low parlour, where an elderly woman sat +brewing over the fire some concoction which looked like one of +Mistress Susan's compounds of berries and spice. + +"Sure it is my good aunt, Prudence Dyson," said Cherry, as the +woman looked quickly round. "Methinks I should have guessed that +anywhere, thou art so like to my uncle." + +The woman came forward and saluted her niece gravely and kindly. + +"Thou art Martin Holt's daughter? What is thy name, child? I could +scarce make it out from Susan's letter, for she is no scholar, as +she ofttimes says. I am right glad to welcome thee, and I trust +thou comest to us with a willing heart?" + +"A right willing heart," answered the girl, smiling bravely, +despite the strangeness of her surroundings; for there was +something home-like and comforting in the aspect of her aunt and in +the sound of her voice. "I was glad my father's choice lighted on +me, and I will strive to please in all I do. My name is Cherry--at +least that is how I am always called. And who are the ladies upon +whom I am to wait?" + +"The one whom thou wilt chiefly serve is Mistress Kate Trevlyn, a +daughter of Sir Richard Trevlyn of the Chase. I know not if thou +knowest aught of the family, but most like thou art aware that thy +aunt Bridget made a luckless marriage with one Nicholas Trevlyn, +whereby she cast herself adrift from all her family. Why, child, +what a colour thou hast! What dost thou know of this matter?" + +"I know my cousin Cuthbert Trevlyn," answered Cherry, trying to +speak naturally, though her heart beat wildly all the while. "He +came to us a year ago, and remained beneath my father's roof till +the summer had well-nigh come. From him we learned much of the +family; and right glad am I to think that I may serve Mistress +Kate, who was a kind friend to him in times past. My cousin +Cuthbert was much beloved by all our house whilst he remained +beneath our roof. We have not heard of him this many a day. Dost +thou know aught of him, my aunt?" + +Prudence Dyson gave her niece a quick, sharp glance, and then +answered a little evasively: + +"Thou must ask that question of Mistress Kate, my dear, if she will +please to talk with thee. She may have had news of him belike. As +for us of this household, we hear but little of what happens in the +world beyond. We are all growing old together." + +Had it not been for the earnestness with which they were talking, +the aunt and niece might have heard a light footfall down the +passage. The door was softly pushed open, and a clear voice asked: + +"Is Mistress Dowsabel's hot posset ready, Dyson? she has asked for +it more than once." + +Both women started and turned round, and Cherry uttered a little +involuntary cry, whilst the name "Cuthbert" sprang to her lips so +fast that she was not sure that she had not uttered it aloud. Her +eyes were fixed upon the face of the dark-eyed girl who had brought +the message. + +"I will take it at once," said Dyson, hastily lifting it from the +fire. "I crave my lady's pardon for being late with it; but my +niece from London has but just arrived, and I was hindered for the +moment. + +"Cherry, wait here till I return, and then I will speak more with +thee." + +Dyson hurried away with the posset, and the two girls stood gazing +at each other, a light of welcome and amaze in both their eyes. + +"Cherry! did she call thee Cherry? and from London, too? And Kate +bath ofttimes said that--Oh, why waste words?" cried the girl, +breaking off quickly. "Tell me, art thou Martin Holt's daughter? +art thou my brother Cuthbert's Cherry?" + +"Thy brother? then thou art Petronella!" cried Cherry, in a maze of +bewilderment; and even as she spoke the name she felt Petronella's +arms about her, and they were laughing and kissing, questioning and +exclaiming, all in the most incoherent fashion, yet contriving to +make each other understand some fragments of their respective +stories, till at last Petronella drew herself away and laid her +hand on Cherry's arm, saying as she did so: + +"But remember that here I am Ellen Wyvern, and not even good Dyson +knows more than that. Be on thy guard, good coz, and only speak +familiarly to me in secret. O Cherry, how I have longed to see +thee--Cuthbert's Cherry, of whom I have heard so much! And how +comest thou hither? Has he sent thee?" + +"He? I have not seen him these six months past. Petronella, sweet +cousin, give me good news of him." + +"Why, so I can--the very best. He has found the treasure. It is +safely lodged here. And he has gone forth into the forest again, +first to tell the tale to the gipsy queen, who has been his friend +through all, and then to return to London to thy father's house to +seek his Cherry once again, and claim her hand before all the +world." + + + +Chapter 21: The Gipsy's Warning. + + +"Thy task is done, and it is well done. But now get thee from the +forest with all speed, for there is peril to thee here." + +So said Joanna, standing before Cuthbert in the pixies' dell, her +hand upon the low stone wall, her tall figure drawn up to its full +height. She had been looking thoughtfully down into the sparkling +water, which was now filling the well as of old, whilst Cuthbert +told his tale with graphic power. An expression of calm triumph was +on her face as she heard how the long-lost hoard was lying safely +stored within the house of the Wyverns--a house sacred to the +gipsies and safe from any raids of robbers, such was the esteem in +which that name was held. She looked like one whose task is done, +who feels a heavy load lifted from the mind; but the glance fixed +upon Cuthbert's eager face was also one of gravity and meaning. + +"The forest is no place for thee now," she said; "get thee hence as +fast as thou canst." + +"And wherefore so?" asked Cuthbert, surprised. "Methought the peril +ceased with the death of--" + +"Hush!" said the gipsy, almost sternly; "bethink thee that there +may be listeners even now about us in these thick bushes, and guard +thy words with caution. Remember the strange links that bind +together those of the wild gipsy blood; and remember that Long +Robin lies in his bloody grave not far from here." + +She lowered her voice as she spoke, and Cuthbert instinctively +followed her example. + +"But no man knows that." + +"How canst thou tell?" + +"None saw the deed. It was done in the dead of night. Ere morning +came he was laid below the earth. Thou thyself knew not what had +befallen him till I spoke the word." + +He looked at her as if in momentary distrust; but the calm gaze and +the noble countenance of the gipsy seemed to reassure him. Joanna, +who had read his thought, smiled slightly. + +"Nay, boy, thou needst not fear treachery from Joanna, and the +gipsy queen will give thee all protection in her power. Have I not +told thee that upon me, when I received that title, was laid the +charge of seeing the stolen treasure restored to the house of +Trevlyn? To thy courage and resolve and perseverance and skill +belongs it that this charge is now fulfilled. Thou needst not fear +that any ill will or lack of caution on Joanna's part will cause +evil to light upon thy head. But there are others with whom thou +mayest have to reckon. There is Miriam, to whom Long Robin was as +the apple of the eye." + +"Yet he was not her husband (he is no aged man), and he can scarce +have been her son." + +"No matter. As I have told thee ere this, there be strange bonds +betwixt us of the gipsy blood, binding closer and firmer than ever +ties of kinship do. Miriam loved yon man with a love passing all +others. She has missed him these many weeks. She is frantic with +anxious grief. She is convinced that some ill has befallen him. She +is rousing to anger and vengeance the whole tribe. They have vowed +that they will find Robin, whether he be dead or alive, and that if +dead they will avenge them on his murderer. Already suspicion has +fallen upon thee. Dost think thy many journeys through the forest +have passed unnoted by us?" + +"I have never seen a soul; I had not known myself watched." + +"Luckily for thee thou hast not been watched, else would little of +the treasure have been placed in safe keeping. Thou hast reaped the +benefit Robin hoped to reap himself alone when he surrounded this +dell as with a barrier that no man might pass. Even the most daring +spirits of our tribe dare not come here; and Miriam, who bids them +scour the forest in all other directions, fears to tell them to +come hither, albeit I well know she will shortly search the spot +herself if Robin come not soon. Then she will find the grave; it +will not escape her eyes. First she will think the lost treasure +lies there, for I am convinced that Robin never told her the full +secret. Then when she looks farther, she will find what that grave +really contains; and thou hadst best be far away ere that day +comes. Thou hast been seen. Thy journeyings in the forest have +provoked wonder and curiosity. Let Miriam once learn that Robin +lies there, and the whole truth will flash upon her; and then look +thou to thyself!" + +These words were spoken with such significance that Cuthbert +experienced an involuntary qualm of fear. + +"I thank thee for the warning," he said; "I will avail myself of +thy kind counsel. I had thought of journeying to London ere this. +There, it may be, I shall be hidden from their malice." + +"Thou wilt be safer there than here," answered the gipsy quietly; +"I will not say thou wilt be truly safe in any spot if Miriam's ire +be once roused against thee. She has a wondrous fierce spirit, and +she has influence with our people second only to mine. And then +there hung about Long Robin a mysterious charm. Men loved him +not--they feared and distrusted him; and yet, were it to be known +that he had met his death by violence, Miriam would have but small +trouble in stirring up the hearts of a score of stout fellows vowed +to vengeance. In the forest thou wilt have small chance of thy +life." + +"Perchance they will follow me to London," said Cuthbert; "if so, +it will be small use to fly." + +"In London our folks have fears for themselves," answered the gipsy +queen. "Half of them are outlawed; the other half lie beneath the +suspicion of sorcery, which in these days is almost worse. They may +hover about the dens of the city, but they will fear to molest thee +elsewhere. Thou must take heed how thou venturest beyond the city +walls, for Tyrrel and his men may be lurking beyond on the watch." + +"Methought Tyrrel and Miriam were no such friends," said Cuthbert, +recollecting the night when he had been brought to the mill. "Will +he take up her quarrel?" + +"If she can make him believe that Robin had the secret of the lost +treasure, and that thou didst force the secret from him ere thou +laidest him in his grave, he will take up the quarrel in right good +earnest, and rest not till he has learned where the treasure has +been hid. We of the gipsy tribe have as little believed in that hid +treasure as the house of Trevlyn, hence its safety all these years. +But let Miriam once tell what she knows--which is something, I +warrant--and there may be many who will then believe that the +secret was in Robin's keeping. They will be certain sure that thou +wouldst not have killed the man until thou hadst made sure of the +treasure. It would be acting like the fabled yokel who killed the +goose that laid the golden eggs. Wherefore be gone. Hide thyself in +London town. In a few weeks or months the chase may be over; but +for the time being beware of the forest!" + +"I will," answered Cuthbert. "I thank thee for thy good counsel. I +will be speedily gone." + +Joanna stood looking reflectively at him. + +"Thou wouldst he safest within the walls that shelter the +treasure--with thy kinsfolk of the house of Wyvern." + +"Nay, but I must first go to London," answered Cuthbert quickly; "I +have been long absent. My kinsfolk there will be looking for news +of me. And perchance my presence in the house of my kinswomen might +imperil them. I would not be a cause of danger to them." + +"Thou art a bold and true-hearted lad," answered Joanna; "and it +may be well that for the nonce thou shouldest keep away from the +Cross Way House. Thy presence there might awaken suspicion; though +I scarce believe that any lust of gold would drive our people to +attack that house. Go then to London, and lose thyself there +awhile. Presently thou mayest return and see how thy sister fareth; +but not too soon--not too soon!" + +Cuthbert started. + +"My sister!" he said; "how knowest thou that?" + +Joanna smiled her lofty smile. + +"Ask a gipsy how she knoweth what takes place within the limits of +her domain! Tush, boy! thinkest thou that I do not know all that +passes in the forest? Thy sister has done well to find a shelter +there. She is safer at the Cross Way House than in this dell with +thee." + +"If she is safe I can well look to myself," answered Cuthbert, with +the confidence of youth and strength. "To be warned where the peril +lies is half the battle. I will be cautious--I will be wary; and +having naught to keep me in the forest, I will start for London +town this very day." + +"Ay, do so, and without an hour's delay. Old Miriam is raging like +a fury. Tyrrel may at any moment return, and I trow she will rouse +him to bitter enmity towards thee. Fly, before any strive to stay +thee. And when thou hast reached the city, go once again to Esther. +Tell her that the deed is done, the treasure found, that it lies in +the house of the Wyverns, and that the luck has come back to the +house, as was always said, through the daughters' sons." + +"I will," answered Cuthbert; and bidding a farewell to the gipsy, +to whose protection and goodwill he owed so much, he left the dell +and made his way rapidly through the forest, till he struck the +road which would lead him to London. + +He would not turn out of the direct way to go to the Cross Way +House, though he would gladly have seen his sister and Kate and his +aged kinswomen again. He did not wish them to know of the peril +which might threaten his own path, nor did he desire to draw +attention to that house by directing his steps thither in broad +daylight. Plainly his presence in the forest had already excited +remark. He had been seen far oftener than he had known. If he did +not linger, but pursued his way to London without delay, he might +reach it by nightfall, and that was no small inducement to him. +Petronella knew that he was bound thither; she would not reckon on +seeing him again. And there was Cherry at the other end. The +thought of seeing her again that very day drew him onwards like a +magnet. During these long weeks of search and hard toil, the +thought of Cherry had been the best sweetener of his labour. He had +talked of her with his sister, he had dreamed of her when he lay +down to sleep at night, and now he was on his way to see her, to +tell her all the tale, and ask her at her father's hand. The +thought was sweet to intoxication, and his eager anticipation +seemed to put wings to his feet. + +How different were his feelings as he drew near to the great city +this second time! It was just about a year since he had entered it +for the first time, a stranger, homeless, well-nigh penniless, and +very uncertain of the reception he should receive from his kinsfolk +on the bridge. Now he stepped towards the region of shining lights +with all confidence and joy. He was rich past his wildest hopes, +for the treasure had proved to be far greater than even his fondest +dreams had credited; and he knew that when division was made, it +would be no niggard portion that would fall to the share of the +finder. He had won for himself such goodwill from his kinsfolk as +would stand him in good stead in days to come. He had enlarged his +scholarship, made for himself a number of friends of all degrees, +and, above all, had won the love of his cousin Cherry, and a +position which would enable him speedily to ask her at her father's +hands. He would fulfil his boyish promise made last Yuletide, when +he vowed her that the day should come when she should no longer +pine for the innocent gaieties and luxuries of wealth, but should +herself be a lady of some degree, and should have her house and her +horses and servants, and a bright and happy future with the husband +of her choice. + +Now he had set foot upon the bridge, and was eagerly traversing the +familiar roadway, as the short daylight faded and the lights from +the houses shone out brighter and brighter in the gloom. His +uncle's house was almost in sight. His heart was beating high with +anticipation and delight, when a hand was laid suddenly upon his +shoulder, and he turned to find himself face to face with Anthony +Cole. + +He was about to exclaim in words of pleasure and welcome, when his +attention was arrested by the strange expression upon the thin, +eager face--an expression so strange that it checked the +commonplace words of greeting that sprang naturally to Cuthbert's +lips, and he waited in silence for what Anthony should say. + +"Thou hast come! it is well," said the latter, in tones that were +little above a whisper. "Methought that thou wouldst not be absent +at such a time. Well doth it behove every true son of the Church to +rally round her at such a moment. I felt assured that thou wouldst +be here. Others beside me have been watching for thee. It is well. +Keep thine own counsel; be wary, be discreet. And now go. It boots +not that we be seen talking together thus. When thou hast fitting +opportunity, come secretly to my house; thou wilt be welcome +there." + +And half pushing Cuthbert from him before the bewildered youth had +time to speak a single word, the printer disappeared within his own +door, and Cuthbert was left to make his way to his uncle's house. + +"Beshrew me if I know what Master Anthony means!" said Cuthbert to +himself. "I trow there be matters stirring in London town of which +we in the country know nothing. How strange it is that one can +hardly set foot in this great seething city without hearing words +of mystery--without feeling oneself enwrapped in its strange +atmosphere of doubt and perplexity. Something is doubtless astir of +which I know naught; but at my uncle's house I shall hear all." + +The shutters were just being put up at Martin Holt's as Cuthbert +stepped across the threshold. The servant uttered a cry of +astonishment as he saw his master's nephew, and Martin himself came +forward from the little room behind. + +"Bless me, is it thou, Cuthbert?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Well, +boy, thou art welcome since thou art come, though we had almost +begun to think thou hadst forgot us and thy promise to return. Come +upstairs and greet thy aunt and cousins. Hast thou seen aught of +Cherry, as thou comest from the south?" + +Cuthbert stepped back a pace, and some of the light went out of his +face. + +"Cherry!" he stammered, taken aback. "How should I have seen her? +Is she not here?" + +"Not for a matter of four days. She is helping her aunt, Prudence +Dyson at the Cross Way House, to wait upon some guests the ladies +are entertaining. Methought if you had come that way you might have +chanced upon her." + +A keen thrill of disappointment ran through Cuthbert's frame. To +think how near he had been to Cherry and had never guessed it! If +only he had called at the Cross Way House that day! + +"I have not been there for the matter of a week. I was last at +Trevlyn Chase; but mine uncle and his son have gone to London, as I +heard. I had hoped to find Cherry here." + +"Well, thou wilt find all but her. Go up, go up! Thou wilt need +refreshment after thy journey, and thou shalt hear the news as we +sup. Thine old room shall be made ready for thee. I am glad to see +thy face again, boy; and would hear thy story anon." + +Cuthbert received a warmer welcome than he had looked for from the +aunt and cousins upstairs. Perhaps they were all missing the +brightness that had left them when Cherry went. Perhaps the vacant +place at the board day by day was an offence to the conservative +eye of Mistress Susan. But whatever was the cause, there was no +denying the cordiality of the reception accorded to him; and after +the lonely life of the forest, and all his wanderings there, his +strange resting places, and many hours of watching, toil, and +anxious fear, it seemed pleasant indeed to be sitting at this +hospitable board, warmed by the friendly glow of the fire, and +discussing the savoury viands that always adorned a table of +Mistress Susan's spreading, and which did indeed taste well after +the hardy and sometimes scanty fare he had known in the forest. + +But his open-air life had done him good in many ways. His uncle +smiled, and told him he had grown to be a very son of Anak, and +that he was as brown as a gipsy; whilst his cousins looked at him +with furtive admiration, and Keziah could almost have wept that +Cherry was not there to welcome him. + +Cuthbert, however, quickly got over his disappointment on this +score, and after swallowing a few sighs, was content to think that +it might indeed be best so. Cherry would learn where he was from +Petronella, and would hear from her that his heart was still her +own, and that success had crowned his search after the lost +treasure. He could go to seek her shortly, when the gipsy tribe +should have drawn away from that part of the forest into the +quarters they preferred during the winter months. Were she to be +here, he must surely betray himself, and should have to speak +immediately to Martin Holt of his desire to make Cherry his wife. +Somehow, when face to face with his uncle, he felt less confident +of winning his sanction for this step than he had done when away +from him in the forest. There it had seemed perfectly simple so +long as he could show the father that he had the means to keep a +wife in comfort. Now he began to wonder if this would be enough. +Hints were dropped by both the Holts regarding Cherry's approaching +marriage with Jacob Dyson. Mistress Susan openly regretted her +absence from home as hindering that ceremony; and although Martin +Holt spoke with more reticence, it was plain he was still +cherishing the hope of the match when his wilful youngest should be +a little older. + +It might be that Cherry's absence at this time was fortunate rather +than the reverse. Cuthbert, at any rate, was relieved from the +necessity for immediate action; and when he had spoken a little of +himself, his kinsfolk, and the visits he had paid during his +wanderings in the forest (keeping the real object of those +wanderings quite out of the talk), he turned his conversation to +other matters, and asked what was passing in London, and what was +chiefly stirring men's minds. + +"Marry it is the opening of Parliament that is the chiefest thing," +said Martin Holt. "It is said in the city that his Majesty loves +not his good Parliament; and truly it looks like it, since he has +put off its opening so many a time. First it was to have been last +February, then not till the third of this present month. Now it is +again prolongued till the fifth of November next; but I trow his +Majesty will scarce dare to postpone again. His people like not +those rulers who fear to meet those who are chosen by them to +debate on matters of the state. It looks not well for the sovereign +to fear to meet his people." + +Cuthbert, who knew little about such matters, asked many questions +about Parliament and its assemblies. His uncle answered him freely +and fully, and explained to him exactly the site of the building +where the great body assembled. + +"Thou canst take the wherry thou used to love so well, and row +thyself to Westminster one of these days, and look well at the +Parliament Houses," said Martin Holt. "It is a grand spectacle to +see the King come in state to open the assembly. Thou mayest see +that sight, too, an thou purposest to stay with us so long." + +"I would gladly do so," answered Cuthbert, who remembered that he +was bidden not to return to the forest too quickly. He knew that, +now he was safely away, Joanna would allow all search to be made +after him there, and that it would soon be ascertained that he had +fled. But whilst that search was going on, he was safest in London, +and was glad enough of the opportunity of seeing any gay pageant. + +As he lay in his narrow bed that night, enjoying the comfort of it +after his chilly nook in the tree, which had been his best shelter +of late, and somewhat disturbed by the noises that from time to +time arose from the street below, he recalled to mind the strange +greeting he had received from Anthony Cole, and wondered anew at +his mysterious words. + +And then his fancy somehow strayed to the great Parliament Houses +of which his uncle had spoken. He remembered that strange dark +journey across the river from Lambeth and the lonely house there to +Westminster and its lofty palaces. He recalled the locality of the +house he had entered, where Catesby and his friends were assembled +at some strange toil, and the terrified aspect these men all wore +when some unexpected sound had smitten upon their ears. He recalled +the sudden fierce grip of Catesby's hand upon his arm before he +recognized the face of the stranger within their midst. He +recollected the threats he had striven to speak binding him to the +silence he was so willing to promise. + +What did it all mean? what could it mean? Lying in the dark, and +turning the matter over and over in his mind, Cuthbert began to +feel some fearful and sinister suspicions. + +The month when all this had happened had been early in the year; +was it January, or early February? He could scarce remember, but he +knew it was one or the other. And had not his uncle said that +Parliament was to have met in February? Now that it was about to +meet soon again, had not Anthony spoken words implying that some +muster of friends was looked for in London; and had not Anthony and +his son always regarded him in the light of a friend and ally? + +Cuthbert was by this time aware that he had but little love left +for the creed in which he had been reared. It seemed to him that +all, or at any rate far the greater part, of what was precious in +that creed was equally open to him in the Church established in the +land, together with the liberty to read the Scriptures for himself, +and to exercise his own freedom of conscience as no priest of the +Romish Church would ever let him exercise it. With him there had +been no wild revulsion of feeling, no sense of tearing and rending +away from one faith to join himself to another. His own convictions +had been of gradual growth, and he still felt and would always feel +a certain loving loyalty towards the Church of his childhood. +Still, he was increasingly convinced of the fact that it was not +within that fold that he himself could ever find true peace and +conviction of soul; and though no ardent theologian, and by no +means given over to controversy and dogmatism, he had reached a +steady conclusion as to his own faith, and one that was little +likely to be shaken. + +At the same time he was kindly disposed to those of his countrymen +who were still beneath the Papal yoke, and were suffering for their +old allegiance. He honoured their constancy, and felt even a boyish +sense of shame in having, as it were, deserted the weaker side when +it was in trouble and undergoing persecution. He felt a qualm of +uneasiness when he thought of this, and would gladly have shared +the perils if he could have shared the convictions of those who had +striven to make him their friend. Cuthbert was a little in advance +of his times in the facility with which he set aside matters of +opinion in the choosing of his friends. Those were days in which +men were seldom able to do this. They still divided themselves into +opposing camps, and hated not only the opinions embraced by their +rivals, but the rivals themselves, without any discrimination at +all. To be intimate and friendly with those of hostile opinions was +far more rare then than it has since become; and Cuthbert, who +possessed that faculty, was liable to be greatly misunderstood, and +to run into perils of which he little dreamed. + +Thinking of those things he had seen that strange night led him to +wonder more and more what it could all mean; and, accordingly, upon +the morrow the first visit he paid was to Anthony Cole on the +bridge, hoping that through him this curiosity might be in some way +satisfied. + +Cuthbert took the privilege accorded him in old times, and walked +through the house and up the narrow staircase without pausing in +the shop below. It was still early, and business had not yet begun. +The house was very silent; but he heard low-toned voices above, and +pursued his way towards them. As he did so a door, the existence of +which had never been discovered by him before, though he thought +the house was well known by him from attic to basement, suddenly +opened from the staircase, and a head appeared for a single +instant, and was as suddenly withdrawn. The door closed sharply, +and he heard the click as of a spring falling back to its place. He +passed his hand across his eyes as he exclaimed beneath his breath: + +"Sure that was Father Urban--" + +But he began to feel doubtful as to his right to come and go in +this house at will, and was about to descend the stairs quietly +again, when a door opened from above, and some one came hastily +down the stairs. Cuthbert fancied he saw the gleam of some weapon +in the hand of the advancing figure, and felt that he had better be +upon his guard. + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn!" exclaimed a familiar voice, and a hand was +slipped beneath the doublet, and there was no further gleam of cold +steel. "I am right glad to welcome thee. It is well for friends to +muster at such a time. Comest thou with news?" + +Walter Cole was the speaker. His face too wore something of the +look which Cuthbert had observed on the father's the previous +evening--an expression of strained expectancy, as if with long +waiting mind and spirit had alike grown worn and over anxious. The +bright eyes scanned his face eagerly. Cuthbert felt half ashamed of +his ignorance of and indifference to the burning questions of the +day. + +"I have heard naught, I know naught. I have been living the life of +the forests these past months," he answered, following Walter into +a small room where they had often worked together. "I have heard no +word of what was passing in the world; I come to learn that here." + +The eagerness faded from Walter's face. He spoke much more quietly. + +"Belike thou wert right to hide and live thus obscure; many of our +leaders have done the like. It is ofttimes the best and the safest +plan. But the time is at hand, and we must rally around them now. +When the hour has struck and when the deed is done, then will it be +for us to work--then will our hour of toil come. East and west, +north and south, must we spur forth with the tidings. The whole +nation must hear it and be roused. The blow must be struck whilst +the iron is hot. Thus and only thus can we be secure of the +promised victory." + +Walter spoke quietly, yet with an undercurrent of deep enthusiasm +that struck an answering chord in Cuthbert's heart. All true and +deep feeling moved him to sympathy. His friend was talking in +riddles to him; but he felt the earnestness and devotion of the +man, and his sympathy was at once aroused. + +"What hour? what blow? what deed?" he asked wonderingly. "I know +not of what thou speakest." + +Walter drew his brows together and regarded him with an expression +of intense and wondering scrutiny. When he spoke it was in a +different tone, as though he were carefully weighing his every +word, as though he were a little uncertain of the ground on which +he stood. There was something of evasive vagueness in his tone, +whilst his eyes were fixed on Cuthbert's face as though he would +read his very soul. + +"Methought thou knewest how cruelly we suffered, and that we trust +some stroke of kind fortune's wheel may ere long make life +something better for us. The King meets his Parliament soon. Then +is the time when men's grievances may be discussed, and when there +is hope for all that wiser and more merciful laws may be passed. We +have gathered together at this time to see what may be done. We are +resolved, as thou must surely know, not to suffer like this for +ever. Half the people of the realm be with us. It were strange if +nothing could be accomplished. Cuthbert Trevlyn, answer me this: +thou dost wish us well; thou art not a false friend--one who would +deceive and betray?" + +"Never, never, never!" answered Cuthbert, with all the heat of +youth and generous feeling. "I would never betray those who have +trusted me, not though they were my foes. And I too hate and +abominate these iniquitous laws that persecute men's bodies for +what they hold with their minds and souls. I have suffered +persecution myself. I know how bitter a thing it is. I would have +every man free to believe that which his conscience approves. I +would join with any who would implore the King to show mercy and +clemency to his persecuted subjects." + +Walter's face relaxed; he looked relieved and pleased. + +"Methought that we could trust thee, Cuthbert. Thou art a Trevlyn; +it must needs be thou art stanch. I am right glad that thou art +here. There may be work yet for thee to do. Thou wilt abide in +thine uncle's house until--" + +"Until Parliament opens at least," answered Cuthbert quickly. "I +have said as much to him, I would fain be there then and see it +all. And my presence in the forest is known by foes; it is no place +for me longer." + +Then breaking off, for he had not meant to say so much, and had no +wish to be further questioned on the subject, he asked in a low +tone: + +"Sure it was Father Urban whose face I saw on the stairs but now?" + +"Hist! silence!" whispered Walter, with a glance enforcing caution; +"do not breathe that name even within these walls. He is here at +risk of his life; but at such a moment he will not be away. A +warrant is out against him. He may not venture abroad by night or +day. But he can be useful in a thousand ways, for he knows more +than any other man of some matters appertaining to the state. And +if our hopes be realized, then he will emerge from his prison and +rove the country from end to end. He has friends in every place. To +him we shall look for guidance in a hundred ways." + +Walter's eyes glowed. He looked like one to whom triumph is a +certainty--one who anticipates success and already tastes the +sweets thereof. Cuthbert was growing uncomfortable. He felt as +though he were hearing more than he ought to do. True, the Coles +had talked in very much this fashion all through the dark days of +the previous winter when he had been so much with them. They were +always looking for a day of release, always dwelling on the bright +prospects of the future. But some instinct told Cuthbert that there +was a difference now in the fashion of their talk, and he was made +uncomfortable by it though he scarce knew why. + +He rose to go. + +"I have but just returned. I have many visits to pay. I will come +again anon," he said. + +"Ay, but come not too openly. Let us not be seen consorting +together. And as thou walkest the street, keep thine eyes and thine +ears open and attent, and learn ever what men say and think. If +thou hearest aught of moment, bring it to us. Every whisper may be +of value. And now farewell. Come not again by day, but slip in by +the door in the archway when all be wrapped in gloom. So it is +safest." + +Cuthbert drew a deep breath of relief when he stood once again in +the fresh air. He walked rapidly through the familiar sunny streets +and strove to forget the impression made upon him by the recent +interview. + +"Plots, plots, plots!" he muttered--"nothing but dark plots, and +the hope that things will thus be set right. I misdoubt me if it +will ever be by such means. Poor souls! I pity them with all my +heart; but I like not their ways. They are not the ways of truth, +of uprightness, of equity. Methinks I had better hold aloof and +have no dealings with them. They seem to think because I like +them--the men themselves--and mislike these persecutions even as +they do, that I am one with them and understand their ways and +their deeds. But I do not, I do not, and I think not that I ever +shall. I will go mine own way, and they must go theirs. It were +best not to meddle too much in strange matters. Now I will go and +seek honest Jacob. From him methinks I shall get as warm a welcome, +but a welcome that is not tinged with these mysteries and dark +words." + + + +Chapter 22: Whispers Abroad. + + +"Have naught to do with them, Cuthbert! I like them not." + +"Yet they be good men, and stanch and true. Thou hast said so +thyself a score of times in my hearing, good Jacob. Why should I +avoid them now? What have they done amiss?" + +Jacob passed his large hand across his face, and looked at Cuthbert +with an expression of perplexity. + +"They are Papists," he said at last, in a slightly vague and +inconclusive fashion. + +Cuthbert laughed aloud. + +"Why, that I know well; and I am not scared by the name, as some of +your Puritan folk seem to be. Papists, after all, are fellow +men--and fellow Christians too, if it comes to that. It was a +Christian act of theirs to take to their home that hunted priest +whom we rescued that foggy night, Jacob. Many would have made much +ado ere they had opened their doors to one in such plight. Thou +canst not deny that there was true Christian charity in that act." + +"Nay, nay, I would not try to deny it," answered Jacob, in his +calm, lethargic way, still regarding Cuthbert with a look of +admiration and curiosity, somewhat as a savage regards a white man, +scarce knowing from moment to moment what his acts will be. "Yet +for all that I would warn thee to keep away from that house. Men +whisper that there be strange doings there. I know not the truth of +what is spoken. But we walk in slippery places; it were well to +take heed to our steps." + +Cuthbert returned Jacob's look with one equally tinged with +curiosity. + +"Nay now, speak more openly. What dost thou mean, good Jacob? What +do men say anent these Coles?" + +Jacob glanced round and instinctively lowered his voice. + +"It is not of the Coles alone that they speak; it is of the whole +faction of the Papists. I know not what is said or what is known in +high places; but this I know, that there be strange whispers +abroad." + +Cuthbert's eyes lighted. A slight thrill ran through him. He +recalled the words recently spoken to him by his whilom friends. +But all he said was: + +"Verily men are ever whispering. It was the same cry when I was +here a year agone, and no great thing has happened; wherefore this +new fear?" + +Jacob shook his head. His answer was spoken in a slow, ponderous +fashion. + +"Men will speak and whisper; yet the world wags on as before, and +men well-nigh cease to listen or heed. But mark my word, Cuthbert, +there be no smoke where there is not fire; and these Papists, who +are for ever plotting, plotting, plotting, will one day spring some +strange thing upon the world. There be so many cries of 'Wolf!' +that folks begin to smile and say the real wolf will never come. +But that follows not. I like not this ever-restless secret scheming +and gathering together in dark corners. It is not for their +religion that I hate and distrust the Papists. I know little about +matters of controversy. I meddle not in things too high for me. But +I hate them for their subtlety, their deceitful ways, their lying, +and their fraud. Thou knowest how they schemed and plotted the +death of good Queen Bess; we citizens of London find it hard to +forgive them that! We love not the son of this same Mary Stuart, +whom of old the Papists strove to give us for our Queen; yet he is +our lawful King, accepted by the nation as our sovereign; and +failing him I know not whom we might choose to reign over us. +Wherefore say I, Down with these schemers and plotters! If men wish +their grievances redressed, let them work in the light and not in +the dark. We Protestants know that it is Bible law that evil must +never be done that good may come; but the Papists hold that they +may do never so many crimes and evil deeds if they may but win some +point of theirs at last. Thou dost not hold such false doctrine, I +trow, Cuthbert? thou art a soul above such false seeming." + +Cuthbert drew his brows together in a thoughtful reverie. + +"I trow thou hast the right of it, Jacob," he answered. "I love not +dark scheming, nor love I these endless plots. Yet in these days of +oppression it must be hard for men to act openly. If they be driven +to secret methods, the fault is less theirs than that of their +rulers." + +"There be faults on both sides, I doubt not," answered Jacob, with +calm toleration. "But two evils make not one good; and the Puritans +who suffer in like fashion do not plot to overthrow their rulers." + +"How knowest thou that the Papists do?" asked Cuthbert quickly. + +"It has always been their way," answered Jacob; "and though I know +but little of the meaning of the sinister whispers I hear, we have +but to look back to former days to see how it has ever been. Think +of the two plots of this very reign, the 'Bye' and the 'Main'! What +was their object but the subversion of the present rulers? What +they have tried before they will try again; and we who live beside +this great river, and mingle with those who come from beyond the +seas, do see and hear many things that others would not know. There +have been comings and goings of late that I have not liked. It may +be that mine eyes have played me false, but methought one dark +night I saw a figure strangely like Father Urban land at the wharf, +and he was incontinently joined by Walter Cole, who took him +hastily and secretly away." + +Cuthbert started slightly, and Jacob continued: + +"And yet when I whispered a question to Walter a few days later +concerning the priest, of whose welfare I have asked from time to +time since I had a hand in his rescue, he told me that he was still +beyond the seas, and that it was not like he would ever set foot on +English soil again." + +Cuthbert was silent. But he presently asked a question. + +"But who is this Father Urban? and why should his appearance mean +aught, or disturb thee?" + +"Father Urban is a Jesuit, and one of those they call seminary +priests, and all such are held in detestation and suspicion above +all other Papists. When men lay hands on them they show them scant +mercy. It is a saying in this land that when treason and murder and +wickedness is abroad, a seminary priest is sure to be the leading +spirit. When those two last plots were hatching, this Father Urban +was in the country. He has returned now, and many men are looking +abroad with fear, wondering how soon the calm will be interrupted. +I like it not; I like it not; and I caution thee to keep away from +yon house, and to have no dealings with the Papists. They be +treacherous friends as well as wily foes. It were best and safest +for thee to keep away from all such. Thou art not one of them; why +shouldest thou consort with them?" + +"I do not consort with them," answered Cuthbert; "but I have none +of thy hatred for the name, and these men have been kind and +friendly to me. I owe much to the lessons Anthony Cole has taught +me. I have no knowledge of their secrets, but I cannot see why I +may not speak a friendly word with them; even my uncle does that." + +"Ay, but he goes not to their house--and his name is not Trevlyn." + +"But what of that? the Trevlyns are now a stanch family, in favour +with the King and his counsellors." + +"Ay, but the name is not forgotten in many quarters as belonging to +a race of persecuting Papists. It takes long for old memories to +die out. Thou hadst better take heed, Cuthbert. A whisper against +thee would soon spread and take root. I prithee meddle not in such +matters, lest some ill befall thee!" + +Cuthbert thanked honest Jacob for his goodwill and for his warning, +but he could not see that it was needed. He was but an obscure +youth, of no note in the world. He had no dealings with any of +those plots of which men were whispering, and he could not see how +any act of his could raise suspicion of any sort against him. He +was growing intensely curious about the seething fire beneath the +outer crust of quietness and security. If some great plot were +hatching, if some great upheaval were at hand, why might not he +scent out something beforehand? Why might not he discover what was +baffling the sagacity of others? He had no wish to be a spy or an +informer; he had too much generous sympathy with the oppressed for +that. But he was intensely curious about it all, and he felt as +though his youth and obscurity would be his best protection if he +chose to make some investigations on his own account. + +The old eager thirst for knowledge was coming upon him. The old +love of adventure, which had run him into many perils already, had +not been quenched by his recent experiences. Success had crowned +his labours in the forest; why should that success desert him now? +And then the thought came to him that he might by chance discover +something which might be of use to his own kinsmen. He knew that +Sir Richard Trevlyn and his son Philip--Petronella's lover--were in +London. Might it not be possible that they had better be elsewhere +at such a time? Jacob's words about the Trevlyns might perchance be +true. He had heard his uncle say the same before. If any possible +peril should be menacing them, how gladly would he find it out and +warn them in time! It began to appear to the youth in the light of +a duty to pursue his investigation, and it was just such a task as +best appealed to his ardent and fiery temperament. + +But he scarce knew what the first step had better be; so he gave up +the day following to seeking out Lord Culverhouse, and learning +from him what was the feeling in high quarters. + +Culverhouse greeted him warmly, and at once begged him to ride out +with him into the pleasant regions where the parks now stand, which +were then much larger, and only just taking any semblance of park, +being more like fields with rides running across them. Each +succeeding king did something for the improvement of this region, +though the open ground became considerably diminished as stately +buildings grew up around it. + +"Cuthbert," said the Viscount, when they had left the busy streets +and were practically alone and out of earshot of any chance passers +by, "dost thou know that the matter of our secret wedding is now +known?" + +"I heard so from Mistress Kate, who has been sent away from home in +disgrace, but is bearing her captivity cheerfully, with my sister +for her companion." + +Culverhouse was eager to hear everything Cuthbert could tell him, +and was delighted that his lady love was happy in her honourable +captivity. When he had asked every question he could think of, he +went on with his own side of the story. + +"There was a fine coil when Sir Richard brought the news, and I was +rated more soundly than I have been since I was a little lad and +lost my father's best falcon through letting it loose when the +falconer was not by to whistle it back. There has been a mighty +talking and arguing as to whether such wedlock as ours be lawful, +and no man seems rightly to know. That we must be wed again in more +orderly fashion all agree, if we are to live together as man and +wife; but none will dare to say that we may break the pledge we +gave each to the other that day. My father talked at first of +moving some high court to set us free; but my mother shook her head +and said that vows so solemnly spoken before God and in His name +might never rightly be annulled by man. She was grieved and as +angered as she knows how to be at our hot-headed rashness, and +spoke to me words which hurt me more than my father's ratings. Yet +she holds steadfastly to this--that we are betrothed too firmly to +be parted; and what she holds she can generally make my father +hold, for he thinks much of her piety and true discernment." + +"So that thou art out of thy trouble for the nonce?" + +Culverhouse laughed and shrugged his shoulders. + +"I say not that, for they tell us it will be many years ere we can +hope to be wed again in due form; and waiting is weary work." + +"And why should you wait?" + +Culverhouse laughed again. + +"That is soon answered. My father has always told me that I must +wed a lady of wealth if I am to wed young. Our estates are +encumbered. We have more state to keep up than we well know how to +manage. We have had troubles and losses even as the Trevlyns have. +I have known this well. I cannot complain of my father. +Nevertheless I chose my Kate without any dowry before all the world +beside, and I am prepared to abide by my choice. But we shall have +to wait; we shall have to possess our souls in patience. They all +tell us that; and I gainsay them not. I am young. I have friends in +high places. I will win a name for myself, and a fortune too, ere +my head be gray. Alas for the old days of chivalry, when men might +ride forth to fame and glory, and win both that and wealth in a few +short years! Those bright days are gone for ever. Still methinks I +will conquer fate yet!" + +Culverhouse looked as though fitted indeed for some career of +chivalrous daring. He and Cuthbert would gladly have ridden forth +together upon some knightly quest; but the days for such things had +gone by, as both recognized with a sigh. Still there was brightness +in Cuthbert's eyes as he said: + +"Mistress Kate will spend her Christmas at the Cross Way House, and +I trow that others of the Trevlyns will do the like. If thou wilt +be one of the party there upon that day, I doubt not that there +will be a welcome for thee; and perchance thou wilt find then that +thy nuptials need not be so long postponed. A golden key may be +found which will unlock many doors." + +Culverhouse looked quickly and eagerly at his companion, but could +ask no more even had he wished, as they were at that moment joined +by two friends of his, young men about the Court, who at once began +to talk of the approaching opening of Parliament and the grand show +that would accompany the act. + +The King's love for fine dress, fine pageants, and fine shows, of +which he was the sun and centre (in his own opinion at least), was +well known by this time. These young sprigs of the nobility amused +themselves by making game freely of his Majesty behind his back, +ridiculing his vanity, mimicking his ungainly action, especially +upon horseback (though he considered himself a most finished and +accomplished rider), and describing to Culverhouse the fine new +robes he had ordered for the occasion, and which were to surpass in +grandeur anything he had ever worn before. + +"Folks talked of the vanity of our good Queen Bess, and called her +mighty extravagant; but beshrew me if she were half as vain or +extravagant as our noble King Jamie! It is a marvel he cannot see +how ten-fold uglier he makes his ugly person by trapping himself +out in all such frippery and gorgeous apparel." + +So the young men chatted on in lightsome fashion, and Cuthbert, who +listened to every word, could not gather that the smallest +uneasiness had penetrated the minds of those who moved in these +high places. Culverhouse talked with equal gaiety and security. +Certainly he had no suspicion of coming ill. The mutterings of +discontent the seething of the troubled waters, the undefined +apprehensions of many of the classes of the people, were apparently +unknown and unheeded here. All was sunshine and brightness in the +region of palaces. But if these youths had entertained any secret +misgivings, they would have discussed them freely together. + +Culverhouse kept Cuthbert to dinner, and he was kindly received by +the Earl's family. Lady Andover even remembered to ask after +Cherry, and won Cuthbert's heart by so doing. She questioned him in +private about the marriage in the church porch, of which he had +been witness, and plainly all he told her only went to strengthen +her conviction that the matter had gone too far to admit of any +drawing back without some breach of faith that was akin to +sacrilege. + +After the meal, which seemed stately and long to Cuthbert, +Culverhouse asked him would he like to see the Houses of +Parliament, where the King would shortly meet his Lords and +Commons. Cuthbert eagerly assented, and the two youths spent some +time in wandering about the stately buildings, to which Culverhouse +could obtain easy admittance; the Viscount explaining to his +companion where the King sat and where his immediate counsellors, +to all of which Cuthbert listened with marked attention. + +There were several attendants and ushers within the building, and +Culverhouse told him that orders had been given to keep strict +watch over the building both by night and day. + +"The King is not like our good Queen--Heaven rest her soul!" said +the Viscount, laughing. "He does not trust his people. He is always +in fear of some mischance either through accident or design. Well +may the great Shakespeare have said: 'Uneasy lies the head that +wears a crown!' Albeit the King would do better to have a little +more courage." + +This was the first word Cuthbert had heard of any uneasiness in +high quarters, and he asked with some eagerness: + +"Meanest thou that the King fears some evil to himself at this +time?" + +"No; I have heard naught of that. The country seems unwontedly +quiet. It is the fear which never leaves him--the fear that makes +him wear a doublet so thickly quilted that it would suffice to turn +the sharpest blade, even as a suit of chain mail. He is always +dreading assassination. That is why he wills such close watch to be +kept, lest haply any evil-disposed person might find hiding within +the walls and spring upon him unawares. Methinks it is an unkingly +fear, but there it be, and he carries it ever with him. The Queen +had none such--nor had she need; and as thou knowest, when once an +assassin did approach her when she was alone in her garden, the +glance of her eye kept him cowed and at bay till her gentlemen +could hasten to her side. She was a Queen in very truth! I would we +had more of her like!" + +Culverhouse spoke out aloud, careless of being overheard, for he +was but speaking the thoughts of the whole nation. Cuthbert echoed +his wish with all sincerity; and still looking round and about him +with keen interest, went through a certain mental calculation which +caused him at last to ask: + +"And what buildings lie around or beneath this?" + +"I know not exactly how that may be. There is a house close beside +this where methinks I have heard that Master Thomas Percy dwells, +the steward to my Lord of Northumberland. I know not what lies +beneath; it may be some sort of cellar. + +"Dost thou know, fellow, whether there be cellars beneath this +place?" + +Culverhouse spoke to a man-at-arms who appeared to be on duty +there, and who had for some moments been regarding Cuthbert with +close scrutiny, and had now drawn slowly near them. Cuthbert was +vaguely aware that the man's face was in some way familiar to him, +but he had no recollection where he had seen him before. + +"Master Thomas Percy has rented the cellar beneath, where his coals +be stored," answered the man carelessly; and Cuthbert, who had +asked the question rather haphazard and without exactly knowing +why, moved away to examine a piece of fine carving close at hand. + +Whilst he was doing this he knew that the man-at-arms asked +Culverhouse a question, to which the latter gave ready reply, and +he heard the name of Trevlyn pass his lips. At the moment he heeded +this little, but the remembrance came back to him later. + +As he passed out he noted that the man still continued to gaze +after him, as though wishful to read his face by heart. He was +standing beside a companion warder then, pointing out, as it +seemed, the visitor to the other fellow. Was it only fancy, or did +Cuthbert really hear the name of Father Urban pass in a whisper +between them? Puzzled, and even a shade uneasy, he followed +Culverhouse to the outer door, A flash of memory seemed then to +recall to him the faces of these two men. Had he not seen them +keeping watch at the wharf for Father Urban that day so long ago? +He was almost certain it had been so. But what of that? How could +they possibly connect him with the fugitive priest? + +It would soon be dusk now, so the comrades said adieu to each other +and went their several ways. Cuthbert had come as far as the Strand +by boat, and had only to drop down and find it there; but somehow +he felt more disposed to linger about these solemn old buildings, +and try to piece together the things he had seen and heard. + +Hardly knowing what he was doing, he wandered round the great pile +till he came to the narrow entry he had once traversed, leading up +from the river to the door of the house where he had seen Catesby +and his companions at their mysterious toil. The house looked dark +as night now. Not a single gleam penetrated the gloom. Already the +last of the twilight had faded into night, but no ray of any kind +shone from any of the casements. + +Cuthbert stood looking thoughtfully up at the house, hardly knowing +why he did so, his fancy running riot in his excited brain and +conjuring up all manner of fantastic visions, when suddenly and +silently the door opened. A gleam of light from behind showed in +relief the figure of a tall man muffled in a cloak, a soft felt hat +being drawn over the brow and effectually concealing the features; +but one glance sufficed to convince Cuthbert that this cloaked and +muffled individual was none other than the same tall dark man who +had produced the holy water blessed by the Pope and had had it +sprinkled around the spot where those mysterious men were at work +in Percy's house. Filled with a burning curiosity that rendered him +impervious to the thought of personal risk, Cuthbert first shrank +into a dark recess, and then with hushed and noiseless footfall +followed the tall figure in its walk. + +The cloaked man walked quietly, but without any appearance of fear. +He skirted round the great block of buildings of which the Houses +of Parliament were composed, until he reached a door in the rear of +that building, within a deep arch sunk a little way below the level +of the ground, and this door he opened, but closed it after him, +and locked it on the inside. + +Unable to follow further, Cuthbert put his ear to the keyhole, and +heard distinctly the sound of footsteps descending stone stairs +till the sound changed to the unbarring of a lower door, and then +all was silence. + +Cuthbert looked keenly around him, and soon made out that these +steps must certainly lead down to the cellar beneath the Parliament +Houses of which he had recently heard. That other cellar he had +visited so many months before was close at hand--close to these +great buildings; and this tall dark man seemed to have some +mysterious connection with both. + +What could it all mean? what did it mean? Cuthbert felt as though +he were on the eve of some strange discovery, but what that +discovery could be he could not guess. + +He was aroused from his reverie by the sound of approaching +footfalls along the roadway, and he hastily stood upright and +walked onwards to meet the advancing pedestrian. The man carried a +light which he flashed in Cuthbert's face, and the youth saw that +it was one of the men-at-arms on guard over these buildings. + +"What are you doing here?" asked the man civilly, though in +slightly peremptory fashion. + +"I did not know that this road was anything but public," answered +Cuthbert, with careless boldness. "I have walked in London streets +before now, no man interfering with me." + +"Have a care how and where you walk at night," returned the man, +passing by without further comment. "There be many perils abroad in +the streets--more than perchance you wot of." + +Cuthbert thanked him for the hint, and went on his way. He would +have liked well enough to linger till the tall man emerged again, +but he saw that to do so would only excite suspicion. + +Although it was quite dark by this time, it was not really late; +for it was the last day of October save one, and masses of heavy +cloud obscured the sky. Now and again a ray of moonlight glinted +through these ragged masses, but for the rest it was profoundly +dark in the narrow streets, and only a little lighter on the open +river. + +The tide was running in fast, with a strong cold easterly wind. +Cuthbert saw that it would be hard work to row against it. + +"Better wait for the ebb; it will not be long in coming now," he +said to himself as he noted the height of the tide; and stepping +into his boat, he pulled idly out into midstream, as being a safer +place of waiting than the dark wharf, to find himself drifting up +with the strong current, which he did not care to try to stem. + +"Beware of the dark-flowing river!" spoke a voice within him; +"beware of the black cellar!" + +He started, for it almost seemed as though some one had spoken the +words in his ear, and a little thrill of fear ran through him. But +all was silent save for the wash of the current as it bore him +rapidly onwards, and he knew that the voice was one in his own +head. + +Upwards and upwards he drifted; was it by his own will, or not? He +did not himself know, he could not have said. He only knew that a +spell seemed upon him, that an intense desire had seized him to +look once again upon that lonely house beside the river bank. He +had no wish to try to obtain entrance there. He felt that he was +treading the dark mazes of some unhallowed plot. But this very +suspicion only increased his burning curiosity; and surely there +could no harm come of one look at that dark and lonely place. + +No volition of his own was needed to carry him onwards; wind and +tide did all that. He had merely to keep his place and steer his +little bark up the wide river. He saw against the sky the great +pile of Westminster. He had drifted almost across the river by that +time. He was seated in the bow of the boat, just dipping an oar +from time to time as it slipped along beneath the trees. And now +the moon shone out for a few minutes clear and bright. It did not +shine upon his own craft, gliding so stealthily beneath the bare +trees that fringed the wall of the very house he had come to see; +but it did gleam upon another wherry out in midstream, rowed by a +strong man wrapped in a cloak, and directed straight for the same +spot. Cuthbert started, and caught hold of a bough of a weeping +willow, bringing his boat to a standstill in a place where the +shadow was blackest. He had no wish to be found in this strange +position. He would remain hidden until this other boat had landed +at the steps. He would be hidden well where he was. He had better +be perfectly silent, and so remain. + +A sound of voices above his head warned him that he was not the +only watcher, and for a moment he feared that, silent as had been +his movements, his presence had been discovered. But some one spoke +in anxious accents, and in that voice he recognized the clear and +mellow tones of Robert Catesby. He was speaking in a low voice to +some companion. + +"If he comes not within a short while, I shall hold that all is +lost. I fear me we did wrong to send him. That letter--that +letter--that luckless letter! who can have been the writer?" + +"Tresham, I fear me without doubt, albeit he denied it with such +steadfast boldness. Would to heaven that fickle hound had never +been admitted to our counsels! That was thy doing, Catesby." + +"Ay, and terribly do I repent me of it, Winter. I upbraid myself as +bitterly as any can upbraid me for the folly. But hark--listen! I +hear the plash of oars. See, there is a boat! It is he--it is +Fawkes! I know him by his height and his strong action. Heaven be +praised! All cannot yet be lost! Move upwards yet a few paces, and +we will speak to him here alone before we take him within doors to +the others. + +"Guido Fawkes! Good Guy, is that verily thou?" + +"Verily and in truth, my masters. Has the time seemed long?" + +"Terribly long. How foundest thou all?" + +"All well--all as I left it weeks ago. There has been no soul +within. Gunpowder, faggots, iron bars, and stones--all are as +before; and above, the coal and faggots carefully concealing all. +Why this anxiety and fear, Catesby? it was not wont to be so with +thee." + +"No; but I have something of terrible import to reveal to thee, +good Guy. And first I must ask thy pardon for thus exposing thee to +peril as this day I did. I sent thee on this mission of inspection; +but I ought first to have told thee that we are in fear and +trembling lest we have been betrayed!" + +"Betrayed!" echoed Fawkes with a fierce oath, "and by whom?" + +"That we know not. But some days since, my Lord Mounteagle received +a mysterious warning bidding him absent himself from this meeting +of Parliament, for that a blow should then be struck, no man seeing +who dealt it. Wherefore we fear--" + +"Mounteagle!" cried Fawkes, interrupting fiercely; "then the +traitor is yon false hound Tresham!" + +"So we all thought till we charged him with it, and had he blenched +or shrunk our daggers should have been buried in his heart!" +answered Winter in low, fierce accents; "but he swore he knew +naught of it, and that with so bold a front and so open an air that +for very doubt of his guilt we could not smite him. There may be +other traitors in the camp. There was that lad thou, or thy fool of +a servant, Catesby, once brought amongst us. I liked it not then. +He should not have been let go without solemn oath taken on pain of +death. Trevlyn, methinks, was the name. I hear he has been seen in +London again of late. Why does he haunt us? what does he suspect?" + +"Tush! thou art dreaming. Trevlyn! why, that is a good name, and +the lad knows nothing, and is, moreover, stanch. + +"Guido, thou hast not said that thou dost pardon us for sending +thee on so perilous an errand this day." + +"Thou needst not repent, Catesby. I should have adventured myself +the same had I known all. I have sworn myself to this task, and I +go not back to mine own country till all be accomplished." + + + +Chapter 23: Peril For Trevlyn. + + +Cuthbert stood at the door of the narrow house in Budge Row, +seeking speech of the wise woman. + +It was a blustering night--the first night in November. The wind +howled and shrieked round the corners of the streets; the rain +pattered down and splashed the garments of the few pedestrians who +had braved the storm. It was but seven of the clock, yet Budge Row +was dark and quiet as though midnight had settled down upon the +city. Scarce any gleams of light filtered through the cracks in the +shutters, and only the sound of a distant watchman's cry broke the +silence of the night. + +Cuthbert had once before sought this house, but had knocked in vain +for admittance. Either the wise woman was from home, or else she +had no intention of receiving visitors. Since then his mind had +been engrossed by other matters, and he had not thought again of +Joanna's charge concerning Esther. But recent mysterious +occurrences had made him desirous not only of telling her his own +tale, but of seeking information from her; and here he stood in the +wind and rain making request for admittance. + +Softly and silently the door swung open at last, and he saw before +him the dark passage he had traversed a year before with Cherry, +the dim light from above just guiding his steps as he moved. The +same juggleries were repeated as on that occasion. The outer door +swung back and bolted itself behind him. The invisible light +wavered and flickered and showed him his way. The black cat +appeared ready to dispute his entrance into the room till he had +dropped his coin into the box; and when he entered the dim place +where the wise woman ensconced herself, he saw her as before, +seated behind the lamp which shed its light upon him, but left her +face in deep shadow. All was precisely as it had been upon a former +occasion--all but his reception by the wise woman herself. + +That, however, was altogether different; for the moment she saw who +her visitor was, she rose suddenly from her chair and exclaimed in +excited tones: + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn, why hast thou not come hither sooner?" + +"I did, but could not find thee." + +She made an impatient exclamation. + +"And thou wert content not to find me, and came not again and yet +again! Foolish boy! Did not Joanna warn thee to seek me out and +tell me all? I know well that she did. She is loyal and true. And +so, boy, the lost treasure is found, and is safe beneath the roof +of that house which shelters the honoured heads of the Wyverns?" + +"Yes, it is all there." + +The old woman flung up her arms with a gesture of triumph. + +"I knew it: I knew it I knew that the prophecy would fulfil itself, +for all Miriam's spite and Long Robin's greed. Boy, thou hast done +well, thou hast done very well. But thou hast been more bold than +secret. Thou art suspected. Miriam has been here. She is raging +like a lioness robbed of her whelps. She loved yon fierce man who +called himself Long Robin, yet was neither husband of hers, still +less her son, with a love more wild and fierce than thou wilt ever +understand. She vows that she will be revenged. She vows that the +Trevlyns shall yet smart. She suspects not thee alone, but all who +bear the name. Boy, boy, why didst thou not seek me earlier?" + +Cuthbert made no response. He was looking in amaze at this old +woman, who had now come forth from her nook behind the table, and +was speaking to him without any assumption of prophetic power, but +as one anxious human creature to another. He saw in her a strange +likeness to old Miriam, and to the dark gipsy queen; but he +marvelled at the excitement she evinced, and the eager intensity of +her gaze. It was so different from her aspect when last he had seen +her, so much more natural and full of human concern and anxiety. + +"I have looked for thee day by day. I said in my heart, surely thou +wouldst come quickly. And now, in lieu of seeking safety and +counsel, thou hast been running blindly into those very perils of +which I warned thee long ago. As if it were not enough to have +Tyrrel and all his crew, with old Miriam at their back, resolved to +hunt thee down and wrest the treasure from thee!" + +Cuthbert started and looked intently at her. + +"Miriam! Tyrrel! what can they know?" + +"Miriam can piece together facts as well as I," answered Esther in +rapid tones; "and thou oughtest by this to know what power that +gives to those who possess the gift. In brief, I will tell thee +what I myself have learned from her and others. She missed Long +Robin, waited for his return till despair took the place of +expectation. She knew that one of two things had happened--either +that he had made off with the treasure, or that he had been done to +death in the forest by some secret foe. Burning with fear and fury, +she caused search to be made. The grave was found where the body +lay. Rage filled the hearts of all the tribe, for the strange old +man was venerated and feared, albeit he was not greatly beloved; +and as thou knowest, amongst our people an injury done to one is +avenged by all. Thou hadst been seen in the forest, seen moving to +and fro in mysterious fashion. Many had wondered what thy business +was, but none had interfered; for thou wast known to be under the +protection of Joanna, and the word of the queen is sacred. But now +that may serve no longer to protect thee. Miriam has declared aloud +that Robin was the keeper of the long-lost treasure, that he was +hoarding it up in some secret spot, ready to divide it amongst the +whole tribe when the moment should have come. In fervid words she +described the golden hoard--the hoard which I know well that evil +man meant to make all his own when the time came that he might +escape from the jealous watch kept upon him by Miriam. He was but +waiting for her death, which may not be far distant, since she is +subject to strange seizures of the heart which defy all our skill +in curing. Then would he have fled, and taken all the treasure with +him. He would have shared the spoil with none, as Miriam well +knows. But she is using her power and her half knowledge of the +secret for her own ends, and one of those ends is--" + +The old woman paused, looking straight at Cuthbert, who regarded +her fixedly, and now asked in a low voice: + +"Is what?" + +"The destruction of the house of Trevlyn, root and branch." + +A gleam of angry defiance shone in his eyes. + +"Still that mad hatred? But why should we fear her? Let her do her +worst!" + +Esther raised a warning hand. + +"Peace, boy!" she said; "be not so full of recklessness and scorn. +Miriam is an adversary not to be despised. Miriam is sworn to the +task of vengeance upon thy house. She will not let this fresh deed +of thine pass without striving might and main to fulfil that +vengeance which thou hast now made void." + +"Made void?" + +"Ay, by the finding of the treasure. She is assured that this is +what thou hast done. She has persuaded Tyrrel and his band of it, +and all are resolved to find it for themselves. She is acting with +the craftiness of her nature. She has persuaded them that all the +Trevlyns are in the golden secret. Wherefore vengeance is not +directed against thee alone, but against all who bear thy name--Sir +Richard and his son, who are in this city now." + +Cuthbert drew his brows together in a frown. + +"They know naught of it," he said hastily. + +"That may be; but they are Trevlyns, and that is enough for Miriam. +It is not the gold she covets; it is vengeance upon all who bear +that name. She stirs the avarice and cupidity of others, that they +may do the work she wishes done. And she works in other dark ways, +too. She has tools which few suspect, and she uses them for her own +ends without scruple. And thou, foolish boy, blind and self willed +as thou art, unheeding my warnings, hast played into her hands; and +now others as well as thyself may be brought into sore peril +through thine own foolhardy recklessness." + +The old woman's eyes were gleaming brightly. They were fixed upon +Cuthbert with keen intensity. He felt himself change colour beneath +their glance, and he answered with some uneasiness: + +"What hast thou to chide me with? Wherein have I been guilty of +recklessness that may be hurtful to others?" + +"Did I not charge thee to beware the dark-flowing river; to avoid +the black cellar; to have no dealings with strange men; to have the +courage to say nay to what was asked of thee? Hast. thou avoided +these perils? No! thou hast been led on by thy reckless hardihood +and insensate curiosity. Hast thou said no to what has been asked +of thee! No! thou hast ever done the things required of thee, +making excuse to forget warnings and disobey those who have +counselled thee for thy good. And what has come of it? Verily, that +the name of Trevlyn has been whispered amongst the names of +traitors suspected of foul crimes, and that thine own kindred now +stand in dire peril from thine own defiant hardihood." + +Cuthbert started and made a step forward. + +"Woman, what meanest thou?" he asked with breathless eagerness. "I +understand not the meaning of thy words." + +Esther continued to gaze at him with her bright keen eyes. + +"Understandest thou not that there be on foot at this very moment a +vile plot for the destruction at one blow of the King, the nobles, +and the whole house of his Peers--a plot to blow them all into the +air at the moment of their assembly upon the fifth day of this +month?" + +Cuthbert recoiled in horror. A sudden illumination came upon him. +He put together chance words dropped, expressions used, things he +had seen as well as what he had heard, and his face grew pale with +conflicting emotions and his extreme bewilderment. + +"What?" he gasped; "is that what it means? Is that the hideous deed +to be done? Great Heavens protect us from such men, if it has come +to that! + +"How knowest thou this thing?" he added, turning almost fiercely +upon the old woman, who was still regarding him steadily. "If it be +as thou sayest, sure such a fearful secret would be held sacred +from all." + +Esther smiled her strange smile. + +"Secrets known to many have a wondrous fashion of leaking out. And, +moreover, the wise woman has means thou knowest naught of for +learning the things concealed from the world. Cuthbert Trevlyn, +look back, search thy memory, and thou wilt surely know that I have +spoken naught but the truth. If thou art not one of them, thou +knowest their dark secrets; thou canst not deny it!" + +Again he recoiled from her. + +"I know their secrets! I one of them! Woman, dost thou believe this +vile thing of me? + +"No, I believe it not. I know that thou hast but let thyself be led +into dire peril through that foolish, generous weakness of youth +and thy Trevlyn blood, against which I have warned thee--and warned +thee in vain. But dost thou think thou canst despise the warnings +of the wise woman and escape deadly peril? Cuthbert Trevlyn, listen +to me and heed me well. This thing is known--is known in high +places. The King and his counsellors have had intelligence thereof. +The deed of darkness will be frustrated, and heads will fall +beneath the axe of the executioner. Already whispers are going +abroad--already the guilty ones are watched and spied upon; and +with the guilty there are those suspected who know naught of this +vile deed. Shall I say more, or can thine own quick wits supply the +rest?" + +Cuthbert had turned a little pale. His eyes were fixed upon this +woman's face. + +"Tell me all," he said hoarsely. "What dost thou mean by these dark +sayings?" + +"I mean," she answered, in clear low tones, "that there is peril +for Trevlyn in this thing. Thine own rashness, Miriam's spite and +quickness of wit to avail herself of every trifling matter that +passes, the presence in London of Sir Richard and his son at this +time, the old tradition surrounding the name of Trevlyn--all are +helping on the work; all are pointing in one direction. Rash boy, +thou hast been seen with Father Urban in the streets--a Jesuit, a +seminary priest, a man suspected of many plots and many daring acts +of courage and cunning. Thou art suspected to have been concerned +in his escape one dark and foggy night, when thou wert on the river +in thy wherry; and he must have been taken on board some such +craft. Thou hast been seen with others who are suspected of being +mixed up in this business. Thou hast appeared within the city walls +when they appeared; when they were absent thou wast absent +likewise. Thou wouldst not heed warnings when yet there was time; +thou must now take double heed to thy steps--" + +"Thou spokest of Sir Richard and his son but now," cried Cuthbert, +interrupting hastily. "For myself, I must take the consequences of +my rashness. The fault is mine, and if harm comes to me I can bear +it; but if others have been imperilled through me, I should never +forgive myself. Tell me plainly if this has been so; keep me not in +suspense! How can one word be breathed against the loyalty of a man +faithful and true as Sir Richard, and a stanch Protestant to boot?" + +The old woman shook her head meaningly. + +"A man's character and reputation and life may too easily be +whispered away in these evil times. But listen to me, Cuthbert +Trevlyn, and all may yet be well. Thou hast been noted, spied upon, +observed. There be those who have seen thee in strange places and +strange company, and it behoves thee to look well to thyself. But +for thy kinsmen, methinks that no whisper regarding them has as yet +reached high quarters. As thou sayest, Sir Richard's loyalty is +known, and men will not easily believe such ill of him. Yet he were +best to be gone. Miriam is at work. Miriam has tools that even I +wot not of, and she hates the head of Trevlyn's house with a bitter +and undying hatred. Let but this thing be known--as known it will +be to all the world in a few more days--and she will leave no stone +unturned to overwhelm him in the ruin that must then fall upon so +many. Vengeance such as that would be dear to her heart. She would +weave her web right skilfully to entrap his unsuspecting steps. +Wherefore let him begone--let all who bear the name of Trevlyn +begone, and that right speedily. Flight will not be thought flight +now; for this thing is as yet a profound secret, and thou must not +breathe a word that I have spoken to thee abroad, else thou mayest +do harm of which thou little reckest. Let him go speedily; and go +thou likewise, and do not tarry. If thou wouldst undo the harm thy +rashness has well-nigh brought to thy kinsfolk, carry them this +warning, and make them listen." + +"That will I do right speedily," answered Cuthbert, whose heart was +beating high with excitement and agitation. "Did harm befall them +through deed of mine, I should never forgive myself." + +"Go then," answered Esther; "go, and be thou cautious and wary. +Remember thou hast many foes, and that the hour of peril darkens +over this land. Strange things will be heard and seen ere many days +have passed. Take heed that thou be far away from hence ere the day +of reckoning comes. Take heed that Miriam's vow of vengeance be not +accomplished, and that the house of Trevlyn be drawn into the +vortex!" + +Cuthbert descended the stairs with uncertain steps, his mind in a +whirl of conflicting feelings. He believed that Esther was sincere +in her desire for the welfare of the house of Trevlyn. He trusted +her, and he saw that she had in some way or another become +possessed of information concerning himself of a very particular +and intimate kind. This being so, it was easy to believe that she +had discovered other matters of hidden import; and he was quite +disposed to give her credit for dealings in magic and charms which +should show her the things that were to be. + +The horror of the knowledge of this plot was upon him as he went +forth into the streets and felt the keen air and the cold rain +dashing in his face. He could not doubt the truth of Esther's +words. All he had seen and heard tallied too well with it to leave +in his mind any room for doubt. A plot of some sort he had always +suspected--he would have been foolish indeed to have come to any +other conclusion; but a plot of such malignity and such diabolical +scope would never have presented itself to his mind. He found it +hard to believe that such a terrible thing could be menaced against +the King and the nobles of the land, many amongst whom must surely +be of the same faith as those conspirators who were plotting in the +dark. + +And then the peril that menaced the Trevlyns--what of that? +Cuthbert remembered the looks bent upon him a few days back by the +men-at-arms in the Parliament House. He remembered the light of the +sentry flashing in his face as he turned away from the door in at +which the tall man they called Guido Fawkes had vanished but a few +moments before. He knew that he had been observed more than once +with some attention as he had stepped on board his wherry, or had +brought it up to the mooring place. Could it be that he was really +watched and suspected? It seemed like it, indeed. And what was more +serious still, his kinsmen were like to fall under suspicion +through his rash disregard of warnings. + +For himself Cuthbert cared comparatively little--perhaps rather too +little--for he possessed a strong dash of his father's stubbornness +of disposition; and in him the Trevlyn courage was intermingled +with a good deal of absolute rashness and hardihood; but the +thought that Sir Richard and his family should suffer for his sake +was intolerable. That must at all cost be prevented. Surely he +could warn them and avert the danger. + +As the youth walked rapidly westward through the miry streets, he +was revolving the situation rapidly in his mind, and at last he +reached a conclusion which he muttered aloud as he went. + +"That will be the best: I will to mine uncle and Philip and tell +them that. It will make them hasten away at once; but I will not go +with them. If I am suspected I must not be seen with them, nor seem +to have dealings with them. If they leave town and I remain, none +will suspect that I have warned them and sent them forth. To fly +with them would at once raise such thoughts. Here must I remain, +and let myself be seen abroad, so will they the better escape +Miriam's evil intent. Sir Richard has friends at Court. Lord +Andover and others will speak for him if need be. I doubt me much, +he being quietly gone, whether any will dare to strive to bring his +name into disgrace. There be those to find who are the guilty ones. +Sure they may let the innocent go free. As for me, I will not flee. +I would fain see the end of this matter. And perchance I might even +warn Master Robert Catesby of the peril that hangs over his head. +Strange how so gentle and courteous a gentleman can sell himself to +a work of such devilish wickedness!" + +Divided betwixt horror of the deed and pity for the conspirators +who had been practically discovered and frustrated in their evil +work, and who had doubtless persuaded themselves and been persuaded +by their ghostly advisers that it was an act of virtue and justice +and right, Cuthbert walked on, wondering more and more at the +strange vagaries of human conscience, and at the extraordinary self +delusion possible to the sons of the Romish faction. + +It was long since he had decided definitely and of resolute +conviction to cast in his lot with those who held the Reformed +faith; but had he ever had any secret doubts and leanings towards +the faith in which he had been reared, the revelations of that +night would have proved enough for him. He knew--none better--that +this diabolic deed was planned and executed with the full consent, +approbation, and blessing of the Romanist priests, and might even +be known to the Pope himself. Sorrowful and indignant as Cuthbert +had often been for the persecuted Romanists, and keenly as his +sympathies would have been stirred had they risen in man-like +fashion to claim liberty of conscience and fight boldly for the +cause in which their hearts were bound up, he could regard a plot +like this with nothing but loathing and horror. He wondered that +men could be found willing to sell themselves to such iniquity. Yet +he knew, from what he had himself seen, that these were no mere +hirelings bought over with money to do this thing, but that they +were gentlemen, most of them of noble birth and large means, all of +them actuated by motives of devotion and religious enthusiasm; and +that they did not prize their own lives or regard them as in any +way precious, but would gladly offer them up so that this thing +might be accomplished. + +Well, it was a mystery, and one that he could not fathom. He could +only feel thankful that no compulsion lay upon him to make known +what he had seen and heard. His word had been pledged to Catesby +and Father Urban, and how to have broken it he knew not. But there +was no call for him even to think of this. It was not he who had +discovered this strange plot. The knowledge of it was already with +the King and his ministers. The conspirators themselves were half +aware of this; Cuthbert well remembered the words of fear +concerning some letter spoken in the lonely garden at Lambeth but a +couple of days back. + +How dared they, knowing so much, pursue their dark scheme? The +youth shuddered as he marvelled at them. Did they believe +themselves yet secure? What a fearful thing security such as that +might become! Cuthbert longed to warn them, yet feared to +intermeddle further in such a matter. And at least his first +business lay in the warning he must instantly convey to Sir +Richard, and that without revealing more of the truth than was +absolutely necessary. Cuthbert was worldly wise enough to be well +aware that the greatest protection his kinsmen could have against +suspicion was absolute ignorance of the matter of which they stood +suspected. + +Sir Richard was absent when Cuthbert asked for him, but his son was +at home, and the visitor was ushered into a room where Philip and +Culverhouse were sitting together conversing by the glow of a +bright fire of sea coal. + +He was made very welcome by his cousin, and quickly plunged into +the matter in hand. + +"Philip," he said, "I have come to ask whether the business that +has brought you to town is yet accomplished." + +"Yes, verily," answered Philip, surprised. "We came to talk of +Kate's rash marriage with Culverhouse there, and if it was such as +might safely be ignored. My Lord and Lady of Andover, however, had +adjudged that their son is too far pledged to draw back, and that +for the sake of the lady's honour and happiness they must be held +to be solemnly betrothed. Their punishment will be the long waiting +ere they may truly wed; but Culverhouse means to tell all his tale +in the ears of the Prince of Wales, and he holds that the kindly +youth will doubtless give him some post about his royal person that +may be a stepping stone to further wealth and advancement." + +"My Lord Culverhouse need scarce do that," said Cuthbert, speaking +in short, abrupt sentences. "Let me tell my news in a few words. +The lost treasure of Trevlyn is found. It is hidden in the Cross +Way House, where Mistress Kate and my sister Petronella are at this +moment sheltering. It was thought the safest spot, for that the +gipsies and the robbers of the road alike think kindly of the +ladies of the Wyvern family, and hold their abode sacred--" + +Cuthbert was at this moment arrested by a storm of questions and +eager exclamations, which he had some small trouble in answering or +setting aside. When he had so far satisfied his eager listeners as +to be able to take up the thread of what he was saying, he went on +in the same quick, abrupt fashion as before. + +"I thought the treasure safe when I hid it there; but I have had a +warning this night from one who knows well the temper of the gipsy +folk. I hear that suspicion has been aroused in the tribe--that +there is a resolve abroad to win it back. There is a man called +Tyrrel, a notable highway robber, who has vowed to regain it for +himself and his men. If this be so, I fear me that even the +sanctuary of the Wyvern House will not suffice. In that house there +are but women and a few old men--servants, little able to withstand +a concerted attack. I have heard this news but tonight, and I have +come straight on to tell thee, Philip. If your business in London +be done, why shouldst not thou and thy father return forthwith +home, and abide awhile at the Cross Way House, to see what fares +there, and to protect the household should Tyrrel and his men +attack? Methinks that they may stand in need of the presence of +kinsmen at such a time as that. I hear that ill is meant by these +fierce men to all who bear the name of Trevlyn. Two of the women +within those doors bear that name; wherefore--" + +But Cuthbert had no need to complete his sentence; both young men +had started at once to their feet. + +"Kate in peril!" cried Culverhouse, between his shut teeth; "then +verily her husband must find his way to her side." + +"Petronella at the Cross Way House, exposed to alarm and attack!" +cried Philip; "then must I be there to shelter and protect her." + +"We will forth this very night!" cried Culverhouse. "I will to the +house and get ready my servants to accompany me." + +"I will make all preparation here!" echoed Philip, "and only await +my father's return. + +"Cuthbert, thinkest thou that they are in peril this very night? +Speak; tell us all!" + +"I trow not," answered Cuthbert with some decision, knowing that +his object was well accomplished and that the Trevlyns would make +all speed to leave London, yet scarcely himself wishing them to +hurry off in the night like fugitives in fear for themselves. "I am +certain sure that no immediate peril hangs over them, or I should +have been more urgently warned. I would not have you hasten thus. I +trow it would more alarm the ladies to be aroused by you in the +middle of the night than to see you come riding thither later in +the day on the morrow. Surely it would be better to wait for day. +The night is black and tempestuous; it will be hard to find the +road. Tomorrow with the first of the sunlight you may well ride +forth." + +Culverhouse and Philip both saw the soundness and reasonableness of +this counsel, and knew that their respective fathers would both +concur in this opinion, though their own impatience chafed at the +delay. + +"And thou--what wilt thou do thyself, Cuthbert?" asked Philip; +"come with us to Cross Way House?" + +Cuthbert hesitated a few moments, debating within himself what were +best. He had been warned on the one hand to flee the forest, on the +other to flee the city. If his mysterious gipsy friends were right, +for him there was peril in both places. But it certainly seemed to +him that his own presence and company would add to the perils of +his kinsmen; and his decision was speedily taken. + +"I hope to join you there anon," he said; "but I have something set +my heart upon seeing this grand pageant when his Majesty shall open +his Parliament on the fifth. Methinks I will stay for that, and +then perchance I will forth to the Cross Way House." + +He looked keenly at both his companions as he spoke, but neither +face wore the least look of any secret intelligence. He was certain +that no whisper of the plot had reached their ears. + +"Ay, do so, and come and tell us all," said Culverhouse gaily. "I +had thought to be there myself, but I must to my Kate's side. + +"Philip, thy father will be something loath to leave London ere +that day. Thinkest thou that thou canst persuade him?" + +"I trow I can," answered Philip; and then they both turned on +Cuthbert, asking him for a more detailed account of his search +after and his discovery of the lost treasure, hanging with eager +interest on his words. + +It was late ere he left their lodgings, and the family at the +bridge house had retired to rest. He found his way to his room; but +little sleep visited his eyes that night, and the fitful dreams +which came to him betwixt waking and sleeping seemed charged with +ominous warnings. + +Sir Richard Trevlyn heard his son's story in great surprise, but he +hesitated not a moment as to the course of action they must pursue. + +"I would it had been brought to Trevlyn Chase. We have a household +of men there, and could well defy these rogues of the road. But +Cross Way House has no such defences, and it is tenanted mainly by +helpless women, and we must lose no time in going to their +assistance. I have heard long since of this man--Tyrrel. He is a +notable outlaw, and there is a price upon his head. The forest will +be well freed of him if we can overthrow him. He has owed his +safety again and again to his reckless riding and the alliance and +good fellowship he has with the forest gipsies. It is time the +whole brood were smoked out from their hiding places. They want +destroying, root and branch!" + +Sir Richard found it easier to remember that the treasure had been +stolen and hidden by the gipsy people than that it had been +restored partly through the assistance of the woman Joanna, the +queen. However, there was little time for further talk. The night +was already advanced, and on the morrow they were to make as early +a start as was practicable. + +Sir Richard had not many servants of his own, but Culverhouse could +bring a good dozen men with him. Unluckily the storm raged all +through the earlier hours of the following day, and it was not till +noon that a start could be made. However, the seventeen miles' ride +could be easily made before dark, although the roads were deep in +mud, and travelling in the open country was both tedious and bad. + +The last of the scattered hamlets had been passed. The sun glowed +red before them in an angry, lowering sky. Sir Richard and his son +and Lord Culverhouse paused on the brow of the ridge to look both +before and behind. They had in their impatience outridden their +servants, who, less well mounted, found some difficulty in spurring +along the deep mire of the ill-made roads. They could but just see +them on the horizon of the last ridge, coming onwards at an even +jog trot, which seemed the swiftest pace they aspired to. + +Before lay the long waste of forest--trees and heather intermixed +in long stretches alternating one with the other. A good seven +miles lay between them and their destination, and the sun was +already nearing the horizon, and would soon dip behind it. + +"We must push on something faster," said Culverhouse impatiently, +"if we are to reach Cross Way House before dark." + +"We have already far outridden our men," said Sir Richard, frowning +slightly as he turned his head to look over his shoulder; "and this +is the worst part of the road before us." + +"But we are well mounted and well armed," urged Culverhouse, "and +if we wait for the men we shall lose the rest of the daylight. +Surely if there be any footpads about, the fact that we are +followed by so goodly a train will serve to scare them away. And we +have no valuables upon our persons. They will get cold steel and +hot lead for their pains, an they venture to molest us, instead of +silver or gold." + +"Very true," said Philip, who was as eager as his cousin and endued +with full share of Trevlyn courage and impetuosity; "we can never +wait till those sluggards have come up. The fault is not theirs: +they are not so well mounted as ourselves. We shall never keep our +horses to their pace, try we never so hard." + +"Forward then, and let us ride as fast as our steeds can carry us!" +said Sir Richard with a smile; "for if we wait not for our men, the +daylight is our best friend. We are all familiar with the road, and +our horses likewise. Forward! and all eyes keep a sharp lookout to +left and right. At least we will not be set upon unawares." + +Putting spurs to their horses very gladly, the younger men placed +themselves one on each side of Sir Richard, and the good horses +settled themselves to a steady hand gallop, which was the best and +surest pace for getting over those rough muddy roads. + +Three miles had been safely traversed. Absolute solitude and +silence seemed to reign throughout the woodland tracks. But the +darkest of the forest still lay ahead of them, and the red ball of +the sun had just dipped behind the ridge in front. + +"It will be dark beneath the trees," said Sir Richard; "have a +care, lads, how you ride. + +"Philip, thine eyes are better than mine. Dost thou see aught there +to the right of the road, just beneath that great oak?" + +Philip had seen already, and his answer was quickly spoken. + +"They be horsemen," he said--"horsemen drawn up and, as it were, +awaiting us. I fear me we shall not pass without molestation. But +my counsel is not to pause, rather to gallop still on steadily, as +though we saw them not. But let us be ready; and if they dare to +molest us, let us with one accord discharge our pieces in their +faces. That will disconcert them for a moment, and we may perchance +outride them. We are but three miles and a half from Cross Way +House. I trow we can make shift to reach its friendly shelter; and +once there we shall be safe." + +"It is useless to pause now," answered Sir Richard, who was always +cool and self possessed in moments of real peril. "Our men are a +mile behind, and to hesitate would be to lose all. A bold front is +our greatest safeguard. We are all well skilled in the use of arms. +Be watchful and vigilant, and make you sure that every shot and +every stroke will tell. We have need of all our strength, if we are +attacked. But they may let us pass unmolested; they may guess that +our followers are behind." + +Culverhouse said nothing, but he set his teeth hard and his eyes +flashed ominously. He had never tasted real warfare before, and it +seemed to fire the blood in his veins and send it tingling through +his body. Each rider so shifted his carbine that it could be +readily used at a moment's notice. + +And now they had reached the forest aisle. Their good horses, still +galloping freely and easily, bore them rapidly onwards. They had +almost reached that silent, motionless band awaiting them with +sinister quietude. In another moment they would have passed them, +when, on a sudden, a voice rang out clear and sharp through the +still air: + +"Halt! stand! Stand, or we fire!" + +"Ride on and fire!" said Sir Richard in calm tones; and the next +moment the echoes were awakened by three sharp reports of firearms +and by a yell--three yells--of human rage and pain. A roar of +execration and menace arose from twenty throats, and twenty blades +gleamed brightly in the gathering dusk. But already the riders had +passed the little band, sweeping by before they were well aware of +it. And as they did so, they heard a voice exclaim, sharpened by +rage and pain: + +"It is they--it is our foes! I knew it--I knew it! Those are the +Trevlyn brood that we were warned would pass--the false sire and +his son and nephew. After them, my men! Let them not escape your +vengeance! Take them, or slay them, but let them not escape! They +have the treasure. We will have them. The vengeance of the gipsy +tribe shall be consummated! They shall not make it void. They shall +give life for life--blood for blood!" + +"They shall! they shall! They shall not escape us. We will be +avenged, and the red gold shall be our reward!" + +Sir Richard set his teeth as he heard these words, and dug his +spurs into the sides of his horse, causing the noble animal, who +seemed to share his master's knowledge of the deadly peril they +were in, to spring forward with redoubled speed. + +"We must save ourselves by flight; they are six to one!" he said in +low tones to his companions, who kept pace for pace at his side. +"It will be a race for life; and if we are beaten, all we can do is +to sell our lives as dearly as may be. It is not robbery alone, it +is vengeance, the old grudge against the Trevlyns. But if we can +but make Cross Way House ere we are outridden, we may save +ourselves yet." + + + +Chapter 24: Kate's Courage. + + +Lady Humbert had left the Cross Way House for a three days' visit +to a sick relative who had sent an urgent message to her. Mistress +Dowsabel remained in charge of the house and its small establishment, +lessened considerably by the removal of four of the men servants who +had attended their mistress on her journey. + +Mistress Dowsabel would gladly have accompanied her sister, for she +was always nervous and ill at ease in her absence, but she was +withheld by two considerations. In the first place, she was +suffering from what was then termed a rheum, which we should call a +bad cold in the head, so that the idea of a wet cold journey of +some hours' duration was exceedingly unwelcome; in the second, it +was not thought seemly by either sister that the young girls, their +guests, should be left in the house without some guardian and +protector; and Mistress Dowsabel therefore decided to put her fears +on one side and remain in charge. + +"And beside, what is there to fear?" Lady Humbert had said, in her +decisive and cheery fashion. "We are quiet and peaceable folks, and +have naught to dread either at home or abroad. I shall strive to be +but three nights absent; and our merry Kate will uphold thy +spirits, sister, till my return. Thou wilt be better by the +fireside than journeying in the saddle this tempestuous weather." + +This fact was self evident, and Mistress Dowsabel had no desire to +leave the fireside. + +"I must e'en do the best I can without thee, sister," she said. "I +doubt not my fears be foolish. I will strive that the girls be not +affected thereby." + +"I trow it would be no easy matter to teach them to Kate," said +Lady Humbert with a smile. "She has all the spirit of Wyvern and +Trevlyn combined. She will be a stanch protector for thee, +Dowsabel, if thou art troubled by strange noises in the wainscot, +or by the barking of the dogs without." + +"Thou thinkest me a sad coward, sister; and so perchance I am," +said meek Mistress Dowsabel. "But if ever thou art absent from the +house, I am beset by a thousand fears that assail me not at any +other time. My heart is heavy as lead within me now." + +But Lady Humbert could not delay her journey on that account. She +said something equivalent to "Fiddle dee dee!" and hastened forward +her preparations with her customary energy. Kate flitted about and +chattered merrily to her, having won her way by that time to a very +soft spot in the heart of her ancient kinswoman. + +"I am glad to leave thee with thy aunt Dowsabel, child," said Lady +Humbert before she left. "Ellen will read to her and see to her +possets and her little fire-side comforts; but thou wilt assist her +to overlook the household and servants, and cheer up her spirits +and her courage if either should flag. She is strangely timid when +I am not by. Thou must do what thou canst to keep away her fears." + +"Fears!" echoed Kate, laughing; "why, wherefore should we fear?" + +"There is small cause, but Dowsabel is by nature timorous, and she +will lean on thee, child though thou art, when I am gone. There be +certain charges I would lay upon thee. The men will be gone, all +but old Thomas within doors and Joshua without; wherefore I will +ask thee to go round the house thyself at dusk each eve, and see +that all bolts and bars be securely drawn. That is Andrew's work, +but he will be with me. Dyson and thou hadst better go together--or +thou and Cherry. Thou wilt not be afraid of such a task?" + +"Afraid? marry no! Cherry and I will do it gladly. She is a +merry-hearted lassie, and I like her well. Is there aught else, my +lady aunt?" + +Lady Humbert, standing beside the fire and drawing on her riding +gloves, looked into Kate's bright face with a thoughtful smile. + +"If I could trust thy discretion as I trust thy courage and sense, +my giddy-pated maiden, there is one more charge I would lay upon +thee." + +The light of laughter in Kate's eyes changed suddenly to something +deeper and graver. She came one step nearer and laid her hand on +Lady Humbert's arm. + +"Try me," she said simply. "Methinks I am not so giddy as they deem +me. I have thought, I have suffered, I have been forced to possess +my soul in patience. Try and see if I may not be trusted in this +thing." + +Lady Humbert gazed a moment into the clear eyes, and then said: + +"I will try thee, child. It is no such heavy charge I would lay +upon thee, yet it is one that thy aunt Dowsabel would fear to +undertake. She would fain close the doors of the Cross Way House +against all strangers and wayfarers who come to them in the absence +of the mistress; but that is not my wish. Dost thou know, child, +the name the Cross Way House has ever held with those who fare +through the forest tracks?" + +"I have heard it spoken of as a place where none in need is ever +turned away," answered Kate. + +"Ay, and so it was in those good old days when Wyverns held open +house here, and were beloved from far and near. Alas! those good +old days are passed away; for our fortunes are fallen, and we have +no longer the power to entertain in such bounteous fashion. And yet +I have striven, as thou hast doubtless seen, that the poor, the +aged, the sick, and the needy are never turned from these doors +without bite or sup to cheer their hearts and send them rejoicing +on their way. Strange persons come to the house from time to time; +but all are admitted to such good cheer as is ours to offer, and +never has my hospitality been abused. Fugitives from the robbers of +the road have been admitted here; yet never has this lone house +been attacked. Wounded robbers have sought shelter here, bleeding +nigh to death, and their wounds have been dressed by these hands, +and their lives saved through our ministrations. To the cry of +poverty or distress the doors have ever opened, be the distressed +one worthy or no. Never have we had cause to regret what we have +done for evil men or good. Never has our hospitality been repaid by +treachery or deceit." + +"And now?" asked Kate as Lady Humbert paused. + +"Now my timid sister would have the doors closed for the days that +I am absent and the men with me. She says she fears for the +treasure. She says there is more peril now than of old. She may be +right; but I see not why the danger be greater, since none know the +secret save those who are pledged to keep it, and it goes against +me that the traditions of the house should be broken. Can I trust +thee, Kate, to take my place in this? Wilt thou strive to still thy +aunt's fears and keep watch over all who come and go, that our +doors may still open to the poor, whilst no needless terrors be +inflicted on the timid women who will be forced to keep guard +alone?" + +"I will gladly strive to do all I may," answered Kate, who had been +Lady Humbert's companion now long enough to know much of her +methods. + +"It may well be that none will come," said Lady Humbert cheerfully, +with a smile and a nod of approval. "These be ill days for +travellers, and in the winter season few pass this way. But such as +do seek shelter from the storm or from hunger or peril must not be +turned away disappointed. Look to it, Kate. I trust that matter to +thee. I shall ask thee for the account of thy stewardship on my +return." + +And then the mistress of the house gathered her train together and +set forth, riding her steady old horse as fearlessly as though she +had been fifty years younger, and nodding a brisk farewell all +round as she turned out of the gate upon the highway so close at +hand. + +Mistress Dowsabel wept feebly for a short while, and seemed +disposed to start and tremble at every sound. But Petronella got a +book and settled herself to read to her, whilst she forgot her +fears in the intricacies of her well-beloved tapestry work. As for +Kate, she called to Cherry, and began to set about those household +duties which the mistress of the house had given into her charge, +so that the timid invalid might be spared all trouble and anxiety. + +Cherry was a very happy girl in those days. Her position in that +household was slightly anomalous, and at first it had been a little +difficult to find the right niche for her. As the niece of Dyson, +who had summoned her thither to act in the capacity of lady's maid, +her place would by rights have been the servants' hall and kitchen; +but then, as Kate had seen at once, it would scarce be right for +Cuthbert Trevlyn's future wife to take so lowly a station as that +of a serving wench. + +Cuthbert was no longer the impecunious son of Nicholas Trevlyn, +dependent upon his own wit and energy for the place he might hold +in the world. He was the finder of that vast hoard of lost +treasure, which had proved so far more valuable than the most +sanguine hopes had pictured. By every rule of right and justice a +large share of this treasure should come to him. He would be a man +of wealth and station; and it had been openly announced by these +sisters of the house of Wyvern that they intended to make him their +heir. They had taken a great liking to him. They had no near +kindred of their own. He was the grandson of one of the Wyverns, +and a degree nearer them than the other Trevlyns, so they were +quite resolved upon this step. + +So when Kate, with the courage and frankness inherent in her +nature, had told the old ladies of Cuthbert's betrothal, Petronella +adding all she knew of the constancy of her brother's attachment to +Martin Holt's daughter, Lady Humbert recognized in a moment that it +would not do to treat the girl as a mere dependent. She must be +admitted to some other position, and trained for that station in +life to which her marriage would entitle her. + +Lady Humbert had all the class exclusiveness of her race; but she +was a large-hearted woman to boot, and had an uncommon share of +common sense. She would have been glad had Cuthbert's choice fallen +elsewhere; but as it had not done so, and as Cherry was as faithful +to him as he to her, there was only one thing to be done, and that +was to make the best of the matter, and strive to see the best side +only. The girl must be admitted to the position of companion to +Petronella and Kate. She must be taught the refinements of life in +another station, and gradually fitted for the life that lay before +her. + +It had been a great relief to find the girl so pretty, so gentle in +her ways, so eager to please, so naturally dainty and particular. +Cherry had quick apprehension and ready adaptability of nature. She +took to the new ways like a duck to the water. She had a sweet +voice and a refined fashion of speaking. In a very short while she +looked as much at home in the presence of the ladies as Petronella +herself. Kate found indeed that the city-bred maiden was more +advanced in many things than the recluse of the Gate House. She set +herself busily to the task of drilling both her companions in the +arts of dancing, deportment, the use of the globes, and of playing +upon the harpsichord; and found in both apt and eager pupils. Both +girls had much natural grace and a great desire to improve +themselves. Petronella was by nature dreamy and studious, whilst +Cherry was all life, brightness, and vivacity. She and Kate +gradually drew together, and would spend hours rambling in the +extensive gardens and shrubberies behind the house, or riding out, +with Andrew in attendance, through some of the forest tracks. + +Petronella, on the other hand, preferred remaining at home, reading +to the elderly ladies, and being by them instructed in many matters +of political and religious import. Her mind was rapidly enlarging. +She was unconsciously fitting herself daily more and more to be +Philip's wife; whilst their very differences seemed to draw the +three girls more closely together, and they felt by this time like +sisters as well as companions. + +Lady Humbert's absence was a matter of some excitement to Kate and +Cherry, upon whom many small duties now devolved. + +The house certainly felt lonely with so many of its ordinary +inhabitants absent. The great empty rooms were kept strictly +locked. The gates in front of the house were likewise locked by day +as well as night, and only the small door at the back was to be +opened until the return of the mistress. So the timid Dowsabel had +decreed; and she had directed that the keys of the outer doors +should be brought to her; and by day they were laid in her sight +upon the chimney ledge, whilst at night they were placed beneath +her pillow. Kate made a wry face, but did not otherwise protest. +Time was passing quietly by, and there seemed little probability +that their tranquillity would be disturbed. + +"I would fain wish for some small adventure in Lady Humbert's +absence, just to show that she has not put her faith in us in +vain!" said Kate, as the girls sought their couch on the second +night of the mistress's absence. "There has not been so much as a +beggar to the gate. These storms of wind and rain seem to keep all +within doors." + +"I fear me I am but a coward," answered Petronella, "for I am glad +when night follows day and there be naught to alarm us. Perchance +sitting with our aunt Dowsabel so much, I learn somewhat of her +fears from her." + +"A truce to fear!" cried Kate, as she unbound her hair and tossed +the heavy mane out of her eyes and over her shoulders. "Would that +we lived in days when women might do and dare somewhat for those +they loved, or for their country! I should love to have to hold +this house against a rabble of hooting foes!" + +"So should not I," answered Petronella. "I love not strife and +warfare; I am for quietude and peace," and she smiled into Kate's +flushed face, whilst Cherry looked from one to the other, scarce +knowing with which she sided. + +She had something of Kate's daring, and dearly admired it in her; +but she shared in part Petronella's shrinking from strife and +danger, a shrinking that to Kate was inexplicable. + +The night came and went in quietness and peace. The day passed +without any event. Kate paced impatiently up and down the big hall +as the sun went down in red and gold, sullen and lowering as it +neared the horizon, but shining to the last. She had not been +beyond the limits of the garden since Lady Humbert had gone. Now it +seemed as if a restless fit had come upon her, and grasping Cherry +by the arm, she cried: + +"Let us go into the long gallery overhead and dance--dance--dance! +My feet are fairly aching for some exercise. Come thou and dance +with me." + +Kate's word was almost always law to Cherry, though she thought it +a dreary place to select just at this hour of approaching darkness. +Still, there would be a little light glimmering in through that +long row of windows, and with Kate who would be afraid? + +The key was in the door. The polished boards of the long ballroom +lay gleaming with ghostly shimmer in the fading light. The pictures +on the walls seemed to stare at the two intruders with cold +displeasure. Cherry shivered slightly as the chill struck her. It +seemed to her as if these stately knights and dames themselves must +surely come down from their frames at such an hour as this; and +silently disport themselves in this long gallery. She was glad to +feel Kate's arm about her as she commenced circling round and round +in her light and airy fashion. As the warm blood began tingling in +their veins the pace grew faster and faster, and Cherry's +chilliness and fear alike left her. Up and down, round and round, +flew the light girlish feet. The exercise was delightful to both +after the inaction of two long days. Up and down, round and round, +as though they would never tire; and as they danced the twilight +changed to night, and only glimmering moonbeams fell within the row +of windows, lighted the long gallery, and fell upon the flickering +figures of the two girls. + +But their eyes had grown used to the darkness, and they heeded it +not. Cherry's thoughts had flown off to Cuthbert, Kate's to +Culverhouse. The rapid exercise stimulated thought, and both hearts +beat high with the glowing hope of youth. When at last they paused, +laughing and breathless, at the upper end of the long room, their +eyes were shining brightly, there was a vivid colour in their +checks. They only wished to gather breath and then on again. + +"It is hot--it is stifling!" cried Kate, as she threw back her +tumbled hair. "I must have air--air! I will open this window; we +can look out such a way from it. O Cherry, think--this big window +looks straight out towards London! Ah, why are not our eyes strong +enough to see our loved ones there!" + +Cherry laughed and blushed in the darkness, and Kate's strong hand +undid the bolt and latch and flung the great casement wide. The +cool night air rushed in, and both girls, heated with exercise, +were glad to rest their elbows on the stone mullion and lean out +into the breezy night. + +"It is delicious!" cried Kate; "it is the elixir of life!" + +Then the girls were silent for a few moments, till they both +started at the same sound. + +"That was a gun!" cried Kate suddenly, leaning further out of the +window. "Listen, Cherry! There again--another shot! That can only +mean one thing!" + +"What thing?" asked Cherry, growing suddenly pale with excitement +and fear. + +"Highwaymen attacking travellers!" answered her companion, standing +straight up, but with her head still inclined in an attitude of +keen attention. "Listen, Cherry, listen! Is it the beating of my +heart, or is that sound the galloping of horses' hoofs upon the +road? Hark! Yes, they grow louder they come this way! Down, Cherry! +We must rush to the gates and have them open and take them in! + +"Cherry, listen! Be calm, be quiet! Run thou to old Thomas and to +Dyson and the rest; tell them what we have heard. I must for the +keys. I must have them whether our aunt wills it or no. There be no +place of refuge save this for miles around. Here must they find +shelter from their foes. It is Lady Humbert's will; I must fulfil +it." + +All the while Kate spoke she was running swiftly along the boarded +floor, with Cherry keeping pace at her side; and as she dashed down +the staircase she paused for a moment and took from the place where +they hung two matchlocks, which she knew were always kept loaded, +and these she laid quietly down in the hall. Then she opened the +parlour door, and walked boldly forward to the spot where the keys +lay. Possessing herself of these, she said quietly: + +"Be not affrighted, Aunt Dowsabel, but there be folks in trouble on +the road. They are pursued by robbers, I fear. I am about to unlock +the gates, that we may draw them into safe shelter here." + +Petronella sprang to her feet, and Mistress Dowsabel uttered a +sharp scream of terror. + +"Kate, I forbid it--I forbid it!" she gasped. "The gates shall not +be unlocked! Dost hear, child? They shall not be unlocked! We shall +have the whole horde upon us, we poor unprotected women! Kate, come +back, come back! The keys are mine; I am mistress here! It shall +not be done! Girl, I will not be thus defied!" + +But Kate was already half through the hall, where the terrified +servants were mustering. She had seized up the matchlocks, and now +thrust one of them into old Thomas's shaking hands. + +"Take it!" she said, "and when I am gone lock and bolt the door +behind me an your lady desires it. But I will not disobey my Lady +Humbert, and she would have done as I do now. I go to the gate and +I hold it open. I draw within its shelter the pursued, and I strive +to close it against the pursuers. All within these walls will be +safe. + +"Thy place is here, Thomas, beside thy mistress. She will die with +terror if thou leave her. I am strong enough to unbar the gates +alone, and I have this weapon, which I know how to use. + +"Hark! there be cries along the road. The pursuit draws nigh." + +Kate flung open the great door and sprang out into the dusky +darkness beyond, and Petronella and Cherry, casting one glance at +each other, caught up a gleaming weapon from the wall, where many +hung, and dashed out after her. + +"Shut and lock the door behind us, an you fear for yourselves!" +cried Kate, as she led the way down the short flight of steps. + +"Girls!" she cried, turning her flushed and resolute face upon her +companions, "we three will stand together for weal or woe this +night. It may be that we shall save life. We can but lose our own, +come what may. Are you ready to face the peril? for these gates +must be unbarred." + +"We are ready," answered both, as they stood beside her holding her +weapon, whilst her strong young hands turned the ponderous key in +the lock and slipped back the heavy bolts. + +All this while the thundering thud of galloping horse hoofs was +approaching nearer and nearer, mingling with the fierce vindictive +shouts of the pursuers, that sent thrills of terror through the +hearts of two of the girls, but made Kate set her teeth together, +and braced her nerves and muscles till they felt as if turned to +steel. + +"Girls," she said, "listen! I open this gate--so, and stand here +with my weapon. As the pursued make for this house, as they most +surely will, I shout to them as they near it to fling themselves +from their horses and rush in. If they understand, they will do so; +but there may be delay. If the pursuers are close at hand, I shall +fire at the foremost, and methinks I shall not miss. My hands will +be thus occupied. It must be your task to swing to and shut the +gate behind the pursued. If any assailant strive to follow, strike +him down without mercy. Methinks a woman's arm can deal a hard +blow! I trow mine could. But, above all, be it your task to guard +the gate. Is it understood?" + +"It is!" answered both girls in a breath. + +They looked back at the house, so close behind them that it was +hard to feel afraid. The door stood ajar, and faces peered out into +the darkness; but Mistress Dowsabel's shrill voice was still heard +within, and she was plainly hindering any of the servants from +going forth to the assistance of the brave girls without, terrified +almost out of her wits at what might occur. + +The high wall hid the road from the three who stood beside the +gate, but the gasping breath of the horses could now be heard, +whilst the fierce cries of pursuit had changed to an ominous +silence, as though not even a breath was to be wasted--every nerve +being strained to the effort of the chase. + +It was terrible to be able to see nothing. Petronella suddenly made +a rush towards the wall, and finding foothold here and there in the +chinks of the brick work, contrived to swing upwards her light +frame till she could look over the top. + +"There be three pursued," she cried to those below; "and methinks +the hindermost is wounded, he sways so terribly in the saddle. The +pursuers are close behind; it seems well nigh as if they must come +up with them. + +"Oh, well done, good horses; oh, well done! + +"Kate, they be close at hand; they are making for the gate as a +dove to its nest!" + +Then Kate suddenly threw both doors wide and stood out in the dim +moonlight. + +"Fling yourselves from your horses, gentlemen, and come in!" she +cried, in clear, penetrating tones. "There is shelter behind these +walls. And the first man who dares to follow I shoot dead!" + +Then as the foremost horseman obeyed her, flinging himself from the +saddle, and staggering rather than walking within the gates, at +either one of which stood one of the two girlish guardians, ready +at a moment's notice to fling them together again, a quick sharp +cry broke from Kate's lips, together with the one word: + +"Father!" + +The second horseman was now within the gates; the third was close +behind. But there was a yell as of triumph, and suddenly Kate's +eyes flashed fire. There was the sharp report of a gun. The girl +flung the smoking weapon in the face of a second assailant, and +dragged within the gate the prostrate form of the third traveller. +Cherry and Petronella banged to the iron portals in the very faces +of the foremost assailants, who had recoiled for a moment before +Kate's blows, and drew the heavy bolts; whilst the shower of oaths +and curses which arose from the rest of the band, who rode up at +that moment, showed how fully they recognized their defeat. + +Even the horses had escaped them; for the sagacious animals had +recognized their locality, and had made for the yard door at the +back, where Joshua had admitted them without delay, glad enough to +do anything to assist the hardly-beset travellers in their hour of +need. + +The travellers had sunk down just within the gates, so breathless +and exhausted that for the first few seconds they did not even know +how and by whom their rescue had been effected. But the banging to +of the gates, and the sullen murmurs of the highwaymen as they had +drawn off, recognizing their defeat, showed those within that for +the moment the peril was past. The doors were then thrown open; +lights streamed forth into the darkness. Sir Richard Trevlyn rose +to his feet, passing his hand across his brow, to find his son +passionately embracing the dark-eyed Petronella, who clung to him, +fairly sobbing in her excitement and wonder; whilst Kate knelt +beside the prostrate figure of Culverhouse, who lay with closed +eyes almost like one dead. + +"Kate, my girl, is it to thee we owe our deliverance?" + +"Father, is he dead--is he dead?" + +The cry was so full of anguish that it went to the father's heart; +and disregarding the shrill welcome and asseverations of Mistress +Dowsabel, who had just recognized, to her immense relief, that they +had admitted their own kinsmen to their doors, he bent over the +Viscount, and lifted him in his arms. + +"Dead! not a bit of it. Dead men do not ride as he did. But he was +wounded in the arm, and has been losing blood fast, and doubtless +fainted the moment the strain was over. See, we will lay him here +on this settle beside the fire. Give him some wine, and bind up +that arm, my girl. Thou wilt choose to wait upon him thyself, I +trow. He will soon be able to thank thee for this timely rescue. I +must hear more of thy tale when I have spoken with thine aunt." + +All was confusion now in the house, but confusion of a pleasant and +bustling kind. Joshua brought news that the highwaymen had +retreated in disappointment and dudgeon, but, true to their +principles, without any attempt at taking vengeance upon the Cross +Way House. Sir Richard was striving to soothe the agitation of the +timid Dowsabel, and hearing of the absence of the mistress of the +house; whilst servants hurried to and fro, setting the table for +supper, and vying with each other to provide comforts for the weary +travellers, who had been through so much peril and hard riding. + +Petronella sat beside Philip in a deep embrasure, and had eyes and +ears for him alone. Kate and Cherry, under the direction of Dyson, +bound up Lord Culverhouse's arm, and soon had the satisfaction of +seeing the colour come back into his face, and his closed eyes +slowly open. + +When they did this they dwelt for some moments upon Kate's face in +a dreamy fashion, as though their owner thought himself still in +some sort of a dream; but when she raised his head and put a cup to +his lips, he seemed to awake with a start, and after thirstily +draining the contents of the vessel, he caught her hand, +exclaiming: + +"Kate--my Kate!--is it truly thou?" + +She gave a little cry of joy at hearing him speak in tones so like +his own. He pressed the hand he held, whilst she knelt beside him +and whispered softly in his ear: + +"It is I, indeed, thy little wife. O Culverhouse--and I thought +that thou hadst but come hither to die!" + +There was a catch in her voice that told how great had been the +strain of the past minutes--greater than he could know just then. +She found it hard to keep back the tears as she knelt beside him, +listening whilst he whispered to her of all that had been said +about that sudden marriage of theirs, and how that none would dare +to call him free of his plighted word. + +"And so thou art in very truth my betrothed wife, sweet Kate," he +said, "and none may part us now. It was as I said when I bid thee +come and plight thy troth. It was a pledge too solemn to be broken. +My father and mother say so, and so does thy father. We may not be +able to wed just yet; but if what I hear be true, sure our day of +waiting need not be so very long." + +The colour had come back into her face now; her eyes were sparkling +in their old fashion. She looked indeed the same "saucy Kate" that +he had known and loved ever since his early boyhood. + +There were steps behind them, and Sir Richard emerged from the room +where he had been holding counsel with Mistress Dowsabel. He looked +at the two beside the fireplace, and at that other pair in the +window, both too much absorbed in each other to heed him; and with +a smile upon his face he strode forward and laid his hand upon +Kate's shoulder. + +"And so, my headstrong daughter, it is to that strong will of +thine, and the reckless courage I have sometimes chidden, that we +owe our lives and our safety today?" he said. + +Culverhouse looked up eagerly. + +"What sayest thou, sir?" he asked, whilst Kate's face crimsoned +over from brow to chin. + +"Say, my lad? why, I say that but for this hardy wench of mine, +who, instead of retreating behind the strong walls of the house, +flung open with her own hands the iron gates to let us in, we +should by this time have been in sorry plight enow, had we not all +been dead men. It was she who opened those gates when all else +feared to do so--she who (aided by her two companions, whom she +inspired by her own courage) saved us from our foes. It was she who +shot down the foremost enemies, who would else have had thy life, +Culverhouse, and with her own hands dragged thee, all unconscious +as thou wert, within these gates. + +"Wherefore, as to thee, boy, I owe my life (for that thou didst +receive in thine arm the charge that else would have dashed out my +brains), and that to her we both owe this timely rescue, methinks +that no wife nor daughter could do more, and that we must let +bygones be bygones and wed you so soon as may be. I will give my +fatherly blessing to you twain, for you are worthy of each other, +and have proved it this night. And so soon as you can win the +sanction of your good parents to your nuptials, Culverhouse, I will +give my saucy Kate to you without a doubt or a fear." + + + +Chapter 25: "On The Dark Flowing River." + + +"That is our man! Seize him, bind him, and bring him before the +chief!" + +Cuthbert heard these words spoken in a clear low tone not far away; +but the fog wreaths were hanging upon the river, and he could not +see the speakers. Instinctively he bent harder to his oar. The +wherry shot at redoubled speed through the dull, gleaming water; +but there were sounds astern of other plashing oars, the sound of +voices low yet eager, and Cuthbert felt sure he heard the name of +Trevlyn spoken in accents of subdued fierceness. He could hear by +the sound of the oars in the rowlocks that there were many rowers +in the pursuing boat. That they were in pursuit of him he could not +doubt, and he set his teeth hard as he plied his oars, for he felt +that the issue of this chase might mean life or death to him. + +Esther's warning was ringing in his ears: "Beware the dark-flowing +river--the lone house--the black cellar!" + +How had he regarded that warning? He had not heeded it at all. He +had let his curiosity and love of adventure conquer both prudence +and caution; and now he was well aware that he was in some +immediate and imminent peril. + +He had been warned to fly from London, but he had not obeyed that +warning. This had been partly out of generosity to his kinsmen, for +it seemed to him that by his presence amongst them he might be +increasing the peril in which they stood, and he had been told that +that was in great part due to his own rashness and hardihood. + +He had remained in London. This day was the very eve of that fifth +of November on which the King's Parliament was to assemble in +state. All the city was silent and tranquil. The vague sense of +expectation and excitement that Cuthbert had observed amongst some +of his acquaintances a few days back seemed now to have died down. +Was it the hush that immediately precedes the breaking of the storm +cloud; or had the fearful tale whispered to him by the wise woman +been but the product of her weird fancy, and all his fears and +terrors groundless? + +This was the question which had been agitating Cuthbert during the +past two days; and upon this dim, foggy afternoon he had taken his +wherry and resolved to find out for himself the whole truth of the +matter. + +Cuthbert had not forgotten Robert Catesby, or the priest to whom he +always felt he owed his life. If any plot were in hand at this +juncture, both these men were most certainly concerned in it. And +at the lone house at Lambeth he could surely get speech of Catesby, +or learn where he was to be found; and it seemed to Cuthbert that +he could not sleep another night until he had set at rest the +doubts and fears crowding his mind. + +Did he go with a view of warning Catesby that the plot was +discovered--that the dark secret was out? He himself scarcely knew. +He was not at all sure that he believed himself in the hideous +magnitude of the contemplated deed as Esther had described it. +Remembering as he did all he had heard and seen, he could not doubt +that some secret plot was afoot, but he thought it highly probable +that the scope and purpose of it had been misunderstood; and there +was certainly this feeling in his mind, that a timely word of +warning to those concerned might serve to avert a terrible doom +from any who might lie already under suspicion. + +He had not been able to gain speech with Father Urban; for although +he was convinced the priest was in hiding within the house of the +Coles, both father and son resolutely denied this, and it seemed of +late as though they distrusted Cuthbert himself, and desired no +more of his company. + +Martin Holt and honest Jacob Dyson had warned him to be cautious in +his dealings with any of the Romish persuasion, and Cuthbert had +been content to take this advice. But this last afternoon before +the great day so long anticipated might surely be put to some good +purpose, and the thought that those men in that Lambeth house might +be unwittingly remaining to be caught in a trap impelled Cuthbert +to strive to have speech with Master Robert Catesby and put him on +his guard, if he could not persuade him to abandon whatever rash +scheme he had in his head. + +Sympathy with the persecuted went some small way in blinding +Cuthbert's eyes to the terrible nature of the purposed crime. +Moreover, he thought it like enough that Esther had heard a grossly +exaggerated account of what was determined. Still, what she had +heard others might have heard, and nothing was too bad to find +credit with those who planned and desired the ruin of all who held +views different from their own. + +These and similar thoughts had been occupying Cuthbert's mind as he +bent to his oars and propelled his light wherry upstream towards +the lonely house. The tide was running out, and rowing was hard +work; but he was making progress steadily, and had no thought of +any personal peril until the sound of voices through the fog broke +upon his ear, and he realized that he himself was an object of +pursuit. + +Then the wise woman's warnings flashed across him with vivid +distinctness. Had she not bidden him beware of just those perils +which he seemed resolved to court? Why had he forgotten or +disregarded her words? Had they not proved words of wisdom again +and again? And now here was he on the dark-flowing river alone, +unarmed save for the dagger in his belt, and far from all chance of +help. + +Just behind was a boat in hot pursuit, and there were many rowers +in that boat, as the sounds told him. If he could hear their oars, +they could hear his. And though the twilight was creeping on, the +fog seemed to be lifting. Only the vapour wreaths hid him from the +gaze of his foes. If these were to be dispersed his last chance was +gone. + +The river was absolutely lonely and deserted at this time of year +and at this spot. Lower down, schooners and barges were moored. +Near to the bridge he might have had some hope of being heard had +he shouted aloud for aid; here there was no such hope. He was away +on the Lambeth side: there were no houses and no boats of any kind. +His only chance lay in reaching the shore, springing to land, and +trusting to his fleetness to carry him into hiding. The lonely +house could not be far away. Perchance within its walls he might +find a hiding place, or gain admittance within its doors. At least +that was the only chance he had; and inspired by this thought he +drove his light wherry swiftly through the water, and felt the keel +grate against the bank almost before he was prepared for it. + +The pursuers were still coming on, but did not appear to be +distressing themselves. Probably they felt so secure of their prey +that they could afford to be moderately cautious in the midst of +these fog wreaths that made river travelling somewhat perilous. +Cuthbert shipped his oars and sprang lightly ashore, leaving the +wherry to its fate. Then he raced like a hunted hare along the +margin of the river, and before five minutes had passed he had +scrambled up and leaped the wall of this lonely river-side house, +and was crouching breathless and exhausted in a thick covert upon +the farther side, straining his ears for sounds of pursuit. + +These were not long in coming. He heard regular steps approaching +the wall, and a voice said: + +"Here are the tracks. He got over here. Follow, and find him now. +He is in a trap!" + +"Am I indeed in a trap?" thought Cuthbert, setting his teeth hard; +"that remains to be proved!" + +And gliding out from the covert with that noiseless movement he had +learned during his residence in the forest, he raced like a +veritable shadow in the direction of the house. + +He had reached the building rising black and grim against the +darkening sky; he had almost laid his hand upon the knocker, +intending to make known his presence and his peril, and demand +admittance and speech with Master Robert Catesby, when forth from +the shadows of the porch stepped a tall dark figure, and he felt a +shiver of dismay run through him as a loaded pistol was levelled at +his head. + +"It is the spy again--the spy I have sworn to sweep from our path. +False Trevlyn, thine hour has come!" + +A puff of smoke--a loud report. Cuthbert had flung up his hand to +shield his face, for the barrel was aimed straight at his temple. +He was conscious of a sudden stinging pain in his wrist. A +momentary giddiness seized him, and he stumbled and fell. A +sardonic laugh seemed to ring in his ears. He thought he heard the +banging of a door and the drawing of heavy bolts. Probably the man +who had fired was so certain of his aim that he did not even pause +to see how the shot had told. + +"Your tongue will not wag again before the morrow!" + +Those words seemed to be ringing in Cuthbert's ears, and then for a +moment all was blackness and darkness, with a sense of distress and +suffocation and stabs of sudden pain. + +When he awoke from what he first thought had been a nightmare +dream, he was puzzled indeed to know where he was, and for a while +believed that he was dreaming still, and that he should soon awake +to find himself in his little attic chamber in the bridge house. +But as his senses gradually cleared themselves he became aware that +he was in no such safe or desirable spot. He was lying on some +cloaks in the bow of a large boat, which was being rowed steadily +and silently up stream by four stalwart men. The daylight was gone, +but so too was the fog, and the moon was shining down and giving a +sufficient light. In the stern of the boat sat two other men, whose +faces Cuthbert could dimly see, though their hats were drawn down +over their brows. These faces did not seem entirely unfamiliar, yet +he could not remember where it was he had seen them before. His +senses were cloudy and confused. He felt giddy and exhausted. He +had no disposition to try to move; but he soon found that even had +he been so disposed he could have accomplished little. His feet +were bound together by a cord, and his right hand was bound up and +utterly powerless. He remembered the shot levelled at him in the +garden of the river-side house, and felt certain that his wrist was +broken. + +And who were these men who were carrying him away captive, and what +was their motive? He imagined that they must surely be those fierce +pursuers who had striven to capture him upon the river, and who had +followed him into the garden where he had hoped to hide himself +from their malice. Doubtless they had found him as he lay in a +momentary faint, and had borne him back to their boat; though what +was their motive in thus capturing him, and whither they were now +transporting him, he could not imagine. His mind was still confused +and weak. Esther's words of warning seemed to mingle with the +gurgle of the water against the bows of the boat. His temples +throbbed, there was burning pain in his wounded arm; but the night +wind fanned his brow, and brought with it a certain sense of +refreshment. + +Hitherto there had been unbroken silence in the boat, and the +rowers had steadily plied their oars without uttering a word; but +now that they were out in mid river, without the smallest fear of +pursuit, far away from sight or sound from the shore, they paused +as by common consent, and one of them suddenly said: + +"Now, comrades, we must settle which it is to be. Are we to take +him to Miriam or to Tyrrel?" + +Those words told Cuthbert who were his captors. He was in the hands +of the gipsies or highwaymen--probably the prisoner of a mixed band +who had joined together to effect his capture. As the discussion +went on it became more evident that there were two parties and two +factions, both anxious to possess his person, and he listened with +bated breath and a beating heart to every word that passed. + +"I say to Miriam," spoke up one swarthy fellow, with a backward +look towards the prisoner in the bow. "Miriam is wild to have him. +She is certain sure he has killed Long Robin. She would give her +two eyes to have vengeance on some Trevlyn. Why not let her have +the boy, to do with as she will?" + +"Because all she cares for is to burn him alive, as her old mother +was burnt by some Trevlyn long ago; and what good would that do to +the rest of us? Long Robin was no such friend to us. If Miriam's +story be true, he was a treacherous fox, and deserved the fate he +got. If he it was who stole and hid the treasure, and kept the +secret all these years, hoping to enjoy the fruits of it alone, +why, he was a knave and a villain, say I; and that old hag is +little better. What do we care for her vow of vengeance? what is it +to us? Tyrrel, now, wants the prisoner for a purpose. This lad +knows where the treasure is, and he must give up the secret to us. +Once we know where he found it, and if moved where he has stowed +it, we shall speedily be rich for the rest of our days. You all +know that the forest is getting something too hot for us. Tyrrel +has decreed that we must go elsewhere, where we are less known. It +would be a thousand pities to go without this treasure, since it +really lies beneath our hand. A curse upon Long Robin, say I, for +keeping it hid all these years! It was a scurvy trick! and Miriam +was privy to it. I will raise no hand to help her. She may die with +her vow unfulfilled for all I care. Had she but acted fairly by us, +then would we have given yon lad up to her tender mercies; but not +now--not now!" + +A murmur of assent ran through the whole party. The only one to +demur was the first speaker. + +"The old woman got her death blow when Robin's corpse was found. +She will not last many weeks more, they say. I should well like to +bring her a bit of happiness at the end; and her one cry is for +vengeance upon the Trevlyn brood. She would well like to have yon +prisoner brought bound to her, Why not lead him first to Tyrrel and +then to Miriam?" + +"When Tyrrel has him, he will decree what is done with him, not +we," said another voice. "He has no love for Miriam and her +insensate hate. Miriam and Long Robin have both played us false; +and Tyrrel loves the dark-eyed Joanna, and she will not stoop to +any deed of cruelty or tyranny. He will have a care how he treats +the boy over whom her mantle has once been thrown. But the secret +of the gold he must and will have. We will not let him go without +that." + +"To Tyrrel then!" cried several voices with one accord. "I trow he +will have scant patience with any son of the house of Trevlyn, +since he was so bested by those other Trevlyns but two short +evenings back. He will be glad enow to have this lad brought before +him, for he verily feared that the whole brood had found shelter +within the gates of the Cross Way House." + +Cuthbert listened eagerly to these last words, which told him that +his kinsmen at least had escaped peril and had found a safe shelter +where the treasure lay. Knowing that this was so, and that the +treasure was under their safe keeping, even did these men throw +aside the tradition of years and make a raid upon the home of the +Wyverns, his mind became somewhat calmed, although his own fate was +terribly uncertain, and he might have to pay the penalty of his +rashness with his life. + +The rowers bent to their oars once again when this knotty point had +been settled. They rowed on steadily for a short time, and then out +of the darkness came a sharp clear hail. + +"Who goes there?" + +"Friends. We have caught the quarry; we are bringing him to +Tyrrel." + +"Good. He has been waiting with impatience this two hours for news. +His wound doth not make him the more patient." + +"We bring him at least the best medicine. + +"Easy, lads! Ship your oars. Catch hold of her prow, Toby. So here +we are safe and sound, and there is the prisoner!" + +Cuthbert had raised his head, and supporting himself on his left +elbow was gazing about him from side to side. He was still in the +middle of the river; but the boat was now alongside a big barge +moored in midstream, and from this barge several lights were +gleaming, whilst voices were answering and asking questions, and +the name of Tyrrel passed continually from mouth to mouth. + +Then the rowers in the bow came and lifted him bodily in their +arms, taking care not to be needlessly rough with the broken arm +that gave him considerable pain; and so soon as he was placed upon +the barge, the rope that bound his feet was cut, somebody remarking +that it was needless now to hobble him, since he was safely on +board and beneath the eye of the whole crew. + +"And where is Tyrrel?" asked several voices. + +"Below in the cabin, and waiting impatiently for news. Go, and take +the boy with you; the sight of him will be the best medicine for +him." + +Cuthbert was led along, dazed and bewildered, but calm from a sense +of his own helplessness, and perhaps from bodily weakness, too. +This weakness surprised him, for he did not know how much blood he +had lost, and he could not account for the way in which the lights +swam before his eyes and his steps reeled, as he was taken down a +dark ladder-like staircase and into a low long room with a swinging +lamp suspended from the ceiling. It felt close and airless after +the coldness of the night, and everything swam in a mist before his +eyes; but he heard a voice not altogether unfamiliar say in +authoritative accents: "Let him sit down, and give him a stoup of +wine;" and presently his vision cleared, and he found himself +sitting at one side of a rude table opposite the highway chieftain +Tyrrel, whose face he well remembered. They were surrounded by a +ring of stalwart men, some of whose faces were vaguely familiar to +him from having been seen at the old mill a year ago from now. + +He noted that Tyrrel's face was pale, and that his head was +bandaged. It was plain that he had received recent injuries, and +apparently these did not smooth his temper. His face was dark and +stern, and the eyes that looked straight at Cuthbert gleamed +ominously beneath their heavy brows. + +"Well, boy," he said at length, seeing Cuthbert's gaze fasten upon +him with inquiry and recognition, "so we meet again." + +Cuthbert answered nothing. He did not intend to speak a needless +word. He had some inkling now of the motive for his capture, but he +was not going to show his hand. + +"Cuthbert Trevlyn," said Tyrrel, in brief, terse sentences, "I have +not brought thee here to bandy words with thee; I will to the point +at once. I will tell thee why thou art here. Thou art in deadly +peril from without. There is a vile Popish plot but recently +discovered. The perpetrators and conspirators will all be seized +upon the morrow. Thou art held to be one of these. Thou wilt be +seized amongst others. Innocent or guilty, it matters not. Thou +wilt die the traitor's death--the hideous doom of those accused of +high treason. Thou wilt be lucky if thou art not racked first to +make thee confess what men hold (whether truly or falsely) that +thou knowest. I have interposed to save thee from that fate. I have +had thee pursued and brought hither to me. I can and I will save +thee and hide thee till all pursuit is over. But thou must purchase +my protection at a price." + +Cuthbert listened as one in a dream. He knew that Tyrrel might be +speaking truth. He knew that he had received warnings before +telling him he was suspected and watched. He recalled many past +moments when he had felt that he had placed himself in a false +position and might have laid himself open to misconstruction. But +he had never thought himself in actual peril from the arm of the +law. Was Tyrrel speaking the truth now, or was he only striving to +intimidate him for his own ends? + +Fixing his dark eyes full upon the face of the man opposite, he +asked: + +"And what is that price?" + +"The secret of the Trevlyn treasure," was the calm reply--"the +secret thou didst learn from Long Robin ere thou didst lay him in +his bloody grave, and which now thou holdest alone. Where is the +treasure, boy? Speak, and all will be well. For bethink thee, if +thou holdest thy peace I give thee up on the morrow to the +myrmidons of the law, and the golden secret will perish with thee, +none profiting thereby. Tell it but to me, and by that honour which +I have ever held sacred, thou shalt be released and placed in a +secure hiding place till all hue and cry be past. Speak, then, for +thy silence can aid none--least of all thyself. Tell the whole +story and guide us to the treasure, and all will be well." + +Cuthbert sat silent and motionless, turning the matter rapidly over +in his mind. What should he do? Would it be a lasting disgrace to +yield to thoughts of personal peril, and reveal all he knew? That +revelation would not place the treasure in Tyrrel's hands. He might +fear to assail the Cross Way House; and now that house might be so +well guarded that it could defy attack. + +Should he risk it? Should he tell all? For a moment he was half +disposed to do so; but another thought followed, and the words were +checked ere they had reached his lips. + +What if further business had taken away Sir Richard and his son +from the lonely house? What if, in the tumult and alarm that the +news of such a plot would spread through the kingdom, the household +within those walls should be left unprotected by these kinsmen, who +might have occasion to make their way to their own home to see how +it fared with those left there? + +He knew the fearless character of Lady Humbert. She would never +keep Sir Richard from his wife at a time of anxiety and possible +peril. They might already have left the Cross Way House for Trevlyn +Chase (for Lady Humbert knew that the secret of the treasure lay +with none but themselves, and would have no fears for that). And if +in the dead of night the whole force of the gipsy folk and the +highwaymen--or even these latter alone, if they could not get the +gipsies to join with them--were to sweep down and attack that +solitary house, what chance would its inmates have against them? +None, absolutely none! The golden hoard would speedily be made away +with; the treasure would be lost to Trevlyn for ever, and all the +golden hopes and dreams that had been centred upon it would be +dispersed to the winds. + +Should he have it always on his mind that he had sold the secret +from craven fear? Should he ever know peace of mind or self respect +again? + +Never! he would die first. And surely since he had no dealings in +this plot, and was innocent of all thought of treason, no hurt +could come to him even were he given up. Surely he could prove his +innocence, though with his head so confused as it now was he scarce +knew how he should be able to parry and answer the questions +addressed to him. Perchance some knowledge of his peril would reach +the ears of Lord Culverhouse, and he would come to his aid. At +least he would not be coerced and threatened into betraying his +secret. Tyrrel might do his worst; he would defy him. + +He looked straight at the robber chief, who sat awaiting his reply +with a cold smile of triumph on his face, and answered briefly: + +"I shall tell you nothing." + +A gleam of anger shone in the man's eyes. + +"Have a care how thou answerest me. Remember that thy secret will +perish with thee when thou goest to the traitor's death." + +"It will not," answered Cuthbert coolly. "There be others of my +kindred that know it. The treasure will be saved for Trevlyn, do +what thou wilt with me." + +"I shall do as I have said," answered Tyrrel, speaking very clearly +and distinctly. "My plans are all well laid. If within two hours +thou hast not altered thy mind, thou wilt be rowed ashore by my +men, bound hand and foot. Thou wilt then be given in custody to +some good friends of ours on shore, who lie not under suspicion as +we do. By them thou wilt be guarded till morning breaks, and then +all London will be ringing with the news of this foul plot, and men +will be ready to tear limb from limb all those who are so much as +suspected to have had dealings with the false traitors who have +planned all. Then wilt thou, Cuthbert Trevlyn, whose name has +already been whispered abroad as one having cognizance of this +matter, be handed over to the tender mercies of the law. It will be +told of thee how thou wast caught in the very garden of the house +where these vile conspirators resort, and that thou didst fight +like a fury to save thyself from capture. Thy dealings with Father +Urban will be remembered against thee, and many another thing +beside. A traitor's death will be thine end; and thou wilt wish in +vain when those dark hours come upon thee thou hadst saved thyself +when yet there was time. I give thee two hours to bethink thee of +these things. If thou wilt speak plainly, tell us all thou knowest, +and help to place the treasure in our hands, we will save thee from +the fate that awaits thee on shore. If not, we will give thee over +to it; and then no power on earth can save thee." + +But Cuthbert's mind had already been made up, and he did not waver. +He knew himself innocent of all complicity in the plot, and he +clung to the hope that his innocence might be proved. In no case +would he purchase his freedom by a loss of self respect, by a +cowardly yielding up of that very treasure it had been the dream of +his life to restore to the house of Trevlyn. Argument and menace +were alike thrown away upon him; and two hours later, bound hand +and foot, as Tyrrel had said, he was thrown roughly into the bottom +of the wherry, and rowed downstream in dead silence, he knew not +whither. + + + +Chapter 26: Jacob's Devotion. + + +"If thou wouldst save thy friend from a terrible fate, come hither +to me without delay." + +Jacob stood gazing at this scrap of parchment as one in a dream, +his slow wits only taking in by degrees the meaning of the +mysterious words. + +"Thy friend," he repeated slowly, "thy friend! What friend? I have +many. Terrible fate! Saints preserve us, what means that? Can it be +Cuthbert who is in peril--that rash Cuthbert, for ever diving into +matters he had far, far better let alone, and burning his fingers +for naught? Can it be of him it speaks? Belike it may. There have +been ugly whispers abroad of late. Mine uncle told me only this day +that some constables came to his door asking some trivial questions +anent his household, and speaking of Cuthbert by name. It would be +like his folly at such a moment to run his head into a noose. + +"But he shall not be hurt if I can help it. Who is this wise woman +who sends the message? Methinks I have heard Rachel speak of her +ere now. Well, I can but go visit her and hear what she would have +to say. I know the house in Budge Row; I took Rachel to the door +once. For myself, I love not such hocus pocus; but if it be a +matter of Cuthbert's safety, I will e'en go and listen to her tale. +If she wants to filch money from me for foul purposes, she will +find she has come to the wrong man. I will pay for nothing till I +have got my money's worth." + +It was already dark. Jacob had been partaking of one of Martin +Holt's hospitable suppers. Cuthbert had been absent, and Mistress +Susan had remarked with some acrimony that the young man was +growing a deal too fine in his ways for them. He came and went just +at pleasure; and she did not think it well to encourage him in his +idleness and irregularities. Martin opined that he had been amusing +himself by watching the preparations for the grand doings on the +morrow. The King was in London, and would open his Parliament the +next day. Little was being talked of but that event all over London +that night. + +And now, on reaching his home, Jacob found this brief missive +awaiting him, and started forth again, wondering not a little +whither it would lead him. The streets were almost empty. Budge Row +was dark and silent as the grave. Yet as he looked up at the tall +narrow house, a window from above was softly opened, and a low +voice over his head spoke in soft, urgent accents: + +"Hist! make no sound. Wait but a moment. I will open to you." + +Jacob waited, and almost immediately the door was cautiously +opened, and a head looked round, a pair of dark eyes peering up +into his face. + +"It is well, Jacob Dyson, thou hast come," said the same voice, in +the lowest of low whispers. "But I may not speak with thee here. +Thou must come with me elsewhere. Tyrrel's men are in this house, +carousing in their cups. But they have ears like the wild things of +the forest. I may not bring thee within the door. They think that I +be gone to my chamber to sleep. They will seek me no more tonight. +And before the morrow dawns our task must be accomplished." + +"And what is that task?" asked Jacob breathlessly. + +"To free Cuthbert Trevlyn from the bonds that hold him; to save him +from the power of those who will, when the morning dawns; deliver +him up to the emissaries of the law as one who has taken part in +the vilest plot that has ever been conceived by heart of man!" + +Jacob started, and faced his companion, who was hurrying him along +the dark streets at a rapid pace. + +"Plot, woman! what dost thou mean?" he cried, alarmed and +distrustful, and yet impelled to let her lead him whither she +would, dominated by the power of her strong will. "I must know more +of this matter ere I go further. I have heard fell whispers ere +now, but I know not what their truth be. I am a peaceable, +law-abiding citizen. I mix myself not up in such doubtful matters. +Speak plainly, and tell me what thou knowest, and what evil or harm +threatens Cuthbert Trevlyn, or I vow I will go no further with +thee. I will not be made a tool of; I will not walk in the dark." + +He stopped short, and she did the same, still holding his arm in a +close clutch. They had reached one of the many city churches; the +big building loomed up before them dark and tall. The wise woman +drew her companion within the shelter of the deep porch. Here they +could speak at will; none could overhear them now. + +"I will tell thee all in as few words as may be. Thou knowest me as +the wise woman of Budge Row; but once I was the queen of the +woodland, the queen of the gipsy tribes there, and I still hold +some power over the children of the forest. They still bring me +news of all that passes there. Cuthbert Trevlyn has found the lost +treasure, and in finding it has killed one of the tribe. Hatred and +greed have been alike stirred up. Many are bound together against +him. If he cannot be snatched this night from the clutches into +which he has let himself fall--oh, why would he not heed my +warnings?--nothing can avail to save him. + +"Listen, Jacob Dyson. Tyrrel, the notable highwayman, upon whose +head a price has long been set, has this night taken Cuthbert +Trevlyn prisoner, hoping to win from him the secret of the hidden +treasure which now lies in his keeping. Cuthbert has refused to +tell him aught; and now he purposes to strive to turn this to good +account for himself by delivering him up to the officers of the law +upon the morrow, as being concerned in a fearful plot that tomorrow +will make the ears of all England tingle. + +"Dost thou stare at that? hast thou indeed heard aught of it? There +have been whispers abroad; but the matter hath been kept wondrous +close. Cuthbert Trevlyn has by his hardihood, his curiosity, and +his fidelity to friends, who are no true friends to him, placed +himself in jeopardy. He ought to be in hiding now; for if upon the +morrow the name of Trevlyn gets noised abroad, there will be scant +mercy shown him by the judges of this land." + +"Cuthbert a prisoner! Cuthbert delivered up to judgment!" cried +Jacob, aghast. "What meanest thou, woman? What hath he done?" + +"He bath done no evil; but he hath shown himself imprudent and +reckless. He has been seen in company he ought to have fled; he has +visited places against which he was warned. Tyrrel knows this. +Tyrrel knows how to turn to his advantage everything of like +nature. Tyrrel will give him up at the moment when hue and cry is +being made for all concerned in this matter. He will give him up, +and men will bear witness where and how he was seized, where and +how he has been seen before this. Men's minds will be all aflame +with rage and fear. The wildest tale will obtain credence, and +there be nothing so wild in what they may truly say of Cuthbert +Trevlyn. The Tower gates will close upon him, and they will only +open to him when he is led forth to die. Have I not lived long +enough to know that? If he he not saved tonight, nothing can avail +to save him afterwards." + +Jacob felt a strange thrill run through him at these words, + +"And why dost thou tell me this, of all men, woman? What can I do +to save him?" + +He saw that she had raised her face as if to strive to scan the +expression on his; but the darkness foiled her, neither could he +see aught but the gleam of her dark eyes. + +"I come to thee because time presses, and I know not where else to +turn. Thou hast been his friend before; wilt thou play a friend's +part now, even if it be fraught with peril?" + +Jacob paused a few seconds before replying, and then said simply, +"What can I do?" + +"I will tell thee," answered Esther, speaking rapidly. "Cuthbert +Trevlyn lies bound in a house not far away. Tomorrow, so soon as +the news of the plot is noised abroad, and all is in commotion to +discover the conspirators, he will be delivered up to those who are +searching for these; and if thou knewest as much as I, thou wouldst +know that nothing then can save him. But there be yet twelve hours +before this can happen, and if he can be rescued within those +twelve hours, and lodged with me in my house at Budge Row, I will +undertake to hide him so well till all hue and cry be past and over +that none shall find him; and before the glad Yuletide season has +come to rejoice men's hearts, he shall be free to go where he will +and show his face with the best of them." + +This and much more did the eager gipsy pour into Jacob's astonished +ears as he stood in the shadow of the deep porch. Every detail of +the capture was made known to him, the whole plot laid bare, as she +had heard it from the lips of the men who had borne Cuthbert +ashore, and had then been so cunningly plied with heating liquor by +the astute old woman that they had babbled freely of those very +things that Tyrrel would fain have had held secret as the grave, at +least for twenty-four hours longer. + +Jacob listened, and as he listened his mind was strangely stirred. +Here was his rival in deadly peril of his life; and if Cuthbert +were once to be removed from his path, had not Cherry almost +promised, in time, to be his wife? And had he not done all he knew +to warn Cuthbert from just those friendships and associations which +had ended by placing him in this terrible peril? Could anything +more be looked for from him? What did this strange woman think that +he could accomplish? + +Cuthbert was truly his friend and comrade. He had proved it once by +risking his life to aid and abet him. But now what could he do? And +surely in these perilous times, when all men knew they must walk +warily, it behoved him to take heed to his steps. + +"And what can I do?" he asked, as the woman paused. + +"Art thou willing to strive to save him at some peril to thyself?" + +Jacob paused for a full minute. A host of tumultuous feelings +rushed and surged through his brain. A thousand conflicting +impulses swayed him as he revolved the situation with all the +rapidity of quickened thought. + +It was but a minute, yet it seemed like an hour to him before he +placed his hand upon that of the eager woman and answered steadily: + +"I am willing." + +She clutched his hand and held it fast. + +"My heart did not deceive me. I knew that thou wert a true man. +Jacob Dyson, listen to my words, and take good heed to them, and I +will strive so to work that no harm shall befall thee, albeit I may +not deny that thou mayest stand in some jeopardy. Take and put on +this long cloak that I carry beneath my arm; wrap it well about +thee, and turn up its collar that it hide well thy face. Pull thy +hat down over thy eyes--so. And now take this ring and put it upon +thy finger. I have told thee where Cuthbert Trevlyn is lodged this +night. Go to the house and ask speech of Master Dibbler. When thou +seest him, show him that ring, and tell him that Esther, the wise +woman, has sent thee with it, and that she desires him to let thee +have a brief interview alone with his prisoner, who has something +to say to thee for me of the utmost value to all. Show not thy +face, show only the ring, and unless I be greatly deceived, he will +take thee to the prisoner forthwith, and lock thee up together +alone. The rest thou canst almost divine. Thou must lose no time, +but cut the cords that bind him, wrap him in this cloak--ye are +much of a height--and so muffled he may well pass out in the +darkness unheeded. Thou must stay behind in the prison bound as he +was bound. In the morning thou wilt be given over to the officers +of the law; for I misdoubt me much that Dibbler will ever find out +the trick that has been played upon him. He never saw Cuthbert +Trevlyn before, and I trow he has scarce observed what manner of +man he is. He will deliver thee up for one Cuthbert Trevlyn, taken +in the act of fleeing to the house where the conspirators are known +to lodge. + +"But I trow that thy father's solid weight and Esther's acuteness +can soon serve to set thee at liberty. It will be an easy task to +show to all the world that thou art Jacob Dyson, a peaceable +citizen, and that thou hast been wrongly apprehended in the place +of another. Thou wilt be able to prove that at the hour men say +they found thee in that dark garden thou wast in thy father's or +thine uncle's house. Thy captors will be confused, enraged, +bewildered, and will have to explain how they come to be striving +to pass off Jacob Dyson as an evil doer. I trow well we can turn +the tables upon them. + +"Art thou willing to run some small peril for the sake of serving +one who has called thee friend?" + +And Jacob, with scarce a moment's pause, replied once again, "I am +willing." + +Next day, the morning of the fifth of November, 1605, dawned clear +and still and bright. London was early astir; for was not the King +to open his Parliament that day? and were not hundreds of loyal +subjects going to line the streets to see the procession pass? If +the King were not popular, the Prince of Wales, Prince Henry, was; +and a sight was a sight to the simple folk of those days, even as +it is still. + +But before long a curious change passed over the face of the London +streets. A breath--a whisper--a fleeting rumour. Men's faces grew +suddenly pale and grave. Women uttered sharp exclamations of +astonishment and fear. People pressed together into knots, asking +quick questions and awaiting the answers in breathless expectancy; +and presently the whispers became changed into open cries and +shouts. A smothered roar as of execration and menace ran through +the streets, being caught up and passed from mouth to mouth till it +was surging along like a great billow on the wide Atlantic sea. + +"A Popish plot!" + +"Down with the Papists!" + +"Blow up the whole of the Parliament Houses--King, Lords, and +Commons!" + +"Heard ye ever the like before?" + +"Taken in the very act--with the barrels of gunpowder laid ready, +and the slow match in his hand!" + +"A curse upon all such vile traitors!" + +"A curse upon the Papists!" + +"England will never know peace till she has destroyed them root and +branch!" + +"Down with the whole brood of them--the vile scum of a vile race!" + +These and many like cries were passing through the crowd in great, +gusty shouts. Martin Holt, standing at the door of his shop, was +just taking in the sense of what was passing, and anxiously +ruminating upon the fact that Cuthbert had not been home all the +night, when Abraham Dyson came hurrying up, his face pale with +apprehension. + +"Good Master Holt, hast thou heard the news?" + +"That the Papists have tried to blow up the Parliament Houses? Can +such a thing be true?" + +"As true as daylight; there is no manner of doubt as to that. But I +have another trouble than that, which has been happily averted. +They tell me my boy has been arrested as one of the conspirators. I +am about to hasten down and inquire into it. + +"Martin, where is Cuthbert?" + +"I have not seen him since yesterday noon. What of him? Has he--the +foolish, hot-headed boy--gone and run himself into like trouble?" + +"I know not--I know naught of him; only methought they might be +together, being such friends and comrades." + +"They were not together yesterday. Jacob supped here with us, and +knew naught of Cuthbert then." + +"Supped with you last night! that is good hearing, for men say he +was seen at Lambeth then, where the conspirators have some house or +hiding place. Come thou with me, good Martin, I prithee. I must +take solid men to witness for my lad, and bring him safely home +again. I warrant me he has had no dealings in yon foul plot! He +hates the very name of Popery and scheming." + +Martin Holt lost not a moment in following his friend, who was +joined by several sober and wealthy merchants and citizens, all +deeply indignant at the insult received by their friend in this +false accusation of Jacob. + +Abraham Dyson had been warned by a letter of the peril in which his +son stood--a mysteriously-worded letter, but one that was evidently +written by a friend. It advised that Dyson and his friends should +proceed at once to Westminster and Whitehall, where the excitement +would be at its height, and there they would find Jacob in custody, +and would doubtless be able speedily to obtain his release, since +he had been arrested under a misapprehension. + +Whoever had written these words had plainly known the truth; for +when the city men had almost fought their way through a howling and +wildly excited mob, they found Jacob, bound and guarded, being just +led before some of the King's counsellors under the name of +Cuthbert Trevlyn. + +"That man is not Cuthbert Trevlyn," shouted old Abraham, forgetting +all but the fact that he saw his son in dire and deadly peril. +"This is a quiet and peaceable Protestant citizen. Here am I with +friends ready to testify the same. This is nothing but another vile +Papist plot, conceived to strive to do to death good, peaceable +citizens of contrary faith, while they escape the doom their +traitorous villainy deserves!" + +This astute form of vindication roused another clamour from the +crowd. There was not the smallest difficulty in proving Jacob's +identity, in establishing his innocence and obtaining his release. +Those in authority saw at once that it was one of those innumerable +cases of mistaken identity, and did not even care to waste time +over a close inquiry into circumstances; whilst the bystanders were +raving in indignant sympathy, perfectly convinced that it was all +the work of the conspirators themselves, to try to throw their own +guilt upon the innocent, and by no means sure that their own turn +might not come next. + +When Jacob was free, he turned to the King's counsellors and said: + +"If it please you gentlemen to fall upon and make away with a +notable band of outlaws and robbers, who have long made the terror +of the southern roads, they be all beneath your very hand +today--gathered together in an old barge not far above Lambeth, +where they be waiting the issue of this day's work, knowing far +more about it than peaceable and well-minded men should do. Tyrrel +is the name of the leader, and he and the best part of his band +will hold high revel there this night. They will fall an easy prey +in your hands if it please you to send and take them." + +The crowd shouted in delight. There was no love lost between the +citizens of London and those freebooters who made all travel so +perilous, and the name of Tyrrel was widely known and widely +feared. The counsellors conferred together awhile and asked many +questions of Jacob, and then they released him with courteous words +of regret, intimating that if good came of this hunt after the +outlaws he should not lose his reward. + +His father lost no time in getting him safely home, and questioning +him closely as to how he came to find himself in such a +predicament; but all he answered was that he and Cuthbert had been +about a good deal together, and that they had been mistaken for one +another. As for Cuthbert, he was safe enough, but would remain in +hiding for some few weeks. He was innocent of all complicity in the +plot; but his carelessness had caused him to be suspected of some +knowledge of it, and suspicion at a moment of popular frenzy was +almost as fatal as actual guilt. When the real culprits had been +discovered and had paid the penalty of their crime, smaller persons +would be safe once more. Silence and obscurity were the safest +shields for the present, and to no living soul did he reveal the +secret of Cuthbert's hiding place. + +London was soon ringing with the news of the death or capture of +the plotters of the Gunpowder Treason, as it quickly began to be +called; and those interested in the matter heard with satisfaction +that Tyrrel and his band had been surprised, and all upon the barge +had been either apprehended or slain. Tyrrel had died sword in +hand, as became a man of his calling, and the few who had escaped +to their old haunts had warned their comrades there, who had fled +the south country forthwith, and were scattered no man knew +whither. + +Only to one person did Jacob presently tell the whole story of that +strange night when he set out to rescue Cuthbert from dire peril, +and that person was his cousin Keziah. The tale aroused her deepest +interest, and from that moment Jacob became to her a hero as well +as an idol. The honest youth had never been idolized before--never +in his wildest moments had he hoped to rise to the level of a hero; +and there was something so wonderful in finding himself so regarded +that it began to have a softening and even an elevating effect upon +him, and to draw forth an answering admiration and love. + +The end of it was that before the Yuletide season had come, he went +blushing to Martin Holt to ask for the hand of his second daughter +Keziah in marriage instead of that of Cherry, whose heart had from +the first been given elsewhere; and it was arranged that the +marriage should take place almost at once, for Jacob pleaded he had +waited long enough for his wife, and Keziah's only wish was to +please her future lord and master. + + + +Chapter 27: Yuletide At The Cross Way House. + + +Lady Humbert had got her own way--she generally did when her mind +was set upon a thing--and a large and merry party was assembled +beneath the hospitable roof of the Cross Way House to spend the +festive Yuletide there together. + +Sir Richard was not sorry just at this juncture to extend his visit +to these kinswomen, whose known loyalty and adhesion to the +Protestant cause had made the name of Wyvern respected and held in +high repute even at the King's Court. It had been with equal +satisfaction that he had married his eldest daughter Cecilia to Sir +Robert Fortescue, and had allowed Lord Culverhouse openly to +proclaim his betrothal with Kate. + +For strange things had been happening in the world of London since +the discovery of that abortive Gunpowder Treason; and, in the first +panic, the name of Trevlyn had freely been whispered abroad. Sir +Richard's friends had trembled for him, and had counselled him to +keep perfectly quiet and let the evil whisper die a natural death +if it would. + +For two long weeks the family at the Chase lived upon tenterhooks. +Every day they feared to hear the approach of some messenger with +tidings of woe. There was terror in many hearts when a loud +explosion in the middle of the night roused them all from their +beds; but it was quickly seen that this explosion did not +immediately concern them, and that it must have proceeded from the +old Gate House, which was already wrapped in flames. The servants +hurried down to assist, but were too late. It was only many hours +later that the charred remains of what had once been two human +beings were found amongst the smoking ruins. A whisper went abroad +that a certain well-known seminary priest, by name Father Urban, +had fled from London, and had taken refuge with Nicholas Trevlyn. +It was surmised that the two must have been preparing themselves +for a siege, and that their ammunition had unexpectedly ignited and +caused the catastrophe. + +To say that any one deplored the fate of the gloomy old man, who +was supposed to be little better than a maniac, would be going +altogether too far. Petronella shed a few tears, but they were +tears rather of relief than of sorrow; while Sir Richard felt that +he could breathe more freely when his contumacious kinsman had +ceased to live at his door. + +The whisper which had alarmed his friends died a natural death so +soon as the real facts connected with the plot came to be known, +and the number and names of the true conspirators discovered. +Indeed, further inquiry appeared to elicit the fact that Cuthbert +Trevlyn had been striving to unravel and expose the plot, and that +he had been shot down by one of the genuine plotters as a spy and a +foe. As he had not since been seen or heard of, considerable +anxiety was felt in some quarters for his safety. Sir Richard was +causing inquiries to be made in London. Cherry was beginning to go +about looking pale and hollow eyed. Lady Humbert, who always +cheerily avowed that everything would come right in time, was +secretly not a little anxious, until a few days before the Yuletide +season, when she was called out into her own back regions to +interview a strange woman who was asking for her, and found herself +face to face with Joanna, the gipsy queen. + +For a moment she scarcely knew the woman again, for she had put off +her distinctive dress, and was habited like a simple countrywoman. +Her face, too, had lost its brilliant colouring, and her eyes were +softer than of yore. She told the astonished Lady Humbert that her +mother Miriam was lately dead, that the tribe over whom she ruled +had been dispersed and scattered she knew not whither, and that she +had no wish to gather about her the remnants of the gipsy folk, who +had long been more disposed to consort with robbers and outlaws +than to submit to her sway. She was weary of the old life, and +desired something more tranquil. She asked if she could serve Lady +Humbert in the capacity of dairy woman or laundress, and was +promptly answered in the affirmative. + +She then went on to whisper that first she must to London, and that +she would bring back Cuthbert Trevlyn with her, and be with them +again on the Christmas Eve. More than this she would not say; but +Lady Humbert trusted her implicitly, and after that she went about +the house with a bright face and brisk step, laughed at Cherry's +wistful looks, and declared that she would wait no longer for the +absentee, but on Christmas Eve would have up out of the strongroom +all the treasure hidden there, and would hand it over to its lawful +owners, the Trevlyns--Sir Richard, as head of the house, being the +fittest person now to have charge of it. + +There was a little murmur of remonstrance, Cuthbert's name being +mentioned. Was it fair to do anything till he returned? But some +persons began to fear he never would be seen again. All were deeply +interested in the treasure; and Lady Humbert clinched the matter by +declaring that her mind was made up, and that she would do as she +had said. + +What a wonderful sight it was as piece after piece of rich old +plate, some gold, some silver, all richly chased and embossed, was +brought by the servants and placed by Lady Humbert's direction upon +the long tables in the old banqueting hall, now unused for half a +century! Breathless and wondering, the Trevlyns stood by watching, +Sir Richard exclaiming in delighted recognition of various family +heirlooms he had often heard described, and which transcended even +the fancies he had formed about them. And, besides the wonderful +plate, there were jewels and gold in abundance, small coffers +filled with golden coins and precious stones, sufficient for a +king's ransom. + +Kate stood clinging to Culverhouse's arm, her eyes as bright as +stars. It was to her the realization of a wonderful dream; and as +she gazed and gazed upon the sparkling hoard, which she knew would +smooth her own path in life and that of the lover of her choice, +she glanced up at him with kindling glances to say: + +"Nay, but what a splendid treasure! I never dreamed of aught like +this! But oh, it seems to spoil it all not to have Cuthbert! It was +he who found it, when nearly all the rest of the world derided the +hope of such a thing. Oh, why is he not here to be with us today?" + +"Why not, indeed?" + +A door at the far end of the room was thrown suddenly open. Lady +Humbert, who had withdrawn herself for a few moments, came forward +smiling and beaming, and behind her--who? + +Petronella, who was standing at Philip's side, not far away, +uttered a quick, sharp cry of rapture, and flung herself into +Cuthbert's arms. + +"Cuthbert!" cried Kate, with a forward bound; and the next minute +Cuthbert was surrounded by a crowd of eager questioners, and so +belaboured with greetings, inquiries, and congratulations that he +himself could not get in a word, but stood looking smilingly from +one to another till his eyes met the eager, wistful glance of a +pair of limpid blue ones, and with a quick cry of "Cherry!" he +shook off the detaining clasp of all other hands, and went straight +across to the spot where she stood blushing, quivering, and hardly +able to believe the evidences of her senses. + +All made way for him smilingly, for the secret of his love was an +open one now, and Cherry had endeared herself to all the family by +her gentleness and pretty, clinging ways. + +"Sweetheart," he said, "I come to claim thee at last, and to claim +thee with thy good father's ready consent and promised blessing. +Cherry, it is to Jacob's devotion and generosity that we owe this +happiness, for he it was who saved my life, and might well have +risked his own to do so. But he thought not of that; he only +thought how he might serve me, and redeem a promise he had made to +thee. And now he has his reward. He was wedded to thy sister a +short week back, being unwilling to wait longer. And he bids me +give thee a brother's love and greeting, hoping that thou wilt find +a place for a brother in thine heart, and wilt give to him a +sister's love." + +"Oh, that indeed I will! Good Jacob! kind Jacob!" cried Cherry, +who, bewildered by this rush of happiness, scarce knew what she +said or did; but it was enough that she had Cuthbert back again +safe and sound. + +To her the voices questioning and exclaiming and eagerly displaying +to her lover the treasure he had never been able to examine and had +never seen massed together, sounded like the murmur of troubled +waters. She stood with Cuthbert's hand in hers, gazing at him as +one in a dream, and it was only when Lady Humbert took her hand and +imprinted a kiss upon her cheek that she seemed suddenly to awake +from her trance. + +"There, little one! I trow thou dost not half know what is in store +for thee! We shall lose our merry Kate, who must be transformed +into the Viscountess Culverhouse, instead of going home chastened +and repentant for her mad folly, as was once hoped, after her +imprisonment here. And as for our quiet Petronella, she too is to +find a home of her own with Master Philip, whose share of this +golden treasure will give him all he needs. But as for thee, little +one, Cross Way House will still be thy home; for Cuthbert will be +content to abide here with us so long as we live, and reign here +with thee after we are gone. + +"So thou wilt still be beneath the stern rule of an aunt, little +one. How wilt thou like that? But thou wilt have a husband to +protect thee, so that thou needest not fear too greatly. + +"Say, pretty child, art thou content with Cross Way House for a +home; or dost thou wish to seek for another?" + +Cherry's answer was to put her arms timidly but lovingly about Lady +Humbert's neck, as she answered, with a little sob of pure +happiness: + +"With Cuthbert I should be happy anywhere, and I love Cross Way +House dearly. If you will have me, I will gladly stay and strive to +be a daughter to you and Mistress Dowsabel. It is all like some +wonderful, beautiful dream. I never thought the lost treasure of +Trevlyn could bring such happiness with it!" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn +by Evelyn Everett-Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TREASURE OF TREVLYN *** + +***** This file should be named 16654.txt or 16654.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/5/16654/ + +Produced by Martin Robb + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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