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diff --git a/23564-8.txt b/23564-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..911e394 --- /dev/null +++ b/23564-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19220 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rookwood, by William Harrison Ainsworth + +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: Rookwood + +Author: William Harrison Ainsworth + +Release Date: November 20, 2007 [EBook #23564] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROOKWOOD *** + + + + +Produced by Afra Ullah, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + "The immortal Ainsworth." _Thackeray._ + + + NOVELS + + BY + + WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH + + + _ROOKWOOD_ + + + "Gives a vivid picture of the times + and places with which he dealt." + _The New York Herald._ + + + THE RITTENHOUSE PRESS + PHILADELPHIA + + + + +[Illustration: DICK TURPIN CLEARS HORNSEY TOLL-GATE] + + + + + PRINTED IN U.S.A. BY ARRANGEMENT WITH + GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Archaic + and dialect spellings have been retained. Greek text has been + transliterated and is shown between {braces}. The oe ligature has + been transcribed as [oe]. + + A table of contents, though not present in the original publication, + has been provided below: + + MEMOIR + + TO MY MOTHER + + PREFACE + + BOOK I. THE WEDDING RING + I. The Vault + II. The Skeleton Hand + III. The Park + IV. The Hall + V. Sir Reginald Rookwood + VI. Sir Piers Rookwood + VII. The Return + VIII. An Irish Adventurer + IX. An English Adventurer + X. Ranulph Rookwood + XI. Lady Rookwood + XII. The Chamber of Death + XIII. The Brothers + + BOOK II. THE SEXTON + I. The Storm + II. The Funeral Oration + III. The Churchyard + IV. The Funeral + V. The Captive + VI. The Apparition + + BOOK III. THE GIPSY + I. A Morning Ride + II. A Gipsy Encampment + III. Sybil + IV. Barbara Lovel + V. The Inauguration + VI. Eleanor Mowbray + VII. Mrs. Mowbray + VIII. The Parting + IX. The Philter + X. Saint Cyprian's Cell + XI. The Bridal + XII. Alan Rookwood + XIII. Mr. Coates + XIV. Dick Turpin + + BOOK IV. THE RIDE TO YORK + I. The Rendezvous at Kilburn + II. Tom King + III. A Surprise + IV. The Hue and Cry + V. The Short Pipe + VI. Black Bess + VII. The York Stage + VIII. Roadside Inn + IX. Excitement + X. The Gibbet + XI. The Phantom Steed + XII. Cawood Ferry + + BOOK V. THE OATH + I. The Hut on Thorne Waste + II. Major Mowbray + III. Handassah + IV. The Dower of Sybil + V. The Sarcophagus + + L'ENVOY + + NOTES + + + + +_MEMOIR_ + + +William Harrison Ainsworth was born in King Street, Manchester, February +4, 1805, in a house that has long since been demolished. His father was +a solicitor in good practice, and the son had all the advantages that +educational facilities could afford. He was sent to the Manchester +grammar-school, and in one of his early novels has left an interesting +and accurate picture of its then condition, which may be contrasted with +that of an earlier period left by the "English opium-eater." At sixteen, +a brilliant, handsome youth, with more taste for romance and the drama +than for the dry details of the law, he was articled to a leading +solicitor of Manchester. The closest friend of his youth was a Mr. James +Crossley, who was some years older, but shared his intellectual taste +and literary enthusiasm. A drama written for private theatricals, in his +father's house was printed in _Arliss's Magazine_, and he also +contributed to the _Manchester Iris_, the _Edinburgh Magazine_, and the +_London Magazine_. He even started a periodical, which received the name +of _The B[oe]otian_, and died at the sixth number. Many of the fugitive +pieces of these early days were collected in volumes now exceedingly +rare: "December Tales" (London, 1823), which is not wholly from his pen; +the "Works of Cheviot Tichburn" (London, 1822; Manchester, 1825), +dedicated to Charles Lamb; and "A Summer Evening Tale" (London, 1825). + +"Sir John Chiverton" appeared in 1826, and for forty years was regarded +as one of his early works; but Mr. John Partington Aston has also +claimed to be its author. In all probability, both of these young men +joined in the production of the novel which attracted the attention of +Sir Walter Scott. On the death of his father, in 1824, Ainsworth went to +London to finish his legal education, but whatever intentions he may +have formed of humdrum study and determined attention to the details of +a profession in which he had no interest, were dissipated by contact +with the literary world of the metropolis. He made the acquaintance of +Mr. John Ebers, who at that time combined the duties of manager of the +Opera House with the business of a publisher. He it was who issued "Sir +John Chiverton," and the verses forming its dedication are understood to +have been addressed to Anne Frances ("Fanny") Ebers, whom Ainsworth +married October 11, 1826. Ainsworth had then to decide upon a career, +and, acting upon the suggestion of Ebers, his father-in-law, he began +business as a publisher; but after an experience of about eighteen +months he abandoned it. In this brief interval he introduced the Hon. +Mrs. Norton, and Ude, the cook, to the discerning though unequal +admiration of the British public. He was introduced to Sir Walter Scott, +who wrote the "Bonnets of Bonnie Dundee" for an annual issued by him. +Ainsworth gave him twenty guineas for it, which Sir Walter accepted, but +laughingly handed over to the little daughter of Lockhart, in whose +London house they had met. Ainsworth's literary aspirations still burned +with undiminished ardor, and several plans were formed only to be +abandoned, and when, in the summer of 1830, he visited Switzerland and +Italy, he was as far as ever from the fulfilment of his desires. In 1831 +he visited Chesterfield and began the novel of "Rookwood," in which he +successfully applied the method of Mrs. Radcliffe to English scenes and +characters. The finest passage is that relating Turpin's ride to York, +which is a marvel of descriptive writing. It was written, apparently in +a glow of inspiration, in less than a day and a half. "The feat," he +says, "for feat it was, being the composition of a hundred novel pages +in less than twenty-four hours, was achieved at 'The Elms,' a house I +then occupied at Kilburn." The success of "Rookwood" was marked and +immediate. Ainsworth at a bound reached popularity. This was in 1834, +and in 1837 he published "Crichton," which is a fine piece of historical +romance. The critics who had objected to the romantic glamor cast over +the career of Dick Turpin were still further horrified at the manner in +which that vulgar rascal, Jack Sheppard, was elevated into a hero of +romance. The outcry was not entirely without justification, nor was it +without effect on the novelist, who thenceforward avoided this perilous +ground. "Jack Sheppard" appeared in _Bentley's Miscellany_, of which +Ainsworth became editor in March, 1840, at a monthly salary of £51. The +story is powerfully written. In 1841 he received £1000 from the _Sunday +Times_ for "Old St. Paul's," and he, in 1848, had from the same source +another £1000 for the "Lancashire Witches." In 1841 he began the +publication of _Ainsworth's Magazine_, which came to an end in 1853, +when he acquired the _New Monthly Magazine_, which he edited for many +years. This was the heyday of Ainsworth's reputation alike in +literature and in society. His home at Kensal Manor House became famous +for its hospitality, and Dickens, Thackeray, Landseer, Clarkson +Stanfield, Talfourd, Jerrold, and Cruikshank were among his guests. The +list of his principal historical novels, with their dates of issue, may +now be given: "Rookwood," 1834; "Crichton," 1837; "Jack Sheppard," 1839; +"Tower of London," 1840; "Guy Fawkes," 1841; "Old St. Paul's, a Tale of +the Plague and the Fire of London," 1841; "Windsor Castle," 1843; "St. +James, or the Court of Queene Anne," 1844; "Star Chamber," 1854; +"Constable of the Tower," 1861; "The Lord Mayor of London," 1862; +"Cardinal Pole," 1863; "John Law, the Projector," 1864; "The Constable +de Bourbon," 1866; "Talbot Harland," 1870; "Boscobel," 1872; "The +Manchester Rebels, or the Fatal '45," 1873; and "The Goldsmith's Wife," +1874. These novels all met with a certain amount of success, but those +of later years did not attain the striking popularity of his earlier +efforts. Many have been translated into various modern languages, and +the editions of his various works are so numerous that some twenty-three +pages of the British Museum catalogue are devoted to his works. The +scenery and history of his native country had a perennial interest for +him, and a certain group of his novels--that is, the "Lancashire +Witches," "Guy Fawkes," "The Manchester Rebels," etc.--may almost be +said to form a novelist's history of Lancashire from the pilgrimage of +grace until the early part of the present century. + +Probably no more vivid account has been written of the great fire and +plague of London than that given in "Old St. Paul's." The charm of +Ainsworth's novels is not at all dependent upon the analysis of motives +or subtle description of character. Of this he has little or nothing, +but he realizes vividly a scene or an incident, and conveys the +impression with great force and directness to the reader's mind. +Ainsworth came upon the reading world at a happy moment. People were +weary of the inanities of the fashionable novel, and were ready to +listen to one who had a power of vivacious narrative. In 1881, when he +was in his seventy-seventh year, a pleasant tribute of respect and +admiration was paid to him in his native town. The Mayor of Manchester +entertained him at a banquet in the town hall September 15, 1881, "as an +expression of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow-townsmen +and of his services to literature." In proposing Mr. Ainsworth's health, +the mayor gave a curious instance of the popularity of his writings. "In +our Manchester public free libraries there are two hundred and fifty +volumes of Mr. Ainsworth's different works. During the last twelve +months these volumes have been read seven thousand six hundred and sixty +times, mostly by the artisan class of readers. And this means that +twenty volumes of his works are being perused in Manchester by readers +of the free libraries every day all the year through." It was well that +this pleasant recognition was not longer delayed. The contrast was +pathetically great between the tall, handsome, dandified figure +presented in the portraits of him by Pickersgill and Maclise, and the +bent and feeble old man who stood by and acknowledged the plaudits of +those who had assembled to honor him. His last published work was +"Stanley Brereton," which he dedicated to his hospitable entertainer. +He died at Reigate January 3, 1882, leaving a widow and also three +daughters by his first marriage. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. +With the exception of George Gleig, he was the last survivor of the +brilliant group who wrote for the early numbers of _Fraser's Magazine_, +and, though he died in harness, had outlived nearly all the associates +of the days when he first achieved fame. + + + + +_TO MY MOTHER_ + + +When I inscribed this Romance to you, my dear Mother, on its first +appearance, I was satisfied that, whatever reception it might meet with +elsewhere, at your hands it would be sure of indulgence. Since then, the +approbation your partiality would scarcely have withheld has been +liberally accorded by the public; and I have the satisfaction of +reflecting, that in following the dictates of affection, which prompted +me to select the dearest friend I had in the world as the subject of a +dedication, I have not overstepped the limits of prudence; nor, in +connecting your honored name with this trifling production, involved you +in a failure which, had it occurred, would have given you infinitely +more concern than myself. After a lapse of three years, during which my +little bark, fanned by pleasant and prosperous breezes, has sailed, more +than once, securely into port, I again commit it to the waters, with +more confidence than heretofore, and with a firmer reliance that, if it +should be found "after many days," it may prove a slight memorial of the +warmest filial regard. + +Exposed to trials of no ordinary difficulty, and visited by domestic +affliction of no common severity, you, my dear Mother, have borne up +against the ills of life with a fortitude and resignation which those +who know you best can best appreciate, but which none can so well +understand, or so thoroughly appreciate, as myself. Suffering is the lot +of all. Submission under the dispensation is permitted to few. And it is +my fervent hope that my own children may emulate your virtues, if they +are happily spared your sorrows. + + + + +_PREFACE_ + + +During a visit to Chesterfield, in the autumn of the year 1831, I first +conceived the notion of writing this story. Wishing to describe, +somewhat minutely, the trim gardens, the picturesque domains, the +rook-haunted groves, the gloomy chambers, and gloomier galleries, of an +ancient Hall with which I was acquainted, I resolved to attempt a story +in the bygone style of Mrs. Radcliffe,--which had always inexpressible +charms for me,--substituting an old English squire, an old English +manorial residence, and an old English highwayman, for the Italian +marchese, the castle, and the brigand of the great mistress of Romance. + +While revolving this subject, I happened, one evening, to enter the +spacious cemetery attached to the church with the queer, twisted +steeple, which, like the uplifted tail of the renowned Dragon of +Wantley, to whom "houses and churches were as capons and turkeys," seems +to menace the good town of Chesterfield with destruction. Here an +incident occurred, on the opening of a vault, which it is needless to +relate, but which supplied me with a hint for the commencement of my +romance, as well as for the ballad entitled "The Coffin." Upon this hint +I immediately acted; and the earlier chapters of the book, together with +the description of the ancestral mansion of the Rookwoods, were +completed before I quitted Chesterfield. + +Another and much larger portion of the work was written during a +residence at Rottingdean, in Sussex, in the latter part of 1833, and +owes its inspiration to many delightful walks over the South Downs. +Romance-writing was pleasant occupation then. + +The Ride to York was completed in one day and one night. This feat--for +a feat it was, being the composition of a hundred ordinary novel pages +in less than twenty-four hours--was achieved at "The Elms," a house I +then occupied at Kilburn. Well do I remember the fever into which I was +thrown during the time of composition. My pen literally scoured over the +pages. So thoroughly did I identify myself with the flying highwayman, +that, once started, I found it impossible to halt. Animated by kindred +enthusiasm, I cleared every obstacle in my path with as much facility as +Turpin disposed of the impediments that beset his flight. In his +company, I mounted the hill-side, dashed through the bustling village, +swept over the desolate heath, threaded the silent street, plunged into +the eddying stream, and kept an onward course, without pause, without +hindrance, without fatigue. With him I shouted, sang, laughed, exulted, +wept. Nor did I retire to rest till, in imagination, I heard the bell of +York Minster toll forth the knell of poor Black Bess. + +The supernatural occurrence, forming the groundwork of one of the +ballads which I have made the harbinger of doom to the house of +Rookwood, is ascribed, by popular superstition, to a family resident in +Sussex; upon whose estate the fatal tree--a gigantic lime, with mighty +arms and huge girth of trunk, as described in the song--is still +carefully preserved. Cuckfield Place, to which this singular piece of +timber is attached, is, I may state, for the benefit of the curious, the +real Rookwood Hall; for I have not drawn upon imagination, but upon +memory, in describing the seat and domains of that fated family. The +general features of the venerable structure, several of its chambers, +the old garden, and, in particular, the noble park, with its spreading +prospects, its picturesque views of the Hall, "like bits of Mrs. +Radcliffe,"--as the poet Shelley once observed of the same scene,--its +deep glades, through which the deer come lightly tripping down, its +uplands, slopes, brooks, brakes, coverts, and groves, are carefully +delineated. + +The superstition of a fallen branch affording a presage of approaching +death is not peculiar to the family I have mentioned. Many other old +houses have been equally favored: in fact, there is scarcely an ancient +family in the kingdom without a boding sign. For instance, the Breretons +of Brereton, in Cheshire, were warned by the appearance of stocks of +trees floating, like the swollen bodies of long-drowned men, upon the +surface of a sombre lake--called Blackmere, from the inky color of its +waters--adjoining their residence; and numerous other examples might be +given. The death-presage of the Breretons is alluded to by Drayton in +the "_Polyolbion_." + +It has been well observed by Barry Cornwall, "that the songs which occur +in dramas are more natural than those which proceed from the author in +person." With equal force does the reasoning apply to the romance, which +may be termed the drama of the closet. It would seem strange, on a first +view, that an author should be more at home in an assumed character than +his own. But experience shows the position to be correct. Conscious he +is no longer individually associated with his work, the writer proceeds +with all the freedom of irresponsibility. His idiosyncrasy is merged in +that of the personages he represents. He thinks with their thoughts, +sees with their eyes, speaks with their tongues. His strains are such as +he himself--_per se_--would not, perhaps could not, have originated. In +this light he may be said to bring to his subject not one mind, but +several; he becomes not one poet, but many; for each actor in his drama +has a share, and an important share, in the lyrical _estro_ to which he +gives birth. This it is which has imparted any verve, variety, or +dramatic character they possess, to the ballads contained in this +production. Turpin I look upon as the real songster of "Black Bess;" to +Jerry Juniper I am unquestionably indebted for a flash melody which, +without his hint, would never have been written, while to the sexton I +owe the solitary gleam of light I have been enabled to throw upon the +horrors and mystery of the churchyard. + +As I have casually alluded to the flash song of Jerry Juniper, I may, +perhaps, be allowed to make a few observations upon this branch of +versification. It is somewhat curious, with a dialect so racy, +idiomatic, and plastic as our own cant, that its metrical capabilities +should have been so little essayed. The French have numerous _chansons +d'argot_, ranging from the time of Charles Bourdigné and Villon down to +that of Vidocq and Victor Hugo, the last of whom has enlivened the +horrors of his "_Dernier Jour d'un Condamné_" by a festive song of this +class. The Spaniards possess a large collection of _Romances de +Germania_, by various authors, amongst whom Quevedo holds a +distinguished place. We, on the contrary, have scarcely any slang songs +of merit. With a race of depredators so melodious and convivial as our +highwaymen, this is the more to be wondered at. Had they no bards +amongst their bands? Was there no minstrel at hand to record their +exploits? I can only call to mind one robber who was a poet,--Delany, +and _he_ was an Irishman. This barrenness, I have shown, is not +attributable to the poverty of the soil, but to the want of due +cultivation. Materials are at hand in abundance, but there have been few +operators. Dekker, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Ben Jonson have all dealt +largely in this jargon, but not lyrically; and one of the earliest and +best specimens of a canting-song occurs in Brome's "_Jovial Crew_;" and +in the "_Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew_" there is a solitary ode, +addressed by the mendicant fraternity to their newly-elected monarch; +but it has little humor, and can scarcely be called a genuine +canting-song. This ode brings us down to our own time; to the effusions +of the illustrious Pierce Egan; to Tom Moore's Flights of "_Fancy_;" to +John Jackson's famous chant, "_On the High Toby Spice Flash the +Muzzle_," cited by Lord Byron in a note to "_Don Juan_;" and to the +glorious Irish ballad, worth them all put together, entitled "_The Night +Before Larry Was Stretched_." This facetious performance is attributed +to the late Dean Burrowes, of Cork. It is worthy of note that almost all +modern aspirants to the graces of the _Musa Pedestris_ are Irishmen. Of +all rhymesters of the "_Road_," however, Dean Burrowes is, as yet, most +fully entitled to the laurel. Larry is quite "the potato!" + +And here, as the candidates are so few, and their pretensions so humble, + + I can't help putting in my claim for praise. + +I venture to affirm that I have done something more than has been +accomplished by my predecessors, or contemporaries, with the significant +language under consideration. I have written a purely flash song, of +which the great and peculiar merit consists in its being utterly +incomprehensible to the uninformed understanding, while its meaning must +be perfectly clear and perspicuous to the practised _patterer_ of +_Romany_, or _Pedlar's French_. I have, moreover, been the first to +introduce and naturalize amongst us a measure which, though common +enough in the Argotic minstrelsy of France, has been hitherto utterly +unknown to our _pedestrian_ poetry. Some years afterwards, the song +alluded to, better known under the title of "_Nix My Dolly, Pals,--Fake +Away!_" sprang into extraordinary popularity, being set to music by +Rodwell, and chanted by glorious Paul Bedford and clever little Mrs. +Keeley. + +Before quitting the subject of these songs, I may mention that they +probably would not have been written at all if one of the earliest of +them--a chance experiment--had not excited the warm approbation of my +friend, Charles Ollier, author of the striking romance of "Ferrers." +This induced me to prosecute the vein accidentally opened. + +Turpin was the hero of my boyhood. I had always a strange passion for +highwaymen, and have listened by the hour to their exploits, as narrated +by my father, and especially to those of "Dauntless Dick," that "chief +minion of the moon." One of Turpin's adventures in particular, the ride +to Hough Green, which took deep hold of my fancy, I have recorded in +song. When a boy, I have often lingered by the side of the deep old road +where this robbery was committed, to cast wistful glances into its +mysterious windings; and when night deepened the shadows of the trees, +have urged my horse on his journey, from a vague apprehension of a visit +from the ghostly highwayman. And then there was the Bollin, with its +shelvy banks, which Turpin cleared at a bound; the broad meadows over +which he winged his flight; the pleasant bowling-green of the pleasant +old inn at Hough, where he produced his watch to the Cheshire squires, +with whom he was upon terms of intimacy; all brought something of the +gallant robber to mind. No wonder, in after-years, in selecting a +highwayman for a character in a tale, I should choose my old favorite, +Dick Turpin. + +In reference to two of the characters here introduced, and drawn from +personages living at the time the tale was written, it may be mentioned +that poor Jerry Juniper met his death from an accident at Chichester, +while he was proceeding to Goodwood races; and that the knight of +Malta,--Mr. Tom, a brewer of Truro, the self-styled Sir William +Courtenay, who played the strange tricks at Canterbury chronicled in a +song given in these pages,--after his release from Banning Heath Asylum, +was shot through the head while leading on a mob of riotous Kentish +yeomen, whom he had persuaded that he was the Messiah! + +If the design of Romance be, what it has been held, the exposition of a +useful truth by means of an interesting story, I fear I have but +imperfectly fulfilled the office imposed upon me; having, as I will +freely confess, had, throughout, an eye rather to the reader's +amusement than his edification. One wholesome moral, however, may, I +trust, be gathered from the perusal of this Tale; namely, that, without +due governance of the passions, high aspirations and generous emotions +will little avail their possessor. The impersonations of the Tempter, +the Tempted, and the Better Influence may be respectively discovered, by +those who care to cull the honey from the flower, in the Sexton, in +Luke, and in Sybil. + +The chief object I had in view in making the present essay was to see +how far the infusion of a warmer and more genial current into the veins +of old Romance would succeed in reviving her fluttering and feeble +pulses. The attempt has succeeded beyond my most sanguine expectation. +Romance, if I am not mistaken, is destined shortly to undergo an +important change. Modified by the German and French writers--by Hoffman, +Tieck, Hugo, Dumas, Balzac, and Paul Lecroix (_le Bibliophile +Jacob_)--the structure commenced in our own land by Horace Walpole, Monk +Lewis, Mrs. Radcliffe, and Maturin, but left imperfect and inharmonious, +requires, now that the rubbish which choked up its approach is removed, +only the hand of the skilful architect to its entire renovation and +perfection. + +And now, having said my say, I must bid you, worthy reader, farewell. +Beseeching you, in the words of old Rabelais, "to interpret all my +sayings and doings in the perfectest sense. Reverence the cheese-like +brain that feeds you with all these jolly maggots; and do what lies in +you to keep me always merry. Be frolic now, my lads! Cheer up your +hearts, and joyfully read the rest, with all ease of your body, and +comfort of your reins." + + KENSAL MANOR-HOUSE, + _December 15, 1849_. + + + + +ROOKWOOD + + + + +_BOOK I_ + + +_THE WEDDING RING_ + + It has been observed, and I am apt to believe it is an observation + which will generally be found true, that before a terrible truth + comes to light, there are certain murmuring whispers fly before it, + and prepare the minds of men for the reception of the truth itself. + + _Gallick Reports: + Case of the Count Saint Geran._ + + + + +_CHAPTER I_ + +_THE VAULT_ + + Let me know, therefore, fully the intent + Of this thy dismal preparation-- + This talk fit for a charnel. + + WEBSTER. + + +Within a sepulchral vault, and at midnight, two persons were seated. The +chamber was of singular construction and considerable extent. The roof +was of solid stone masonry, and rose in a wide semicircular arch to the +height of about seventeen feet, measured from the centre of the ceiling +to the ground floor, while the sides were divided by slight +partition-walls into ranges of low, narrow catacombs. The entrance to +each cavity was surrounded by an obtusely-pointed arch, resting upon +slender granite pillars; and the intervening space was filled up with a +variety of tablets, escutcheons, shields, and inscriptions, recording +the titles and heraldic honors of the departed. There were no doors to +the niches; and within might be seen piles of coffins, packed one upon +another, till the floor groaned with the weight of lead. Against one of +the pillars, upon a hook, hung a rack of tattered, time-out-of-mind +hatchments; and in the centre of the tomb might be seen the effigies of +Sir Ranulph de Rokewode, the builder of the mausoleum, and the founder +of the race who slept within its walls. This statue, wrought in black +marble, differed from most monumental carved-work, in that its posture +was erect and lifelike. Sir Ranulph was represented as sheathed in a +complete suit of mail, decorated with his emblazoned and gilded surcoat, +his arm leaning upon the pommel of a weighty curtal-axe. The attitude +was that of stern repose. A conically-formed helmet rested upon the +brow; the beaver was raised, and revealed harsh but commanding features. +The golden spur of knighthood was fixed upon the heel; and, at the feet, +enshrined in a costly sarcophagus of marble, dug from the same quarry as +the statue, rested the mortal remains of one of "the sternest knights to +his mortal foe that ever put speare in the rest." + +Streaming in a wavering line upon the roof, the sickly flame of a candle +partially fell upon the human figures before alluded to, throwing them +into darkest relief, and casting their opaque and fantastical shadows +along the ground. An old coffin upon a bier, we have said, served the +mysterious twain for a seat. Between them stood a bottle and a glass, +evidences that whatever might be the ulterior object of their stealthy +communion, the immediate comfort of the creature had not been altogether +overlooked. At the feet of one of the personages were laid a mattock, a +horn lantern--from which the candle had been removed--, a crowbar, and a +bunch of keys. Near to these implements of a vocation which the reader +will readily surmise, rested a strange superannuated terrier with a wiry +back and frosted muzzle; a head minus an ear, and a leg wanting a paw. +His master, for such we shall suppose him, was an old man with a lofty +forehead, covered with a singularly shaped nightcap, and clothed, as to +his lower limbs, with tight, ribbed, gray worsted hose, ascending +externally, after a bygone fashion, considerably above the knee. The old +man's elbow rested upon the handle of his spade, his wrist supported his +chin, and his gray glassy eyes, glimmering like marsh-meteors in the +candle-light, were fixed upon his companion with a glance of searching +scrutiny. + +The object of his investigation, a much more youthful and interesting +person, seemed lost in reverie, and alike insensible to time, place, and +the object of the meeting. With both hands grasped round the barrel of a +fowling-piece, and his face leaning upon the same support, the features +were entirely concealed from view; the light, too, being at the back, +and shedding its rays over, rather than upon his person, aided his +disguise. Yet, even thus imperfectly defined, the outline of the head, +and the proportions of the figure, were eminently striking and +symmetrical. Attired in a rough forester's costume, of the mode of 1737, +and of the roughest texture and rudest make, his wild garb would have +determined his rank as sufficiently humble in the scale of society, had +not a certain loftiness of manner, and bold, though reckless deportment, +argued pretensions on the part of the wearer to a more elevated station +in life, and contradicted, in a great measure, the impression produced +by the homely appearance of his habiliments. A cap of shaggy brown fur, +fancifully, but not ungracefully fashioned, covered his head, from +beneath which, dropping, in natural clusters over his neck and +shoulders, a cloud of raven hair escaped. Subsequently, when his face +was more fully revealed, it proved to be that of a young man, of dark +aspect, and grave, melancholy expression of countenance, approaching +even to the stern, when at rest; though sufficiently animated and +earnest when engaged in conversation, or otherwise excited. His features +were regular, delicately formed, and might be characterized as +singularly handsome, were it not for a want of roundness in the contour +of the face which gave the lineaments a thin, worn look, totally +distinct, however, from haggardness or emaciation. The nose was delicate +and fine; the nostril especially so; the upper lip was short, curling, +graceful, and haughtily expressive. As to complexion, his skin had a +truly Spanish warmth and intensity of coloring. His figure, when raised, +was tall and masculine, and though slight, exhibited great personal +vigor. + +We will now turn to his companion, the old man with the great gray +glittering eyes. Peter Bradley, of Rookwood--comitatû Ebor--, where he +had exercised the vocation of sexton for the best part of a life already +drawn out to the full span ordinarily allotted to mortality, was an odd +caricature of humanity. His figure was lean, and almost as lank as a +skeleton. His bald head reminded one of a bleached skull, allowing for +the overhanging and hoary brows. Deep-seated, and sunken within their +sockets, his gray orbs gleamed with intolerable lustre. Few could endure +his gaze; and, aware of his power, Peter seldom failed to exercise it. +He had likewise another habit, which, as it savored of insanity, made +him an object of commiseration with some, while it rendered him yet more +obnoxious to others. The habit we allude to, was the indulgence of wild +screaming laughter at times when all merriment should be checked; and +when the exhibition of levity must proceed from utter disregard of human +grief and suffering, or from mental alienation. + +Wearied with the prolonged silence, Peter at length condescended to +speak. His voice was harsh and grating as a rusty hinge. + +"Another glass?" said he, pouring out a modicum of the pale fluid. + +His companion shook his head. + +"It will keep out the cold," continued the sexton, pressing the liquid +upon him: "and you, who are not so much accustomed as I am to the damps +of a vault, may suffer from them. Besides," added he, sneeringly, "it +will give you courage." + +His companion answered not. But the flash of his eye resented the +implied reproach. + +"Nay, never stare at me so hard, Luke," continued the sexton; "I doubt +neither your courage nor your firmness. But if you won't drink, I will. +Here's to the rest eternal of Sir Piers Rookwood! You'll say amen to +that pledge, or you are neither grandson of mine, nor offspring of his +loins." + +"Why should I reverence his memory," answered Luke, bitterly, refusing +the proffered potion, "who showed no fatherly love for me? He disowned +_me_ in life: in death I disown _him_. Sir Piers Rookwood was no father +of mine." + +"He was as certainly your father, as Susan Bradley, your mother, was my +daughter," rejoined the sexton. + +"And, surely," cried Luke, impetuously, "_you_ need not boast of the +connection! 'Tis not for you, old man, to couple their names +together--to exult in your daughter's disgrace and your own dishonor. +Shame! shame! Speak not of them in the same breath, if you would not +have me invoke curses on the dead! _I_ have no reverence--whatever _you_ +may have--for the seducer--for the murderer of my mother." + +"You have choice store of epithets, in sooth, good grandson," rejoined +Peter, with a chuckling laugh. "Sir Piers a murderer!" + +"Tush!" exclaimed Luke, indignantly, "affect not ignorance. You have +better knowledge than I have of the truth or falsehood of the dark tale +that has gone abroad respecting my mother's fate; and unless report has +belied you foully, had substantial reasons for keeping sealed lips on +the occasion. But to change this painful subject," added he, with a +sudden alteration of manner, "at what hour did Sir Piers Rookwood die?" + +"On Thursday last, in the night-time. The exact hour I know not," +replied the sexton. + +"Of what ailment?" + +"Neither do I know that. His end was sudden, yet not without a warning +sign." + +"What warning?" inquired Luke. + +"Neither more nor less than the death-omen of the house. You look +astonished. Is it possible you have never heard of the ominous +Lime-Tree, and the Fatal Bough? Why, 'tis a common tale hereabouts, and +has been for centuries. Any old crone would tell it you. Peradventure, +you _have_ seen the old avenue of lime-trees leading to the hall, nearly +a quarter of a mile in length, and as noble a row of timber as any in +the West Riding of Yorkshire. Well, there is one tree--the last on the +left hand before you come to the clock-house--larger than all the +rest--a huge piece of timber, with broad spreading branches, and of I +know not what girth in the trunk. That tree is, in some mysterious +manner, connected with the family of Rookwood, and immediately previous +to the death of one of that line, a branch is sure to be shed from the +parent stem, prognosticating his doom. But you shall hear the legend." +And in a strange sepulchral tone, not inappropriate, however, to his +subject, Peter chanted the following ballad: + + THE LEGEND OF THE LIME-TREE + + Amid the grove o'er-arched above with lime-trees old and tall + --The avenue that leads unto the Rookwood's ancient hall--, + High o'er the rest its towering crest one tree rears to the sky, + And wide out-flings, like mighty wings, its arms umbrageously. + + Seven yards its base would scarce embrace--a goodly tree I ween, + With silver bark, and foliage dark, of melancholy green; + And mid its boughs two ravens house, and build from year to year, + Their black brood hatch--their black brood watch--then screaming + disappear. + + In that old tree when playfully the summer breezes sigh, + Its leaves are stirred, and there is heard a low and plaintive cry; + And when in shrieks the storm blast speaks its reverend boughs among, + Sad wailing moans, like human groans, the concert harsh prolong. + + But whether gale or calm prevail, or threatening cloud hath fled, + By hand of Fate, predestinate, a limb that tree will shed; + A verdant bough--untouched, I trow, by axe or tempest's breath-- + To Rookwood's head an omen dread of fast-approaching death. + + Some think that tree instinct must be with preternatural power. + Like 'larum bell Death's note to knell at Fate's appointed hour; + While some avow that on its bough are fearful traces seen, + Red as the stains from human veins, commingling with the green. + + Others, again, there are maintain that on the shattered bark + A print is made, where fiends have laid their scathing talons dark; + That, ere it falls, the raven calls thrice from that wizard bough; + And that each cry doth signify what space the Fates allow. + + In olden days, the legend says, as grim Sir Ranulph view'd + A wretched hag her footsteps drag beneath his lordly wood. + His bloodhounds twain he called amain, and straightway gave her chase; + Was never seen in forest green, so fierce, so fleet a race! + + With eyes of flame to Ranulph came each red and ruthless hound, + While mangled, torn--a sight forlorn!--the hag lay on the ground; + E'en where she lay was turned the clay, and limb and reeking bone + Within the earth, with ribald mirth, by Ranulph grim were thrown. + + And while as yet the soil was wet with that poor witch's gore, + A lime-tree stake did Ranulph take, and pierced her bosom's core; + And, strange to tell, what next befell!--that branch at once took root, + And richly fed, within its bed, strong suckers forth did shoot. + + From year to year fresh boughs appear--it waxes huge in size; + And, with wild glee, this prodigy Sir Ranulph grim espies. + One day, when he, beneath that tree, reclined in joy and pride, + A branch was found upon the ground--the next, Sir Ranulph died! + + And from that hour a fatal power has ruled that Wizard Tree, + To Ranulph's line a warning sign of doom and destiny: + For when a bough is found, I trow, beneath its shade to lie, + Ere suns shall rise thrice in the skies a Rookwood sure shall die! + +"And such an omen preceded Sir Piers's demise?" said Luke, who had +listened with some attention to his grandsire's song. + +"Unquestionably," replied the sexton. "Not longer ago than Tuesday +morning, I happened to be sauntering down the avenue I have just +described. I know not what took me thither at that early hour, but I +wandered leisurely on till I came nigh the Wizard Lime-Tree. Great +Heaven! what a surprise awaited me! a huge branch lay right across the +path. It had evidently just fallen, for the leaves were green and +unwithered; the sap still oozed from the splintered wood; and there was +neither trace of knife nor hatchet on the bark. I looked up among the +boughs to mark the spot from whence it had been torn by the hand of +Fate--for no human hand had done it--and saw the pair of ancestral +ravens perched amid the foliage, and croaking as those carrion fowl are +wont to do when they scent a carcass afar off. Just then a livelier +sound saluted my ears. The cheering cry of a pack of hounds resounded +from the courts, and the great gates being thrown open, out issued Sir +Piers, attended by a troop of his roystering companions, all on +horseback, and all making the welkin ring with their vociferations. Sir +Piers laughed as loudly as the rest, but his mirth was speedily checked. +No sooner had his horse--old Rook, his favorite steed, who never swerved +at stake or pale before--set eyes upon the accursed branch, than he +started as if the fiend stood before him, and, rearing backwards, flung +his rider from the saddle. At this moment, with loud screams, the wizard +ravens took flight. Sir Piers was somewhat hurt by the fall, but he was +more frightened than hurt; and though he tried to put a bold face on the +matter, it was plain that his efforts to recover himself were fruitless. +Dr. Titus Tyrconnel and that wild fellow Jack Palmer--who has lately +come to the hall, and of whom you know something--tried to rally him. +But it would not do. He broke up the day's sport, and returned +dejectedly to the hall. Before departing, however, he addressed a word +to me in private, respecting you; and pointed, with a melancholy shake +of the head, to the fatal branch. '_It is my death-warrant_,' said he, +gloomily. And so it proved; two days afterwards his doom was +accomplished." + +"And do you place faith in this idle legend?" asked Luke, with affected +indifference, although it was evident, from his manner, that he himself +was not so entirely free from a superstitious feeling of credulity as he +would have it appear. + +"Certes," replied the sexton. "I were more difficult to be convinced +than the unbelieving disciple else. Thrice hath it occurred to my own +knowledge, and ever with the same result: first, with Sir Reginald; +secondly, with thy own mother; and lastly, as I have just told thee, +with Sir Piers." + +"I thought you said, even now, that this death omen, if such it be, was +always confined to the immediate family of Rookwood, and not to mere +inmates of the mansion." + +"To the heads only of that house, be they male or female." + +"Then how could it apply to my mother? Was _she_ of that house? Was +_she_ a wife?" + +"Who shall say she was _not_?" rejoined the sexton. + +"Who shall say she _was_ so?" cried Luke, repeating the words with +indignant emphasis--"who will avouch _that_?" + +A smile, cold as a wintry sunbeam, played upon the sexton's rigid lips. + +"I will bear this no longer," cried Luke; "anger me not, or look to +yourself. In a word, have you anything to tell me respecting her? if +not, let me begone." + +"I have. But I will not be hurried by a boy like you," replied Peter, +doggedly. "Go, if you will, and take the consequences. My lips are +sealed forever, and I have much to say--much that it behoves you to +know." + +"Be brief, then. When you sought me out this morning, in my retreat with +the gipsy gang at Davenham Wood, you bade me meet you in the porch of +Rookwood Church at midnight. I was true to my appointment." + +"And I will keep my promise," replied the sexton. "Draw closer, that I +may whisper in thine ear. Of every Rookwood who lies around us--and all +that ever bore the name, except Sir Piers himself--who lies in state at +the hall--, are here--not one--mark what I say--not one male branch of +the house but has been suspected----" + +"Of what?" + +"Of murder!" returned the sexton, in a hissing whisper. + +"Murder!" echoed Luke, recoiling. + +"There is one dark stain--one foul blot on all. Blood--blood hath been +spilt." + +"By all?" + +"Ay, and _such_ blood! theirs was no common crime. Even murder hath its +degrees. Theirs was of the first class." + +"Their wives!--you cannot mean that?" + +"Ay, their wives!--I do. You have heard it, then? Ha! ha! 'tis a trick +they had. Did you ever hear the old saying? + + _No mate ever brook would + A Rook of the Rookwood!_ + +A merry saying it is, and true. No woman ever stood in a Rookwood's way +but she was speedily removed--that's certain. They had all, save poor +Sir Piers, the knack of stopping a troublesome woman's tongue, and +practised it to perfection. A rare art, eh?" + +"What have the misdeeds of his ancestry to do with Sir Piers," muttered +Luke, "much less with my mother?" + +"Everything. If he could not rid himself of his wife--and she is a match +for the devil himself--, the _mistress_ might be more readily set +aside." + +"Have you absolute knowledge of aught?" asked Luke, his voice tremulous +with emotion. + +"Nay, I but hinted." + +"Such hints are worse than open speech. Let me know the worst. Did he +kill her?" And Luke glared at the sexton as if he would have penetrated +his secret soul. + +But Peter was not easily fathomed. His cold, bright eye returned Luke's +gaze steadfastly, as he answered, composedly: + +"I have said all I know." + +"But not all you _think_." + +"Thoughts should not always find utterance, else we might often endanger +our own safety, and that of others." + +"An idle subterfuge--and, from you, worse than idle. I will have an +answer, yea or nay. Was it poison--was it steel?" + +"Enough--she died." + +"No, it is not enough. When? Where?" + +"In her sleep--in her bed." + +"Why, that was natural." + +A wrinkling smile crossed the sexton's brow. + +"What means that horrible gleam of laughter?" exclaimed Luke, grasping +the shoulder of the man of graves with such force as nearly to +annihilate him. "Speak, or I will strangle you. She died, you say, in +her sleep?" + +"She did so," replied the sexton, shaking off Luke's hold. + +"And was it to tell me that I had a mother's murder to avenge, that you +brought me to the tomb of her destroyer--when he is beyond the reach of +my vengeance?" + +Luke exhibited so much frantic violence of manner and gesture, that the +sexton entertained some little apprehension that his intellects were +unsettled by the shock of the intelligence. It was, therefore, in what +he intended for a soothing tone that he attempted to solicit his +grandson's attention. + +"I will hear nothing more," interrupted Luke, and the vaulted chamber +rang with his passionate lamentations. "Am I the sport of this mocking +fiend?" cried he, "to whom my agony is derision--my despair a source of +enjoyment--beneath whose withering glance my spirit shrinks--who, with +half-expressed insinuations, tortures my soul, awakening fancies that +goad me on to dark and desperate deeds? Dead mother! upon thee I call. +If in thy grave thou canst hear the cry of thy most wretched son, +yearning to avenge thee--answer me, if thou hast the power. Let me have +some token of the truth or falsity of these wild suppositions, that I +may wrestle against this demon. But no," added he, in accents of +despair, "no ear listens to me, save his to whom my wretchedness is food +for mockery." + +"Could the dead hear thee, thy mother might do so," returned the sexton. +"She lies within this space." + +Luke staggered back, as if struck by a sudden shot. He spoke not, but +fell with a violent shock against a pile of coffins, at which he caught +for support. + +"What have I done?" he exclaimed, recoiling. + +A thundering crash resounded through the vault. One of the coffins, +dislodged from its position by his fall, tumbled to the ground, and, +alighting upon its side, split asunder. + +"Great Heavens! what is this?" cried Luke, as a dead body, clothed in +all the hideous apparel of the tomb, rolled forth to his feet. + +"It is your mother's corpse," answered the sexton, coldly; "I brought +you hither to behold it. But you have anticipated my intentions." + +"_This_ my mother?" shrieked Luke, dropping upon his knees by the body, +and seizing one of its chilly hands, as it lay upon the floor, with the +face upwards. + +The sexton took the candle from the sconce. + +"Can this be death?" shouted Luke. "Impossible! Oh, God! she stirs--she +moves. The light!--quick. I see her stir! This is dreadful!" + +"Do not deceive yourself," said the sexton, in a tone which betrayed +more emotion than was his wont. "'Tis the bewilderment of fancy. She +will never stir again." + +And he shaded the candle with his hand, so as to throw the light full +upon the face of the corpse. It was motionless, as that of an image +carved in stone. No trace of corruption was visible upon the rigid, yet +exquisite tracery of its features. A profuse cloud of raven hair, +escaped from its swathements in the fall, hung like a dark veil over the +bosom and person of the dead, and presented a startling contrast to the +waxlike hue of the skin and the pallid cereclothes. Flesh still adhered +to the hand, though it mouldered into dust within the gripe of Luke, as +he pressed the fingers to his lips. The shroud was disposed like +night-gear about her person, and from without its folds a few withered +flowers had fallen. A strong aromatic odor, of a pungent nature, was +diffused around; giving evidence that the art by which the ancient +Egyptians endeavored to rescue their kindred from decomposition had been +resorted to, to preserve the fleeting charms of the unfortunate Susan +Bradley. + +A pause of awful silence succeeded, broken only by the convulsive +respiration of Luke. The sexton stood by, apparently an indifferent +spectator of the scene of horror. His eye wandered from the dead to the +living, and gleamed with a peculiar and indefinable expression, half +apathy, half abstraction. For one single instant, as he scrutinized the +features of his daughter, his brow, contracted by anger, immediately +afterwards was elevated in scorn. But otherwise you would have sought in +vain to read the purport of that cold, insensible glance, which dwelt +for a brief space on the face of the mother, and settled eventually upon +her son. At length the withered flowers attracted his attention. He +stooped to pick up one of them. + +"Faded as the hand that gathered ye--as the bosom on which ye were +strewn!" he murmured. "No sweet smell left--but--faugh!" Holding the dry +leaves to the flame of the candle, they were instantly ignited, and the +momentary brilliance played like a smile upon the features of the dead. +Peter observed the effect. "Such was thy life," he exclaimed; "a brief, +bright sparkle, followed by dark, utter extinction!" + +Saying which, he flung the expiring ashes of the floweret from his hand. + + + + +_CHAPTER II_ + +_THE SKELETON HAND_ + + _Duch._ You are very cold. + I fear you are not well after your travel. + Ha! lights.----Oh horrible! + + _Fer._ Let her have lights enough. + + _Duch._ What witchcraft doth he practise, that he hath left + A dead hand here? + + _Duchess of Malfy._ + + +The sexton's waning candle now warned him of the progress of time, and +having completed his arrangements, he addressed himself to Luke, +intimating his intention of departing. But receiving no answer, and +remarking no signs of life about his grandson, he began to be +apprehensive that he had fallen into a swoon. Drawing near to Luke, he +took him gently by the arm. Thus disturbed, Luke groaned aloud. + +"I am glad to find you can breathe, if it be only after that melancholy +fashion," said the sexton; "but come, I have wasted time enough already. +You must indulge your grief elsewhere." + +"Leave me," sighed Luke. + +"What, here? It were as much as my office is worth. You can return some +other night. But go you must, now--at least, if you take on thus. I +never calculated upon a scene like this, or it had been long ere I +brought you hither. So come away; yet, stay;--but first lend me a hand +to replace the body in the coffin." + +"Touch it not," exclaimed Luke; "she shall not rest another hour within +these accursed walls. I will bear her hence myself." And, sobbing +hysterically, he relapsed into his former insensibility. + +"Poh! this is worse than midsummer madness," said Peter; "the lad is +crazed with grief, and all about a mother who has been four-and-twenty +years in her grave. I will e'en put her out of the way myself." + +Saying which, he proceeded, as noiselessly as possible, to raise the +corpse in his arms, and deposited it softly within its former tenement. +Carefully as he executed his task, he could not accomplish it without +occasioning a slight accident to the fragile frame. Insensible as he +was, Luke had not relinquished the hold he maintained of his mother's +hand. And when Peter lifted the body, the ligaments connecting the hand +with the arm were suddenly snapped asunder. It would appear afterwards, +that this joint had been tampered with, and partially dislocated. +Without, however, entering into further particulars in this place, it +may be sufficient to observe that the hand, detached from the socket at +the wrist, remained within the gripe of Luke; while, ignorant of the +mischief he had occasioned, the sexton continued his labors +unconsciously, until the noise which he of necessity made in stamping +with his heel upon the plank, recalled his grandson to sensibility. The +first thing that the latter perceived, upon collecting his faculties, +were the skeleton fingers twined within his own. + +"What have you done with the body? Why have you left this with me?" +demanded he. + +"It was not my intention to have done so," answered the sexton, +suspending his occupation. "I have just made fast the lid, but it is +easily undone. You had better restore it." + +"Never," returned Luke, staring at the bony fragment. + +"Pshaw! of what advantage is a dead hand? 'Tis an unlucky keepsake, and +will lead to mischief. The only use I ever heard of such a thing being +turned to, was in the case of Bow-legged Ben, who was hanged in irons +for murder, on Hardchase Heath, on the York Road, and whose hand was cut +off at the wrist the first night to make a Hand of Glory, or Dead Man's +Candle. Hast never heard what the old song says?" And without awaiting +his grandson's response, Peter broke into the following wild strain: + + THE HAND OF GLORY[1] + + From the corse that hangs on the roadside tree + --A murderer's corse it needs must be--, + Sever the right hand carefully:-- + Sever the hand that the deed hath done, + Ere the flesh that clings to the bones be gone; + In its dry veins must blood be none. + Those ghastly fingers white and cold, + Within a winding-sheet enfold; + Count the mystic count of seven: + Name the Governors of Heaven.[2] + Then in earthen vessel place them, + And with dragon-wort encase them, + Bleach them in the noonday sun, + Till the marrow melt and run, + Till the flesh is pale and wan, + As a moon-ensilvered cloud, + As an unpolluted shroud. + Next within their chill embrace + The dead man's Awful Candle place; + Of murderer's fat must that candle be + --You may scoop it beneath the roadside tree--, + Of wax, and of Lapland sisame. + Its wick must be twisted of hair of the dead, + By the crow and her brood on the wild waste shed. + Wherever that terrible light shall burn + Vainly the sleeper may toss and turn; + His leaden lids shall he ne'er unclose + So long as that magical taper glows. + Life and treasures shall he command + Who knoweth the charm of the Glorious Hand! + But of black cat's gall let him aye have care, + And of screech-owl's venomous blood beware! + +"Peace!" thundered Luke, extending his mother's hand towards the sexton. +"What seest thou?" + +"I see something shine. Hold it nigher the light. Ha! that is strange, +truly. How came that ring there?" + +"Ask of Sir Piers! ask of her _husband_!" shouted Luke, with a wild +burst of exulting laughter. "Ha! ha! ha! 'tis a wedding-ring! And look! +the finger is bent. It must have been placed upon it in her lifetime. +There is no deception in this--no trickery--ha!" + +"It would seem not; the sinew must have been contracted in life. The +tendons are pulled down so tightly, that the ring could not be withdrawn +without breaking the finger." + +"You are sure that coffin contains her body?" + +"As sure as I am that this carcass is my own." + +"The hand--'tis hers. Can any doubt exist?" + +"Wherefore should it? It was broken from the arm by accident within this +moment. I noticed not the occurrence, but it must have been so." + +"Then it follows that she was wedded, and I am not----" + +"Illegitimate. For your own sake I am glad of it." + +"My heart will burst. Oh! could I but establish the fact of this +marriage, her wrongs would be indeed avenged." + +"Listen to me, Luke," said the sexton, solemnly. "I told you, when I +appointed this midnight interview, I had a secret to communicate. That +secret is now revealed--that secret was your mother's marriage." + +"And it was known to you during her lifetime?" + +"It was. But I was sworn to secrecy." + +"You have proofs then?" + +"I have nothing beyond Sir Piers's word--and he is silent now." + +"By whom was the ceremony performed?" + +"By a Romish priest--a Jesuit--one Father Checkley, at that time an +inmate of the hall; for Sir Piers, though he afterwards abjured it, at +that time professed the Catholic faith, and this Checkley officiated as +his confessor and counsellor; as the partner of his pleasures, and the +prompter of his iniquities. He was your father's evil genius." + +"Is he still alive?" + +"I know not. After your mother's death he left the hall. I have said he +was a Jesuit, and I may add, that he was mixed up in dark political +intrigues, in which your father was too feeble a character to take much +share. But though too weak to guide, he was a pliant instrument, and +this Checkley knew. He moulded him according to his wishes. I cannot +tell you what was the nature of their plots. Suffice it, they were such +as, if discovered, would have involved your father in ruin. He was +saved, however, by his wife." + +"And her reward----" groaned Luke. + +"Was death," replied Peter, coldly. "What Jesuit ever forgave a +wrong--real or imaginary? Your mother, I ought to have said, was a +Protestant. Hence there was a difference of religious opinion--the worst +of differences that can exist between husband and wife--. Checkley vowed +her destruction, and he kept his vow. He was enamored of her beauty. +But while he burnt with adulterous desire, he was consumed by fiercest +hate--contending, and yet strangely-reconcilable passions--as you may +have reason, hereafter, to discover." + +"Go on," said Luke, grinding his teeth. + +"I have done," returned Peter. "From that hour your father's love for +his supposed mistress, and unacknowledged wife, declined; and with his +waning love declined her health. I will not waste words in describing +the catastrophe that awaited her union. It will be enough to say, she +was found one morning a corpse within her bed. Whatever suspicions were +attached to Sir Piers were quieted by Checkley, who distributed gold, +largely and discreetly. The body was embalmed by Barbara Lovel, the +Gipsy Queen." + +"My foster-mother!" exclaimed Luke, in a tone of extreme astonishment. + +"Ah," replied Peter, "from her you may learn all particulars. You have +now seen what remains of your mother. You are in possession of the +secret of your birth. The path is before you, and if you would arrive at +honor you must pursue it steadily, turning neither to the right nor to +the left. Opposition you will meet at each step. But fresh lights may be +thrown upon this difficult case. It is in vain to hope for Checkley's +evidence, even should the caitiff priest be living. He is himself too +deeply implicated--ha!" + +Peter stopped, for at this moment the flame of the candle suddenly +expired, and the speakers were left in total darkness. Something like a +groan followed the conclusion of the sexton's discourse. It was evident +that it proceeded not from his grandson, as an exclamation burst from +him at the same instant. Luke stretched out his arm. A cold hand seemed +to press against his own, communicating a chill like death to his frame. + +"Who is between us?" he ejaculated. + +"The devil!" cried the sexton, leaping from the coffin-lid with an +agility that did him honor. "Is aught between us?" + +"I will discharge my gun. Its flash will light us." + +"Do so," hastily rejoined Peter. "But not in this direction." + +"Get behind me," cried Luke. And he pulled the trigger. + +A blaze of vivid light illumined the darkness. Still nothing was +visible, save the warrior figure, which was seen for a moment, and then +vanished like a ghost. The buck-shot rattled against the further end of +the vault. + +"Let us go hence," ejaculated the sexton, who had rushed to the door, +and thrown it wide open. "Mole! Mole!" cried he, and the dog sprang +after him. + +"I could have sworn I felt something," said Luke; "whence issued that +groan?" + +"Ask not whence," replied Peter. "Reach me my mattock, and spade, and +the lantern; they are behind you. And stay, it were better to bring away +the bottle." + +"Take them, and leave me here." + +"Alone in the vault?--no, no, Luke, I have not told you half I know +concerning that mystic statue. It is said to move--to walk--to raise its +axe--be warned, I pray." + +"Leave me, or abide, if you will, my coming, in the church. If there is +aught that may be revealed to my ear alone, I will not shrink from it, +though the dead themselves should arise to proclaim the mystery. It may +be--but--go--there are your tools." And he shut the door, with a jar +that shook the sexton's frame. + +Peter, after some muttered murmurings at the hardihood and madness, as +he termed it, of his grandson, disposed his lanky limbs to repose upon a +cushioned bench without the communion railing. As the pale moonlight +fell upon his gaunt and cadaverous visage, he looked like some unholy +thing suddenly annihilated by the presiding influence of that sacred +spot. Mole crouched himself in a ring at his master's feet. Peter had +not dozed many minutes, when he was aroused by Luke's return. The latter +was very pale, and the damp stood in big drops upon his brow. + +"Have you made fast the door?" inquired the sexton. + +"Here is the key." + +"What have you seen?" he next demanded. + +Luke made no answer. At that moment, the church clock struck two, +breaking the stillness with an iron clang. Luke raised his eyes. A ray +of moonlight, streaming obliquely through the painted window, fell upon +the gilt lettering of a black mural entablature. The lower part of the +inscription was in the shade, but the emblazonment, and the words-- + + Orate pro anima Reginaldi Rookwood equitis aurati, + +were clear and distinct. Luke trembled, he knew not why, as the sexton +pointed to it. + +"You have heard of the handwriting upon the wall," said Peter. "Look +there!--'His kingdom hath been taken from him.' Ha, ha! Listen to me. Of +all thy monster race--of all the race of Rookwood I should say--no demon +ever stalked the earth more terrible than him whose tablet you now +behold. By him a brother was betrayed; by him a brother's wife was +dishonored. Love, honor, friendship, were with him as words. He regarded +no ties; he defied and set at naught all human laws and obligations--and +yet he was religious, or esteemed so--received the _viaticum_, and died +full of years and honors, hugging salvation to his sinful heart. And +after death he has yon lying epitaph to record his virtues. _His_ +virtues! ha, ha! Ask him who preaches to the kneeling throng gathering +within this holy place what shall be the murderer's portion--and he will +answer--_Death!_ And yet Sir Reginald was long-lived. The awful +question, 'Cain, where is thy brother?' broke not his tranquil slumbers. +Luke, I have told you much--but not all. You know not, as yet--nor shall +you know your destiny; but you shall be the avenger of infamy and +blood. I have a sacred charge committed to my keeping, which, hereafter, +I may delegate to you. You _shall_ be Sir Luke Rookwood, but the +conditions must be mine to propose." + +"No more," said Luke; "my brain reels. I am faint. Let us quit this +place, and get into the fresh air." And striding past his grandsire he +traversed the aisles with hasty steps. Peter was not slow to follow. The +key was applied, and they emerged into the churchyard. The grassy mounds +were bathed in the moonbeams, and the two yew-trees, throwing their +black jagged shadows over the grave hills, looked like evil spirits +brooding over the repose of the righteous. + +The sexton noticed the deathly paleness of Luke's countenance, but he +fancied it might proceed from the tinge of the sallow moonlight. + +"I will be with you at your cottage ere daybreak," said Luke. And +turning an angle of the church, he disappeared from view. + +"So," exclaimed Peter, gazing after him, "the train is laid; the spark +has been applied; the explosion will soon follow. The hour is fast +approaching when I shall behold this accursed house shaken to dust, and +when my long-delayed vengeance will be gratified. In that hope I am +content to drag on the brief remnant of my days. Meanwhile, I must not +omit the stimulant. In a short time I may not require it." Draining the +bottle to the last drop, he flung it from him, and commenced chanting, +in a high key and cracked voice, a wild ditty, the words of which ran as +follow: + + THE CARRION CROW + + The Carrion Crow is a sexton bold. + He raketh the dead from out the mould; + He delveth the ground like a miser old, + Stealthily hiding his store of gold. + _Caw! Caw!_ + + The Carrion Crow hath a coat of black, + Silky and sleek like a priest's to his back; + Like a lawyer he grubbeth--no matter what way-- + The fouler the offal, the richer his prey. + _Caw! Caw! the Carrion Crow!_ + _Dig! Dig! in the ground below!_ + + The Carrion Crow hath a dainty maw, + With savory pickings he crammeth his craw; + Kept meat from the gibbet it pleaseth his whim, + It can never _hang_ too long for him! + _Caw! Caw!_ + + The Carrion Crow smelleth powder, 'tis said, + Like a soldier escheweth the taste of cold lead; + No jester, or mime, hath more marvellous wit, + For, wherever he lighteth, he maketh a hit! + _Caw! Caw! the Carrion Crow!_ + _Dig! Dig! in the ground below!_ + +Shouldering his spade, and whistling to his dog, the sexton quitted the +churchyard. + +Peter had not been gone many seconds, when a dark figure, muffled in a +wide black mantle, emerged from among the tombs surrounding the church; +gazed after him for a few seconds, and then, with a menacing gesture, +retreated behind the ivied buttresses of the gray old pile. + + + + +_CHAPTER III_ + +_THE PARK_ + + _Brian._ Ralph! hearest thou any stirring? + + _Ralph._ I heard one speak here, hard by, in the hollow. Peace! + master, speak low. Nouns! if I do not hear a bow go off, and the + buck bray, I never heard deer in my life. + + _Bri._ Stand, or I'll shoot. + + _Sir Arthur._ Who's there? + + _Bri._ I am the keeper, and do charge you stand. + You have stolen my deer. + + _Merry Devil of Edmonton._ + + +Luke's first impulse had been to free himself from the restraint imposed +by his grandsire's society. He longed to commune with himself. Leaping +the small boundary-wall, which defended the churchyard from a deep green +lane, he hurried along in a direction contrary to that taken by the +sexton, making the best of his way until he arrived at a gap in the +high-banked hazel hedge which overhung the road. Heedless of the +impediments thrown in his way by the undergrowth of a rough ring fence, +he struck through the opening that presented itself, and, climbing over +the moss-grown paling, trod presently upon the elastic sward of Rookwood +Park. + +A few minutes' rapid walking brought him to the summit of a rising +ground crowned with aged oaks and, as he passed beneath their broad +shadows, his troubled spirit, soothed by the quietude of the scene, in +part resumed its serenity. + +Luke yielded to the gentle influence of the time and hour. The stillness +of the spot allayed the irritation of his frame, and the dewy chillness +cooled the fever of his brow. Leaning for support against the gnarled +trunk of one of the trees, he gave himself up to contemplation. The +events of the last hour--of his whole existence--passed in rapid review +before him. The thought of the wayward, vagabond life he had led; of the +wild adventures of his youth; of all he had been; of all he had _done_, +of all he had endured--crowded his mind; and then, like the passing of a +cloud flitting across the autumnal moon, and occasionally obscuring the +smiling landscape before him, his soul was shadowed by the remembrance +of the awful revelations of the last hour, and the fearful knowledge he +had acquired of his mother's fate--of his father's guilt. + +The eminence on which he stood was one of the highest points of the +park, and commanded a view of the hall, which might be a quarter of a +mile distant, discernible through a broken vista of trees, its whitened +walls glimmering in the moonlight, and its tall chimney spiring far from +out the round masses of wood in which it lay embosomed. The ground +gradually sloped in that direction, occasionally rising into swells, +studded with magnificent timber--dipping into smooth dells, or +stretching out into level glades, until it suddenly sank into a deep +declivity, that formed an effectual division, without the intervention +of a haw-haw, or other barrier, between the chase and the home-park. A +slender stream strayed through this ravine, having found its way thither +from a small reservoir, hidden in the higher plantations to the left; +and further on, in the open ground, and in a line with the hall, though, +of course, much below the level of the building, assisted by many local +springs, and restrained by a variety of natural and artificial +embankments, this brook spread out into an expansive sheet of water. +Crossed by a rustic bridge, the only communication between the parks, +the pool found its outlet into the meads below; and even at that +distance, and in that still hour, you might almost catch the sound of +the brawling waters, as they dashed down the weir in a foaming cascade; +while, far away, in the spreading valley, the serpentine meanderings of +the slender current might be traced, glittering like silvery threads in +the moonshine. The mild beams of the queen of night, then in her +meridian, trembled upon the topmost branches of the tall timber, +quivering like diamond spray upon the outer foliage; and, penetrating +through the interstices of the trees, fell upon the light wreaths of +vapor then beginning to arise from the surface of the pool, steeping +them in misty splendor, and lending to this part of the picture a +character of dreamy and unearthly beauty. + +All else was in unison. No sound interrupted the silence of Luke's +solitude, except the hooting of a large gray owl, that, scared at his +approach, or in search of prey, winged its spectral flight in continuous +and mazy circles round his head, uttering at each wheel its startling +whoop; or a deep, distant bay, that ever and anon boomed upon the ear, +proceeding from a pack of hounds kennelled in a shed adjoining the pool +before mentioned, but which was shrouded from view by the rising mist. +No living objects presented themselves, save a herd of deer, crouched in +a covert of brown fern beneath the shadow of a few stunted trees, +immediately below the point of land on which Luke stood; and although +their branching antlers could scarcely be detected from the +ramifications of the wood itself, they escaped not his practised ken. + +"How often," murmured Luke, "in years gone by, have I traversed these +moonlit glades, and wandered amidst these woodlands, on nights heavenly +as this--ay, and to some purpose, as yon thinned herd might testify! +Every dingle, every dell, every rising brow, every bosky vale and +shelving covert, have been as familiar to my track as to that of the +fleetest and freest of their number: scarce a tree amidst the thickest +of yon outstretching forest with which I cannot claim acquaintance; 'tis +long since I have seen them. By Heavens! 'tis beautiful! and it is all +my own! Can I forget that it was here I first emancipated myself from +thraldom? Can I forget the boundless feeling of delight that danced +within my veins when I first threw off the yoke of servitude, and roved +unshackled, unrestrained, amidst these woods? The wild intoxicating +bliss still tingles to my heart. And they are all my own--my own! +Softly, what have we there?" + +Luke's attention was arrested by an object which could not fail to +interest him, sportsman as he was. A snorting bray was heard, and a +lordly stag stalked slowly and majestically from out the copse. Luke +watched the actions of the noble animal with great interest, drawing +back into the shade. A hundred yards, or thereabouts, might be between +him and the buck. It was within range of ball. Luke mechanically grasped +his gun; yet his hand had scarcely raised the piece half way to his +shoulder, when he dropped it again to its rest. + +"What am I about to do?" he mentally ejaculated. "Why, for mere pastime, +should I take away yon noble creature's life, when his carcass would be +utterly useless to me? Yet such is the force of habit, that I can scarce +resist the impulse that tempted me to fire; and I have known the time, +and that not long since, when I should have shown no such self-control." + +Unconscious of the danger it had escaped, the animal moved forward with +the same stately step. Suddenly it stopped, with ears pricked, as if +some sound had smote them. At that instant the click of a gun-lock was +heard, at a little distance to the right. The piece had missed fire. An +instantaneous report from another gun succeeded; and, with a bound high +in air, the buck fell upon his back, struggling in the agonies of death. +Luke had at once divined the cause; he was aware that poachers were at +hand. He fancied that he knew the parties; nor was he deceived in his +conjecture. Two figures issued instantly from a covert on the right, and +making to the spot, the first who reached it put an end to the animal's +struggles by plunging a knife into its throat. The affrighted herd took +to their heels, and were seen darting swiftly down the chase. + +One of the twain, meantime, was occupied in feeling for the deer's fat, +when he was approached by the other, who pointed in the direction of the +house. The former raised himself from his kneeling posture, and both +appeared to listen attentively. Luke fancied he heard a slight sound in +the distance; whatever the noise proceeded from, it was evident the +deer-stealers were alarmed. They laid hold of the buck, and, dragging it +along, concealed the carcass among the tall fern; they then retreated, +halting for an instant to deliberate, within a few yards of Luke, who +was concealed from their view by the trunk of the tree, behind which he +had ensconced his person. They were so near, that he lost not a word of +their muttered conference. + +"The game's spoiled this time, Rob Rust, any how," growled one, in an +angry tone; "the hawks are upon us, and we must leave this brave buck to +take care of himself. Curse him!--who'd 'a' thought of Hugh Badger's +quitting his bed to-night? Respect for his late master might have kept +him quiet the night before the funeral. But look out, lad. Dost see +'em?" + +"Ay, thanks to old Oliver--yonder they are," returned the other. +"One--two--three--and a muzzled bouser to boot. There's Hugh at the head +on 'em. Shall we stand and show fight? I have half a mind for it." + +"No, no," replied the first speaker; "that will never do, Rob--no +fighting. Why run the risk of being grabb'd for a haunch of venison? Had +Luke Bradley or Jack Palmer been with us, it might have been another +affair. As it is, it won't pay. Besides, we've that to do at the hall +to-morrow night that may make men of us for the rest of our nat'ral +lives. We've pledged ourselves to Jack Palmer, and we can't be off in +honor. It won't do to be snabbled in the nick of it. So let's make for +the prad in the lane. Keep in the shade as much as you can. Come along, +my hearty." And away the two worthies scampered down the hill-side. + +"Shall I follow," thought Luke, "and run the risk of falling into the +keeper's hand, just at this crisis, too? No, but if I am found here, I +shall be taken for one of the gang. Something must be done--ha!--devil +take them, here they are already." + +Further time was not allowed him for reflection. A hoarse baying was +heard, followed by a loud cry from the keepers. The dog had scented out +the game; and, as secrecy was no longer necessary, his muzzle had been +removed. To rush forth now were certain betrayal; to remain was almost +equally assured detection; and, doubting whether he should obtain +credence if he delivered himself over in that garb and armed, Luke at +once rejected the idea. Just then it flashed across his recollection +that his gun had remained unloaded, and he applied himself eagerly to +repair this negligence, when he heard the dog in full cry, making +swiftly in his direction. He threw himself upon the ground, where the +fern was thickest; but this seemed insufficient to baffle the sagacity +of the hound--the animal had got his scent, and was baying close at +hand. The keepers were drawing nigh. Luke gave himself up for lost. The +dog, however, stopped where the two poachers had halted, and was there +completely at fault: snuffing the ground, he bayed, wheeled round, and +then set off with renewed barking upon their track. Hugh Badger and his +comrades loitered an instant at the same place, looked warily round, and +then, as Luke conjectured, followed the course taken by the hound. + +Swift as thought, Luke arose, and keeping as much as possible under +cover of the trees, started in a cross line for the lane. Rapid as was +his flight, it was not without a witness: one of the keeper's +assistants, who had lagged behind, gave the view-halloo in a loud voice. +Luke pressed forward with redoubled energy, endeavoring to gain the +shelter of the plantation, and this he could readily have accomplished, +had no impediment been in his way. But his rage and vexation were +boundless, when he heard the keeper's cry echoed by shouts immediately +below him, and the tongue of the hound resounding in the hollow. He +turned sharply round, steering a middle course, and still aiming at the +fence. It was evident, from the cheers of his pursuers, that he was in +full view, and he heard them encouraging and directing the dog. + +Luke had gained the park palings, along which he rushed, in the vain +quest of some practicable point of egress, for the fence was higher in +this part of the park than elsewhere, owing to the inequality of the +ground. He had cast away his gun as useless. But even without that +incumbrance, he dared not hazard the delay of climbing the palings. At +this juncture a deep breathing was heard close behind him. He threw a +glance over his shoulder. Within a few yards was a ferocious bloodhound, +with whose savage nature Luke was well acquainted; the breed, some of +which he had already seen, having been maintained at the hall ever since +the days of grim old Sir Ranulph. The eyes of the hound were glaring, +blood-red; his tongue was hanging out, and a row of keen white fangs was +displayed, like the teeth of a shark. There was a growl--a leap--and the +dog was close upon him. + +Luke's courage was undoubted. But his heart failed him as he heard the +roar of the remorseless brute, and felt that he could not avoid an +encounter with the animal. His resolution was instantly taken: he +stopped short with such suddenness, that the dog, when in the act of +springing, flew past him with great violence, and the time, momentary as +it was, occupied by the animal in recovering himself, enabled Luke to +drop on his knee, and to place one arm, like a buckler, before his face, +while he held the other in readiness to grapple his adversary. Uttering +a fierce yell, the hound returned to the charge, darting at Luke, who +received the assault without flinching; and in spite of a severe +laceration of the arm, he seized his foe by the throat, and hurling him +upon the ground, jumped with all his force upon his belly. There was a +yell of agony--the contest was ended, and Luke was at liberty to pursue +his flight unmolested. + +Brief as had been the interval required for this combat, it had been +sufficient to bring the pursuers within sight of the fugitive. Hugh +Badger, who from the acclivity had witnessed the fate of his favorite, +with a loud oath discharged the contents of his gun at the head of its +destroyer. It was fortunate for Luke that at this instant he stumbled +over the root of a tree--the shot rattled in the leaves as he fell, and +the keeper, concluding that he had at least winged his bird, descended +more leisurely towards him. As he lay upon the ground, Luke felt that he +was wounded; whether by the teeth of the dog, from a stray shot, or from +bruises inflicted by the fall, he could not determine. But, smarting +with pain, he resolved to wreak his vengeance upon the first person who +approached him. He vowed not to be taken with life--to strangle any who +should lay hands upon him. At that moment he felt a pressure at his +breast. It was the dead hand of his mother! + +Luke shuddered. The fire of revenge was quenched. He mentally cancelled +his rash oath; yet he could not bring himself to surrender at +discretion, and without further effort. The keeper and his assistants +were approaching the spot where he lay, and searching for his body. Hugh +Badger was foremost, and within a yard of him. + +"Confound the rascal!" cried Hugh, "he's not half killed; he seems to +breathe." + +The words were scarcely out of his mouth ere the speaker was dashed +backwards, and lay sprawling upon the sod. Suddenly and unexpectedly, as +an Indian chief might rush upon his foes, Luke arose, dashing himself +with great violence against Hugh, who happened to stand in his way, and +before the startled assistants, who were either too much taken by +surprise, or unwilling to draw a trigger, could in any way lay hands +upon him, exerting all the remarkable activity which he possessed, he +caught hold of a projecting branch of a tree, and swung himself, at a +single bound, fairly over the paling. + +Hugh Badger was shortly on his legs, swearing lustily at his defeat. +Directing his men to skirt alongside the fence, and make for a +particular part of the plantation which he named, and snatching a loaded +fowling-piece from one of them, he clambered over the pales, and guided +by the crashing branches and other sounds conveyed to his quick ear, he +was speedily upon Luke's track. + +The plantation through which the chase now took place was not, as might +be supposed, a continuation of the ring fence which Luke had originally +crossed on his entrance into the park, though girded by the same line of +paling, but, in reality, a close pheasant preserve, occupying the banks +of a ravine, which, after a deep and tortuous course, terminated in the +declivity heretofore described as forming the park boundary. Luke +plunged into the heart of this defile, fighting his way downwards, in +the direction of the brook. His progress was impeded by a thick +undergrowth of brier, and other matted vegetation, as well as by the +entanglements thrown in his way by the taller bushes of thorn and hazel, +the entwined and elastic branches of which, in their recoil, galled and +fretted him, by inflicting smart blows on his face and hands. This was a +hardship he usually little regarded. But, upon the present occasion, it +had the effect, by irritating his temper, of increasing the thirst of +vengeance raging in his bosom. + +Through the depths of the ravine welled the shallow stream before +alluded to, and Hugh Badger had no sooner reached its sedgy margin than +he lost all trace of the fugitive. He looked cautiously round, listened +intently, and inclined his ear to catch the faintest echo. All was +still: not a branch shook, not a leaf rustled. Hugh looked aghast. He +had made sure of getting a glimpse, and, perhaps, a stray shot at the +"poaching rascal," as he termed him, "in the open space, which he was +sure the fellow was aiming to reach; and now, all at once, he had +disappeared, like a will-o'-the-wisp or a boggart of the clough." +However, he could not be far off, and Hugh endeavored to obtain some +clue to guide him in his quest. He was not long in detecting recent +marks deeply indented in the mud on the opposite bank. Hugh leaped +thither at once. Further on, some rushes were trodden down, and there +were other indications of the course the fugitive had taken. + +"Hark forward!" shouted Hugh, in the joy of his heart at this discovery; +and, like a well-trained dog, he followed up with alacrity the scent he +had opened. The brook presented still fewer impediments to expedition +than the thick copse, and the keeper pursued the wanderings of the petty +current, occasionally splashing into the stream. Here and there, the +print of a foot on the soil satisfied him he was in the right path. At +length he became aware, from the crumbling soil, that the object of his +pursuit had scaled the bank, and he forthwith moderated his pace. +Halting, he perceived what he took to be a face peeping at him from +behind a knot of alders that overhung the steep and shelving bank +immediately above him. His gun was instantly at his shoulder. + +"Come down, you infernal deer-stealing scoundrel," cried Hugh, "or I'll +blow you to shivers." + +No answer was returned: expostulation was vain; and, fearful of placing +himself at a disadvantage if he attempted to scale the bank, Hugh fired +without further parley. The sharp discharge rolled in echoes down the +ravine, and a pheasant, scared by the sound, answered the challenge from +a neighboring tree. Hugh was an unerring marksman, and on this occasion +his aim had been steadily taken. The result was not precisely such as he +had anticipated. A fur cap, shaken by the shot from the bough on which +it hung, came rolling down the bank, proclaiming the _ruse_ that had +been practised upon the keeper. Little time was allowed him for +reflection. Before he could reload, he felt himself collared by the iron +arm of Luke. + +Hugh Badger was a man of great personal strength--square-set, +bandy-legged, with a prodigious width of chest, and a frame like a +Hercules, and, energetic as was Luke's assault, he maintained his ground +without flinching. The struggle was desperate. Luke was of slighter +proportion, though exceeding the keeper in stature by the head and +shoulders. This superiority availed him little. It was rather a +disadvantage in the conflict that ensued. The gripe fastened upon +Hugh's throat was like that of a clenched vice. But Luke might as well +have grappled the neck of a bull, as that of the stalwart keeper. +Defending himself with his hobnail boots, with which he inflicted +several severe blows upon Luke's shins, and struggling vehemently, Hugh +succeeded in extricating himself from his throttling grasp; he then +closed with his foe, and they were locked together, like a couple of +bears at play. Straining, tugging, and practising every sleight and +stratagem coming within the scope of feet, knees, and thighs--now +tripping, now jerking, now advancing, now retreating, they continued the +strife, but all with doubtful result. Victory, at length, seemed to +declare itself in favor of the sturdy keeper. Aware of his opponent's +strength, it was Luke's chief endeavor to keep his lower limbs +disengaged, and to trust more to skill than force for ultimate success. +To prevent this was Hugh's grand object. Guarding himself against every +feint, he ultimately succeeded in firmly grappling his agile assailant. +Luke's spine was almost broken by the shock, when he suddenly gave way; +and, without losing his balance, drew his adversary forward, kicking his +right leg from under him. With a crash like that of an uprooted oak, +Hugh fell, with his foe upon him, into the bed of the rivulet. + +Not a word had been spoken during the conflict. A convulsive groan burst +from Hugh's hardy breast. His hand sought his girdle, but in vain; his +knife was gone. Gazing upwards, his dancing vision encountered the +glimmer of the blade. The weapon had dropped from its case in the fall. +Luke brandished it before his eyes. + +"Villain!" gasped Hugh, ineffectually struggling to free himself, "you +will not murder me?" And his efforts to release himself became +desperate. + +"No," answered Luke, flinging the uplifted knife into the brook. "I will +not do _that_, though thou hast twice aimed at my life to-night. But I +will silence thee, at all events." Saying which, he dealt the keeper a +blow on the head that terminated all further resistance on his part. + +Leaving the inert mass to choke up the current, with whose waters the +blood, oozing from the wound, began to commingle, Luke prepared to +depart. His perils were not yet past. Guided by the firing, the report +of which alarmed them, the keeper's assistants hastened in the direction +of the sound, presenting themselves directly in the path Luke was about +to take. He had either to retrace his steps, or face a double enemy. His +election was made at once. He turned and fled. + +For an instant the men tarried with their bleeding companion. They then +dragged him from the brook, and with loud oaths followed in pursuit. + +Threading, for a second time, the bosky labyrinth, Luke sought the +source of the stream. This was precisely the course his enemies would +have desired him to pursue; and when they beheld him take it, they felt +confident of his capture. + +The sides of the hollow became more and more abrupt as they advanced, +though they were less covered with brushwood. The fugitive made no +attempt to climb the bank, but still pressed forward. The road was +tortuous, and wound round a jutting point of rock. Now he was a fair +mark--no, he had swept swiftly by, and was out of sight before a gun +could be raised. They reached the same point. He was still before them, +but his race was nearly run. Steep, slippery rocks, shelving down to the +edges of a small, deep pool of water, the source of the stream, formed +an apparently insurmountable barrier in that direction. Rooted--Heaven +knows how!--in some reft or fissure of the rock, grew a wild ash, +throwing out a few boughs over the solitary pool; this was all the +support Luke could hope for, should he attempt to scale the rock. The +rock was sheer--the pool deep--yet still he hurried on. He reached the +muddy embankment; mounted its sides; and seemed to hesitate. The keepers +were now within a hundred yards of him. Both guns were discharged. And, +sudden as the reports, with a dead, splashless plunge, like a diving +otter, the fugitive dropped into the water. + +The pursuers were at the brink. They gazed at the pool. A few bubbles +floated upon its surface, and burst. The water was slightly discolored +with sand. No ruddier stain crimsoned the tide; no figure rested on the +naked rock; no hand clung to the motionless tree. + +"Devil take the rascal!" growled one; "I hope he harn't escaped us, +arter all." + +"Noa, noa, he be fast enough, never fear," rejoined the other; "sticking +like a snig at the bottom o' the pond; and, dang him! he deserves it, +for he's slipped out of our fingers like a snig often enough to-night. +But come, let's be stumping, and give poor Hugh Badger a helping hand." + +Whereupon they returned to the assistance of the wounded and discomfited +keeper. + + + + +_CHAPTER IV_ + +_THE HALL_ + + I am right against my house--seat of my ancestors. + + _Yorkshire Tragedy._ + + +Rookwood Place was a fine, old, irregular pile, of considerable size, +presenting a rich, picturesque outline, with its innumerable gable-ends, +its fantastical coigns, and tall crest of twisted chimneys. There was no +uniformity of style about the building, yet the general effect was +pleasing and beautiful. Its very irregularity constituted a charm. +Nothing except convenience had been consulted in its construction: +additions had from time to time been made to it, but everything dropped +into its proper place, and, without apparent effort or design, grew into +an ornament, and heightened the beauty of the whole. It was, in short, +one of those glorious manorial houses that sometimes unexpectedly greet +us in our wanderings, and gladden us like the discovery of a hidden +treasure. Some such ancestral hall we have occasionally encountered, in +unlooked-for quarters, in our native county of Lancaster, or in its +smiling sister shire; and never without feelings of intense delight, +rejoicing to behold the freshness of its antiquity, and the greenness of +its old age. For, be it observed in passing, a Cheshire or Lancashire +hall, time-honored though it be, with its often renovated black and +white squares, fancifully filled up with trefoils and quatrefoils, +rosettes, and other figures, seems to bear its years so lightly, that +its age, so far from detracting from its beauty, only lends it a grace; +and the same mansion, to all outward appearance, fresh and perfect as it +existed in the days of good Queen Bess, may be seen in admirable +preservation in the days of the youthful Victoria. Such is Bramall--such +Moreton, and many another we might instance; the former of these houses +may, perhaps, be instanced as the best specimen of its class,--and its +class in our opinion, _is_ the best--to be met with in Cheshire, +considered with reference either to the finished decoration of its +exterior, rich in the chequered coloring we have alluded to, preserved +with a care and neatness almost Dutch, or to the consistent taste +exhibited by its possessor to the restoration and maintenance of all its +original and truly national beauty within doors. As an illustration of +old English hospitality--that real, hearty hospitality for which the +squirearchy of this country was once so famous--Ah! why have they +bartered it for other customs less substantially _English_?--it may be +mentioned, that a road conducted the passenger directly through the +great hall of this house, literally "of entertainment," where, if he +listed, strong ale, and other refreshments, awaited his acceptance and +courted his stay. Well might old King, the Cheshire historian, in the +pride of his honest heart, exclaim, "_I know divers men, who are but +farmers, that in their housekeeping may compare with a lord or baron, +in some countries beyond the seas;--yea, although I named a higher +degree, I were able to justify it._" We have no such "golden farmers" in +these degenerate days! + +The mansion, was originally built by Sir Ranulph de Rookwood--or, as it +was then written, Rokewode--the first of the name, a stout Yorkist, who +flourished in the reign of Edward IV., and received the fair domain and +broad lands upon which the edifice was raised, from his sovereign, in +reward for good service; retiring thither in the decline of life, at the +close of the Wars of the Roses, to sequestrate himself from scenes of +strife, and to consult his spiritual weal in the erection and endowment +of the neighboring church. It was of mixed architecture, and combined +the peculiarities of each successive era. Retaining some of the sterner +features of earlier days, the period ere yet the embattled manor-house +peculiar to the reigns of the later Henrys had been merged into the +graceful and peaceable hall, the residence of the Rookwoods had early +anticipated the gentler characteristics of a later day, though it could +boast little of that exuberance of external ornament, luxuriance of +design, and prodigality of beauty, which, under the sway of the Virgin +Queen, distinguished the residence of the wealthier English landowner; +and rendered the hall of Elizabeth, properly so called, the pride and +boast of our domestic architecture. + +The site selected by Sir Ranulph for his habitation had been already +occupied by a vast fabric of oak, which he in part removed, though some +vestiges might still be traced of that ancient pile. A massive edifice +succeeded, with gate and tower, court and moat complete; substantial +enough, one would have thought, to have endured for centuries. But even +this ponderous structure grew into disuse, and Sir Ranulph's successors, +remodelling, repairing, almost rebuilding the whole mansion, in the end +so metamorphosed its aspect, that at last little of its original and +distinctive character remained. Still, as we said before, it was a fine +old house, though some changes had taken place for the worse, which +could not be readily pardoned by the eye of taste: as, for instance, +the deep embayed windows had dwindled into modernized casements, of +lighter construction; the wide porch, with its flight of steps leading +to the great hall of entrance, had yielded to a narrow door; and the +broad quadrangular court was succeeded by a gravel drive. Yet, despite +all these changes, the house of the Rookwoods, for an old house--and, +after all, what is like an old house?--was no undesirable or uncongenial +abode for any worshipful country gentleman "who had a great estate." + +The hall was situated near the base of a gently declining hill, +terminating a noble avenue of limes, and partially embosomed in an +immemorial wood of the same timber, which had given its name to the +family that dwelt amongst its rook-haunted shades. Descending the +avenue, at the point of access afforded by a road that wound down the +hill-side, towards a village distant about half a mile, as you advanced, +the eye was first arrested by a singular octagonal turret of brick, of +more recent construction than the house; and in all probability +occupying the place where the gateway stood of yore. This tower rose to +a height corresponding with the roof of the mansion; and was embellished +on the side facing the house with a flamingly gilt dial, peering, like +an impudent observer, at all that passed within doors. Two apartments, +which it contained, were appropriated to the house-porter. Despoiled of +its martial honors, the gateway still displayed the achievements of the +family--the rook and the fatal branch--carved in granite, which had +resisted the storms of two centuries, though stained green with moss, +and mapped over with lichens. To the left, overgrown with ivy, and +peeping from out a tuft of trees, appeared the hoary summit of a +dovecot, indicating the near neighborhood of an ancient barn, +contemporary with the earliest dwelling-house, and of a little world of +offices and outbuildings buried in the thickness of the foliage. To the +right was the garden--the pleasaunce of the place--formal, precise, +old-fashioned, artificial, yet exquisite!--for commend us to the +bygone, beautiful English garden--_really a garden_--not that mixture of +park, meadow, and wilderness[3], brought up to one's very +windows--which, since the days of the innovators, Kent, and his "bold +associates," Capability Brown and Co., has obtained so largely--this +_was_ a garden! There might be seen the stately terraces, such as +Watteau, and our own Wilson, in his earlier works, painted--the trim +alleys exhibiting all the triumphs of topiarian art-- + + _The sidelong walls + Of shaven yew; the holly's prickly arms, + Trimm'd into high arcades; the tonsile box, + Wove in mosaic mode of many a curl, + Around the figured carpet of the lawn;_[4] + +the gayest of parterres and greenest of lawns, with its admonitory +sun-dial, its marble basin in the centre, its fountain, and conched +water-god; the quaint summer-house, surmounted with its gilt vane; the +statue, glimmering from out its covert of leaves; the cool cascade, the +urns, the bowers, and a hundred luxuries besides, suggested and +contrived by Art to render Nature most enjoyable, and to enhance the +recreative delights of home-out-of-doors--for such a garden should be--, +with least sacrifice of indoor comfort and convenience. + + _When Epicurus to the world had taught, + That pleasure was the chiefest good; + --And was perhaps i' th' right, if rightly understood, + His life he to his doctrine brought-- + And in his garden's shade that sovereign pleasure sought._[5] + +All these delights might once have been enjoyed. But at the time of +which we write, this fair garden was for the most part a waste. +Ill-kept, and unregarded, the gay parterres were disfigured with weeds; +grass grew on the gravel walk; several of the urns were overthrown; the +hour upon the dial was untold; the fountain was choked up, and the +smooth-shaven lawn only rescued, it would seem, from the general fate, +that it might answer the purpose of a bowling-green, as the implements +of that game, scattered about, plainly testified. + +Diverging from the garden to the house, we have before remarked that the +more ancient and characteristic features of the place had been, for the +most part, destroyed; less by the hand of time than to suit the tastes +of different proprietors. This, however, was not so observable in the +eastern wing, which overlooked the garden. Here might be discerned many +indications of its antiquity. The strength and solidity of the walls, +which had not been, as elsewhere, masked with brickwork; the low, Tudor +arches; the mullioned bars of the windows--all attested its age. This +wing was occupied by an upper and lower gallery, communicating with +suites of chambers, for the most part deserted, excepting one or two, +which were used as dormitories; and another little room on the +ground-floor, with an oriel window opening upon the lawn, and commanding +the prospect beyond--a favorite resort of the late Sir Piers. The +interior was curious for his honeycomb ceiling, deeply moulded in +plaster, with the arms and alliances of the Rookwoods. In the centre was +the royal blazon of Elizabeth, who had once honored the hall with a +visit during a progress, and whose cipher E. R. was also displayed upon +the immense plate of iron which formed the fire-grate. + +To return, for a moment, to the garden, which we linger about as a bee +around a flower. Below the lawn there was another terrace, edged by a +low balustrade of stone, commanding a lovely view of park, water, and +woodland. High hanging-woods waved in the foreground, and an extensive +sweep of flat champaign country stretched out to meet a line of blue, +hazy hills bounding the distant horizon. + + + + +_CHAPTER V_ + +_SIR REGINALD ROOKWOOD_ + + A king who changed his wives as easily as a woman changes her dress. + He threw aside the first, cut off the second's head, the third he + disemboweled: as for the fourth, he pardoned her, and simply turned + her out of doors, but to make matters even, cut off the head of + number five.--VICTOR HUGO: _Marie Tudor_. + + +From the house to its inhabitants the transition is natural. Besides the +connexion between them, there were many points of resemblance; many +family features in common; there was the same melancholy grandeur, the +same character of romance, the same fantastical display. Nor were the +secret passages, peculiar to the one, wanting to the history of the +other. Both had their mysteries. One blot there was in the otherwise +proud escutcheon of the Rookwoods, that dimmed its splendor, and made +pale its pretensions: their sun was eclipsed in blood from its rising to +its meridian; and so it seemed would be its setting. This foul reproach +attached to all the race; none escaped it. Traditional rumors were +handed down from father to son, throughout the county, and, like all +other rumors, had taken to themselves wings, and flown abroad; their +crimes became a by-word. How was it they escaped punishment? How came +they to evade the hand of justice? Proof was ever wanting; justice was +ever baffled. They were a stern and stiff-necked people, of indomitable +pride and resolution, with, for the most part, force of character +sufficient to enable them to breast difficulties and dangers that would +have overwhelmed ordinary individuals. No quality is so advantageous to +its possessor as firmness; and the determined energy of the Rookwoods +bore them harmless through a sea of trouble. Besides, they were +wealthy; lavish even to profusion; and gold will do much, if skilfully +administered. Yet, despite all this, a dark, ominous cloud settled over +their house, and men wondered when the vengeance of Heaven, so long +delayed, would fall and consume it. + +Possessed of considerable landed property, once extending over nearly +half the West Riding of Yorkshire, the family increased in power and +importance for an uninterrupted series of years, until the outbreak of +that intestine discord which ended in the civil wars, when the espousal +of the royalist party, with sword and substance, by Sir Ralph Rookwood, +the then lord of the mansion--a dissolute, depraved personage, who, +however, had been made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Charles +I.--, ended in his own destruction at Naseby, and the wreck of much of +his property; a loss which the gratitude of Charles II., on his +restoration, did not fail to make good to Sir Ralph's youthful heir, +Reginald. + +Sir Ralph Rookwood left two sons, Reginald and Alan. The fate of the +latter was buried in obscurity. It was even a mystery to his family. He +was, it was said, a youth of much promise, and of gentle manners; who, +having made an imprudent match, from jealousy, or some other motive, +deserted his wife, and fled his country. Various reasons were assigned +for his conduct. Amongst others, it was stated that the object of Alan's +jealous suspicions was his elder brother, Reginald; and that it was the +discovery of his wife's infidelity in this quarter which occasioned his +sudden disappearance with his infant daughter. Some said he died abroad. +Others, that he had appeared again for a brief space at the hall. But +all now concurred in a belief of his decease. Of his child nothing was +known. His inconstant wife, after enduring for some years the agonies of +remorse, abandoned by Sir Reginald, and neglected by her own relatives, +put an end to her existence by poison. This is all that could be +gathered of the story, or the misfortunes of Alan Rookwood. + +The young Sir Reginald had attended Charles, in the character of page, +during his exile; and if he could not requite the devotion of the son, +by absolutely reinstating the fallen fortunes of the father, the monarch +could at least accord him the fostering influence of his favor and +countenance; and bestow upon him certain lucrative situations in his +household, as an earnest of his good-will. And thus much he did. +Remarkable for his personal attractions in youth, it is not to be +wondered at that we should find the name of Reginald Rookwood recorded +in the scandalous chronicles of the day, as belonging to a cavalier of +infinite address and discretion, matchless wit, and marvellous +pleasantry; and eminent beyond his peers for his successes with some of +the most distinguished beauties who ornamented that brilliant and +voluptuous court. + +A career of elegant dissipation ended in matrimony. His first match was +unpropitious. Foiled in his attempts upon the chastity of a lady of +great beauty and high honor, he was rash enough to marry her; rash, we +say, for from that fatal hour all became as darkness; the curtain fell +upon the comedy of his life, to rise to tragic horrors. When, passion +subsided, repentance awoke, and he became anxious for deliverance from +the fetters he had so heedlessly imposed on himself, and on his +unfortunate dame. + +The hapless lady of Sir Reginald was a fair and fragile creature, +floating on the eddying current of existence, and hurried in destruction +as the summer gossamer is swept away by the rude breeze, and lost +forever. So beautiful, so gentle was she, that if, + + Sorrow had not made + Sorrow more beautiful than Beauty's self, + +it would have been difficult to say whether the charm of softness and +sweetness was more to be admired than her faultless personal +attractions. But when a tinge of melancholy came, saddening and shading +the once smooth and smiling brow; when tears dimmed the blue beauty of +those deep and tender eyes; when hot, hectic flushes supplied the place +of healthful bloom, and despair took possession of her heart, then was +it seen _what_ was the charm of Lady Rookwood, if charm that could be +called which was a saddening sight to see, and melted the beholder's +soul within him. All acknowledged, that exquisite as she had been +before, the sad, sweet lady was now more exquisite still. + +Seven moons had waned and flown--seven bitter, tearful moons--and each +day Lady Rookwood's situation claimed more soothing attention at the +hand of her lord. About this time his wife's brother, whom he hated, +returned from the Dutch wars. Struck with his sister's altered +appearance, he readily divined the cause; indeed, all tongues were eager +to proclaim it to him. Passionately attached to her, Lionel Vavasour +implored an explanation of the cause of his sister's griefs. The +bewildered lady answered evasively, attributing her woe-begone looks to +any other cause than her husband's cruelty; and pressing her brother, as +he valued her peace, her affection, never to allude to the subject +again. The fiery youth departed. He next sought out his brother-in-law, +and taxed him sharply with his inhumanity, adding threats to his +upbraidings. Sir Reginald listened silently and calmly. When the other +had finished, with a sarcastic obeisance, he replied: "Sir, I am much +beholden for the trouble you have taken in your sister's behalf. But +when she entrusted herself to my keeping, she relinquished, I conceive, +all claim on _your_ guardianship: however, I thank you for the trouble +you have taken; but, for your own sake, I would venture to caution you +against a repetition of interference like the present." + +"And I, sir, caution _you_. See that you give heed to my words, or, by +the heaven above us! I will enforce attention to them." + +"You will find me, sir, as prompt at all times to defend my conduct, as +I am unalterable in my purposes. Your sister is my wife. What more would +you have? Were she a harlot, you should have her back and welcome. The +tool is virtuous. Devise some scheme, and take her with you hence--so +you rid _me_ of her I am content." + +"Rookwood, you are a villain." And Vavasour spat upon his brother's +cheek. + +Sir Reginald's eyes blazed. His sword started from its scabbard. "Defend +yourself!" he exclaimed, furiously attacking Vavasour. Pass after pass +was exchanged. Fierce thrusts were made and parried. Feint and appeal, +the most desperate and dexterous, were resorted to. Their swords glanced +like lightning flashes. In the struggle, the blades became entangled. +There was a moment's cessation. Each glanced at the other with deadly, +inextinguishable hate. Both were admirable masters of the art of +defence. Both were so brimful of wrath as to be regardless of +consequences. They tore back their weapons. Vavasour's blade shivered. +He was at the mercy of his adversary--an adversary who knew no mercy. +Sir Reginald passed his rapier through his brother's body. The hilt +struck against his ribs. + +Sir Reginald's ire was kindled, not extinguished, by the deed he had +done. Like the tiger, he had tasted blood--like the tiger, he thirsted +for more. He sought his home. He was greeted by his wife. Terrified by +his looks, she yet summoned courage sufficient to approach him. She +embraced his arm--she clasped his hand. Sir Reginald smiled. His smile +was cutting as his dagger's edge. + +"What ails you, sweetheart?" said he. + +"I know not; your smile frightens me." + +"My smile frightens you--fool! be thankful that I frown not." + +"Oh! do not frown. Be gentle, my Reginald, as you were when first I knew +you. Smile not so coldly, but as you did then, that I may, for one +instant, dream you love me." + +"Silly wench! There--I _do_ smile." + +"That smile freezes me. Oh, Reginald, could you but know what I have +endured this morning, on your account. My brother Lionel has been here." + +"Indeed!" + +"Nay, look not so. He insisted on knowing the reason of my altered +appearance." + +"And no doubt you made him acquainted with the cause. You told him +_your_ version of the story." + +"Not a word, as I hope to live." + +"A lie!" + +"By my truth, no." + +"A lie, I say. He avouched it to me himself." + +"Impossible! He could not--would not disobey me." + +Sir Reginald laughed bitterly. + +"He would not, I am sure, give utterance to any scandal," continued Lady +Rookwood. "You say this but to try me, do you not?--ha! what is this? +Your hand is bloody. You have not harmed him? Whose blood is this?" + +"Your brother spat upon my check. I have washed out the stain," replied +Sir Reginald, coldly. + +"Then it _is_ his blood!" shrieked Lady Rookwood, pressing her hand +shuddering before her eyes. "Is he dead?" + +Sir Reginald turned away. + +"Stay," she cried, exerting her feeble strength to retain him, and +becoming white as ashes, "abide and hear me. You have killed me, I feel, +by your cruelty. I am sinking fast--dying. I, who loved you, only you; +yes, one besides--my brother, and you have slain _him_. Your hands are +dripping in his blood, and I have kissed them--have clasped them! And +now," continued she, with an energy that shook Sir Reginald, "I hate +you--I renounce you--forever! May my dying words ring in your ears on +your death-bed, for that hour _will_ come. You cannot shun _that_. Then +think of _him_! think of _me_!" + +"Away!" interrupted Sir Reginald, endeavoring to shake her off. + +"I will _not_ away! I will cling to you--will curse you. My unborn child +shall live to curse you--to requite you--to visit my wrongs on you and +yours. Weak as I am, you shall not cast me off. You shall learn to fear +even _me_." + +"I fear nothing living, much less a frantic woman." + +"Fear the _dead_, then." + +There was a struggle--a blow--and the wretched lady sank, shrieking, +upon the floor. Convulsions seized her. A mother's pains succeeded +fierce and fast. She spoke no more, but died within the hour, giving +birth to a female child. + +Eleanor Rookwood became her father's idol--her father's bane. All the +love he had to bestow was centred in her. She returned it not. She fled +from his caresses. With all her mother's beauty, she had all her +father's pride. Sir Reginald's every thought was for his daughter--for +her aggrandizement. In vain. She seemed only to endure him, and while +his affection waxed stronger, and entwined itself round her alone, she +withered beneath his embraces as the shrub withers in the clasping folds +of the parasite plant. + +She grew towards womanhood. Suitors thronged around her--gentle and +noble ones. Sir Reginald watched them with a jealous eye. He was +wealthy, powerful, high in royal favor; and could make his own election. +He did so. For the first time, Eleanor promised obedience to his wishes. +They accorded with her own humor. The day was appointed. It came. But +with it came not the bride. She had fled, with the humblest and the +meanest of the pretenders to her hand--with one upon whom Sir Reginald +supposed she had not deigned to cast her eyes. He endeavored to forget +her, and, to all outward seeming, was successful in the effort. But he +felt that the curse was upon him; the undying flame scorched his heart. + +Once, and once only, they met again, in France, whither she had +wandered. It was a dread encounter--terrible to both; but most so to +Sir Reginald. He spoke not of her afterwards. + +Shortly after the death of his first wife, Sir Reginald had made +proposals to a dowager of distinction, with a handsome jointure, one of +his early attachments, and was, without scruple, accepted. The power of +the family might then be said to be at its zenith; and but for certain +untoward circumstances, and the growing influence of his enemies, Sir +Reginald would have been elevated to the peerage. Like most reformed +spend-thrifts, he had become proportionately avaricious, and his mind +seemed engrossed in accumulating wealth. In the meantime, his second +wife followed her predecessor, dying, it was said, of vexation and +disappointment. + +The propensity to matrimony, always a distinguishing characteristic of +the Rookwoods, largely displayed itself in Sir Reginald. Another dame +followed--equally rich, younger, and far more beautiful than her +immediate predecessor. She was a prodigious flirt, and soon set her +husband at defiance. Sir Reginald did not condescend to expostulate. It +was not his way. He effectually prevented any recurrence of her +indiscretions. She was removed, and with her expired Sir Reginald's +waning popularity. So strong was the expression of odium against him, +that he thought it prudent to retire to his mansion, in the country, and +there altogether seclude himself. One anomaly in Sir Reginald's +otherwise utterly selfish character was uncompromising devotion to the +house of Stuart; and shortly after the abdication of James II., he +followed that monarch to Saint Germain, having previously mixed largely +in secret political intrigues; and only returned from the French court +to lay his bones with those of his ancestry, in the family vault at +Rookwood. + + + + +_CHAPTER VI_ + +_SIR PIERS ROOKWOOD_ + + My old master kept a good house, and twenty or thirty tall + sword-and-buckler men about him; and in faith his son differs not + much; he will have metal too; though he has no store of cutler's + blades, he will have plenty of vintners' pots. His father kept a + good house for honest men, his tenants that brought him in part; and + his son keeps a bad house with knaves that help to consume all: 'tis + but the change of time: why should any man repine at it? Crickets, + good, loving, and lucky worms, were wont to feed, sing, and rejoice + in the father's chimney; and now carrion crows build in the son's + kitchen. + + WILKINS: _Miseries of Enforced Marriage_. + + +Sir Reginald died, leaving issue three children: a daughter, the +before-mentioned Eleanor--who, entirely discountenanced by the family, +had been seemingly forgotten by all but her father--, and two sons by +his third wife. Reginald, the eldest, whose military taste had early +procured him the command of a company of horse, and whose politics did +not coalesce with those of his sire, fell, during his father's lifetime, +at Killiecrankie, under the banners of William. Piers, therefore, the +second son, succeeded to the title. + +A very different character, in many respects, from his father and +brother, holding in supreme dislike courts and courtiers, party warfare, +political intrigue, and all the subtleties of Jesuitical diplomacy, +neither having any inordinate relish for camps or campaigns, Sir Piers +Rookwood yet displayed in early life one family propensity, viz., +unremitting devotion to the sex. Among his other mistresses was the +unfortunate Susan Bradley, in whom by some he was supposed to have been +clandestinely united. In early youth, as has been stated, Sir Piers +professed the faith of Rome, but shortly after the death of his +beautiful mistress--or wife, as it might be--, having quarreled with his +father's confessor, Checkley, he publicly abjured his heresies. Sir +Piers subsequently allied himself to Maud, only daughter of Sir Thomas +D'Aubeny, the last of a line as proud and intolerant as his own. The +tables were then turned. Lady Rookwood usurped sovereign sway over her +lord and Sir Piers, a cipher in his own house, scarce master of himself, +much less of his dame, endured an existence so miserable, that he was +often heard to regret, in his cups, that he had not inherited, with the +estate of his forefathers, the family secret of shaking off the +matrimonial yoke, when found to press too hardly. + +At the onset, Sir Piers struggled hard to burst his bondage. But in +vain--he was fast fettered; and only bruised himself, like the caged +lark, against the bars of his prison-house. Abandoning all further +effort at emancipation, he gave himself up to the usual resource of a +weak mind, debauchery; and drank so deeply to drown his cares, that, in +the end, his hale constitution yielded to his excesses. It was even +said, that remorse at his abandonment of the faith of his fathers had +some share in his misery; and that his old spiritual, and if report +spoke truly, sinful adviser, Father Checkley, had visited him secretly +at the hall. Sir Piers was observed to shudder whenever the priest's +name was mentioned. + +Sir Piers Rookwood was a good-humored man in the main, had little of the +old family leaven about him, and was esteemed by his associates. Of +late, however, his temper became soured, and his friends deserted him; +for, between his domestic annoyances, remorseful feelings, and the +inroads already made upon his constitution by constant inebriety, he +grew so desperate and insane in his revels, and committed such fearful +extravagances, that even his boon companions shrank from his orgies. +Fearful were the scenes between him and Lady Rookwood upon these +occasions--appalling to the witnesses, dreadful to themselves. And it +was, perhaps, their frequent recurrence, that, more than anything else, +banished all decent society from the hall. + +At the time of Sir Piers's decease, which brings us down to the date of +our story, his son and successor, Ranulph, was absent on his travels. +Shortly after the completion of his academical education, he had +departed to make the tour of the Continent, and had been absent rather +better than a year. He had quitted his father in displeasure, and was +destined never again to see his face while living. The last intelligence +received of young Rookwood was from Bordeaux, whence it was thought he +had departed for the Pyrenees. A special messenger had been despatched +in search of him, with tidings of the melancholy event. But, as it was +deemed improbable by Lady Rookwood that her son could return within any +reasonable space, she gave directions for the accomplishment of the +funeral rites of her husband on the sixth night after his decease--it +being the custom of the Rookwoods ever to inter their dead at +midnight,--intrusting their solemnization entirely to the care of one of +Sir Piers's hangers-on--Dr. Titus Tyrconnel,--for which she was greatly +scandalized in the neighborhood. + +Ranulph Rookwood was a youth of goodly promise. The stock from which he +sprang would on neither side warrant such conclusion. But it sometimes +happens that from the darkest elements are compounded the brightest and +subtlest substances; and so it occurred in this instance. Fair, frank, +and free--generous, open, unsuspicious--he seemed the very opposite of +all his race--their antagonizing principle. Capriciously indulgent, his +father had allowed him ample means, neither curbing nor restraining his +expenditure; acceding at one moment to every inclination, and the next +irresolutely opposing it. It was impossible, therefore, for him, in such +a state of things, to act decidedly, without incurring his father's +displeasure; and the only measure he resolved upon, which was to absent +himself for a time, was conjectured to have brought about the result he +had endeavored to avoid. Other reasons, however, there were, which +secretly influenced him, which it will be our business in due time to +detail. + + + + +_CHAPTER VII_ + +_THE RETURN_ + + _Flam._ How croaks the raven? + Is our good Duchess dead? + + _Lod._ Dead. + + WEBSTER. + + +The time of the sad ceremonial drew nigh. The hurrying of the domestics +to and fro; the multifarious arrangements for the night; the +distribution of the melancholy trappings, and the discussion of the +"funeral-baked meats," furnished abundant occupation within doors. +Without, there was a constant stream of the tenantry, thronging down the +avenue, mixed with an occasional horseman, once or twice intercepted by +a large lumbering carriage, bringing friends of the deceased, some +really anxious to pay the last tribute of regard, but the majority +attracted by the anticipated spectacle of a funeral by torchlight. There +were others, indeed, to whom it was not matter of choice; who were +compelled, by a vassal tenure of their lands, held of the house of +Rookwood, to lend a shoulder to the coffin, and a hand to the torch, on +the burial of its lord. Of these there was a plentiful muster collected +in the hall; they were to be marshalled by Peter Bradley, who was deemed +to be well skilled in the proceedings, having been present at two +solemnities of the kind. That mysterious personage, however, had not +made his appearance--to the great dismay of the assemblage. Scouts were +sent in search of him, but they returned with the intelligence that the +door of his habitation was fastened, and its inmate apparently absent. +No other tidings of the truant sexton could be obtained. + +It was a sultry August evening. No breeze was stirring in the garden; no +cool dews refreshed the parched and heated earth; yet from the +languishing flowers rich sweets exhaled. The plash of a fountain fell +pleasantly upon the ear, conveying in its sound a sense of freshness to +the fervid air; while deep and drowsy murmurs hummed heavily beneath the +trees, making the twilight slumberously musical. The westering sun, +which filled the atmosphere with flame throughout the day, was now +wildly setting; and, as he sank behind the hall, its varied and +picturesque tracery became each instant more darkly and distinctly +defined against the crimson sky. + +At this juncture a little gate, communicating with the chase, was thrown +open, and a young man entered the garden, passing through the shrubbery, +and hurrying rapidly forward till he arrived at a vista opening upon the +house. The spot at which the stranger halted was marked by a little +basin, scantily supplied with water, streaming from a lion's kingly +jaws. His dress was travel-soiled, and dusty; and his whole appearance +betokened great exhaustion from heat and fatigue. Seating himself upon +an adjoining bench, he threw off his riding-cap, and unclasped his +collar, displaying a finely-turned head and neck; and a countenance +which, besides its beauty, had that rare nobility of feature which +seldom falls to the lot of the aristocrat, but is never seen in one of +an inferior order. A restless disquietude of manner showed that he was +suffering from over-excitement of mind, as well as from bodily exertion. +His look was wild and hurried; his black ringlets were dashed heedlessly +over a pallid, lofty brow, upon which care was prematurely written; +while his large melancholy eyes were bent, with a look almost of agony, +upon the house before him. + +After a short pause, and as if struggling against violent emotions, and +some overwhelming remembrance, the youth arose, and plunged his hand +into the basin, applying the moist element to his burning brow. +Apparently becoming more calm, he bent his steps towards the hall, when +two figures, suddenly issuing from an adjoining copse, arrested his +progress; neither saw him. Muttering a hurried farewell, one of the +figures disappeared within the shrubbery, and the other, confronting the +stranger, displayed the harsh features and gaunt form of Peter Bradley. +Had Peter encountered the dead Sir Piers in corporeal form, he could not +have manifested more surprise than he exhibited, for an instant or two, +as he shrunk back from the stranger's path. + + + + +_CHAPTER VIII_ + +_AN IRISH ADVENTURER_ + + _Scapin._ A most outrageous, roaring fellow, with a swelled red face + inflamed with brandy.--_Cheats of Scapin._ + + +An hour or two prior to the incident just narrated, in a small, cosy +apartment of the hall, nominally devoted to justiciary business by its +late owner, but, in reality, used as a sanctum, snuggery, or +smoking-room, a singular trio were assembled, fraught with the ulterior +purpose of attending the obsequies of their deceased patron and friend, +though immediately occupied in the discussion of a magnum of excellent +claret, the bouquet of which perfumed the air, like the fragrance of a +bed of violets. + +This little room had been poor Sir Piers's favorite retreat. It was, in +fact, the only room in the house that he could call his own; and thither +would he often, with pipe and punch, beguile the flagging hours, secure +from interruption. A snug, old-fashioned apartment it was; wainscoted +with rich black oak; with a fine old cabinet of the same material, and a +line or two of crazy, worm-eaten bookshelves, laden with sundry dusty, +unconsulted law tomes, and a light sprinkling of the elder divines, +equally neglected. The only book, indeed, Sir Piers ever read, was the +"Anatomie of Melancholy;" and he merely studied Burton because the +quaint, racy style of the learned old hypochondriac suited his humor at +seasons, and gave a zest to his sorrows, such as the olives lent to his +wine. + +Four portraits adorned the walls: those of Sir Reginald Rookwood and his +wives. The ladies were attired in the flowing drapery of Charles the +Second's day, the snow of their radiant bosoms being somewhat sullied by +over-exposure, and the vermeil tinting of their cheeks darkened by the +fumes of tobacco. There was a shepherdess, with her taper crook, whose +large, languishing eyes, ripe pouting lips, ready to melt into kisses, +and air of voluptuous abandonment, scarcely suited the innocent +simplicity of her costume. She was portrayed tending a flock of downy +sheep, with azure ribbons round their necks, accompanied by one of those +invaluable little dogs whose length of ear and silkiness of skin evinced +him perfect in his breeding, but whose large-eyed indifference to his +charge proved him to be as much out of character with his situation as +the refined and luxuriant charms of his mistress were out of keeping +with her artless attire. This was Sir Piers's mother, the third wife, a +beautiful woman, answering to the notion of one who had been somewhat of +a flirt in her day. Next to her was a magnificent dame, with the throat +and arm of a Juno, and a superb bust--the bust was then what the bustle +is now--a paramount attraction; whether the modification be an +improvement, we leave to the consideration of the lovers of the +beautiful--this was the dowager. Lastly, there was the lovely and +ill-fated Eleanor. Every gentle grace belonging to this unfortunate lady +had been stamped in undying beauty on the canvas by the hand of Lely, +breathing a spell on the picture, almost as powerful as that which had +dwelt around the exquisite original. Over the high carved mantelpiece +was suspended the portrait of Sir Reginald. It had been painted in +early youth; the features were beautiful, disdainful,--with a fierceness +breaking through the courtly air. The eyes were very fine, black as +midnight, and piercing as those of Cæsar Borgia, as seen in Raphael's +wonderful picture in the Borghese Palace at Rome. They seemed to +fascinate the gazer--to rivet his glances--to follow him whithersoever +he went--and to search into his soul, as did the dark orbs of Sir +Reginald in his lifetime. It was the work likewise of Lely, and had all +the fidelity and graceful refinement of that great master; nor was the +haughty countenance of Sir Reginald unworthy the patrician painter. + +No portrait of Sir Piers was to be met with. But in lieu thereof, +depending from a pair of buck's horns, hung the worthy knight's stained +scarlet coat--the same in which he had ridden forth, with the intent to +hunt, on the eventful occasion detailed by Peter Bradley,--his velvet +cap, his buck-handled whip, and the residue of his equipment for the +chase. This attire was reviewed with melancholy interest and unaffected +emotion by the company, as reminding them forcibly of the departed, of +which it seemed a portion. + +The party consisted of the vicar of Rookwood, Dr. Polycarp Small; Dr. +Titus Tyrconnel, an emigrant, and empirical professor of medicine, from +the sister isle, whose convivial habits had first introduced him to the +hall, and afterwards retained him there; and Mr. Codicil Coates, clerk +of the peace, attorney-at-law, bailiff, and receiver. We were wrong in +saying that Tyrconnel was retained. He was an impudent, intrusive +fellow, whom, having once gained a footing in the house, it was +impossible to dislodge. He cared for no insult; perceived no slight; and +professed, in her presence, the profoundest respect for Lady Rookwood: +in short, he was ever ready to do anything but depart. + +Sir Piers was one of those people who cannot dine alone. He disliked a +solitary repast almost as much as a _tête-à-tête_ with his lady. He +would have been recognized at once as the true Amphitryon, had any one +been hardy enough to play the part of Jupiter. Ever ready to give a +dinner, he found a difficulty arise, not usually experienced on such +occasions--there was no one upon whom to bestow it. He had the best of +wine; kept an excellent table; was himself no niggard host; but his own +merits, and those of his _cuisine_, were forgotten in the invariable +_pendant_ to the feast; and the best of wine lost its flavor when the +last bottle found its way to the guest's head. Dine alone Sir Piers +would not. And as his old friends forsook him, he plunged lower in his +search of society; collecting within his house a class of persons whom +no one would have expected to meet at the hall, nor even its owner have +chosen for his companions, had any choice remained to him. He did not +endure this state of things without much outward show of discontent. +"Anything for a quiet life," was his constant saying; and, like the +generality of people with whom those words form a favorite maxim, he led +the most uneasy life imaginable. Endurance, to excite commiseration, +must be uncomplaining--an axiom the aggrieved of the gentle sex should +remember. Sir Piers endured, but he grumbled lustily, and was on all +hands voted a bore; domestic grievances, especially if the husband be +the plaintiff, being the most intolerable of all mentionable miseries. +No wonder that his friends deserted him; still there was Titus +Tyrconnel; his ears and lips were ever open to pathos and to punch; so +Titus kept his station. Immediately after her husband's demise, it had +been Lady Rookwood's intention to clear the house of all the "vermin," +so she expressed herself, that had so long infested it; and forcibly to +eject Titus, and one or two other intruders of the same class. But in +consequence of certain hints received from Mr. Coates, who represented +the absolute necessity of complying with Sir Piers's testamentary +instructions, which were particular in that respect, she thought proper +to defer her intentions until after the ceremonial of interment should +be completed, and, in the mean time, strange to say, committed its +arrangement to Titus Tyrconnel; who, ever ready to accommodate, +accepted, nothing loth, the charge, and acquitted himself admirably well +in his undertaking: especially, as he said, "in the aiting and drinking +department--the most essential part of it all." He kept open house--open +dining-room--open cellar; resolved that his patron's funeral should +emulate as much as possible an Irish burial on a grand scale, "the +finest sight," in his opinion, "in the whole world." + +Inflated with the importance of his office, inflamed with heat, sat +Titus, like a "robustious periwig-pated" alderman after a civic feast. +The natural rubicundity of his countenance was darkened to a deep purple +tint, like that of a full-blown peony, while his ludicrous dignity was +augmented by a shining suit of sables, in which his portly person was +invested. + +The first magnum had been discussed in solemn silence; the cloud, +however, which hung over the conclave, disappeared under the genial +influence of "another and a better" bottle, and gave place to a denser +vapor, occasioned by the introduction of the pipe and its +accompaniments. + +Ensconced in a comfortable old chair--it is not every old chair that +_is_ comfortable,--with pipe in mouth, and in full unbuttoned ease, his +bushy cauliflower wig laid aside, by reason of the heat, reposed Dr. +Small. Small, indeed, was somewhat of a misnomer, as applied to the +worthy doctor, who, besides being no diminutive specimen of his kind, +entertained no insignificant opinion of himself. His height was +certainly not remarkable; but his width of shoulder--his sesquipedality +of stomach--and obesity of calf--these were unique! Of his origin we +know nothing; but presume he must, in some way or other, have been +connected with the numerous family of "the Smalls," who, according to +Christopher North, form the predominant portion of mankind. In +appearance, the doctor was short-necked and puffy, with a sodden, pasty +face, wherein were set eyes whose obliquity of vision was, in some +measure, redeemed by their expression of humor. He was accounted a man +of parts and erudition, and had obtained high honors at his university. +Rigidly orthodox, he abominated the very names of Papists and Jacobites, +amongst which heretical herd he classed his companion, Mr. Titus +Tyrconnel--Ireland being with him synonymous with superstition and +Catholicism--and every Irishman rebellious and schismatical. On this +head he was inclined to be disputatious. His prejudices did not prevent +him from passing the claret, nor from laughing, as heartily as a +plethoric asthma and sense of the decorum due to the occasion would +permit, at the quips and quirks of the Irishman, who, he admitted, +notwithstanding his heresies, was a pleasant fellow in the main. And +when, in addition to the flattery, a pipe had been insinuated by the +officious Titus, at the precise moment that Small yearned for his +afternoon's solace, yet scrupled to ask for it; when the door had been +made fast, and the first whiff exhaled, all his misgivings vanished, and +he surrendered himself to the soft seduction. In this Elysian state we +find him. + +"Ah! you may say that, Dr. Small," said Titus, in answer to some +observation of the vicar, "that's a most original apothegm. We all of us +hould our lives by a thrid. Och! many's the sudden finale I have seen. +Many's the fine fellow's heels tripped up unawares, when least expected. +Death hangs over our heads by a single hair, as your reverence says, +precisely like the sword of Dan Maclise,[6] the flatterer of Dinnish +what-do-you-call-him, ready to fall at a moment's notice, or no notice +at all--eh?--Mr. Coates. And that brings me back again to Sir +Piers--poor gentleman--ah! we sha'n't soon see the like of him again!" + +"Poor Sir Piers!" said Mr. Coates, a small man, in a scratch wig, with a +face red and round as an apple, and almost as diminutive. "It is to be +regretted that his over-conviviality should so much have hastened his +lamented demise." + +"Conviviality!" replied Titus; "no such thing--it was +apoplexy--extravasation of _sarum_." + +"Extra vase-ation of rum and water, you mean," replied Coates, who, like +all his tribe, rejoiced in a quibble. + +"The squire's ailment," continued Titus, "was a sanguineous effusion, as +we call it--positive determination of blood to the head, occasioned by a +low way he got into, just before his attack--a confirmed case of +hypochondriasis, as that _ould_ book Sir Piers was so fond of terms the +blue devils. He neglected the bottle, which, in a man who has been a +hard drinker all his life, is a bad sign. The lowering system never +answers--never. Doctor, I'll just trouble you"--for Small, in a fit of +absence, had omitted to pass the bottle, though not to help himself. +"Had he stuck to _this_"--holding up a glass, ruby bright--"the elixir +vitæ--the grand panacea--he might have been hale and hearty at this +present moment, and as well as any of us. But he wouldn't be advised. To +my thinking, as that was the case, he'd have been all the better for a +little of your reverence's sperretual advice; and his conscience having +been relieved by confession and absolution, he might have opened a fresh +account with an aisy heart and clane breast." + +"I trust, sir," said Small, gravely withdrawing his pipe from his lips, +"that Sir Piers Rookwood addressed himself to a higher source than a +sinning creature of clay like himself for remission of his sins; but, if +there was any load of secret guilt that might have weighed heavy upon +his conscience, it is to be regretted that he refused the last offices +of the church, and died incommunicate. I was denied all admittance to +his chamber." + +"Exactly my case," said Mr. Coates, pettishly. "I was refused entrance, +though my business was of the utmost importance--certain +dispositions--special bequests--matter connected with his sister--for +though the estate is entailed, yet still there are charges--you +understand me--very strange to refuse to see _me_. Some people may +regret it--may live to regret it, I say--that's all. I've just sent up +a package to Lady Rookwood, which was not to be delivered till after Sir +Piers's death. Odd circumstance that--been in my custody a long +while--some reason to think Sir Piers meant to alter his will--ought to +have seen _me_--sad neglect!" + +"More's the pity. But it was none of poor Sir Piers's doing!" replied +Titus; "he had no will of his own, poor fellow, during his life, and the +devil a will was he likely to have after his death. It was all Lady +Rookwood's doing," added he, in a whisper. "I, his medical adviser and +confidential friend, was ordered out of the room; and, although I knew +it was as much as his life was worth to leave him for a moment in that +state, I was forced to comply: and, would you believe it, as I left the +room, I heard high words. Yes, doctor, as I hope to be saved, words of +anger from her at that awful juncture." + +The latter part of this speech was uttered in a low tone, and very +mysterious manner. The speakers drew so closely together, that the bowls +of their pipes formed a common centre, whence the stems radiated. A +momentary silence ensued, during which each man puffed for very life. +Small next knocked the ashes from his tube, and began to replenish it, +coughing significantly. Mr. Coates expelled a thin, curling stream of +vapor from a minute orifice in the corner of his almost invisible mouth, +and arched his eyebrows in a singular manner, as if he dared not trust +the expression of his thoughts to any other feature. Titus shook his +huge head, and, upon the strength of a bumper which he swallowed, +mustered resolution enough to unburden his bosom. + +"By my sowl," said he, mysteriously, "I've seen enough lately to +frighten any quiet gentleman out of his senses. I'll not get a wink of +sleep, I fear, for a week to come. There must have been something +dreadful upon Sir Piers's mind; sure--nay, there's no use in mincing the +matter with _you_--in a word, then, some crime too deep to be divulged." + +"Crime!" echoed Coates and Small, in a breath. + +"Ay, crime!" repeated Titus. "Whist! not so loud, lest any one should +overhear us. Poor Sir Piers, he's dead now. I'm sure you both loved him +as I did, and pity and pardon him if he was guilty; for certain am I +that no soul ever took its flight more heavily laden than did that of +our poor friend. Och! it was a terrible ending. But you shall hear _how_ +he died, and judge for yourselves. When I returned to his room after +Lady Rookwood's departure, I found him quite delirious. I knew death was +not far off then. One minute he was in the chase, cheering on the +hounds. 'Halloo! tallyho!' cried he: 'who clears that fence?--who swims +that stream?' The next, he was drinking, carousing, and hurrahing, at +the head of his table. 'Hip! hip! hip!'--as mad, and wild, and frantic +as ever he used to be when wine had got the better of him; and then all +of a sudden, in the midst of his shouting, he stopped, exclaiming, +'What! here again?--who let her in?--the door is fast--I locked it +myself. Devil! why did you open it?--you have betrayed me--she will +poison me--and I cannot resist. Ha! another! Who--who is that?--her face +is white--her hair hangs about her shoulders. Is she alive again? Susan! +Susan! why that look? You loved me well--too well. You will not drag me +to perdition! You will not appear against me! No, no, no--it is not in +your nature--you whom I doted on, whom I loved--whom I--but I +repented--I sorrowed--I prayed--prayed! Oh! oh! no prayers would avail. +Pray for me, Susan--for ever! _Your_ intercession may avail. It is not +too late. I will do justice to all. Bring me pen and ink--paper--I will +confess--_he_ shall have all. Where is my sister? I would speak with +her--would tell her--tell her. Call Alan Rookwood--I shall die before I +can tell it. Come hither,' said he to me. 'There is a dark, dreadful +secret on my mind--it must forth. Tell my sister--no, my senses +swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off. +What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by +my side, as it lay that long, long night? It is--it is. Cold, stiff, +stirless as then. White--horribly white--as when the moon, that would +not set, showed all its ghastliness. Ah! it moves, embraces me, stifles, +suffocates me. Help! remove the pillow. I cannot breathe--I choke--oh!' +And now I am coming to the strangest part of my story--and, strange as +it may sound, every word is as true as Gospel." + +"Ahem!" coughed Small. + +"Well, at this moment--this terrible moment--what should I hear but a +tap against the wainscot. Holy Virgin! how it startled me. My heart +leapt to my mouth in an instant, and then went thump, thump, against my +ribs. But I said nothing, though you may be sure I kept my ears wide +open--and then presently I heard the tap repeated somewhat louder, and +shortly afterwards a third--I should still have said nothing, but Sir +Piers heard the knock, and raised himself at the summons, as if it had +been the last trumpet. 'Come in,' cried he, in a dying voice; and Heaven +forgive me if I confess that I expected a certain person, whose company +one would rather dispense with upon such an occasion, to step in. +However, though it wasn't the ould gentleman, it was somebody near akin +to him; for a door I had never seen, and never even dreamed of, opened +in the wall, and in stepped Peter Bradley--ay, you may well stare, +gentlemen; but it was Peter, looking as stiff as a crowbar, and as blue +as a mattock. Well, he walked straight up to the bed of the dying man, +and bent his great, diabolical gray eyes upon him, laughing all the +while--yes, laughing--you know the cursed grin he has. To proceed. 'You +have called me,' said he to Sir Piers; 'I am here. What would you with +me?'--'We are not alone,' groaned the dying man. 'Leave us, Mr. +Tyrconnel--leave me for five minutes--only five, mark me.'--'I'll go,' +thinks I, 'but I shall never see you again alive.' And true enough it +was--I never did see him again with breath in his body. Without more +ado, I left him, and I had scarcely reached the corridor when I heard +the door bolted behind me. I then stopped to listen: and I'm sure you'll +not blame me when I say I clapped my eye to the keyhole; for I suspected +something wrong. But, Heaven save us! that crafty gravedigger had taken +his precautions too well. I could neither see nor hear anything, except +after a few minutes, a wild unearthly screech. And then the door was +thrown open, and I, not expecting it, was precipitated head foremost +into the room, to the great damage of my nose. When I got up, Peter had +vanished, I suppose, as he came; and there was poor Sir Piers leaning +back upon the pillow with his hands stretched out as if in supplication, +his eyes unclosed and staring, and his limbs stark and stiff!" + +A profound silence succeeded this narrative. Mr. Coates would not +venture upon a remark. Dr. Small seemed, for some minutes, lost in +painful reflection; at length he spoke: "You have described a shocking +scene, Mr. Tyrconnel, and in a manner that convinces me of its fidelity. +But I trust you will excuse me, as a friend of the late Sir Piers, in +requesting you to maintain silence in future on the subject. Its +repetition can be productive of no good, and may do infinite harm by +giving currency to unpleasant reports, and harrowing the feelings of the +survivors. Every one acquainted with Sir Piers's history must be aware, +as I dare say you are already, of an occurrence which cast a shade over +his early life, blighted his character, and endangered his personal +safety. It was a dreadful accusation. But I believe, nay, I am sure, it +was unfounded. Dark suspicions attach to a Romish priest of the name of +Checkley. He, I believe, is beyond the reach of human justice. Erring +Sir Piers was, undoubtedly. But I trust he was more weak than sinful. I +have reason to think he was the tool of others, especially of the wretch +I have named. And it is easy to perceive how that incomprehensible +lunatic, Peter Bradley, has obtained an ascendancy over him. His +daughter, you are aware, was Sir Piers's mistress. Our friend is now +gone, and with him let us bury his offences, and the remembrance of +them. That his soul was heavily laden, would appear from your account of +his last moments; yet I fervently trust that his repentance was sincere, +in which case there is hope of forgiveness for him. 'At what time soever +a sinner shall repent him of his sins, from the bottom of his heart, I +will blot out all his wickedness out of my remembrance, saith the Lord.' +Heaven's mercy is greater than man's sins. And there is hope of +salvation even for Sir Piers." + +"I trust so, indeed," said Titus, with emotion; "and as to repeating a +syllable of what I have just said, devil a word more will I utter on the +subject. My lips shall be shut and sealed, as close as one of Mr. +Coates's bonds, for ever and a day: but I thought it just right to make +you acquainted with the circumstances. And now, having dismissed the bad +for ever, I am ready to speak of Sir Piers's good qualities, and not few +they were. What was there becoming a gentleman that he couldn't do, I'd +like to know? Couldn't he hunt as well as ever a one in the county? and +hadn't he as good a pack of hounds? Couldn't he shoot as well, and fish +as well, and drink as well, or better?--only he couldn't carry his wine, +which was his misfortune, not his fault. And wasn't he always ready to +ask a friend to dinner with him? and didn't he give him a good dinner +when he came, barring the cross-cups afterwards? And hadn't he +everything agreeable about him, except his wife? which was a great +drawback. And with all his peculiarities and humors, wasn't he as +kind-hearted a man as needs be? and an Irishman at the core? And so, if +he wern't dead, I'd say long life to him! But as he is, here's peace to +his memory!" + +At this juncture, a knocking was heard at the door, which some one +without had vainly tried to open. Titus rose to unclose it, ushering in +an individual known at the hall as Jack Palmer. + + + + +_CHAPTER IX_ + +_AN ENGLISH ADVENTURER_ + + _Mrs. Peachem._ Sure the captain's the finest gentleman on the road. + + _Beggar's Opera._ + + +Jack Palmer was a good-humored, good-looking man, with immense bushy, +red whiskers, a freckled, florid complexion, and sandy hair, rather +inclined to scantiness towards the scalp of the head, which garnished +the nape of his neck with a ruff of crisp little curls, like the ring on +a monk's shaven crown. Notwithstanding this tendency to baldness, Jack +could not be more than thirty, though his looks were some five years in +advance. His face was one of those inexplicable countenances, which +appear to be proper to a peculiar class of men--a regular Newmarket +physiognomy--compounded chiefly of cunning and assurance; not low +cunning, nor vulgar assurance, but crafty sporting subtlety, careless as +to results, indifferent to obstacles, ever on the alert for the main +chance, game and turf all over, eager, yet easy, keen, yet quiet. He was +somewhat showily dressed, in such wise that he looked half like a fine +gentleman of that day, half like a jockey of our own. His nether man +appeared in well-fitting, well-worn buckskins, and boots with tops, not +unconscious of the saddle; while the airy extravagance of his +broad-skirted, sky-blue riding coat, the richness of his vest--the +pockets of which were beautifully exuberant, according to the mode of +1737--the smart luxuriance of his cravat, and a certain curious taste in +the size and style of his buttons, proclaimed that, in his own esteem at +least, his person did not appear altogether unworthy of decoration; nor, +in justice to Jack, can we allow that he was in error. He was a model +of a man for five feet ten; square, compact, capitally built in every +particular, excepting that his legs were slightly imbowed, which defect +probably arose from his being almost constantly on horseback; a sort of +exercise in which Jack greatly delighted, and was accounted a superb +rider. It was, indeed, his daring horsemanship, upon one particular +occasion, when he had outstripped a whole field, that had procured him +the honor of an invitation to Rookwood. Who he was, or whence he came, +was a question not easily answered--Jack, himself, evading all solution +to the inquiry. Sir Piers never troubled his head about the matter: he +was a "deuced good fellow--rode well, and stood on no sort of ceremony;" +that was enough for him. Nobody else knew anything about him, save that +he was a capital judge of horseflesh, kept a famous black mare, and +attended every hunt in the West Riding--that he could sing a good song, +was a choice companion, and could drink three bottles without feeling +the worse for them. + +Sensible of the indecorum that might attach to his appearance, Dr. Small +had hastily laid down his pipe, and arranged his wig. But when he saw +who was the intruder, with a grunt of defiance he resumed his +occupation, without returning the bow of the latter, or bestowing +further notice upon him. Nothing discomposed at the churchman's +displeasure, Jack greeted Titus cordially, and carelessly saluting Mr. +Coates, threw himself into a chair. He next filled a tumbler of claret, +and drained it at a draught. + +"Have you ridden far, Jack?" asked Titus, noticing the dusty state of +Palmer's azure attire. + +"Some dozen miles," replied Palmer; "and that, on such a sultry +afternoon as the present, makes one feel thirstyish. I'm as dry as a +sandbed. Famous wine this--beautiful tipple--better than all your red +fustian. Ah, how poor Sir Piers used to like it! Well, that's all +over--a glass like this might do him good in his present quarters! I'm +afraid I'm intruding. But the fact is, I wanted a little information +about the order of the procession, and missing you below, came hither in +search of you. You're to be chief mourner, I suppose, Titus--_rehearsing_ +your part, eh?" + +"Come, come, Jack, no joking," replied Titus; "the subject's too +serious. I am to be chief mourner--and I expect you to be a mourner--and +everybody else to be mourners. We must all mourn at the proper time. +There'll be a power of people at the church." + +"There _are_ a power of people here already," returned Jack, "if they +all attend." + +"And they all _will_ attend, or what is the eating and drinking to go +for? I sha'n't leave a soul in the house." + +"Excepting one," said Jack, archly. "Lady Rookwood won't attend, I +think." + +"Ay, excepting her ladyship and her ladyship's abigail. All the rest go +with me, and form part of the procession. You go too." + +"Of course. At what time do you start?" + +"Twelve precisely. As the clock strikes, we set out--all in a line, and +a long line we'll make. I'm waiting for that ould coffin-faced rascal, +Peter Bradley, to arrange the order." + +"How long will it all occupy, think you?" asked Jack, carelessly. + +"That I can't say," returned Titus; "possibly an hour, more or less. But +we shall start to the minute--that is, if we can get all together, so +don't be out of the way. And hark ye, Jack, you must contrive to change +your toggery. That sky-blue coat won't do. It's not the thing at all, at +all." + +"Never fear that," replied Palmer. "But who were those in the +carriages?" + +"Is it the last carriage you mean? Squire Forester and his sons. They're +dining with the other gentlefolk, in the great room up-stairs, to be out +of the way. Oh, we'll have a grand _berrin'_. And, by St. Patrick! I +must be looking after it." + +"Stay a minute," said Jack; "let's have a cool bottle first. They are +all taking care of themselves below, and Peter Bradley has not made his +appearance, so you need be in no hurry. I'll go with you presently. +Shall I ring for the claret?" + +"By all means," replied Titus. + +Jack accordingly arose; and a butler answering the summons, a +long-necked bottle was soon placed before them. + +"You heard of the affray last night, I presume?" said Jack, renewing the +conversation. + +"With the poachers? To be sure I did. Wasn't I called in to examine Hugh +Badger's wounds the first thing this morning; and a deep cut there was, +just over the eye, besides other bruises." + +"Is the wound dangerous?" inquired Palmer. + +"Not exactly mortal, if you mean that," replied the Irishman; +"dangerous, certainly." + +"Humph!" exclaimed Jack; "they'd a pretty hardish bout of it, I +understand. Anything been heard of the body?" + +"What body?" inquired Small, who was half-dozing. + +"The body of the drowned poacher," replied Jack; "they were off to +search for it this morning." + +"Found it--not they!" exclaimed Titus. "Ha, ha!--I can't help laughing, +for the life and _sowl_ of me; a capital trick he played +'em,--capital--ha, ha! What do you think the fellow did? Ha, ha!--after +leading 'em the devil's dance, all around the park, killing a hound as +savage as a wolf, and breaking Hugh Badger's head, which is as hard and +thick as a butcher's block, what does the fellow do but dive into a +pool, with a great rock hanging over it, and make his way to the other +side, through a subterranean cavern, which nobody knew anything about, +till they came to drag it, thinking him snugly drowned all the +while--ha, ha!" + +"Ha, ha, ha!" chorused Jack; "bravo! he's a lad of the right sort--ha, +ha!" + +"He! who?" inquired the attorney. + +"Why, the poacher, to be sure," replied Jack; "who else were we talking +about?" + +"Beg pardon," returned Coates; "I thought you might have heard some +intelligence. We've got an eye upon him. We know who it was." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Jack; "and who was it?" + +"A fellow known by the name of Luke Bradley." + +"Zounds!" cried Titus, "you don't say it was he? Murder in Irish! that +bates everything; why, he was Sir Piers's----" + +"Natural son," replied the attorney; "he has not been heard of for some +time--shockingly incorrigible rascal--impossible to do anything with +him." + +"You don't say so?" observed Jack. "I've heard Sir Piers speak of the +lad; and, by his account, he's as fine a fellow as ever crossed tit's +back; only a little wildish and unreasonable, as the best of us may be; +wants breaking, that's all. Your skittish colt makes the best horse, and +so would he. To speak the truth, I'm glad he escaped." + +"So am I," rejoined Titus; "for, in the first place, I've a foolish +partiality for poachers, and am sorry when any of 'em come to hurt; and, +in the second, I'd be mighty displeased if any ill had happened to one +of Sir Piers's flesh and blood, as this young chap appears to be." + +"Appears to be!" repeated Palmer; "there's no _appearing_ in the case, I +take it. This Bradley's an undoubted offshoot of the old squire. His +mother was a servant-maid at the hall, I rather think. You sir," +continued he, addressing Coates, "perhaps, can inform us of the real +facts of the case." + +"She was something better than a servant," replied the attorney, with a +slight cough and a knowing wink. "I remember her quite well, though I +was but a boy then; a lovely creature, and so taking, I don't wonder +that Sir Piers was smitten with her. He was mad after the women in those +days, and pretty Sue Bradley above all others. She lived with him quite +like his lady." + +"So I've heard," returned Jack; "and she remained with him till her +death. Let me see, wasn't there something rather odd in the way in which +she died, rather suddenish and unexpected,--a noise made about it at the +time, eh?" + +"Not that I ever heard," replied Coates, shaking his head, and appearing +to be afflicted with an instantaneous ignorance; while Titus affected +not to hear the remark, but occupied himself with his wine-glass. Small +snored audibly. "I was too young, then, to pay any attention to idle +rumors," continued Coates. "It's a long time ago. May I ask the reason +of your inquiry?" + +"Nothing further than simple curiosity," replied Jack, enjoying the +consternation of his companions. "It is, as you say, a long while since. +But it's singular how that sort of thing is remembered. One would think +people had something else to do than talk of one's private affairs for +ever. For my part, I despise such tattle. But there _are_ persons in the +neighborhood who still say it was an awkward business. Amongst others, +I've heard that this very Luke Bradley talks in pretty plain terms about +it." + +"Does he, indeed?" said Coates. "So much the worse for him. Let me once +lay hands upon him, and I'll put a gag in his mouth that shall spoil his +talking in the future." + +"That's precisely the point I desire to arrive at," replied Jack; "and I +advise you by all means to accomplish that, for the sake of the family. +Nobody likes his friends to be talked about. So I'd settle the matter +amicably, were I you. Just let the fellow go his way; he won't return +here again in a hurry, I'll be bound. As to clapping him in quod, he +might prattle--turn stag." + +"Turn stag!" replied Coates, "what the deuce is that? In my opinion, he +has 'turned stag' already. At all events, he'll pay _deer_ for his +night's sport, you may depend upon it. What signifies it what _he_ says? +Let me lay hands upon him, that's all." + +"Well, well," said Jack, "no offence. I only meant to offer a +suggestion. I thought the family, young Sir Ranulph, I mean, mightn't +like the story to be revived. As to Lady Rookwood, she don't, I suppose, +care much about idle reports. Indeed, if I've been rightly informed, she +bears this youngster no particular good-will to begin with, and has +tried hard to get him out of the country. But, as you say, what _does_ +it signify what he says? he can _only_ talk. Sir Piers is dead and +gone." + +"Humph!" muttered Coates, peevishly. + +"But it does seem a little hard, that a lad should swing for killing a +bit of venison in his own father's park." + +"Which he'd a _nat'ral_ right to do," cried Titus. + +"He had no natural right to bruise, violently assault, and endanger the +life of his father's, or anybody else's gamekeeper," retorted Coates. "I +tell you, sir, he's committed a capital offence, and if he's taken----" + +"No chance of that, I hope," interrupted Jack. + +"That's a wish I can't help wishing myself," said Titus: "on my +conscience, these poachers are fine boys, when all's said and done." + +"The finest of all boys," exclaimed Jack, with a kindred enthusiasm, +"are those birds of the night, and minions of the moon, whom we call, +most unjustly, poachers. They are, after all, only _professional +sportsmen_, making a business of what we make a pleasure; a nightly +pursuit of what is to us a daily relaxation; there's the main +distinction. As to the rest, it's all in idea; they merely thin an +overstocked park, as _you_ would reduce a plethoric patient, doctor; or +as _you_ would work a moneyed client, if you got him into Chancery, +Mister Attorney. And then how much more scientifically and +systematically they set to work than we amateurs do! how noiselessly +they bag a hare, smoke a pheasant, or knock a buck down with an air-gun! +how independent are they of any license, except that of a good eye, and +a swift pair of legs! how unnecessary is it for them to ask permission +to shoot over Mr. So-and-so's grounds, or my Lord That's preserves! +they are free of every cover, and indifferent to any alteration in the +game laws. I've some thoughts, when everything else fails, of taking to +poaching myself. In my opinion, a poacher's a highly respectable +character. What say you, Mr. Coates?" turning very gravely to that +gentleman. + +"Such a question, sir," replied Coates, bridling up, "scarcely deserves +a serious answer. I make no doubt you will next maintain that a +highwayman is a gentleman." + +"Most undoubtedly," replied Palmer, in the same grave tone, which might +have passed for banter, had Jack ever bantered. "I'll maintain and prove +it. I don't see how he can be otherwise. It is as necessary for a man to +be a gentleman before he can turn highwayman, as it is for a doctor to +have his diploma, or an attorney his certificate. Some of the finest +gentlemen of their day, as Captain Lovelace, Hind, Hannum, and Dudley, +were eminent on the road, and they set the fashion. Ever since their day +a real highwayman would consider himself disgraced, if he did not +conduct himself in every way like a gentleman. Of course, there are +pretenders in this line, as in everything else. But these are only +exceptions, and prove the rule. What are the distinguishing +characteristics of a fine gentleman?--perfect knowledge of the +world--perfect independence of character--notoriety--command of +cash--and inordinate success with the women. You grant all these +premises? First, then, it is part of a highwayman's business to be +thoroughly acquainted with the world. He is the easiest and pleasantest +fellow going. There is Tom King, for example: he is the handsomest man +about town, and the best-bred fellow on the road. Then whose +inclinations are so uncontrolled as the highwayman's, so long as the +mopuses last? who produces so great an effect by so few words?--'STAND +AND DELIVER!' is sure to arrest attention. Every one is captivated by an +address so _taking_. As to money, he wins a purse of a hundred guineas +as easily as you would the same sum from the faro table. And wherein +lies the difference? only in the name of the game. Who so little need +of a banker as he? all he has to apprehend is a check--all he has to +draw is a trigger. As to the women, they dote upon him: not even your +red-coat is so successful. Look at a highwayman mounted on his flying +steed, with his pistols in his holsters, and his mask upon his face. +What can be a more gallant sight? The clatter of his horse's heels is +like music to his ear--he is in full quest--he shouts to the fugitive +horseman to stay--the other flies all the faster--what chase can be half +so exciting as that? Suppose he overtakes his prey, which ten to one he +will, how readily his summons to deliver is obeyed! how satisfactory is +the appropriation of a lusty purse or corpulent pocket-book!--getting +the brush is nothing to it. How tranquilly he departs, takes off his hat +to his accommodating acquaintance, wishes him a pleasant journey, and +disappears across the heath! England, sir, has reason to be proud of her +highwaymen. They are peculiar to her clime, and are as much before the +brigand of Italy, the contrabandist of Spain, or the cut-purse of +France--as her sailors are before all the rest of the world. The day +will never come, I hope, when we shall degenerate into the footpad, and +lose our _Night Errantry_. Even the French borrow from us--they have +only one highwayman of eminence, and he learnt and practised his art in +England." + +"And who was he, may I ask?" said Coates. + +"Claude Du-Val," replied Jack; "and though a Frenchman, he was a deuced +fine fellow in his day--quite a tip-top macaroni--he could skip and +twirl like a figurant, warble like an opera-singer, and play the +flageolet better than any man of his day--he always carried a lute in +his pocket, along with his snappers. And then his dress--it was quite +beautiful to see how smartly he was rigg'd out, all velvet and lace; and +even with his vizard on his face, the ladies used to cry out to see him. +Then he took a purse with the air and grace of a receiver-general. All +the women adored him--and that, bless their pretty faces! was the best +proof of his gentility. I wish he'd not been a Mounseer. The women +never mistake. _They_ can always discover the true gentlemen, and they +were all, of every degree, from the countess to the kitchen-maid, over +head and ears in love with him." + +"But he was taken, I suppose?" asked Coates. + +"Ay," responded Jack, "the women were his undoing, as they've been many +a brave fellow's before, and will be again." Touched by which +reflection, Jack became for once in his life sentimental, and sighed. +"Poor Du-Val! he was seized at the Hole-in-the-Wall in Chandos-street by +the bailiff of Westminster, when dead drunk, his liquor having been +drugged by his dells--and was shortly afterwards hanged at Tyburn." + +"It was thousand pities," said Mr. Coates, with a sneer, "that so fine a +gentleman should come to so ignominious an end!" + +"Quite the contrary," returned Jack. "As his biographer, Doctor Pope, +properly remarks, 'Who is there worthy of the name of man, that would +not prefer such a death before a mean, solitary, inglorious life?' +By-the-by, Titus, as we're upon the subject, if you like I'll sing you a +song about highwaymen." + +"I should like it of all things," replied Titus, who entertained a very +favorable opinion of Jack's vocal powers, and was by no means an +indifferent performer; "only let it be in a minor key." + +Jack required no further encouragement, but disregarding the hints and +looks of Coates, sang with much unction the following ballad to a good +old tune, then very popular--the merit of which "nobody can deny." + + A CHAPTER OF HIGHWAYMEN + + Of every rascal of every kind, + The most notorious to my mind, + Was the Cavalier Captain, gay JEMMY HIND![7] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + But the pleasantest coxcomb among them all + For lute, coranto, and madrigal, + Was the galliard Frenchman, CLAUDE DU-VAL![8] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + And Tobygloak never a coach could rob, + Could lighten a pocket, or empty a fob, + With a neater hand than OLD MOB, OLD MOB![9] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + Nor did housebreaker ever deal harder knocks + On the stubborn lid of a good strong box, + Than that prince of good fellows, TOM COX, TOM COX![10] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + A blither fellow on broad highway, + Did never with oath bid traveller stay, + Than devil-may-care WILL HOLLOWAY![11] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + And in roguery naught could exceed the tricks + Of GETTINGS and GREY, and the five or six + Who trod in the steps of bold NEDDY WICKS![12] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + Nor could any so handily break a lock + As SHEPPARD, who stood on the Newgate dock, + And nicknamed the jailers around him "_his flock_!"[13] + _Which nobody can deny._ + + Nor did highwaymen ever before possess + For ease, for security, danger, distress, + Such a mare as DICK TURPIN'S Black Bess! Black Bess! + _Which nobody can deny._ + +"A capital song, by the powers!" cried Titus, as Jack's ditty came to a +close. "But your English robbers are nothing at all, compared with our +Tories[14] and Rapparees--nothing at all. They were the _raal_ +gentlemen--they were the boys to cut a throat _aisily_." + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Jack, in disgust, "the gentlemen I speak of never +maltreated any one, except in self-defence." + +"Maybe not," replied Titus; "I'll not dispute the point--but these +Rapparees were true brothers of the blade, and gentlemen every inch. +I'll just sing you a song I made about them myself. But meanwhile don't +let's forget the bottle--talking's dry work. My service to you, doctor!" +added he, winking at the somnolent Small. And tossing off his glass, +Titus delivered himself with much joviality of the following ballad; the +words of which he adapted to the tune of the _Groves of the Pool_: + + THE RAPPAREES + + Let the Englishman boast of his Turpins and Sheppards, as cocks of + the walk, + His Mulsacks, and Cheneys, and Swiftnecks[15]--it's all botheration + and talk; + Compared with the robbers of Ireland, they don't come within half a + mile, + There never were yet any rascals like those of my own native isle! + + First and foremost comes REDMOND O'HANLON, allowed the first thief + of the world,[16] + That o'er the broad province of Ulster the Rapparee banner unfurled; + Och! he was an elegant fellow, as ever you saw in your life, + At fingering the blunderbuss trigger, or handling the throat-cutting + knife. + + And then such a dare-devil squadron as that which composed REDMOND'S + _tail_! + Meel, Mactigh, Jack Reilly, Shan Bernagh, Phil Galloge, and Arthur + O'Neal; + _Shure_ never were any boys like 'em for rows, _agitations_, and + sprees, + Not a _rap_ did they leave in the country, and hence they were + called _Rap_parees.[17] + + Next comes POWER, the great Tory[18] of Munster, a gentleman born + every inch, + And strong JACK MACPHERSON of Leinster, a horse-shoe who broke at a + pinch; + The last was a fellow so _lively_, not death e'en his courage could + damp, + For as he was led to the gallows, he played his own "march to the + camp."[19] + + PADDY FLEMING, DICK BALF, and MULHONI, I think are the next on my list, + All adepts in the beautiful science of giving a pocket a twist; + JEMMY CARRICK must follow his leaders, _ould_ PURNEY who put in a huff, + By dancing a hornpipe at Tyburn, and bothering the hangman for snuff. + + There's PAUL LIDDY, the curly-pate Tory, whose noddle was stuck on a + spike, + And BILLY DELANEY, the "_Songster_,"[20] we never shall meet with + his like; + For his neck by a witch was anointed, and warranted safe by her charm, + No hemp that was ever yet twisted his wonderful throttle could harm. + + And lastly, there's CAHIR NA CAPPUL, the handiest rogue of them all, + Who only need whisper a word, and your horse will trot out of his + stall; + Your tit is not safe in your stable, though you or your groom should + be near, + And devil a bit in the paddock, if CAHIR gets _hould_ of his ear. + + Then success to the Tories of Ireland, the generous, the gallant, + the gay! + With them the best _Rumpads_[21] of England are not to be named the + same day! + And were further proof wanting to show what precedence we take with + our _prigs_, + Recollect that _our_ robbers are Tories, while those of _your_ + country are Whigs. + +"Bravissimo!" cried Jack, drumming upon the table. + +"Well," said Coates, "we've had enough about the Irish highwaymen, in +all conscience. But there's a rascal on our side of the Channel, whom +you have only incidentally mentioned, and who makes more noise than them +all put together." + +"Who's that?" asked Jack, with some curiosity. + +"Dick Turpin," replied the attorney: "he seems to me quite as worthy of +mention as any of the Hinds, the Du-Vals, or the O'Hanlons, you have +either of you enumerated." + +"I did not think of him," replied Palmer, smiling; "though, if I had, he +scarcely deserves to be ranked with those illustrious heroes." + +"Gads bobs!" cried Titus; "they tell me Turpin keeps the best nag in the +United Kingdom, and can ride faster and further in a day than any other +man in a week." + +"So I've heard," said Palmer, with a glance of satisfaction. "I should +like to try a run with him. I warrant me, I'd not be far behind." + +"I should like to get a peep at him," quoth Titus. + +"So should I," added Coates. "Vastly!" + +"You may both of you be gratified, gentlemen," said Palmer. "Talking of +Dick Turpin, they say, is like speaking of the devil, he's at your elbow +ere the word's well out of your mouth. He may be within hearing at this +moment, for anything we know to the contrary." + +"Body o' me!" ejaculated Coates, "you don't say so? Turpin in Yorkshire! +I thought he confined his exploits to the neighborhood of the +metropolis, and made Epping Forest his headquarters." + +"So he did," replied Jack, "but the cave is all up now. The whole of the +great North Road, from Tottenham Cross to York gates, comes within +Dick's present range; and Saint Nicholas only knows in which part of it +he is most likely to be found. He shifts his quarters as often and as +readily as a Tartar; and he who looks for him may chance to catch a +Tartar--ha!--ha!" + +"It's a disgrace to the country that such a rascal should remain +unhanged," returned Coates, peevishly. "Government ought to look to it. +Is the whole kingdom to be kept in a state of agitation by a single +highwayman?--Sir Robert Walpole should take the affair into his own +hands." + +"Fudge!" exclaimed Jack, emptying his glass. + +"I have already addressed a letter to the editor of the _Common Sense_ +on the subject," said Coates, "in which I have spoken my mind pretty +plainly: and I repeat, it is perfectly disgraceful that such a rascal +should be suffered to remain at large." + +"You don't happen to have that letter by you, I suppose," said Jack, "or +I should beg the favor to hear it?--I am not acquainted with the +newspaper to which you allude;--I read _Fog's Journal_." + +"So I thought," replied Coates, with a sneer; "that's the reason you are +so easily mystified. But luckily I have the paper in my pocket; and you +are quite welcome to my opinions. Here it is," added he, drawing forth a +newspaper. "I shall waive my preliminary remarks, and come to the point +at once." + +"By all means," said Jack. + +"'I thank God,'" began Coates, in an authoritative tone, "'that I was +born in a country that hath formerly emulated the Romans in their public +spirit; as is evident from their conquests abroad, and their struggles +for liberty at home.'" + +"What has all this got to do with Turpin?" interposed Jack. + +"You will hear," replied the attorney--"no interruptions if you please. +'But this noble principle,'" continued he, with great emphasis, "'though +not utterly lost, I cannot think at present so active as it ought to be +in a nation so jealous of her liberty.'" + +"Good!" exclaimed Jack. "There is more than '_common sense_' in that +observation, Mr. Coates." + +"'My suspicion,'" proceeded Coates, "'is founded on a late instance. I +mean the flagrant, undisturbed success of the notorious TURPIN, who hath +robb'd in a manner scarce ever known before for several years, and is +grown so insolent and impudent as to threaten particular persons, and +become openly dangerous to the lives as well as fortunes of the people +of England.'" + +"Better and better," shouted Jack, laughing immoderately. "Pray go on, +sir." + +"'That a fellow,'" continued Coates, "'who is known to be a thief by the +whole kingdom, shall for so long a time continue to rob us, and not only +rob us, but make a jest of us----'" + +"Ha--ha--ha--capital! Excuse me, sir," roared Jack, laughing till the +tears ran down his cheeks--"pray, pray, go on." + +"I see nothing to laugh at," replied Coates, somewhat offended; +"however, I will conclude my letter, since I have begun it--'not only +rob us, but make a jest of us, shall defy the laws, and laugh at +justice, argues a want of public spirit, which should make every +particular member of the community sensible of the public calamity, and +ambitious of the honor of extirpating such a notorious highwayman from +society, since he owes his long successes to no other cause than his +immoderate impudence, and the sloth and pusillanimity of those who ought +to bring him to justice.' I will not deny," continued Coates, "that, +professing myself, as I do, to be a staunch new Whig, I had not some +covert political object in penning this epistle.[22] Nevertheless, +setting aside my principles----" + +"Right," observed Jack; "you Whigs, new or old, always set aside your +principles." + +"Setting aside any political feeling I may entertain," continued Coates, +disregarding the interruption, "I repeat, I am ambitious of extirpating +this modern Cacus--this Autolycus of the eighteenth century." + +"And what course do you mean to pursue?" asked Jack, "for I suppose you +do not expect to catch this '_ought-to-lick-us_,' as you call him, by a +line in the newspapers." + +"I am in the habit of keeping my own counsel, sir," replied Coates, +pettishly; "and to be plain with you, I hope to finger all the reward +myself." + +"Oons, is there a reward offered for Turpin's apprehension?" asked +Titus. + +"No less than two hundred pounds," answered Coates, "and that's no +trifle, as you will both admit. Have you not seen the king's +proclamation, Mr. Palmer?" + +"Not I," replied Jack, with affected indifference. + +"Nor I," added Titus, with some appearance of curiosity; "do you happen +to have _that_ by you too?" + +"I always carry it about with me," replied Coates, "that I may refer to +it in case of emergency. My father, Christopher, or Kit Coates, as he +was familiarly called, was a celebrated thief-taker. He apprehended +Spicket, and Child, and half a dozen others, and always kept their +descriptions in his pocket. I endeavor to tread in my worthy father's +footsteps. I hope to signalize myself by capturing a highwayman. +By-the-by," added he, surveying Jack more narrowly, "it occurs to me +that Turpin must be rather like you, Mr. Palmer?" + +"Like me," said Jack, regarding Coates askance; "like me--how am I to +understand you, sir, eh?" + +"No offence; none whatever, sir. Ah! stay, you won't object to my +comparing the description. That _can_ do no harm. Nobody would take you +for a highwayman--nobody whatever--ha! ha! Singular resemblance--he--he. +These things _do_ happen sometimes: not very often, though. But here is +Turpin's description in the _Gazette_, _June 28th_, A.D. 1737:--'_It +having been represented to the King that Richard Turpin did, on +Wednesday, the 4th of May last, rob on his Majesty's highway Vavasour +Mowbray, Esq., Major of the 2d troop of Horse Grenadiers_'--that Major +Mowbray, by-the-by, is a nephew of the late Sir Piers, and cousin of the +present baronet--'_and commit other notorious felonies and robberies +near London, his Majesty is pleased to promise his most gracious pardon +to any of his accomplices, and a reward of two hundred pounds to any +person or persons who shall discover him, so as he may be apprehended +and convicted_.'" + +"Odsbodikins!" exclaimed Titus, "a noble reward! I should like to lay +hands upon Turpin," added he, slapping Palmer's shoulder: "I wish he +were in your place at this moment, Jack." + +"Thank you!" replied Palmer, shifting his chair. + +"'_Turpin_,'" continued Coates, "'_was born at Thacksted, in Essex; is +about thirty_'--you, sir, I believe, are about thirty?" added he, +addressing Palmer. + +"Thereabouts," said Jack, bluffly. "But what has my age to do with that +of Turpin?" + +"Nothing--nothing at all," answered Coates; "suffer me, however, to +proceed:--'_Is by trade a butcher_,'--you, sir, I believe, never had any +dealings in that line?" + +"I have some notion how to dispose of a troublesome calf," returned +Jack. "But Turpin, though described as a butcher, is, I understand, a +lineal descendant of a great French archbishop of the same name." + +"Who wrote the chronicles of that royal robber Charlemagne; I know him," +replied Coates--"a terrible liar!--The modern Turpin '_is about five +feet nine inches high_'--exactly your height, sir--exactly!" + +"I am five feet ten," answered Jack, standing bolt upright. + +"You have an inch, then, in your favor," returned the unperturbed +attorney, deliberately proceeding with his examination--"'_he has a +brown complexion, marked with the smallpox_.'" + +"My complexion is florid--my face without a seam," quoth Jack. + +"Those whiskers would conceal anything," replied Coates, with a grin. +"Nobody wears whiskers nowadays, except a highwayman." + +"Sir!" said Jack, sternly. "You are personal." + +"I don't mean to be so," replied Coates; "but you must allow the +description tallies with your own in a remarkable manner. Hear me out, +however--'_his cheek bones are broad--his face is thinner towards the +bottom--his visage short--pretty upright--and broad about the +shoulders_.' Now I appeal to Mr. Tyrconnel if all this does not sound +like a portrait of yourself." + +"Don't appeal to me," said Titus, hastily, "upon such a delicate point. +I can't say that I approve of a gentleman being likened to a highwayman. +But if ever there was a highwayman I'd wish to resemble, it's either +Redmond O'Hanlon or Richard Turpin; and may the devil burn me if I know +which of the two is the greater rascal!" + +"Well, Mr. Palmer," said Coates, "I repeat, I mean no offence. +Likenesses are unaccountable. I am said to be like my Lord North; +whether I am or not, the Lord knows. But if ever I meet with Turpin I +shall bear you in mind--he--he! Ah! if ever I _should_ have the good +luck to stumble upon him, I've a plan for his capture which couldn't +fail. Only let me get a glimpse of him, that's all. You shall see how +I'll dispose of him." + +"Well, sir, we _shall_ see," observed Palmer. "And for your own sake, I +wish you may never be nearer to him than you are at this moment. With +his friends, they say Dick Turpin can be as gentle as a lamb; with his +foes, especially with a limb of the law like yourself, he's been found +but an ugly customer. I once saw him at Newmarket, where he was collared +by two constable culls, one on each side. Shaking off one, and dealing +the other a blow in the face with his heavy-handled whip, he stuck spurs +into his mare, and though the whole field gave chase, he distanced them +all, easily." + +"And how came you not to try your pace with him, if you were there, as +you boasted a short time ago?" asked Coates. + +"So I did, and stuck closer to him than any one else. We were neck and +neck. I was the only person who could have delivered him to the hands of +justice, if I'd felt inclined." + +"Zounds!" cried Coates; "If I had a similar opportunity, it should be +neck or nothing. Either he or I should reach the scragging-post first. +I'd take him, dead or alive." + +"_You_ take Turpin?" cried Jack, with a sneer. + +"I'd engage to do it," replied Coates. "I'll bet you a hundred guineas I +take him, if I ever have the same chance." + +"Done!" exclaimed Jack, rapping the table at the same time, so that the +glasses danced upon it. + +"That's right," cried Titus. "I'll go you halves." + +"What's the matter--what's the matter?" exclaimed Small, awakened from +his doze. + +"Only a trifling bet about a highwayman," replied Titus. + +"A highwayman!" echoed Small. "Eh! what? there are none in the house, I +hope." + +"I hope not," answered Coates. "But this gentleman has taken up the +defence of the notorious Dick Turpin in so singular a manner, that----" + +"_Quod factu f[oe]dum est, idem est et Dictu Turpe_," returned Small. +"The less said about that rascal the better." + +"So I think," replied Jack. "The fact is as you say, sir--were Dick +here, he would, I am sure, take the _freedom to hide 'em_." + +Further discourse was cut short by the sudden opening of the door, +followed by the abrupt entrance of a tall, slender young man, who +hastily advanced towards the table, around which the company were +seated. His appearance excited the utmost astonishment in the whole +group: curiosity was exhibited in every countenance--the magnum remained +poised midway in the hand of Palmer--Dr. Small scorched his thumb in the +bowl of his pipe; and Mr. Coates was almost choked, by swallowing an +inordinate whiff of vapor. + +"Young Sir Ranulph!" ejaculated he, as soon as the syncope would permit +him. + +"Sir Ranulph here?" echoed Palmer, rising. + +"Angels and ministers!" exclaimed Small. + +"Odsbodikins!" cried Titus, with a theatrical start; "this is more than +I expected." + +"Gentlemen," said Ranulph, "do not let my unexpected arrival here +discompose you. Dr. Small, you will excuse the manner of my greeting; +and you, Mr. Coates. One of the present party, I believe, was my +father's medical attendant, Dr. Tyrconnel." + +"I had that honor," replied the Irishman, bowing profoundly--"I am Dr. +Tyrconnel, Sir Ranulph, at your service." + +"When, and at what hour, did my father breathe his last, sir?" inquired +Ranulph. + +"Poor Sir Piers," answered Titus, again bowing, "departed this life on +Thursday last." + +"The hour?--the precise minute?" asked Ranulph, eagerly. + +"Troth, Sir Ranulph, as nearly as I can recollect, it might be a few +minutes before midnight." + +"The very hour!" exclaimed Ranulph, striding towards the window. His +steps were arrested as his eye fell upon the attire of his father, +which, as we have before noticed, hung at that end of the room. A slight +shudder passed over his frame. There was a momentary pause, during which +Ranulph continued gazing intently at the apparel. "The very dress, too!" +muttered he; then turning to the assembly, who were watching his +movements with surprise; "Doctor," said he, addressing Small, "I have +something for your private ear. Gentlemen, will you spare us the room +for a few minutes?" + +"On my conscience," said Tyrconnel to Jack Palmer, as they quitted the +sanctum, "a mighty fine boy is this young Sir Ranulph!--and a chip of +the ould block!--he'll be as good a fellow as his father." + +"No doubt," replied Palmer, shutting the door. "But what the devil +brought him back, just in the nick of it?" + + + + +_CHAPTER X_ + +_RANULPH ROOKWOOD_ + + _Fer._ Yes, Francisco, + He hath left his curse upon me. + + _Fran._ How? + + _Fer._ His curse I dost comprehend what that word carries? + Shot from a father's angry breath? Unless + I tear poor Felisarda from my heart, + He hath pronounced me heir to all his curses. + + SHIRLEY: _The Brothers_. + + +"There is nothing, I trust, my dear young friend, and quondam pupil," +said Dr. Small, as the door was closed, "that weighs upon your mind, +beyond the sorrow naturally incident to an affliction, severe as the +present. Forgive my apprehensions if I am wrong. You know the +affectionate interest I have ever felt for you--an interest which, I +assure you, is nowise diminished, and which will excuse my urging you to +unburden your mind to me; assuring yourself, that whatever may be your +disclosure, you will have my sincere sympathy and commiseration. I may +be better able to advise with you, should counsel be necessary, than +others, from my knowledge of your character and temperament. I would not +anticipate evil, and am, perhaps, unnecessarily apprehensive. But I own, +I am startled at the incoherence of your expressions, coupled with your +sudden and almost mysterious appearance at this distressing conjuncture. +Answer me: has your return been the result of mere accident? is it to be +considered one of those singular circumstances which almost look like +fate, and baffle our comprehension? or were you nearer home than we +expected, and received the news of your father's demise through some +channel unknown to us? Satisfy my curiosity, I beg of you, upon this +point." + +"Your curiosity, my dear sir," replied Ranulph, gravely and sadly, "will +not be decreased, when I tell you, that my return has neither been the +work of chance,--for I came, fully anticipating the dread event, which I +find realized,--nor has it been occasioned by any intelligence derived +from yourself, or others. It was only, indeed, upon my arrival here that +I received full confirmation of my apprehensions. I had another, a more +terrible summons to return." + +"What summons? you perplex me!" exclaimed Small, gazing with some +misgiving into the face of his young friend. + +"I am myself perplexed--sorely perplexed," returned Ranulph. "I have +much to relate; but I pray you bear with me to the end. I have that on +my mind which, like guilt, must be revealed." + +"Speak, then, fearlessly to me," said Small, affectionately pressing +Ranulph's hand, "and assure yourself, beforehand, of my sympathy." + +"It will be necessary," said Ranulph, "to preface my narrative by some +slight allusion to certain painful events--and yet I know not why I +should call them painful, excepting in their consequences--which +influenced my conduct in my final interview between my father and +myself--an interview which occasioned my departure for the +Continent--and which was of a character so dreadful, that I would not +even revert to it, were it not a necessary preliminary to the +circumstance I am about to detail. + +"When I left Oxford, I passed a few weeks alone, in London. A college +friend, whom I accidentally met, introduced me, during a promenade in +St. James's Park, to some acquaintances of his own, who were taking an +airing in the Mall at the same time--a family whose name was Mowbray, +consisting of a widow lady, her son, and daughter. This introduction was +made in compliance with my own request. I had been struck by the +singular beauty of the younger lady, whose countenance had a peculiar +and inexpressible charm to me, from its marked resemblance to the +portrait of the Lady Eleanor Rookwood, whose charms and unhappy fate I +have so often dwelt upon and deplored. The picture is there," continued +Ranulph, pointing to it: "look at it, and you have the fair creature I +speak of before you; the color of the hair--the tenderness of the eyes. +No--the expression is not so sad, except when----but no matter! I +recognized her features at once. + +"It struck me, that upon the mention of my name, the party betrayed some +surprise, especially the elder lady. For my own part, I was so attracted +by the beauty of the daughter, the effect of which upon me seemed rather +the fulfilment of a predestined event, originating in the strange +fascination which the family portrait had wrought in my heart, than the +operation of what is called 'love at first sight,' that I was insensible +to the agitation of the mother. In vain I endeavored to rally myself; my +efforts at conversation were fruitless; I could not talk--all I could do +was silently to yield to the soft witchery of those tender eyes; my +admiration increasing each instant that I gazed upon them. + +"I accompanied them home. Attracted as by some irresistible spell, I +could not tear myself away; so that, although I fancied I could perceive +symptoms of displeasure in the looks of both the mother and the son, +yet, regardless of consequences, I ventured, uninvited, to enter the +house. In order to shake off the restraint which I felt my society +imposed, I found it absolutely necessary to divest myself of +bashfulness, and to exert such conversational powers as I possessed. I +succeeded so well that the discourse soon became lively and animated; +and what chiefly delighted me was, that _she_, for whose sake I had +committed my present rudeness, became radiant with smiles. I had been +all eagerness to seek for some explanation of the resemblance to which I +have just alluded, and the fitting moment had, I conceived, arrived. I +called attention to a peculiar expression in the features of Miss +Mowbray, and then instanced the likeness that subsisted between her and +my ancestress. 'It is the more singular,' I said, turning to her mother, +'because there could have been no affinity, that I am aware of, between +them, and yet the likeness is really surprising.'--'It is not so +singular as you imagine,' answered Mrs. Mowbray; 'there _is_ a close +affinity. That Lady Rookwood was my mother. Eleanor Mowbray _does_ +resemble her ill-fated ancestress.' + +"Words cannot paint my astonishment. I gazed at Mrs. Mowbray, +considering whether I had not misconstrued her speech--whether I had not +so shaped the sounds as to suit my own quick and passionate conceptions. +But no! I read in her calm, collected countenance--in the downcast +glance, and sudden sadness of Eleanor, as well as in the changed and +haughty demeanor of the brother, that I had heard her rightly. Eleanor +Mowbray was my cousin--the descendant of that hapless creature whose +image I had almost worshipped. + +"Recovering from my surprise, I addressed Mrs. Mowbray, endeavoring to +excuse my ignorance of our relationship, on the plea that I had not been +given to understand that such had been the name of the gentleman she had +espoused. 'Nor was it,' answered she, 'the name he bore at Rookwood; +circumstances forbade it then. From the hour I quitted that house until +this moment, excepting one interview with my--with Sir Reginald +Rookwood--I have seen none of my family--have held no communication with +them. My brothers have been strangers to me; the very name of Rookwood +has been unheard, unknown; nor would you have been admitted here, had +not accident occasioned it.' I ventured now to interrupt her, and to +express a hope that she would suffer an acquaintance to be kept up, +which had so fortunately commenced, and which might most probably bring +about an entire reconciliation between the families. I was so earnest in +my expostulations, my whole soul being in them, that she inclined a +more friendly ear to me. Eleanor, too, smiled encouragement. Love lent +me eloquence; and at length, as a token of my success, and her own +relenting, Mrs. Mowbray held forth her hand: I clasped it eagerly. It +was the happiest moment of my life. + +"I will not trouble you with any lengthened description of Eleanor +Mowbray. I hope, at some period or other, you may still be enabled to +see her, and judge for yourself; for though adverse circumstances have +hitherto conspired to separate us, the time for a renewal of our +acquaintance is approaching, I trust, for I am not yet altogether +without hope. But this much I may be allowed to say, that her rare +endowments of person were only equalled by the graces of her mind. + +"Educated abroad, she had all the vivacity of our livelier neighbors, +combined with every solid qualification which we claim as more +essentially our own. Her light and frolic manner was French, certainly; +but her gentle, sincere heart was as surely English. The foreign accent +that dwelt upon her tongue communicated an inexpressible charm, even to +the language which she spoke. + +"I will not dwell too long upon this theme. I feel ashamed of my own +prolixity. And yet I am sure you will pardon it. Ah, those bright brief +days! too quickly were they fled! I could expatiate upon each +minute--recall each word--revive each look. It may not be. I must hasten +on. Darker themes await me. + +"My love made rapid progress--I became each hour more enamored of my +new-found cousin. My whole time was passed near her; indeed, I could +scarcely exist in absence from her side. Short, however, was destined to +be my indulgence in this blissful state. One happy week was its extent. +I received a peremptory summons from my father to return home. + +"Immediately upon commencing this acquaintance, I had written to my +father, explaining every particular attending it. This I should have +done of my own free will, but I was urged to it by Mrs. Mowbray. +Unaccustomed to disguise, I had expatiated upon the beauty of Eleanor, +and in such terms, I fear, that I excited some uneasiness in his breast. +His letter was laconic. He made no allusion to the subject upon which I +had expatiated when writing to him. He commanded me to return. + +"The bitter hour was at hand. I could not hesitate to comply. Without my +father's sanction, I was assured Mrs. Mowbray would not permit any +continuance of my acquaintance. Of Eleanor's inclinations I fancied I +had some assurance; but without her mother's consent, to whose will she +was devoted, I felt, had I even been inclined to urge it, that my suit +was hopeless. The letter which I had received from my father made me +more than doubt whether I should not find him utterly adverse to my +wishes. Agonized, therefore, with a thousand apprehensions, I presented +myself on the morning of my departure. It was then I made the +declaration of my passion to Eleanor; it was then that every hope was +confirmed, every apprehension realized. I received from her lips a +confirmation of my fondest wishes; yet were those hopes blighted in the +bud, when I heard, at the same time, that their consummation was +dependent on the will of two others, whose assenting voices, she feared, +could never be obtained. From Mrs. Mowbray I received a more decided +reply. All her haughtiness was aroused. Her farewell words assured me, +that it was indifferent to her whether we met again as relatives or as +strangers. Then was it that the native tenderness of Eleanor displayed +itself, in an outbreak of feeling peculiar to a heart keenly sympathetic +as hers. She saw my suffering--the reserve natural to her sex gave +way--she flung herself into my arms--and so we parted. + +"With a heavy foreboding I returned to Rookwood, and, oppressed with the +gloomiest anticipations, endeavored to prepare myself for the worst. I +arrived. My reception was such as I had calculated upon; and, to +increase my distress, my parents had been at variance. I will not pain +you and myself with any recital of their disagreement. My mother had +espoused my cause, chiefly, I fear, with the view of thwarting my poor +father's inclinations. He was in a terrible mood, exasperated by the +fiery stimulants he had swallowed, which had not indeed, drowned his +reason, but roused and inflamed every dormant emotion to violence. He +was as one insane. It was evening when I arrived. I would willingly have +postponed the interview till the morrow. It could not be. He insisted +upon seeing me. + +"My mother was present. You know the restraint she usually had over my +father, and how she maintained it. On this occasion she had none. He +questioned me as to every particular; probed my secret soul; dragged +forth every latent feeling, and then thundered out his own determination +that Eleanor never should be bride of mine; nor would he receive, under +his roof, her mother, the discountenanced daughter of his father. I +endeavored to remonstrate with him. He was deaf to my entreaties. My +mother added sharp and stinging words to my expostulations. 'I had her +consent,' she said; 'what more was needed? The lands were entailed. I +should at no distant period be their master, and might then please +myself.' This I mention in order to give you my father's strange answer. + +"'Have a care, madam,' replied he, 'and bridle your tongue; they _are_ +entailed, 'tis true, but I need not ask _his_ consent to cut off that +entail. Let him dare to disobey me in this particular, and I will so +divert the channel of my wealth, that no drop shall reach him. I +will--but why threaten?--let him do it, and approve the consequences.' + +"On the morrow I renewed my importunities, with no better success. We +were alone. + +"'Ranulph,' said he, 'you waste time in seeking to change my resolution. +It is unalterable. I have many motives which influence me; they are +inexplicable, but imperative. Eleanor Mowbray never can be yours. Forget +her as speedily as may be, and I pledge myself, upon whomsoever else +your choice may fix, I will offer no obstacle.' + +"'But why,' exclaimed I, with vehemence, 'do you object to one whom you +have never beheld? At least, consent to see her.' + +"'Never!' he replied, 'The tie is sundered, and cannot be reunited; my +father bound me by an oath never to meet in friendship with my sister; I +will not break my vow, I will not violate its conditions, even in the +second degree. We never can meet again. An idle prophecy which I have +heard has said "_that when a Rookwood shall marry a Rookwood the end of +the house draweth nigh_." That I regard not. It may have no meaning, or +it may have much. To me it imports nothing further, than that, if you +wed Eleanor, every acre I possess shall depart from you. And assure +yourself this is no idle threat. I can, and will do it. My curse shall +be your sole inheritance.' + +"I could not avoid making some reply, representing to him how +unjustifiable such a procedure was to me, in a case where the happiness +of my life was at stake; and how inconsistent it was with the charitable +precepts of our faith, to allow feelings of resentment to influence his +conduct. My remonstrances, as in the preceding meeting, were +ineffectual. The more I spoke, the more intemperate he grew. I therefore +desisted, but not before he had ordered me to quit the house. I did not +leave the neighborhood, but saw him again on the same evening. + +"Our last interview took place in the garden. I then told him that I had +determined to go abroad for two years, at the expiration of which period +I proposed returning to England; trusting that his resolution might then +be changed, and that he would listen to my request, for the fulfilment +of which I could never cease to hope. Time, I hoped, might befriend me. +He approved of my plan of travelling, requesting me not to see Eleanor +before I set out; adding, in a melancholy tone--'We may never meet +again, Ranulph, in this life; in that case, farewell forever. Indulge no +vain hopes. Eleanor never can be yours, but upon one condition, and to +that you would never consent!'--'Propose it!' I cried; 'there is no +condition I could not accede to.'--'Rash boy!' he replied, 'you know not +what you say; that pledge you would never fulfil, were I to propose it +to you; but no--should I survive till you return, you shall learn it +then--and now, farewell.'--'Speak now, I beseech you!' I exclaimed; +'anything, everything--what you will!'--'Say no more,' replied he, +walking towards the house; 'when you return we will renew this subject; +farewell--perhaps forever!' His words were prophetic--that parting _was_ +forever. I remained in the garden till nightfall. I saw my mother, but +_he_ came not again. I quitted England without beholding Eleanor." + +"Did you not acquaint her by letter with what had occurred, and your +consequent intentions?" asked Small. + +"I did," replied Ranulph; "but I received no reply. My earliest +inquiries will be directed to ascertain whether the family are still in +London. It will be a question for our consideration, whether I am not +justified in departing from my father's expressed wishes, or whether I +should violate his commands in so doing." + +"We will discuss that point hereafter," replied Small; adding, as he +noticed the growing paleness of his companion, "you are too much +exhausted to proceed--you had better defer the remainder of your story +to a future period." + +"No," replied Ranulph, swallowing a glass of water; "I am exhausted, yet +I cannot rest--my blood is in a fever, which nothing will allay. I shall +feel more easy when I have made the present communication. I am +approaching the sequel of my narrative. You are now in possession of the +story of my love--of the motive of my departure. You shall learn what +was the occasion of my return. + +"I had wandered from city to city during my term of exile--consumed by +hopeless passion--with little that could amuse _me_, though surrounded +by a thousand objects of interest to others, and only rendering life +endurable by severest study or most active exertion. My steps conducted +me to Bordeaux;--there I made a long halt, enchanted by the beauty of +the neighboring scenery. My fancy was smitten by the situation of a +villa on the banks of the Garonne, within a few leagues of the city. It +was an old château, with fine gardens bordering the blue waters of the +river, and commanding a multitude of enchanting prospects. The house, +which had in part gone to decay, was inhabited by an aged couple, who +had formerly been servants to an English family, the members of which +had thus provided for them on their return to their own country. I +inquired the name. Conceive my astonishment to find that this château +had been the residence of the Mowbrays. This intelligence decided me at +once--I took up my abode in the house; and a new and unexpected source +of solace and delight was opened to me, I traced the paths she had +traced; occupied the room she had occupied; tended the flowers she had +tended; and, on the golden summer evenings, would watch the rapid +waters, tinged with all the glorious hues of sunset, sweeping past my +feet, and think how _she_ had watched them. Her presence seemed to +pervade the place. I was now comparatively happy, and, anxious to remain +unmolested, wrote home that I was leaving Bordeaux for the Pyrenees, on +my way to Spain." + +"That account arrived," observed Small. + +"One night," continued Ranulph--"'tis now the sixth since the occurrence +I am about to relate--I was seated in a bower that overlooked the river. +It had been a lovely evening--so lovely, that I lingered there, wrapped +in the heavenly contemplation of its beauties. I watched each rosy tint +reflected upon the surface of the rapid stream--now fading into +yellow--now shining silvery white. I noticed the mystic mingling of +twilight with darkness--of night with day, till the bright current on a +sudden became a black mass of waters. I could scarcely discern a +leaf--all was darkness--when lo! another change! The moon was up--a +flood of light deluged all around--the stream was dancing again in +reflected radiance, and I still lingering at its brink. + +"I had been musing for some moments, with my head resting upon my hand, +when, happening to raise my eyes, I beheld a figure immediately before +me. I was astonished at the sight, for I had perceived no one +approach--had heard no footstep advance towards me, and was satisfied +that no one besides myself could be in the garden. The presence of the +figure inspired me with an undefinable awe! and, I can scarce tell why, +but a thrilling presentiment convinced me that it was a supernatural +visitant. Without motion--without life--without substance, it seemed; +yet still the outward character of life was there. I started to my feet. +God! what did I behold? The face was turned to me--my father's face! And +what an aspect, what a look! Time can never efface that terrible +expression; it is graven upon my memory--I cannot describe it. It was +not anger--it was not pain: it was as if an eternity of woe were stamped +upon its features. It was too dreadful to behold, I would fain have +averted my gaze--my eyes were fascinated--fixed--I could not withdraw +them from the ghastly countenance. I shrank from it, yet stirred not--I +could not move a limb. Noiselessly gliding towards me, the apparition +approached. I could not retreat. It stood obstinately beside me. I +became as one half-dead. The phantom shook its head with the deepest +despair; and as the word 'Return!' sounded hollowly in my ears, it +gradually melted from my view. I cannot tell how I recovered from the +swoon into which I fell, but daybreak saw me on my way to England. I am +here. On that night--at that same hour, my father died." + +"It was, after all, then, a supernatural summons that you received?" +said Small. + +"Undoubtedly," replied Ranulph. + +"Humph!--the coincidence, I own, is sufficiently curious," returned +Small, musingly; "but it would not be difficult, I think, to discover a +satisfactory explanation of the delusion." + +"There was no delusion," replied Ranulph, coldly; "the figure was as +palpable as your own. Can I doubt, when I behold this result? Could any +deceit have been practised upon me, at that distance?--the precise time, +moreover, agreeing. Did not the phantom bid me return?--I _have_ +returned--he is dead. I have gazed upon a being of another world. To +doubt were impious, after that look." + +"Whatever my opinions may be, my dear young friend," returned Small, +gravely, "I will suspend them for the present. You are still greatly +excited. Let me advise you to seek some repose." + +"I am easier," replied Ranulph; "but you are right, I will endeavor to +snatch a little rest. Something within tells me all is not yet +accomplished. What remains?--I shudder to think of it. I will rejoin you +at midnight. I shall myself attend the solemnity. Adieu!" + +Ranulph quitted the room. Small sighingly shook his head, and having +lighted his pipe, was presently buried in a profundity of smoke and +metaphysical speculation. + + + + +_CHAPTER XI_ + +_LADY ROOKWOOD_ + + _Fran. de Med._ Your unhappy husband + Is dead. + + _Vit. Cor._ Oh, he's a happy husband! + Now he owes nature nothing. + + _Mon._ And look upon this creature as his wife. + She comes not like a widow--she comes armed + With scorn and impudence. Is this a mourning habit? + + _The White Devil._ + + +The progress of our narrative demands our presence in another apartment +of the hall--a large, lonesome chamber, situate in the eastern wing of +the house, already described as the most ancient part of the +building--the sombre appearance of which was greatly increased by the +dingy, discolored tapestry that clothed its walls; the record of the +patience and industry of a certain Dame Dorothy Rookwood, who flourished +some centuries ago, and whose skilful needle had illustrated the +slaughter of the Innocents, with a severity of _gusto_, and sanguinary +minuteness of detail, truly surprising in a lady so amiable as she was +represented to have been. Grim-visaged Herod glared from the ghostly +woof, with his shadowy legions, executing their murderous purposes, +grouped like a troop of Sabbath-dancing witches around him. Mysterious +twilight, admitted through the deep, dark, mullioned windows, revealed +the antique furniture of the room, which still boasted a sort of +mildewed splendor, more imposing, perhaps, than its original gaudy +magnificence; and showed the lofty hangings, and tall, hearse-like +canopy of a bedstead, once a couch of state, but now destined for the +repose of Lady Rookwood. The stiff crimson hangings were embroidered in +gold, with the arms and cipher of Elizabeth, from whom the apartment, +having once been occupied by that sovereign, obtained the name of the +"Queen's Room." + +The sole tenant of this chamber was a female, in whose countenance, if +time and strong emotion had written strange defeatures, they had not +obliterated its striking beauty and classical grandeur of expression. It +was a face majestical and severe. Pride was stamped in all its lines; +and though each passion was, by turns, developed, it was evident that +all were subordinate to the sin by which the angels fell. The contour of +her face was formed in the purest Grecian mould, and might have been a +model for Medea; so well did the gloomy grandeur of the brow, the severe +chiselling of the lip, the rounded beauty of the throat, and the +faultless symmetry of her full form, accord with the beau ideal of +antique perfection. Shaded by smooth folds of raven hair, which still +maintained its jetty dye, her lofty forehead would have been displayed +to the greatest advantage, had it not been at this moment knit and +deformed by excess of passion, if that passion can be said to deform +which only calls forth strong and vehement expression. Her figure, which +wanted only height to give it dignity, was arrayed in the garb of +widowhood; and if she exhibited none of the desolation of heart which +such a bereavement might have been expected to awaken, she was evidently +a prey to feelings scarcely less harrowing. At the particular time of +which we speak, Lady Rookwood, for she it was, was occupied in the +investigation of the contents of an escritoire. Examining the papers +which it contained with great deliberation, she threw each aside, as +soon as she had satisfied herself of its purport, until she arrived at a +little package, carefully tied up with black ribbon, and sealed. This, +Lady Rookwood hastily broke open, and drew forth a small miniature. It +was that of a female, young and beautiful, rudely, yet faithfully, +executed--faithfully, we say, for there was an air of sweetness and +simplicity--and, in short, a look of reality and nature about the +picture (it is seldom, indeed, that we mistake a likeness, even if we +are unacquainted with the original) that attested the artist's fidelity. +The face was as radiant with smiles as a bright day with sunbeams. The +portrait was set in gold, and behind it was looped a lock of the darkest +and finest hair. Underneath the miniature was written, in Sir Piers's +hand, the words "_Lady Rookwood_." A slip of folded paper was also +attached to it. + +Lady Rookwood scornfully scrutinized the features for a few moments, and +then unfolded the paper, at the sight of which she started, and turned +pale. "Thank God!" she cried, "this is in my possession--while I hold +this, we are safe. Were it not better to destroy this evidence at once? +No, no, not _now_--it shall not part from me. I will abide Ranulph's +return. This document will give me a power over him such as I could +never otherwise obtain." Placing the marriage certificate, for such it +was, within her breast, and laying the miniature upon the table, she +next proceeded, deliberately, to arrange the disordered contents of the +box. + +All outward traces of emotion had, ere this, become so subdued in Lady +Rookwood, that although she had, only a few moments previously, +exhibited the extremity of passionate indignation, she now, apparently +without effort, resumed entire composure, and might have been supposed +to be engaged in a matter of little interest to herself. It was a dread +calm, which they who knew her would have trembled to behold. "From these +letters I gather," exclaimed she, "that their wretched offspring knows +not of his fortune. So far, well. There is no channel whence he can +derive information, and my first care shall be to prevent his obtaining +any clue to the secret of his birth. I am directed to provide for +him--ha! ha! I will provide--a grave! There will I bury him and his +secret. My son's security and my own wrong demand it. I must choose +surer hands--the work must not be half-done, as heretofore. And now, I +bethink me, he is in the neighborhood, connected with a gang of +poachers--'tis as I could wish it." + +At this moment a knock at the chamber-door broke upon her meditations. +"Agnes, is it you?" demanded Lady Rookwood. + +Thus summoned, the old attendant entered the room. + +"Why are my orders disobeyed?" asked the lady, in a severe tone of +voice. "Did I not say, when you delivered me this package from Mr. +Coates, which he himself wished to present, that I would not be +disturbed?" + +"You did, my lady, but----" + +"Speak out," said Lady Rookwood, somewhat more mildly, perceiving, from +Agnes's manner, that she had something of importance to communicate. +"What is it brings you hither?" + +"I am sorry," returned Agnes, "to disturb your ladyship, but--but----" + +"But what?" interrupted Lady Rookwood, impatiently. + +"I could not help it, my lady--he would have me come; he said he was +resolved to see your ladyship, whether you would or not." + +"Would see me, ha! is it so? I guess his errand, and its object--he has +some suspicion. No, that cannot be; he would not dare to tamper with +these seals. Agnes, I will _not_ see him." + +"But he swears, my lady, that he will not leave the house without seeing +you--he would have forced his way into your presence, if I had not +consented to announce him." + +"Insolent!" exclaimed Lady Rookwood, with a glance of indignation; +"force his way! I promise you he shall not display an equal anxiety to +repeat the visit. Tell Mr. Coates I will see him." + +"Mr. Coates! Mercy on us, my lady, it's not he. He'd never have intruded +upon you unasked. No such thing. He knows his place too well. No, no; +it's not Mr. Coates----" + +"If not he, who is it?" + +"Luke Bradley; your ladyship knows whom I mean." + +"He here--now?----" + +"Yes, my lady; and looking so fierce and strange, I was quite frightened +to see him. He looked so like his--his----" + +"His father, you would say. Speak out." + +"No, my lady, his grandfather--old Sir Reginald. He's the very image of +him. But had not your ladyship better ring the alarm-bell? and when he +comes in, I'll run and fetch the servants--he's dangerous, I'm sure." + +"I have no fears of him. He _will_ see me, you say----" + +"Ay, _will_!" exclaimed Luke, as he threw open the door, and shut it +forcibly after him, striding towards Lady Rookwood, "nor abide longer +delay." + +It was an instant or two ere Lady Rookwood, thus taken by surprise, +could command speech. She fixed her eyes with a look of keen and angry +inquiry upon the bold intruder, who, nothing daunted, confronted her +glances with a gaze as stern and steadfast as her own. + +"Who are you, and what seek you?" exclaimed Lady Rookwood, after a brief +pause, and, in spite of herself, her voice sounded tremulously. "What +would you have, that you venture to appear before me at this season and +in this fashion?" + +"I might have chosen a fitter opportunity," returned Luke, "were it +needed. My business will not brook delay--you must be pleased to +overlook this intrusion on your privacy, at a season of sorrow like the +present. As to the fashion of my visit, you must be content to excuse +it. I cannot help myself. I may amend hereafter. Who I am, you are able, +I doubt not, to divine. What I seek, you shall hear, when this old woman +has left the room, unless you would have a witness to a declaration that +concerns you as nearly as myself." + +An indefinite feeling of apprehension had, from the first instant of +Luke's entrance crossed Lady Rookwood's mind. She, however, answered, +with some calmness: + +"What you can have to say is of small moment to me--nor does it signify +who may hear it. It shall not, however, be said that Lady Rookwood +feared to be alone, even though she endangered her life." + +"I am no assassin," replied Luke, "nor have sought the destruction of my +deadliest foe--though 'twere but retributive justice to have done so." + +Lady Rookwood started. + +"Nay, you need not fear me," replied Luke; "my revenge will be otherwise +accomplished." + +"Go," said Lady Rookwood to Agnes; "yet--stay without, in the +antechamber." + +"My lady," said Agnes, scarcely able to articulate, "shall I----" + +"Hear me, Lady Rookwood," interrupted Luke. "I repeat, I intend you no +injury. My object here is solely to obtain a private conference. You can +have no reason for denying me this request. I will not abuse your +patience. Mine is no idle mission. Say you refuse me, and I will at once +depart. I will find other means of communicating with you--less direct, +and therefore less desirable. Make your election. But we _must_ be +alone--undisturbed. Summon your household--let them lay hands upon me, +and I will proclaim aloud what you would gladly hide, even from +yourself." + +"Leave us, Agnes," said Lady Rookwood. "I have no fear of this man. I +can deal with him myself, should I see occasion." + +"Agnes," said Luke, in a stern, deep whisper, arresting the ancient +handmaiden as she passed him, "stir not from the door till I come forth. +Have you forgotten your former mistress!--my mother? Have you forgotten +Barbara Lovel, and _that night_?" + +"In Heaven's name, hush!" replied Agnes, with a shudder. + +"Let that be fresh in your memory. Move not a footstep, whatever you may +hear," added he, in the same tone as before. + +"I will not--I will not." And Agnes departed. + +Luke felt some wavering in his resolution when he found himself alone +with the lady, whose calm, collected, yet haughty demeanor, as she +resumed her seat, prepared for his communication, could not fail to +inspire him with a certain degree of awe. Not unconscious of her +advantage, nor slow to profit by it, Lady Rookwood remained perfectly +silent, with her eyes steadily fixed upon his face, while his +embarrassment momentarily increased. Summoning, at length, courage +sufficient to address her, and ashamed of his want of nerve, he thus +broke forth: + +"When I entered this room, you asked my name and object. As to the +first, I answer to the same designation as your ladyship. I have long +borne my mother's name. I now claim my father's. My object is, the +restitution of my rights." + +"Soh!--it is as I suspected," thought Lady Rookwood, involuntarily +casting her large eyes down. "Do I hear you rightly?" exclaimed she, +aloud; "your name is----" + +"Sir Luke Rookwood. As my father's elder born; by right of _his_ right +to that title." + +If a glance could have slain him, Luke had fallen lifeless at the lady's +feet. With a smile of ineffable disdain, she replied, "I know not why I +hesitate to resent this indignity, even for an instant. But I would see +how far your audacity will carry you. The name you bear is Bradley?" + +"In ignorance I have done so," replied Luke. "I am the son of her whose +maiden name was Bradley. She was----" + +"'Tis false--I will not hear it--she was _not_," cried Lady Rookwood, +her vehemence getting the master of her prudence. + +"Your ladyship anticipates my meaning," returned Luke. "Susan Bradley +was the first wife of Sir Piers Rookwood." + +"His minion--his mistress if you will; nought else. Is it new to you, +that a village wench, who lends herself to shame, should be beguiled by +such shallow pretences? That she was so duped, I doubt not. But it is +too late now to complain, and I would counsel you not to repeat your +idle boast. It will serve no other purpose, trust me, than to blazon +forth your own--your mother's dishonor." + +"Lady Rookwood," sternly answered Luke, "my mother's fame is as free +from dishonor as your own. I repeat, she was the first wife of Sir +Piers; and that I, her child, am first in the inheritance; nay, sole +heir to the estates and title of Rookwood, to the exclusion of your son. +Ponder upon that intelligence. Men say they fear you, as a thing of ill. +_I_ fear you not. There _have_ been days when the Rookwoods held their +dames in subjection. Discern you nought of that in me?" + +Once or twice during this speech Lady Rookwood's glances had wandered +towards the bell-cord, as if about to summon aid; but the intention was +abandoned almost as soon as formed, probably from apprehension of the +consequences of any such attempt. She was not without alarm as to the +result of the interview, and was considering how she could bring it to a +termination without endangering herself, and, if possible, secure the +person of Luke, when the latter, turning sharply round upon her, and +drawing a pistol, exclaimed,-- + +"Follow me!" + +"Whither?" asked she, in alarm. + +"To the chamber of death!" + +"Why there? what would you do? Villain! I will not trust my life with +you. I will _not_ follow you." + +"Hesitate not, as you value your life. Do aught to alarm the house, and +I fire. Your safety depends upon yourself. I would see my father's body +ere it be laid in the grave. I will not leave you here." + +"Go," said Lady Rookwood; "if that be all, I pledge myself you shall not +be interrupted." + +"I will not take your pledge; your presence shall be my surety. By my +mother's unavenged memory, if you play me false, though all your +satellites stand around you, you die upon the spot! Obey me, and you are +safe. Our way leads to the room by the private staircase--we shall pass +unobserved--you see I know the road. The room, by your own command, is +vacant--save of the dead. We shall, therefore, be alone. This done, I +depart. You will then be free to act. Disobey me, and your blood be upon +your own head." + +"Lead on!" said Lady Rookwood, pressing towards the antechamber. + +"The door I mean is there," pointing to another part of the room--"that +panel,--" + +"Ha! how know you that?" + +"No matter; follow." + +Luke touched a spring, and the panel flying open, disclosed a dim +recess, into which he entered; and, seizing Lady Rookwood's hand, +dragged her after him. + + + + +_CHAPTER XII_ + +_THE CHAMBER OF DEATH_ + + It is the body--I have orders given + That here it should be laid. + + _De Montfort._ + + +The recess upon which the panel opened had been a small oratory, and, +though entirely disused, still retained its cushions and its crucifix. +There were two other entrances to this place of prayer, the one +communicating with a further bedchamber, the other leading to the +gallery. Through the latter, after closing the aperture, without +relinquishing his grasp, Luke passed. + +It was growing rapidly dark, and at the brightest seasons this gloomy +corridor was but imperfectly lighted from narrow, painted, and +wire-protected windows that looked into the old quadrangular courtyard +below; and as they issued from the oratory a dazzling flash of +lightning--a storm having suddenly arisen--momentarily illumined the +whole length of the passage, disclosing the retreating figure of a man, +wrapped in a large sable cloak, at the other extremity of the gallery. +Lady Rookwood uttered an outcry for assistance; but the man, whoever he +might be, disappeared in the instantaneously succeeding gloom, leaving +her in doubt whether or not her situation had been perceived. Luke had +seen this dark figure at the same instant; and, not without +apprehensions lest his plans should be defeated, he griped Lady +Rookwood's arm still more strictly, and placing the muzzle of the pistol +to her breast, hurried her rapidly forwards. + +All was now in total obscurity; the countenance of neither could be +perceived as they trod the dark passage; but Luke's unrelaxed grasp +indicated no change in his purposes, nor did the slow, dignified march +of the lady betray any apprehension on her part. Descending a spiral +staircase, which led from the gallery to a lower story, their way now +lay beneath the entrance-hall, a means of communication little used. +Their tread sounded hollowly on the flagged floor; no other sound was +heard. Mounting a staircase, similar to the one they had just descended, +they arrived at another passage. A few paces brought them to the door. +Luke turned the handle, and they stood within the chamber of the dead. + +The room which contained the remains of poor Sir Piers was arrayed in +all that mockery of state which, vainly attempting to deride death, is +itself a bitter derision of the living. It was the one devoted to the +principal meals of the day; a strange choice, but convenience had +dictated its adoption by those with whom this part of the ceremonial had +originated, and long custom had rendered its usage, for this purpose, +almost prescriptive. This room, which was of some size, had originally +formed part of the great hall, from which it was divided by a thick +screen of black, lustrously varnished oak, enriched with fanciful +figures carved in bold relief. The walls were panelled with the same +embrowned material, and sustained sundry portraits of the members of the +family, in every possible costume, from the steely gear of Sir Ranulph, +down to the flowing attire of Sir Reginald. Most of the race were ranged +around the room; and, seen in the yellow light shed upon their features +by the flambeaux, they looked like an array of stern and silent +witnesses, gazing upon their departed descendant. The sides of the +chamber were hung with black cloth, and upon a bier in the middle of the +room rested the body. Broad escutcheons, decked out in glowing colors +pompously set forth the heraldic honors of the departed. Tall lights +burned at the head and feet, and fragrant perfumes diffused their odors +from silver censers. + +The entrance of Luke and his unwilling companion had been abrupt. The +transition from darkness to the glare of light was almost blinding, and +they had advanced far into the room ere Lady Rookwood perceived a man, +whom she took to be one of the mutes, leaning over the bier. The +coffin-lid was entirely removed, and the person, whose back was towards +them appeared to be wrapped in mournful contemplation of the sad +spectacle before him. Suddenly bursting from Luke's hold, Lady Rookwood +rushed forward with a scream, and touched the man's shoulder. He started +at the summons, and disclosed the features of her son! + +Rapidly as her own act, Luke followed. He levelled a pistol at her head, +but his hand dropped to his side as he encountered the glance of +Ranulph. All three seemed paralyzed by surprise. Ranulph, in +astonishment, extended his arm to his mother, who, placing one arm over +his shoulder, pointed with the other to Luke; the latter stared sternly +and inquiringly at both--yet none spoke. + + + + +_CHAPTER XIII_ + +_THE BROTHERS_ + + We're sorry + His violent act has e'en drawn blood of honor, + And stained our honors; + Thrown ink upon the forehead of our fame, + Which envious spirits will dip their pens into + After our death, and blot us in our tombs; + For that which would seem treason in our lives, + Is laughter when we're dead. Who dares now whisper, + That dares not then speak out; and even proclaim, + With loud words, and broad pens, our closest shame? + + _The Revenger's Tragedy._ + + +With that quickness of perception which at once supplies information on +such an emergency, Luke instantly conjectured who was before him. +Startled as he was, he yet retained his composure, abiding the result +with his arms folded upon his breast. + +"Seize him!" cried Lady Rookwood, as soon as she could command her +speech. + +"He rushes on his death if he stirs," exclaimed Luke, pointing his +pistol. + +"Bethink you where you are, villain!" cried Ranulph; "you are entrapped +in your own toils. Submit yourself to our mercy--resistance is vain, and +will not secure your safety, while it will aggravate your offence. +Surrender yourself----" + +"Never!" answered Luke. "Know you whom you ask to yield?" + +"How should I?" answered Ranulph. + +"By that instinct which tells me who _you_ are. Ask Lady Rookwood--she +can inform you, if she will." + +"Parley not with him--seize him!" cried Lady Rookwood. "He is a robber, +a murderer, who has assailed my life." + +"Beware!" said Luke to Ranulph, who was preparing to obey his mother's +commands; "I am no robber--no murderer. Do not you make me a +fratricide." + +"Fratricide!" echoed Ranulph. + +"Heed him not," ejaculated Lady Rookwood. "It is false--he dares not +harm thee, for his soul. I will call assistance." + +"Hold, mother!" exclaimed Ranulph, detaining Lady Rookwood; "this man +may be what he represents himself. Before we proceed to extremities, I +would question him. I would not have mentioned it in your hearing could +it have been avoided, but my father had another son." + +Lady Rookwood frowned. She would have checked him, but Luke rejoined-- + +"You have spoken the truth; he had a son--I am he. I----" + +"Be silent, I command you!" said Lady Rookwood. + +"Death!" cried Luke, in a loud voice. "Why should I be silent at your +bidding--at _yours_--who regard no laws, human or divine; who pursue +your own fell purposes, without fear of God or man? Waste not your +frowns on me--I heed them not. Do you think I am like a tame hound, to +be cowed to silence? I _will_ speak. Ranulph Rookwood, the name you bear +is mine, and by a right as good as is your own. From his loins, who lies +a corpse before us, I sprang. No brand of shame is on my birth. I am +your father's son--his first-born--your _elder_ brother. Hear me!" cried +he, rushing to the bier. "By this body, I swear that I have avouched the +truth--and though to me the dead Sir Piers Rookwood hath never been what +a father should be to a son--though I have never known his smile, felt +his caresses, or received his blessing, yet now be all forgiven, all +forgotten." And he cast himself with frantic violence upon the coffin. + +It is difficult to describe the feelings with which Ranulph heard Luke's +avowal. Amazement and dread predominated. Unable to stir, he stood +gazing on in silence. Not so Lady Rookwood. The moment for action was +arrived. Addressing her son in a low tone, she said, "Your prey is +within your power. Secure him." + +"Wherefore?" rejoined Ranulph; "if he be my brother, shall I raise my +hand against him?" + +"Wherefore not?" returned Lady Rookwood. + +"'Twere an accursed deed," replied Ranulph. "The mystery is resolved. +'Twas for this that I was summoned home." + +"Ha! what say you? summoned! by whom?" + +"My father!" + +"Your father?" echoed Lady Rookwood, in great surprise. + +"Ay, my dead father! He has appeared to me since his decease." + +"Ranulph, you rave--you are distracted with grief--with astonishment." + +"No, mother; but I will not struggle against my destiny." + +"Pshaw! your destiny is Rookwood, its manors, its lands, its rent-roll, +and its title; nor shall you yield it to a base-born churl like this. +Let him prove his rights. Let the law adjudge them to him, and we will +yield--but not till then. I tell thee he has _not_ the right, nor can he +maintain it. He is a deluded dreamer, who, having heard some idle tale +of his birth, believes it, because it chimes with his wishes. I treated +him with the scorn he deserved. I would have driven him from my +presence, but he was armed, as you see, and forced me hither, perhaps to +murder me; a deed he might have accomplished had it not been for your +intervention. His life is already forfeit, for an attempt of the same +sort last night. Why else came he hither? for what else did he drag me +to this spot? Let him answer that!" + +"I _will_ answer it," replied Luke, raising himself from the bier. + +His face was ghastly as the corpse over which he leaned. "I had a deed +to do, which I wished you to witness. It was a wild conception. But the +means by which I have acquired the information of my rights were wild. +Ranulph, we are both the slaves of fate. You have received your summons +hither--I have had mine. Your father's ghost called you; my mother's +spectral hand beckoned me. Both are arrived. One thing more remains, and +my mission is completed." Saying which, he drew forth the skeleton hand; +and having first taken the wedding-ring from the finger, he placed the +withered limb upon the left breast of his father's body. "Rest there," +he cried, "for ever." + +"Will you suffer that?" said Lady Rookwood, tauntingly, to her son. + +"No," replied Ranulph; "such profanation of the dead shall not be +endured, were he ten times my brother. Stand aside," added he, advancing +towards the bier, and motioning Luke away. "Withdraw your hand from my +father's body, and remove what you have placed upon it." + +"I will neither remove it nor suffer it to be removed," returned Luke. +"'Twas for that purpose I came hither. 'Twas to that hand he was united +in life, in death he shall not be divided from it." + +"Such irreverence shall not be!" exclaimed Ranulph, seizing Luke with +one hand, and snatching at the cereclothes with the other. "Remove it, +or by Heaven----" + +"Leave go your hold," said Luke, in a voice of thunder; "you strive in +vain." + +Ranulph ineffectually attempted to push him backwards; and, shaking away +the grasp that was fixed upon his collar, seized his brother's wrist, so +as to prevent the accomplishment of his purpose. In this unnatural and +indecorous strife the corpse of their father was reft of its covering +and the hand discovered lying upon the pallid breast. + +And as if the wanton impiety of their conduct called forth an immediate +rebuke, even from the dead, a frown seemed to pass over Sir Piers's +features, as their angry glances fell in that direction. This startling +effect was occasioned by the approach of Lady Rookwood, whose shadow, +falling over the brow and visage of the deceased, produced the +appearance we have described. Simultaneously quitting each other, with a +deep sense of shame, mingled with remorse, both remained, their eyes +fixed upon the dead, whose repose they had violated. + +Folding the graveclothes decently over the body, Luke prepared to +depart. + +"Hold!" cried Lady Rookwood; "you go not hence." + +"My brother Ranulph will not oppose my departure," returned Luke; "who +else shall prevent it?" + +"That will I!" cried a sharp voice behind him; and, ere he could turn to +ascertain from whom the exclamation proceeded, Luke felt himself +grappled by two nervous assailants, who, snatching the pistol from his +hold, fast pinioned his arms. + +This was scarcely the work of a moment, and he was a prisoner before he +could offer any resistance. A strong smile of exultation evinced Lady +Rookwood's satisfaction. + +"Bravo, my lads, bravo!" cried Coates, stepping forward, for he it was +under whose skilful superintendence the seizure had been effected: +"famously managed; my father the thief-taker's runners couldn't have +done it better--hand me that pistol--loaded, I see--slugs, no doubt--oh, +he's a precious rascal--search him--turn his pockets inside out, while I +speak to her ladyship." Saying which, the brisk attorney, enchanted with +the feat he had performed, approached Lady Rookwood with a profound bow, +and an amazing smirk of self-satisfaction. "Just in time to prevent +mischief," said he; "hope your ladyship does not suffer any +inconvenience from the alarm--beg pardon, annoyance I meant to +say--which this horrible outrage must have occasioned; excessively +disagreeable this sort of thing to a lady at any time, but at a period +like this more than usually provoking. However, we have the villain safe +enough. Very lucky I happened to be in the way. Perhaps your ladyship +would like to know how I discovered----" + +"Not now," replied Lady Rookwood, checking the volubility of the man of +law. "I thank you, Mr. Coates, for the service you have rendered me; you +will now add materially to the obligation by removing the prisoner with +all convenient despatch." + +"Certainly, if your ladyship wishes it. Shall I detain him a close +prisoner in the hall for the night, or remove him at once to the lock-up +house in the village?" + +"Where you please, so you do it quickly," replied Lady Rookwood, +noticing, with great uneasiness, the agitated manner of her son, and +apprehensive lest, in the presence of so many witnesses, he might say or +do something prejudicial to their interests. Nor were her fears +groundless. As Coates was about to return to the prisoner, he was +arrested by the voice of Ranulph, commanding him to stay. + +"Mr. Coates," said he, "however appearances may be against this man, he +is no robber--you must, therefore, release him." + +"Eh day, what's that? release him, Sir Ranulph?" + +"Yes, sir; I tell you he came here neither with the intent to rob nor to +offer violence." + +"That is false, Ranulph," replied Lady Rookwood. "I was dragged hither +by him at the peril of my life. He is Mr. Coates's prisoner on another +charge." + +"Unquestionably, your ladyship is perfectly right; I have a warrant +against him for assaulting Hugh Badger, the keeper, and for other +misdemeanors." + +"I will myself be responsible for his appearance to that charge," +replied Ranulph. "Now, sir, at once release him." + +"At your peril!" exclaimed Lady Rookwood. + +"Well, really," muttered the astonished attorney, "this is the most +perplexing proceeding I ever witnessed." + +"Ranulph," said Lady Rookwood, sternly, to her son, "beware how you +thwart me!" + +"Yes, Sir Ranulph, let me venture to advise you, as a friend, not to +thwart her ladyship," whispered the attorney; "indeed, she is in the +right." But seeing his advice unheeded, Coates withdrew to a little +distance. + +"I will not see injustice done to my father's son," replied Ranulph, in +a low tone. "Why would you detain him?" + +"Why?" returned she, "our safety demands it--our honor." + +"Our honor demands his instant liberation; each moment he remains in +those bonds sullies its purity. I will free him myself from his +fetters." + +"And brave my curse, foolish boy? You incurred your miserable father's +anathema for a lighter cause than this. Our honor cries aloud for his +destruction. Have I not been injured in the nicest point a woman can be +injured? Shall I lend my name to mockery and scorn, by base +acknowledgment of such deceit, or will you? Where would be my honor, +then, stripped of my fair estates--my son--myself--beggars--dependent on +the bounty of an upstart? Does honor ask you to bear this? It is a +phantom sense of honor, unsubstantial as your father's shade, of which +you just now spoke, that would prompt you to do otherwise." + +"Do not evoke his awful spirit, mother," cried Ranulph, with a shudder; +"do not arouse his wrath." + +"Do not arouse _my_ wrath," returned Lady Rookwood. "I am the more to be +feared. Think of Eleanor Mowbray; the bar between your nuptials is +removed. Would you raise up a greater impediment?" + +"Enough, mother; more than enough. You have decided, though not +convinced me. Detain him within the house, if you will, until the +morrow; in the meantime, I will consider over my line of conduct." + +"Is this, then, your resolve?" + +"It is. Mr. Coates," said Ranulph, calling the attorney, who had been an +inquisitive spectator, though, luckily, not an auditor of this +interview, "unbind the prisoner, and bring him hither." + +"Is it your ladyship's pleasure?" asked Mr. Coates, who regretted +exceedingly that he could not please both parties. + +Lady Rookwood signified her assent by a slight gesture in the +affirmative. + +"Your bidding shall be done, Sir Ranulph," said Coates, bowing and +departing. + +"_Sir_ Ranulph!" echoed Lady Rookwood, with strong emphasis; "marked you +that?" + +"Body o' me," muttered the attorney, "this is the most extraordinary +family, to be sure. Make way, gentlemen, if you please," added he, +pushing through the crowd, towards the prisoner. + +Having described what took place between Lady Rookwood and her son in +one part of the room, we must now briefly narrate some incidental +occurrences in the other. The alarm of a robber having been taken spread +with great celerity through the house, and almost all its inmates rushed +into the room, including Dr. Small, Titus Tyrconnel, and Jack Palmer. + +"Odsbodikins! are you there, honey?" said Titus, who discovered his +ally; "the bird's caught, you see." + +"Caught be d--d," replied Jack, bluffly; "so I see; all his own fault; +infernal folly to come here, at such a time as this. However, it can't +be helped now; he must make the best of it. And as to that sneaking, +gimlet-eyed, parchment-skinned quill-driver, if I don't serve him out +for his officiousness one of these days, my name's not Jack Palmer." + +"Och! cushlamacree! did I ever? why, what's the boy to you, Jack? Fair +play's a jewel, and surely Mr. Coates only did his duty. I'm sorry he's +captured, for his relationship to Sir Piers, and because I think he'll +be tucked up for his pains; and, moreover, I could forgive the poaching; +but as to the breaking into a house on such an occasion as this, och! +It's a plaguy bad look. I'm afraid he's worse than I thought him." + +A group of the tenantry, many of whom were in a state of intoxication, +had, in the meantime, formed themselves round the prisoner. Whatever +might be the nature of his thoughts, no apprehension was visible in +Luke's countenance. He stood erect amidst the assemblage, his tall form +towering above them all, and his eyes fixed upon the movements of Lady +Rookwood and her son. He had perceived the anguish of the latter, and +the vehemence of the former, attributing both to their real causes. The +taunts and jeers, threats and insolent inquiries, of the hinds who +thronged around him, passed unheeded; yet one voice in his ear, sharp as +the sting of a serpent, made him start. It was that of the sexton. + +"You have done well," said Peter, "have you not? Your fetters are, I +hope, to your liking. Well! a wilful man must have his own way, and +perhaps the next time you will be content to follow my advice. You must +now free yourself, the best way you can, from these Moabites, and I +promise you it will be no easy matter. Ha, ha!" + +Peter withdrew into the crowd; and Luke, vainly endeavoring to discover +his retreating figure, caught the eye of Jack Palmer fixed upon himself, +with a peculiar and very significant expression. + +At this moment Mr. Coates made his appearance. + +"Bring forward the prisoner," said the man of law to his two assistants; +and Luke was accordingly hurried along, Mr. Coates using his best +efforts to keep back the crowd. It was during the pressure that Luke +heard a voice whisper in his ear, "Never fear; all's right!" and turning +his head, he became aware of the propinquity of Jack Palmer. The latter +elevated his eyebrows with a gesture of silence, and Luke passed on as +if nothing had occurred. He was presently confronted with Lady Rookwood +and her son; and, notwithstanding the efforts of Mr. Coates, seconded by +some few others, the crowd grew dense around them. + +"Remove his fetters," said Ranulph. And his manacles were removed. + +"You will consent to remain here a prisoner till to-morrow?" + +"I consent to nothing," replied Luke; "I am in your hands." + +"He does not deserve your clemency, Sir Ranulph," interposed Coates. + +"Let him take his own course," said Lady Rookwood; "he will reap the +benefit of it anon." + +"Will you pledge yourself not to depart?" asked Ranulph. + +"Of course," cried the attorney; "to be sure he will. Ha, ha!" + +"No," returned Luke, haughtily, "I will not--and you will detain me at +your proper peril." + +"Better and better," exclaimed the attorney. "This is the highest joke I +ever heard." + +"I shall detain, you, then, in custody, until proper inquiries can be +made," said Ranulph. "To your care, Mr. Coates, and to that of Mr. +Tyrconnel, whom I must request to lend you his assistance, I commit the +charge; and I must further request, that you will show him every +attention which his situation will permit. Remove him. We have a sacred +duty to the dead to fulfil, to which even justice to the living must +give way. Disperse this crowd, and let instant preparations be made for +the completion of the ceremonial. You understand me, sir." + +"Ranulph Rookwood," said Luke, sternly, as he departed, "you have +another--a more sacred office to perform. Fulfil your duty to your +father's son." + +"Away with him!" cried Lady Rookwood. "I am out of all patience with +this trilling. Follow me to my chamber," added she to her son, passing +towards the door. The concourse of spectators, who had listened to this +extraordinary scene in astonishment, made way for her instantly, and she +left the room, accompanied by Ranulph. The prisoner was led out by the +other door. + +"Botheration!" cried Titus to Mr. Coates, as they followed in the wake, +"why did he choose out me? I'll lose the funeral entirely by his +arrangement." + +"That you will," replied Palmer. "Shall I be your deputy?" + +"No, no," returned Coates. "I will have no other than Mr. Tyrconnel. It +was Sir Ranulph's express wish." + +"That's the devil of it," returned Titus; "and I, who was to have been +chief mourner, and have made all the preparations, am to be omitted. I +wish Sir Ranulph had stayed till to-morrow--what could bring him here, +to spoil all?--it's cursedly provoking!" + +"Cursed provoking!" echoed Jack. + +"But then there's no help, so I must make the best of it," returned the +good-humored Irishman. + +"Body o' me," said Coates, "there's something in all this that I can't +fathom. As to keeping the prisoner _here_, that's all moonshine. But I +suppose we shall know the whole drift of it to-morrow." + +"Ay," replied Jack, with a meaning smile, "to-morrow!" + + + + +_BOOK II_ + + +_THE SEXTON_ + + _Duchess._ Thou art very plain. + + _Bosola._ My trade is to flatter the dead--not the living--I am a + tomb-maker. + + WEBSTER. + + + + +_CHAPTER I_ + +_THE STORM_ + + Come, list, and hark! the bell doth towle, + For some but now departing sowle; + And was not that some ominous fowle? + The bat, the night-crow, or screech-owle? + To these I hear the wild wolf howle, + In this dark night that seems to scowle;-- + All these my blacke-booke shall enrowle, + For hark! still hark! the bell doth towle + For some but new-departed sowle! + + HAYWOOD: _Rape of Lucrece_. + + +The night was wild and stormy. The day had been sultry, with a lurid, +metallic-looking sky, hanging like a vast galvanic plate over the face +of nature. As evening drew on, everything betokened the coming tempest. +Unerring indications of its approach were noted by the weatherwise at +the hall. The swallow was seen to skim the surface of the pool so +closely that he ruffled its placid mirror as he passed; and then, +sharply darting round and round, with twittering scream, he winged his +rapid flight to his clay-built home, beneath the barn eaves. The kine +that had herded to the margin of the water, and sought, by splashing, to +relieve themselves from the keen persecution of their myriad insect +tormentors, wended stallwards, undriven, and deeply lowing. The deer, +that at twilight had trooped thither also for refreshment, suddenly, +"with expanded nostrils, snuffed the air," and bounded off to their +coverts, amidst the sheltering fernbrake. The rooks "obstreperous of +wing, in crowds combined," cawed in a way that, as plainly as words +could have done, bespoke their apprehension; and were seen, some +hovering and beating the air with flapping pinion, others shooting +upwards in mid space, as if to reconnoitre the weather; while others, +again, were croaking to their mates, in loud discordant tone, from the +highest branches of the lime-trees; all, seemingly, as anxious and as +busy as mariners before a gale of wind. At sunset, the hazy vapors, +which had obscured the horizon throughout the day, rose up in spiral +volumes, like smoke from a burning forest, and, becoming gradually +condensed, assumed the form of huge, billowy masses, which, reflecting +the sun's light, changed, as the sinking orb declined, from purple to +flame-color, and thence to ashy, angry gray. Night rushed onwards, like +a sable steed. There was a dead calm. The stillness was undisturbed, +save by an intermittent, sighing wind, which, hollow as a murmur from +the grave, died as it rose. At once the gray clouds turned to an inky +blackness. A single, sharp, intensely vivid flash, shot from the bosom +of the rack, sheer downwards, and struck the earth with a report like +that of a piece of ordnance. In ten minutes it was dunnest night, and a +rattling thunder-storm. + +The progress of the storm was watched with infinite apprehension by the +crowd of tenantry assembled in the great hall; and loud and frequent +were the ejaculations uttered, as each succeeding peal burst over their +heads. There was, however, one amongst the assemblage who seemed to +enjoy the uproar. A kindred excitement appeared to blaze in his glances, +as he looked upon the storm without. This was Peter Bradley. He stood +close by the window, and shaded not his eyes, even before the fiercest +flashes. A grin of unnatural exhilaration played upon his features, and +he seemed to exult in, and to court, the tempestuous horrors, which +affected the most hardy amongst his companions with consternation, and +made all shrink, trembling, into the recesses of the room. Peter's +conduct was not unobserved, nor his reputation for unholy dealing +forgotten. To some he was almost as much an object of dread as the storm +itself. + +"Didst ever see the like o' that?" said Farmer Burtenshaw--one of the +guests, whose round, honest face good wine had recently empurpled, but +fear had now mottled white,--addressing a neighbor. "Didst ever hear of +any man that were a Christian laughing in the very face o' a +thunder-storm, with the lightnin' fit to put out his eyes, and the +rattle above ready to break the drums o' his ears? I always thought +Peter Bradley was not exactly what he ought to be, and now I am sure on +it." + +"For my part, I think, Neighbor Burtenshaw," returned the other, "that +this great burst of weather's all of his raising, for in all my born +days I never see'd such a hurly-burly, and hope never to see the like of +it again. I've heard my grandfather tell of folk as could command wind +and rain; and, mayhap, Peter may have the power--we all know he can do +more nor any other man." + +"We know, at all events," replied Burtenshaw, "that he lives like no +other man; that he spends night after night by himself in that dreary +churchyard; that he keeps no living thing, except an old terrier dog, in +his crazy cottage; and that he never asks a body into his house from one +year's end to another. I've never crossed his threshold these twenty +years. But," continued he mysteriously, "I happened to pass the house +one dark, dismal night, and there what dost think I see'd through the +window?" + +"What--what didst see?" + +"Peter Bradley sitting with a great book open on his knees; it were a +Bible, I think, and he crying like a child." + +"Art sure o' that?" + +"The tears were falling fast upon the leaves," returned Burtenshaw; "but +when I knocked at the door, he hastily shut up the book, and ordered me +to be gone, in a surly tone, as if he were ashamed of being caught in +the fact." + +"I thought no tear had ever dropped from his eye," said the other. "Why, +he laughed when his daughter Susan went off at the hall; and, when she +died, folks said he received hush-money to say nought about it. _That_ +were a bad business, anyhow; and now that his grandson Luke be taken in +the fact of housebreaking, he minds it no more, not he, than if nothing +had happened." + +"Don't be too sure of that," replied Burtenshaw; "he may be scheming +summat all this time. Well, I've known Peter Bradley now these +two-and-fifty years, and, excepting that one night, I never saw any good +about him, and never heard of nobody who could tell who he be, or where +he do come from." + +"One thing's certain, at least," replied the other farmer--"he were +never born at Rookwood. How he came here the devil only knows. Save us! +what a crash!--this storm be all of his raising, I tell 'ee." + +"He be--what he certainly will be," interposed another speaker, in a +louder tone, and with less of apprehension in his manner than his +comrade, probably from his nerves being better fortified with strong +liquor. "Dost thou think, Samuel Plant, as how Providence would entrust +the like o' him with the command of the elements? No--no, it's rank +blasphemy to suppose such a thing, and I've too much of the true +Catholic and apostate church about me, to stand by and hear that said." + +"Maybe, then, he gets his power from the Prince of Darkness," replied +Plant; "no man else could go on as he does--only look at him. He seems +to be watching for the thunderbowt." + +"I wish he may catch it, then," returned the other. + +"That's an evil wish, Simon Toft, and thou mayst repent it." + +"Not I," replied Toft; "it would be a good clearance to the neighborhood +to get rid o' th' old croaking curmudgeon." + +Whether or not Peter overheard the conversation, we pretend not to say, +but at that moment a blaze of lightning showed him staring fiercely at +the group. + +"As I live, he's overheard you, Simon," exclaimed Plant. "I wouldn't be +in your skin for a trifle." + +"Nor I," added Burtenshaw. + +"Let him overhear me," answered Toft; "who cares? he shall hear summat +worth listening to. I'm not afraid o' him or his arts, were they as +black as Beelzebuth's own; and to show you I'm not, I'll go and have a +crack with him on the spot." + +"Thou'rt a fool for thy pains, if thou dost, Friend Toft," returned +Plant, "that's all I can say." + +"Be advised by me, and stay here," seconded Burtenshaw, endeavoring to +hold him back. + +But Toft would not be advised-- + + Kings may be blest, but he was glorious, + O'er all the ills of life victorious. + +Staggering up to Peter, he laid a hard grasp upon his shoulder, and, +thus forcibly soliciting his attention, burst into a loud horse-laugh. + +But Peter was, or affected to be, too much occupied to look at him. + +"What dost see, man, that thou starest so?" + +"It comes, it comes--the rain--the rain--a torrent--a deluge--ha, ha! +Blessed is the corpse the rain rains on. Sir Piers may be drenched +through his leaden covering by such a downfall as that--splash, +splash--fire and water and thunder, all together--is not that fine?--ha, +ha! The heavens will weep for him, though friends shed not a tear. When +did a great man's heir feel sympathy for his sire's decease? When did +his widow mourn? When doth any man regret his fellow? Never! He +rejoiceth--he maketh glad in his inmost heart--he cannot help it--it is +nature. We all pray for--we all delight in each other's destruction. We +were created to do so; or why else should we act thus? I never wept for +any man's death, but I have often laughed. Natural sympathy!--out on the +phrase! The distant heavens--the senseless trees--the impenetrable +stones--shall regret you more than man shall bewail your death with more +sincerity. Ay, 'tis well--rain on--splash, splash: it will cool the +hell-fever. Down, down--buckets and pails, ha, ha!" + +There was a pause, during which the sexton, almost exhausted by the +frenzy in which he had suffered himself to be involved, seemed +insensible to all around him. + +"I tell you what," said Burtenshaw to Plant, "I have always thought +there was more in Peter Bradley nor appears on the outside. He is not +what he seems to be, take my word on it. Lord love you! do you think a +man such as he pretends to be could talk in that sort of way--about +nat'ral simpering?--no such thing." + +When Peter recovered, his insane merriment broke out afresh, having only +acquired fury by the pause. + +"Look out, look out!" cried he; "hark to the thunder--list to the rain! +Marked ye that flash--marked ye the clock-house--and the bird upon the +roof? 'tis the rook--the great bird of the house, that hath borne away +the soul of the departed. There, there--can you not see it? it sits and +croaks through storm and rain, and never heeds at all--and wherefore +should it heed? See, it flaps its broad black wings--it croaks--ha, ha! +It comes--it comes." + +And driven, it might be by the terror of the storm, from more secure +quarters, a bird, at this instant, was dashed against the window, and +fell to the ground. + +"That's a call," continued Peter; "it will be over soon, and we must set +out. The dead will not need to tarry. Look at that trail of fire along +the avenue; dost see yon line of sparkles, like a rocket's tail? That's +the path the corpse will take. St. Hermes's flickering fire, Robin +Goodfellow's dancing light, or the blue flame of the corpse-candle, +which I saw flitting to the churchyard last week, was not so pretty a +sight--ha, ha! You asked me for a song a moment ago--you shall have one +now without asking." + +And without waiting to consult the inclinations of his comrades, Peter +broke into the following wild strain with all the fervor of a +half-crazed improvisatore: + + THE CORPSE-CANDLE + + Lambere flamma {taphos} et circum funera pasci. + + Through the midnight gloom did a pale blue light + To the churchyard mirk wing its lonesome flight:-- + Thrice it floated those old walls round-- + Thrice it paused--till the grave it found. + Over the grass-green sod it glanced, + Over the fresh-turned earth it danced, + Like a torch in the night-breeze quivering-- + Never was seen so gay a thing! + Never was seen so blithe a sight + As the midnight dance of that blue light! + + Now what of that pale blue flame dost know? + Canst tell where it comes from, or where it will go? + Is it the soul, released from clay, + Over the earth that takes its way, + And tarries a moment in mirth and glee + Where the corse it hath quitted interred shall be? + Or is it the trick of some fanciful sprite, + That taketh in mortal mischance delight, + And marketh the road the coffin shall go, + And the spot where the dead shall be soon laid low? + Ask him who can answer these questions aright; + I know not the cause of that pale blue light! + +"I can't say I like thy song, Master Peter," said Toft, as the sexton +finished his stave, "but if thou _didst_ see a corpse-candle, as thou +call'st thy pale blue flame, whose death doth it betoken?--eh!" + +"Thine own," returned Peter, sharply. + +"Mine! thou lying old cheat--dost dare to say that to my face? Why, I'm +as hale and hearty as ever a man in the house. Dost think there's no +life and vigor in this arm, thou drivelling old dotard?" + +Upon which, Toft seized Peter by the throat with an energy that, but for +the timely intervention of the company, who rushed to his assistance, +the prophet might himself have anticipated the doom he prognosticated. + +Released from the grasp of Toft, who was held back by the bystanders, +Peter again broke forth into his eldritch laugh; and staring right into +the face of his adversary, with eyes glistening, and hands uplifted, as +if in the act of calling down an imprecation on his head, he screamed, +in a shrill and discordant voice, "Soh! you will not take my warning? +you revile me--you flout me! 'Tis well! your fate shall prove a warning +to all unbelievers--_they_ shall remember this night, though _you_ will +not. Fool! fool!--your doom has long been sealed! I saw your wraith +choose out its last lodgment on Halloween; I know the spot. Your grave +is dug already--ha, ha!" And, with renewed laughter, Peter rushed out of +the room. + +"Did I not caution thee not to provoke him, friend Toft?" said Plant; +"it's ill playing with edge-tools; but don't let him fly off in that +tantrum--one of ye go after him." + +"That will I," replied Burtenshaw; and he departed in search of the +sexton. + +"I'd advise thee to make it up with Peter so soon as thou canst, +neighbor," continued Plant; "he's a bad friend, but a worse enemy." + +"Why, what harm can he do me?" returned Toft, who, however, was not +without some misgivings. "If I must die, I can't help it--I shall go +none the sooner for him, even if he speak the truth, which I don't think +he do; and if I must, I sha'n't go unprepared--only I think as how, if +it pleased Providence, I could have wished to keep my old missus company +some few years longer, and see those bits of lasses of mine grow up +into women, and respectably provided for. But His will be done. I +sha'n't leave 'em quite penniless, and there's one eye at least, I'm +sure, won't be dry at my departure." Here the stout heart of Toft gave +way, and he shed some few "natural tears," which, however, he speedily +brushed away. "I'll tell you what, neighbors," continued he, "I think we +may all as well be thinking of going to our own homes, for, to my mind, +we shall never reach the churchyard to-night." + +"That _you_ never will," exclaimed a voice behind him; and Toft, turning +round, again met the glance of Peter. + +"Come, come, Master Peter," cried the good-natured farmer, "this be ugly +jesting--ax pardon for my share of it--sorry for what I did--so give us +thy hand, man, and think no more about it." + +Peter extended his claw, and the parties were, apparently, once more +upon terms of friendship. + + + + +_CHAPTER II_ + +_THE FUNERAL ORATION_ + + In northern customs duty was exprest + To friends departed by their funeral feast; + Though I've consulted Hollingshed and Stow, + I find it very difficult to know, + Who, to refresh the attendants to the grave, + Burnt claret first, or Naples' biscuit gave. + + KING: _Art of Cookery_. + + Ceterum priusquam corpus humo injectâ contegatur, defunctus oratione + funebri laudabatur.--DURAND. + + +A supply of spirits was here introduced; lights were brought at the same +time, and placed upon a long oak table. The party gathering round it, +ill-humor was speedily dissipated, and even the storm disregarded, in +the copious libations that ensued. At this juncture, a loiterer appeared +in the hall. His movements were unnoticed by all excepting the sexton, +who watched his proceedings with some curiosity. The person walked to +the window, appearing, so far as could be discovered, to eye the storm +with great impatience. He then paced the hall rapidly backwards and +forwards, and Peter fancied he could detect sounds of disappointment in +his muttered exclamations. Again he returned to the window, as if to +ascertain the probable duration of the shower. It was a hopeless +endeavor; all was pitch-dark without; the lightning was now only seen at +long intervals, but the rain still audibly descended in torrents. +Apparently seeing the impossibility of controlling the elements, the +person approached the table. + +"What think you of the night, Mr. Palmer?" asked the sexton of Jack, for +he was the anxious investigator of the weather. + +"Don't know--can't say--set in, I think--cursed unlucky--for the +funeral, I mean--we shall be drowned if we go." + +"And drunk if we stay," rejoined Peter. "But never fear, it will hold +up, depend upon it, long before we can start. Where have they put the +prisoner?" asked he, with a sudden change of manner. + +"I know the room, but can't describe it; it's two or three doors down +the lower corridor of the eastern gallery." + +"Good. Who are on guard?" + +"Titus Tyrconnel and that swivel-eyed quill-driver, Coates." + +"Enough." + +"Come, come, Master Peter," roared Toft, "let's have another stave. Give +us one of your odd snatches. No more corpse-candles, or that sort of +thing. Something lively--something jolly--ha, ha!" + +"A good move," shouted Jack. "A lively song from _you_--lillibullero +from a death's-head--ha, ha!" + +"My songs are all of a sort," returned Peter; "I am seldom asked to +sing a second time. However, you are welcome to the merriest I have." +And preparing himself, like certain other accomplished vocalists, with a +few preliminary hems and haws, he struck forth the following doleful +ditty: + + THE OLD OAK COFFIN + + Sic ego componi versus in ossa velim.--TIBULLUS. + + In a churchyard, upon the sward, a coffin there was laid, + And leaning stood, beside the wood, a sexton on his spade. + A coffin old and black it was, and fashioned curiously, + With quaint device of carved oak, in hideous fantasie. + + For here was wrought the sculptured thought of a tormented face, + With serpents lithe that round it writhe, in folded strict embrace. + Grim visages of grinning fiends were at each corner set, + And emblematic scrolls, mort-heads, and bones together met. + + "Ah, welladay!" that sexton gray unto himself did cry, + "Beneath that lid much lieth hid--much awful mysterie. + It is an ancient coffin from the abbey that stood here; + Perchance it holds an abbot's bones, perchance those of a frere. + + "In digging deep, where monks do sleep, beneath yon cloister shrined, + That coffin old, within the mould, it was my chance to find; + The costly carvings of the lid I scraped full carefully, + In hope to get at name or date, yet nothing could I see. + + "With pick and spade I've plied my trade for sixty years and more, + Yet never found, beneath the ground, shell strange as that before; + Full many coffins have I seen--have seen them deep or flat, + Fantastical in fashion--none fantastical as that." + + And saying so, with heavy blow, the lid he shattered wide, + And, pale with fright, a ghastly sight that sexton gray espied; + A miserable sight it was, that loathsome corpse to see, + The last, last, dreary, darksome stage of fall'n humanity. + + Though all was gone, save reeky bone, a green and grisly heap, + With scarce a trace of fleshly face, strange posture did it keep. + The hands were clenched, the teeth were wrenched, as if the wretch + had risen, + E'en after death had ta'en his breath, to strive and burst his prison. + + The neck was bent, the nails were rent, no limb or joint was straight; + Together glued, with blood imbued, black and coagulate. + And, as the sexton stooped him down to lift the coffin plank, + His fingers were defiled all o'er with slimy substance dank. + + "Ah, welladay!" that sexton gray unto himself did cry, + "Full well I see how Fate's decree foredoomed this wretch to die; + A living man, a breathing man, within the coffin thrust, + Alack! alack! the agony ere he returned to dust!" + + A vision drear did then appear unto that sexton's eyes; + Like that poor wight before him straight he in a coffin lies. + He lieth in a trance within that coffin close and fast; + Yet though he sleepeth now, he feels he shall awake at last. + + The coffin, then, by reverend men, is borne with footsteps slow, + Where tapers shine before the shrine, where breathes the requiem low; + And for the dead the prayer is said, for the soul that is _not_ flown-- + Then all is drowned in hollow sound, the earth is o'er him thrown! + + He draweth breath--he wakes from death to life more horrible; + To agony! such agony! no living tongue may tell. + Die! die he must, that wretched one! he struggles--strives in vain; + No more Heaven's light, nor sunshine bright, shall he behold again. + + "Gramercy, Lord!" the sexton roared, awakening suddenly, + "If this be dream, yet doth it seem most dreadful so to die. + Oh, cast my body in the sea! or hurl it on the shore! + But nail me not in coffin fast--no grave will I dig more." + +It was not difficult to discover the effect produced by this song, in +the lengthened faces of the greater part of the audience. Jack Palmer, +however, laughed loud and long. + +"Bravo, bravo!" cried he; "that suits my humor exactly. I can't abide +the thoughts of a coffin. No deal box for me." + +"A gibbet might, perhaps, serve your turn as well," muttered the sexton; +adding aloud, "I am now entitled to call upon you;--a song!--a song!" + +"Ay, a song, Mr. Palmer, a song!" reiterated the hinds. "Yours will be +the right kind of thing." + +"Say no more," replied Jack. "I'll give you a chant composed upon Dick +Turpin, the highwayman. It's no great shakes, to be sure, but it's the +best I have." And, with a knowing wink at the sexton, he commenced, in +the true nasal whine, the following strain: + + ONE FOOT IN THE STIRRUP + + OR TURPIN'S FIRST FLING + + Cum esset proposita fuga _Turpi_(n)_s_.--CICERO. + + "One foot in the stirrup, one hand in the rein, + And the noose be my portion, or freedom I'll gain! + Oh! give me a seat in my saddle once more, + And these bloodhounds shall find that the chase is not o'er!" + Thus muttered Dick Turpin, who found, while he slept, + That the Philistines old on his slumbers had crept; + Had entrapped him as puss on her form you'd ensnare, + And that gone were his snappers--and gone was his mare. + _Hilloah!_ + + How Dick had been captured is readily told, + The pursuit had been hot, though the night had been cold, + So at daybreak, exhausted, he sought brief repose + Mid the thick of a corn-field, away from his foes. + But in vain was his caution--in vain did his steed, + Ever watchful and wakeful in moments of need, + With lip and with hoof on her master's cheek press-- + He slept on, nor heeded the warning of Bess. + _Hilloah!_ + + "Zounds! gem'men!" cried Turpin, "you've found me at fault, + And the highflying highwayman's come to a halt; + You have turned up a trump--for I weigh well my weight,-- + And the _forty is yours_, though the halter's _my_ fate. + Well, come on't what will, you shall own when all's past, + That Dick Turpin, the Dauntless, was game to the last. + But, before we go further, I'll hold you a bet, + That one foot in my stirrup you won't let me set. + _Hilloah!_ + + "A hundred to one is the odds _I_ will stand, + A hundred to one is the odds _you_ command; + Here's a handful of goldfinches ready to fly! + May I venture a foot in my stirrup to try?" + As he carelessly spoke, Dick directed a glance + At his courser, and motioned her slyly askance:-- + You might tell by the singular toss of her head, + And the prick of her ears, that his meaning she read. + _Hilloah!_ + + With derision at first was Dick's wager received, + And his error at starting as yet unretrieved; + But when from his pocket the shiners he drew, + And offered to "make up the hundred to two," + There were havers in plenty, and each whispered each, + The same thing, though varied in figure of speech, + "Let the fool act his folly--the stirrup of Bess! + He has put his foot _in it_ already, we guess!" + _Hilloah!_ + + Bess was brought to her master--Dick steadfastly gazed + At the eye of his mare, then his foot quick upraised; + His toe touched the stirrup, his hand grasped the rein-- + He was safe on the back of his courser again! + As the clarion, fray-sounding and shrill, was the neigh + Of Black Bess, as she answered his cry "Hark-away!" + "Beset me, ye bloodhounds! in rear and in van; + My foot's in the stirrup and catch me who can!" + _Hilloah!_ + + There was riding and gibing mid rabble and rout, + And the old woods re-echoed the Philistines' shout! + There was hurling and whirling o'er brake and o'er brier, + But the course of Dick Turpin was swift as Heaven's fire. + Whipping, spurring, and straining would nothing avail, + Dick laughed at their curses, and scoffed at their wail; + "My foot's in the stirrup!"--thus rang his last cry; + "Bess has answered my call; now her mettle we'll try!" + _Hilloah!_ + +Uproarious applause followed Jack's song, when the joviality of the +mourners was interrupted by a summons to attend in the state-room. +Silence was at once completely restored; and, in the best order they +could assume, they followed their leader, Peter Bradley. Jack Palmer +was amongst the last to enter, and remained a not incurious spectator of +a by no means common scene. + +Preparations had been made to give due solemnity to the ceremonial. The +leaden coffin was fastened down, and enclosed in an outer case of oak, +upon the lid of which stood a richly-chased massive silver flagon, +filled with burnt claret, called the grace-cup. All the lights were +removed, save two lofty wax flambeaux, which were placed to the back, +and threw a lurid glare upon the group immediately about the body, +consisting of Ranulph Rookwood and some other friends of the deceased. +Dr. Small stood in front of the bier; and, under the directions of Peter +Bradley, the tenantry and household were formed into a wide half-moon +across the chamber. There was a hush of expectation, as Dr. Small looked +gravely round; and even Jack Palmer, who was as little likely as any man +to yield to an impression of the kind, felt himself moved by the scene. + +The very orthodox Small, as is well known to our readers, held +everything savoring of the superstitions of the Scarlet Woman in supreme +abomination; and, entertaining such opinions, it can scarcely be +supposed that a funeral oration would find much favor in his eyes, +accompanied, as it was, with the accessories of censer, candle, and cup; +all evidently derived from that period when, under the three-crowned +pontiff's sway, the shaven priest pronounced his benediction o'er the +dead, and released the penitent's soul from purgatorial flames, while he +heavily mulcted the price of his redemption from the possessions of his +successor. Small resented the idea of treading in such steps, as an +insult to himself and his cloth. Was he, the intolerant of Papistry, to +tolerate this? Was he, who could not endure the odor of Catholicism, to +have his nostrils thus polluted--his garments thus defiled by actual +contact with it? It was not to be thought of: and he had formally +signified his declination to Mr. Coates, when a little conversation with +that gentleman, and certain weighty considerations therein held +forth--the advowson of the church of Rookwood residing with the +family--and represented by him, as well as the placing in juxtaposition +of penalties to be incurred by refusal, that the scruples of Small gave +way; and, with the best grace he could muster, very reluctantly promised +compliance. + +With these feelings, it will be readily conceived that the doctor was +not in the best possible frame of mind for the delivery of his +exhortation. His spirit had been ruffled by a variety of petty +annoyances, amongst the greatest of which was the condition to which the +good cheer had reduced his clerk, Zachariah Trundletext, whose reeling +eye, pendulous position, and open mouth proclaimed him absolutely +incapable of office. Zachariah was, in consequence, dismissed, and Small +commenced his discourse unsupported. But as our recording it would not +probably conduce to the amusement of our readers, whatever it might to +their edification, we shall pass it over with very brief mention. +Suffice it to say, that the oration was so thickly interstrewn with +lengthy quotations from the fathers,--Chrysostomus, Hieronymus, +Ambrosius, Basilius, Bernardus, and the rest, with whose recondite +Latinity, notwithstanding the clashing of their opinions with his own, +the doctor was intimately acquainted, and which he moreover delighted to +quote,--that his auditors were absolutely mystified and perplexed, and +probably not without design. Countenances of such amazement were turned +towards him, that Small, who had a keen sense of the ludicrous, could +scarcely forbear smiling as he proceeded; and if we could suspect so +grave a personage of waggery, we should almost think that, by way of +retaliation, he had palmed some abstruse, monkish epicedium upon his +astounded auditors. + +The oration concluded, biscuits and confectionery were, according to old +observance, handed to such of the tenantry as chose to partake of them. +The serving of the grace-cup, which ought to have formed part of the +duties of Zachariah, had he been capable of office, fell to the share +of the sexton. The bowl was kissed, first by Ranulph, with lips that +trembled with emotion, and afterward by his surrounding friends; but no +drop was tasted--a circumstance which did not escape Peter's +observation. Proceeding to the tenantry, the first in order happened to +be Farmer Toft. Peter presented the cup, and as Toft was about to drain +a deep draught of the wine, Peter whispered in his ear, "Take my advice +for once, Friend Toft, and don't let a bubble of the liquid pass your +lips. For every drop of the wine you drain, Sir Piers will have one sin +the less, and you a load the heavier on your conscience. Didst never +hear of sin-swallowing? For what else was this custom adopted? Seest +thou not the cup's brim hath not yet been moistened? Well, as you +will--ha, ha!" And the sexton passed onwards. + +His work being nearly completed, he looked around for Jack Palmer, whom +he had remarked during the oration, but could nowhere discover him. +Peter was about to place the flagon, now almost drained of its contents, +upon its former resting-place, when Small took it from his hands. + +"_In poculi fundo residuum non relinque_, admonisheth Pythagoras," said +he, returning the empty cup to the sexton. + +"My task here is ended," muttered Peter, "but not elsewhere. Foul +weather or fine, thunder or rain, I must to the church." + +Bequeathing his final instructions to certain of the household who were +to form part of the procession, in case it set out, he opened the hall +door, and, the pelting shower dashing heavily in his face, took his way +up the avenue, screaming, as he strode along, the following congenial +rhymes: + + EPHIALTES + + I ride alone--I ride by night + Through the moonless air on a courser white! + Over the dreaming earth I fly, + Here and there--at my fantasy! + My frame is withered, my visage old, + My locks are frore, and my bones ice cold. + The wolf will howl as I pass his lair, + The ban-dog moan, and the screech-owl stare. + For breath, at my coming, the sleeper strains, + And the freezing current forsakes his veins! + Vainly for pity the wretch may sue-- + Merciless Mara no prayers subdue! + _To his couch I flit-- + On his breast I sit! + Astride! astride! astride! + And one charm alone + --A hollow stone!--[23] + Can scare me from his side!_ + + A thousand antic shapes I take; + The stoutest heart at my touch will quake. + The miser dreams of a bag of gold, + Or a ponderous chest on his bosom rolled. + The drunkard groans 'neath a cask of wine; + The reveller swelts 'neath a weighty chine. + The recreant turns, by his foes assailed, + To flee!--but his feet to the ground are nailed. + The goatherd dreams of his mountain-tops, + And, dizzily reeling, downward drops. + + The murderer feels at his throat a knife, + And gasps, as his victim gasped, for life! + The thief recoils from the scorching brand; + The mariner drowns in sight of land! + Thus sinful man have I power to fray, + Torture, and rack, but not to slay! + But ever the couch of purity, + With shuddering glance, I hurry by. + _Then mount! away! + To horse! I say, + To horse! astride! astride! + The fire-drake shoots-- + The screech-owl hoots-- + As through the air I glide!_ + + + + +_CHAPTER III_ + +_THE CHURCHYARD_ + + Methought I walked, about the mid of night, + Into a churchyard. + + WEBSTER: _The White Devil_. + + +Lights streamed through the chancel window as the sexton entered the +churchyard, darkly defining all the ramified tracery of the noble Gothic +arch, and illumining the gorgeous dyes of its richly-stained glass, +profusely decorated with the armorial bearings of the founder of the +fane, and the many alliances of his descendants. The sheen of their +blazonry gleamed bright in the darkness, as if to herald to his last +home another of the line whose achievements it displayed. Glowing +colorings, checkered like rainbow tints, were shed upon the broken +leaves of the adjoining yew-trees, and upon the rounded grassy tombs. + +Opening the gate, as he looked in that direction, Peter became aware of +a dark figure, enveloped in a large black cloak, and covered with a +slouched hat, standing at some distance, between the window and the +tree, and so intervening as to receive the full influence of the stream +of radiance which served to dilate its almost superhuman stature. The +sexton stopped. The figure remained stationary. There was something +singular both in the costume and situation of the person. Peter's +curiosity was speedily aroused, and, familiar with every inch of the +churchyard, he determined to take the nearest cut, and to ascertain to +whom the mysterious cloak and hat belonged. Making his way over the +undulating graves, and instinctively rounding the headstones that +intercepted his path, he quickly drew near the object of his inquiry. +From the moveless posture it maintained, the figure appeared to be +unconscious of Peter's approach. To his eyes it seemed to expand as he +advanced. He was now almost close upon it, when his progress was +arrested by a violent grasp laid on his shoulder. He started, and +uttered an exclamation of alarm. At this moment a vivid flash of +lightning illumined the whole churchyard, and Peter then thought he +beheld, at some distance from him, two other figures, bearing upon their +shoulders a huge chest, or, it might be, a coffin. The garb of these +figures, so far as it could be discerned through the drenching rain, was +fantastical in the extreme. The foremost seemed to have a long white +beard descending to his girdle. Little leisure, however, was allowed +Peter for observation. The vision no sooner met his glance than it +disappeared, and nothing was seen but the glimmering tombstones--nothing +heard but the whistling wind and the heavily-descending shower. He +rubbed his eyes. The muffled figure had vanished, and not a trace could +be discovered of the mysterious coffin-bearers, if such they were. + +"What have I seen?" mentally ejaculated Peter: "is this sorcery or +treachery, or both? No body-snatchers would visit this place on a night +like this, when the whole neighborhood is aroused. Can it be a vision I +have seen? Pshaw! shall I juggle myself as I deceive these hinds? It was +no bearded demon that I beheld, but the gipsy patrico, Balthazar. I knew +him at once. But what meant that muffled figure; and whose arm could it +have been that griped my shoulder? Ha! what if Lady Rookwood should have +given orders for the removal of Susan's body? No, no; that cannot be. +Besides, I have the keys of the vault; and there are hundreds now in the +church who would permit no such desecration. I am perplexed to think +what it can mean. But I will to the vault." Saying which, he hastened to +the church porch, and after wringing the wet from his clothes, as a +water-dog might shake the moisture from his curly hide, and doffing his +broad felt hat, he entered the holy edifice. The interior seemed one +blaze of light to the sexton, in his sudden transition from outer +darkness. Some few persons were assembled, probably such as were engaged +in the preparations; but there was one group which immediately caught +his attention. + +Near the communion-table stood three persons, habited in deep mourning, +apparently occupied in examining the various monumental carvings that +enriched the walls. Peter's office led him to that part of the church. +About to descend into the vaults, to make the last preparations for the +reception of the dead, with lantern in hand, keys, and a crowbar, he +approached the party. Little attention was paid to the sexton's +proceedings, till the harsh grating of the lock attracted their notice. + +Peter started as he beheld the face of one of the three, and relaxing +his hold upon the key, the strong bolt shot back in the lock. There was +a whisper amongst the party. A light step was heard advancing towards +him; and ere the sexton could sufficiently recover his surprise, or +force open the door, a female figure stood by his side. + +The keen, inquiring stare which Peter bestowed upon the countenance of +the young lady so much abashed her, that she hesitated in her purpose of +addressing him, and hastily retired. + +"She here!" muttered Peter; "nay, then, I must no longer withhold the +dreaded secret from Luke, or Ranulph may, indeed, wrest his possessions +from him." + +Reinforced by her companions, an elderly lady and a tall, handsome man, +whose bearing and deportment bespoke him to be a soldier, the fair +stranger again ventured towards Peter. + +"You are the sexton," said she, addressing him in a voice sweet and +musical. + +"I am," returned Peter. It was harmony succeeded by dissonance. + +"You, perhaps, can tell us, then," said the elderly lady, "whether the +funeral is likely to take place to-night? We thought it possible that +the storm might altogether prevent it." + +"The storm is over, as nearly as maybe," replied Peter. "The body will +soon be on its way. I am but now arrived from the hall." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed the lady. "None of the family will be present, I +suppose. Who is the chief mourner?" + +"Young Sir Ranulph," answered the sexton. "There will be more of the +family than were expected." + +"Is Sir Ranulph returned?" asked the young lady, with great agitation of +manner. "I thought he was abroad--that he was not expected. Are you sure +you are rightly informed?" + +"I parted with him at the hall not ten minutes since," replied Peter. +"He returned from France to-night most unexpectedly." + +"Oh, mother!" exclaimed the younger lady, "that this should be--that I +should meet him here. Why did we come?--let us depart." + +"Impossible!" replied her mother; "the storm forbids it. This man's +information is so strange, I scarce can credit it. Are you sure you have +asserted the truth?" said she, addressing Peter. + +"I am not accustomed to be doubted," answered he. "Other things as +strange have happened at the hall." + +"What mean you?" asked the gentleman, noticing this last remark. + +"You would not need to ask the question of me, had you been there, +amongst the other guests," retorted Peter. "Odd things, I tell you, have +been done there this night, and stranger things may occur before the +morning." + +"You are insolent, sirrah! I comprehend you not." + +"Enough! I can comprehend _you_," replied Peter, significantly; "I know +the count of the mourners invited to this ceremonial, and I am aware +that there are three too many." + +"Know you this saucy knave, mother?" + +"I cannot call him to mind, though I fancy I have seen him before." + +"My recollection serves me better, lady," interposed Peter. "I remember +one who was once the proud heiress of Rookwood--ay, proud and beautiful. +Then the house was filled with her gallant suitors. Swords were crossed +for her. Hearts bled for her. Yet she favored none, until one hapless +hour. Sir Reginald Rookwood _had_ a daughter; Sir Reginald _lost_ a +daughter. Ha!--I see I am right. Well, he is dead and buried; and +Reginald, his son, is dead likewise; and Piers is on his road hither; +and you are the last, as in the course of nature you might have been the +first. And, now that they are all gone, you do rightly to bury your +grievances with them." + +"Silence, sirrah!" exclaimed the gentleman, "or I will beat your brains +out with your own spade." + +"No; let him speak, Vavasour," said the lady, with an expression of +anguish--"he has awakened thoughts of other days." + +"I have done," said Peter, "and must to work. Will you descend with me, +madam, into the sepulchre of your ancestry? All your family lie +within--ay, and the Lady Eleanor, your mother, amongst the number." + +Mrs. Mowbray signified her assent, and the party prepared to follow him. + +The sexton held the lantern so as to throw its light upon the steps as +they entered the gloomy receptacle of the departed. Eleanor half +repented having ventured within its dreary limits, so much did the +appearance of the yawning catacombs, surcharged with mortality, and, +above all, the ghostly figure of the grim knight, affect her with dread, +as she looked wistfully around. She required all the support her +brother's arm could afford her; nor was Mrs. Mowbray altogether unmoved. + +"And all the family are here interred, you say?" inquired the latter. + +"All," replied the sexton. + +"Where, then, lies Sir Reginald's younger brother?" + +"Who?" exclaimed Peter, starting. + +"Alan Rookwood." + +"What of him?" + +"Nothing of moment. But I thought you could, perhaps, inform me. He died +young." + +"He did," replied Peter, in an altered tone--"very young; but not before +he had lived to an old age of wretchedness. Do you know his story, +madam?" + +"I have heard it." + +"From your father's lips?" + +"From Sir Reginald Rookwood's--never. Call him not my father, sirrah; +even _here_ I will not have him named so to me." + +"Your pardon, madam," returned the sexton. "Great cruelty was shown to +the Lady Eleanor, and may well call forth implacable resentment in her +child; yet methinks the wrong he did his brother Alan was the foulest +stain with which Sir Reginald's black soul was dyed." + +"With what particular wrong dost thou charge Sir Reginald?" demanded +Major Mowbray. "What injury did he inflict upon his brother Alan?" + +"He wronged his brother's honor," replied the sexton; "he robbed him of +his wife, poisoned his existence, and hurried him to an untimely grave." + +Eleanor shudderingly held back during this horrible narration, the +hearing of which she would willingly have shunned, had it been possible. + +"Can this be true?" asked the major. + +"Too true, my son," replied Mrs. Mowbray, sorrowfully. + +"And where lies the unfortunate Alan?" asked Major Mowbray. + +"'Twixt two cross roads. Where else should the suicide lie?" + +Evading any further question, Peter hastily traversed the vault, +elevating the light so as to reveal the contents of each cell. One +circumstance filled him with surprise and dismay--he could nowhere +perceive the coffin of his daughter. In vain he peered into every +catacomb--they were apparently undisturbed; and, with much internal +marvelling and misgiving, Peter gave up the search. "That vision is now +explained," muttered he; "the body is removed, but by whom? Death! can I +doubt? It must be Lady Rookwood--who else can have any interest in its +removal. She has acted boldly. But she shall yet have reason to repent +her temerity." As he continued his search, his companions silently +followed. Suddenly he stopped, and, signifying that all was finished, +they not unwillingly quitted this abode of horror, leaving him behind +them. + +"It is a dreadful place," whispered Eleanor to her mother; "nor would I +have visited it, had I conceived anything of its horrors. And that +strange man! who or what is he?" + +"Ay, who is he?" repeated Major Mowbray. + +"I recollect him now," replied Mrs. Mowbray; "he is one who has ever +been connected with the family. He had a daughter, whose beauty was her +ruin: it is a sad tale; I cannot tell it now: you have heard enough of +misery and guilt: but that may account for his bitterness of speech. He +was a dependent upon my poor brother." + +"Poor man!" replied Eleanor; "if he has been unfortunate, I pity him. I +am sorry we have been into that dreadful place. I am very faint: and I +tremble more than ever at the thought of meeting Ranulph Rookwood again. +I can scarcely support myself--I am sure I shall not venture to look +upon him." + +"Had I dreamed of the likelihood of his attending the ceremony, rest +assured, dear Eleanor, we should not have been here: but I was informed +there was no possibility of his return. Compose yourself, my child. It +will be a trying time to both of us; but it is now inevitable." + +At this moment the bell began to toll. "The procession has started," +said Peter, as he passed the Mowbrays. "That bell announces the setting +out." + +"See yonder persons hurrying to the door," exclaimed Eleanor, with +eagerness, and trembling violently. "They are coming. Oh! I shall never +be able to go through with it, dear mother." + +Peter hastened to the church door, where he stationed himself, in +company with a host of others, equally curious. Flickering lights in the +distance, shining like stars through the trees, showed them that the +procession was collecting in front of the hall. The rain had now +entirely ceased; the thunder muttered from afar, and the lightning +seemed only to lick the moisture from the trees. The bell continued to +toll, and its loud booming awoke the drowsy echoes of the valley. On the +sudden, a solitary, startling concussion of thunder was heard; and +presently a man rushed down from the belfry, with the tidings that he +had seen a ball of fire fall from a cloud right over the hall. Every ear +was on the alert for the next sound; none was heard. It was the crisis +of the storm. Still the funeral procession advanced not. The strong +sheen of the torchlight was still visible from the bottom of the avenue, +now disappearing, now brightly glimmering, as if the bearers were +hurrying to and fro amongst the trees. It was evident that much +confusion prevailed, and that some misadventure had occurred. Each man +muttered to his neighbor, and few were there who had not in a measure +surmised the cause of the delay. At this juncture, a person without his +hat, breathless with haste and almost palsied with fright, rushed +through the midst of them and, stumbling over the threshold, fell +headlong into the church. + +"What's the matter, Master Plant? What has happened? Tell us! Tell us!" +exclaimed several voices simultaneously. + +"Lord have mercy upon us!" cried Plant, gasping for utterance, and not +attempting to raise himself. "It's horrible! dreadful! oh!--oh!" + +"What has happened?" inquired Peter, approaching the fallen man. + +"And dost _thou_ need to ask, Peter Bradley? thou, who foretold it all? +but I will not say what I think, though my tongue itches to tell thee +the truth. Be satisfied, thy wizard's lore has served thee right--he is +dead." + +"Who? Ranulph Rookwood? Has anything befallen him, or the prisoner, Luke +Bradley?" asked the sexton, with eagerness. + +A scream here burst forth from one who was standing behind the group; +and, in spite of the efforts of her mother to withhold her, Eleanor +Mowbray rushed forward. + +"Has aught happened to Sir Ranulph?" asked she. + +"Noa--noa--not to Sir Ranulph--he be with the body." + +"Heaven be thanked for that!" exclaimed Eleanor. And then, as if ashamed +of her own vehemence, and, it might seem, apparent indifference to +another's fate, she inquired who was hurt. + +"It be poor neighbor Toft, that be killed by a thunderbolt, ma'am," +replied Plant. + +Exclamations of horror burst from all around. + +No one was more surprised at this intelligence than the sexton. Like +many other seers, he had not, in all probability, calculated upon the +fulfilment of his predictions, and he now stared aghast at the extent of +his own foreknowledge. + +"I tell 'ee what, Master Peter," said Plant, shaking his bullet-head, +"it be well for thee thou didn't live in my grandfather's time, or +thou'dst ha' been ducked in a blanket; or may be burnt at the stake, +like Ridley and Latimer, as we read on--but however that may be, ye +shall hear how poor Toft's death came to pass, and nobody can tell 'ee +better nor I, seeing I were near to him, poor fellow, at the time. Well, +we thought as how the storm were all over--and had all got into order of +march, and were just beginning to step up the avenue, the coffin-bearers +pushing lustily along, and the torches shining grandly, when poor Simon +Toft, who could never travel well in liquor in his life, reeled to one +side, and staggering against the first huge lime-tree, sat himself down +beneath it--thou knowest the tree I mean." + +"The tree of fate," returned Peter. "I ought, methinks, to know it." + +"Well, I were just stepping aside to pick him up, when all at once there +comes such a crack of thunder, and, whizzing through the trees, flashed +a great globe of red fire, so bright and dazzlin', it nearly blinded me; +and when I opened my eyes, winkin' and waterin', I see'd that which +blinded me more even than the flash--that which had just afore been poor +Simon, but which was now a mass o' black smouldering ashes, clean +consumed and destroyed--his clothes rent to a thousand tatters--the +earth and stones tossed up, and scattered all about, and a great +splinter of the tree lying beside him." + +"Heaven's will be done!" said the sexton; "this is an awful judgment." + +"And Sathan cast down; for this is a spice o' his handiwork," muttered +Plant; adding, as he slunk away, "If ever Peter Bradley do come to the +blanket, dang me if I don't lend a helpin' hand." + + + + +_CHAPTER IV_ + +_THE FUNERAL_ + + How like a silent stream, shaded by night, + And gliding softly with our windy sighs, + Moves the whole frame of this solemnity! + Tears, sighs, and blacks, filling the simile! + Whilst I, the only murmur in this grove + Of death, thus hollowly break forth. + + _The Fatal Dowry._ + + +Word being given that the funeral train was fast approaching, the church +door was thrown open, and the assemblage divided in two lines, to allow +it admission. + +Meanwhile, a striking change had taken place, even in this brief period, +in the appearance of the night. The sky, heretofore curtained with +darkness, was now illumined by a serene, soft moon, which, floating in a +watery halo, tinged with silvery radiance the edges of a few ghostly +clouds that hurried along the deep and starlit skies. The suddenness of +the change could not fail to excite surprise and admiration, mingled +with regret that the procession had not been delayed until the present +time. + +Slowly and mournfully the train was seen to approach the churchyard, +winding, two by two, with melancholy step, around the corner of the +road. First came Dr. Small; then the mutes, with their sable panoply; +next, the torch-bearers; next, those who sustained the coffin, bending +beneath their ponderous burden, followed by Sir Ranulph and a long line +of attendants, all plainly to be distinguished by the flashing +torchlight. There was a slight halt at the gate, and the coffin changed +supporters. + +"Ill luck betide them!" ejaculated Peter; "could they find no other +place except that to halt at? Must Sir Piers be gatekeeper till next +Yule! No," added he, seeing what followed; "it will be poor Toft, after +all." + +Following close upon the coffin came a rude shell, containing, as Peter +rightly conjectured, the miserable remains of Simon Toft, who had met +his fate in the manner described by Plant. The bolt of death glanced +from the tree which it first struck, and reduced the unfortunate farmer +to a heap of dust. Universal consternation prevailed, and doubts were +entertained as to what course should be pursued. It was judged best by +Dr. Small to remove the remains at once to the charnel-house. Thus +"unanointed, unaneled, with all his imperfections on his head," was poor +Simon Toft, in one brief second, in the twinkling of an eye, plunged +from the height of festivity to the darkness of the grave, and so +horribly disfigured, that scarce a vestige of humanity was discernible +in the mutilated mass that remained of him. Truly may we be said to walk +in blindness, and amidst deep pitfalls. + +The churchyard was thronged by the mournful train. The long array of +dusky figures--the waving torchlight gleaming ruddily in the white +moonshine--now glistening upon the sombre habiliments of the bearers, +and on their shrouded load, now reflected upon the jagged branches of +the yew-trees, or falling upon the ivied buttresses of the ancient +church, constituted no unimpressive picture. Over all, like a lamp hung +in the still sky, shone the moon, shedding a soothing, spiritual lustre +over the scene. + +The organ broke into a solemn strain as the coffin was borne along the +mid-aisle--the mourners following, with reverent step, and slow. It was +deposited near the mouth of the vault, the whole assemblage circling +around it. Dr. Small proceeded with the performance of that magnificent +service appointed for the burial of the dead, in a tone as remarkable +for its sadness as for its force and fervor. There was a tear in every +eye--a cloud on every brow. + +Brightly illumined as was the whole building, there were still some +recesses which, owing to the intervention of heavy pillars, were thrown +into shade; and in one of these, supported by her mother and brother, +stood Eleanor, a weeping witness of the scene. She beheld the coffin +silently borne along; she saw one dark figure slowly following; she knew +those pale features--oh, how pale they were! A year had wrought a +fearful alteration; she could scarce credit what she beheld. He must, +indeed, have suffered--deeply suffered; and her heart told her that his +sorrows had been for her. + +Many a wistful look, besides, was directed to the principal figure in +this ceremonial, Ranulph Rookwood. He was a prey to unutterable anguish +of soul; his heart bled inwardly for the father he had lost. +Mechanically following the body down the aisle, he had taken his station +near it, gazing with confused vision upon the bystanders; had listened, +with a sad composure, to the expressive delivery of Small, until he +read--"_For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in +vain; he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them._" + +"Verily!" exclaimed a deep voice; and Ranulph, looking round, met the +eyes of Peter Bradley fixed full upon him. But it was evidently not the +sexton who had spoken. + +Small continued the service. He arrived at this verse: "_Thou hast set +our misdeeds before thee; and our secret sins in the light of thy +countenance._" + +"Even so!" exclaimed the voice; and as Ranulph raised his eyes in the +direction of the sound, he thought he saw a dark figure, muffled in a +cloak, disappear behind one of the pillars. He bestowed, however, at the +moment, little thought upon this incident. His heart melted within him; +and leaning his face upon his hand, he wept aloud. + +"Command yourself, I entreat of you, my dear Sir Ranulph," said Dr. +Small, as soon as the service was finished, "and suffer this melancholy +ceremonial to be completed." Saying which, he gently withdrew Ranulph +from his support, and the coffin was lowered into the vault. + +Ranulph remained for some time in the extremity of sorrow. When he in +part recovered, the crowd had dispersed, and few persons were remaining +within the church; yet near him stood three apparent loiterers. They +advanced towards him. An exclamation of surprise and joy burst from his +lips. + +"Eleanor!" + +"Ranulph!" + +"Is it possible? Do I indeed behold you, Eleanor?" + +No other word was spoken. They rushed into each other's arms. Oh! +sad--sad is the lover's parting--no pang so keen; but if life hath a +zest more exquisite than others--if felicity hath one drop more racy +than the rest in her honeyed cup, it is the happiness enjoyed in such a +union as the present. To say that he was as one raised from the depths +of misery by some angel comforter, were a feeble comparison of the +transport of Ranulph. To paint the thrilling delight of Eleanor--the +trembling tenderness--the fond abandonment which vanquished all her +maiden scruples, would be impossible. Reluctantly yielding--fearing, yet +complying, her lips were sealed in one long, loving kiss, the +sanctifying pledge of their tried affection. + +"Eleanor, dear Eleanor," exclaimed Ranulph, "though I hold you within my +arms--though each nerve within my frame assures me of your +presence--though I look into those eyes, which seem fraught with greater +endearment than ever I have known them wear--though I see and feel and +know all this, so sudden, so unlooked for is the happiness, that I could +almost doubt its reality. Say to what blessed circumstance I am indebted +for this unlooked-for happiness." + +"We are staying not far hence, with friends, dear Ranulph; and my +mother, hearing of Sir Piers Rookwood's death, and wishing to bury all +animosity with him, resolved to be present at the sad ceremony. We were +told you could not be here." + +"And would my presence have prevented your attendance, Eleanor?" + +"Not that, dear Ranulph; but----" + +"But what?" + +At this moment the advance of Mrs. Mowbray offered an interruption to +their further discourse. + +"My son and I appear to be secondary in your regards, Sir Ranulph," said +she, gravely. + +"_Sir_ Ranulph!" mentally echoed the young man. "What will _she_ think +when she knows that that title is not mine? I dread to tell her." He +then added aloud, with a melancholy smile, "I crave your pardon, madam; +the delight of a meeting so unexpected with your daughter must plead my +apology." + +"None is wanting, Sir Ranulph," said Major Mowbray. "I who have known +what separation from my sister is, can readily excuse your feelings. But +you look ill." + +"I have, indeed, experienced much mental anxiety," said Ranulph, looking +at Eleanor; "it is now past, and I would fain hope that a brighter day +is dawning." His heart answered, 'twas but a hope. + +"You were unlooked for here to-night, Sir Ranulph," said Mrs. Mowbray; +"by us, at least: we were told you were abroad." + +"You were rightly informed, madam," replied Ranulph. "I only arrived +this evening from Bordeaux." + +"I am glad you are returned. We are at present on a visit with your +neighbors, the Davenhams, at Braybrook, and trust we shall see you +there." + +"I will ride over to-morrow," replied Ranulph; "there is much on which I +would consult you all. I would have ventured to request the favor of +your company at Rookwood, had the occasion been other than the present." + +"And I would willingly have accepted your invitation," returned Mrs. +Mowbray; "I should like to see the old house once more. During your +father's lifetime I could not approach it. You are lord of broad lands, +Sir Ranulph--a goodly inheritance." + +"Madam!" + +"And a proud title, which you will grace well, I doubt not. The first, +the noblest of our house, was he from whom you derive your name. You are +the third Sir Ranulph; the first founded the house of Rookwood; the next +advanced it; 'tis for you to raise its glory to its height." + +"Alas! madam, I have no such thought." + +"Wherefore not? you are young, wealthy, powerful. With such domains as +those of Rookwood--with such a title as its lord can claim, naught +should be too high for your aspirations." + +"I aspire to nothing, madam, but your daughter's hand; and even that I +will not venture to solicit until you are acquainted with----" And he +hesitated. + +"With what?" asked Mrs. Mowbray, in surprise. + +"A singular, and to me most perplexing event has occurred to-night," +replied Ranulph, "which may materially affect my future fortunes." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Mowbray. "Does it relate to your mother?" + +"Excuse my answering the question now, madam," replied Ranulph; "you +shall know all to-morrow." + +"Ay, to-morrow, dear Ranulph," said Eleanor; "and whatever that morrow +may bring forth, it will bring happiness to me, if you are bearer of the +tidings." + +"I shall expect your coming with impatience," said Mrs. Mowbray. + +"And I," added Major Mowbray, who had listened thus far in silence, +"would offer you my services in any way you think they would be useful. +Command me as you think fitting." + +"I thank you heartily," returned Ranulph. "To-morrow you shall learn +all. Meanwhile, it shall be my business to investigate the truth or +falsehood of the statement I have heard, ere I report it to you. Till +then, farewell." + +As they issued from the church it was gray dawn. Mrs. Mowbray's carriage +stood at the door. The party entered it; and accompanied by Dr. Small, +whom he found within in the vestry, Ranulph walked towards the hall, +where a fresh surprise awaited him. + + + + +_CHAPTER V_ + +_THE CAPTIVE_ + + _Black Will._ Which is the place where we're to be concealed? + + _Green._ This inner room. + + _Black Will._ 'Tis well. The word is, "Now I take you." + + _Arden of Feversham._ + + +Guarded by the two young farmers who had displayed so much address in +seizing him, Luke, meanwhile, had been conveyed in safety to the small +chamber in the eastern wing, destined by Mr. Coates to be his place of +confinement for the night. The room, or rather closet, opening from +another room, was extremely well adapted for the purpose, having no +perceptible outlet; being defended, on either side, by thick partition +walls of the hardest oak, and at the extremity by the solid masonry of +the mansion. It was, in fact, a remnant of the building anterior to the +first Sir Ranulph's day; and the narrow limits of Luke's cell had been +erected long before the date of his earliest progenitor. Having seen +their prisoner safely bestowed, the room was carefully examined, every +board sounded, every crevice and corner peered into by the curious eye +of the little lawyer; and nothing being found insecure, the light was +removed, the door locked, the rustic constables dismissed, and a brace +of pistols having been loaded and laid on the table, Mr. Coates +pronounced himself thoroughly satisfied and quite comfortable. + +Comfortable! Titus heaved a sigh as he echoed the word. He felt anything +but comfortable. His heart was with the body all the while. He thought +of the splendor of the funeral, the torches, the illumined church, his +own dignified march down the aisle, and the effect he expected to +produce amongst the bewildered rustics. He thought of all these things, +and cursed Luke by all the saints in the calendar. The sight of the +musty old apartment, hung round with faded arras, which, as he said, +"smelt of nothing but rats and ghosts, and suchlike varmint," did not +serve to inspirit him; and the proper equilibrium of his temper was not +completely restored until the appearance of the butler, with all the +requisites for the manufacture of punch, afforded him some prospective +solace. + +"And what are they about now, Tim?" asked Titus. + +"All as jolly as can be," answered the domestic; "Dr. Small is just +about to pronounce the funeral 'ration." + +"Devil take it," ejaculated Titus, "there's another miss! Couldn't I +just slip out, and hear that?" + +"On no account," said Coates. "Consider, Sir Ranulph is there." + +"Well, well," rejoined Titus, heaving a deep sigh, and squeezing a +lemon; "are you sure this is _biling_ water, Tim? You know, I'm mighty +particular." + +"Perfectly aware of it, sir." + +"Ah, Tim, do you recollect the way I used to brew for poor Sir Piers, +with a bunch of red currants at the bottom of the glass? And then to +think that, after all, I should be left out of his funeral--it's the +height of barbarity. Tim, this rum of yours is poor stuff--there's no +punch worth the trouble of drinking, except whisky-punch. A glass of +right potheen, straw-color, peat-flavor, ten degrees over proof, would +be the only thing to drown my cares. Any such thing in the cellar? There +used to be an odd bottle or so, Tim--in the left bin, near the door." + +"I've a notion there be," returned Timothy. "I'll try the bin your +honor mentions, and if I can lay hands upon a bottle you shall have it, +you may depend." + +The butler departed, and Titus, emulating Mr. Coates, who had already +enveloped himself, like Juno at the approach of Ixion, in a cloud, +proceeded to light his pipe. + +Luke, meanwhile, had been left alone, without light. He had much to +meditate upon, and with naught to check the current of his thoughts, he +pensively revolved his present situation and future prospects. The +future was gloomy enough--the present fraught with danger. And now that +the fever of excitement was passed, he severely reproached himself for +his precipitancy. + +His mind, by degrees, assumed a more tranquil state; and, exhausted with +his great previous fatigue, he threw himself upon the floor of his +prison-house, and addressed himself to slumber. The noise he made +induced Coates to enter the room, which he did with a pistol in each +hand, followed by Titus with a pipe and candle; but finding all safe the +sentinels retired. + +"One may see, with half an eye, that you're not used to a feather-bed, +my friend," said Titus, as the door was locked. "By the powers, he's a +tall chap, anyhow--why his feet almost touch the door. I should say that +room was a matter of six feet long, Mr. Coates." + +"Exactly six feet, sir." + +"Well, that's a good guess. Hang that ugly rascal, Tim; he's never +brought the whisky. But I'll be even with him to-morrow. Couldn't you +just see to the prisoner for ten minutes, Mr. Coates?" + +"Not ten seconds. I shall report you, if you stir from your post." + +Here the door was opened, and Tim entered with the whisky. + +"Arrah! by my soul, Tim, and here you are at last--uncork it, man, and +give us a thimbleful--blob! there goes the stopper--here's a +glass"--smacking his lips--"whist, Tim, another drop--stuff like this +will never hurt a body. Mr. Coates, try it--no--I thought you'd be a man +of more taste." + +"I must limit you to a certain quantity," replied Coates, "or you will +not be fit to keep guard--another glass must be the extent of your +allowance." + +"Another glass! and do you think I'll submit to any such iniquitous +proposition?" + +"Beg pardon, gentlemen," said Tim, "but her ladyship desires me to tell +you both, that she trusts you will keep the strictest watch upon the +prisoner. I have the same message also from Sir Ranulph." + +"Do you hear that?" said Coates. + +"And what are they all about now, Tim?" groaned Titus. + +"Just starting, sir," returned Tim; "and, indeed, I must not lose my +time gossiping here, for I be wanted below. You must be pleased to take +care of yourselves, gentlemen, for an hour or so, for there will be only +a few women-kind left in the house. The storm's just over, and the men +are all lighting their torches. Oh, it's a grand sight!" And off set +Tim. + +"Bad luck to myself, anyhow," ejaculated Titus; "this is more than I can +bear--I've had enough of this watch and ward business--if the prisoner +stirs, shoot him, if you think proper--I'll be back in an hour." + +"I tell you what, Mr. Tyrconnel," said Coates, coolly taking up the +pistol from the table, "I'm a man of few words, but those few are, I +hope, to the purpose, and I'd have you to know if you stir from that +chair, or attempt to leave the room, damme but I'll send a brace of +bullets after you. I'm serious, I assure you." And he cocked the pistol. + +By way of reply to this menace, Titus deliberately filled a stiff glass +of whisky-and-water. + +"That's your last glass," said the inexorable Coates. + +To return once more to Luke. He slept uneasily for some short space, +and was awakened by a sound which reached his dreaming ears and +connected itself with the visions that slumber was weaving around him. +It was some moments before he could distinctly remember where he was. He +would not venture to sleep again, though he felt overwhelmed by +drowsiness--there was a fixed pain at his heart, as if circulation were +suspended. Changing his posture, he raised himself upon one arm; he then +became aware of a scratching noise, somewhat similar to the sound he had +heard in his dream, and perceived a light gleaming through a crevice in +the oaken partition. His attention was immediately arrested, and placing +his eye close to the chink, he distinctly saw a dark lantern burning, +and by its light a man filing some implement of housebreaking. The light +fell before the hard features of the man, with whose countenance Luke +was familiar; and although only one person came within the scope of his +view, Luke could make out, from a muttered conversation that was carried +on, that he had a companion. The parties were near to him, and though +speaking in a low tone, Luke's quick ear caught the following: + +"What keeps Jack Palmer, I wonder?" said he of the file. "We're all +ready for the fakement--pops primed--and I tell you what, Rob Rust, I've +made my clasp-knife as sharp as a razor, and damme, if Lady Rookwood +offers any resistance, I'll spoil her talking in future, I promise you." + +Suppressed laughter from Rust followed this speech. That laugh made +Luke's blood run cold within his veins. + +"Harkee, Dick Wilder, you're a reg'lar out-and-outer, and stops at +nothing, and curse me if I'd think any more of it than yourself. But +Jack's as squeamish of bloodshed as young Miss that cries at her cut +finger. It's the safer plan. Say what you will, nothing but _that_ will +stop a woman's tongue." + +"I shall make short work with her ladyship to-night, anyhow. Hist! here +Jack comes." + +A footstep crossed in the room, and, presently afterwards, exclamations +of surprise and smothered laughter were heard from the parties. + +"Bravo, Jack! famous! that disguise would deceive the devil himself." + +"And now, my lads," said the newcomer, "is all right?" + +"Right and tight." + +"Nothing forgotten?" + +"Nothing." + +"Then off with your stamps, and on with your list slippers; not a word. +Follow me, and, for your lives, don't move a step but as I direct you. +The word must be, '_Sir Piers Rookwood calls_.' We'll overhaul the swag +here. This crack may make us all for life; and if you'll follow my +directions implicitly, we'll do the trick in style. This slum must be +our rendezvous when all's over; for hark ye, my lads, I'll not budge an +inch till Luke Bradley be set free. He's an old friend, and I always +stick by old friends. I'd do the same for one of you if you were in the +same scrape, so, damn you, no flinching; besides, I owe that +spider-shanked, snivelling split-cause Coates, who stands sentry, a +grudge, and I'll pay him off, as Paul did the Ephesians. You may crop +his ears, or slit his tongue as you would a magpie's, or any other +chattering varmint; make him sign his own testament, or treat him with a +touch of your _Habeas Corpus_ Act, if you think proper, or give him a +taste of blue plumb. One thing only I stipulate, that you don't hurt +that fat, mutton-headed Broganeer, whatever he may say or do; he's a +devilish good fellow. And now to business." + +Saying which, they noiselessly departed. But carefully as the door was +closed, Luke's ear could detect the sound. His blood boiled with +indignation; and he experienced what all must have felt who have been +similarly situated, with the will, but not the power, to assist +another--a sensation almost approaching to torture. At this moment a +distant scream burst upon his ears--another--he hesitated no longer. +With all his force he thundered at the door. + +"What do you want, rascal?" cried Coates, from without. + +"There are robbers in the house." + +"Thank you for the information. There is one I know of already." + +"Fool, they are in Lady Rookwood's room. Run to her assistance." + +"A likely story, and leave you here." + +"Do you hear that scream?" + +"Eh, what--what's that? I do hear something." Here Luke dashed with all +his force against the door. It yielded to the blow, and he stood before +the astonished attorney. + +"Advance a footstep, villain," exclaimed Coates, presenting both his +pistols, "and I lodge a brace of balls in your head." + +"Listen to me," said Luke; "the robbers are in Lady Rookwood's +chamber--they will plunder the place of everything--perhaps murder her. +Fly to her assistance, I will accompany you--assist you--it is your only +chance." + +"_My_ only chance--_your_ only chance. Do you take me for a greenhorn? +This is a poor subterfuge; could you not have vamped up something +better? Get back to your own room, or I shall make no more of shooting +you than I would of snuffing that candle." + +"Be advised, sir," continued Luke. "There are three of them--give me a +pistol, and fear nothing." + +"Give _you_ a pistol! Ha, ha!--to be its mark myself. You are an amusing +rascal, I will say." + +"Sir, I tell you not a moment is to be lost. Is life nothing? Lady +Rookwood may be murdered." + +"I tell _you_, once for all, it won't do. Go back to your room, or take +the consequences." + +"By the powers! but it shall do, anyhow," exclaimed Titus, flinging +himself upon the attorney, and holding both his arms; "you've bullied me +long enough. I'm sure the lad's in the right." + +Luke snatched the pistols from the hands of Coates. + +"Very well, Mr. Tyrconnel; very well, sir," cried the attorney, boiling +with wrath, and spluttering out his words. "Extremely well, sir. You are +not perhaps aware, sir, what you have done; but you will repent this, +sir--repent, I say--repent was my word, Mr. Tyrconnel." + +"Poh!--poh!" replied Titus. "I shall never repent a good-natured +action." + +"Follow me," cried Luke; "settle your disputes hereafter. Quick, or we +shall be too late." + +Coates bustled after him, and Titus, putting the neck of the forbidden +whisky bottle to his lips, and gulping down a hasty mouthful, snatched +up a rusty poker, and followed the party with more alacrity than might +have been expected from so portly a personage. + + + + +_CHAPTER VI_ + +_THE APPARITION_ + + _Gibbet._ Well, gentlemen, 'tis a fine night for our enterprise. + + _Hounslow._ Dark as hell. + + _Bagshot._ And blows like the devil. + + _Boniface._ You'll have no creature to deal with but the ladies. + + _Gibbet._ And I can assure you, friend, there's a great deal of + address, and good manners, in robbing a lady. I am the most of a + gentleman, that way, that ever travelled the road. + + _Beaux Stratagem._ + + +Accompanied by her son, Lady Rookwood, on quitting the chamber of the +dead, returned to her own room. She then renewed all her arguments; had +recourse to passionate supplications--to violent threats, but without +effect. Ranulph maintained profound silence. Passion, as it ever doth, +defeated its own ends; and Lady Rookwood, seeing the ill effect her +anger would probably produce, gradually softened the asperity of her +manner, and suffered him to depart. + +Left to herself, and to the communings of her own troubled spirit, her +fortitude, in a measure, forsook her, under the pressure of the +difficulties by which she was environed. There was no plan she could +devise--no scheme adopt, unattended with peril. She must act alone--with +promptitude and secrecy. To win her son over was her chief desire, and +that, at all hazards, she was resolved to do. But how? She knew of only +one point on which he was vulnerable--his love for Eleanor Mowbray. By +raising doubts in his mind, and placing fresh difficulties in his path, +she might compel him to acquiesce in her machinations, as a necessary +means of accomplishing his own object. This she hoped to effect. Still +there was a depth of resolution in the placid stream of Ranulph's +character which she had often noticed with apprehension. Aware of his +firmness, she dreaded lest his sense of justice should be stronger than +his passion. + +As she wove these webs of darkness, fear, hitherto unknown, took +possession of her soul. She listened to the howling of the wind--to the +vibration of the rafters--to the thunder's roar, and to the hissing +rain--till she, who never trembled at the thought of danger, became +filled with vague uneasiness. Lights were ordered; and when her old +attendant returned. Lady Rookwood fixed a look so wistful upon her, that +Agnes ventured to address her. + +"Bless you, my lady," said the ancient handmaiden, trembling, "you look +very pale, and no wonder. I feel sick at heart, too. Oh! I shall be glad +when they return from the church, and happier still when the morning +dawns. I can't sleep a wink--can't close my eyes, but I think of him." + +"Of _him_?" + +"Of Sir Piers, my lady; for though he's dead, I don't think he's gone." + +"How?" + +"Why, my lady, the corruptible part of him's gone, sure enough. But the +incorruptible, as Dr. Small calls it--the sperrit, my lady. It might be +my fancy, your ladyship; but as I'm standing here, when I went back into +the room just now for the lights, as I hope to live, I thought I saw Sir +Piers in the room." + +"You are crazed, Agnes." + +"No, my lady, I'm not crazed; it was mere fancy, no doubt. Oh, it's a +blessed thing to live with an easy conscience--a thrice blessed thing to +_die_ with an easy one, and that's what I never shall, I'm afeard. Poor +Sir Piers! I'd mumble a prayer for him, if I durst." + +"Leave me," said Lady Rookwood, impatiently. + +And Agnes quitted the room. + +"What if the dead can return?" thought Lady Rookwood. "All men doubt it, +yet all men believe it. _I_ would not believe it, were there not a +creeping horror that overmasters me, when I think of the state beyond +the grave--that intermediate state, for such it must be, when the body +lieth mouldering in the ground, and the soul survives, to wander, +unconfined, until the hour of doom. And doth the soul survive when +disenthralled? Is it dependent on the body? Does it perish with the +body? These are doubts I cannot resolve. But if I deemed there was no +future state, this hand should at once liberate me from my own +weaknesses--my fears--my life. There is but one path to acquire that +knowledge, which, once taken, can never be retraced. I am content to +live--while living, to be feared--it may be, hated; when dead, to be +contemned--yet still remembered. Ha! what sound was that? A stifled +scream! Agnes!--without there! She is full of fears. I am not free from +them myself, but I will shake them off. This will divert their channel," +continued she, drawing from her bosom the marriage certificate. "This +will arouse the torpid current of my blood--'_Piers Rookwood to Susan +Bradley_.' And by whom was it solemnized? The name is Checkley--Richard +Checkley. Ha! I bethink me--a Papist priest--a recusant--who was for +some time an inmate of the hall. I have heard of this man--he was +afterwards imprisoned, but escaped--he is either dead or in a foreign +land. No witnesses--'tis well! Methinks Sir Piers Rookwood did well to +preserve this. It shall light his funeral pyre. Would he could now +behold me, as I consume it!" + +She held the paper in the direction of the candle; but, ere it could +touch the flame, it dropped from her hand. As if her horrible wish had +been granted, before her stood the figure of her husband! Lady Rookwood +started not. No sign of trepidation or alarm, save the sudden stiffening +of her form, was betrayed. Her bosom ceased to palpitate--her +respiration stopped--her eyes were fixed upon the apparition. + +The figure appeared to regard her sternly. It was at some little +distance, within the shade cast by the lofty bedstead. Still she could +distinctly discern it. There was no ocular deception; it was attired in +the costume Sir Piers was wont to wear--a hunting dress. All that her +son had told her rushed to her recollection. The phantom advanced. Its +countenance was pale, and wore a gloomy frown. + +"What would you destroy?" demanded the apparition, in a hollow tone. + +"The evidence of----" + +"What?" + +"Your marriage." + +"With yourself, accursed woman?" + +"With Susan Bradley." + +"What's that I hear?" shouted the figure, in an altered tone. "Married +to her! then Luke _is_ legitimate, and heir to this estate!" Whereupon +the apparition rushed to the table, and laid a very substantial grasp +upon the document. "A marriage certificate!" ejaculated the spectre; +"here's a piece of luck! It ain't often in our lottery life we draw a +prize like this. One way or the other, it must turn up a few cool +thousands." + +"Restore that paper, villain," exclaimed Lady Rookwood, recovering all +the audacity natural to her character the instant she discovered the +earthly nature of the intruder--"restore it, or, by Heaven, you shall +rue your temerity." + +"Softly, softly," replied the pseudo-phantom, with one hand pushing back +the lady, while the other conveyed the precious document to the custody +of his nether man--"softly," said he, giving the buckskin pocket a +slap--"two words to that, my lady. I know its value as well as yourself, +and must make my market. The highest offer has me, your ladyship; he's +but a poor auctioneer that knocks down his ware when only one bidder is +present. Luke Bradley, or, as I find he now is, Sir Luke Rookwood, may +come down more handsomely." + +"Who are you, ruffian, and to what end is this masquerade assumed? If +for the purpose of terrifying me into compliance with the schemes of +that madman, Luke Bradley, whom I presume to be your confederate, your +labor is misspent--your stolen disguise has no more weight with me than +his forged claims." + +"Forged claims! Egad, he must be a clever hand to have forged that +certificate. Your ladyship, however, is in error. Sir Luke Rookwood is +no associate of mine; I am his late father's friend. But I have no time +to bandy talk. What money have you in the house? Be alive." + +"You _are_ a robber, then?" + +"Not I. I'm a tax-gatherer--a collector of Rich-Rates--ha, ha! What +plate have you got? Nay, don't be alarmed--take it quietly--these things +can't be helped--better make up your mind to do it without more +ado--much the best plan--no screaming, it may injure your lungs, and can +alarm nobody. Your maids have done as much before--it's beneath your +dignity to make so much noise. So, you will not heed me? As you will." +Saying which, he deliberately cut the bell-cord, and drew out a brace of +pistols at the same time. + +"Agnes!" shrieked Lady Rookwood, now seriously alarmed. + +"I must caution your ladyship to be silent," said the robber, who, as +our readers will no doubt have already conjectured, was no other than +the redoubted Jack Palmer. "Agnes is already disposed of," said he, +cocking a pistol. "However like your deceased 'lord and master' I may +appear, you will find you have got a very different spirit from that of +Sir Piers to deal with. I am naturally the politest man breathing--have +been accounted the best-bred man on the road by every lady whom I have +had the honor of addressing; and I should be sorry to sully my +well-earned reputation by anything like rudeness. I must use a little +force, of the gentlest kind. Perhaps you will permit me to hand you to a +chair. Bless me! what a wrist your ladyship has got. Excuse me if I hurt +you, but you are so devilish strong. What ho! 'Sir Piers Rookwood +calls--'" + +"Ready," cried a voice. + +"That's the word," rejoined another; "ready;" and immediately two men, +their features entirely hidden by a shroud of black crape, accoutred in +rough attire, and each armed with pistols, rushed into the room. + +"Lend a hand," said Jack. + +Even in this perilous extremity Lady Rookwood's courage did not desert +her. Anticipating their purpose, ere her assailants could reach her she +extricated herself from Palmer's grasp, and rushed upon the foremost so +unexpectedly, that, before the man could seize her, she snatched a +pistol from his hand, and presented it at the group with an aspect like +that of a tigress at bay--her eye wandering from one to the other, as if +selecting a mark. + +There was a pause of a few seconds, in which the men glanced at the +lady, and then at their leader. Jack looked blank. + +"Hem!" said he, coolly; "this is something new--disarmed--defied by a +petticoat. Hark ye, Rob Rust, the disgrace rests with you. Clear your +character, by securing her at once. What! afraid of a woman?" + +"A woman!" repeated Rust, in a surly tone; "devilish like a woman, +indeed. Few men could do what she has done. Give the word, and I fire. +As to seizing her, that's more than I'll engage to do." + +"You are a coward," cried Jack. "I will steer clear of blood--if I can +help it. Come, madam, surrender, like the more sensible part of your +sex, at discretion. You will find resistance of no avail." And he +stepped boldly towards her. + +Lady Rookwood pulled the trigger. The pistol flashed in the pan. She +flung away the useless weapon without a word. + +"Ha, ha!" said Jack, as he leisurely stooped to pick up the pistol, and +approached her ladyship; "the bullet is not yet cast that is to be my +billet. Here," said he, dealing Rust a heavy thump upon the shoulder +with the butt-end of the piece, "take back your snapper, and look you +prick the touchhole, or your barking-iron will never bite for you. And +now, madam, I must take the liberty of again handing you to a seat. Dick +Wilder, the cord--quick. It distresses me to proceed to such lengths +with your ladyship--but safe bind, safe find, as Mr. Coates would say." + +"You will not bind me, ruffian." + +"Your ladyship is very much mistaken--I have no alternative--your +ladyship's wrist is far too dexterous to be at liberty. I must +furthermore request of your ladyship to be less vociferous--you +interrupt business, which should be transacted with silence and +deliberation." + +Lady Rookwood's rage and vexation at this indignity were beyond all +bounds. Resistance, however, was useless, and she submitted in silence. +The cord was passed tightly round her arms, when it flashed upon her +recollection for the first time that Coates and Tyrconnel, who were in +charge of her captive in the lower corridor, might be summoned to her +assistance. This idea no sooner crossed her mind than she uttered a loud +and prolonged scream. + +"'Sdeath!" cried Jack; "civility is wasted here. Give me the gag, Rob." + +"Better slit her squeaking-pipe at once," replied Rust, drawing his +clasped knife; "she'll thwart everything." + +"The gag, I say, not _that_." + +"I can't find the gag," exclaimed Wilder, savagely. "Leave Rob Rust to +manage her--he'll silence her, I warrant you, while you and I rummage +the room." + +"Ay, leave her to me," said the other miscreant. "Go about your +business, and take no heed. Her hands are fast--she can't scratch. I'll +do it with a single gash--send her to join her lord, whom she loved so +well, before he's under ground. They'll have something to see when they +come home from the master's funeral--their mistress _cut and dry_ for +another. Ho, ho!" + +"Mercy, mercy!" shrieked Lady Rookwood. + +"Ay, ay, I'll be merciful," said Rust, brandishing his knife before her +eyes. "I'll not be long about it. Leave her to me--I'll give her a taste +of Sir Sydney." + +"No, no, Rust; no bloodshed," said Jack, authoritatively; "I'll find +some other way to gag the jade." + +At this moment a noise of rapid footsteps was heard within the passage. + +"Assistance comes," screamed Lady Rookwood. "Help! help!" + +"To the door!" cried Jack. The words were scarcely out of his mouth +before Luke dashed into the room, followed by Coates and Tyrconnel. + +Palmer and his companions levelled their pistols at the intruders, and +the latter would have fired, but Jack's keen eye having discerned Luke +amongst the foremost, checked further hostilities for the present. Lady +Rookwood, meanwhile, finding herself free from restraint, rushed towards +her deliverers, and crouched beneath Luke's protecting arms, which were +extended, pistol in hand, over her head. Behind them stood Titus +Tyrconnel, flourishing the poker, and Mr. Coates, who, upon the sight of +so much warlike preparation, began somewhat to repent having rushed so +precipitately into the lion's den. + +"Luke Bradley!" exclaimed Palmer, stepping forward. + +"Luke Bradley!" echoed Lady Rookwood, recoiling and staring into his +face. + +"Fear nothing, madam," cried Luke. "I am here to assist you--I will +defend you with my life." + +"_You_ defend _me_!" exclaimed Lady Rookwood, doubtfully. + +"Even _I_," cried Luke, "strange as it may sound." + +"Holy powers protect me!" ejaculated Titus. "As I live, it is Sir Piers +himself." + +"Sir Piers!" echoed Coates, catching the infection of terror, as he +perceived Palmer more distinctly. "What! is the dead come to life again? +A ghost, a ghost!" + +"By my soul," cried Titus, "it's the first ghost I ever heard of that +committed a burglary in its own house, and on the night of the body's +burial, too. But who the devil are these? maybe they're ghosts +likewise." + +"They are," said Palmer, in a hollow tone, mimicking the voice of Sir +Piers, "attendant spirits. We are come for this woman; her time is out; +so no more palavering, Titus. Lend a hand to take her to the churchyard, +and be hanged to you." + +"Upon my conscience, Mr. Coates," cried Titus, "it's either the devil, +or Sir Piers. We'll be only in the way here. He's only just settling his +old scores with his lady. I thought it would come to this long ago. We'd +best beat a retreat." + +Jack took advantage of the momentary confusion created by this +incidental alarm at his disguise to direct Rust towards the door by +which the new comers had entered; and, this being accomplished, he burst +into a loud laugh. + +"What! not know me?" cried he--"not know your old friend with a new +face, Luke? Nor you, Titus? Nor you, who can see through a millstone, +lawyer Coates, don't you recognize----" + +"Jack Palmer, as I'm a sinner!" cried Titus. "Why, this beats Banaghan. +Arrah! Jack, honey, what does this mean? Is it yourself I see in such +company? You're not robbing in earnest?" + +"Indeed but I am, friend Titus," exclaimed Jack; "and _it is_ my own +self you see. I just took the liberty of borrowing Sir Piers's old +hunting-coat from the justice-room. You said my toggery wouldn't do for +the funeral. I'm no other than plain Jack Palmer, after all." + +"With half a dozen aliases at your back, I dare say," cried Coates. "_I_ +suspected you all along. All your praise of highwaymen was not lost upon +me. No, no; I _can_ see into a millstone, be it ever so thick." + +"Well," replied Jack, "I'm sorry to see you here, friend Titus. Keep +quiet, and you shall come to no harm. As to you, Luke Bradley, you have +anticipated my intention by half an hour; I meant to set you free. For +you, Mr. Coates, you may commit all future care of your affairs to your +executors, administrators, and assigns. You will have no further need to +trouble yourself with worldly concerns," added he, levelling a pistol at +the attorney, who, however, shielded himself, in an agony of +apprehension, behind Luke's person. "Stand aside, Luke." + +"I stir not," replied Luke. "I thank you for your good intention, and +will not injure you--that is, if you do not force me to do so. I am here +to defend her ladyship." + +"What's that you say?" returned Jack, in surprise--"_defend_ her +ladyship?" + +"With my life," replied Luke. "Let me counsel you to depart." + +"Are you mad? Defend her--Lady Rookwood--your enemy--who would hang you? +Tut, tut! Stand aside, I say, Luke Bradley, or look to yourself." + +"You had better consider well ere you proceed," said Luke. "You know me +of old. I have taken odds as great, and not come off the vanquished." + +"The odds are even," cried Titus, "if Mr. Coates will but show fight. +I'll stand by you to the last, my dear boy. You're the right son of your +father, though on the wrong side. Och! Jack Palmer, my jewel, no wonder +you resemble Dick Turpin." + +"You hear this?" cried Luke. + +"Hot-headed fool!" muttered Jack. + +"Why don't you shoot him on the spot?" said Wilder. + +"And mar my own chance," thought Jack. "No, that will never do; his life +is not to be thrown away. Be quiet," said he, in a whisper to Wilder; +"I've another card to play, which shall serve us better than all the +plunder here. No harm must come to that youngster; his life is worth +thousands to us." Then, turning to Luke, he continued, "I'm loth to hurt +you; yet what can I do? You must have the worst of it if we come to a +pitched battle. I therefore advise you, as a friend, to draw off your +forces. We are three to three, it is true; but two of _your_ party are +unarmed." + +"Unarmed!" interrupted Titus. "Devil burn me! this iron shillelah shall +convince you to the contrary, Jack, or any of your friends." + +"Make ready then, my lads," cried Palmer. + +"Stop a minute," exclaimed Coates. "This gets serious; it will end in +homicide--in murder. We shall all have our throats cut to a certainty; +and though these rascals will as certainly be hanged for it, that will +be poor satisfaction to the sufferers. Had we not better refer the +matter to arbitration?" + +"I'm for fighting it out," said Titus, whisking the poker round his head +like a flail in action. "My blood's up. Come on, Jack Palmer, I'm for +you." + +"I should vote for retreating," chattered the attorney, "if that cursed +fellow had not placed a _ne exeat_ at the door." + +"Give the word, captain," cried Rust, impatiently. + +"Ay, ay," echoed Wilder. + +"A skilful general always parleys," said Jack. "A word in your ear, +Luke, ere that be done which cannot be undone." + +"You mean me no treachery?" returned Luke. + +Jack made no answer, but uncocking his pistols, deposited them within +his pockets. + +"Shoot him as he advances," whispered Coates; "he is in your power now." + +"Scoundrel!" replied Luke, "do you think me as base as yourself?" + +"Hush, hush! for God's sake don't expose me," said Coates. + +Lady Rookwood had apparently listened to this singular conference with +sullen composure, though in reality she was racked with anxiety as to +its results; and, now apprehending that Palmer was about to make an +immediate disclosure to Luke, she accosted him as he passed her. + +"Unbind me!" cried she, "and what you wish shall be +yours--money--jewels----" + +"Ha! may I depend?" + +"I pledge my word." + +Palmer untied the cord, and Lady Rookwood, approaching a table whereon +stood the escritoire, touched a spring, and a secret drawer flew open. + +"You do this of your own free will?" asked Luke. "Speak, if it be +otherwise." + +"I do," returned the lady, hastily. + +Palmer's eyes glistened at the treasures exposed to his view. + +"They are jewels of countless price. Take them, and rid me," she added +in a whisper, "of _him_." + +"Luke Bradley?" + +"Ay." + +"Give them to me." + +"They are yours freely on those terms." + +"You hear that, Luke," cried he, aloud; "you hear it, Titus; this is no +robbery. Mr. Coates--'Know all men by these _presents_'--I call you to +witness, Lady Rookwood gives me these pretty things." + +"I do," returned she; adding, in a whisper, "on the terms which I +proposed." + +"Must it be done at once?" + +"Without an instant's delay." + +"Before your own eyes?" + +"I fear not to look on. Each moment is precious. He is off his guard +now. You do it, you know, in self-defence." + +"And you?" + +"For the same cause." + +"Yet he came here to aid you?" + +"What of that?" + +"He would have risked his life for yours?" + +"I cannot pay back the obligation. He must die!" + +"The document?" + +"Will be useless then." + +"Will not that suffice; why aim at life?" + +"You trifle with me. You fear to do it." + +"_Fear!_" + +"About it, then; you shall have more gold." + +"I will about it," cried Jack, throwing the casket to Wilder, and +seizing Lady Rookwood's hands. "I am no Italian bravo, madam--no +assassin--no remorseless cut-throat. What are you--devil or woman--who +ask me to do this? Luke Bradley, I say." + +"Would you betray me?" cried Lady Rookwood. + +"You have betrayed yourself, madam. Nay, nay, Luke, hands off. See, Lady +Rookwood, how you would treat a friend. This strange fellow would blow +out my brains for laying a finger upon your ladyship." + +"I will suffer no injury to be done to her," said Luke; "release her." + +"Your ladyship hears him," said Jack. "And you, Luke, shall learn the +value set upon your generosity. You will not have _her_ injured. This +instant she has proposed, nay, paid for _your_ assassination." + +"How?" exclaimed Luke, recoiling. + +"A lie, as black as hell," cried Lady Rookwood. + +"A truth, as clear as heaven," retained Jack. "I will speedily convince +you of the fact." Then, turning to Lady Rookwood, he whispered, "Shall I +give him the marriage document?" + +"Beware!" said Lady Rookwood. + +"Do I avouch the truth, then?" + +She was silent. + +"I am answered," said Luke. + +"Then leave her to her fate," cried Jack. + +"No," replied Luke; "she is still a woman, and I will not abandon her to +ruffianly violence. Set her free." + +"You are a fool," said Jack. + +"Hurrah, hurrah!" vociferated Coates, who had rushed to the window. +"Rescue, rescue! they are returning from the church; I see the +torchlight in the avenue; we are saved!" + +"Hell and the devil!" cried Jack; "not an instant is to be lost. Alive, +lads; bring off all the plunder you can; be handy!" + +"Lady Rookwood, I bid you farewell," said Luke, in a tone in which scorn +and sorrow were blended. "We shall meet again." + +"We have not parted yet," returned she; "will you let this man pass? A +thousand pounds for his life." + +"Upon the nail?" asked Rust. + +"By the living God, if any of you attempt to touch him, I will blow his +brains out upon the spot, be he friend or foe," cried Jack. "Luke +Bradley, _we_ shall meet again. You shall hear from me." + +"Lady Rookwood," said Luke, as he departed, "I shall not forget this +night." + +"Is all ready?" asked Palmer of his comrades. + +"All." + +"Then budge." + +"Stay!" cried Lady Rookwood, in a whisper to him. "What will purchase +that document?" + +"Hem!" + +"A thousand pounds?" + +"Double it." + +"It _shall_ be doubled." + +"I will turn it over." + +"Resolve me now." + +"You shall hear from me." + +"In what manner?" + +"I will find speedy means." + +"Your name is Palmer?" + +"Palmer is the name he goes by, your ladyship," replied Coates, "but it +is the fashion with these rascals to have an alias." + +"Ha! ha!" said Jack, thrusting the ramrod into his pistol-barrel, "are +you there, Mr. Coates? Pay your wager, sir." + +"What wager?" + +"The hundred we bet that you would take me if ever you had the chance." + +"Take _you_!--it was Dick Turpin I betted to take." + +"_I_ am DICK TURPIN--that's my alias!" replied Jack. + +"Dick Turpin! then I'll have a snap at you at all hazards," cried +Coates, springing suddenly towards him. + +"And I at you," said Turpin, discharging his pistol right in the face of +the rash attorney; "there's a quittance in full." + + + + +_BOOK III_ + + +_THE GIPSY_ + + Lay a garland on my hearse + Of the dismal yew; + Maidens, willow branches bear, + Say I died true. + My love was false, but I was firm + From my hour of birth; + Upon my buried body lie + Lightly, gentle earth. + + BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. + + + + +_CHAPTER I_ + +_A MORNING RIDE_ + + I had a sister, who among the race + Of gipsies was the fairest. Fair she was + In gentle blood, and gesture to her beauty. + + BROME. + + +On quitting Lady Rookwood's chamber, Luke speeded along the gloomy +corridor, descended the spiral stairs, and, swiftly traversing sundry +other dark passages, issued from a door at the back of the house. Day +was just beginning to break. His first object had been to furnish +himself with means to expedite his flight; and, perceiving no one in the +yard, he directed his hasty steps towards the stable. The door was +fortunately unfastened; and, entering, he found a strong roan horse, +which he knew, from description, had been his father's favorite hunter, +and to the use of which he now considered himself fully entitled. The +animal roused himself as he approached, shook his glossy coat, and +neighed, as if he recognized the footsteps and voice. + +"Thou art mistaken, old fellow," said Luke; "I am not he thou thinkest; +nevertheless, I am glad thy instinct would have it so. If thou bearest +my father's son as thou hast borne thy old master, o'er many a field for +many a day, he need not fear the best mounted of his pursuers. Soho! +come hither, Rook." + +The noble steed turned at the call. Luke hastily saddled him, vaulted +upon his back, and, disregarding every impediment in the shape of fence +or ditch, shaped his course across the field towards the sexton's +cottage, which he reached just as its owner was in the act of unlocking +his door. Peter testified his delight and surprise at the escape of his +grandson, by a greeting of chuckling laughter. + +"How?--escaped!" exclaimed he. "Who has delivered you from the hands of +the Moabites? Ha, ha! But why do I ask? Who could it have been but Jack +Palmer?" + +"My own hands have set me free," returned Luke. "I am indebted to no man +for liberty; still less to _him_. But I cannot tarry here; each moment +is precious. I came to request you to accompany me to the gipsy +encampment. Will you go, or not?" + +"And mount behind you?" replied Peter; "I like not the manner of +conveyance." + +"Farewell, then." And Luke turned to depart. + +"Stay; that is Sir Piers's horse, old Rook. I care not if I do ride +him." + +"Quick, then; mount." + +"I will not delay you a moment," rejoined the sexton, opening his door, +and throwing his implements into the cottage. "Back, Mole; back, sir," +cried he, as the dog rushed out to greet him. "Bring your steed nigh +this stone, grandson Luke--there--a little nearer--all's right." And +away they galloped. + +The sexton's first inquiries were directed to ascertain how Luke had +accomplished his escape; and, having satisfied himself in this +particular, he was content to remain silent; musing, it might be, on the +incidents detailed to him. + +The road Luke chose was a rough, unfrequented lane, that skirted, for +nearly a mile, the moss-grown palings of the park. It then diverged to +the right, and seemed to bear towards a range of hills rising in the +distance. High hedges impeded the view on either hand; but there were +occasional gaps, affording glimpses of the tract of country through +which he was riding. Meadows were seen steaming with heavy dews, +intersected by a deep channelled stream, whose course was marked by a +hanging cloud of vapor, as well as by a row of melancholy +pollard-willows, that stood like stripped, shivering urchins by the +river side. Other fields succeeded, yellow with golden grain, or bright +with flowering clover--the autumnal crop--colored with every shade, from +the light green of the turnip to the darker verdure of the bean, the +various products of the teeming land. The whole was backed by round +drowsy masses of trees. + +Luke spoke not, nor abated his furious course, till the road began to +climb a steep ascent. He then drew in the rein, and from the heights of +the acclivity surveyed the plain over which he had passed. + +It was a rich agricultural district, with little picturesque beauty, but +much of true English endearing loveliness to recommend it. Such a quiet, +pleasing landscape, in short, as one views, at such a season of the +year, from every eminence in every county of our merry isle. The picture +was made up of a tract of land filled with corn ripe for the sickle, or +studded with sheaves of the same golden produce, enlivened with green +meadows, so deeply luxuriant as to claim the scythe for the second time; +each divided from the other by thick hedgerows, the uniformity of which +was broken ever and anon by some towering elm, tall poplar, or +wide-branching oak. Many old farmhouses, with their broad barns and +crowded haystacks--forming little villages in themselves--ornamented the +landscape at different points, and by their substantial look evidenced +the fertility of the soil, and the thriving condition of its +inhabitants. Some three miles distant might be seen the scattered hamlet +of Rookwood; the dark russet thatch of its houses scarcely perceptible +amidst the embrowned foliage of the surrounding timber. The site of the +village was, however, pointed out by the square tower of the antique +church, that crested the summit of the adjoining hill; and although the +hall was entirely hidden from view, Luke readily traced out its locality +amidst the depths of the dark grove in which it was embosomed. + +This goodly prospect had other claims to attention in Luke's eyes +besides its agricultural or pictorial merit. It was, or he deemed it +was, his own. Far as his eye ranged, yea, even beyond the line of +vision, the estates of Rookwood extended. + +"Do you see that house below us in the valley?" asked Peter of his +companion. + +"I do," replied Luke; "a snug old house--a model of a farm. Everything +looks comfortable and well to do about it. There are a dozen lusty +haystacks, or thereabouts; and the great barn, with its roof yellowed +like gold, looks built for a granary; and there are stables, +kine-houses, orchards, dovecots, and fishponds, and an old circular +garden, with wall-fruit in abundance. He should be a happy man, and a +wealthy one, who dwells therein." + +"He dwells therein no longer," returned Peter; "he died last night." + +"How know you that? None are stirring in the house as yet." + +"The owner of that house, Simon Toft," replied Peter, "was last night +struck by a thunderbolt. He was one of the coffin-bearers at your +father's funeral. They are sleeping within the house, you say. 'Tis +well. Let them sleep on--they will awaken too soon, wake when they +may--ha, ha!" + +"Peace!" cried Luke; "you blight everything--even this smiling landscape +you would turn to gloom. Does not this morn awaken a happier train of +thoughts within your mind? With me it makes amends for want of sleep, +effaces resentment, and banishes every black misgiving. 'Tis a joyous +thing thus to scour the country at earliest dawn; to catch all the +spirit and freshness of the morning; to be abroad before the lazy world +is half awake; to make the most of a brief existence; and to have spent +a day of keen enjoyment, almost before the day begins with some. I like +to anticipate the rising of the glorious luminary; to watch every line +of light changing, as at this moment, from shuddering gray to blushing +rose! See how the heavens are dyed! Who would exchange yon gorgeous +spectacle," continued he, pointing towards the east, and again urging +his horse to full speed down the hill, endangering the sexton's seat, +and threatening to impale him upon the crupper of the saddle--"who would +exchange that sight, and the exhilarating feeling of this fresh morn, +for a couch of eiderdown, and a headache in reversion?" + +"I for one," returned the sexton, sharply, "would willingly exchange it +for that, or any other couch, provided it rid me of this accursed +crupper, which galls me sorely. Moderate your pace, grandson Luke, or I +must throw myself off the horse in self-defence." + +Luke slackened his charger's pace, in compliance with the sexton's wish. + +"Ah! well," continued Peter, restored in a measure to comfort; "now I +can contemplate the sunrise, which you laud, somewhat at mine ease. 'Tis +a fine sight, I doubt not, to the eyes of youth; and, to the sanguine +soul of him upon whom life itself is dawning, is, I dare say, +inspiriting: but when the heyday of existence is past; when the blood +flows sluggishly in the veins; when one has known the desolating storms +which the brightest sunrise has preceded, the seared heart refuses to +trust its false glitter; and, like the experienced sailor, sees oft in +the brightest skies a forecast of the tempest. To such a one, there can +be no new dawn of the heart; no sun can gild its cold and cheerless +horizon; no breeze can revive pulses that have long since ceased to +throb with any chance emotion. I am too old to feel freshness in this +nipping air. It chills me more than the damps of night, to which I am +accustomed. Night--midnight! is my season of delight. Nature is instinct +then with secrets dark and dread. There is a language which he who +sleepeth not, but will wake, and watch, may haply learn. Strange organs +of speech hath the invisible world; strange language doth it talk; +strange communion hold with him who would pry into its mysteries. It +talks by bat and owl--by the grave-worm, and by each crawling thing--by +the dust of graves, as well as by those that rot therein--but ever doth +it discourse by night, and specially when the moon is at the full. 'Tis +the lore I have then learned that makes that season dear to me. Like +your cat, mine eye expands in darkness. I blink at the sunshine, like +your owl." + +"Cease this forbidding strain," returned Luke; "it sounds as harshly as +your own screech-owl's cry. Let your thoughts take a more sprightly +turn, more in unison with my own and the fair aspect of nature." + +"Shall I direct them to the gipsies' camp, then?" said Peter, with a +sneer. "Do your own thoughts tend thither?" + +"You are not altogether in the wrong," replied Luke. "I _was_ thinking +of the gipsies' camp, and of one who dwells amongst its tents." + +"I knew it," replied Peter. "Did you hope to deceive me by attributing +all your joyousness of heart to the dawn? Your thoughts have been +wandering all this while upon one who hath, I will engage, a pair of +sloe-black eyes, an olive skin, and yet withal a clear one--'black, yet +comely, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon'--a mesh of +jetty hair, that hath entangled you in its network--ripe lips, and a +cunning tongue--one of the plagues of Egypt.--Ha, ha!" + +"You have guessed shrewdly," replied Luke; "I care not to own that my +thoughts were so occupied." + +"I was assured of it," replied the sexton. "And what may be the name of +her towards whom your imagination was straying?" + +"Sibila Perez," replied Luke. "Her father was a Spanish Gitano. She is +known amongst her people by her mother's name of Lovel." + +"She is beautiful, of course?" + +"Ay, very beautiful!--but no matter! You shall judge of her charms +anon." + +"I will take your word for them," returned the sexton; "and you love +her?" + +"Passionately." + +"You are not married?" asked Peter, hastily. + +"Not as yet," replied Luke; "but my faith is plighted." + +"Heaven be praised! The mischief is not then irreparable. I would have +you married--though not to a gipsy girl." + +"And whom would you select?" + +"One before whom Sybil's beauty would pale as stars at day's approach." + +"There lives not such a one." + +"Trust me there does. Eleanor Mowbray is lovely beyond parallel. I was +merely speculating upon a possibility when I wished her yours--it is +scarcely likely she would cast her eyes upon you." + +"I shall not heed her neglect. Graced with my title, I doubt not, were +it my pleasure to seek a bride amongst those of gentle blood, I should +not find all indifferent to my suit." + +"Possibly not. Yet what might weigh with others, would not weigh with +her. There are qualities you lack which she has discovered in another." + +"In whom?" + +"In Ranulph Rookwood." + +"Is _he_ her suitor?" + +"I have reason to think so." + +"And you would have me abandon my own betrothed love, to beguile from my +brother his destined bride? That were to imitate the conduct of my +grandsire, the terrible Sir Reginald, towards _his_ brother Alan." + +The sexton answered not, and Luke fancied he could perceive a quivering +in the hands that grasped his body for support. There was a brief pause +in their conversation. + +"And who is Eleanor Mowbray?" asked Luke, breaking the silence. + +"Your cousin. On the mother's side a Rookwood. 'Tis therefore I would +urge your union with her. There is a prophecy relating to your house, +which seems as though it would be fulfilled in your person and in hers: + + When the stray Rook shall perch on the topmost bough, + There shall be clamor and screaming, I trow; + But of right, and of rule, of the ancient nest, + The Rook that with Rook mates shall hold him possest." + +"I place no faith in such fantasies," replied Luke; "and yet the lines +bear strangely upon my present situation." + +"Their application to yourself and Eleanor Mowbray is unquestionable," +replied the sexton. + +"It would seem so, indeed," rejoined Luke; and he again sank into +abstraction, from which the sexton did not care to arouse him. + +The aspect of the country had materially changed since their descent of +the hill. In place of the richly-cultivated district which lay on the +other side, a broad brown tract of waste land spread out before them, +covered with scattered patches of gorse, stunted fern, and low +brushwood, presenting an unvaried surface of unbaked turf. The shallow +coat of sod was manifested by the stones that clattered under the +horse's hoofs as he rapidly traversed the arid soil, clearing with ease +to himself, though not without discomfort to the sexton, every gravelly +trench, natural chasm, or other inequality of ground that occurred in +his course. Clinging to his grandson with the tenacity of a bird of +prey, Peter for some time kept his station in security; but, unluckily, +at one dike rather wider than the rest, the horse, owing possibly to the +mismanagement, intentional or otherwise, of Luke, swerved; and the +sexton, dislodged from his "high estate," fell at the edge of the +trench, and rolled incontinently to the bottom. + +Luke drew in the rein to inquire if any bones were broken; and Peter +presently upreared his dusty person from the abyss, and without +condescending to make any reply, yet muttering curses, "not loud, but +deep," accepted his grandson's proffered hand, and remounted. + +While thus occupied, Luke fancied he heard a distant shout, and noting +whence the sound proceeded--the same quarter by which he had approached +the heath--he beheld a single horseman spurring in their direction at +the top of his speed; and to judge from the rate at which he advanced, +it was evident he was anything but indifferently mounted. Apprehensive +of pursuit, Luke expedited the sexton's ascent; and that accomplished, +without bestowing further regard upon the object of his solicitude, he +resumed his headlong flight. He now thought it necessary to bestow more +attention on his choice of road, and, perfectly acquainted with the +heath, avoided all unnecessary hazardous passes. In spite of his +knowledge of the ground, and the excellence of his horse, the stranger +sensibly gained upon him. The danger, however, was no longer imminent. + +"We are safe," cried Luke; "the limits of Hardchase are past. In a few +seconds we shall enter Davenham Wood. I will turn the horse loose, and +we will betake ourselves to flight amongst the trees. I will show you a +place of concealment. He cannot follow us on horseback, and on foot I +defy him." + +"Stay," cried the sexton. "He is not in pursuit--he takes another +course--he wheels to the right. By Heaven! it is the Fiend himself upon +a black horse, come for Bow-legged Ben. See, he is there already." + +The horseman had turned, as the sexton stated, careering towards a +revolting object at some little distance on the right hand. It was a +gibbet, with its grisly burden. He rode swiftly towards it, and, reining +in his horse, took off his hat, bowing profoundly to the carcase that +swung in the morning breeze. Just at that moment a gust of air catching +the fleshless skeleton, its arms seemed to be waved in reply to the +salutation. A solitary crow winged its flight over the horseman's head +as he paused. After a moment's halt, he wheeled about, and again shouted +to Luke, waving his hat. + +"As I live," said the latter, "it is Jack Palmer." + +"Dick Turpin, you mean," rejoined the sexton. "He has been paying his +respects to a brother blade. Ha, ha! Dick will never have the honor of a +gibbet; he is too tender of the knife. Did you mark the crow? But here +he comes." And in another instant Turpin was by their side. + + + + +_CHAPTER II_ + +_A GIPSY ENCAMPMENT_ + + I see a column of slow-rising smoke + O'ertop the lofty wood, that skirts the wild. + + COWPER: _The Task_. + + +"The top of the morning to you, gem'men," said Turpin, as he rode up at +an easy canter. "Did you not hear my halloo? I caught a glimpse of you +on the hill yonder. I knew you both, two miles off; and so, having a +word or two to say to you, Luke Bradley, before I leave this part of the +country, I put Bess to it, and she soon brought me within hail. Bless +her black skin," added he, affectionately patting his horse's neck, +"there's not her match in these parts, or in any other; she wants no +coaxing to do her work--no bleeders for her. I should have been up with +you before this had I not taken a cross cut to look at poor Ben. + + One night, when mounted on my mare. + To Bagshot Heath I did repair, + And saw Will Davies hanging there, + Upon the gibbet bleak and bare, + _With a rustified, fustified, mustified air._ + +Excuse my singing. The sight of a gibbet always puts me in mind of the +Golden Farmer. May I ask whither you are bound, comrades?" + +"Comrades!" whispered the sexton to Luke; "you see _he_ does not so +easily forget his old friends." + +"I have business that will not admit of delay," rejoined Luke; "and to +speak plainly----" + +"You want not my society," returned Turpin; "I guessed as much. Natural +enough! You have got an inkling of your good fortune. You have found out +you are a rich man's heir, not a poor wench's bastard. No offence; I'm a +plain spoken man, as you will find, if you know it not already. I have +no objection to your playing these fine tricks on others, though it +won't answer your turn to do so with me." + +"Sir!" exclaimed Luke, sharply. + +"Sir to you," replied Turpin--"Sir Luke--as I suppose you would now +choose to be addressed. I am aware of all. A nod is as good as a wink to +me. Last night I learned the fact of Sir Piers's marriage from Lady +Rookwood--ay, from her ladyship. You stare--and old Peter, there, opens +his ogles now. She let it out by accident; and I am in possession of +what can alone substantiate your father's first marriage, and establish +your claims to the property." + +"The devil!" cried the sexton; adding, in a whisper to Luke, "You had +better not be precipitate in dropping so obliging an acquaintance." + +"You are jesting," said Luke to Turpin. + +"It is ill jesting before breakfast," returned Dick: "I am seldom in the +mood for a joke so early. What if a certain marriage certificate had +fallen into my hand?" + +"A marriage certificate!" echoed Luke and the sexton simultaneously. + +"The only existing proof of the union of Sir Piers Rookwood with Susan +Bradley," continued Turpin. "What if I had stumbled upon such a +document--nay more, if I knew where to direct you to it?" + +"Peace!" cried Luke to his tormentor; and then addressing Turpin, "if +what you say be true, my quest is at an end. All that I need, you appear +to possess. Other proofs are secondary to this. I know with whom I have +to deal. What do you demand for that certificate?" + +"We will talk about the matter after breakfast," said Turpin. "I wish to +treat with you as friend with friend. Meet me on those terms, and I am +your man; reject my offer, and I turn my mare's head, and ride back to +Rookwood. With me now rest all your hopes. I have dealt fairly with you, +and I expect to be fairly dealt with in return. It were idle to say, now +I have an opportunity, that I should not turn this luck to my account. I +were a fool to do otherwise. You cannot expect it. And then I have Rust +and Wilder to settle with. Though I have left them behind, they know my +destination. We have been old associates. I like your spirit--I care not +for your haughtiness; but I will not help you up the ladder to be kicked +down myself. Now you understand me. Whither are you bound?" + +"To Davenham Priory, the gipsy camp." + +"The gipsies are your friends?" + +"They are." + +"I am alone." + +"You are safe." + +"You pledge your word that all shall be on the square. You will not +mention to one of that canting crew what I have told you?" + +"With one exception, you may rely upon my secrecy." + +"Whom do you except?" + +"A woman." + +"Bad! never trust a petticoat." + +"I will answer for her with my life." + +"And for your granddad there?" + +"He will answer for himself," said Peter. "You need not fear treachery +in me. Honor among thieves, you know." + +"Or where else should you seek it?" rejoined Turpin; "for it has left +all other classes of society. Your highwayman is your only man of honor. +I will trust you both; and you shall find you may trust me. After +breakfast, as I said before, we will bring the matter to a conclusion. +Tip us your daddle, Sir Luke, and I am satisfied. You shall rule in +Rookwood, I'll engage, ere a week be flown; and then---- But so much +parleying is dull work; let's make the best of our way to breakfast." + +And away they cantered. + +A narrow bridle-road conducted them singly through the defiles of a +thick wood. Their route lay in the shade, and the air felt chilly amidst +the trees, the sun not having attained sufficient altitude to penetrate +its depths, while overhead all was warmth and light. Quivering on the +tops of the timber, the horizontal sunbeams created, in their +refraction, brilliant prismatic colorings, and filled the air with motes +like golden dust. Our horsemen heeded not the sunshine or the shade. +Occupied each with his own train of thought, they silently rode on. + +Davenham Wood, through which they urged their course, had, in the olden +time, been a forest of some extent. It was then an appendage to the +domains of Rookwood, but had passed from the hands of that family to +those of a wealthy adjoining landowner and lawyer, Sir Edward Davenham, +in the keeping of whose descendants it had ever after continued. A noble +wood it was, and numbered many patriarchal trees. Ancient oaks, with +broad, gnarled limbs, which the storms of five hundred years had vainly +striven to uproot, and which were now sternly decaying; gigantic beech +trees, with silvery stems shooting smoothly upwards, sustaining branches +of such size, that each, dissevered, would in itself have formed a tree, +populous with leaves, and variegated with rich autumnal tints; the +sprightly sycamore, the dark chestnut, the weird wych-elm, the majestic +elm itself, festooned with ivy, every variety of wood, dark, dense, and +intricate, composed the forest through which they rode; and so +multitudinous was the timber, so closely planted, so entirely filled up +with a thick, matted vegetation, which had been allowed to collect +beneath, that little view was afforded, had any been desired by the +parties, into the labyrinth of the grove. Tree after tree, clad in the +glowing livery of the season, was passed, and as rapidly succeeded by +others. Occasionally a bough projected over their path, compelling the +riders to incline their heads as they passed; but, heedless of such +difficulties, they pressed on. Now the road grew lighter, and they +became at once sensible of the genial influence of the sun. The +transition was as agreeable as instantaneous. They had opened upon an +extensive plantation of full-grown pines, whose tall, branchless stems +grew up like a forest of masts, and freely admitted the pleasant +sunshine. Beneath those trees, the soil was sandy and destitute of all +undergrowth, though covered with brown, hair-like fibres and dry cones, +shed by the pines. The agile squirrel, that freest denizen of the grove, +starting from the ground as the horsemen galloped on, sprang up the +nearest tree, and might be seen angrily gazing at the disturbers of his +haunts, beating the branches with his fore feet, in expression of +displeasure; the rabbit darted across their path; the jays flew +screaming amongst the foliage; the blue cushat, scared at the clatter of +the horses' hoofs, sped on swift wing into quarters secure from their +approach; while the parti-colored pies, like curious village gossips, +congregated to peer at the strangers, expressing their astonishment by +loud and continuous chattering. Though so gentle of ascent as to be +almost imperceptible, it was still evident that the path they were +pursuing gradually mounted a hill-side; and when at length they reached +an opening, the view disclosed the eminence they had insensibly won. +Pausing for a moment upon the brow of the hill, Luke pointed to a stream +that wound through the valley, and, tracing its course, indicated a +particular spot amongst the trees. There was no appearance of a +dwelling house--no cottage roof, no white canvas shed, to point out the +tents of the wandering tribe whose abode they were seeking. The only +circumstance betokening that it had once been the haunt of man were a +few gray monastic ruins, scarce distinguishable from the stony barrier +by which they were surrounded; and the sole evidence that it was still +frequented by human beings was a thin column of pale blue smoke, that +arose in curling wreaths from out the brake, the light-colored vapor +beautifully contrasting with the green umbrage whence it issued. + +"Our destination is yonder," exclaimed Luke, pointing in the direction +of the vapor. + +"I am glad to hear it," cried Turpin, "as well as to perceive there is +some one awake. That smoke holds out a prospect of breakfast. No smoke +without fire, as old Lady Scanmag said; and I'll wager a trifle that +fire was not lighted for the fayter fellows to count their fingers by. +We shall find three sticks, and a black pot with a kid seething in it, +I'll engage. These gipsies have picked out a prettyish spot to quarter +in--quite picturesque, as one may say--and but for that tell-tale smoke, +which looks for all the world like a Dutch skipper blowing his morning +cloud, no one need know of their vicinity. A pretty place, upon my +soul." + +The spot, in sooth, merited Turpin's eulogium. It was a little valley, +in the midst of wooded hills, so secluded, that not a single habitation +appeared in view. Clothed with timber to the very summits, excepting on +the side where the party stood, which verged upon the declivity, these +mountainous ridges presented a broken outline of foliage, variegated +with tinted masses of bright orange, timber, and deepest green. Four +hills hemmed in the valley. Here and there a gray slab of rock might be +discerned amongst the wood, and a mountain-ash figured conspicuously +upon a jutting crag immediately below them. Deep sunken in the ravine, +and concealed in part from view by the wild herbage and dwarf shrubs, +ran a range of precipitous rocks, severed, it would seem, by some +diluvial convulsion, from the opposite mountain side, as a corresponding +rift was there visible, in which the same dip of strata might be +observed, together with certain ribbed cavities, matching huge bolts of +rock which had once locked these stony walls together. Washing this +cliff, swept a clear stream, well known and well regarded, as it waxed +in width, by the honest brethren of the angle, who seldom, however, +tracked it to its rise amongst these hills. The stream found its way +into the valley through a chasm far to the left, and rushed thundering +down the mountain side in a boiling cascade. The valley was approached +in this direction from Rookwood by an unfrequented carriage-road, which +Luke had, from prudential reasons, avoided. All seemed consecrated to +silence--to solitude--to the hush of nature; yet this quiet scene was +the chosen retreat of lawless depredators, and had erstwhile been the +theatre of feudal oppression. We have said that no habitation was +visible; that no dwelling tenanted by man could be seen; but following +the spur of the furthest mountain hill, some traces of a stone wall +might be discovered; and upon a natural platform of rock stood a stern +square tower, which had once been the donjon of the castle, the lords of +which had called the four hills their own. A watch-tower then had +crowned each eminence, every vestige of which had, however, long since +disappeared. Sequestered in the vale stood the Priory before alluded +to--a Monastery of Gray Friars, of the Order of St. Francis--some of the +venerable walls of which were still remaining; and if they had not +reverted to the bat and the owl, as is wont to be the fate of such +sacred structures, their cloistered shrines were devoted to beings whose +natures partook, in some measure, of the instincts of those creatures of +the night--a people whose deeds were of darkness, and whose eyes shunned +the light. Here the gipsies had pitched their tent; and though the place +was often, in part, deserted by the vagrant horde, yet certain of the +tribe, who had grown into years--over whom Barbara Lovel held queenly +sway--made it their haunt, and were suffered by the authorities of the +neighborhood to remain unmolested--a lenient piece of policy, which, in +our infinite regard for the weal of the tawny tribe, we recommend to the +adoption of all other justices and knights of the shire. + +Bidding his grandsire have regard to his seat, Luke leaped a high bank; +and, followed by Turpin, began to descend the hill. Peter, however, took +care to provide for himself. The descent was so perilous, and the +footing so insecure, that he chose rather to trust to such conveyance as +nature had furnished him with, than to hazard his neck by any false step +of the horse. He contrived, therefore, to slide off from behind, shaping +his own course in a more secure direction. + +He who has wandered amidst the Alps must have often had occasion to +witness the wonderful surefootedness of that mountain pilot, the mule. +He must have remarked how, with tenacious hoof, he will claw the rock, +and drag himself from one impending fragment to another, with perfect +security to his rider; how he will breast the roaring currents of air, +and stand unshrinking at the verge of almost unfathomable ravines. But +it is not so with the horse: fleet on the plain, careful over rugged +ground, he is timid and uncertain on the hill-side, and the risk +incurred by Luke and Turpin, in their descent of the almost +perpendicular sides of the cliff, was tremendous. Peter watched them in +their descent with some admiration, and with much contempt. + +"He will break his neck, of a surety," said he; "but what matters it? As +well now as hereafter." + +So saying, he approached the verge of the precipice, where he could see +them more distinctly. + +The passage along which Luke rode had never before been traversed by +horse's hoof. Cut in the rock, it presented a steep zigzag path amongst +the cliffs, without any defence for the foot traveller, except such as +was afforded by a casual clinging shrub, and no protection whatever +existed for a horseman; the possibility of any one attempting the +passage not having, in all probability, entered into the calculation of +those who framed it. Added to this, the steps were of such unequal +heights, and withal so narrow, that the danger was proportionately +increased. + +"Ten thousand devils!" cried Turpin, staring downwards, "is this the +best road you have got?" + +"You will find one more easy," replied Luke, "if you ride for a quarter +of a mile down the wood, and then return by the brook side. You will +meet me at the priory." + +"No," answered the highwayman, boldly; "if you go, I go too. It shall +never be said that Dick Turpin was afraid to follow where another would +lead. Proceed." + +Luke gave his horse the bridle, and the animal slowly and steadily +commenced the descent, fixing his fore legs upon the steps, and drawing +his hinder limbs carefully after him. Here it was that the lightness and +steadiness of Turpin's mare was completely shown. No Alpine mule could +have borne its rider with more apparent ease and safety. Turpin +encouraged her by hand and word; but she needed it not. The sexton saw +them, and, tracking their giddy descent, he became more interested than +he anticipated. His attention was suddenly drawn towards Luke. + +"He is gone," cried Peter. "He falls--he sinks--my plans are all +defeated--the last link is snapped. No," added he, recovering his wonted +composure, "his end is not so fated." + +Rook had missed his footing. He rolled stumbling down the precipice a +few yards. Luke's fate seemed inevitable. His feet were entangled in the +stirrup, he could not free himself. A birch tree, growing in a chink of +the precipice, arrested his further fall. But for this timely aid all +had been over. Here Luke was enabled to extricate himself from the +stirrup and to regain his feet; seizing the bridle, he dragged his +faulty steed back again to the road. + +"You have had a narrow escape, by Jove," said Turpin, who had been +thunderstruck with the whole proceeding. "Those big cattle are always +clumsy; devilish lucky it's no worse." + +It was now comparatively smooth travelling; but they had not as yet +reached the valley, and it seemed to be Luke's object to take a +circuitous path. This was so evident that Turpin could not help +commenting upon it. + +Luke evaded the question. "The crag is steep there," said he; "besides, +to tell you the truth, I want to surprise them." + +"Ho, ho!" laughed Dick. "Surprise them, eh? What a pity the birch tree +was in the way; you would have done it properly then. Egad, here's +another surprise." + +Dick's last exclamation was caused by his having suddenly come upon a +wide gully in the rock, through which dashed a headlong torrent, crossed +by a single plank. + +"You must be mad to have taken this road," cried Turpin, gazing down +into the roaring depths in which the waterfall raged, and measuring the +distance of the pass with his eye. "So, so, Bess!--Ay, look at it, +wench. Curse me, Luke, if I think your horse will do it, and, therefore, +turn him loose." + +But Dick might as well have bidden the cataract to flow backwards. Luke +struck his heels into his horse's sides. The steed galloped to the +brink, snorted, and refused the leap. + +"I told you so--he can't do it," said Turpin. "Well, if you are +obstinate, a wilful man must have his way. Stand aside, while I try it +for you." Patting Bess, he put her to a gallop. She cleared the gulf +bravely, landing her rider safely upon the opposite rock. + +"Now then," cried Turpin, from the other side of the chasm. + +Luke again urged his steed. Encouraged by what he had seen, this time +the horse sprang across without hesitation. The next instant they were +in the valley. + +For some time they rode along the banks of the stream in silence. A +sound at length caught the quick ears of the highwayman. + +"Hist!" cried he; "some one sings. Do you hear it?" + +"I do," replied Luke, the blood rushing to his cheeks. + +"And could give a guess at the singer, no doubt," said Turpin, with a +knowing look. "Was it to hear yon woodlark that you nearly broke your +own neck, and put mine in jeopardy?" + +"Prithee be silent," whispered Luke. + +"I am dumb," replied Turpin; "I like a sweet voice as well as another." + +Clear as the note of a bird, yet melancholy as the distant dole of a +vesper-bell, arose the sound of that sweet voice from the wood. A +fragment of a Spanish gipsy song it warbled: Luke knew it well. Thus ran +the romance: + + LA GITANILLA + + By the Guadalquivir, + Ere the sun be flown, + By that glorious river + Sits a maid alone. + Like the sunset splendor + Of that current bright, + Shone her dark eyes tender + As its witching light. + Like the ripple flowing, + Tinged with purple sheen, + Darkly, richly glowing, + Is her warm cheek seen. + 'Tis the Gitanilla + By the stream doth linger, + In the hope that eve + Will her lover bring her. + + See, the sun is sinking; + All grows dim, and dies; + See, the waves are drinking + Glories of the skies. + Day's last lustre playeth + On that current dark; + Yet no speck betrayeth + His long looked-for bark. + 'Tis the hour of meeting! + Nay, the hour is past; + Swift the time is fleeting! + Fleeteth hope as fast. + Still the Gitanilla + By the stream doth linger, + In the hope that night + Will her lover bring her. + +The tender trembling of a guitar was heard in accompaniment of the +ravishing melodist. + +The song ceased. + +"Where is the bird?" asked Turpin. + +"Move on in silence, and you shall see," said Luke; and keeping upon the +turf, so that his horse's tread became inaudible, he presently arrived +at a spot where, through the boughs, the object of his investigation +could plainly be distinguished, though he himself was concealed from +view. + +Upon a platform of rock, rising to the height of the trees, nearly +perpendicularly from the river's bed, appeared the figure of the gipsy +maid. Her footstep rested on the extreme edge of the abrupt cliff, at +whose base the water boiled in a deep whirlpool, and the bounding +chamois could not have been more lightly poised. One small hand rested +upon her guitar, the other pressed her brow. Braided hair, of the +jettiest dye and sleekest texture, was twined around her brow in endless +twisted folds: + + Rowled it was in many a curious fret, + Much like a rich and curious coronet, + Upon whose arches twenty Cupids lay, + And were as tied, or loth to fly away.[24] + +And so exuberant was this rarest feminine ornament, that, after +encompassing her brow, it was passed behind, and hung down in long thick +plaits almost to her feet. Sparkling, as the sunbeams that played upon +her dark yet radiant features, were the large, black, Oriental eyes of +the maiden, and shaded with lashes long and silken. Hers was a Moorish +countenance, in which the magnificence of the eyes eclipses the face, be +it ever so beautiful--an effect to be observed in the angelic pictures +of Murillo,--and the lovely contour is scarcely noticed in the gaze +which those long, languid, luminous orbs attract. Sybil's features were +exquisite, yet you looked only at her eyes--they were the loadstars of +her countenance. Her costume was singular, and partook, like herself, of +other climes. Like the Andalusian dame, her choice of color inclined +towards black, as the material of most of her dress was of that sombre +hue. A bodice of embroidered velvet restrained her delicate bosom's +swell; a rich girdle, from which depended a silver chain, sustaining a +short poniard, bound her waist; around her slender throat was twined a +costly kerchief; and the rest of her dress was calculated to display her +slight, yet faultless, figure to the fullest advantage. + +Unconscious that she was the object of regard, she raised her guitar, +and essayed to touch the chords. She struck a few notes, and resumed her +romance: + + Swift that stream flows on, + Swift the night is wearing,-- + Yet she is not gone, + Though with heart despairing. + +Her song died away. Her hand was needed to brush off the tears that were +gathering in her large dark eyes. At once her attitude was changed. The +hare could not have started more suddenly from her form. She heard +accents well known concluding the melody: + + Dips an oar-plash--hark!-- + Gently on the river; + 'Tis her lover's bark. + On the Guadalquivir. + Hark! a song she hears! + Every note she snatches; + As the singer nears, + Her own name she catches. + Now the Gitanilla + Stays not by the water, + For the midnight hour + Hath her lover brought her. + +It was her lover's voice. She caught the sound at once, and, starting, +as the roe would arouse herself at the hunter's approach, bounded down +the crag, and ere he had finished the refrain, was by his side. + +Flinging the bridle to Turpin, Luke sprang to her, and caught her in his +arms. Disengaging herself from his ardent embrace, Sybil drew back, +abashed at the sight of the highwayman. + +"Heed him not," said Luke; "it is a friend." + +"He is welcome here then," replied Sybil. "But where have you tarried so +long, dear Luke?" continued she, as they walked to a little distance +from the highwayman. "What hath detained you? The hours have passed +wearily since you departed. You bring good news?" + +"Good news, my girl; so good, that I falter even in the telling of it. +You shall know all anon. And see, our friend yonder grows impatient. Are +there any stirring? We must bestow a meal upon him, and that forthwith: +he is one of those who brook not much delay." + +"I came not to spoil a love meeting," said Turpin, who had +good-humoredly witnessed the scene; "but, in sober seriousness, if there +is a stray capon to be met with in the land of Egypt, I shall be glad to +make his acquaintance. Methinks I scent a stew afar off." + +"Follow me," said Sybil; "your wants shall be supplied." + +"Stay," said Luke; "there is one other of our party whose coming we must +abide." + +"He is here," said Sybil, observing the sexton at a distance. "Who is +that old man?" + +"My grandsire, Peter Bradley." + +"Is that Peter Bradley?" asked Sybil. + +"Ay, you may well ask whether that old dried-up _otomy_, who ought to +grin in a glass case for folks to stare at, be kith and kin of such a +bang-up cove as your fancy man, Luke," said Turpin, laughing--"but i' +faith he is." + +"Though he is your grandsire, Luke," said Sybil, "I like him not. His +glance resembles that of the Evil Eye." + +And, in fact, the look which Peter fixed upon her was such as the +rattlesnake casts upon its victim, and Sybil felt like a poor fluttering +bird under the fascination of that venomous reptile. She could not +remove her eyes from his, though she trembled as she gazed. We have said +that Peter's orbs were like those of the toad. Age had not dimmed their +brilliancy. In his harsh features you could only read bitter scorn or +withering hate; but in his eyes resided a magnetic influence of +attraction or repulsion. Sybil underwent the former feeling in a +disagreeable degree. She was drawn to him as by the motion of a +whirlpool, and involuntarily clung to her lover. + +"It is the Evil Eye, dear Luke." + +"Tut, tut, dear Sybil; I tell you it is my grandsire." + +"The girl says rightly, however," rejoined Turpin; "Peter has a +confounded ugly look about the ogles, and stares enough to put a modest +wench out of countenance. Come, come, my old earthworm, crawl along, we +have waited for you long enough. Is this the first time you have seen a +pretty lass, eh?" + +"It is the first time I have seen one so beautiful," said Peter; "and I +crave her pardon if my freedom has offended her. I wonder not at your +enchantment, grandson Luke, now I behold the object of it. But there is +one piece of counsel I would give to this fair maid. The next time she +trusts you from her sight, I would advise her to await you at the +hill-top, otherwise the chances are shrewdly against your reaching the +ground with neck unbroken." + +There was something, notwithstanding the satirical manner in which Peter +delivered this speech, calculated to make a more favorable impression +upon Sybil than his previous conduct had inspired her with; and, having +ascertained from Luke to what his speech referred, she extended her hand +to him, yet not without a shudder, as it was enclosed in his skinny +grasp. It was like the fingers of Venus in the grasp of a skeleton. + +"This is a little hand," said Peter, "and I have some skill myself in +palmistry. Shall I peruse its lines?" + +"Not now, in the devil's name!" said Turpin, stamping impatiently. "We +shall have Old Ruffin himself amongst us presently, if Peter Bradley +grows gallant." + +Leading their horses, the party took their way through the trees. A few +minutes' walking brought them in sight of the gipsy encampment, the spot +selected for which might be termed the Eden of the valley. It was a +small green plain, smooth as a well-shorn lawn, kept ever verdant--save +in the spots where the frequent fires had scorched its surface--by the +flowing stream that rushed past it, and surrounded by an amphitheatre of +wooded hills. Here might be seen the canvas tent with its patches of +varied coloring; the rude-fashioned hut of primitive construction; the +kettle slung + + Between two poles, upon a stick transverse; + +the tethered beasts of burden, the horses, asses, dogs, carts, caravans, +wains, blocks, and other movables and immovables belonging to the +wandering tribe. Glimmering through the trees, at the extremity of the +plain, appeared the ivy-mantled walls of Davenham Priory. Though much +had gone to decay, enough remained to recall the pristine state of this +once majestic pile, and the long, though broken line of Saxon arches, +that still marked the cloister wall; the piers that yet supported the +dormitory; the enormous horse-shoe arch that spanned the court; and, +above all, the great marigold, or circular window, which terminated the +chapel, and which, though now despoiled of its painted honors, retained, +like the skeleton leaf, its fibrous intricacies entire,--all eloquently +spoke of the glories of the past, while they awakened reverence and +admiration for the still enduring beauty of the present. + +Towards these ruins Sybil conducted the party. + +"Do you dwell therein?" asked Peter, pointing towards the priory. + +"That is my dwelling," said Sybil. + +"It is one I should covet more than a modern mansion," returned the +sexton. + +"I love those old walls better than any house that was ever fashioned," +replied Sybil. + +As they entered the Prior's Close, as it was called, several swarthy +figures made their appearance from the tents. Many a greeting was +bestowed upon Luke, in the wild jargon of the tribe. At length an +uncouth dwarfish figure, with a shock head of black hair, hopped towards +them. He seemed to acknowledge Luke as his master. + +"What ho! Grasshopper," said Luke, "take these horses, and see that they +lack neither dressing nor provender." + +"And hark ye, Grasshopper," added Turpin; "I give you a special charge +about this mare. Neither dress nor feed her till I see both done myself. +Just walk her for ten minutes, and if you have a glass of ale in the +place, let her sip it." + +"Your bidding shall be done," chirped the human insect, as he fluttered +away with his charges. + +A motley assemblage of tawny-skinned varlets, dark-eyed women and +children, whose dusky limbs betrayed their lineage, in strange costume, +and of wild deportment, checked the path, muttering welcome upon welcome +into the ear of Luke as he passed. As it was evident he was in no mood +for converse, Sybil, who seemed to exercise considerable authority over +the crew, with a word dispersed them, and they herded back to their +respective habitations. + +A low door admitted Luke and his companions into what had once been the +garden, in which some old moss-encrusted apple and walnut-trees were +still standing, bearing a look of antiquity almost as venerable as that +of the adjoining fabric. + +Another open door gave them entrance to a spacious chamber, formerly the +eating-room or refectory of the holy brotherhood, and a goodly room it +had been, though now its slender lanceolated windows were stuffed with +hay to keep out the air. Large holes told where huge oaken rafters had +once crossed the roof, and a yawning aperture marked the place where a +cheering fire had formerly blazed. As regarded this latter spot, the +good old custom was not, even now, totally abrogated. An iron plate, +covered with crackling wood, sustained a ponderous black caldron, the +rich steam from which gratefully affected the olfactory organs of the +highwayman. + +"That augurs well," said he, rubbing his hands. + +"Still hungering after the fleshpots of Egypt," said the sexton, with a +ghastly smile. + +"We will see what that kettle contains," said Luke. + +"Handassah--Grace!" exclaimed Sybil, calling. + +Her summons was answered by two maidens, habited not unbecomingly, in +gipsy gear. + +"Bring the best our larder can furnish," said Sybil, "and use despatch. +You have appetites to provide for, sharpened by a long ride in the open +air." + +"And by a night's fasting," said Luke, "and solitary confinement to +boot." + +"And a night of business," added Turpin--"and plaguy perplexing business +into the bargain." + +"And the night of a funeral too," doled Peter; "and that funeral a +father's. Let us have breakfast speedily, by all means. We have rare +appetites." + +An old oaken table--it might have been the self-same upon which the holy +friars had broken their morning fast--stood in the middle of the room. +The ample board soon groaned beneath the weight of the savory caldron, +the unctuous contents of which proved to be a couple of dismembered +pheasants, an equal proportion of poultry, great gouts of ham, +mushrooms, onions, and other piquant condiments, so satisfactory to Dick +Turpin, that, upon tasting a mouthful, he absolutely shed tears of +delight. The dish was indeed the triumph of gipsy cookery; and so +sedulously did Dick apply himself to his mess, and so complete was his +abstraction, that he perceived not he was left alone. It was only when +about to wash down the last drumstick of the last fowl with a can of +excellent ale that he made this discovery. + +"What! all gone? And Peter Bradley, too? What the devil does this mean?" +mused he. "I must not muddle my brain with any more Pharaoh, though I +have feasted like a king of Egypt. That will never do. Caution, Dick, +caution. Suppose I shift yon brick from the wall, and place this +precious document beneath it. Pshaw! Luke would never play me false. And +now for Bess! Bless her black skin! she'll wonder where I've been so +long. It's not my way to leave her to shift for herself, though she can +do that on a pinch." + +Soliloquizing thus, he arose and walked towards the door. + + + + +_CHAPTER III_ + +_SYBIL_ + + The wiving vine, that round the friendly elm + Twines her soft limbs, and weaves a leafy mantle + For her supporting lover, dares not venture + To mix her humble boughs with the embraces + Of the more lofty cedar. + + GLAPTHORNE: _Albertus Wallenstein_. + + +Beneath a moldering wall, whither they had strayed, to be free from +interruption, and upon a carpet of the greenest moss, sat Sybil and her +lover. + +With eager curiosity she listened to his tale. He recounted all that had +befallen him since his departure. He told her of the awful revelations +of the tomb; of the ring that, like a talisman, had conjured up a +thousand brilliant prospects; of his subsequent perils; his escapes; his +rencontre with Lady Rookwood; his visit to his father's body; and his +meeting with his brother. All this she heard with a cheek now flushed +with expectation, now made pale with apprehension; with palpitating +bosom, and suppressed breath. But when taking a softer tone, love, +affection, happiness inspired the theme, and Luke sought to paint the +bliss that should be theirs in his new estate; when he would throw his +fortune into her lap, his titles at her feet, and bid her wear them with +him; when, with ennobled hand and unchanged heart, he would fulfil the +troth plighted in his outcast days; in lieu of tender, grateful +acquiescence, the features of Sybil became overcast, the soft smile +faded away, and, as spring sunshine is succeeded by the sudden shower, +the light that dwelt in her sunny orbs grew dim with tears. + +"Why--why is this, dear Sybil?" said Luke, gazing upon her in +astonishment, not unmingled with displeasure. "To what am I to attribute +these tears? You do not, surely, regret my good fortune?" + +"Not on your own account, dear Luke," returned she, sadly. "The tears I +shed were for myself--the first, the only tears that I have ever shed +for such cause; and," added she, raising her head like a flower +surcharged with moisture, "they shall be the last." + +"This is inexplicable, dear Sybil. Why should you lament for yourself, +if not for me? Does not the sunshine of prosperity that now shines upon +me gild you with the same beam? Did I not even now affirm that the day +that saw me enter the hall of my forefathers should dawn upon our +espousals?" + +"True; but the sun that shines upon you, to me wears a threatening +aspect. The day of those espousals will never dawn. You cannot make me +the Lady of Rookwood." + +"What do I hear?" exclaimed Luke, surprised at this avowal of his +mistress, sadly and deliberately delivered. "Not wed you! And wherefore +not? Is it the rank I have acquired, or hope to acquire, that displeases +you? Speak, that I may waste no further time in thus pursuing the +shadows of happiness, while the reality fleets from me." + +"And _are_ they shadows; and _is_ this the reality, dear Luke? Question +your secret soul, and you will find it otherwise. You could not forego +your triumph; it is not likely. You have dwelt too much upon the proud +title which will be yours to yield it to another, when it may be won so +easily. And, above all, when your mother's reputation, and your own +stained name, may be cleared by one word, breathed aloud, would you fail +to utter it? No, dear Luke, I read your heart; you would not." + +"And if I could _not_ forego this, wherefore is it that you refuse to be +a sharer in my triumph? Why will you render my honors valueless when I +have acquired them? You love me not." + +"Not love you, Luke?" + +"Approve it, then." + +"I do approve it. Bear witness the sacrifice I am about to make of all +my hopes, at the shrine of my idolatry to you. Bear witness the agony of +this hour. Bear witness the horror of the avowal, that I never can be +yours. As Luke Bradley, I would joyfully--oh, how joyfully!--have been +your bride. As Sir Luke Rookwood"--and she shuddered as she pronounced +the name--"I never can be so." + +"Then, by Heaven! Luke Bradley will I remain. But wherefore--wherefore +not as Sir Luke Rookwood?" + +"Because," replied Sybil, with reluctance--"because I am no longer your +equal. The gipsy's low-born daughter is no mate for Sir Luke Rookwood. +Love cannot blind me, dear Luke. It cannot make me other than I am; it +cannot exalt me in my own esteem, nor in that of the world, with which +you, alas! too soon will mingle, and which will regard even me as--no +matter what!--it shall not scorn me as your bride. I will not bring +shame and reproach upon you. Oh! if for me, dear Luke, the proud ones of +the earth were to treat you with contumely, this heart would break with +agony. For myself, I have pride sufficient--perchance too much. +Perchance 'tis pride that actuates me now. I know not. But for you I am +all weakness. As you were heretofore, I would have been to you the +tenderest and truest wife that ever breathed; as you are now----" + +"Hear me, Sybil." + +"Hear _me_ out, dear Luke. One other motive there is that determines my +present conduct, which, were all else surmounted, would in itself +suffice. Ask me not what that is. I cannot explain it. For your own +sake; I implore you, be satisfied with my refusal." + +"What a destiny is mine!" exclaimed Luke, striking his forehead with his +clenched hand. "No choice is left me. Either way I destroy my own +happiness. On the one hand stands love--on the other, ambition; yet +neither will conjoin." + +"Pursue, then, ambition," said Sybil, energetically, "if you _can_ +hesitate. Forget that I have ever existed; forget you have ever loved; +forget that such a passion dwells within the human heart, and you may +still be happy, though you are great." + +"And do you deem," replied Luke, with frantic impatience, "that I _can_ +accomplish this; that I _can_ forget that I have loved you; that I _can_ +forget you? Cost what it will, the effort shall be made. Yet by our +former love, I charge you tell me what has wrought this change in you! +Why do you _now_ refuse me?" + +"I have said you are Sir Luke Rookwood," returned Sybil, with painful +emotion. "Does that name import nothing?" + +"Imports it aught of ill?" + +"To me, everything of ill. It is a fated house. Its line are all +predestined." + +"To what?" demanded Luke. + +"To _murder_!" replied Sybil, with solemn emphasis. "To the murder of +their wives. Forgive me, Luke, if I have dared to utter this. Yourself +compelled me to it." + +Amazement, horror, wrath, kept Luke silent for a few moments. Starting +to his feet, he cried: + +"And can you suspect me of a crime so foul? Think you, because I shall +assume the name, that I shall put on the nature likewise of my race? Do +you believe me capable of aught so horrible?" + +"Oh, no, I believe it not. I am sure you would not do it. Your soul +would reject with horror such a deed. But if Fate should guide your +hand, if the avenging spirit of your murdered ancestress should point to +the steel, you could not shun it then." + +"In Heaven's name! to what do you allude?" + +"To a tradition of your house," replied Sybil. "Listen to me, and you +shall hear the legend." And with a pathos that produced a thrilling +effect upon Luke, she sang the following ballad: + + THE LEGEND OF THE LADY OF ROOKWOOD + + Grim Ranulph home hath at midnight come, from the long wars of the + Roses, + And the squire, who waits at his ancient gates, a secret dark + discloses; + To that varlet's words no response accords his lord, but his visage + stern + Grows ghastly white in the wan moonlight, and his eyes like the lean + wolf's burn. + + To his lady's bower, at that lonesome hour, unannounced, is Sir + Ranulph gone; + Through the dim corridor, through the hidden door, he glides--she is + all alone! + Full of holy zeal doth his young dame kneel at the meek Madonna's feet, + Her hands are pressed on her gentle breast, and upturned is her aspect + sweet. + + Beats Ranulph's heart with a joyful start, as he looks on her + guiltless face; + And the raging fire of his jealous ire is subdued by the words of + grace; + His own name shares her murmured prayers--more freely can he breathe; + But ah! that look! Why doth he pluck his poniard from its sheath? + + On a footstool thrown, lies a costly gown of saye and of minevere + --A mantle fair for the dainty wear of a migniard cavalier,-- + And on it flung, to a bracelet hung, a picture meets his eye; + "By my father's head!" grim Ranulph said, "false wife, thy end draws + nigh." + + From off its chain hath the fierce knight ta'en that fond and fatal + pledge; + His dark eyes blaze, no word he says, thrice gleams his dagger's edge! + Her blood it drinks, and, as she sinks, his victim hears his cry: + "For kiss impure of paramour, adult'ress, dost thou die!" + + Silent he stood, with hands embrued in gore, and glance of flame, + As thus her plaint, in accents faint, made his ill-fated dame: + "Kind Heaven can tell, that all too well, I've loved thee, cruel lord; + But now with hate commensurate, assassin, thou'rt abhorred. + + "I've loved thee long, through doubt and wrong; I've loved thee and + no other; + And my love was pure for my paramour, for alas! he was my brother! + The Red, Red Rose, on _thy_ banner glows, on _his_ pennon gleams the + White, + And the bitter feud, that ye both have rued, forbids ye to unite. + + "My bower he sought, what time he thought thy jealous vassals slept, + Of joy we dreamed, and never deemed that watch those vassals kept; + An hour flew by, too speedily!--that picture was his boon: + Ah! little thrift to me that gift: he left me all too soon! + + "Wo worth the hour! dark fates did lower, when our hands were first + united, + For my heart's firm truth, 'mid tears and ruth, with death hast thou + requited: + In prayer sincere, full many a year of my wretched life I've spent; + But to hell's control would I give my soul to work thy chastisement!" + + These wild words said, low drooped her head, and Ranulph's + life-blood froze, + For the earth did gape, as an awful shape from out its depths arose: + "Thy prayer is heard, Hell hath concurred," cried the fiend, "thy + soul is mine! + Like fate may dread each dame shall wed with Ranulph or his line!" + + Within the tomb to await her doom is that hapless lady sleeping, + And another bride by Ranulph's side through the livelong night is + weeping. + _This_ dame declines--a third repines, and fades, like the rest, away; + Her lot she rues, whom a Rookwood woos--_cursed is her Wedding Day_! + +"And this is the legend of my ancestress?" said Luke, as Sybil's strains +were ended. + +"It is," replied she. + +"An idle tale," observed Luke, moodily. + +"Not so," answered Sybil. "Has not the curse of blood clung to all your +line? Has it not attached to your father--to Sir Reginald--Sir +Ralph--Sir Ranulph--to all? Which of them has escaped it? And when I +tell you this, dear Luke; when I find you bear the name of this accursed +race, can you wonder if I shudder at adding to the list of the victims +of that ruthless spirit, and that I tremble for you? I would die _for_ +you willingly--but not by your hand. I would not that my blood, which I +would now pour out for you as freely as water, should rise up in +judgment against you. For myself I have no tears--for _you_, a thousand. +My mother, upon her death-bed, told me I should never be yours. I +believed her not, for I was happy then. She said that we never should be +united; or, if united----?" + +"What, in Heaven's name?" + +"That you would be my destroyer. How could I credit her words then? How +can I doubt them now, when I find you are a Rookwood? And think not, +dear Luke, that I am ruled by selfish fears in this resolution. To +renounce you may cost me my life; but the deed will be my own. You may +call me superstitious, credulous: I have been nurtured in credulity. It +is the faith of my fathers. There are those, methinks, who have an +insight into futurity; and such boding words have been spoken, that, be +they true or false, I will not risk their fulfilment in my person. I may +be credulous; I may be weak; I may be erring; but I am steadfast in +this. Bid me perish at your feet, and I will do it. I will not be your +Fate. I will not be the wretched instrument of your perdition. I will +love, worship, watch, serve, perish for you--but I'll not wed you." + +Exhausted by the vehemence of her emotion, she would have sunk upon the +ground, had not Luke caught her in his arms. Pressing her to his bosom, +he renewed his passionate protestations. Every argument was unavailing. +Sybil appeared inflexible. + +"You love me as you have ever loved me?" said she, at length. + +"A thousand-fold more fervently," replied Luke; "put it to the test." + +"How if I dare to do so? Consider well: I may ask too much." + +"Name it. If it be not to surrender you, by my mother's body I will obey +you." + +"I would propose an oath." + +"Ha!" + +"A solemn, binding oath, that; if you wed me not, you will not wed +another. Ha! do you start? Have I appalled you?" + +"I start? I will take it. Hear me--by----" + +"Hold!" exclaimed a voice behind them. "Do not forswear yourself." And +immediately afterwards the sexton made his appearance. There was a +malignant smile upon his countenance. The lovers started at the ominous +interruption. + +"Begone!" cried Luke. + +"Take not that oath," said Peter, "and I leave you. Remember the counsel +I gave you on our way hither." + +"What counsel did he give you, Luke?" inquired Sybil, eagerly, of her +lover. + +"We spoke of you, fond girl," replied Peter. "I cautioned him against +the match. I knew not your sentiments, or I had spared myself the +trouble. You have judged wisely. Were he to wed you, ill would come of +it. But he _must_ wed another." + +"MUST!" cried Sybil, her eyes absolutely emitting sparkles of +indignation from their night-like depths; and, unsheathing as she spoke +the short poniard which she wore at her girdle, she rushed towards +Peter, raising her hand to strike. + +"_Must_ wed another! And dare you counsel this?" + +"Put up your dagger, fair maiden," said Peter, calmly. "Had I been +younger, your eyes might have had more terrors for me than your weapon; +as it is, I am proof against both. You would not strike an old man like +myself, and of your lover's kin?" + +Sybil's uplifted hand fell to her side. + +"'Tis true," continued the sexton, "I dared to give him this advice; and +when you have heard me out, you will not, I am persuaded, think me so +unreasonable as, at first, I may appear to be. I have been an unseen +listener to your converse; not that I desire to pry into your +secrets--far from it; I overheard you by accident. I applaud your +resolution; but if you are inclined to sacrifice all for your lover's +weal, do not let the work be incomplete. Bind him not by oaths which he +will regard as spiders' webs, to be burst through at pleasure. You see, +as well as I do, that he is bent on being lord of Rookwood; and, in +truth, to an aspiring mind, such a desire is natural, is praiseworthy. +It will be pleasant, as well as honorable, to efface the stain cast upon +his birth. It will be an act of filial duty in him to restore his +mother's good name; and I, her father, laud his anxiety on that score; +though, to speak truth, fair maid, I am not so rigid as your nice +moralists in my view of human nature, and can allow a latitude to love +which their nicer scruples will not admit. It will be a proud thing to +triumph over his implacable foe; and this he may accomplish----" + +"Without marriage," interrupted Sybil, angrily. + +"True," returned Peter; "yet not maintain it. May win it, but not wear +it. You have said truly, the house of Rookwood is a fated house; and it +hath been said likewise, that if he wed not one of his own kindred--that +if Rook mate not with Rook, his possessions shall pass away from his +hands. Listen to this prophetic quatrain: + + When the stray Rook shall perch on the topmost bough, + There shall be clamor and screeching, I trow; + But of right to, and rule of the ancient nest, + The Rook that with Rook mates shall hold him possest. + +You hear what these quaint rhymes say. Luke is, doubtless, the stray +rook, and a fledgeling hath flown hither from a distant country. He must +take her to his mate, or relinquish her and 'the ancient nest' to his +brother. For my own part, I disregard such sayings. I have little faith +in prophecy and divination. I know not what Eleanor Mowbray, for so she +is called, can have to do with the tenure of the estates of Rookwood. +But if Luke Rookwood, after he has lorded it for awhile in splendor, be +cast forth again in rags and wretchedness, let him not blame his +grandsire for his own want of caution." + +"Luke, I implore you, tell me," said Sybil, who had listened, +horror-stricken, to the sexton, shuddering, as it were, beneath the +chilly influence of his malevolent glance, "is this true? Does your fate +depend upon Eleanor Mowbray? Who is she? What has she to do with +Rookwood? Have you seen her? Do you love her?" + +"I have never seen her," replied Luke. + +"Thank Heaven for that!" cried Sybil. "Then you love her not?" + +"How were that possible?" returned Luke. "Do I not say I have not seen +her?" + +"Who is she, then?" + +"This old man tells me she is my cousin. She is betrothed to my brother +Ranulph." + +"How?" ejaculated Sybil. "And would you snatch his betrothed from your +brother's arms? Would you do him this grievous wrong? Is it not enough +that you must wrest from him that which he has long deemed his own? And +if he has falsely deemed it so, it will not make his loss the less +bitter. If you do thus wrong your brother, do not look for happiness; do +not look for respect; for neither will be your portion. Even this +stony-hearted old man shrinks aghast at such a deed. His snake-like eyes +are buried on the ground. See, I have moved even _him_." + +And in truth Peter did appear, for an instant, strangely moved. + +"'Tis nothing," returned he, mastering his emotion by a strong effort. +"What is all this to me? I never had a brother. I never had aught--wife, +child, or relative, that loved me. And I love not the world, nor the +things of the world, nor those that inhabit the world. But I know what +sways the world and its inhabitants; and that is, SELF! AND +SELF-INTEREST! Let Luke reflect on this. The key to Rookwood is Eleanor +Mowbray. The hand that grasps hers, grasps those lands; thus saith the +prophecy." + +"It is a lying prophecy." + +"It was uttered by one of your race." + +"By whom?" + +"By Barbara Lovel," said Peter, with a sneer of triumph. + +"Ha!" + +"Heed him not," exclaimed Luke, as Sybil recoiled at this intelligence. +"I am yours." + +"Not mine! not mine!" shrieked she; "but, oh! not _hers_!" + +"Whither go you?" cried Luke, as Sybil, half bewildered, tore herself +from him. + +"To Barbara Lovel." + +"I will go with you." + +"No! let me go alone. I have much to ask her; yet tarry not with this +old man, dear Luke, or close your ears to his crafty talk. Avoid him. +Oh, I am sick at heart. Follow me not; I implore you, follow me not." + +And with distracted air she darted amongst the mouldering cloisters, +leaving Luke stupefied with anguish and surprise. The sexton maintained +a stern and stoical composure. + +"She is a woman, after all," muttered he; "all her high-flown resolves +melt like snow in the sunshine at the thought of a rival. I congratulate +you, grandson Luke; you are free from your fetters." + +"Free!" echoed Luke. "Quit my sight; I loathe to look upon you. You have +broken the truest heart that ever beat in woman's bosom." + +"Tut, tut," returned Peter; "it is not broken yet. Wait till we hear +what old Barbara has got to say; and, meanwhile, we must arrange with +Dick Turpin the price of that certificate. The knave knows its value +well. Come, be a man. This is worse than womanish." + +And at length he succeeded, half by force and half by persuasion, in +dragging Luke away with him. + + + + +_CHAPTER IV_ + +_BARBARA LOVEL_ + + Los Gitanos son encantadores, adivinos, magos, chyromanticos, que + dicen por las rayas de las manos lo Futuro, que ellos llaman + Buenaventura, y generalmente son dados à toda supersticion. + + DOCTOR SANCHO DE MONCADA. + _Discurso sobre Espulsion de los Gitanos._ + + +Like a dove escaped from the talons of the falcon, Sybil fled from the +clutches of the sexton. Her brain was in a whirl, her blood on fire. She +had no distinct perception of external objects; no definite notion of +what she herself was about to do, and glided more like a flitting spirit +than a living woman along the ruined ambulatory. Her hair had fallen in +disorder over her face. She stayed not to adjust it, but tossed aside +the blinding locks with frantic impatience. She felt as one may feel who +tries to strain his nerves, shattered by illness, to the endurance of +some dreadful, yet necessary pain. + +Sybil loved her granddame, old Barbara; but it was with a love tempered +by fear. Barbara was not a person to inspire esteem or to claim +affection. She was regarded by the wild tribe which she ruled as their +queen-elect, with some such feeling of inexplicable awe as is +entertained by the African slave for the Obeah woman. They acknowledged +her power, unhesitatingly obeyed her commands, and shrank with terror +from her anathema, which was indeed seldom pronounced; but when uttered, +was considered as doom. Her tribe she looked upon as her flock, and +stretched her maternal hand over all, ready alike to cherish or +chastise; and having already survived a generation, that which +succeeded, having from infancy imbibed a superstitious veneration for +the "cunning woman," as she was called, the sentiment could never be +wholly effaced. Winding her way, she knew not how, through roofless +halls, over disjointed fragments of fallen pillars, Sybil reached a +flight of steps. A door, studded with iron nails, stayed her progress; +it was an old, strong oaken frame, surmounted by a Gothic arch, in the +keystone of which leered one of those grotesque demoniacal faces with +which the fathers of the church delighted to adorn their shrines. Sybil +looked up--her glance encountered the fantastical visage. It recalled +the features of the sexton, and seemed to mock her--to revile her. Her +fortitude at once deserted her. Her fingers were upon the handle of the +door. She hesitated: she even drew back, with the intention of +departing, for she felt then that she dared not face Barbara. It was too +late--she had moved the handle. A deep voice from within called to her +by name. She dared not disobey that call--she entered. + +The room in which Sybil found herself was the only entire apartment now +existing in the priory. It had survived the ravages of time; it had +escaped the devastation of man, whose ravages outstrip those of time. +Octagonal, lofty, yet narrow, you saw at once that it formed the +interior of a turret. It was lighted by a small oriel window, commanding +a lovely view of the scenery around, and paneled with oak, richly +wrought in ribs and groins; and from overhead depended a molded ceiling +of honeycomb plaster-work. This room had something, even now, in the +days of its desecration, of monastic beauty about it. Where the odor of +sanctity had breathed forth, the fumes of idolatry prevailed; but +imagination, ever on the wing, flew back to that period--and a tradition +to that effect warranted the supposition--when, perchance, it had been +the sanctuary and the privacy of the prior's self. + +Wrapped in a cloak composed of the skins of various animals, upon a low +pallet, covered with stained scarlet cloth, sat Barbara. Around her head +was coiffed, in folds like those of an Asiatic turban, a rich, though +faded shawl, and her waist was encircled with the magic zodiacal +zone--proper to the sorceress--the _Mago Cineo_ of the Cingara--whence +the name Zingaro, according to Moncada--which Barbara had brought from +Spain. From her ears depended long golden drops, of curious antique +fashioning; and upon her withered fingers, which looked like a coil of +lizards, were hooped a multitude of silver rings, of the purest and +simplest manufacture. They seemed almost of massive unwrought metal. Her +skin was yellow as the body of a toad; corrugated as its back. She might +have been steeped in saffron from her finger tips, the nails of which +were of the same hue, to such portions of her neck as were visible, and +which was puckered up like the throat of a turtle. To look at her, one +might have thought the embalmer had experimented her art upon herself. +So dead, so bloodless, so blackened seemed the flesh, where flesh +remained, leather could scarce be tougher than her skin. She seemed like +an animated mummy. A frame so tanned, appeared calculated to endure for +ages; and, perhaps, might have done so. But, alas! the soul cannot be +embalmed. No oil can re-illumine that precious lamp! And that Barbara's +vital spark was fast waning, was evident from her heavy, blood-shot +eyes, once of a swimming black, and lengthy as a witch's, which were now +sinister and sunken. + +The atmosphere of the room was as strongly impregnated as a museum with +volatile odors, emitted from the stores of drugs with which the shelves +were loaded, as well as from various stuffed specimens of birds and wild +animals. Barbara's only living companion was a monstrous owl, which, +perched over the old gipsy's head, hissed a token of recognition as +Sybil advanced. From a hook, placed in the plaster roof, was suspended a +globe of crystal glass, about the size and shape of a large gourd, +filled with a pure pellucid liquid, in which a small snake, the Egyptian +aspic, described perpetual gyrations. + +Dim were the eyes of Barbara, yet not altogether sightless. The troubled +demeanor of her grandchild struck her as she entered. She felt the hot +drops upon her hand as Sybil stooped to kiss it; she heard her +vainly-stifled sobs. + +"What ails you, child?" said Barbara, in a voice that rattled in her +throat, and hollow as the articulation of a phantom. "Have you heard +tidings of Luke Bradley? Has any ill befallen him? I said you would +either hear of him or see him this morning. He is not returned, I see. +What have you heard?" + +"He _is_ returned," replied Sybil, faintly; "and no ill hath happened to +him." + +"He _is_ returned, and you are here," echoed Barbara. "No ill hath +happened to _him_, thou sayest--am I to understand there is--to _you_?" + +Sybil answered not. She could not answer. + +"I see, I see," said Barbara, more gently, her head and hand shaking +with paralytic affection: "a quarrel, a lover's quarrel. Old as I am, I +have not forgotten my feelings as a girl. What woman ever does, if she +be woman? and you, like your poor mother, are a true-hearted wench. She +loved her husband, as a husband should be loved, Sybil; and though she +loved me well, she loved him better, as was right. Ah! it was a bitter +day when she left me for Spain; for though, to one of our wandering +race, all countries are alike, yet the soil of our birth is dear to us, +and the presence of our kindred dearer. Well, well, I will not think of +that. She is gone. Nay, take it not so to heart, wench. Luke has a hasty +temper. 'Tis not the first time I have told you so. He will not bear +rebuke, and you have questioned him too shrewdly touching his absence. +Is it not so? Heed it not. Trust me, you will have him seek your +forgiveness ere the shadows shorten 'neath the noontide sun." + +"Alas! alas!" said Sybil, sadly, "this is no lover's quarrel, which may, +at once, be forgotten and forgiven--would it were so!" + +"What is it, then?" asked Barbara; and without waiting Sybil's answer, +she continued, with vehemence, "has he wronged you? Tell me, girl, in +what way? Speak, that I may avenge you, if your wrong requires revenge. +Are you blood of mine, and think I will not do this for you, girl? None +of the blood of Barbara Lovel were ever unrevenged. When Richard Cooper +stabbed my first-born, Francis, he fled to Flanders to escape my wrath. +But he did not escape it. I pursued him thither. I hunted him out; drove +him back to his own country, and brought him to the gallows. It took a +power of gold. What matter? Revenge is dearer than gold. And as it was +with Richard Cooper, so it shall be with Luke Bradley. I will catch him, +though he run. I will trip him, though he leap. I will reach him, though +he flee afar. I will drag him hither by the hair of his head," added +she, with a livid smile, and clutching at the air with her hands, as if +in the act of pulling some one towards her. "He shall wed you within the +hour, if you will have it, or if your honor need that it should be so. +My power is not departed from me. My people are yet at my command. I am +still their queen, and woe to him that offendeth me!" + +"Mother! mother!" cried Sybil, affrighted at the storm she had +unwittingly aroused, "he has not injured me. 'Tis I alone who am to +blame, not Luke." + +"You speak in mysteries," said Barbara. + +"Sir Piers Rookwood is dead." + +"Dead!" echoed Barbara, letting fall her hazel rod. "Sir Piers dead!" + +"And Luke Bradley----" + +"Ha!" + +"Is his successor." + +"Who told you that?" asked Barbara, with increased astonishment. + +"Luke himself. All is disclosed." And Sybil hastily recounted Luke's +adventures. "He is now Sir Luke Rookwood." + +"This is news, in truth," said Barbara; "yet not news to weep for. You +should rejoice, not lament. Well, well, I foresaw it. I shall live to +see all accomplished; to see my Agatha's child ennobled; to see her +wedded; ay, to see her well wedded." + +"Dearest mother!" + +"I can endow you, and I will do it. You shall bring your husband not +alone beauty, you shall bring him wealth." + +"But, mother----" + +"My Agatha's daughter shall be Lady Rookwood." + +"Never! It cannot be." + +"What cannot be?" + +"The match you now propose." + +"What mean you, silly wench? Ha! I perceive the meaning of those tears. +The truth flashes upon me. He has discarded you." + +"No, by the Heaven of Heavens, he is still the same--unaltered in +affection." + +"If so, your tears are out of place." + +"Mother, it is not fitting that I, a gipsy born, should wed with him." + +"Not fitting! Ha! and you my child! Not fitting! Get up, or I will spurn +you. Not fitting! This from you to me! I tell you it _is_ fitting; you +shall have a dower as ample as that of any lady in the land. Not +fitting! Do you say so, because you think that he derives himself from a +proud and ancient line--ancient and proud--ha, ha! I tell you, girl, +that for his one ancestor I can number twenty; for the years in which +his lineage hath flourished, my race can boast centuries, and was a +people--a kingdom!--ere the land in which he dwells was known. What! if, +by the curse of Heaven, we were driven forth, the curse of hell rests +upon his house." + +"I know it," said Sybil; "a dreadful curse, which, if I wed him, will +alight on me." + +"No; not on you; you shall avoid that curse. I know a means to satisfy +the avenger. Leave that to me." + +"I dare not, as it never can be; yet, tell me--you saw the body of +Luke's ill-fated mother. Was she poisoned? Nay, you may speak. Sir +Piers's death releases you from your oath. How died she?" + +"By strangulation," said the old gipsy, raising her palsied hand to her +throat. + +"Oh!" cried Sybil, gasping with horror. "Was there a ring upon her +finger when you embalmed the body?" + +"A ring--a wedding-ring! The finger was crookened. Listen, girl, I could +have told Luke the secret of his birth long ago, but the oath imposed by +Sir Piers sealed fast my lips. His mother was wedded to Sir Piers; his +mother was murdered by Sir Piers. Luke was entrusted to my care by his +father. I have brought him up with you. I have affianced you together; +and I shall live to see you united. He is now Sir Luke. He is your +husband." + +"Do not deceive yourself, mother," said Sybil, with a fearful +earnestness. "He is not yet Sir Luke Rookwood; would he had no claim to +be so! The fortune that has hitherto been so propitious may yet desert +him. Bethink you of a prophecy you uttered." + +"A prophecy? Ha!" + +And with slow enunciation Sybil pronounced the mystic words which she +had heard repeated by the sexton. + +As she spoke, a gloom, like that of a thunder-cloud, began to gather +over the brow of the old gipsy. The orbs of her sunken eyes expanded, +and wrath supplied her frame with vigor. She arose. + +"Who told you that?" cried Barbara. + +"Luke's grandsire, Peter Bradley." + +"How learnt he it?" said Barbara. "It was to one who hath long been in +his grave I told it; so long ago, it had passed from my memory. 'Tis +strange! old Sir Reginald had a brother, I know. But there is no other +of the house." + +"There is a cousin, Eleanor Mowbray." + +"Ha! I see; a daughter of that Eleanor Rookwood who fled from her +father's roof. Fool, fool. Am I caught in my own toils? Those words were +words of truth and power, and compel the future and 'the will be' as +with chains of brass. They must be fulfilled, yet not by Ranulph. He +shall never wed Eleanor." + +"Whom then shall she wed?" + +"His elder brother." + +"Mother!" shrieked Sybil. "Do you say so? Oh! recall your words." + +"I may not; it is spoken. Luke shall wed her." + +"Oh God, support me!" exclaimed Sybil. + +"Silly wench, be firm. It must be as I say. He shall wed her--yet shall +he wed her not. The nuptial torch shall be quenched as soon as lighted; +the curse of the avenger shall fall--yet not on thee." + +"Mother," said Sybil, "if sin must fall upon some innocent head, let it +be on mine--not upon hers. I love him, I would gladly die for him. She +is young--unoffending--perhaps happy. Oh! do not let her perish." + +"Peace, I say!" cried Barbara, "and mark me. This is your birthday. +Eighteen summers have flown over your young head--eighty winters have +sown their snows on mine. _You_ have yet to learn. Years have brought +wrinkles--they have brought wisdom likewise. To struggle with Fate, I +tell you, is to wrestle with Omnipotence. We may foresee, but not avert +our destiny. What will be, shall be. This is your eighteenth birthday, +Sybil: it is a day of fate to you; in it occurs your planetary hour--an +hour of good or ill, according to your actions. I have cast your +horoscope. I have watched your natal star; it is under the baleful +influence of Scorpion, and fiery Saturn sheds his lurid glance upon it. +Let me see your hand. The line of life is drawn out distinct and +clear--it runs--ha! what means that intersection? Beware--beware, my +Sybil. Act as I tell you, and you are safe. I will make another trial, +by the crystal bowl. Attend." + +Muttering some strange words, sounding like a spell, Barbara, with the +bifurcate hazel staff which she used as a divining-rod, described a +circle upon the floor. Within this circle she drew other lines, from +angle to angle, forming seven triangles, the bases of which constituted +the sides of a septilateral figure. This figure she studied intently for +a few moments. She then raised her wand and touched the owl with it. The +bird unfolded its wings, and arose in flight; then slowly circled round +the pendulous globe. Each time it drew nearer, until at length it +touched the glassy bowl with its flapping pinions. + +"Enough!" ejaculated Barbara. And at another motion from her rod the +bird stayed its flight and returned to its perch. + +Barbara arose. She struck the globe with her staff. The pure lymph +became instantly tinged with crimson, as if blood had been commingled +with it. The little serpent could be seen within, coiled up and knotted, +as in the struggles of death. + +"Again I say, beware!" ejaculated Barbara, solemnly. "This is ominous of +ill." + +Sybil had sunk, from faintness, on the pallet. A knock was heard at the +door. + +"Who is without?" cried Barbara. + +"'Tis I, Balthazar," replied a voice. + +"Thou mayest enter," answered Barbara; and an old man with a long beard, +white as snow, reaching to his girdle, and a costume which might be said +to resemble the raiment of a Jewish high priest, made his appearance. +This venerable personage was no other than the patrico, or hierophant of +the Canting Crew. + +"I come to tell you that there are strangers--ladies--within the +priory," said the patrico, gravely. "I have searched for you in vain," +continued he, addressing Sybil; "the younger of them seems to need your +assistance." + +"Whence come they?" exclaimed Barbara. + +"They have ridden, I understand, from Rookwood," answered the patrico. +"They were on their way to Davenham, when they were prevented." + +"From Rookwood?" echoed Sybil. "Their names--did you hear their names?" + +"Mowbray is the name of both; they are a mother and a daughter; the +younger is called----" + +"Eleanor?" asked Sybil, with an acute foreboding of calamity. + +"Eleanor is the name, assuredly," replied the patrico, somewhat +surprised. "I heard the elder, whom I guess to be her mother, so address +her." + +"Gracious God! She here!" exclaimed Sybil. + +"Here! Eleanor Mowbray here," cried Barbara; "within my power. Not a +moment is to be lost. Balthazar, hasten round the tents--not a man must +leave his place--above all, Luke Bradley. See that these Mowbrays are +detained within the abbey. Let the bell be sounded. Quick, quick; leave +this wench to me; she is not well. I have much to do. Away with thee, +man, and let me know when thou hast done it." And as Balthazar departed +on his mission, with a glance of triumph in her eyes, Barbara exclaimed, +"Soh, no sooner hath the thought possessed me, than the means of +accomplishment appear. It shall be done at once. I will tie the knot. I +will untie, and then retie it. This weak wench must be nerved to the +task," added she, regarding the senseless form of Sybil. "Here is that +will stimulate her," opening the cupboard, and taking a small phial; +"this will fortify her; and this," continued she, with a ghastly smile, +laying her hand upon another vessel, "this shall remove her rival when +all is fulfilled; this liquid shall constrain her lover to be her +titled, landed husband. Ha, ha!" + + + + +_CHAPTER V_ + +_THE INAUGURATION_ + + _Beggar._ Concert, sir! we have musicians, too, among us. True, + merry beggars, indeed, that, being within the reach of the lash for + singing libellous songs at London, were fain to fly into one cover, + and here they sing all our poets' ditties. They can sing anything, + most tunably, sir, but psalms. What they may do hereafter, under a + triple tree, is much expected; but they live very civilly and + genteelly among us. + + _Spring._ But what is here--that solemn old fellow, that neither + speaks of himself, or any for him? + + _Beggar._ O, sir, the rarest man of all: he is a prophet. See how he + holds up his prognosticating nose. He is divining now. + + _Spring._ How, a prophet? + + _Beggar._ Yes, sir; a cunning man, and a fortune-teller; a very + ancient stroller all the world over, and has travelled with gipsies: + and is a patrico. + + _The Merry Beggars._ + + +In consequence of some few words which the sexton let fall in the +presence of the attendants, during breakfast, more perhaps by design +than accident, it was speedily rumored throughout the camp that the +redoubted Richard Turpin was for the time its inmate. This intelligence +produced some such sensation as is experienced by the inhabitants of a +petty town on the sudden arrival of a prince of the blood, a +commander-in-chief, or other illustrious and distinguished personage, +whose fame has been vaunted abroad amongst his fellowmen by Rumor, "and +her thousand tongues;" and who, like our highwayman, has rendered +himself sufficiently notorious to be an object of admiration and +emulation amongst his contemporaries. + +All started up at the news. The upright man, the chief of the crew, +arose from his chair, donned his gown of state, a very ancient brocade +dressing-gown, filched, most probably, from the wardrobe of some +strolling player, grasped his baton of office, a stout oaken truncheon, +and sallied forth. The ruffler, who found his representative in a very +magnificently equipped, and by no means ill-favored knave, whose chin +was decorated with a beard as lengthy and as black as Sultan Mahmoud's, +together with the dexterous hooker, issued forth from the hovel which +they termed their boozing ken, eager to catch a glimpse of the prince of +the high-tobygloaks. The limping palliard tore the bandages from his +mock wounds, shouldered his crutch, and trudged hastily after them. The +whip-jack unbuckled his strap, threw away his timber leg, and "leapt +exulting, like the bounding roe." "With such a sail in sight," he said, +"he must heave to, like the rest." The dummerar, whose tongue had been +cut out by the Algerines, suddenly found the use of it, and made the +welkin ring with his shouts. Wonderful were the miracles Dick's advent +wrought. The lame became suddenly active, the blind saw, the dumb spoke; +nay, if truth must be told, absolutely gave utterance to "most +vernacular execrations." Morts, autem morts, walking morts, dells, +doxies, kinching morts, and their coes, with all the shades and grades +of the Canting Crew, were assembled. There were, to use the words of +Brome-- + + ----Stark, errant, downright beggars. Ay, + Without equivocation, statute beggars, + Couchant and passant, guardant, rampant beggars; + Current and vagrant, stockant, whippant beggars![25] + +Each sunburnt varlet started from his shed; each dusky dame, with her +brown, half-naked urchins, followed at his heels; each "ripe young +maiden, with the glossy eye," lingered but to sleek her raven tresses, +and to arrange her straw bonnet, and then overtook the others; each +wrinkled beldame hobbled as quickly after as her stiffened joints would +permit; while the ancient patrico, the priest of the crew--who joined +the couples together by the hedge-side, "with the nice custom of dead +horse between"[26]--brought up the rear; all bent on one grand object, +that of having a peep at the "foremost man of all this prigging world!" + +Dick Turpin, at the period of which we treat, was in the zenith of his +reputation. His deeds were full blown; his exploits were in every man's +mouth; and a heavy price was set upon his head. That he should show +himself thus openly, where he might be so easily betrayed, excited no +little surprise among the craftiest of the crew, and augured an excess +of temerity on his part. Rash daring was the main feature of Turpin's +character. Like our great Nelson, he knew fear only by name; and when he +thus trusted himself in the hands of strangers, confident in himself and +in his own resources, he felt perfectly easy as to the result. He relied +also in the continuance of his good fortune, which had as yet never +deserted him. Possessed of the belief that his hour was not yet come, he +cared little or nothing for any risk he might incur; and though he +might, undoubtedly, have some presentiment of the probable termination +of his career, he never suffered it to militate against his present +enjoyment, which proved that he was no despicable philosopher. + +Turpin was the _ultimus Romanorum_, the last of a race, which--we were +almost about to say we regret--is now altogether extinct. Several +successors he had, it is true, but no name worthy to be recorded after +his own. With him expired the chivalrous spirit which animated +successively the bosoms of so many knights of the road; with him died +away that passionate love of enterprise, that high spirit of devotion to +the fair sex, which was first breathed upon the highway by the gay, +gallant Claude Du-Val, the Bayard of the road--_Le filou sans peur et +sans reproche_--but which was extinguished at last by the cord that tied +the heroic Turpin to the remorseless tree. It were a subject well worthy +of inquiry, to trace this decline and fall of the empire of the tobymen +to its remoter causes; to ascertain the why and the wherefore, that with +so many half-pay captains; so many poor curates; so many lieutenants, of +both services, without hopes of promotion; so many penny-a-liners, and +fashionable novelists; so many damned dramatists, and damning critics; +so many Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviewers; so many detrimental brothers, +and younger sons; when there are horses to be hired, pistols to be +borrowed, purses to be taken, and mails are as plentiful as +partridges--it were worth serious investigation, we repeat, to ascertain +why, with the best material imaginable for a new race of highwaymen, we +have none, not even an amateur. Why do not some of these choice spirits +quit the _salons_ of Pall-Mall, and take to the road? the air of the +heath is more bracing and wholesome, we should conceive, than that of +any "hell" whatever, and the chances of success incomparably greater. We +throw out this hint, without a doubt of seeing it followed up. Probably +the solution of our inquiry may be, that the supply is greater than the +demand; that, in the present state of things, embryo highwaymen may be +more abundant than purses; and then, have we not the horse-patrol? With +such an admirably-organized system of conservation, it is vain to +anticipate a change. The highwaymen, we fear, like their Irish brothers, +the Rapparees, went out with the Tories. They were averse to reform, and +eschewed emancipation. + +Lest any one should think we have overrated the pleasures of the +highwayman's existence, they shall hear what "the right villainous" Jack +Hall, a celebrated tobyman of his day, has got to say on the subject. +"His life--the highwayman's--has, generally, the most mirth and the +least care in it of any man's breathing, and all he deals for is clear +profit: he has that point of good conscience, that he always sells as +he buys, a good pennyworth, which is something rare, since he trades +with so small a stock. The _fence_[27] and he are like the devil and the +doctor, they live by one another; and, like traitors, 'tis best to keep +each other's counsel. He has this point of honesty, that he never robs +the house he frequents"--Turpin had the same scruples respecting the +Hall of Rookwood in Sir Piers's lifetime--; "and perhaps pays his debts +better than some others, for he holds it below the dignity of his +employment to commit so ungenteel a crime as insolvency, and loves to +pay nobly. He has another quality, not much amiss, that he takes no more +than he has occasion for"--Jack, we think, was a little mistaken here--; +"which he verifies this way: he craves no more while that lasts. He is a +less nuisance in a commonwealth than a miser, because the money he +engrosses all circulates again, which the other hoards as though 'twere +only to be found again at the day of judgment. He is the tithe-pig of +his family, which the gallows, instead of the parson, claims as its due. +He has reason enough to be bold in his undertakings, for, though all the +world threaten him, he stands in fear of but one man in it, and that's +the hangman; and with him, too, he is generally in fee: however, I +cannot affirm he is so valiant that he dares look any man in the face, +for in that point he is now and then, a little modest. Newgate may be +said to be his country-house, where he frequently lives so many months +in the year; and he is not so much concerned to be carried thither for a +small matter, if 'twere only for the benefit of renewing his +acquaintance there. He holds a petit larceny as light as a nun does +auricular confession, though the priest has a more compassionate +character than the hangman. Every man in this community is esteemed +according to his particular quality, of which there are several degrees, +though it is contrary often to public government; for here a man shall +be valued purely for his merit, and rise by it too, though it be but to +a halter, in which there is a great deal of glory in dying like a hero, +and making a decent figure in the cart to the last two staves of the +fifty-first psalm."[28] + +This, we repeat, is the plain statement of a practical man, and again we +throw out the hint for adoption. All we regret is, that we are now +degenerated from the grand tobyman to the cracksman and the sneak, about +whom there are no redeeming features. How much lower the next generation +of thieves will dive it boots not to conjecture: + + Ætas parentum pejor avis tulit, + Nos nequiores; mox daturos, + Progeniem vitiosiorem. + +"Cervantes laughed Spain's chivalry away," sang Byron; and if Gay did +not extinguish the failing flame of our _night_ errantry--unlike the +"Robbers" of Schiller, which is said to have inflamed the Saxon youth +with an irrepressible mania for brigandage--, the "Beggar's Opera" +helped not to fan the dying fire. That laugh was fatal, as laughs +generally are. Macheath gave the highwayman his _coup de grâce_. + +The last of this race--for we must persist in maintaining that he _was_ +the last--, Turpin, like the setting sun, threw up some parting rays of +glory, and tinged the far highways with a luster that may yet be traced +like a cloud of dust raised by his horse's retreating heels. Unequalled +in the command of his steed, the most singular feat that the whole race +of the annals of horsemanship has to record, and of which we may have +more to say hereafter, was achieved by him. So perfect was his +jockeyship, so clever his management of the animal he mounted, so +intimately acquainted was he with every cross-road in the neighborhood +of the metropolis--a book of which he constructed, and carried +constantly about his person--, as well as with many other parts of +England, particularly the counties of Chester, York, and Lancaster, that +he outstripped every pursuer, and baffled all attempts at capture. His +reckless daring, his restless rapidity--for so suddenly did he change +his ground, and renew his attacks in other quarters, that he seemed to +be endowed with ubiquity,--his bravery, his resolution, and, above all, +his generosity, won for him a high reputation amongst his compatriots, +and even elicited applauses from those upon whom he levied his +contributions. + +Beyond dispute, he ruled as master of the road. His hands were, as yet, +unstained with blood; he was ever prompt to check the disposition to +outrage, and to prevent, as much as lay in his power, the commission of +violence by his associates. Of late, since he had possessed himself of +his favorite mare, Black Bess, his robberies had been perpetrated with a +suddenness of succession, and at distances so apparently impracticable, +that the idea of all having been executed by one man, was rejected as an +impossibility; and the only way of reconciling the description of the +horse and rider, which tallied in each instance, was the supposition +that these attacks were performed by confederates similarly mounted and +similarly accoutred. + +There was, in all this, as much of the "_famæ sacra fames_" as of the +"_auri_;" of the hungering after distinction, as well as of the appetite +of gain. Enamored of his vocation, Turpin delighted to hear himself +designated as the Flying Highwayman; and it was with rapturous triumph +that he found his single-handed feats attributed to a band of marauders. +But this state of things could not long endure; his secret was blown; +the vigilance of the police was aroused; he was tracked to his haunts; +and, after a number of hairbreadth 'scapes, which he only effected by +miracle, or by the aid of his wonder-working mare, he reluctantly +quitted the heathy hills of Bagshot, the Pampas plains of Hounslow--over +which like an archetype of the galloping Sir Francis Head, he had so +often scoured,--the gorsy commons of Highgate, Hampstead, and Finchley, +the marshy fields of Battersea, almost all of which he had been known to +visit in a single night, and leaving these beaten tracks to the +occupation of younger and less practised hands, he bequeathed to them, +at the same time, his own reversionary interest in the gibbets thereupon +erected, and betook himself to the country. + +After a journey of more or less success, our adventurer found himself at +Rookwood, whither he had been invited after a grand field-day by its +hospitable and by no means inquisitive owner. Breach of faith and good +fellowship formed no part of Turpin's character; he had his lights as +well as his shades; and as long as Sir Piers lived, his purse and +coffers would have been free from molestation, except, "so far," Dick +said, "as a cog or two of dice went. My dice, you know, are longs for +odd and even, a bale of bar'd cinque deuces," a pattern of which he +always carried with him; beyond this, excepting a take-in at a steeple +chase, Rookwood church being the mark, a "do" at a leap, or some such +trifle, to which the most scrupulous could not raise an objection, Dick +was all fair and above-board. But when poor Sir Piers had "put on his +wooden surtout," to use Dick's own expressive metaphor, his +conscientious scruples evaporated into thin air. Lady Rookwood was +nothing to him; there was excellent booty to be appropriated-- + + The wise _convey_ it call. + +He began to look about for hands; and having accidentally encountered +his old comrades, Rust and Wilder, they were let into the business, +which was imperfectly accomplished in the manner heretofore described. + +To return from this digression. When Turpin presented himself at the +threshold of the door, on his way to inquire after his mare, to his +astonishment he found it closely invested. A cheering shout from the +tawny throng, succeeded by a general clapping of hands, and attended by +a buzzing susurration of applause, such as welcomes the entrance of a +popular actor upon the stage, greeted the appearance of the highwayman. +At the first sight of the crowd he was a little startled, and +involuntarily sought for his pistols. But the demonstrations of +admiration were too unequivocal to be for a moment mistaken; his hand +was drawn from his pocket to raise his hat from his brow. + +Thunders of applause. + +Turpin's external man, we have before said, was singularly +prepossessing. It was especially so in the eyes of _the_ sex--fair we +certainly cannot say upon the present occasion--, amongst whom not a +single dissentient voice was to be heard. All concurred in thinking him +a fine fellow; could plainly read his high courage in his bearing; his +good breeding in his débonnaire deportment; and his manly beauty in his +extravagant red whiskers. Dick saw the effect that he produced. He was +at home in a moment. Your true highwayman has ever a passion for effect. +This does not desert him at the gallows; it rises superior to death +itself, and has been known to influence the manner of his dangling from +the gibbet! To hear some one cry, "There goes a proper handsome man," +saith our previously quoted authority, Jack Hall, "somewhat ameliorates +the terrible thoughts of the meagre tyrant death; and to go in a dirty +shirt were enough to save the hangman a labor, and make a man die with +grief and shame at being in that deplorable condition." With a gracious +smile of condescension, like a popular orator--with a look of blarney +like that of O'Connell, and of assurance like that of Hume--he surveyed +the male portion of the spectators, tipped a knowing wink at the +prettiest brunettes he could select, and finally cut a sort of fling +with his well-booted legs, that brought down another appeal of rapturous +applause. + +"A rank scamp!"[29] cried the upright man; and this exclamation, however +equivocal it may sound, was intended, on his part, to be highly +complimentary. + +"I believe ye," returned the ruffler, stroking his chin--"one may see +that he's no half swell by the care with which he cultivates the best +gifts of nature, his whiskers. He's a rank nib."[30] + +"Togged out to the ruffian, no doubt," said the palliard, who was +incomparably the shabbiest rascal in the corps. "Though a needy mizzler +mysel, I likes to see a cove vot's vel dressed. Jist twig his swell +kickseys and pipes;[31] if they ain't the thing, I'm done. Lame Harry +can't dance better nor he--no, nor Jerry Juniper neither." + +"I'm dumb founded," roared the dummerar, "if he can't patter romany[32] +as vel as the best on us! He looks like a rum 'un." + +"And a rum 'un he be, take my word for it," returned the whip-jack, or +sham sailor. "Look at his rigging--see how he flashes his +sticks[33]--those are the tools to rake a three-decker. He's as clever a +craft as I've seen this many a day, or I'm no judge." + +The women were equally enchanted--equally eloquent in the expression of +their admiration. + +"What ogles!" cried a mort. + +"What pins!" said an autem mort, or married woman. + +"Sharp as needles," said a dark-eyed dell, who had encountered one of +the free and frolicsome glances which our highwayman distributed so +liberally among the petticoats. + +It was at this crisis Dick took off his hat. Cæsar betrayed his +baldness. + +"A thousand pities!" cried the men, compassionating his thinly covered +skull, and twisting their own ringlets, glossy and luxuriant, though +unconscious of Macassar. "A thousand pities that so fine a fellow should +have a sconce like a cocoanut!" + +"But then his red whiskers," rejoined the women, tired of the uniformity +of thick black heads of hair; "what a warmth of coloring they impart to +his face; and then only look how beautifully bushy they make his cheeks +appear!" + +La Fosseuse and the court of the Queen of Navarre were not more smitten +with the Sieur de Croix's jolly pair of whiskers. + +The hawk's eye of Turpin ranged over the whole assemblage. Amidst that +throng of dark faces there was not one familiar to him. + +Before him stood the upright man, Zoroaster--so was he called--, a +sturdy, stalwart rogue, whose superior strength and stature--as has not +unfrequently been the case in the infancy of governments that have risen +to more importance than is likely to be the case with that of Lesser +Egypt--had been the means of his elevation to his present dignified +position. Zoroaster literally _fought_ his way upwards, and had at first +to maintain his situation by the strong arm; but he now was enabled to +repose upon his hard-won laurels, to smoke "the calumet of peace," and +quaff his tipple with impunity. For one of gipsy blood, he presented an +unusually jovial, liquor-loving countenance: his eye was mirthful; his +lip moist, as if from oft potations; his cheek mellow as an Orleans +plum, which fruit, in color and texture, it mightily resembled. Strange +to say, also, for one of that lithe race, his person was heavy and +hebetudinous; the consequence, no doubt, of habitual intemperance. Like +Cribb, he waxed obese upon the championship. There was a kind of mock +state in his carriage, as he placed himself before Turpin, and with his +left hand twisted up the tail of his dressing-gown, while the right +thrust his truncheon into his hip, which was infinitely diverting to the +highwayman. + +Turpin's attention, however, was chiefly directed towards his neighbor, +the ruffler, in whom he recognized a famous impostor of the day, with +whose history he was sufficiently well acquainted to be able at once to +identify the individual. We have before stated, that a magnificent +coal-black beard decorated the chin of this worthy; but this was not +all--his costume was in perfect keeping with his beard, and consisted of +a very theatrical-looking tunic, upon the breast of which was +embroidered, in golden wire, the Maltese cross; while over his shoulders +were thrown the folds of an ample cloak of Tyrian hue. To his side was +girt a long and doughty sword, which he termed, in his knightly phrase, +Excalibur; and upon his profuse hair rested a hat as broad in the brim +as a Spanish sombrero. + +Exaggerated as this description may appear, we can assure our readers +that it is not overdrawn; and that a counterpart of the sketch we have +given of the ruffler certainly "strutted his hour" upon the stage of +human life, and that the very ancient and discriminating city of +Canterbury--to which be all honor--was his theatre of action. His +history is so far curious, that it exemplifies, more strongly than a +thousand discourses could do, how prone we are to be governed by +appearances, and how easily we may be made the dupes of a plausible +impostor. Be it remembered, however, that we treat of the eighteenth +century, before the march of intellect had commenced; we are much too +knowing to be similarly practised upon in these enlightened times. But +we will let the knight of Malta, for such was the title assumed by the +ruffler, tell his own story in his own way hereafter; contenting +ourselves with the moral precepts we have already deduced from it. + +Next to the knight of Malta stood the whip-jack, habited in his sailor +gear--striped shirt and dirty canvas trousers; and adjoining him was the +palliard, a loathsome tatterdemalion, his dress one heap of rags, and +his discolored skin one mass of artificial leprosy and imposthumes. + +As Turpin's eye shifted from one to another of these figures, he chanced +upon an individual who had been long endeavoring to arrest his +attention. This personage was completely in the background. All that +Dick could discern of him was a brown curly head of hair, carelessly +arranged in the modern mode; a handsome, impudent, sun-freckled face, +with one eye closed, and the other occupied by a broken bottle-neck, +through which, as a substitute for a lorgnette, the individual +reconnoitered him. A cocked hat was placed in a very _dégagée_ manner +under his arm, and he held an ebony cane in his hand, very much in the +style of a "_fassionable_," as the French have it, of the present day. +This glimpse was sufficient to satisfy Turpin. He recognized in this +whimsical personage an acquaintance. + +Jerry Juniper was what the classical Captain Grose would designate a +"gentleman with three outs," and, although he was not entirely without +wit, nor, his associates avouched, without money, nor, certainly, in his +own opinion, had that been asked, without manners; yet was he assuredly +without shoes, without stockings, without shirt. This latter deficiency +was made up by a voluminous cravat, tied with proportionately large +bows. A jaunty pair of yellow breeches, somewhat faded; a waistcoat of +silver brocade, richly embroidered, somewhat tarnished and lack-lustre; +a murrey-colored velvet coat, somewhat chafed, completed the costume of +this beggar Brummell, this mendicant macaroni! + +Jerry Juniper was a character well known at the time, as a constant +frequenter of all races, fairs, regattas, ship-launches, bull-baits, and +prize-fights, all of which he attended, and to which he transported +himself with an expedition little less remarkable than that of Turpin. +You met him at Epsom, at Ascot, at Newmarket, at Doncaster, at the +Roodee of Chester, at the Curragh of Kildare. The most remote as well as +the most adjacent meeting attracted him. The cock-pit was his constant +haunt, and in more senses than one was he a _leg_. No opera-dancer could +be more agile, more nimble; scarcely, indeed, more graceful, than was +Jerry, with his shoeless and stockingless feet; and the manner in which +he executed a pirouette, or a pas, before a line of carriages, seldom +failed to procure him "golden opinions from all sorts of dames." With +the ladies, it must be owned, Jerry was rather upon too easy terms; but +then, perhaps, the ladies were upon too easy terms with Jerry; and if a +bright-eyed fair one condescended to jest with him, what marvel if he +should sometimes slightly transgress the laws of decorum. These +aberrations, however, were trifling; altogether he was so well known, +and knew everybody else so well, that he seldom committed himself; and, +singular to say, could on occasions even be serious. In addition to his +other faculties, no one cut a sly joke, or trolled a merry ditty, better +than Jerry. His peculiarities, in short, were on the pleasant side, and +he was a general favorite in consequence. + +No sooner did Jerry perceive that he was recognized, than, after kissing +his hand, with the air of a _petit-maître_, to the highwayman, he strove +to edge his way through the crowd. All his efforts were fruitless; and, +tired of a situation in the rear rank, so inconsistent, he conceived, +with his own importance, he had recourse to an expedient often practised +with success in harlequinades, and not unfrequently in real life, where +a flying leap is occasionally taken over our heads. He ran back a few +yards to give himself an impetus, returned, and, placing his hands upon +the shoulders of a stalwart vagabond near to him, threw a summerset upon +the broad cap of a palliard, who was so jammed in the midst that he +could not have stirred to avoid the shock; thence, without pausing, he +vaulted forwards, and dropped lightly upon the ground in front of +Zoroaster, and immediately before the highwayman. + +Dick laughed immoderately at Jerry's man[oe]uvre. He shook his old chum +cordially by the hand, saying, in a whisper, "What the devil brings you +here, Jerry?" + +"I might retort, and ask you that question, Captain Turpin," replied +Jerry, _sotto voce_. "It is odd to see me here, certainly--quite out of +my element--lost amongst this _canaille_--this Canting Crew--all the +fault of a pair of gipsy eyes, bright as a diamond, dark as a sloe. You +comprehend--a little affair, ha! Liable to these things. Bring your ear +closer, my boy; be upon your guard--keep a sharp look out--there's a +devil of a reward upon your head--I won't answer for all those rascals." + +"Thank you for the hint, Jerry," replied Dick, in the same tone. "I +calculated my chances pretty nicely when I came here. But if I should +perceive any symptoms of foul play--any attempt to snitch or nose, +amongst this pack of peddlers--I have a friend or two at hand, who won't +be silent upon the occasion. Rest assured I shall have my eye upon the +gnarling scoundrels. I won't be sold for nothing." + +"Trust you for that," returned Juniper, with a wink. "Stay," added he; +"a thought strikes me. I have a scheme _in petto_ which may, perhaps, +afford you some fun, and will, at all events, insure your safety during +your stay." + +"What is it?" asked Dick. + +"Just amuse yourself with a flirtation for a moment or two with that +pretty damsel, who has been casting her ogles at you for the last five +minutes without success, while I effect a master-stroke." + +And as Turpin, nothing loth, followed his advice, Jerry addressed +himself to Zoroaster. After a little conference, accompanied by that +worthy and the knight of Malta, the trio stepped forward from the line, +and approached Dick, when Juniper, assuming some such attitude as our +admirable Jones, the comedian, is wont to display, delivered himself of +the following address. Turpin listened with the gravity of one of the +distinguished persons alluded to, at the commencement of the present +chapter, upon their receiving the freedom of the city at the hands of a +mayor and corporation. Thus spoke Jerry: + +"Highest of High-Tobymen! rummest of rum Padders, and most scampish of +Scampsmen! We, in the name of Barbara, our most tawny queen; in the name +of Zoroaster, our Upright Man, Dimber Damber, or Olli Campolli, by all +which titles his excellency is distinguished; in our own respective +names, as High Pads and Low Pads, Rum Gills and Queer Gills, Patricos, +Palliards, Priggers, Whip-Jacks, and Jarkmen, from the Arch Rogue to the +Needy Mizzler, fully sensible of the honor you have conferred upon us in +gracing Stop-Hole Abbey with your presence; and conceiving that we can +in no way evince our sense of your condescension so entirely as by +offering you the freedom of our crew, together with the privileges of an +Upright Man,[34] which you may be aware are considerable, and by +creating you an honorary member of the Vagrant Club, which we have +recently established; and in so doing, we would fain express the +sentiments of gratification and pride which we experience in enrolling +among our members one who has extended the glory of roguery so widely +over the land, and who has kicked up such a dust upon the highways of +England, as most effectually to blind the natives--one who is in himself +a legion--of highwaymen! Awaiting, with respectful deference, the +acquiescence of Captain Richard Turpin, we beg to tender him the freedom +of our crew." + +"Really, gentlemen," said Turpin, who did not exactly see the drift of +this harangue, "you do me a vast deal of honor. I am quite at a loss to +conceive how I can possibly have merited so much attention at your +hands; and, indeed, I feel myself so unworthy----" Here Dick received an +expressive wink from Juniper, and therefore thought it prudent to alter +his expression. "Could I suppose myself at all deserving of so much +distinction," continued the modest speaker, "I should at once accept +your very obliging offer; but----" + +"None so worthy," said the upright man. + +"Can't hear of a refusal," said the knight of Malta. + +"Refusal--impossible!" reiterated Juniper. + +"No; no refusal," exclaimed a chorus of voices. "Dick Turpin must be one +of us. He shall be our dimber damber." + +"Well, gentlemen, since you are so pressing," replied Turpin, "even so +be it. I _will_ be your dimber damber." + +"Bravo! bravo!" cried the mob, _not_ "of gentlemen." + +"About it, pals, at once," said the knight of Malta, flourishing +Excalibur. "By St. Thomas à Becket, we'll have as fine a scene as I +myself ever furnished to the Canterbury lieges." + +"About what?" asked Dick. + +"Your matriculation," replied Jerry. "There are certain forms to be +gone through, with an oath to be taken, merely a trifle. We'll have a +jolly booze when all's over. Come bing avast, my merry pals; to the +green, to the green: a Turpin! a Turpin! a new brother!" + +"A Turpin! a Turpin! a new brother!" echoed the crew. + +"I've brought you through," said Jerry, taking advantage of the uproar +that ensued to whisper to his chum; "none of them will dare to lift a +finger against you now. They are all your friends for life." + +"Nevertheless," returned Turpin, "I should be glad to know what has +become of Bess." + +"If it's your prancer you are wanting," chirped a fluttering creature, +whom Turpin recognized as Luke's groom, Grasshopper, "I gave her a fresh +loaf and a stoup of stingo, as you bade me, and there she be, under yon +tree, as quiet as a lamb." + +"I see her," replied Turpin; "just tighten her girths, Grasshopper, and +bring her after me, and thou shalt have wherewithal to chirp over thy +cups at supper." + +Away bounded the elfin dwarf to execute his behest. + +A loud shout now rent the skies, and presently afterwards was heard the +vile scraping of a fiddle, accompanied by the tattoo of a drum. +Approaching Turpin, a host of gipsies elevated the highwayman upon their +shoulders, and in this way he was carried to the centre of the green, +where the long oaken table, which had once served the Franciscans for +refection, was now destined for the stage of the pageant. + +Upon this table three drums were placed; and Turpin was requested to +seat himself on the central one. A solemn prelude, more unearthly than +the incantation in the Freyschütz, was played by the orchestra of the +band, conducted by the Paganini of the place, who elicited the most +marvellous notes from his shell. A couple of shawms[35] emitted +sepulchral sounds, while the hollow rolling of a drum broke ever and +anon upon the ear. The effect was prodigiously fine. During this +overture the patrico and the upright man had ascended the rostrum, each +taking his place; the former on the right hand of Turpin, the latter +upon his left. Below them stood the knight of Malta, with Excalibur +drawn in his hand, and gleaming in the sunshine. On the whole, Dick was +amused with what he saw, and with the novel situation in which he found +himself placed. Around the table were congregated a compact mass of +heads; so compact, indeed, that they looked like one creature--an Argus, +with each eye upturned upon the highwayman. The idea struck Turpin that +the restless mass of parti-colored shreds and patches, of vivid hues and +varied tintings, singularly, though accidentally, disposed to produce +such an effect, resembled an immense tiger-moth, or it might be a Turkey +carpet spread out upon the grass! + +The scene was a joyous one. It was a brilliant sunshiny morning. +Freshened and purified by the storm of the preceding night, the air +breathed a balm upon the nerves and senses of the robber. The wooded +hills were glittering in light; the brook was flowing swiftly past the +edge of the verdant slope, glancing like a wreathed snake in the +sunshine--its "quiet song" lost in the rude harmony of the mummers, as +were the thousand twitterings of the rejoicing birds; the rocks bared +their bosoms to the sun, or were buried in deep-cast gloom; the shadows +of the pillars and arches of the old walls of the priory were projected +afar, while the rose-like ramifications of the magnificent marigold +window were traced, as if by a pencil, upon the verdant tablet of the +sod. + +The overture was finished. With the appearance of the principal figures +in this strange picture the reader is already familiar. It remains only +to give him some idea of the patrico. Imagine, then, an old +superannuated goat, reared upon its hind legs, and clad in a white +sheet, disposed in folds like those of a simar about its limbs, and you +will have some idea of Balthazar, the patrico. This resemblance to the +animal before mentioned was rendered the more striking by his huge, +hanging, goat-like under lip, his lengthy white beard, and a sort of +cap, covering his head, which was ornamented with a pair of horns, such +as are to be seen in Michael Angelo's tremendous statue of Moses. +Balthazar, besides being the patrico of the tribe, was its principal +professor of divination, and had been the long-tried and faithful +minister of Barbara Lovel, from whose secret instructions he was +supposed to have derived much of his magical skill. + +Placing a pair of spectacles upon his "prognosticating nose," and +unrolling a vellum skin, upon which strange characters were written, +Balthazar, turning to Turpin, thus commenced in a solemn voice: + + Thou who wouldst our brother be, + Say how we shall enter thee? + Name the name that thou wilt bear + Ere our livery thou wear? + +"I see no reason why I should alter my designation," replied the +noviciate; "but as popes change their titles on their creation, there +can be no objection to a scampsman following so excellent an example. +Let me be known as the Night Hawk." + +"The Night Hawk--good," returned the hierophant, proceeding to register +the name upon the parchment. "Kneel down," continued he. + +After some hesitation, Turpin complied. + +"You must repeat the 'salamon,' or oath of our creed, after my +dictation," said the patrico; and Turpin, signifying his assent by a +nod, Balthazar propounded the following abjuration: + + OATH OF THE CANTING CREW + + I, Crank-Cuffin, swear to be + True to this fraternity; + That I will in all obey + Rule and order of the lay. + Never blow the gab, or squeak; + Never snitch to bum or beak; + But religiously maintain + Authority of those who reign + Over Stop-Hole Abbey Green, + Be they tawny king, or queen. + In their cause alone will fight; + Think what they think, wrong or right; + Serve them truly, and no other, + And be faithful to my brother; + Suffer none, from far or near, + With their rights to interfere; + No strange Abram, ruffler crack, + Hooker of another pack, + Rogue or rascal, frater, maunderer, + Irish toyle, or other wanderer; + No dimber damber, angler, dancer, + Prig of cackler, prig of prancer; + No swigman, swaddler, clapperdudgeon; + Cadge-gloak, curtal, or curmudgeon; + No whip-jack, palliard, patrico; + No jarkman, be he high or low; + No dummerar, or romany; + No member of "_the Family_;" + No ballad-basket, bouncing buffer, + Nor any other, will I suffer; + But stall-off now and for ever, + All outliers whatsoever: + And as I keep to the foregone, + So may help me Salamon![36] + +"So help me Salamon!" repeated Turpin, with emphasis. + +"Zoroaster," said the patrico to the upright man, "do thy part of this +ceremonial." + +Zoroaster obeyed; and, taking Excalibur from the knight of Malta, +bestowed a hearty thwack with the blade upon the shoulders of the +kneeling highwayman, assisting him afterwards to arise. + +The inauguration was complete. + +"Well," exclaimed Dick, "I'm glad it's all over. My leg feels a little +stiffish. I'm not much given to kneeling. I must dance it off;" saying +which, he began to shuffle upon the boards. "I tell you what," continued +he, "most reverend patrico, that same 'salmon' of yours has a cursed +long tail. I could scarce swallow it all, and it's strange if it don't +give me an indigestion. As to you, sage Zory, from the dexterity with +which you flourish your sword, I should say you had practised at court. +His majesty could scarce do the thing better, when, slapping some fat +alderman upon the shoulder, he bids him arise Sir Richard. And now, +pals," added he, glancing round, "as I am one of you, let's have a booze +together ere I depart, for I don't think my stay will be long in the +land of Egypt." + +This suggestion of Turpin was so entirely consonant to the wishes of the +assemblage, that it met with universal approbation; and upon a sign from +Zoroaster, some of his followers departed in search of supplies for the +carousal. Zoroaster leaped from the table, and his example was followed +by Turpin, and more leisurely by the patrico. + +It was rather early in the day for a drinking bout. But the Canting Crew +were not remarkably particular. The chairs were removed, and the +jingling of glasses announced the arrival of the preliminaries of the +matutine symposion. Poles, canvas, and cords were next brought; and in +almost as short a space of time as one scene is substituted for another +in a theatrical representation, a tent was erected. Benches, stools, and +chairs appeared with equal celerity, and the interior soon presented an +appearance like that of a booth at a fair. A keg of brandy was broached, +and the health of the new brother quaffed in brimmers. + +Our highwayman returned thanks. Zoroaster was in the chair, the knight +of Malta acting as croupier. A second toast was proposed--the tawny +queen. This was drunk with a like enthusiasm, and with a like allowance +of the potent spirit; but as bumpers of brandy are not to be repeated +with impunity, it became evident to the president of the board that he +must not repeat his toasts quite so expeditiously. To create a +temporary diversion, therefore, he called for a song. + +The dulcet notes of the fiddle now broke through the clamor; and, in +answer to the call, Jerry Juniper volunteered the following: + + JERRY JUNIPER'S CHANT + + In a box[37] of the stone jug[38] I was born, + Of a hempen widow[39] the kid forlorn. + _Fake away,_ + And my father, as I've heard say, + _Fake away._ + Was a merchant of capers[40] gay, + Who cut his last fling with great applause, + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._[41] + + Who cut his last fling with great applause,[42] + To the tune of a "hearty choke with caper sauce." + _Fake away._ + The knucks in quod[43] did my schoolmen play, + _Fake away,_ + And put me up to the time of day; + Until at last there was none so knowing, + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._ + + Until at last there was none so knowing, + No such sneaksman[44] or buzgloak[45] going. + _Fake away._ + Fogles[46] and fawnies[47] soon went their way, + _Fake away_, + To the spout[48] with the sneezers[49] in grand array. + No dummy hunter[50] had forks[51] so fly; + _Nix my doll pals, fake away_. + + No dummy hunter had forks so fly, + No knuckler[52] so deftly could fake a cly,[53] + _Fake away._ + No slour'd hoxter[54] my snipes[55] could stay, + _Fake away._ + None knap a reader[56] like me in the lay. + Soon then I mounted in swell-street high. + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._ + + Soon then I mounted in swell-street high, + And sported my flashiest toggery[57], + _Fake away._ + Firmly resolved I would make my hay, + _Fake away,_ + While Mercury's star shed a single ray; + And ne'er was there seen such a dashing prig,[58] + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._ + + And ne'er was there seen such a dashing prig, + With my strummel faked in the newest twig.[59] + _Fake away._ + With my fawnied famms,[60] and my onions gay,[61] + _Fake away;_ + My thimble of ridge[62], and my driz kemesa[63]; + All my togs were so niblike[64] and splash, + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._ + + All my togs were so niblike and splash, + Readily the queer screens I then could smash;[65] + _Fake away._ + But my nuttiest blowen,[66] one fine day, + _Fake away,_ + To the beaks[67] did her fancy man betray, + And thus was I bowled out at last[68] + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._ + + And thus was I bowled out at last, + And into the jug for a lag was cast;[69] + _Fake away._ + But I slipped my darbies[70] one morn in May, + _Fake away,_ + And gave to the dubsman[71] a holiday. + And here I am, pals, merry and free, + A regular rollicking romany.[72] + _Nix my doll pals, fake away._ + +Much laughter and applause rewarded Jerry's attempt to please; and +though the meaning of his chant, even with the aid of the numerous notes +appended to it, may not be quite obvious to our readers, we can assure +them that it was perfectly intelligible to the Canting Crew. Jerry was +now entitled to a call; and happening, at the moment, to meet the fine +dark eyes of a sentimental gipsy, one of that better class of mendicants +who wandered about the country with a guitar at his back, his election +fell upon him. The youth, without prelude, struck up a + + GIPSY SERENADE + + Merry maid, merry maid, wilt thou wander with me? + We will roam through the forest, the meadow, and lea; + We will haunt the sunny bowers, and when day begins to flee, + Our couch shall be the ferny brake, our canopy the tree. + _Merry maid, merry maid, come and wander with me! + No life like the gipsy's, so joyous and free!_ + + Merry maid, merry maid, though a roving life be ours, + We will laugh away the laughing and quickly fleeting hours; + Our hearts are free, as is the free and open sky above, + And we know what tamer souls know not, how lovers ought to love. + _Merry maid, merry maid, come and wander with me! + No life like the gipsy's so joyous and free!_ + +Zoroaster now removed the pipe from his upright lips to intimate his +intention of proposing a toast. + +A universal knocking of knuckles by the knucklers[73] was followed by +profound silence. The sage spoke: + +"The city of Canterbury, pals," said he; "and may it never want a knight +of Malta." + +The toast was pledged with much laughter, and in many bumpers. + +The knight, upon whom all eyes were turned, rose, "with stately bearing +and majestic motion," to return thanks. + +"I return you an infinitude of thanks, brother pals," said he, glancing +round the assemblage; and bowing to the president, "and to you, most +upright Zory, for the honor you have done me in associating my name with +that city. Believe me, I sincerely appreciate the compliment, and echo +the sentiment from the bottom of my soul. I trust it never _will_ want +a knight of Malta. In return for your consideration, but a poor one you +will say, you shall have a ditty, which I composed upon the occasion of +my pilgrimage to that city, and which I have thought proper to name +after myself." + + THE KNIGHT OF MALTA + + _A Canterbury Tale_[74] + + Come list to me, and you shall have, without a hem or haw, sirs, + A Canterbury pilgrimage, much better than old Chaucer's. + 'Tis of a hoax I once played off upon that city clever, + The memory of which, I hope, will stick to it for ever. + _With my coal-black beard, and purple cloak, + jack-boots, and broad-brimmed castor, + Hey-ho! for the knight of Malta!_ + + To execute my purpose, in the first place, you must know, sirs, + My locks I let hang down my neck--my beard and whiskers grow, sirs; + A purple cloak I next clapped on, a sword lagged to my side, sirs, + And mounted on a charger black, I to the town did ride, sirs. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + Two pages were there by my side, upon two little ponies, + Decked out in scarlet uniform, as spruce as macaronies; + Caparisoned my charger was, as grandly as his master, + And o'er my long and curly locks, I wore a broad-brimmed castor. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + The people all flocked forth, amazed to see a man so hairy, + Oh I such a sight had ne'er before been seen in Canterbury! + My flowing robe, my flowing beard, my horse with flowing mane, sirs! + They stared--the days of chivalry, they thought, were come again, sirs! + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + I told them a long rigmarole romance, that did not halt a + Jot, that they beheld in me a real knight of Malta! + Tom à Becket had I sworn I was, that saint and martyr hallowed, + I doubt not just as readily the bait they would have swallowed. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + I rode about, and speechified, and everybody gullied, + The tavern-keepers diddled, and the magistracy bullied; + Like puppets were the townsfolk led in that show they call a raree; + The Gotham sages were a joke to those of Canterbury. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + The theatre I next engaged, where I addressed the crowd, sirs, + And on retrenchment and reform I spouted long and loud, sirs; + On tithes and on taxation I enlarged with skill and zeal, sirs, + Who so able as a Malta knight, the malt tax to repeal, sirs. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + As a candidate I then stepped forth to represent their city, + And my non-election to that place was certainly a pity; + For surely I the fittest was, and very proper, very, + To represent the wisdom and the wit of Canterbury. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + At the trial of some smugglers next, one thing I rather queer did, + And the justices upon the bench I literally _bearded_; + For I swore that I some casks did see, though proved as clear as + day, sirs, + That I happened at the time to be some fifty miles away, sirs. + _With my coal-black beard, &c._ + + This last assertion, I must own, was somewhat of a blunder, + And for perjury indicted they compelled me to knock under; + To my prosperous career this slight error put a stop, sirs, + And thus _crossed_, the knight of Malta was at length obliged to + _hop_, sirs. + _With his coal-black beard, and purple cloak, + jack-boots, and broad-brimmed castor, + Good-by to the knight of Malta._ + +The knight sat down amidst the general plaudits of the company. + +The party, meanwhile, had been increased by the arrival of Luke and the +sexton. The former, who was in no mood for revelry, refused to comply +with his grandsire's solicitation to enter, and remained sullenly at the +door, with his arms folded, and his eyes fixed upon Turpin, whose +movements he commanded through the canvas aperture. The sexton walked up +to Dick, who was seated at the post of honor, and, clapping him upon +the shoulder, congratulated him upon the comfortable position in which +he found him. + +"Ha, ha! Are you there, my old death's-head on a mop-stick?" said +Turpin, with a laugh. "Ain't we merry mumpers, eh? Keeping it up in +style. Sit down, old Noah--make yourself comfortable, Methusalem." + +"What say you to a drop of as fine Nantz as you ever tasted in your +life, old cove?" said Zoroaster. + +"I have no sort of objection to it," returned Peter, "provided you will +all pledge my toast." + +"That I will, were it old Ruffin himself," shouted Turpin. + +"Here's to the three-legged mare," cried Peter. "To the tree that bears +fruit all the year round, and yet has neither bark nor branch. You won't +refuse that toast, Captain Turpin?" + +"Not I," answered Dick; "I owe the gallows no grudge. If, as Jerry's +song says, I must have a 'hearty choke and caper sauce' for my breakfast +one of these fine mornings, it shall never be said that I fell to my +meal without appetite, or neglected saying grace before it. Gentlemen, +here's Peter Bradley's toast: 'The scragging post--the three-legged +mare,' with three times three." + +Appropriate as this sentiment was, it did not appear to be so inviting +to the party as might have been anticipated, and the shouts soon died +away. + +"They like not the thoughts of the gallows," said Turpin to Peter. "More +fools they. A mere bugbear to frighten children, believe me; and never +yet alarmed a brave man. The gallows, pshaw! One can but die once, and +what signifies it how, so that it be over quickly. I think no more of +the last leap into eternity than clearing a five-barred gate. A rope's +end for it! So let us be merry, and make the most of our time, and +that's true philosophy. I know you can throw off a rum chant," added he, +turning to Peter. "I heard you sing last night at the hall. Troll us a +stave, my antediluvian file, and, in the meantime, tip me a gage of +fogus,[75] Jerry; and if that's a bowl of huckle-my-butt[76] you are +brewing, Sir William," added he, addressing the knight of Malta, "you +may send me a jorum at your convenience." + +Jerry handed the highwayman a pipe, together with a tumbler of the +beverage which the knight had prepared, which he pronounced excellent; +and while the huge bowl was passed round to the company, a prelude of +shawms announced that Peter was ready to break into song. + +Accordingly, after the symphony was ended, accompanied at intervals by a +single instrument, Peter began his melody, in a key so high, that the +utmost exertions of the shawm-blower failed to approach its altitudes. +The burden of his minstrelsy was + + THE MANDRAKE[77] + + {Môly de min kaleousi theoi, chalnpon de t' oryssein + Andrasi ge thnêtoisi theoi, de te panta dynantai.} + HOMERUS. + + The mandrake grows 'neath the gallows-tree, + And rank and green are its leaves to see; + Green and rank, as the grass that waves + Over the unctuous earth of graves; + And though all around it lie bleak and bare, + Freely the mandrake flourisheth there. + _Maranatha--Anathema! + Dread is the curse of mandragora! + Euthanasy!_ + + At the foot of the gibbet the mandrake springs; + Just where the creaking carcase swings; + Some have thought it engendered + From the fat that drops from the bones of the dead; + Some have thought it a human thing; + But this is a vain imagining. + _Maranatha--Anathema! + Dread is the curse of mandragora! + Euthanasy!_ + + A charnel leaf doth the mandrake wear, + A charnel fruit doth the mandrake bear; + Yet none like the mandrake hath such great power, + Such virtue resides not in herb or flower; + Aconite, hemlock, or moonshade, I ween, + None hath a poison so subtle and keen. + _Maranatha--Anathema! + Dread is the curse of mandragora! + Euthanasy!_ + + And whether the mandrake be create + Flesh with the power incorporate, + I know not; yet, if from the earth 'tis rent, + Shrieks and groans from the root are sent; + Shrieks and groans, and a sweat like gore + Oozes and drops from the clammy core. + _Maranatha--Anathema! + Dread is the curse of mandragora! + Euthanasy!_ + + Whoso gathereth the mandrake shall surely die; + Blood for blood is his destiny. + Some who have plucked it have died with groans, + Like to the mandrake's expiring moans; + Some have died raving, and some beside-- + With penitent prayers--but _all_ have died. + _Jesu! save us by night and day! + From the terrible death of mandragora! + Euthanasy!_ + +"A queer chant that," said Zoroaster, coughing loudly, in token of +disapprobation. + +"Not much to my taste," quoth the knight of Malta. "We like something +more sprightly in Canterbury." + +"Nor to mine," added Jerry; "don't think it's likely to have an encore. +'Pon my soul, Dick, you must give us something yourself, or we shall +never cry Euthanasy at the Triple Tree." + +"With all my heart," replied Turpin. "You shall have--but what do I see, +my friend Sir Luke? Devil take my tongue, Luke Bradley, I mean. What, +ho! Luke--nay, nay, man, no shrinking--stand forward; I've a word or two +to say to you. We must have a hob-a-nob glass together for old +acquaintance sake. Nay, no airs, man; damme you're not a lord yet, nor a +baronet either, though I do hold your title in my pocket; never look +glum at me. It won't pay. I'm one of the Canting Crew now; no man shall +sneer at me with impunity, eh, Zory? Ha, ha! here's a glass of Nantz; +we'll have a bottle of black strap when you are master of your own. Make +ready there, you gut-scrapers, you shawm-shavers; I'll put your lungs in +play for you presently. In the meantime--charge, pals, charge--a toast, +a toast! Health and prosperity to Sir Luke Rookwood! I see you are +surprised--this, gemmen, is Sir Luke Rookwood, somewhile Luke Bradley, +heir to the house of that name, not ten miles distant from this. Say, +shall we not drink a bumper to his health?" + +Astonishment prevailed amongst the crew. Luke himself had been taken by +surprise. When Turpin discovered him at the door of the tent, and +summoned him to appear, he reluctantly complied with the request; but +when, in a half-bantering vein, Dick began to rally him upon his +pretensions, he would most gladly have retreated, had it been in his +power. It was then too late. He felt he must stand the ordeal. Every eye +was fixed upon him with a look of inquiry. + +Zoroaster took his everlasting pipe from his mouth. + +"This ain't true, sure_ly_?" asked the perplexed Magus. + +"He has said it," replied Luke; "I may not deny it." + +This was sufficient. There was a wild hubbub of delight amongst the +crew, for Luke was a favorite with all. + +"Sir Luke Rookwood!" cried Jerry Juniper, who liked a title as much as +Tommy Moore is said to dote upon a lord. "Upon my soul I sincerely +congratulate you; devilish fortunate fellow. Always cursed unlucky +myself. I could never find out my own father, unless it were one +Monsieur des Capriolles, a French dancing-master, and _he_ never left +anything behind him that I could hear of, except a broken kit and a +hempen widow. Sir Luke Rookwood, we shall do ourselves the pleasure of +drinking your health and prosperity." + +Fresh bumpers and immense cheering. + +Silence being in a measure restored, Zoroaster claimed Turpin's promise +of a song. + +"True, true," replied Dick; "I have not forgotten it. Stand to your +bows, my hearties." + + THE GAME OF HIGH TOBY + + Now Oliver[78] puts his black nightcap on, + And every star its glim[79] is hiding, + And forth to the heath is the scampsman[80] gone, + His matchless cherry-black[81] prancer riding; + Merrily over the common he flies, + Fast and free as the rush of rocket, + His crape-covered vizard drawn over his eyes, + His tol[82] by his side, and his pops[83] in his pocket. + + CHORUS + + _Then who can name + So merry a game, + As the game of all games--high toby?_[84] + + The traveller hears him, away! away! + Over the wide wide heath he scurries; + He heeds not the thunderbolt summons to stay, + But ever the faster and faster he hurries. + But what daisy-cutter can match that black tit? + He is caught--he must "stand and deliver;" + Then out with the dummy[85], and off with the bit,[86] + Oh! the game of high toby for ever! + + CHORUS + + _Then who can name + So merry a game, + As the game of all games--high toby?_ + + Believe me, there is not a game, my brave boys, + To compare with the game of high toby; + No rapture can equal the tobyman's joys, + To blue devils, blue plumbs[87] give the go-by; + And what if, at length, boys, he come to the crap![88] + Even rack punch has _some_ bitter in it, + For the mare-with-three-legs[89], boys, I care not a rap, + 'Twill be over in less than a minute. + + GRAND CHORUS + + _Then hip, hurrah! + Fling care away! + Hurrah for the game of high toby!_ + +"And now, pals," said Dick, who began to feel the influence of these +morning cups, "I vote that we adjourn. Believe me I shall always bear in +mind that I am a brother of your band. Sir Luke and I must have a little +chat together ere I take my leave. Adieu!" + +And taking Luke by the arm, he walked out of the tent. Peter Bradley +rose, and followed them. + +At the door they found the dwarfish Grasshopper with Black Bess. +Rewarding the urchin for his trouble, and slipping the bridle of his +mare over his hand, Turpin continued his walk over the green. For a few +minutes he seemed to be lost in rumination. + +"I tell you what, Sir Luke," said he; "I should like to do a generous +thing, and make you a present of this bit of paper. But one ought not to +throw away one's luck, you know--there is a tide in the affairs of +thieves, as the player coves say, which must be taken at the flood, or +else----no matter! Your old dad, Sir Piers--God help him!--had the +gingerbread, _that_ I know; he was, as we say, a regular rhino-cerical +cull. You won't feel a few thousands, especially at starting; and +besides, there are two others, Rust and Wilder, who row in the same boat +with me, and must therefore come in for their share of the reg'lars. +All this considered, you can't complain, I think if I ask five thousand +for it. That old harridan, Lady Rookwood, offered me nearly as much." + +"I will not talk to you of fairness," said Luke; "I will not say that +document belongs of right to me. It fell by accident into your hands. +Having possessed yourself of it, I blame you not that you dispose of it +to the best advantage. I must, perforce, agree to your terms." + +"Oh, no," replied Dick, "it's quite optional; Lady Rookwood will give as +much, and make no mouths about it. Soho, lass! What makes Bess prick her +ears in that fashion?--Ha! carriage-wheels in the distance! that jade +knows the sound as well as I do. I'll just see what it's like!--you will +have ten minutes for reflection. Who knows if I may not have come in for +a good thing here?" + +At that instant the carriage passed the angle of a rock some three +hundred yards distant, and was seen slowly ascending the hill-side. +Eager as a hawk after his quarry, Turpin dashed after it. + +In vain the sexton, whom he nearly overthrew in his career, called after +him to halt. He sped like a bolt from the bow. + +"May the devil break his neck!" cried Peter, as he saw him dash through +the brook; "could he not let them alone?" + +"This must not be," said Luke; "know you whose carriage it is?" + +"It is a shrine that holds the jewel that should be dearest in your +eyes," returned Peter; "haste, and arrest the spoiler's hand." + +"Whom do you mean?" asked Luke. + +"Eleanor Mowbray," replied Peter. "She is there. To the rescue--away." + +"Eleanor Mowbray!" echoed Luke--"and Sybil?----" + +At this instant a pistol-shot was heard. + +"Will you let murder be done, and upon your cousin?" cried Peter, with a +bitter look. "You are not what I took you for." + +Luke answered not, but, swift as the hound freed from the leash, darted +in the direction of the carriage. + + + + +_CHAPTER VI_ + +_ELEANOR MOWBRAY_ + + ----Mischiefs + Are like the visits of Franciscan friars, + They never come to prey upon us single. + + _Devil's Law Case._ + + +The course of our tale returns now to Eleanor Mowbray. After she had +parted from Ranulph Rookwood, and had watched him disappear beneath the +arches of the church porch, her heart sank, and, drawing herself back +within the carriage, she became a prey to the most poignant affliction. +In vain she endeavored to shake off this feeling of desolation. It would +not be. Despair had taken possession of her; the magic fabric of delight +melted away, or only gleamed to tantalize, at an unreachable distance. A +presentiment that Ranulph would never be hers had taken root in her +imagination, and overshadowed all the rest. + +While Eleanor pursued this train of reflection, the time insensibly wore +away, until the sudden stoppage of the carriage aroused the party from +their meditation. Major Mowbray perceived that the occasion of the halt +was the rapid advance of a horseman, who was nearing them at full speed. +The appearance of the rider was somewhat singular, and might have +created some uneasiness as to the nature of his approach, had not the +major immediately recognized a friend; he was, nevertheless, greatly +surprised to see him, and turned to Mrs. Mowbray to inform her that +Father Ambrose, to his infinite astonishment, was coming to meet them, +and appeared, from his manner, to be the bearer of unwelcome tidings. + +Father Ambrose was, perhaps, the only being whom Eleanor disliked. She +had felt an unaccountable antipathy towards him, which she could neither +extirpate nor control, during their long and close intimacy. It may be +necessary to mention that her religious culture had been in accordance +with the tenets of the Romish Church, in whose faith--the faith of her +ancestry--her mother had continued; and that Father Ambrose, with whom +she had first become acquainted during the residence of the family near +Bordeaux, was her ghostly adviser and confessor. An Englishman by birth, +he had been appointed pastor to the diocese in which they dwelt, and +was, consequently, a frequent visitor, almost a constant inmate of the +château; yet though duty and respect would have prompted her to regard +the father with affection, Eleanor could never conquer the feelings of +dislike and distrust which she had at first entertained towards him; a +dislike which was increased by the strange control in which he seemed to +hold her mother, who regarded him with a veneration approaching to +infatuation. It was, therefore, with satisfaction that she bade him +adieu. He had, however, followed his friends to England under a feigned +name as--being a recusant Romish priest, and supposed to have been +engaged in certain Jesuitical plots, his return to his own country was +attended with considerable risk--, and had now remained domesticated +with them for some months. That he had been in some way, in early life, +connected with a branch of the house of Rookwood, Eleanor was aware--she +fancied he might have been engaged in political intrigue with Sir +Reginald, which would have well accorded with his ardent, ambitious +temperament--, and the knowledge of this circumstance made her doubly +apprehensive lest the nature of his present communication should have +reference to her lover, towards whose cause the father had never been +favorable, and respecting whose situation he might have made some +discovery, which she feared he might use to Ranulph's disadvantage. + +Wrapped in a long black cloak, with a broad-brimmed hat drawn closely +over his brows, it was impossible to distinguish further of the priest's +figure and features beyond the circumstance of his height, which was +remarkable, until he had reached the carriage window, when, raising his +hat, he disclosed a head that Titian might have painted, and which, +arising from the dark drapery, looked not unlike the visage of some +grave and saturnine Venetian. There was a venerable expanse of forehead, +thinly scattered with hair, towering over black pent-house-like brows, +which, in their turn, shadowed keen penetrating eyes; the temples were +hollow, and blue veins might be traced beneath the sallow skin; the +cheek-bones were high, and there was something in the face that spoke of +self-mortification; while the thin livid lips, closely compressed, and +the austere and sinister expression of his countenance, showed that his +self-abasement, if he had ever practised it, had scarcely prostrated the +demon of pride, whose dominion might still be traced in the lines and +furrows of his haughty physiognomy. The father looked at Mrs. Mowbray, +and then glanced suspiciously at Eleanor. The former appeared to +understand him. + +"You would say a word to me in private," said Mrs. Mowbray; "shall I +descend?" + +The priest bowed assent. + +"It is not to you alone that my mission extends," said he, gravely; "you +are all in part concerned; your son had better alight with you." + +"Instantly," replied the major. "If you will give your horse in charge +to the postilion, we will attend you at once." + +With a feeling of renewed apprehension, connected, she knew not why, +with Ranulph, Eleanor beheld her relatives descend from the carriage; +and, in the hope of gaining some clue from their gestures to the subject +of their conversation, she watched their motions as narrowly as her +situation permitted. From the earnest manner of the priest, and the +interest his narrative seemed to excite in his hearers, it was evident +that his communication was of importance. + +Presently, accompanied by Father Ambrose, Mrs. Mowbray returned to the +carriage, while the major, mounting the priest's horse, after bidding a +hasty adieu to his sister, adding, with a look that belied the +consolation intended to be conveyed by his words, that "all was well," +but without staying to offer her any explanation of the cause of his +sudden departure, rode back the way they had just traversed, and in the +direction of Rookwood. Bereft of the only person to whom she could have +applied for information, though dying with curiosity and anxiety to know +the meaning of this singular interview and of the sudden change of plans +which she felt so intimately concerned herself, Eleanor was constrained +to preserve silence, as, after their entrance into the carriage, her +mother again seemed lost in painful reflection, and heeded her not; and +the father, drawing from his pocket a small volume, appeared intently +occupied in its perusal. + +"Dear mother," said Eleanor, at length, turning to Mrs. Mowbray, "my +brother is gone----" + +"To Rookwood," said Mrs. Mowbray, in a tone calculated to check further +inquiry; but Eleanor was too anxious to notice it. + +"And wherefore, mother?" said she. "May I not be informed?" + +"Not as yet, my child--not as yet," replied Mrs. Mowbray. "You will +learn all sufficiently early." + +The priest raised his cat-like eyes from the book to watch the effect of +this speech, and dropped them instantly as Eleanor turned towards him. +She had been about to appeal to him, but having witnessed this look, she +relinquished her scarce-formed purpose, and endeavored to divert her +tristful thoughts by gazing through the glimmering medium of her tears +upon the soothing aspect of external nature--that aspect which, in +sunshine or in storm, has ever relief in store for a heart embittered by +the stormy coldness of the world. + +The road, meanwhile, led them through a long woody valley, and was now +climbing the sides of a steep hill. They were soon in the vicinity of +the priory, and of the gipsies' encampment. The priest leaned forward, +and whispered something in Mrs. Mowbray's ear, who looked towards the +ruined shrine, part of the mouldering walls being visible from the road. + +At the moment the clatter of a horse's hoofs, and the sound of a loud +voice, commanding the postilion, in a menacing tone, to stop, +accompanied by a volley of imprecations, interrupted the conference, and +bespoke the approach of an unwelcome intruder, and one whom all, too +truly, feared would not be readily dismissed. The postilion did his best +to rid them of the assailant. Perceiving a masked horseman behind him, +approaching at a furious rate, he had little doubt as to his intentions, +and Turpin, for it was our highwayman, soon made his doubts certainties. +He hallooed to him to stop; but the fellow paid no attention to his +command, and disregarded even the pistol which he saw, in a casual +glimpse over his near side, presented at his person. Clapping spurs into +his horse's flanks, he sought succor in flight. Turpin was by his side +in an instant. As the highwayman endeavored to catch his reins, the lad +suddenly wheeled the carriage right upon him, and but for the dexterity +of Turpin, and the clever conduct of his mare, would inevitably have +crushed him against the roadside. As it was, his left leg was slightly +grazed. Irritated at this, Turpin fired over the man's head, and with +the butt-end of the pistol felled him from his seat. Startled by the +sound, and no longer under the governance of their rider, the horses +rushed with frantic violence towards a ditch that bounded the other side +of the highway, down which the carriage was precipitated, and at once +overturned. Turpin's first act, after he had ascertained that no +mischief had been occasioned to those within, beyond the alarm incident +to the shock, was to compel the postilion, who had by this time gained +his legs, to release the horses from their traces. This done, with the +best grace he could assume, and, adjusting his mask, he opened the +carriage, and proceeded to liberate the captives. + +"Beg pardon, ma'am," said he, as soon as he had released Mrs. Mowbray; +"excessively sorry, upon my soul, to have been the cause of so much +unnecessary alarm to you--all the fault, I assure you, of that rascal of +a postilion; had the fellow only pulled up when I commanded him, this +botheration might have been avoided. You will remember that, when you +pay him--all his fault, I assure you, ma'am." + +Receiving no reply, he proceeded to extricate Eleanor, with whose beauty +the inflammable highwayman was instantly smitten. Leaving the father to +shift for himself, he turned to address some observation of coarse +gallantry to her; but she eluded his grasp, and flew to her mother's +side. + +"It is useless, sir," said Mrs. Mowbray, as Turpin drew near them, "to +affect ignorance of your intentions. You have already occasioned us +serious alarm; much delay and inconvenience. I trust, therefore, that +beyond our purses, to which, though scantily supplied, you are welcome, +we shall sustain no molestation. You seem to have less of the ruffian +about you than the rest of your lawless race, and are not, I should +hope, destitute of common humanity." + +"Common humanity!" replied Turpin: "bless you, ma'am, I'm the most +humane creature breathing--would not hurt a fly, much less a lady. +Incivility was never laid to my charge. This business may be managed in +a few seconds; and as soon as we have settled the matter, I'll lend your +stupid jack-boy a hand to put the horses to the carriage again, and get +the wheels out of the ditch. You have a banker, ma'am, I suppose, in +town--perhaps in the country; but I don't like country bankers; besides, +I want a little ready cash in Rumville--beg pardon, ma'am, London I +mean. My ears have been so stunned with those Romany patterers, I +almost _think_ in flash. Just draw me a check; I've pen and ink always +ready: a check for fifty pounds, ma'am--only fifty. What's your banker's +name? I've blank checks of all the best houses in my pocket; that and a +kiss from the pretty lips of that cherry-cheeked maid," winking to +Eleanor, "will fully content me. You see you have neither an exorbitant +nor uncivil personage to deal with." + +Eleanor shrank closer towards her mother. Exhausted by previous +agitation of the night, greatly frightened by the shock which she had +just sustained, and still more alarmed by the words and gestures of the +highwayman, she felt that she was momentarily in danger of fainting, and +with difficulty prevented herself from falling. The priest, who had +succeeded in freeing himself from the carriage, now placed himself +between Turpin and the ladies. + +"Be satisfied, misguided man," said the father, in a stern voice, +offering a purse, which Mrs. Mowbray hastily extended towards him, "with +the crime you have already committed, and seek not to peril your soul by +deeper guilt; be content with the plunder you now obtain, and depart; +for, by my holy calling, I affirm to you, that if you advance one +footstep towards the further molestation of these ladies, it shall be at +the hazard of your life." + +"Bravo!" exclaimed Turpin. "Now this is what I like; who would have +thought the old autem-bawler had so much pluck in him? Sir, I commend +you for your courage, but you are mistaken. I am the quietest man +breathing, and never harm a human being; in proof of which, only look at +your rascal of a postilion, whom any one of my friends would have sent +post-haste to the devil for half the trouble he gave me. Easy as I am, I +never choose to be balked in my humors. I must have the fifty and the +buss, and then I'm off, as soon as you like; and I may as well have the +kiss while the old lady signs the check, and then we shall have the seal +as well as the signature. Poh--poh--no nonsense! Many a pretty lass has +thought it an honor to be kissed by Turpin." + +Eleanor recoiled with deepest disgust, as she saw the highwayman thrust +aside the useless opposition of the priest, and approach her. He had +removed his mask; his face, flushed with insolent triumph, was turned +towards her. Despite the loathing, which curdled the blood within her +veins, she could not avert her eyes. He drew near her; she uttered a +shrill scream. At that moment a powerful grasp was laid upon Turpin's +shoulder; he turned and beheld Luke. + +"Save me! save me," cried Eleanor, addressing the new comer. + +"Damnation!" said the highwayman, "what has brought _you_ here? one +would think you were turned assistant to all distressed damsels. Quit +your hold, or, by the God above us, you will repent it." + +"Fool!" exclaimed Luke, "talk thus to one who heeds you." And as he +spoke he hurled Turpin backwards with so much force that, staggering a +few yards, the highwayman fell to the ground. + +The priest stood like one stunned with surprise at Luke's sudden +appearance and subsequent daring action. + +Luke, meanwhile, approached Eleanor. He gazed upon her with curiosity +mixed with admiration, for his heart told him she was very fair. A +deathlike paleness had spread over her cheeks; yet still, despite the +want of color, she looked exquisitely beautiful, and her large blue eyes +eloquently thanked her deliverer for her rescue. The words she wanted +were supplied by Mrs. Mowbray, who thanked him in appropriate terms, +when they were interrupted by Turpin, who had by this time picked +himself up, and was drawing near them. His countenance wore a fierce +expression. + +"I tell you what," said he, "Luke Bradley, or Luke Rookwood, or whatever +else you may call yourself, you have taken a damned unfair advantage of +me in this matter, and deserve nothing better at my hands than that I +should call you to instant account for it--and curse me, if I don't +too." + +"Luke Bradley!" interrupted Mrs. Mowbray--"are you that individual?" + +"I have been so called, madam," replied Luke. + +"Father Ambrose, is this the person of whom you spoke?" eagerly asked +the lady. + +"So I conclude," returned the priest, evasively. + +"Did he not call you Luke Rookwood?" eagerly demanded Eleanor. "Is that +also your name?" + +"Rookwood is my name, fair cousin," replied Luke, "if I may venture to +call you so." + +"And Ranulph Rookwood is----" + +"My brother." + +"I never heard he had a brother," rejoined Eleanor, with some agitation. +"How can that be?" + +"I am his brother, nevertheless," replied Luke, moodily--"his ELDER +BROTHER!" + +Eleanor turned to her mother and the priest with a look of imploring +anguish; she saw a confirmation of the truth of this statement in their +glances. No contradiction was offered by either to his statement; both, +indeed, appeared in some mysterious manner prepared for it. This, then, +was the dreaded secret. This was the cause of her brother's sudden +departure. The truth flashed with lightning swiftness across her brain. + +Chagrined and mortified, Luke remarked that glance of inquiry. His pride +was hurt at the preference thus naturally shown towards his brother. He +had been struck, deeply struck, with her beauty. He acknowledged the +truth of Peter's words. Eleanor's loveliness was without parallel. He +had seen naught so fair, and the instant he beheld her, he felt that for +_her_ alone could he cancel his vows to Sybil. The spirit of rivalry and +jealousy was instantly aroused by Eleanor's exclamations. + +"His elder brother!" echoed Eleanor, dwelling upon his words, and +addressing Luke--"then you must be--but no, you are not, you cannot +be--it is Ranulph's title--it is not yours--you are not----" + +"I am Sir Luke Rookwood," replied Luke, proudly. + +Ere the words were uttered Eleanor had fainted. + +"Assistance is at hand, madam, if you will accept it, and follow me," +said Luke, raising the insensible girl in his arms, and bearing her down +the hill towards the encampment, whither he was followed by Mrs. Mowbray +and the priest, between whom, during the hurried dialogue we have +detailed, very significant glances had been exchanged. Turpin, who, as +it may be supposed, had not been an incurious observer of the scene +passing, burst into his usual loud laugh on seeing Luke bear away his +lovely burden. + +"Cousin! Ha, ha!" said he. "So the wench is his cousin. Damme, I half +suspect he has fallen in love with his new-found cousin; and if so, Miss +Sybil, or I'm mistaken, will look as yellow as a guinea. If that little +Spanish devil gets it into her pretty jealous pate that he is about to +bring home a new mistress, we shall have a tragedy-scene in the +twinkling of a bed-post. However, I shan't lose sight of Sir Luke until +I have settled my accounts with him. Hark ye, boy," continued he, +addressing the postilion; "remain where you are; you won't be wanted yet +awhile, I imagine. There's a guinea for you, to drink Dick Turpin's +health." + +Upon which he mounted his mare, and walked her easily down the hill. + +"And so that be Dick Turpin, folks talk so much about," soliloquized the +lad, looking curiously after him; "well, he's as civil-speaking a chap +as need be, blow my boots if he ain't! and if I'd had a notion it were +he, I'd have pulled up at first call, without more ado. Nothing like +experience--I shall know better another time," added he, pocketing the +douceur. + +Rushing swiftly down the hill, Luke tarried at the river's brink, to +sprinkle some of the cool element upon the pale brow of Eleanor. As he +held her in his arms, thoughts which he fain would have stifled in their +birth took possession of his heart. "Would she were mine!" murmured he. +"Yet no! the wish is unworthy." But that wish returned unbidden. + +Eleanor opened her eyes. She was still too weak to walk without support, +and Luke, raising her once more in his arms, and motioning Mrs. Mowbray +to follow, crossed the brook by means of stepping-stones, and conducted +his charge along a bypath towards the priory, so as to avoid meeting +with the crew assembled upon the green. + +They had gained one of the roofless halls, when he encountered +Balthazar. Astonished at the sight of the party, the patrico was about +to address the priest as an acquaintance, when his more orthodox brother +raised his finger to his lips, in token of caution. The action passed +unobserved. + +"Hie thee to Sybil," said Luke to the patrico. "Bid her haste hither. +Say that this maiden--that Miss Mowbray is here, and requires her aid. +Fly! I will bear her to the refectory." + +As Balthazar passed the priest, he pointed with a significant glance +towards a chasm in the wall, which seemed to be an opening to some +subterraneous chamber. The father again made a gesture of silence, and +Balthazar hastened upon his mission. + +Luke led them to the refectory. He brought a chair for Eleanor's +support; but so far from reviving, after such attention as could be +afforded her, she appeared to become weaker. He was about to issue forth +in search of Sybil, when to his surprise he found the door fastened. + +"You cannot pass this way," said a voice, which Luke instantly +recognized as that of the knight of Malta. + +"Not pass!" echoed Luke. "What does this mean?" + +"Our orders are from the queen," returned the knight. + +At this instant the low tone of a muffled bell was heard. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Luke; "some danger is at hand." + +His heart smote him as he thought of Sybil, and he looked anxiously +towards Eleanor. + +Balthazar rushed into the room. + +"Where is Sybil?" cried Luke. "Will she not come?" + +"She will be here anon," answered the patrico. + +"I will seek her myself, then," said Luke. "The door by which you +entered is free." + +"It is _not_ free," replied Balthazar. "Remain where you are." + +"Who will prevent my going forth?" demanded Luke, sternly. + +"I will," said Barbara Lovel, as she suddenly appeared in the doorway. +"You stir not, excepting at my pleasure. Where is the maiden?" continued +she, looking around with a grim smile of satisfaction at the +consternation produced by her appearance. "Ha! I see; she faints. Here +is a cordial that shall revive her. Mrs. Mowbray, you are welcome to the +gipsies' dwelling--you and your daughter. And you, Sir Luke Rookwood, I +congratulate you upon your accession of dignity." Turning to the priest, +who was evidently overwhelmed with confusion, she exclaimed, "And you +too, sir, think you I recognize you not? We have met ere this, at +Rookwood. Know you not Barbara Lovel? Ha, ha! It is long since my poor +dwelling has been so highly honored. But I must not delay the remedy. +Let her drink of this," said she, handing a phial to Mrs. Mowbray. "It +will instantly restore her." + +"It is poison," cried Luke. "She shall not drink it." + +"Poison!" reiterated Barbara. "Behold!" and she drank of the liquid. "I +would not poison your bride," added she, turning to Luke. + +"My bride!" echoed Luke. + +"Ay, your bride," repeated Barbara. + +Luke recoiled in amazement. Mrs. Mowbray almost felt inclined to believe +she was a dreamer, so visionary did the whole scene appear. A dense +crowd of witnesses stood at the entrance. Foremost amongst them was the +sexton. Suddenly a shriek was heard, and the crowd opening to allow her +passage, Sybil rushed forward. + + + + +_CHAPTER VII_ + +_MRS. MOWBRAY_ + + Well, go thy ways, old Nick Machiavel, there will never be the peer + of thee for wholesome policy and good counsel: thou took'st pains to + chalk men out the dark paths and hidden plots of murther and deceit, + and no man has the grace to follow thee. The age is unthankful, thy + principles are quite forsaken, and worn out of memory. + + SHAKERLEY MARMION'S _Antiquary_. + + +Sybil's sudden entrance filled the group that surrounded Miss Mowbray +with new dismay. But she saw them not. Her soul seemed riveted by +Eleanor, towards whom she rushed; and while her eye wandered over her +beauty, she raised the braided hair from her brow, revealing the clear, +polished forehead. Wonder, awe, devotion, pity, usurped the place of +hatred. The fierce expression that had lit up her dark orbs was +succeeded by tender commiseration. She looked an imploring appeal at +Barbara. + +"Ay, ay," returned the old gipsy, extending at the same time the phial; +"I understand. Here is that will bring the blood once more into her +pallid cheeks, and kindle the fire within her eyes. Give her of this." + +The effect of the potion was almost instantaneous, amply attesting +Barbara's skill in its concoction. Stifled respiration first proclaimed +Eleanor's recovery. She opened her large and languid eyes; her bosom +heaved almost to bursting; her pulses throbbed quickly and feverishly; +and as the stimulant operated, the wild lustre of excitement blazed in +her eyes. + +Sybil took her hand to chafe it. The eyes of the two maidens met. They +gazed upon each other steadfastly and in silence. Eleanor knew not whom +she regarded, but she could not mistake that look of sympathy; she could +not mistake the tremulous pressure of her hand; she felt the silent +trickling tears. She returned the sympathizing glance, and gazed with +equal wonder upon the ministering fairy, for such she almost seemed, +that knelt before her. As her looks wandered from the kindly glance of +Sybil to the withered and inauspicious aspect of the gipsy queen, and +shifted thence to the dusky figures of her attendants, filled with +renewed apprehension, she exclaimed, "Who are these, and where am I?" + +"You are in safety," replied Luke. "This is the ruined priory of St. +Francis; and those strange personages are a horde of gipsies. You need +fear no injury from them." + +"My deliverer!" murmured Eleanor; when all at once the recollection that +he had avowed himself a Rookwood, and the elder brother of Ranulph, +flashed across her memory. "Gipsies! did you not say these people were +gipsies? Your own attire is the same as theirs. You are not, cannot be, +the brother of Ranulph." + +"I do not boast the same mother," returned Luke, proudly, "but my father +was Sir Piers Rookwood, and I am his elder born." + +He turned away. Dark thoughts swept across his brain. Maddened by the +beauty of Eleanor, stung by her slights, and insensible to the silent +agony of Sybil, who sought in vain to catch his eye, he thought of +nothing but of revenge, and the accomplishment of his purposes. All +within was a wild and fearful turmoil. His better principles were +stifled by the promptings of evil. "Methinks," cried he, half aloud, "if +the Tempter were near to offer the maiden to me, even at the peril of my +soul's welfare, I could not resist it." + +The Tempter _was_ at hand. He is seldom absent on occasions like the +present. The sexton stood beside his grandson. Luke started. He eyed +Peter from head to foot, almost expecting to find the cloven foot, +supposed to be proper to the fiend. Peter grinned in ghastly derision. + +"Soh! you would summon hell to your aid; and lo! the devil is at your +elbow. Well, she is yours." + +"Make good your words," cried Luke, impatiently. + +"Softly--softly," returned Peter. "Moderate yourself, and your wishes +shall be accomplished. Your own desires chime with those of others; nay, +with those of Barbara. _She_ would wed you to Miss Mowbray. You stare. +But it is so. This is a cover for some deeper plot; no matter. It shall +go hard, despite her cunning, if I foil her not at her own weapons. +There is more mischief in that old woman's brain than was ever hatched +within the crocodile's egg; yet she shall find her match. Do not thwart +her; leave all to me. She is about it now," added he, noticing Barbara +and Mrs. Mowbray in conference together. "Be patient--I will watch her." +And he quitted his grandson for the purpose of scanning more closely the +man[oe]uvres of the old gipsy. + +Barbara, meanwhile, had not remained inactive. + +"You need fear no relapse in your daughter; I will answer for that," +said the old gipsy to Mrs. Mowbray; "Sybil will tend her. Quit not the +maiden's side," continued she, addressing her grandchild, adding, in a +whisper, "Be cautious--alarm her not--mine eye will be upon you--drop +not a word." + +So saying, she shuffled to a little distance with Mrs. Mowbray, keeping +Sybil in view, and watching every motion, as the panther watches the +gambols of a fawn. + +"Know you who speaks to you?" said the old crone, in the peculiar low +and confidential tone assumed by her tribe to strangers. "Have you +forgotten the name of Barbara Lovel?" + +"I have no distinct remembrance of it," returned Mrs. Mowbray. + +"Think again," said Barbara; "and though years are flown, you may +perchance recall the black gipsy woman, who, when you were surrounded +with gay gallants, with dancing plumes, perused your palm, and whispered +in your ear the favored suitor's name. Bide with me a moment, madam," +said Barbara, seeing that Mrs. Mowbray shrank from the recollection thus +conjured up; "I am old--very old; I have survived the shows of flattery, +and being vested with a power over my people, am apt, perchance, to take +too much upon myself with others." The old gipsy paused here, and then, +assuming a more familiar tone, exclaimed, "The estates of Rookwood are +ample----" + +"Woman, what mean you?" + +"They should have been yours, lady, and would have been, but for that +marriage. You would have beseemed them bravely. Sir Reginald was wilful, +and erased the daughter's name to substitute that of his son. Pity it is +that so fair a creature as Miss Mowbray should lack the dower her beauty +and her birth entitle her to expect. Pity that Ranulph Rookwood should +lose his title, at the moment when he deemed it was dropping into his +possession. Pity that those broad lands should pass away from you and +your children, as they will do, if Ranulph and Eleanor are united." + +"They never shall be united," replied Mrs. Mowbray, hastily. + +"'Twere indeed to wed your child to beggary," said Barbara. + +Mrs. Mowbray sighed deeply. + +"There is a way," continued the old crone, in a deep whisper, "by which +the estates might still be hers and yours." + +"Indeed!" said Mrs. Mowbray, eagerly. + +"Sir Piers Rookwood had two sons." + +"Ha!" + +"The elder is here." + +"Luke--Sir Luke. He brought us hither." + +"He loves your daughter. I saw his gaze of passion just now. I am old +now, but I have some skill in lovers' glances. Why not wed her to him? I +read hands--read hearts, you know. They were born for each other. Now, +madam, do you understand me?" + +"But," returned Mrs. Mowbray, with hesitation, "though I might wish +for--though I might sanction this, Eleanor is betrothed to Ranulph--she +loves him." + +"Think not of _her_, if _you_ are satisfied. She cannot judge so well +for herself as you can for her. She is a child, and knows not what she +loves. Her affection will soon be Luke's. He is a noble youth--the image +of his grandfather, your father, Sir Reginald; and if your daughter be +betrothed to any one, 'twas to the heir of Rookwood. That was an +essential part of the contract. Why should the marriage not take place +at once, and here?" + +"Here! How were that possible?" + +"You are within sacred walls. I will take you where an altar stands. +There is no lack of holy priest to join their hands together. Your +companion, Father Ambrose, as you call him, will do the office +fittingly. He has essayed his clerkly skill already on others of your +house." + +"To what do you allude, mysterious woman?" asked Mrs. Mowbray, with +anxiety. + +"To Sir Piers and Susan Bradley," returned Barbara. "That priest united +them." + +"Indeed! He never told me this." + +"He dared not do so; he had an oath which bound him to concealment. The +time is coming when greater mysteries will be revealed." + +"'Tis strange I should not have heard of this before," said Mrs. +Mowbray, musingly; "and yet I might have guessed as much from his +obscure hints respecting Ranulph. I see it all now. I see the gulf into +which I might have been plunged; but I am warned in time. Father +Ambrose," continued she, to the priest, who was pacing the chamber at +some little distance from them, "is it true that my brother was wedded +by you to Susan Bradley?" + +Ere the priest could reply the sexton presented himself. + +"Ha, the very father of the girl!" said Mrs. Mowbray, "whom I met within +our family vault, and who was so strangely moved when I spoke to him of +Alan Rookwood. Is he here likewise?" + +"Alan Rookwood!" echoed Barbara, upon whom a light seemed suddenly to +break; "ha! what said he of him?" + +"Ill-boding raven," interposed Peter, fiercely, "be content with what +thou knowest of the living, and trouble not the repose of the dead. Let +them rest in their infamy." + +"The dead!" echoed Barbara, with a chuckling laugh; "ha! ha! he is dead, +then; and what became of his fair wife--his brother's minion? 'Twas a +foul deed, I grant, and yet there was expiation. Blood flowed--blood----" + +"Silence, thou night hag!" thundered Peter, "or I will have thee burned +at the stake for the sorcery thou practisest. Beware," added he, in a +deep tone--"I am thy friend." + +Barbara's withered countenance exhibited for an instant the deepest +indignation at the sexton's threat. The malediction trembled on her +tongue; she raised her staff to smite him, but she checked the action. +In the same tone, and with a sharp, suspicious look, she replied, "My +_friend_, sayest thou? See that it prove so, or beware of _me_." + +And, with a malignant scowl, the gipsy queen slowly shuffled towards her +satellites, who were stationed at the door. + + + + +_CHAPTER VIII_ + +_THE PARTING_ + + No marriage I esteem it, where the friends + Force love upon their children; where the virgin + Is not so truly given as betrayed. + I would not have betrothed people--for + I can by no means call them lovers--make + Their rites no wedlock, but a sacrifice. + + _Combat of Love and Friendship._ + + +Eleanor Mowbray had witnessed her mother's withdrawal from her side with +much uneasiness, and was with difficulty prevented by Sybil from +breaking upon her conference with the gipsy queen. Barbara's dark eye +was fixed upon them during the whole of the interview, and communicated +an indefinite sense of dread to Eleanor. + +"Who--who is that old woman?" asked Eleanor, under her breath. "Never, +even in my wildest dreams, have I seen aught so terrible. Why does she +look so at us? She terrifies me; and yet she cannot mean me ill, or my +mother--we have never injured her?" + +"Alas!" sighed Sybil. + +"You sigh!" exclaimed Eleanor, in alarm. "Is there any real danger, +then? Help us to avoid it. Quick, warn my mother; she seems agitated. +Oh, let me go to her." + +"Hush!" whispered Sybil, maintaining an unmoved demeanor under the +lynx-like gaze of Barbara. "Stir not, as you value your life; you know +not where you are, or what may befall you. Your safety depends upon your +composure. Your life is not in danger; but what is dearer than life, +your love, is threatened with a fatal blow. There is a dark design to +wed you to another." + +"Heavens!" ejaculated Eleanor, "and to whom?" + +"To Sir Luke Rookwood." + +"I would die sooner! Marry _him_? They shall kill me ere they force me +to it!" + +"Could you not love him?" + +"Love him! I have only seen him within this hour. I knew not of his +existence. He rescued me from peril. I would thank him. I would love +him, if I could, for Ranulph's sake; and yet for Ranulph's sake I hate +him." + +"Speak not of him thus to me," said Sybil, angrily. "If _you_ love him +not, _I_ love him. Oh! forgive me, lady; pardon my impatience--my heart +is breaking, yet it has not ceased to beat for him. You say you will die +sooner than consent to this forced union. Your faith shall not be so +cruelly attested. If there must be a victim, I will be the sacrifice. +God grant I may be the only one. Be happy! as happy as I am wretched. +You shall see what the love of a gipsy can do." + +As she spoke, Sybil burst into a flood of passionate tears. Eleanor +regarded her with the deepest commiseration; but the feeling was +transient; for Barbara, now advancing, exclaimed: "Hence to your mother. +The bridegroom is waiting: to your mother, girl!" And she motioned +Eleanor fiercely away. "What means this?" continued the old gipsy. "What +have you said to that girl? Did I not caution you against speech with +her? and you have dared to disobey me. You, my grandchild--the daughter +of my Agatha, with whom my slightest wish was law. I abandon you! I +curse you!" + +"Oh, curse me not!" cried Sybil. "Add not to my despair." + +"Then follow my advice implicitly. Cast off this weakness; all is in +readiness. Luke shall descend into the vaulted chapel, the ceremony +shall there take place--there also shall Eleanor _die_--and there again +shall you be wedded. Take this phial, place it within the folds of your +girdle. When all is over, I will tell you how to use it. Are you +prepared? Shall we set out?" + +"I am prepared," replied Sybil, in accents hollow as despair; "but let +me speak with Luke before we go." + +"Be brief, then--each moment is precious. Keep a guard upon your tongue. +I will to Mrs. Mowbray. You have placed the phial in safety. A drop will +free you from your troubles." + +"'Tis in that hope I guard it," replied Sybil, as she departed in the +direction of Luke. Barbara watched her join him, and then turned shortly +towards Mrs. Mowbray and her daughter. + +"You are ill, dear Luke," said Sybil, who had silently approached her +faithless lover; "very ill." + +"Ill!" echoed Luke, breaking into frantic laughter. "Ill! Ha, ha!--upon +my wedding-day. No, I am well--well. Your eyes are jaundiced by +jealousy." + +"Luke, dear Luke, laugh not thus. It terrifies me. I shall think you +insane. There, you are calmer--you are more like yourself--more human. +You looked just now--oh God! that I should say it of you--as if you were +possessed by demons." + +"And if I were possessed, what then?" + +"Horrible! hint not at it. You almost make me credit the dreadful tales +I have heard, that on their wedding-day the Rookwoods are subject to the +power of the 'Evil One.'" + +"Upon their wedding-day--and _I_ look thus?" + +"You do--you do. Oh! cast this frenzy from you." + +"She is mine--she is mine! I care not though fiends possess me, if it is +my wedding-day, and Eleanor is my bride. And you say I look like a +Rookwood. Ha, ha!" + +"That wild laughter again. Luke, I implore you, hear me one word--my +last----" + +"I will not bear reproaches." + +"I mean not to reproach you. I come to bless you--to forgive you--to bid +you farewell. Will you not say farewell?" + +"Farewell." + +"Not so--not so. Mercy! my God! compassionate him and me! My heart will +break with agony. Luke, if you would not kill me, recall that word. Let +not the guilt of my death be yours. 'Tis to save you from that remorse +that I die!" + +"Sybil, you have said rightly, I am not myself. I know not what demons +have possession of my soul, that I can behold your agonies without +remorse; that your matchless affection should awaken no return. Yet so +it is. Since the fatal moment when I beheld yon maid, I have loved her." + +"No more. _Now_ I can part with you. Farewell!" + +"Stay, stay! wretch that I am. Stay, Sybil! If we must part--and that it +_must_ be so I feel--let me receive your pardon, if you can bestow it. +Let me clasp you once more within my arms. May you live to happier +days--may you----" + +"Oh, to die thus!" sobbed Sybil, disengaging herself from his embrace. +"Live to happier days, said you? When have _I_ given you reason to +doubt, for an instant, the sincerity of _my_ love, that you should +insult me thus?" + +"Then live with me--live for me." + +"If you can love me still, I will live as your slave, your minion, your +wife; aught you will have me be. You have raised me from wretchedness. +Oh!" continued she in an altered tone, "have I mistaken your meaning? +Did you utter those words in false compassion for my sufferings?--Speak, +it is not yet too late--all may be well. My fate--my life is in your +hands. If you love me yet--if you can forsake Eleanor, speak--if not, be +silent." + +Luke averted his head. + +"Enough!" continued Sybil, in a voice of agony; "I understand. May God +forgive you! Fare you well! We shall meet no more." + +"Do we part for ever?" asked Luke, without daring to regard her. + +"FOR EVER!" answered Sybil. + +Before her lover could reply, she shot from his side, and plunging +amidst the dark and dense assemblage near the door, disappeared from +view. An instant after, she emerged into the open air. She stood within +the roofless hall. It was filled with sunshine--with the fresh breath of +morn. The ivied ruins, the grassy floor, the blue vault of heaven, +seemed to greet her with a benignant smile. All was _riant_ and +rejoicing--all, save her heart. Amid such brightness, her sorrow seemed +harsh and unnatural; as she felt the glad influence of day, she was +scarcely able to refrain from tears. It was terrible to leave this +beautiful world, that blue sky, that sunshine, and all she loved--so +young, so soon. + +Entering a low arch that yawned within the wall, she vanished like a +ghost at the approach of morn. + + + + +_CHAPTER IX_ + +_THE PHILTER_ + + Thou hast practised on her with foul charms-- + Abused her delicate youth with drugs and minerals. + + SHAKSPEARE: _Othello_. + + +To return to Eleanor Mowbray. In a state of mind bordering upon +distraction, she rushed to her mother, and, flinging her arms wildly +round her neck, besought her to protect her. Mrs. Mowbray gazed +anxiously upon the altered countenance of her daughter, but a few +moments relieved her from much of her uneasiness.--The expression of +pain gradually subsided, and the look of vacuity was succeeded by one of +frenzied excitement. A film had, for an instant or two, dimmed her eyes; +they now gleamed with unnatural lustre. She smiled--the smile was +singular; it was not the playful, pleasurable lighting up of the face +that it used to be; but it _was_ a smile, and the mother's heart was +satisfied. + +Mrs. Mowbray knew not to what circumstance she could attribute this +wondrous change. She looked at the priest. He was more apt in divining +the probable cause of the sudden alteration in Eleanor's manner. + +"What if she has swallowed a love-powder?" said he, approaching Mrs. +Mowbray, and speaking in a whisper. "I have heard of such abominable +mixtures; indeed, the holy St. Jerome himself relates an instance of +similar sorcery, in his life of Hilarius; and these people are said to +compound them." + +"It may be so," replied Mrs. Mowbray, in the same tone. "I think that +the peculiar softness in the eye is more than natural." + +"I will at least hazard an experiment, to attest the truth or fallacy of +my supposition," returned the father. "Do you see your destined +bridegroom yonder?" continued he, addressing Eleanor. + +She followed with her eyes in the direction which Father Ambrose +pointed. She beheld Luke. We know not how to describe the sensations +which now possessed her. She thought not of Ranulph; or, if she did, it +was with vague indifference. Wrapped in a kind of mental trance, she +yielded to the pleasurable impulse that directed her unsettled fancies +towards Luke. For some moments she did not take her eyes from him. The +priest and Mrs. Mowbray watched her in silence. + +Nothing passed between the party till Luke joined them. Eleanor +continued gazing at him, and the seeming tenderness of her glance +emboldened Luke to advance towards her. The soft fire that dwelt in +those orbs was, however, cold as the shining wing of the luciola. + +Luke approached her; he took her hand--she withdrew it not. He kissed +it. Still she withdrew it not, but gazed at him with gently-glimmering +eyes. + +"My daughter is yours, Sir Luke Rookwood," exclaimed Mrs. Mowbray. + +"What says the maid herself?" asked Luke. + +Eleanor answered not. Her eyes were still fixed on him. + +"She will not refuse me her hand," said Luke. + +The victim resisted not. + +"To the subterranean shrine," cried Barbara. And she gave the +preconcerted signal to the band. + +The signal was repeated by the gipsy crew. We may here casually note, +that the crew had been by no means uninterested or silent spectators of +passing events, but had, on the contrary, indulged themselves in a +variety of conjectures as to their probable issue. Several bets were +pending as to whether it would be a match or not after all. Zoroaster +took long odds that the match was off--offering a _bean_ to +_half-a-quid_--in other words, a guinea to a half-guinea--that Sybil +would be the bride. His offer was taken at once by Jerry Juniper, and +backed by the knight of Malta. + +"Ha! there's the signal," cried the knight; "I'll trouble you for the +bean." + +"And I," added Jerry Juniper, "for another." + +"See 'em fairly spliced first," replied the Magus; "that's vot I +betted." + +"Vell, vell, a few minutes will settle that. Come, pals, to the autem +ken. Avay. Mind and obey orders." + +"Ay, ay," answered the crew. + +"Here's a torch for the altar of Hymen," said the knight, flashing his +torch in the eyes of the patrico as he passed him. + +"For the halter of Haman, you might say," returned Balthazar, sulkily. +"It's well if some of us don't swing for it." + +"You don't say," rejoined the perplexed Magus, "swing! Egad I fear it's +a ticklish business. But there's no fighting shy, I fear, with Barbara +present; and then there's that infernal autem-bawler; it will be so +cursedly regular. If you had done the job, Balty, it would not have +signified a brass farden. Luckily there will be no vitnesses to snitch +upon us. There will be no one in the vault besides ourselves." + +"There will be a silent and a solemn witness," returned Balthazar, "and +one whom you expect not." + +"Eh! Vot's that you say? a spy?" + +But the patrico was gone. + +"Make way there--make way, pals, for the bride and bridegroom," cried +the knight of Malta, drawing Excalibur, and preparing to lead the way to +the vault. + +The train began to move. Eleanor leaned upon the arm of her mother. +Beside them stalked Barbara, with an aspect of triumph. Luke followed +with the priest. One by one the assemblage quitted the apartment. + +The sexton alone lingered. "The moment is at hand," said he, musingly, +"when all shall be consummated." + +A few steps brought him into the court. The crowd was there still. A +brief delay had taken place. The knight of Malta then entered the mouth +of the vault. He held his torch so as to reveal a broken flight of +steps, conducting, it would seem, to regions of perpetual night. So +thought Eleanor, as she shudderingly gazed into the abyss. She +hesitated; she trembled; she refused. But her mother's entreaties, and +Barbara's threatening looks, induced, in the end, reluctant compliance. +At length the place was empty. Peter was about to follow, when the sound +of a horse's hoofs broke upon his ear. He tarried for an instant, and +the mounted figure of the highwayman burst within the limits of the +court. + +"Ha, ha! old earthworm," cried Dick, "my Nestor of the churchyard, +alone! Where the devil are all the folks gone? Where's Sir Luke and his +new-found cousin, eh?" + +Peter hastily explained. + +"A wedding under ground? famous! the thing of all others I should like +to see. I'll hang Bess to this ivy tod, and grub my way with you +thither, old mole." + +"You must stay here, and keep guard," returned Peter. + +"May I be hanged if I do, when such fun is going on." + +"Hanged, in all probability, you will be," returned Peter; "but I should +not, were I you, desire to anticipate my destiny. Stay here you must, +and shall--that's peremptory. You will be the gainer by it. Sir Luke +will reward you nobly. I will answer for him. You can serve him most +effectually. Ranulph Rookwood and Major Mowbray are expected here." + +"The devil they are. But how, or why----" + +"I have not time to explain. In case of a surprise, discharge a pistol; +they must not enter the vault. Have you a whistle? for you must play a +double part, and we may need your assistance below." + +"Sir Luke may command me. Here's a pipe as shrill as the devil's own +cat-call." + +"If it will summon you to our assistance below, 'tis all I need. May we +rely on you?" + +"When did Dick Turpin desert his friends? Anywhere on this side the Styx +the sound of that whistle will reach me. I'll ride about the court, and +stand sentry." + +"Enough," replied the sexton, as he dived under ground. + +"Take care of your shins," shouted Dick. "That's a cursed ugly turn, but +he's used to the dark. A surprise, eh! I'll just give a look to my +snappers--flints all safe. Now I'm ready for them, come when they like." +And, having made the circuit of the place, he halted near the mouth of +the subterranean chapel, to be within hearing of Peter's whistle, and, +throwing his right leg lazily over his saddle, proceeded coolly to light +a short pipe--the luxury of the cigar being then unknown,--humming the +while snatches of a ballad, the theme of which was his own calling. + + THE SCAMPSMAN + + Quis verè rex? + SENECA. + + There is not a king, should you search the world round, + So blithe as the king of the road to be found; + His pistol's his sceptre, his saddle's his throne, + Whence he levies supplies, or enforces a loan. + _Derry down._ + + To this monarch the highway presents a wide field, + Where each passing subject a tribute must yield; + His palace--the tavern!--receives him at night, + Where sweet lips and sound liquor crown all with delight. + _Derry down._ + + The soldier and sailor, both robbers by trade, + Full soon on the shelf, if disabled, are laid; + The one gets a patch, and the other a peg, + But, while luck lasts, the highwayman shakes a loose leg! + _Derry down._ + + Most fowl rise at dawn, but the owl wakes at e'en, + And a jollier bird can there nowhere be seen; + Like the owl, our snug scampsman his snooze takes by day, + And, when night draws her curtain, scuds after his prey! + _Derry down._ + + As the highwayman's life is the fullest of zest, + So the highwayman's death is the briefest and best; + He dies not as other men die, by _degrees_! + But AT ONCE! without wincing, and quite at his ease! + _Derry down._ + +And thus, for the present, we leave him. O rare Dick Turpin! + + + + +_CHAPTER X_ + +_SAINT CYPRIAN'S CELL_ + + Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' entrate. + + DANTE. + + +Cyprian de Mulverton, fifth prior of the monastery of Saint Francis, a +prelate of singular sanctity, being afflicted, in his latter days, with +a despondency so deep that neither penance nor fasting could remove it, +vowed never again to behold, with earthly eyes, the blessed light of +heaven, nor to dwell longer with his fellowmen; but, relinquishing his +spiritual dignity, "the world forgetting, by the world forgot," to +immure himself, while living, within the tomb. + +He kept his vow. Out of the living rock that sustained the saintly +structure, beneath the chapel of the monastery, was another chapel +wrought, and thither, after bidding an eternal farewell to the world, +and bestowing his benediction upon his flock, whom he committed to the +care of his successor, the holy man retired. + +Never, save at midnight, and then only during the performance of masses +for his soul's repose, did he ascend from his cell: and as the sole +light allowed within the dismal dungeon of his choice was that of a +sepulchral lamp, as none spoke with him when in his retreat, save in +muttered syllables, what effect must the lustre emanating from a +thousand tapers, the warm and pungent odors of the incense-breathing +shrine, contrasted with the earthy vapors of his prison-house, and the +solemn swell of the Sanctus, have had upon his excited senses? Surely +they must have seemed like a foretaste of the heaven he sought to gain! + +Ascetic to the severest point to which nature's endurance could be +stretched, Cyprian even denied himself repose. He sought not sleep, and +knew it only when it stole on him unawares. His couch was the flinty +rock; and long afterwards, when the zealous resorted to the sainted +prior's cell, and were shown those sharp and jagged stones, they +marvelled how one like unto themselves could rest, or even recline upon +their points without anguish, until it was explained to them that, +doubtless, He who tempereth the wind to the shorn lamb had made that +flinty couch soft to the holy sufferer as a bed of down. His limbs were +clothed in a garb of horsehair of the coarsest fabric; his drink was the +dank drops that oozed from the porous walls of his cell; and his +sustenance, such morsels as were bestowed upon him by the poor--the only +strangers permitted to approach him. No fire was suffered, where +perpetual winter reigned. None were admitted to his nightly vigils; +none witnessed any act of penance; nor were any groans heard to issue +from that dreary cave; but the knotted, blood-stained thong, discovered +near his couch, too plainly betrayed in what manner those long lone +nights were spent. Thus did a year roll on. Traces of his sufferings +were visible in his failing strength. He could scarcely crawl; but he +meekly declined assistance. He appeared not, as had been his wont, at +the midnight mass; the door of his cell was thrown open at that hour; +the light streamed down like a glory upon his reverend head; he heard +the distant reverberations of the deep _Miserere_; and breathed odors as +if wafted from Paradise. + +One morn it chanced that they who sought his cell found him with his +head upon his bosom, kneeling before the image of the virgin patroness +of his shrine. Fearing to disturb his devotions, they stood reverently +looking on; and thus silently did they tarry for an hour; but, as in +that space he had shown no signs of motion, fearing the worst, they +ventured to approach him. He was cold as the marble before which he +knelt. In the act of humblest intercession--it may be, in the hope of +grace--had Cyprian's spirit fled. + +"Blessed are they who die in the Lord," exclaimed his brethren, +regarding his remains with deepest awe. On being touched, the body fell +to the ground. It was little more than a skeleton. + +Under the cloisters of the holy pile were his bones interred, with a +degree of pomp and ostentation that little accorded with the lowliness +and self-abasement of this man of many sorrows. + +This chapel, at the time of which we treat, was pretty much in the same +condition as it existed in the days of its holy inmate. Hewn out of the +entrails of the rock, the roof, the vaults, the floor, were of solid +granite. Three huge cylindrical pillars, carved out of the native rock, +rough as the stems of gnarled oak-trees, lent support to the ceiling. +Support, however, was unneeded; an earthquake would scarce have shaken +down those solid rafters. Only in one corner, where the water welled +through a crevice of the rock, in drops that fell like tears, was decay +manifest. Here the stone, worn by the constant dripping, had, in some +places, given way. In shape, the vault was circular. The integral +between each massive pillar formed a pointed arch. Again, from each +pillar sprang other arches, which, crossed by diagonal, ogive branches, +weaving one into the other, and radiating from the centre, formed those +beautifully intricate combinations upon which the eye of the +architectural enthusiast loves to linger. Within the ring formed by +these triple columns, in which again the pillars had their own web of +arches, was placed an altar of stone, and beside it a crucifix of the +same rude material. Here also stood the sainted image of her who had +filled the prior with holy aspirations, now a shapeless stone. The dim +lamp, that, like a star struggling with the thick gloom of a wintry +cell, had shed its slender radiance over the brow of the Virgin Thecla, +was gone. But around the keystone of the central arches, whence a chain +had once depended, might be traced in ancient characters, half effaced +by time, the inscription: + + STA. THECLA ORA PRO NOBIS. + +One outlet only was there from the chapel--that which led by winding +steps to the monastery; one only recess--the prior's cell. The former +faced the altar; the latter yawned like the mouth of a tomb at its back. +Altogether it was a dreary place. Dumb were its walls as when they +refused to return the murmured orisons of the anchorite. One uniform sad +coloring prevailed throughout. The gray granite was grown hoar with age, +and had a ghostly look; the columns were ponderous, and projected heavy +shadows. Sorrow and superstition had their tale, and a moral gloom +deepened the darkness of the spot. Despair, which had inspired its +construction, seemed to brood therein. Hope shunned its inexorable +recesses. + +Alone, within this dismal sanctuary, with hands outstretched towards the +desecrated image of its tutelar saint, knelt Sybil. All was darkness. +Neither the heavy vapors that surrounded her, nor the shrine before +which she bent, were visible; but, familiar with the dreary spot, she +knew that she had placed herself aright. Her touch had satisfied her +that she bowed before the altar of stone; that her benighted vision was +turned towards the broken image of the saint, though now involved in +gloom the most profound; and with clasped hands and streaming eyes, in +low and mournful tones, she addressed herself in the following hymn to +the tutelar saint of the spot: + + HYMN TO SAINT THECLA + + In my trouble, in my anguish, + In the depths of my despair, + As in grief and pain I languish, + Unto thee I raise my prayer. + Sainted virgin! martyr'd maiden! + Let thy countenance incline + Upon one with woes o'erladen, + Kneeling lowly at thy shrine; + That in agony, in terror, + In her blind perplexity, + Wandering weak in doubt and error, + Calleth feebly upon thee. + Sinful thoughts, sweet saint, oppress me, + Thoughts that will not be dismissed; + Temptations dark possess me, + Which my strength may not resist. + I am full of pain, and weary + Of my life; I fain would die: + Unto me the world is dreary; + To the grave for rest I fly. + For rest!--oh! could I borrow + Thy bright wings, celestial dove! + They should waft me from my sorrow, + Where peace dwells in bowers above. + Upon one with woes o'erladen, + Kneeling lowly at thy shrine; + Sainted virgin! martyr'd maiden! + Let thy countenance incline! + _Mei miserere Virgo, + Requiem æternam dona!_ + + By thy loveliness, thy purity, + Unpolluted, undefiled, + That in serene security + Upon earth's temptations smiled;-- + By the fetters that constrain'd thee, + By thy flame-attested faith, + By the fervor that sustain'd thee, + By thine angel-ushered death;-- + By thy soul's divine elation, + 'Mid thine agonies assuring + Of thy sanctified translation + To beatitude enduring;-- + By the mystic interfusion + Of thy spirit with the rays, + That in ever bright profusion + Round the Throne Eternal blaze;-- + By thy portion now partaken, + With the pain-perfected just; + Look on one of hope forsaken, + From the gates, of mercy thrust. + Upon one with woes o'erladen, + Kneeling lowly at thy shrine, + Sainted virgin! martyr'd maiden! + Let thy countenance incline! + _Ora pro me mortis horâ! + Sancta Virgo, oro te! + Kyrie Eleison!_ + +The sweet, sad voice of the singer died faintly away. The sharpness of +her sorrow was assuaged. Seldom, indeed, is it that fervent +supplication fails to call down solace to the afflicted. Sybil became +more composed. She still, however, trembled at the thoughts of what +remained to be done. + +"They will be here ere my prayer is finished," murmured she--"ere the +end is accomplished for which I came hither alone. Let me, oh! let me +make my peace with my Creator, ere I surrender my being to His hands, +and then let them deal with me as they will." And she bowed her head in +lowly prayer. + +Again raising her hands, and casting her eyes towards the black ceiling, +she implored, in song, the intercession of the saintly man who had +bequeathed his name to the cell. + + HYMN TO SAINT CYPRIAN + + Hear! oh! hear me, sufferer holy, + Who didst make thine habitation + 'Mid these rocks, devoting wholly + Life to one long expiation + Of thy guiltiness, and solely + By severe mortification + Didst deliver thee. Oh! hear me! + In my dying moments cheer me. + By thy penance, self-denial, + Aid me in the hour of trial. + + May, through thee, my prayers prevailing + On the Majesty of Heaven, + O'er the hosts of hell, assailing + My soul, in this dark hour be driven! + So my spirit, when exhaling, + May of sinfulness be shriven, + And His gift unto the Giver + May be rendered pure as ever! + By thy own dark, dread possession, + Aid me with thine intercession! + +Scarcely had she concluded this hymn, when the torch of the knight of +Malta in part dissipated the gloom that hung around the chapel. + + + + +_CHAPTER XI_ + +_THE BRIDAL_ + + _Cari._ I will not die; I must not. I am contracted + To a young gentleman. + + _Executioner._ Here's your wedding-ring. + + _Duchess of Malfy._ + + +Slowly did the train descend; solemnly and in silence, as if the rites +at which they were about to assist had been those of funereal, and not +of nuptial, solemnization. Indeed, to look upon those wild and fierce +faces by the ruddily-flashing torchlight, which lent to each a stern and +savage expression; to see those scowling visages surrounding a bride +from whose pallid cheeks every vestige of color, and almost of +animation, had fled; and a bridegroom, with a countenance yet more +haggard, and demeanor yet more distracted--the beholder must have +imagined that the spectacle was some horrible ceremonial, practised by +demons rather than human beings. The arched vault, the pillars, the +torchlight, the deep shadows, and the wild figures, formed a picture +worthy of Rembrandt or Salvator. + +"Is Sybil within the chapel?" asked Barbara. + +"I am here," returned a voice from the altar. + +"Why do we tarry?" said the gipsy queen. "We are all assembled. To the +altar." + +"To the altar!" shrieked Eleanor. "Oh! no--no----" + +"Remember my threat, and obey," muttered Barbara. "You are in my power +now." + +A convulsive sob was all the answer Eleanor could make. + +"Our number is not complete," said the priest, who had looked in vain +for the sexton. "Peter Bradley is not with us." + +"Ha!" exclaimed Barbara. "Let him be sought for instantly." + +"Their search need not extend beyond this spot," said Peter, stepping +forward. + +The knight of Malta advanced towards the altar. The torchlight reddened +upon the huge stone pillars. It fell upon the shrine, and upon the +ghastly countenance of Sybil, who stood beside it. Suddenly, as the +light approached her, an object, hitherto hidden from view, was +revealed. Sybil uttered a prolonged and fearful shriek; the knight +recoiled likewise in horror; and a simultaneous cry of astonishment +burst from the lips of the foremost of the group. All crowded forwards, +and universal consternation prevailed amongst the assemblage. Each one +gazed at his neighbor, anxious to learn the occasion of this tumult, and +vague fears were communicated to those behind, from the terrified +glances, which were the only answers returned by their comrades in +front. + +"Who has dared to bring that body here?" demanded Barbara, in a tone in +which anger struggled with apprehension, pointing at the same time to +the ghastly corpse of a female, with streaming hair, at the altar's +feet. "Who has dared to do this, I say? Quick! remove it. What do you +stare at? Cravens! is this the first time you have looked upon a corpse, +that you should shrink aghast--that you tremble before it? It is a +clod--ay, less than a clod. Away with it! away, I say." + +"Touch it not," cried Luke, lifting a cloud of black hair from off the +features; "it is my mother's body." + +"My daughter!" exclaimed the sexton. + +"What!" vociferated Barbara, "is that your daughter--is that the first +Lady Rookwood? Are the dead arisen to do honor to these nuptials? Speak! +you can, perchance, explain how she came hither." + +"I know not," returned Peter, glancing fiercely at Barbara; "I may, +anon, demand that question of you. How came this body here?" + +"Ask of Richard Checkley," said Barbara, turning to the priest. "He can, +perchance, inform you. Priest," added she, in a low voice, "this is your +handiwork." + +"Checkley!" screamed Peter. "Is that Richard Checkley? is that----" + +"Peace!" thundered Barbara; "will none remove the body? Once more I ask +you, do you fear the dead?" + +A murmur arose. Balthazar alone ventured to approach the corpse. + +Luke started to his feet as he advanced, his eyes glaring with tiger +fury. + +"Back, old man," cried he, "and dare not, any of you, to lay a +sacrilegious finger on her corse, or I will stretch him that advances as +lowly as lies my mother's head. When or how it came hither matters not. +Here, at the altar, has it been placed, and none shall move it hence. +The dead shall witness my nuptials. Fate has ordained it--_my_ fate! +o'er which the dead preside. Her ring shall link me to my bride. I knew +not, when I snatched it from her death-cold finger, to what end I +preserved it. I learn it now. It is here." And he held forth a ring. + +"'Tis a fatal boon, that twice-used ring," cried Sybil; "such a ring my +mother, on her death-bed, said should be mine. Such a ring she said +should wed me----" + +"Unto whom?" fiercely demanded Luke. + +"UNTO DEATH!" she solemnly rejoined. + +Luke's countenance fell. He turned aside, deeply abashed, unable further +to brook her gaze; while in accents of such wildly touching pathos as +sank into the hearts of each who heard her--hearts, few of them framed +of penetrable stuff--the despairing maiden burst into the following +strain: + + THE TWICE-USED RING + + "Beware thy bridal day!" + On her death-bed sighed my mother; + "Beware, beware, I say, + Death shall wed thee, and no other. + Cold the hand shall grasp thee, + Cold the arms shall clasp thee, + Colder lips thy kiss shall smother! + Beware thy bridal kiss! + + "Thy wedding ring shall be + From a clay-cold finger taken; + From one that, like to thee, + Was by her love forsaken. + For a twice-used ring + Is a fatal thing; + Her griefs who wore it are partaken--, + Beware that fatal ring! + + "The altar and the grave + Many steps are not asunder; + Bright banners o'er thee wave, + Shrouded horror lieth under. + Blithe may sound the bell, + Yet 'twill toll thy knell; + Scathed thy chaplet by the thunder-- + Beware that blighted wreath!" + + Beware my bridal day! + Dying lips my doom have spoken; + Deep tones call me away; + From the grave is sent a token. + Cold, cold fingers bring + That ill-omen'd ring; + Soon will a _second_ heart be broken; + _This_ is my bridal day. + +There was a deep, profound silence as the last melancholy cadence died +away, and many a rugged heart was melted, even to tears. Eleanor, +meanwhile, remained in a state of passive stupefaction, vacantly gazing +at Sybil, upon whom alone her eyes were fixed, and appearing +indistinctly to apprehend the meaning of her song. + +"This is my bridal day," murmured she, in a low tone, when Sybil had +finished. "Said not that sweet voice so? I know 'tis my bridal day. What +a church you have chosen, mother! A tomb--a sepulchre--but 'tis meet for +such nuptials as mine--and what wedding guests! Was that pale woman in +her shroud-like dress invited here by you? Tell me that, mother." + +"My God, her senses are gone!" cried Mrs. Mowbray. "Why did I venture +into this horrible place?" + +"Ask not _why_ now, madam," rejoined the priest. "The hour for +consideration is past. We must act. Let the marriage proceed, at all +hazards; we will then take means to extricate ourselves from this +accursed place." + +"Remove that horrible object," said Mrs. Mowbray; "it fascinates the +vision of my child." + +"Lend me your hand, Richard Checkley," said Peter, sternly regarding the +priest. + +"No, no," replied the priest, shuddering; "I will not, cannot touch it. +Do you alone remove it." + +Peter approached Luke. The latter now offered no further opposition, and +the body was taken away. The eyes of Eleanor followed it into the dark +recesses of the vault; and when she could no longer distinguish the +white flutter of the cereclothes, her laboring bosom seemed torn asunder +with the profound sigh that burst from it, and her head declined upon +her shoulder. + +"Let me see that ring," said the priest, addressing Luke, who still held +the wedding-ring between his fingers. + +"I am not naturally superstitious," said Mrs. Mowbray; "whether my mind +be affected with the horrors of this place, I know not; but I have a +dread of that ring. She shall not use it." + +"Where no other can be found," said the priest, with a significant and +peculiar look at Mrs. Mowbray, "I see no reason why this should be +rejected. I should not have suspected you, madam, of such weakness. +Grant there were evil spell, or charm, attached to it, which, trust me, +there is _not_--as how should there be, to a harmless piece of gold?--my +benediction, and aspersion with holy lymph, will have sufficient power +to exorcise and expel it. To remove your fears it shall be done at +once." + +A cup containing water was brought, together with a plate of salt--which +condiment the devil is said to abhor, and which is held to be a symbol +of immortality and of eternity; in that, being itself incorruptible, it +preserves all else from corruption,--and, with the customary Romish +formula of prayer and exorcism, the priest thrice mingled the crystal +particles with the pure fluid; after which, taking the ring in his hand +with much solemnity, he sprinkled it with a few drops of the water which +he had blessed; made the sign of the cross upon the golden circlet; +uttered another and more potent exorcism to eradicate and expel every +device of Satan, and delivered it back to Luke. + +"She may wear it now in safety," said the sexton, with strong contempt. +"Were the snake himself coiled round that consecrated bauble, the +prayers of the devout Father Checkley would unclasp his lithest folds. +But wherefore do we tarry now? Naught lies between us and the altar. The +path is clear. The bridegroom grows impatient." + +"And the bride?" asked Barbara. + +"Is ready," replied the priest. "Madam, delay not longer. Daughter, your +hand." + +Eleanor gave her hand. It was clammy and cold. Supported by her mother, +she moved slowly towards the altar, which was but a few steps from where +they stood. She offered no resistance, but did not raise her head. Luke +was by her side. Then for the first time did the enormity of the cruel, +dishonorable act he was about to commit, strike him with its full +force. He saw it in its darkest colors. It was one of those terrible +moments when the headlong wheel of passion stands suddenly still. + +"There is yet time," groaned he. "Oh! let me not damn myself +perpetually! Let me save her; save Sybil; save myself." + +They were at the altar--that wild wedding train. High over head the +torch was raised. The red light flashed on bridegroom and on bride, +giving to the pale features of each an almost livid look; it fell upon +the gaunt aspect of the sexton, and lit up the smile of triumphant +malice that played upon his face; it fell upon the fantastical +habiliments of Barbara, and upon the haughty but perturbed physiognomy +of Mrs. Mowbray; it fell upon the salient points of the Gothic arches; +upon one molded pillar; upon the marble image of the virgin Thecla; and +on the scarcely less marble countenance of Sybil who stood behind the +altar, silent, statue-like, immovable. The effect of light and shade on +other parts of the scene, upon the wild drapery, and harsh lineaments of +many of the group, was also eminently striking. + +Just as the priest was about to commence the marriage service, a yelling +chorus, which the gipsies were accustomed to sing at the celebration of +the nuptials of one of their own tribe, burst forth. Nothing could be +more horribly discordant than their song. + + WEDDING CHORUS OF GIPSIES + + Scrape the catgut! pass the liquor! + Let your quick feet move the quicker. + Ta-ra-la! + + Dance and sing in jolly chorus, + Bride and bridegroom are before us, + And the patrico stands o'er us. + Ta-ra-la! + + To unite their hands he's ready; + For a moment, pals, be steady; + Cease your quaffing, + Dancing, laughing; + Leave off riot, + And be quiet, + While 'tis doing. + 'Tis begun, + All is over! + Two are ONE! + The patrico has link'd 'em; + Daddy Hymen's torch has blink'd 'em. + Amen! + To 't again! + Now for quaffing, + Now for laughing, + Stocking-throwing, + Liquor flowing; + For our bridals are no bridles, and our altars never alter; + From the flagon never flinch we, in the jig we never falter. + No! that's not _our_ way, for _we_ + Are staunch lads of Romany. + For our wedding, then, hurrah! + Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! + +This uncouth chorus ended, the marriage proceeded. Sybil had +disappeared. Had she fled? No! she was by the bride. Eleanor +mechanically took her place. A faint voice syllabled the responses. You +could scarcely have seen Miss Mowbray's lips move. But the answers were +given, and the priest was satisfied. + +He took the ring, and sprinkled it once again with the holy water, in +the form of the cross. He pronounced the prayer: "_Benedic, Domine, +annulum hunc, quem nos in tuo nomine benedicimus, ut quæ eum gestaverit, +fidelitatem integram suo sponso tenens, in pace et voluntate tua +permaneat atque in mutua charitate semper vivat._" + +He was about to return the ring to Luke, when the torch, held by the +knight of Malta, was dashed to the ground by some unseen hand, and +instantly extinguished. The wild pageant vanished as suddenly as the +figures cast by a magic-lantern upon a wall disappear when the glass is +removed. A wild hubbub succeeded. Hoarsely above the clamor arose the +voice of Barbara. + +"To the door, quickly!--to the door! Let no one pass, I will find out +the author of this mishap anon. Away!" + +She was obeyed. Several of the crew stationed themselves at the door. + +"Proceed now with the ceremony," continued Barbara. "By darkness, or by +light, the match shall be completed." + +The ring was then placed upon the finger of the bride; and as Luke +touched it, he shuddered. It was cold as that of the corpse which he had +clasped but now. The prayer was said, the blessing given, the marriage +was complete. + +Suddenly there issued from the darkness deep dirge-like tones, and a +voice solemnly chanted a strain, which all knew to be the death-song of +their race, hymned by wailing women over an expiring sister. The music +seemed to float in the air. + + THE SOUL-BELL + + Fast the sand of life is falling, + Fast her latest sigh exhaling, + Fast, fast, is she dying. + + With death's chills her limbs are shivering, + With death's gasp the lips are quivering, + Fast her soul away is flying. + + O'er the mountain-top it fleeteth, + And the skyey wonders greeteth, + Singing loud as stars it meeteth + On its way. + + Hark! the sullen Soul-bell tolling, + Hollowly in echoes rolling, + Seems to say-- + + "She will ope her eyes--oh, never! + Quenched their dark light--gone for ever! + She is dead." + +The marriage group yet lingered near the altar, awaiting, it would seem, +permission from the gipsy queen to quit the cell. Luke stirred not. +Clasped in his own, the cold hand of his bride detained him; and when he +would have moved, her tightened grasp prevented his departure. + +Mrs. Mowbray's patience was exhausted by the delay. She was not +altogether free from apprehension. "Why do we linger here?" she +whispered to the priest. "Do you, father, lead the way." + +"The crowd is dense," replied Checkley. "They resist my effort." + +"Are we prisoners here?" asked Mrs. Mowbray, in alarm. + +"Let me make the attempt," cried Luke, with fiery impatience. "I will +force a passage out." + +"Quit not your bride," whispered Peter, "as you value her safety. Heed +not aught else. She alone is in danger. Suffer her not to be withdrawn +from your hand, if you would not lose her. Remain here. I will bring the +matter to a speedy issue." + +"Enough," replied Luke; "I stir not hence." And he drew his bride closer +towards him. He stooped to imprint a kiss upon her lips. A cold shudder +ran through her frame as he touched them, but she resisted not his +embrace. + +Peter's attempt to effect an egress was as unsuccessful as that of the +priest. Presenting Excalibur at his bosom, the knight of Malta +challenged him to stand. + +"You cannot pass," exclaimed the knight; "our orders are peremptory." + +"What am I to understand by this?" said Peter, angrily. "Why are we +detained?" + +"You will learn all anon," returned Barbara. "In the meantime you are my +prisoners--or, if you like not the phrase, my wedding guests." + +"The wedding is complete," returned the sexton; "the bride and +bridegroom are impatient to depart, and we, the guests--albeit some of +us may be no foes to darkness--desire not to hold our nuptial revels +here." + +"Sybil's wedding has not taken place," said Barbara; "you must tarry for +that." + +"Ha! now it comes," thought Peter. "And who, may I ask," said he, aloud, +"amongst this goodly company, is to be her bridegroom?" + +"The best amongst them," returned Barbara--"Sir Luke Rookwood." + +"He has a bride already," replied Peter. + +"She may be _removed_," said Barbara, with bitter and peculiar emphasis. +"Dost understand my meaning now?" + +"I will not understand it," said Peter. "You cannot mean to destroy her +who now stands at the altar?" + +"She who now stands at the altar must make way for a successor. She who +grasps the bridegroom's hand shall die. I swear it by the oath of my +tribe." + +"And think you, you will be allowed to execute your murderous intention +with impunity?" shrieked Mrs. Mowbray, in an agony of terror. "Think you +that I will stand by and see my child slaughtered before my face; that +my friends will suffer it? Think you that even your own tribe will dare +to execute your horrible purpose? They will not. They will side with us. +Even now they murmur. What can you hope to gain by an act so wild and +dreadful? What object can you have?" + +"The same as your own," reiterated Barbara--"the advancement of my +child. Sybil is as dear to me as Eleanor is to you. She is my child's +child, the daughter of my best beloved daughter. I have sworn to marry +her to Sir Luke Rookwood. The means are in my power. I will keep my vow; +I will wed her to him. You did not hesitate to tear your daughter from +the man she loved, to give her to the man she hated; and for what? For +gold--for power--for rank. I have the same motive. I love my child, and +she loves Sir Luke--has loved him long and truly; therefore shall she +have him. What to me is _your_ child, or _your_ feelings, except they +are subservient to my wishes? She stands in my way. I remove her." + +"Who placed her in your path?" asked the sexton. "Did you not lend a +helping hand to create that obstacle yourself?" + +"I did," replied Barbara. "Would you know wherefore? I will tell you. I +had a double motive for it. There is a curse upon the house of Rookwood, +that kills the first fair bride each generation leads to the altar. Have +you never heard of it?" + +"I have! And did that idle legend sway you?" + +"And do you call it idle? _You!_ Well--I had another motive--a +prophecy." + +"By yourself uttered," replied Peter. + +"Even so," replied Barbara. "The prophecy is fulfilled. The stray rook +is found. The rook hath with rook mated. Luke hath wedded Eleanor. He +will hold possession of his lands. The prophecy is fulfilled." + +"But _how_?" asked Peter; "will your art tell you how and why he shall +now hold possession? Can you tell me that?" + +"My art goes not so far. I have predicted the event. It has come to +pass. I am satisfied. He has wedded her. Be it mine to free him from +that yoke." And Barbara laughed exultingly. + +The sexton approached the old crone, and laid his hand with violence +upon her shoulder. + +"Hear _me_," cried he, "and I will tell you that which your juggling art +refuses to reveal. Eleanor Mowbray is heir to the lands of Rookwood! The +estates are _hers_! They were bequeathed to her by her grandsire, Sir +Reginald." + +"She was unborn when he died," cried Mrs. Mowbray. + +"True," replied Peter; "but the lands were left to your issue _female_, +should such issue be born." + +"And did Sir Piers, my brother, know of this? did he see this will," +asked Mrs. Mowbray, with trembling impatience. + +"He did; and withheld the knowledge of it from you and yours." + +"Ah! why knew I not this before? Why did you not tell me ere that was +done which cannot be undone? I have sacrificed my child." + +"Because it did not chime with my purposes to tell you," replied Peter, +coldly. + +"It is false--it is false," cried Mrs. Mowbray, her anger and vexation +getting the better of her fears. "I will not believe it. Who are you, +that pretend to know the secrets of our house?" + +"One of that house," replied the sexton. + +"Your name?" + +"Would you know my name?" answered Peter, sternly. "The time is come +when I will no longer conceal it. I am Alan Rookwood." + +"My father's brother!" exclaimed Mrs. Mowbray. + +"Ay, Alan Rookwood. The sworn enemy of your father--of you--of all of +ye: your fate--your destiny--your curse. I am that Alan Rookwood whose +name you breathed in the vault. I am he, the avenger--the avenged. I saw +your father die. I heard his groans--_his groans!_--ha, ha! I saw his +sons die: one fell in battle--I was with him there. The other expired in +his bed. I was with Sir Piers when he breathed his last, and listened to +his death agonies. 'Twas I who counselled him to keep the lands from you +and from your child, and he withheld them. One only amongst the race, +whose name I have cast off, have I loved; and him--because," added he, +with something like emotion--"because he was my daughter's child--Luke +Rookwood. And even he shall minister to my vengeance. He will be your +curse--your daughter's curse--for he loves her not. Yet he is her +husband, and hath her land;--ha, ha!" And he laughed till he became +convulsed with the paroxysm of fiendish exultation. + +"Mine ears are stunned," cried Mrs. Mowbray. + +"The bride is mine; relinquish her to me," said Barbara. "Advance and +seize her, my children." + +Alan Rookwood--for so we shall henceforth denominate the +sexton--suddenly grew calm: he raised the whistle to his lips, and blew +a call so loud and shrill, that those who were advancing hung back +irresolute. + +There was a rush at the door of the vault. The sentinels were struck +down; and with pistols in each hand, and followed by two assistants, +Dick Turpin sprang into the thick of the crew. + +"Here we are," cried he, "ready for action. Where is Sir Luke Rookwood? +where my churchyard pal, Peter?" + +"Here," cried the sexton and Luke simultaneously. + +"Then stand aside," cried Dick, pushing in the direction of the sounds, +and bearing down all opposition. "Have a care there--these triggers are +ticklish. Friend or foe, he who touches me shall have a bullet in his +gizzard. Here I am, pal Peter; and here are my two chums, Rust and +Wilder. Cut the whid." + +"Have we license to pass scathless now?" asked the sexton; "or shall we +make good our way?" + +"You shall not pass," cried Barbara, furiously. "Think you to rob me of +my prey? What, cowards! do you hesitate? Ha!" + +"Kindle the torches," cried several voices. "We fight not in the dark." + +A pistol was flashed. The torch again blazed. Its light fell upon a +tumultuous group. + +"Seize the bride," cried Barbara. + +"Hold!" exclaimed a voice from the altar. The voice was that of Sybil. + +Her hand was clasped in that of Luke. Eleanor had fainted in the arms of +the gipsy girl Handassah. + +"Are you my bride?" ejaculated Luke, in dismay. + +"Behold the ring upon my finger! Your own hand placed it there." + +"Betrayed!" screamed Alan, in a voice of anguish. "My schemes +annihilated--myself undone--my enemies triumphant--lost! lost! All is +destroyed--all!" + +"Joy! joy!" exclaimed Mrs. Mowbray: "my child is saved." + +"And _mine_ destroyed," groaned Barbara. "I have sworn by the cross to +slay the bride--and Sybil is that bride." + + + + +_CHAPTER XII_ + +_ALAN ROOKWOOD_ + + The wolf shall find her grave, and scrape it up; + Not to devour the corse, but to discover + The horrid murther. + + WEBSTER. + + +"Bravo! capital!" cried Turpin, laughing loud and long as an Olympian +deity; "has this simple wench outwitted you all; turned the tables upon +the whole gang of plotters, eh? Excellent! ha, ha, ha! The next time you +wed, Sir Luke, let me advise you not to choose a wife in the dark. A man +should have all his senses about him on these occasions. Make love when +the liquor's in; marry when it's out, and, above all, with your eyes +open. This beats cock-fighting--ha, ha, ha!--you must excuse me; but, +upon my soul, I can't help it." And his laughter seemed +inextinguishable. + +"Take your men without," whispered Alan Rookwood; "keep watch as before, +and let the discharge of a pistol bespeak the approach of danger as +agreed upon; much yet remains to be done here." + +"How so?" asked Dick; "it seems to me the job's entirely settled--if not +to _your_ satisfaction. I'm always ready to oblige my friend, Sir Luke; +but curse me if I'd lend my help to any underhand work. Steer clear of +foul play, or Dick Turpin holds no hand with you. As to that poor wench, +if you mean her any harm, curse me if I will----" + +"No harm is intended her," replied Alan. "I applaud your magnanimity," +added he, sarcastically; "such sentiments are, it must be owned, in +excellent keeping with your conduct." + +"In keeping or not," replied Turpin, gravely, "cold-blooded murder is +altogether out of my line, and I wash my hands of it. A shot or two in +self defence is another matter; and when----" + +"A truce to this," interrupted Alan; "the girl is safe. Will you mount +guard again?" + +"If that be the case, certainly," replied Dick. "I shall be glad to get +back to Bess. I couldn't bring her with me into this black hole. A +couple of shots will tell you 'tis Ranulph Rookwood. But mind, no harm +to the gipsy girl--to Lady Rookwood, I should say. She's a jewel, take +my word for it, which Sir Luke must be mad to throw away." And calling +his companions, he departed. + +Alan Rookwood bent his steps towards the gipsy queen. Dark thoughts +gathered quickly o'er his brow. He smiled as he drew nigh to Barbara--a +smile it was + + That wrinkled up his skin even to the hair. + +Barbara looked at him at first with distrust; but as he developed his +secret purposes, that smile became reflected upon her own features. +Their conference took place apart. We willingly leave them to return to +the altar. + +Mrs. Mowbray and the priest were still there. Both were occupied in +ineffectual endeavors to restore Eleanor to consciousness. She recovered +from her swoon; but it was evident her senses still wandered; and vainly +did Mrs. Mowbray lavish her tenderest caresses upon her child. Eleanor +returned them not. + +Luke, meanwhile, had given vent to the wildest fury. He shook away +Sybil's grasp; he dashed her from him; he regarded her with withering +glances; he loaded her with reproaches. She bore his violence with +meekest submission; she looked imploringly--but she replied not to his +taunts. Again she clung to the hem of his garment when cast aside. Luke +appeared unmoved; what passed within we pause not to examine. He grew +calmer; his calmness was more terrible to Sybil than his previous wrath +had been. + +"You are my wife," said he; "what then? By fraud, by stratagem, you have +obtained that title, and, perforce, must keep it. But the title _only_ +shall you retain. No rights of wife shall ever be yours. It will be in +your power to call yourself Lady Rookwood--you will be so in name--in +nothing else." + +"I shall not bear it long," murmured Sybil. + +Luke laughed scornfully, "So you said before," replied he; "and yet I +see not why you are likely to abandon it. The event will show. Thus far +you have deceived me, and I place no further faith in your assertions. +My hand was yours; you refused it. When I would give it to another, you +grasp it clandestinely. Am I to believe you now? The wind will +change--the vane veer with it." + +"It will not veer from you," she meekly answered. + +"Why did you step between me and my bride?" + +"To save her life; to lay down mine for hers." + +"An idle subterfuge. You know well that you run no risk of being called +upon to do so. Your life is in no danger. The sacrifice was unnecessary. +I could have dispensed with _your_ assistance; my own arm would have +sufficed to protect Eleanor." + +"Your single arm would not have prevailed against numbers: they would +have killed you likewise." + +"Tush!" said Luke, fiercely. "Not only have you snatched from me my +bride, you have robbed me of my fair estates, of all, save of my barren +title, and that, even _that_, you have tarnished." + +"True, true," sighed Sybil. "I knew not that the lands were hers, else +had I never done it." + +"False, false," cried Luke; "false as the rest. _They_ will be +Ranulph's. _She_ will be Ranulph's. I shall still be an outcast, while +Ranulph will riot in my halls--will press her to his bosom. Cling not to +me. Hence! or I will spurn you from me. I am undone, undone by you, +accursed one." + +"Oh, curse me not! your words cut deep enough." + +"Would they could kill you," cried Luke, with savage bitterness. "You +have placed a bar between me and my prospects, which nothing can now +remove--nothing but--ha!" and his countenance assumed a deadly hue and +fearful expression. "By Heaven, you almost rouse the fell spirit which +it is said dwells within the breast of my devoted race. I feel as if I +could stab thee." + +"No, no!" shrieked Sybil; "for mercy's sake, for your own sake, do not +stab me. It is not too late. I will repair my wrong!" + +"Ever deceiving! you would again delude me. You cannot repair it. One +way alone remains, and that----" + +"I will pursue," responded Sybil, sadly, but firmly. + +"Never!" cried Luke; "you shall not. Ha!" exclaimed he, as he found his +arms suddenly pinioned behind him. "What new treachery is this? By whose +orders am I thus fettered?" + +"By mine," said Alan Rookwood, stepping forward. + +"By yours?" echoed Luke. "And wherefore? Release me." + +"Be patient," replied Alan. "You will hear all anon. In the meantime you +must be content to remain my prisoner. Quit not your hold," added he, +addressing the gipsies, who kept charge of Luke. + +"Their lives shall answer for their obedience," said Barbara. + +Upon a further signal from Alan, Eleanor was torn from her mother's +arms, and a bandage passed so suddenly over Mrs. Mowbray's face, that, +before she could raise a cry of alarm, all possibility of utterance was +effectually prevented. The priest alone was left at liberty. + +Barbara snatched the hand of Eleanor. She dragged her to Sybil. + +"You are Lady Rookwood," whispered she; "but she has your domains. I +give her to you." + +"She is the _only bar_ between thy husband and his rights," whispered +Alan Rookwood, in a tone of horrible irony; "_it is not too late to +repair your wrong_." + +"Away, tempter!" cried Sybil, horror-stricken. "I know you well. Yet," +continued she, in an altered tone, "I will risk all for him. I have done +him wrong. One mode of atonement remains; and, horrible though it be, I +will embrace it. Let me not pause. Give her to me." And she seized upon +the unresisting hand of Eleanor. + +"Do you need my aid?" asked Barbara. + +"No," replied Sybil; "let none approach us. A clapping of hands will let +you know when all is over." And she dragged her passive victim deeper +into the vault. + +"Sybil, Sybil!" cried Luke, struggling with frantic violence to liberate +himself; "hurt her not. I was rash. I was mad. I am calmer now. She +hears me not--she will not turn. God of heaven! she will murder her. It +will be done while I speak. I am the cause of all. Release me, villains! +Would that I had died ere I had seen this day." + +At a signal from the sexton, Luke also was blindfolded. He ceased to +struggle. But his laboring breast told of the strife within. + +"Miscreants!" exclaimed the priest, who had hitherto witnessed the +proceedings in horror. "Why do not these rocks fall in, and crush you +and your iniquities? Save her! oh, save her! Have you no pity for the +innocent?" + +"Such pity have we," replied Alan Rookwood, "as you showed my daughter. +She was as innocent as Eleanor Mowbray, and yet you did not pity _her_." + +"Heaven is my witness," exclaimed the priest, "that I never injured +her." + +"Take not Heaven's name in vain," cried Alan. "Who stood by while it was +doing? Whose firmer hand lent aid to the murderer's trembling efforts? +Whose pressure stifled her thrilling screams, and choked her cries for +mercy? Yours--yours; and now you prate to me of pity--you, the slayer of +the sleeping and the innocent!" + +"'Tis false!" exclaimed the priest, in extremity of terror. + +"False!" echoed Alan. "I had Sir Piers's own confession. He told me all. +You had designs upon Sir Piers, which his wife opposed; you hated her; +you were in the confidence of both--how did you keep that confidence? He +told me _how_, by awakening a spirit of jealousy and pride, that +o'ermastered all his better feelings. False! He told me of your hellish +machinations; your Jesuitical plots; your schemes. He was too weak, too +feeble an instrument to serve you. You left him, but not before _she_ +had left him. False! ha, I have that shall instantly convict you. The +corpse is here, within this cell. Who brought it hither?" + +The priest was silent: he seemed confounded by Alan's violence. + +"I will answer that question," said Barbara. "It was brought hither by +that false priest. His agent, Balthazar, has betrayed him. It was +brought hither to prevent the discovery of Sir Luke Rookwood's +legitimacy. He meant to make his own terms about it. It has come hither +to proclaim his guilt--to be a fearful witness against him." Then, +turning to Checkley, she added, "You have called Heaven to witness your +innocence: you shall attest it by oath upon that body; and should aught +indicate your guilt, I will hang you as I would a dog, and clear off one +long score with justice. Do you shrink from this?" + +"No," replied the priest, in a voice hollow and broken. "Bring me to the +body." + +"Seize each an arm," said Barbara, addressing Zoroaster and the knight +of Malta, "and lead him to the corse." + +"I will administer the oath," said Alan Rookwood, sternly. + +"No, not you," stammered the priest. + +"And wherefore not?" asked Alan. "If you are innocent, you need fear +nothing from her." + +"I fear nothing from the _dead_," replied Checkley; "lead on." + +We will now return to Sybil. She was alone with her victim. They were +near the mouth of the cell which had been Prior Cyprian's flinty +dormitory, and were almost involved in darkness. A broken stream of +light glanced through the pillars. Eleanor had not spoken. She suffered +herself to be dragged thither without resistance, scarcely conscious, it +would seem, of her danger. Sybil gazed upon her for some minutes with +sorrow and surprise. "She comprehends not her perilous situation," +murmured Sybil. "She knows not that she stands upon the brink of the +grave. Oh! would that she could pray. Shall I, her murderess, pray for +her? My prayers would not be heard. And yet, to kill her unshriven will +be a twofold crime. Let me not look on her. My hand trembles. I can +scarce grasp the dagger. Let me think on all he has said. I have wronged +him. I am his bane, his curse! I have robbed him of all: there is but +one remedy--'tis _this_!--Oh, God! she recovers. I cannot do it now." + +It was a fearful moment for Eleanor's revival, when the bright steel +flashed before her eyes. Terror at once restored her. She cast herself +at Sybil's feet. + +"Spare, spare me!" cried she. "Oh! what a dream I have had. And to waken +thus, with the dagger's point at my breast. You will not kill me--you, +gentle maid, who promised to preserve me. Ah, no, I am sure you will +not." + +"Appeal no more to me," said Sybil, fiercely. "Make your peace with +Heaven. Your minutes are numbered." + +"I cannot pray," said Eleanor, "while you are near me." + +"Will you pray if I retire and leave you?" + +"No, no. I dare not--cannot," shrieked Eleanor, in extremity of terror. +"Oh! do not leave me, or let me go." + +"If you stir," said Sybil, "I stab you to the heart." + +"I will not stir. I will kneel here forever. Stab me as I kneel--as I +pray to you. You cannot kill me while I cling to you thus--while I kiss +your hands--while I bedew them with my tears. Those tears will not sully +them like my blood." + +"Maiden," said Sybil, endeavoring to withdraw her hand, "let go your +hold--your sand is run." + +"Mercy!" + +"It is in vain. Close your eyes." + +"No, I will fix them on you thus--you cannot strike then. I will cling +to you--embrace you. Your nature is not cruel--your soul is full of +pity. It melts--those tears--you will be merciful. You cannot +deliberately kill me." + +"I cannot--I cannot!" said Sybil, with a passionate outburst of grief. +"Take your life on one condition." + +"Name it." + +"That you wed Sir Luke Rookwood." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Eleanor, "all rushes back upon me at that name; the +whole of that fearful scene passes in review before me." + +"Do you reject my proposal?" + +"I dare not." + +"I must have your oath. Swear by every hope of eternity that you will +wed none other than him." + +"By every hope, I swear it." + +"Handassah, you will bear this maiden's oath in mind, and witness its +fulfilment." + +"I will," replied the gipsy girl, stepping forward from a recess, in +which she had hitherto remained unnoticed. + +"Enough. I am satisfied. Tarry with me. Stir not--scream not, whatever +you may see or hear. Your life depends upon your firmness. When I am no +more----" + +"No more?" echoed Eleanor, in horror. + +"Be calm," said Sybil. "When I am dead, clap your hands together. They +will come to seek you--they will find me in your stead. Then rush to +him--to Sir Luke Rookwood. He will protect you. Say to him hereafter +that I died for the wrong I did him--that I died, and blessed him." + +"Can you not live, and save me?" sobbed Eleanor. + +"Ask it not. While I live, your life is in danger. When I am gone, none +will seek to harm you. Fare you well! Remember your oath, and you, too, +remember it, Handassah. Remember also--ha! that groan!" + +All started, as a deep groan knelled in their ears. + +"Whence comes that sound?" cried Sybil. "Hist!--a voice?" + +"It is that of the priest," cried Eleanor. "Hark! he groans. They have +murdered him! Kind Heaven, receive his soul!" + +"Pray for me," cried Sybil: "pray fervently; avert your face; down on +your knees--down--down! Farewell, Handassah!" And breaking from them, +she rushed into the darkest recesses of the vault. + +We must now quit this painful scene for another scarcely less painful, +and return to the unfortunate priest. + +Checkley had been brought before the body of Susan Rookwood. Even in the +gloom, the shimmer of the white cereclothes, and the pallid features of +the corpse, were ghastly enough. The torchlight made them terrible. + +"Kneel!" said Alan Rookwood. The priest complied. Alan knelt beside him. + +"Do you know these features?" demanded he. "Regard them well. Fix your +eyes full upon them. Do you know them?" + +"I do." + +"Place your hand upon her breast. Does not the flesh creep and shrink +beneath your touch? Now raise your hand--make the cross of your faith +upon her bosom. By that faith you swear you are innocent." + +"I do," returned the priest; "are you now satisfied?" + +"No," replied Alan. "Let the torch be removed. Your innocence must be +more deeply attested," continued he, as the light was withdrawn. "This +proof will not fail. Entwine your fingers round her throat." + +"Have I not done enough?" + +"Your hesitation proves your guilt," said Alan. + +"That proof is wanting, then?" returned the priest; "my hand is upon her +throat--what more?" + +"As you hope for mercy in your hour of need, swear that you never +conspired against her life, or refused her mercy." + +"I swear it." + +"May the dead convict you of perjury if you have forsworn yourself," +said Alan; "you are free. Take away your hand!" + +"Ha! what is this?" exclaimed the priest. "You have put some jugglery +upon me. I cannot withdraw my hand. It sticks to her throat, as though +'twere glued by blood. Tear me away. I have not force enough to liberate +myself. Why do you grin at me? The corpse grins likewise. It is +jugglery. I am innocent. You would take away my life. Tear me away, I +say: the veins rise; they blacken; they are filling with new blood. I +feel them swell; they coil like living things around my fingers. She is +alive." + +"And you are innocent?" + +"I am--I am. Let not my ravings convict me. For Jesu's sake, release +me." + +"Blaspheme not, but arise. I hold you not." + +"You do," groaned the priest. "Your grasp tightens round my throat; your +hard and skinny fingers are there--I strangle--help!" + +"Your own fears strangle you. My hand is at my side," returned Alan +calmly. + +"Villain, you lie. Your grasp is like a vice. The strength of a thousand +devils is in your hand. Will none lend help? I never pressed so hard. +Your daughter never suffered this torture--never--never. I +choke--choke--oh!" And the priest rolled heavily backwards. + +There was a deep groan; a convulsive rattle in the throat; and all was +still. + +"He is dead--strangled," cried several voices, holding down the torch. +The face of the priest was blackened and contorted; his eyeballs +protruded from their sockets; his tongue was nearly bitten through in +the desperate efforts he had made to release himself from Alan's gripe; +his hair was erect with horror. It was a ghastly sight. + +A murmur arose amongst the gipsies. Barbara deemed it prudent to appease +them. + +"He was guilty," cried she. "He was the murderer of Susan Rookwood." + +"And I, _her father_, have avenged her," said Alan, sternly. + +The dreadful silence that followed this speech was broken by the report +of a pistol. The sound, though startling, was felt almost as a relief. + +"We are beset," cried Alan. "Some of you fly to reconnoitre." + +"To your posts," cried Barbara. + +Several of the crew flocked to the entrance. + +"Unbind the prisoners," shouted Alan. + +Mrs. Mowbray and Luke were accordingly set free. + +Two almost simultaneous reports of a pistol were now heard. + +"'Tis Ranulph Rookwood," said Alan; "that was the preconcerted signal." + +"Ranulph Rookwood," echoed Eleanor, who caught the exclamation: "he +comes to save me." + +"Remember your oath," gasped a dying voice. "He is no longer yours." + +"Alas! alas!" sobbed Eleanor, tremblingly. + +A moment afterwards a faint clapping of hands reached the ears of +Barbara. + +"All is over," muttered she. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Alan Rookwood, with a frightful look. "Is it done?" + +Barbara motioned him towards the further end of the vault. + + + + +_CHAPTER XIII_ + +_MR. COATES_ + + _Grimm._ Look, captain, here comes one of the bloodhounds of justice. + + _Schw._ Down with him. Don't let him utter a word. + + _Moor._ Silence, I will hear him. + + SCHILLER: _The Robbers_. + + +Gladly do we now exchange the dank atmosphere of Saint Cyprian's cell, +and the horrors which have detained us there so long, for balmy air, +genial sunshine, and the boon companionship of Dick Turpin. Upon +regaining the verdant ruins of the ancient priory, all appeared pretty +much as our highwayman had left it. Dick wended towards his mare. Black +Bess uttered an affectionate whinnying sound as he approached her, and +yielded her sleek neck to his caresses. No Bedouin Arab ever loved his +horse more tenderly than Turpin. + +"'Twill be a hard day when thou and I part!" murmured he, affectionately +patting her soft and silky cheeks. Bess thrust her nose into his hand, +biting him playfully, as much as to say, "That day will never arrive." +Turpin, at least, understood the appeal in that sense; he was skilled in +the language of the Houyhnhnms. "I would rather lose my right hand than +_that_ should happen," sighed he; "but there's no saying: the best of +friends must part; and thou and I may be one day separated: thy +destination is the knacker--mine, perhaps, the gibbet.--We are neither +of us cut out for old age, that's certain. Curse me if I can tell how it +is; since I've been in that vault, I've got some queer crotchet into my +head. I can't help likening thee to that poor gipsy wench, Sybil; but +may I be scragged if I'd use thee as her lover has used her. Ha!" +exclaimed he, drawing a pistol with a suddenness that made his +companions, Rust and Wilder, start, "we are watched. See you not how yon +shadow falls from behind the wall?" + +"I do," replied Rust. + +"The varmint shall be speedily unearthed," said Wilder, rushing to the +spot. + +In another instant the shadow manifested itself in a substantial little +personage, booted, spurred, and mud-bespattered. He was brought before +our highwayman, who had, meanwhile, vaulted into his saddle. + +"Mr. Coates!" cried Dick, bursting into a loud laugh at the ridiculous +figure presented to his view, "or the mud deceives me." + +"It does not deceive you, Captain Turpin," replied the attorney; "you +do, indeed, behold that twice unfortunate person." + +"What brings you here?" asked Dick. "Ah! I see, you are come to pay me +my wager." + +"I thought you gave me a _discharge_ for that," rejoined Coates, unable, +even in his distress, to resist the too-tempting quibble. + +"True, but it was _in blank_," replied Turpin readily; "and that don't +hold good in law, you know. You have thrown away a second chance. Play +or pay, all the world over. I shan't _let you off_ so easily this time, +depend upon it. Come, post the pony, or take your measure on that sod. +No more replications or rejoinders, sir, down with the dust. Fake his +clies, pals. Let us see what he has about him." + +"In the twinkling of a bed-post," replied Rust. "We'll turn him inside +out. What's here?" cried he, searching the attorney's pockets. "A brace +of barkers," handing a pair of pistols to Turpin, "a haddock, stuffed +with nothing, I'm thinking; one quid, two coach-wheels, half a bull, +three hogs, and a kick; a d--d dicky concern, captain." + +"Three hogs and a kick," muttered Coates; "the knave says true enough." + +"Is there nothing else?" demanded Dick. + +"Only an old snuffy fogle and a pewter sneezer." + +"No reader?[90] Try his hoxter."[91] + +"Here's a pit-man,[92] captain." + +"Give it me. Ah! this will do," cried Dick, examining the contents of +the pocket-book. "This is a glorious windfall indeed; a bill of exchange +for 500_l._, payable _on demand_, eh, Mr. Coates? Quick! indorse it, +sir. Here's pen and ink. Rascal! if you attempt to tear the bill, I'll +blow your brains out. Steady, sir, sign. Good!" added he, as Coates most +reluctantly indorsed the bill. "Good! good! I'll be off with this bill +to London to-night, before you can stop it. No courier can beat +Bess--ha, ha! Eh! what's this?" continued Dick, as, unfolding another +leaf of the pocket-book, he chanced upon a letter; "My Lady Rookwood's +superscription! Excuse me, Mr. Coates, I must have a peep at her +ladyship's billet-doux. All's safe with me--man of honor. I must detain +your _reader_ a moment longer." + +"You should take charge of yourself, then," replied Coates, sulkily. +"_You_ appear to be my reader." + +"Bravo!" cried Turpin. "You may jest now with impunity, Mr. Coates. You +have paid dear enough for your jokes; and when should a man be allowed +to be pleasant, if not at his own expense?--ha, ha! What's this?" +exclaimed he, opening the letter. "A ring, as I'm awake! and from her +ladyship's own fair finger, I'll be sworn, for it bears her cipher, +ineffaceably impressed as your image upon her heart--eh, Coates? Egad! +you are a lucky dog, after all, to receive _such_ a favor from _such_ a +lady--ha, ha! Meantime, I'll take care of it for you," continued Dick, +slipping the ring on his little finger. + +Turpin, we have before remarked, had a turn for mimicry; and it was with +an irresistible feeling of deferential awe creeping over him that Coates +heard the contents of Lady Rookwood's epistle delivered with an +enunciation as peremptory and imperious as that of her ladyship's self. +The letter was hastily indited, in a clear, firm hand, and partook of +its writer's decision of character. Dick found no difficulty in +deciphering it. Thus ran the missive: + + "Assured of your devotion and secrecy, I commit my own honor, and + that of my son, to your charge. Time will not permit me to see you, + or I would not write. But I place myself entirely in your hands. You + will not dare to betray my confidence. To the point:--A Major + Mowbray has just arrived here with intelligence that the body of + Susan Bradley--you will know to whom I allude--has been removed from + our family vault by a Romish priest and his assistants. How it came + there, or why it has been removed, I know not; it is not my present + purpose to inquire. Suffice it, that it now lies in a vault beneath + the ruins of Davenham Priory. My son, Sir Ranulph, who has lent a + credulous ear to the artful tales of the impostor who calls this + woman mother, is at present engaged in arming certain of the + household, and of the tenantry, to seize upon and bring away this + body, as resistance is apprehended from a horde of gipsies who + infest the ruins. Now, mark me. THAT BODY MUST NOT BE FOUND! Be it + your business to prevent its discovery. Take the fleetest horse you + can procure; spare neither whip nor spur. Haste to the priory; + procure by any means, and at any expense, the assistance of the + gipsies. Find out the body; conceal it, destroy it--do what you + will, so my son find it not. Fear not his resentment; I will bear + you harmless of the consequences with him. You will act upon my + responsibility. I pledge my honor for your safety. Use all despatch, + and calculate upon due requital from + + "MAUD ROOKWOOD. + + "Haste, and God speed you!" + +"God speed you!" echoed Dick, in his own voice, contemptuously. "The +devil drive you! would have been a fitter postscript. And it was upon +this precious errand you came, Mr. Coates?" + +"Precisely," replied the attorney; "but I find the premises preoccupied. +Fast as I have ridden, you are here before me." + +"And what do you now propose to do?" asked Turpin. + +"Bargain with you for the body," replied Coates, in an insinuating tone. + +"With _me_!" said Dick; "do you take me for a resurrection cove; for a +dealer in dead stock, eh! sirrah?" + +"I take you for one sufficiently _alive_, in a general way, to his own +interests," returned Coates. "These gentlemen may not, perhaps, be quite +so scrupulous, when they hear my proposals." + +"Be silent, sir," interrupted Turpin. "Hist! I hear the tramp of horses' +hoofs without. Hark! that shout." + +"Make your own terms before they come," said Coates. "Leave all to me. +I'll put 'em on a wrong scent." + +"To the devil with your terms," cried Turpin; "the signal!" And he +pulled the trigger of one of Coates's pistols, the shot of which rang in +the ears of the astounded attorney as it whizzed past him. "Drag him +into the mouth of the vault," thundered Turpin: "he will be a capital +cover in case of attack. Look to your sticks, and be on the +alert;--away!" + +Vainly did the unfortunate attorney kick and struggle, swear and scream; +his hat was pushed over his eyes; his bob-wig thrust into his mouth; and +his legs tripped from under him. Thus blind, dumb, and half-suffocated, +he was hurried into the entrance of the cell. + +Dick, meanwhile, dashed to the arched outlet of the ruin. He there drew +in the rein, and Black Bess stood motionless as a statue. + + + + +_CHAPTER XIV_ + +_DICK TURPIN_ + + Many a fine fellow with a genius extensive enough to have effected + universal reformation has been doomed to perish by the halter. But + does not such a man's renown extend through centuries and tens of + centuries, while many a prince would be overlooked in history were + it not the historian's interest to increase the number of his pages? + Nay, when the traveller sees a gibbet, does he not exclaim, "That + fellow was no fool!" and lament the hardship of the + times?--SCHILLER: _The Robbers_. + + +Turpin's quick eye ranged over the spreading sward in front of the +ancient priory, and his brow became contracted. The feeling, however, +was transient. The next instant saw him the same easy, reckless being he +had been before. There was a little more paleness in his cheek than +usual; but his look was keener, and his knees involuntarily clasped the +saddle more firmly. No other symptom of anxiety was perceptible. It +would be no impeachment to Dick's valor were it necessary to admit that +a slight tremor crossed him as he scanned the formidable array of his +opponents. The admission is needless. Dick himself would have been the +last man to own it; nor shall we do the memory of our undaunted +highwayman any such injustice. Turpin was intrepid to a fault. He was +rash; apt to run into risks for the mere pleasure of getting out of +them: danger was his delight, and the degree of excitement was always in +proportion to the peril incurred. After the first glance, he became, to +use his own expressive phrase, "as cool as a cucumber;" and continued, +as long as they permitted him, like a skilful commander, calmly to +calculate the numerical strength of his adversaries, and to arrange his +own plan of resistance. + +This troop of horsemen, for such it was, might probably amount in the +aggregate to twenty men, and presented an appearance like that of a +strong muster at a rustic fox-chase, due allowance being made for the +various weapons of offence; to-wit: naked sabers, firelocks, and a world +of huge horse-pistols, which the present _field_ carried along with +them. This resemblance was heightened by the presence of an old huntsman +and a gamekeeper or two, in scarlet and green jackets, and a few yelping +hounds that had followed after them. The majority of the crew consisted +of sturdy yeomen; some of whom, mounted upon wild, unbroken colts, had +pretty lives of it to maintain their seats, and curvetted about in "most +admired disorder;" others were seated upon more docile, but quite as +provoking specimens of the cart-horse breed, whose sluggish sides, +reckless alike of hobnailed heel or ash sapling, refused to obey their +riders' intimations to move; while others again, brought stiff, +wrong-headed ponies to the charge--obstinate, impracticable little +brutes, who seemed to prefer revolving on their own axis, and describing +absurd rotatory motions, to proceeding in the direct and proper course +pointed out to them. Dick could scarcely forbear laughing at these +ridiculous man[oe]uvres; but his attention was chiefly attracted towards +three individuals, who were evidently the leaders of this warlike +expedition. In the thin, tall figure of the first of these he recognized +Ranulph Rookwood. With the features and person of the second of the +group he was not entirely unacquainted, and fancied--nor incorrectly +fancied--that his military bearing, or, as he would have expressed it, +"the soldier-like cut of his jib," could belong to no other than Major +Mowbray, whom he had once eased of a purse on Finchley Common. In the +round, rosy countenance and robustious person of the last of the trio he +discovered his ancient ally, Titus Tyrconnel. + +"Ah, Titus, my jewel, are you there?" exclaimed Dick, as he +distinguished the Irishman. "Come, I have _one_ friend among them whom I +may welcome. So, they see me now. Off they come, pell-mell. Back, Bess, +back!--slowly, wench, slowly--there--stand!" And Bess again remained +motionless. + +The report of Turpin's pistol reached the ears of the troop; and as all +were upon the alert, he had scarcely presented himself at the gateway, +when a loud shout was raised, and the whole cavalcade galloped towards +him, creating, as may be imagined, the wildest disorder; each horseman +yelling, as he neared the arch, and got involved in the press occasioned +by the unexpected concentration of forces at that point, while oaths and +blows, kicks and cuffs, were reciprocated with such hearty good-will, +that, had Turpin ever read Ariosto or Cervantes, or heard of the discord +of King Agramante's camp, this _mêlée_ must have struck him as its +realization. As it was, entertaining little apprehension of the result, +he shouted encouragement to them. Scarcely, however, had the foremost +horseman disentangled himself from the crowd, and, struggling to the +door, was in the act of levelling his pistol at Turpin's head, when a +well-directed ball pierced the brain of his charger, and horse and man +rolled to the ground. Vowing vengeance, a second succeeded, and was in +like manner compelled to bite the dust. + +"That will let Old Peter know that Ranulph Rookwood is at hand," +exclaimed Dick. "I shan't throw away another shot." + +The scene at the archway was now one of complete confusion. Terrified by +the shots, some of the boors would have drawn back, while others, in +mid career, advanced, and propelled them forwards. It was like the +meeting of two tides. Here and there, regardless of the bit, and scared +by the firing, a wild colt broke all bounds, and, hurling his rider in +the air, darted off into the green; or, in another case, rushed forward, +and encountering the prostrate cattle cumbering the entrance to the +priory hall, stumbled, and precipitated his master neck-over-heels at +the very feet of his enemy. During all this tumult, a few shots were +fired at the highwayman, which, without doing him a jot of mischief, +tended materially to increase their own confusion. + +The voice of Turpin was now heard above the din and turmoil to sound a +parley; and as he appeared disposed to offer no opposition, some of his +antagonists ventured to raise themselves from the ground, and to +approach him. + +"I demand to be led to Sir Ranulph Rookwood," said Turpin. + +"He is here," said Ranulph, riding up. "Villain, you are my prisoner." + +"As you list, Sir Ranulph," returned Dick, coolly; "but let me have a +word in private with you ere you do aught you may repent hereafter." + +"No words, sir--deliver up your arms, or----" + +"My pistols are at your service," replied Dick. "I have just discharged +them." + +"You may have others. We must search you." + +"Hold!" cried Dick; "if you will not listen to me, read that paper." And +he handed Ranulph his mother's letter to Mr. Coates. It was without the +superscription, which he had thrown aside. + +"My mother's hand!" exclaimed Ranulph, reddening with anger, as he +hastily perused its contents. "And she sent this to you? You lie, +villain--'tis a forgery." + +"Let this speak for me," returned Dick, holding out the finger upon +which Lady Rookwood's ring was placed. "Know you that cipher?" + +"You have stolen it," retorted Ranulph. "My mother," added he, in a +deep, stern whisper, articulated only for Turpin's hearing, "would never +have entrusted her honor to a highwayman's keeping." + +"She has entrusted more--her life," replied Dick, in a careless tone. +"She would have bribed me to do murder." + +"Murder!" echoed Ranulph, aghast. + +"Ay, to murder your brother," returned Dick; "but let that pass. You +have read that note. I have acted solely upon your mother's +responsibility. Lady Rookwood's _honor_ is pledged for my safety. Of +course her son will set me free." + +"Never!" + +"Well, as you please. Your mother is in my power. Betray me, and you +betray her." + +"No more!" returned Ranulph, sternly. "Go your ways. You are free." + +"Pledge me your word of honor I am safe." Ranulph had scarcely given his +pledge, when Major Mowbray rode furiously up. A deep flush of anger +burnt upon his cheeks; his sword was drawn in his hand. He glanced at +Turpin, as if he would have felled him from his saddle. + +"This is the ruffian," cried the major, fiercely, "by whom I was +attacked some months ago, and for whose apprehension the reward of three +hundred pounds is offered by his majesty's proclamation, with a free +pardon to his accomplices. This is Richard Turpin. He has just added +another crime to his many offences. He has robbed my mother and sister. +The postboy knew him the moment he came up. Where are they, villain? +Whither are they gone?--answer!" + +"I know not," replied Turpin, calmly. "Did not the lad tell you they +were rescued?" + +"Rescued!--by whom?" asked Ranulph, with great emotion. + +"By one who calls himself Sir Luke Rookwood," answered Turpin, with a +meaning smile. + +"By him!" ejaculated Ranulph. "Where are they now?" + +"I have already answered that question," said Dick. "I repeat, I know +not." + +"You are my prisoner," cried the major, seizing Turpin's bridle. + +"I have Sir Ranulph's word for my safety," rejoined Turpin. "Let go my +rein." + +"How is this?" asked Major Mowbray, incredulously. + +"Ask me not. Release him," replied Ranulph. + +"Ranulph," said the major, "you ask an impossibility. My honor--my +duty--is implicated in this man's capture." + +"The honor of all of us is involved in his deliverance," returned +Ranulph, in a whisper. "Let him go. I will explain all hereafter. Let us +search for them--for Eleanor. Surely, after this, you will help us to +find them," added he, addressing Turpin. + +"I wish, with all my soul, I could do so," replied the highwayman. + +"I see'd the ladies cross the brook, and enter these old ruins," +interposed the postboy, who had now joined the party. "I see'd 'em from +where I stood on the hill-side; and as I kept a pretty sharp look-out, +and have a tolerably bright eye of my own, I don't think as how they +ever comed out again." + +"Some one is hidden within yon fissure in the wall," exclaimed Ranulph; +"I see a figure move." + +And he flung himself from his horse, rushing towards the mouth of the +cell. Imitating his example, Major Mowbray followed his friend, sword in +hand. + +"The game begins now in right earnest," said Dick to himself; "the old +fox will be soon unearthed. I must look to my snappers." And he thrust +his hand quietly into his pocket in search of a pistol. + +Just as Ranulph and the major reached the recess they were startled by +the sudden apparition of the ill-fated attorney. + +"Mr. Coates!" exclaimed Ranulph, in surprise. "What do you here, sir?" + +"I--I--that is--Sir Ranulph--you must excuse me, sir--particular +business--can't say," returned the trembling attorney; for at this +instant his eye caught that of Turpin, and the ominous reflexion of a +polished-steel barrel, held carelessly towards him. He was aware, also, +that on the other hand he was, in like manner, the mark of Rust and +Wilder; those polite gentlemen having threatened him with a brace of +slugs in his brain if he dared to betray their hiding-place. "It is +necessary that I should be _guarded_ in my answers," murmured he. + +"Is there any one within that place besides yourself?" said the major, +making a movement thither. + +"No, sir, nobody at all," answered Coates, hastily, fancying at the same +time that he heard the click of the pistol that was to be his +death-warrant. + +"How came you here, sir?" demanded Ranulph. + +"Do you mean in this identical spot?" replied Coates, evasively. + +"You can have no difficulty in answering that question," said the major, +sternly. + +"Pardon me, sir. I find considerable difficulty in answering any +question, situated as I am." + +"Have you seen Miss Mowbray?" asked Ranulph, eagerly. + +"Or my mother?" said the major, in the same breath. + +"Neither," replied Coates, rather relieved by these questions. + +"I suspect you are deceiving us, sir," said the major. "Your manner is +confused. I am convinced you know more of this matter than you choose to +explain; and if you do not satisfy me at once, fully and explicitly, I +vow to Heaven----" and the major's sword described a glittering circle +round his head. + +"Are you privy to their concealment?" asked Ranulph. "Have you seen +aught of them, or of Luke Bradley?" + +"Speak, or this moment is your last," said the major. + +"If it _is_ my last, I _cannot_ speak," returned Coates. "I can make +neither head nor tail of your questions, gentlemen." + +"And you positively assure me you have not seen Mrs. Mowbray and her +daughter?" said Ranulph. + +Turpin here winked at Coates. The attorney understood him. + +"I don't positively assert that," faltered he. + +"How!--you _have_ seen them?" shouted Ranulph. + +"Where are they?--in safety--speak!" added the major. + +Another expressive gesture from the highwayman communicated to the +attorney the nature of his reply. + +"Without, sir--without--yonder," he replied. "I will show you myself. +Follow, gentlemen, follow." And away scampered Coates, without once +venturing to look behind him. + +In an instant the ruined hall was deserted, and Turpin alone left +behind. In the excitement of the moment his presence had been forgotten. +In an instant afterwards the _arena_ was again occupied by a company +equally numerous. Rust and Wilder issued from their hiding-places, +followed by a throng of the gipsy crew. + +"Where is Sir Luke Rookwood?" asked Turpin. + +"He remains below," was the answer returned. + +"And Peter Bradley?" + +"Stays there likewise." + +"No matter. Now make ready, pals. Give 'em one shout--Hurrah!" + +"Hurrah!" replied the crowd, at the top of their voices. + +Ranulph Rookwood and his companions heard this shout. Mr. Coates had +already explained the stratagem practised upon them by the wily +highwayman, as well as the perilous situation in which he himself had +been placed; and they were in the act of returning to make good his +capture, when the loud shouts of the crew arrested them. From the +clamor, it was evident that considerable reinforcement must have arrived +from some unlooked-for quarter; and, although burning to be avenged +upon the audacious highwayman, the major felt it would be a task of +difficulty, and that extreme caution could alone ensure success. With +difficulty restraining the impatience of Ranulph, who could scarcely +brook these few minutes of needful delay, Major Mowbray gave particular +instructions to each of the men in detail, and caused several of them to +dismount. By this arrangement Mr. Coates found himself accommodated with +a steed and a pair of pistols, with which latter he vowed to wreak his +vengeance upon some of his recent tormentors. After a short space of +time occupied in this manner, the troop slowly advanced towards the +postern, in much better order than upon the previous occasion; but the +stoutest of them quailed as they caught sight of the numerous gipsy-gang +drawn out in battle array within the abbey walls. Each party scanned the +other's movements in silence and wonder, anxiously awaiting, yet in a +measure dreading, their leader's signal to begin. That signal was not +long delayed. A shot from the ranks of Rookwood did instant and bitter +execution. Rob Rust was stretched lifeless upon the ground. Nothing more +was needed. The action now became general. Fire arms were discharged on +both sides, without much damage to either party. But a rush being made +by a detachment of horse, headed by Major Mowbray, the conflict soon +became more serious. The gipsies, after the first fire, threw aside +their pistols, and fought with long knives, with which they inflicted +desperate gashes, both on men and horses. Major Mowbray was slightly +wounded in the thigh, and his steed receiving the blow intended for +himself, stumbled and threw his rider. Luckily for the major, Ranulph +Rookwood was at hand, and with the butt-end of a heavy-handled pistol +felled the ruffian to the earth, just as he was upon the point of +repeating the thrust. + +Turpin, meanwhile, had taken comparatively a small share in the +conflict. He seemed to content himself with acting upon the defensive, +and except in the case of Titus Tyrconnel, whom, espying amidst the +crowd, he had considerably alarmed by sending a bullet through his wig, +he did not fire a single shot. He also succeeded in unhorsing Coates, by +hurling, with great dexterity, the empty pistol at his head. Though +apparently unconcerned in the skirmish, he did not flinch from it, but +kept his ground unyieldingly. "A charmed life" he seemed to bear; for +amid the shower of bullets, many of which were especially aimed at +himself, he came off unhurt. + +"He that's born to be hanged will never be drowned, that's certain," +said Titus. "It's no use trying to bring him down. But, by Jasus! he's +spoiled my best hat and wig, anyhow. There's a hole in my beaver as big +as a crown piece." + +"Your own crown's safe, and that's some satisfaction," said Coates; +"whereas mine has a bump on it as large as a swan's egg. Ah! if we could +only get behind him." + +The strife continued to rage without intermission; and though there were +now several ghastly evidences of its fury, in the shape of wounded men +and slaughtered or disabled horses, whose gaping wounds flooded the turf +with gore, it was still difficult to see upon which side victory would +eventually declare herself. The gipsies, though by far the greater +sufferers of the two, firmly maintained their ground. Drenched in the +blood of the horses they had wounded, and brandishing their long knives, +they presented a formidable and terrific appearance, the effect of which +was not at all diminished by their wild yells and savage gesticulations. +On the other hand, headed by Major Mowbray and Ranulph, the troop of +yeomen pressed on undauntedly; and where the sturdy farmers could get a +firm gripe of their lithe antagonists, or deliver a blow with their +ox-like fists, they seldom failed to make good the advantages which +superior weight and strength gave them. It will thus be seen that as yet +they were pretty well matched. Numbers were in favor of the gipsies, but +courage was equally distributed, and, perhaps, what is emphatically +called "bottom," was in favor of the rustics. Be this as it may, from +what had already occurred, there was every prospect of a very serious +termination to the fray. + +From time to time Turpin glanced to the entrance of the cell, in the +expectation of seeing Sir Luke Rookwood make his appearance; and, as he +was constantly disappointed in his expectation, he could not conceal his +chagrin. At length he resolved to despatch a messenger to him, and one +of the crew accordingly departed upon this errand. He returned presently +with a look of blank dismay. + +In our hasty narrative of the fight we have not paused to particularize, +neither have we enumerated, the list of the combatants. Amongst them, +however, were Jerry Juniper, the knight of Malta, and Zoroaster. +Excalibur, as may be conceived, had not been idle; but that trenchant +blade had been shivered by Ranulph Rookwood in the early stage of the +business, and the knight left weaponless. Zoroaster, who was not merely +a worshipper of fire, but a thorough milling-cove, had engaged to some +purpose in a pugilistic encounter with the rustics; and, having fought +several rounds, now "bore his blushing honors thick upon him." Jerry, +like Turpin, had remained tolerably quiescent. "The proper moment," he +said, "had not arrived." A fatality seemed to attend Turpin's immediate +companions. Rust was the first who fell; Wilder also was now among the +slain. Things were precisely in this condition when the messenger +returned. A marked change was instantly perceptible in Turpin's manner. +He no longer looked on with indifference. He seemed angry and +distrustful. He gnawed his lip, ever a sign with him of vexation. +Addressing a few words to those about him, he then spoke more loudly to +the rest of the crew. Being in the jargon of the tawny tribe, his words +were not intelligible to the opposite party; but their import was soon +made known by the almost instant and total relinquishment of the field +by the gipsies. They took to their heels at once, to a man, leaving only +a few desperately wounded behind them; and, flying along the intricate +ruins of the priory, baffled all pursuit, wherever it was attempted. +Jerry Juniper was the last in the retreat; but, upon receiving a hint +from Dick, he vaulted like a roe over the heads of his adversaries, and +made good his escape. Turpin alone remained. He stood like a lion at +bay, quietly regarding the huntsmen hurtling around him. Ranulph +Rookwood rode up and bade him surrender. + +"Detain me not," cried he, in a voice of thunder. "If you would save her +who is dear to you, descend into that vault. Off, I say." + +And Turpin shook away, with ease, the grasp that Ranulph had laid upon +him. + +"Villain! you do not escape me this time," said Major Mowbray, +interposing himself between Turpin and the outlet. + +"Major Mowbray, I would not have your blood upon my head," said Dick. +"Let me pass," and he levelled a pistol. + +"Fire, if you dare!" said the major, raising his sword. "You pass not. I +will die rather than allow you to escape. Barricade the door. Strike him +down if he attempts to pass. Richard Turpin, I arrest you in the king's +name. You hear, my lads, in his majesty's name. I command you to assist +me in this highwayman's capture. Two hundred pounds for his head." + +"Two hundred devils!" exclaimed Dick, with a laugh of disdain. "Go, seek +your mother and sister within yon vault, Major Mowbray; you will find +employment enough there." + +Saying which, he suddenly forced Bess to back a few yards; then, +striking his heels sharply into her sides, ere his purpose could be +divined by the spectators, charged, and cleared the lower part of the +mouldering priory walls. This feat was apparently accomplished with no +great effort by his admirable and unequalled mare. + +"By the powers!" cried Titus, "and he's given us the slip after all. And +just when we thought to make sure of him, too. Why, Mr. Coates, that +wall must be higher than a five-barred gate, or any stone wall in my own +country. It's just the most extraordinary lepp I ever set eyes on!" + +"The devil's in the fellow, certainly, or in his mare," returned Coates; +"but if he escapes me, I'll forgive him. I know whither he's bound. He's +off to London with my bill of exchange. I'll be up with him. I'll track +him like a bloodhound, slowly and surely, as my father, the thief-taker, +used to follow up a scent. Recollect the hare and the tortoise. The race +is not always to the swift. What say you? 'Tis a match for five hundred +pounds; nay, for five thousand: for there is a certain marriage +certificate in the way--a glorious golden venture! You shall go halves, +if we win. We'll have him, dead or alive. What say you for London, Mr. +Tyrconnel? Shall we start at once?" + +"With all my sowl," replied Titus. "I'm with you." And away this _par +nobile_ scoured. + +Ranulph, meantime, plunged into the vault. The floor was slippery, and +he had nigh stumbled. Loud and deep lamentations, and a wailing sound, +like that of a lament for the dead, resounded in his ears. A light at +the further extremity of the vault attracted his attention. He was +filled with terrible forebodings; but the worst reality was not so +terrible as suspense. He rushed towards the light. He passed the massive +pillars, and there, by the ruddy torch flame, discovered two female +figures. One was an old woman, fantastically attired, wringing her +hands, and moaning, or gibbering wild strains in broken, discordant, yet +pathetic tones. The other was Mrs. Mowbray. Both were images of despair. +Before them lay some motionless object. He noticed not that old woman; +he scarcely saw Mrs. Mowbray; he beheld only that object of horror. It +was the lifeless body of a female. The light fell imperfectly upon the +face; he could not discern the features, but the veil in which it was +swathed: that veil was Eleanor's! He asked no more. + +With a wild cry he rushed forward. "Eleanor, my beloved!" shrieked he. + +Mrs. Mowbray started at his voice, but appeared stunned and helpless. + +"She is dead," said Ranulph, stooping towards the body. "Dead--dead!" + +"Ay," echoed the old woman, in accents of equal anguish--"dead--dead!" + +"But this is _not_ Eleanor," exclaimed he, as he viewed the features +more closely. "This face, though beautiful, is not hers. This +dishevelled hair is black. The long lashes that shade her cheek are of +the same hue. She is scarce dead. The hand I clasp is yet warm--the +fingers are pliant." + +"Yet she is dead," said the old woman, in a broken voice, "she is +slain." + +"Who hath slain her?" asked Ranulph. + +"I--I--her mother, slew her." + +"You!" exclaimed Ranulph, horror-stricken. "And where is Eleanor?" asked +he. "Was she not here?" + +"Better she were here now, even though she were as that poor maid," +groaned Mrs. Mowbray, "than where she is." + +"Where is she, then?" asked Ranulph, with frantic eagerness. + +"Fled. Whither I know not." + +"With whom?" + +"With Sir Luke Rookwood--with Alan Rookwood. They have borne her hence. +Ranulph, you are too late." + +"Gone!" cried Ranulph, fiercely springing to his feet. "How escaped +they? There appears to be but one entrance to this vault. I will search +each nook and cranny." + +"'Tis vain," replied Mrs. Mowbray. "There is another outlet through yon +cell. By that passage they escaped." + +"Too true, too true," shouted Ranulph, who flew to examine the cell. +"And wherefore followed you not?" + +"The stone rolled to its mouth, and resisted my efforts. I could not +follow." + +"Torture and death! She is lost to me for ever!" cried Ranulph, +bitterly. + +"No!" exclaimed Barbara, clutching his arm. "Place your trust in me, and +I will find her for you." + +"You!" ejaculated Ranulph. + +"Even I," replied Barbara. "Your wrongs shall be righted--my Sybil be +avenged." + + + + +_BOOK IV_ + + +_THE RIDE TO YORK_ + + Then one halloo, boys! one loud cheering halloo! + To the swiftest of coursers, the gallant, the true, + For the sportsman unborn shall the memory bless + Of the horse of the highwayman, bonny Black Bess. + + RICHARD TURPIN. + + + + +_CHAPTER I_ + +_THE RENDEZVOUS AT KILBURN_ + + _Hind._ Drink deep, my brave boys, of the bastinado; + Of stramazons, tinctures, and slié passatas; + Of the carricado, and rare embrocado; + Of blades, and rapier-hilts of surest guard; + Of the Vincentio and Burgundian ward. + Have we not bravely tossed this bombast foil-button? + Win gold and wear gold, boys, 'tis we that merit it. + + _Prince of Prigs' Revels._ + + _An excellent Comedy, replete with various conceits and Tarltonian + mirth._ + + +The present straggling suburb at the north-west of the metropolis, known +as Kilburn, had scarcely been called into existence a century ago, and +an ancient hostel, with a few detached farmhouses, were the sole +habitations to be found in the present populous vicinage. The place of +refreshment for the ruralizing cockney of 1737 was a substantial-looking +tenement of the good old stamp, with great bay windows, and a balcony in +front, bearing as its ensign the jovial visage of the lusty knight, Jack +Falstaff. Shaded by a spreading elm, a circular bench embraced the aged +trunk of the tree, sufficiently tempting, no doubt, to incline the +wanderer on those dusty ways to "rest and be thankful," and to cry +_encore_ to a frothing tankard of the best ale to be obtained within the +chimes of Bow bells. + +Upon a table, green as the privet and holly that formed the walls of the +bower in which it was placed, stood a great china bowl, one of those +leviathan memorials of bygone wassailry which we may sometimes +espy--reversed in token of its desuetude--perched on the top of an old +japanned closet, but seldom, if ever, encountered in its proper position +at the genial board. All the appliances of festivity were at hand. +Pipes and rummers strewed the board. Perfume, subtle, yet mellow, as of +pine and lime, exhaled from out the bowl, and, mingling with the scent +of a neighboring bed of mignonette and the subdued odor of the Indian +weed, formed altogether as delectable an atmosphere of sweets as one +could wish to inhale on a melting August afternoon. So, at least, +thought the inmates of the arbor; nor did they by any means confine +themselves to the gratification of a single sense. The ambrosial +contents of the china bowl proved as delicious to the taste as its +bouquet was grateful to the smell; while the eyesight was soothed by +reposing on the smooth sward of a bowling-green spread out immediately +before it, or in dwelling upon gently undulating meads, terminating, at +about a mile's distance, in the woody, spire-crowned heights of +Hampstead. + +At the left of the table was seated, or rather lounged, a slender, +elegant-looking young man, with dark, languid eyes, sallow complexion, +and features wearing that peculiarly pensive expression often +communicated by dissipation; an expression which, we regret to say, is +sometimes found more pleasing than it ought to be in the eyes of the +gentle sex. Habited in a light summer riding-dress, fashioned according +to the taste of the time, of plain and unpretending material, and rather +under than overdressed, he had, perhaps, on that very account, perfectly +the air of a gentleman. There was, altogether, an absence of pretension +about him, which, combined with great apparent self-possession, +contrasted very forcibly with the vulgar assurance of his showy +companions. The figure of the youth was slight, even to fragility, +giving little outward manifestation of the vigor of frame he in reality +possessed. This spark was a no less distinguished personage than Tom +King, a noted high-tobygloak of his time, who obtained, from his +appearance and address, the _sobriquet_ of the "Gentleman Highwayman." + +Tom was indeed a pleasant fellow in his day. His career was brief, but +brilliant: your meteors are ever momentary. He was a younger son of a +good family; had good blood in his veins, though not a groat in his +pockets. According to the old song-- + + When he arrived at man's estate, + It was _all the estate_ he had; + +and all the estate he was ever likely to have. Nevertheless, if he had +no income, he contrived, as he said, to live as if he had the mines of +Peru at his control--a miracle not solely confined to himself. For a +moneyless man, he had rather expensive habits. He kept his three nags; +and, if fame does not belie him, a like number of mistresses; nay, if we +are to place any faith in certain scandalous chronicles to which we have +had access, he was for some time the favored lover of a celebrated +actress, who, for the time, supplied him with the means of keeping up +his showy establishment. But things could not long hold thus. Tom was a +model of infidelity, and that was the only failing his mistress could +not overlook. She dismissed him at a moment's notice. Unluckily, too, he +had other propensities which contributed to involve him. He had a taste +for the turf--a taste for play--was well known in the hundreds of Drury, +and cut no mean figure at Howell's, and the faro tables there-anent. He +was the glory of the Smyrna, D'Osyndar's, and other chocolate houses of +the day; and it was at this time he fell into the hands of certain +dexterous sharpers, by whom he was at first plucked and subsequently +patronized. Under their tuition he improved wonderfully. He turned his +wit and talent to some account. He began to open his eyes. His nine +days' blindness was over. The dog saw. But, in spite of his quickness, +he was at length discovered, and ejected from Howell's in a manner that +left him no alternative. He must either have called out his adversary, +or have gone out himself. He preferred the latter, and took to the road; +and in his new line he was eminently successful. Fortunately, he had no +scruples to get over. Tom had what Sir Walter Scott happily denominates +"an indistinct notion of _meum_ and _tuum_," and became confirmed in the +opinion that everything he could lay hands upon constituted lawful +spoil. And then, even those he robbed, admitted that he was the most +gentlemanlike highwayman they had ever the fortune to meet with, and +trusted they might always be so lucky. So popular did he become upon the +road, that it was accounted a distinction to be stopped by him; he made +a point of robbing none but gentlemen, and--Tom's shade would quarrel +with us were we to omit them--ladies. His acquaintance with Turpin was +singular, and originated in a rencontre. Struck with his appearance, +Dick presented a pistol, and bade King deliver. The latter burst into a +laugh, and an explanation immediately ensued. Thenceforward they became +sworn brothers--the Pylades and Orestes of the road; and though seldom +seen together in public, had many a merry moonlight ride in company. + +Tom still maintained three mistresses, his valet, his groom--tiger, we +should have called him,--"and many a change of clothes besides," says +his biographer, "with which he appeared more like a lord than a +highwayman." And what more, we should like to know, would a lord wish to +have? Few younger sons, we believe, can boast so much; and it is chiefly +on their account, with some remote view to the benefit of the unemployed +youth of all professions, that we have enlarged so much upon Tom King's +history. The road, we must beg to repeat, is still open; the chances are +greater than they ever were; we fully believe it is _their_ only road to +preferment, and we are sadly in want of highwaymen! + +Fancy Tom lounging at D'Osyndar's, carelessly tapping his boots on the +steps; there he stands! Is he not a devilish good-looking, gentlemanlike +sort of fellow? You could never have taken him for a highwayman but for +our information. A waiter appears--supper is ordered at twelve--a +broiled chicken and a bottle of Burgundy--his groom brings his nags to +the door--he mounts. It is his custom to ride out on an evening--he is +less liable to interruption.[93] At Marylebone Fields--now the Regent's +Park,--his groom leaves him. He has a mistress in the neighborhood. He +is absent for a couple of hours, and returns gay or dispirited, as his +luck may have turned out. At twelve he is at supper, and has the night +before him. How very easy all this seems. Can it be possible we have no +Tom Kings? + +To return to Tom as he was in the arbor. Judging from his manner, he +appeared to be almost insensible to the presence of his companions, and +to be scarcely a partaker in their revelry. His back was towards his +immediate neighbor; his glass sparkled untouched at his elbow; and one +hand, beautifully white and small, a mark of his birth and +breeding--_crede_ Byron--rested upon the edge of the table, while his +thin, delicate digits, palpably demonstrative of his faculty of +adaptation--_crede_ James Hardy Vaux--were employed with a silver +toothpick. In other respects, he seemed to be lost in reverie, and was, +in all probability, meditating new exploits. + +Next to King sat our old friend Jerry Juniper; not, however, the Jerry +of the gipsies, but a much more showy-looking personage. Jerry was no +longer a gentleman of "three _outs_"--the difficulty would now have been +to say what he was "without." Snakelike he had cast his slough, and +rejoiced in new and brilliant investiture. His were "speaking garments, +speaking pockets too." His linen was of the finest, his hose of the +smartest. Gay rings glittered on his fingers; a crystal snuff-box +underwent graceful manipulation; a handsome gold repeater was sometimes +drawn from its location with a monstrous bunch of onions--_anglicè_, +seals--depending from its massive chain. Lace adorned his wrists, and +shoes--of which they had been long unconscious,--with buckles nearly as +large as themselves, confined his feet. A rich-powdered peruke and +silver-hilted sword completed the gear of the transmogrified Jerry, or, +as he now chose to be designated, Count Albert Conyers. The fact was, +that Jerry, after the _fracas_, apprehensive that the country would be +too hot for him, had, in company with Zoroaster, quitted the ranks of +the Canting Crew, and made the best of his way to town. A lucky _spice_ +on the road set them up; and having some acquaintance with Tom King, the +party, on their arrival, sought him out at his customary haunt, +D'Osyndar's, and enlisted under his banners. + +Tom received them with open arms, gave them unlimited use of his +wardrobe, and only required a little trifling assistance in return. He +had a grand scheme _in petto_, in the execution of which they could +mainly assist him. Jerry was a _Greek_ by nature, and could _land_ a +flat as well as the best of them. Zoroaster was just the man to _lose_ a +fight; or, in the language of the _Fancy_, to _play a cross_. No two +_legs_ could serve Tom's purposes better. He welcomed them with +fraternal affection. + +We will now proceed to reconnoitre Jerry's opposite neighbor, who was, +however, no other than that Upright Man, + + The Magus Zoroaster, that great name. + +Changed as was Juniper, the Magus was yet more whimsically +metamorphosed. Some traces of Jerry still remained, but not a vestige +was left of the original Dimber Damber. His tawny mother had not known +her son. This alteration, however, was not owing to change of dress; it +was the result of the punishment he had received at the "_set-to_" at +the priory. Not a feature was in its place; his swollen lip trespassed +upon the precincts of his nose; his nose trod hard upon his cheek; while +his cheek again, not to be behind the rest, rose up like an +apple-dumpling under his single eye,--single, we say--for, alas! there +was no speculation in the other. His dexter daylight was utterly +darkened, and, indeed, the orb that remained was as sanguinary a +luminary as ever struggled through a London fog at noonday. To borrow a +couplet or so from the laureate of the _Fancy_: + + --------One of his peepers was put + On the bankruptcy list, with his shop windows shut, + While the other made nearly as tag-rag a show, + All rimmed round with black like the _Courier_ in woe. + +One black patch decorated his rainbow-colored cheek; another adorned his +chin; a grinder having been dislodged, his pipe took possession of the +aperture. His toggery was that of a member of the prize-ring; what we +now call a "belcher" bound his throat; a spotted _fogle_ bandaged his +_jobbernowl_, and shaded his right peeper, while a white beaver crowned +the occiput of the Magus. And though, at first sight, there would appear +to be some incongruity in the association of such a battered character +as the Upright Man with his smart companions, the reader's wonder will +rapidly diminish, when he reflects that any distinguished P. C. man can +ever find a ready passport to the most exclusive society. Viewed in this +light, Zoroaster's familiarity with his _swell_ acquaintance occasioned +no surprise to old Simon Carr, the bottle-nosed landlord of the +Falstaff, who was a man of discernment in his way, and knew a thing or +two. Despite such striking evidences to the contrary, the Magus was +perfectly at his ease, and sacrificing as usual to the god of flame. His +mithra, or pipe, the symbol of his faith, was zealously placed between +his lips, and never did his Chaldean, Bactrian, Persian, Pamphylian, +Proconnesian, or Babylonian namesake, whichever of the six was the true +Zoroaster--_vide_ Bayle,--respire more fervently at the altar of fire, +than our Magus at the end of his enkindled tube. In his creed we believe +Zoroaster was a dualist, and believed in the co-existence and mystical +relation of the principles of good and ill; his pipe being his Yezdan, +or benign influence; his empty pouch his Ahreman, or the devil. We shall +not pause to examine his tenets; we meddle with no man's religious +opinions, and shall leave the Magus to the enjoyment of his own +sentiments, be they what they may. + +One guest alone remains, and him we shall briefly dismiss. The reader, +we imagine, will scarcely need to be told who was the owner of those +keen gray eyes; those exuberant red whiskers; that airy azure frock. It +was + + Our brave co-partner of the roads. + Skilful surveyor of highways and hedges; + +in a word--Dick Turpin! + +Dick had been called upon to act as president of the board, and an +excellent president he made, sedulously devoting himself to the due +administration of the punch-bowl. Not a rummer was allowed to stand +empty for an instant. Toast, sentiment, and anacreontic song, succeeded +each other at speedy intervals; but there was no speechifying--no +politics. He left church and state to take care of themselves. Whatever +his politics might be, Dick never allowed them to interfere with his +pleasures. His maxim was to make the most of the passing moment; the +_dum vivimus vivamus_ was never out of his mind; a precautionary measure +which we recommend to the adoption of all gentlemen of the like, or any +other precarious profession. + +Notwithstanding all Dick's efforts to promote conviviality, seconded by +the excellence of the beverage itself, conversation, somehow or other, +began to flag; from being general it became particular. Tom King, who +was no punch-bibber, especially at that time of day, fell into a deep +reverie; your gamesters often do so; while the Magus, who had smoked +himself drowsy, was composing himself to a doze. Turpin seized this +opportunity of addressing a few words on matters of business to Jerry +Juniper, or, as he now chose to be called, Count Conyers. + +"My dear count," said Dick, in a low and confidential tone, "you are +aware that my errand to town is accomplished. I have _smashed_ Lawyer +Coates's _screen_, pocketed the _dimmock_--here 'tis," continued he, +parenthetically, slapping his pockets,--"and done t'other trick in prime +twig for Tom King. With a cool thousand in hand, I might, if I chose, +rest awhile on my oars. But a quiet life don't suit me. I must be +moving. So I shall start to Yorkshire to-night." + +"Indeed!" said the _soi-disant_ count, in a languid tone--"so soon?" + +"I have nothing to detain me," replied Dick. "And, to tell you the +truth, I want to see how matters stand with Sir Luke Rookwood. I should +be sorry if he went to the wall for want of any assistance I can render +him." + +"True," returned the count; "one would regret such an occurrence, +certainly. But I fear your assistance may arrive a little too late. He +is pretty well done up, I should imagine, by this time." + +"That remains to be seen," said Turpin. "His case is a bad one, to be +sure, but I trust not utterly hopeless. With all his impetuosity and +pride, I like the fellow, and will help him, if I can. It will be a +difficult game to set him on his legs, but I think it may be done. That +underground marriage was sheer madness, and turned out as ill as such a +scheme might have been expected to do. Poor Sybil! if I could pipe an +eye for anything, it should be for her. I can't get her out of my head. +Give me a pinch of snuff. Such thoughts unman one. As to the priest, +that's a totally different affair. If he strangled his daughter, old +Alan did right to take the law into his own hands, and throttle him in +return. I'd have done the same thing myself; and, being a proscribed +Jesuit, returned, as I understand, without the king's license for so +doing, why Father Checkley's murder--if it must be so called, I can't +abide hard terms--won't lie very heavy at Alan's door. That, however, +has nothing to do with Sir Luke. He was neither accessory nor +principal. Still he will be in danger, at least from Lady Rookwood. The +whole county of York, I make no doubt, is up in arms by this time." + +"Then why go thither?" asked the count, somewhat ironically; "for my +part, I've a strange fancy for keeping out of harm's way as long as +possible." + +"Every man to his taste," returned Turpin; "I love to confront danger. +Run away! pshaw! always meet your foe." + +"True," replied the count, "half-way! but you go the whole distance. +What prudent man would beard the lion in his den?" + +"I never was a prudent man," rejoined Dick, smiling; "I have no +superfluous caution about me. Come what will, I shall try to find out +this Luke Rookwood, and offer him my purse, such as it is, and it is now +better lined than usual; a hand free to act as he lists; and a head +which, imprudent though it be, can often think better for others than +for its own master." + +"Vastly fine!" exclaimed the count, with an ill-disguised sneer. "I hope +you don't forget that the marriage certificate which you hold is +perfectly valueless now. The estates, you are aware----" + +"Are no longer Sir Luke's. I see what you are driving at, count," +returned Dick, coldly. "But he will need it to establish his claim to +the title, and he shall have it. While he was Sir Luke, with ten +thousand a year, I drove a hard bargain, and would have stood out for +the last stiver. Now that he is one of '_us_', a mere Knight of the +Road, he shall have it and welcome." + +"Perhaps Lady Rookwood, or Mrs. Mowbray, might be inclined to treat," +maliciously insinuated the count; "the title may be worth something to +Ranulph." + +"It is worth more to Luke; and if it were _not_, he gets it. Are you +satisfied?" + +"Perfectly," replied the count, with affected _bonhomie_; "and I will +now let you into a secret respecting Miss Mowbray, from which you may +gather something for your guidance in this matter; and if the word of a +woman is at all to be trusted, though individually I cannot say I have +much faith in it, Sir Luke's planetary hour is not yet completely +overcast." + +"That's exactly what I wish to know, my dear fellow," said Turpin, +eagerly. "You have already told me you were witness to a singular +interview between Miss Mowbray and Sir Luke after my departure from the +priory. If I mistook you not, the whole business will hinge upon that. +What occurred? Let me have every particular. The whole history and +mystery." + +"You shall have it with pleasure," said the count; "and I hope it may +tend to your benefit. After I had quitted the scene of action at the +priory, and at your desire left the Rookwood party masters of the field, +I fled with the rest of the crew towards the rocks. There we held a +council of war for a short time. Some were for returning to the fight; +but this was negatived entirely, and in the end it was agreed that those +who had wives, daughters, and sisters, should join them as speedily as +possible at their retreat in the Grange. As I happened to have none of +these attractive ties, and had only a troublesome mistress, who I +thought could take care of herself, I did not care to follow them, but +struck deeper into the wood, and made my way, guided by destiny, I +suppose, towards the cave." + +"The cave!" cried Dick, rubbing his hands; "I delight in a cave. Tom +King and I once had a cave of our own at Epping, and I'll have another +one of these fine days. A cave is as proper to a high-tobyman as a +castle to a baron. Pray go on." + +"The cave I speak of," continued the count, "was seldom used, except +upon great emergencies, by any of the Stop Hole Abbey crew. It was a +sort of retiring den of our old lioness Barbara, and, like all +belonging to her, respected by her dupes. However, the cave is a good +cave for all that; is well concealed by brushwood, and comfortably +lighted from a crevice in the rock above; it lies near the brink of the +stream, amongst the woods just above the waterfall, and is somewhat +difficult of approach." + +"I know something of the situation," said Turpin. + +"Well," returned the count, "not to lose time, into this den I crept, +and, expecting to find it vacant, you may imagine my surprise on +discovering that it was already occupied, and that Sir Luke Rookwood, +his granddad, old Alan, Miss Mowbray, and, worst of all, the very person +I wished most to avoid, my old flame Handassah, constituted the party. +Fortunately, they did not perceive my entrance, and I took especial care +not to introduce myself. Retreat, however, was for the moment +impracticable, and I was compelled to be a listener. I cannot tell what +had passed between the parties before my arrival, but I heard Miss +Mowbray implore Sir Luke to conduct her to her mother. He seemed half +inclined to comply with her entreaties; but old Alan shook his head. It +was then Handassah put in a word; the minx was ever ready at that. 'Fear +not,' said she, 'that she will wed Sir Ranulph. Deliver her to her +friends, I beseech you, Sir Luke, and woo her honorably. She will accept +you.' Sir Luke stared incredulously, and grim old Alan smiled. 'She has +sworn to be yours,' continued Handassah; 'sworn it by every hope of +heaven, and the oath has been sealed by blood--by Sybil's blood.'--'Does +she speak the truth?' asked Sir Luke, trembling with agitation. Miss +Mowbray answered not. 'You will not deny it, lady,' said Handassah. 'I +heard that oath proposed. I saw it registered. You cannot deny it.'--'I +do not,' replied Miss Mowbray, with much anguish of manner; 'if he claim +me, I am his.'--'And he will claim you,' said Alan Rookwood, +triumphantly. 'He has your oath, no matter how extorted--you must fulfil +your vow.'--'I am prepared to do so,' said Eleanor. 'But if you would +not utterly destroy me, let this maid conduct me to my mother, to my +friends.'--'To Ranulph?' asked Sir Luke, bitterly.--'No, no,' returned +Miss Mowbray, in accents of deepest despair, 'to my mother--I wish not +to behold him again.'--'Be it so,' cried Sir Luke; 'but remember, in +love or hate, you are mine; I shall claim the fulfilment of your oath. +Farewell. Handassah will lead you to your mother.' Miss Mowbray bowed +her head, but returned no answer, while, followed by old Alan, Sir Luke +departed from the cavern." + +"Whither went they?" demanded Turpin. + +"That I know not," replied Jerry. "I was about to follow, when I was +prevented by the abrupt entrance of another party. Scarcely, I think, +could the two Rookwoods have made good their retreat, when shouts were +heard without, and young Ranulph and Major Mowbray forced their way, +sword in hand, into the cave. Here was a situation--for _me_, I mean--to +the young lady, I make no doubt, it was pleasant enough. But my neck was +in jeopardy. However, you know I am not deficient in strength, and, upon +the present occasion, I made the best use of the agility with which +nature has endowed me. Amidst the joyous confusion--the sobbings, and +embracings, and congratulations that ensued--I contrived, like a wild +cat, to climb the rocky sides of the cave, and concealed myself behind a +jutting fragment of stone. It was well I did so, for scarcely was I +hidden, when in came old Barbara, followed by Mrs. Mowbray, and a dozen +others." + +"Barbara!" ejaculated Dick. "Was she a prisoner?" + +"No," replied Jerry; "the old hell-cat is too deep for that. She had +betrayed Sir Luke, and hoped they would seize him and his granddad. But +the birds were flown." + +"I'm glad she was baulked," said Dick. "Was any search made after them?" + +"Can't say," replied Jerry. "I could only indistinctly catch the sounds +of their voices from my lofty retreat. Before they left the cavern, I +made out that Mrs. Mowbray resolved to go to Rookwood, and to take her +daughter thither--a proceeding to which the latter demurred." + +"To Rookwood," said Dick, musingly. "Will she keep her oath, I wonder?" + +"That's more than I can say," said Jerry, sipping his punch. "'Tis a +deceitful sex!" + +"'Tis a deceitful sex, indeed," echoed Dick, tossing off a tumbler. "For +one Sybil we meet with twenty Handassahs, eh, count?" + +"Twenty!--say rather a hundred," replied Jerry. "'Tis a vile sex." + + + + +_CHAPTER II_ + +_TOM KING_ + + _Grimm._ How gloriously the sun sets to-night. + + _Moor._ When I was a boy, my favorite thought was, that I should + live and die like yonder glorious orb. It was a boyish thought. + + _Grimm._ True, captain. + + _The Robbers._ + + +"Peace, base calumniators," exclaimed Tom King, aroused from his +toothpick reverie by these aspersions of the best part of creation. +"Peace, I say. None shall dare abuse that dear devoted sex in the +hearing of their champion, without pricking a lance with him in their +behalf. What do you, either of you, who abuse woman in that wholesale +style, know of her? Nothing--less than nothing; and yet you venture, +upon your paltry experience, to lift up your voices and decry the sex. +Now I _do_ know her; and upon my own experience avouch, that, as a sex, +woman, compared with man, is as an angel to a devil. As a sex, woman is +faithful, loving, self-sacrificing. _We_ 'tis that make her otherwise; +_we_, selfish, exacting, neglectful men; we teach her indifference, and +then blame her apt scholarship. We spoil our own hand, and then blame +the cards. No abuse of women in my hearing. Give me a glass of grog, +Dick. 'The sex!--three times three!'--and here's a song for you into the +bargain." Saying which, in a mellow, plaintive tone, Tom gave the +following: + + PLEDGE OF THE HIGHWAYMAN + + Come, fill up a bumper to Eve's fairest daughters, + Who have lavished their smiles on the brave and the free; + Toast the sweethearts of DUDLEY, HIND, WILMOT, and WATERS,[94] + Whate'er their attraction, whate'er their degree. + Pledge! pledge in a bumper, each kind-hearted maiden, + Whose bright eyes were dimmed at the highwayman's fall; + Who stood by the gallows with sorrow o'erladen, + Bemoaning the fate of the gallant DU-VAL! + + Here's to each lovely lass chance of war bringeth near one, + Whom, with manner impassioned, we tenderly stop; + And to whom, like the lover addressing his dear one, + In terms of entreaty _the question_ we pop. + How oft, in such case, rosy lips have proved sweeter + Than the rosiest book, bright eyes saved a bright ring; + While that _one other_ kiss has brought off a _repeater_, + And a bead as a _favor_--the _favorite_ string. + + With our hearts ready rifled, each pocket we rifle, + With the pure flame of chivalry stirring our breasts; + Life's risk for our _mistress's praise_ is a trifle; + And each purse as a _trophy_ our _homage_ attests. + Then toss off your glasses to all girls of spirit, + Ne'er with names, or with number, your memories vex; + Our toast, boys, embraces each woman of merit, + And, for fear of omission, we'll drink the WHOLE SEX. + +"Well," replied Dick, replenishing King's rummer, while he laughed +heartily at his ditty, "I shan't refuse your toast, though my heart +don't respond to your sentiments. Ah, Tom! the sex you praise so much +will, I fear, prove your undoing. Do as you please, but curse me if ever +I pin my life to a petticoat. I'd as soon think of neglecting the four +cautions." + +"The four cautions," said King; "what are they?" + +"Did you never hear them?" replied Dick. "Attend, then, and be edified." + + THE FOUR CAUTIONS + + Pay attention to these cautions four, + And through life you will need little more, + Should you dole out your days to threescore + Beware of a pistol before! + Before! before! + Beware of a pistol before! + + And when backward his ears are inclined, + And his tail with his ham is combined, + Caution two you will bear in your mind: + Beware of a prancer behind! + Behind! behind! + Beware of a prancer behind! + + Thirdly, when in the park you may ride, + On your best bit of blood, sir, astride, + Chatting gay to your old friend's young bride: + Beware of a coach at the side! + At the side! at the side! + Beware of a coach at the side! + + Lastly, whether in purple or gray, + Canter, ranter, grave, solemn, or gay, + Whate'er he may do or may say, + Beware of a priest every way! + Every way! every way! + Beware of a priest every way! + +"Well," said Tom King, "all you can sing or say don't alter my good +opinion of the women. Not a secret have I from the girl of my heart. She +could have sold me over and over again if she had chosen, but my sweet +Sue is not the wench to do that." + +"It is not too late," said Dick. "Your Delilah may yet hand you over to +the Philistines." + +"Then I shall die in a good cause," said King; "but + + The Tyburn Tree + Has no terrors for me, + Let better men swing--I'm at liberty. + +I shall never come to the scragging-post, unless you turn topsman, Dick +Turpin. My nativity has been cast, and the stars have declared I am to +die by the hand of my best friend--and that's you--eh? Dick?" + +"It sounds like it," replied Turpin; "but I advise you not to become too +intimate with Jack Ketch. He may prove your best friend, after all." + +"Why, faith, that's true," replied King, laughing; "and if I must ride +backwards up Holborn Hill, I'll do the thing in style, and honest Jack +Ketch shall never want his dues. A man should always die game. We none +of us know how soon our turn may come; but come when it will, _I_ shall +never flinch from it. + + As the highwayman's life is the fullest of zest, + So the highwayman's death is the briefest and best; + He dies not as other men die, by degrees, + But at once! without flinching--and quite at his ease! + +as the song you are so fond of says. When I die it will not be of +consumption. And if the surgeon's knife must come near me, it will be +after death. There's some comfort in that reflection, at all events." + +"True," replied Turpin, "and, with a little alteration, my song would +suit you capitally: + + There is not a king, should you search the world round, + So blithe as the king's king, TOM KING, to be found; + Dear woman's his empire, each girl is his own, + And he'd have a long reign if he'd let 'em alone. + +Ha, ha!" + +"Ha, ha!" laughed Tom. "And now, Dick, to change the subject. You are +off, I understand, to Yorkshire to-night. 'Pon my soul, you are a +wonderful fellow--an _alibi_ personified!--here and everywhere at the +same time--no wonder you are called the flying highwayman. To-day in +town--to-morrow at York--the day after at Chester. The devil only knows +where you will pitch your quarters a week hence. There are rumors of you +in all counties at the same moment. This man swears you robbed him at +Hounslow; that on Salisbury Plain; while another avers you monopolize +Cheshire and Yorkshire, and that it isn't safe even to _hunt_ without +pops in your pocket. I heard some devilish good stories of you at +D'Osyndar's t'other day; the fellow who told them to me little thought I +was a brother blade." + +"You flatter me," said Dick, smiling complacently; "but it's no merit of +mine. Black Bess alone enables me to do it, and hers be the credit. +Talking of being everywhere at the same time, you shall hear what she +once did for me in Cheshire. Meantime, a glass to the best mare in +England. You won't refuse that toast, Tom. Ah! if your mistress is only +as true to you as my nag to me, you might set at naught the tightest +hempen cravat that was ever twisted, and defy your best friend to hurt +you. Black Bess! and God bless her! And now for the song." Saying which, +with much emotion, Turpin chanted the following rhymes: + + BLACK BESS + + Let the lover his mistress's beauty rehearse, + And laud her attractions in languishing verse; + Be it mine in rude strains, but with truth to express, + The love that I bear to my bonny Black Bess. + + From the west was her dam, from the east was her sire, + From the one came her swiftness, the other her fire; + No peer of the realm better blood can possess + Than flows in the veins of my bonny Black Bess. + + Look! Look! how that eyeball grows bright as a brand! + That neck proudly arches, those nostrils expand! + Mark! that wide flowing mane! of which each silky tress + Might adorn prouder beauties--though none like Black Bess. + + Mark! that skin sleek as velvet, and dusky as night, + With its jet undisfigured by one lock of white; + That throat branched with veins, prompt to charge or caress + Now is she not beautiful?--bonny Black Bess! + + Over highway and by-way, in rough and smooth weather, + Some thousands of miles have we journeyed together; + Our couch the same straw, and our meal the same mess + No couple more constant than I and Black Bess. + + By moonlight, in darkness, by night, or by day, + Her headlong career there is nothing can stay; + She cares not for distance, she knows not distress: + Can you show me a courser to match with Black Bess? + +"Egad! I should think not," exclaimed King; "you are as sentimental on +the subject of your mare, as I am when I think of my darling Susan. But +pardon my interruption. Pray proceed." + +"Let me first clear my throat," returned Dick; "and now to resume:" + + Once it happened in Cheshire, near Dunham, I popped + On a horseman alone, whom I speedily stopped; + That I lightened his pockets you'll readily guess-- + Quick work makes Dick Turpin when mounted on Bess. + + Now it seems the man knew me; "Dick Turpin," said he, + "You shall swing for this job, as you live, d'ye see;" + I laughed at his threats and his vows of redress; + I was sure of an _alibi_ then with Black Bess. + + The road was a hollow, a sunken ravine,[95] + Overshadowed completely by wood like a screen; + I clambered the bank, and I needs must confess, + That one touch of the spur grazed the side of Black Bess. + + Brake, brook, meadow, and plough'd field, Bess fleetly bestrode, + As the crow wings her flight we selected our road; + We arrived at Hough Green in five minutes, or less-- + My neck it was saved by the speed of Black Bess. + + Stepping carelessly forward, I lounge on the green, + Taking excellent care that by all I am seen; + Some remarks on time's flight to the squires I address, + But I say not a word of the flight of Black Bess. + + I mention the hour--it was just about four-- + Play a rubber at bowls--think the danger is o'er; + When athwart my next game, like a checkmate at chess, + Comes the horsemen in search of the rider of Bess. + + What matter details? Off with triumph I came; + He swears to the hour, and the squires swear the same; + I had robbed him at _four_!--while at four _they_ profess + I was quietly bowling--all thanks to Black Bess! + + Then one halloo, boys, one loud cheering halloo! + To the swiftest of coursers, the gallant, the true! + For the sportsman unborn shall the memory bless + Of the horse of the highwayman, bonny Black Bess! + +Loud acclamations rewarded Dick's performance. Awakened from his doze, +Zoroaster beat time to the melody, the only thing, Jerry said, he was +capable of _beating_ in his present shattered condition. After some +little persuasion, the Magus was prevailed upon to enliven the company +with a strain, which he trolled forth after a maudlin manner: + + THE DOUBLE CROSS + + Though all of us have heard of _crost_ fights, + And certain _gains_, by certain _lost_ fights, + I rather fancies that it's news, + How in a mill, _both_ men should _lose_; + For vere the _odds_ are thus made _even_, + It plays the dickens with the _steven_;[96] + Besides, against all rule they're sinning, + Vere _neither_ has _no_ chance of vinning. + _Ri, tol, lol, &c._ + + Two _milling coves_, each vide avake, + Vere backed to fight for heavy stake: + But in the mean time, so it vos, + Both _kids_ agreed to _play a cross_; + Bold came each _buffer_[97] to the _scratch_, + To make it look a _tightish match_; + They _peeled_[98] in style, and bets vere making, + 'Tvos six to four, but few vere _taking_. + _Ri, tol, lol, &c._ + + Quite cautiously the mill began, + For neither knew the other's plan; + Each _cull_[99] completely in the _dark_, + Of vot might be his neighbor's _mark_; + Resolved his _fibbing_[100] not to mind, + Nor yet to _pay him back in kind_; + So on each other _kept they tout_,[101] + And _sparred_ a bit, and _dodged_ about, + _Ri, tol, lol, &c._ + + Vith _mawleys_[102] raised, Tom bent his back, + As if to _plant_ a heavy thwack: + Vile Jem, with neat left-handed _stopper_, + Straight threatened Tommy with a _topper_; + 'Tis all my eye! no _claret_ flows, + No _facers_ sound--no smashing blows-- + Five minutes pass, yet not a _hit_, + How can it end, pals?--vait a bit. + _Ri, tol, lol, &c._ + + Each cove vas _teazed_ with double duty, + To please his backers, yet _play booty_;[103] + Ven, luckily for Jem, a _teller_ + Vos planted right upon his _smeller_; + Down dropped he, stunned; ven time vas called, + Seconds in vain the _seconds_ bawled; + The _mill_ is o'er, the crosser _crost_, + The loser's _von_, the vinner's _lost_! + _Ri, tol, lol, &c._ + +The party assumed once more a lively air, and the glass was circulated +so freely, that at last a final charge drained the ample bowl of its +contents. + +"The best of friends must part," said Dick; "and I would willingly order +another whiff of punch, but I think we have all had _enough to satisfy +us_, as you milling coves have it, Zory! Your one eye has got a drop in +it already, old fellow; and, to speak the truth, I must be getting into +the saddle without more delay, for I have a long ride before me. And +now, friend Jerry, before I start, suppose you tip us one of your merry +staves; we haven't heard your pipe to-day, and never a cross cove of us +all can throw off so prime a chant as yourself. A song! a song!" + +"Ay, a song!" reiterated King and the Magus. + +"You do me too much honor, gemmen," said Jerry, modestly, taking a pinch +of snuff; "I am sure I shall be most happy. My chants are all of a sort. +You must make all due allowances--hem!" And, clearing his throat, he +forthwith warbled + + THE MODERN GREEK + + (_Not_ translated from the Romaic.) + + Come, gemmen, name, and make your game, + See, round the ball is spinning. + Black, red, or blue, the colors view, + _Une_, _deux_, _cinque_, 'tis beginning, + Then make your game, + The color name, + While round the ball is spinning. + + This sleight of hand my _flat_ shall _land_ + While _covered_ by my _bonnet_,[104] + I _plant_ my ball, and boldly call, + Come make your game upon it! + Thus rat-a-tat! + I land my flat! + 'Tis black--not red--is winning. + + At gay _roulette_ was never met + A lance like mine for _bleeding_! + I'm ne'er _at fault_, at nothing halt, + All other _legs_ preceding. + To all awake, + I never shake + A _mag_[105] unless I nip it. + + _Blind-hookey_ sees how well I squeeze + The _well-packed_ cards in shuffling. + Ecarté, whist, I never missed, + A nick the _broads_[106] while ruffling. + Mogul or loo, + The same I do, + I am down to trumps as trippet! + + _French hazard_ ta'en, _I nick the main_, + Was ne'er so prime a _caster_. + No _crabs_ for me, I'm fly, d'ye see; + The bank shall change its master. + Seven _quatre_, _trois_, + The stakes are high! + Ten _mains_! ten _mains_ are mine, pals! + + At _Rouge et Noir_, you _hellite_[107] choir + I'll make no bones of stripping; + One glorious _coup_ for me shall _do_, + While they may deal each _pip_ in. + _Trente-un-après_ + Ne'er clogs my way; + The game--the game's divine, pals. + + At billiards set, I make my bet, + I'll _score_ and win the _rub_, pals; + I miss my _cue_, my _hazard_, too, + But yet my foe I'll drub, pals. + That _cannon-twist_, + I ne'er had missed, + Unless to suit my views, pals. + + To make all right, the match look _tight_, + This trick, you know, is done, pals; + But now be gay, I'll _show_ my play-- + Hurrah! the game is won, pals. + No hand so fine, + No wrist like mine, + No odds I e'er refuse, pals. + + Then choose your game; whate'er you name, + To me alike all offers; + Chic-hazard, whist, whate'er you list, + Replenish quick your coffers. + Thus, rat-a-tat! + I _land_ my _flat_! + To every purse I _speak_, pals. + + _Cramped boxes_ 'ware, all's right and fair, + _Barred balls_ I _bar_ when goaded; + The deuce an ace is out of place! + The deuce a die is _loaded_! + Then make your game, + Your color name; + Success attend the _Greek_, pals. + +"Bravo, Jerry--bravissimo!" chorused the party. + +"And now, pals, farewell!--a long farewell!" said Dick, in a tone of +theatrical valediction. "As I said before, the best friends must +separate. We may soon meet again, or we now may part forever. We cannot +command our luck; but we can make the best of the span allotted to us. +You have your game to play. I have mine. May each of us meet with the +success he deserves." + +"Egad! I hope not," said King. "I'm afraid, in that case, the chances +would be against us." + +"Well, then, the success we anticipate, if you prefer it," rejoined +Dick. "I have only to observe one thing more, namely, that I must insist +upon standing Sam upon the present occasion. Not a word. I won't hear a +syllable. Landlord, I say--what oh!" continued Dick, stepping out of the +arbor. "Here, my old Admiral of the White, what's the reckoning?--what's +to pay, I say?" + +"Let ye know directly, sir," replied mine host of the Falstaff. + +"Order my horse--the black mare," added Dick. + +"And mine," said King, "the sorrel colt. I'll ride with you a mile or +two on the road, Dick; perhaps we may stumble upon something." + +"Very likely." + +"We meet at twelve, at D'Osyndar's, Jerry," said King, "if nothing +happens." + +"Agreed," responded Juniper. + +"What say you to a rubber at bowls, in the mean time?" said the Magus, +taking his everlasting pipe from his lips. + +Jerry nodded acquiescence. And while they went in search of the +implements of the game, Turpin and King sauntered gently on the green. + +It was a delicious evening. The sun was slowly declining, and glowed +like a ball of fire amid the thick foliage of a neighboring elm. +Whether, like the robber Moor, Tom King was touched by this glorious +sunset, we pretend not to determine. Certain it was that a shade of +inexpressible melancholy passed across his handsome countenance, as he +gazed in the direction of Harrow-on-the Hill, which, lying to the west +of the green upon which they walked, stood out with its pointed spire +and lofty college against the ruddy sky. He spoke not. But Dick noticed +the passing emotion. + +"What ails you, Tom?" said he, with much kindness of manner--"are you +not well, lad?" + +"Yes, I am well enough," said King; "I know not what came over me, but +looking at Harrow, I thought of my school days, and what I was _then_, +and that bright prospect reminded me of my boyish hopes." + +"Tut--tut," said Dick, "this is idle--you are a man now." + +"I know I am," replied Tom, "but I _have_ been a boy. Had I any faith in +presentiments, I should say this is the last sunset I shall ever see." + +"Here comes our host," said Dick, smiling. "I've no presentiment that +this is the last bill I shall ever pay." + +The bill was brought and settled. As Turpin paid it, the man's conduct +was singular, and awakened his suspicions. + +"Are our horses ready?" asked Dick, quickly. + +"They are, sir," said the landlord. + +"Let us be gone," whispered Dick to King; "I don't like this fellow's +manner. I thought I heard a carriage draw up at the inn door just +now--there may be danger. Be fly!" added he to Jerry and the Magus. +"Now, sir," said he to the landlord, "lead the way. Keep on the alert, +Tom." + +Dick's hint was not lost upon the two bowlers. They watched their +comrades; and listened intently for any manifestation of alarm. + + + + +_CHAPTER III_ + +_A SURPRISE_ + + Was this well done, Jenny?--_Captain Macheath._ + + +While Turpin and King are walking across the bowling-green, we will see +what has taken place outside the inn. Tom's presentiments of danger were +not, it appeared, without foundation. Scarcely had the ostler brought +forth our two highwaymen's steeds, when a post-chaise, escorted by two +or three horsemen, drove furiously up to the door. The sole occupant of +the carriage was a lady, whose slight and pretty figure was all that +could be distinguished, her face being closely veiled. The landlord, who +was busied in casting up Turpin's account, rushed forth at the summons. +A word or two passed between him and the horsemen, upon which the +former's countenance fell. He posted in the direction of the garden; and +the horsemen instantly dismounted. + +"We have him now, sure enough," said one of them, a very small man, who +looked, in his boots, like Buckle equipped for the Oaks. + +"By the powers! I begin to think so," replied the other horseman. "But +don't spoil all, Mr. Coates, by being too precipitate." + +"Never fear that, Mr. Tyrconnel," said Coates; for it was the gallant +attorney: "he's sure to come for his mare. That's a _trap_ certain to +catch him, eh, Mr. Paterson? With the chief constable of Westminster to +back us, the devil's in it if we are not a match for him." + +"And for Tom King, too," replied the chief constable; "since his +blowen's peached, the game's up with him, too. We've long had an eye +upon him, and now we'll have a finger. He's one of your dashing trouts +to whom we always give a long line, but we'll _land_ him this time, +anyhow. If you'll look after Dick Turpin, gemmen, I'll make sure of +Tom." + +"I'd rather you would help _us_, Mr. Paterson," said Coates; "never mind +Tom King; another time will do for him." + +"No such thing," said Paterson; "one _weighs_ just as much for that +matter as t'other. I'll take Tom to myself, and surely you two, with the +landlord and ostler, can manage Turpin amongst you." + +"I don't know that," said Coates, doubtfully; "he's a devil of a fellow +to deal with." + +"Take him quietly," said Paterson. "Draw the chaise out of the way, lad. +Take our tits to one side, and place their nags near the door, ostler. +Shall you be able to see him, ma'am, where you are?" asked the chief +constable, walking to the carriage, and touching his hat to the lady +within. Having received a satisfactory nod from the bonnet and veil, he +returned to his companions. "And now, gemmen," added he, "let's step +aside a little. Don't use your fire-arms too soon." + +As if conscious of what was passing around her, and of the danger that +awaited her master, Black Bess exhibited so much impatience, and plunged +so violently, that it was with difficulty the ostler could hold her. +"The devil's in the mare," said he; "what's the matter with her? She was +quiet enough a few minutes since. Soho! lass, stand." + +Turpin and King, meanwhile, walked quickly through the house, preceded +by the host, who conducted them, and not without some inward +trepidation, towards the door. Arrived there, each man rushed swiftly to +his horse. Dick was in the saddle in an instant, and stamping her foot +on the ostler's leg, Black Bess compelled the man, yelling with pain, to +quit his hold of the bridle. Tom King was not equally fortunate. Before +he could mount his horse, a loud shout was raised, which startled the +animal, and caused him to swerve, so that Tom lost his footing in the +stirrup, and fell to the ground. He was instantly seized by Paterson, +and a struggle commenced, King endeavoring, but in vain, to draw a +pistol. + +"Flip him,[108] Dick; fire, or I'm taken," cried King. "Fire! damn you, +why don't you fire?" shouted he, in desperation, still struggling +vehemently with Paterson, who was a strong man, and more than a match +for a light weight like King. + +"I can't," cried Dick; "I shall hit you, if I fire." + +"Take your chance," shouted King. "Is _this_ your friendship?" + +Thus urged, Turpin fired. The ball ripped up the sleeve of Paterson's +coat, but did not wound him. + +"Again!" cried King. "Shoot him, I say. Don't you hear me? Fire again!" + +Pressed as he was by foes on every side, himself their mark, for both +Coates and Tyrconnel had fired upon him, and were now mounting their +steeds to give chase, it was impossible that Turpin could take sure aim; +added to which, in the struggle, Paterson and King were each moment +changing their relative positions. He, however, would no longer +hesitate, but again, at his friend's request, fired. The ball lodged +itself in King's breast! He fell at once. At this instant a shriek was +heard from the chaise: the window was thrown open, and her thick veil +being drawn aside, the features of a very pretty female, now impressed +with terror and contrition, were suddenly exhibited. + +King fixed his glazing eyes upon her. + +"Susan!" sighed he, "is it you that I behold?" + +"Yes, yes, 'tis she, sure enough," said Paterson. "You see, ma'am, what +you and such like have brought him to. However, you'll lose your reward; +he's going fast enough." + +"Reward!" gasped King; "reward! Did she betray me?" + +"Ay, ay, sir," said Paterson, "she blowed the gaff, if it's any +consolation to you to know it." + +"Consolation!" repeated the dying man; "perfidious!--oh!--the +prophecy--my best friend--Turpin--I die by his hand." + +And vainly striving to raise himself, he fell backwards and expired. +Alas, poor Tom! + +"Mr. Paterson! Mr. Paterson!" cried Coates; "leave the landlord to look +after the body of that dying ruffian, and mount with us in pursuit of +the living rascal. Come, sir; quick! mount! despatch! You see he is +yonder; he seems to hesitate; we shall have him now." + +"Well, gemmen, I'm ready," said Paterson; "but how the devil came you to +let him escape?" + +"Saint Patrick only knows!" said Titus; "he's as slippery as an +eel--and, like a cat, turn him which way you will, he is always sure to +alight upon his legs. I wouldn't wonder but we lose him now, after all, +though he has such a small start. That mare flies like the wind." + +"He shall have a tight run for it, at all events," said Paterson, +putting spurs into his horse. "I've got a good nag under me, and you are +neither of you badly mounted. He's only three hundred yards before us, +and the devil's in it if we can't run him down. It's a three hundred +pound job, Mr. Coates, and well worth a race." + +"You shall have another hundred from me, sir, if you take him," said +Coates, urging his steed forward. + +"Thank you, sir, thank you. Follow my directions, and we'll make sure of +him," said the constable. "Gently, gently, not so fast up the hill--you +see he's breathing his horse. All in good time, Mr. Coates--all in good +time, sir." + +And maintaining an equal distance, both parties cantered leisurely up +the ascent now called Windmill Hill. We shall now return to Turpin. + +Aghast at the deed he had accidentally committed, Dick remained for a +few moments irresolute; he perceived that King was mortally wounded, and +that all attempts at rescue would be fruitless; he perceived, likewise, +that Jerry and the Magus had effected their escape from the +bowling-green, as he could detect their figures stealing along the +hedge-side. He hesitated no longer. Turning his horse, he galloped +slowly off, little heeding the pursuit with which he was threatened. + +"Every bullet has its billet," said Dick; "but little did I think that I +really should turn poor Tom's executioner. To the devil with this +rascally snapper," cried he, throwing the pistol over the hedge. "I +could never have used it again. 'Tis strange, too, that he should have +foretold his own fate--devilish strange! And then that he should have +been betrayed by the very blowen he trusted! that's a lesson, if I +wanted any. But trust a woman!--not I, the length of my little finger." + + + + +_CHAPTER IV_ + +_THE HUE AND CRY_ + + Six gentlemen upon the road + Thus seeing Gilpin fly, + With postboy scampering in the rear, + They raised the hue and cry: + + Stop thief! stop thief! a highwayman! + Not one of them was mute; + And all and each that passed that way + Did join in the pursuit. + + _John Gilpin._ + + +Arrived at the brow of the hill, whence such a beautiful view of the +country surrounding the metropolis is obtained,[109] Turpin turned for +an instant to reconnoitre his pursuers. Coates and Titus he utterly +disregarded; but Paterson was a more formidable foe, and he well knew +that he had to deal with a man of experience and resolution. It was +then, for the first time, that the thoughts of executing his +extraordinary ride to York first flashed across him; his bosom throbbed +high with rapture, and he involuntarily exclaimed aloud, as he raised +himself in the saddle, "By God! I will do it!" + +He took one last look at the great Babel that lay buried in a world of +trees beneath him; and as his quick eye ranged over the magnificent +prospect, lit up by that gorgeous sunset, he could not help thinking of +Tom King's last words. "Poor fellow!" thought Dick, "he said truly. He +will never see another sunset." Aroused by the approaching clatter of +his pursuers, Dick struck into a lane which lies on the right of the +road, now called Shoot-up-hill Lane, and set off at a good pace in the +direction of Hampstead. + +"Now," cried Paterson, "put your tits to it, my boys. We must not lose +sight of him for a second in these lanes." + +Accordingly, as Turpin was by no means desirous of inconveniencing his +mare in this early stage of the business, and as the ground was still +upon an ascent, the parties preserved their relative distances. + +At length, after various twistings and turnings in that deep and devious +lane; after scaring one or two farmers, and riding over a brood or two +of ducks; dipping into the verdant valley of West End, and ascending +another hill, Turpin burst upon the gorsy, sandy, and beautiful heath of +Hampstead. Shaping his course to the left, Dick then made for the lower +part of the heath, and skirted a path that leads towards North End, +passing the furze-crowned summit which is now crested by a clump of +lofty pines. + +It was here that the chase first assumed a character of interest. Being +open ground, the pursued and pursuers were in full view of each other; +and as Dick rode swiftly across the heath, with the shouting trio hard +at his heels, the scene had a very animated appearance. He crossed the +hill--the Hendon Road--passed Crackskull Common--and dashed along the +cross road to Highgate. + +Hitherto no advantage had been gained by the pursuers; they had not lost +ground, but still they had not gained an inch, and much spurring was +required to maintain their position. As they approached Highgate, Dick +slackened his pace, and the other party redoubled their efforts. To +avoid the town, Dick struck into a narrow path at the right, and rode +easily down the hill. + +His pursuers were now within a hundred yards, and shouted to him to +stand. Pointing to a gate which seemed to bar their further progress, +Dick unhesitatingly charged it, clearing it in beautiful style. Not so +with Coates's party; and the time they lost in unfastening the gate, +which none of them chose to leap, enabled Dick to put additional space +betwixt them. It did not, however, appear to be his intention altogether +to outstrip his pursuers: the chase seemed to give him excitement, which +he was willing to prolong as much as was consistent with his safety. +Scudding rapidly past Highgate, like a swift-sailing schooner, with +three lumbering Indiamen in her wake, Dick now took the lead along a +narrow lane that threads the fields in the direction of Hornsey. The +shouts of his followers had brought others to join them, and as he +neared Crouch End, traversing the lane which takes its name from Du-Val, +and in which a house frequented by that gayest of robbers stands, or +stood, "A highwayman! a highwayman!" rang in his ears, in a discordant +chorus of many voices. + +The whole neighborhood was alarmed by the cries, and by the tramp of +horses: the men of Hornsey rushed into the road to seize the fugitive, +and women held up their babes to catch a glimpse of the flying +cavalcade, which seemed to gain number and animation as it advanced. +Suddenly three horsemen appear in the road--they hear the uproar and the +din. "A highwayman! a highwayman!" cry the voices: "stop him, stop him!" +But it is no such easy matter. With a pistol in each hand, and his +bridle in his teeth, Turpin passed boldly on. His fierce looks--his +furious steed--the impetus with which he pressed forward, bore down all +before him. The horsemen gave way, and only served to swell the list of +his pursuers. + +"We have him now--we have him now!" cried Paterson, exultingly. "Shout +for your lives. The turnpike man will hear us. Shout again--again! The +fellow has heard it. The gate is shut. We have him. Ha, ha!" + +The old Hornsey toll-bar was a high gate, with chevaux-de-frise on the +upper rail. It may be so still. The gate was swung into its lock, and, +like a tiger in his lair, the prompt custodian of the turnpike trusts, +ensconced within his doorway, held himself in readiness to spring upon +the runaway. But Dick kept steadily on. He coolly calculated the height +of the gate; he looked to the right and to the left--nothing better +offered; he spoke a few words of encouragement to Bess, gently patted +her neck, then struck his spurs into her sides, and cleared the spikes +by an inch. Out rushed the amazed turnpike man, thus unmercifully +bilked, and was nearly trampled to death under the feet of Paterson's +horse. + +"Open the gate, fellow, and be expeditious," shouted the chief +constable. + +"Not I," said the man, sturdily, "unless I gets my dues. I've been done +once already. But strike me stupid if I'm done a second time." + +"Don't you perceive that's a highwayman? Don't you know that I'm chief +constable of Westminster?" said Paterson, showing his staff. "How dare +you oppose me in the discharge of my duty?" + +"That may be, or it may not be," said the man, doggedly. "But you don't +pass, unless I gets the blunt, and that's the long and short on it." + +Amidst a storm of oaths, Coates flung down a crown piece, and the gate +was thrown open. + +Turpin took advantage of this delay to breathe his mare; and, striking +into a by-lane at Duckett's Green, cantered easily along in the +direction of Tottenham. Little repose was allowed him. Yelling like a +pack of hounds in full cry, his pursuers were again at his heels. He had +now to run the gauntlet of the long straggling town of Tottenham, and +various were the devices of the populace to entrap him. The whole place +was up in arms, shouting, screaming, running, dancing, and hurling every +possible description of missile at the horse and her rider. Dick merrily +responded to their clamor as he flew past, and laughed at the brickbats +that were showered thick as hail, and quite as harmlessly, around him. + +A few more miles' hard riding tired the volunteers, and before the chase +reached Edmonton most of them were "_nowhere_." Here fresh relays were +gathered, and a strong field was again mustered. John Gilpin himself +could not have excited more astonishment amongst the good folks of +Edmonton, than did our highwayman as he galloped through their town. +Unlike the men of Tottenham, the mob received him with acclamations, +thinking, no doubt, that, like "the citizens of famous London town," he +rode for a wager. Presently, however, borne on the wings of the blast, +came the cries of "Turpin! Dick Turpin!" and the hurrahs were changed to +hootings; but such was the rate at which our highwayman rode, that no +serious opposition could be offered to him. + +A man in a donkey-cart, unable to get out of the way, drew himself up in +the middle of the road. Turpin treated him as he had done the _dub_ at +the _knapping jigger_, and cleared the driver and his little wain with +ease. This was a capital stroke, and well adapted to please the +multitude, who are ever taken with a brilliant action. "Hark away, +Dick!" resounded on all hands, while hisses were as liberally bestowed +upon his pursuers. + + + + +_CHAPTER V_ + +_THE SHORT PIPE_ + + The Peons are capital horsemen, and several times we saw them, at a + gallop, throw the rein on the horse's neck, take from one pocket a + bag of loose tobacco, and, with a piece of paper, or a leaf of + Indian corn, make a cigar, and then take out a flint and steel and + light it. + + HEAD'S _Rough Notes_. + + +Away they fly past scattered cottages, swiftly and skimmingly, like +eagles on the wing, along the Enfield highway. All were well mounted, +and the horses, now thoroughly warmed, had got into their paces, and did +their work beautifully. None of Coates's party lost ground, but they +maintained it at the expense of their steeds, which were streaming like +water-carts, while Black Bess had scarcely turned a hair. + +Turpin, the reader already knows, was a crack rider; he was _the_ crack +rider of England of his time, and, perhaps, of any time. The craft and +mystery of jockeyship was not so well understood in the eighteenth as it +is in the nineteenth century; men treated their horses differently, and +few rode them as well as many ride now, when every youngster takes to +the field as naturally as if he had been bred a Guacho. Dick Turpin was +a glorious exception to the rule, and anticipated a later age. He rode +wonderfully lightly, yet sat his saddle to perfection, distributing the +weight so exquisitely that his horse scarcely felt his pressure; he +yielded to every movement made by the animal, and became, as it were, +part and parcel of itself; he took care Bess should be neither strained +nor wrung. Freely, and as lightly as a feather, was she borne along; +beautiful was it to see her action--to watch her style and temper of +covering the ground; and many a first-rate Meltonian might have got a +wrinkle from Turpin's seat and conduct. + +We have before stated that it was not Dick's object to _ride away_ from +his pursuers--he could have done that at any moment. He liked the fun of +the chase, and would have been sorry to put a period to his own +excitement. Confident in his mare, he just kept her at such speed as +should put his pursuers completely _to it_, without in the slightest +degree inconveniencing himself. Some judgment of the speed at which they +went may be formed, when we state that little better than an hour had +elapsed and nearly twenty miles had been ridden over. "Not bad +travelling that," methinks we hear the reader exclaim. + +"By the mother that bore me," said Titus, as they went along in this +slapping style--Titus, by-the-by, rode a big, Roman-nosed, powerful +horse, well adapted to his weight, but which required a plentiful +exercise both of leg and arm to call forth all his action, and keep his +rider alongside his companions--"by the mother that bore me," said he, +almost thumping the wind out of his flea-bitten Bucephalus with his +calves, after the Irish fashion, "if the fellow isn't lighting his pipe! +I saw the sparks fly on each side of him, and there he goes like a smoky +chimney on a frosty morning! See, he turns his impudent phiz, with the +pipe in his mouth! Are we to stand that, Mr. Coates?" + +"Wait awhile, sir--wait awhile," said Coates; "we'll smoke _him_ +by-and-by." + +Pæans have been sung in honor of the Peons of the Pampas by the +_Head_long Sir Francis; but what the gallant major extols so loudly in +the South American horsemen, viz., the lighting of a cigar when in mid +career, was accomplished with equal ease by our English highwayman a +hundred years ago, nor was it esteemed by him any extravagant feat +either. Flint, steel, and tinder were bestowed within Dick's ample +pouch, the short pipe was at hand, and within a few seconds there was a +stream of vapor exhaling from his lips, like the smoke from a steamboat +shooting down the river, and tracking his still rapid course through the +air. + +"I'll let 'em see what I think of 'em!" said Dick, coolly, as he turned +his head. + +It was now gray twilight. The mists of coming night were weaving a thin +curtain over the rich surrounding landscape. All the sounds and hum of +that delicious hour were heard, broken only by the regular clatter of +the horses' hoofs. Tired of shouting, the chasers now kept on their way +in deep silence; each man held his breath, and plunged his spurs, rowel +deep, into his horse; but the animals were already at the top of their +speed, and incapable of greater exertion. Paterson, who was a hard +rider, and perhaps a thought better mounted, kept the lead. The rest +followed as they might. + +Had it been undisturbed by the rush of the cavalcade, the scene would +have been still and soothing. Overhead a cloud of rooks were winging +their garrulous flight to the ancestral avenue of an ancient mansion to +the right; the bat was on the wing; the distant lowing of a herd of kine +saluted the ear at intervals; the blithe whistle of the rustic herdsman, +and the merry chime of waggon bells, rang pleasantly from afar. But +these cheerful sounds, which make the still twilight hour delightful, +were lost in the tramp of the horsemen, now three abreast. The hind fled +to the hedge for shelter, and the waggoner pricked up his ears, and +fancied he heard the distant rumbling of an earthquake. + +On rush the pack, whipping, spurring, tugging for very life. Again they +gave voice, in hopes the waggoner might succeed in stopping the +fugitive. But Dick was already by his side. "Harkee, my tulip," cried +he, taking the pipe from his mouth as he passed, "tell my friends behind +they will hear of me at York." + +"What did he say?" asked Paterson, coming up the next moment. + +"That you'll find him at York," replied the waggoner. + +"At York!" echoed Coates, in amaze. + +Turpin was now out of sight, and although our trio flogged with might +and main, they could never catch a glimpse of him until, within a short +distance of Ware, they beheld him at the door of a little public house, +standing with his bridle in his hand, coolly quaffing a tankard of ale. +No sooner were they in sight, than Dick vaulted into the saddle, and +rode off. + +"Devil seize you, sir! why didn't you stop him?" exclaimed Paterson, as +he rode up. "My horse is dead lame. I cannot go any further. Do you know +what a prize you have missed? Do you know who that was?" + +"No, sir, I don't," said the publican. "But I know he gave his mare more +ale than he took himself, and he has given me a guinea instead of a +shilling. He's a regular good 'un." + +"A good 'un!" said Paterson; "it was Turpin, the notorious highwayman. +We are in pursuit of him. Have you any horses? our cattle are all +blown." + +"You'll find the post-house in the town, gentlemen. I'm sorry I can't +accommodate you. But I keeps no stabling. I wish you a very good +evening, sir." Saying which, the publican retreated to his domicile. + +"That's a flash crib, I'll be bound," said Paterson. "I'll chalk you +down, my friend, you may rely upon it. Thus far we're done, Mr. Coates. +But curse me if I give it in. I'll follow him to the world's end first." + +"Right, sir--right," said the attorney. "A very proper spirit, Mr. +Constable. You would be guilty of neglecting your duty were you to act +otherwise. You must recollect my father, Mr. Paterson--Christopher, or +Kit Coates; a name as well known at the Old Bailey as Jonathan Wild's. +You recollect him--eh?" + +"Perfectly well, sir," replied the chief constable. + +"The greatest thief-taker, though I say it," continued Coates, "on +record. I inherit all his zeal--all his ardor. Come along, sir. We shall +have a fine moon in an hour--bright as day. To the post-house! to the +post-house!" + +Accordingly to the post-house they went; and, with as little delay as +circumstances admitted, fresh hacks being procured, accompanied by a +postilion, the party again pursued their onward course, encouraged to +believe they were still in the right scent. + +Night had now spread her mantle over the earth; still it was not wholly +dark. A few stars were twinkling in the deep, cloudless heavens, and a +pearly radiance in the eastern horizon heralded the rising of the orb of +night. A gentle breeze was stirring; the dews of evening had already +fallen; and the air felt bland and dry. It was just the night one would +have chosen for a ride, if one ever rode by choice at such an hour; and +to Turpin, whose chief excursions were conducted by night, it appeared +little less than heavenly. + +Full of ardor and excitement, determined to execute what he had mentally +undertaken, Turpin held on his solitary course. Everything was favorable +to his project; the roads were in admirable condition, his mare was in +like order; she was inured to hard work, had rested sufficiently in town +to recover from the fatigue of her recent journey, and had never been in +more perfect training. "She has now got her wind in her," said Dick; +"I'll see what she can do--hark away, lass--hark away! I wish they could +see her now," added he, as he felt her almost fly away with him. + +Encouraged by her master's voice and hand, Black Bess started forward at +a pace which few horses could have equalled, and scarcely any have +sustained so long. Even Dick, accustomed as he was to her magnificent +action, felt electrified at the speed with which he was borne along. +"Bravo! bravo!" shouted he, "hark away, Bess!" + +The deep and solemn woods through which they were rushing rang with his +shouts, and the sharp rattle of Bess's hoofs; and thus he held his way, +while, in the words of the ballad, + + Fled past, on right and left, how fast, + Each forest, grove, and bower; + On right and left, fled past, how fast, + Each city, town, and tower. + + + + +_CHAPTER VI_ + +_BLACK BESS_ + + _Dauphin._ I will not change my horse with any that treads but on + four pasterns. _Ca, ha!_ He bounds from the earth as if his entrails + were hairs; _le cheval volant_, the Pegasus _qui a les narines de + feu_! When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; + the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is + more musical than the pipe of Hermes. + + SHAKESPEARE: _Henry V., Act III._ + + +Black Bess being undoubtedly the heroine of the Fourth Book of this +Romance, we may, perhaps, be pardoned for expatiating a little in this +place upon her birth, parentage, breeding, appearance, and attractions. +And first as to her pedigree; for in the horse, unlike the human +species, nature has strongly impressed the noble or ignoble caste. He is +the real aristocrat, and the pure blood that flows in the veins of the +gallant steed will infallibly be transmitted, if his mate be suitable, +throughout all his line. Bess was no _cock-tail_. She was thorough-bred; +she boasted blood in every bright and branching vein: + + If blood can give nobility, + A noble steed was she; + Her sire was blood, and blood her dam, + And all her pedigree. + +As to her pedigree. Her sire was a desert Arab, renowned in his day, and +brought to this country by a wealthy traveller; her dam was an English +racer, coal-black as her child. Bess united all the fire and gentleness, +the strength and hardihood, the abstinence and endurance of fatigue of +the one, with the spirit and extraordinary fleetness of the other. How +Turpin became possessed of her is of little consequence. We never heard +that he paid a heavy price for her; though we doubt if any sum would +have induced him to part with her. In color, she was perfectly black, +with a skin smooth on the surface as polished jet; not a single white +hair could be detected in her satin coat. In make she was magnificent. +Every point was perfect, beautiful, compact; modelled, in little, for +strength and speed. Arched was her neck, as that of the swan; clean and +fine were her lower limbs, as those of the gazelle; round and sound as a +drum was her carcase, and as broad as a cloth-yard shaft her width of +chest. Hers were the "_pulchræ clunes, breve caput, arduaque cervix_," +of the Roman bard. There was no redundancy of flesh, 'tis true; her +flanks might, to please some tastes, have been rounder, and her +shoulders fuller; but look at the nerve and sinew, palpable through the +veined limbs! She was built more for strength than beauty, and yet she +_was_ beautiful. Look at that elegant little head; those thin, tapering +ears, closely placed together; that broad, snorting nostril, which seems +to snuff the gale with disdain; that eye, glowing and large as the +diamond of Giamschid! Is she not beautiful? Behold her paces! how +gracefully she moves! She is off!--no eagle on the wing could skim the +air more swiftly. Is she not superb? As to her temper, the lamb is not +more gentle. A child might guide her. + +But hark back to Dick Turpin. We left him rattling along in superb +style, and in the highest possible glee. He could not, in fact, be +otherwise than exhilarated; nothing being so wildly intoxicating as a +mad gallop. We seem to start out of ourselves--to be endued, for the +time, with new energies. Our thoughts take wings rapid as our steed. We +feel as if his fleetness and boundless impulses were for the moment our +own. We laugh; we exult; we shout for very joy. We cry out with +Mephistopheles, but in anything but a sardonic mood, "What I enjoy with +spirit, is it the less my own on that account? If I can pay for six +horses, are not their powers mine! I drive along, and am a proper man, +as if I had four-and-twenty legs!" These were Turpin's sentiments +precisely. Give him four legs and a wide plain, and he needed no +Mephistopheles to bid him ride to perdition as fast as his nag could +carry him. Away, away!--the road is level, the path is clear. Press on, +thou gallant steed, no obstacle is in thy way!--and, lo! the moon breaks +forth! Her silvery light is thrown over the woody landscape. Dark +shadows are cast athwart the road, and the flying figures of thy rider +and thyself are traced, like giant phantoms, in the dust! + +Away, away! our breath is gone in keeping up with this tremendous run. +Yet Dick Turpin has not lost his wind, for we hear his cheering +cry--hark! he sings. The reader will bear in mind that Oliver means the +moon--to "whiddle" is to blab. + + OLIVER WHIDDLES! + + Oliver whiddles--the tattler old! + Telling what best had been left untold. + Oliver ne'er was a friend of mine; + All glims I hate that so brightly shine. + Give me a night black as hell, and then + See what I'll show to you, my merry men. + + Oliver whiddles!--who cares--who cares, + If down upon us he peers and stares? + Mind him who will, with his great white face, + Boldly _I'll_ ride by his glim to the chase; + Give him a Rowland, and loudly as ever + Shout, as I show myself, "Stand and deliver!" + +"Egad," soliloquized Dick, as he concluded his song, looking up at the +moon. "Old Noll's no bad fellow, either. I wouldn't be without his white +face to-night for a trifle. He's as good as a lamp to guide one, and let +Bess only hold on as she goes now, and I'll do it with ease. Softly, +wench, softly--dost not see it's a hill we're rising. The devil's in the +mare, she cares for nothing." And as they ascended the hill, Dick's +voice once more awoke the echoes of night. + + + WILL DAVIES AND DICK TURPIN + + Hodiè mihi, cràs tibi.--SAINT AUGUSTIN. + + One night, when mounted on my mare, + To Bagshot Heath I did repair, + And saw Will Davies hanging there, + Upon the gibbet bleak and bare, + _With a rustified, fustified, mustified air!_ + + Within his chains bold Will looked blue, + Gone were his sword and snappers too, + Which served their master well and true; + Says I, "Will Davies, how are you? + _With your rustified, fustified, mustified air!_" + + Says he, "Dick Turpin, here I be, + Upon the gibbet, as you see; + I take the matter easily; + _You'll_ have your turn as well as me, + _With your whistle-me, pistol-me, cut-my-throat air!_" + + Says I, "That's very true, my lad; + Meantime, with pistol and with prad, + I'm quite contented as I am, + And heed the gibbet not a d--n! + _With its rustified, fustified, mustified air!_" + +"Poor Will Davies!" sighed Dick; "Bagshot ought never to forget +him."[110] + + For never more shall Bagshot see + A highwayman of such degree, + Appearance, and gentility, + As Will, who hangs upon the tree, + _With his rustified, fustified, mustified air!_ + +"Well," mused Turpin, "I suppose one day it will be with me like all the +rest of 'em, and that I shall dance a long lavolta to the music of the +four whistling winds, as my betters have done before me; but I trust, +whenever the chanter-culls and last-speech scribblers get hold of me, +they'll at least put no cursed nonsense into my mouth, but make me +speak, as I have ever felt, like a man who never either feared death, or +turned his back upon his friend. In the mean time I'll give them +something to talk about. This ride of mine shall ring in their ears long +after I'm done for--put to bed with a mattock, and tucked up with a +spade. + + And when I am gone, boys, each huntsman shall say, + None rode like Dick Turpin, so far in a day. + +And thou, too, brave Bess!--thy name shall be linked with mine, and +we'll go down to posterity together; and what," added he, despondingly, +"if it should be too much for thee? what if----but no matter! Better die +now, while I am with thee, than fall into the knacker's hands. Better +die with all thy honors upon thy head, than drag out thy old age at the +sand-cart. Hark forward, lass--hark forward!" + +By what peculiar instinct is it that this noble animal, the horse, will +at once perceive the slightest change in his rider's physical +temperament, and allow himself so to be influenced by it, that, +according as his master's spirits fluctuate, will his own energies rise +and fall, wavering + + From walk to trot, from canter to full speed? + +How is it, we ask of those more intimately acquainted with the +metaphysics of the Houyhnhnm than we pretend to be? Do the saddle or +the rein convey, like metallic tractors, vibrations of the spirit +betwixt the two? We know not, but this much is certain, that no servant +partakes so much of the character of his master as the horse. The steed +we are wont to ride becomes a portion of ourselves. He thinks and feels +with us. As we are lively, he is sprightly; as we are depressed, his +courage droops. In proof of this, let the reader see what horses some +men make--_make_, we say, because in such hands their character is +wholly altered. Partaking, in a measure, of the courage and the firmness +of the hand that guides them, and of the resolution of the frame that +sways them--what their rider wills, they do, or strive to do. When that +governing power is relaxed, their energies are relaxed likewise; and +their fine sensibilities supply them with an instant knowledge of the +disposition and capacity of the rider. A gift of the gods is the gallant +steed, which, like any other faculty we possess, to use or to abuse--to +command or to neglect--rests with ourselves; he is the best general test +of our own self-government. + +Black Bess's action amply verified what we have just asserted; for +during Turpin's momentary despondency, her pace was perceptibly +diminished and her force retarded; but as he revived, she rallied +instantly, and, seized apparently with a kindred enthusiasm, snorted +joyously as she recovered her speed. Now was it that the child of the +desert showed herself the undoubted offspring of the hardy loins from +whence she sprung. Full fifty miles had she sped, yet she showed no +symptoms of distress. If possible, she appeared fresher than when she +started. She had breathed; her limbs were suppler; her action was freer, +easier, lighter. Her sire, who, upon his trackless wilds, could have +outstripped the pestilent simoom; and with throat unslaked, and hunger +unappeased, could thrice have seen the scorching sun go down, had not +greater powers of endurance. His vigor was her heritage. Her dam, who +upon the velvet sod was of almost unapproachable swiftness, and who had +often brought her owner golden assurances of her worth, could scarce +have kept pace with her, and would have sunk under a third of her +fatigue. But Bess was a paragon. We ne'er shall look upon her like +again, unless we can prevail upon some Bedouin chief to present us with +a brood mare, and then the racing world shall see what a breed we will +introduce into this country. Eclipse, Childers, or Hambletonian, shall +be nothing to our colts, and even the railroad slow travelling, compared +with the speed of our new nags! + +But to return to Bess, or rather to go along with her, for there is no +halting now; we are going at the rate of twenty knots an hour--sailing +before the wind; and the reader must either keep pace with us, or drop +astern. Bess is now in her speed, and Dick happy. Happy! he is +enraptured--maddened--furious--intoxicated as with wine. Pshaw! wine +could never throw him into such a burning delirium. Its choicest juices +have no inspiration like this. Its fumes are slow and heady. This is +ethereal, transporting. His blood spins through his veins; winds round +his heart; mounts to his brain. Away! away! He is wild with joy. Hall, +cot, tree, tower, glade, mead, waste, or woodland, are seen, passed, +left behind, and vanish as in a dream. Motion is scarcely +perceptible--it is impetus! volition! The horse and her rider are driven +forward, as it were, by self-accelerated speed. A hamlet is visible in +the moonlight. It is scarcely discovered ere the flints sparkle beneath +the mare's hoofs. A moment's clatter upon the stones, and it is left +behind. Again it is the silent, smiling country. Now they are buried in +the darkness of woods; now sweeping along on the wide plain; now +clearing the unopened toll-bar; now trampling over the hollow-sounding +bridge, their shadows momently reflected in the placid mirror of the +stream; now scaling the hill-side a thought more slowly; now plunging, +as the horses of Ph[oe]bus into the ocean, down its precipitous sides. + +The limits of two shires are already past. They are within the confines +of a third. They have entered the merry county of Huntingdon; they have +surmounted the gentle hill that slips into Godmanchester. They are by +the banks of the rapid Ouse. The bridge is past; and as Turpin rode +through the deserted streets of Huntingdon, he heard the eleventh hour +given from the iron tongue of St. Mary's spire. In four hours--it was +about seven when he started--Dick had accomplished full sixty miles! + +A few reeling topers in the streets saw the horseman flit past, and one +or two windows were thrown open; but Peeping Tom of Coventry would have +had small chance of beholding the unveiled beauties of Queen Godiva had +she ridden at the rate of Dick Turpin. He was gone, like a meteor, +almost as soon as he appeared. + +Huntingdon is left behind, and he is once more surrounded by dew-gemmed +hedges and silent slumbering trees. Broad meadows, or pasture land, with +drowsy cattle, or low bleating sheep, lie on either side. But what to +Turpin, at that moment, is nature, animate or inanimate? He thinks only +of his mare--his future fame. None are by to see him ride; no +stimulating plaudits ring in his ears; no thousand hands are clapping; +no thousand voices huzzaing; no handkerchiefs are waved; no necks +strained; no bright eyes rain influence upon him; no eagle orbs watch +his motions; no bells are rung; no cup awaits his achievement; no +sweepstakes--no plate. But his will be renown--everlasting renown; his +will be fame which will not die with him--which will keep his +reputation, albeit a tarnished one, still in the mouths of men. He wants +all these adventitious excitements, but he has that within which is a +greater excitement than all these. He is conscious that he is doing a +deed to live by. If not riding for _life_, he is riding for +_immortality_; and as the hero may perchance feel--for even a highwayman +may feel like a hero,--when he willingly throws away his existence in +the hope of earning a glorious name, Turpin cared not what might befall +himself, so he could proudly signalize himself as the first of his land, + + _And witch the world with noble horsemanship!_ + +What need had he of spectators? The eye of posterity was upon him; he +felt the influence of that Argus glance which has made many a poor wight +spur on his Pegasus with not half so good a chance of reaching the goal +as Dick Turpin. Multitudes, yet unborn, he knew would hear and laud his +deeds. He trembled with excitement, and Bess trembled under him. But the +emotion was transient. On, on they fly! The torrent leaping from the +crag--the bolt from the bow--the air-cleaving eagle--thoughts themselves +are scarce more winged in their flight! + + + + +_CHAPTER VII_ + +_THE YORK STAGE_ + + YORK, FOUR DAYS!--_Stage Coach begins on Friday, the 18th of April, + 1706._ All that are desirous to pass from London to York, or from + York to London, or any other place on that road, let them repair to + the Black Swan, in Holborn, in London, or to the Black Swan, in + Coney Street, in York. At both which places they may be received in + a _Stage Coach_, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which performs + the journey in four days--if God permits!--and sets forth at five in + the morning. And returns from York to Stamford in two days, and from + Stamford, by Huntingdon, in two days more. And the like stages in + their return. Allowing each passenger fourteen pounds' weight, and + all above, three pence per pound. Performed by Benjamin Kingman, + Henry Harrison, and Waller Baynes.--_Placard, preserved in the + coffee-room, of the Black Swan Inn at York._ + + +The night had hitherto been balmy and beautiful, with a bright array of +stars, and a golden harvest moon, which seemed to diffuse even warmth +with its radiance; but now Turpin was approaching the region of fog and +fen, and he began to feel the influence of that dank atmosphere. The +intersecting dykes, yawners, gullies, or whatever they are called, began +to send forth their steaming vapors, and chilled the soft and wholesome +air, obscuring the void, and in some instances, as it were, choking up +the road itself with vapor. But fog or fen was the same to Bess; her +hoofs rattled merrily along the road, and she burst from a cloud, like +Eöus at the break of dawn. + +It chanced, as he issued from a fog of this kind, that Turpin burst upon +the York stage coach. It was no uncommon thing for the coach to be +stopped; and so furious was the career of our highwayman, that the man +involuntarily drew up his horses. Turpin had also to draw in the rein, a +task of no little difficulty, as charging a huge, lumbering coach, with +its full complement of passengers, was more than even Bess could +accomplish. The moon shone brightly on Turpin and his mare. He was +unmasked, and his features were distinctly visible. An exclamation was +uttered by a gentleman on the box, who, it appeared, instantly +recognized him. + +"Pull up--draw your horses across the road!" cried the gentleman; +"that's Dick Turpin, the highwayman. His capture would be worth three +hundred pounds to you," added he, addressing the coachman, "and is of +equal importance to me. Stand!" shouted he, presenting a cocked pistol. + +This resolution of the gentleman was not apparently agreeable, either to +the coachman or the majority of the passengers--the name of Turpin +acting like magic upon them. One man jumped off behind, and was with +difficulty afterwards recovered, having tumbled into a deep ditch at the +roadside. An old gentleman with a cotton nightcap, who had popped out +his head to swear at the coachman, drew it suddenly back. A faint scream +in a female key issued from within, and there was a considerable hubbub +on the roof. Amongst other ominous sounds, the guard was heard to click +his long horse-pistols. "Stop the York four-day stage!" said he, forcing +his smoky voice through a world of throat-embracing shawl; "the fastest +coach in the kingdom: vos ever such atrocity heard of? I say, Joe, keep +them ere leaders steady; we shall all be in the ditch. Don't you see +where the hind wheels are? Who--whoop, I say." + +The gentleman on the box now discharged his pistol, and the confusion +within was redoubled. The white nightcap was popped out like a rabbit's +head, and as quickly popped back on hearing the highwayman's voice. +Owing to the plunging of the horses, the gentleman had missed his aim. + +Prepared for such emergencies as the present, and seldom at any time +taken aback, Dick received the fire without flinching. He then lashed +the horses out of his course, and rode up, pistol in hand, to the +gentleman who had fired. + +"Major Mowbray," said he, in a stern tone, "I know you. I meant not +either to assault you or these gentlemen. Yet you have attempted my +life, sir, a second time. But you are now in my power, and by hell! if +you do not answer the questions I put to you, nothing earthly shall save +you." + +"If you ask aught I may not answer, fire!" said the major; "I will never +ask life from such as you." + +"Have you seen aught of Sir Luke Rookwood?" asked Dick. + +"The villain you mean is not yet secured," replied the major, "but we +have traces of him. 'Tis with a view of procuring more efficient +assistance that I ride to town." + +"They have not met then, since?" said Dick, carelessly. + +"Met! whom do you mean?" + +"Your sister and Sir Luke," said Dick. + +"My sister meet him!" cried the major, angrily--"think you he dares show +himself at Rookwood?" + +"Ho! ho!" laughed Dick--"she _is_ at Rookwood, then? A thousand thanks, +major. Good night to you, gentlemen." + +"Take that with you, and remember the guard," cried the fellow, who, +unable to take aim from where he sat, had crept along the coach roof, +and discharged thence one of his large horse-pistols at what he took to +be the highwayman's head, but which, luckily for Dick, was his hat, +which he had raised to salute the passengers. + +"Remember you," said Dick, coolly replacing his perforated beaver on his +brow; "you may rely upon it, my fine fellow, I'll not forget you the +next time we meet." + +And off he went like the breath of the whirlwind. + + + + +_CHAPTER VIII_ + +_ROADSIDE INN_ + + _Moor._ Take my horse, and dash a bottle of wine over him. 'Twas hot + work. + + SCHILLER: _The Robbers_. + + +We will now make inquiries after Mr. Coates and his party, of whom both +we and Dick Turpin have for some time lost sight. With unabated ardor +the vindictive man of law and his myrmidons pressed forward. A tacit +compact seemed to have been entered into between the highwayman and his +pursuers, that he was to fly while they were to follow. Like +bloodhounds, they kept steadily upon his trail; nor were they so far +behind as Dick imagined. At each post-house they passed they obtained +fresh horses, and, while these were saddling, a postboy was despatched +_en courrier_ to order relays at the next station. In this manner they +proceeded after the first stoppage without interruption. Horses were in +waiting for them, as they, "bloody with spurring, fiery hot with haste," +and their jaded hacks arrived. Turpin had been heard or seen in all +quarters. Turnpike-men, waggoners, carters, trampers, all had seen him. +Besides, strange as it may sound, they placed some faith in his word. +York they believed would be his destination. + +At length the coach which Dick had encountered hove in sight. There was +another stoppage and another hubbub. The old gentleman's nightcap was +again manifested, and suffered a sudden occultation, as upon the former +occasion. The postboy, who was in advance, had halted, and given up his +horse to Major Mowbray, who exchanged his seat on the box for one on the +saddle, deeming it more expedient, after his interview with Turpin, to +return to Rookwood, rather than to proceed to town. The postboy was +placed behind Coates, as being the lightest weight; and, thus +reinforced, the party pushed forward as rapidly as heretofore. + +Eighty and odd miles had now been traversed--the boundary of another +county, Northampton, passed; yet no rest nor respite had Dick Turpin or +his unflinching mare enjoyed. But here he deemed it fitting to make a +brief halt. + +Bordering the beautiful domains of Burleigh House stood a little retired +hostelry of some antiquity, which bore the great Lord Treasurer's arms. +With this house Dick was not altogether unacquainted. The lad who acted +as ostler was known to him. It was now midnight, but a bright and +beaming night. To the door of the stable then did he ride, and knocked +in a peculiar manner. Reconnoitering Dick through a broken pane of glass +in the lintel, and apparently satisfied with his scrutiny, the lad +thrust forth a head of hair as full of straw as Mad Tom's is represented +to be upon the stage. A chuckle of welcome followed his sleepy +salutation. "Glad to see you, Captain Turpin," said he; "can I do +anything for you?" + +"Get me a couple of bottles of brandy and a beefsteak," said Dick. + +"As to the brandy, you can have that in a jiffy--but the steak, Lord +love you, the old ooman won't stand it at this time; but there's a cold +round, mayhap a slice of that might do--or a knuckle of ham?" + +"A pest on your knuckles, Ralph," cried Dick; "have you any raw meat in +the house?" + +"Raw meat!" echoed Ralph, in surprise. "Oh, yes, there's a rare rump of +beef. You can have a cut off that, if you like." + +"That's the thing I want," said Dick, ungirthing his mare. "Give me the +scraper. There, I can get a whisp of straw from your head. Now run and +get the brandy. Better bring three bottles. Uncork 'em, and let me have +half a pail of water to mix with the spirit." + +"A pail full of brandy and water to wash down a raw steak! My eyes!" +exclaimed Ralph, opening wide his sleepy peepers; adding, as he went +about the execution of his task, "I always thought them Rum-padders, as +they call themselves, rum fellows, but now I'm sartin sure on it." + +The most sedulous groom could not have bestowed more attention upon the +horse of his heart than Dick Turpin now paid to his mare. He scraped, +chafed, and dried her, sounded each muscle, traced each sinew, pulled +her ears, examined the state of her feet, and, ascertaining that her +"withers were un-wrung," finally washed her from head to foot in the +diluted spirit, not, however, before he had conveyed a thimbleful of the +liquid to his own parched throat, and replenished what Falstaff calls a +"pocket-pistol," which he had about him. While Ralph was engaged in +rubbing her down after her bath, Dick occupied himself, not in dressing +the raw steak in the manner the stable-boy had anticipated, but in +rolling it round the bit of his bridle. + +"She will now go as long as there's breath in her body," said he, +putting the flesh-covered iron within her mouth. + +The saddle being once more replaced, after champing a moment or two at +the bit, Bess began to snort and paw the earth, as if impatient of +delay; and, acquainted as he was with her indomitable spirit and power, +her condition was a surprise even to Dick himself. Her vigor seemed +inexhaustible, her vivacity was not a whit diminished, but, as she was +led into the open space, her step became as light and free as when she +started on her ride, and her sense of sound as quick as ever. Suddenly +she pricked her ears, and uttered a low neigh. A dull tramp was +audible. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Dick, springing into his saddle; "they come." + +"Who come, captain?" asked Ralph. + +"The road takes a turn here, don't it?" asked Dick--"sweeps round to the +right by the plantations in the hollow?" + +"Ay, ay, captain," answered Ralph; "it's plain you knows the ground." + +"What lies behind yon shed?" + +"A stiff fence, captain--a reg'lar rasper. Beyond that a hill-side steep +as a house, no oss as was ever shoed can go down it." + +"Indeed!" laughed Dick. + +A loud halloo from Major Mowbray, who seemed advancing upon the wings of +the wind, told Dick that he was discovered. The major was a superb +horseman, and took the lead of his party. Striking his spurs deeply into +his horse, and giving him bridle enough, the major seemed to shoot +forward like a shell through the air. The Burleigh Arms retired some +hundred yards from the road, the space in front being occupied by a neat +garden, with low, clipped edges. No tall timber intervened between Dick +and his pursuers, so that the motions of both parties were visible to +each other. Dick saw in an instant that if he now started he should come +into collision with the major exactly at the angle of the road, and he +was by no means desirous of hazarding such a rencontre. He looked +wistfully back at the double fence. + +"Come into the stable. Quick, captain, quick!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"The stable!" echoed Dick, hesitating. + +"Ay, the stable; it's your only chance. Don't you see he's turning the +corner, and they are all coming? Quick, sir, quick!" + +Dick, lowering his head, rode into the tenement, the door of which was +unceremoniously slapped in the major's face, and bolted on the other +side. + +"Villain!" cried Major Mowbray, thundering at the door, "come forth! You +are now fairly trapped at last--caught like the woodcock in your own +springe. We have you. Open the door, I say, and save us the trouble of +forcing it. You cannot escape us. We will burn the building down but we +will have you." + +"What dun you want, measter?" cried Ralph, from the lintel, whence he +reconnoitered the major, and kept the door fast. "You're clean mista'en. +There be none here." + +"We'll soon see that," said Paterson, who had now arrived; and, leaping +from his horse, the chief constable took a short run to give himself +impetus, and with his foot burst open the door. This being accomplished, +in dashed the major and Paterson, but the stable was vacant. A door was +open at the back; they rushed to it. The sharply sloping sides of a hill +slipped abruptly downwards, within a yard of the door. It was a perilous +descent to the horseman, yet the print of a horse's heels were visible +in the dislodged turf and scattered soil. + +"Confusion!" cried the major, "he has escaped us." + +"He is yonder," said Paterson, pointing out Turpin moving swiftly +through the steaming meadow. "See, he makes again for the road--he +clears the fence. A regular throw he has given us, by the Lord!" + +"Nobly done, by Heaven!" cried the major. "With all his faults, I honor +the fellow's courage and admire his prowess. He's already ridden +to-night as I believe never man rode before. I would not have ventured +to slide down that wall, for it's nothing else, with the enemy at my +heels. What say you, gentlemen, have you had enough? Shall we let him +go, or----?" + +"As far as chase goes, I don't care if we bring the matter to a +conclusion," said Titus. "I don't think, as it is, that I shall have a +sate to sit on this week to come. I've lost leather most confoundedly." + +"What says Mr. Coates?" asked Paterson. "I look to him." + +"Then mount, and off," cried Coates. "Public duty requires that we +should take him." + +"And private pique," returned the major. "No matter! The end is the +same. Justice shall be satisfied. To your steeds, my merry men all. +Hark, and away." + +Once more upon the move, Titus forgot his distress, and addressed +himself to the attorney, by whose side he rode. + +"What place is that we're coming to?" asked he, pointing to a cluster of +moonlit spires belonging to a town they were rapidly approaching. + +"Stamford," replied Coates. + +"Stamford!" exclaimed Titus; "by the powers! then we've ridden a matter +of ninety miles. Why, the great deeds of Redmond O'Hanlon were nothing +to this! I'll remember it to my dying day, and with reason," added he, +uneasily shifting his position on the saddle. + + + + +_CHAPTER IX_ + +_EXCITEMENT_ + + How fled what moonshine faintly showed! + How fled what darkness hid! + How fled the earth beneath their feet, + The heaven above their head. + + _William and Helen._ + + +Dick Turpin, meanwhile, held bravely on his course. Bess was neither +strained by her gliding passage down the slippery hill-side nor shaken +by _larking_ the fence in the meadow. As Dick said, "It took a devilish +deal to take it out of her." On regaining the high road she resumed her +old pace, and once more they were distancing Time's swift chariot in +its whirling passage o'er the earth. Stamford, and the tongue of +Lincoln's fenny shire, upon which it is situated, were passed almost in +a breath. Rutland is won and passed, and Lincolnshire once more entered. +The road now verged within a bowshot of that sporting Athens--Corinth, +perhaps, we should say--Melton Mowbray. Melton was then unknown to fame, +but, as if inspired by that _furor venaticus_ which now inspires all who +come within twenty miles of this Charybdis of the chase, Bess here _let +out_ in a style with which it would have puzzled the best Leicestershire +squire's best prad to have kept pace. The spirit she imbibed through the +pores of her skin, and the juices of the meat she had champed, seemed to +have communicated preternatural excitement to her. Her pace was +absolutely terrific. Her eyeballs were dilated, and glowed like flaming +carbuncles; while her widely-distended nostril seemed, in the cold +moonshine, to snort forth smoke, as from a hidden fire. Fain would +Turpin have controlled her; but, without bringing into play all his +tremendous nerve, no check could be given her headlong course, and for +once, and the only time in her submissive career, Bess resolved to have +her own way--and she had it. Like a sensible fellow, Dick conceded the +point. There was something even of conjugal philosophy in his +self-communion upon the occasion. "E'en let her take her own way and be +hanged to her, for an obstinate, self-willed jade as she is," said he: +"now her back is up there'll be no stopping her, I'm sure: she rattles +away like a woman's tongue, and when that once begins, we all know what +chance the curb has. Best to let her have it out, or rather to lend her +a lift. 'Twill be over the sooner. Tantivy, lass! tantivy! I know which +of us will tire first." + +We have before said that the vehement excitement of continued swift +riding produces a paroxysm in the sensorium amounting to delirium. +Dick's blood was again on fire. He was first giddy, as after a deep +draught of kindling spirit; this passed off, but the spirit was still +in his veins--the _estro_ was working in his brain. All his ardor, his +eagerness, his fury, returned. He rode like one insane, and his courser +partook of his frenzy. She bounded; she leaped; she tore up the ground +beneath her; while Dick gave vent to his exultation in one wild, +prolonged halloo. More than half his race is run. He has triumphed over +every difficulty. He will have no further occasion to halt. Bess carries +her forage along with her. The course is straightforward--success seems +certain--the goal already reached--the path of glory won. Another wild +halloo, to which the echoing woods reply, and away! + +Away! away! thou matchless steed! yet brace fast thy sinews--hold, hold +thy breath, for, alas! the goal is not yet attained! + + But forward! forward, on they go, + High snorts the straining steed, + Thick pants the rider's laboring breath, + As headlong on they speed! + + + + +_CHAPTER X_ + +_THE GIBBET_ + + See there, see there, what yonder swings + And creaks 'mid whistling rain, + Gibbet and steel--the accursed wheel-- + A murderer in his chain. + + _William and Helen._ + + +As the eddying currents sweep over its plains in howling, bleak +December, the horse and her rider passed over what remained of +Lincolnshire. Grantham is gone, and they are now more slowly looking up +the ascent of Gonerby Hill, a path well known to Turpin; where often, in +bygone nights, many a purse had changed its owner. With that feeling of +independence and exhilaration which every one feels, we believe, on +having climbed the hill-side, Turpin turned to gaze around. There was +triumph in his eye. But the triumph was checked as his glance fell upon +a gibbet near him to the right, on the round point of hill which is a +landmark to the wide vale of Belvoir. Pressed as he was for time, Dick +immediately struck out of the road, and approached the spot where it +stood. Two scarecrow objects, covered with rags and rusty links of +chains, depended from the tree. A night crow screaming around the +carcases added to the hideous effect of the scene. Nothing but the +living highwayman and his skeleton brethren was visible upon the +solitary spot. Around him was the lonesome waste of hill, o'erlooking +the moonlit valley: beneath his feet, a patch of bare and +lightning-blasted sod: above, the wan, declining moon and skies, flaked +with ghostly clouds; before him, the bleached bodies of the murderers, +for such they were. + +"Will this be my lot, I marvel?" said Dick, looking upwards, with an +involuntary shudder. + +"Ay, marry will it," rejoined a crouching figure, suddenly springing +from beside a tuft of briars that skirted the blasted ground. + +Dick started in his saddle, while Bess reared and plunged at the sight +of this unexpected apparition. + +"What, ho! thou devil's dam, Barbara, is it thou?" exclaimed Dick, +reassured upon discovering it was the gipsy queen, and no spectre whom +he beheld. "Stand still, Bess--stand, lass. What dost thou here, mother +of darkness? Art gathering mandrakes for thy poisonous messes, or +pilfering flesh from the dead? Meddle not with their bones, or I will +drive thee hence. What dost thou here, I say, old dam of the gibbet?" + +"I came to die here," replied Barbara, in a feeble tone; and, throwing +back her hood, she displayed features well-nigh as ghastly as those of +the skeletons above her. + +"Indeed," replied Dick. "You've made choice of a pleasant spot, it must +be owned. But you'll not die yet?" + +"Do you know whose bodies these are?" asked Barbara, pointing upwards. + +"Two of your race," replied Dick; "right brethren of the blade." + +"Two of my sons," returned Barbara; "my twin children. I am come to lay +my bones beneath their bones--my sepulchre shall be their sepulchre; my +body shall feed the fowls of the air as theirs have fed them. And if +ghosts can walk, we'll scour this heath together. I tell you what, Dick +Turpin," said the hag, drawing as near to the highwayman as Bess would +permit her; "dead men walk and ride--ay, _ride_!--there's a comfort for +you. I've seen these do it. I have seen them fling off their chains, and +dance--ay, dance with me--with their mother. No revels like dead men's +revels, Dick. I shall soon join 'em." + +"You will not lay violent hands upon yourself, mother?" said Dick, with +difficulty mastering his terror. + +"No," replied Barbara, in an altered tone. "But I will let nature do her +task. Would she could do it more quickly. Such a life as mine won't go +out without a long struggle. What have I to live for now? All are +gone--she and her child! But what is this to you? You have no child; and +if you had, you could not feel like a father. No matter--I rave. Listen +to me. I have crawled hither to die. 'Tis five days since I beheld you, +and during that time food has not passed these lips, nor aught of +moisture, save Heaven's dew, cooled this parched throat, nor shall they +to the last. That time cannot be far off; and now can you not guess +_how_ I mean to die? Begone and leave me; your presence troubles me. I +would breathe my last breath alone, with none to witness the parting +pang." + +"I will not trouble you longer, mother," said Dick, turning his mare; +"nor will I ask your blessing." + +"My blessing!" scornfully ejaculated Barbara. "You shall have it if you +will, but you will find it a curse. Stay! a thought strikes me. Whither +are you going?" + +"To seek Sir Luke Rookwood," replied Dick. "Know you aught of him?" + +"Sir Luke Rookwood! You seek him, and would find him?" screamed Barbara. + +"I would," said Dick. + +"And you _will_ find him," said Barbara; "and that ere long. I shall +ne'er again behold him. Would I could. I have a message for him--one of +life and death. Will you convey it to him?" + +"I will," said the highwayman. + +"Swear by those bones to do so," cried Barbara, pointing with her skinny +fingers to the gibbet; "that you will do my bidding." + +"I swear," cried Dick. + +"Fail not, or _we_ will haunt thee to thy life's end," cried Barbara; +adding, as she handed a sealed package to the highwayman, "Give this to +Sir Luke--to him alone. I would have sent it to him by other hands ere +this, but my people have deserted me--have pillaged my stores--have +rifled me of all save this. Give this, I say, to Sir Luke, with your own +hands. You have sworn it, and will obey. Give it to him, and bid him +think of Sybil as he opens it. But this must not be till Eleanor is in +his power; and she must be present when the seal is broken. It relates +to both. Dare not to tamper with it, or my curse shall pursue you. That +packet is guarded with a triple spell, which to you were fatal. Obey me, +and my dying breath shall bless thee." + +"Never fear," said Dick, taking the packet; "I'll not disappoint you, +mother, depend upon it." + +"Hence!" cried the crone; and as she watched Dick's figure lessening +upon the Waste, and at length beheld him finally disappear down the +hill-side, she sank to the ground, her frail strength being entirely +exhausted. "Body and soul may now part in peace," gasped she. "All I +live for is accomplished." And ere one hour had elapsed, the night crow +was perched upon her still breathing frame. + +Long pondering upon this singular interview, Dick pursued his way. At +length he thought fit to examine the packet with which the old gipsy had +entrusted him. + +"It feels like a casket," thought he. "It can't be gold. But then it may +be jewels, though they don't rattle, and it ain't quite heavy enough. +What can it be? I should like to know. There is some mystery, that's +certain, about it; but I will not break the seal, not I. As to her +spell, that I don't value a rush; but I've sworn to give it to Sir Luke, +and deliver her message, and I'll keep my word if I can. He shall have +it." So saying, he replaced it in his pocket. + + + + +_CHAPTER XI_ + +_THE PHANTOM STEED_ + + I'll speak to thee, though hell itself should gape, + And bid me hold my peace. + + _Hamlet._ + + +Time presses. We may not linger in our course. We must fly on before our +flying highwayman. Full forty miles shall we pass over in a breath. Two +more hours have elapsed, and he still urges his headlong career, with +heart resolute as ever, and purpose yet unchanged. Fair Newark, and the +dashing Trent, "most loved of England's streams," are gathered to his +laurels. Broad Notts, and its heavy paths and sweeping glades; its +waste--forest no more--of Sherwood past; bold Robin Hood and his merry +men, his Marian and his moonlight rides, recalled, forgotten, left +behind. Hurrah! hurrah! That wild halloo, that waving arm, that +enlivening shout--what means it? He is once more upon Yorkshire ground; +his horse's hoof beats once more the soil of that noble shire. So +transported was Dick, that he could almost have flung himself from the +saddle to kiss the dust beneath his feet. Thrice fifty miles has he run, +nor has the morn yet dawned upon his labors. Hurrah! the end draws nigh; +the goal is in view. Halloo! halloo! on! + +Bawtrey is past. He takes the lower road by Thorne and Selby. He is +skirting the waters of the deep-channelled Don. + +Bess now began to manifest some slight symptoms of distress. There was a +strain in the carriage of her throat, a dulness in her eye, a laxity in +her ear, and a slight stagger in her gait, which Turpin noticed with +apprehension. Still she went on, though not at the same gallant pace as +heretofore. But, as the tired bird still battles with the blast upon the +ocean, as the swimmer still stems the stream, though spent, on went she: +nor did Turpin dare to check her, fearing that, if she stopped, she +might lose her force, or, if she fell, she would rise no more. + +It was now that gray and grimly hour ere one flicker of orange or rose +has gemmed the east, and when unwearying Nature herself seems to snatch +brief repose. In the roar of restless cities, this is the only time when +their strife is hushed. Midnight is awake--alive; the streets ring with +laughter and with rattling wheels. At the third hour, a dead, deep +silence prevails; the loud-voiced streets grow dumb. They are deserted +of all, save the few guardians of the night and the skulking robber. But +even far removed from the haunts of men and hum of towns it is the same. +"Nature's best nurse" seems to weigh nature down, and stillness reigns +throughout. Our feelings are, in a great measure, influenced by the +hour. Exposed to the raw, crude atmosphere, which has neither the +nipping, wholesome shrewdness of morn, nor the profound chillness of +night, the frame vainly struggles against the dull, miserable sensations +engendered by the damps, and at once communicates them to the spirits. +Hope forsakes us. We are weary, exhausted. Our energy is dispirited. +Sleep does "not weigh our eyelids down." We stare upon the vacancy. We +conjure up a thousand restless, disheartening images. We abandon +projects we have formed, and which, viewed through this medium, appear +fantastical, chimerical, absurd. We want rest, refreshment, energy. + +We will not say that Turpin had all these misgivings. But he had to +struggle hard with himself to set sleep and exhaustion at defiance. + +The moon had set. The stars, + + Pinnacled deep in the intense main, + +had all--save one, the herald of the dawn--withdrawn their luster. A +dull mist lay on the stream, and the air became piercing cold. Turpin's +chilled fingers could scarcely grasp the slackening rein, while his +eyes, irritated by the keen atmosphere, hardly enabled him to +distinguish surrounding objects, or even to guide his steed. It was +owing, probably, to this latter circumstance, that Bess suddenly +floundered and fell, throwing her master over her head. + +Turpin instantly recovered himself. His first thought was for his horse. +But Bess was instantly upon her legs--covered with dust and foam, sides +and cheeks--and with her large eyes glaring wildly, almost piteously, +upon her master. + +"Art hurt, lass?" asked Dick, as she shook herself, and slightly +shivered. And he proceeded to the horseman's scrutiny. "Nothing but a +shake; though that dull eye--those quivering flanks----" added he, +looking earnestly at her. "She won't go much further, and I must give it +up--what! give up the race just when it's won? No, that can't be. Ha! +well thought on. I've a bottle of liquid, given me by an old fellow, who +was a knowing cove and famous jockey in his day, which he swore would +make a horse go as long as he'd a leg to carry him, and bade me keep it +for some great occasion. I've never used it; but I'll try it now. It +should be in this pocket. Ah! Bess, wench, I fear I'm using thee, after +all, as Sir Luke did his mistress, that I thought so like thee. No +matter! It will be a glorious end." + +Raising her head upon his shoulder, Dick poured the contents of the +bottle down the throat of his mare. Nor had he to wait long before its +invigorating effects were instantaneous. The fire was kindled in the +glassy orb; her crest was once more erected; her flank ceased to quiver; +and she neighed loud and joyously. + +"Egad, the old fellow was right," cried Dick. "The drink has worked +wonders. What the devil could it have been? It smells like spirit," +added he, examining the bottle. "I wish I'd left a taste for myself. But +here's that will do as well." And he drained his flask of the last drop +of brandy. + +Dick's limbs were now become so excessively stiff, that it was with +difficulty he could remount his horse. But this necessary preliminary +being achieved by the help of a stile, he found no difficulty in +resuming his accustomed position upon the saddle. We know not whether +there was any likeness between our Turpin and that modern Hercules of +the sporting world, Mr. Osbaldeston. Far be it from us to institute any +comparison, though we cannot help thinking that, in one particular, he +resembled that famous "copper-bottomed" squire. This we will leave to +our reader's discrimination. Dick bore his fatigues wonderfully. He +suffered somewhat of that martyrdom which, according to Tom Moore, +occurs "to weavers and M. P.'s, from sitting too long;" but again on his +courser's back, he cared not for anything. + +Once more, at a gallant pace, he traversed the banks of the Don, +skirting the fields of flax that bound its sides, and hurried far more +swiftly than its current to its confluence with the Aire. + +Snaith was past. He was on the road to Selby when dawn first began to +break. Here and there a twitter was heard in the hedge; a hare ran +across his path, gray-looking as the morning self; and the mists began +to rise from the earth. A bar of gold was drawn against the east, like +the roof of a gorgeous palace. But the mists were heavy in this world of +rivers and their tributary streams. The Ouse was before him, the Trent +and Aire behind; the Don and Derwent on either hand, all in their way to +commingle their currents ere they formed the giant Humber. Amid a region +so prodigal of water, no wonder the dews fell thick as rain. Here and +there the ground was clear; but then again came a volley of vapor, dim +and palpable as smoke. + +While involved in one of these fogs, Turpin became aware of another +horseman by his side. It was impossible to discern the features of the +rider, but his figure in the mist seemed gigantic; neither was the color +of his steed distinguishable. Nothing was visible except the +meagre-looking, phantom-like outline of a horse and his rider, and, as +the unknown rode upon the turf that edged the way, even the sound of the +horse's hoofs was scarcely audible. Turpin gazed, not without +superstitious awe. Once or twice he essayed to address the strange +horseman, but his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth. He fancied he +discovered in the mist-exaggerated lineaments of the stranger a wild and +fantastic resemblance to his friend Tom King. "It must be Tom," thought +Turpin; "he is come to warn me of my approaching end. I will speak to +him." + +But terror o'ermastered his speech. He could not force out a word, and +thus side by side they rode in silence. Quaking with fears he would +scarcely acknowledge to himself, Dick watched every motion of his +companion. He was still, stern, spectre-like, erect; and looked for all +the world like a demon on his phantom steed. His courser seemed, in the +indistinct outline, to be huge and bony, and, as he snorted furiously +in the fog, Dick's heated imagination supplied his breath with a due +proportion of flame. Not a word was spoken--not a sound heard, save the +sullen dead beat of his hoofs upon the grass. It was intolerable to ride +thus cheek by jowl with a goblin. Dick could stand it no longer. He put +spurs to his horse, and endeavored to escape. But it might not be. The +stranger, apparently without effort, was still by his side, and Bess's +feet, in her master's apprehensions, were nailed to the ground. +By-and-by, however, the atmosphere became clearer. Bright quivering +beams burst through the vaporous shroud, and then it was that Dick +discovered that the apparition of Tom King was no other than Luke +Rookwood. He was mounted on his old horse, Rook, and looked grim and +haggard as a ghost vanishing at the crowing of the cock. + +"Sir Luke Rookwood, by this light!" exclaimed Dick, in astonishment. +"Why, I took you for----" + +"The devil, no doubt?" returned Luke, smiling sternly, "and were sorry +to find yourself so hard pressed. Don't disquiet yourself; I am still +flesh and blood." + +"Had I taken you for one of mortal mould," said Dick, "you should have +soon seen where I'd have put you in the race. That confounded fog +deceived me, and Bess acted the fool as well as myself. However, now I +know you, Sir Luke, you must spur alongside, for the hawks are on the +wing; and though I've much to say, I've not a second to lose." And Dick +briefly detailed the particulars of his ride, concluding with his +rencontre with Barbara. "Here's the packet," said he, "just as I got it. +You must keep it till the proper moment. And here," added he, fumbling +in his pocket for another paper, "is the marriage document. You are now +your father's lawful son, let who will say you nay. Take it and welcome. +If you are ever master of Miss Mowbray's hand, you will not forget Dick +Turpin." + +"I will not," said Luke, eagerly grasping the certificate; "but she +never may be mine." + +"You have her oath?" + +"I have." + +"What more is needed?" + +"Her hand." + +"That will follow." + +"It _shall_ follow," replied Sir Luke, wildly. "You are right. She is my +affianced bride--affianced before hell, if not before heaven. I have +sealed the contract with blood--with Sybil's blood--and it shall be +fulfilled. I have her oath--her oath--ha, ha! Though I perish in the +attempt, I will wrest her from Ranulph's grasp. She shall never be his. +I would stab her first. Twice have I failed in my endeavors to bear her +off. I am from Rookwood even now. To-morrow night I shall renew the +attack. Will you assist me?" + +"To-morrow night!" interrupted Dick. + +"Nay, I should say to-night. A new day has already dawned," replied +Luke. + +"I will: she is at Rookwood?" + +"She languishes there at present, attended by her mother and her lover. +The hall is watched and guarded. Ranulph is ever on the alert. But we +will storm their garrison. I have a spy within its walls--a gipsy girl, +faithful to my interests. From her I have learnt that there is a plot to +wed Eleanor to Ranulph, and that the marriage is to take place privately +to-morrow. This must be prevented." + +"It must. But why not boldly appear in person at the hall, and claim +her?" + +"Why not? I am a proscribed felon. A price is set upon my head. I am +hunted through the country--driven to concealment, and dare not show +myself for fear of capture. What could I do now? They would load me with +fetters, bury me in a dungeon, and wed Eleanor to Ranulph. What would my +rights avail? What would her oath signify to them? No; she must be mine +by force. _His_ she shall never be. Again, I ask you, will you aid me?" + +"I have said--I will. Where is Alan Rookwood?" + +"Concealed within the hut on Thorne Waste. You know it--it was one of +your haunts." + +"I know it well," said Dick, "and Conkey Jem, its keeper, into the +bargain: he is a knowing file. I'll join you at the hut at midnight, if +all goes well. We'll bring off the wench, in spite of them all--just the +thing I like. But in case of a break-down on my part, suppose you take +charge of my purse in the mean time." + +Luke would have declined this offer. + +"Pshaw!" said Dick. "Who knows what may happen? and it's not ill-lined +either. You'll find an odd hundred or so in that silken bag--it's not +often your highwayman gives away a purse. Take it, man--we'll settle all +to-night; and if I don't come, keep it--it will help you to your bride. +And now off with you to the hut, for you are only hindering me. Adieu! +My love to old Alan. We'll do the trick to-night. Away with you to the +hut. Keep yourself snug there till midnight, and we'll ride over to +Rookwood." + +"At midnight," replied Sir Luke, wheeling off, "I shall expect you." + +"'Ware hawks!" hallooed Dick. + +But Luke had vanished. In another instant Dick was scouring the plain as +rapidly as ever. In the mean time, as Dick has casually alluded to the +hawks, it may not be amiss to inquire how they had flown throughout the +night, and whether they were still in chase of their quarry. + +With the exception of Titus, who was completely done up at Grantham, +"having got," as he said, "a complete bellyful of it," they were still +on the wing, and resolved sooner or later to pounce upon their prey, +pursuing the same system as heretofore in regard to the post-horses. +Major Mowbray and Paterson took the lead, but the irascible and +invincible attorney was not far in their rear, his wrath having been by +no means allayed by the fatigue he had undergone. At Bawtrey they held +a council of war for a few minutes, being doubtful which course he had +taken. Their incertitude was relieved by a foot traveller, who had heard +Dick's loud halloo on passing the boundary of Nottinghamshire, and had +seen him take the lower road. They struck, therefore, into the path at +Thorne at a hazard, and were soon satisfied they were right. Furiously +did they now spur on. They reached Selby, changed horses at the inn in +front of the venerable cathedral church, and learnt from the postboy +that a toilworn horseman, on a jaded steed, had ridden through the town +about five minutes before them, and could not be more than a quarter of +a mile in advance. "His horse was so dead beat," said the lad, "that I'm +sure he cannot have got far; and, if you look sharp, I'll be bound +you'll overtake him before he reaches Cawood Ferry." + +Mr. Coates was transported. "We'll lodge him snug in York Castle before +an hour, Paterson," cried he, rubbing his hands. + +"I hope so, sir," said the chief constable, "but I begin to have some +qualms." + +"Now, gentlemen," shouted the postboy, "come along. I'll soon bring you +to him." + + + + +_CHAPTER XII_ + +_CAWOOD FERRY_ + + The sight renewed my courser's feet, + A moment, staggering feebly fleet, + A moment, with a faint low neigh, + He answered, and then fell. + With gasps and glazing eyes he lay, + And reeking limbs immovable,-- + His first, and last career was done. + + _Mazeppa._ + + +The sun had just o'ertopped the "high eastern hill," as Turpin reached +the Ferry of Cawood, and his beams were reflected upon the deep and +sluggish waters of the Ouse. Wearily had he dragged his course +thither--wearily and slow. The powers of his gallant steed were spent, +and he could scarcely keep her from sinking. It was now midway 'twixt +the hours of five and six. Nine miles only lay before him, and that +thought again revived him. He reached the water's edge, and hailed the +ferryboat, which was then on the other side of the river. At that +instant a loud shout smote his ear; it was the halloo of his pursuers. +Despair was in his look. He shouted to the boatman, and bade him pull +fast. The man obeyed; but he had to breast a strong stream, and had a +lazy bark and heavy sculls to contend with. He had scarcely left the +shore when, another shout was raised from the pursuers. The tramp of +their steeds grew louder and louder. + +The boat had scarcely reached the middle of the stream. His captors were +at hand. Quietly did he walk down the bank, and as cautiously enter the +water. There was a plunge, and steed and rider were swimming down the +river. + +Major Mowbray was at the brink of the stream. He hesitated an instant, +and stemmed the tide. Seized, as it were, by a mania for equestrian +distinction, Mr. Coates braved the torrent. Not so Paterson. He very +coolly took out his bulldogs, and, watching Turpin, cast up in his own +mind the _pros_ and _cons_ of shooting him as he was crossing. "I could +certainly hit him," thought, or said, the constable; "but what of that? +A dead highwayman is worth nothing--alive, he _weighs_ 300_l_. I won't +shoot him, but I'll make a pretence." And he fired accordingly. + +The shot skimmed over the water, but did not, as it was intended, do +much mischief. It, however, occasioned a mishap, which had nearly proved +fatal to our aquatic attorney. Alarmed at the report of the pistol, in +the nervous agitation of the moment Coates drew in his rein so tightly +that his steed instantly sank. A moment or two afterwards he rose, +shaking his ears, and floundering heavily towards the shore; and such +was the chilling effect of this sudden immersion, that Mr. Coates now +thought much more of saving himself than of capturing Turpin. Dick, +meanwhile, had reached the opposite bank, and, refreshed by her bath, +Bess scrambled up the sides of the stream, and speedily regained the +road. "I shall do it yet," shouted Dick; "that stream has saved her. +Hark away, lass! Hark away!" + +Bess heard the cheering cry, and she answered to the call. She roused +all her energies; strained every sinew, and put forth all her remaining +strength. Once more, on wings of swiftness, she bore him away from his +pursuers, and Major Mowbray, who had now gained the shore, and made +certain of securing him, beheld him spring, like a wounded hare, from +beneath his very hand. + +"It cannot hold out," said the major; "it is but an expiring flash; that +gallant steed must soon drop." + +"She be regularly booked, that's certain," said the postboy. + +"We shall find her on the road." + +Contrary to all expectation, however, Bess held on, and set pursuit at +defiance. Her pace was swift as when she started. But it was +unconscious and mechanical action. It wanted the ease, the lightness, +the life of her former riding. She seemed screwed up to a task which she +must execute. There was no flogging, no gory heel; but the heart was +throbbing, tugging at the sides within. Her spirit spurred her onwards. +Her eye was glazing; her chest heaving; her flank quivering; her crest +again fallen. Yet she held on. "She is dying!" said Dick. "I feel +it----" No, she held on. + +Fulford is past. The towers and pinnacles of York burst upon him in all +the freshness, the beauty, and the glory of a bright, clear, autumnal +morn. The ancient city seemed to smile a welcome--a greeting. The noble +Minster and its serene and massive pinnacles, crocketed, lantern-like, +and beautiful; St. Mary's lofty spire, All-Hallows Tower, the massive +mouldering walls of the adjacent postern, the grim castle, and +Clifford's neighboring keep--all beamed upon him, like a bright-eyed +face, that laughs out openly. + +"It is done--it is won," cried Dick. "Hurrah! hurrah!" And the sunny air +was cleft with his shouts. + +Bess was not insensible to her master's exultation. She neighed feebly +in answer to his call, and reeled forwards. It was a piteous sight to +see her,--to mark her staring, protruding eyeball,--her shaking flanks; +but, while life and limb held together, she held on. + +Another mile is past. York is near. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Dick; but his voice was hushed. Bess tottered--fell. +There was a dreadful gasp--a parting moan--a snort; her eye gazed, for +an instant, upon her master, with a dying glare; then grew glassy, +rayless, fixed. A shiver ran through her frame. Her heart had burst. + +Dick's eyes were blinded, as with rain. His triumph, though achieved, +was forgotten--his own safety was disregarded. He stood weeping and +swearing, like one beside himself. + +"And art thou gone, Bess?" cried he, in a voice of agony, lifting up his +courser's head, and kissing her lips, covered with blood-flecked foam. +"Gone, gone! and I have killed the best steed that was ever crossed! And +for what?" added Dick, beating his brow with his clenched hand--"for +what? for what?" + +At this moment the deep bell of the Minster clock tolled out the hour of +six. + +"I am answered," gasped Dick; "_it was to hear those strokes_." + +Turpin was roused from the state of stupefaction into which he had +fallen by a smart slap on the shoulder. Recalled to himself by the blow, +he started at once to his feet, while his hands sought his pistols: but +he was spared the necessity of using them, by discovering in the +intruder the bearded visage of the gipsy Balthazar. The patrico was +habited in mendicant weeds, and sustained a large wallet upon his +shoulders. + +"So it's all over with the best mare in England, I see," said Balthazar; +"I can guess how it has happened--you are pursued?" + +"I am," said Dick, roughly. + +"Your pursuers are at hand?" + +"Within a few hundred yards." + +"Then, why stay here? Fly while you can." + +"Never--never," cried Turpin; "I'll fight it out here by Bess's side. +Poor lass! I've killed her--but she has done it--ha, ha!--we have +won--what?" And his utterance was again choked. + +"Hark! I hear the tramp of horse, and shouts," cried the patrico. "Take +this wallet. You will find a change of dress within it. Dart into that +thick copse--save yourself." + +"But Bess--I cannot leave her," exclaimed Dick, with an agonizing look +at his horse. + +"And what did Bess die for, but to save you?" rejoined the patrico. + +"True, true," said Dick; "but take care of her, don't let those dogs of +hell meddle with her carcase." + +"Away," cried the patrico, "leave Bess to me." + +Possessing himself of the wallet, Dick disappeared in the adjoining +copse. + +He had not been gone many seconds when Major Mowbray rode up. + +"Who is this?" exclaimed the Major, flinging himself from his horse, and +seizing the patrico; "this is not Turpin." + +"Certainly not," replied Balthazar, coolly. "I am not exactly the figure +for a highwayman." + +"Where is he? What has become of him?" asked Coates, in despair, as he +and Paterson joined the major. + +"Escaped, I fear," replied the major. "Have you seen any one, fellow?" +added he, addressing the patrico. + +"I have seen no one," replied Balthazar. "I am only this instant +arrived. This dead horse lying in the road attracted my attention." + +"Ha!" exclaimed Paterson, leaping from his steed, "this may be Turpin +after all. He has as many disguises as the devil himself, and may have +carried that goat's hair in his pocket." Saying which, he seized the +patrico by the beard, and shook it with as little reverence as the Gaul +handled the hirsute chin of the Roman senator. + +"The devil! hands off," roared Balthazar. "By Salamon, I won't stand +such usage. Do you think a beard like mine is the growth of a few +minutes? Hands off! I say." + +"Regularly done!" said Paterson, removing his hold of the patrico's +chin, and looking as blank as a cartridge. + +"Ay," exclaimed Coates; "all owing to this worthless piece of carrion. +If it were not that I hope to see him dangling from those +walls"--pointing towards the Castle--"I should wish her master were by +her side now. To the dogs with her." And he was about to spurn the +breathless carcase of poor Bess, when a sudden blow, dealt by the +patrico's staff, felled him to the ground. + +"I'll teach you to molest me," said Balthazar, about to attack Paterson. + +"Come, come," said the discomfited chief constable, "no more of this. +It's plain we're in the wrong box. Every bone in my body aches +sufficiently without the aid of your cudgel, old fellow. Come, Mr. +Coates, take my arm, and let's be moving. We've had an infernal long +ride for nothing." + +"Not so," replied Coates; "I've paid pretty dearly for it. However, let +us see if we can get any breakfast at the Bowling-green, yonder; though +I've already had my morning draught," added the facetious man of law, +looking at his dripping apparel. + +"Poor Black Bess!" said Major Mowbray, wistfully regarding the body of +the mare, as it lay stretched at his feet. "Thou deservedst a better +fate, and a better master. In thee, Dick Turpin has lost his best +friend. His exploits will, henceforth, want the coloring of romance, +which thy unfailing energies threw over them. Light lie the ground over +thee, thou matchless mare!" + +To the Bowling-green the party proceeded, leaving the patrico in +undisturbed possession of the lifeless body of Black Bess. Major Mowbray +ordered a substantial repast to be prepared with all possible +expedition. + +A countryman, in a smock-frock, was busily engaged at his morning's +meal. + +"To see that fellow bolt down his breakfast, one would think he had +fasted for a month," said Coates; "see the wholesome effects of an +honest, industrious life, Paterson. I envy him his appetite--I should +fall to with more zest were Dick Turpin in his place." + +The countryman looked up. He was an odd-looking fellow, with a terrible +squint, and a strange, contorted countenance. + +"An ugly dog!" exclaimed Paterson: "what a devil of a twist he has +got!" + +"What's that you says about Dick Taarpin, measter?" asked the +countryman, with his mouth half full of bread. + +"Have you seen aught of him?" asked Coates. + +"Not I," mumbled the rustic; "but I hears aw the folks hereabouts talk +on him. They say as how he sets all the lawyers and constables at +defiance, and laughs in his sleeve at their efforts to cotch him--ha, +ha! He gets over more ground in a day than they do in a week--ho, ho!" + +"That's all over now," said Coates, peevishly. "He has cut his own +throat--ridden his famous mare to death." + +The countryman almost choked himself, in the attempt to bolt a huge +mouthful. "Ay--indeed, measter! How happened that?" asked he, so soon as +he recovered speech. + +"The fool rode her from London to York last night," returned Coates; +"such a feat was never performed before. What horse could be expected to +live through such work as that?" + +"Ah, he were a foo' to attempt that," observed the countryman; "but you +followed belike?" + +"We did." + +"And took him arter all, I reckon?" asked the rustic, squinting more +horribly than ever. + +"No," returned Coates, "I can't say we did; but we'll have him yet. I'm +pretty sure he can't be far off. We may be nearer him than we imagine." + +"May be so, measter," returned the countryman; "but might I be so bold +as to ax how many horses you used i' the chase--some half-dozen, maybe?" + +"Half a dozen!" growled Paterson; "we had twenty at the least." + +"And I ONE!" mentally ejaculated Turpin, for he was the countryman. + + + + +_BOOK V_ + + +_THE OATH_ + + It was an ill oath better broke than kept-- + The laws of nature, and of nations, do + Dispense with matters of divinity + In such a case. + + TATEHAM. + + + + +_CHAPTER I_ + +_THE HUT ON THORNE WASTE_ + + _Hind._ Are all our horses and our arms in safety? + + _Furbo._ They feed, like Pluto's palfreys, under ground. + Our pistols, swords, and other furniture, + Are safely locked up at our rendezvous. + + _Prince of Prigs' Revels._ + + +The hut on Thorne Waste, to which we have before incidentally alluded, +and whither we are now about to repair, was a low, lone hovel, situate +on the banks of the deep and oozy Don, at the eastern extremity of that +extensive moor. Ostensibly its owner fulfilled the duties of ferryman to +that part of the river; but as the road which skirted his tenement was +little frequented, his craft was, for the most part, allowed to sleep +undisturbed in her moorings. + +In reality, however, he was the inland agent of a horde of smugglers who +infested the neighboring coast; his cabin was their rendezvous; and not +unfrequently, it was said, the depository of their contraband goods. +Conkey Jem--so was he called by his associates, on account of the +Slawkenbergian promontory which decorated his countenance--had been an +old hand at the same trade; but having returned from a seven years' +leave of absence from his own country, procured by his lawless life, now +managed matters with more circumspection and prudence, and had never +since been detected in his former illicit traffic; nor, though so +marvellously gifted in that particular himself, was he ever known to +_nose_ upon any of his accomplices; or, in other words, to betray them. +On the contrary, his hut was a sort of asylum for all fugitives from +justice; and although the sanctity of his walls would, in all +probability, have been little regarded, had any one been, detected +within them, yet, strange to say, even if a robber had been tracked--as +it often chanced--to Jem's immediate neighborhood, all traces of him +were sure to be lost at the ferryman's hut; and further search was +useless. + +Within, the hut presented such an appearance as might be expected, from +its owner's pursuits and its own unpromising exterior. Consisting of +little more than a couple of rooms, the rude whitewashed walls +exhibited, in lieu of prints of more pretension, a gallery of +choicely-illustrated ballads, celebrating the exploits of various +highwaymen, renowned in song, amongst which our friend Dick Turpin +figured conspicuously upon his sable steed, Bess being represented by a +huge rampant black patch, and Dick, with a pistol considerably longer +than the arm that sustained it. Next to this curious collection was a +drum-net, a fishing-rod, a landing-net, an eel-spear, and other +piscatorial apparatus, with a couple of sculls and a boat-hook, +indicative of Jem's ferryman's office, suspended by various hooks; the +whole blackened and begrimed by peat-smoke, there being no legitimate +means of _exit_ permitted to the vapor generated by the turf-covered +hearthstone. The only window, indeed, in the hut, was to the front; the +back apartment, which served Jem for dormitory, had no aperture whatever +for the admission of light, except such as was afforded through the door +of communication between the rooms. A few broken rush-bottomed chairs, +with a couple of dirty tables, formed the sum total of the ferryman's +furniture. + +Notwithstanding the grotesque effect of his exaggerated nasal organ, +Jem's aspect was at once savage and repulsive; his lank black hair hung +about his inflamed visage in wild elf locks, the animal predominating +throughout; his eyes were small, red, and wolfish, and glared +suspiciously from beneath his scarred and tufted eyebrows; while certain +of his teeth projected, like the tusks of a boar, from out his +coarse-lipped, sensual mouth. Dwarfish in stature, and deformed in +person, Jem was built for strength; and what with his width of shoulder +and shortness of neck, his figure looked as square and as solid as a +cube. His throat and hirsute chest, constantly exposed to the weather, +had acquired a glowing tan, while his arms, uncovered to the shoulders, +and clothed with fur, like a bear's hide, down, almost, to the tips of +his fingers, presented a knot of folded muscles, the concentrated force +of which few would have desired to encounter in action. + +It was now on the stroke of midnight; and Jem, who had been lying +extended upon the floor of his hovel, suddenly aroused by that warning +impulse which never fails to awaken one of his calling at the exact +moment when they require to be upon the alert, now set about fanning +into flame the expiring fuel upon his hearth. Having succeeded in +igniting further portions of the turf, Jem proceeded to examine the +security of his door and window, and satisfied that lock and bolt were +shot, and that the shutter was carefully closed, he kindled a light at +his fire, and walked towards his bedroom. But it was not to retire for +the night that the ferryman entered his dormitory. Beside his crazy +couch stood a litter of empty bottles and a beer cask, crowding the +chamber. The latter he rolled aside, and pressing his foot upon the +plank beneath it, the board gave way, and a trap-door opening, +discovered a ladder, conducting, apparently, into the bowels of the +earth. Jem leaned over the abyss, and called in hoarse accents to some +one below. + +An answer was immediately returned, and a light became soon afterwards +visible at the foot of the ladder. Two figures next ascended; the first +who set foot within the ferryman's chamber was Alan Rookwood: the other, +as the reader may perhaps conjecture, was his grandson. + +"Is it the hour?" asked Luke, as he sprang from out the trap-door. + +"Ay," replied Jem, with a coarse laugh, "or I had not disturbed myself +to call you. But, maybe," added he, softening his manner a little, +"you'll like some refreshments before you start? A stoup of Nantz will +put you in cue for the job, ha, ha!" + +"Not I," replied Luke, who could ill tolerate his companion's +familiarity. + +"Give me to drink," said Alan, walking feebly towards the fire, and +extending his skinny fingers before it. "I am chilled by the damps of +that swampy cave--the natural heat within me is nigh extinguished." + +"Here is that shall put fresh marrow into your old bones," returned Jem, +handing him a tumbler of brandy; "never stint it. I'll be sworn you'll +be the better on't, for you look desperate queer, man, about the +mazard." + +Alan was, in sooth, a ghastly spectacle. The events of the last few days +had wrought a fearful change. His countenance was almost exanimate; and +when, with shaking hand and trembling lips, he had drained the fiery +potion to the dregs, a terrible grimace was excited upon his features, +such as is produced upon the corpse by the action of the galvanic +machine. Even Jem regarded him with a sort of apprehension. After he had +taken breath for a moment, Alan broke out into a fit of wild and +immoderate laughter. + +"Why, ay," said he, "this is indeed to grow young again, and to feel +fresh fire within one's veins. Who would have thought so much of life +and energy could reside in this little vessel? I am myself once more, +and not the same soulless, pulseless lump of clay I was a moment or two +back. The damps of that den had destroyed me--and the solitude--the +_waking dreams_ I've had--the visions! horrible! I will not think of +them. I am better now--ready to execute my plans--_your_ plans I should +say, grandson Luke. Are our horses in readiness? Why do we tarry? The +hour is arrived, and I would not that my new-blown courage should +evaporate ere the great work for which I live be accomplished. That +done, I ask no further stimulant. Let us away." + +"We tarry but for Turpin," said Luke; "I am as impatient as yourself. I +fear some mischance must have befallen him, or he would have been true +to his appointment. Do you not think so?" he added, addressing the +ferryman. + +"Why," replied Jem, reluctantly, "since you put it home to me, and I +can't conceal it no longer, I'll tell you what I didn't tell afore, for +fear you should be down in the mouth about it. Dick Turpin can do +nothing for you--he's grabb'd." + +"Turpin apprehended!" ejaculated Luke. + +"Ay," returned Jem. "I learnt from a farmer who crossed the ferry at +nightfall, that he were grabb'd this morning at York, after having +ridden his famous cherry-colored prad to death--that's what hurts me +more not all the rest; though I fear Dick will scarce cheat the nubbing +cheat this go. His time's up, I calculate." + +"Will you supply his place and accompany us?" asked Luke of the +ferryman. + +"No, no," replied Jem, shaking his head; "there's too much risk, and too +little profit, in the business for me--it won't pay." + +"And what might tempt you to undertake the enterprise?" asked Alan. + +"More than you have to offer, Master Peter," replied Jem, who had not +been enlightened upon the subject of Alan's real name or condition. + +"How know you that?" demanded Alan. "Name your demand." + +"Well, then, I'll not say but a hundred pounds, if you had it, might +bribe me----" + +"To part with your soul to the devil, I doubt not," said Luke, fiercely +stamping the ground. "Let us be gone. We need not his mercenary aid. We +will do without him." + +"Stay," said Alan, "you shall have the hundred, provided you will assure +us of your services." + +"Cut no more blarneyfied whids, Master Sexton," replied Jem, in a gruff +tone. "If I'm to go, I must have the chink down, and that's more nor +either of you can do, I'm thinking." + +"Give me your purse," whispered Alan to his grandson. "Pshaw," continued +he, "do you hesitate? This man can do much for us. Think upon Eleanor, +and be prudent. You cannot accomplish your task unaided." Taking the +amount from the purse, he gave it to the ferryman, adding, "If we +succeed, the sum shall be doubled; and now let us set out." + +During Alan's speech, Jem's sharp eyes had been fastened upon the purse, +while he mechanically clutched the bank-notes which were given to him. +He could not remove his gaze, but continued staring at the treasure +before him, as if he would willingly, by force, have made it all his +own. + +Alan saw the error he had committed in exposing the contents of the +purse to the avaricious ferryman, and was about to restore it to Luke, +when the bag was suddenly snatched from his grasp, and himself levelled +by a blow upon the floor. Conkey Jem found the temptation irresistible. +Knowing himself to be a match for both his companions, and imagining he +was secure from interruption, he conceived the idea of making away with +them, and possessing himself of their wealth. No sooner had he disposed +of Alan, than he assailed Luke, who met his charge half way. With the +vigor and alacrity of the latter the reader is already acquainted, but +he was no match for the herculean strength of the double-jointed +ferryman, who, with the ferocity of the boar he so much resembled, thus +furiously attacked him. Nevertheless, as may be imagined, he was not +disposed to yield up his life tamely. He saw at once the villain's +murderous intentions, and, well aware of his prodigious power, would not +have risked a close struggle could he have avoided it. Snatching the +eel-spear from the wall, he had hurled it at the head of his adversary, +but without effect. In the next instant he was locked in a clasp +terrible as that of a Polar bear. In spite of all his struggles, Luke +was speedily hurled to the ground: and Jem, who had thrown himself upon +him, was apparently searching about for some weapon to put a bloody +termination to the conflict, when the trampling of a horse was heard at +the door, three taps were repeated slowly, one after the other, and a +call resounded from a whistle. + +"Damnation!" ejaculated Jem, gruffly, "interrupted!" And he seemed +irresolute, slightly altering his position on Luke's body. + +The moment was fortunate for Luke, and, in all probability, saved his +life. He extricated himself from the ferryman's grasp, regained his +feet, and, what was of more importance, the weapon he had thrown away. + +"Villain!" cried he, about to plunge the spear with all his force into +his enemy's side, "you shall----" + +The whistle was again heard without. + +"Don't you hear that?" cried Jem: "'Tis Turpin's call." + +"Turpin!" echoed Luke, dropping the point of his weapon. "Unbar the +door, you treacherous rascal, and admit him." + +"Well, say no more about it, Sir Luke," said Jem, fawningly; "I knows I +owes you my life, and I thank you for it. Take back the lowre. He should +not have shown it me--it was that as did all the mischief." + +"Unbar the door, and parley not," said Luke contemptuously. + +Jem complied with pretended alacrity, but real reluctance, casting +suspicious glances at Luke as he withdrew the bolts. The door at length +being opened, haggard, exhausted, and covered with dust, Dick Turpin +staggered into the hut. + +"Well, I am here," said he, with a hollow laugh. "I've kept my word--ha, +ha! I've been damnably put to it; but here I am, ha, ha!" And he sank +upon one of the stools. + +"We heard you were apprehended," said Luke. "I am glad to find the +information was false," added he, glancing angrily at the ferryman. + +"Whoever told you that, told you a lie, Sir Luke," replied Dick; "but +what are you scowling at, old Charon?--and you, Sir Luke? Why do you +glower at each other? Make fast the door--bolt it, Cerberus--right! Now +give me a glass of brandy, and then I'll talk--a bumper--so--another. +What's that I see--a dead man? Old Peter--Alan I mean--has anything +happened to him, that he has taken his measure there so quietly?" + +"Nothing, I trust," said Luke, stooping to raise up his grandsire. "The +blow has stunned him." + +"The blow?" repeated Turpin. "What! there _has_ been a quarrel then? I +thought as much from your amiable looks at each other. Come, come, we +must have no differences. Give the old earthworm a taste of this--I'll +engage it will bring him to fast enough. Ay, rub his temples with it if +you'd rather; but it's a better remedy down the gullet--the natural +course; and hark ye, Jem, search your crib quickly, and see if you have +any _grub_ within it, and any more _bub_ in the cellar: I'm as hungry as +a hunter, and as thirsty as a camel." + + + + +_CHAPTER II_ + +_MAJOR MOWBRAY_ + + _Mephistopheles._ Out with your toasting iron! Thrust away! + + HAYWARD'S _Translation of Faust_. + + +Conkey Jem went in search of such provisions as his hovel afforded. +Turpin, meantime, lent his assistance towards the revival of Alan +Rookwood; and it was not long before his efforts, united with those of +Luke, were successful, and Alan restored to consciousness. He was +greatly surprised to find the highwayman had joined them, and expressed +an earnest desire to quit the hut as speedily as possible. + +"That shall be done forthwith, my dear fellow," said Dick. "But if you +had fasted as long as I have done, and gone through a few of my fatigues +into the bargain, you would perceive, without difficulty, the propriety +of supping before you started. Here comes Old Nosey, with a flitch of +bacon and a loaf. Egad, I can scarce wait for the toasting. In my +present mood, I could almost devour a grunter in the sty." Whereupon he +applied himself to the loaf, and to a bottle of stout March ale, which +Jem placed upon the table, quaffing copious draughts of the latter, +while the ferryman employed himself in toasting certain rashers of the +flitch upon the hissing embers. + +Luke, meanwhile, stalked impatiently about the room. He had laid aside +his tridental spear, having first, however, placed a pistol within his +breast to be ready for instant service, should occasion demand it, as he +could now put little reliance upon the ferryman's fidelity. He glanced +with impatience at Turpin, who pursued his meal with steady voracity, +worthy of a half-famished soldier; but the highwayman returned no answer +to his looks, except such as was conveyed by the incessant clatter of +his masticating jaws, during the progress of his, apparently, +interminable repast. + +"Ready for you in a second, Sir Luke," said Dick; "all right +now--capital ale, Charon--strong as Styx--ha, ha!--one other rasher, and +I've done. Sorry to keep you--can't conceive how cleverly I put the +winkers upon 'em at York, in the dress of a countryman; all owing to old +Balty, the patrico, an old pal--ha, ha! My old pals never _nose_ upon +me--eh, Nosey--always help one out of the water--always staunch. Here's +health to you, old crony." + +Jem returned a sulky response, as he placed the last rasher on the +table, which was speedily discussed. + +"Poor Bess!" muttered Dick, as he quaffed off the final glass of ale. +"Poor lass! we buried her by the roadside, beneath the trees--deep--deep. +Her remains shall never be disturbed. Alas! alas! my bonny Black Bess! +But no matter, her name is yet alive--her deeds will survive her--the +trial is over. And now," continued he, rising from his seat, "I'm with +you. Where are the tits?" + +"In the stable, under ground," growled Jem. + +Alan Rookwood, in the mean time, had joined his grandson, and they +conversed an instant or two apart. + +"My strength will not bear me through the night," said he. "That fellow +has thoroughly disabled me. You must go without me to the hall. Here is +the key of the secret passage. You know the entrance. I will await you +in the tomb." + +"The tomb!" echoed Luke. + +"Ay, our family vault," returned Alan, with a ghastly grin--"it is the +only place of security for me now. Let me see _her_ there. Let me know +that my vengeance is complete, that I triumph in my death over him, the +accursed _brother_, through you, my grandson. _You_ have a rival +brother--a successful one; you know now what hatred is." + +"I do," returned Luke, fiercely. + +"But not such hate as mine, which, through a life, a long life, hath +endured, intense as when 'twas first engendered in my bosom; which _from +one_ hath spread o'er all my race--o'er all save _you_--and which even +now, when death stares me in the face--when the spirit pants to fly from +its prison-house, burns fiercely as ever. You cannot know what hate like +that may be. You must have wrongs--such wrongs as _mine_ first." + +"My hate to Ranulph is bitter as your own to Sir Reginald." + +"Name him not," shrieked Alan. "But, oh! to think upon the bride he +robbed me of--the young--the beautiful!--whom I loved to madness; whose +memory is a barbed shaft, yet rankling keen as ever at my heart. God of +Justice! how is it that I have thus long survived? But some men die by +inches. My dying lips shall name him once again, and then 'twill be but +to blend his name with curses." + +"I speak of him no more," said Luke. "I will meet you in the vault." + +"Remember, to-morrow is her wedding day with Ranulph." + +"Think you I forget it?" + +"Bear it constantly in mind. To-morrow's dawn must see her _yours_ or +_his_. You have her oath. To you or to death she is affianced. If she +should hesitate in her election, do not you hesitate. Woman's will is +fickle; her scruples of conscience will be readily overcome; she will +not heed her vows--but let her not escape you. Cast off all your +weakness. You are young, and not as I am, age-enfeebled. Be firm, and," +added he, with a look of terrible meaning, "if all else should fail--if +you are surrounded--if you cannot bear her off--use this," and he placed +a dagger in Luke's hands. "It has avenged me, ere now, on a perjured +wife, it will avenge you of a forsworn mistress, and remove all obstacle +to Rookwood." + +Luke took the weapon. + +"Would you have me kill her?" demanded he. + +"Sooner than she should be Ranulph's." + +"Ay, aught sooner than that. But I would not murder both." + +"Both!" echoed Alan. "I understand you not." + +"Sybil and Eleanor," replied Luke; "for, as surely as I live, Sybil's +death will lie at my door." + +"How so?" asked Alan; "the poison was self-ministered." + +"True," replied Luke, with terrible emphasis, "but I _spoke daggers_. +Hearken to me," said he, hollowly whispering in his grandsire's ears. +"Methinks I am not long for this world. I have seen her since her +death!" + +"Tut, tut," replied Alan. "'Tis not for you--a man--to talk thus. A +truce to these womanish fancies." + +"Womanish or not," returned Luke; "either my fancy has deceived me, or I +beheld her, distinctly as I now behold you, within yon cave, while you +were sleeping by my side." + +"It is disordered fancy," said Alan Rookwood. "You will live--live to +inherit Rookwood--live to see them fall crushed beneath your feet. For +myself, if I but see you master of Eleanor's hand, or know that she no +longer lives to bless your rival, or to mar your prospects, I care not +how soon I brave my threatened doom." + +"Of one or other you shall be resolved to-night," said Luke, placing the +dagger within his vest. + +At this moment a trampling of a horse was heard before the hovel, and in +another instant a loud knocking resounded from the door. The ferryman +instantly extinguished the light, motioning his companions to remain +silent. + +"What, ho!" shouted a voice. "Ferry wanted." + +"Gad zooks!" exclaimed Dick. "As I live, 'tis Major Mowbray!" + +"Major Mowbray!" echoed Alan, in amazement "What doth he here?" + +"He must be on his way from York to Rookwood, I conclude," said Dick. +"If he's here, I'll engage the others are not far off." + +Scarcely were the words out of Dick's mouth, when further clatter was +heard at the door, and the tones of Coates were heard, in _altissimo_ +key, demanding admittance. + +"Let us retire into the next room," whispered Turpin, "and then admit +them by all means, Conkey. And, hark ye, manage to detain them a few +seconds." + +"I'll do it," said Jem. "There's a bit of a hole you can peep through." + +Another loud rat-tat was heard at the door, threatening to burst it from +its hinges. + +"Well, I be coming," said Jem, seeing the coast was clear, in a drowsy, +yawning tone, as if just awakened from sleep. "You'll cross the river +none the faster for making so much noise." + +With these words he unbarred the door, and Coates and Paterson, who, it +appeared, were proceeding to Rookwood, entered the hovel. Major Mowbray +remained on horseback at the door. + +"Can you find us a glass of brandy to keep out the fog?" said Coates, +who knew something of our ferryman's vocations. "I know you are a lad of +amazing _spirit_." + +"May be I can, master, if I choose. But won't the other gemman walk +in-doors likewise?" + +"No, no," said Coates; "Major Mowbray don't choose to dismount." + +"Well, as you please," said Jem. "It'll take me a minute or two to get +the punt in order for all them prads." + +"The brandy in the first place," said Coates. "What's here?" added the +loquacious attorney, noticing the remnants of Turpin's repast. "But that +we're hurried, I should like a little frizzled bacon myself." + +Jem opened the door of his dormitory with the greatest caution, though +apparent indifference, and almost instantly returned with the brandy. +Coates filled a glass for Paterson, and then another for himself. The +ferryman left the house apparently to prepare his boat, half closing the +door after him. + +"By my faith! this is the right thing, Paterson," said the attorney. "We +may be sure the strength of this was never tested by a gauger's proof. +Take another thimbleful. We've twelve miles and a heavy pull to go +through ere we reach Rookwood. After all, we made but a poor night's +work of it, Master Constable. Cursed stupid in us to let him escape. I +only wish we had such another chance. Ah, if we had him within reach +now, how we would spring upon him--secure him in an instant. I should +glory in the encounter. I tell you what, Paterson, if ever he is taken, +I shall make a point of attending his execution, and see whether he dies +game. Ha, ha! You think he's sure to swing, Paterson, eh?" + +"Why, yes," replied the chief constable. "I wish I was as certain of my +reward as that Turpin will eventually figure at the scragging-post." + +"Your reward!" replied Coates. "Make yourself easy on that score, my +boy; you shall have your dues, depend upon it. Nay, for the matter of +that, I'll give you the money now, if you think proper." + +"Nothing like time present," said Paterson. "We'll make all square at +once." + +"Well, then," said Coates, taking out a pocket-book, "you shall have the +hundred I promised. You won't get Turpin's reward, the three hundred +pounds; but that can't be helped. You shall have mine--always a man of +my word, Paterson," continued the attorney, counting out the money. "My +father, the thief-taker, was a man of his word before me." + +"No doubt," said the chief constable; "I shall always be happy to serve +you." + +"And then there's that other affair," said the attorney, mysteriously, +still occupied in doling out his bank-notes, "that Luke Bradley's case; +the fellow, I mean, who calls himself Sir Luke Rookwood--ha, ha! A rank +impostor! Two fives, that makes fifty: you want another fifty, Paterson. +As I was saying, we may make a good job of that--we must ferret him out. +I know who will come down properly for that; and if we could only tuck +him up with his brother blade, why it would be worth double. He's all +along been a thorn in my Lady Rookwood's side; he's an artful +scoundrel." + +"Leave him to me," said Paterson; "I'll have him in less than a week. +What's your charge against him?" + +"Felony, burglary, murder, every description of crime under the +heavens," said Coates. "He's a very devil incarnate. Dick Turpin is as +mild as milk compared with him. By-the-by, now I think of it, this Jem, +Conkey Jem, as folks call him, may know something about him; he's a keen +file; I'll sound him. Thirty, forty, fifty--there's the exact amount. So +much for Dick Turpin." + +"Dick Turpin thanks you for it in person," said Dick, suddenly snatching +the whole sum from Paterson's hands, and felling the chief constable +with a blow of one of his pistols. "I wish I was as sure of escaping the +gallows as I am certain that Paterson has got his reward. You stare, +sir. You are once more in the hands of the Philistines. See who is at +your elbow." + +Coates, who was terrified almost out of his senses at the sight of +Turpin, scarcely ventured to turn his head; but when he did so, he was +perfectly horror-stricken at the threatening aspect of Luke, who held a +cutlass in his hand, which he had picked up in the ferryman's bedroom. + +"So you would condemn me for crimes I have never committed," said Luke. +"I am tempted, I own, to add the destruction of your worthless existence +to their number." + +"Mercy, for God's sake, mercy!" cried Coates, throwing himself at Luke's +feet. "I meant not what I said." + +"Hence, reptile," said Luke, pushing him aside; "I leave you to be dealt +upon by others." + +At this juncture, the door of the hut was flung open, and in rushed +Major Mowbray, sword in hand, followed by Conkey Jem. + +"There he stands, sir," cried the latter; "upon him!" + +"What! Conkey Jem turned snitch upon his pals?" cried Dick; "I scarce +believe my own ears." + +"Make yourself scarce, Dick," growled Jem; "the jigger's open, and the +boat loose. Leave Luke to his fate. He's sold." + +"Never! vile traitor," shouted Dick; "'tis thou art _sold_, not he;" +and, almost ere the words were spoken, a ball was lodged in the brain of +the treacherous ferryman. + +Major Mowbray, meanwhile, had rushed furiously upon Luke, who met his +assault with determined calmness. The strife was sharp, and threatened a +speedy and fatal issue. On the Major's side it was a desperate attack of +cut and thrust, which Luke had some difficulty in parrying; but as yet +no wounds were inflicted. Soldier as was the Major, Luke was not a whit +inferior to him in his knowledge of the science of defence, and in the +exercise of the broadsword he was perhaps the more skilful of the two: +upon the present occasion his coolness stood him in admirable stead. +Seeing him hard pressed, Turpin would have come to his assistance; but +Luke shouted to him to stand aside, and all that Dick could do, amid the +terrific clash of steel, was to kick the tables out of the way of the +combatants. Luke's aim was now slightly grazed by a cut made by the +Major, which he had parried. The smart of the wound roused his ire. He +attacked his adversary in his turn, with so much vigor and good will, +that, driven backwards by the irresistible assault, Major Mowbray +stumbled over the ferryman's body, which happened to lie in his way; and +his sword being struck from his grasp, his life became at once at his +assailant's disposal. + +Luke sheathed his sword. "Major Mowbray," said he, sternly, "your life +is in my power. I spare it for the blood that is between us--for your +sister's sake. I would not raise my hand against her brother." + +"I disclaim your kindred with me, villain!" wrathfully exclaimed the +Major. "I hold you no otherwise than as a wretched impostor, who has set +up claims he cannot justify; and as to my sister, if you dare to couple +her name----" and the Major made an ineffectual attempt to raise +himself, and to regain his sword, which Turpin, however, removed. + +"Dare!" echoed Luke, scornfully; "hereafter, you may learn to fear my +threats, and acknowledge the extent of my daring; and in that confidence +I give you life. Listen to me, sir. I am bound for Rookwood. I have +private access to the house--to your sister's chamber--_her +chamber_--mark you that! I shall go armed--attended. This night she +shall be mine. From you--from Ranulph--from Lady Rookwood, from all will +I bear her off. She shall be mine, and you, before the dawn, my brother, +or----" And Luke paused. + +"What further villainy remains untold?" inquired the Major, fiercely. + +"You shall bewail your sister's memory," replied Luke, gloomily. + +"I embrace the latter alternative with rapture," replied the Major--"God +grant her firmness to resist you. But I tremble for her." And the stern +soldier groaned aloud in his agony. + +"Here is a cord to bind him," said Turpin; "he must remain a prisoner +here." + +"Right," said Alan Rookwood, "unless--but enough blood has been shed +already." + +"Ay, marry has there," said Dick, "and I had rather not have given +Conkey Jem a taste of blue plumb, had there been any other mode of +silencing the snitching scoundrel, which there was not. As to the Major, +he's a gallant enemy, and shall have fair play as long as Dick Turpin +stands by. Come, sir," added he, to the Major, as he bound him hand and +foot with the rope, "I'll do it as gently as I can. You had better +submit with a good grace. There's no help for it. And now for my friend +Paterson, who was so anxious to furnish me with a hempen cravat, before +my neck was in order, he shall have an extra twist of the rope himself, +to teach him the inconvenience of a tight neckcloth when he recovers." +Saying which, he bound Paterson in such a manner, that any attempt at +liberation on the chief constable's part would infallibly strangle him. +"As to you, Mr. Coates," said he, addressing the trembling man of law, +"you shall proceed to Rookwood with us. You may yet be useful, and I'll +accommodate you with a seat behind my own saddle--a distinction I never +yet conferred upon any of your tribe. Recollect the countryman at the +Bowling-green at York--ha, ha! Come along, sir." And having kicked out +the turf fire, Dick prepared to depart. + +It would be vain to describe the feelings of rage and despair which +agitated the major's bosom, as he saw the party quit the hovel, +accompanied by Coates. Aware as he was of their destination, after one +or two desperate but ineffectual attempts to liberate himself, by which +he only increased the painful constriction of his bonds, without in the +slightest degree ameliorating his condition, he resigned himself, with +bitterest forebodings, to his fate. There was no one even to sympathize +with his sufferings. Beside him lay the gory corpse of the ferryman, +and, at a little distance, the scarcely more animate frame of the chief +constable. And here we must leave him, to follow, for a short space, the +course of Luke and his companions. + +Concerning themselves little about their own steeds, the party took +those which first offered, and embarking man and horse in the boat, soon +pushed across the waters of the lutulent Don. Arrived at the opposite +banks of the river, they mounted, and, guided by Luke, after half an +hour's sharp riding, arrived at the skirts of Rookwood Park. Entering +this beautiful sylvan domain, they rode for some time silently among the +trees, till they reached the knoll whence Luke beheld the hall on the +eventful night of his discovery of his mother's wedding ring. A few days +only had elapsed, but during that brief space what storms had swept over +his bosom--what ravages had they not made! He was then all ardor--all +impetuosity--all independence. The future presented a bright unclouded +prospect. Wealth, honors, and happiness apparently awaited him. It was +still the same exquisite scene, hushed, holy, tranquil--even solemn, as +upon that glorious night. The moon was out, silvering wood and water, +and shining on the white walls of the tranquil mansion. Nature was calm, +serene, peaceful as ever. Beneath the trees, he saw the bounding +deer--upon the water, the misty wreaths of vapor--all, all was dreamy, +delightful, soothing, all save his heart--_there_ was the +conflict--_there_ the change. Was it a troubled dream, with the dark +oppression of which he was struggling, or was it stern, waking, actual +life? That moment's review of his wild career was terrible. He saw to +what extremes his ungovernable passions had hurried him; he saw their +inevitable consequences; he saw also his own fate; but he rushed madly +on. + +He swept round the park, keeping under the covert of the wood, till he +arrived at the avenue leading to the mansion. The stems of the aged +limes gleamed silvery white in the moonshine. Luke drew in the rein +beneath one of the largest of the trees. + +"A branch has fallen," said he, as his grandsire joined him. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Alan, "a branch from that tree?" + +"It bodes ill to Ranulph," whispered Luke, "does it not?" + +"Perchance," muttered Alan. "'Tis a vast bough!" + +"We meet within an hour," said Luke, abruptly. + +"Within the tomb of our ancestry," replied Alan; "I will await you +there." + +And as he rode away, Alan murmured to himself the following verse from +one of his own ballads: + + But whether gale or calm prevail, or threatening cloud hath fled, + By hand of Fate, predestinate, a limb that tree will shed-- + A verdant bough, untouched, I trow, by axe or tempest's breath-- + To Rookwood's head an omen dread of fast approaching death. + + + + +_CHAPTER III_ + +_HANDASSAH_ + + I have heard it rumored for these many years, + None of our family dies but there is seen + The shape of an old woman, which is given + By tradition to us to have been murthered + By her nephews for her riches. Such a figure + One night, as the prince sat up late at 's book, + Appeared to him; when, crying out for help, + The gentleman of his chamber found his Grace + All in a cold sweat, altered much in face + And language, since which apparition + He hath grown worse and worse, and much I fear + He cannot live. + + _Duchess of Malfy._ + + +In one of those large antique rooms, belonging to the suite of +apartments constituting the eastern wing of Rookwood Place--upon the +same night as that in which the events just detailed took place, and it +might be about the same time, sat Eleanor, and her new attendant, the +gipsy Handassah. The eyes of the former were fixed, with a mixture of +tenderness and pity, upon the lineaments of another lovely female +countenance, bearing a striking resemblance to her own, though +evidently, from its attire, and bygone costume, not intended for her, +depicted upon a tablet, and placed upon a raised frame. It was nigh the +witching hour of night. The room was sombre and dusky, partially +dismantled of its once flowing arras, and the lights set upon the table +feebly illumined its dreary extent. Tradition marked it out as the +chamber in which many of the hapless dames of Rookwood had expired; and +hence Superstition claimed it as her peculiar domain. The room was +reputed to be haunted, and had for a long space shared the fate of +haunted rooms--complete desertion. It was now tenanted by one too young, +too pure, to fear aught unearthly. Eleanor seemed, nevertheless, +affected by the profound melancholy of the picture upon which she gazed. +At length, Handassah observed her start, and avert her eye shudderingly +from the picture. + +"Take it hence," exclaimed Eleanor; "I have looked at that image of my +ancestors, till it has seemed endowed with life--till its eyes have +appeared to return my gaze, and weep. Remove it, Handassah." + +Handassah silently withdrew the tablet, placing it against the wall of +the chamber. + +"Not there--not there," cried Eleanor; "turn it with its face to the +wall. I cannot bear those eyes. And now come hither, girl--draw +nearer--for I know not what of sudden dread has crossed me. This was +_her_ room, Handassah--the chamber of my ancestress--of all the Ladies +Rookwood--where they say----Ha! did you not hear a noise?--a rustle in +the tapestry--a footstep near the wall? Why, you look as startled as I +look, wench; stay by me--I will not have you stir from my side--'twas +mere fancy." + +"No doubt, lady," said Handassah, with her eyes fixed upon the arras. + +"Hist!" exclaimed Eleanor, "there 'tis again." + +"'Tis nothing," replied Handassah. But her looks belied her words. + +"Well, I will command myself," said Eleanor, endeavoring to regain her +calmness; "but the thoughts of the Lady Eleanor--for _she_ was an +Eleanor like to me, Handassah--and ah! even more ill-fated and +unhappy--have brought a whole train of melancholy fancies into my mind. +I cannot banish them: nay, though painful to me, I recur to these images +of dread with a species of fascination, as if in their fate I +contemplated mine own. Not one, who hath wedded a Rookwood, but hath +rued it." + +"Yet you will wed one," said Handassah. + +"He is not like the rest," said Eleanor. + +"How know you that, lady?" asked Handassah. "His time may not yet be +come. See what to-morrow will bring forth." + +"You are averse to my marriage with Ranulph, Handassah." + +"I was Sybil's handmaid ere I was yours, lady. I bear in mind a solemn +compact with the dead, which this marriage will violate. You are +plighted by oath to another, if he should demand your hand." + +"But he has not demanded it." + +"Would you accept him were he to do so?" asked Handassah, suddenly. + +"I meant not that," replied Eleanor. "My oath is annulled." + +"Say not so, lady," cried Handassah--"'twas not for this that Sybil +spared your life. I love you, but I loved Sybil, and I would see her +dying behests complied with." + +"It may not be, Handassah," replied Eleanor. "Why, from a phantom sense +of honor, am I to sacrifice my whole existence to one who neither can +love me, nor whom I myself could love? Am I to wed this man because, in +her blind idolatry of him, Sybil enforced an oath upon me which I had no +power to resist, and which was mentally cancelled while taken? Recall +not the horrors of that dreadful cell--urge not the subject more. 'Tis +in the hope that I may be freed for ever from this persecution that I +have consented thus early to wed with Ranulph. This will set Luke's +fancied claims at rest for ever." + +Handassah answered not, but bent her head, as if in acquiescence. + +Steps were now heard near the door, and a servant ushered in Dr. Small +and Mrs. Mowbray. + +"I am come to take leave of you for the night, my dear young lady," said +the doctor; "but before I start for the Vicarage, I have a word or two +to say, in addition to the advice you were so obliging as to receive +from me this morning. Suppose you allow your attendant to retire for a +few minutes. What I have got to say concerns yourself solely. Your +mother will bear us company. There," continued the doctor, as Handassah +was dismissed--"I am glad that dark-faced gipsy has taken her departure. +I can't say I like her sharp suspicious manner, and the first exercise I +should make at my powers, were I to be your husband, should be to +discharge the handmaiden. To the point of my visit. We are alone, I +think. This is a queer old house, Miss Mowbray; and this is the queerest +part of it. Walls have ears, they say; and there are so many holes and +corners in this mansion, that one ought never to talk secrets above +one's breath." + +"I am yet to learn, sir," said Eleanor, "that there is any secret to be +communicated." + +"Why, not much, I own," replied the doctor; "at least what has occurred +is no secret in the house by this time. What do you think _has_ +happened?" + +"It is impossible for me to conjecture. Nothing to Ranulph, I hope." + +"Nothing of consequence, I trust,--though he is part concerned with it." + +"What is it?" asked Eleanor. + +"Pray satisfy her curiosity, doctor," interposed Mrs. Mowbray. + +"Well, then," said Small, rather more gravely, "the fact of the matter +stands thus:--Lady Rookwood, who, as you know, was not the meekest wife +in the world, now turns out by no means the gentlest mother, and has +within this hour found out that she has some objection to your union +with her son." + +"You alarm me, doctor." + +"Don't alarm yourself at all. It will be got over without difficulty, +and only requires a little management. Ranulph is with her now, and I +doubt not will arrange all to her satisfaction." + +"What was her objection?" asked Eleanor; "was it any one founded upon my +obligation to Luke--my oath?" + +"Tut, tut! dismiss that subject from your mind entirely," said the +doctor. "That oath is no more binding on your conscience than would have +been the ties of marriage had you been wedded by yon recusant Romish +priest, Father Checkley, upon whose guilty head the Lord be merciful! +Bestow not a thought upon it. My anxiety, together with that of your +mother, is to see you now, as speedily as may be, wedded to Ranulph, and +then that idle question is set at rest for ever; and therefore, even if +such a thing were to occur as that Lady Rookwood should not yield her +consent to your marriage, as that consent is totally unnecessary, we +must go through the ceremonial without it." + +"The grounds of Lady Rookwood's objections----" said Mrs. Mowbray. + +"Ay, the grounds of her ladyship's objections," interposed Small, who, +when he had once got the lead, liked nobody to talk but himself, "are +simply these, and exactly the sort of objections one would expect her to +raise. She cannot bear the idea of abandoning the control of the house +and estates to other hands. She cannot, and will not relinquish her +station, as head of the establishment, which Ranulph has insisted upon +as your right. I thought, when I conversed with her on this subject, +that she was changed, but + + Naturam expellas furcâ, tamen usque recurret. + +I beg your pardon. She is, and always will be, the same." + +"Why did not Ranulph concede the point to her? I wish not to dwell here. +I care not for these domains--for this mansion. They have no charms for +me. I could be happy with Ranulph anywhere--happier anywhere than +here." + +The kind-hearted doctor squeezed her hand in reply, brushing a tear from +his eyes. + +"Why did he not concede it?" said Mrs. Mowbray, proudly. "Because the +choice remained not with him. It was not his to concede. This +house--these lands--all--all are yours; and it were poor requital, +indeed, if, after they have so long been wrongfully withheld from us, +you should be a dependant on Lady Rookwood." + +"Without going quite so far as that, madam," said the doctor, "it is but +justice to your daughter that she should be put in full possession of +her rights; nor should I for one instant advise, or even allow her to +inhabit the same house with Lady Rookwood. Her ladyship's peculiarities +of temper are such as to preclude all possibility of happiness. At the +same time, I trust by management--always by management, madam--that her +ladyship's quiet departure may be ensured. I understand that all such +legal arrangements in the way of settlements as could be entered into +between your daughter and her future husband are completed. I have only +to regret the absence of my friend, Mr. Coates, at this momentous +conjuncture. It will be a loss to him. But he inherits from his father a +taste for thief-taking, which he is at present indulging, to the +manifest injury of his legitimate practice. Hark! I hear Ranulph's step +in the gallery. He will tell us the result of his final interview. I +came to give you advice, my dear," added the doctor in a low tone to +Eleanor; "but I find you need it not. 'Whoso humbleth himself, shall be +exalted.' I am glad you do not split upon the rock which has stranded +half your generation." + +At this moment Ranulph Rookwood entered the room, followed by Handassah, +who took her station at the back of the room, unperceived by the rest of +the party, whose attention was attracted by Ranulph's agitated manner. + +"What has happened?" asked Dr. Small and Mrs. Mowbray in the same +breath. + +Ranulph hesitated for a moment in his answer, during which space he +regarded Eleanor with the deepest anxiety, and seemed revolving within +himself how he could frame his reply in such way as should be least +painful to her feelings; while, with instinctive apprehension of coming +misfortune, Miss Mowbray eagerly seconded the inquiries of her friends. + +"It is with great pain," said he, at length, in a tone of despondency, +not unmingled with displeasure, "that I am obliged to descant upon the +infirmities of a parent, and to censure her conduct as severely as I may +do now. I feel the impropriety of such a step, and I would willingly +avoid it, could I do so in justice to my own feelings--and especially at +a moment like the present--when every hope of my life is fixed upon +uniting myself to you, dear Eleanor, by ties as near as my own to that +parent. But the interview which I have just had with Lady +Rookwood--bitter and heart-breaking as it has been--compels me to +reprobate her conduct in the strongest terms, as harsh, unjust, and +dishonorable; and if I could wholly throw off the son, as she avows she +has thrown off the mother, I should unhesitatingly pronounce it as +little short of----" + +"Dear Ranulph," said Eleanor, palpitating with apprehension, "I never +saw you so much moved." + +"Nor with so much reason," rejoined Ranulph. "For myself, I could endure +anything--but for _you_----" + +"And does your dispute relate to _me_?" asked Eleanor. "Is it for _my_ +sake you have braved your mother's displeasure? Is it because Lady +Rookwood is unwilling to resign the control of this house and these +lands to _me_, that you have parted in anger with her? Was this the +cause of your quarrel?" + +"It was the origin of it," replied Ranulph. + +"Mother," said Eleanor, firmly, to Mrs. Mowbray, "go with me to Lady +Rookwood's chamber." + +"Wherefore?" demanded Mrs. Mowbray. + +"Question me not, dear mother, or let me go alone." + +"Daughter, I guess your meaning," said Mrs. Mowbray, sternly. "You would +relinquish your claims in favor of Lady Rookwood. Is it not so?" + +"Since you oblige me to answer you, mother," said Eleanor, crimsoning, +"I must admit that you have guessed my meaning. To Lady Rookwood, as to +yourself, I would be a daughter as far as is consistent with my duty," +added she, blushing still more deeply, "but my first consideration shall +be my husband. And if Lady Rookwood can be content----But pray question +me not further--accompany me to her chamber." + +"Eleanor," interposed Ranulph, "dearest Eleanor, the sacrifice you would +make is unnecessary--uncalled for. You do not know my mother. She would +not, I grieve to say, appreciate the generosity of your motives. She +would not give you credit for your feelings. She would only resent your +visit as an intrusion." + +"My daughter comprehends you, sir," said Mrs. Mowbray, haughtily. "I +will take care that, in her own house, Miss Mowbray shall remain free +from insult." + +"Mother, dear mother," said Eleanor, "do not wilfully misunderstand +him." + +"You can be little aware, madam," said Ranulph, calmly, yet sadly, "how +much I have recently endured--how much of parental anger--how much of +parental malediction I have incurred, to save you and your daughter from +the indignity you apprehend. As I before said, you do not know my +mother; nor could it enter into any well-regulated imagination to +conceive the extremities to which the violence of her passion will, when +her schemes are thwarted, hurry her. The terms upon which you met +together will not escape your recollection; nor shall I need to recall +to your mind her haughtiness, her coldness. That coldness has since +ripened into distrust; and the match which she was at first all anxiety +to promote, she would now utterly set aside, were it in her power to do +so. Whence this alteration in her views has arisen, I have no means of +ascertaining; it is not my mother's custom to give a reason for her +actions, or her wishes: it is all-sufficient to express them. I have +perceived, as the time has drawn nigh for the fulfilment of my dearest +hopes, that her unwillingness has increased; until to-day, what had +hitherto been confined to hints, has been openly expressed, and absolute +objections raised. Such, however, is the peculiarity of her temper, that +I trusted, even at the eleventh hour, I should be able to work a change. +Alas! our last meeting was decisive. She commanded me to break off the +match. At once, and peremptorily, I refused. Pardon me, madam, pardon +me, dearest Eleanor, if I thus enter into particulars; it is absolutely +necessary I should be explicit. Enraged at my opposition to her wishes, +her fury became ungovernable. With appalling imprecations upon the +memory of my poor father, and upon _your_ father, madam, whose chief +offence in her eyes was, it seems, the disposition of his property to +Eleanor, she bade me be gone, and take her curses as my wedding portion. +Beneath this roof--beneath _her_ roof, she added--no marriage of mine +should e'er take place. I might go hence, or might stay, as I thought +fitting; but you and your daughter, whom she characterized as intruders, +should not remain another hour within her house. To this wild raving I +answered, with as much composure as I could command, that she entirely +mistook her own position, and that, so far from the odium of intrusion +resting with you, if applicable to any one, the term must necessarily +affix itself on those who, through ignorance, had for years unjustly +deprived the rightful owners of this place of their inheritance. Upon +this her wrath was boundless. She disowned me as her son; disclaimed all +maternal regard, and heaped upon my head a frightful malediction, at the +recollection of which I still tremble. I will spare you further details +of this dreadful scene. To me it is most distressing; for, however +firmly resolved I may be to pursue a line of conduct which every sound +principle within me dictates as the correct one, yet I cannot be +insensible to the awful responsibility I shall incur in bringing down a +mother's curse upon my head, nor to the jeopardy in which her own +excessive violence may place her." + +Mrs. Mowbray listened to Ranulph's explanation in haughty displeasure; +Eleanor with throbbing, tearful interest; Dr. Small, with mixed feelings +of anger and astonishment. + +"Lady Rookwood's conduct," said the doctor, "is--you must forgive me, my +dear Sir Ranulph, for using strong expressions--outrageous beyond all +precedent, and only excusable on the ground of insanity, to which I wish +it were possible we could attribute it. There is, however, too much +method in her madness to allow us to indulge any such notion; she is +shrewd, dangerous, and designing; and, since she has resolved to oppose +this match, she will leave no means untried to do so. I scarcely know +how to advise you under the circumstances--that is, if my advice were +asked." + +"Which I scarcely think it likely to be, sir," said Mrs. Mowbray, +coldly. "After what has occurred, _I_ shall think it my duty to break +off this alliance, which I have never considered to be so desirable that +its rupture will occasion me an instant's uneasiness." + +"A plague on all these Rookwoods!" muttered Small. "One would think all +the pride of the Prince of Darkness were centered in their bosoms. But, +madam," continued the benevolent doctor, "have you no consideration for +the feelings of your daughter, or for those of one who is no distant +relation to you--your nephew? Your son, Major Mowbray, is, if I mistake +not, most eager for this union to take place between his sister and his +friend." + +"My children have been accustomed to yield implicit obedience to my +wishes," said Mrs. Mowbray, "and Major Mowbray, I am sure, will see the +propriety of the step I am about to take. I am content, at least, to +abide by _his_ opinion." + +"Snubbed again!" mentally ejaculated the doctor, with a shrug of +despair. "It is useless attempting to work upon such impracticable +material." + +Ranulph remained mute, in an attitude of profound melancholy. An +eloquent interchange of glances had passed between him and Eleanor, +communicating to each the anxious state of the other's feelings. + +At this crisis the door was suddenly opened, and old Agnes, Lady +Rookwood's aged attendant, rushed into the room, and sank upon her knees +on the floor, her limbs shaking, her teeth chattering, and every feature +expressive of intense terror. Ranulph went instantly towards her to +demand the cause of her alarm. + +"No, let me pray," cried Agnes, as he took her hand in the attempt to +raise her; "let me pray while there is yet time--let the worthy doctor +pray beside me. Pray for an overladen soul, sir; pray heartily, as you +would hope for mercy yourself. Ah! little know the righteous of the +terrors of those that are beyond the pale of mercy. The Lord pardon me +my iniquities, and absolve _her_." + +"Whom do you mean?" asked Ranulph, in agitation. "You do not allude to +my mother?" + +"You have no longer a mother, young man," said Agnes, solemnly. + +"What!" exclaimed Ranulph, terror-stricken; "is she dead?" + +"She is gone." + +"Gone! How? Whither?" exclaimed all, their amazement increasing each +instant at the terror of the old woman, and the apparently terrible +occasion of it. + +"Speak!" exclaimed Ranulph; "but why do I loiter? my mother, perchance, +is dying--let me go." + +The old woman maintained her clutching grasp, which was strong and +convulsive as that of one struggling betwixt life and death. "It's of no +use, I tell you; it's all over," said she--"the dead are come--the dead +are come--and she is gone." + +"Whither?--whither?" + +"To the grave--to the tomb," said Agnes, in a deep and hollow tone, and +with a look that froze Ranulph's soul. "Listen to me, Ranulph Rookwood, +my child, my nursling--listen while I _can_ speak. We were alone, your +mother and I, after that scene between you; after the dark denunciations +she had heaped upon the dead, when I heard a low and gasping kind of +sob, and there I saw your mother staring wildly upon the vacancy, as if +she saw that of which I dare not think." + +"What think you she beheld?" asked Ranulph, quaking with apprehension. + +"That which had been your father," returned Agnes, in a hollow tone. +"Don't doubt me, sir--you'll find the truth of what I say anon. I am +sure he was there. There was a thrilling, speechless horror in the very +sight of her countenance that froze my old blood to ice--to the ice in +which 'tis now--ough! ough! Well, at length she arose, with her eyes +still fixed, and passed through the paneled door without a word. She is +gone!" + +"What madness is this?" cried Ranulph. "Let me go, woman--'tis that +ruffian in disguise--she may be murdered." + +"No, no," shrieked Agnes; "it was no disguise. She is gone, I tell +you--the room was empty, all the rooms were empty--the passage was +void--through the door they went together--silently, silently--ghostlike, +slow. Ha! that tomb--they are there together now--he has her in his +arms--see, they are here--they glide through the door--do you not see +them now? Did I not speak the truth? She is dead--ha, ha!" And with a +frantic and bewildering laugh the old woman fell upon her face. + +Ranulph raised her from the floor; but the shock of what she had beheld +had been too much for her. She was dead! + + + + +_CHAPTER IV_ + +_THE DOWER OF SYBIL_ + + _Card._ Now art thou come? Thou look'st ghastly; + There sits in thy face some great determination, + Mixed with some fear. + + _Bos._ Thus it lightens into action: + I am come to kill thee. + + _Duchess of Malfy._ + + +Ranulph Rookwood was for some moments so much stunned by the ghastly +fate of Agnes, connected, as it appeared to be, with a supernatural +summons similar to that which he imagined he had himself received, that +he was incapable of stirring from the spot, or removing his gaze from +the rigid features of the corpse, which, even in death, wore the strong +impress of horror and despair. Through life he knew that Agnes, his own +nurse, had been his mother's constant and faithful attendant; the +unhesitating agent of her schemes, and it was to be feared, from the +remorse she had exhibited, the participator of her crimes; and Ranulph +felt, he knew not why, that in having witnessed her terrible end, he +beheld the ultimate condition of his own parent. Conquering, not without +great effort, the horror which had riveted him to the spot, he turned to +look towards Eleanor. She had sunk upon a chair, a silent witness of the +scene, Mrs. Mowbray and Dr. Small having, upon the first alarm given by +Agnes respecting Lady Rookwood's departure from the house quitted the +room to ascertain the truth of her statement. Ranulph immediately flew +to Eleanor. + +"Ranulph," said she, though almost overcome by her alarm, "stay not an +instant here with me. I am sure, from that poor woman's dreadful death, +that something terrible has occurred, perhaps to Lady Rookwood. Go to +her chamber. Tarry not, I entreat of you." + +"But will you, can you remain here alone with that body?" asked Ranulph. + +"I shall not be alone. Handassah is within call--nay, she is here. Oh, +what an eve of our espousals has this been, dear Ranulph. Our whole life +is a troubled volume, of which each successive leaf grows darker. Fate +is opposed to us. It is useless to contend with our destiny. I fear we +shall never be united." + +"Dismiss me not with words like those, dear Eleanor," returned Ranulph. +"Fate cannot have greater woes in store for us than those by which we +are now opposed. Let us hope that we are now at that point whence all +must brighten. Once possessed of you, assured of thus much happiness, I +would set even fate at defiance. And you will be mine to-morrow." + +"Ranulph, dear Ranulph, your suit at this moment is desperate. I dare +not, cannot pledge myself. You yourself heard, even now, my mother's +sentiments, and I cannot marry without her consent." + +"Your mother, like my own, regards not the feelings of her children. +Forgive my boldness, Eleanor; forgive me if I linger now, when duty +calls me hence; but I cannot tear myself away. Your mother may +return--my hopes be crushed; for even your love for me seems annihilated +in her presence." + +"Ranulph, your vehemence terrifies me," rejoined Eleanor. "I implore +you, by the tender affection which you know I bear you, not to urge me +further at this moment. Recall your firmer feelings, and obtain some +mastery over yourself. I repeat, I am yours only, if I am bride of any +one. But when our union can take place rests not with myself. And now, I +entreat of you, leave me." + +"You are mine," said Ranulph, with fervor; "mine only." + +"Yours only," replied Eleanor. + +"Be this the earnest of my happiness!" exclaimed Ranulph, imprinting a +long and impassioned kiss upon her lips. + +The lovers were startled from their embrace by a profound sigh; it +proceeded from Handassah, who, unbidden, had replaced the picture of the +Lady Eleanor upon its frame. The augury seemed sinister. Every one who +has gazed steadfastly upon a portrait must have noticed the peculiar and +lifelike character which, under certain aspects, the eyes will assume. +Seen by the imperfect light upon the table, the whole character of the +countenance of the Lady Eleanor seemed changed; the features appeared to +be stamped with melancholy, and the eyes to be fixed with pitying +tenderness upon her descendants. Both gazed at each other and at the +picture, struck with the same sentiment of undefined awe. Beside them +stood the dark figure of the gipsy girl, watching, with ill-concealed +satisfaction, the effect of her handiwork. Ranulph was aroused from his +abstraction by hearing a loud outcry in Mrs. Mowbray's voice. Hastily +committing Eleanor to the care of her attendant, he left the room. +Handassah followed him to the door, closed it after him, and then locked +it within side. This done, she walked back hastily towards Eleanor, +exclaiming, in a tone of exultation, "You have parted with him forever." + +"What mean you, girl?" cried Eleanor, alarmed at her manner. "Why have +you fastened the door? Open it, I command you." + +"Command _me_!" laughed Handassah, scornfully. "What if I refuse your +mandate? What, if, in my turn, I bid _you_ obey _me_? I never owned but +one mistress. If I have bowed my neck to you for a time, 'twas to fulfil +her dying wishes. If I have submitted to your control, it was to +accomplish what I have now accomplished. Your oath! Remember your oath. +The hour is come for its fulfilment." + +With these words Handassah clapped her hands. A panel in the wall +opened, and Luke stood suddenly before them. Silently and with stern +deliberation he strode towards Eleanor, and seizing one of her hands, +drew her forcibly towards him. Eleanor resisted not; she had not the +power; neither did she scream, for so paralyzing was her terror, that +for the moment it took away all power of utterance. Luke neither stirred +nor spoke, but, still maintaining his hold, gazed searchingly upon her +features, while Eleanor, as if spell-bound, could not withdraw her eyes +from him. Nothing more terribly impressive could be conceived than +Luke's whole appearance. Harassed and exhausted by the life he had +recently led; deprived almost of natural rest; goaded by remorse, his +frame was almost worn to the bone, while his countenance, once dark and +swarthy, was now blanched and colorless as marble. This pallid and +deathlike hue was, in all probability, owing to the loss of blood he had +sustained from the wound inflicted by Major Mowbray, with the stains of +which his apparel was dyed; for, though staunched, the effusion had been +sufficient to cause great faintness. His dark eyes blazed with their +wonted fire--nay, they looked darker and larger from his exceeding +paleness, and such intense mental and bodily suffering was imprinted +upon his countenance, that, despite its fierceness and desperation, few +could have regarded him without sympathy. Real desperation has so much +of agony in its character, that no one can witness it unmoved. His garb +was not that in which the reader first beheld him, but a rich, dark, +simple suit of velvet, corresponding more with his real rank in life +than his former peasant's attire; but it was disordered by his recent +conflict, and stained with bloody testimonials of the fray; while his +long, sable curls, once his pride and ornament, now hung in intertangled +elf-locks, like a coil of wreathed water-snakes. Even in her terror, as +she dwelt upon his noble features, Eleanor could not help admitting that +she beheld the undoubted descendant, and the living likeness of the +handsomest and most distinguished of her house--the profligate and +criminal Sir Reginald. As her eye, mechanically following this train of +thought, wandered for an instant to the haughty portraiture of Sir +Reginald, which formed part of the family pictures, and thence to those +of his unfortunate lady, she was struck with the fancy that, by some +terrible fatality, the tragic horrors of bygone days were to be again +enacted in their persons, and that they were in some way strangely +identified with their unfortunate progenitors. So forcibly was this idea +impressed upon her features that Luke, who had followed the direction of +her glances, became instantly aware of it. Drawing her nearer to the +portrait of the Lady Eleanor, he traced the resemblance in mute wonder; +thence, turning towards that of Sir Reginald, he proudly exclaimed: "You +doubted once my lineage, maiden--can you gaze on those features, which +would almost seem to be a reflection of mine own, and longer hesitate +whose descendant I am? I glory in my likeness. There is a wild delight +in setting human emotions at naught, which he was said to feel--which I +feel now. Within these halls I seem to breathe an atmosphere congenial +to me. I visit what I oft have visited in my dreams; or as in a state of +pre-existence. Methinks, as I gaze on you, I could almost deem myself +Sir Reginald, and you his bride, the Lady Eleanor. Our fates were +parallel: _she_ was united to her lord by ties of hatred--by a _vow_--_a +bridal vow_! So are you to me. And she could ne'er escape him--could +ne'er throw off her bondage--nor shall you. I claim the fulfilment of +_your_ oath; you are _mine_." + +"Never, never!" shrieked Eleanor, struggling to disengage herself. But +Luke laughed at her feeble efforts. Handassah stood by, a passive +spectatress of the scene, with her arms folded upon her bosom. + +"You refuse compliance," said Luke, scornfully. "Have you no hopes of +Heaven, no fears of perdition, that you dare to violate your vow? +Bethink you of the awful nature of that obligation; of the life that was +laid down to purchase it; of the blood which will cry out for vengeance +'gainst the _murderess_, should you hesitate. By that blood-cemented +sacrament, I claim you as my own. You are mine." And he dragged her +towards the opening. + +Eleanor uttered a long and terrific scream. + +"Be silent, on your life," added he, searching for the dagger given to +him by Alan Rookwood, when, as his hand sought the weapon, Eleanor +escaped from his grasp, and fled towards the door. But Handassah had +anticipated her intention. The key was withdrawn from the lock, and the +wretched maiden vainly tried to open it. + +At this instant Turpin appeared at the sliding panel. + +"Quick, quick!" cried he, impatiently--"despatch, in the devil's name. +The house is alarmed. I hear young Ranulph's voice in the gallery." + +"Ranulph!" shrieked Eleanor--"then I am saved," and she redoubled her +outcries for assistance. + +Luke again seized his victim. Her hands clutched so convulsively fast in +her despairing energy against the handle of the door that he could not +tear her thence. By this time Ranulph Rookwood, who had caught her +reiterated screams for help, was at the entrance. He heard her +struggles; he heard Luke's threats--his mockery--his derisive +laughter--but vainly, vainly did he attempt to force it open. It was of +the strongest oak, and the bolts resisted all his efforts. A board alone +divided him from his mistress. He could hear her sobs and gasps. He saw, +from the action of the handle, with what tenacity she clung to it; and, +stung to frenzy by the sight, he hurled himself against the sturdy +plank, but all in vain. At length the handle was still. There was a +heavy fall upon the floor--a stifled scream--and a sound as of a body +being dragged along. The thought was madness. + +"To the panel! to the panel!" cried a voice--it was that of Turpin--from +within. + +"The panel!--ha!" echoed Ranulph, with a sudden gleam of hope. "I may +yet save her." And he darted along the corridor with the swiftness of +thought. + +Luke, meanwhile, had for some minutes fruitlessly exhausted all his +force to drag Eleanor from the door. Despair gave her strength; she +clutched at the door; but she felt her strength failing her--her grasp +was relaxing. And then the maddening thought that she would be shortly +his--that he would slay her--while the idea that Ranulph was so near, +and yet unable to protect her, added gall even to her bitterness. With +savage delight Luke exulted in the lovers' tortures. He heard Ranulph's +ineffectual attempts; he heard his groans; he heard their mutual cries. +Inflamed by jealousy, he triumphed in his power of vengeance, and even +prolonged the torture which accident had given him the means of +inflicting. He stood like the inquisitor who marks his victim's anguish +on the rack, and calculates his powers of further endurance. But he +could no longer dally, even with this horrible gratification. His +companion grew impatient. Eleanor's fair long tresses had escaped from +their confinement in the struggle, and fell down her neck in disorder. +Twining his fingers amidst its folds, Luke dragged her backwards from +her hold, and, incapable of further resistance, her strength completely +exhausted, the wretched girl fell to the ground. + +Luke now raised her almost inanimate form in his arms, and had nigh +reached the aperture, when a crash was heard in the panel opposite to +that by which he was about to escape, and communicating with a further +apartment. It was thrown open, and Ranulph Rookwood presented himself at +the narrow partition. An exclamation of joy, that he was yet in time, +escaped his lips; and he was about to clear the partition at a bound, +and to precipitate himself upon Luke, when, as suddenly as his own +action, was the person of the unfortunate Mr. Coates wedged into the +aperture. + +"Traitor!" cried Ranulph, regarding Coates with concentrated fury, "dare +you to oppose me?--hence! or, by Heaven, I will cut you down!" + +"'Tis impossible," ejaculated the attorney. "For your own sake, Sir +Ranulph--for my sake--I entreat--implore of you--not to attempt to pass +this way. Try the other door." + +Ranulph said no more. He passed his sword through the body of the +miserable attorney, who, with a deep groan, fell. The only obstacle to +his passage being thus removed, he at once leaped into the room. + +The brothers were now confronted, together, but little of brotherly love +mingled with the glances which they threw upon each other. Ranulph's +gentle, but withal enthusiastic temperament, had kindled, under his +present excitement, like flax at the sudden approach of flame. He was +wild with frenzy. Luke was calmer, but his fury was deadly and +inextinguishable. The meeting was terrible on both sides. + +With one arm Luke enfolded Eleanor, with the other he uplifted the +dagger. Its point was towards her bosom. Scowling grim defiance at +Ranulph, he exclaimed, in a determined tone, "Advance a footstep, and my +dagger descends into her heart." + +Ranulph hesitated, uncertain how to act; foaming with rage, yet +trembling with apprehension. + +"Ranulph," gasped Eleanor, "life without you were valueless. +Advance--avenge me!" + +Ranulph still hesitated. He could not, by any act of his own, compromise +Eleanor's safety. + +Luke saw his advantage, and was not slow to profit by it. "You seal her +destruction if you stir," said he. + +"Villain," returned Ranulph, between his ground teeth, and with +difficulty commanding sufficient coolness to speak with deliberation, +"you perceive your power. Injure her, and nothing earthly shall protect +you. Free her, and take your life and liberty; nay, reward if you will. +You cannot otherwise escape me." + +"Escape you!" laughed Luke, disdainfully. "Stand aside, and let me pass. +Beware," added he, sternly, "how you oppose me. I would not have a +brother's blood upon my soul." + +"Nor I," cried Ranulph; "but you pass not." And he placed himself full +in Luke's path. + +Luke, however, steadily moved forward, holding Eleanor between himself +and Ranulph, so as to shield his own person; but, fancying he saw an +opportunity of dealing a blow without injury to his mistress, the latter +was about to hazard the thrust, when his arms were seized behind, and he +was rendered powerless. + +"Lost, lost," groaned he; "she is lost to me forever!" + +"I fear that's but too true," said Turpin, for it was the highwayman +whose grasp confined Ranulph. + +"Must I see her borne away before my eyes?" cried Ranulph. "Release +me--set me free!" + +"Quite impossible at present," returned Dick. "Mount and away, Sir +Luke," continued he; "never mind me. Leave me to shift for myself." + +"Eleanor!" cried Ranulph, as she passed close by his side. + +"Ranulph!" shrieked Eleanor, with a loud scream, recalled to +consciousness by his voice, "farewell for ever." + +"Ay, for ever," responded Luke, triumphantly. "You meet no more on +earth." + +He was about to pass through the panel, when Eleanor exerted all her +remaining strength in a last futile attempt at liberation. In the +struggle, a packet fell from Luke's bosom. + +Handassah stooped to pick it up. + +"From Sybil!" exclaimed she, glancing at the superscription. + +"Remember my promise to old Barbara," roared Dick, who had some +curiosity, as the reader knows, to learn what the package contained. +"The time is arrived. Eleanor is in your power--in your presence." + +"Give me the packet," said Luke, resigning Eleanor for the instant to +Handassah's custody--"take the steel, and grasp her firmly." + +Handassah, who, though slight of figure, was of singular personal +strength, twined her arms about Miss Mowbray in such a manner as to +preclude all possibility of motion. + +Luke tore open the package. It was a box carefully enclosed in several +folds of linen, and lastly within a sheet of paper, on which were +inscribed these words: + + THE DOWER OF SYBIL + +Hastily, and with much curiosity, Luke raised the lid of the box. It +contained one long silken tress of blackest hair enviously braided. It +was Sybil's. His first impulse was to cast it from him; his next, +reproachfully to raise it to his lips. He started as if a snake had +stung him. + +At this moment a loud clamor was heard in the gallery. In the next, the +door was assailed by violent strokes, evidently proceeding from some +weighty instrument, impelled by the united strength of several +assailants. + +The voice of Turpin rose above the deafening din. "A bullet for the +first who enters," shouted he. "Quick, Sir Luke, and the prize is +safe--away, and----" + +But as he seconded his exhortation with a glance at Luke, he broke off +the half-uttered sentence, and started with horror and amazement. Ere +the cause of his alarm could be expressed, the door was burst open, and +a crowd of domestics, headed by Major Mowbray and Titus Tyrconnel, +rushed into the room. + +"Nay, then, the game's up!" exclaimed Dick; "I have done with Rookwood." +And, springing through the panel, he was seen no more. + +When the newcomers first looked round, they could perceive only two +figures besides themselves--those of the two lovers--Eleanor having +sunk pale, exhausted, and almost senseless, into the arms of Ranulph. +Presently, however, a ghastly object attracted their attention. All +rushed towards it--all recoiled, as soon as they discovered that it was +the lifeless body of Luke Rookwood. His limbs were stiff, like those of +a corpse which has for hours been such; his eyes protruded from their +sockets; his face was livid and blotched. All bespoke, with terrible +certainty, the efficacy of the poison, and the full accomplishment of +Barbara's revenge. + +Handassah was gone. Probably she had escaped ere Turpin fled. At all +events, she was heard of no more at Rookwood. + +It required little to recall the senses of Eleanor. Shortly she revived, +and as she gazed around, and became conscious of her escape, she uttered +exclamations of thanksgiving, and sank into the embraces of her brother. + +Meanwhile, Mrs. Mowbray and Dr. Small had joined the assemblage. + +The worthy doctor had been full of alarm; but his meditated condolences +were now changed to congratulations, as he heard the particulars of the +terrible scene that had occurred, and of Eleanor's singular and almost +providential deliverance. + +"After what has befallen, madam," said the doctor to Mrs. Mowbray, +slightly coughing, "you can no longer raise any objection to a certain +union, eh?" + +"I will answer for my mother in that particular," said Major Mowbray, +stepping forward. + +"She will answer for herself, my son," said Mrs. Mowbray. "The match has +her full and entire consent. But to what am I to attribute the +unexpected happiness of your return?" + +"To a chain of singular circumstances," replied the Major, "which I will +hereafter detail to you. Suffice it to say, that but for this +gentleman's fortunate arrival," added he, looking at Titus Tyrconnel, +"at the hut on Thorne Waste, I might have been detained a prisoner, +without _parole_, and, what is worse, without provision perhaps for +days; and to add to my distress, fully acquainted with the meditated +abduction of my sister. It was excessively lucky for me, Mr. Tyrconnel, +that you happened to pass that way, and for poor Paterson likewise." + +"Arrah, by my sowl, major, and you may say that with safety; and it was +particularly fortunate that we stumbled upon the tits in the cellar, or +we'd never have been here just in the nick of it. I begin to think we've +lost all chance of taking Dick Turpin this time. He's got clean away." + +"I am not sorry for his escape," said the major. "He's a brave fellow; +and I respect courage wherever I find it, even in a highwayman. I should +be sorry to appear as a witness against him; and I trust it will never +be my fate to do so." + +We shall not pause to describe the affectionate meeting which now ensued +between the brother and sister--the congratulations upon Eleanor's +escape from peril, intermingled with the tenderest embraces, and the +warmest thanks offered to Ranulph for his gallant service. "She is +yours, my dear boy," said the major; "and though you are a Rookwood, and +she bears the ill-fated name of Eleanor, I predict that, contrary to the +usual custom of our families in such cases, all your misfortunes will +have occurred _before_ marriage." + +"There is only one thing," said Small, with a very peculiar expression, +which might almost be construed into serio-comic, could we suspect the +benevolent doctor of any such waggery, "that can possibly throw a shade +over our present felicity. Lady Rookwood is not to be found." + +"My poor mother," said Ranulph, starting. + +"Make yourself easy," said the doctor; "I doubt not we shall hear of her +to-morrow. My only apprehension," added he, half aside, "is, that she +may be heard of before." + +"One other circumstance afflicts me," said Ranulph. "Poor Mr. Coates!" + +"What's that you say of Mr. Coates, Sir Ranulph?" exclaimed Titus. + +"I fear he was killed in the recent affray," said Ranulph. "Let some one +search for the body." + +"Kilt!" echoed Titus. "Is it kilt that Mr. Coates is? Ah! _ullagone_, +and is it over with him entirely? Is he gone to rejoin his father, the +thief-taker? Bring me to his remains." + +"He will bring them to you himself," said the attorney, stepping +forward. "Luckily, Sir Ranulph," said the incurable punster, "it was +merely the _outer coats_ that your sword passed through; the _inner_ +remains uninjured, so that you did not act as my _conveyancer_ to +eternity. Body o' me! I've as many lives as a cat--ha, ha!" + +Ranulph welcomed the facetious man of law with no little satisfaction. + +We think it unnecessary to enter into further detail. Another chamber +was prepared for Eleanor's reception, to which she was almost +immediately transported. The remains of the once fierce and haughty +Luke, now stiff and stark, but still wearing, even in death, their proud +character, were placed upon the self-same bier, and covered with the +self-same pall which, but a week ago, had furnished forth his father's +funeral. And as the domestics crowded round the corpse, there was not +one of them but commented upon his startling resemblance to his +grandsire, Sir Reginald; nor, amongst the superstitious, was the falling +of the fatal bough forgotten. + +Tranquillity was at length restored at the hall. Throughout the night +and during the next day, Ranulph made every search for his mother, but +no tidings could be learned of her. Seriously alarmed, he then caused +more strict and general inquiry to be instituted, but with like +unsuccessful effect. It was not, indeed, till some years afterwards that +her fate was ascertained. + + + + +_CHAPTER V_ + +_THE SARCOPHAGUS_ + + So now 'tis ended, like an old wife's story.--WEBSTER. + + +Notwithstanding the obscurity which hung over the fate of Lady Rookwood, +the celebration of the nuptials of Sir Ranulph and Eleanor was not long +delayed; the ceremony took place at the parish church, and the worthy +vicar officiated upon the occasion. It was a joyous sight to all who +witnessed it, and not few were they who did so, for the whole +neighborhood was bidden to the festival. The old avenue was thronged +with bright and beaming faces, rustic maidens decked out in ribbons of +many-colored splendor, and stout youths in their best holiday trim; nor +was the lusty yeoman and his buxom spouse--nor yet the patriarch of the +village, nor prattling child, wanting. Even the ancestral rooks seemed +to participate in the universal merriment, and returned, from their +eyries, a hoarse greeting, like a lusty chorus of laughter, to the +frolic train. The churchyard path was strewn with flowers--the church +itself a complete garland. Never was there seen a blither wedding: the +sun smiled upon the bride--accounted a fortunate omen, as dark lowering +skies and stormy weather had, within the memory of the oldest of the +tenantry, inauspiciously ushered in all former espousals. The bride had +recovered her bloom and beauty, while the melancholy which had seemingly +settled for ever upon the open brow of the bridegroom, had now given +place to a pensive shade that only added interest to his expressive +features; and, as in simple state, after the completion of the sacred +rites, the youthful pair walked, arm in arm, amongst their thronging and +admiring tenants towards the Hall, many a fervent prayer was breathed +that the curse of the house of Rookwood might be averted from their +heads; and, not to leave a doubt upon the subject, we can add that these +aspirations were not in vain, but that the day, which dawned so +brightly, was one of serene and unclouded happiness to its close. + +After the ceremonial, the day was devoted to festivity. Crowded with +company, from the ample hall to the kitchen ingle, the old mansion could +scarce contain its numerous guests, while the walls resounded with +hearty peals of laughter, to which they had been long unaccustomed. The +tables groaned beneath the lordly baron of beef, the weighty chine, the +castled pasty flanked on the one hand with neat's tongue, and on the +other defended by a mountainous ham, an excellent _pièce de résistance_, +and every other substantial appliance of ancient hospitality. Barrels of +mighty ale were broached, and their nut-brown contents widely +distributed, and the health of the bride and bridegroom was +enthusiastically drunk in a brimming wassail cup of spicy wine with +floating toast. Titus Tyrconnel acted as master of the ceremonies, and +was, Mr. Coates declared, "_quite in his element_." So much was he +elated, that he ventured to cut some of his old jokes upon the vicar, +and, strange to say, without incurring the resentment of Small. + +To retrace the darker course of our narrative, we must state that some +weeks before this happy event the remains of the unfortunate Sir Luke +Rookwood had been gathered to those of his fathers. The document that +attested his legitimacy being found upon his person, the claims denied +to him in life were conceded in death; and he was interred, with all the +pomp and peculiar solemnity proper to one of the house, within the tomb +of his ancestry. + +It was then that a discovery was made respecting Alan Rookwood, in order +to explain which we must again revert to the night of the meditated +_enlèvement_ of Eleanor. + +After quitting his grandson in the avenue, Alan shaped his course among +the fields in the direction to the church. He sought his own humble, +but now deserted dwelling. The door had been forced; some of its meagre +furniture was removed; and the dog, his sole companion, had fled. "Poor +Mole!" said he, "thou hast found, I trust, a better master." And having +possessed himself of what he came in search--namely, a bunch of keys and +his lantern, deposited in an out-of-the-way cupboard, that had escaped +notice, he quickly departed. + +He was once more within the churchyard; once more upon that awful stage +whereon he had chosen to enact, for a long season, his late fantastical +character; and he gazed upon the church tower, glistening in the +moonshine, the green and undulating hillocks, the "chequered +cross-sticks," the clustered headstones, and the black and portentous +yew-trees, as upon "old familiar faces." He mused, for a few moments, +upon the scene, apparently with deep interest. He then walked beneath +the shadows of one of the yews, chanting an odd stanza or so of one of +his wild staves, wrapped the while, it would seem, in affectionate +contemplation of the subject-matter of his song: + + THE CHURCHYARD YEW + + ---- Metuendaque succo + Taxus. + + STATIUS. + + A noxious tree is the churchyard yew, + As if from the dead its sap it drew; + Dark are its branches, and dismal to see, + Like plumes at Death's latest solemnity. + Spectral and jagged, and black as the wings + Which some spirit of ill o'er a sepulchre flings: + Oh! a terrible tree is the churchyard yew; + Like it is nothing so grimly to view. + + Yet this baleful tree hath a core so sound, + Can nought so tough in the grove be found; + From it were fashioned brave English bows, + The boast of our isle, and the dread of its foes. + For our sturdy sires cut their stoutest staves + From the branch that hung o'er their fathers' graves; + And though it be dreary and dismal to view, + Staunch at the heart is the churchyard yew. + +His ditty concluded, Alan entered the churchyard, taking care to leave +the door slightly ajar, in order to facilitate his grandson's entrance. +For an instant he lingered in the chancel. The yellow moonlight fell +upon the monuments of his race; and, directed by the instinct of hate, +Alan's eye rested upon the gilded entablature of his perfidious brother, +Reginald, and, muttering curses, "not loud but deep," he passed on. +Having lighted his lantern in no tranquil mood, he descended into the +vault, observing a similar caution with respect to the portal of the +cemetery, which he left partially unclosed, with the key in the lock. +Here he resolved to abide Luke's coming. The reader knows what +probability there was of his expectations being realized. + +For a while he paced the tomb, wrapped in gloomy meditation, and +pondering, it might be, upon the result of Luke's expedition, and the +fulfilment of his own dark schemes, scowling from time to time beneath +his bent eyebrows, counting the grim array of coffins, and noticing, +with something like satisfaction, that the shell which contained the +remains of his daughter had been restored to its former position. He +then bethought him of Father Checkley's midnight intrusion upon his +conference with Luke, and their apprehension of a supernatural +visitation, and his curiosity was stimulated to ascertain by what means +the priest had gained admission to the spot unperceived and unheard. He +resolved to sound the floor, and see whether any secret entrance +existed; and hollowly and dully did the hard flagging return the stroke +of his heel as he pursued his scrutiny. At length the metallic ringing +of an iron plate, immediately behind the marble effigy of Sir Ranulph, +resolved the point. There it was that the priest had found access to +the vault; but Alan's disappointment was excessive, when he discovered +that the plate was fastened on the underside, and all communication +thence with the churchyard, or to wherever else it might conduct him, +cut off: but the present was not the season for further investigation, +and tolerably pleased with the discovery he had already made, he +returned to his silent march round the sepulchre. + +At length a sound, like the sudden shutting of the church door, broke +upon the profound stillness of the holy edifice. In the hush that +succeeded, a footstep was distinctly heard threading the aisle. + +"He comes--he comes!" exclaimed Alan, joyfully; adding, an instant +after, in an altered voice, "but he comes alone." + +The footstep drew near to the mouth of the vault--it was upon the +stairs. Alan stepped forward to greet, as he supposed, his grandson, but +started back in astonishment and dismay as he encountered in his stead +Lady Rookwood. Alan retreated, while the lady advanced, swinging the +iron door after her, which closed with a tremendous clang. Approaching +the statue of the first Sir Ranulph, she paused, and Alan then remarked +the singular and terrible expression of her eyes, which appeared to be +fixed upon the statue, or upon some invisible object near it. There was +something in her whole attitude and manner calculated to impress the +deepest terror on the beholder. And Alan gazed upon her with an awe +which momently increased. Lady Rookwood's bearing was as proud and erect +as we have formerly described it to have been--her brow was haughtily +bent--her chiselled lip as disdainfully curled; but the staring, +changeless eye, and the deep-heaved sob which occasionally escaped her, +betrayed how much she was under the influence of mortal terror. Alan +watched her in amazement. He knew not how the scene was likely to +terminate, nor what could have induced her to visit this ghostly spot at +such an hour, and alone; but he resolved to abide the issue in +silence--profound as her own. After a time, however, his impatience got +the better of his fears and scruples, and he spoke. + +"What doth Lady Rookwood in the abode of the dead?" asked he, at length. + +She started at the sound of his voice, but still kept her eye fixed upon +the vacancy. + +"Hast thou not beckoned me hither, and am I not come?" returned she, in +a hollow tone. "And now thou asketh wherefore I am here--I am here +because, as in thy life I feared thee not, neither in death do I fear +thee. I am here because----" + +"What seest thou?" interrupted Peter, with ill-suppressed terror. + +"What see I--ha--ha!" shouted Lady Rookwood, amidst discordant laughter; +"that which might appal a heart less stout than mine--a figure +anguish-writhen, with veins that glow as with a subtle and consuming +flame. A substance yet a shadow, in thy living likeness. Ha--frown if +thou wilt; I can return thy glances." + +"Where dost thou see this vision?" demanded Alan. + +"Where!" echoed Lady Rookwood, becoming for the first time sensible of +the presence of a stranger. "Ha--who are you that question me?--what are +you?--speak!" + +"No matter who or what I am," returned Alan, "I ask you what you +behold." + +"Can you see nothing?" + +"Nothing," replied Alan. + +"You knew Sir Piers Rookwood?" + +"Is it he?" asked Alan, drawing near her. + +"It is," replied Lady Rookwood; "I have followed him hither, and I will +follow him whithersoever he leads me, were it to----" + +"What doth he now?" asked Alan; "do you see him still?" + +"The figure points to that sarcophagus," returned Lady Rookwood--"can +you raise up the lid?" + +"No," replied Alan; "my strength will not avail to lift it." + +"Yet let the trial be made," said Lady Rookwood; "the figure points +there still--my own arm shall aid you." + +Alan watched her in dumb wonder. She advanced towards the marble +monument, and beckoned him to follow. He reluctantly complied. Without +any expectation of being able to move the ponderous lid of the +sarcophagus, at Lady Rookwood's renewed request he applied himself to +the task. What was his surprise, when, beneath their united efforts, he +found the ponderous slab slowly revolve upon its vast hinges, and, with +little further difficulty, it was completely elevated; though it still +required the exertion of all Alan's strength to prop it open, and +prevent its falling back. + +"What does it contain?" asked Lady Rookwood. + +"A warrior's ashes," returned Alan. + +"There is a rusty dagger upon a fold of faded linen," cried Lady +Rookwood, holding down the light. + +"It is the weapon with which the first dame of the house of Rookwood was +stabbed," said Alan, with a grim smile: + + "Which whoso findeth in the tomb + Shall clutch until the hour of doom; + And when 'tis grasped by hand of clay, + The curse of blood shall pass away. + +So saith the rhyme. Have you seen enough?" + +"No," said Lady Rookwood, precipitating herself into the marble coffin. +"That weapon shall be mine." + +"Come forth--come forth," cried Alan. "My arm trembles--I cannot support +the lid." + +"I will have it, though I grasp it to eternity," shrieked Lady Rookwood, +vainly endeavoring to wrest away the dagger, which was fastened, +together with the linen upon which it lay, by some adhesive substance +to the bottom of the shell. + +At this moment Alan Rookwood happened to cast his eye upward, and he +then beheld what filled him with new terror. The axe of the sable statue +was poised above its head, as in the act to strike him. Some secret +machinery, it was evident, existed between the sarcophagus lid and this +mysterious image. But in the first impulse of his alarm Alan abandoned +his hold of the slab, and it sunk slowly downwards. He uttered a loud +cry as it moved. Lady Rookwood heard this cry. She raised herself at the +same moment--the dagger was in her hand--she pressed it against the lid, +but its downward force was too great to be withstood. The light was +within the sarcophagus, and Alan could discern her features. The +expression was terrible. She uttered one shriek and the lid closed for +ever. + +Alan was in total darkness. The light had been enclosed with Lady +Rookwood. There was something so horrible in her probable fate, that +even _he_ shuddered as he thought upon it. Exerting all his remaining +strength, he essayed to raise the lid, but now it was more firmly closed +than ever. It defied all his power. Once, for an instant, he fancied +that it yielded to his straining sinews, but it was only his hand that +slided upon the surface of the marble. It was fixed--immovable. The +sides and lid rang with the strokes which the unfortunate lady bestowed +upon them with the dagger's point; but those sounds were not long heard. +Presently all was still; the marble ceased to vibrate with her blows. +Alan struck the lid with his knuckles, but no response was returned. All +was silent. + +He now turned his attention to his own situation, which had become +sufficiently alarming. An hour must have elapsed, yet Luke had not +arrived. The door of the vault was closed--the key was in the lock, and +on the outside. He was himself a prisoner within the tomb. What if Luke +should _not_ return? What if he were slain, as it might chance, in the +enterprise? That thought flashed across his brain like an electric +shock. None knew of his retreat but his grandson. He might perish of +famine within this desolate vault. + +He checked this notion as soon as it was formed--it was too dreadful to +be indulged in. A thousand circumstances might conspire to detain Luke. +He was sure to come. Yet the solitude--the darkness was awful, almost +intolerable. The dying and the dead were around him. He dared not stir. + +Another hour--an age it seemed to him--had passed. Still Luke came not. +Horrible forebodings crossed him; but he would not surrender himself to +them. He rose, and crawled in the direction, as he supposed, of the +door--fearful, even of the stealthy sound of his own footsteps. He +reached it, and his heart once more throbbed with hope. He bent his ear +to the key; he drew in his breath; he listened for some sound, but +nothing was to be heard. A groan would have been almost music in his +ears. + +Another hour was gone! He was now a prey to the most frightful +apprehensions, agitated in turns by the wildest emotions of rage and +terror. He at one moment imagined that Luke had abandoned him, and +heaped curses upon his head; at the next, convinced that he had fallen, +he bewailed with equal bitterness his grandson's fate and his own. He +paced the tomb like one distracted; he stamped upon the iron plate; he +smote with his hands upon the door; he shouted, and the vault hollowly +echoed his lamentations. But Time's sand ran on, and Luke arrived not. + +Alan now abandoned himself wholly to despair. He could no longer +anticipate his grandson's coming, no longer hope for deliverance. His +fate was sealed. Death awaited him. He must anticipate his slow but +inevitable stroke, enduring all the grinding horrors of starvation. The +contemplation of such an end was madness, but he was forced to +contemplate it now; and so appalling did it appear to his imagination, +that he half resolved to dash out his brains against the walls of the +sepulchre, and put an end at once to his tortures; and nothing, except a +doubt whether he might not, by imperfectly accomplishing his purpose, +increase his own suffering, prevented him from putting this dreadful +idea into execution. His dagger was gone, and he had no other weapon. +Terrors of a new kind now assailed him. The dead, he fancied, were +bursting from their coffins, and he peopled the darkness with grisly +phantoms. They were around about him on each side, whirling and +rustling, gibbering, groaning, shrieking, laughing, and lamenting. He +was stunned, stifled. The air seemed to grow suffocating, pestilential; +the wild laughter was redoubled; the horrible troop assailed him; they +dragged him along the tomb, and amid their howls he fell, and became +insensible. + +When he returned to himself, it was some time before he could collect +his scattered faculties; and when the agonizing consciousness of his +terrible situation forced itself upon his mind, he had nigh relapsed +into oblivion. He arose. He rushed towards the door; he knocked against +it with his knuckles till the blood streamed from them; he scratched +against it with his nails till they were torn off by the roots. With +insane fury he hurled himself against the iron frame; it was in vain. +Again he had recourse to the trap-door. He searched for it; he found it. +He laid himself upon the ground. There was no interval of space in which +he could insert a finger's point. He beat it with his clenched hand; he +tore it with his teeth; he jumped upon it; he smote it with his heel. +The iron returned a sullen sound. + +He again essayed the lid of the sarcophagus. Despair nerved his +strength. He raised the slab a few inches. He shouted, screamed, but no +answer was returned; and again the lid fell. + +"She is dead!" cried Alan. "Why have I not shared her fate? But mine is +to come. And such a death!--oh, oh!" And, frenzied at the thought, he +again hurried to the door, and renewed his fruitless attempts to +escape, till nature gave way, and he sank upon the floor, groaning and +exhausted. + +Physical suffering now began to take the place of his mental tortures. +Parched and consumed with a fierce internal fever, he was tormented by +unappeasable thirst--of all human ills the most unendurable. His tongue +was dry and dusty, his throat inflamed; his lips had lost all moisture. +He licked the humid floor; he sought to imbibe the nitrous drops from +the walls; but, instead of allaying his thirst, they increased it. He +would have given the world, had he possessed it, for a draught of cold +spring-water. Oh, to have died with his lips upon some bubbling +fountain's marge! But to perish thus----! + +Nor were the pangs of hunger wanting. He had to endure all the horrors +of famine, as well as the agonies of quenchless thirst. + +In this dreadful state three days and nights passed over Alan's fated +head. Nor night nor day had he. Time, with him, was only measured by its +duration, and that seemed interminable. Each hour added to his +suffering, and brought with it no relief. During this period of +prolonged misery reason often tottered on her throne. Sometimes he was +under the influence of the wildest passions. He dragged coffins from +their recesses, hurled them upon the ground, striving to break them open +and drag forth their loathsome contents. Upon other occasions he would +weep bitterly and wildly; and once--only once--did he attempt to pray; +but he started from his knees with an echo of infernal laughter, as he +deemed, ringing in his ears. Then, again, would he call down +imprecations upon himself and his whole line, trampling upon the pile of +coffins he had reared; and lastly, more subdued, would creep to the +boards that contained the body of his child, kissing them with a frantic +outbreak of affection. + +At length he became sensible of his approaching dissolution. To him the +thought of death might well be terrible, but he quailed not before it, +or rather seemed, in his latest moments, to resume all his wonted +firmness of character. Gathering together his remaining strength, he +dragged himself towards the niche wherein his brother, Sir Reginald +Rookwood, was deposited, and placing his hand upon the coffin, solemnly +exclaimed, "My curse--my dying curse--be upon thee evermore!" + +Falling with his face upon the coffin, Alan instantly expired. In this +attitude his remains were discovered. + + + + +_L'ENVOY_ + + +Our tale is told. Yet, perhaps, we may be allowed to add a few words +respecting two of the subordinate characters of our drama--melodrama we +ought to say--namely Jerry Juniper and the knight of Malta. What became +of the Caper Merchant's son after his flight from Kilburn Wells we have +never been able distinctly to ascertain. Juniper, however, would seem to +be a sort of Wandering Jew, for certain it is, that _somebody very like +him_ is extant still, and to be met with at Jerry's old haunts; indeed, +we have no doubt of encountering him at the ensuing meetings of Ascot +and Hampton. + +As regards the knight of Malta--Knight of _Roads_--"Rhodes"--he should +have been--we are sorry to state that the career of the Ruffler +terminated in a madhouse, and thus the poor knight became in reality a +_Hospitaller_! According to the custom observed in those establishments, +the knight was deprived of his luxuriant locks, and the loss of his +beard rendered his case incurable; but, in the mean time, the barber of +the place made his fortune by retailing the materials of all the black +wigs he could collect to the impostor's dupes. + +Such is the latest piece of intelligence that has reached us of the +_Arch-hoaxer_ of Canterbury! + +Turpin--why disguise it?--was hanged at York in 1739. His firmness +deserted him not at the last. When he mounted the fatal tree his left +leg trembled; he stamped it impatiently down, and, after a brief chat +with the hangman, threw himself suddenly and resolutely from the ladder. +His sufferings would appear to have been slight: as he himself sang, + + He died, not as other men, by _degrees_, + But _at once_, without wincing, and quite at his ease! + +We may, in some other place, lay before the reader the particulars--and +they are not incurious--of the "night before Larry was stretched." + +The remains of the vagrant highwayman found a final resting-place in the +desecrated churchyard of Saint George, without the Fishergate postern, a +green and grassy cemetery, but withal a melancholy one. A few recent +tombs mark out the spots where some of the victims of the pestilence of +1832-33 have been interred; but we have made vain search for Turpin's +grave--unless--as is more than probable--the plain stone with the simple +initials R. T. belongs to him. + +The gyves by which he was fettered are still shown at York Castle, and +are of prodigious weight and strength; and though the herculean robber +is said to have moved in them with ease, the present turnkey was +scarcely able to lift the ponderous irons. An old woman of the same city +has a lock of hair, said to have been Turpin's, which she avouches her +grandfather cut off from the body after the execution, and which the +believers look upon with great reverence. O rare Dick Turpin! + +We shall, perhaps, be accused of dilating too much upon the character of +the highwayman, and we plead guilty to the charge. But we found it +impossible to avoid running a little into extremes. Our earliest +associations are connected with sunny scenes in Cheshire, said to have +been haunted by Turpin; and with one very dear to us--from whose lips, +now, alas! silent, we have listened to many stories of his exploits--he +was a sort of hero. We have had a singular delight in recounting his +feats and hairbreadth escapes; and if the reader derives only half as +much pleasure from the perusal of his adventures as we have had in +narrating them, our satisfaction will be complete. Perhaps, we may have +placed him in too favorable a point of view--and yet we know not. As +upon those of more important personages, many doubts rest upon his +history. Such as we conceive him to have been, we have drawn him--hoping +that the benevolent reader, upon finishing our Tale, will arrive at the +same conclusion; and, in the words of the quaint old Prologue to the +Prince of Prigs' Revels, + + ------------Thank that man, + Can make each thief a complete Roscian! + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] See the celebrated recipe for the Hand of Glory in "_Les Secrets du +Petit Albert_." + +[2] The seven planets, so called by Mercurius Trismegistus. + +[3] Payne Knight, the scourge of Repton and his school, speaking of the +license indulged in by the modern landscape-gardeners, thus vents his +indignation: + + But here, once more, ye rural muses weep + The ivy'd balustrade, and terrace steep; + Walls, mellowed into harmony by time, + On which fantastic creepers used to climb; + While statues, labyrinths, and alleys pent + Within their bounds, at least were innocent!-- + _Our modern taste--alas!--no limit knows; + O'er hill, o'er dale, through wood and field it flows; + Spreading o'er all its unprolific spawn, + In never-ending sheets of vapid lawn._ + + _The Landscape, a didactic Poem, + addressed to Uvedale Price, Esq._ + +[4] Mason's English Garden. + +[5] Cowley. + +[6] Query, Damocles?--_Printer's Devil._ + +[7] James Hind--the "Prince of Prigs"--a royalist captain of some +distinction, was hanged, drawn, and quartered, in 1652. Some good +stories are told of him. He had the credit of robbing Cromwell, +Bradshaw, and Peters. His discourse to Peters is particularly edifying. + +[8] See Du-Val's life by Doctor Pope, or Leigh Hunt's brilliant sketch +of him in _The Indicator_. + +[9] We cannot say much in favor of this worthy, whose name was Thomas +Simpson. The reason of his _sobriquet_ does not appear. He was not +particularly scrupulous as to his mode of appropriation. One of his +sayings is, however, on record. He told a widow whom he robbed, "that +the end of a woman's husband begins in tears, but the end of her tears +is another husband." "Upon which," says his chronicler, "the gentlewoman +gave him about fifty guineas." + +[10] Tom was a sprightly fellow, and carried his sprightliness to the +gallows; for just before he was turned off he kicked Mr. Smith, the +ordinary, and the hangman out of the cart--a piece of pleasantry which +created, as may be supposed, no small sensation. + +[11] Many agreeable stories are related of Holloway. His career, +however, closed with a murder. He contrived to break out of Newgate but +returned to witness the trial of one of his associates; when, upon the +attempt of a turnkey, one Richard Spurling, to seize him, Will knocked +him on the head in the presence of the whole court. For this offence he +suffered the extreme penalty of the law in 1712. + +[12] Wicks's adventures with Madame Toly are highly diverting. It was +this hero--not Turpin, as has been erroneously stated--who stopped the +celebrated Lord Mohun. Of Gettings and Grey, and "the five or six," the +less said the better. + +[13] One of Jack's recorded _mots_. When a Bible was pressed upon his +acceptance by Mr. Wagstaff, the chaplain, Jack refused it, saying, "that +in his situation one file would be worth all the Bibles in the world." A +gentleman who visited Newgate asked him to dinner; Sheppard replied, +"that he would take an early opportunity of waiting upon him." And we +believe he kept his word. + +[14] The word Tory, as here applied, must not be confounded with the +term of party distinction now in general use in the political world. It +simply means a thief on a grand scale, something more than "a snapper-up +of unconsidered trifles," or petty-larceny rascal. We have classical +authority for this:--TORY: "An advocate for absolute monarchy; _also, an +Irish vagabond, robber, or rapparee_."--GROSE'S _Dictionary_. + +[15] A trio of famous High-Tobygloaks. Swiftneck was a captain of +_Irish_ dragoons, by-the-bye. + +[16] REDMOND O'HANLON was the Rob Roy of Ireland, and his adventures, +many of which are exceedingly curious, would furnish as rich _materials_ +for the novelist, as they have already done for the ballad-mongers: some +of them are, however, sufficiently well narrated in a pleasant little +tome, published at Belfast, entitled _The History of the Rapparees_. We +are also in possession of a funeral discourse, preached at the obsequies +of the "noble and renowned" Henry St. John, Esq., who was unfortunately +killed by the _Tories_--the _Destructives_ of those days--in the +induction to which we find some allusion to Redmond. After describing +the thriving condition of the north of Ireland, about 1680, the Rev. +Lawrence Power, the author of the sermon, says, "One mischief there was, +which indeed in a great measure destroyed all, and that was a pack of +insolent bloody outlaws, whom they here call _Tories_. These had so +riveted themselves in these parts, that by the interest they had among +the natives, and some English, too, _to their shame be it spoken_, they +exercise a kind of separate sovereignty in three or four counties in the +north of Ireland. REDMOND O'HANLON is their chief, and has been these +many years; a cunning, dangerous fellow, who, though proclaimed an +outlaw with the rest of his crew, and sums of money set upon their +heads, yet he reigns still, and keeps all in subjection, so far that +'tis credibly reported _he raises more in a year by contributions +à-la-mode de France than the king's land taxes and chimney-money come +to, and thereby is enabled to bribe clerks and officers_, IF NOT THEIR +MASTERS, (!) _and makes all too much truckle to him_." Agitation, it +seems, was not confined to our own days--but the "finest country in the +world" has been, and ever will be, the same. The old game is played +under a new color--the only difference being, that had Redmond lived in +our time, he would, in all probability, not only have pillaged a county, +but _represented_ it in parliament. The spirit of the Rapparee is still +abroad--though we fear there is little of the _Tory_ left about it. We +recommend this note to the serious consideration of the declaimers +against the sufferings of the "six millions." + +[17] Here Titus was slightly in error. He mistook the cause for the +effect. "They were called Rapparees," Mr. Malone says, "from being armed +with a half-pike, called by the Irish a _rapparee_."--TODD'S JOHNSON. + +[18] _Tory_, so called from the Irish word _Toree_, give me your +money.--TODD'S JOHNSON. + +[19] As he was carried to the gallows, Jack played a fine tune of his +own composing on the bagpipe, which retains the name of Macpherson's +tune to this day.--_History of the Rapparees_. + +[20] "Notwithstanding he was so great a rogue, Delany was a handsome, +portly man, extremely diverting in company, and could behave himself +before gentlemen very agreeably. _He had a political genius_--not +altogether surprising in so eminent a _Tory_--and would have made great +proficiency in learning if he had rightly applied his time. He composed +several songs, and put tunes to them; and by his skill in music gained +the favor of some of the leading musicians in the country, who +endeavored to get him reprieved."--_History of the Rapparees_. The +particulars of the _Songster's_ execution are singular:--"When he was +brought into court to receive sentence of death, the judge told him that +he was informed he should say 'that there was not a rope in Ireland +sufficient to hang him. But,' says he, 'I'll try if Kilkenny can't +afford one strong enough to do your business; and if that will not do, +you shall have another, and another.' Then he ordered the sheriff to +choose a rope, and Delany was ordered for execution the next day. The +sheriff having notice of his mother's boasting that no rope could hang +her son--and pursuant to the judge's desire--provided two ropes, but +Delany broke them one after the other! The sheriff was then in a rage, +and went for three bed-cords, which he plaited threefold together, _and +they did his business_! Yet the sheriff was afraid he was not dead; and +in a passion, to make trial, stabbed him with his sword in the soles of +his feet, and at last cut the rope. After he was cut down, his body was +carried into the courthouse, where it remained in the coffin for two +days, standing up, till the judge and all the spectators were fully +satisfied that he was stiff and dead, and then permission was given to +his friends to remove the corpse and bury it."-_History of the +Rapparees_. + +[21] Highwaymen, as contradistinguished from footpads. + +[22] Since Mr. Coates here avows himself the writer of this diatribe +against Sir Robert Walpole, attacked under the guise of _Turpin_ in the +_Common Sense_ of July 30, 1737, it is useless to inquire further into +its authorship. And it remains only to refer the reader to the _Gents. +Mag._, vol. vii. p. 438, for the article above quoted; and for a reply +to it from the _Daily Gazetteer_ contained in p. 499 of the same volume. + +[23] In reference to this imaginary charm, Sir Thomas Browne observes, +in his "Vulgar Errors." "What natural effects can reasonably be +expected, when, to prevent the Ephialtes, or Nightmare, we hang a hollow +stone in our stables?" Grose also states, "that a stone with a hole in +it, hung at the bed's head, will prevent the nightmare, and is therefore +called a hag-stone." The belief in this charm still lingers in some +districts, and maintains, like the horse-shoe affixed to the barn-door, +a feeble stand against the superstition-destroying "march of intellect." + +[24] Brown's Pastorals. + +[25] The Merry Beggars. + +[26] The parties to be wedded find out a dead horse, or any other beast, +and standing one on the one side, and the other on the other, the +patrico bids them live together till death do them part; and so shaking +hands, the wedding dinner is kept at the next alehouse they stumble +into, where the union is nothing but knocking of cannes, and the sauce, +none but drunken brawles.--DEKKAR. + +[27] Receiver. + +[28] Memoirs, of the right villainous John Hall, the famous, and +notorious Robber, penned from his Mouth some Time before his Death, +1708. + +[29] A famous highwayman. + +[30] A real gentleman. + +[31] Breeches and boots. + +[32] Gipsy flask. + +[33] How he exposes his pistols. + +[34] For an account of these, see Grose. They are much too _gross_ to be +set down here. + +[35] "The shalm, or shawm, was a wind instrument, like a pipe, with a +swelling protuberance in the middle."--_Earl of Northumberland's +Household Book_. + +[36] Perhaps the most whimsical laws that were ever prescribed to a gang +of thieves were those framed by William Holliday, one of the prigging +community, who was hanged in 1695: + +Art. I. directs--That none of his company should presume to wear shirts, +upon pain of being cashiered. + +II.--That none should lie in any other places than stables, empty +houses, or other bulks. + +III.--That they should eat nothing but what they begged, and that they +should give away all the money they got by cleaning boots among one +another, for the good of the fraternity. + +IV.--That they should neither learn to read nor write, that he may have +them the better under command. + +V.--That they should appear every morning by nine, on the parade, to +receive necessary orders. + +VI.--That none should presume to follow the scent but such as he ordered +on that party. + +VII.--That if any one gave them shoes or stockings, they should convert +them into money to play. + +VIII.--That they should steal nothing they could not come at, for fear +of bringing a scandal upon the company. + +IX.--That they should cant better than the Newgate birds, pick pockets +without bungling, outlie a Quaker, outswear a lord at a gaming-table, +and brazen out all their villainies beyond an Irishman. + +[37] Cell. + +[38] Newgate. + +[39] A woman whose husband has been hanged. + +[40] A dancing-master. + +[41] "Nothing, comrades; on, on," supposed to be addressed by a thief to +his confederates. + +[42] Thus Victor Hugo, in "Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné," makes an +imprisoned felon sing: + + "J'le ferai danser une danse + Où il n'y a pas de plancher." + +[43] Thieves in prison. + +[44] Shoplifter. + +[45] Pickpocket. + +[46] Handkerchiefs. + +[47] Rings. + +[48] To the pawnbroker. + +[49] Snuff-boxes. + +[50] Pickpocket. + +[51] The two forefingers used in picking a pocket. + +[52] Pickpocket. + +[53] Pick a pocket. + +[54] No inside coat-pocket; buttoned up. + +[55] Scissors. + +[56] Steal a pocket-book. + +[57] Best-made clothes. + +[58] Thief. + +[59] With my hair dressed in the first fashion. + +[60] With several rings on my hands. + +[61] Seals. + +[62] Gold watch. + +[63] Laced shirt. + +[64] Gentlemanlike. + +[65] Easily than forged notes could I pass. + +[66] Favorite mistress. + +[67] Police. + +[68] Taken at length. + +[69] Cast for transportation. + +[70] Fetters. + +[71] Turnkey. + +[72] Gipsy. + +[73] Pickpockets. + +[74] This song describes pretty accurately the career of an +extraordinary individual, who, in the lucid intervals of a half-crazed +understanding, imposed himself upon the credulous inhabitants of +Canterbury, in the year 1832, as a certain "SIR WILLIAM PERCY HONEYWOOD +COURTENAY, KNIGHT OF MALTA;" and contrived--for there was considerable +"method in his madness"--to support the deception during a long period. +The anachronism of his character in a tale--the data of which is nearly +a century back--will, perhaps, be overlooked, when it is considered of +how much value, in the illustration of "wise saws," are "_modern +instances_." Imposture and credulity are of all ages; and the Courtenays +of the nineteenth are rivalled by the Tofts and Andrés of the eighteenth +century. The subjoined account of the _soi-disant_ SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY +is extracted from "An Essay on his Character, and Reflections on his +Trial," published at the theatre of his exploits: "About Michaelmas last +it was rumored that an extraordinary man was staying at the Rose Inn of +this city--Canterbury--who passed under the name of Count Rothschild, +but had been recently known in London by the name of Thompson! This +would have been sufficient to excite attention, had no other incidents +materially added to the excitement. His costume and countenance denoted +foreign extraction, while his language and conversation showed that he +was well acquainted with almost every part of this kingdom. He was said +to live with singular frugality, notwithstanding abundant samples of +wealth, and professions of an almost unlimited command of money. He +appeared to study retirement, if not concealment, although subsequent +events have proved that society of every grade, beneath the middle +class, is the element in which he most freely breathes. _He often decked +his person with a fine suit of Italian clothing, and sometimes with the +more gay and imposing costume of the Eastern nations; yet these foreign +habits were for months scarcely visible beyond the limits of the inn of +his abode, and the chapel not far from it, in which he was accustomed to +offer his Sabbath devotions._ This place was the first to which he made +a public and frequent resort; and though he did not always attempt to +advance towards the uppermost seat in the synagogue, he attracted +attention from the mere singularity of his appearance. + +"Such was the eccentric, incongruous individual who surprised our city +by proposing himself as a third candidate for its representation, and +who created an entertaining contest for the honor, long after the +sitting candidates had composed themselves to the delightful vision of +an inexpensive and unopposed return. The notion of representing the city +originated beyond all doubt in the fertile brain of the man himself. It +would seem to have been almost as sudden a thought in his mind, as it +was a sudden and surprising movement in the view of the city; nor have +we been able to ascertain whether his sojourn at the Rose was the cause +or the effect of his offering to advocate our interests in +Parliament--whether he came to the city with that high-minded purpose, +or subsequently formed the notion, when he saw, or thought he saw, an +opening for a stranger of enterprise like himself. + + * * * * * + +"As the county election drew on, we believe between the nomination on +Barham Downs and the voting in the cattle market of the city, the +draught of a certain handbill was sent to a printer of this city, with a +request that he would publish it without delay. Our readers will not be +surprised that he instantly declined the task; but as we have obtained +possession of the copy, and its publication can now do no injury to any +one, we entertain them with a sight of this delectable sample of +Courtenay prudence and politeness. + +"'O yes! O yes! O yes! I, Lord Viscount William Courtenay, of Powderham +Castle, Devon, do hereby proclaim Sir Thomas Tylden, Sir Brook Brydges, +Sir Edward Knatchbull, and Sir William Cosway, four cowards, unfit to +represent, or to assist in returning members of Parliament to serve the +brave men of Kent. + +"'Percy Honeywood Courtenay, of Hales and Evington Place, Kent, and +Knight of Malta. + +"'Any gentleman desiring to know the reasons why Lord Courtenay so +publicly exposes backbiters, any man of honor shall have satisfaction at +his hands, and in a public way, according to the laws of our land--trial +by combat; when the Almighty God, the Lord of Hosts is his name, can +decide the "truth," whether it is a libel or not. I worship truth as my +God, and will die for it--and upon this we will see who is strongest, +God or man.' + +"It is a coincidence too curious to be overlooked, that this doughty +champion of _truth_ should so soon have removed himself from public life +by an act of deliberate and wanton perjury. We never read any of his +rhapsodies, periodical or occasional, till the publication of this essay +imposed the self-denying task upon us; but now we find that they abound +in strong and solemn appeals to the _truth_; in bold proclamations that +_truth_ is his palladium; in evidences that he writes and raves, that he +draws his sword and clenches his fist, that he expends his property and +the property of others committed to his hands, in no cause but that of +_truth_! His famous periodical contains much vehement declamation in +defence of certain doctrines of religion, which he terms the truth of +the sublime system of Christianity, and for which alone he is content to +live, and also willing to die. All who deviate from his standard of +truth, whether theological or moral, philosophical or political, he +appears to consider as neither fit for life nor death. Now it is a +little strange, his warmest followers being witness, that such an +advocate of truth should have become the willing victim of falsehood, +the ready and eager martyr of the worst form of falsehood--perjury. + +"The decline of his influence between the city and county elections has +been partly attributed, and not without reason, to the sudden change in +his appearance from comparative youth to advancing, if not extreme age. +_On the hustings of the city he shone forth in all the dazzling lustre +of an Oriental chief; and such was the effect of gay clothing on the +meridian of life, that his admirers, especially of the weaker sex, would +insist upon it that he had not passed the beautiful spring-time of May. +There were, indeed, some suspicious appearances of a near approach to +forty, if not two or three years beyond it; but these were fondly +ascribed to his foreign travels in distant and insalubrious climes; he +had acquired his duskiness of complexion, and his strength of feature +and violence of gesture, and his profusion of beard, in Egypt and Syria, +in exploring the catacombs of the one country, and bowing at the shrines +of the other. On the other hand, the brilliancy of his eye, the melody +of his voice, and the elasticity of his muscles and limbs, were +sufficient arguments in favor of his having scarcely passed the limit +that separates manhood from youth._ + +"All doubts on these points were removed, when the crowd of his fair +admirers visited him at the retirement of his inn, and the intervals of +his polling. These _sub-Rosa_ interviews--we allude to the name of the +inn, and not to anything like privacy there, which the very place and +number of the visitors altogether precluded--convinced them that he was +even a younger and lovelier man than his rather boisterous behavior in +the hall would allow them to hope. In fact, he was now installed by +acclamation _Knight of Canterbury as well as Malta, and King of Kent as +well as Jerusalem_! It became dangerous then to whisper a syllable of +suspicion against his wealth or rank, his wisdom or beauty; and all who +would not bow down before this golden image were deemed worthy of no +better fate than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego--to be cast into a +burning fiery furnace." + +As a sequel to the above story, it may be added that the knight of Malta +became the inmate of a lunatic asylum; and on his liberation was shot at +the head of a band of Kentish hinds, whom he had persuaded that he was +the Messiah! + +[75] A pipe of tobacco. + +[76] A drink composed of beer, eggs, and brandy. + +[77] The supposed malignant influence of this plant is frequently +alluded to by our elder dramatists; and with one of the greatest of +them, Webster--as might be expected from a muse revelling like a ghoul +in graves and sepulchres--it is an especial favorite. But none have +plunged so deeply into the subject as Sir Thomas Browne. He tears up the +fable root and branch. Concerning the danger ensuing from eradication of +the mandrake, the learned physician thus writes: "The last assertion is, +that there follows a hazard of life to them that pull it up, that some +evil fate pursues them, and that they live not very long hereafter. +Therefore the attempt hereof among the ancients was not in ordinary way; +but, as Pliny informeth, when they intended to take up the root of this +plant, they took the wind thereof, and with a sword describing three +circles about it, they digged it up, looking toward the west. A conceit +not only injurious unto truth and confutable by daily experience, but +somewhat derogatory unto the providence of God; that is, not only to +impose so destructive a quality on any plant, but to conceive a +vegetable whose parts are so useful unto many, should, in the only +taking up, prove mortal unto any. This were to introduce a second +forbidden fruit, and enhance the first malediction, making it not only +mortal for Adam to taste the one, but capital for his posterity to +eradicate or dig up the other."--_Vulgar Errors_, book ii. c. vi. + +[78] The moon. + +[79] Light. + +[80] Highwayman. + +[81] "Cherry-colored--black; there being black cherries as well as +red."--GROSE. + +[82] Sword. + +[83] Pistols. + +[84] Highway robbery. + +[85] Pocket-book. + +[86] Money. + +[87] Bullets. + +[88] The gallows. + +[89] Ditto. + +[90] Pocket-book. + +[91] Inside coat-pocket. + +[92] A small pocket-book. + +[93] We have heard of a certain gentleman tobyman, we forget his name, +taking the horses from his curricle for a similar purpose, but we own we +think King's the simpler plan, and quite practicable still. A cabriolet +would be quite out of the question, but particularly easy to _stop_. + +[94] Four celebrated highwaymen, all rejoicing in the honorable +distinction of captain. + +[95] The exact spot where Turpin committed this robbery, which has often +been pointed out to us, lies in what is now a woody hollow, though once +the old road from Altringham to Knutsford skirting the rich and sylvan +domains of Dunham, and descending the hill that brings you to the bridge +crossing the little river Bollin. With some difficulty we penetrated +this ravine. It is just the place for an adventure of the kind. A small +brook wells through it; and the steep banks are overhung with timber, +and were, when we last visited the place, in April, 1834, a perfect nest +of primroses and wild flowers. Hough (pronounced Hoo) Green lies about +three miles across the country--the way Turpin rode. The old +Bowling-green is one of the pleasantest inns in Cheshire. + +[96] Money. + +[97] Man. + +[98] Stripped. + +[99] Fellow. + +[100] A particular kind of pugilistic punishment. + +[101] Kept each an eye upon the other. + +[102] Hands. + +[103] Deceive them. + +[104] Accomplice. + +[105] A farthing. + +[106] Cards. + +[107] Qy. _élite_.--PRINTER'S DEVIL. + +[108] Shoot him. + +[109] Since the earlier editions of this Romance were published, we +regret to state--for to _us_, at least, it is matter of regret, though +probably not to the travellers along the Edgeware Road--that this gentle +ascent has been cut through, and the fair prospect from its brow utterly +destroyed. + +[110] This, we regret to say, is not the case. The memory of bold Will +Davies, the "_Golden Farmer_"--so named from the circumstances of his +always paying his rent in gold,--is fast declining upon his peculiar +domain, Bagshot. The inn, which once bore his name, still remains to +point out to the traveller the dangers his forefathers had to encounter +in crossing this extensive heath. Just beyond this house the common +spreads out for miles on all aides in a most gallop-inviting style; and +the passenger, as he gazes from the box of some flying coach, as we have +done, upon the gorse-covered waste, may, without much stretch of fancy, +imagine he beholds Will Davies careering like the wind over its wild and +undulating expanse. We are sorry to add that the "_Golden_ Farmer" has +altered its designation to the "_Jolly_ Farmer." This should be amended; +and when next we pass that way, we hope to see the original sign +restored. We cannot afford to lose our _golden_ farmers. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rookwood, by William Harrison Ainsworth + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROOKWOOD *** + +***** This file should be named 23564-8.txt or 23564-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/6/23564/ + +Produced by Afra Ullah, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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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