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diff --git a/25449.txt b/25449.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee0905c --- /dev/null +++ b/25449.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12386 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Young Castellan, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Young Castellan + A Tale of the English Civil War + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Illustrator: W.B. + +Release Date: May 12, 2008 [EBook #25449] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG CASTELLAN *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The Young Castellan, by George Manville Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ +A Castellan is a person in charge of a castle, and that is what young +Roy Royland has become, while his father, Sir Granby, is away defending +his king. For the time is about 1640, and there is a move afoot in the +country of England to do away with the monarchy. In the castle most of +its old defences have not been used for many years, perhaps centuries, +and old Ben Martlet sets about restoring them, cleaning up the armour, +teaching young Roy the arts of self-defence, by putting him through a +course of fencing, by restoring the portcullis and draw-bridge, and by +training the men from the neighbouring farms to be soldiers. + +But eventually, through treachery, the Roundheads, as those who oppose +the monarchy, are called, manage to take the castle, and to make Roy and +his mother, along with old Ben Martlet and the other defenders, +prisoner. This can't do the management of the tenant farms much good. + +Eventually Sir Granby, Roy's father, appears on the scene, and the +Roundheads are chased away. As we know from our history books, the +Monarchy was restored, and peace spreads again through the land of +England. + +________________________________________________________________________ +THE YOUNG CASTELLAN, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +IN THE OLD ARMOURY. + +"See these here spots o' red rust, Master Roy?" + +"I should be blind as poor old Jenkin if I couldn't, Ben." + +"Ay, that you would, sir. Poor old Jenk, close upon ninety he be; and +that's another thing." + +"What do you mean?" said the boy addressed. + +"What do I mean, sir? Why, I mean as that's another thing as shows as +old England's wore out, and rustin' and moulderin' away." + +"Is this Dutch or English, Ben?" said the manly-looking boy, who had +just arrived at the age when dark lads get teased about not having +properly washed the sides of their faces and their upper lips, which +begin to show traces of something "coming up." "I don't understand." + +"English, sir," said the weather-beaten speaker, a decidedly ugly man of +about sixty, grizzly of hair and beard, deeply-lined of countenance, and +with a peculiar cicatrice extending from the upper part of his left +cheek-bone diagonally down to the right corner of his lips, and making +in its passage a deep notch across his nose. "English, sir; good old +honest English." + +"You're always grumbling, Ben, and you won't get the rust off that +morion with that." + +"That I shan't, sir; and if I uses elber grease and sand, it'll only +come again. But it's all a sign of poor old England rustin' and +moulderin' away. The idea! And at a place like this. Old Jenk, as +watch at the gate tower, and not got eyes enough to see across the moat, +and even that's getting full o' mud!" + +"Well, you wouldn't have father turn the poor old man away because he's +blind and worn-out." + +"Not I, sir," said the man, moistening a piece of flannel with oil, +dipping it into some fine white sand, and then proceeding to scrub away +at the rust spots upon the old helmet, which he now held between his +knees; while several figures in armour, ranged down one side of the low, +dark room in which the work was being carried on, seemed to be looking +on and waiting to have their rust removed in turn. + +"Then what do you mean?" said the boy. + +"I mean, Master Roy, as it's a pity to see the old towers going down +hill as they are." + +"But they're not," cried the boy. + +"Not, sir? Well, if you'll excuse me for saying as you're wrong, I'll +say it. Where's your garrison? where's your horses? and where's your +guns, and powder, and shot, and stores?" + +"Fudge, then! We don't want any garrison nowadays, and as for horses, +why, it was a sin to keep 'em in those old underground stables that used +to be their lodging. Any one would think you expected to have some one +come and lay siege to the place." + +"More unlikely things than that, Master Roy. We live in strange times, +and the king may get the worst of it any day." + +"Oh, you old croaker!" cried Roy. "I believe you'd like to have a lot +more men in the place, and mount guard, and go on drilling and +practising with the big guns." + +"Ay, sir, I should; and with a place like this, it's what ought to be +done." + +"Well, it wouldn't be bad fun, Ben," said the boy, thoughtfully. + +"Fun, sir? Don't you get calling serious work like that fun.--But look +ye there. Soon chevy these spots off, don't I?" + +"Yes, it's getting nice and bright," said Roy, gazing down at the steel +headpiece. + +"And it's going to get brighter and better before I've done. I'm going +to let Sir Granby see when he comes back that I haven't neglected +nothing. I'm a-going to polish up all on 'em in turn, beginning with +old Sir Murray Royland. Let me see: he was your greatest grandfather, +wasn't he?" + +"Yes, he lived in 1480," said the boy, as the old man rose, set down the +morion, and followed him to where the farthest suit of mail stood +against the wall. "I say, Ben, this must have been very heavy to wear." + +"Ay, sir, tidy; but, my word, it was fine for a gentleman in those days +to mount his horse, shining in the sun, and looking as noble as a man +could look. He's a bit spotty, though, it's been so damp. But I'll +begin with Sir Murray and go right down 'em all, doing the steeliest +ones first, and getting by degrees to the last on 'em as is only steel +half-way down, and the rest being boots. Ah! it's a dolesome change +from Sir Murray to Sir Brian yonder at the end, and worse still, to your +father, as wouldn't put nothing on but a breast-piece and back-piece and +a steel cap." + +"Why, it's best," said the boy; "steel armour isn't wanted so much now +they've got cannon and guns." + +"Ay, that's a sad come-down too, sir. Why, even when I was out under +your grandfather, things were better and fighting fairer. People tried +to see who was best man then with their swords. Now men goes to hide +behind hedges and haystacks, to try and shoot you like they would a +hare." + +"Why, they did the same sort of thing with their bows and arrows, Ben, +and their cross-bows and bolts." + +"Well, maybe, sir; but that was a clean kind o' fighting, and none of +your sulphur and brimstone, and charcoal and smoke." + +"I say, Ben, it'll take you some time to get things straight. Mean to +polish up the old swords and spears, too?" + +"Every man jack of 'em, sir. I mean to have this armoury so as your +father, when he comes back from scattering all that rabble, will look +round and give me a bit of encouragement." + +"Ha, ha!" laughed the boy; "so that's what makes you so industrious." + +"Nay it aren't, sir," said the man, with a reproachful shake of his +head. "I didn't mean money, Master Roy, but good words, and a sort o' +disposition to make the towers what they should be again. He's a fine +soldier is your father, and I hear as the king puts a lot o' trust in +him; but it always seems to me as he thinks more about farming when he's +down here than he does about keeping up the old place as a good cavalier +should." + +"Don't you talk a lot of nonsense," said Roy, hotly; "if my father likes +to live here as country gentlemen do, and enjoy sport and gardening and +farming, who has a better right to, I should like to know?" + +"Oh, nobody, sir, nobody," said the man, scouring away at the rusted +steel. + +"And besides, times are altered. When this castle was built, gentlemen +used to have to protect themselves, and kept their retainers to fight +for them. Now there's a regular army, and the king does all that." + +That patch of rust must have been a little lighter on, for the man +uttered a low grunt of satisfaction. + +"It would be absurd to make the towers just as they used to be, and shut +out the light and cover the narrow slits with iron bars." + +"Maybe, Master Roy; but Sir Granby might have the moat cleared of mud, +and kept quite full." + +"What! I just hope it won't be touched. Why, that would mean draining +it, and then what would become of my carp and tench?" + +"Ketch 'em and put 'em in tubs, sir, and put some little uns back." + +"Yes, and then it would take years for them to grow, and all the +beautiful white and yellow water-lilies would be destroyed." + +"Yes; but see what a lot of fine, fat eels we should get, sir. There's +some thumpers there. I caught a four-pounder on a night-line last +week." + +"Ah, you did, did you?" cried the lad; "then don't you do it again +without asking for leave." + +"All right, sir, I won't; but you don't grudge an old servant like me +one eel?" + +"Of course I don't, Ben," said the lad, importantly; "but the moat is +mine. Father gave it to me as my own special fishing-place before he +went away, and I don't allow any one to fish there without my leave." + +"I'll remember, sir," said the man, beginning to whistle softly. + +"I don't grudge you a _few_ eels, Ben, and you shall have plenty; but +next time you want to fish, you ask." + +"Yes, sir, I will." + +"And what you say is all nonsense: the place is beautiful as it is. +Why, I believe if you could do as you liked, you'd turn my mother's +pleasaunce and the kitchen-garden into drill-grounds." + +"That I would, sir," said the man, flushing up. "The idea of a +beautiful square of ground, where the men might be drilled, and practise +with sword and gun, being used to grow cabbages in. Er! it's horrid!" + +Roy laughed. + +"You're a rum fellow, Ben," he cried. "I believe you think that people +were meant to do nothing else but fight and kill one another." + +"Deal better than spending all their time over books, sir," said the +man; "and you take my advice. You said something to me about being a +statesman some day, and serving the king that way. Now, I s'pose I +don't know exactly what a statesman is, but I expect it's something o' +the same sort o' thing as Master Pawson is, and--You won't go and tell +him what I says, sir?" + +"Do you want me to kick you, Ben?" said the boy, indignantly. + +"Oh, I don't know, sir," said the man, with a good-humoured smile +lighting up his rugged features; "can, if you like. Wouldn't be the +first time by many a hundred." + +"What! When did I kick you?" + +"Lots o' times when you was a little un, and I wouldn't let you drown +yourself in the moat, or break your neck walking along the worsest parts +o' the ramparts, or get yourself trod upon by the horses. Why, I've +known you kick, and squeal, and fight, and punch me as hard as ever you +could." + +"And did it hurt you, Ben?" + +"Hurt me, sir? Not it. I liked it. Showed you was made o' good stuff, +same good breed as your father; and I used to say to myself, `That young +cub'll turn out as fine a soldier as his father some day, and I shall +have the job o' training him.' But deary me, deary me, old England's +a-wasting all away! You aren't got the sperrit you had, my lad; and +instead o' coming to me cheery-like, and saying, `Now, Ben, get out the +swords and let's have a good fence, or a bit o' back-sword or +broad-sword-play, or a turn with the singlestick or staves,' you're +always a-sticking your nose into musty old parchments, or dusty books, +along o' Master Palgrave Pawson. Brrr!" + +The latter was a low growl, following a loud smack given to the side of +the helmet, after which, as the lad stood fretting and fuming, the old +servant scrubbed away at the steel furiously. + +"It isn't true, Ben," the boy cried at last, indignantly; "and perhaps +I'm going to be a soldier after all, especially if this trouble goes +on." + +"Tchaw! trouble goes on!" said the man, changing the steel headpiece for +a cuirass. "There won't be no trouble. First time your father gets a +sight of the mob of tailors, and shoemakers, and tinkers, with an old +patch-work counterpane atop of a clothes-prop for their flag, he'll ride +along the front of his ridgement of cavaliers, and he'll shout to 'em in +that big voice of his as I've followed many's the time; and `Don't draw, +gentlemen,' he'll say; `ride the scum down, and make the rest run;' and +then they'll all roar with laughing loud enough to drown the trumpet +charge. My word, I'd a gi'n something to ha' been there to see the +rebels fly like dead leaves before a wind in November. But it were a +mean and a cruel thing, Master Roy. Look at that arm, look at these +legs! I'm a better and a stronger man than ever I was, and could sit +any horse they'd put me on. But to leave an old soldier, as had +followed him as I have, at home here to rust like the rest o' things, +when there was a chance for a bit o' fun, it went right to my 'art, sir, +and it seemed to me as if it warn't the master as I used to sit with in +the ranks." + +The old fellow was bending now over the breastplate and rubbing hard, +while as Roy listened to his excited words, wondering at the way in +which he seemed to resent what he looked upon as a slight, something +dropped upon the polished steel with a pat, and spread out; and Roy +thought to himself that if that drop of hot salt water stayed there, it +would make a deeper rust spot than anything. + +But it did not stay, for the man hastily rubbed it away, and began with +a rough show of indifference to hum over an old Devon song, something +about "A morn in May, to hear birds whistle and see lambkins play." + +But he ceased as the boy laid a hand upon his shoulder, and bent over +the breastplate and rubbed at it very slowly, listening intently the +while. + +"Don't you get thinking that, Ben Martlet," said the boy, gently; +"father wanted to take you, and he said you were not too old." + +"Nay, nay, nay, sir; don't you get trying to ile me over. I know." + +"But you don't know," said the boy, hotly; "he said he should take you, +but my mother asked him not to." + +"Ay, she would, sir. She won't let you be a soldier, and she comes over +your father as I was too old and helpless to be any good." + +"You're a stupid, pig-headed, old chump," cried Roy, angrily. + +"Yes, sir; that's it; now you're at me too. Rusty, and worn-out, and +good for nothing; but it'll soon be over. I used to think it must be +very horrid to have to die, but I know better now, and I shan't be sorry +when my turn comes." + +"Will--you--listen to--what--I have--to say?" cried the boy. + +"Oh, ay, sir, I'll listen. You're my master, now Sir Granby's away, and +nobody shan't say as Ben Martlet didn't do his dooty as a soldier to the +end, even if he is set to dig in a garden as was once a castle +court-yard." + +"Oh, you obstinate old mule!" cried Roy, gripping the man's shoulders, +as he stood behind him, sawing him to and fro, and driving his knee +softly into the broad strong back. "Will you listen?" + +"Yes, sir, I'll listen; but that's only your knee. Kick the old +worn-out mule with your boot-toe, and--" + +"I've a good mind to," cried Roy. "Now listen: my mother begged of +father to leave you here." + +"Oh, ay, of course." + +"Quiet!" roared Roy, "or I will really kick--hard; because she said she +would feel safer, and that, if any trouble did arise with some of the +men, Martlet would put it down at once, and everything would go right." + +The cuirass went down on the dark oaken boards with a loud clang, and +the old soldier sprang to his feet panting heavily. + +"Her ladyship said that?" he cried. + +"Yes." + +"Say it again, sir; say it again!" he cried, in a husky voice. + +Roy repeated the words. + +"Yes, yes, sir; and what--what did Sir Granby say to that?" + +"Said he was very sorry and very glad." + +"What?" + +"Sorry to leave you, because it didn't seem natural to go back to the +regiment without his right-hand man." + +"Right-hand man?" + +"Yes; but he was glad my mother felt so about you, for he could go away +more contented now, and satisfied that all would be right. For though-- +ahem!--he had the fullest confidence in me, I was too young to have the +management of men." + +"Wrong, wrong, sir--wrong. On'y want a bit o' training, and you'd make +as good a captain as ever stepped.--Then it was her ladyship's doing, +and she said all that?" + +"Yes." + +"God bless her! my dear mistress. Here, don't you take no notice o' +this here," cried the rough fellow, changing his tone, and undisguisedly +wiping the salt tears from his face. "I don't work so much as I ought, +sir, and this here's only what you calls presperashum, sir, as collects, +and will come out somewheres. And so her ladyship says that, did her?" + +"Yes, Ben." + +"Then why haven't I knowed this afore? Here's three months gone by +since the master went to take command of his ridgement, and I see him +off. Ay, I did send him off looking fine, and here have I been eating +my heart out ever since. Why didn't you tell me?" + +"Oh, I don't know. Yes, I do. Of course, I wasn't going to tattle +about what my father and mother said, but when I heard you talk as you +did, and seem so cut up and unjust, why, I did." + +"Here, let me have it, my lad! Kick away! Jump on me for an old fool. +Why, I'm as blind as old Jenk. Worse.--She'd feel safer if there was +any trouble. Bless her! Oh, what an old fool I've been. No wonder +I've got so weak and thin." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" + +"What are you laughing at, sir?" + +"You weak and thin! Why, you're as strong as a horse." + +"Well, I am, Master Roy," said the man, with a grim smile of pride. +"But I have got a bit thin, sir." + +"Not a bit thinner." + +"Well, I aren't enjoyed my vittles since the master went, sir. You +can't contradick that." + +"No, and don't want to; but you did eat a four or five pound eel that +you'd no right to catch." + +"That I didn't, sir. I give it to poor old Jenk to make a pie. I never +tasted it." + +"Then you may catch as many as you like, Ben, without asking." + +"Thank you, sir; but I don't want to go eeling now. Here, let's have +all this fighting-tackle so as you can see your face in it. But I say, +my lad, do 'ee, now do 'ee, alter your mind; leave being statesman to +them soft, smooth kind o' fellows like Master Pawson." + +"I don't see why one couldn't be a statesman and a soldier too," said +the boy. + +"I don't know nothing about that sort, sir; but I do know how to handle +a sword or to load a gun. I do say, though, as you're going wrong +instead of right." + +"How?" + +"How, sir? Just look at your hands." + +"Well, what's the matter with them?" said the boy, holding them out. + +Ben Martlet uttered a low, chuckling laugh. + +"I'll tell you, sir. S'pose any one's badly, and the doctor comes; what +does he do first?" + +"Feels his pulse." + +"What else?" + +"Looks at his tongue." + +"That's it, my lad; and he knows directly from his tongue what's the +matter with him. Now, you see, Master Roy, I aren't a doctor." + +"Not you, Ben; doctors cure people; soldiers kill 'em." + +"Not always, Master Roy," said the old fellow, whose face during the +last few minutes had lit up till he seemed in the highest of glee. +"Aren't it sometimes t'other way on? But look here: doctors look at +people's tongues to see whether they wants to be physicked, or to have +their arms or legs cut off. I don't. I looks at a man's hand to see +what's the matter with him, and if I see as he's got a soft, white hand +like a gal's, I know directly he's got no muscles in his arms, no spring +in his back, and no legs to nip a horse's ribs or to march fifty mile in +a day. Now, just look at yours." + +"Oh, I can't help what my hands are like," said the boy, impatiently. + +"Oh, yes, you can, sir. You've been a-neglecting of 'em, sir, horrible; +so just you come to me a little more and let me harden you up a bit. If +you've got to be a statesman, you won't be none the worse for being able +to fight, and ride, and run. Now, will you? and--There's some one +a-calling you, my lad." + +"Yes, coming!" cried Roy; and he hurried out of the armoury into a long, +dark passage, at the end of which a window full of stained glass +admitted the sunbeams in a golden, scarlet, blue, and orange sheaf of +rays which lit up the tall, stately figure of a lady, to whom the boy +ran with a cry of-- + +"Yes, mother!" + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +ROY'S MOTHER AND TUTOR. + +"I had missed you, Roy," said the lady, smiling proudly on the boy; and +he looked with eyes full of pride at the beautiful woman, who now rested +her arm upon his shoulder and walked by his side into the more homelike +part of the old fortalice, whose grim interior had been transformed by +wainscoting, hangings, carpets, stained glass, and massive oak furniture +into the handsome mansion of the middle of the seventeenth century. + +They passed down a broad staircase into a noble hall, and from thence +into a library whose broad, low, mullioned stone window opened into what +had been the inner court of the castle, whose ramparts and flanking +corner towers were still there; but the echoing stones that had once +paved it had given place to verdant lawn, trim flower-beds ablaze with +bloom, quaintly-cut shrubs, and creepers which beautified the walls once +so bare and grim. + +"I want to talk to you, Roy," said Lady Royland, sinking into a great +formal chair. "Bring your stool and sit down." + +"Got too big for the stool, mother," said the boy; "I can't double up my +legs close enough. I'll sit here." + +He threw himself upon the thick carpet at her feet, and rested his arms +upon her lap. + +"Want to talk to me? I'd rather hear you read." + +"Not now, my dear." + +"Why, what's the matter, mother?" said the boy, anxiously. "You're as +white as can be. Got one of your headaches?" + +"No, my boy,--at least, my head does ache. But it is my heart, Roy,--my +heart." + +"Then you've heard bad news," cried the boy. "Oh, mother, tell me; what +is it? Not about father?" + +"No, no; Heaven forbid, my dear," cried Lady Royland, wildly. "It is +the absence of news that troubles me so." + +"I ought to say us," said Roy, angrily; "but I'm so selfish and +thoughtless." + +"Don't think that, my boy. You are very young yet, but I do wish you +would give more thought to your studies with Master Pawson." + +The boy frowned. + +"I wish you'd let me read with you, mother," he said. "I understand +everything then, and I don't forget it; but when that old--" + +"Master Palgrave Pawson," said Lady Royland, reprovingly, but with a +smile. + +"Oh, well, Master Palgrave Pawson. P.P., P.P. What a mouthful it seems +to be!" + +"Roy!" + +"I've tried, mother; but I do get on so badly with him. I can't help +it; I don't like him, and he doesn't like me, and it will always be the +same." + +"But why? Why do you not like him?" + +"Because--because--well, he always smiles at me so." + +"That does not seem as if he disliked you. Rather the reverse." + +"He's so smooth and oily." + +"It is only his manner, my dear. He seems to be very sincere, and to +have your welfare at heart." + +"Yes, that's it, mother; he won't let me alone." + +"But he is your tutor, my dear. You know perfectly well that he came to +be your father's secretary and your tutor combined." + +"Yes, I know, mother," said the boy, impatiently; "but somehow he +doesn't seem to teach me." + +"But he is very studious, and tries hard." + +"Yes, I know. But he seems to think I'm about seven instead of nearly +seventeen, and talks to me as if I were a very little boy, and--and--and +we don't get on." + +"This sounds very sad, Roy, and I cannot bear to have a fresh trouble +now. Your studies are so important to us." + +Roy reached up to get his arms round his mother's neck, drew her head +down, and kissed her lovingly. + +"And she shan't have any more trouble," he cried. "I'll get wonderfully +fond of old Paw." + +"Roy!" + +"Master Palgrave Pawson, then; and I'll work at my lessons and classics +like a slave. But you will read with me, too, mother?" + +"As much as you like, my son. Thank you. That has taken away part of +my load." + +"I wish I could take away the rest; but I know you're fidgeting because +father hasn't written, and think that something has happened to him. +But don't you get fancying that, because there can't be anything. +They've only gone after a mob of shoemakers and tailors with a +counterpane for flag, and father will scatter them all like dead +leaves." + +"Roy! My boy, these are not your words?" + +"No, mother; old Ben Martlet said something of that kind to me this +morning." + +"Does he not know, then, how serious it is?" + +"Serious? What do you mean by serious?" + +Lady Royland drew a deep breath, and laid her hand upon her side as if +in pain. + +"Why, mother," repeated the boy, "what do you mean by serious?" + +"This trouble--this rising, my dear. We have had no news, but Master +Pawson has had letters from London, and he tells me that what was +supposed to be a little petty discontent has grown into a serious +revolution." + +Roy gazed in his mother's troubled face as if he did not quite +comprehend the full extent of her words. + +"Well, and if it has, mother, what then?" + +"What then, my boy?" + +"Yes. You've nothing to fidget about. Father is there with his men, +and he'll soon put a stop to it all. You know how stern he can be when +people misbehave." + +"My dear Roy, this, I am afraid, is going to be no little trouble that +your father can put down with his men. Master Pawson tells me that +there is every prospect of its being a civil war." + +"What! Englishmen fighting against Englishmen?" + +"Yes; a terrible fratricidal war." + +"But who has quarrelled, mother? Oh, the king will soon stop it." + +"Roy, my boy, we have kept you so shut up here in this retired place for +home study, instead of parting with you to send you to one of the great +schools, that in some things you are as ignorant as I." + +"Oh, mother!" cried the boy, laughing. "You ignorant! I only wish I +were half as learned and clever. Why, father said--" + +"Yes, yes, dear; but that is only book-learning. We have been so happy +here that the jarring troubles of politics and the court have not +reached our ears; and I, for one, never gave them a thought till, after +all these years of peacefulness, your father found himself compelled to +obey the call of duty, and left us. We both thought that it was only +for a week or two, and then the disturbance would be at an end; but +every letter he has sent me has contained worse news, till now it is +nearly a month since I have heard from him." + +"Then it is because he is putting down the rioters," said Roy, quickly. + +"Rioters, my boy! Rebels you should say, for I fear that a great +attempt is to be made to overthrow the monarchy. Master Pawson's +informants assure him that this is the case, and before long, he says, +there must be an encounter between the Royal and the Parliamentary +troops." + +"Is Master Pawson right, mother? Royal troops--Parliamentary troops? +Why, they're all the same." + +"No, Roy; there is a division--a great division, I fear, and +discontented people are taking the side against the king." + +"Then I'm sorry for them," said the boy, flushing. "They'll get a most +terrible beating, these discontented folks." + +"Let us hope so, my boy, so that there may be an end to this terrible +anxiety. To those who have friends whom they love in the army, a +foreign war is dreadful enough; but when I think of the possibility of a +war here at home, with Englishmen striving against Englishmen, I +shudder, and my heart seems to sink." + +"Look here," cried the boy, as he rose and stood with his hand resting +upon his mother's shoulder, "you've been fidgeting and fancying all +sorts of things, because you haven't heard from father." + +"Yes, yes," said Lady Royland, faintly. + +"Then you mustn't, mother. 'Tis as I say; he is too busy to write, or +else he hasn't found it easy to send you a letter. I'll take the pony +and ride over to Sidecombe and see when the Exeter wagon comes in. +There are sure to be letters for you, and even if there are not, it will +make you more easy for me to have been to see, and I can bring you back +what news there is. I'll go at once." + +Lady Royland took hold of her son's hand and held it fast. + +"No," she said, making an effort to be firm. "We will wait another day. +I have been fidgeting, dear, as you say, and it has made me nervous and +low-spirited; but I'm better now for talking to you, my boy, and letting +you share my trouble. I dare say I have been exaggerating." + +"But I should like to ride over, mother." + +"You shall go to-morrow, Roy; but even then I shall be loath to let you. +There, you see I am quite cheerful again. You are perfectly right; +your father is perhaps away with his men, and he may have sent, and the +letter has miscarried in these troublous times." + +"I shouldn't like to be the man who took it, if it has miscarried," said +the boy, laughing. + +"Poor fellow! it may have been an accident. There, go to Master Pawson +now; and Roy, my dear, don't talk about our trouble to any one for the +present." + +"Not to old Pawson?" + +"Master Pawson." + +"Not to Master Pawson?" said Roy, smiling. + +"Not unless he speaks to you about it; then, of course, you can." + +"But he won't, mother. He only talks to me about the Greek and Latin +poets and about music. I say, you don't want to see me squeezing a big +fiddle between my knees and sawing at it with a bow as if I wanted to +cut all the strings, do you, mother?" + +"My dear boy, not unless you wished to learn the violoncello." + +"Well, I don't," said Roy, pettishly; "but old Master Pawson is always +bringing his out of its great green-baize bag and talking to me about +it. He says that he will instruct me, and he is sure that my father +would have one sent to me from London if I asked him. Just as if there +are not noises enough in the west tower now without two of us sawing +together. _Thrrum, thrrum, throomp, throomp, throomp_!" + +Roy struck an attitude as if playing, running his left hand up and down +imaginary strings while he scraped with his right, and produced no bad +imitation of the vibrating strings with his mouth. + +"I should not dislike for you to play some instrument to accompany my +clavichord, Roy," said Lady Royland, smiling at the boy's antics. + +"Very well, then; I'll learn the trumpet," cried the lad. "I'm off now +to learn--not music." + +"One moment, Roy, my dear," said Lady Royland, earnestly. "Don't let +your high spirits get the better of your discretion." + +"Of course not, mother." + +"You do not understand me, my dear. I am speaking very seriously now. +I mean, do not let Master Pawson think that you ridicule his love of +music. It would be very weak and foolish, and lower you in his eyes." + +"Oh, I'll mind, mother." + +"Recollect that he is a scholar and a gentleman, and in your father's +confidence." + +Roy nodded, and his lips parted as if to speak, but he closed them +again. + +"What were you going to say, Roy?" + +"Oh, nothing, mother." + +"Nothing?" + +"Well, only--that--I was going to say, do you like Master Pawson?" + +"As your tutor and your father's secretary, yes. He is a very clever +man, I know." + +"Yes, he's a very clever man," said Roy, as, after kissing his mother +affectionately, he went off towards the west tower, which had been +specially fitted up as study and bedchamber for the gentleman who had +come straight from Oxford to reside at Sir Granby Royland's seat a +couple of years before this time. "Yes, he's a very clever man," said +Roy to himself; "but I thought I shouldn't like him the first day he +came, and I've gone on thinking so ever since. I don't know why, but-- +Oh, yes, I do," cried the boy, screwing up his face with a look of +disgust: "it's because, as he says, I've no soul for music." + +For just at that moment a peculiar long-drawn wailing sound came from +the open window of the west tower, and a dog lying curled up on the +grass in the sun sprang up and began to bark, finishing off with a long, +low howl, as it stretched out its neck towards the open window. + +"Poor old Nibbs! he has no soul for it, either," said the boy to +himself, as his face lit up with a mirthful expression. "It woke him +up, and he thought it was cats. Wonder what tune that is? He won't +want me to interrupt him now. Better see, though, and speak to him +first, and then I'll go and see old Ben polish the armour." + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE. + +The wail on one string went on, and naturally sounded louder as Roy +Royland opened a door to stand gazing in at the quaint octagonal room, +lit by windows splayed to admit more light to the snug quarters hung +with old tapestry, and made cosy with thick carpet and easy-chair, and +intellectual with dwarf book-cases filled with choice works. These had +overflowed upon the floor, others being piled upon the tops of chairs +and stacked in corners wherever room could be found, while some were +even ranged upon the narrow steps of the corkscrew stone staircase which +led to the floor above, occupied by Master Palgrave Pawson for a +bedchamber, the staircase being continued up to the leads, where it +ended in a tiny turret. + +"I wonder what father will say, my fine fellow, when he finds what a lot +of his books you've brought up out of the library," said Roy to himself, +as he stood watching the plump, smooth-faced youngish man, who, with an +oblong music-book open before him on the table, was seated upon a stool, +with a 'cello between his legs, gravely sawing away at the strings, and +frowning severely whenever, through bad stopping with his fingers--and +that was pretty often--he produced notes "out of tune and harsh." The +musician was dressed, according to the fashion of the day, in dark +velvet with a lace collar, and wore his hair long, so that it +inconvenienced him; the oily curls, hanging down on either side of his +fat face like the valance over an old-fashioned four-post bedstead, +swaying to and fro with the motion of the man's body, and needing, from +time to time, a vigorous shake to force them back when they encroached +too far forward and interfered with his view of the music. + +The slow, solemn, dirge-like air went on, but the player did not turn +his head, playing away with grave importance, and giving himself a +gentle inclination now and then to make up for the sharp twitches caused +by the tickling hair. + +"You saw me," said Roy, speaking to himself, but at the musician, "for +one of your eyes turned this way; but you won't speak till you've got to +the end of that bit of noise. Oh, how I should like to shear off those +long greasy curls! They make you look worse even than you do when +they're all twisted up in pieces of paper. It doesn't suit your round, +fat face. You don't look a bit like a cavalier, Master P.P.; but I +suppose you're a very good sort of fellow, or else father would not have +had you here." + +Just then the music ended with an awkwardly performed run up an octave +and four scrapes across the first and second strings. + +"Come in, boy," said the player, taking up a piece of resin to apply to +the hair of the bow, "and shut the door." + +He spoke in a highly-pitched girlish voice, which somehow always tickled +Roy and made him inclined to laugh, and the desire increased upon this +occasion as he said, solemnly-- + +"Saraband." + +"Oh! Who's she?" said the boy, wonderingly. + +The secretary threw his head back, shaking his curls over his broad +turn-down collar, and smiled pityingly. + +"Ah," he said, "now this is another proof of your folly, Roy, in +preferring the society of the servants to that of the noble works with +which your father has stored his library. What ignorance! A saraband +is a piece of dance music, Italian in origin; and that was a very +beautiful composition." + +"Dance?" cried the boy. "People couldn't dance to a tune like that. I +thought it was an old dirge." + +"Want of taste and appreciation, boy. But I see you would prefer +something light and sparkling. I will--sit down--play you a coranto." + +It was on Roy's lips to say, "Oh, please don't," but he contented +himself with crossing the room, lifting some books off an oaken +window-seat, his tutor watching him keenly the while, and putting them +on the floor; while, with his head still thrown back on one side, Master +Palgrave Pawson slowly turned over the leaves of his music-book with the +point of his bow. + +Roy seated himself, with a sigh, after a glance down through the open +window at the glistening moat dotted with the great silver blossoms and +dark flat leaves of the water-lilies, seeing even from there the shadowy +forms of the great fish which glided slowly among the slimy stalks. + +"Ready?" said the musician, giving his hand a flourish. + +"Yes, sir," said Roy, aloud; and then to himself, "Oh, what an awful +fib." Then he wrinkled up his brows dismally, and began to think of old +Ben polishing the armour and swords; but the next moment his face +smoothed out stiffly, and he grew red in his efforts to keep from +laughing aloud, for Master Pawson commenced jerking and snatching from +the strings a remarkable series of notes, which followed one another in +a jigging kind of fairly rapid sequence, running up and down the gamut +and in and out, as if the notes of the composer had suddenly become +animated, and, like some kind of tiny, big-headed, long-tailed goblins, +were chasing one another in and out of the five lines of the stave, +leaping from bar to bar, never stopping for a rest, making fun of the +flats and sharps, and finally pausing, breathless and tired, as the +player now finally laid down the bow, took out a fine laced +handkerchief, and began to wipe his fingers and mop his brow. + +"There," he said, smiling; "you like that bright, sparkling composition +better?" + +"No," said Roy, decisively; "no, I don't think I do." + +"I am glad of it; very glad of it. I was afraid that you preferred the +light and trivial coranto to the graceful saraband." + +"But, I say. Master Pawson, the Italians surely don't dance to such +music as that?" + +"I have never been in Italy, my dear pupil, but I believe they do. +Going?" + +Roy had risen from his chair. + +"Yes, sir; I thought, as you were practising, you would not want me to +stop and read to-day, and you are writing a letter, too." + +"Letter?" said the secretary, hurriedly reaching towards an open sheet +upon the table and turning it over with the point of his bow. "Oh, +that? Yes, some notes--some notes. Well, it is a fine day, and +exercise is good, and perhaps I shall run through a few more +compositions. So you can go, and we will study a little in the evening, +for we must not neglect our work, Roy, my dear pupil; we must not +neglect our work." + +"No, sir. Thank you, sir," said the boy; and, for fear of a change of +decision, he hurried from the room and made his way out upon the old +ramparts, to begin walking leisurely round the enclosed garden, and +looking outward from the eminence upon which the castle was built across +the moat at the foot, and away over the sunny forest towards the village +and little church, whose spire rose about two miles away. + +"I wish he wouldn't always call me `my dear pupil,' and smile at me as +if he looked down from ever so high up. I don't know how it is, but I +always feel as if I don't like him. I suppose it's because he's so +plump and smooth. + +"Seems hard," mused the boy, seating himself in one of the crenellations +of the rampart, and thinking deeply, "that he should get letters with +news from London, and poor mother not have a line. That was a letter on +the table, though he pretended it was not, for I could see it began like +one. I didn't want to read it. Perhaps he was ashamed of being always +writing letters. Don't matter to me. Afraid, perhaps, that he'll be +told that he ought to attend more to teaching me. Wish he'd be always +writing letters. I can learn twice as much reading with mother." + +It was very beautiful in that sunny niche in the mouldering stones close +to the tower farthest away from that occupied by the secretary, and a +spot much favoured by the boy, for from there he could look right over +the square gate-way with its flanking towers, and the drawbridge which +was never drawn, and the portcullis which was never lowered. + +"Can't hear him playing here," thought Roy that day; and he +congratulated himself upon the fact, without pausing to think that the +distance was so short that the notes should have been audible. + +Roy had been successful in getting off his reading with the tutor, but +he was very undecided what to do next, for there were so many things to +tempt him, and his mind kept on running in different directions. One +minute he was dwelling on his mother's troubles and the want of news +from his father, and from this it was a natural transition to thinking +of how grand it would be if he could prevail upon her to let him go up +to that far-away mysterious city, which it took days to reach on +horseback, and then he could take her letter and find where his father +was lying with his regiment, and see the army,--maybe see the king and +queen, and perhaps his father might let him stay there,--at all events +for a time. + +Then he was off to thinking about the great moat, for twice over a +splash rose to his ears, and he could see the rings of water which +spread out and made the lily-leaves rise and fall. + +"That was the big tench," he said to himself. "Must catch that fellow +some day. He must weigh six or seven pounds. It ought to be a good +time now. Want a strong line, though, and a big hook, for he'd run in +and out among the lily-stems and break mine. Now, if I knew where +father was, I could write and ask him to buy me one and send it down by +his next letter. No: he wouldn't want to be bothered to buy me +fishing-lines when he's with his regiment. I know," he said to himself, +after a pause; "old Ben has got the one he caught the big eel with. +I'll make him lend me that. Poor old Ben! who'd ever have thought that +he could cry. For it was crying just as a little boy would. Seems +funny, because he has been a brave soldier, and saved father's life +once. Shouldn't have thought a man like that could cry." + +Roy began to whistle softly, and then picked up a little cushion-like +patch of velvety green moss and pitched it down towards a jackdaw that +was sitting on a projecting stone just below a hole, watching him +intently, first with one eye and then with the other, as if puzzled to +know what he was doing so near to his private residence, where his wife +was sitting upon a late batch of eggs, an accident connected with rats +having happened to the first. + +It did not occur to the bird that it was quite impossible for its +nesting-place to be reached without a swing down from above by a rope; +but, being still puzzled, it tried to sharpen its intellectual faculties +by standing on one leg and scratching its grey poll with the claws of +the other, a feat which made it unsteady and nearly topple over towards +the deep moat below. + +"_Tah_!" it cried, in resentment of the insult when the little green +moss cushion was thrown; and, as the bird sailed away, Roy rose and +walked slowly along the rampart, through the corner tower, and then on +towards the front, where that over the outer gate-way stood tall, +massive, and square. Here the boy left the rampart, entered through a +low arched door, and stood in the great chamber over the main gate-way, +where the rusty chains were wound round the two capstans, held fast now +by their checks, and suspending the huge grated portcullis, with its +spikes high enough to be clear of a coachman driving a carriage. + +"Wonder whether we could let that down?" thought Roy. + +He had often had the same thought, but it came very strongly now, and he +began to calculate how many men it would take to lower the portcullis, +and whether he, Ben, and a couple more could manage it. + +"Looks as if everything must be set fast with rust," he thought, and he +was about to turn and descend; but as he reached the corner where the +spiral steps led down, he stood where they also led up to another +chamber in the massive stone-work, and again higher to the leads. + +The result was that in his idle mood Roy began to ascend, to find +half-way up, by the slit which gave light, that the jackdaws had been +busy there too, coming in and out by the loop-hole, and building a nest +which was supported upon a scaffolding of sticks which curved up from +the stone step on which it rested, and from that to the splay and sill +by the loop-hole. + +"Only an old one," said the boy to himself, and he brought the great +edifice down with a sharp kick or two, thinking that it must be about a +year since any one had come up that way. + +"What a lot of the old place seems no use!" he said to himself, as, with +the dry sticks crackling beneath his feet, he climbed up the dark +stairway and entered the next chamber through its low arched door. + +"Why, what a jolly private room this would make!" he said to himself; +"only wants a casement in and some furniture. I'll ask father to let me +have it for my play--I mean study; no, I don't--I mean odds and ends +place." + +He paused--after glancing out at the beautiful view over the woodland +country dotted with meadow-like pastures in which the ruddy cattle of +the county grazed--by the open fireplace with the arms of the Roylands +cut in stone beneath the narrow shelf, and the sight of this opening, +with the narrow, well-made chimney and some projecting stone blocks from +the fire-back, set him thinking. + +"Fight differently now," he said, as he recalled the object of the +furnace before him, and how he had heard or read that it was used on +purpose to melt lead ready for pouring down upon the besiegers who might +have forced their way across the drawbridge to the portcullis. "Fancy +melting lead here to pour down upon men's heads! What wretches we must +have been in the old days." + +He altered his mind, though, directly, as he went back to the stairway. + +"Perhaps we never did pour any down, for I don't think anybody ever did +attack the castle." + +Thinking he might as well go a little higher, he mounted the spiral +instead of descending, the dry elm twigs brought in by the jackdaws +which made the untenanted corners their home crackling again beneath his +feet. + +Passing out of the corner turret, which supported a stout, new +flag-pole, he was now on the leaded roof of the great square tower, +which frowned down upon the drawbridge and gazed over the outer +gate-way, in whose tower old Jenkin Bray, the porter, dwelt, and whom +Roy could now see sitting beside the modern iron gate sunning himself, +his long white hair and beard glistening in the light. + +There were openings for heavy guns in front here, and a broad, level, +projecting parapet with a place where the defenders could kneel, and +which looked like a broad seat at the first glance, while at its foot +was a series of longish, narrow, funnel-shaped openings, over which the +boy stood, gazing down through them at the entrance to the main +gate-way, noting how thoroughly they commanded the front of where the +portcullis would stand when dropped, and where any enemies attacking and +trying to break through would be exposed to a terrible shower of molten +lead, brought up from the furnace in the chamber below to pour down upon +the besiegers, while those who assailed them were in perfect safety. + +"Horrid!" muttered Roy; "but I don't know; the enemy should stop away +and leave the people in the castle alone. But hot lead! Boiling water +wouldn't seem so bad. But surely Master Pawson's friend is wrong; we +can't be going to have war here in England. Well, if we do, there's +nothing to bring them here." + +Roy left the machicolations and knelt upon the broad stone seat-like +place to stretch himself across the parapet, and look down, over the +narrow patch of stone paving, down into the deep moat, whose waters were +lit up by the sunshine, so that the boy could see the lily and other +water-plant stems and clumps of reed mace; at the farther edge the great +water-docks and plantains, with the pink-blossomed rush. But his +attention was wholly riveted by the fish which swarmed in the sunny +depths, and for a time he lay there upon his breast, kicking up his +heels and studying the broad-backed carp, some of which old age had +decked with patches of greyish mould. There were fat tench, too, +walloping about among the lilies, and appearing to enjoy the pleasure of +forcing their way in and out among the leaves and stems; while the carp +sailed about in the open water, basking in the sunshine, and seemed to +find their satisfaction in leaping bodily out of the water to fall back +with a splash. + +There were roach, too, in shoals, and what seemed remarkable was that +they kept swimming close up to where a great pike of nearly three feet +long lay motionless, close to a patch of weed. + +"Must be asleep," thought Roy, "or not hungry, and they all know it, +because he would soon snap up half a dozen of them." + +Then, as he lay lazily watching the fish in the drowsy sunshine which +had warmed the stones, the political troubles of the nation and the +great cloud of war, with its lightnings, destruction, and death, were +unseen. He was surrounded by peace in the happiest days of boyhood, and +trouble seemed as if it could not exist. But the trumpet-blast had rung +out the call to arms, and men were flocking to that standard and to +this, and the flash and thunder of guns had begun. + +But not there down to that sleepy, retired part of Devon. There was the +castle built for defence, and existing now as Sir Granby Royland's happy +country home, surrounded by its great estate with many tenants, while +its heir was stretched out there in the sunshine upon his chest, kicking +up his heels, and thinking at that moment that it would not be a bad +amusement to bring up a very long line with a plummet at the end, to +bait it, and then swing it to and fro till he could drop it right out +where the great pike lay, ten or a dozen feet from the drawbridge. + +"I will some day," said the boy, half aloud; "but it's too much trouble +now." + +He swung himself round and lay there, looking back over the top of the +spacious building, on whose roof he was, right across the now floral old +court-yard, and between the two angle towers, to the wide-spreading +acres of the farms and woodlands which formed his father's estate. + +The jackdaws flew about, and began to settle at the corners as he lay so +still and languidly said to himself-- + +"Need to lie still; it wouldn't do to slip over backward. I shouldn't +even go into the moat, for I should come down on those stones." + +"Stupid to be in dangerous places," he said to himself directly after, +and, rolling over, he let himself down upon the broad seat-like place, +where he could lie and watch the prospect just as well. + +"Rather stupid of me not to come up here oftener," he thought. "It's a +capital place. I will ask father to let me have all this old empty +tower to myself. What's that? A fight?" + +For there was a sudden rush upward of jackdaws from where they had +blackened the farthest corner tower to the left, and, looking in that +direction as he lay, he saw the reason of the sudden whirr of wings and +outburst of sharp, harsh cries, for there upon the leads, and holding on +by the little turret which covered the door-way of the spiral staircase, +stood Master Pawson. + +"Feels like I do, I suppose," thought Roy, as the secretary cast his +eyes round the old building, particularly watchful of the pleasaunce, +but keeping right back by the outer crenelles as if not wishing to be +seen. + +At first Roy felt that the secretary saw him, and as his eyes roved on +and he made no sign, the boy's hand went to his pocket in search of his +handkerchief to wave to him. He did not withdraw it, but lay lazily +watching while the secretary now turned his back and stood gazing right +away. + +"Never saw him do anything of that kind before," thought Roy. "What's +he looking after? I shouldn't have thought he had ever been up there in +his life." + +Roy lay quite still, with his eyes half closed, and all at once the +secretary drew out his white laced handkerchief, wiped his forehead +three times with a good deal of flourish, and returned it, after which +he slowly stepped into the turret opening and backed out of sight. + +"Mind you don't slip," said Roy, tauntingly, but quite conscious of the +fact that his words could not be heard. "Why, he has gone down like a +bear--backward. I could run down those stairs as fast as I came up." + +Perhaps it was the warm sunshine, perhaps it was from laziness, but, +whatever the cause, Roy Royland went off fast asleep, and remained so +for quite a couple of hours, when, starting up wonderingly, and not +quite conscious of the reason why he was there, he looked about him, and +finally over the great parapet, to see the secretary beyond the farther +end of the drawbridge, talking in a very benign way to the old porter, +who stood with bent head listening to his words. + +"Why, it seems only a few moments ago that I saw him on the leads over +his chamber staring out across country, and he must have been down +since, and had a walk.--How time does go when you're snoozing," thought +Roy, "and how stupid it is to go to sleep in the daytime! I won't do it +again." + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE USE OF A SWORD. + +Several days passed away, but Lady Royland always put off sending in +search of news, and seemed to be more cheerful, so that Roy soon forgot +his anxiety in the many things he had to think about,--amusements, +studies, and the like. But he had a few words with his father's old +follower on the subject of the absence of news, one day, when Ben was +busy, as usual, in the armoury. + +"Not heard lately from the master, sir? Pish, that's nothing; soldiers +have got their swords and pistols to think about, not their pens. Best +soldiers I ever knew couldn't write at all. Enough for them to do to +fight. You'll hear from him some day, and when you do, you'll know as +he has been pretty busy putting the people straight,--more straight than +some on 'em'll like to be, I know. Sarve 'em right; nobody's a right to +fight agen the king.--Looks right, don't it?" + +He held up an old sword which he had rubbed and polished till it flashed +in the light. + +"Splendid!" said Roy. "Is it sharp?" + +"Sharp enough to take your head off at one sweep." + +"Nonsense!" said the boy, laughing. + +"Oh, it's true enough, Master Roy. Here, you stand all quite stiff and +straight, and I'll show you." + +"No, thank you, Ben. Suppose I try it on you." + +"There you are, then," said the man; "but I must have one, too, for a +guard." + +He handed the boy the sword, and took up another waiting to be cleaned +from galling rust, and, throwing himself on guard, he cried-- + +"Now then, cut!" + +"No; too dangerous," said Roy. + +"Not a bit, my lad, because you couldn't touch me." + +"I could," said Roy, "where I liked." + +"Try, then." + +"Not with this sharp sword." + +"Very well, then, take one of those; they've no more edge than a wooden +one. It's time you did know how to use a sword, sir." + +Ben exchanged his glittering blade, too, and once more stood on guard. + +"I won't bother you now about how you ought to stand, sir," he said; +"that'll come when I begin to give you some lessons. You go just as you +like, and hit where you can." + +"No, no," said the boy. "I don't want to hurt you, Ben." + +"Won't hurt me, sir; more likely to hurt yourself. But do you know +you're standing just as badly as you possibly could? and if I was your +enemy, I could take off your head, either of your ears, or your legs, as +easily as look at you." + +Roy laughed, but he did not seem to believe the old soldier's assertion, +and, giving his blunt sword a whirl through the air, he cried-- + +"Now, then, Ben; which leg shall I cut off?" + +"Which you like, sir." + +Roy made a feint at the right leg, and, quickly changing the direction +of his weapon, struck with it softly at the old soldier's left. + +"Tchah!" cried the old man, as blade met blade, his sword, in the most +effortless way, being edge outward exactly where Roy struck. "Why, do +you know, sir, if I'd been in arnest with you, that you would have been +spitted like a cockchafer on a pin before you got your blade round to +cut?" + +"Not I," said the boy, contemptuously. + +"Very well, sir; you'll see. Now, try again, and cut hard. Don't let +your blade stop to get a bit of hay and a drop of water on the way, but +give it me quick." + +"But I don't want to hurt you, Ben." + +"Well, I don't, either; and, what's more, I don't mean to let you." + +"But I shall, I'm sure, if I strike hard." + +"You think so, my lad; but do you know what a good sword is?" + +"A sword." + +"Yes, and a lot more. When a man can use it properly, it's a shield, +and a breastplate, helmet, brasses, and everything else. Now, I'll just +show you. Helmet, say. Now, you cut straight down at my head, just as +if you were going to cut me in two pieces." + +"Put on one of the old helmets, then." + +"Tchah! I don't want any helmets. You cut." + +"And suppose I hurt you?" + +"S'pose you can't." + +"Well, I don't want to," said Roy; "so look out." + +"Right, sir; chop away." + +Roy raised his sword slowly, and the old soldier dropped the point of +his and began to laugh. + +"That won't do, my lad; lift your blade as if you were going to bring it +down again, not as if you meant to hang it up for an ornament on a peg." + +"Oh, very well," said Roy. "Now, then, I'm going to cut at you sharp." + +"Oh, are you, sir?" said Ben. "Now, if ever you're a soldier, and meet +a man who means to kill you, shall you tell him you're going to cut at +him sharply? because, if you do, you'll have his blade through you +before you've half said it." + +"You are precious fond of your banter," cried Roy, who was a little put +out now. "Serve you right if I do hurt you. But this blade won't cut, +will it?" + +"Cut through the air if you move it sharp; that's about all, my lad." + +"Then take that," cried the boy. + +_Clang_--_cling_--_clatter_! + +Roy stared, for his sword had come in contact with that of the old +soldier, and then was twisted out of his grasp and went rattling along +the floor, Ben going after it to fetch it back. + +"Try again, sir." + +Roy was on his mettle now, and, grasping the hilt more firmly, he +essayed to deliver a few blows at his opponent's legs, sides, and arms. +But Ben's sword was always there first, and held at such an angle that +his weapon glided off violently, as if from his own strength in +delivering the blow; and, try hard as he could, he could not get near +enough to make one touch. + +"Arms and head, my lad; sharp." + +Better satisfied now that he would not hurt his adversary, Roy struck +down at the near shoulder, but his sword glanced away. Then at the +head, the legs, everywhere that seemed to offer for a blow, but always +for his blade to glance off with a harsh grating sound. + +"There, it's of no use; you can't get near me, my lad," said Ben, at +last. + +"Oh, yes, I can. I was afraid of hurting you. I shall hit hard as +hard," cried Roy, who felt nettled. "But I don't want to hurt you. +Let's have sticks." + +"I'll get sticks directly, sir. You hit me first with the sword." + +"Oh, very well; if you will have it, you shall," cried Roy, and, without +giving any warning now, he delivered a horizontal blow at the old +soldier's side; but it was turned off just as the dozen or so which +followed were thrown aside, and then, with a quiet laugh, the old fellow +said-- + +"Now, every time you hit at me, I could have run you through." + +"No, you couldn't," said Roy, sharply. + +"Well, we'll see, sir. Put that down, and use this; or, no, keep your +sword; the hilt will protect your hand in case I come down upon it." + +He took up a stout ash stick and threw himself on guard again, waiting +for Roy's blow, which he turned off, but before the next could descend, +the boy's aim was disordered by a sharp dig in the chest from the end of +the ash stick; and so it was as he went on: before he could strike he +always received a prod in the chest, ribs, arms, or shoulders. + +"Oh, I say, Ben," he cried at last; "I didn't know you could use a stick +like that." + +"Suppose not, my lad; but I knew you couldn't use a sword like that. +Now, I tell you what: you'd better come to me for an hour every morning +before breakfast, and I'll begin to make such a man of you as your +father would like to see when he comes back." + +"Well, I will come, Ben," said the lad; "but my arm does not ache so +much now, and I don't feel quite beaten. Let's have another try." + +"Oh, I'll try all day with you, if you like, sir," said the old soldier; +"only, suppose now you stand on guard and let me attack." + +"With swords?" said Roy, blankly. + +"No, no," said Ben, laughing; "I don't want to hurt you. We'll keep to +sticks. Better still: I want you to get used to handling a sword, so +I'll have the stick and you shall defend yourself with a blade." + +"But that wouldn't be fair to you," cried Roy. "I might hurt you, while +you couldn't hurt me." + +"Couldn't I?" said the old fellow, drily. "I'm afraid I could, and more +than you could me. Now, then, take that blade." + +He took one from the wall, a handsome-looking sword, upon which the +armourer who made it had bestowed a good deal of ingenious labour, +carving the sides, and ornamenting the hilt with a couple of beautifully +fluted representations in steel of the scallop shell, so placed that +they formed as complete a protection to the hand of the user as that +provided in the basket-hilted Scottish claymore. + +"Find that too heavy for you, sir?" + +"It is heavy," said Roy; "but one seems to be able to handle it easily." + +"Yes, sir; you'll find that will move lightly. You see it's so well +balanced by the hilt being made heavy. The blade comes up lightly, and, +with a fair chance, I believe I could cut a man in two with it after a +few touches on a grindstone." + +"Ugh!" ejaculated Roy; "horrid!" + +"Oh, I don't know, sir. Much more horrid if he cut you in two. It's of +no use to be thin-skinned over fighting in earnest. Man's got to defend +himself. Now, then, let's give you a word or two of advice to begin +with. A good swordsman makes his blade move so sharply that you can +hardly see it go through the air. You must make it fly about like +lightning. Now then, ready?" + +"Yes; but you won't mind if I hurt you?" + +"Don't you be afraid of doing that, sir. If you hurt me, it'll serve me +right for being such a bungler. _En garde_!" + +Roy threw himself into position, and the old soldier attacked him very +slowly, cutting at his neck on either side, then down straight at his +head, next at his arms and legs; and in every case, though in a bungling +way, Roy interposed his blade after the fashion shown by his adversary. + +Then the old fellow drew back and rested the point of his ash stick upon +his toe, while Roy panted a little, and smiled with satisfaction. + +"Come," he said; "I wasn't so bad there." + +"Oh, no, you weren't so bad there, because you showed that you'd got +some idea of what a sword's for; but when you're ready we'll begin +again. May as well have something to think about till to-morrow +morning. First man you fight with won't stop to ask whether you're +ready, you know." + +"I suppose not; but wait a minute." + +"Hour, if you like, sir; but your arms'll soon get hard. Seems a pity, +though, that they're not harder now. I often asked the master to let me +teach you how to use a sword." + +"Yes, I know; but my mother always objected. She doesn't like swords. +I do." + +"Of course you do, sir. It's a lad's nature to like one. Ready?" + +"Yes," cried Roy, standing on his guard; "but look out this time, Ben, +because I mean you to have something." + +"That's right, sir; but mind this: I'm not going to let my stick travel +like a snail after a cabbage-leaf this time. I'm going to cut as I +should with a sword, only I'm going to hit as if you were made of glass, +so as not to break you. Now!" + +The old soldier's eyes flashed as he threw one foot forward, Roy doing +the same; but it was his newly polished sword that flashed as he +prepared to guard the cuts, taking care, or meaning to take care, to +hold his blade at such an angle that the stick would glance off. The +encounter ended in a few seconds. _Whizz, whirr, pat, pat, pat_, and +the elastic ash sapling came down smartly upon the boy's arms, legs, +sides, shoulders, and finished off with a rap on the head, with the +result that Roy angrily threw the sword jangling upon the floor, and +stood rubbing his arms and sides viciously. + +"You said you were going to hit at me as if I were made of glass," cried +the boy. + +"So I did. Don't mean to say those taps hurt you?" + +"Hurt? They sting horribly." + +"Why, those cuts would hardly have killed flies, sir. But why didn't +you guard?" + +"Guard? I did guard," cried Roy, angrily, as he rubbed away; "but you +were so quick." + +"Oh, I can cut quicker than that, sir. You see I got in before you did +every time. I'd cut, and was on my way to give another before you were +ready for the first. Come, they don't tingle now, do they?" + +"Tingle? Yes. Here, I want a stick. I'm not going to leave off +without showing you how it does hurt." + +"Better leave off now, sir," said the man, grinning. + +"But I don't want to," cried Roy; and picking up the sword which he had +handled with a feeling of pride, he took the other stick, and, crying +"Ready!" attacked in his turn, striking hard and as swiftly as he could, +but _crack, crack, crack_, wherever he struck, there was the defensive +sapling; and at last, with his arm and shoulder aching, the boy lowered +his point and stood panting, with his brow moist with beads of +perspiration. + +"Well done!" cried Ben. "Now that's something like a first lesson. +Why, those last were twice as good as any you gave before." + +"Yes," said Roy, proudly; "I thought I could make you feel. Some of +those went home." + +"Not one of them, my lad," said Ben, smiling; "you didn't touch me +once." + +"Not once?" + +"No, sir; not once." + +"Is that the truth, Ben?" + +"Every word of it, sir. But never you mind that; you did fine; and if +you'll come to me every morning, I'll make you so that in three months I +shall have to look out for myself." + +"I don't seem to have done any good at all," said Roy, pettishly. + +"Not done no good, sir? Why, you've done wonders; you've taken all the +conceit out of yourself, and learned in one lesson that you don't know +anything whatever about a sword, except that it has a blade and a hilt +and a scabbard. And all the time you'd been thinking that all you had +to do was to chop and stab with it as easy as could be, and that there +was nothing more to learn. Now didn't you?" + +"Something like it," said Roy, who was now cooling down; "but, of +course, I knew that you had to parry." + +"But you didn't know how to, my lad; and look here, you haven't tried to +thrust yet. Here, give me a sharp one now." + +"No, I can't do any more," said Roy, sulkily. "I don't know how." + +"That's a true word, sir; but you're going to try?" + +"No, I'm not," said Roy, whom a sharp sting in one leg from the worst +cut made a little vicious again. + +"Come, come, come," said the old soldier, reproachfully. "That aren't +like my master's son talking; that's like a foolish boy without anything +in his head." + +"Look here, Ben; don't you be insolent." + +"Not I, Master Roy. I wouldn't be to you. Only I speak out because I'm +proud of you, my lad, and I want to see you grow up into a man like your +father. I tried hard not to hurt you, sir, but I suppose I did. But I +can't say I'm sorry." + +"Then you ought to be, for you cut at me like a brute." + +The old soldier shook his head sadly. + +"You don't mean that, Master Roy," he said; "and it's only because +you're tingling a bit; that's all." + +The man's words disarmed Roy, and the angry frown passed away, as he +said, frankly-- + +"No, I don't mean it now, Ben. The places don't tingle so; but I say, +there'll be black marks wherever you cut at me." + +"Never mind, sir; they'll soon come white again, and you'll know next +time that you've got to have your weapon ready to save yourself. Well, +I dunno. I meant it right, but you've had enough of it. Some day Sir +Granby'll let you go to a big fencing-master as never faced a bit o' +steel drawn in anger in his life, and he'll put you on leather pads and +things, and tap you soft like, and show you how to bow, s'loot, and cut +capers like a Frenchman, and when he's done with you I could cut you up +into mincemeat without you being able to give me a scratch." + +"Get out!" cried Roy. "You don't think anything of the sort. What time +shall I come to-morrow morning--six?" + +"No, sir, no. Bed's very nice at six o'clock in the morning. You stop +there, and then you won't be hurt." + +"Five, then?" said Roy, sharply. + +"Nay, sir; you wait for the big fencing-master." + +"Five o'clock, I said," cried Roy. + +The old soldier took the sword Roy had held, and fetching a piece of +leather from a drawer began to polish off the finger-marks left upon the +steel. + +"I said five o'clock, Ben," cried the boy, very decisively. + +"Nay, Master Roy, you give it up, sir. I'm too rough an old chap for +you." + +"Sorry I was so disagreeable, Ben," said the boy, offering his hand. + +"Mean it, sir?" + +"Why, of course, Ben." + +The hand was eagerly seized, and, it being understood that the sword +practice was to begin punctually at six next morning, they separated. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +ROY TAKES HIS NEXT LESSON. + +The clock in the little turret which stood out over the gate-way facing +Lady Royland's garden had not done striking six when Roy entered the +armoury next morning, to find Ben hard at work fitting the interior of a +light helmet with a small leather cap which was apparently well stuffed +with wool. + +"Morning, Ben," said the boy. "What's that for?" + +"You, sir." + +"To wear?" + +"Of course. Just as well to take care of your face and head when you're +handling swords. You can use it with the visor up or down, 'cording to +what we're doing. You see, I want to learn you how to use a sword like +a soldier, and not like a gentleman who never expects to see trouble." + +"Ready?" + +"Yes, sir, quite; and first thing 's morning we'll begin where we left +off, and you shall try to learn that you don't know how to thrust. +Nothing like finding out how bad you are. Then you can begin to see +better what you have to learn." + +"Very well," said Roy, eagerly. "You'll have to look out now then, Ben, +for I mean to learn, and pretty quickly." + +"Oh, yes; you'll learn quickly enough," said Ben, placing the helmet +upon the table and taking the pair of sticks up from where he had placed +them. "But say, Master Roy, I have been working here. Don't you think +the place looks better?" + +"I think my father would be proud of the armoury if he could see the +weapons," said Roy, as he looked round. "Everything is splendid." + +The old soldier smiled as he walked from suit to suit of armour, some of +which were obsolete, and could only be looked upon as curiosities of the +day; but, in addition, there were modern pieces of defensive armour, +beautifully made, with carefully cleaned and inlaid headpieces of the +newest kind, and of those the old soldier seemed to be especially proud. +Then he led the way on to the stands of offensive weapons, which +numbered quaint, massive swords of great age, battle-axes, and maces, +and so on to modern weapons of the finest steel, with, guns, petronels, +and horse-pistols of clumsy construction, but considered perfect then. + +"Yes, sir, I'm proud of our weepuns," said Ben; "but I aren't a bit +proud of the old castle, which seems to be going right away to ruin." + +"That it isn't," cried Roy, indignantly. "It has been repaired and +repaired, whenever it wanted doing up, again and again." + +"Ah! you're thinking about roofs and tiles and plaster, my lad. I was +thinking about the defences. Such a place as this used to be. Look at +the gun-carriages,--haven't been painted for years, nor the guns +cleaned." + +"Well, mix up some paint and brush it on," said Roy, "and clean up the +guns. They can't be rusty, because they're brass." + +"Well, not brass exactly, sir," said the man, thoughtfully. "It's more +of a mixtur' like; but to a man like me, sir, it's heart-breaking." + +"What! to see them turn green and like bronze?" + +"Oh, I don't mind that so much, sir; it's seeing of 'em come down so +much, like. Why, there's them there big guns as stands in the +court-yard behind the breastwork." + +"Garden, Ben." + +"Well, garden, sir. Why, there's actooally ivy and other 'nockshus +weeds growing all over 'em." + +"Well, it looks peaceful and nice." + +"Bah! A gun can't look peaceful and nice. But that aren't the worst of +it, sir. I was along by 'em a bit ago, and, if you'll believe me, when +I put my hand in one, if there warn't a sharp, hissing noise!" + +"A snake? Got in there?" + +"Snake, sir? No! I wouldn't ha' minded a snake; but there's no snakes +here." + +"There was one, Ben, for I brought it up out of the woods, and kept it +in a box for months, till it got away. Then that's where it is." + +"Nay. It were no snake, sir. It were one of them little blue and +yaller tomtit chaps as lays such lots o' eggs. I fetches a stick, and I +was going to shove it in and twist it in the hay and stuff o' the nest +and draw it out." + +"But you didn't?" + +"No, sir, I didn't; for I says to myself, if Sir Granby and her ladyship +like the place to go to ruin, they may let it; and if the two little +birds--there was a cock and hen--didn't bring up twelve of the rummiest +little, tiny young uns I ever did see. There they was, all a-sitting in +a row along the gun, and it seemed to me so comic for 'em to be there +that I bust out a-laughing quite loud." + +"And they all flew away?" + +"Nay, sir, they didn't; they stopped there a-twittering. But if that +gun had been loaded, and I'd touched it off with a fire-stick, it would +have warmed their toes, eh? But would you clean up the old guns?" + +"I don't see why you shouldn't, Ben. They're valuable." + +"Vallerble? I should think they are, sir. And, do you know, I will; +for who knows what might happen? They tell me down in the village that +there's trouble uppards, and people gets talking agen the king. Ah! +I'd talk 'em if I had my way, and make some of 'em squirm.--Yes, I will +tidy things up a bit. Startle some on 'em if we was to fire off a gun +or two over the village." + +"They'd burst, Ben. Haven't been fired for a hundred years, I should +say. Those brass guns were made in Queen Elizabeth's time." + +"Oh, they wouldn't burst, sir; I shouldn't be afraid of that.--But this +is not learning to thrust, is it?" + +"No. Come on," cried Roy, and he took one of the stout ash rods. +"Here, hadn't I better put on this helmet?" + +"Not yet, sir. You can practise thrusting without that. Now then, here +I am, sir. All ready for you on my guard. Now, thrust." + +Ben dropped into an easy position, with his legs a little bent, one foot +advanced, his left hand behind him, and his stick held diagonally across +his breast. + +Roy imitated him, dropping into the same position. + +"Where shall I stab you?" he cried. + +"Just wherever you like, sir,--if you can." + +The boy made a quick dart forward with his stick, and it passed by his +teacher, who parried with the slightest movement of his wrist. + +"I said thrust, sir." + +"Well, I did thrust." + +"That wasn't a thrust, sir; that was only a poke. It wouldn't have gone +through a man's coat, let alone his skin. Now, again!" + +The boy made another push forward with his stick, which was also +parried. + +"Nay, that won't do, my lad; so let's get to something better. Now, I'm +going to thrust at you right in the chest. Enemies don't tell you where +they're going to hit you, but I'm going to tell you. Now, look out!" + +Roy prepared to guard the thrust, but the point of the old man's stick +struck him sharply in the chest, and he winced a little, but smiled. + +"Now, sir, you do that, but harder." + +Roy obeyed, but failed dismally. + +"Of course," said Ben. "Now that's because you didn't try the right +way, sir. Don't poke at a man, but throw your arm right back till you +get your hand level with your shoulder, and sword and arm just in a +line. Then thrust right out, and let your body follow your arm,--then +you get some strength into it. Now, once more." + +Roy followed his teacher's instructions. + +"Better--ever so much, sir. Now again--good; again--good. You'll soon +do it. Now, can't you see what a lot of weight you get into a thrust +like that? One of your pokes would have done nothing. One like that +last would have sent your blade through a man. Now again." + +Roy was now fully upon his mettle, and he tried hard to acquire some +portion of the old soldier's skill, till his arm ached, and Ben cried +"Halt!" and began to chat about the old-fashioned armour. + +"Lots of it was too clumsy, sir. Strong men were regularly loaded down; +and I've thought for a long time that all a man wants is a steel cap and +steel gloves. All the rest he ought to be able to do with his sword." + +"But you can't ward off bullets with a sword, Ben," said Roy. + +"No, sir; nor you can't ward 'em off with armour. They find out the +jyntes, if they don't go through." + +"Would that suit of half-armour be much too big for me, Ben?" said Roy, +pausing before a bronzed ornamental set of defensive weapons, which had +evidently been the work of some Italian artist. + +"No, sir, I shouldn't think it would. You see that was made for a small +man, and you're a big lad. If you were to put that on, and used a bit +o' stuffing here and there, you wouldn't be so much amiss. It's in fine +condition, too, with its leather lining, and that's all as lissome and +good as when it was first made." + +"I should like to try that on some day, Ben," said the boy, eagerly +examining the handsome suit. + +"Well, I don't see why not, sir. You'd look fine in that. Wants three +or four white ostrich feathers in the little gilt holder of the helmet. +White uns would look well with that dark armour. Looks just like +copper, don't it?" + +"How long would it take to put it on?" said Roy. + +"Hour, sir; and you'd want some high buff boots to wear with it." + +"An hour?" said Roy. "There wouldn't be time before breakfast." + +"No, sir. But I tell you what--I've only cleaned and polished and iled +the straps. If you feels as if you'd like to put it on, I'll go over it +well, and see to the buckles and studs: shall I?" + +"Yes, do, Ben." + +"That I will, sir. And I say, if, when you're ready, I was to saddle +one of the horses proper, and you was to mount and her ladyship see you, +she'd be sorry as ever she wanted you to be a statesman." + +Roy shook his head dubiously. + +"Oh, but she would, sir. Man looks grand in his armour and feathers." + +"But I'm only a boy," said Roy, sadly. + +"Who's to know that when you're in armour and your visor down, sir? A +suit of armour like that, and you on a grand horse, would make a man of +you. It's fine, and no mistake." + +"But you were sneering at armour a little while ago, Ben," said Roy. + +"For fighting in, sir, but not for show. You see, there's something +about armour and feathers and flags that gets hold of people, and a +soldier's a man who likes to look well. I'm an old un now, but I +wouldn't say no to a good new uniform, with a bit o' colour in it; but +if you want me to fight, I don't want to be all plates and things like a +lobster, and not able to move. I want to be free to use my arms. Right +enough for show, sir, and make a regiment look handsome; but fighting's +like gardening,--want to take your coat off when you go to work." + +"But you will get that armour ready, Ben?" + +"Course I will, sir. On'y too glad to see you take a liking to a bit o' +armour and a sword. Now, then, what do you say to beginning again?" + +"I'm ready," said Roy, but with a longing look at the armour. + +"Then you shall just put that helmet on, and have the visor down. You +won't be able to see so well, but it will save your face from an +accidental cut." + +He placed the helmet on the boy's head, adjusted the cheek straps, and +drew back. + +"Find it heavy, sir?" + +"Rather! Feels as if it would topple off as soon as I begin to move." + +"But it won't, sir. The leather cap inside will stop that. Now, then, +if you please, we'll begin. I'm going to cut at you slowly and softly, +and you've got to guard yourself, and then turn off. I shall be very +slow, but after a bit I shall cut like lightning, and before I've done I +shan't be no more able to hit you than you're able now to hit me." + +Roy said nothing, and the man began cutting at him to right and to left, +upward from the same direction and downward, as if bent upon cleaving +his shoulders; and for every cut Ben showed him how to make the proper +guard, holding his weapon so that the stroke should glance off, and +laying especial weight upon the necessity for catching the blow aimed +upon the _forte_ of the blade toward the hilt, and not upon the _faible_ +near the point. + +Then came the turn of the head, and the horizontal and down right cuts +were, after further instruction, received so that they, too, glanced +off. Roy gaining more and more confidence at every stroke. But that +helmet was an utter nuisance, and half buried the wearer. + +"I'm beginning to think you're right, Ben, about the armour," said the +lad, at last. + +"Yes, 'tis a bit awkward, sir; but you'll get used to it. If you can +defend yourself well with that on, why, of course, you can without. +Now, then, suppose, for a change, you have a cut at me." + +"Why, what tomfoolery is this?" said a highly-pitched voice; and Roy +tried to snatch off his helmet as he caught sight of the secretary +standing in the door-way looking on. + +But the helmet would not come off easily, and, after a tug or two, Roy +was fain to turn to the old soldier. + +"Here," he said, hastily, "unfasten this, Ben, quick!" + +"Yes, sir; but I don't see as you've any call to be in such a hurry. +You've a right to learn to use a sword if you like. Only the strap +fastened over this stud, and there you are." + +Red-faced and annoyed, Roy faced the secretary, who had walked slowly +into the armoury, to stand looking about him with a sneer of contempt +upon his lip. + +"Only practising a little sword-play, sir," said the boy, as soon as his +head was relieved. + +"Sword-play! Is there no other kind of play a boy like you can take to? +What do you want with sword-play?" + +"My father's a soldier," said Roy. + +"Yes; but you are not going to be a fighting man, sir; and, behindhand +as you are with your studies, I think you might try a little more to do +your instructor credit, and not waste time with one of the servants in +such a barbaric pursuit as this. Lady Royland is waiting breakfast. +You had better come at once." + +Feeling humbled and abashed before the old soldier, Roy followed the +secretary without a word, and they entered the breakfast-room together, +Lady Royland looking up pale and disturbed, and, upon seeing her son's +face, exclaiming-- + +"Why, Roy, how hot and tired you look! Have you been running?" + +The secretary laughed contemptuously. + +"No, mother; practising fencing with Ben." + +"Oh, Roy!" cried his mother, reproachfully; "what can you want with +fencing? My dear boy, pray think more of your books." + +Master Pawson gave the lad a peculiar look, and Roy felt as if he should +like to kick out under the table so viciously that the sneering smile +might give place to a contraction expressing pain. + +But Roy did not speak, and the breakfast went on. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +BEN MARTLET FEELS RUSTY. + +"Come to me in half an hour, Roy," said Master Pawson, as they rose from +the table, the boy hurrying away to the armoury to find Ben busy as +ever, and engaged now in seeing to the straps and fittings of the +Italian suit of bronzed steel. + +"Thought I'd do it, sir," he said, "in case you ever asked for it; but I +s'pose it's all over with your learning to be a man now." + +"Indeed it is not," said Roy, sharply. "I'm sure my father would not +object to my learning fencing." + +"Sword-play, sir." + +"Very well--sword-play," said Roy, pettishly; "so long as I do not +neglect any studies I have to go through with Master Pawson." + +"And I s'pose you've been a-neglecting of 'em, sir, eh?" said the old +man, drily. + +"That I've not. Perhaps I have not got on so well as I ought, but +that's because I'm stupid, I suppose." + +"Nay, nay, nay! That won't do, Master Roy. There's lots o' things I +can do as you can't; but that's because you've never learnt." + +"Master Pawson's cross because I don't do what he wants." + +"Why, what does he want you to do, sir?" + +"Learn to play the big fiddle." + +"What!" cried the man, indignantly. "Then don't you do it, my lad." + +"I don't mean to," said Roy; "and I don't want to hurt my mother's +feelings; and so I won't make a lot of show over learning sword-play +with you, but I shall go on with it, Ben, and you shall take the swords +or sticks down in the hollow in the wood, and I'll meet you there every +morning at six." + +"Mean it, sir?" + +"Yes, of course; and now I must be off. I was to be with Master Pawson +in half an hour." + +"Off you go, then, my lad. Always keep to your time." + +Roy ran off, and was going straight to Master Pawson's room in the +corner tower, but on the way he met Lady Royland, who took his arm and +walked with him out into the square garden. + +"Why, mother, you've been crying," said the boy, tenderly. + +"Can you see that, my dear?" + +"Yes; what is the matter? I know, though. You're fretting about not +hearing from father." + +"Well, is it not enough to make me fret, my boy?" she said, +reproachfully. + +"Of course! And I'm so thoughtless." + +"Yes, Roy," said Lady Royland, with a sad smile; "I am afraid you are." + +"I try not to be, mother; I do indeed," cried Roy; "but tell me--is +there anything fresh? Yes; you've had some bad news! Then you've heard +from father." + +"No, my boy, no; the bad news comes through Master Pawson. He has heard +again from his friends in London." + +"Look here, mother," cried the boy, hotly, "I want to know why he should +get letters easily, and we get none." + +Lady Royland sighed. + +"Father must be too busy to write." + +"I am afraid so, my dear." + +"But what is the bad news he has told you this morning?" + +They were close up to the foot of the corner tower as Roy asked this +question; and, as Lady Royland replied, a few notes of some air being +played upon the violoncello high up came floating down to their ears. + +"He tells me that there is no doubt about a terrible revolution having +broken out, my boy; that the Parliament is raising an army to fight +against the king, and that his friends feel sure that his majesty's +cause is lost." + +"Then he doesn't know anything about it, mother," cried the boy, +indignantly. "The king has too many brave officers like father who will +fight for him, and take care that his cause is not lost. Oh, I say, +hark to that!" + +"That" was another strain floating down to them. + +"Yes," said Lady Royland, sadly; "it is Master Pawson playing. He is +waiting for you, Roy." + +"Yes, playing," said the boy, hotly. "It makes me think of what I read +with him one day about that Roman emperor--what was his name?--playing +while Rome was burning. But don't you fret, mother; London won't be +burnt while father's there." + +"You do not realise what it may mean, my boy." + +"Oh, yes, I think I do, mother; but you don't think fairly. You are too +anxious. But there! I must go up to him now." + +"Yes, go, my boy; and you will not cause me any more anxiety than you +can help?" + +"Why, of course I won't, mother. But if it is going to be a war, don't +you think I ought to learn all I can about being a soldier?" + +"Roy! No, no!" cried Lady Royland, wildly. "Do I not suffer enough on +your father's account?" + +"There, I won't say any more, mother dear," said Roy, clinging to her +arm; "and now I'll confess something." + +"You have something to confess?" said Lady Royland, excitedly, as she +stopped where they were, just beneath the corner tower, and quite +unconscious of the fact that a head was cautiously thrust out of one of +the upper windows and then drawn back, so that only the tip of an ear +and a few curls were left visible. "Then, tell me quickly, Roy; you +have been keeping back some news." + +"No, no, mother, not a bit; just as if I would when I know how anxious +you are! It was only this. Old Ben is always grumbling about the place +going to ruin, as he calls it, and I told him, to please him, that he +might clean up some of the big guns." + +"But you should not have done this, my dear." + +"No; I'll tell him not to, mother. And I'd made an arrangement with him +to meet him every morning out in the primrose dell to practise +sword-cutting. I was going to-morrow morning, but I won't go now." + +Lady Royland pressed her lips to the boy's forehead, and smiled in his +face. + +"Thank you, my dear," she said, softly. "Recollect you are everything +to me now! And I want your help and comfort now I am so terribly alone. +Master Pawson is profuse in his offers of assistance to relieve me of +the management here, but I want that assistance to come from my son." + +"Of course!" said Roy, haughtily. "He's only the secretary, and if any +one is to take father's place, it ought to be me." + +"Yes; and you shall, Roy, my dear. You are very young, but now this +trouble has come upon us, you must try to be a man and my counsellor so +that when your father returns--" + +She ceased speaking, and Roy pressed her hands encouragingly as he saw +her lips trembling and that she had turned ghastly white. + +"When your father returns," she said, now firmly, "we must let him see +that we have managed everything well." + +"Then why not, as it's war time, let Ben do what he wanted, and we'll +put the place in a regular state of defence?" + +"No, no, no, my dear," said Lady Royland, with a shudder. "Why should +you give our peaceful happy home even the faintest semblance of war, +when it can by no possibility come into this calm, quiet, retired nook. +No, my boy, not that, please." + +"Very well, mother. Then I'll go riding round to see the tenants, and +look after the things at home just as you wish me to. Will that do?" + +Lady Royland smiled, and then pressed her son's arm. + +"Go up now, then, to Master Pawson's room," she said; "and recollect +that one of the things I wish you to do is to be more studious than you +would be if your father were at home." + +Roy nodded and hurried up into the corridor, thinking to himself that +Master Pawson would not like his being so much in his mother's +confidence. + +"Then he'll have to dislike it. He has been a bit too forward lately, +speaking to the servants as if he were master here. I heard him quite +bully poor old Jenk one day. But, of course, I don't want to quarrel +with him." + +Roy ascended the staircase and entered the room, to find the secretary +bending over a big volume in the Greek character; and, as he looked up +smiling, the boy felt that his tutor was about the least +quarrelsome-looking personage he had ever seen. + +"Rather a long half-hour, Roy, is it not?" he said. + +"Yes, sir; I'm very sorry. My mother met me as I was coming across the +garden, and talked to me, and I could not leave her in such trouble." + +"Trouble? Trouble?" said the secretary, raising his eyebrows. + +"Of course, sir, about the bad news you told her this morning." + +"Indeed! And did Lady Royland confide in you?" + +"Why, of course!" said Roy, quickly. + +"Oh, yes,--of course! Her ladyship would do what is for the best. +Well, let us to our reading. We have lost half an hour, and I am going +to make it a little shorter this morning, for I thought of going across +as far as the vicarage." + +"To see Master Meldew, sir?" + +"Yes; of course. He has not been here lately. Now, then, where we left +off,--it was about the Punic War, was it not?" + +"Yes, sir; but don't let's have anything about war this morning." + +"Very well," said the secretary; "let it be something about peace." + +It was something about peace, but what Roy did not know half an hour +later, for his head was in a whirl, and his reading became quite +mechanical. For there was the trouble his mother was in, her wishes as +to his conduct, and his secret interview with Ben, to keep on buzzing in +his brain, so that it was with a sigh of relief that he heard the +secretary's command to close his book, and he gazed at him wonderingly, +asking himself whether the words were sarcastic, for Master Pawson +said-- + +"I compliment you, Roy; you have done remarkably well, and been very +attentive this morning. By the way, if her ladyship makes any remark +about my absence, you can say that you expect Master Meldew has asked me +to stay and partake of dinner with him." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Not unless she asks," continued the secretary. "In all probability she +will not notice my absence." + +Roy descended with his books; then felt that he should like to be alone +and think, and to this end he made his way to the gloomy old guard-room +on the right of the great gate-way, ran up the winding stair, and soon +reached the roof, where he lay down on the breastwork over the +machicolations, and had not been there long before he heard steps, and, +looking over, saw Master Pawson cross the drawbridge and go out of the +farther gate-way, watching him unseen till he turned off by the pathway +leading through the village and entering the main road. + +Then it occurred to Roy that, as he had an unpleasant communication to +make, he could not do better than get it over at once. So he descended, +and began to search for the old soldier; but it was some time before he +could find him out. + +Yet it seemed to be quite soon enough, for the old fellow looked very +grim and sour as he listened to the communication. + +"Very well, Master Roy," he said; "the mistress is master now, and it's +your dooty to obey her; but it do seem like playing at fast and loose +with a man. There, I've got no more to say,--only that I was beginning +to feel a bit bright and chirpy; but now I'm all going back'ard again, +and feel as rusty as everything else about the place." + +"I'm very sorry, Ben, for I really did want to learn," said Roy, +apologetically. + +"Yes, sir, I s'pose you did; and this here's a world o' trouble, and the +longer you lives in it the more you finds out as you can't do what you +like, so you grins and bears it; but the grinning's about the hardest +part o' the job. You're 'bliged to bear it, but you aren't 'bliged to +grin; and, when the grins do come, you never has a looking-glass afore +you, but you allus feels as if you never looked so ugly afore in your +life." + +"But you'll have to help me in other things, Ben." + +"Shall I, sir? Don't seem to me as there's anything else as I can help +you over." + +"Oh, but there is,--while the war keeps my father away." + +"War, sir? Nonsense! You don't call a bit of a riot got up by some +ragged Jacks war." + +"No; but this is getting to be a very serious affair, according to what +Master Pawson told my mother this morning." + +"Master Pawson, sir! Why, what does he know about it?" + +"A good deal, it seems. Some friends of his in London send him news, +and they said it is going to be a terrible civil war." + +"And me not up there with Sir Granby!" groaned the man. "Oh, dear! oh, +dear! it's a wicked, rusty old world!" + +"But I've promised to help my mother all I can, Ben, and you must +promise to help me." + +"Of course, sir; that you know. But say, sir, war breaking out, and we +all rusted up like this! We ought to be ready for anything." + +"So I thought, Ben; but my mother says there's not likely to be trouble +in this out-of-the-way place." + +"Then bless my dear lady's innocence! says Ben Martlet, and that's me, +sir. Why, you never knows where a spark may drop and the fire begin to +run." + +"No, Ben." + +"And if this is sure to be such a peaceful spot, why did the old +Roylands build the castle and make a moat and drawbridge, and all the +rest of it? They didn't mean the moat for nothing else, sir, but carp, +tench, and eels." + +"And pike, Ben." + +"No, sir. They thought of very different kind of pikes, sir, I can tell +you,--same as they I've got on the walls yonder in sheaves. But there; +her ladyship gives the word to you, and you gives it to me, and I +shouldn't be worth calling a soldier if I didn't do as I was ordered, +and directly, too, and--Hark!" + +The old soldier held up his hand. + +"Horses!" cried Roy, excitedly. "Why, who's coming here?" + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +NEWS FROM THE WAR. + +Roy and the old soldier hurried to a slit which gave on the road, and +the latter began to breathe hard with excitement as his eyes rested upon +three dusty-looking horsemen, well-mounted, and from whose round-topped, +spiked steel caps the sun flashed from time to time. + +"Why, they're dragoons!" cried the old fellow, excitedly. "Enemies, +perhaps, and we're without a drawbridge as'll pull up. Here, quick, +take a sword, Master Roy. Here's mine. Let's make a show. They won't +know but what there's dozens of us." + +Roy followed the old soldier's commands, and, buckling on the sword, +hurried with him down to the outer gate, just as the venerable old +retainer slammed it to with a heavy, jarring sound, and challenged the +horsemen, whom he could hardly see, to halt. + +"Well done, old man!" muttered Ben. "The right stuff, Master Roy, +though he is ninety-four." + +"What is it?" cried Roy, as he reached the gate, where the men were +dismounting and patting their weary troop-horses. + +"Despatches for Lady Royland," said one, who seemed to be the leader. +"Are you Master Roy, Sir Granby's son?" + +"Yes. Have you come from my father?" + +"Yes, sir, and made all the haste we could; but we've left two brave +lads on the road." + +"What! their horses broke down?" + +"No, sir," said the man, significantly; "but they did." + +He took off his cap as he spoke, and displayed a bandage round his +forehead. + +"My mate there's got his shoulder ploughed, too, by a bullet." + +"Open the gates, Jenks," cried Roy. + +"One moment, sir," whispered Ben. "Get the despatches and see if +they're in your father's writing." + +"Right," whispered back Roy. "Here!--your despatches." + +"No, sir," said the man, firmly. "That's what they asked who barred the +way. Sir Granby's orders were to place 'em in his lady's hands." + +"Quite right," said Roy. "But show them to me and let me see my +father's hand and seal." + +"Yes, that's right enough, sir," said the man. "We might be enemies;" +and he unstrapped a wallet slung from his right shoulder, took out a +great letter tied with silk and sealed, and held it out, first on one +side, then upon the other, for the boy to see. + +"Yes," cried Roy, eagerly, "that's my father's writing, and it is his +seal. Open the gate, Jenkin, and let them in. Why, my lads, you look +worn-out." + +"Not quite, sir; but we've had a rough time of it. The country's full +of crop-ears, and we've had our work cut out to get here safe." + +"Full of what?" said Roy, staring, as the troopers led in their horses, +and he walked beside the man who bore the despatches. + +"Crop-ears, sir,--Parliamentary men." + +"Is it so bad as that?" + +"Bad? Yes, sir." + +"But my father--how is he?" + +"Well and hearty when he sent us off, sir." + +"Come quickly then," cried Roy, hurrying the men along to the great +drawbridge, over which the horses' hoofs began to rattle loudly. But +they had not gone half-way across the moat before there was the rustle +of a dress in front, and, looking ghastly pale and her eyes wild with +excitement, Lady Royland came hurrying to meet them. + +Roy sprang to her, crying-- + +"Letters from father, and he is quite well!" + +He caught his mother in his arms, for her eyes closed and she reeled and +would have fallen; but the next minute she had recovered her composure, +and held out her hand for the packet the trooper had taken from his +wallet. + +"Thank you," she said, smiling. "Martlet, take these poor tired fellows +into the hall at once, and see that they have every attention. Set some +one to feed their horses." + +"Thank you, my lady," said the man, with rough courtesy, as he took off +his steel cap. + +"Ah, you are wounded," cried Lady Royland, with a look of horror. + +"Only a scratch, my lady. My comrade here is worse than I." + +"Your wounds shall be seen to at once." + +"If I might speak, my lady, a place to sit down for an hour or two, and +something to eat and drink, would do us more good than a doctor. We +haven't had a good meal since we rode away from Whitehall and along the +western road a week ago." + +"Eight days and a harf, comrad'," growled one of his companions. + +"Is it? Well, I haven't kept count." + +"See to them at once, Martlet," said Lady Royland; and the horses were +led off, while, clinging to her son's arm, the anxious wife and mother +hurried into the library, threw herself into a chair, tore open the +great letter, and began, wild-eyed and excited, to read, while Roy +walked up and down the room with his eyes fixed longingly upon the +despatch till he could bear it no longer. + +"Oh, mother!" he cried, "do, do, do pray give me a little bit of the +news." + +"My poor boy! yes. How selfish of me. Roy, dear, there is something +terribly wrong! Your dear father says he has been half-mad with +anxiety, for he has sent letter after letter, and has had no news from +us. So at last he determined to send his own messengers, and despatched +five men to guard this letter to us--but I saw only three." + +"No," said Roy, solemnly; "the roads are in the hands of the enemy, +mother, and two of the poor fellows were killed on the way. Two of +these three are wounded." + +"Yes, yes! Horrible! I could not have thought matters were so bad as +this." + +"But father is quite well?" + +"Yes, yes, my dear; but he says the king's state is getting desperate, +and that he will have to take the field at once. But the letters I +sent--that he sent, my boy?" + +"They must have all fallen into the enemy's hands, mother. How bad +everything must be! But pray, pray, go on. What does he say?" + +Lady Royland read on in silence for a few moments, and, as she read, the +pallor in her face gave way to a warm flush of excitement, while Roy, in +spite of his eagerness to hear more, could not help wondering at the +firmness and decision his mother displayed, an aspect which was +supported by her words as she turned to her son. + +"Roy," she cried, "I was obliged to read first, but you shall know +everything. While we have been here in peace, it seems that a terrible +revolution has broken out, and your father says that it will only be by +desperate efforts on the part of his friends that the king's position +can be preserved. He says that these efforts will be made, and that the +king shall be saved." + +"Hurrah!" shouted the boy, wildly. "God save the king!" + +"God save the king!" murmured Lady Royland, softly, with her eyes +closed; and her words sounded like a prayerful echo of her son's +utterance. + +There was a pause for a few moments, and then Lady Royland went on. + +"Your father says that we lie right out of the track of the trouble +here, and that he prays that nothing may disturb us; but as the country +grows more unsettled with the war, evil men will arise everywhere, ready +to treat the laws of the country with contempt, and that it is our duty +in his absence to be prepared." + +"Prepared! Yes, mother," cried Roy, excitedly; and he flung himself +upon his knees, rested his elbows on his mother's lap, and seized her +hands. "Go on, go on!" + +"He says that you have grown a great fellow now, and that the time has +come for you to play the man, and fill his place in helping me in every +way possible." + +"Father says that, mother?" cried the boy, flushing scarlet. + +"Yes; and that he looks to you to be my counsellor, and, with the help +of his faithful old servant Martlet, to do everything you can to put the +place in a state of defence." + +"Why, mother," said Roy, "old Ben will go mad with delight." + +Lady Royland suppressed a sigh, and went on firmly. + +"He bids me use my discretion to decide whom among the tenants and +people of the village I can--we can--trust, Roy, and to call upon them +to be ready, in case of an emergency, to come in here and help to +protect the place and their own belongings; but to be very careful whom +I do trust, for an enemy within the gates is a terrible danger." + +"Yes, of course," cried Roy, whose head seemed once more in a whirl. + +"He goes on to say that there may not be the slightest necessity for all +this, but the very fact of our being prepared will overawe people who +might be likely to prove disaffected, and will keep wandering bands of +marauders at a distance." + +"Of course--yes; I see," cried Roy, eagerly. "Yes, mother, I'll go to +work at once." + +"You will do nothing foolish, I know, my boy," said the mother, laying +one hand upon his head and gazing proudly in his eyes. + +"Nothing if I can help it," he cried; "and I'll consult you in +everything, but--but--" + +"Yes, my boy, speak out." + +"I don't want to hurt your feelings, dear, and yet if I speak of a sword +or a gun--" + +Lady Royland shivered slightly, but she drew a long, deep breath, and +raised herself up proudly. + +"Roy," she said, "that was in times of peace, before this terrible +emergency had arisen. As a woman, I shrink from bloodshed and +everything that suggests it. It has been my constant dread that you, my +boy, should follow your father's profession. `My boy a soldier!' I +said, as I lay sleepless of a night, and I felt that I could not bear +the thought. But Heaven's will be done, my son. The time has come when +my weak, womanly fears must be crushed down, and I must fulfil my duty +as your dear father's wife. We cannot question his wisdom. A terrible +crisis has come upon our land, and we must protect ourselves and those +who will look to us for help. Then, too, your father calls upon us to +try to save his estate here from pillage and the ruthless wrecking of +wicked men. Roy, my boy, I hope I shall not be such a weak woman now, +but your help and strengthener, as you will be mine. You will not hurt +my feelings, dear, in what you do. You see," she continued, smiling, as +she laid her hand upon the hilt of the sword the lad had so hastily +buckled on, "I do not wince and shudder now. Fate has decided upon your +career, Roy, young as you are, and I know that my son's sword, like his +father's, will never be drawn unless it is to protect the weak and +maintain the right." + +"Never, mother," cried the boy, enthusiastically; and as Lady Royland +tried to raise him, he sprang to his feet. "Oh," he cried, "I wish I +were not such a boy!" + +"I do not," said his mother, smiling. "You are young, and I am only a +woman, but our cause will make us strong, Roy. There," she continued, +embracing him lovingly, "the time has come to act. You will consult +with Martlet what to do about the defences at once, while I write back +to your father. When do you think the men will be fit to go back?" + +"They'd go to-night, mother; they seem to be just the fellows; but their +horses want two or three days' rest." + +"Roy!" + +"Yes, mother. It's a long journey, and they'll have to go by +out-of-the-way roads to avoid attack." + +"But we have horses." + +"Yes, mother, but they would sooner trust their own." + +Lady Royland bowed her head. + +"The letters must go back by them," she said, "and they must start at +the earliest minute they can. But there is another thing. It is right +that Master Pawson should be taken into our counsels." + +"Master Pawson, mother?" + +"Yes, my boy. He is your father's trusted servant, and I must not +slight any friends. Go and ask him to come here." + +"Can't," said Roy, shortly. "He went out this morning, and said he +didn't think he would be back to dinner." + +"Indeed!" + +"Gone over to see the vicar." + +"Gone to Mr Meldew," said Lady Royland, whose face looked very grave. +"Then it must be deferred till his return. Now, Roy, what will you do +first?" + +"See to the gates, mother, and that no one goes out or comes in without +leave." + +"Quite right, Captain Roy," said Lady Royland, smiling. + +The boy looked at her wonderingly. + +"My heart is more at rest, dear," she said, gently, "and that aching +anxiety is at an end. Roy, we know the worst, and we must act for the +best." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +BEN MEANS BUSINESS. + +With his blood seeming to effervesce in his veins from the excitement he +felt, Roy placed the writing-materials in front of his mother and then +hurried out, crossed the drawbridge, and made for the little gate tower, +where, upon hearing steps, the old retainer came out, bent of head and +stooping, with one ear raised. + +"Master Roy's step," he said; and as the boy came closer: "Yes, it's +you, sir; just like your father's step, sir, only younger. What's the +news, Master Roy?" + +"Bad, Jenk,--civil war has broken out. Father is well and with his +regiment, but there is great trouble in the land. I'm going to put the +castle in a state of defence. Shut the gate again and keep it close. +No one is to come in or out without an order from my mother or from me." + +"That's right, Master Roy, sir; that's right," piped the retainer. +"I'll just buckle on my sword at once. She's as sharp and bright as +ever she was. Nobody shall go by. So there's to be a bit of a war, is +there?" + +"Yes, I'm afraid so, Jenk." + +"Don't say afraid so, Master Roy; sounds as if you would be skeart, and +your father's son couldn't be that. But nobody goes by here without +your orders, sir, or my lady's, and so I tell 'em. I'm getting on a bit +in years, and I can't see quite as well as I should do, not like I used; +but it's the sperrit as does it, Master Roy." + +"So it is, Jenk; and you've got plenty in you, haven't you?" + +"Ay, ay, ay, Master Roy," quavered the old man, "plenty. Up at the +house there they get talking about me as if I was so very old; but I'll +let some of 'em see. Why, I want five year o' being a hundred yet, and +look at what they used to be in the Scripter. I'll keep the gate fast, +sir--I did this morning, didn't I, when they three dragoons come up?" + +"Yes, capitally, Jenk--but I must go. I'm busy." + +"That's right, sir--you go. Don't you be uneasy about the gate, sir. +I'll see to that." + +"Yes," said Roy to himself, "it is the spirit that does it. Now I +wonder whether I've got spirit enough to do all the work before me!" + +He hurried back over the drawbridge, and glanced down into the clear +moat where he could see the great pike lying, but he did not stop to +think about catching it, for he hurried on to the servants' hall, +drawing himself up as he felt the importance of his position, and upon +entering, the three troopers, who were seated at a good substantial +meal, all rose and saluted their colonel's son. + +"Got all you want, men?" said Roy, startling himself by his decisive way +of speaking. + +"Yes, sir; plenty, sir," said the man who bore the despatch. "Master +Martlet saw to that." + +"That's right. Now, look here, of course we want you and your horses to +have a good rest, but when do you think you'll be ready to take a +despatch back?" + +"Take a despatch back, sir?" said the man, staring. "We're not to take +anything back." + +"Yes; a letter to my father." + +"No, sir. Colonel Sir Granby Royland's, orders were that we were to +stop here and to help take care of the castle." + +"Were those my father's commands?" cried Roy, eagerly. + +"Yes, sir, to all three of us--all five of us, it were, and I'm sorry I +couldn't bring the other two with me; but I did my best, didn't I, +lads?" + +"Ay, corporal," chorused the others. + +"Oh, that's capital!" cried Roy, eagerly. "It relieves me of a good +deal of anxiety. But my father--he'll expect a letter back." + +"No, sir; he said there was no knowing where he would be with the +regiment, and we were to stay here till he sent orders for us to +rejoin." + +"Where is Martlet?" asked Roy then. + +"Said something about an armoury," replied the corporal. + +Roy hurried off, and in a few minutes found the old soldier busy with a +bottle of oil and a goose feather, applying the oil to the mechanism of +a row of firelocks. + +"Oh, here you are, Ben," cried Roy, excitedly. "News for you, man." + +"Ay, ay, sir, I've heard," said the old soldier, sadly. "More rust." + +"Yes, for you to keep off. My father's orders are that the castle is to +be put in a state of defence directly." + +Down went the bottle on the floor, and the oil began to trickle out. + +"But--but," stammered the old fellow, "what does her ladyship say?" + +"That she trusts to my father's faithful old follower to work with me, +and do everything possible for the defence of the place. Hurrah, Ben! +God save the king!" + +"Hurrah! God save the king!" roared Ben; and running to the wall he +snatched a sword from where it hung, drew it, and waved it round his +head. "Hah! Master Roy, you've made me feel ten years younger with +those few words." + +"Have I, Ben? Why, somehow all this has made me feel ten years older." + +"Then you've got a bit off me that I had to spare, Master Roy, and good +luck to you with it. Then," he continued, after listening with eager +attention to Roy's rendering of his father's orders, "we must go to work +at once, sir." + +"Yes; at once, Ben." + +"Then the first thing is to order the gate to be kept shut, and that no +one goes out or in unless he has a pass from her ladyship or from you." + +"Done, Ben. I have been to old Jenk, and he has shut the gate, and +buckled on his old sword." + +"Hah! hum! yes," said the old soldier, rubbing one of his ears; "that +sounds very nice, Master Roy, but," he continued, with a look of +perplexity, "it doesn't mean much, now, does it?" + +"I don't understand you." + +"Why, sir, I mean this: that if any one came up to the gate and wanted +to come in--`Give the pass,' says Jenk. `Haven't got one,' says whoever +it is. `Can't pass, then,' says Jenk, and then--" + +"Well, yes, and then?" said Roy. "Why, sir, if he took a good deep +breath, and then gave a puff, he'd blow poor old Jenk into the moat. +He's a good old boy, and I don't want to hurt his feelings, but we can't +leave things at the gate like that." + +"But it would break his heart to be told he is--he--" + +"Too rusty to go on, sir," said Ben, grimly. "But it would break her +ladyship's heart if we didn't do our duty, and we shan't be doing that +if we leave our outwork in the hands of poor old Jenk." + +"What's to be done?" + +"I know, sir. Tell him the gate's very important, and that he must have +two men with him, and let him suppose they're under his command." + +"That's it, capital!" cried Roy. "Then we must place two men there with +him at once." + +"Ye-e-es, sir," said Ben, drily. "But who are we to place there-- +ourselves?" + +Roy looked hard at Ben, and Ben looked hard at Roy. + +"You see, sir, we've got the castle and the weepuns, but we've no +garrison. That's the first thing to see to. Why, when those three +troopers have gone back with their despatch, we shall have as good as +nobody." + +"But they're not going back, Ben. Father's orders are that they're to +stay." + +"Three trained soldiers, sir, to start with!" cried Ben. "Me four, and +you five. Why, that's just like five seeds out of which we can grow a +little army." + +"Then there are the men-servants." + +"Well, sir, they're more used to washing cups and cleaning knives, and +plate, and horses; but we shall have to lick 'em into shape. Let's see, +there's the three men indoors, the groom, and coachman, that makes five +more." + +"And the two gardeners." + +"Of course, sir! Why, they'll make the best of 'em all. Twelve of us." + +"And Master Pawson, thirteen." + +"P'ff! him!" cried Ben, with a look of contempt. "What's he going to +do? Read to the sentries, sir, to keep 'em from going to sleep?" + +"Oh, he'll be of some use, Ben. We mustn't despise any one." + +"Right, sir; we mustn't: so as soon as he comes back--he's gone over to +Parson Meldew's--" + +"Yes, I know." + +"You tell him to get to his books and read all he can about sword and +pike wounds, and how to take a bullet out of a man when he gets hit. +Then he can cut up bandages, and get ready knives and scissors and +thread and big needles." + +"Do you mean in case of wounds, Ben?" + +"Why, of course, sir." + +"But do you think it likely that we shall have some--" + +"Rather queer sort of siege if we don't have some damage done, sir. +Well, that settles about Master Pawson. Now, what next?" + +"The men at the farm, Ben." + +"Yes, sir; we ought to get about ten or a dozen. They're good stout +lads. We must have them up at once and do a bit of drilling. They +needn't stay here yet, but they can be got in order and ready to come in +at a moment's notice. Next?" + +"All the tenants must be seen, Ben. They'll all come too, and drill +ready for service if wanted." + +"And that means about another twenty, I suppose, sir." + +"Yes, or more, Ben." + +"If they're staunch, sir." + +"Ah, but they would be. My father's own tenants!" + +"I dunno, sir. If times are going to be like we hear, you'll find +people pretty ready to go over to the strongest side." + +"Oh, nonsense! There isn't a man round here who wouldn't shout for the +king." + +"Quite right, sir," said Ben. "I believe that." + +"Then why do you throw out such nasty hints?" + +"'Cause I've got my doubts, sir. Lots on 'em'll shout for the king, but +if it comes to the pinch and things are going wrong, I want to know how +many will fight for the king." + +"Every true man, Ben." + +"Azackly, sir; but, you see, there's a orful lot o' liars in the world. +But we shall see." + +"Well, we've got to keep the castle, Ben." + +"We have, sir, and keep it we will, till everybody's about wounded or +dead, and the enemy comes swarming and cheering in, and then they shan't +have it." + +"Why, they'll have got it, Ben," said Roy, laughing, but rather +uncomfortably, for the man's words as to the future did not sound +pleasant. + +"Ay, and I shall take it away from 'em, sir; for if the worst comes to +the worst, I shall have made all my plans before, and I'll do a bit o' +Guy Fawkesing." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, I should ha' thought you'd ha' understood that, sir." + +"Of course I do; but how could you blow up the castle?" + +"By laying a train to the powder-magazine, knocking the heads out of a +couple o' kegs, and then up it goes." + +"Powder--magazine--kegs?" cried Roy. "Why, we haven't one, and I wanted +to talk to you about getting some. How's it to be done?" + +"By going to your father's lib'ry, sir, and opening the little drawer as +he keeps locked up in the big oak table. There's the keys there." + +"Yes, of the wine-cellars, Ben; but no--Oh, absurd!" + +"Is it, my lad? I think not. Think it's likely as your grandfather and +his father would have had swords and pikes and armour, and big guns and +little guns, and not had no powder to load 'em with?" + +"Well, it doesn't sound likely, Ben; but I'm sure we have none here." + +"Well, sir, begging your pardon for contradicting my master, I'm sure as +we have." + +"Down in the cellars?" + +"Down in one of 'em, sir." + +"But I never knew." + +"Perhaps not, sir; but I've been down there with your father, and I +don't suppose it's a thing he'd talk about. Anyhow, there it is, shut +up behind three doors, and I'll be bound to say dry as a bone. It's +very old, but good enough, may be. All the same, though, Master Roy, +the sooner we try what it's like the better, and if you'll take my +advice you'll have one of the big guns loaded and fired with a good +round charge. That'll try the gun, scale it out, and give 'em a hint +for miles round that, though Sir Granby's gone to the wars, his son's at +home, and his dame too, and that they don't mean to stand any nonsense +from a set o' crop-eared rascals. That'll do more good, Master Roy, +than a deal o' talking, and be less trouble." + +"We must do it at once, Ben," said Roy, decidedly. + +"The first thing, sir; and, by the way, as we're going to begin to get +our garrison together, it'll be as well to make a little show. If I was +you, I'd put on a pair of buff boots, wear a sword and a sash always, +and I don't say put on a lot of armour, but if you'll let me, I'll take +the gorget off that suit of Italian armour, and you can wear that." + +"But it will look so--" said Roy, flushing. + +"Yes, sir; but we've got to look so," said the old soldier, decidedly. +"It makes people respect you; and if you'll be good enough to give me my +orders, I'll take to a buff coat and steel cap at once." + +"Very well, do so," said Roy. "But I will not promise to make any show +myself." + +"But you must, sir, please, for her ladyship's sake. Look here, Master +Roy, you'll be calling the tenants and labourers together, and you'll +have to make them a speech." + +"Shall I?" said Roy, nervously. + +"Why, of course, sir, telling 'em what their duty is, and calling upon +'em to fight for their king, their country, and their homes. Yes, +that's it, sir; that's just what you've got to say." + +"Well, Ben, if I must, I must." + +"Then must it is, sir; but if they come here to the castle, and you're +like you are now, they'll be only half warmed up, and say that Master +Roy can talk, and some of 'em'll sneer and snigger; but if you come out +when they're all here, looking like your father's son in a cavalier hat +and feathers, with the gorget on, and the king's colours for a sash, ay, +and buff boots and spurs--" + +"Oh, no, not spurs when I'm walking," protested Roy. + +"Yes, sir, spurs,--a big pair with gilt rowels, as'll _clink-clink_ with +every step you take; they'll set up a cheer, and swear to fight for you, +when you've done, to the death. And look here, Master Roy, when you've +done speaking, you just wave your hat, and chuck it up in the air, as if +fine felts and ostridge feathers weren't nothing to you, who called upon +'em all to fight for the king." + +Roy drew a deep sigh, for his follower's words had nearly made him +breathless. + +"We shall see," he sighed. + +"Yes, sir, we shall see," cried Ben. "So now, if you please, sir, I +won't wait to be getting into my buff jerkin now, but I'll take your +orders for what we're to do first." + +"Yes, Ben; what ought we to do first?" + +"Well, sir, it's you as know. You said something about strengthening +the guard at the gate." + +"Oh, but I say, Ben, that was you said so." + +"Only as your mouthpiece, sir." + +"But it sounds silly to talk about strengthening the guard at the gate +when we've only got old Jenk, and no regular sentry to put there." + +"Never you mind about how it sounds, sir, so long as it's sense," cried +Ben, striking his fist into his left palm. "We've got to make our +garrison and our sentries out of the raw stuff, and the sooner we begin +to sound silly now the better. It won't be silly for any one who comes +and finds a staunch man there, who would sooner send a musketoon bullet +through him than let him pass." + +"No, Ben, it will not, certainly. Whom shall I send?" + +"Well, sir, if I was you, I'd do it as I meant to go on. You give me my +orders, and I'll go and enlist Sam Rogers in the stable at once, bring +him here fierce-like into the armoury; put him on a buff coat, buckle on +a sword, and give him his bandoleer and firelock, and march him down +with sword drawn to relieve guard with old Jenk." + +"But he'll be cleaning the troopers' horses, and begin to laugh." + +"Sam Rogers, sir? Not him. He'll come like a lamb; and when I marches +him down to the gate, he'll go out like a lion, holding his head up with +the steel cap on, and be hoping that all the servant-girls and the cook +are watching him. Don't you be afraid of him laughing. All I'm afraid +of is, that while he's so fresh he'll be playing up some games with his +firelock, and mocking poor old Jenk." + +"Pray, warn him, then." + +"You trust me, sir. Then, when that's done, perhaps you'll give the +orders to find quarters for our new men, and tell 'em that they're to +rest till to-morrow by your orders; and after that there's the +drawbridge and portcullis." + +"Yes; what about them?" + +"Why, sir, you know how they've been for years. You must have 'em seen +to at once; and, if I was you, I'd have the portcullis seen to first, +and the little sally-port door in the corner of the tower. We shall +want half a dozen men. I'm a bit afraid of the old bars and rollers, +but we shall see." + +"Order the men to come, then, when you've done, and let us see, and get +everything right as soon as possible." + +Ben saluted in military fashion, and marched off to the hall, where Roy +heard him speak in a cheering, authoritative voice to the new-comers, +and then came out to march across to the stables, which were in the +basement of the east side of the castle, with their entrance between the +building and the court; but the gate-way that had opened into the +court-yard had been partly closed up when that was turned into a +flower-garden, and the archway was now covered with ivy. + +Roy went up to one of the corridors beneath the ramparts, and watched, +out of curiosity, to see how the groom would take his new orders. + +He was not long kept in suspense, for the sturdy young fellow came out +talking eagerly with Ben and turning down his sleeves. Then they went +inside, through the great gate-way to the armoury, and in an incredibly +short space of time came out together, the groom in steel jockey-shaped +cap with a spike on the top, buff coat, sword, and bandoleer, and +shouldering the clumsy firelock of the period. + +As they reached the archway, Ben stopped short, drew his sword, said a +few words in a sharp tone, and marched off, with Sam Rogers keeping +step; while a muttering of voices told of how strangely matters had +turned out according to old Ben's prophecy, for, on turning to see what +it meant, Roy saw down through one of the narrow windows that the whole +of the household had turned out to do likewise. But there was no +giggling and laughing, for the women seemed to be impressed, and the +men-servants were shaking their heads and talking together earnestly +about the evil times that had come. + +Another sound made Roy turn sharply in the other direction to see his +mother approaching. + +"Then you have begun, my son," she said, gravely. + +"Yes, mother. The sentry was set, after a long talk with Martlet." + +"You need not speak in that apologetic tone, my boy," said Lady Royland, +quietly. "I see the necessity, and I am sure you are doing well. Now, +come and tell me more of your plans." + +She led the way to the library, and as they entered Roy glanced towards +the big oak table standing at one end; his eyes fixed themselves upon +the small drawer, and he seemed to see a rusty old key lying there, one +whose wards were shaping themselves plainly before his eyes, as he told +of his arrangements with the old soldier. + +"Yes, you have begun well, Roy," said Lady Royland at last. "And what +Martlet says is quite true." + +"But you would not dress up as he advises, mother?" protested Roy, +rather bashfully. + +"Dress up? No, my boy; but I would put on such things as a cavalier and +an officer would wear under such circumstances,--a gorget, sword, boots, +hat and feathers, and the king's colours as a scarf. Why, Roy, your +father would wear those in addition to his scarlet coat." + +"Yes, mother; but he is a soldier." + +"So are you now, Roy," said the dame, proudly. "And so must every man +be who loves his king and country. Martlet is quite right, and I shall +prepare your scarf and feathers with my own hands." + +"Why, mother," cried the boy, wonderingly, "how you have changed since +even a short time ago." + +"So has our position, Roy, my son," she said, firmly. "Who's there?" + +The butler entered. + +"Benjamin Martlet would be glad, my lady, if Master Roy would come and +give him his instructions, and, if you please, my lady, he wishes me to +help." + +"And you will, I am sure, Grey?" + +"Oh, yes, my lady," said the man, eagerly; "but I was afraid your +ladyship might be wanting something, and no one to answer the bell." + +"I want my servants, Grey, to help me to protect their master's +interests while he is forced to be away in the service of the king. Can +I count upon that help?" + +"Yes, my lady, to a man," cried the old servant, eagerly. + +"I thought so," said Lady Royland, smiling proudly. "You will go, then, +Roy, and see what Martlet is to do." + +Roy was already at the door, and five minutes later he was standing in +the gate-way with every man employed about the place, the three troopers +being fast asleep, exhausted by their long journey down from town. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +PORTCULLIS AND BRIDGE. + +As Roy appeared, there was a low buzz of voices, and directly after the +butler cried, "Three cheers for the young master!" with a hearty result. + +Just then Ben came close up to say, confidentially-- + +"I made it all comfortable with poor old Jenk, sir." + +"That's right; and Sam Rogers?" + +"Proud's a dog with two tails, sir. Now, sir, if you'll give the +orders, we'll go up and see what can be done about making the place +safe, and I'm afraid we're going to have a job." + +Roy felt a slight sensation of shrinking, but he mastered it, and +calling to the men to follow him, he turned in by the low arched +door-way, and ascended to the first chamber of the gate tower, to pause +where the great iron grating hung before him in its stone grooves formed +in the wall, and with its spikes descending through the slit on the +floor, below which the stone paving of the entrance could be seen. + +To make sure of its not descending by any accident of the chains giving, +three massive pieces of squared oak had been thrust through as many of +the openings at the bottom, so that the portcullis rested upon them as +these crossed the long narrow slit through which it descended, and a +little examination showed that if the chains were tightened by turning +the two capstans by means of the bars, and the chains drawn a little +over the great wheels fixed in the ceiling, it would be easy enough to +withdraw the three supports and let the grating down. + +"Chains look terribly rusty," said Roy. "Think they'll bear it, Ben?" + +"They're rusty, sir, and a good deal eaten away; but they used to put +good work into these sort o' things, because if they hadn't, they'd have +come down and killed some one. Shall we try?" + +"Yes; no one can be hurt if a watch is kept below. Go down, one of you, +and see that no one passes under." + +One of the men ran down, the old capstan-bars were taken from the +corners, and two men on each side inserted them into the holes, and +waited for the order to tighten the chains round the rollers. + +"Ready? All together!" cried Roy; and the men pulled the bars towards +them with a will, the chains tightened, the pulleys creaked and groaned, +and the grating rose an inch or two, sufficient for the pieces of oak +crossing the narrow slit to have been drawn out, when _crack_--_crack_-- +two of the bars the men handled snapped short off, and their holders +fell, while the portcullis sank back to its old place with a heavy jar. + +"Hundred years, perhaps, since they've been used," said Roy. "Any one +hurt?" + +"No, sir," said the men, laughing in spite of a bruise or two; and the +bars being examined, it was found that the tough oak of which they were +composed was completely honeycombed by worms, and powdered away to dust. + +"First job, then, sir, to make new bars," said Ben, promptly. + +"Yes; we'll have the carpenters in from the village directly, Ben. With +these pulleys well greased, I suppose this will work." + +"Ay, sir, no doubt about that; it's the drawbridge I'm afraid of," said +Ben. + +"Let's go up and see, then." + +Roy led the way again, and the men followed into the dark chamber above, +where the old furnace stood, and in the corners on either side of the +narrow window, with its hollowed-out notches for firing or using +cross-bows from, were two great round chimney-like constructions built +in the stone, up and down which huge weights, which depended from +massive chains and passed over great rollers, had formerly been used to +glide. + +Ben shook his head as he put his hand upon one of the weights, which +were formed of so many discs of cast lead, through the centre of which +the great chain passed, a solid bar of iron being driven through a link +below to keep them from sliding off. + +The weights hung about breast-high; and at the slight pressure of the +man's hand began to swing to and fro in the stone place open to the +chamber, but closed below where they ran down in the wall at the sides +of the gate-way. + +"Well, these must have been worked by hand, Ben," said Roy. "Men must +have stood here and run them down. Two of you go to the other side, and +all press down together, but stand ready to jump back in case anything +breaks. I don't see how you can be hurt if you do." + +"No, sir; no one can't be hurt, for the weights will only go down these +holes with a bang." + +"Try, then. Now, all together--pull!" + +The men tugged and strained, but there was no sign of yielding, and Ben +shook his head. + +"Rollers must be rusted, sir, and stick." + +But upon his climbing up to examine them, it proved that these had not +been made to turn, only for the chains to slide over them, as the +grooves worn in the iron showed. + +"Nothing to stop 'em here, sir," said the man. + +"Then it must be set fast at the end of the bridge," said Roy; and, +descending with the men, they crossed the moat and found the bridge +completely wedged and fixed in the opening of stone which embraced the +end. + +Picks and crowbars were fetched, the stones and sand scraped out, and +when the place was cleared they reascended to the furnace-chamber, when, +upon another trial being made, it was found that the weights so +accurately balanced the bridge that with very little exertion the chains +came screeching and groaning over the iron rollers, and the men gave a +cheer as the end rose up and up till it was drawn very nearly up to the +face of the tower. + +Ben rubbed his ear and grinned with satisfaction. + +"Come, sir," he said, "we can make ourselves pretty safe that way; but +I'm afraid the moat's so filled up that a man can wade across." + +"That he can't," cried one of the gardeners. "I've plumbed it all over, +and there aren't a place less nor seven or eight feet deep, without +counting the mud." + +"Then you've been fishing!" thought Roy, but he did not say so, only +gave orders for the bridge to be lowered again, and sent a man for a +supply of grease to well lubricate the rollers and chains. + +Down went the bridge, in a most unmusical way, and as soon as it was in +its place once more, a man was sent across for the village carpenter to +come with his tools, there being plenty of good seasoned oak-wood stored +up in the buildings. + +Then a consultation ensued. They had the means of cutting themselves +off from the outer world, and in a short time the portcullis would add +to the strength of their defences. + +"What's next, Ben?" said Roy. + +"I'm a-thinking, sir. We've done a lot already, but there's so much +more to do that things get a bit jumbled like in my head. We've got to +get our garrison, and then there's two very important things--wittles +and water!" + +"The well supplies that last," said Roy; "and if we were running short, +we could use the water from the moat for everything but food." + +"Yes, sir, that's good. Cart must go to the mill, and bring all the +corn and flour that can be got. Then we must have some beasts and sheep +from the farm." + +"That's bad," said Roy, "because they'll want feeding." + +"Have to be driven out every morning, sir, till we're besieged. Must +have some cows in too, so that if we are beset we can be independent. +But first of all, sir, we ought to see to the powder and the guns. But +you and me must see to the powder ourselves. We shall want some help +over the guns, and I'm thinking as you'd best make that carpenter stay. +The wheels are off one or two of the gun-carriages, and there's no +rammers or sponges; and I shouldn't wonder if the carriages as I painted +over and pitched are only so many worm-eaten shells." + +"Well, all these things will have to be got over by degrees, Ben. We +have done the first great things towards making the castle safe, and an +enemy need not know how unprepared we are." + +"I don't know so much about being safe, sir." + +"What, not with the drawbridge up?" + +"No, sir," said Ben, in a low tone. "But suppose you sends the men to +dinner now, and orders 'em to meet in a hour's time in the court-yard-- +oh dear, oh dear! that's all garden now." + +"You can make room for the men to meet without disturbing the garden," +said Roy, sharply. + +"Very well, sir; you're master. Will you give your orders?" + +Roy gave them promptly, and the men walked away. + +"Now, then," said Roy, "what did you mean about the place not being +safe? With the bridge up, they could only cross to us by rafts or +boats, and then they couldn't get in." + +"Well, sir, it's like this. I've heard tell, though I'd forgotten all +about it till just now, as there's a sort o' passage goes out from the +dungeons under the nor'-west tower over to the little ruins on the hill +over yonder." + +"Impossible! Why, it would have to be half a mile long, Ben." + +"All that, sir." + +"But it couldn't go under the moat. It would be full of water." + +"Nay, not if it was made tight, sir." + +"But what makes you say that? You've never seen the passage?" + +"No, sir, I've never been down, but your father once said something +about it. It was a long time before that tower was done up and made +right for Master Pawson. I don't recollect much about it, but I suppose +it must be there." + +"That's another thing to see to, then," said Roy. "Because, if it does +exist, and the enemy heard of it, he might come in and surprise us. I +know; we'll find it, and block it up." + +"Nay, I wouldn't do that, sir. It might be that we should have to go +away, and it isn't a bad thing to have a way out in case of danger." + +"Not likely to do that, Ben," said Roy, haughtily. "We are going to +hold the place." + +"Yes, sir, as long as we can; but we can't do impossibilities. Now, +sir, will you go and have your bit o' dinner, while I have mine?" + +"Oh, I don't feel as if I could eat, Ben; I'm too full of excitement." + +"More reason why you should go and have your dinner, sir. Man can't +fight without he eats and drinks." + +"Nor a boy, neither--eh, Ben?" + +"That's so, sir; only I wouldn't be talking before the men about being +only a boy. You leave them to say it if they like. But they won't; +they'll judge you by what you do, sir; and if you act like a man, +they'll look at you as being the one in command of them, and behave like +it." + +"Very well, I'll go to dinner, and in an hour meet you here." + +"Fifty minutes, sir. It's a good ten minutes since the men went in." + +Roy joined his mother, feeling, as he said, too full of excitement to +eat; but he found the meal ready, with one of the maids in attendance, +and everything so calm and quiet, that, as they sat chatting, it seemed +as if all this excitement were as unsubstantial as the distant rumours +of war; while, when the meal was at an end, his mother's words tended to +lend some of her calm to his excited brain. + +"I have been hearing of all that you have done, Roy," she said. "It is +excellent; but do not hurry. I cannot afford to have you ill." + +That was a fresh idea, and the consequences of such a trouble too +horrible to be contemplated; but it made Roy determine to take things +more coolly, and in this spirit he went to where the servants were +assembled in the gate-way, and joined his trusty lieutenant, who had +just drawn them up in line. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +ROY VISITS THE POWDER-MAGAZINE. + +"Now, Ben, what next?" + +"The thing I've been thinking, sir, is that, little as it be, we must +make the most of our garrison. It's war time now, and if you'll give +the order I'll march the men to the armoury and serve out the weepuns +and clothes." + +Roy nodded, gave the word for the men to march, counter-ordered it, at a +hint from Ben, and then, telling them to face right, put himself at +their head, and marched them to the long, low room at once. + +Ben began to serve out the buff jerkins and steel caps. + +"Can't stop for no trying on now," he said; "you must do as we used in +the army,--change about till you get them as fits you." + +This done, the firelocks and bandoleers followed, and, lastly, to each +man a belt and sword. + +And all the time the old soldier handed every article to the recipient +with a grave dignity and a solemnity of manner which seemed to say, "I +am giving treasures to you that I part from with the greatest regret," +and he finished with-- + +"Now, my lads, look here: it's a great honour to bear arms in the +service of your king, and if you're carrying Sir Granby Royland's arms +you're carrying the king's, so take care of 'em. A good soldier +wouldn't have a speck of rust on his helmet or his sword; they're as +bright as I can make 'em now, and as sharp, so mind they're always so. +Now go to your new quarters and put 'em on--proper, mind; and your +master, the captain here, will have a parade in an hour's time." + +The men went off, leaving Roy wondering at the calmness with which he +stood by listening while old Ben talked to the men and kept on referring +to him as "your master." + +Ben now turned to him. "What do you say, sir?" he said. "Don't you +think we had better go down and see if all's right in the +powder-magazine?" + +"But it's in the cellar, Ben, and you'd want a light." + +"Hardly fair, sir, to call it the cellar. I believe it's one of the old +dungeons where they used to shut people up in the good old times." + +"That would be darker still, Ben. How are we to see?" + +"Have to feel, sir; for I don't fancy taking down a lantern. Once we +get there and the place open, we can go round and tell with our hands +how many kegs there are on the shelves, and then if we bring one out and +try it, and it turns out all right, we shall know we're safe." + +"Very well: it isn't a nice job; but, if it has to be done, we'd better +get it over." + +"As you say, sir, it aren't a nice job; but, if we're very careful, I +don't see as we can come to much harm; so, if you'll get the keys, sir, +we'll go at once." + +Roy nodded, and went in without a word, to find his mother seated in the +library writing. + +"What is it, my boy?" she said. "What do you want?" + +Roy hesitated for a moment, and then said, rather huskily, "The keys. +Ben and I are going down into the magazine." + +Lady Royland looked at him in a wondering way. + +"The magazine? Do you mean the store-room?" + +"No; the powder-magazine." + +She started now, and looked anxious. + +"I had almost forgotten its existence, Roy. But is it necessary? It +may be dangerous to go into such a place." + +"We shall take care, mother, and have no light. It is necessary, Ben +says, for we must be provided with gunpowder, and he wants to try +whether it is good, because it must be very old." + +"Very old, my boy. Probably older than your grandfather's day. I +hardly like you to go upon such an errand." + +"But if I'm to be captain, mother, and look after the place, I can't go +back and tell Ben that. It would look so weak." + +"Yes, yes, of course," said Lady Royland, making an effort to be calm +and firm. "But you will be very careful, Roy." + +"You may trust me, mother," he said; and she drew the keys, with a sigh, +from the drawer in the old table, and handed them to her son, who took +them and returned to his lieutenant. + +"Here they are, Ben," said Roy, quietly. "Ready?" + +"Yes, sir, I'm ready. I want to be satisfied about that powder, because +it means so much to us, for I'm sure I don't know how we could get any +more in times like these. You might send an order to London or one of +the places in Kent where they make it, but I should never expect to see +it come down here. Well, we won't waste time; so come along." + +Taking off his sword, and signing to Roy to do the same, he led the way +to the flight of spiral steps in the base of the south-east tower, but, +instead of going up, followed it down to where there was a low arched +door on their left and an opening on their right. + +"Long time since any one's been in that old dungeon, Master Roy. +Hundred years, I dare say. Maybe we shall be putting some one in, one +of these days!" + +"In there? Whom? What for?" + +"Prisoners, sir, for fighting against the king." The old fellow +laughed, and went along through the opening on their right, which proved +to be an arched passage very dimly lit by a series of little pipe-like +holes sloping inward through the outer wall of the castle and opening +about a foot above the moat. On their aft were doors of a row of +cellars built beneath the old court-yard; and as Ben walked onward he +said-- + +"Who'd think as there were green grass and flower-beds up above them, +Master Roy? But we do see changes in this life. Halt! here we are." + +He stopped at the end of the passage, where there was a massive oak +door-way facing them beneath a curious old Norman arch, and, after +trying hard with three different keys, the rusty wards of the old lock +allowed one to turn, and the door was pushed wide open, creaking back +against the wall. + +"Rather dark, sir," said Ben. "Get on a deal better with a candle; but +it wouldn't do." + +Roy peered in, and, as his eyes grew more accustomed to the obscurity, +he made out that he was gazing into a small stone chamber; but there was +no sign of chest or keg, or door leading onward. + +"Why, the place is empty, Ben," said the boy, with a sigh of relief. + +"We don't know that yet, sir, because we haven't seen it," said Ben, +quietly. "This is only the way to the magazine. People in the old days +knew what dangerous tackle it was, and took care of it according. But +it's going to be a dark job, and no mistake." + +The old soldier stepped in, and, stooping down in the middle of the +blank stone chamber, took hold of a large copper ring and drew up one +side of a heavy flagstone, which turned silently upon copper pivots, and +this flag he laid back till it was supported by the ring. + +"Looks darker down there, sir," said Ben, as Roy stood beside him and +they tried to pierce the gloom, but only for the latter to make out the +dim outline of a stone step or two. + +"You've been down here before, of course?" whispered Roy, as if the +place impressed him. + +"Yes, sir; once. There's a door at the bottom, and that's the magazine. +It will be all feeling, sir. Will you go back while I try and get a +keg?" + +"No," said Roy, firmly, but with an intense desire to say yes. "I shall +stay while you go down. There can be no danger if you have no light." + +"Unless the rusty key strikes a light, sir." + +"Oh, that's impossible," whispered Roy. + +"I suppose I'd better pull off my boots before I go down; it'll perhaps +be safer." + +He seated himself on the floor and pulled them off, Roy standing up, +leaning against the wall, and doing the same. + +"What's that for?" said Ben. + +"Coming with you. I want to know what the place is like." + +"Oh, there's no need for two of us to go, sir. One's enough." + +Roy said nothing, but followed the old fellow down eight stone steps, +and then they stood together against a door, which felt to the touch to +be very strongly made of stone, while, after a little searching about +for a keyhole, Ben said, with a grunt-- + +"Forgot! There aren't no key to this. It's fastened with these two +wooden bars." + +"I thought they were part of the door, Ben," said Roy, in the same +suppressed tone. + +"So did I, sir, at first. I ought to have remembered, and I think I do +now. Yes! that's the way; they turn on pins in the middle like wooden +buttons, and you turns one up and the other down out of the notches they +fit in, and then push the door, which has stone hinges." + +As he spoke, Ben turned the two great wooden bars, and then pressed upon +the door. + +"Hope the stones won't strike a light, sir," said Ben, in a low growl. + +Roy felt as if a hand had suddenly compressed his heart, and he peered +wildly through the door-way, half expecting to see a tiny spark or two, +as a dull, grating sound arose; but the only sparks the door made were +those glittering in his own eyes, and he drew a deeper, harder breath as +the door ceased to move. + +"Now, we've got to be careful, or we shall be hitting against one +another, sir! Let me see: there's one step down, and then you're in a +place like a dairy, with two sets of stone shelves,--one just above the +floor, to keep it out of the damp; the other just about as high as a +man's breast,--and there's kegs of powder piled-up on them all. You +stand still, and I'll go in." + +"No; let me," said Roy, though why he said this puzzled the boy himself, +when the exciting minutes had passed. + +"Well, sir, you're master, and if you'd rather, of course you can. But +I don't mind going if you like." + +"I'll go," said Roy, huskily, and, stretching out his hands in the now +profound darkness, he felt for and touched the side of the entrance, +then made a step forward to place his stockinged foot down upon the cold +stone floor, which struck up like ice. Bringing forward his second +foot, he reached out for the side of the vault, and found the place just +as his companion had described, for his hands came in contact with small +wooden barrels, neatly piled one upon the other on a great stone shelf, +beneath which was another shelf laden in a similar way. + +"Feel anything, sir?" said Ben, from the entrance. + +"Yes: barrels, numbers of them," said Roy, huskily, his voice sounding a +mere whisper in the darkness. "They go on--yes, to here. It is only a +small vault." + +"Yes, sir, but big enough. Try the other side now." + +Three steps took Roy there, and his hands touched barrels again piled-up +in the same way, and he whispered his experience. + +"That's it, sir; just what I thought. But what we want to know now is, +are they full? Would you mind lifting one, or shall I come and do it?" + +Roy shuddered a little, but he did not shrink. Stretching out his +hands, he took a careful hold of one of the kegs, raised it to find it +fairly heavy, and then replaced it. + +"Try another, sir." + +Roy felt less compunction in lifting the second, and this being +replaced, he began to sound others with his knuckles, to find that they +all gave forth the same dull dead note. + +"That's all we want to know down here, Master Roy," said the old soldier +at last; "and now I think we'd better get back and take a couple of the +little kegs with us. I'd take one from each side, sir. You pass 'em to +me and I'll carry 'em up safely. It wouldn't do to drop one in case it +should go off." + +These words, lightly spoken, made Roy thrill as he lifted down one of +the kegs, getting his fingers tightly fitted to the ends, and then stood +there in the black darkness, afraid to stir for fear he should strike +his elbow against anything and jerk the keg to the floor. + +"Got him, sir?" + +"Yes," said Roy, hoarsely. "Whereabouts are you?" + +"Here, just at the door, sir; I haven't moved," was the reply. + +"Reach out your hands, then, and take hold very carefully. Tell me when +you've got it tight." + +"Tight hold," said Ben, the next moment. + +"Sure?" + +"Yes, sir; let it go, and I'll carry it up." + +Roy quitted his hold of the keg unwillingly, and his heart beat +violently as he listened to the soft _pat, pat_, of his companion's +feet, and thought of the consequences of a fall. Possibly one vivid +flash and the whole place destroyed; and yet for years they had all been +living so close to this terribly destructive power. + +"If Ben should drop that keg!" + +But Ben only set it down quietly a short distance from the top of the +steps and descended. + +"T'other one, sir, please," he said; and Roy placed this in the man's +hands with the same shrinking feeling of reluctance. + +It was carried up, and Roy stepped out, drawing the door after him, and +after a few trials managing to close the two bars which secured the +place. + +"Don't want no help there, sir?" + +"No; I have done it," was the reply; and Roy ascended the steps and +waited for his companion to close the stone trap. + +"Not a bad hole this to shut any one up in if we ever wanted to get rid +of him, eh? He'd have to shout pretty hard to make any one hear." + +"Don't talk; let's get away from the dreadful place," said Roy, whose +face was wet with perspiration. "Can you carry both kegs?" + +"Half a dozen if you'd range 'em, sir," replied Ben. + +"Then I'll fasten the doors after us; and, mind this, the magazine must +always be most carefully locked up." + +"You trust me for that, sir!" replied Ben. "I know too well what powder +can do to try any tricks or trust anybody with it but myself. Why, do +you know, sir, what would happen if I gave a fellow like Tom Rogers a +keg to carry?" + +"No; how can I tell?" said Roy, shortly. + +"Well, I can, sir: he'd set it up on end, sit upon it, and take out a +flint and steel to light his pipe as like as not." + +"Don't talk any more, please, Ben," said the boy as he proceeded to lock +one of the doors. + +"No, sir; I only did it so as to keep you from thinking about what we've +been doing. I suppose one would get used to it, but it does seem to me +rather ugly work even to an old soldier." + +"Where are we to put these two kegs?" said Roy. + +"In the big closet in the armoury, sir," replied Ben. "Don't you fidget +about them; they shall be all right, for that's my part of the place, +and nobody goes in there without my leave." + +"It's impossible to help feeling a little uncomfortable about them, Ben, +but I know you'll take care." + +"I just think I will, sir. I'm very particular about no harm coming to +Sergeant Benjamin Martlet; and as to doing anything that might mean +risks for my lady--but there, I needn't say nothing about that. You can +come and see me put 'em away." + +Roy insisted upon carrying one of the kegs, in spite of the old +soldier's opposition, not to relieve him of the load, but as a lesson to +himself in the art of getting used to the dangerous composition. In +addition, it had occurred to him that he should have to be present when +the barrels were opened, and the gun or guns fired to test their utility +and strength after lying by for so many years. Roy had never even heard +a big gun fired, and he told himself that it would not do for him to +display the slightest dread before the men. + +Consequently he hid his nervousness, and helped to deposit the kegs in +the great cupboard which contained Ben's tools and cleaning apparatus. + +"There!" said that individual, "as soon as we've had our parade, and +dismissed the troops, we'll see to that powder, and find out what it's +like." + +He thrust the key into his pocket, buckled on his sword again, and, +drawing himself up, asked the "captain" to lead the way to the entrance +gate. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +MASTER PAWSON GIVES HIS OPINIONS. + +"You're quite turning everything into military style, Ben," said Roy, as +they left the armoury. + +"Yes, sir; nothing like it. Keep the men up to the mark." + +"But isn't it comic to speak of the people as the troops?" + +"No, sir; not a bit. Troops are troops whether there's many or few. +It's serious work is fighting, and, with due respect to you, sir, +there's nothing comic in treating our new levies as if they were +seasoned men." + +All the same, though, Roy felt that he could not agree with his +companion, when they reached the great gate-way, now, for the time +being, made the parade ground. To his eyes the aspect of the place was +decidedly comic, and his first impulse upon seeing the familiar figures +of butler, footman, grooms, and gardeners, looking stiff and awkward in +their heavy buff coats, creased and angular for want of use, was to +burst out laughing. + +But he did not even smile, for he could see that the men were glancing +at him consciously, and he knew that any such display of mirth at their +personal appearance would have had a most disastrous effect. As it was, +he behaved very wisely, for when Ben shouted out an order for them to +fall into line, Roy advanced to the men at once with a few encouraging +remarks. + +"The accoutrements and things have been lying by so long," he said, +"that they must be very uncomfortable and stiff." + +"Yes, sir, they really are," said the butler, shaking his head. "You +feel as if you can't move in them; and my steel cap is terribly heavy." + +"You'll find them grow more easy to wear after a bit," said Roy, at a +venture. "I see you are pretty well fitted, and--What's that, Ben?" + +For voices came from the gate-way beyond the drawbridge, a hundred yards +from where they were standing. + +"I'll see, sir," said Ben, importantly, as he drew himself to the +salute. "Beg pardon, sir," he added in a low tone; "be better now if +you'd make everything soldierly and speak to me as sergeant. Don't see +why my old rank shouldn't tell now, and it will help me with the three +troopers, for one of 'em's a corporal." + +Roy nodded, and directly after followed his sergeant, for he began to +have an inkling of what was going on. + +As he crossed the drawbridge, it was in time to hear Master Pawson say, +in his high-pitched voice and in a tone of anger that was quite new-- + +"Oh, there you are, Martlet! What is the meaning of all this folly? +Rogers dressed up, and telling me I can't come in without an order from +her ladyship." + +"Quite right, sir," said Ben, steadily; "only he didn't know he was to +let in any one belonging to the place." + +"But what does it mean? I've been out since morning, and I return to +find the gate locked, and a man playing at being a sentry. Why, Roy, my +dear boy, surely this is not some bad joke of yours?" + +"Unfasten the gate, Rogers, and let Master Pawson in," said Roy, with +his face turning scarlet; and, seeing his look of confusion, the +secretary continued-- + +"Oh, I see; it is playing at soldiers. And gracious me! who are those +under the gate-way? Surely troops have not arrived in my absence. My +dear Roy, surely her ladyship does not countenance this? It is too +absurd." + +Annoyance made the boy feel indignant, and he knew that those near him +expected him to speak on their behalf. + +"It is not absurd, Master Pawson," he replied, sharply. "The castle is +being placed under military rule now, and will be put in a state of +defence as soon as possible." + +"That's so!" growled Ben, whose face was black as a thunder-cloud. + +Master Pawson gave him a quick look, but he did not speak to him, but to +Roy. + +"A state of defence!" he said, in a tone of raillery; "what nonsense! +and pray, why?" + +"On account of the troubled times, sir." + +"Troubled times! What troubled times?" + +"Surely you know, sir, who have been bringing my mother news of the +revolution." + +Master Pawson's eyes opened a little more widely, for he was astonished. +The boy addressing him seemed no longer the quiet, sport-loving pupil +who came up into the tower to read with him and listen patiently while +he played on his violoncello, but one who had suddenly been transformed. + +"Ah, you mean the tidings of those people who object to some of the +king's orders? But really that has nothing to do with us out here in +this quiet, retired place. And you are making it an excuse for all this +folly? For shame, Roy! Dressing up the servants, and putting on a +sword! Go and take it off, boy, and do not make yourself ridiculous." + +Ben glanced at his young master, whose face was redder than ever, and +waited impatiently for him to speak, while Master Pawson turned towards +his pupil smilingly, extending one hand to lay upon his shoulder, the +other to lay hold of his sword. + +"There is nothing absurd or nonsensical about it, Master Pawson," he +said, firmly. "As I have told you, the castle will be put in a state of +defence." + +"You mean repair, my dear boy," said the secretary, mockingly. + +"Yes, repair if you will, as to the weak parts, sir. And as to playing +at soldiers, we may look a little awkward at first, as we are not used +to our weapons and arms; but that will soon pass off, and you will have +to join us, and do your best." + +"That's so!" growled Ben, whose face began to lighten up a little as Roy +spoke out so firmly. + +Master Pawson turned upon the old soldier with his eyebrows raised in a +look of surprise. + +"My good man," he said, "will you please to recollect your position +here." + +Ben saluted, and drew himself up as stiff as a pike. + +"Nonsense, my dear boy!" continued Master Pawson; "this is all foolish +vanity, and I am sure that, when you have thought it over coolly, you +will see that it is childish for you, a boy, to imagine that you can do +any good by making this silly display. Why, you must have been reading +some old book of chivalry and warlike adventure. If you only knew how +ridiculous you look with that long sword buckled on, you would soon take +it off. You look almost as absurd as Rogers here; I thought some +scarecrow had been stuck up by the gate." + +"Yes, sir; that's right," growled Ben. "Scarecrows who were going to +scare off all the crows as try to peck at his majesty the king." + +"Silence, Martlet!" cried Roy, sharply. "It is not your place to speak +to Master Pawson like that." + +"I should think not," said the secretary, with his face flushing +slightly. + +"Beg pardon, sir, a slip: not mutiny," said Ben. + +"No, but insolence on the part of a menial," cried Master Pawson; "and +if it is repeated, I shall ask Lady Royland to dismiss you, sir, at +once." + +"And my mother would refuse to dismiss so old and faithful a servant," +said Roy, warmly. + +The secretary looked at the boy wonderingly again, and his eyes +darkened; but he smiled the next moment. + +"Come, come, Roy!" he said. "Pray leave off this nonsense, and have the +gate left open. Send the men back to their work. You will thank me for +giving you this advice to-morrow." + +"No, Master Pawson, I shall not," said Roy, firmly. "The gate will be +kept locked; no one will be allowed to pass without the word, and +to-night the drawbridge will be raised; by to-morrow, I dare say, we +shall be able to lower the portcullis." + +"Are you mad, my boy?" + +"I hope not, sir." + +"Do you mean to tell me that you will not listen to my advice?" + +"Yes, sir; I cannot." + +"Then, my good lad, I must be severe. I have tried gentle means. As +your tutor, in whose charge you have been left by your father, I command +you to give up all this silly mummery. You have something better to do +than to waste time over such childish tricks. Go to your room, and stay +there for a while before you come to mine with an apology. Quick! At +once!" + +He stood, looking very important, as he gave a quick stamp and pointed +towards the castle. + +"You, Jenkin, go and put that sword away! Rogers and Martlet, go back +to your work at once!" + +"Stop!" said Roy, firmly, as the men looked at him for help. "Keep as +you are. Master Pawson is my tutor, but he has no right to give you any +orders.--I must ask you, sir, to go to your room, and not to interfere +with what is going on around." + +"Hah!" ejaculated Ben, expelling a tremendous pent-up breath, and he +turned and winked at Rogers and Jenk, though the poor old gate-keeper +could not see. + +"The boy is mad," cried Master Pawson, flushing angrily now. "This is +beyond bearing. An act of rebellion. Once more, sir, will you obey +me?" + +"Obey you, Master Pawson? In my studies, yes. Over the business of the +castle, no!" + +"I am striving to save you from being ridiculed by the whole district, +sir, and I appeal to you not to force me to have you humbled by going in +to complain to Lady Royland." + +"You will not humble me, sir, by going in to complain to my mother, for +she endorses everything I have done." + +"Her ladyship does!" cried Master Pawson, looking quite aghast. + +"Of course. All this is by my father's orders." + +"Absurd, boy! Your father has given no such orders." + +"Indeed!" said Roy, flushing angrily at the contradiction. "You have +not been at home, sir, or you would have seen his messengers, three +troopers, ride up this morning, from his regiment, who will stay to help +us strengthen the place. There they are! I hope you don't think they +look ridiculous in their uniforms." + +For, as he was speaking, the three men, rested now and refreshed, had +marched from the servants' hall to where the new recruits were drawn up, +and stood there waiting for their captain to return. + +For a few moments Master Pawson's face dropped, and he stared in his +utter astonishment. + +But he recovered himself quickly, and said, with a smile-- + +"Of course I did not know of this, my dear boy, especially as it all was +while I have been away. As your father has given the orders in his +letter,--and I am very glad that your mother has heard at last,--of +course there is nothing to be done, unless her ladyship can be brought +to see how unnecessary it all is, and likely to cause trouble and +misconstruction among the neighbours. I am sure that if Sir Granby +could be here now, he would see that it was needless. Whatever troubles +may arise, nothing can disturb us in this secluded spot. There, I will +go now to attend to my reading. When you have done playing at +soldiers," he added, with a slightly mocking emphasis upon the +"playing", "perhaps you will join me, Roy. You will get tired of +handling swords too large for your hand, but of studies you can never +weary. _Au revoir_. I am sorry we had this little misunderstanding." + +He patted Roy on the shoulder and walked on across the drawbridge, as if +not perceiving that his pupil followed him; and as he drew near the +servants, ranged rather awkwardly in their fresh habiliments, he smiled +in a way which made every man shrink and feel far more uncomfortable +than he had been made by his stiff buff coat. But as he passed the +three troopers,--fine, manly-looking, seasoned fellows, who wore their +uniforms as if to the manner born, and who drew themselves up and +saluted him, evidently looking upon him as one of the important +personages of the house,--he ceased to smile, and went on to his study +in the north-west tower, looking very serious and much disturbed in +mind. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +GUNS AND NO POWDER? + +Very little more was done with the men that day, for, in spite of Roy's +spirited behaviour, he felt afterwards that Master Pawson had cast a +damp upon the proceedings. Still, he knew that something must be done +to counteract that sneering smile distributed among the men by the +tutor; and upon his return to the rank he walked to and fro, and +expressed his satisfaction at the promptitude they had displayed, and, +after ordering them to assemble at nine the next morning, he dismissed +them. For the messenger had returned with the village carpenter, who +took one of the old capstan-bars for a pattern, and undertook to have +half a dozen new ones of the strongest oak made by the next morning. + +Then there was the greasing of the drawbridge chains and rollers to see +to, and, when this was successfully done, Roy found to his satisfaction +that the men could raise or lower it with, if not ease, at all events +without much difficulty. + +To the boy's great delight, he found that the three troopers dropped +into their places in the most easy manner, obeying his every order with +alacrity and displaying all the readiness of well-drilled men. They +began by assisting at once with the cleaning and easing of the +drawbridge chains, one of them, after stripping off his coat, gorget, +and cap, climbing the supports to apply the lubricant to the rollers +from outside, where they needed it most; and when, that evening, Ben +suggested that one of the guns standing in the pleasaunce should be +examined, they made the servants stare by the deft way in which they +helped him to handle the ponderous mass of metal, hitching on ropes and +dragging it out from where it had lain half-covered with ivy to where it +was now planted, so that it could be made to sweep the road-way +approaching the bridge; the other one in the garden being afterwards +treated in the same way. + +"Well, yes, sir, they're pretty heavy," said the corporal, in answer to +a compliment passed by Roy upon the ease with which the work had been +done; "but it isn't all strength that does it. It's knack--the way of +handling a thing and all putting your muscle into it together." + +"Ay, that's it," said Ben. "That's what you see in a good charge. If +it's delivered in a scattering sort o' way it may do good, but the +chance is it won't. But if the men ride on shoulder to shoulder and +knee to knee, and then give point altogether--" + +"Yes, as Sir Granby Royland's regiment can," said the corporal, proudly. + +"Ay, and always did," cried Ben, excitedly. "It takes something to +stand against 'em." + +There was a dead silence then, and Roy's heart beat fast, for the war +spirit was getting hold of him tightly, for his eyes flashed, and his +eagerness to go on with the preparations grew stronger every hour. + +"Now, about these guns, sergeant?" he said. + +Ben's eyes twinkled as his rank was mentioned, and he gave his young +master a grateful look. + +"Well, sir," he said, "they've been fast asleep in that garden all these +years, with enough ivy over 'em to keep 'em warm in winter and the sun +off 'em in summer; but, now they've been woke up, I believe they'll bark +as loudly and bite as well as any dogs of their size. If they'd been +cast iron, I should have been for putting a very light charge in 'em and +standing a good way off when they were fired, but, seeing as they're +regular good brass guns and not a bit worn, all they want is a good +cleaning up, and then they'll be fit to do their work like--like--well, +sir, like guns. What do you say, corporal?" + +"I say they're a fine and sound pair o' guns, sergeant, as'll do their +work. We should like a night's rest first, but in the morning my two +lads and me will give 'em a good scour up, and you won't know 'em +again." + +"Right! If the captain says yes, you shall; but I want to be with you-- +I'm armourer here." + +"Oh, of course, sergeant," said the trooper. "Don't you think we want +to take your place." + +"I don't, my lad," said the old soldier, warmly; "and I'm only too glad +to have three comrades out of the reg'lars to stand by me and help me to +lick the recruits into shape." + +"Thank ye, sergeant," said the man. "We four can soon do that. They're +the right stuff, and only want a bit o' training." Then, turning and +saluting Roy respectfully, he went on: "Sir Granby give us all a +talking-to, sir, and said he'd picked us out because we--I mean +t'others--was the handiest fellows he knew in the regiment, and he hoped +we'd do our best to get things in a good state of defence. And, of +course, sir, we shall." + +The great, manly fellow spoke with a simple modesty that made Ben's eyes +sparkle, and he nodded his head and remained silent when the man had +ended, but gave vent to his satisfaction by bringing his hand down +heavily upon the trooper's shoulder. + +"We'll see to the other guns now then," said Roy. + +"Yes, sir," said Ben, promptly. "Forward there to the sou'-east tower." + +The three men marched off at once in the direction pointed out, and Ben +stopped back for a moment or two to whisper to Roy, in a quick, vexed +manner-- + +"Don't go on saying we'll do this next, or we'll do that next, sir, as +if you was asking a favour of us. You're captain and castellan, as they +calls him. You're governor and everything, and you've got to order us +to do things sharp, short, and strong." + +"But I don't want to bully you all, Ben," cried Roy. + +"Nobody wants you to, sir. You can't be bullying a man when you're +ordering him sharply to do what's right. Of course, if you ask us in +your civil way to do a thing, we shall do it, but it aren't correct." + +"I'll try differently, Ben." + +"Sergeant, sir!" + +"Ser-_geant_," said Roy. "But it's all so new yet, I can't quite +realise it. And, of course, I'm so young to be ordering big men about." + +"You've the right to do it, sir, and that's everything. Now, just +suppose the enemy was in front playing up ruination and destruction, and +your father was going to charge 'em with his regiment of tough dragoons, +do you think he'd say, `Now, my men, I want you to--or I'd like you to +attack those rapscallions yonder'? Not he. He'd just say a word to the +trumpeter, there'd be a note or two blown, and away we'd go at a walk; +another blast, and we should trot; then another, and away we should be +at 'em like a whirlwind, and scatter 'em like leaves. You must learn to +order us, sir, sharply. Mind, sir, it's _must_!" + +"Very well," said Roy. + +"Don't you be afraid, sir; let us have your order sharp, whatever it is, +and we'll do it." + +"Then don't stand chattering there, sir!" cried Roy, fiercely. "Can't +you see those three men are waiting for you at the bottom of the tower? +Forward!" + +"Ck!" + +It was an unspeakable ejaculation which came from the old soldier's +throat as he turned sharply and marched off to the men, chuckling to +himself and shaking his shoulders as he went. + +"He'll do," he muttered; and then aloud, "Up with you, my lads!" + +Ben followed the men, and Roy came last, and, as he entered the +door-way, he thought of the journey down to the powder-magazine, and +felt a little shame at his nervousness. + +Then up and up past the two floors and on towards the roof. As he +reached the door-way leading out on to the battlements, he stood in the +gloomy interior, and looked along the roof of the untenanted portion +towards the north-west tower, wondering what Master Pawson was doing. + +He was not left in doubt, for he could just see the secretary standing +back from one of the narrow windows scanning the tower he was in, +evidently having seen them enter, and watching to see what they were +about to do. + +A bit of boyishness entered into Roy just then, brought about by the +business he was upon and the work he had been engaged in. + +"I should like to startle him," he said to himself, as he gave his +mischievous thought play. "One might load and train one of the guns, +and fire the blank charge aimed just over his head. It would startle +him." + +The thought passed away directly, and he went up to the roof, where the +four men were together upon the platform examining the two guns facing +the embrasures. + +These were not quite so big as the two standing now beneath the +gate-way, but, for the date, they were of a pretty good size, and having +the wood-work of the mounting in excellent condition. + +"Well, how do they look?" Roy asked. + +"Better than I thought, sir. They'll do. Only want a good cleaning. +If you think a charge or two ought to be fired, sir, as was talked +about, shall it be with one of these?" + +"If--yes; fire them both," said Roy; and then he felt astonished at the +fact that what he had imagined in mischief was really to be carried out. + +"Next order, sir?" said Ben, gazing in his captain's face. + +"See to the other guns on the north-east and south-west towers." + +"Yes, sir. What's to be done with the two as was slung down when Master +Pawson's rooms was furnished?" + +"Sling them up again," cried Roy, promptly. "It is necessary now." + +Ben gave his leg a slap and looked his satisfaction. + +"Wouldn't like the two big guns hoisted over the gate-way, sir, I +s'pose?" + +"No, certainly not," cried Roy; "they will be of more value to sweep the +approach of the castle. I'll have them kept there. Plenty of room to +fire on each side of the drawbridge if it's up, and the muzzles would +run through the square openings in the portcullis." + +Old Ben stared at him round eyed, and shook his head; then he chuckled +softly, and, muttering to himself his former words, "He'll do," he led +the men to the south-west tower, upon whose platform three brass guns +were mounted, and then to the north-east, where there were three more. + +Twelve guns in all for the defence of the castle; but the question was, +would the ammunition be of any use? Balls there were in abundance, for, +in addition to piles standing pyramidally at the foot of each tower, +half-covered now by flowers and shrubs, there were similar piles close +to the carriage of each gun. But the vital force of the gun, the energy +that should set the ball whizzing through the air, was the question, and +to prove this, Ben asked for an order, and then walked with his young +captain to the armoury, where he opened the great closet. One of the +kegs was brought out and set down upon the broad oak table. + +"I've been thinking, sir, that perhaps it would be best to fire the big +guns under the gate-way to-night." + +"Why?" asked Roy. + +"Because we know their carriages are right, and I'm a bit doubtful about +those upon the tower." + +"Very well; try the powder in those." + +"Yes, I hope I shall," said Ben; "but I'm a bit scared, sir." + +"What! about the danger of opening the keg?" + +"Tchah! no, sir. I can open that safely enough. It only means +loosening the two hoops at the end, and then the heading will slip out. +I mean this--the barrels have been down there no one knows how long, and +what I want to know is, will it be powder after all?" + +"Not powder after all!" cried Roy in astonishment, as his active mind +began to question what liquor it could be there that was stored up so +carefully as if it were a treasure indeed. + +"I'm afraid it won't be, sir--very much afraid." + +"Then what do you think it is?" + +"Solid blocks o' stony stuff, sir, I should say." + +"But they don't put stony stuff in kegs like these." + +"No, sir, powder; but perhaps it has got damp with time and hardened so +as it won't be of any use." + +"Not if it's dried and ground up again." + +"Don't know, sir; can't say; but we'll soon see." There was no +hesitation shown. Ben tapped the two top hoops a little, and they soon +grew loose and were worked up the staves; the top one withdrawn, and the +next brought up into its place, having the wooden disc which formed the +head free to be lifted out. + +"I thought so, sir," said Ben with a sigh, as he looked in. "Just solid +black, and nothing else." + +He thumped the top of the contents with his knuckles, and then tapping +the lower hoops they glided down and the staves fell apart, leaving a +black block standing upon the table. + +"Oh, this is bad luck, sir! horribly bad luck!" groaned Ben. "We shall +have to get some powder from somewhere, Plymouth or--yes, Bristol's the +most likely place." + +"Fetch out the other keg, and open that, Ben," said Roy. "To be sure, +sir," said Ben, and he turned to the closet and bore the second keg to +the table. "If this is all right," he went on, "there's some hope for +us, because we may find some more; but if it has gone bad from both +sides it's all over with us: we can only stand well on the towers and +throw stones down at whoever comes." + +Ben's fingers were as busy as his tongue, and in a few minutes he had +the head out of the second keg, looked in, and tapped it with his +knuckles. + +"Just the same, sir, just the same." + +"Look here, Ben! I'll have one of these blocks chopped up, and then +ground up fine, and we'll try it with a musket." + +"Good, sir! that's the right thing to do; but after being wet once, I'm +afraid it'll fizz off now like a firework." + +"You don't know till you've tried, man. Now, let's see: get an axe, +sergeant." + +"If I might ask your pardon, captain, axes aren't the proper thing to +break up a block of gunpowder. I should say a beetle or a mall was the +thing." + +"Well, get a mallet, then," said Roy; and the old man went to his tools +used for repairing the armour, carpentering, or any other odd jobs, and +brought out a mallet, with which he was about to strike a tremendous +blow in the middle of the block, when Roy checked him. + +"No, no!" he cried; "give it to me. I'll knock a piece off the top +edge." + +Ben handed the mallet respectfully enough, but he shook his head as if +he did not consider that handling mallets was correct for the castellan +of the place; while raising the implement not without some shade of +doubt as to whether an explosion might follow the blow, but reassuring +himself as he remembered that the mallet was only wood, Roy brought it +down on the top with a sharp rap, and then started back in dismay, for a +piece like a fragment of black potsherd fell upon the table with a bang, +and a stream of fine grains came flowing out of the great hole he had +made, covering the hardened piece and running on like black sand. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Ben, excitedly; "they're all right, sir. Just formed +a cake outside, and the inside's all safe and good. Twelve good brass +guns, and plenty of powder. We're ready for all the enemies the king +has got in this part of the world. Now we'll see for a couple of +cartridges for the guns." + +He fetched a couple of small bags, which he filled with the powder, and +then, after putting back the unbroken keg-shaped block, as carefully +cleared all the loose powder from the table, and placed that and the +shape from which it had come in the oak closet, which he locked. + +"Powder's powder, sir; so one has to take care," he said. "Now for a +touch port-fire, and we'll try what sort of stuff it is." + +Ben gave Roy a knowing look, and then from a drawer in the table he took +a piece of prepared oakum such as was used for lowering into the pan of +a freshly primed gun, stepped to a case in which were some old rammers, +and declared himself ready to start, but hesitated and went to his +tool-drawer again, out of which he routed a long thin spike. + +"Now I think we're ready, sir," he said, and they went out to where the +men were waiting, and prepared to load the two guns under the gate +tower. + +"These are only makeshifts," said Ben, apologetically, as he indicated +his rough cartridges; "but they'll do to clear out the guns," and he set +them down in the door-way leading into the old guard-room. + +Then the long thin pin was tried in the touch-holes of both guns, and +after a good deal of poking and drilling the orifices were cleared. +Meanwhile, one of the troopers took the rammer Ben had brought out, +inserted it at the muzzle, and found that it would only go in half-way. +So a ragged stick was fetched, run in, twisted round and round, and +withdrawn, dragging after it a wad of horsehair, cotton, hay, and +feathers, while a succession of trials brought out more and more, the +twisting round having a cleansing effect upon the bore of the gun as +well. + +"Ah!" said Ben, solemnly, "them tomtits have had the guns all to +themselves for a fine time. I shall have to make some tompions to keep +them out." + +Quite a heap of nest-building material was drawn out of the two guns, +the first obtained being evidently of that season, while farther in it +was old and decayed to a mere mouldy powder that might have been carried +in by the industrious little birds a score of years before. + +At last all was declared clear. The bags of powder were thrust in, a +wad of the cleanest hay from the heap followed, and one of the troopers +rammed the charges home, with the result that the powder rose well in +the touch-holes, and nothing remained to be done but to insert the +lightly twisted pieces of touch-string and apply a light. + +"Better way than doing it with a red-hot poker, as some of us might like +to stand back till the guns are proved," said the old soldier, grimly. +"One of you take that there to the kitchen and get a light," he said, +"to do for a port-fire." + +He handed a piece of the prepared oakum to one of the men, who ran off +with it, and directly after Roy stepped back quickly and hurried into +the house. + +Ben said nothing, but he glanced after the boy with a fierce look, +pursing up his lips, and then muttering to himself, his expression +indicating the most profound disgust. + +Meanwhile, Roy ran into the private apartments of the castle, and made +his way to the library; but Lady Royland was not there. + +Uttering an ejaculation full of impatience, the boy hurried into the +withdrawing-room, where he had better fortune, for he found his mother +waiting there as if she expected him. + +"You, my dear?" she said. "I was waiting here to see Master Pawson; he +sent me a message to ask if I would see him on matters of importance. +Do you know what he wishes to say?" + +"Well, I almost think I do, mother," replied the boy. + +"Then you have come to meet him?" + +"No," said the boy; "I didn't know he had sent. I came to warn you not +to be alarmed, for we are just going to fire." + +_Boom_! + +A report like thunder made the casements rattle as if they were being +dashed in. This was followed by an echoing roar, and then came a +yelling cry as of some one in agony. + +"Oh, my boy, what has happened?" cried Lady Royland, starting from her +chair, clapping her hands to her ears, and then sinking back palpitating +in the nearest chair. "Run and see; something terrible must have +occurred." + +Roy had already dashed to the door, and he ran out and along to the +great gate-way, where his mother's words seemed to be verified, for, on +reaching the spot where the gun which had been fired had run back a +short distance, there was the knot of men half hidden by the smoke that +was slowly rising, and in front of them, just below the portcullis, lay, +apparently lifeless, the figure of Master Pawson, face downward upon the +flags. + +"What have you done, Ben?" cried the boy. + +"Done? I never done it," growled the man, fiercely. "You runned away; +so I put the light to the gun myself, and then we all stood and waited, +till all at wunst Master Pawson comes round the corner like. I dunno +how he come there; and off goes the gun and down goes he." + +Roy was already upon one knee, turning the secretary over on his back +and examining him for the terrible injury he felt must have been +received. But as Roy was proceeding to open his collar, he opened his +eyes, sprang up into a sitting position, and then began to abuse the boy +fiercely. + +"You did it on purpose," he cried; "and it's a mercy it did not kill +me." + +"Then you are not killed?" said Roy, dryly. + +"No; but I might have been. It was a cowardly thing to do." + +"Ay, it were, Master Roy!" whispered Ben, turning upon him. "I thought +you'd ha' had heart enough to ha' stood by us." + +"What do you mean?" cried Roy, rising angrily. + +"Oh, you know, sir; sets such a bad example to the men." + +"I don't understand you; nor you neither, Master Pawson." + +"It's disgraceful; and Lady Royland shall put a stop to such monkey +tricks." + +"Powder-monkey tricks," growled Ben. + +"Why, you don't think I fired that gun on purpose, sir?" + +"No, I don't think so," cried Master Pawson, in his high-pitched, +scolding tone; "I am quite sure, sir; and it is disgraceful." + +"But I wasn't here!" + +"You were there. I saw you with the men, pretending to clean the gun, +while I was yonder watching the sunset and waiting for an answer to a +message I had sent in to your mother, sir, when, as you saw me come +round the corner, you fired." + +"I did not, sir; for I was not there." + +"Ay, that's true enough, sir," said Ben, bitterly; "he warn't here." + +"I don't believe it," cried Master Pawson, angrily, and his voice +sounded like that of some angry woman. "It was a trick; and all this +nonsense shall be put a stop to." + +"You can believe it or not, sir," said Roy, growing calmer as the +secretary waxed more angry. + +"I shall speak to Lady Royland at once." + +"Do, sir. She is waiting to see you; she was telling me so when the gun +went off." + +"Gun went off! And what business has a gun to go off here in this +place?" cried the secretary, as he stood, now feeling himself all over +and brushing the dust from off his velvet coat. + +"Only got the wind of the gun, sir," said the corporal, quietly. + +"I was not speaking to you, my good man," cried the secretary. + +"Bad plan to stand nigh the muzzle of a big gun when she's going to be +fired," growled Ben, in a sententious voice, and the secretary turned +upon him sharply. + +"And you, sir," he cried; "how dare you let a boy play such antics? Do +you know I heard the shot go by my face." + +"Nay, sir; that I'll say you didn't," growled Ben. + +"But I say I did, sir, with a fierce rush." + +"One of the tomtits' eggs, perhaps, sergeant," said Roy, dryly. "I know +I caught sight of one or two when the nest was rammed in." + +The men all burst out laughing, and Master Pawson grew preternaturally +calm. + +"Was that meant as an insult, Master Roy?" he said, turning towards him +and speaking slowly, with his eyes half shut and an unpleasant, sneering +smile upon his lips. + +"No, sir; as a joke," replied Roy, gravely. + +"I thank you; but keep your jokes for the servants; try them upon the +menials. Recollect that I am a gentleman, placed in authority over you +by Sir Granby Royland as tutor and master, and, as I am in authority +over you, I am in authority over all here. Have the goodness to +recollect that." + +He turned upon his heel and walked away, with the back of his doublet +covered with scraps of hay from the tomtits' nest, and Roy's first +inclination was to run after him to begin brushing him down. + +"But he'll only think I want to insult him again," said the boy to +himself. "I wish I hadn't said anything about the tomtits' eggs, +though." + +"Shall I run after him, sir, and ask if I shall give him a brush down?" +whispered Ben. + +"No; let him find it out. One of the maids will tell him, I dare say." + +"But you should ha' stopped by us when the gun was fired, Master Roy," +protested Ben. "I see them three chaps wink at each other, as much as +to say, `He won't stand fire,' and it hurt me, sir, and seemed to be +undoing all I did afore. I didn't think it of you." + +"I should like to kick you for thinking me such a coward," cried Roy, +fiercely, for his encounter with the secretary had set his temper on +edge. "How dare you! You had no business to fire till I came back. I +did not want my mother to hear the report without some warning.--Here, +corporal, give me that light." + +The man stepped up with it, and Roy took it out of his hand. + +"Going to fire this one, sir?" said Ben, eagerly. + +"Of course. Stand aside!" And Roy applied the sparkling port-fire to +the bit of prepared oakum standing out of the touch-hole, with the +result that it, too, began to sparkle and fume. + +"There," he said; "I hope Master Pawson won't come back and be +frightened by this one." + +He had hardly uttered the words when the secretary reappeared. + +"Where are all the servants?" he cried, angrily. "I want some one to +come and brush my clothes." + +"Stand aside!" shouted Ben. "She'll run right back." + +But the secretary did not understand what was meant, and turned +haughtily upon the speaker, totally unconscious of the fact that he was +exactly behind the breech of the piece, whose recoil might have produced +fatal results. + +It was no time for uttering warnings, and Roy knew it. He glanced once +at the tiny sparkling going on at the touch-hole of the gun, and sprang +right at the secretary, driving him backward and falling heavily with +him to the ground. + +It was none too soon, for the gun went off with a tremendous roar, +leaping up from the paving and running back on its low wheels right over +the spot where the secretary had just stood. + +"Guns is guns, and always was," said Ben, very grimly; "and them as has +to do with 'em wants to know all their little ways. I have know'd a +man's arm took off by the recoil, and, if you don't take care, their +breeches is as dangerous to them as fires 'em as is their muzzles." + +"Hurt, sir?" cried Roy, offering his hand after gaining his own feet, +ready to help the tutor to rise. + +Master Pawson made no reply, neither did he take the extended hand, but +rose and walked away limping, going right down through the pleasaunce so +as to reach his own room without having to pass through the corridor. + +"Bit rusty, I s'pose, sir," said Ben, quietly. + +"I am afraid so, Ben," was the reply. "But I don't think there's much +doubt about the powder." + +"Doubt, sir; why, it's stronger than they makes now, or else it has got +riper and better for keeping. We're all right there." + +"Yes, capital! but that report rings in my ears still." + +"Ay, sir, a brass gun can ring as well as roar; but you won't mind it +after a few times." + +"I don't feel to mind it now," said Roy, coolly. + +"Not you, sir," whispered the old fellow. "And I beg your pardon, +Master Roy, and you've done me, and yourself too, a lot of good. It +would ha' been horrid for the men to think you was scared. I never +thought of frightening my lady with the row. Tell the lads to sponge +the guns out with a bit o' rag, and then we'll run 'em back to their +places again." + +Roy gave the order, and then had the sentry changed at the gate, after +which there was another duty to have performed,--that of raising the +drawbridge. + +"No fear of any one forgetting and walking into the moat at night, is +there, Ben?" + +"Well, no, sir; I think not," said the old soldier, seriously. "You +see, the bridge shuts up all the middle when it's raised, and that makes +it sure, while at those sides nobody could tumble in without trying to; +so I don't see no fear of that. Shall we haul her up, sir?" + +"Yes." And giving the order, as soon as the guns were in place, he led +the way up into the furnace-chamber, where two men seized each chain, +and the ponderous structure slowly rose as the huge weights descended +the stone-work tubes in which they hung, the difficulty of hoisting the +bridge proving to be much lighter than at the former trial. + +"Come, sir, that's safe. You won't set sentries to-night?" + +"No, of course not," said Roy; "that will be unnecessary till there is +news of some enemy being near." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +THE COMING OF RECRUITS. + +The next morning the carpenter was there with the capstan bars soon +after the bridge was lowered; and upon these being tried, after the +capstans and pulleys had been well greased, the portcullis was lowered +and raised several times with the greatest facility, each time becoming +more easy to move, while old Ben's eyes glistened, and he worked as if +all these preparations for the defence of the place, with the possible +shedding of blood and loss of life, had suddenly added a delightful zest +to his existence. + +But he was not alone in this, for Roy found a strange exhilaration in +his new position. There was something so novel in everything, and try +how he would, it was hard to keep down a feeling of vanity, especially +when he came upon his mother busily preparing a scarf for him to wear. + +"For me?" he said. "Oh, mother! it's too fine." + +"Not at all," she said, quietly. "Your men will like to see their +leader look striking." + +"Ah, well," he replied, "I can't wear it while there is so much dirty +work to do." + +"That will be done by the men. Roy, my boy, you must rise to your +position, and give orders more for things to be done." + +"That's what old Ben says, and I am trying; but it's hard work while +everything is so new, and--" + +"And what?" + +"It seems as if Master--Oh, no; it's too paltry to be talked about." + +"Tell me what it is, and I will be the judge." + +"Well, you know how poor Master Pawson was upset with the firing?" + +"Yes; and he ought to be very grateful to you for saving his life. Has +he not thanked you?" + +"No; unless looking sneeringly at everything I do is thanking me. That +makes it seem so hard to put on a showy thing like that. He'll only +laugh at it." + +"Master Pawson is not behaving well," said Lady Royland, coldly. "He +actually had the impertinence to speak to me last night about the +preparations, and objected to the men being taken from their work." + +"Said it was absurd?" + +"Yes; those were his words, Roy, and I was compelled to silence him. He +told me he was sure that if Sir Granby knew how utterly unlikely it was +for any of the disaffected people to come into this neighbourhood he +would immediately cancel the orders, and, under the circumstances, he +could not refrain from advising me to act according to his advice." + +"And what was his advice, mother?" + +"To put a stop to the foolish preparations, which could only bring +ridicule upon all here." + +"He said something of the kind to me; more than I told you." + +"Why did you not tell me all?" + +"Because it seemed so paltry." + +"Nothing is too paltry when we have so much at stake, Roy." + +"And was that the end of it?" + +"No, my boy; he made me indignant by his presumption, and I told him to +remember who he was." + +"What did he say to that?" + +"Begged my pardon humbly, and said that perhaps I was right, and that he +would do everything he could to help me in this painful situation. I am +glad he has spoken out and forced me to be plain. Now he will keep his +place." + +"Yes, he will now," said Roy. "I know what he felt; of course he was +annoyed at my taking the lead, after his going out leaving me only his +pupil, and coming back to find me seeming to do exactly as I pleased. +But I must go, mother, for there is such a lot to do. Don't ask me to +begin wearing silk and gold and feathers yet, though, please." + +Lady Royland smiled proudly as she kissed her son, and Roy hurried back +to his lieutenant, who was anxiously expecting him. + +"Farmer Raynes has come over, sir, to see you. Wanted to know what the +guns were fired for." + +"Where is he?" + +"Yonder, sir, watching the corporal drill the men." + +Roy went to the gate-way, where the trooper was busy at work drilling +the men in the use of their firelocks, adding to his verbal instructions +the examples of the two soldiers who came with him, these falling in +just in front, and executing every order in the carriage of the piece, +loading and firing, so that the servants could more easily understand. + +"Morning, Master Roy," said the farmer, stepping out of the guard-room +door-way. "Heard the guns last night, and couldn't make out where the +noise come from. Found out this morning, though, and run over. Mean +fighting, then, if they come here?" + +"Certainly," said Roy. "My father sent word for us to be prepared. I +was going to send for you this morning. I want your men and you to come +in, and be ready in case you are wanted." + +"Parson Meldew came and had a long talk with me day before yesterday, +sir, and he told me that whatever I did I was to stay peacefully at +home, mind my crops, and not interfere at all. But if I did, I was not +to side with the king." + +"He dared to tell you that?" cried Roy. + +"Not quite in those words, sir, but he meant it." + +"Oh, if he wasn't a clerk, I'd say something," cried Roy; "but what did +you say?" + +"Nothing, sir; I only laughed." + +"And do you mean to stay at home and do what he told you?" + +"Of course, sir, unless there's some fighting comes on, and then I +suppose we shall have to begin." + +"Against the king?" + +"I'm going to fight for my good old landlord, Master Roy, the best man I +know. He always stood my friend in hard times, and if he sends word I +am to, why, here I be with ten stout fellows, only you'll have to drill +us all, same as you're doing with these here, unless pitchforks and +flails will do; we can handle them." + +"Shake hands, Master Raynes," cried Roy; "I want you and the men to come +and drill every day in the mornings, and I want you to bring us in as +much wheat, oats, and flour as we can store up. You must buy when you +have not plenty, for we must be ready in case we are attacked." + +"What do you say to me going round and buying up all the ham and bacon +and salt pork I can get, sir?" + +"Yes, certainly," cried Roy. "My mother will supply the money." + +"Oh, that's all right enough, sir," said the farmer. "But of course you +don't want us to come and live in the place until there's real trouble." + +"Certainly not. Give half your time to getting ready for troubles, and +the other half to the farm." + +"I see, sir. Ah, morning, Master Pawson. Wild times these." + +"Terrible, Master Raynes, terrible," said the secretary, coming up. +"Are you going to be drilled too?" + +Roy glanced sharply round, but the secretary spoke earnestly, and with +no suggestion of a sneer. + +"Yes, sir, me and my men must come and support my landlord, spite of all +that Parson Meldew may say." + +"Does he object?" + +"Yes, sir; and pretty strongly, too. If I was him, I don't think I +should say quite so much, for he may be hearing of it again." + +"But I hope all we hear is but exaggerated rumour, Master Raynes, for +everybody's sake. If it were half so bad as you all say, I don't know +what would happen." + +"Ah well, sir, nothing shall happen here if me and my lads can prevent +it. There, I won't waste time. The lads shall be over here in a couple +of hours, Master Roy, and I'll be getting off to market." + +The farmer went away, and Roy felt comparatively happy with his tutor, +for Master Pawson seemed to have put aside the petty feeling of +annoyance, and to wish to let the trouble over the firing be quite +forgotten, so careful was he about avoiding any allusion to the guns. + +"I can't help," he said, smiling; "only to look on. I was never meant +for a fighting man. What a change, though, you seem to be producing, +Roy." + +This was sufficient to make Roy, with his natural boyish frankness, +begin talking freely about his plans, for he was growing enthusiastic, +and he even began to ask the secretary's opinion about two or three +minor matters. + +"Oh, don't ask me," said his companion, laughing, and with an air of +protest; "you might just as well expect me to begin wearing armour. No. +You must do all the defending if trouble does come, and I beg you will +give particular orders to your men-at-arms to take the greatest care of +the secretary, for you must not have him hurt. I suppose, then, that +there will be no more studies for the present?" + +"No, not for the present," said Roy, rather importantly; "I have so much +to do." + +"Very well, man o' war; the man o' peace will go back to his music and +his books, but if you want me to do anything that I can do, send for me +at once." + +Master Pawson put his hands behind him and walked thoughtfully through +the garden towards the door-way leading to the ramparts, and from thence +to the north-west tower, by the green grass and flowers seeming to him a +more attractive way than through the long corridor and past the occupied +rooms; while Roy made for the armoury, which seemed to be his study now. +Ben was there, busy, and he looked up and nodded. "Master Pawson's +soon settled down then, sir?" he said. + +"Oh, yes, Ben; he's good-tempered enough now." + +"Good job for him, sir. Can't have quarrelling in a garrison. I began +to think he was going to mutiny outright, and if he'd shown his teeth +any more, I suppose I should have had to remind him that there were some +deep, dark dungeons underground as a first dose, and the stone gallows +up at the far corner of the ramparts for the very worst cases." + +"But do you think that stone bar thing was ever used for executing +people?" + +"Sure of it, sir; and there's the opening underneath leading down to +that square patch beneath the walls." + +"But it may have been to hoist food or other things up during a siege." + +"Ah, it may have been, sir," said Ben, grimly; "but I don't quite see +why they should have chosen to make it just over the bit of a patch of +ground between the walls and the moat where you couldn't get the forage +to without a boat, and when there were a gate-way and bridge. 'Sides, +too, why should they pick the old burying-place of the castle?" + +"But that was not the old burying-place, surely, Ben?" + +"You ask Dick Grey, gardener, what he found when her ladyship wanted the +ivy planted there to cover that bit o' wall. It was full of 'em." + +Roy shuddered. + +"That's so, sir. I expect in the old fighting days they used to bury +'em there; and as it's just under that there gallows, why, of course, it +was used for traitors or spies as well. That reminds me, sir, as a lot +of that ivy ought to be cut away. We don't want any one to make a +ladder of it for getting into the place." + +"Leave it for the present. It could be torn down in an hour if there +was any need." + +"Ay, sir, that's the way you take it over such things. That there +garden ought to be turned into a drilling-ground; you know it ought." + +"If there does come any need for it, the garden can go," said Roy, "but +not until the very last." + +"That's right, sir. Only, if we're besieged, it will have to go. Now, +let me see--that makes nine buff coats, and one more's ten, for Farmer +Raynes's lot. Ought to give the farmer something a bit smarter, +oughtn't I, as he'll expect to be a sergeant, won't he?" + +"He'll like to be over his men." + +"But, you see, he's a big one, and there's a buff coat would suit him +exact. I'll tell you what, sir, if he has the same as the others, and a +scarf, and a feather in his cap, he'll be satisfied." + +"I should say so, Ben." + +"Then scarf and feather it shall be, sir. I'll have all their arms and +things ready for to-night; then they can have 'em in the morning when +they come, and it'll put all them straw-whopping fellows in a good +temper, and make 'em easy to drill. I want to pick out so many fellows +for the big guns that we must have some more in soon. But it's better +to go gently. Saves a lot of confusion." + +"What's the next thing to do, Ben?" + +"Everything, sir. Powder-bags to fill. Stores to get in. We must have +a new flag. Place cleared out for garrison quarters. Something done to +the two old guard-rooms on each side of the gate. We've months of work +to do, sir, try how we may, but we're going to do it, Master Roy, and-- +Oh," continued the old fellow, pausing for a few moments in his task of +taking down belts and swords to lay one on each buff coat below the +steel caps just set out ready, "there's that other thing I wanted to +talk to you about." + +"What other thing, Ben?" + +"I was up atop of the great tower this morning." + +"I know. I saw you there." + +"I was looking at the furnace and thinking that must be touched up a +bit, and a good supply of wood and charcoal carried to it. There is +plenty of lead at the foot of the north-east tower." + +"Ugh! We don't want to do any of those barbarous things, Ben; they're +too horrible. Fancy pouring molten lead down on people's heads." + +"We don't want to pour no molten lead down on people's heads, sir," +protested the old soldier. "All we says to 'em is, we've got a whole +lot of hot silver soup up here, and we shall pour it down on you if you +come hanging about our place, and trying to get in. Let 'em stop away, +and then they won't be hurt." + +"But it's too horrible, Ben. I will not have that got ready." + +"Very well, sir. I don't know that it much matters, for they've got to +cross the moat first, and I don't think we'll let 'em do that. The only +way the enemy will get in here will be through traitors in the camp." + +"And we shall not have any of them, Ben." + +"Hope not, sir." + +"So if we are to fight, let it be in a fair, manly, chivalrous way." + +"Yes, sir, and hang all spies and traitors." + +"Don't let's imagine that such people are possible," said Roy. "But was +that what you wanted to talk about, sergeant?" + +"No, captain, it wasn't. I got thinking this morning, as I was looking +round for weak points in our defences, that there's the old tale about +that there underground passage; the little chapel on the hill made me +think of it first." + +"But do you believe it's possible, Ben?" + +"Not knowing, sir, can't say. But I tell you what I do say: there's +nothing like taking care. Don't do to leave a hole in a sand-bag if +it's ever so small. So as soon as we've got a little more ship-shape +and our garrison beginning to grow, let's you and me get a lantern some +night, and have a good look to see if there is such a rat's hole." + +"Of course; yes." + +"Keep it quiet, sir, except to her ladyship. There may be such a place, +for in the good old times there were a great many curious doings, and it +would be a fine one to have a way in and out when the enemy thought +they'd got people shut up closely, and was going to starve 'em out; and +them able to bring in more men, and sacks of corn, and pigs and ducks +and geese and chickens, and laughing at the enemy all the time." + +"We must see, Ben; and I want you, as soon as the farmer's party are +settling down, to go and try about more men." + +"I say, sir, aren't it strange as none of the gentry hasn't been over?" + +"Too soon, perhaps, Ben." + +"Perhaps so, sir; but I can't help fancying everybody about here don't +think quite the same as we do." + +"Not on the king's side? Oh, nonsense!" + +"Hope it is, sir," said the old fellow, thoughtfully inspecting and +drawing one of the swords; "but there, we shall see. Bad for some of +'em if they are agen us, or I'm much mistook." + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +MASTER PAWSON SHOWS HIS COLOURS. + +As the time glided on, no further communication arrived from Sir Granby, +and Lady Royland and her son began to realise more and more that they +were shut off in a part of England where the king's friends were few and +far between, while those who remained true felt themselves so +outnumbered by their neighbours that they dared not display their +principles. + +Letters had been sent round by Lady Royland to several of the gentry +residing at different places, asking for help if it were needed, and at +the same time offering the castle as a sanctuary and rallying-point. + +One answer which was received will suffice to show the general feeling +of the district. + +The letter was brought in while Lady Royland and her son were seated at +breakfast, and the servant-maid stated that it had been left with old +Jenkin, at the gate, by a messenger the old man did not know, but who +said that there was no reply needed. + +A letter was sufficient to throw Roy's mother into a state of agitation, +eager as she was for news from her lord, and she eagerly tore it open, +read it with a sigh, and passed it on to her son. + +Roy took it as eagerly and began reading it aloud. + +It was very brief, and was written in a peculiar hand that was not +familiar. + +"Take counsel with yourself as to what you are doing. A great change is +coming over the country, for the king's cause is undoubtedly lost. Many +who respect the old family of Royland, and would help if they dared, +feel that it is unwise to fly in the face of the new power, and to go in +opposition to the people, who in all directions are declaring against +the king. All who respect Dame Royland join in advising her to cease +the show of resistance she is making, and to settle down quietly, ready +to accept the fresh position, for resistance must mean destruction. +Pause before it is too late.--From an old friend." + +"Well," said Lady Royland, as her son read the letter through twice, +"what do you think of that, Roy?" + +"That the man who wrote it must be a coward." + +"It explains why we have not had more offers of help, my boy. I have +felt for days past that there must be something very wrong. We are, it +seems, becoming isolated in an enemy's country, and so as to secure our +safety, I am advised to lay down my arms, and turn over my allegiance to +the new government, whatever it may be. That is what the letter +advises." + +"Yes, but who wrote it?" cried Roy. + +"It is evidently written by one person acting for others, and explains +why my letters to gentlemen who I should have thought would have been +ready to help me have remained unanswered." + +"Then we are to have no more help?" + +"None, save that which we have secured from the village, and of course +from the tenants on our estate. What do you think, Roy? If I resist, +we shall, from our weakness, in all probability be beaten, and the new +government will confiscate your father's property here; while, if we +settle down to an ignoble peace--" + +"They'll perhaps seize upon the estate all the same." + +"Then you would resist, my boy?" said Lady Royland, watching her son's +face closely. + +"Resist, mother?" he cried, indignantly; "why, of course. After what +father said, it is our duty to shut ourselves up here, hoist the king's +flag, and show the cowards who sent that letter that we're going to +fight as long as there's a tower left in the old place." + +"Then you would advise me to go against everything that is said in that +letter?" + +"Pah!" cried the boy, with a look of disgust. "I wonder you can ask me +such a question, mother." + +Roy had risen from the table, and with his face scarlet was walking up +and down the room. + +"I asked you because I wanted to see what your real feelings were, my +boy," said Lady Royland, going to him to lay her hands on his shoulder +and look proudly in his face. "Roy, my boy, if I followed the advice of +that contemptible time-serving letter, I should feel that I was proving +false to the brave men who have gathered round us at my call, to my +husband, and my king; lastly, my boy, to you. Give up? You know how I +shuddered at the thought of war; how it was my prayer that you should +not follow your father's career; but when duty called, Roy, I cast all +my fears behind, and stood forward ready to do or die. No, Roy! not +while we have a shot left to fire, a strong hand to raise! Let those +who will seek for safety in this base submission to the rebel powers: we +will show them that a woman and a boy can be faithful to the end. That +for the letter and its cowardly advice," she cried, tearing it +disdainfully to pieces. "We have but one thought here, Roy, and the old +walls shall echo it as long as the stones will stand--God save the +king!" + +Roy leaped upon one of the chairs, drew his sword and waved it round his +head, roaring out, with all his might, "God save the king!" And +directly after there was a hurried step at the door, which was thrown +open, and the electric excitement in the lad's breast was discharged as +if he had received a touch from a rod. + +For the maid-servant appeared, looked at him in astonishment, and said, +"Did you call, Master Roy?" + +The boy got down, and sheathed his sword, babbling out something, and +his mother smilingly said-- + +"No; you were not called." + +"I beg pardon, my lady," said the woman, and she retired. + +"Oh, I say, mother!" faltered Roy; "how stupid I must have seemed!" + +"I did not think so," said Lady Royland, smiling. + +"But it looked as if I were acting." + +"Go on acting so, then, my son," said his mother, proudly; "we need not +study what people think." + +"Here's Master Pawson," whispered Roy, quickly. "Go back to your chair, +mother." + +Roy went to his own, and Lady Royland slowly followed his example, as +the secretary, after passing the window, entered the room. + +"I beg pardon," he said, "for being so late. Good-morning, Lady +Royland; good-morning, Roy. I slept so dreadfully soundly." + +"You need not apologise, Master Pawson," said the lady, gravely; and she +noted that his quick eyes had rested upon the fragments of the torn-up +letter scattered about the room, where she had tossed them +contemptuously. "You are looking at the letter I received this +morning." + +"A letter?" he cried, eagerly; "from Sir Granby?" + +"No," said Lady Royland, with a sigh which she could not restrain; "it +is from close at hand--from some of our neighbours. I wish I had kept +it for you to see." + +"Not bad news, I hope," he said, looking pale. + +"Yes; very bad news," said Lady Royland. "I have been waiting for +days--it is right that you should know--hoping to get promises of help +from the different friends we have round, but till now the answer to my +appeal has been silence. This morning they gave me their reason for not +replying." + +"May I ask from whom you have heard?" + +"I cannot tell you," said Lady Royland; "the letter is signed `a +friend,' and it advocates total surrender to the rebellious power of +which we hear so much." + +"But you will not surrender, Lady Royland?" + +"Surrender? No!" cried Roy. "Never!" + +"That is right," said the secretary, flushing a little. + +"No; I shall not surrender," said Lady Royland, firmly; "but as it means +that we are becoming isolated, and are doomed to stand alone, I feel it +my duty to speak plainly to you, Master Pawson." + +He turned very pale again, and his eyes glanced restlessly from one to +the other. + +"I hope--I trust," he faltered, "that I have not done anything more to +incur your displeasure, Lady Royland." + +"No, Master Pawson, nothing; on the other hand, I have to thank you for +the brave way in which for some days past you have mastered your dislike +to the proceedings here, and helped my son to advance my objects." + +"I--I have only tried to do my duty," he said, flushing again. + +"Still, I cannot disguise from myself, Master Pawson, that dangers are +gathering around us fast, and that it is my duty to relieve you of a +position which must be growing intolerable." + +"I--I do not understand your ladyship," he said, looking at her +wonderingly. + +"Let me explain, then. I feel that I have no right, Master Pawson, to +keep you here. I think, then, that while there is the opportunity, and +before you are compromised in any way, you should sever your connection +here and go." + +"Ah! I see what your ladyship means now," he said, drawing a deep +breath as if of relief, and looking firmly in Roy's searching eyes. "Go +away before any one of importance comes and makes a demand for the +surrender of the castle." + +"That is what I do mean." + +"Yes, exactly," said the secretary, thoughtfully; "and when the troubles +are over, and the king has chastised all these insolent people who have +risen against him, and, lastly, when I meet Sir Granby Royland, and he +asks me why I deserted his wife and son in their emergency, what can I +say?" + +Lady Royland was silent for a few moments, and her eyes rested in a +softened manner upon the secretary's face. + +"Say," she said at last, and her voice sounded a little husky, "that it +was my wish that you should go, for I did not desire that any one but I +should be compromised." + +"Thank you, Lady Royland," said the secretary, quietly; and as he spoke, +Roy felt his dislike to the man increasing moment by moment up to a +certain point. "And, of course," he said, "I must require money for +travelling and to make my way back to London." + +"That you shall be properly supplied with, of course, Master Pawson." + +"Thank you again, Lady Royland," he said, as he went on calmly with his +breakfast; "it is very good of you, and when I require it, I will ask." + +"Better that it should be done at once, sir," Lady Royland said, firmly, +"and that you should go." + +"And leave you and Master Roy here to your fate!" + +"We can protect ourselves, sir." + +"You must forgive me for being so slow over my breakfast, Master Roy," +said the secretary, smiling in the lad's disgust-filled face. "I see +you are impatient to go, but I am talking so much." + +"Oh, eat a good breakfast," said Roy, now he was thus appealed to, "for +the last--" + +"Oh, no! not by a great many," said Master Pawson, smiling. "I like the +dear old castle far too well, and I hope to have many a long year of +happy days in it. It is very good of you, Lady Royland; but I hope I +can do my duty to Sir Granby like a man. You judge me by what I said at +the beginning of these preparations. I thought then that I was right. +I did not believe we should be interfered with here; but I see now that +I was wrong, and I am ready to help you heart and soul. Do you think I +could go away at a time like this? Why, I should never forgive myself-- +never. It is impossible, Lady Royland; now isn't it, Roy? I'm not a +fighting man; nature never meant me for anything but music and books, +but I'm not such a contemptible coward as all that. When the enemy +comes and begins firing, I may be induced to go somewhere that I think +_is_ safe; but go away? No, I could never hold up my head again." + +"Master Pawson," cried Roy, excitedly, springing from his seat, "do you +mean this?" + +"Mean it, Roy?" said the secretary. "Why, of course. I promised Sir +Granby to do my duty by his dame and his son, and according to the best +of my powers. I'm going to do it, and--Well, that's a very nice raised +pie." + +"Here, I want to beg your pardon, Master Pawson, for all kinds of +unpleasant thoughts about you," cried Roy, going round to the secretary +and holding out his hand, which the other took and held. + +"Do you?" he said, laughing. "Oh, no, there's no need. Boys generally +quarrel mentally with their teachers just out of want of knowledge. I +know. You've called me old Pawson many a time--now, haven't you?--and +said I was fat and soft and stupid, eh?" + +The lad did not answer, but looked scarlet. + +"That's all right, Roy. I'm old enough to understand a little about +human nature. Don't you think I mind what a boy says or does in a fit +of spleen. We shall understand one another better as time goes on." + +Then turning to Lady Royland, who stood there flushed and with her eyes +humid, he said, with grave respect, "I thank you, madam. It is only +what I should have expected from one of your good, considerate nature, +and I shall never forget it.--There, Roy," he said, "I am going back to +my room, and shall always be there when you want me. I stay there +because I fear to be in the way, but I'll come and do anything you wish +if I can be useful. But, please," he added, with a comical look of +appeal, "don't ask me to buckle on a sword, to come and fight, nor yet +to fire guns. I should be sure to shut my eyes when I pulled the +trigger, and waste the charge. Good-morning; I'm sorry I was so late." + +He made as if to go, but paused as Lady Royland took a step or two +forward and held out her hand, which he took and kissed respectfully. + +"Thank you, Master Pawson," she said, with her voice low from emotion; +"you have made everything seem brighter to us than it has looked for +days. I feel now that the world is not so cowardly and cruel as this +letter makes out that it was. I thank you. Sir Granby shall know of +your noble conduct, and--" + +"No, no! please don't say any more now," cried the secretary, hurriedly; +and he hastened to quit the room. + +"I am glad," cried Roy, as the door was closed. + +"Glad!" exclaimed Lady Royland; "and I am sorry, Roy, that we should +have been so ready to misjudge." + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +BEN MARTLET PROPOSES A SEARCH. + +The coming in of Farmer Raynes and his ten men had a capital effect upon +the people round. It was an example which soon bore fruit. After the +first two or three attendances at the castle, they marched there +together, with the farmer by them, in thorough military fashion, and +were followed by the people from the village, who would have gladly come +across the moat had not the gate been clanged-to by the sentry of the +day on duty, and then they had to content themselves with standing +gazing across at the drilling and martial exercises which went on. The +firing of the big guns--for all were tried in turn so as to see that +they were serviceable--was a grand portion of the entertainment, and, in +spite of secret adverse influences at work, the tenants on the estate +soon began to present themselves for enrolment in the little body, eager +to a man to don the castle uniform and bear arms; while the fact that +the officer in command was a mere boy sent the lads of the neighbourhood +half-mad. In fact, day after day they came in pairs to offer themselves +for enlistment, but only to go disappointed away; those who showed the +most surprise at the refusal to accept their services being the very +young. + +"Why, bless my heart!" Farmer Raynes would say, with his broad, deep +chuckle, "it would be like putting a 'stinguisher on a rush-light to +stick a steel cap on some of those boys' heads. You'd be putting them +out, Ben Martlet." + +"Ay," said the old fellow, showing his teeth; "but a few would be useful +to go down the guns with a brush to clean them out. But there, I'm not +going to laugh at the boys. Shows a good sperrit, Master Raynes, that I +wish more of the older folk would follow." + +"Ay, so do I," said the farmer, frowning; "but they're some of 'em +ashamed and some afraid. Parson Meldew has a lot to do with it; and do +you know why?" + +"Nay, not I; perhaps it's because her ladyship has been such a good +friend to him." + +"Like enough. That sort's always the worst. He has such a poor living +that it's my belief he's glad of the chance of a change. He thinks he +must be the better for it if it does come. I never much liked him; old +parson was the man. Why, if he'd been alive, he'd ha' been up here +every day talking to the lads, and encouraging them to get on as well as +they could to fight for church and state like good men and true. But +you'll have six more here to-day, good strong fellows from Marlow Mill." + +"Eh? You don't mean that?" + +"Oh, yes, I do," said the farmer. "I was over there with the wagon last +night to get that load o' flour that I brought in this morning, and I +give them all a talking-to about how things are, and my lads showing up +so in their coats and steel caps. It's of no use to bully 'em into +coming. They want coaxing, not driving. I hadn't been talking to 'em +long, 'fore they did exactly what I wanted, asking questions, and I +answered 'em so that they wanted to know about sword-play, and loading +and firing the big guns; and then they wanted to know whether there were +buff coats and steel caps for all as liked to come and drill. When I +told 'em there was, lo and behold! they all found out that they wanted +to do a bit of soldiering, and they'll be over soon." + +Farmer Raynes was quite right, for soon after, six sturdy young fellows +came slouching up in a sheepish way to stand watching the drilling with +open mouths, laughing and nudging one another as they recognised old +acquaintances, and were apparently ready to joke and sneer. That passed +off, however, in a few minutes, as they saw the goodly figure cut by the +farmer's men, and Raynes himself, no longer in the rough, flour-soiled +attire, as they had seen him when fetching the meal-bags over-night, but +a fine, bluff, gallant-looking fellow now, in buff coat, breastplate, +headpiece, and glittering steel cap which flashed in the sunshine as he +marched half a dozen armed men into the gate-way, then through the +guard-room and up to the ramparts, along which they were seen to have to +go through a certain amount of practice with the big guns. + +Within an hour the martial ardour that was glowing in the would-be +recruits' breasts was red-hot, and they asked leave to pass over the +bridge. + +The sentry shook his head, but sent a messenger across to state the +men's business, and they stood waiting, doubly impressed now, till the +man returned with the order that they were to wait. This they did till, +a few minutes later, sharp words of command were heard in the gate-way; +and then, closely followed by Roy, gallant in bearing and in his Italian +half-armour, gold and white scarf, gauntlets, and feathered felt hat, +Sergeant Martlet came with the three troopers at a smart, elastic march +across the drawbridge, which rattled and quivered to their tread, till +they reached the outer gate, where, at the word of command, they were +halted, and stood at attention. + +Roy was on his mettle; his eyes glistening at the sight of the six +awkward-looking fellows, knowing as he did what a change a few days in +the hands of Ben and the troopers would effect; but he was growing +strong enough now to begin adopting the policy of making it a favour to +admit men to his chosen band. So he ruffled up like a young game-cock, +to stand there glittering in the bright sunshine, with one gauntleted +hand resting upon his hip, the other pressing down the hilt of his long +sword. + +"Want to see me, my lads?" he said. + +There was a general whispering among the men as to who should speak, and +at last one of them was shouldered forward with, "Go on, Sam; you say +it." + +Sam, the most sheepish of all, being thus thrust into prominence, wiped +his mouth with the back of his hand, took off his hat, made an awkward +bow, and thus delivered himself, with a smile: + +"Morning, sir. You know me, Master Roy?" + +"Eh? Oh, yes; Sam Donny, from the mill. What is it, my lad?" + +"Only, sir, as me and my mates want to come and take sarvice here to +fight for the king." + +"Eh? You? Well, I don't know, my lad; we only want good men and true +here, who will learn their duty, and do it." + +"Oh, that's just what we are, sir," said the man, smoothing down his +hair; "not one on us as'd go to sleep o' nights when the wind's +blowing." + +"Ah, but I don't want fellows to grind corn. I want men who will be +ready to fight,--yes, and like men." + +"Well, sir, ask all on 'em. I can fight, and lick any of the lot here. +Oh, I can fight, and so can they." + +"Hum--ha," said Roy, marching slowly round them, while the men drew +themselves up and seemed to grow a couple of inches taller each under +the inspection of the young captain. "What do you think, sergeant?" he +continued; "think you can make artillerymen of 'em?" + +Ben saluted, and took a few steps forward to march up and down the +party, slapping their chests, feeling their arms, and pounding them +heavily. + +"Got some bone and muscle in 'em, sir," he said, respectfully, as his +report. "Might try if they mean it." + +"Take them across then to the armoury, measure them, and their names can +be enrolled." + +The men drew deep breaths of relief, and then grew nervous, for there +was a short command or two given, a couple of the troopers stepped to +their head, Ben and the corporal came up behind, and the little group of +sturdy fellows was marched across into the guard-room, and afterwards +into the armoury, to stand gaping at the weapons of war. + +"Did I do that right?" said Roy, afterwards. + +"Right, sir. The very thing. Those sort judge by what they see. They +came to us half ready to laugh, but they soon saw how serious it all +was; and they'll go away back to the mill to-night, and I'll be bound to +say, Master Roy, if you followed 'em, you'd find they'd got a dozen +other fellows about 'em, talking to 'em and boasting and bragging about +how grand everything is, and showing 'em their uniforms and steel caps. +This has about done it. You'll see we shall get as many men as we want +now." + +"But I felt all the time as if I were acting," said Roy. + +"What? Look here, Master Roy, don't you go and say such a thing as that +again. You weren't acting, and so I tell you; only doing your duty to +your king and country, and your father and mother into the bargain. You +can't do fighting without a bit of show along with it to brighten it up. +You ask a man whether he'd like to wear a feather in his cap, and a bit +o' scarlet and gold on his back, he'll laugh at you and say that such +things are only for women. But don't you believe him, my lad; he won't +own it, but he likes it all the same." + +Ben was right. For the next week men from the village and the +surrounding farms came up to the castle looking very serious and +important, to be enrolled for its defence; and at the end of a fortnight +there were fifty defenders, of whom fully forty looked as if they could +be depended upon, while the rest would serve to make a show. + +Meanwhile, Farmer Raynes attended the drilling and gun practice every +morning with his men, the whole gathering rapidly picking up the +rudiments of the military art under their four good teachers; while at +noon all, save about a fourth, went back to their peaceful vocations, +but ready at the arranged-for signal of two guns fired from the castle +to hurry back, every man to his post, to stay in garrison continuously, +instead of doing so one day in four. + +Farmer Raynes devoted the rest of his time to going round and gathering +stores,--provender and forage of every kind that would be necessary,-- +and his wagons seemed to be always coming or going across the +drawbridge; while vaults and chambers in the castle which had remained +unused for generations were now packed as store-rooms and granaries. + +"Never mind the farm, Master Roy," said the bluff fellow, one day; "it +isn't quite going backward." + +"But the crops?" said Master Pawson, anxiously, for he was present. + +"Well, Master Pawson, they won't be so good as they should be, of +course, but they'll grow whether I'm there or no, and Sir Granby won't +mind. He's a rich gentleman with a beautiful estate." + +"Yes, yes," said Master Pawson; "it is a beautiful estate." + +He looked quickly from the farmer to Roy, and back, as if he thought he +had said too much. + +"Ay, sir, it is a fine estate, and he's a lucky man who holds it. He +won't mind a few things going wrong, so long as we take care to save it +from some of the crop-eared rascals who'll be on the lookout to try and +take possession. I'll be bound to say that there's some of 'em smelling +about already, and making up their minds to make a grab at it if the +king's crown goes down." + +"Surely--surely not, Master Raynes," cried the secretary. + +"That's what I think, sir. There's them here wouldn't be above taking +possession of a pig, or a sack of my oats or barley; and there's bigger +rogues who like bigger things, and would give their ears to get Sir +Granby's fine estate. You mark my words, Master Roy; you'll see." + +Roy did mark those words, thinking deeply of them during the following +busy month, by which time the castle was in a fine state of defence, its +little garrison of twelve or fourteen men, who kept watch and ward in +regular military style, being relieved every day; while at the first bad +news of danger, Roy was ready to summon his whole force from farm and +mill, hoist the drawbridge, drop the portcullis, and with his stores of +provisions set any beleaguering force at defiance, whether large or +small. + +"There, sir," said Ben one morning, "I begin to feel now as if I could +breathe. There's a lot as wants doing yet, and I should dearly like to +do away with that garden as spoils the court-yard, so as I could have a +proper march round; but they won't come and catch us quite asleep." + +"No, Ben; you've done splendidly. It's wonderful to see what smart +fellows you have made of the men." + +"Ay, and don't they know it too, sir?" said Ben, chuckling. "See the +way they all marched past her ladyship this morning? There wasn't a man +as didn't _feel_ as if he was twice as big as he was a month or two ago. +And see those big lads looking on?" + +"Yes; there were forty or fifty across the moat." + +"Ay, looking on as hungry as could be. Look here, Master Roy, I'm +thinking a deal of getting say forty of 'em together--picked ones--as +soon as I've more time, and knocking them into shape." + +"I think it would be wise, Ben. They'd do well to work the guns." + +"They would, sir; but we'll see. Any more news?" + +"No, Ben; only rumours." + +"Master Pawson heard anything?" + +"No, not for a long time past. But look here, Ben, we have got the +place in good order now, yet nothing has been done to see if there is +any truth in the story about the secret passage leading into the old +chapel." + +Ben gave his head a punch. + +"No, sir; and yet I think of it every night just before I go off to +sleep. It ought to be done, for it's of no use to keep polishing up a +pot that's got a big hole somewhere in the bottom." + +"Of course it is not," said Roy. "Look here; when will you begin to +search?" + +"Let's hit while the iron's hot; sir, eh? You and I will go round and +visit all the sentinels to-night, and then, as we shall have a lantern, +we'll begin." + +"Where?" + +"Down under the north-west tower, sir." + +"And ask Master Pawson to go with us?" + +"Nay, sir; we'll keep it all to ourselves." + +"But he will hear us about the steps, and opening and shutting doors." + +"But he mustn't, sir. I'll oil all the locks and the keys I have, and +we must smuggle our light under a big cloak. No, sir, we don't want +Master Pawson with us; let him study his chirurgery and sewing of cuts, +and stopping up bullet-holes. That'll do for him. This is a job for +the castellan and his head-sergeant, sir; and, if you'll take my advice, +that's the order for the night." + +"Very well, Ben; that is the order for the night." + +"One word, sir. How is my lady getting on with the flag? That old one +is so tender like, I'm afraid it'll blow to pieces first time it's +hoisted." + +"Getting on splendidly." + +"Big as the old one, sir?" + +"Half as big again, Ben." + +"That'll do, sir. I believe in a big flag. It gives the men courage, +and bullies the enemy. Now I really do begin to feel as if I could +breathe." + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +THE PASSAGE THAT IS TOO SECRET. + +"Going, Roy?" said Lady Royland to her son, as he rose from his seat in +the library that night about an hour after Master Pawson had gone to his +room, retiring early on the plea of a bad headache. + +"Yes, mother; I'm going my rounds." + +Lady Royland sighed. + +"It seems very hard on you, my boy--all this work and watching." + +"Oh, I don't mind," said the lad, smiling; "I've got used to it already. +It makes everything go so regularly, and I feel sure that I have done +everything to make the place safe." + +"But it is hard upon the sentries, who, but for this, would be +peacefully sleeping in their beds." + +"Do us all good, mother. Good-night." + +There was an affectionate embrace, and Roy went to his room, buckled on +his sword, put on his helmet, threw a large cloak over his shoulders, +and then went down to the guard-room door in the great lower gate-way, +to be challenged at once, and forced to give the word. + +A faint light shone out from the open door upon the military figure on +duty, and Roy recognised in him one of the men from the mill, completely +transformed from the heavy plodding fellow who had come in to take +service. + +But the challenge had brought out the old sergeant, also in a cloak, +although it was a hot night, and within it he swung a lighted lantern. + +The drawbridge was up and the portcullis down, making the entrance look +black and strange, and shutting off the outer gate, from which the day +guard was withdrawn, though this had not been accomplished without +trouble and persuasion, for old Jenkin had protested. + +"Like giving up the whole castle to the enemy, Master Roy," he said, +with a full sense of the importance of his little square tower, and +quite ignoring the fact that in the event of trouble he would be +entirely cut off from his fellows if the drawbridge was raised. + +But the old man gave in. + +"Sodger's dooty is to 'bey orders," he said; and with the full +understanding that he was to go back to his gate in the morning, he came +into the guard-room to sleep on a bench every night. + +"How is old Jenk?" said Roy. + +"Fast asleep in his reg'lar place," replied Ben, and he led the way back +into the gloomy stone guard-room, where he held up the lantern over the +venerable old fellow's face, and Roy looked at him thoughtfully. + +"Seems hard to understand it, Master Roy, don't it?" said Ben; "but if +we lives, you and me'll grow to be as old as that. I expect to find +some morning as he's gone off too fast ever to wake up again." + +"Poor old fellow!" said Roy, laying his gloved band gently on the grey +head. "How fond he always was of getting me to his room when I could +only just toddle, and taking me to the moat to throw bread to the carp." + +"Fished you out one day, didn't he, Master Roy!" + +"To be sure, yes; I had almost forgotten that. I had escaped from the +nurse and tumbled in." + +"Ah! he's been a fine old fellow," said Ben. "I used to think he was a +great worry sticking out for doing this and doing that, when he wasn't a +bit of good and only in the way; but somehow, Master Roy, I began to +feel that some day I might be just as old and stupid and no more use, +and that made me fancy something else." + +"What was that, Ben?" said Roy, for the old soldier had paused. + +"Well, sir, I began to think that I was growing into a vain old fool +after all, or else I should have seen that old Jenk was perhaps of more +use here than I am. Can't you see, Master Roy?" + +"I can't see what you mean, Ben." + +"Why, that old chap's about the finest sample of a reg'lar soldier that +these young fellows can have. I believe if the enemy did come, that old +man would draw the sword that shakes in his weak old hand, and march +right away to meet 'em as bravely as the best here." + +"I'm sure he would, Ben," said Roy, warmly. + +"Then he's one of our best men still, sir. Come on--I mean give the +order, sir, and let's go our rounds." + +Then, in the silence of the dark night, Roy led the way to the winding +stair, and mounted silently to the ramparts, closely followed by Ben +with the blinded lantern, and on reaching the top, they walked on to the +left to the south-west tower; but before they could reach it a firm +voice challenged them from the top. Then after giving the pass they +went on through the tower and out onto the western ramparts, turning now +to where the north-west tower loomed up all in darkness. + +"Master Pawson's abed, sir," whispered Ben. + +"Yes; not well," was the reply, in the same low tone. + +But there was no challenge from here, and Roy walked silently in at the +arched door-way, passed the secretary's door, and mounted the stair to +severely admonish the sentry who was not keenly on the alert. + +"Don't let him off easy, Master Roy," whispered Ben; "we might have been +an enemy, sir, for aught he could tell." + +This was spoken with the sergeant's lips to his young master's ear, and +a few moments later Roy was at the top of the little turret, and stood +there in the door-way ready to pounce upon the man whom he expected to +find asleep. + +But to his great satisfaction the sentry was well on the alert, for he +was kneeling at one of the crenelles, reaching out as far as he could, +and evidently watching something away to the north, while all was so +still and dark that the movement of a fish or water-rat in the deep moat +below sounded loud and strange. + +Roy stepped out silently, crossed the narrow leads, and stood looking in +the same direction as the sentinel; but he could make out nothing, and +he was about to speak when the man, who had suddenly divined his +presence, sprang up and clapped his hand to his sword. + +"Stand!" he cried, hoarsely. + +Roy gave the word, and Ben stepped out of the door-way to his side. + +"Why, sir, you quite scared me," faltered the man; "I didn't hear you +come." + +"You should have heard," said Roy, sternly. "What were you watching +there?" + +"That's what I don't know, sir. I see a light out yonder somewheres +about where them old stones is on the hill. And then I thought I heard +talking, but that's quarter of an hour ago." + +Both Roy and his companion had a good long look, but there was nothing +to see or hear; and after admonishing the man to keep an eye upon the +place, they descended and visited the sentries on the north-east and +south-east towers, to find them well upon the _qui vive_. + +After this they descended, and Ben led the way to the armoury, where he +set the lantern on the table, took a spare candle from a box, and a +bunch of keys from a drawer. + +"May mean nothing, Master Roy; but I don't understand what light there +could be up nigh the old chapel ruins, nor who could be talking there at +this time of night." + +"Not likely to be anything wrong, Ben, because if they had been enemies, +they would not have shown a light." + +"Signal perhaps, sir." + +"Well, they wouldn't have talked aloud." + +"Don't suppose they did, sir. Sound runs in a still, dark night like +this. Well, anyways it seems to me as it's quite time we had a good +look round to see if there's a hole anywhere in the bottom of the pot, +so if you're ready, so am I. Only say the word." + +"Forward!" cried Roy; and, going first with the lantern, Ben led the way +along the corridor to the head of a flight of stone steps, down which +they went to the underground passage, which with groined roof ran right +along all four sides of the castle. The dark place seemed full of +whispering echoes, as they went on past door after door leading into +cellar and dungeon, all now turned into stores; for the great mass of +provender brought in by Farmer Raynes's wagons had here been carefully +packed away, the contents of each place being signified by a white, +neatly painted number, duly recorded in a book where the account of what +number so-and-so indicated was carefully written in Master Pawson's best +hand, since he had eagerly undertaken the duties of clerk. + +At each corner of the castle basement, the passage expanded into a +circular crypt with a huge stone pillar, many feet in diameter, in the +middle, from which radiated massive arches to rest on eight smaller +pillars. This radial series of arches supported one of the towers, and, +after passing the one to the north-east, Ben led on with his lantern +along the passage running to the tower at the north-west corner, the dim +light casting strange shadows behind, which seemed to be moving in +pursuit of the two silent figures, urged on by the whispering echoes of +their steps. + +The pavement was smooth and perfectly dry, as were the massive stone +walls; and as they went on, Roy fell into a musing fit, and thought of +what a strongly built place Royland castle was, and how in times of +emergency, if a garrison were hard pressed and had to yield rampart and +tower to a powerful enemy, they would still have these passages and +crypts as a place of refuge from which, if a bold defence were made, it +would be impossible to dislodge them. + +Apparently mind does influence mind under certain circumstances, for, +just as Roy had arrived at this point, Ben stopped short and turned. + +"Look here, Master Roy," he said, "you ought, now we're getting in +pretty good order, to do two things." + +"Yes; what are they?" + +"Have that there stone gallows on the ramparts put a bit in order. It +wants a few stones and some mortar." + +"Why should I have that put in order?" said Roy, shortly. + +"Case you want to hang any traitors, sir, for giving notice to the enemy +of what we're doing, or trying to open the gates to 'em." + +"I shall never want to hang any traitors," said Roy, sternly. + +"I don't s'pose you will, sir; but it's just as well to let people see +that you could if you wanted to. Might keep us from having any." + +"I will not let the garrison see that I could have any such mistrust of +the men who have come bravely up to help to protect my father's +property." + +"Well, Master Roy, that sounds handsome, and I like the idea of it: it's +cheering-like to a man who tries to do his best. But all people don't +think same as we do, and whenever we hear of a castle being attacked and +defended, there were always people outside trying to make traitors of +those who were in, and temptation's a nasty, cunning, 'sinuating sort of +a thing. But you're castellan, and you ought to do as you please." + +"I will, Ben, over that, at all events. Fancy what my mother would +think if I were to be making preparations for such a horror." + +"Hum! yes, sir. What would she think? That's a queer thing, Master +Roy, isn't it, what a deal mothers have to do with how a man does, +whether he's a boy or whether he's growed up?" + +"Why, of course they have. It is natural." + +"Yes, sir; I suppose it is," said the old soldier, as he went on. "You +wouldn't think it, perhaps, of such a rough 'un as me, and at my time o' +life, but I never quite get my old woman out of my head." + +"I don't see how any one could ever forget his mother," said Roy, +flushing a little. + +"He can't, sir," said Ben, sharply; "what she taught him and said always +sticks to the worst of us. The pity of it is, that we get stoopid and +ashamed of it all--nay, not all, for it comes back, and does a lot of +good sometimes, and--pst!--pst!--if we talk so loud we shall be waking +Master Pawson. But I say, Master Roy, it won't do, really. Look at +that now!" + +They were close to the circular crypt beneath the north-west tower, and +Ben was holding up his lantern towards the curve of the arches on his +left. + +"Roots! coming through between the stones." + +"Yes, sir, that's it. Only the trees her ladyship had planted, and +that's the beginning of pulling this corner of the castle down. There's +nothing like roots for that job. Cannon-balls'll do it, and pretty +quickly too; but give a tree time, and it'll shake stone away from +stone, and let the water come in, and then the frost freezes it, and +soon it's all over with the strongest tower ever made. Do 'ee now ask +her to have 'em cut down, and the roots burned." + +"I'm not going to ask anything of the sort, Ben," said Roy, shortly. +"Now about this passage. You think it must run somewhere from here." + +"Yes, sir," replied the old soldier, as he stood now under one of the +arches of the crypt and raised his lantern to open a door. "There, now +we can see a bit better. If there is such a place, it starts, I +suppose, from somewhere here." + +He walked slowly round the place, holding the lantern into the recesses, +eight of which appeared between the pillars surrounding that in the +centre. + +"But there's plenty of room here for storing sacks or anything else, and +you can have doors made to those two that haven't got any, if you like." + +Roy walked into one of these recesses--cellar-like places of horse-shoe +curve, going in a dozen feet, and then ending in a flat wall. + +"Which way am I looking here, Ben?" said Roy. + +"Out'ards, sir; you're standing about level with the bottom of the moat, +or pretty nigh thereabouts. You're--yes--that's where you are, just at +the nor'-west corner, and the moat turns there." + +"Then the places on each side here face the moat, one to the north, the +other to the west." + +"Well, not exactly, sir, but nearly." + +"Then the secret passage can't begin at the end of either of these, and +been built up." + +"I dunno, sir. Folk in the past as had to do with them passages did all +they could to make 'em cunning." + +"But they couldn't have made a passage through the moat." + +"Of course not, sir; it must have gone under it." + +"Then it couldn't have started from here." + +"Why not, sir?" said Ben, with a low laugh; "what's to prevent there +being another dungeon like this on the other side of the wall there, one +with a trap-door in it leading down ever so many steps into another +place, and the passage begin ten or twenty foot deeper." + +"Something like the powder-magazine is made?" + +"That's it, sir. We're in the lower part of a big round tower, and we +know there's those floors above us one on top of the other, and we don't +know that the old Roylands who built this place mayn't have dug down and +down before they started it, and made one, two, or three floors below +where we stand." + +"What? Dug right down? Impossible!" + +"They dug down that time as deep into the old stone to make the big +well, sir." + +"Of course; then it is possible." + +"Possible, sir? Oh yes; look at the secret passages there are in some +old walls, made just in the thickness, and doors leading into 'em just +where you wouldn't expect 'em to be. Up a chimney, perhaps, or a side +of a window. I heered tell of one as was quite a narrow door, just big +enough for a man to pass through, and you didn't walk into it, because +it wasn't upright; but you got into it by crawling through a square hole +with a thin stone door which fell back after you were through. Then you +stood up, and could go half round the old house it was in." + +"Well," said Roy, "if there is such a passage, we must find it; but if +it has been built up, we might have to pull half the place down." + +"Yes, sir; but first of all, we'll have a good look in these cellars, +for it mayn't have been built up, and we may find it easily enough. +Begin then, and let's try." + +Ben trimmed the candle with his forefinger and thumb, making the flame +brighter, and then holding the light close to the flat face of the wall, +they examined stone after stone; but as far as they could make out, they +had not been tampered with since the day the masons concluded their +task. + +Then the curved walls right and left were examined quickly, as they were +little likely to contain a concealed opening; lastly, the flags on the +floor, and, finally, Ben drew his sword and softly tapped each in turn. + +But not one gave forth a hollow sound. Everything was solid, even the +walls at the back. + +"Let's try the other open one, sir," said Ben, and they continued their +investigations in this place, which was precisely similar to the first, +and yielded the same results. + +Then the keys of the great bunch Ben carried were tried on one +fast-closed door of oak, studded with square nails much corroded by +rust, but it was not until the last key had been thrust in that with a +harsh creaking the bolt of the ponderous lock shot back; and then it +required the united efforts of both to get the door to turn upon the +rusty hinges. + +Here they were met by precisely the same appearances, and the search was +made, and ended by sounding with the sword pommel. + +"No, sir; there's nothing here." + +"I'm afraid not," said Roy; "everything sounds solid." + +"Ay, sir, and solid it is." + +"But if you tap so hard, Master Pawson will hear you," whispered Roy, as +the old soldier tried the floor again. + +"Maybe not, sir; but if he do, he do. Let's hope now he's fast asleep; +you see, he's three floors higher up." + +"But knocking sounds travel a long distance, Ben, and I'd rather he did +not know." + +"Me too, sir. Well, this is only three. Let's try the others." + +"I hope you are not going to have so much work with the finding of the +key," said Roy; "it hinders us so." + +"Plenty of time before morning, sir," replied Ben, coolly; and after +relocking the heavy low door, he tried the key he had just withdrawn +upon the next door, and, to the surprise of both, it yielded easily, and +was thrown open. + +Again the same clean, swept-out place, with plenty of grey cobwebs; but +that was all. + +Upon sounding the stones, however, at the back, they fancied that they +detected a suggestion of hollowness, still not enough to make Roy +determine to have the wall torn down. + +This place was locked and the next tried, the only satisfactory part of +the business being that the key before used evidently opened all the +locks in the basement of this tower; and so it proved, as one after the +other the dungeons or cellars were tried with the same unsatisfactory +results, for none of the eight afforded the slightest trace of the clew +they sought. + +At last, pretty well tired out and covered with cobwebs, they stood in +the crypt while Ben lit a fresh candle, the first having burned down +into the socket, with the wick swimming in molten fat, and Roy said, +with a yawn-- + +"I wonder whether there is a passage after all, or whether it is some +old woman's tale." + +"Nay, sir, there is," said the old soldier, solemnly. "Your father said +there was, and he must have known." + +"Well, then, where is the door?" said Roy, peevishly. + +"Ah! that's what we've got to find out, sir. You're tired now, and no +wonder. So let's try another night. You're not going to give a thing +up because you didn't do it the first time." + +"I hope not," said Roy, with another yawn; "but I am a bit tired now. I +say, Ben, though, think it's in one of the places we've filled up with +stores?" + +"I hope not, sir; that would be making too hard a job of it." + +"Stop a moment," cried Roy, brightening up; "I have it." + +"You know where it is, sir?" cried Ben, eagerly. + +"Not this end," said Roy, laughing, "but the other." + +"What, in the old ruins? Of course." + +"Well, why not go and find that, and then trace it down to here. It +would be the easiest way." + +"There is something in that, sir, certainly," said the old soldier, +thoughtfully; "ever been there, sir?" + +"Once, blackberrying; but of course I never saw anything; only a rabbit +or two." + +"Then if we can't find it here after a good try or two, sir, we'll have +a walk over there some evening, though I don't feel to like the idea of +leaving the place, specially as all the gentry seem so unfriendly. Not +a soul, you see, has been to see her ladyship. Looks bad, Master Roy, +and as if there was more going on than we know of round about us." + +"Ah, well, never mind that," said Roy; "let's get back out of this +chilly, echoing place. I'm fagged." + +"We'll go back this way, sir," said Ben; and he went on first with the +lantern, till he came to one of the flights of stone steps leading up to +the ground level. + +"Let's go on here, Ben," said Roy; and, upon their reaching the corridor +above, the boy looked back along it towards where the stairs went up +into the corner tower, beneath which they had been so busy. + +"Wonder whether Master Pawson heard us, Ben." + +"Can't say, sir. I should fancy not, or he'd have been on the stir to +know what was the matter." + +"Mightn't have cared to stir in the dark, Ben. I say, I should like to +know. Look here, he went off early to bed, because he said he was +unwell. I'll go and ask how he is. That's a good excuse for seeing." + +"Well, so it is, sir," said Ben, rubbing his ear; "and if he did hear +anything, he'd be pretty sure to speak." + +"Of course. Then I will go. Come and light me." Roy hurried along +back with Ben following and casting the boy's shadow before him, till +they reached the arched door-way, where they went up the few stone steps +in the spiral staircase, reached the oaken door leading into the +apartments, felt for the latch, raised it, and gave it a loud click; but +the door did not yield to the boy's pressure, and he tried it again, and +then gave it a shake. "Why, he has locked himself in, Ben!" + +"Has he, sir? Didn't want to be 'sturbed, maybe." + +"Perhaps he was frightened by the noise we made, and then fastened +himself in," said Roy, with a laugh. + +Ben chuckled at the idea. + +"Well, sir, not the first time we've frightened him, eh?" + +"Hush! I want to let him know who it is now knocking," said Roy; "it is +startling to be woke up in the middle of the night. Master Pawson-- +Master Pawson!" he said, gently; and he tapped lightly with his fingers. + +But there was no reply, and Roy tapped and called again, but still +without result. + +"He's too fast asleep to hear you, sir." + +"Well, he ought to bear that," said Roy, giving the door a good rattle, +and then tapping loudly. + +"One would think so, sir; but he don't seem to have his ears very wide +open, or else he's too much scared to stir." + +"Master Pawson! Master Pawson!" cried Roy, loudly now; and he once more +rattled the door. "How are you?" + +"Fast as a church, sir," said Ben; "and I wouldn't rattle no more, +because you'll be having the sentry up atop after us. Better go and +speak to him, or he'll be raising the guard." + +Ben went up on the winding stair, and spoke to the sentry, who +challenged him as he reached the top, and was much relieved on hearing +his sergeant's voice. + +"Didn't know what to make of it," he said; "and I should have fired, +only my piece wouldn't go off." + +"Well, let this be a lesson to you, my lad, to keep your firelock in +order." + +"Yes, sergeant; I will in future." + +"We might have been the enemy coming. See any more of that light, or +hear any more noise over yonder?" + +"No, nothing." + +"Not heard nothing from Master Pawson, I suppose?" + +"Not since he came up and spoke to me before he went to bed. Said his +head was queer or something--spoke mighty pleasant, and that he was +sorry for me who had to watch all night." + +"Well?" + +"That was all; only I said I was sorry for him having such a bad head." + +Ben went down to where Roy was waiting in the secretary's door-way. + +"Can't wake him, Ben. Come along; I am tired now." + +"Feel as if an hour's sleep wouldn't do me much harm, sir," said the old +soldier; and they went on along the corridor, whose windows looked out +upon the pleasaunce. "Master Pawson's in the right of it. Once a man's +well asleep, it's a woundy, tiresome thing to be wakened up. +Good-night, sir." + +"Good-morning, you mean, Ben," said Roy, laughing. + +"Oh, I calls it all night till the sun's up again, sir. You and me'll +have to try the old ruins, I s'pose, though I don't expect we shall find +anything there." + +Roy went straight to his room, half undressed, and threw himself upon +the bed, to begin dreaming directly that he had discovered the entrance +to the secret passage at the other end, but it was so blocked up with +stones and tree-roots that there was no way in, and would not be until +he had persuaded his mother to do away with the garden, cut down the +trees, and turn the place back into a regular court-yard such as old Ben +wished. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +FARMER RAYNES BRINGS NEWS. + +It was the loud blast of a trumpet which roused Roy from his slumbers to +find that it was a gloriously clear morning, and that the call was +bringing the little garrison together for the early parade. + +The trumpeter was the youngest of the three men from his father's +regiment, and consequently the call rang out in the true martial style, +echoing through the garden court, and sounding exhilarating to the boy +as he sprang off his bed and began to dress. + +It roused the jackdaws, too, from their resting-places, and sent them +sailing about in the clear sunny air, their black forms reflected from +the moat, and their sharp, petulant cries sounding like protests against +this disturbance. + +For they had had a hard time of it lately. Under Ben's superintendence +every loop-hole had been cleared, every collection of nesting ruins +carefully removed, and they had no other married quarters but the holes +in the walls, half-shaded by the green pellitory which rooted and +flourished in company with the moss, that acted as sponges to retain +enough moisture for its sustenance. + +Roy was not long in dressing, buckling on his sword, and hurrying down +to the tiny parade ground, for in his character of castellan he liked to +be present every morning when the men who were to relieve the garrison +assembled at the gate-way, across the moat, and waited for permission to +march in. + +All this was rigorously carried out in true military style by the old +sergeant's management; and as Roy descended, it was to find the little +garrison drawn up fully armed under Ben's command, he and the three +troopers forming the regular staff who never left the castle. + +Ben looked as fresh as if he had not made a night's rest out of two +hours on a form in the guard-room; and giving the word as Roy appeared, +there was the twinkling and glittering of headpiece and weapon as the +men presented arms, and then stood again at attention as it was carried +out some two hundred and fifty years ago. + +Then a short inspection by the castellan followed, orders were given, +and four men marched to the door-way, tramped up the staircase, and a +few minutes later the ponderous drawbridge began to descend, till it +spanned the moat; and at a word the men fresh from their homes marched +across, to halt by the portcullis, which then began to rise slowly, the +capstans creaking and cracking, till the row of spikes alone was visible +as they hung like iron stalactites overhead. + +Another sharp order rang out, and the new-comers filed into the +guard-room, from whence came the clashing of metal and the buzzing of +voices as the men assumed their arms and came out one by one to fall in +opposite to those whose places they were to take, and who would, in a +few minutes, go into the guard-room to deposit their arms in the racks, +and then be free till their short term of service recommenced, but of +course ready to hurry to the castle at the first summons should a +necessity arise. + +Everything went on according to the regular routine; the fresh men were +all drawn up now, armed, the order given, and the relieved tramped into +the guard-room and soon began to straggle out again, eager to troop over +to a kind of buttery-hatch by the great kitchen, where a mug of milk and +a hunch of bread for a refresher would be waiting for distribution, by +Lady Royland's orders, for every man. + +All this went on then as usual, and the old warder Jenkin had just come +tottering out of the guard-room, to go and take up his customary post at +the gate, the trumpeter had raised his instrument to his lips to blow a +blast, and the new-comers were ready to march off to their several +duties of mounting guard, drilling at the guns, and cleaning +accoutrements, when there was the sound of hoofs rapidly beating the +road across the moat, and directly after a figure, mounted upon a heavy +cart-horse, came into sight, thundering along at full gallop. At the +first glimpse it seemed as if the horse had run away with his bareheaded +rider; but directly after it became plain that, though only riding +saddleless, and with no rein but a halter, the big man was urging the +horse forward with all his might. + +"Why, it must mean news!" said Roy, excitedly, as he advanced towards +the drawbridge. + +"Ay, there's something wrong, sir," said Ben, gravely. "That we shall +soon hear." + +The armed men stood fast on one side, and those disarmed in a group on +the other, waiting excitedly to see what this new thing meant. + +"It's Farmer Raynes!" cried Roy. + +"Ay, sir, that's who it be. He was coming with a wainload of oats this +morning, and he wants help, for he has broken down, I should say." + +The next minute the rider dashed up to the far gate, but did not draw +rein, for he sent his horse thundering across the drawbridge before he +checked the panting beast with a loud "_woho_!" and then threw himself +off. + +"What's the matter, Master Raynes?" cried Roy. + +"They're here, sir," whispered the bluff farmer, excitedly. "I'd got a +wagon loaded with oats last night, and was taking 'em from Dendry Town +to the farm ready for bringing on here i' morning, when at a turn of the +lane I come upon a troop of horse who surrounded the wagon at once, and +a couple of 'em led me, whip and all, up to their officer, a +lank-looking, yellow-faced fellow, who was sitting on his horse just +under a tree. + +"`Where are you taking that grain?' says he. + +"`On the king's service,' says I. `To Royland Castle.' + +"His yellow wrinkly face grinned all over, and he turned and gave orders +to an officer by him; and then I knew I'd made a mistake. For they were +all well-mounted, and in a regular trooper's uniform, and I thought I'd +happened upon one of the king's regiments, instead of which they were a +pack of Roundhead rabble; and I had to drive the team back with the oats +to their headquarters at Dendry Town. There they made me open a sack to +feed their horses; and after that I was told I was a prisoner, and that +my wagon and team was taken for the use of the state." + +"Dendry Town--ten miles away," said Roy, thoughtfully. + +"Many on 'em?" said Ben, sourly. + +"There was about fifty as took me," said the farmer; "and I should say +there were seven or eight hundred in the town swarming all over the +place." + +"But how did you get away, Raynes?" + +"Left it till this morning, sir, when I was feeding my horses, after +emptying a couple of sacks for theirs. Waited till there was a chance, +and then I jumped on old Ball here, who can go like fun when he gets +warm, and galloped off. They shot at me, and I heard the bullets +whistle, and then about a dozen came in pursuit, galloping after me till +we got within sight of the towers; and then they drew back, and here I +am. I thought you ought to know somehow that the enemy was so near." + +"Then they're not a mere rabble of men?" + +"Not they, sir. Reg'lar soldiers, and they've got big guns in the +market-place. Quite a little army." + +"Thank you, Raynes," said Roy, gravely. "It was very good and brave of +you to bring the news like this. Halt there, men. Take your arms +again. We shall perhaps have some work to do." Then briefly giving his +orders, which had long enough before been arranged between him and Ben, +the latter led one little party to the south-west tower, and the +corporal took another to the north-west, while Roy himself mounted with +a party into the gate tower, where at his word of command the portcullis +dropped with a loud clang, and directly after the drawbridge began to +rise till it was back in the position it always occupied by night. + +This part of the business of preparation for unwelcome visitors being +accomplished, Roy mounted to the leads, where he placed a sentry to keep +a good lookout, and then turned to see if his men were ready. + +They stood in a group on each tower waiting, Ben and the corporal +swinging a port-fire from time to time to keep it well in a glow; and +then standing on the breastwork above the machicolations, Roy looked out +as far as he could see in search of enemies, where, however, all looked +beautiful and at peace. + +But it could be no false alarm. The time for action had come; and, +turning to the right, he waved his hands, turned to the left, and did +likewise; and directly after a puff of grey smoke darted out from the +top of each tower, followed by two rapidly succeeding peals like +thunder, which echoed through the castle, making the jackdaws fly out of +their resting-places to wheel round, crying vociferously. + +"Now," said Roy to himself, "the staff is ready. It's time to raise the +king's flag." + +But the flag was still in Lady Royland's hands, and the boy descended to +cross to her private apartments and fetch it away. + +But half-way across the pleasaunce he encountered Master Pawson, looking +wild-eyed, pale, and strange. + +"What is the matter?" he cried. "What is that firing for?" + +"The enemy are near, Master Pawson," said Roy, quietly; "and I suppose +that before long they will pay us a visit." + +"But the guns--why were the guns fired?" + +"As a signal, of course, for our men to gather, and for such of the +village people as like to take refuge here. I thought you knew." + +"I? No. I did not know. But the people will not come," said the +secretary, with undue excitement; and he now looked very pale indeed. + +"It will be rather hard, though, if they do not, after all this drilling +and teaching." + +"Oh! those men may," said the secretary, hastily. "I meant the people +from the village." + +"Well, we shall see," said Roy. + +"But what makes you say that the enemy are near?" said the secretary, +giving him a searching look. + +"The messenger who brought the news. Farmer Raynes." + +"Farmer Raynes?" + +"Yes; he was taken and escaped." + +At that moment Ben came up with a grim look of satisfaction upon his +countenance. + +"Morning, sir," he said to the secretary. "You see the enemy have found +us out. Ready for them?" + +"I? What do you mean?" + +"Ready to doctor some of us as gets our heads and legs knocked off by +cannon-balls. I beg pardon, Master Roy, sir, her ladyship's +a-signalling to you yonder. What does she say to the enemy coming?" + +"My mother!" said Roy, excitedly, as he caught sight of her at one of +the corridor windows. "I have not seen her yet." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +ROYLAND CASTLE AFTER ITS GROWL. + +Lady Royland received the news calmly enough, and was the first to +allude to the flag, which she said would be, though unfinished, suitable +enough to hoist whenever her son thought it right to do so. + +"The sooner, then, the better, I should say, mother," cried Roy. "Let +them see it waving when they come near." + +"By all means, my boy. I am glad to find that you have everything in so +good a state of preparation. The guns startled me a little, but I +expected to hear them some time. Do you think the men will prove true +and come in?" + +"True, mother? Yes, of course." + +A few minutes later Roy came out with the silken flag hanging in folds +across his arm like a cloak, and hurried to where Ben and the three +troopers were busy loading the two guns, run out now into the gate-way +so as to command the road from each side of the raised bridge. + +The men were all armed, and a look of excitement was in every face, +notably in that of Farmer Raynes, who was fidgeting about and looking +anxious. + +Roy handed the flag to Ben, who took it proudly, and nodded his +satisfaction. + +"You'll come up and be there at the hoisting, sir?" he said. + +"Of course. Yes--what is it?" + +"Master Pawson, sir," whispered the old soldier, with a laugh; "we +managed to wake him up at last." + +Roy smiled and went to where the farmer stood, watching him anxiously, +and finally making a sign to him to come. + +"Want to speak to me, Master Raynes?" he said. + +"Yes, sir; I'm in agonies about my men. They'll be coming along soon +and falling into a trap, for some of those troopers will be hanging +about the road." + +"Yes, this is serious," said Roy, who grasped the difficulties of the +reinforcements he hoped soon to receive. + +Ben was called into counsel, and his suggestion was that the guns on the +four towers should be manned ready to cover the advance of the friends, +and keep back the enemy. + +"Mounted men's orders are to keep clear of cannon-shot all they can, +sir; and now, if you please, I should like you to arm all the people +necessary, while I see to the ammunition." + +This order was carried out, and the flag taken up into the +furnace-chamber, just below where the new flag-staff with halyard had +been erected against the staircase turret. + +In a very short time all was ready, so far as so small a force was +available, and four men kept ready in the chamber prepared to lower the +bridge as soon as any friends approached, when it was to be kept down +till the coming of strangers rendered it necessary that it should be +raised again. + +Ten minutes had not elapsed before a shout from the north-east tower was +heard, and Roy turned in the direction pointed out by one of the men, to +see a little party of four men who, in obedience to the signal, were +advancing at a trot from the direction of the village. + +The bridge was lowered, the portcullis raised, and, as the men came +hurrying across, they were received with a hearty cheer from the tiny +garrison. + +The bridge being down and the portcullis raised, the state of +preparation was deemed sufficient to warrant their remaining so, as no +enemy was in sight; but the precaution was taken of having the +port-fires ready and each gun in the gate-way manned so as to sweep the +approach. + +Another shout announced fresh arrivals, men coming up in twos and +threes, every arrival sending a thrill of satisfaction through the young +castellan's breast as he felt his strength increase, till only two +parties were not accounted for,--six men from the mill and the ten from +the farm. + +"A terrible loss they would be, Ben," said Roy, as he swept the country +from the highest point of the tower, and without effect. "Raynes wants +to go in search of them." + +"Then don't let him, sir. We can't spare him. Mightn't be able to come +back. Wait a bit; they've all got some distance to come. Give 'em +time." + +"But they might have been here by now." + +"Ay, they might, sir," said Ben, drily. + +"Ha! you think they are afraid, now it comes to the pinch." + +"Nay, sir, not yet. They may have a good way round to go to 'scape the +enemy, for I dare say they're beginning to occupy the roads. I'm most +anxious about the farm lads, for they're nighest to where the enemy +are.--Hi! there! Look! look!" + +Ben had turned his head in a different direction to that in which the +men from the mill might have been expected to come; and there, +altogether, running in a group, six figures could be seen evidently +making for the castle, while a party of a dozen horsemen suddenly rode +into sight from behind a copse about a quarter of a mile away, and +cantered across as if to head the men off. + +"Now, sir, quick! Tell 'em yonder to make ready and wait. The +corporal's there, and he'll know what to do." + +Roy shouted the orders to the south-west tower, and the trooper-corporal +answered loudly, and they saw him blow his port-fire. + +"Now, sir, wait a bit, till they get nigher. That's it. Now, fire!" + +The race had been growing exciting, for the horsemen were increasing +their pace as they came on with their weapons glittering in the sun, and +it was plain enough that the runners must be cut off and taken +prisoners, when just at the right moment Roy's order rang out. There +was a white puff from the tower, a heavy boom, the ball went whistling +just over the heads of the horsemen, and a shout of triumphant derision +arose from the towers, as, moved by the same spirit, the little troop +wheeled round and went off at full gallop to get out of gunshot. + +"Another shot, men!" + +"Nay, sir, certainly not. That's the young soldier speaking. What for? +You might bowl over a horse or two, but what good would that do? +You've done what you wanted, and sent 'em to the right-about, saved six +of our lads, and at the same time showed those fellows that we're on the +lookout and don't mean to stand any nonsense. That's enough for one +bullet, sir, eh?" + +"Splendid! my lads," cried Roy, who leaned over the battlements, waving +his hand to the panting and nearly exhausted men from the mill, who came +at a steady trot now across the bridge, cheered loudly by all who could +see them. + +Roy's next thought was to go and tell Lady Royland all about the +incident; but he felt that he must live up to his position, and be busy +there in sight of his men; so, after watching the enemy's horse till +quite out of sight, he bade Ben keep a sharp lookout, and descended to +hear the report of the party who had just come in. + +He found them in the guard-room, scarlet with exertion, and still +panting from their long race, but evidently in high glee, Sam Donny, +their spokesman, the young man who was put first to the front when they +came to him, being full of their adventures,--how the troopers had +passed the mill three times that morning, and stopped twice to demand +corn for their steeds and water, their leader watching the miller's men +curiously as if suspicious of them. + +"But they went off at last, sir. Let's see: they come agen, though, +twice after we'd heard the guns, and that kep' us back. Last of all, I +says to t'others, `Now for it, lads, or young Captin Roy'll be thinking +we're feared to come.' They says, `That's so,' and off we starts; but +we hadn't gone far 'fore we finds they're on the road, and we had to run +back and make for Water Lane. Hadn't gone far 'long Water Lane, when we +finds a couple of 'em there. Back we goes again, and creeps along aside +one of the fields, and there they was again, and dozens of 'em on the +watch, as if some one had told 'em we was likely to come over here. +Then we all goes back to the mill and talks it over, and some on us says +as we'd better stop till night; but I says, `Nay! They'll think we're +all cowards, and get shooting at us if we comes in the dark,' and at +last we said we'd go two miles round by the common. And so we did, sir, +crawling on our stummicks in and out among the furze bushes, and every +now and then seeing the sun shine on one of their caps as they rode here +and there. + +"Last of all, sir, they seemed to have gone away, and I lifts up my head +and looks about. `All clear, mates!' I says, and up we gets, keeping +as far off as we could, so as to work round. `We've done 'em this +time,' I says, as we went on, and we was coming along splendid, till Bob +Herries happens to look back, and, `Run, lads,' he says; `here they come +arter us!' I was for hiding, sir, but there was no chance, so we all +run our best, with the castle here seeming a long way off; but we got +nigher and nigher, and so did they; and they'd ha' cut us off if it +hadn't been for that gun--though we all thought the next shot might hit +us." + +"You did bravely, my lads," cried Roy. "But tell me, what about the men +from the farm?" + +"What! aren't they here, sir?" said the man. + +"No; we've seen nothing of them." + +"Well, I am glad, then, that we aren't the last," said the man, with a +grin of satisfaction; but his face was serious directly. "I don't quite +mean that, sir. I mean I'm sorry they're not here. Then some of those +fellows must have took them. But what I want to know is, how could they +tell we was a-coming to the castle?" + +"They must have noticed that you all had a military bearing, my lad. +You are all very different to what you were when you came to join." + +A look of pride beamed in the man's face and was reflected in those of +his companions, but he spoke out directly. + +"Well, we have tried to get to be soldiers, sir, hard; haven't us, +mates?" + +"Ay!" was growled in chorus. + +"Yes, you have done well," cried Roy, "and I'm heartily glad to see you +safely here." + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +THE YOUNG CASTELLAN SPEAKS OUT. + +The day passed anxiously on, and it was getting well towards sunset, but +there was no sign of the farm men, neither did the enemy appear in +sight. Farmer Raynes appealed to Roy again and again for permission to +go in search of his people; but, anxious as the young castellan was for +news, he could not risk losing one of the strongest and most dependable +men he had. + +"They may get here yet, Master Raynes," he said; "and I'd give anything +to see them; but I'd rather lose the swords of all ten than lose yours." + +"Mean that, Master Roy?" said the bluff farmer, looking at him +searchingly. + +"Mean it? Of course!" + +"Thank ye, sir. Then I'll stop; but I feel as if I'd failed you at a +pinch by only coming alone." + +"Then don't think so again," said Roy, "but help me all you can with the +men, for I'm afraid we are going to have a hard fight to save the +place." + +"Oh, we'll save it, sir. Don't you fear about that," said Raynes; and +he went away to join Ben and talk about the chances of the party +reaching the castle. + +In the guard-room the matter was also eagerly discussed; for the help of +ten sturdy lads was badly needed, as all knew. Sam Donny, who was +rather inflated by the success which had attended him and his companions +that day, gave it as his opinion that the labourers had been taken +prisoners solely because they had not thought to go down and crawl as he +and his companions had that day. + +Roy had hurriedly snatched a couple of meals, and tried to cheer his +mother about their prospects, but to his surprise, he found that she was +ready to try and console him about the loss of ten good strong men. + +"But do you think they have thought better of it, and are afraid to come +in?" said Master Pawson at their hurried dinner. + +"No, I do not," said Roy. "I will not insult the poor fellows by +thinking they could be such curs." + +"Quite right, Roy," said the secretary, eagerly. "I was wrong. I'm +afraid I understand books better than I do men. Yes; they must have +been taken prisoners, I'm afraid." + +The evening meal had just been commenced when there was a shout from one +of the towers. + +Roy hurried out, full of hope that the ten men had been descried; but he +was soon undeceived, for on mounting to his favourite post of +observation it was to see that a long line of horseman was approaching +from the direction of Dendry Town, the orange sunlight making their arms +glitter as they came gently on, spreading out to a great length, till at +last Ben gave it as his opinion that there were at least five hundred +men. + +Hardly had he come to this conclusion when another body of men was +descried approaching from the east, and in the face of this danger the +drawbridge was raised, the portcullis lowered, and a trumpet-call +summoned the men to the guns. + +"They mean it then to-night, Ben," said Roy, whose heart now beat fast, +and he turned to the old soldier, who, with a grim look of pride in his +face, was affixing the silken flag to the rope, ready for hauling up +when the enemy drew near. + +Before Ben could reply, to Roy's surprise, Lady Royland came up the +spiral stairs, and stepped out upon the leads, followed by Master +Pawson, who looked sallow of aspect, but perfectly calm. + +"You here, mother?" + +"Yes, my boy; and why should I not be? I am visiting all the towers to +thank the men for their brave conduct in coming here for our defence. +How many do you muster now?" + +"Thirty-six only," replied Roy. + +"Well, thirty-six brave men are better than five hundred cowards.--How +many men do you think there are coming against us, Martlet?" + +"Seven or eight hundred, my lady." + +"And will they attack this evening?" + +"No, my lady; they don't come to attack strongholds with mounted men. +They're coming to call upon us to throw open the gates and surrender the +place; and this is the answer, I think, my lady, is it not?" and he +pointed to the flag. + +"Yes, Martlet," said Lady Royland, flushing; "that is our answer to such +an insolent demand." + +She turned and left the tower, attended by Master Pawson, and Roy +remained there watching the long line of mounted men approaching with +their arms glittering in the light. "Seven or eight hundred," he said, +half aloud, "against thirty-six." + +"Haven't counted the guns, Master Roy, nor the moat, nor the towers, nor +all the other strong things we have. Pah! what's a regiment of horse +against a place like this? But they know, and they're only coming to +bully us, sir." + +"I hope you are right, Ben," said the lad, seriously; and he waited for +the approach of the men till they were halted about a couple of hundred +yards away from the tower on which he stood, forming up in squadrons; +and after a time an officer, bearing a little white flag, advanced, +followed at a short distance by a couple of troopers. Roy's heart beat +fast, for he felt that a crucial time had come. + +"You'll have to go down, Master Roy; and we must lower the bridge for +you to go out and meet him and hear what he has to say." + +"Must I, Ben?" + +"Of course, sir; and, if you give the order, the corporal and I will +come behind you as your guard." + +"And suppose, when the bridge is down, the others make a rush?" + +"Flag o' truce, sir. But if they did, our guns would sweep 'em away." + +"And what about us, Ben?" + +"Well, sir," said the old fellow, drily, "we should be swep' away too." + +"I say, Ben!" + +"Yes, sir, sounds nasty; but soldiers has to take their chance o' that +sort o' thing, and look at the honour and glory of it all. Ready, sir?" + +"Yes," said Roy, in a husky voice; and a minute later he stood with the +two martial-looking figures behind, and the drawbridge slowly descended +in front. The two guns were manned, a small guard of three was behind +each, and the port-fires sparkled and shot tiny little flashes of fire +as if eager to burst out into flame. + +Just then, as Roy was watching the heads of the three mounted men coming +slowly forward, and, as the end of the bridge sank, seeing their chests, +the horses' heads, and finally their legs come into sight, Ben leaned +towards him, and said, in a whisper-- + +"They don't know how young you are, sir. Let 'em hear my dear old +colonel speaking with your lips." + +"Yes," said Roy, huskily; "but what am I to say, Ben?" + +"You don't want no telling, sir. Advance now." + +The officer had halted his men about fifty yards from the outer gate, +and rode forward a few paces before drawing rein and waiting for some +action on the part of those he had come to see; and he looked rather +surprised as they stepped forward now, crossed the bridge, and advanced +to meet him. For he had not anticipated to find such careful +preparations, nor to see the personage who came to meet him in so +perfect a military trim, and supported by a couple of soldiers whose +bearing was regular to a degree. + +The officer was a grim, stern, hard-looking, middle-aged man, and his +garb and breastplate were of the commonest and plainest description. He +seemed to glance with something like contempt at the elegantly fluted +and embossed armour the boy was wearing, and, above all, at the gay sash +Lady Royland's loving hands had fastened across his breast. But his +attention was keen as he scanned the soldierly bearing of Ben and the +corporal, and a feeling of envy filled his breast as he compared them +with his own rough following. Perhaps he would not have thought so much +if he had seen the rest of the garrison, but they were too distant. + +Roy saluted the officer, and drew a deep breath as he tried to string up +his nerves till they were stretched like a bow. For Ben's words had +gone home, and he felt fully how big a part he had to play. + +The officer saluted in response in a quick, abrupt manner, and said +shortly: + +"I come from the general commanding the army here in the west, to demand +that you give up peaceable possession of this castle, once the property +of the rebel, Sir Granby Royland, who is now in arms against the +Parliament of England." + +Roy gave a start at the word "rebel," and felt the hot blood rise to his +cheeks. That insult acted like a spur. The nervous trepidation had +gone, for there was no room for it alongside of the anger which flashed +through him. Ben was right: the boy knew what to say. It was there +ready, and only wanted bringing out. + +"Look here, sir!" he cried, sharply; "you come here under a flag of +truce to deliver a message, but that does not warrant insolence." + +"Insolence?" said the officer, sternly. + +"Yes. I hold no parley with a man who dares to call my father, King +Charles's faithful servant, a rebel." + +"Then go back, boy, and send your mother to make the arrangement for +handing over the keys of the castle," said the officer, with a smile of +contempt, "for I suppose the Dame Royland is here." + +"Lady Royland is here, sir; and I, her son, tell you to inform your +rebel general that we here recognise no authority but that of his +majesty the king, and that we consider it a piece of insolent +braggadocio for him to send such a demand." + +"Indeed!" said the officer, laughing. "Well crowed, young game-cock!" + +"Yes," muttered Ben; "and you mind his spurs." + +"Have you anything more to say?" cried Roy. + +"Yes; a good deal, my boy, and I will not notice your young, hot-blooded +words. You have allowed your men to perform an act this morning that +may mean serious consequences for you." + +"I do not understand your meaning, sir." + +"Yes, you do, boy," said the officer, sternly. "You allowed your men to +fire upon a picket of our cavalry." + +"Of course. You allowed your cavalry, as you term them, to try and ride +down six unarmed men on their way to the castle, and I gave orders for +them to be stopped, and they were stopped." + +"I have no time to argue these things with you, sir. I have only this +to say: if you give up the keys to me at once, your people can disperse +unharmed to their homes, and Dame Royland and her son can depart with +such personal effects as she desires, to go wherever she pleases, and an +escort will be provided for her protection." + +"And, if she declines this offer, sir, as my father's steward of his +estates and possessions?" + +"Your father has neither estate nor possessions now, my boy; he is a +proclaimed rebel. If this kindly offer is refused, and you are both so +weak and vain as to resist, the place will be battered down and left in +ruins, while the sufferings and slaughter of your people will be at your +door. Now, sir, briefly, what message am I to take back to the +commanding officer?" + +"God save the king!" cried Roy, warmly. + +"That is no answer, sir--only the vain cry of an enthusiastic, misled +boy. What am I to say to the general in chief?" + +"That Lady Royland will hold Royland Castle in the king's name as long +as one stone stands upon another, and she has a brave following to +fight." + +The officer raised his hand in salute, turned his horse and rode back, +while Roy stood there with his heart throbbing as he watched the three +figures depart, and wondered whether it was really he who had spoken, or +all this scene in the deepening evening were part of a feverish dream. + +He was brought back to the present by the deep gruff voice of Ben. + +"There, sir," he said, with a look of pride at the boy in whose training +he had had so large a share, "I knew you could." + +At the same moment Roy glanced at the corporal, who smiled and saluted +him proudly. + +"I only wish, sir," he said, "that the colonel had been here." + +Roy turned to recross the bridge, feeling as if, in spite of all, this +was part of a dream, when something on high began to flutter over the +great gate tower, and glancing up, it was to see there in front, gazing +down at them as she leaned forward in one of the embrasures, Lady +Royland. + +"What is it to be, Roy?" she cried, as he came closer. "Peace or war?" + +"War!" he replied, sternly; and the sound seemed to be whispered in many +tones through the great archway as the portcullis fell with its heavy +clang and the drawbridge began to rise. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +WAR TO THE KNIFE. + +War to the knife without a doubt, for in the gathering gloom of the +evening, as Roy went up to the top of the north-west tower, followed by +Master Pawson, it was to see that mounted men were in a goodly body +making a complete circuit of the castle, roughly marking out a line +about half a mile in diameter, and at every hundred yards or so a couple +of troopers were halted, and retained their posts. + +"Shutting us in, Master Pawson," said Roy, after watching the manoeuvre +for some time. + +"Ah!" said the secretary, with a sigh; "they will patrol the country all +round now, and stop communications with the outside." + +"Yes," said Roy, frowning; "and I suppose I must give up all hope of the +men from the farm getting in." + +"Ah, yes! they are prisoners before this. So your poor father is looked +upon as a rebel now." + +"Stop, Master Pawson," said Roy, hotly; "these words must not be spoken +here." + +"I only meant them as the opinion of the other party, who presume to say +the estate is confiscated." + +"My father acknowledges no other party. Confiscated! Why, this place +has belonged to the Roylands from the days of the Plantagenets, Master +Pawson. Let these people come and take it if they can." + +"Ah, yes! that's brave and true, Roy, brave and true. Then you do mean +to fight?" + +"Yes, and you too," cried the boy. "You want to save my father's +estate." + +"Oh, yes, I want to save the estate," said the secretary, eagerly. + +"Then do everything you can," cried Roy. "Yes, they will soon have +formed a ring round the castle now! Well, let them keep their distance, +for I shall give orders for the garrison to fire at any one who attempts +to approach." + +"And how long do you hope to be able to hold out?" + +"As long as it is necessary," said Roy, proudly; "till my father comes +with his men, and scatters all these people away." + +"To be sure, yes," said the secretary. "How proud he will be of you, +Roy, when he knows all." + +Roy hurried down to join his lieutenant, whom he found humming a tune in +the armoury, busy over some preparations by the light of a lamp. + +"You don't seem in very bad spirits, Ben," he said. "Bad spirits! What +about, sir? Why, it's like the good old time when your father and I +were young. Not so young as you, though! Well, sir, we've been +thinking over our plans. They won't do anything yet--only shut us in. +They're going to wait for more men and more artillery." + +"But we must be well on the watch against surprise, Ben." + +"Why, of course, sir! You'll have your watch on the towers. And you've +seen how they've got a ring of patrols round us?" + +"Yes, I watched them. So we may give up all hope of getting those ten +of Raynes's." + +"I'm afraid so. It's a bad job, sir, as the corporal was saying just +now, for we'd trained them into being our best gunners." + +"A terrible loss." + +"Well, not so very terrible, sir, because we must train up some more. +Oh! we can keep the enemy outside the moat and enjoy ourselves while +they're starving without a roof to cover them. But I want to say a +serious thing or two, sir." + +"I know, Ben; you want to say that my mother's garden must go." + +"That's one thing, sir." + +"Well, take what ground you want, and we'll put it straight when we've +sent the Parliament to the right-about." + +"Oh, you'll make a good general, sir; and this trouble's a blessing in +disguise to save you from being wasted on books, and becoming a sort of +Master Pawson. And that brings me to the other things." + +"Well, what are those?" + +"Just you tell me plain, as a soldier--which you are now--what you set +down as the strongest bits of the castle?" + +"Why, the towers, of course!" + +"That's right, sir. Very well, then, they must be well manned." + +"As well as we can man them." + +"That's it, sir; and we must have elbow-room." + +"Of course!" + +"Then will you speak to my lady, and ask her to give Master Pawson a +couple of rooms in the private part somewhere, or one room ought to be +enough now, for I want those two chambers of his badly?" + +"He won't like that, Ben," said Roy, quickly. + +"I s'pose not, sir; and there'll be a lot of things none of us will +like, but we've got to put up with them. If you'll see about that at +once, I shall be glad." + +"Is it very necessary, Ben?" + +"You know best about that, sir." + +"Yes, it is very necessary, Ben," said Roy; and he hurried off to talk +the matter over with his mother, visiting the ramparts on his way. + +He found Lady Royland busy writing, and she looked up with a smile. + +"I am keeping a diary of all that has taken place since we began the +defence. But tell me first--Raynes's men--are we to give them up?" + +"I'm afraid so, mother. They have not failed us, but have been taken +prisoners." + +"This is a sad blow, Roy, but we must make up for it by working +together.--But what is it? You have not come to chat about nothings." + +"No, mother," said the boy, seriously. "I have come to say that the +pleasaunce must go. Ben Martlet says he cannot do without it now." + +"I have been expecting this, my boy. It has always been a dear delight +to me, but it is a pleasure for peace; and when the happy days come +back, I shall want the whole garrison to restore it to me again." + +"Then I was right in telling Ben to take what he wanted?" + +"Of course, my boy.--Something else?" + +"Yes, mother--another bit of self-sacrifice. Martlet and I both feel +that we must have the north-west tower.--Ah, Master Pawson, you there?" + +"Yes. I knocked twice, and I thought you said `Come in.'" + +"Then you heard what I said just now." + +"I heard you mention the western tower. Have you been telling her +ladyship of what we saw this evening?" + +"No. What did you see?" cried Lady Royland, quickly. + +"The enemy has completely surrounded us with sentinels." + +"Ah! they would, of course." + +"It was not that, Master Pawson--but this; I was about telling my mother +that, for the purposes of defence, Martlet and I feel that we must have +the north-west tower." + +"But you have it; the guns are there." + +"The top only," said Roy. "The chambers below are required for the men +who work the guns, for ammunition, and other purposes." + +Master Pawson looked at him in blank horror. + +"My mother will see that you have comfortable rooms or a room somewhere +here. I will give up mine to you if you like." + +"Oh! I could not take that," said the secretary, quickly. "But surely +this is not necessary." + +"Yes; it is absolutely necessary. Besides, that tower will certainly be +battered by the enemy's guns, and it will not be safe for you." + +"I wish you would not persist in looking upon me as such a coward, Roy; +it is not fair. I was never meant for a soldier, but surely a man may +be a man of peace and yet not a coward." + +"No, no; I do not look upon you as a coward," said Roy, hastily. "It is +really because that will be a dangerous spot, and the rooms must be +strongly occupied." + +"But, as I said, you have the guns at the top. Really, I must protest; +I am so much attached to those little rooms. Surely you can let me +stay. I do not mind the firing. I will not go near the windows." + +"You do not grasp the fact that these angle towers are our greatest +protection," said Roy, firmly. "I am sorry to give you all the trouble +and annoyance, but we must have the chambers below. The one you use for +a sleeping-room is absolutely necessary for the powder." + +"Indeed, Lady Royland, they could manage without," protested the +secretary, warmly. "It would be a dreadful inconvenience to me to give +them up. There are the books and my papers. Oh, it is really +impossible." + +"You forget, Master Pawson, that we all have to make sacrifices now, and +that we shall have to make more and greater ones yet, before this +unhappy trouble is at an end." + +"Yes, yes, I know, Lady Royland, and I am ready to do anything to assist +you," cried the secretary, excitedly. + +"Then give up your rooms like a man," said Roy, "and without making so +much fuss." + +Master Pawson darted an angry look at the boy and then turned to his +mother. + +"You know, Lady Royland, how I have thrown myself heart and soul into +the defence since I have found it necessary. You bade me go, but I +would not. Duty said stay, and I risked my life in doing so; but as a +favour, I beg that you will not let me be ousted from my two poor little +rooms to gratify the whim of a very obstinate old soldier, who would +turn your pleasaunce into a drill-ground." + +"I have given up my garden because it is wanted, Master Pawson," said +Lady Royland, coldly. + +"To gratify a good soldier, I know, but a man who would have everything +turned into a fighting place." + +"It is not fair of you, sir," said Roy, speaking very firmly. "This is +no whim on the part of Martlet. Now that we are coming to using the +guns, the men must have a place of shelter beneath the platform, and one +where the powder may lie ready for handing up. We must have your +sleeping-room." + +"Take it then," cried the secretary. "I give it up; but spare me my +little sitting-room." + +"We want that too," said Roy. "We may have wounded men." + +"Then bring them in there, and I'll help to dress their wounds; but I +must keep that." + +"Surely you can manage without depriving Master Pawson of that place, +Roy," said Lady Royland. + +"Thank you, thank you, Lady Royland.--Yes, you hear that, Roy. You +can--you must--you shall spare me that poor place. It is so small." + +"And suppose we have an accident, and the powder bestowed in your +chamber above is blown up?" + +"Well, I shall have died doing my duty," said the secretary, with +humility. + +"Wouldn't it be doing your duty more to try and avoid danger, so as to +be useful to us all?" said Roy; and his mother's eyes flashed with +pleasure, while the secretary started to hear such utterances from the +mere boy he despised. + +"Perhaps so," he said, with a faint laugh; "but really, Roy, you will +not be so hard upon me as to refuse that favour. Do not make me think +that now you are castellan, you are becoming a tyrant." + +"There is no fear of my son becoming a tyrant, Master Pawson," said Lady +Royland, smiling, and with something suggesting contempt for the speaker +in her tones.--"Roy, dear, I think you might manage to let the lower +room remain as it is for Master Pawson's use, if the upper floor is +given up to the men. He could have the room next to yours for a +bedchamber." + +"Oh, that would not be necessary," said the secretary, eagerly. "The +one room is all I want--it can be my bedchamber too." + +"I hardly know what to say, mother," said the boy, gravely.--"Well, +then, Master Pawson, keep your study; but we must have the upper room at +once, and if you are annoyed by the going to and fro of the men on the +staircase, you must not blame me." + +"My dear boy," he cried, with effusion, "pray do not think me so +unreasonable. I am most grateful to you, Lady Royland, and to you too, +Roy. I shall never forget this kindness. I will go and see to the new +arrangement at once. Can I have two servants to help to move down the +few things I shall want?" + +"You can have two of the garrison, Master Pawson," replied Roy, smiling; +"they all consider themselves to be soldiers now." + +"Thank you, thank you," he cried, in a voice which sounded as if it were +choked by emotion, and he hastily left the room. + +"I wish he would not be so dreadfully smooth," said Roy, petulantly. "I +want to like Master Pawson, but somehow he always makes me feel cross." + +"He is rather too fond of thanking one for every little favour; but it +is his manner, dear, and he has certainly been doing his best to help us +in this time of need." + +"Yes," said Roy; "and we should have thought bad enough of him if he had +gone and left us in the lurch. There, mother, I must go and see Ben +Martlet and tell him what has been arranged. He will not like it, +though; but he will have two things out of three." + +"You must not give up too much to Martlet, my boy," said Lady Royland, +retaining her son's hand as he rose to go. "He is a faithful old +servant, and will fight for us to the death; but remember that you are +governor of the castle." + +"He makes me remember it, mother," cried Roy, merrily. "Don't you be +afraid of his being presuming, for he will not do a thing without I give +the order. There, good-bye." + +"Good-bye? You will be back soon." + +"No," replied Roy; "I must be on the battlements all night, visiting +posts and helping to keep watch. You forget that the enemy surround us +now." + +"Alas! no, Roy. I know it only too well. Come back in an hour's time-- +you will want some refreshment. I will see that it is ready, and I hope +by then you will find things so quiet that you can take a few hours' +rest." + +"We shall see, mother," said Roy, kissing her affectionately. "How +brave you have grown!" + +She shook her head sadly as she clung to him for a few moments; and, as +soon as the door had closed, and his steps died away on the oaken floor +of the corridor, she sank in a chair sobbing as if her heart would +break. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +A GRAND SURPRISE. + +Roy had to go the whole round of the ramparts that night before he found +Ben, who had always been visiting the parts he reached a few minutes +before. But he came upon him at length, just at the door-way of the +south-east tower, where it opened upon the southern rampart between that +place and the great gate-way. + +"Ladyship says I'm to have the garden to turn back to a proper +court-yard?" said Ben, after hearing his master's report. + +"Yes." + +"And Master Pawson is turning out of his chamber, but he is to keep the +lower place?" + +"Yes; that is the arrangement, Ben; and you can have the upper chamber +for use at once." + +"Well, that's a good thing for the men who'll be up there, sir; but what +does Master Pawson want with that lower room? I meant to have three +firelock men there." + +"Be content with what you can have, Ben. My mother did not want to be +too hard upon Master Pawson." + +"No, sir; she wouldn't be. But you've come all round the ramparts?" + +"Yes." + +"Kep' looking out of course, sir? What did you hear?" + +"I? Nothing." + +"Then you didn't try." + +"Yes, I did; twice on each rampart. There was nothing to hear." + +Ben chuckled. + +"Ears aren't so sharp for night-work as they will be, sir, before you've +done. I heard them on the move every time I stopped." + +"What! the enemy?" + +"Yes, sir; they're padrolling the place round and round. You listen." + +Roy reached over the battlement, and gazed across the black moat, trying +to pierce the transparent darkness of the dull soft night. The dew that +was refreshing the herbage and flowers of field, common, and copse sent +up a deliciously moist scent, and every now and then came the call of a +moor-hen paddling about in the moat, the soft piping and croaking of the +frogs, and the distant _hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo_! of an owl, but he could make +out nothing else, and said so. + +"No; they're pretty quiet now, sir; don't hear nothing myself.--Yes; +there!" + +"Yes, I heard that," said Roy; "it was a horse champing his bit; and +there again, that must have been the jingle of a spur." + +"Right, sir, right. You'll hear plenty of that sort of thing if you +keep on listening. There, hear that?" + +"Yes, plainly. A horse stumbled and plunged to save itself." + +"Enough to make it," said Ben, gruffly; "going to sleep, and him on it +jigged the spurs into its flanks to rouse it up. There, you can hear +'em on the move again, going to and fro." + +"Yes, quite plainly," whispered Roy; "why, they must have come in much +nearer." + +"No, sir. Everything's so quiet that the sounds seem close. They won't +come in nigher for fear of a shot." + +"But they must know we could not see them." + +"Not yet, sir; but the moon'll be up in a couple of hours, and they know +it'll rise before long, and won't run any risks after what they've seen +of my gunners--I mean your--sir. Ah! it's a bad job about those ten +poor lads. They would have been able to shoot. Master Raynes is in a +fine taking about 'em." + +"Can't be helped, Ben; we must do our best without them." + +"Ay, sir, we must, even if it's bad." + +They remained silent for a few minutes, gazing outward, hearing the +jingle of harness, and the soft trampling of hoofs, all of which sounded +wonderfully near. + +The pause was broken by Ben, who whispered suddenly: + +"You're right, Master Roy, after all; they are coming in a bit closer +and no mistake. Mind coming round with me?" + +"No. What are you going to do?" + +"Have a word with the lads all round to be on the lookout. I don't want +to make a noise, and get blazing away powder and shot for nothing; but +they must be taught their distance, sir." + +"With the cannon?" + +"No; I think a few firelock shots might do it to-night, sir; and that +wouldn't be so wasteful. Do our boys good too. They haven't fired +their pieces yet in earnest." + +Roy's heart began to beat a little faster, for this was exciting; and +silently passing on with his lieutenant, post after post was visited, +the men challenging, receiving the word, and then a sharp warning to be +on the alert; while, after this, Ben and Roy passed on to listen again +and again. + +"Yes, sir," whispered the former; "there's no mistake they're a good +hundred yards closer in. I almost fancied I could see one of 'em moving +against that lighter bit of sky." + +"I can, Ben," whispered Roy. "There, just to the left of where the +ruins must lie--between it and the tower we just passed. Stay, though; +why didn't we go up and see how they're getting on with clearing Master +Pawson's chamber? There is a light up there." + +"'Cause we've got something more serious on the way, sir." + +"Halt! stand, or I fire!" came from the top of the north-west tower, and +Roy was about to call out-- + +"Don't, you idiot; we gave you the word just now," when a voice from +beyond the moat uttered a low "Whist!" + +"Stand, or I fire!" + +"If you do, Dick Davis, I'll punch your head, as sure as you stand +there," came from across the moat. "Can't you see we're friends?" + +"Give the word." + +"Stop! Who's there?" cried Roy. + +"That you, sir? Please speak to Dick Davis, or he'll be shooting +somebody with that gun of hisn." + +"Is that Brian Wiggins?" + +"Yes, sir, and the rest on us, sir. But pst! The enemy's close +behind." + +"Quick! round to the bridge!" + +"No, sir; there's a whole lot of 'em come close in. They nearly had us +an hour ago, and we've had a fine job to creep through all in a line one +arter t'other." + +"Hist! cease talking," whispered Roy, "or you'll be heard." + +The warning came too late, for an order delivered in a low tone a short +distance away was followed by a tramping as if a line of horses was +approaching cautiously. + +"How many of you can swim? Now, as many as can, come across." + +But no one stirred, and the trampling came on. + +"Do you hear?" said Roy, in an angry whisper; "are you afraid?" + +"Fear'd to leave our comrades as can't swim, sir," said the man who had +first spoken. + +"What's to be done," exclaimed Roy, excitedly. + +But there was no response, for he was standing there upon the rampart +alone. + +The boy was in an agony of doubt and dread, for the right thing to do in +such an emergency would not come to his inexperienced brain. He divined +that Ben had gone for assistance, but he felt that before he could be +back, the brave fellows who were trying to come to their aid would be +surrounded by the enemy and taken prisoners. + +To add to his horror and excitement, he plainly heard from the enemy's +line the word given to dismount. This was followed by the jingle of +accoutrements as the men sprang from their horses, and a loud bang-- +evidently of a steel headpiece falling to the ground. + +To speak to the unarmed men from the farm was to obtain an answer and +proclaim their whereabouts to the enemy; so Roy was baffled there; and, +at his wit's end, he was about to order them to make their way to the +bridge, when the man on the tower above challenged again: + +"Stand, or I fire!" + +"Draw swords! Forward, quick!" came from out of the darkness. + +The sharp rattle and noise told that the party must be large, and like a +call just then a horse uttered a tremendous neigh. + +Involuntarily, at the first order from beyond the moat, Roy had half +drawn his own sword, but thrust it angrily back as he realised his +impotence, and reached forward to try and make out what was going on +below him; for there was a loud splashing noise in the water as if the +men were lowering themselves into the moat, the reeds and rushes +crackled and whispered, and there was a panting sound and a low +ejaculation or two. + +"Now, every one his man," said some one, sharply. + +_Bang, bang_! and a couple of flashes of light from the top of the tower +just above Roy's head; and as the splashing went on, there was a loud +trampling of feet. + +"On with you!" roared the same voice. "They'll be an hour loading, and +it's too dark to hit." + +At that moment, from some distance along the rampart to the right, came +flash after flash, and the reports of ten or a dozen muskets, followed +by the rush of feet; and Ben's voice said, in a low stern tone-- + +"Steady, steady! No hurry. Reload!" + +There was the rustling and rattling of bandoleer and ramrod, and the +twinkling of sparks of light, as the reloading went on; while from the +angry orders being given, some distance back in the darkness, it was +evident that the volley had sent the enemy off in a scare, which was +made worse by the plunging, snorting, and galloping of horses which had +evidently dashed off, escaping from the men who held their reins. + +"How many are you above there?" cried Roy. + +"Three, sir." + +"Only two fired." + +"No. My piece wouldn't go." + +"Are you reloaded?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Be ready." + +"They're coming on again, sir. He's rallied 'em," growled Ben; "but we +shall be ready for 'em when they come." + +Meanwhile, the sound of splashing and swimming came up from the moat, +accompanied by a good many spluttering and choking noises, and now heads +were dimly made out approaching the bank of the moat below. + +"How many are there of you across?" said Roy. + +"Eight of us, sir," came up in a panting voice; "we're going back for +the other two." + +"Who are--how many?" + +"Four on us, sir," said one man; "they're hiding in the reeds. Can't +swim." + +"Can you bring them across?" + +"Yes, sir. We did bring three as couldn't take a stroke, and they're +down here half drowned." + +"That's a loy," said a gruff voice; "I aren't: on'y full o' water." + +The men lowered themselves into the moat again, and began to swim back, +but just as they were nearly across, there came the thudding sound of +horses passing along at a trot, and a rush of men towards the edge of +the moat. + +"Fire!" shouted Roy; and over the swimmers' heads a ragged volley tore, +the flashes cutting the darkness, and once more, in spite of angry +curses and yelled-out orders, horse and man were driven to the +right-about, all save about a dozen, who came right on to the edge of +the moat. + +"Surrender!" roared a voice, as there was a quick splashing among the +reeds below the bank. Then a shot was fired from a pistol, followed by +another; but the men summoned to surrender had done so to their +comrades, who whispered to them to trust themselves to their strong +arms, two of the swimmers taking a non-swimmer between them, and +bringing him across in safety to the rest, crouching upon the narrow +strip of bank beneath the walls. + +Another volley sent the attacking party back into the darkness, and a +brief colloquy took place. + +"All safe?" cried Roy. + +"Yes, sir, and as wet as wet," came up in answer. + +"Fall in, then, and quick march for the sally-port," cried Roy; and the +men tramped round by the north-west tower, along beneath the western +rampart, turned the southern corner, and were admitted by the little +sally-port beside the portcullis, where, bedraggled as they were, they +received a tremendous hand-shaking and a roar of cheers. + +In half an hour the missing men were in dry clothes, ready to recount +their adventures. The enemy had retired to a distance to continue their +night patrol of the place; while the men upon the ramparts were reduced +to the regular watch, and those off duty were being addressed by Ben, +who sarcastically lectured them upon what he called their modesty. + +"When the captain gives the order to fire," he said, "you're all to pull +trigger together, and every man not to let his comrade fire first for +good manners." + +But here Roy interposed. + +"No more to-night, sergeant," he said, firmly. "We are all fresh to our +work. But I thank you all for the brave and manly way in which you have +shown what you can do. This has been a grand night's work: your ten +comrades safely brought in, and the enemy sent to the right-about. The +sergeant has been finding fault, but he is as proud of you all as I am. +Come, Martlet, what do you say?" + +"Might ha' done better, captain," replied the old fellow, gruffly. "But +it warn't so bad. Wait a few days, though, and we'll show you something +better than that.--What do you say, lads?" + +The answer was a hearty cheer, which was repeated, and was still echoing +through the place, when Roy, thrilling still with the excitement of the +past hour, made his way towards his mother's room to fully set her mind +at rest with his last good news. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +BUT ALL'S WELL. + +Lady Royland was surrounded by the trembling women of the household, +who, scared by the firing, had sought her to find comfort and relief. + +"What! the ten men safely brought in!" she cried, as her son hastened to +tell his tidings. "And no one hurt?" + +"No one on our side, mother," said Roy, meaningly; "I cannot answer for +those across the moat." + +"Our ten poor fellows here in safety," cried Lady Royland, once again. +"Oh, Roy, my boy, this is good news indeed! But you must be faint and +exhausted. Come in the dining-room. I have something ready for you.-- +There, you have nothing to fear now," she said, addressing the women; +"but one of you had better go and tell Master Pawson that we are ready +to sup." + +The women went out, some of them still trembling and hysterical, and all +white and scared of aspect. + +As soon as the door was closed, Lady Royland caught her son's hand. + +"Eight of us women," she said, with a forced laugh: "eight, and of no +use whatever; only ready to huddle together like so many sheep scared by +some little dog; when, if we were men, we could be of so much help. +There, come along; you look quite white. You are doing too much. For +my sake, take care." + +Roy nodded and smiled, and followed his mother into the dining-room, +where with loving care she had prepared everything for him, and made it +attractive and tempting, so that it should be a relief to the harsh +realities of the warlike preparations with which the boy was now mixed +up. + +"You must eat a good supper, Roy, and then go and have a long night's +rest." + +"Impossible, mother," he said, faintly; "must go and visit the men's +posts from time to time." + +"No," said Lady Royland, firmly, as she unbuckled her son's sword-belt, +and laid it and the heavy weapon upon a couch. + +There was a tap at the door directly after, and one of the maids came +back. + +"If you please, my lady, I've been knocking ever so long at Master +Pawson's door, and he doesn't answer. We think he has gone to bed." + +"Surely not. He must be in the upper chamber arranging about the things +being removed." + +"No, my lady; that was all done a long time ago. It was finished before +the fighting began, for he wouldn't have nothing but his bed and +washstand brought down. The men had to take most of the other things +right down in the black cellar place underneath, so as to clear the +chamber." + +"But did you ask the men on guard if they had seen him?" + +"Yes, my lady; they say he shut himself up in his room." + +"That will do. Never mind," said Lady Royland, dismissing the +maid.--"Now, Roy, I am going to keep you company, and--oh, my boy! what +is it? Ah! You are hurt!" + +She flew to his side, and with trembling hands began to tear open his +doublet, but he checked her. + +"No, no, mother, I am not--indeed!" + +"Then what is it? You are white and trembling, and your forehead is all +wet." + +"Yes, it has come over like this," he faltered, "all since the fight and +getting the men in through the sally-port." + +"But you must have been hurt without knowing it." + +"No, no," he moaned, as he sank back in the chair, and covered his face +with his hands. + +"Roy, my boy, speak out. Tell me. What is the matter?" + +"I didn't mean to speak a word, mother," he groaned; "but I can't keep +it back." + +"Yes; speak, speak," she said, tenderly, as she sank upon her knees by +his side, and drew his head to her breast. + +"Ah!" he sighed, restfully, as he flung his arms about her neck. "I can +speak now. I should have fought it all back; but when I came in here, +and saw all those frightened women, and you spoke as you did about being +so helpless, it was too much for me." + +"Oh, nonsense!" she cried, soothingly. "Why should their--our--foolish +weakness affect you, my own brave boy?" + +"No, no, mother," he cried; "don't--don't speak like that. You hurt me +more." + +"Hurt you?" she said, in surprise. + +"Yes, yes," he cried, excitedly. "You don't know; but you must know-- +you shall know. I'm not brave. I'm a miserable coward." + +"Roy! Shame upon you!" cried Lady Royland, reproachfully. + +"Yes, shame upon me," said the lad, bitterly; "but I can't help it. I +have tried so hard; but I feel such a poor weak boy--a mere impostor, +trying to lord it over all these men." + +"Indeed!" said Lady Royland, gravely. "Yes? Go on." + +"I know they must see through me, from Ben down to the youngest farm +hand. They're very good and kind and obedient because I'm your son; but +they, big strong fellows as they are, must laugh at me in their +sleeves." + +"Ah! you feel that?" said Lady Royland. + +"Yes, I feel what a poor, girlish, weak thing I am, and that all this is +too much for me. Mother, if it were not for you and for very shame, I +believe I should run away." + +"Go on, Roy," sand Lady Royland; and her sweet, deep voice seemed to +draw the most hidden thoughts of his breast to his lips. + +"Yes, I must go on," he cried, excitedly. "I hid it all when I went to +face that officer, who saw through me in spite of my bragging words, and +laughed; and in the wild excitement of listening to-night to the +troopers closing us in and trying to capture those poor fellows, I did +not feel anything like fear; but now it is all over and they are safe, I +am--I am--oh, mother! it is madness--it is absurd for me, such a mere +boy, to go on pretending to command here, with all this awful +responsibility of the fighting that must come soon. I know that I can't +bear it--that I must break down--that I have broken down. I can't go on +with it; I'm far too young. Only a boy, you see, and I feel now more +like a girl, for I believe I could lie down and cry at the thought of +the wounds and death and horrors to come. Oh, mother, mother! I'm only +a poor pitiful coward after all." + +"God send our poor distressed country a hundred thousand of such poor +pitiful cowards to uphold the right," said Lady Royland, softly, as she +drew her son more tightly to her swelling breast. "Hush, hush, my boy! +it is your mother speaks. There, rest here as you used to rest when you +were the tiny little fellow whose newly opened eyes began to know me, +whose pink hands felt upward to touch my face. You a coward! Why, my +darling, can you not understand?" + +"Yes, I understand," he groaned, as he clung to her, "that it is my own +dear mother trying to speak comfort to me in my degradation and shame. +Mother, mother! I would not have believed I was such a pitiful cur as +this." + +"No," she said, softly; "I am speaking truth. You do not understand +that after the work and care of all this terrible time of preparation, +ending in the great demands made upon you to-day, the strain has been +greater than your young nature can bear. Bend the finest sword too far, +Roy, and it will break. You are overdone--worn-out. It is not as you +think." + +"Ah! it is you who do not know, mother," he said, bitterly. "I am not +fit to lead." + +"Indeed! you think so?" she said, pressing her lips to his wet, cold +brow. "You say this because you look forward with horror to the +bloodshed to come." + +"Yes; it is dreadful. I was so helpless to-night, and I shall be losing +men through my ignorance." + +"Helpless to-night? But you beat the enemy off." + +"No, no--Ben Martlet's doing from beginning to end." + +"Perhaps. The work of an old trained man of war, who has ridden to the +fight a score of times with your father, and now your brave father's +son's right-hand--a man who worships you, and who told me only to-day, +with the tears in his eyes, how proud he was of that gallant boy--of +you." + +"Ben said that--of me?" + +"Yes, my boy; and do you think with all his experience he cannot read +you through and through?" + +"No, mother, he can't--he can't," said the lad, despondently; "no one +can know me as I do." + +"Poor child!" she said, fondly, as she caressed him; "what a piece of +vanity is this! A boy of seventeen thinking he knows himself by heart. +Out upon you, Roy, for a conceited coxcomb! Why, we all know you better +than you know yourself; and surely I ought to be the best judge of what +you are." + +"No," said Roy, angrily; "you only spoil me." + +"Indeed! then I shall go on, and still spoil you in this same way, and +keep you the coward that you are." + +"Mother!" he cried, reproachfully; "and with all this terrible +responsibility rising like a dense black cloud before my eyes." + +"Yes, Roy, because it is night now, and black night too, in your weary +brain. Ah! my boy, and to how many in this world is it the same black +night. But the hours glide on, the day dawns, and the glorious sun +rises again to pierce the thick cloud of darkness, and brighten the +gloomy places of the earth. Just as hope and youth and your natural +vigour will chase away your black cloud, after the brain has been fallow +for a few hours, and you have had your rest." + +"No, no, no," he groaned; "you cannot tell." + +"I can tell you, Roy," she said, softly; "and I can tell you, too, that +your father is just such another coward as his son." + +"My father!" cried Roy, springing to his feet, flushed and excited. "My +father is the bravest, truest man who ever served the king." + +"Amen to that, my boy!" said Lady Royland, proudly; "but do you think, +Roy, that our bravest soldiers, our greatest warriors, have been men +made of iron--cruel, heartless beings, without a thought of the terrible +responsibilities of their positions, without a care for the sufferings +of the men they lead? I believe it never has been so, and never will. +Come, my darling," she continued, clinging to his hands, and drawing +herself to her feet--"come here for a little while. There," she said, +softly, taking the sword from the couch; "your blade is resting for a +while; why should not you? Yes: I wish it; lie right down--for a little +while--before we sup. Ah, that is better!" + +Utterly exhausted now, Roy yielded to her loving hands, and sank back +upon the soft couch with a weary sigh; while, as he stretched himself +out, she knelt by his side, and tenderly wiped his brow before passing +her hands over his face, laying his long hair back over the pillow, and +at every touch seeming to bring calm to the weary throbbing brain. + +After a few minutes he began to mutter incoherently, and Lady Royland +leaned back to reach a feather-fan from a side-table, and then softly +wafted the air to and fro till the words began to grow more broken, and +at last ceased, as the boy uttered a low, weary sigh, his breath grew +more regular, and he sank into the deep heavy sleep of exhausted nature. + +Then the fan dropped from Lady Royland's hand, and she rose to cross the +room softly, and with a line draw up the casement of the narrow slit of +a window which looked down upon the moat, for the night wind came +fresher there than from the main windows looking upon the garden court. + +Softly returning, she bent down, and with the lightest of fingers untied +the collar of her son's doublet and linen shirt, before bending lower, +with her long curls drooping round his face, till she could kiss his +brow, no longer dank and chilly, but softly, naturally warm. + +This before sinking upon her knees to watch by his side for the +remainder of the night; and as she knelt her lips parted to murmur-- + +"God save the king--my husband--and our own brave boy!" + +A moment later, as if it were an answer to her prayer, a voice, softened +by the distance, was heard from the ramparts somewhere above uttering +the familiar reply to a challenge-- + +"All's well!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +ROY GETS OVER HIS FIT. + +The dawn came, and Lady Royland still knelt by the couch where her son +slept heavily. She did not stir till the sun rose, and then she rose +softly to go to the narrow slit in the massive wall, reach as far as she +could into the deep splay, and gaze out. + +She sighed, for far-away in the distance she could see mounted men with +the sun flashing from their armour. + +She turned back, for she had learned all she wished to know--the enemy +was still there; and, wondering what that day might bring forth, she +went and sat down now by her son's head to watch him as he slept. + +The time crept on with the sounds of the awakening household mingled +with the clangour of the morning calls and the tramp of armed men +floating in through the window; but the watcher did not stir till the +door was opened, and a couple of the maids appeared, to start back in +affright, after a wondering glance at the untouched meal upon the table, +for Lady Royland rose quickly with a gesture to them to be silent. + +They crept away, and she followed to the door. + +"Prepare the breakfast in the library," she said, and then returned to +her seat. + +The clock chimed and struck again and again, but Roy did not wake; and +at last one of the maids came and tapped very softly. + +"Breakfast is quite ready, my lady," she whispered. + +"I am not coming till my son wakes," replied Lady Royland. "Ask Master +Pawson not to wait." + +"He's not down yet, my lady," said the woman. + +"Very well: ask him not to wait when he does come. The gentlemen are +weary after the troubles of a very anxious night." + +The woman went away, and Lady Royland returned to her seat, to bend over +her son again as he lay there breathing evenly, still plunged in his +deep sleep; and then at its stated intervals, the clock in the gate-way +chimed, and chimed, and struck, and struck again, to mark off the second +hour before there was another tap at the door, and the maid announced in +a whisper that Sergeant Martlet was asking for Captain Roy. + +"Send him here," said her ladyship, "and bid him come in gently." + +"Yes, my lady," said the woman; "and, if you please, my lady, Master +Pawson has just come down, and is having his breakfast." + +"Very good," said Lady Royland, coldly, and the maid retired. + +Five minutes later, the old soldier, fully armed, came softly to the +door, was admitted, and stood upon the thick carpet, saluting his lady. +She pointed to the couch, and a grim smile of satisfaction crossed the +soldier's deeply-lined face. + +"He was quite worn-out and exhausted," said Lady Royland, in a whisper, +as she crossed to where Ben stood,--"too faint and troubled with the +cares and anxieties of this weary business even to eat." + +"But he has slept, my lady?" whispered Ben. + +"Ever since." + +"Let him sleep, then, till he wakes, and he'll be right enough again." + +"I hope so; but he was very low and despondent last night. He feels the +responsibility of his position so much." + +"Course he does, my lady. That's his breed. His father always did. +Used to make as much fuss over one of us as went down or got a wound as +if we'd been his own children. But you let him sleep, my lady; he'll be +like a new man when he gets up. He's a wonder, my lady; that he is." + +"He was afraid that the men were disposed to smile at him because he is +so young." + +"I should just like to ketch one on 'em a-doing it," growled Ben. "But +it aren't true, my lady," he continued, excitedly. "They smiles when he +comes up, o' course, but it's because he seems to do 'em good, and they +can't help it, they're so pleased to see him. Why, if you'll believe +me, my lady, from Sir Granby's corporal o' dragoons down to Isaiah +Wiggens, as got nigh upon drowned being pulled across the moat last +night, my lady--" + +"Oh, how horrible!" + +"Horrid? Not it, my lady--begging your pardon. Sarve him right! Great +big hulking lubberly chap like that, and not able to swim!" + +"But is he ill this morning?" + +"Not he, my lady. He was so roasted in the guard-room after, that he +got up at daylight and went into the moat again 's morning to begin to +larn." + +"But tell me, what news?" + +"They're all padrolling us, my lady, same as they were last night. They +got the oats from Farmer Raynes, and they think they're going to starve +us by stopping everything else from coming in; but we can afford to +laugh at 'em for about three months; and at the end of that time, if Sir +Granby don't come and raise the siege, I've got an idee for trapping +enough meat for the men." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes, my lady," said Ben, with a grin. "Only to lower the drawbridge +and hyste the portcullis, to let a whole court-yard-full ride in. Then +drop the grating behind 'em, and they're trapped. After that we can +make 'em lay down their arms, turn 'em out, and keep their horses. +They'll do to feed the men. I've eaten horse, and Sir Granby too, at a +pinch, and it aren't so bad; but o' course I'd rather have beef." + +"Then there is nothing to fear for the present?" + +"Aren't nothing to fear at all, past, present, or futur', my lady, so +don't you be uncomfortable. And as for Master Roy, he needn't go +thinking no nonsense o' that sort about the men, for they just worship +him, all of 'em, and that's the honest truth." + +"I believe it, Martlet. Have you breakfasted this morning?" + +"Had a chunk o' bread and a mug o' milk, my lady." + +"That is not enough for a busy man like you are. Sit down to that +table, and eat." + +"What, here, my lady! Oh, no, I couldn't presume!" + +"Hush! Do not speak so loud," said Lady Royland, smiling. "These are +not times for standing upon ceremony, Martlet. We women cannot fight; +but we can help in other ways, above all in attending to our brave +defenders, and seeing that they have all that is necessary. And if the +worst comes to the worst, and--" + +"Yes; I know what your ladyship means," said the old soldier, for Lady +Royland had paused, "and to be plain, the men have been talking a bit +about that same, and what they were to do if they were hurt and no +doctor here. I said--" + +It was the sergeant's turn to be silent now, and he stopped as if the +words would not come. + +"And what did you say?" + +"Well, my lady, I took the liberty of saying that your ladyship was +training up the women, and that when one of us was lucky enough to get +wounded in the service of his king and country, he'd be carried into one +of the big rooms o' the east side, as would be turned into a hospital, +and there tied up and put to bed, and souped and jellied and pastied, +and made so much of, that he'd be sorry for the poor comrades who were +only working the guns and doing the fighting." + +"You were quite right, Martlet," said Lady Royland. "Tell the men that +the wounded shall each be treated as if he were my own son." + +"Begging your ladyship's pardon, that's just what I did tell 'em, only I +put a few flourishes to it, and I won't say it again, because it may +make 'em rash and wanting to get wounded for the sake of being carried +into the snug quarters, and--" + +"Sit down, Martlet, and eat," said Lady Royland, pushing a chair towards +the table. + +"With your ladyship's permission, I'd rather cut off a bit o' something, +and go and sit on one of the guns to eat it, and look out too. I should +enjoy it better." + +"Do as you wish," said Lady Royland. "There, take that fowl and loaf." + +"Thank you kindly, my lady, and--Morning, Master Roy, sir. Had a good +sleep?" + +For at that moment Roy sprang from the couch and looked excitedly round. + +"What is it?" he cried. "What's the matter? Morning! Surely I have +not--" + +"Yes, Roy, soundly and well, all night. Come, you must be ready for +breakfast." + +"Yes, yes, mother," cried the boy, impatiently.--"But tell me, Ben--Oh, +you ought not to have let me sleep all night. Here, what has happened?" + +"Nothing at all, sir, or I should have sent for you," said the old +soldier, who had taken out a handkerchief, given it a shake, and spread +it upon the carpet, placed in it the roast chicken and loaf, sprinkled +all liberally with salt, and now proceeded to tie the ends of the +handkerchief across, to make a bundle. "They're a-padrolling round and +round, just as they have been all night, and keeping well out of +gunshot. Wouldn't like me to send a ball hopping along the ground to +try the range, would you, sir?" + +"No, not unless they attack," said Roy, quickly. + +"Thought you wouldn't, sir, when I spoke.--Thank ye for this snack, my +lady. I'll go back now to the ramparts.--P'raps you'll jyne me there, +Master Roy, when you've had your breakfast. All's well, sir; and them +ten farmers are ready to stand on their heads with joy at getting +through the enemy's ranks." + +"Ah! how was it?" + +"Only kept back by the sentries watching 'em; so they all went home as +if they'd done work, and agreed to crawl to our place after dark, and +creep to the gates." + +"But no one was hurt?" + +"No, sir; nothing worse happened to 'em than a wetting in the moat, and +that don't count, because they were well wet before with crawling +through the grass and damp ditches. See you in 'bout an hour's time +then, sir?" + +Roy nodded shortly, and the man left the room with his bundle; while +Roy, uneasy still in mind, turned to his mother, who embraced him +tenderly. + +"You will not be long, Roy, my dear?" she said. "I want my breakfast, +too." + +"But surely, mother, you have not been sitting up all night while I +slept?" + +"Indeed, yes," she said, merrily. "And many a time before last night, +when you were a tiny thing and could not sleep. Last night you could, +peacefully and well, to awake this morning strong mentally and bodily, +to do your duty like my brave son." + +Roy winced; but there was something in his mother's look which told him +that his words of the past night were as if uttered only to himself, and +that the subject of their conversation must be buried in the past. + +"You will not be long?" said Lady Royland, as she went to the door. + +"No, mother; not above ten minutes. Quite enough for a soldier's +toilet," he said, cheerily. And she nodded and went off; while he +hurried to his own room, and after plunging his face in the fresh cold +water felt such a healthy glow coming through his veins, that he was +ready to wonder at the previous night's depression. + +"What a glorious morning!" he muttered. "Couldn't have been well last +night.--Hope my mother didn't think me stupid.--What a shame to let her +sit up there all night!--Why, how hungry I do feel!--And only to think +of our getting those fellows in quite safe after all.--Ha, ha, ha! how +mad the enemy must have felt." + +Roy was standing before a mirror combing his wet locks as he burst out +into a hearty laugh, full of enjoyment; but he checked it directly, and +stood staring at himself in wonder as the thoughts of the past night +intruded, and he remained for a few moments puzzled to account for the +change that a long rest had wrought in him. + +The next minute he was hurrying with his sword and belt under his arm to +the breakfast-room, where he found his mother waiting, and Master +Pawson, who looked very pale, in conversation with her. + +"Good-morning, Roy," he said. "I congratulate you upon the accession to +the strength of the garrison. The men are all in the highest spirits, +and full of praise of the gallant way in which you drove the enemy +back." + +"Then I shall have to undeceive them, Master Pawson," replied Roy, as he +joined his mother at the table. "It was in the dark, and they could not +see. All Ben Martlet's doing from beginning to end." + +"I'm afraid you are too modest," said the secretary, smiling, as Roy +began his breakfast with a splendid appetite. "And tell me," he +continued, anxiously--"I ought not to ask, perhaps, but I take such +interest in the proceedings--you will not listen to any proposals for +surrender, even on good terms, which may come from the enemy?" + +"What capital ham, mother," said Roy. Then turning to the secretary: "I +wouldn't have listened to any proposals for surrender without those ten +men, Master Pawson. When all the guns are disabled and the powder done, +and nearly everybody wounded, I won't surrender; for you'll put on a +helmet and back-piece then, and come and help the maids throw down +stones upon their heads, and--yes, we shall have to use the +machicolations then; but it shall be hot water for the enemy, not hot +lead. The women can manage the boiling water better than the metal. +Surrender! Bah! I say, sit down and have some more breakfast. I'm too +busy to talk." + +"Ah! what a spirit you have," cried the secretary, with a look of +admiration in the lad's face. "But you are right. No surrender upon +any terms; and if you talk much more like this, Roy, you will inspire +me. I, too, shall want to fight, or at least help to load the guns." + +"I hope you won't," thought Roy; "for I'd a great deal rather you would +stop away." + +Ten minutes later he was buckling on his sword, without a trace of the +last night's emotion visible on his countenance. + +"I'll go down to the great gate," said the secretary. "You will join me +there?" + +"Yes, directly. But I say, Master Pawson, I hope you managed to make +shift at your new bedroom." + +"Don't mention it. I shall be all right.--For the present, Lady +Royland!" And the secretary left the room. + +"No surrender, Roy, my boy." + +"No, mother; and--and--last night, I--" + +"Was tired out, and no wonder. No--hush! Not another word. Some day +when all is at peace once more, I will reopen the subject in your +father's presence. Till then, it is our mutual confidence. There, go +and show yourself to the men, and see how they will greet you on this +bonnie, sunny day." + +The boy hurried out with burning cheeks, and they seemed to scorch as he +found his mother's flower-beds trampled down, and the whole strength of +the garrison on parade; for the moment he appeared, discipline seemed to +be at an end, swords and muskets, adorned with steel caps, were waving +in the air, while the flag flew out bravely from the great tower +overhead, as if fluttered by the wind of the great hearty cheer which +arose as he marched to the front, saluting as he went. + +"Ah!" he sighed to himself, as his blood seemed to effervesce, and a +thrill ran through his nerves, "who could be a coward at a time like +this?" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +BEN MARTLET IS VERY FULL OF DOUBTS. + +That day matters remained unchanged, save that only about a fourth of +the enemy were visible, there being mounted men stationed at intervals +upon the higher portions of the country round the castle, where they +could command a view of all the approaches; but towards evening these +men were relieved, and strong bodies appeared, but not for purposes of +attack, merely to draw in and take up stations at closer distances +before recommencing what Ben called "padrolling." Meanwhile, drilling +went on busily, and the arrangements were advanced for the proper +service of the guns. + +A quiet, uninterrupted night succeeded, Roy having arranged with Ben to +divide the post-visiting with him and the corporal, who was now looked +upon as the third officer in command. + +Roy saw but little of Master Pawson that evening. The secretary had +been very busy about the place all the day, and, making the excuse of +weariness after vainly trying to keep his eyes open, he retired early. + +Two more days passed in the same way, valuable days to the garrison, +which went on with gun and sword practice from morn till night, and +rapidly approached a condition in which they would be able to give a +good account of themselves before the enemy. + +On the afternoon of the fourth day, it was evident that a change was +taking place, for the head of a column of infantry became visible, +probably the men for whom the officer in command had been waiting. + +Roy hurried to the top of the gate tower with Ben, and the secretary +followed, and was the first to point out that behind the regiment of +infantry, horses were visible--led horses; and no one was surprised, +when the infantry opened out a little, to see that four heavy guns were +being laboriously dragged along the rough country lane, a road-way ill +fitted to bear the pressure of the wheels with their burden. + +"They mean business now," said Roy, who felt as if something was +compressing his heart. + +"Oy, sir," said Ben, coolly; "they'll knock up an earthwork before +morning, and set the guns in a position for battering the gate-way." + +"But you will not surrender, Roy?" said the secretary, excitedly. + +"Not I," said Roy. "I told you so before." + +"Not him, sir," said old Ben. "Let 'em batter. Them guns won't be +heavy enough to hurt the tower and walls more than to send chips of +stone flying." + +"What about the drawbridge, Ben?" + +"Oh, they can't hurt that, sir, because you'll give orders to lower that +down and hoist the portculley." + +"Rather tempting for them to make a rush, Ben." + +"Tchah, sir! We shall be keeping a good watch, and up and down bridge +and portcullis would be, long before they could get up to 'em. I +s'pose, sir, you'll make sure that old Jenks doesn't go across to his +gate-house." + +"Of course." + +"And I s'pose, sir, you'll have the two big guns hoisted up on to the +great tower now: we could easily dismount 'em and do that. They'll be +handier up there now, and very awkward for them as works the guns in +their earthwork." + +"Yes, I shall order that to be done at once," said Roy, with a comical +look at his Mentor--one which Ben refused to see. + +"And then, sir," he continued, "there's that there earthwork as'll stop +half the shot they send in through the gate-way, and send a lot of 'em +flying right up over the towers." + +"What earthwork?" + +"Well, sir, that one as you're going to start as soon as it's getting +dark. Ground's pretty soft for working, and we've got plenty of timber. +I s'pose you'll reg'larly fill up Jenks's gate-way, and leave quite a +deep ditch behind it on our side." + +"Why not on their side, Ben?" said Roy, sharply. + +"Why, of course, sir; I seemed to fancy this side; but t'other's better, +and all the earth we throw out of the ditch goes on the front and top in +a slope, eh?" + +"Yes, of course; and turns the balls upward." + +"Not many on 'em will go up, sir. Ground'll be too soft. They'll just +plump in there and stop; and so much the better for Royland Towers." + +As they watched attentively, they found that the horses were halted, and +the guns drawn right in front of the castle gate, but at the distance of +quite half a mile. There the men seemed to be bivouacking; and the +smoke of several fires rose slowly in the air. + +No more time was lost: the gunners were summoned, ropes got ready, some +heavy beams were hoisted up to the platform of the gate tower, and, +under the guidance of Ben and the corporal, a rough kind of crane was +fitted up; and after the guns had been dismounted, the carriages were +hoisted and placed in position behind the embrasures. + +The heavier task was to come; but Ben and the three troopers seemed to +master every difficulty, carefully securing the guns with ingenious +knots of the ropes; and at last the word was given to hoist. + +The hemp stretched and strained, and as the first gun rose a little from +the ground, it seemed to Roy as if the strands must give way, and he +ordered every one to stand well aside. Ben smiled. + +"No fear of that, sir," he whispered. "Those are the toughest of hemp, +those ropes, and as the length gets shorter, the strain grows less. +Steady, my lads! a little at a time." + +The hauling went on till the first gun was level with the top of the +battlements, when there was a clever bit of management with a big wooden +bar or two handled by the troopers on the roof, and the first gun was +easily dropped right upon its carriage. + +"One," said Roy, with a sigh of relief, for he was in constant dread of +an accident. + +"Ay, sir; and it will be two directly; and I wish it was three for the +enemy's sake." + +The second gun was hoisted, and mounted rapidly, thanks to the trained +skill of the four regular soldiers; while the men from the mill who +helped looked on with profound admiration, though they were pretty +clever at moving stones. + +Discipline was relaxed over this manual labour, with the consequence +that Sam Donny's tongue began to run rather freely, a certain intimacy +having existed in the past between Roy and the miller's man connected +with the demand and supply of meal-worms for catching and feeding +nightingales, which came about as far west as the castle and no farther. + +"Beat us chaps to 'a done that, Master Roy," he said. + +"Captain Roy," growled Ben. + +"Ay. Forgetted," said the man. "T'other seems so nat'ral. Beat us +chaps, Captain Roy. We'm as strong as them, but they've got a way a +handling they brass guns as seems to come nat'ral to 'em like. But if +they'll come to the mill, we'll show 'em something along o' flour-sacks, +and the grinding-stones as'll make 'em stare. Every man to his trade." + +"Well, you're a soldier now, Sam Donny, and you must learn to handle +guns as well as you handle sacks of flour." + +"We will, master--I mean cap'n. I should just like me and my mates to +have the letting o' them guns down again. May we, sir?" + +"No. Absurd." + +"But we'd get 'em up again, sir." + +"Wait till the enemy have gone," said Roy, "and then we'll see." + +A portion of the afternoon was devoted to taking up the necessary +ammunition and re-arranging the top platform they had to prepare for the +guns; and just at dusk, after the sentinels had been doubled, a strong +party stood in the gate-way, armed with shovel and pick, waiting for the +bridge to be lowered. Another party had a number of beams; and, lastly, +already drawn up, stood a guard prepared to watch over the safety of the +workers, and hand them weapons for their defence, if, perchance, they +were seen by the enemy, and an attempt made to rush in. + +But no sign was given to warn the parliamentarians, and Roy and the +secretary stood on the platform of the great gate-way, watching the +enemy, till, in the dim light, a body of men marched to the front, +halted a quarter of a mile from the gate; a large square was rapidly +marked out with pegs, and then an order seemed to be given, for the +party began at once to dig and throw up a breastwork, evidently for the +shelter of their guns. + +Master Pawson watched everything eagerly, and kept on pointing out what +was going on, while Roy leaned upon one of the guns, saying, "I've been +wondering whether these guns will carry as far as that work they are +making--I mean so as to hit hard." + +"They think they will not," said the secretary, "and have placed their +battery just out of reach." + +"How do you know?" said Roy, sharply. + +"I--oh, of course, I don't know," said Master Pawson; "it is only what I +judge from seeing them make their battery there." + +"Oh, I see," said Roy, quietly. And he thought no more of the remark +just then. He waited till the figures of the men digging grew more and +more indistinct, and then quite invisible from where they stood; and he +was just about to descend, when the sergeant joined them, to say, +respectfully-- + +"We're all ready, sir, and I've got some more poles and planks out of +the wood-house." + +"Then we'll start at once," said Roy; "but I'll have these guns manned +at once to cover our working-party." + +Ben coughed. + +"You don't think that's right?" said Roy, quickly. + +"Well, sir, I wouldn't have presumed to interfere with my commanding +officer's orders 'fore any one else. But--" + +"Now don't talk nonsense, Ben," said Roy, warmly. "There's no one here +but Master Pawson, who is as anxious about preserving the place as we +are." + +"Indeed, I am," said the secretary, earnestly. + +"So don't let's have any of that silly ceremony. I wish you wouldn't +pretend to believe I was so conceited." + +"I don't, captain," said Ben, abruptly; "only want you to see when +you're wrong." + +"Then speak out at once. Now then; you don't think it worth while to +man these guns now?" + +"No, sir. If they hear us at work, and attack, we've got to retreat +over the bridge fast as we can, and get it hoisted. Say you've got +these guns manned and loaded, a shot or two might check the attacking +party; but how in the dark are we to know when it is best to fire? How +are we to take aim? And what's to prevent our hitting friends instead +of enemies." + +"Fire high, over their heads." + +"That's wasting two good charges for the sake of making a noise. I +don't think I'd trouble about them to-night, sir." + +"No; you're right.--Eh, Master Pawson?" said Roy. + +"I don't much understand these things," said the secretary; "but it +sounds the more sensible idea. You're not offended by my speaking out?" + +"_No_; but I soon shall be if you all treat me as if I thought of +nothing but dressing up as a soldier, and wanting to have my own way +over matters where I'm wrong. Come along, down." + +Roy led the way down through the corner turret, Master Pawson following +and Ben coming last; while, as they wound round the narrow spiral, the +secretary turned his head to whisper-- + +"He'll make a splendid officer, Martlet." + +The only reply he obtained was a very hog-like grunt; then Ben spoke to +himself: + +"I wish to goodness you were along o' the enemy, or anywhere but here; +you're supposed to be a friend, but somehow I can't never feel as if you +are one. My cantank'rousness, I s'pose. Not being a scholard like you, +maybe. Anyhow, though, I'm more use just now than you are; not but what +that's easy, for you aren't none at all." + +By this time they were down in the gate-way once more, where the +portcullis was raised as silently as possible in the darkness, the +bridge lowered, and the heavily laden working-party, followed by their +guard marched slowly and silently out; a second strong guard was posted +at the far end of the bridge to cover the retreat if one should have to +be made--these last being under the command of the corporal; and Master +Pawson volunteered in a whisper to stay with the men. Roy acquiesced, +feeling rather glad to be without his company. + +Next a halt was called, and all listened as they gazed out in the +darkness in the direction of the enemy. Then feeling how commanding a +position the latter had in the possession of their horsemen to act as +scouts, and who might approach very near unseen, and discover the plans +of the night, Roy gave orders for the guard at the end of the bridge to +advance two men, to station them as sentries at equal distances, to keep +in touch with the working-party. + +"Fiddler's right," growled Ben, to himself. "He will make a splendid +officer one of these days." + +The next minute the work was silently begun, the guard being thrown out +in a half-moon formation in front of the outer gate-way which covered +the bridge. + +Ben's plans were very simple. He had the heaviest beams they had +brought stretched across the gate-way, as high as they could reach +overhead, and propped against the masonry on either side with shorter +beams; then poles, planks, and fagots were stretched in a slope from the +ground to the crossing timbers, so as to make a scarp; and, as soon as +this was done, shovel and pick were set to work to dig a deep wide +ditch, the earth from which was thrown up over the wood; while men on +either side filled baskets and carried their loads to pile upon the +slope as well. + +It was roughly done work, but every shovelful added to the strength of +the bank, which rapidly grew in thickness as the hours glided on, the +workers being relieved from time to time to do duty as guards, while the +guard took their turn at shovelling and filling. + +There was no halting, the men having refreshments served out to them by +Roy's forethought as they were relieved; and so the work went on till +towards dawn, when a couple of men were strengthening the bank from +behind with short pieces of wood wedged up against the crossbeams, as +the weight of the earth began to make them bend. + +"You'll have to set a party to work by daylight, filling up on this +side, Master Roy," said Ben, quietly. "If we heap up earth and turf +here, it will be the best support, and a regular trap for all their +balls." + +"I begin to fear that as soon as they begin to fire they will batter it +all to pieces, Ben." + +"Dessay they'll damage it a bit, sir; but if they do, we must mend it; +and every night we work, we can get it stronger and more earthy. +Nothing like soil to swallow balls. Of course it's no use as a defence, +because the enemy could come round either end; but it'll do what's +wanted, sir--stop the shot from hitting the bridge-chains and smashing +through the grating. Hello! what's that?" + +_That_ was a challenge, followed by a shot, and the rush of feet as the +sentries thrown out ran back. This was followed by the trampling of +hoofs, and the shouting of orders, as a small body of horse made a dash +at the working-party, sweeping by the gate, but only to be received by a +scattered volley as they were dimly seen riding out of the black +darkness and disappearing again. But not without coming to the closest +of close quarters, for there was the clashing noise of swords striking +against steel, and, in the brief time occupied by their passing, blows +were returned amidst angry shouting, and several dull thuds told that +the blows had taken effect on horse or man. + +It was merely the work of moments, the charge having been delivered from +the left by a party of mounted men who had evidently been reconnoitring +along by the edge of the moat, and came up at a slow walk unheard by the +sentries on the walls. Then, finding the working-party before them, +they had charged and galloped clear. + +Roy fully expected another attack, for which he was now well prepared, +the workers having seized their weapons; but all was still, and he was +arguing with himself as to whether it would not be as well to work on +till daybreak, when a voice from out of the darkness said, faintly-- + +"Will some 'un come and lend me a hand?" + +"Sam Donny!" cried Roy, and, in company with Ben, he ran forward for +quite forty yards before they came upon the man lying prone upon the +earth. + +"Why, Sam!" cried Roy; "are you hurt?" + +"Well, it's only a scratch, sir; but it do hurt, and it's a-bleeding +like hooroar. One on 'em chopped at me with his sword. I'd only got a +pick, you see; but I hit at him with that, and somehow it got stuck, and +I was dragged ever so far before I had to let go. He's got the pick in +his big saddle, I think. But I'll pay for it, sir, or get you a new +one." + +"Never mind the pick, Sam. Where are you hurt?" + +"Oh, down here, on my right leg, sir. He made a big cut at me; but I'll +know my gen'leman again. I'll have a sword next time and pay him back; +and so I tell him." Ben was down upon his knees, busy with a scarf, +binding the wound firmly, a faint suggestion of the coming day making +his task easier; and, summoning help, a rough litter was formed of a +plank, and the wounded man rapidly carried in over the bridge. + +That brought the defensive operations to an end, for Roy withdrew his +men into the castle, and the daylight showed their rough work, which +pretty well secured the gate-way; but it also displayed the work of the +enemy, who had constructed a well-shaped earthwork, out of whose +embrasures peered a couple of big guns. + +The rapidly increasing light, too, showed something more, for about a +couple of hundred yards from the outworks, a horse, saddled and bridled, +lay upon its side, quite dead; for the terrible stroke the miller's man +had delivered with his pickaxe had struck into the horse's spine. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +LADY ROYLAND TURNS NURSE. + +Roy was face to face with the first of the stern realities of war, as he +hurried into the long chamber beneath the eastern rampart, which Lady +Royland had set apart for the use of any of the men who might, she said, +"turn ill." + +Poor Sam Donny had fainted away before he reached the hospital-room, and +upon Roy entering, eager to render assistance, it was to find himself +forestalled by Lady Royland, who, with the old housekeeper, attended to +the wounded man. + +Lady Royland hurried to her son, as he appeared at the door. + +"No," she said, firmly, "not now: leave this to us. It is our duty." + +"But, mother, do you understand?" protested Roy. + +"Better, perhaps, than any one here," she replied. "Go to your duties; +but come by-and-by to see how the poor fellow is. It will cheer him." + +Roy could not refuse to obey the order, and hurried back to meet Ben on +the way to the sufferer's side. + +"Not go in?" said the sergeant. "Her ladyship says so? Oh, very well-- +then of course it is all right." + +"But I feel so anxious," said Roy; "my mother is not a chirurgeon." + +"More aren't we, Master Roy; but she's what's just as good--a splendid +nurse. So's old Grey's wife; so Sam Donny's in clover. I was being a +bit anxious about him, for fear Master Pawson was doing the doctoring, +and I'd rather trust myself." + +"But the wound--the terrible wound?" cried Roy. + +"Tchah! Nothing terrible about that, captain. Just a clean sword-cut. +You've cut your finger many a time, haven't you?" + +"Of course." + +"Well, did you want a doctor? No; you had it tied up tightly, and left +it alone. Then it grew together again!" + +"Yes, yes, yes," cried Roy, impatiently. "But this was a terrible slash +on the poor fellow's thigh. You saw how horribly it bled." + +"Come, Master Roy, we're both soldiers, and we mustn't talk like this. +I saw his leg bleed, and stopped it, but it wasn't horrible. Leg's only +like a big finger, and a strong healthy chap soon grows together again. +You mustn't take any notice of a few cuts. They're nothing. What we've +got to mind is the cannon-balls. Now a wound from one of them is +terrible, because you see they don't cut clean, but break bones and do +all kinds of mischief. Well, we mustn't talk away here, but see to the +men, and get ready for what's to come." + +"Do you think they'll attack us to-day?" + +"Yes, sir; and as soon as they've finished their two-gun battery. Now, +by rights, we ought to go and destroy that work, and spike their guns; +but they've got the advantage of us with all that horse, and if we tried +they'd cut us up before we could get at it. Only chance is to try and +do it at night, if we can't dismount the guns with ours." + +A hasty breakfast was eaten, and then the sergeant went up to the newly +mounted guns on the top of the square tower, where Roy promised to join +him as soon as he had been to visit the wounded man. + +"Tell him I mean to come as soon as I can, my lad," said Ben, "but it +won't do him any good for me to come now. Wounded man's best left alone +till he gets over his touch of fever. But tell him I'm sorry he's down, +and that I shall very much miss my best gunner. It'll please him, and +it's quite true." + +Roy nodded, and in due time went to the hospital-room, where he tapped +lightly, and the door was opened by the old housekeeper, who looked +rather pale; but Lady Royland, who was seated by the wounded man's +bedside, rose and came to her son. + +"Yes," she said; "go and speak to him; but don't stay many minutes, for +he must not talk much. A few words from you, though, will do him good." + +Roy glanced towards the bed, which was close to one of the windows +looking out on the court-yard garden, and he could see that the man was +watching him intently. + +"Go to him. I'll leave you and come back when I think you have been +here long enough." + +The door closed behind Lady Royland and her old assistant as Roy made +for the couch, expecting to see a painful sight of agony and terror; +but, as he approached, the man's countenance expanded into a broad grin. + +"Don't be hard on a poor fellow, captain," he said, just as Roy was +ready with a prepared speech about being sorry to see the man in so +grievous a condition. + +"Hard upon you, Sam! What for?" + +"Sneaking out o' all the fun like this here! 'Taren't my fault, you +know. I didn't want to stop in bed; but my lady says I must, and that +she'll report me to you if I don't obey orders. I say, let me get up, +sir. It's just foolishness me lying here." + +"Foolishness! What! with that bad wound?" + +"Bad, sir? Why, you don't call that bad. If he'd cut my head off, I'd +ha' said it was." + +"How?" cried Roy, unable to repress a smile. + +"How, sir? Why--oh! o' course not. Didn't think o' that; I s'pose I +couldn't then. But I say, Master Roy, sir--I mean cap'n, I'm just +ashamed o' myself letting her ladyship wait on the likes o' me!" + +"Why should you be, Sam? Haven't you been risking your life to defend +us?" + +"Me? No, sir, not as I knows on," said the man, staring. + +"Well, I do know; and now you are not to talk." + +"Oh, sir! If I'm to be here I must talk." + +"You must not, Sam. There, I came to see how you were." + +"Quite well, thank ye kindly, sir." + +"You are not. You have a bad wound." + +"But I aren't, Master Roy. It's on'y a bit cut; and I want to have a +stick and come up on the tower in case we have to work that gun." + +"If you want to help to work that gun again, Sam, you will have to lie +still and let your wound heal." + +"Master Roy!--I mean oh, cap'n--it's worse than the wound to hear that." + +"We can't help it. Tell me, are you in much pain?" + +"Oh, it hurts a bit, sir; but if I was busy I should forget that, and--" + +_Crash_!--_Boom_! + +A strange breaking sound, and the rattling of the windows as a heavy +report followed directly after, and Roy sprang from the chair he had +taken by the wounded man's couch. + +"On'y hark, sir--that was my gun atop o' the gate tower begun firing, +and me not there." + +"Be patient, Sam," cried Roy, excitedly. "It was not one of our guns, +but the enemy's, and the fight has begun in earnest. Good-bye, and lie +still." + +He was half across the room as he said this, and the door opened to +admit Lady Royland, looking deadly pale. + +"Roy, my boy," she cried, in a low, pained voice, as she caught his +hands; "they are firing." + +"Yes, mother; and so will we," cried the lad, excitedly. + +"You--you will not expose yourself rashly," she whispered; "you will +take care?" + +"I'm going to try not to do anything foolish, mother," he said; "but I +must be with the men." + +She clung to him wildly, and her lips trembled as she tried to speak; +but no words came, and Roy bent forward, kissed her, and tried to +withdraw his hands, but they were too tightly held. + +_Boom_! came another report following closely upon a peculiar whizzing +sound, apparently over the open window. + +"Another gun from the enemy, and we're doing nothing," said Roy, +impatiently. "Mother, don't stop me; they will think I'm afraid. I +must be with the men." + +Lady Royland drew a deep breath, and her face became fixed and firm once +more, though the pallor seemed intensified. + +"Yes," she said, quickly, as she threw her arms about her son for a +brief embrace; "you must be with your men, Roy. Go, and remember my +prayers are with you always. Good-bye!" + +"Just for a while," he cried. "You shall soon have news of how we are +going on." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +GOING UNDER FIRE. + +Roy ran out of the room, leaving the old housekeeper, who was waiting +outside, to close the door, and dashed down the few stairs and out into +the court-yard, where the greater part of their little force was drawn +up on either side of the gate-way, looking very serious and troubled; +but as soon as he appeared they burst into a cheer, to which Roy +answered by waving his hand. + +"The game has begun," he cried. + +"Yes, sir," said one of the troopers, who with Farmer Raynes was in +command of the men; "first shot struck the tower full, and splintered +down some stone. Better mind how you cross the gate-way." + +"Yes," said Roy, quickly; "I will." And he ran across to the door-way +at the foot of the big spiral, reaching it just as a shot came whizzing +overhead, and a heavy report followed. + +"Third, and not one from us," muttered Roy, as he hurried up the +stairway to reach the platform at the top, and found Ben Martlet and the +troop-corporal from his father's regiment, each busy with one of the +guns, arranging wedges under the breeches, and assisted by the men told +off to work each piece, while two more now came to the turret door-way, +bearing fresh charges ready when wanted. + +Ben looked up and smiled grimly as Roy appeared, and the boy cried, +excitedly-- + +"Three shots from them, and you doing nothing." + +_Rush_!--_Boom_! + +Roy ducked down his head, for the rushing noise seemed to be close over +him; and as he raised it again, flushing with shame and glancing sharply +round to see what impression his flinching had made on the men around, +Ben said, quietly-- + +"Four, sir; and you see on'y one hit us; the earthwork has thrown all +the others upward. That last one was nigh to a hundred foot overhead." + +"A hundred feet! and I flinched," thought Roy. "But why don't you +fire?" he cried, aloud. + +"Thought I'd wait for you, sir, and that you'd like the first shot." + +"Yes, of course," cried the boy, excitedly. + +"And we haven't wasted time, sir; corp'ral and me's been pretty busy, +getting what we thinks about the right depression of the muzzles, for +you see we're a good height up here. I don't know that we shall be +right, but we can soon get the range; and if you'll begin now, sir, I'd +like you to try my gun first." + +"Ready!" cried Roy, whose heart began to thump heavily. + +"Like to take a squint along her, sir, first?" said Ben. + +"No; I'll trust to your aim." + +"Then, stand fast there!" cried Ben; and taking the port-fire from the +man who held it, he presented it to the young castellan, who glanced at +the earthwork, where he could see men busy, and a couple of squadrons of +troopers drawn up some distance back on either side; and then, setting +his teeth hard, he let the sparkling fuse fall softly on the touch-hole +of the gun. + +There was a flash, a great ball of smoke, the gun rushed backward, and +the report seemed to stun Roy, whose ears rang, and a strange singing +noise filled his head. + +Ben said a few words, and leaned over the battlement, sheltering his +eyes to watch the effect of the shot, as the smoke rose and began to +spread. Then he turned and shouted something; but what it was Roy could +not hear, neither could he catch a word that was uttered by the +trooper-corporal, though the movement of his lips suggested that he was +speaking. + +"Can't hear you," shouted Roy, as loudly as he could; and the man +smiled, and pointed to the port-fire and the second gun. + +That was clear enough to understand; so Roy took a couple of steps +towards the breech, and as the men stood drawn up in regular form on +either side, he once more touched the priming. + +Another flash, puff, and deafening roar, which he heard quite plainly; +and oddly enough it seemed to have had the effect of restoring his ears +to their customary state, for, in spite of the tremendous singing and +cracking going on, he heard the order given to the men to stop the +vents, sponge, and begin to reload. + +"Just a shade more up," said Ben; "and yours wants a bit more than mine, +corporal.--See where the shot hit, sir?" + +"I? No," said Roy. + +"Both on 'em just in front of their works, and covered 'em with earth +and stones. They all bolted out. Look, they're coming back again, and +they'll give us something directly." + +"Yes," said the corporal, as the men went on loading; "and those shots +have shown 'em what we can do. Look, sir." + +"Why, they're drawing off those two troops of horse." + +"Yes, sir," said the corporal; "and if Sir Granby Royland had been in +command they'd never have been there." + +"No," said Ben, with his lips pinched together; "we could have bowled +over two or three of 'em with the guns, but I thought the captain would +like to have a try at the earthwork first.--For they're not soldiers, +Master Roy.--Are they, corporal?" + +The trooper laughed. + +"Just a mob of men scratched together, and put into jerkins and +headpieces, and with swords stuck in their fisties. Why, there aren't +many of 'em as can ride," continued Ben. + +The thought occurred to Roy that his own garrison was composed of +extremely raw material, but he said nothing, and Ben went grumbling on: + +"I don't say but what they could be made into decent soldiers in time; +but they don't seem to have anybody much over them." + +Just then a couple of shots were fired by the enemy, one of which struck +the tower with a tremendous crash, sending splinters of stone flying, +and a tiny cloud of dust rose slowly. The other shot went whizzing +overhead. + +"I wouldn't get looking over the edge, Master Roy, sir," whispered Ben. +"Some of those chips of stone might give you an ugly scratch. But that +just shows what I say's right. They haven't got the right man there or +he'd soon change things. You see they've brought up their guns with +orders to batter down our drawbridge and smash the portcullis, thinking +they'll make you surrender. Don't seem to come into their thick heads +that if they did manage to smash the bridge, they'd be no nearer to us +than before, because we should soon pile up a good breastwork, and pitch +every man back into the moat who swam across. But, as I was going to +say, they've got their orders to batter down the bridge, and they keep +at it. We've been hit up here, but only by accident; they never fired +straight at us. Now, if you were in command out there, sir, you'd do +something different." + +"I should fire straight up here, Ben, and try to silence these guns." + +"Of course you would, sir; just as you're going to silence theirs." + +"And the sooner the better, Ben. They're nearly ready again." + +"Are they, sir? I can't see. My eyes are not so young as yours. Well, +we're quite ready; and if you orders, we're going to give it 'em in +earnest." + +"Go on, then," said Roy, "and see if you can't stop their firing." + +Ben smiled grimly, and bent down to regulate the aim he took, while the +same was done with the other gun. The result was that the corporal's +shot went right through the embrasure of the piece to the left, while +Ben's went over. + +As the smoke cleared away, a scene of confusion was visible; but the gun +on the right was fired directly after, and the shot plunged into the +bank of earth raised the previous night. + +"Ah!" grumbled Ben; "you've got the best gun, my lad; there must be a +twist in mine, for she throws high." + +"Like to change?" said the corporal. + +"No. I'm going to get used to mine and make her work better." + +Shot after shot was fired from the gate tower, the men warming to their +work, and the results were very varied; for, in spite of the care +exercised and the rivalry between Ben and the corporal, the clumsily +cast balls varied greatly in their courses, so that at the end of an +hour's firing very little mischief was done on either side. The enemy +had had their earthen parapet a good deal knocked about, and some men +had been injured; but all the advantage they had obtained was the +battering down of some scraps of stone, which lay about the front of the +great gate-way. + +"Soon clear that away with a broom," growled Ben; "but I'm a bit +disappointed over these guns, captain. We ought from up here to have +knocked theirs off the carriages by this time." + +"We shall do it yet," said Roy; and during the next few shots he himself +laid the guns, taking the most careful aim. + +"As I said afore, your eyes are younger and better than mine, Master +Roy, but you don't shoot any more true.--Hullo! what are they doing +there?" + +He looked earnestly at the battery, where the men seemed to be extra +busy, and at a solid mass of troops marching on from some hundreds of +yards behind, straight for the castle. + +"They're never mad enough to come and deliver an assault; are they, +corp'ral?" cried Ben, excitedly. + +"Seems like it, sergeant." + +Ben turned to Roy with an inquiring look, and he nodded. + +"Do what you think best," he said. + +What Ben thought best was to withdraw the great wedge which depressed +the muzzle of his gun, the corporal doing the same; and then, after a +careful aim-taking, both pieces roared out a salute to the coming +infantry, which was marching forward in steady array. + +The balls went skipping along after striking the ground a hundred yards +or so beyond the enemy's battery, and, ricochetting, darted right for +the solid moving mass of men. The effect was ludicrous, for in an +instant they could be seen from the tower to be in a terrible state of +confusion, breaking and running in all directions, and, as it were, +melting away. + +"First time they've ever faced cannon-ball," said Ben, with a smile. +"I've seen better men than they after more training do the same. They +won't do it next time, though." + +As far as could be seen, few people were hurt; but the shots had their +effect, for the men, as they were restored to something like order, were +marched back behind a patch of woodland, and the duel between the two +pairs of guns was recommenced with a couple of shots from the battery, +both of which struck the tower high up. + +"Aha!" cried Ben, with another of his grim smiles; "got tired, then." + +"Does not seem like it, Ben," said Roy. + +"Tired of plumping balls into our earthwork, and doing what they ought +to have begun with.--Come, corporal, it's time we did better." + +"Let's do it, then," said the man, sternly. + +"Look here, Master Roy," said Ben, in a low tone; "they've just sent out +two parties of horse to right and left, and it strikes me they're going +to try something on the other side of us when they meet. Will you take +a round of the ramparts, and see as all's right, and keep the lads on +the lookout?" + +"Let me fire these two shots first," said Roy. + +He fired both guns, and there was a tremendous mass of earth sent +flying; but that seemed to be the only mischief done; and then as Ben +superintended the reloading, which began to be carried out now with a +fair amount of speed, he said, in a low tone-- + +"Now, capt'n, will you take a look round? You ought to be everywhere at +once now." + +At that moment a shot just grazed one of the crenelles, and hurtled away +close overhead, making the men wince, as it gave them a better idea of +the enemy's powers than they had had before. + +"Yes, that's why you want me to go, Ben," whispered Roy. "You think it +is getting dangerous here. Thank you; I'll stay. I daresay the men are +all right." + +"Well, sir, I did think something of the kind; but it's real truth. You +ought to be everywhere, and you must really give a look round and tell +'em to fire at any of the enemy who come too near, specially at the +troops of horse; it'll teach 'em to keep their distance." + +Another shot struck the tower, and the splinters of stone rattled down, +making Roy hesitate to leave. But he felt that the old sergeant was +right, and, descending to the ramparts, he visited the south-west tower, +where the men in charge of the guns awaited orders to join in the fray. +Then the north-west tower was reached, and here Roy encountered Master +Pawson. + +"I am glad you've come," he cried. "There's a strong body of horse +gathering over at the foot of the hill to the north." + +"Whereabouts?" said Roy, hurrying through. "Anywhere near the old +ruins?" + +"Ruins? ruins?" said the secretary, looking at him in a peculiar manner. +"Ah, I see now: you mean those old stones on the top. No; they are on +the level ground below. Hadn't we better fire?" + +"As soon as they come within reach, send a ball at them. Let the gun be +well elevated, so as to fire over their heads. We want to scare them +off, and not to destroy." + +As he spoke, Roy ascended with the secretary to the platform, and there, +well within range, saw a strong squadron of horse approaching; while +Roy's keen eyes detected a flash or two as of the sun from steel in +amongst the trees at the foot of the hill. + +"They have infantry there," he said. "And these horse must be coming to +feel their way for them, and to see if we are prepared." + +The men at the guns watched their young captain eagerly; and as soon as +he gave orders for one of the guns to be used as he had directed, he was +obeyed with an alacrity which showed how eager the people were to join +in the fray commenced on the other side of the castle. + +A shot soon went whizzing overhead, and caused a general movement among +the horsemen; but they steadied again, and advanced. Upon a second shot +being fired directly with the muzzle depressed, a little cloud of dust +was seen to rise in front of the advancing squadron, which was suddenly +thrown into confusion; and directly after the body of cavalry divided +into two and began to retire, leaving an unfortunate horse struggling +upon the ground; while after a close scrutiny Roy made out the fact that +two men were riding upon one horse in the rear of the right-hand troop. + +The men on the tower gave a loud cheer, trifling as their success had +been, and were eager to fire again; but Roy was content to show the +enemy that the defenders were well prepared let them advance where they +would, for he knew that the slaying of a few men by a lucky shot would +not have much influence on his success. + +He stayed till the men had disappeared beyond the trees on the hill +slope; and then, enjoining watchfulness, completed his visit to the +other towers, descended to report how matters were progressing to his +mother, who announced that her patient slept, and lastly hurried back to +where the enemy were pounding away at the gate-way, and Ben and his men +steadily replying. + +"Hurt?" he cried excitedly, as he saw that one of the men had a rough +bandage about his arm. "You had better go below at once." + +"What! for that, sir?" said the man, staring; "it's only a scratch from +a bit of stone." + +The injury was very slight; but during Roy's absence the enemy had +managed to send one shot so truly that it had struck the front corner of +the embrasure of the corporal's gun, and splintered away a great piece +of the stone, many fragments still lying about on the platform. + +"Yes, sir; they're shooting better than we are, or their guns are more +true. Our powder's good, old as it is; but it doesn't matter how +carefully we aim, we can never tell to a foot or two where the shot will +hit. They won't go where we want 'em." + +"Well, theirs will not either, Ben," said Roy, "or they would have done +more mischief to us than this." + +"That's true, sir," grumbled the old soldier; "and after all said and +done, I don't think much of big guns. If you could get 'em close up to +the end of a ridgement, and the men would stand still, you could bowl a +lot of 'em over like skittles; but there's a lot of waste going on with +this sort of firing, and if it warn't for the show we make, and which +keeps 'em off, we might as well sit down and smoke our pipes, and watch +where the balls went that they send." + +"But you must keep on, Ben. You may have a lucky shot yet." + +"Oh, we aren't done so very badly since you went, sir! Soon as they'd +done that bit o' damage to the top there, as'll cost Sir Granby a lot o' +money to repair, the corporal sent 'em an answer which made 'em carry +away four men to the rear." + +"Killed?" said Roy, excitedly. + +"Ah! that's more than we can say, sir. They didn't send us word. He's +got the best gun, you see, sir; and I don't take so well to this sort of +work. I want a good horse between my knees, and your father ahead of me +to lead. Why, if he was here with his ridgement, he'd take us along +like a big brush, and sweep this mob o' rebels off the country, as clean +as one of the maids would do it with a broom. I say, sir; try your +luck. The men like to see you have a shot or two. You boys are so +lucky." + +Roy tried and tried again as the day wore on, and the duel between tower +and battery went on, but tried in vain. The men were relieved, and the +fresh relay kept up a steady fire, shot for shot with the enemy; but +nothing was done beyond knocking the earth up in all directions; while +as fast as the face of the battery was injured, they could see spades +and baskets at work, and the earth was replaced by more. A +demonstration was made by the enemy on the sides of the castle, as if to +try what was to be expected there; but a shot or two from the corner +towers forced the horsemen to retire; and night was approaching fast +when Ben and the corporal relieved the men who had been firing all the +afternoon, and Roy was with them just as the old soldier took aim for +his first shot. + +"I've given her an extra charge of powder, sir," he said. "I'd ha' give +her a double dose, on'y it would be a pity to burst her. Like to run +your eye along before she's fired, sir?" + +"No; you try this time, Ben." + +As Roy spoke, there was a tremendous crash, followed by the report of +the enemy's gun; and the rattling down of the splintered stone told how +heavy the impact of the shot had been. + +"More damage," growled Ben. "They're a-shooting ever so much better +than us, corporal." + +The next minute he applied the port-fire, and the gun sprang back, as a +tremendous report followed. + +"Made her kick quite savage, sir," said Ben, with a chuckle. "She says +it's more powder than she likes." + +He stepped to the embrasure as the smoke slowly rose, and gazed out at +the enemy's battery. + +"Come and look, Master Roy," he said, with a grim smile.--"I say, +corporal, that's one to me." + +The men raised a tremendous cheer, for plainly enough seen in the dim +evening light, the interior of the battery was in confusion; and as the +smoke quite cleared away, they saw that one of the guns was lying +several feet back behind the shattered carriage, and at right angles to +its former position. + +"Give 'em yours now, my lad," growled Ben; and the corporal fired; but +his shot went right over the battery and struck up the earth twenty +yards behind. + +"Depress the muzzle, man!" cried Roy. + +"I did, sir, more than usual," said the corporal, rather sulkily. + +"Yes, sir," said Ben; "he's a better gunner than me. Mine was on'y a +bit o' luck, for I raised mine this time." + +While the guns were being reloaded, Roy and his lieutenant watched the +proceedings in the battery, waiting to withdraw when the enemy seemed to +be about to fire. + +But no further shot was sent roaring and whizzing against the tower, +and, night falling, it soon became impossible to see what was going on. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +A STARTLING PORTENT. + +That same night the proceedings at the earthwork were repeated under +cover of a strong guard, the greater portion of the little garrison +being engaged in repairing and strengthening the great earthen bank from +the inner side; and this was carried out till dawn without the slightest +interruption. + +When the day broke, the reason for this was plain, for the enemy's +battery had been carefully repaired; and just at sunrise a troop of +horse was seen coming from the encampment of the main body of the force, +half a mile away. As they came nearer, it was made out why they +approached. For the troop was the escort of a couple of guns, each +drawn by six horses; and an hour later a fresh embrasure was unmasked, +and there were three guns ready to try and solve the problem unsolved on +the previous day. + +"Shall we hoist up another gun, Ben?" said Roy; but the old fellow shook +his head. + +"No, sir; I don't see any good in it. You know it's just a chance about +hitting, and though they keep touching us, what good do they do? They +may hammer away at the gate tower till they've half knocked it down, and +it'll take 'em about a month to do it. And what better will they be +then? They won't stand an inch nearer to getting in than they do +to-day. Let 'em fire. You give 'em a shot now and then to tell 'em +you're at home. Don't you waste more good ammunition than you can +help." + +Roy took his lieutenant's advice; and for a week the siege went on with +the accompaniment of demonstrations of cavalry round the castle, and +approaches by night, all of which kept the little garrison well on the +alert, but did not advance the reduction of the stronghold in the least. + +Sam Donny's wound progressed favourably; but the hospital-room was +occupied as well by three more men, all suffering from cuts and +contusions, caused by the flying chips of stones when a ball struck the +edges of the crenelles. + +The routine of the defenders was becoming monotonous, mounting guard, +firing a little, and drilling a great deal; for Ben gave the men no rest +in the way of practising them in the management of their weapons. + +The result was that the condition of the garrison improved day by day, +while Lady Royland grew more hopeful as she listened to her son's words. + +"It can't last much longer, mother. Either they'll get tired of trying +to drive us out, or some of the king's forces will come and relieve us." + +Lady Royland shook her head the first time, but the second, Roy added-- + +"Look here, mother; the news is sure to reach London that we are being +besieged. Then father will hear it; and do you suppose he will stand +still? Either he will come himself, or see that help is sent." + +Roy repeated his encouraging words one day at dinner, in the presence of +the secretary, a full three weeks after the enemy had sat down before +the castle, and Master Pawson laughed and rubbed his hands. + +"They must give in," he said. "They'll never take the place." + +"Never!" said Roy, triumphantly; "But I say, Master Pawson, I'm going to +ask a favour of you." + +"What is it?" said the secretary, eagerly. + +"I want you to take a turn at the watch-keeping now and then." + +"Keep watch?" said the secretary, staring. + +"Yes, just now and then, so as to relieve a man and give the poor fellow +a good sleep." + +"Master Pawson will, I am sure," said Lady Royland, gravely. "He has +said that he would do anything he could to help us in our time of need." + +"Of course, Lady Royland, of course," he replied, hastily. "I only +hesitated because I am so helpless--such a poor creature over matters +like this." + +"It doesn't want anything but to keep awake, and a sharp lookout. You +ought to be able to do that, sir. You've had plenty of sleep lately, +going to bed at nine, and sometimes at eight." + +"Yes, I--I often go to bed very soon, Roy. My head seems to require a +great deal of sleep. I suppose it's from studying so much. But I'll +come and keep watch--after to-night. You will not want me to-night?" + +"Why not to-night?" + +"I don't feel prepared for it. My head is bad, and I fear that I should +not be of much use. To-morrow night, if you want me, I will gladly come +and take any duty you wish me to perform." + +"Very well, Master Pawson," said Roy. "To-morrow night, then. I say, +though," he added, merrily, "you had better come to the armoury with +me." + +_Bang_--_bang_! in rapid succession went the guns from the battery, +followed a moment or two later by the third. + +"That's right!" cried Roy. "Hammer away; only you might let us have our +dinner in peace." + +"Yes," said the secretary, with a forced laugh; "they might let her +ladyship have her dinner in peace." + +"Oh, mother!" cried Roy, "don't look so white and anxious. You ought to +be used to the firing by now." + +Lady Royland gave him a wistful look, and smiled faintly. + +"They are only powdering down the stone; and I daresay the king will pay +for it all being done up again." + +"No doubt he will," said the secretary. "But you were saying something +about the armoury. Shall I have to see to the men's weapons being +served out?" + +"No," said Roy, merrily. "I want you to select a helmet, breastplate, +and back-piece to fit you, and a good sword." + +"Oh, no, no!" said the secretary, quickly. "I am not a man of war." + +"But you'll have to be, while you are on guard." + +"Not like that. I might wear a good sharp sword; in fact, I did pick +out one, and I have it in my room." + +"Well done!" cried Roy, clapping his hands. "There, mother, who's ever +going to think of surrendering when Master Pawson makes preparations +like that.--I say, don't be too hard on the enemy, sir. Try and wound; +don't cut off heads." + +"Ah, you are making fun of me, Roy! But never mind. Don't you forget +that by-and-by, when the fighting's over, I shall take my revenge." + +"What--over lessons? Very well. I'm having a capital holiday from the +old Latin." + +The bent of the conversation turned, and the dinner ended in a very +cheerful manner, for as time went on, Lady Royland could not help +feeling hopeful. For want of the necessary war-material, the enemy +seemed to be able to do no more in the way of a regular siege, and their +efforts with the battery were becoming somewhat relaxed. No more men +had been injured, and the sufferers in hospital were doing well. In +fact, the general opinion in the castle was that before very long the +enemy would, if they found they could not starve the defenders out, give +up the attack, the castle being too hard a nut to crack. + +That evening, while the firing was going on in a desultory way, Roy +visited the hospital, meeting the secretary on the way. + +"You've been to see the poor fellows?" said Roy, smiling. + +"Yes--yes--they look white and ill. It is very sad, Roy. Such fine +strong men, too. But what do you think of my going to read to them for +an hour or two every day?" + +"Not Latin?" said Roy, laughing. + +"No, no, of course not. Something about the old wars." + +"Capital!" cried Roy. "Do!" + +"And I might take my viol over, and play to them a little." + +"No, no; I say, don't do that," cried Roy. + +"Eh? Why not? It would be so soothing." + +"No; it wouldn't. Only make them miserable. They don't understand +sarabands and corantos; and you can't play jigs." + +"No," said the secretary, grandly, but with a peculiar look. "Perhaps +they would not appreciate good music. And you are right; I do not +understand jigs." + +He nodded and crossed to the door-way leading up to his room, and Roy +directly after encountered old Jenk. + +"Hallo! where are you going?" + +"Eh, eh? Master Roy? Oh, only up on to the platform to see the firing +for a bit!" + +"I say, don't you get shot." + +"Me? Me? No, sir; they won't hit me. Look--look!" he cried, pointing +upward. "Flag--ladyship's flag! Blows out bravely. See--we'll never +surrender." + +"Yes. Never surrender, Jenk. Too good soldiers for that." + +"Ay, ay, ay!" cried the old man. "Too good soldiers for that. Brave +boy! Your father's son. But you'll have my little gate-house built up +again, Master Roy, when they've gone, eh? They've knocked it about a +deal. But old soldiers don't mind scars." + +"Oh, yes; we'll have it put right when we've made the enemy run." + +"Yes, yes, make 'em run, Master Roy; and I'll tell your father what a +brave soldier Ben Martlet and I have made you." + +The old man chuckled and went in at the door-way to mount the spiral +stairs, while Roy turned and looked up at the flag, well blown out by +the evening breeze. + +"Poor old fellow! Helped to make me a soldier, has he? Well, it +pleases him to think so." + +The lad ran his eye along the side of the court-yard, sadly trampled +now, and fancied he saw a head quickly withdrawn at one of the narrow +windows of the north-west tower; but he was not sure, and it did not +impress him then as he went on to the hospital-room, where the wounded +men received him eagerly, Sam Donny being the most demonstrative, and +ending by begging that he might be ordered on duty again. + +"Another week at least, first," said Roy. "Only too glad to have you +all back." + +Roy stayed till it was dark, and he was descending to the court-yard +when a loud shouting below took his attention, and upon running out he +found a knot of men eagerly talking and looking up at the gate tower. + +"What is it? What's wrong?" said the boy, excitedly. + +"The flag, sir," cried Farmer Raynes. "Did you order it to be pulled +down?" + +"I? No!" cried Roy, excitedly. "I said it was to be kept up night and +day. Who has dared to do this?" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +BY A TRAITOR'S HAND. + +The last words were spoken as he hurried across to the door-way in the +gate tower; and before he reached the platform at the top, he could hear +Ben Martlet storming and shouting at the men, who were very silent; but +from the noise of footsteps it was evident that they were running to and +fro. + +As Roy reached the top of the stairs, it was to find his exit on to the +platform blocked by Ben and the corporal, the former being decked with +the flag hanging over his shoulder like a mantle. They were evidently +busy with the halyards at the little opening, down beside which the +flag-pole butt was fixed in iron loops, and through which window the +flag was hoisted and the halyards secured. + +"What's the meaning of this?" cried Roy, breathlessly. "The enemy will +think we have surrendered." + +"Let 'em come, then, sir, and we'll show 'em we haven't," roared Ben, +fiercely. + +"But why was the flag hauled down?" + +"Wasn't hauled down, sir. Come down with a run right on to the leads." + +"What! Did the line break?" + +"I wish it had broke, sir. You just look at that!" And he held out an +end of the thin, strong hempen cord which ran through a pulley at the +top of the pole, and to which the flag was always attached. + +"Cut?" cried Roy. + +"Yes, sir; cut. Some one has sawed through it with a sharp knife; and I +want to know who it was." + +"Some one up here on the platform?" + +"No, sir; I'll answer for that," said the corporal. + +"Some one then in the ammunition chamber?" + +"Nay; I don't believe any one there would do it, sir," growled Ben, who +was now busy splicing the line, which came swinging down by the window. + +"How's that?" said Roy, eagerly. + +"What--that rope, sir? One of the lads has swarmed up the flag-staff, +and run it over the wheel again," cried Ben, who now re-attached the +flag, well above the splice, and began to haul it up again, the folds +gliding from his shoulder, and out of the window, to rise into sight +from the platform, where the men greeted it with a hearty cheer. + +"Ha!" ejaculated Ben, as the colours reached the top, and he fastened +the line. "That don't look like surrendering, sir." + +"No, Ben; but I want to know who dared to cut it. Who has been here?" + +"No one but old Jenk, sir. He came and stopped some time, standing in +the door-way, looking on and chattering to us a bit before he went +down." + +"Oh, but surely he wouldn't have done such a thing as that, Ben!" + +"So I say, sir. If he did, it's quite time he was taken over to the +church, and buried, for he must be out of his wits." + +"Oh, impossible! He couldn't have done it. Are you sure it was cut?" + +"Well, sir, you see the end." + +"It must have been frayed by rubbing against the edge of the parapet." + +"Didn't look like it sir; that's all that I can say." + +"Has any one else been here?" + +"Not as I know of, sir; but we've been too busy to see, keeping our +faces to the enemy. I thought I heard some one run down." + +"Well, it was an unfortunate accident, Ben; but you've soon repaired +it," said Roy. And he stepped out on to the platform to look aloft at +the flag, which was once more fluttering and flapping in the breeze; and +then he stepped upon a stone to gaze over towards the enemy's battery to +see if the lowering of the flag had had any effect there. + +But all was quiet. They had evidently ceased firing for the evening, +and the shades of night were descending so quickly, that the figures in +the rear of the earthwork were beginning to look dim and indistinct. +Away to the right, though, was a shadowy body which seemed to be moving +along towards where the enemy's camp lay, behind the wooded patch of +country; and Roy was not long in coming to the conclusion that it was a +troop of horse, returning from the neighbourhood of the battery. + +He took a long sweep round, gazing hard at the beautiful wooded +landscape, and the soft calm of the hour, with the sweet moist odours of +evening which were wafted to him by the breeze, had a depressing effect. +He found himself thinking of what a sad business it all was, that the +peaceful district should become the scene of war and bloodshed--little +enough of the latter; but who could tell how soon a terrible assault +might be made upon the place, and their guns would have to be directed +so as to mow down the advancing enemy like the hay fell before the +mower's scythe. + +Away to the west a bright planet was seen blinking in the dark grey sky, +but that evening it did not seem to Roy like a star of hope; and when, a +few minutes later, there came the faintly heard, mournful cry of an owl, +he turned away to descend to the ramparts and walk round so as to visit, +according to his custom, each tower in turn, where he was respectfully +questioned by the men as to the lowering of the flag, and whether it had +any meaning. + +Roy laughed it off; but the fact of this incident impressing the men so +strongly had a bad effect upon him, and he found himself forced to make +an effort to fight it back before he joined his mother for the quiet +hour or so he always spent with her before going on duty or retiring to +rest. + +But he was not to go straight to her; for on descending to the sadly +trampled garden, he found the secretary slowly walking up and down the +least-injured patch of grass, with his head bent, shoulders rounded, and +his hands behind him, clasped together as if they were manacled. + +He started sharply as Roy came near, actually wincing, and looking +deadly pale. + +"I wasn't going to hit you, Master Pawson," said Roy, with a smile. + +"No, of course not; but all this firing has made me nervous. I am +afraid I am not at all brave, Roy, and my head is so bad to-night, it +makes me worse. I started just as if you were some enemy, and it sent a +shock right through me." + +"Better now?" said Roy, mockingly. + +"Oh, yes, better now; but I'm very glad I do not go on duty to-night. I +think I shall go to bed very soon, and sleep it off." + +"Best thing; but you'll come with me to have some supper?" + +"No, not to-night. Please make my excuses to my lady. It's a sad thing +to be so weak of health, Roy. Sadder still to see this lovely garden +spoiled by the trampling of armed men." + +"Yes, it's a great pity," replied Roy; "but we'll soon set it straight +again as soon as the enemy's sent to the right-about; and who would not +sacrifice a few flowers for the sake of king and country?" + +"Ah, who, indeed!" cried the secretary, with a slight flush coming into +his cheeks. "Going?" + +"Yes; I must join my mother now." + +"And--er--are you on duty to-night?" + +"Not till twelve o'clock," said Roy, frankly. "Then I have to go my +rounds, and again at four. I hope the enemy will not disturb us." + +"How can they?" said the secretary. "They cannot deliver an assault +without rafts and ladders, or with boats; and we should see their +preparations long before they could attack us." + +"Yes, I suppose so," said Roy, thoughtfully. "The only thing I dread is +a surprise." + +"Surprise!" cried the secretary, starting violently. "Don't say that." + +"Sorry I did say it," replied Roy, smiling; "for it made you jump as if +you had been shot." + +"Yes, Roy; sieges do not agree with me. But whatever made you say +that?" + +"Only because I think it possible, in spite of all our precautions, that +the enemy might find a way to get into the place; that's all." + +"What a horrible idea!" faltered the secretary. + +"Well, I suppose it is," said Roy; "but don't let it keep you awake +to-night, Master Pawson. Perhaps it is impossible." + +"Impossible? Of course it is. There, good-night. I must go and lie +down." + +"And I am late in going to my mother," said Roy. + +"Then good--good-night. Make your men keep the strictest of watches for +all our sakes, my brave young castellan!" + +"I will," said Roy; and each went his way. + +"Now, if I didn't begin to know that Master Pawson really liked me, I +should have thought he was sneering," said the lad to himself. "I'm +always fancying people look down upon me because I'm such a mere boy. +But he's trusty enough, as he has shown us. I wish he hadn't called me +`my brave young castellan,' though. It sounds so sugary and oily. +Surprise--surprise?" he thought. "No, they couldn't surprise us, unless +they got in by a secret passage; and if there were one, they would never +find it out. If we couldn't, it isn't likely that strangers would. I +wish Ben and I had had another big search. All this put it out of our +heads. I'll ask mother if she thinks it possible there is one. No, I +will not," he said to himself, as he reached the door. "It would +frighten her into fits. She'd be too nervous to go to sleep, and want +me to let all the men search the dungeons, and make them nervous, too. +Bah! It's only an old woman's tale. I don't believe in such things." + +He opened the door, to be welcomed by Lady Royland, who sprang from her +chair, and proudly monopolised the task of taking off her son's helmet, +cuirass, and back-piece, after unbuckling his sword. + +"My duty, Roy," she said. "The one I was proud to perform for your +father. Ah, my boy, if he were only here that I might assist him now! +But no news, Roy; no news. It is cruel work." + +"No news is good news, mother," cried Roy, cheerily. "Come and feed me, +for I'm terribly hungry again." + +An attractive meal was waiting; and to have seen mother and son soon +after at the table, no one would have imagined that they were in a +beleaguered castle with a strong body of the enemy close at hand. + +Roy sat till the clock struck nine, and then rose. + +"Then you will get no proper sleep to-night, my boy?" said Lady Royland, +as she helped her son to resume his arms. + +"Oh, yes; I shall lie down as I am, and jump up at twelve to take the +round. I shall be back in my room in a quarter of an hour if the enemy +is quiet, and sleep again till four, when I go my round again. I say, +isn't it wonderful how one wakes at the right time when one has had a +little practice." + +"Roy, my boy, it is wearing you out. Let me go and see if the men are +doing their duty to-night." + +"What nonsense, mother!" cried the lad, merrily. "Just as if this was +going to wear me out. To-morrow night old Ben will make the round, and +I shall be snoring in my bed. There, good-night." + +"Good-night, my darling," cried Lady Royland, pressing him to her +breast. + +"I say, what a hard-hearted creature I must feel with this on," said +Roy, laughing merrily. + +"I never notice the cuirass," said Lady Royland, embracing her son +again. "I only feel my boy's warm, true heart beating against mine." + +She followed him to the door, and he turned and kissed her again, and +then hurried away, depressing his sword-hilt to keep the steel end of +the scabbard from clinking on the pavement. + +"Why did I do that?" said Roy to himself. "It was not as if--as if--Oh, +what nonsense! It's the weather makes me feel low; and she feels low +too. I was obliged to try and cheer her up." + +He mounted to the battlements, whence he entered the room over the +guard-chamber where, according to custom now, Ben was waiting with his +lighted lantern, and wearing his long cloak, one side of which he threw +over the light when he took it up. + +"All well, Ben?" + +"All's well, sir. Enemy as still as mice. I'm beginning to think that +one of these mornings we shall get up and find they've gone without +saying good-bye." + +"Hope you're right, Ben. Ready?" + +"Ready, sir." + +"Then march." + +They ascended to the top of the gate tower, where they were challenged, +and then descended to the rampart to be challenged by the sentinel +posted half-way between the towers, and again by the sentry on each +tower in turn. It was everywhere the same. The men were well upon the +lookout, and they had all the same report to give, that everything was +still and nothing had been seen. + +"You'll have Master Pawson on duty to-morrow night, so as to relieve one +man, Ben," said Roy, as he completed his round. + +"Won't relieve no man, sir," said Ben, sourly. "I shall want one to +watch that chap to see that he don't do nothing foolish." + +"Ah, you're prejudiced. But I say, Ben, suppose we were surprised, how +long would it take us to man the walls?" + +"Couldn't surprise us, sir," growled the old soldier. "First alarm, the +men would be out of the rooms and up atop of the leads at the guns; and +all the rest would make for the ramparts, ready to run to any spot that +was attacked. We're all right, sir, 'cept one thing." + +"What's that?" cried Roy, anxiously. + +"Old Jenk is worrying me, sir. He's been wandering about the ramparts +to-night in a curious, crazy way, speaking to nobody, and acting +silly-like. I'm pretty sure it was him as cut that line and let down +the flag." + +"I'll talk to him to-morrow. Good-night till twelve, Ben. I'm tired, +and shall be glad of my rest." + +"Good-night till twelve, captain," said the old soldier; and Roy went to +his room, took off helmet and sword-belt, and threw himself upon a +couch, to forget all his low spirits and troubles in less than a minute, +falling at once into a deep sleep, from which he started at the first +chime of the tower clock. + +The little lamp was burning dimly now on the mantelpiece, but it gave +him light enough to buckle on his sword; and as he did so, the chiming +and striking of the midnight hour went on in the midst of what seemed an +unnatural silence, which impressed him. The next moment his helmet was +on, and he stepped quickly out into the corridor, to find it full of +armed men, four of whom dashed at him as his hand flew to his side, and +he drew his sword. + +It was a vain effort; his arms were roughly grasped, and the cry he +tried to raise was smothered by a hand pressed upon his mouth; while, by +the light of a lantern raised on high, he saw the figure of the +secretary, who stepped forward and took the sword wrenched from his +hand. + +"Thanks, my brave young castellan," he said, mockingly. "We will take +off your steel toys and gewgaws by-and-by. One word, though," he said, +in a fierce whisper: "make the slightest sound, and you will be thrown +into the moat. Be silent, and we will recollect that you are only a +boy, and treat you as one." + +For answer, Roy threw all his strength into one desperate effort, +wrenched his head round so that it was clear of the hand pressed upon +it, and shrieked out the one word-- + +"Judas!" + +The word seemed to cut into the wretched traitor's brain; and, raising +the boy's sword, he struck at him; but the blade glanced from the +perfectly tempered helmet, and the next moment one who seemed to be an +officer interposed. + +"Prisoners are not treated like that, sir," he said, sternly. "Which +way now?" + +"This," said the secretary; and he led the way along the corridor, +towards the door opening upon the court-yard. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +A DARK NIGHT'S DEEDS. + +At that moment, when Roy would have surrendered his life to have rung +out an alarm, the signal of danger, treachery, and hopeless disaster +rang out in the form of a shot from the battlements overhead, and this +was followed by another and another. But as the prisoner was hurried +into the open air, armed men seemed to be gliding out of the darkness on +all sides, their source, as far as he could make out in those agitated +moments, being the bases of the towers. Then, as the trumpet rang out, +fighting began all around the castle at once, not from the outside, but +from within. Men had evidently crept silently up to the four towers, +and gathered there from the corridors to which they had been admitted; +and at the sound of the trumpet, a simultaneous attack was made, which, +coming from the unguarded rear, and in tremendous, constantly increasing +force, could not fail of being successful. + +Roy stood there in the midst of his mother's once pleasant garden, with +the stars glinting over his head, and guarded by half-a-dozen troopers, +listening to the clash of steel, and the firing going on all round where +the little garrison made desperate efforts to maintain themselves. But +they could not even grow stronger by joining, for the occupants of each +tower were isolated and driven back as they tried to communicate with +their officers, who, at the first alarm, tried to lead the men in the +guard-room to the gathering point selected in case of emergency. Ben +had just lit his lantern, expecting the coming of Roy at twelve, when +the first shot came; and, shouting an alarm, he drew his sword to dash +out, but only to be hurled back, the door-way of the guard-room being +blocked by men; while, when the occupants of the chambers beneath the +platforms of each tower tried to descend, they, too, in spite of +desperate efforts, were driven upward by the constantly arriving +enemies, who forced them on to the leads by the now useless guns. + +Here, in each case, a desperate encounter went on, which Roy, with his +blood running cold, was able to mentally picture, as he stood there +listening to the wild shouts of the attacking party, the defiant cries +of the garrison--the mere handfuls of men who tried to hold their own. + +There was no more firing: all was being done with the keen-edged naked +blade for a few minutes; and this was followed by a wild despairing cry +from the gate tower, and directly after there was a dull, sickening +crash which told that a man had been hurled from the parapet into the +court-yard, where he lay never to move again. + +The shock of this was succeeded by others nearly as terrible, as the +struggle went on at the tops of the different towers; and cry after cry +arose, followed by heavy splash after splash, which, Roy interpreted +rightly, meant that the victors were driving the defenders over the +battlements into the moat, to sink or swim for life as they could. + +A mad feeling of rage and despair seized upon the boy as he heard all +this, and he struggled desperately with his captors in his endeavours to +escape, and try to aid the poor fellows fighting to the death in their +vain efforts to defend the place. + +Vain, too, were his efforts; for a couple of men held him while others +wrenched his arms behind his back, and tearing off his gay scarf, bound +his elbows so tightly together that he could not stir, but had to listen +helplessly to the yells and despairing cries that arose towards the +silent vault of heaven. + +It seemed to Roy like an hour of horror, during which he was listening +to what seemed to be the massacre of the men, every one of whom he +looked upon as a friend. But it was only a matter of a few minutes at +the most, before a shout rang out from the top of the gate tower, to be +answered with a burst of wild "hurrahs" from the four corners, and the +ramparts as well; for the clashing of swords, the yells of rage, and the +sounds of fierce and desperate struggles going on had ceased. + +Roy's despair was at its height; he knew that the castle was taken, and +its defenders killed, hurled into the moat, or captive. + +But the boy's sinking heart gave one leap, for he knew that the +flickering fire of defence blazed up in one spot, and that was in the +guard-room, where he calculated that there must be twelve or fourteen +men, with Ben Martlet, Farmer Raynes, and the corporal. + +He was nearly right to a man. There were, including their officers, +twelve men penned up in the big stone chamber, where they had plenty of +arms and ammunition. The others had their quarters in the five chambers +in the towers, and were stationed as sentinels. All these had been +accounted for, save the wounded men in hospital. + +And as Roy listened to the hurrying tramp of feet, there was gathering +silence on the ramparts, while around him, in the court-yard, hundreds +of men were united and drawn up in line. + +Then, in the darkness beneath the gate-way, Roy heard a commanding voice +call upon the men in the guard-room to surrender. + +"What?" came out clearly in a harsh, snarling voice, which Roy hardly +knew as Ben's. "Do what?" + +"Surrender, my man! The place is taken." + +"Yes, by cowardly treachery, Ben," yelled Roy, desperately. "Don't give +in. Fight to the last." + +A man came hurrying up, and the secretary, fierce with passion, stood +before him. + +"If this boy dares to speak another word, ram a gag in his mouth.--No, +not yet.--Here, bring him up to the gate." + +Roy was half pushed and dragged to the great archway, and, as he reached +it, the clock chimed the quarter after midnight. + +"Now, general," cried Pawson, "we'll have them out. It's not worth +while to waste good men's lives to tear a set of mad rats out of their +hole." + +"Well, get them out," said the same commanding voice, and in the officer +a short distance from him, Roy recognised the one he had met with the +flag of truce. + +"Now, then, if you value your life," snarled Pawson in the boy's ear, +"order those fools to come out before we blow them to pieces with a keg +of powder. Do you hear? Come forward and speak!" + +Roy felt a fierce desire to spit in the traitor's face, but he mastered +himself and stepped forward. + +"Ah, you've come to your senses, then," said Pawson. "Lucky for you, my +popinjay. Now, then, tell them to surrender." + +"Why?" said Roy, spitefully. "They don't know what it means." + +"Speak!" cried Pawson; and he pricked the lad with the point of his +sword. + +Roy in those terrible moments had to fight hard to be dignified, as he +felt he ought to be, before the enemy; but the desire was strong upon +him, when he felt a slight prick in the side from the keen point of the +sword, to turn round and kick his aggressor with all his might. + +Then he spoke. + +"Sergeant Martlet, corporal, Farmer Raynes, all of you, I'm a prisoner, +and can't help myself. There are two or three hundred men here. Can +you hear me?" + +"Ay, ay, sir; go on," cried Ben. + +"They bid me tell you to surrender. What do you say?" + +"Let 'em come and make us. God save her ladyship and the king!" + +"Hurrah!" came rolling back from nearly a dozen lusty throats, and was +followed by a shout from Ben. + +"Get back, Master Roy; we're going to fire." + +"Then fire," cried Roy. "Never mind me now." + +Another cheer followed this; and there was a rattling noise which Roy +interpreted, for he knew that the men in the guard-room had seized the +pikes from the rack, and that a bristling hedge of steel was being +formed in the door-way. + +Just then the officer in command stepped forward. + +"Silence there!" he cried, in a loud clear voice. "Listen to me, my +men. The castle is taken, and I have four hundred men here. You are +the only defenders left.--Sergeant Martlet, I suppose you are an old +soldier, and if so, you know this boy's words are madness. Enough men +have perished, and I should be sorry to add your party to those who have +made so brave a defence. Come, you have all done your duty, and your +case is hopeless; surrender, and you shall suffer no harm." + +"When my captain tells me--not before." + +"Well spoken, and like a brave man," said the officer; and he turned to +Roy. + +"Now, captain," he said, and there was a touch of sarcasm in his voice, +"you don't want those stout fellows shot down, or smothered like rats in +their holes. Tell them to give up their arms and come out." + +"To a set of cowards who attacked us as you did with the help of that +treacherous dog!" cried Roy, passionately. "No!" + +"Hurrah!" was shouted from the guard-room door and Farmer Raynes roared +out: + +"Well said, Master Roy; we'll beat 'em yet." + +"Take that boy away," cried the officer; and Roy was dragged to one +side, where he heard the speaker again bid the party surrender; but only +received a shout of defiance in reply. + +A few short, sharp orders followed; and Roy quivered with passion as he +saw from the brightening sparks that a party of men who tramped forward +were blowing the matches of their firelocks. + +An order followed, and a ragged volley was fired in at the door, which +was answered by a cheer, and directly after by half-a-dozen shots and +some confusion among the attacking party, for two men staggered back and +fell groaning upon the stones. + +The officer stamped his foot. + +"Pikes and swords," he cried; and in obedience to his orders a little +column of a score of men dashed forward and tried to enter, thrusting in +their pikes; and as many as could get to the door striving desperately, +but only to be beaten back, and their discomfiture increased by a few +more shots. + +The attack was resumed with fresh men again and again, but the defenders +fought desperately, and in every case the attacking party were driven +back with several men badly wounded. + +"Block the place up and starve them out," said Pawson. + +"No," said the officer sternly. "The work must be done at once. +Powder," he cried to a couple of men near him, and a party marched off. + +After a short delay, during which Roy looked vainly round for the +secretary, the latter appeared again with the men, one of whom bore a +keg. To this a piece of fuse was attached ready for lighting, and the +officer walked to Roy's side. + +"Look here, youngster," he said. "I shall stand at nothing to complete +the reduction of this nest. You see that keg of powder. If these men +do not surrender at once, I shall treat them as desperate vermin and +blast them out or bury them, with perhaps half the tower upon their +heads. It rests with you whether I shall kill a dozen or so of brave +men or spare them. Which is it to be?" + +Roy was silent. + +"Come," said the officer, "I want to be merciful now. You are Sir +Granby Royland's son. He is a brave soldier, though mistaken in +defending a tyrant. I tell you that when a cause is hopeless he would +act as I ask you to do. Now you have well proved your courage, and you +spoke before in the rage of defeat. Speak now as a brave officer who +would not willingly sacrifice his men. What do you say?" + +Roy said nothing, for his heart swelled with emotion, and the words +would not come. The officer came closer, so that none other could hear. + +"In God's name, boy," he whispered, "don't force me to do this brutal +act; I ask you as the son of a brave soldier. Tell them to surrender +now." + +The way in which these words came to Roy's ear achieved that which no +threats or insult would have done. It was an enemy speaking, but +something told him that he was a brave soldier too; and without another +word Roy stepped up to the door-way, from whence a mistaken shot might +have laid him low. + +The officer grasped this, and shouted loudly-- + +"Within there! Don't fire!" + +It was only just in time, for half-a-dozen muskets were presented. + +The next moment Roy's voice rang out clearly: + +"Sergeant Martlet, corporal, Raynes, all of you, we have done our duty, +and it is hopeless to fight longer. You are the only men left. To +resist is to give all your lives for nothing. March out and throw down +your arms." + +A groan rose from within, and a figure came to the door-way. + +"Don't say that, Master Roy," cried Ben, hoarsely. "Couldn't we do it +if we held out?" + +"No; they will blow the place up. The powder is waiting. I am your +captain; I order you to surrender now." + +"Master Roy! Master Roy!" cried the old soldier in a piteous voice; "it +was no doing of mine. I was on the alert. Don't think it was any fault +of mine." + +"Fault of yours, Ben?" cried Roy. "No, nor mine neither." + +"But how did they get in, sir?" + +"By the secret passage that we could not find." + +"But how? Where can it be?" + +"I've been thinking, Ben. I don't know for certain; but it must open +into Master Pawson's room." + +"And he let 'em through?" + +"Yes; filling the corridors silently with troops while I slept." + +"The traitor! Then that was the signal, boy. Oh, my lad, my lad, why +didn't I kill him when I thought it must be he? What about repairing +the stone gallows now?" + +"I--don't understand you." + +"The lowering of the flag, sir--the lowering of the flag." + +"Yes," said the officer, who had advanced to them unobserved in the +gloom of the archway; "that was the signal, sergeant. You were betrayed +from within. Step out now with your men, like the brave fellow you are. +Give me your hand; and let me tell you that I don't believe I could +have taken the place without." + +"Am I to surrender, Master Roy?" said the old fellow, bitterly. + +"Yes, Ben; it is all over now." + +The hilt of a sword was thrust out as the old soldier held it to the +officer by the blade. + +"Shake hands with that, sir," he said, bitterly. "I'm a king's man +still.--Forward!" + +This to his brave companions; and as they marched slowly out and gave up +their arms, a tremendous roar arose from all assembled in the +court-yard. + +It was no derisive cry, no jeer at the conquered, but a full-throated +cheer of admiration for the brave little party, blood-stained, bandaged +roughly, three of them hardly able to keep their feet; and Roy's heart +once more swelled within him in spite of his despair, for he noticed in +the gloom that the officer in command took off his helmet as the men +marched by into the court; and then, as he replaced it, he said quietly +to Roy-- + +"All this is not necessary, sir.--Quick, one of you; untie this +gentleman's hands." + +For the first time that night, Roy felt giddy and sick with pain. But +he roused himself directly, for Master Pawson came up, and spoke quickly +in a low voice to the officer, who replied coldly, and with a ring of +contempt in all as he said, loudly-- + +"Of course, sir," he said, "in some things, by the terms of your +bargain, you are master here of the place and the estate. All that the +Parliament desires is the destruction of the castle as a stronghold; but +as to the garrison, that is another thing. We shall hold the place for +a time, and while I await further orders the prisoners will be my +charge." + +He turned to give some orders, and the secretary turned to Roy. + +"Yes," he said, "I am master here now of everything; so go and take off +all that tawdry rubbish. You will never make a soldier, and I shall +tame down all this bullying haughtiness. You never thought my day would +come when I was forced to put up with the insults and jeers of a +miserable cub of a boy. But every man has his day. Your party has gone +down at last, and mine is in power. Ah, you may pretend not to hear me, +and that you treat everything I say with contempt! Judas, am I, because +I saved bloodshed by a diplomatic stroke? Well, we shall see. You'll +come cringing to me soon." + +"When my father returns, and, if you have not already been hung for a +traitor, he punishes you as you deserve. Shall I cringe to you, then?" + +"Your father," said Pawson, mockingly. "Your proud swashbuckling father +is dead,--killed as he deserved, with scores of his fighting bullies. +You may look to me as your father now. Your mother and I thought it +better to end this sham defence at once. Hah! does that sting you? I +thought I should manage it at last. Yes, she thought with me. A fine, +handsome woman still, Roy, and a clever one, though she did pet and +spoil her idiotic cub of a son. But there, I forgive her, and we +understand each other fully now. Ha, ha! I thought that would touch +you home!" + +Roy nearly staggered as he heard these words, and the next moment he +would have flung himself at the traitor's throat; but just then a +friendly hand was laid upon his shoulder, and the officer said-- + +"I have given orders for your wounded men to be seen by our doctor. +Meanwhile, you had better come with me." + +He passed his arm through Roy's, and turned his back on Pawson, marching +the lad towards the private apartments of the castle; while the traitor +stood gazing after them, stung as deeply as his victim now in turn. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +"AND ALL THROUGH MY NEGLECT." + +Seeing how completely prostrated his companion seemed to be, the officer +turned to him as they reached the entrance to the private apartments and +said, quietly-- + +"Perhaps you will show me a room where I and my officers can have some +refreshment. We are starving. You can tell your servants that they +have nothing to fear. I will see that they are not insulted; and then +perhaps you would prefer to be alone." + +"Thank you," faltered Roy, speaking in a strange, dazed way, as if he +were in a dream. + +"Come, be a man, sir," said the officer, rather sternly. "It is the +fortune of war. A young soldier must not lose heart because he finds he +is a prisoner. There, meet me at breakfast-time, and you and I will +have a chat together. But listen first before you go: do not attempt +any foolish, reckless pranks in the way of trying to escape. I tell you +honestly, the castle will be so guarded and watched that it would be +madness.--By the way, where are Lady Royland's apartments?" + +Roy pointed to a door. + +"Tell her when you see her that there is nothing to fear. But Master +Pawson told me that he would place guards over her." + +Roy drew a deep breath but said nothing, merely contented himself with +pointing out the dining-room and library to his conqueror. Then he +stopped at his own door. + +"Your room? Very well; take my advice, and have a few hours' sleep," +said the officer, opening the door, entering, and looking round by the +light of the dim lamp. "Where does that big window open upon?" + +"The garden,--the court-yard." + +"And that narrow slit?" + +"Upon the moat." + +"Hah! Good-night to you." + +He strode out, and Roy stood where he had been left, with his head +throbbing as if it would burst from the terrible thoughts that invaded +it. + +Directly after he heard the tramp of heavy feet, a few words delivered +in an imperious tone, and there was the heavy _rap, rap_ of a couple of +musket butts upon the oaken floor, telling him that guards had been +placed at his door. His despair now knew no bounds, for he had +determined to go straight to his mother's chamber, and ask her if Master +Pawson's words were true. Now all communication was cut off, for he was +a prisoner. + +But his agony had reached its greatest height, and in a short time he +grew calmer; for light came into his darkened brain, and he told himself +he was glad that he had not been able to go and insult his mother by +asking such a question. + +"It is horrible!" he said to himself; "and I must have been mad to think +such a thing possible. Liar! traitor! wretch! How could I think there +was the faintest truth in anything he said!" + +Utterly exhausted, he took off his armour and laid it and his sword-belt +and empty scabbard aside. + +"Done with now," he said, bitterly; and he sank upon the couch to try +and think whether he was to blame for not searching more for the passage +leading out beyond the moat. + +"But I did try, and try hard," he muttered. "No; I could not foresee +that the man chosen by my father would betray us. It was my duty to +trust him. It was not my fault." + +Through the remainder of that night he sat there thinking. Now +listening to the tramp of the sentries at his door and overhead upon the +ramparts, starting from time to time as he heard them challenge, and the +word passed on, till it died away; now thinking bitterly of the ease +with which they had been beaten, and of the men who must have fallen in +their defence. Then, from utter exhaustion, his eyes would close, and +consciousness leave him for a few minutes as he sank back. + +But he never thoroughly went to sleep, the act of sinking back making +him start into wakefulness, bitter and angry with himself for these +lapses, and in every case springing up to pace the room. + +"Poor mother! What she must have suffered through it all, and I +scarcely gave her a thought. That wretch must have locked her in her +room or she would certainly have been seeing to the wounded." + +The clock chimed and struck, and chimed and struck again, with Roy +counting the long lingering hours as they went on, for he was longing +for the day to appear, hopeless as the dawn would be. But he wanted to +see the general, to beg that he might go to Lady Royland; and the time +when he would meet him seemed as if it would never come. + +But at last the faint light began to dawn through the window, and, hot +and feverish, he threw it open, to look out across the court and over +the eastern ramparts at the coming signs of day, which grew brighter and +clearer till the sentinels upon the terrace-like place, and the +crenellations, stood out of a purply black plainly marked against the +sky. + +There were at least twenty men marching to and fro where at the most he +had had two; and he groaned in spirit for a time as he went over again +the occurrences of the past night. But far on high the sky began to be +dappled with orange and golden clouds, which increased in brightness +till the whole east was one glory of light, bringing with it hope; while +the soft cool breeze he drank in gave him fresh courage and the strength +to act the part he had to play,--that of one too proud to be cast down, +so that his men should speak of him ever after as his father's son. + +"Better than being in one of the dungeons," he thought, as he indulged +in a good bathe, and dressed himself simply; after which he carefully +hung up his armour, with the helmet above, and longed for his sword that +it might occupy its old place. + +"Better be lying rusting in the moat than resting in such hands as his," +he muttered. + +After spending some time at the window gazing across the court at the +windows of the long chamber used for the hospital, and at the opening to +the stabling down below, he fell to wondering as to how the poor fellows +who were wounded had passed the night; and this brought a shudder, and +he ran across to the little slit in the thickness of the wall to open +the tiny casement, and look down at the moat, peering to right and left +with starting eyes in expectant dread of seeing some ghastly sign of the +horrible struggle that had taken place upon the tower platforms. But +the lilies floated peacefully enough, and displayed their great white +cups, and the fish played about beneath the leaves, making rings in the +smooth patches where they rose--rings which spread and spread till they +slightly swayed the reeds and rushes at the edge. + +But he saw no dead white face gazing up at the sunlit heavens, and, +search the waters as he would, there was not a sign to send a shudder +through his frame. + +All at once there was the tramp of feet overhead, and he went back to +the other window, where he stood and looked across, and on the eastern +rampart saw the guard relieved, the sun burnishing the men's steel caps; +and soon after, as he watched, wondering what the day would bring forth, +he heard the sentries at his door relieved in turn. + +This ended, the echoes of the place were awakened by the blast of a +trumpet, and the boy stood looking in wonder at the strength of the +force drawn up in the court, and saw fully half of them march towards +the great gate-way. Then he heard the drawbridge lowered, and the +heavy, hollow tramp of the men as they passed across. Soon after, the +neighing of horses reached his ears, and then came the beating of hoofs +on the bridge, raising echoes from the walls at the other end, as a +troop rode in and were drawn up on either side--sturdy-looking fellows, +who sat their horses well, as Roy was fain to grant in spite of Ben +Martlet's disparaging remarks. + +He was still watching the troopers and their horses, when he heard a +movement outside his door as if the sentries had presented arms; and +directly after the general strode into the room, with his stern, +thoughtful countenance lighting up as he encountered Roy's frank, bold +eyes. + +"Good-morning," he said, holding out his hand. + +Roy flushed, but made no movement to take it. + +"As one gentleman to another, Roy Royland," he said, smiling. "We can +be enemies again when we have fighting to do. Come, we can be friends +now." + +Roy felt drawn towards him, and he slowly raised his hand, which was +firmly gripped and held for a few moments. + +"Ah, that's better!--Well, prisoner, how have you slept?" + +"I? Not at all," said Roy, bitterly. + +"That is a pity, too," said the general. "You ought to have slept. You +had no guilty conscience to keep you awake. You only had the knowledge +of duty done." + +"And what about the poor fellows who fell fighting for us? Would not +that keep me awake?" + +"Ah, yes!" said the general, laying his hand on Roy's shoulder. "That +is right. Well, as far as I have ascertained, not a man failed to cross +the moat after his plunge. There are some ugly wounds, no doubt, but +the doctor tells me that my men have suffered worse than yours, and he +does not anticipate that any of your brave fellows will even have to +stay in bed." + +"That is good news," said Roy in spite of himself, for he meant to be +very stern and distant. + +"Better than was given me, my boy. There, come along; breakfast is +waiting." + +Roy shrank back. + +"I would rather have some bread and water here," he said. + +"Indeed! But I'm not going to feed my prisoner upon bread and water. I +find you have plenty here, and that plenty you shall share. Ah! I see +you do not want to meet our friend Pawson." + +Roy started violently, and changed colour. + +"He will not be with us, sir. Master Pawson prefers to stay in his own +chamber, and I am quite willing." + +"My mother?" asked Roy, in agony. + +"Keeps to her room, boy. Her women are with her, and she knows that you +are safe." + +"She knows that?" cried Roy. + +"Well, yes. I am what you would call a brutal rebel and traitor to my +king; but I have a wife who knows what anxiety is about her husband and +her son during this cruel war, and I took the liberty of asking an +interview last night, before going to rest, and telling Lady Royland how +you had behaved." + +"Thank you, General--General--" + +"Hepburn, my lad," and he caught the hand the boy held out. "And let me +tell you that you have a mother of whom any boy should be proud--your +father a wife such as few men own. She passed the whole night tending +the wounded and winning our doctor's esteem. But come; I am hungry, and +so must you be too." + +Roy followed him without a word, feeling that, prisoner though he was, +the salutes of the sentinels they passed were full of respect; and when +he reached the dining-room, in which about twenty officers were gathered +waiting their general's presence to begin, they rose like one man, and +pressed forward to shake him by the hand, making the boy flush with +mingled shame and pride, for had he taken the castle instead of losing +it, his reception could not have been more warm. + +"Come," said the general, after their hasty meal was at an end, "you are +my prisoner, but I will not ask you to make promises not to escape. You +can go about the castle; the men will let you pass anywhere within the +portcullis. You will like to visit your wounded men, of course." + +"And the other prisoners?" said Roy. + +"I am going to parade them now; so come with me and see." + +The strong force pretty well filled the square court-yard, but left a +vacant place in the middle into which the general strode; and then +giving his orders, there was a pause, during which Roy's gaze turned +involuntarily towards the little turret at the corner of the gate tower; +but no flag fluttered there, and he felt a pang as he gazed at the tall +pole with the halyard against it swayed by the wind. + +But he had something else to take his attention directly as he glanced +round the walls. + +There, standing at the window of the north-west tower, was the upper +part of the figure of Master Pawson, framed as it were in stone; and Roy +turned away in disgust as a hearty cheer arose, and he saw it was to +welcome the brave fellows, who marched from their prison of the night, +bandaged, bruised, and sadly damaged in their personal appearance, but +with heads erect and keeping step with Ben Martlet, who looked as if he +were flushed with victory instead of labouring under defeat. + +The men were drawn up in line in the middle of the narrow square, and as +they caught sight of Roy just by the general, their military manners +gave place to a touch of human nature, for Ben nodded eagerly to his +young captain, and wounded and sound all waved steel cap or hand, Farmer +Raynes the latter in a left-handed way, for his right was in a sling; +and then all burst into a cheer. + +Just then, behind the prisoners and over the heads of the line of +mounted men, whose horses' hoofs were trampling the flower-beds, Roy +caught sight of something white in the open hospital window, and his +heart leaped as his mother waved her handkerchief to him, wafting away +with it the last trace of the vile mist Master Pawson had raised around +her by his assertion. + +Roy eagerly responded to the salutation, and then had his attention +taken up by the action of the general, who walked along the little line +of prisoners, who, to a man, returned his stern scrutiny with a bold, +defiant stare. Then turning to Ben, he said-- + +"How many of these are disciplined soldiers, sergeant?" + +"All of 'em far as we could make 'em," replied Ben. + +"Yes. But how many were in the Royalist army?" + +"Three and me," said Ben. + +"You three men, two paces to the rear," said the general, sharply; and +the three troopers stepped back. + +"Nay, nay!" shouted Farmer Raynes, angrily. "Share and share alike. We +were all in it; and I say if you shoot them, shoot us, too;" and he +stepped back, the others after a momentary hesitation following his +example. + +There was a murmur in the Parliamentary ranks as the men witnessed this +little bit of heroism, and the general shouted his next order in a very +peremptory way. + +"Attention!" he cried, addressing the prisoners. "I do not shoot brave +men in cold blood, only cowards and traitors." + +"Then have that hound down from yon window, general," cried Ben, +excitedly, pointing to where Master Pawson stood looking on, "and shoot +him. Nay, it's insulting good soldiers to ask 'em to do it, sir. We've +an old stone gallows here on the ramparts; have him hung." + +A yell of execration burst from the prisoners, and the ex-secretary +disappeared. + +"Silence!" cried the general. "Attend there. You, sergeant, and you +three men, will you take service under the Parliament, and keep your +ranks with the promise of early promotion?" + +"Shall I speak for you, comrades?" asked Ben. + +"Yes," they cried together. + +"Then not a man of us, sir. We're Sir Granby Royland's old troopers, +and we say, God save the king!" + +The general made a sign, and the four men were surrounded and marched to +one side in the direction from whence they had been brought; while at +another sign, the rest of the prisoners, with Farmer Raynes at their +head, closed up in line. + +"What are you?" said the general, sternly, beginning with the sturdy +tenant of the estate. + +"Farmer." + +"And you?" + +"Butler." + +And so all along the line, each man making his response in an +independent, defiant tone. + +"Will you come and serve the Parliament?" said the general. "I want +strong, brave men." + +He looked at Farmer Raynes as he spoke, but glanced afterwards at every +man in turn. + +"Then you must go and look for 'em somewhere else, squire. You won't +find a man on Sir Granby Royland's estate." + +A murmur from the rank showed how the rest acquiesced. + +The general made a sign, and a squad of musketeers surrounded the men. + +"Go back to your homes, my lads; but remember, if you are found in arms +again, you will be shot. Escort these men beyond the moat." + +Farmer Raynes turned sharply to Roy. + +"Can't help ourselves, captain," he cried, loudly; "but shot or no, +we're ready when you want us again.--Good-bye, Martlet, old comrade.-- +Take care of him, general, for he's as fine a soldier as ever stepped.-- +Now, my lads, three cheers for my lady, and then march." + +The prisoners burst into a hearty roar, and were then escorted through +the gate-way and over the drawbridge beyond the strong picket stationed +by the earthwork. Here they cheered loudly again. + +"Hallo! who are you?" said the general, sharply, as his eyes lit upon +the flowing white hair and beard of the tottering old gate-keeper, who, +fully armed, and with his head erect, took a few paces forward from +where he had stood before unobserved. + +"Sir Granby's oldest follower, and his father's afore him," said Jenk, +in his feeble, quavering voice. "Do I go with Ben Martlet and t'others +to the prison?" + +"No," said the general, shortly; "stop and attend to your young master, +and mind you don't get playing tricks with that sword." + +"But I'm a soldier as has sarved--" + +"Silence, Jenk!" said Roy, hastily stepping to his side. "You must not +desert me; I'm quite alone now." + +"Oh, very well, if it's like that, sir, I'll stop with you," quavered +the old man; and he stepped stiffly behind his young master, unconscious +of the smiles and whispers which arose. + +Half an hour later the new garrison had settled down to its quarters; +the three heavy guns from the battery had been brought in and planted in +the gate-way to sweep the approach, and Royland Castle was transformed +into a Parliamentary stronghold, protected by whose guns a little camp +was formed just beyond the moat, and occupied by the cavalry of the +force. + +Ben and his three comrades were placed in a room opening on the +court-yard, with leave to go anywhere about the quadrangle, with a +sentry placed over them--hardly a necessity, for they were all suffering +from wounds, of which, however, they made light when Roy went to them, +setting him a capital example of keeping a good heart. + +Then, finding himself fully at liberty to go where he pleased, the +sentries saluting and letting him pass, Roy made for the hospital-room, +longing for and yet dreading the interview, fearing as he did to witness +his mother's despair. + +To his surprise, as she eagerly caught his hands in hers, her face was +wreathed in smiles, and she strove to comfort him. + +"Defeated, Roy; but even your enemies honour you for your brave +defence," she whispered. + +"Ours, mother; not mine only," he said. And then, feeling that he could +not even allude to the traitor who carefully kept out of his way, he +went round to the men's beds with Lady Royland. The place was pretty +full now, but in spite of serious wounds the room looked cheerful, and +the men of both sides received them with smiles. There was only one sad +face, and that was Sam Donny's, for he had taken to his bed again, "from +weakness," Lady Royland said. + +She passed on to the next bed, and Roy sat down by the poor fellow for a +few minutes, to take his hand, gazing the while in his drawn and +wrinkled face. + +"I'm very, very sorry, Sam," Roy said, gently. "Come, you must try and +get right again." + +"Yes, captain," said the man loudly, with a groan. "I was to have been +out in a few days if I hadn't turned worse. This doctor don't +understand my case." + +"What is it?" said Roy, anxiously. "Has your wound broken out again?" + +"Nothing at all," whispered the man, with his eyes twinkling. "I'm +nearly as right as you are, sir; and when you want me, here I am." + +"What?" + +"Hush! Don't look like that. I'm gammoning my lady, so as they shan't +send me away like t'others. You've got a strong man here when you and +Ben Martlet wants to make a fight for it again. Oh-h-h!" + +He groaned as he saw one of the wounded Parliamentarians looking in +their direction, and Roy rose hurriedly and joined his mother, feeling +as if he were playing false. + +They finished their round of the place, and then went out into the +corridor to talk. + +"Don't speak about our disaster, Roy," said Lady Royland, clinging to +his hand. "We must bear it, and your father cannot blame us for our +reverse. There, I shall be busy here, and we must be thankful that we +have fallen into the hands of General Hepburn, whose kindness and +consideration are far more than we could have expected. He has only one +fault--he is an enemy." + +"Then you don't blame me for feeling as if I half liked him, mother?" + +"We can like the man, Roy, without liking his principles," said Lady +Royland, calmly. "Come and see me as often as you can; I shall +generally be here, but I suppose you can come to my room sometimes." + +"I suppose so," said Roy. "I believe I am to keep mine." + +"Yes; General Hepburn told me you should; but, Roy, you will be +careful." + +"What--about trying to retake the place?" + +"It is impossible, my boy. But I did not mean that; I meant about +encountering that man--no, he is not a man," she cried, with an angry +flash of her eyes. "He has taken possession of the library and the +state-room, for he made a bargain with our enemies that his reward for +delivering up the place was to be that he should retain the estate +afterwards." + +"And they wanted the stronghold put down, and agreed," said Roy. "Yes; +I pretty well know all, mother. Of course you have heard how he got the +men in? All through my neglect?" + +"Yes, Roy! No, Roy, there was no neglect! We could not know of that +communication." + +"I did; but I could not find it. Oh, how that villain did cheat--" + +Roy got no further, for his mother's hand was laid upon his lips, and +they parted directly after, her last words being: + +"Don't think of it, Roy; our position is a happy one compared to his. +Even the enemy look upon him with disgust." + +"And I was ready for a few moments to believe all he said," thought Roy, +as he returned to the court-yard with a strong desire now in his mind, +one which grew minute by minute. He only waited for a favourable +opportunity to make his request. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +OLD JENK'S MIND IS TROUBLED. + +Two days passed before Roy was able to ask what he wanted. For during +this interval General Hepburn seemed too much immersed in affairs to +more than give him a friendly nod when they met at meals. Men were +being constantly sent out with despatches, and others came. Then the +cavalry regiment was always going and coming, "sweeping the country," +Ben said, when Roy sat talking by the old soldier, who was more injured +than he would own to, and spent most of his time on a stone seat in the +sun. + +"Tchah! not I, sir," he said, peevishly. "My lady's got her hands full +enough. We chaps know how to manage with clean water, fresh bit o' +linen, and keep quiet in the sunshine, and natur' does all the rest. +We're getting on right enough.--Eh, comrades?" + +"Couldn't be better," said the corporal. "Soon be ready to begin again, +Master Roy, when you see your chance." + +Words like these, and a hint or two again and again from the sick men in +the hospital, could not fail to set ideas growing in Roy's brain; but +everything was confused and misty yet, and the time went on. Poor old +Jenk crept up to the four men, and always had the sunniest spot in the +corner given to him, and here he would settle himself, nursing his sword +in his lap, and go fast asleep. + +"Yes, sir," said Ben, one day; "you see he's so very old. I believe +after all he's a hundred, and it's a honour to him, I say. Mean to live +to a hundred myself if I can. But see how he sleeps; I don't believe +he's quite awake more than three hours a day, and I dessay he'll just +come to an end some time in his sleep." + +"Poor old fellow," said Roy, softly, as he laid his fresh young hand +upon the gnarled and withered fingers that rested upon the sword across +the old man's knees. + +"Ah, he has been a good soldier in his day, Master Roy, but it's rum how +he can't see that he's not a fine strong man now! Why, you might really +nigh blow him over, and all the time he keeps on talking about what he's +going to do to Master Fiddler as soon as he gets a chance." + +"What! he doesn't threaten to attack him?" + +"Don't threaten, sir?" said Ben with a chuckle. "But he just do; and +then he's going to retake the castle singlehanded." + +"But he mustn't have a sword; he'll be making some trouble." + +"Well, if he makes an end to Master Pawson, sir, I think he may just lie +down and die at once like a regular hero, for he'll have done the finest +thing he ever did in his life." + +"Oh, nonsense, Ben! You and all of you must mind the poor old fellow +does nothing foolish." + +Ben growled and shook his head, for his ideas were not at all in +accordance with his young master's. + +"You need not look so sour, Ben," Roy hastened to say. "Master Pawson +will get his deserts some day." + +"Yes, sir," said the old soldier, sourly; "his sort generally seem to in +this precious world. His deserts seem to be your father's fine old +property to wallow in, and get fatter and rounder-faced every day. He'd +better not go and sit and read big books belonging to your father atop +of either of the towers when I'm nigh, sir, for I'll pitch him off as +sure as he plays the fiddle." + +The men laughed. + +"Oh, you may grin," said Ben, "but I mean it. You know, I s'pose, +Master Roy, as they've emptied his room and carried everything into your +father's library,--fiddle and all. Oh, how I should like to smash that +caterwaulin' thing!" + +"I did not know it, Ben," said Roy, thoughtfully. "I keep away from +there as much as I can. But I say, Ben," he continued, smiling, as he +laid his hand upon the old soldier's knee, "your wound is hurting you a +good deal to-day." + +"Awful, my lad, awful; it's getting better, but it feels as if a hungry +dog was gnawing the bone." + +"I thought so." + +"Why, how did you know, my lad?" said Ben, innocently. + +"Only by your manner. But look here," continued Roy, "I want very badly +to see that place where the enemy got in." + +"Ay, and so do I, sir. I've lain awake at nights with that place +worrying me more than my big chop as ought to ha' been well by this +time. I don't understand it yet, only I expect as he let 'em in. So he +filled all the long underground passages with the men, and got 'em there +ready to go up the towers when the signal was given? I daresay he give +it with his miserable squeak of a pipe." + +"I'm going to ask General Hepburn to let me see the place." + +"And he won't let you, of course. You'll have to give the sentries +something, and perhaps they may." + +"No; I'm not going to do anything underhanded, Ben. I shall ask the +general himself." + +"Oh come, I like that, sir," said Ben, derisively. "He didn't do +anything underhanded along with Fiddler Pawson, did he?" + +"Wound shooting, Ben?" said Roy, drily. + +The old soldier chuckled, and the boy rose and went straight to the +general's snug quarters in a little place adjoining the dining-room to +prefer his request. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +THE WAY IN AND THE WAY OUT. + +The sentries challenged Roy as he went along the corridors, and it made +his heart ache for this to take place in his own old home; but as he was +passed on directly, he drew himself up, went to the door, knocked, and +the general's deep hard voice cried, "Come in." + +General Hepburn was seated at a table writing, but he threw down his pen +as he saw who it was, and smiled. + +"What can I do for you, my restless prisoner?" he said. + +"I want you to give me a pass for the sentries, so that I can go and +examine the passage through which you brought your men that night, sir." + +"Why? What for?" + +"Out of curiosity. Isn't it natural, sir, that after being here all my +life, and then tricked like that, I should want to know how it was +done?" + +"Yes," said the general, abruptly; and he took up his pen and wrote +something upon a piece of paper, swept some pounce over it, shook it, +and gave it to his petitioner. "You can go and see it." + +"And take Sergeant Martlet with me, sir? He was my lieutenant and +adviser." + +The general snatched the paper back, wrote in a line, and once more +handed it. + +"Yes," he said; "but I must be strict, boy. You will have a sergeant's +guard with you all the time." + +"Of course," said Roy; "but I am not going to try and escape to-day." + +"No," said the general, smiling, and taking up his pen again; "you are +not going to try and escape to-day." + +As Roy went away, the guard was being changed, and the place rang with +the tramp of men, the officer on duty visiting the different posts and +examining everything in the keenest way. + +"Ah, they're doing it right enough, Master Roy," said Ben; and the lad +started, for he had not heard the old sergeant's approach. "Taking a +lesson?" + +"I was watching them, Ben." + +"Ah, and if they warn't enemies, and taken our place, I'd say the +general was a thorough good soldier, and knew what he was about." + +"You do think that, then?" said Roy, who was glad to hear his own ideas +endorsed. + +"Course I do, sir. I growled and grumbled because I'm sore; but it does +one's heart good to see the fine discipline, and the way in which they +work our guns. He didn't seem very clever at managing his horse, but I +s'pose he was right, for sorry am I to say it, he's made the castle +twice as strong as it was, and only by having his men in such order." + +"Yes; everything goes like clockwork, Ben," said Roy, sadly. + +"Better, sir; clocks get out of order; garrison like this don't. A man +or two may go wrong, but there is always more to take their places. We +did our best, and was very proud of it, sir; but it's one thing to have +three trained soldiers for your garrison and to make it stronger out of +such men as you can get together, and another thing to march in as many +as you can make room for, and all well-drilled. There, it's of no use +to grumble, sir; we did wonders.--So the general won't let you go and +see the fox's hole?" + +"Yes, he will, Ben. I have the pass here to present to the officers on +duty." + +"Why didn't you say so before?" cried Ben, sharply. "Come along, then, +sir. I wouldn't go and say anything to them yonder, because they might +feel a bit jealous." + +Roy nodded, and followed by the old sergeant he walked straight to the +guard-room, presented his paper, feeling all the while how strange it +was to have to ask permission in his own old home. But he had no time +for thought. The officer promptly called out a sergeant, and selected +four men, and with them for guard, Roy and Ben led across the court to +the entrance of the north-west tower. + +Roy felt eager and yet depressed as they passed in, the sergeant leading +and going up the spiral stairs to Master Pawson's old room, which was +partly dismantled now, and the furniture left just sufficient to provide +seats and a table for a dozen men who used it as a second guard-room. + +"You don't know the way out and in by this passage, then, sir?" the +sergeant said. + +"No," replied Roy, who was examining the walls. "I have no idea where +it is. Surely it can't be here?" + +"Take a look round, sir; perhaps you'll make it out." + +Roy did look round--an easy thing to do in a round chamber--but the +door, the one large cupboard, the locker in the window, and a broad +oaken panel over the mantelpiece were examined and in vain. The last +took his attention the most, looking as if it might be a low door-way, +and sounding hollow; but he could make nothing of it, and he fell to +examining the wainscot in other parts and the floor boards. + +"Better give it up, sir," said the sergeant, smiling. "I don't suppose +any one would find it out unless it was by accident. Shall I show you +now?" + +"No," said Roy, who was on his mettle; and he examined the whole place +again, beginning with the locker in the window, opening an oaken +box-like contrivance in which lay a few of the soldiers' cloaks for +which there was no room on the nails and hooks lately driven into the +wall. + +But after a quarter of an hour's keen search, Roy gave it up. + +"I am wasting time," he said. + +"Yes, sir," said the sergeant; "but, as children say at play, you were +burning more than once." + +Roy felt disposed to renew his quest, but he refrained, and the sergeant +went to the casement window, and as Roy watched him, opened it till it +stood at a certain angle, which allowed him to thrust down a pin and +secure it--a simple enough thing to do, and apparently to keep the wind +from blowing it to and fro. + +"That unlocks the trap-door, sir," said the man. "If you open it more +or less, it doesn't act. Look here." + +He opened the lid of the locker, and turned a catch over it to keep it +from shutting down again, then threw out the cloaks. + +"Now pull up that end, sir." + +Roy took hold of the panelled oaken side of the locker on his left, and +to his astonishment the end of the coffer-like affair glided easily up, +bringing with it one end of the oaken bottom; while the other end, +turning upon a pivot on the middle, went down, laying open a square +shaft going at a slope apparently into the thickness of the wall. + +Roy uttered an ejaculation of wonder, while the sergeant struck a light, +lit a lantern, got feet first into the locker, and let himself slide; +and they saw him descend a dozen feet at an easy slope, stand upright, +and hold the light for them to follow and stand by him in a narrow +passage with an arched roof. + +"Easy enough, when you know how," said the man. + +"Ay, easy enough, when you know how," growled Ben, while Roy examined a +short, stout ladder hanging from a couple of hooks by the arched +ceiling. + +"For going back?" he said. + +"Yes, sir," was the reply, as the sergeant moved forward a few steps to +allow his men to follow, which they did as if quite accustomed to the +task. + +The narrow passage ended at the top of a spiral staircase just wide +enough to allow a man to pass along, and down this he went with a light, +the others following, till they had descended to a great depth. + +"Hundred steps," growled Ben, as they stood now in a square crypt-like +chamber, with a pointed archway in the centre of the wall at one end. + +"There you are, sir," said the sergeant, holding up the lantern, "cut +right through the stone. It's as dry as tinder, though it does go +straight under the moat. Isn't it strange that you didn't know of +this?" + +"Strange!" cried Ben, taking the answer out of his young master's lips; +"why, I didn't know anything about it myself. I mean, where it was." + +Roy was silent, for he was thinking of how easily the passage could have +been blocked, or a few men have held it against a host. + +"Want to go any farther, sir?" asked the sergeant. + +"Farther? Yes!" cried Roy, excitedly. "I want to go right to the end." + +"Long way, sir, and it's all alike. It comes out in the old ruined +place at the top of that little hill." + +"Yes, I suppose so," said Roy. "Lead on, please." + +The sergeant went forward with the light, and Roy followed, whispering +to his companion as they went along. + +"Oh, Ben, if we had only found it out!" + +"Ay, sir. If we had only found it out; but it wanted a man like Master +Pawson." + +"Why, Ben," cried Roy, who had a flash of inspiration; "he must have +found out about it in one of those old books from the library, one of +those which tell about the building of the castle." + +"Why, o' course, sir!" growled Ben; "and you, with all those books to +look at when you liked, and not find it out yourself." + +"And I know the very book," cried Roy, "and have looked at the pictures +in it scores of times. But, I remember now, I have not seen it since +that wretch has been here." + +They had to increase their pace, for the sergeant was striding along +over the fairly level floor, which had doubtless been lately cleared, +for the lantern showed where portions of the arched roof had shaled off, +though much of it was in almost the same condition as when it was +laboriously chipped away with the mason's hammers, whose marks were +plainly enough to be seen. + +"Seen one bit, we've seen all, Master Roy," said Ben at last in a +disgusted tone; "but it don't want a trained soldier to take a castle if +he's got a way in, made ready for him like this." + +But they proceeded, and went right to the end, which was carefully +masked in the ruin of the old chapel. But some time before they reached +the other opening they were challenged, and Roy felt no surprise on +finding a strong body of horse bivouacked in the ancient ruin. + +On the way back to the castle Roy gleaned a few facts from the sergeant, +which only, however, endorsed those already gathered,--to wit, that the +ex-secretary had been holding communications with the enemy for some +time before they came to terms, visiting the camp again and again at +night, and eluding the vigilance of those who tried to follow him, +dodging, as he always did, and then doubling back and reaching the ruins +where they were not watched. It was not until General Hepburn had +realised that it would be a very long and tedious task to reduce the +castle, and only to be achieved at the cost of much bloodshed, that he, +after communication with headquarters, came to Pawson's terms, and then +the result was immediate. + +Roy's first step on returning was to seek Lady Royland and tell her of +his visit, at the same time asking her opinion about the book, which she +remembered at once. + +"Yes," she said, at last; "if ever we find that book again, we shall +read the story of our ruin there." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +ROY HEARS THE SIMPLE TRUTH. + +A month had passed, and the prisoners knew nothing of what was going on +in the outer world. Now and then rumours floated to Roy's ears through +different channels of how matters progressed in the country, but they +were rumours which, Lady Royland pointed out, could not be trustworthy. +One day it would be that the king was carrying everything before him, +and that the rebellion was nearly stamped out; while on another they +heard that the Parliamentarians held the whole country, and the king +hardly had a follower left. + +The moat embraced the world of the prisoners during their captivity, and +they knew what went on within its enclosure,--little else. + +"We must wait patiently, Roy," said Lady Royland. + +"Yes, mother," he replied, with a smile full of annoyance; "we must +wait, but I can't do it patiently. In the old days I could fish and +climb after the jackdaws' nests, and make excursions, and read; but I +can't do any of those things now. I only seem able to think about +escaping." + +"Well, my boy," said Lady Royland, sadly--one day when Roy said this for +perhaps the twentieth time, and she looked at him with a pained +expression in her eyes--"I know how hard it must be for a young bird to +beat its wings, shut in by a cage. Escape, then. You may be able to +find your father. But at the least you will be free." + +Roy thought of Pawson's words about his father's death, but mentally +declared it was a lie like the other assertion, and burst out into a +mocking laugh, which made his mother look at him wonderingly. + +"Escape?" he said. "I say, mother, do you know I've often thought how +easily I could get on to the ramparts, slide down a rope, and swim +across the moat." + +"Yes, I am sure you could," she said, eagerly, but with the pain in her +eyes growing plainer. "Well, it would be bitter for me to part with +you, but go." + +Roy laughed outright once more. + +"Why, you dear, darling, silly old mother!" he cried, flinging his arms +about her neck, and kissing her; "just as if I could go away and leave +you here. I should look a nice young cavalier when I met my father-- +shouldn't I?--and he asked where I had left you. No! I'm only +grumbling like old Ben does about being shut up, though General Hepburn +does treat us very well." + +"Yes; no gentleman could behave to us with more consideration, my boy." + +"But why doesn't father or the king, or some one of his officers, come +and attack this place? All this time gone by, and the general here +seems to hold the country for miles round, and all the gentry are +friendly to him. Do you know Parson Meldew was here yesterday to see +the beast?" + +Lady Royland looked at him wonderingly. + +"Well, I can't help calling him that. He is a beast, and he lives in a +den. No one seems to associate with him. I believe he hates the +general, but the general told me one day that Pawson was not good enough +to hate." + +"Don't mention his name in my presence," said Lady Royland, sternly. + +The conversation came to an end, Roy walking off into the court-yard, a +garden no longer, to see a squadron of horse drawn up before starting +upon some reconnoissance. + +They rode out to the sound of the trumpet; and as the horses' hoofs +echoed on the lowered bridge, and mingled with their snorting and the +jingle of the accoutrements, Roy felt his heart burn within him, and the +longing to be free grew almost unbearable. + +As the drawbridge was raised again, a grunt behind him made the boy turn +sharply, to face the old sergeant, who had come up, his step unheard +amidst the tramping of the horses as they passed over the planks. + +"Sets one longing, sir, don't it?" said Ben. + +"Ay, it does," said Roy, sighing. + +"'Tick'larly at your age, sir. Why, I almost wish my wound hadn't got +well. It did give me something to think about. If I go on with nothing +to do much longer, they'll have to dig a hole to bury me." + +"Nonsense, Ben!" + +"No, it aren't nonsense, sir; for you see I always was a busy man. Now +there's no armour to polish, no guns to look after, no powder-magazine +to work at, and no one to drill. I'm just getting rusty, right through +to the heart." + +"But you've been weak and ill, Ben, and a rest does you good." + +"No, it don't, sir. Does t'others good; and thanks to my lady and the +doctor, every one's got well 'cept Sam Donny, whose leg is reg'lar +twissen up like, and as if it would never come straight again. Seems +queer, too, as a wound uppards should affect him so downards." + +"Oh, he'll be right when the war's over." + +"When it's over, sir? But when will that be?" + +"Ah! I don't know, Ben," said Roy, with a sigh. "But there, don't +fret. Take it easy for a bit, and grow strong." + +"I am strong, sir. Strong as a horse--but do I look like the sort of +man to take it easy? I've sat on that bench in the sun warming one +side, and turning and warming the other side, till I've felt as if I +hated myself. It aren't as if I could read. Begin to wish I could now, +not as I ever knowed much good come out o' books." + +"Why, Ben!" + +"Ah, you may say `Why, Ben!' sir, but look what books'll bring a man to! +Look at that there Fiddler Pawson. Shuts hisself up even now, doing +nothing but read, and only comes out o' nights, and goes prowling round +the ramparts like an old black tom-cat. You can often hear the sentries +challenging him." + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Roy. "I've heard them challenge some one +when I've been watching the stars." + +"What business have you watching the stars o' nights, sir?" said Ben, +sourly. + +"Can't always sleep, Ben, for thinking." + +"Humph!" growled the man. "Howsoever, sir, I do live in hopes." + +"Yes; so do I." + +"Ah, not same as me, sir. I lives in hopes o' one o' the sentries +making a mistake some night." + +"And shooting him, Ben?" + +The sergeant winked, nodded, and rubbed his hands. + +"Only wish they'd put me on duty, sir." + +"You wouldn't shoot him, Ben, if they did." + +"Then I'd save the powder and bullet, sir, and pitch him into the moat, +same as the enemy did a lot of our chaps--all them as didn't jump--but +they all got safe over, I suppose." + +Roy began to walk up and down with his companion, passing the other +prisoners from time to time on the wide bench in the corner; while old +Jenk sat on the mossy stone steps at the foot of the sun-dial in the +middle of the court, one arm nursing his sword upon his knees, the other +embracing the lichen-covered pedestal against which he rested his head-- +no bad representation of old Father Time taking a nap. + +"Wish I could sleep like he does," growled Ben. "Nothing to do. Won't +let me help any way. Tried to have a go in the armoury, but that +sergeant as went through the rat's hole with us grinned at me and turned +me out. Pah! I hate him! He's reg'lar took my job out o' my hands." + +"Patience, patience, Ben," said Roy. + +"Don't believe there's any o' that stuff left in the castle, Master Roy. +What do you think they're doing?" + +"I don't know. What?" + +"Got big stones and mortar down in the hole in three places, ready to +build it up. Done it by now, perhaps." + +"How do you know?" + +"Sergeant told me. Grinned at me and said they didn't mean to have any +one go out that way, nor yet come in at twelve o' clock at night." + +"Indeed!" said Roy, to whom this news was troublous, interfering as it +did with sundry misty notions in which he had indulged about retaking +the castle, or all making their escape. + +"Yes, sir; that general aren't a bit of a fool. Wouldn't be at all a +bad officer, if he was on the right side. That other chap wouldn't be a +bad sort o' sergeant either, if he knowed his duty to his king and +country. But there's going to be a fight some day 'twix' him and me." + +"Nonsense! While we are prisoners we must behave ourselves, Ben." + +"Oh, must we, sir? What call's he got to get grinning at me? I'll make +him grin the wrong side of his mouth if he don't look out." + +"Yes; you are getting rusty, Ben," said Roy, merrily. + +"Then why don't you make some plan, sir?" whispered the old sergeant in +an earnest whisper. "Let's make a bold stroke for it, and retake the +castle. Think of what your father would say if you did. Why, if the +king was to hear of it, he'd be that pleased, he'd send for you to the +palace and make a knight of you at once." + +"Poor king!" said Roy, sadly. "Perhaps by this time he has no palace to +call his own." + +"And he won't have, unless some of us shows we've got the right stuff +left in us." + +At that moment they were passing the sun-dial, and old Jenk started into +wakefulness, rose, shaded his eyes, and stared at Roy. + +"That you, sir?" + +"Yes, Jenk." + +"So it be. How are you, Master Roy--how are you? I've been thinking a +deal about you, sir. Don't you be downhearted; just wait a bit, and +you'll see." + +"See--see what, Jenk?" + +The old man shook his head and smiled in a cunning fashion. + +"You wait, sir, and you'll see," he said; and he sank down again, laid +his head against the pedestal, and went off fast asleep. + +"Yes, Master Roy, you'll see, and before many months have gone by," said +Ben, solemnly. "Poor old Jenk! He's been a fine old soldier, and a +true follower of the house of Royland." + +"He has, Ben." + +"And he's going to be the first prisoner set free." + +He gave Roy a meaning look, and they separated, the lad to pass the +other prisoners on the bench, and return their salutes as he went on to +the private apartments and made his way to his own room, to sit down by +the open window to try to think out some way of ending their captivity +by turning the tables on the enemy. + +The day was warm, the thinking hard, and at last his brain refused to +work any longer at the task of trying to do an impossible thing, the +result being that Roy suddenly opened his eyes after dreaming that some +people were talking angrily in his room while he slept. + +But as he lay back, staring, and seeing that the room was empty, a +familiar and very stern voice came in through the window with these +words, uttered in a perfectly unimpassioned voice, but one which +suggested that against it there was no appeal: + +"I have listened to all you had to say, Master Pawson, and all your +complaints. Now, hear me: and you had better take my advice, with which +I shall conclude. In the first place, in accordance with my +instructions, I concluded that iniquitous bargain with you." + +"Iniquitous, sir?" cried Pawson, in his highly-pitched voice, which now +sounded quite a squeak. + +"Yes, iniquitous. What else do you call it to sell your honour for the +sake of gain? Iniquitous, treacherous; it is all that, but war made it +a stern necessity that we should listen to your proposals. You kept to +your terms; the new government will keep to its bargain. You will +retain the castle and estate, but there was no question of time. I +shall hold this place as a centre as long as we find it necessary. You +can stay here or go till we have left. If you stay, take the advice I +gave you. Go to your room, and stay there always, save when, like some +unclean beast of prey, you come out to prowl at night. For, though your +life is safe, I tell you that there is not a soldier in my force who +does not look upon you with contempt. In future, sir, if you wish to +make any communication to me, be good enough to write." + +Roy would have shrunk away, so as not to listen, but these words filled +the room in the silence of that afternoon, and the general's retiring +steps were plainly heard, followed by a low hissing sound, as of some +one expiring his pent-up breath. + +Then a soft, cat-like step was heard, and Roy said to himself-- + +"It seems as if Master Pawson's punishment has begun." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +THE USE OF A POWDER-MAGAZINE. + +Roy found, as the time glided on in his monotonous life, that Ben's news +was correct. General Hepburn was determined not to be surprised by any +party of the Royalists who had learned from the fugitives that such a +passage existed; and to make assurance doubly sure, he was about to +build up the tunnel in three different places; but on second thoughts he +did otherwise, setting his men to work to carry kegs of powder to some +distance from the castle, placing them in a suitable position in the +tunnel, and then, after making a fuse of several yards in length, having +a tremendously strong wall built up across the place, leaving a hole +just big enough for the fuse to pass through. + +This was all done very quietly, Roy supposing that the men were merely +building. Then a few days were allowed to pass for the cement to settle +and harden before the fuse was fired. + +The fact was known one morning at breakfast, when a terrific roar made +Roy rush from the table and up to the ramparts, in full expectation of +seeing a battery of guns just opening fire on the castle. + +"Yes, it is," he panted to himself as he looked over towards the chapel +hill, and saw the smoke rising from a mound of earth. + +But in a few minutes he knew the truth from one of the officers who +challenged him for coming there, and went back to breakfast with his +appetite gone, for he felt that one of the means of escape was +completely sealed up, and the night would never come when he could, with +the help of his friends, lead Lady Royland through the passage on their +way to liberty. + +"And a good thing, too," he said bitterly to the old sergeant, for the +grapes seemed to be very sour. "I don't want to escape. I wouldn't go +if the way were open, and I'm sure my mother would not leave our own old +home. Why, it would be like giving it all to Pawson, and I'll die +before he shall have it in peace." + +"'Ray, 'ray, 'ray, 'ray!" cried Ben, softly. "Can't shout it out as I +should like to, Master Roy. That's the right sperit, sir. We won't +never give up, come what may." + +Old Jenk passed them just then, muttering to himself as he tottered by, +and paying no heed when spoken to, while the various sentries treated +him as a kind of amiable old madman, who was licenced to go about as he +pleased, being perfectly harmless. + +Another day passed, and Roy was walking up and down in his favourite +part of the court-yard thinking of when he should ask General Hepburn +for a written permission to go about on the ramparts, for the officer +had spoken rather sharply to him after he had run up on the occasion of +the blowing up of the tunnel. + +But he did not ask the general, for the events that followed came one +upon another so quickly that the matter passed out of his mind. + +For all at once, just as Ben was coming slowly up to him, one of the +sentinels shouted to the officer of the guard below, and word was passed +to the general that a dragoon was galloping up along the road as fast as +he could hurry his horse along. + +A few minutes later, in the midst of a little excitement, the man drew +rein at the outer gate-way, held up a packet in answer to a challenge, +and as soon as the drawbridge was lowered, he dismounted and walked his +horse over, for the poor beast was terribly distressed, and the rider +appeared exhausted. + +Roy stood eagerly watching, for this evidently meant something +important, otherwise the messenger would not have nearly ridden his +horse to death, the poor beast standing drooping in the middle of the +court-yard; while the man, whose face was blackened with dust and sweat, +and disfigured by a broad strip of plaster which extended from high up +among the roots of his closely-cropped hair on the left temple down to +his right eyebrow, leaned heavily on the sun-dial and asked for water. + +The general read his despatch carefully twice, and then turned to the +messenger to question him in a low voice, looking at him searchingly the +while. + +"Did General Braxley give you this despatch to bring?" + +The man straightened himself up, but reeled and snatched at the sun-dial +again from weakness. + +"No, sir; to my comrade. We met a vedette of the enemy, and had to make +a running fight for it till he went down, and I snatched up the despatch +and came on." + +"How far from here are the enemy?" + +"About five-and-twenty miles, sir, I should say." + +"In what direction?" + +"Towards Exeter, sir. I did hear say that the king was with them." + +"Hah! And how strong are they, do you suppose?" + +"'Bout four hundred horsemen, I heard say, sir; but it was only what my +comrade told me." + +"Go into the guard-room and get some refreshment," said the general, +after reading his despatch carefully again. + +The man turned to go, and just then his horse fell heavily, the blood +gushed from its nostrils as it gave a few convulsive struggles, and then +lay dead. + +The messenger went to its head, sank upon one knee, as Roy joined the +group around, bent lower, kissed the poor animal's brow. Then he drew +his sword, cut off a piece of its forelock, thrust it into his wallet, +and amidst perfect silence, followed one of the men to the guard-room, +hanging his head, while Roy longed to go and shake him by the hand. + +The next moment the silence was broken by the loud blare of a trumpet, +and a gun was fired from the gate tower. + +Roy had directly after a specimen of the general's military capacity, +for by the time the court was filling with armed men, one of the +sentinels on the north-west tower announced the coming of the squadron +of horse that had been camping by and in the ruined chapel; while, +within half an hour, the troop in the castle rode out, each bearing a +foot-soldier upon the crupper of his saddle,--the squadron without +waiting to take on an equal number themselves. The general meanwhile +sat upon his charger conversing in a low tone with the officer he was +about to leave in command. + +Just then, looking very weak and ill, the messenger came hurrying out of +the guard-room, putting on his steel cap. + +He waited till the general approached, and Roy was near enough to hear +what was now said, the man speaking in a husky voice. + +"Beg pardon, general; will you give orders for me to be supplied with a +fresh horse?" + +"What for?" said General Hepburn, turning on him sharply. + +"To go with you and join my regiment." + +"No; stay here. Captain Ramsay, if there is any ruse being practised, +as soon as you hear that disaster has come to nay party, place that man +against the wall and have him shot." + +The dragoon raised his hand to his cap in salute; and as soon as the +general had ridden out, he staggered more than walked to where the dead +horse lay, and took its head into his lap, to sit gazing sorrowfully +into its reproachful-looking, glazing eyes. + +"I'm a tough old chap, Master Roy," whispered Ben, "but my eyes are so +watery I can hardly see; and if that orderly warn't an enemy, I'd just +go and shake him by the fist." + +Unconsciously the old sergeant had exactly expressed Roy's own feelings; +but the next minute all show of weakness and sentiment had passed away. +The trooper turned from the lookers-on, giving the horse's neck three or +four pats, and then began to unbuckle headstall, and take off bridle and +bit before unbuckling the girths, rising and taking hold of the saddle, +giving it a sharp snatch to drag it free. But he had to put his +heavily-booted foot against the horse's back, and tug several times +before he could get the girths from beneath the heavy weight. + +Then, throwing the saddle across his arm, and picking up the bridle, he +turned to the nearest sentinel, asked a question, had the low archway +pointed out which led into the basement used for stabling, and +disappeared down the slope. + +"Oh, my lad, my lad," said Ben, softly; "what a chance if we'd got +anything ready!" + +"What--to surprise?" said Roy, as he watched the portcullis +re-descending, and saw the drawbridge begin to glide up directly after. + +"That's it, sir. They're as weak as weak here now, with all them gone, +and we're nine strong men, for Sam Donny could fight in spite of his +twissen foot." + +"There's nothing the matter with Sam's foot, Ben; it's all sham; I've +known it from the first." + +"What?--So much the better, then." + +"So much the worse, because we can do nothing. They are still a hundred +strong." + +"Nay, sir--not above eighty." + +"Ten to one, Ben. I'd do anything, but we have no arms." + +"Take 'em from them, sir." + +"Rash folly, Ben. I'm soldier enough now to know that it would be like +throwing away your lives." + +"Humph!" growled Ben; and the officer now in command came up and said, +firmly-- + +"Now, Master Royland, I am sorry to seem harsh with you, but, saving at +meal-times, when I shall be glad to see you, I must ask you to keep your +chamber till General Hepburn returns, and hold no communication whatever +with your fellow-prisoners." + +"Very well, sir," said Roy, majestically. + +"And you, sergeant, go to your fellows and keep with them. You can have +an hour in the court-yard every day under guard. March!" + +Ben saluted and went to where the corporal, Sam Donny, and the rest were +seated on the stone bench in the sun, spoke to them, and they all rose +and went through the door-way close at hand; while Roy bowed to the +captain stiffly and went through to the private apartments, and thence +to his own room, where he shut himself in, and soon after heard a sentry +placed at his door, a piece of routine that had for some time been +discontinued. + +"How suspicious!" muttered Roy. "But no wonder! He doesn't mean to be +caught napping. More didn't I, but I was. No chance of him having the +same luck." + +He went to the window, and the first thing he saw was the dead horse +being dragged towards the gate-way, where it was left to wait till the +bridge should be lowered again. + +"Poor thing! How roughly they are using it!" he thought. "Can't feel, +though, now." + +Then his attention was taken up by seeing old Jenk with his white hair +and beard streaming, as he tottered here and there in the sunshine, +looking excited and without his weapon. + +"Why, they've taken the sword away from the poor old fellow," thought +Roy. "How absurd! It will make him half-mad, if it hasn't done so +already." + +But in a few moments the old man sat down on the pedestal of the +sun-dial, and his head drooped on his breast. + +Beyond him, just visible at the foot of the slope and outside the +stables, Roy could see the Roundhead trooper, bareheaded and stripped to +his breeches and shirt, rolling up his shirt-sleeves and beginning to +clean his horse's harness. But something which seemed to be more +important took the boy's attention the next moment, and that was the +figure of Master Pawson upon the ramparts, walking up and down in the +sunshine, this being the first time he had been visible by daylight +since the general's stern words. + +"Taking advantage of his being away," thought Roy; and he was about to +shrink back to avoid being seen, but his pride forbade that, and he +leaned out and amused himself by parting the thick growth of old ivy, +and thinking how easily he could get down into the court if he liked. + +"And that wretch could climb up while I'm asleep and kill me if he +liked," he thought, with a slight shudder, which he laughed off the next +moment as folly. + +Dinner was announced in due time, and he was half-disposed not to go; +but he joined the officers, and obtained permission from the captain to +visit his mother's room to tea. + +"Oh, yes," said that officer, quietly. "I do not wish to be too hard +upon you, Royland, only I cannot have you conspiring with your men to +retake the castle now we seem weak." + +So Roy spent a pleasant evening with his mother, and in good time +returned to his own room, heard the sentry placed outside, and then sat +in the summer evening, trying to see the men stationed opposite, and +upon the towers, from his open window. + +It was a very dark night, hot and promising a thunderstorm, the air +feeling so close that, when at last Roy retired, he left the large +window wide open. + +"No fear of Master Pawson playing any tricks," he said to himself with a +laugh as he undressed and lay down, wondering whether the general was +going to attack some place, being in perfect ignorance of everything but +the fact that he had gone on some expedition. + +He fell asleep directly, and lay breathing hard till, in the midst of an +uneasy dream, he was awakened suddenly by feeling a hand pressed upon +his mouth. + +Like a flash through the darkness he saw everything: Master Pawson had +climbed up to his window from the court, entered silently, and was about +to strangle him as he lay. + +But before he could attempt to resist, a pair of warm lips were pressed +upon his brow, and then glided to his ear to whisper-- + +"Roy, my boy, not a sound! Don't speak! It is I--your father." + +The lad's breast rose as a great sob of joy struggled to his lips, while +his hands seized that upon his mouth, pressed it closer, kissed the +palm, and were then passed round the neck of him who knelt by his bed. + +They did not stay there a moment; for one began to feel the face, and +the other was passed over the head. + +No moustache and pointed beard, no long flowing curls, only stubble and +short hair, and a long patch of plaster extending from the hair about +the left temple to the right eyebrow. + +Roy's mental eyes were opened; he saw it all now. At last! His gallant +father had risked his life to come to them in the disguise of a +Roundhead trooper, and the general must have been sent on a fool's +errand so that the castle could be captured again. + +_Thump, thump, thump_! went Roy's heart as these thoughts rushed through +his brain. Then the lips at his ear said, and it sounded strangely +incongruous--almost mocking: + +"Go on snoring as you were, so that the sentry at your door may hear." + +Roy obeyed, and imitated the real thing as well as he could. + +"Your mother? If safe and well press my hand." + +The pressure was given, and the whisper went on through the snoring. + +"Roy, I have come at great risk through the accident of the capture of a +messenger with a despatch. The general has gone where he was desired, +but we have had time to take our men in another direction. To-night two +hundred Cavaliers will have ridden in as near as they dare, and then one +hundred and fifty will have dismounted and marched silently under cover +of the darkness opposite the gates.--Snore, boy, snore!" + +Roy had ceased his hard breathing, but his heart worked harder than +ever, and he snored again; while Sir Granby went on: + +"Tell me how many of our men you have here; where they are; whether the +guard in the gate tower can be mastered while the bridge is lowered and +the portcullis raised. Tell me everything you can, with your lips to my +ear. My men must be waiting by now." + +Roy went on snoring, for the sound of the sentry pacing to and fro came +plainly through the door. But Sir Granby took up the hard breathing, +and Roy placed his lips to his father's ear and whispered-- + +"Nine good brave fellows, but they are in the lower hall, and sentries +are placed over them.--They are all unarmed.--Guard-chamber and +turret-stair are carefully guarded.--At least ten men in the +portcullis-room and furnace-chamber.--Impossible to get in that way!" + +Sir Granby's lips were at his son's ear directly, and he said-- + +"I heard a legend when I was a boy, that there was a secret way into the +castle, but it made no impression, and I never recalled it till I heard +that the place was taken. Don't tell me that the enemy surprised you +through that?" + +"Must," whispered Roy; and anticipating that his father would suggest +using the same means, he continued: "Can't use it now; all blown up. Is +there no other way? Can't you scale the ramparts?" + +"Impossible, boy. I must leave you, then. My life will be forfeit when +the colonel returns, and it is too valuable to my king, my men, to you +and your mother, to be thrown away." + +"But how can you escape, father?" + +"By reaching the ramparts and plunging into the moat. Good-bye, boy. +Tell your mother I will return soon with as great a force as I can; for +this place must be retaken. There--Heaven be with you! I dare not +stay, for it may be hours before I can reach the ramparts." + +"But is there no other way, father? A hundred and fifty men, and no way +of getting them in!" + +"Unless the drawbridge can be lowered and portcullis raised--none!" + +A deep silence, only broken by the pacing of the sentry outside, and Roy +dreaded now lest the change of men should take place, and the door be +opened to see whether the prisoner was safe. He tried all he could to +think out some plan, but every one seemed mad; and it was horrible to be +so near success, and yet to fail. + +"It is of no use, boy; we are wasting time," said Sir Granby, as Roy +clung to him. "It would be mad to try any other way, and spilling +precious blood. Good-bye!" + +Roy tried to say the words in return, but they would not come; and, +thoroughly unnerved in his despair, he clung to his father's neck till +he felt himself repelled; and then the way of escape from their dilemma +came. + +In one instant a flash which vividly lit up the whole chamber darted in +through the open window, and a deafening roar followed. + +But it was not the breaking of the storm, for the next moment they +realised that the magazine below the opposite range of buildings had +been blown up, and the crumbling down of masonry, and the roar and crash +of falling stones, endorsed the idea. + +"Hah!" cried Sir Granby, excitedly; "then there is a way!" And hardly +had the words passed his lips when a distant huzzaing was heard, and +without a moment's hesitation he sprang to the window and lowered +himself down. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +HOW THE CASTLE CAME BACK TO ITS OWNER. + +Shrieks and cries for help mingled with the blast of a trumpet and the +trampling of feet, as Roy hurried on his clothes, his first thought +being not to follow his father, but to reach his mother's room, though, +in the confusion of brain from which he suffered, he felt that he could +explain nothing about the cause of the explosion. All he could think +was that by some means the Cavaliers must have contrived to gain access +to the powder-magazine. But how? + +That was a mystery. + +While he hurriedly dressed, he could hear orders being given, and the +guns which had been brought in and planted beneath the gate-way being +dragged into the middle of the court, and planted where they would +command the terrible breach in the castle defences; for, by a flickering +light, which was now rising, falling, and always gathering in intensity, +Roy could see that a large portion of the eastern side of the building +was blown down, leaving a tremendous gap. The stabling, corridor, +hospital-room, and servants' and other adjacent chambers, were gone; and +as he gazed across from his open window, the light suddenly blazed up, +brightly illuminating the ruin, and showing the garrison busily +preparing for their defence. + +It was time; for, as Roy paused for a few moments, hesitating to leave +the scene which fascinated him by its weird horror, the Royalists were +crossing the half-filled-in moat, scrambling, wading, helping each +other, and cheering madly. There was no formation; they were forced to +come on straggling as they could, but a fierce enthusiasm filled their +breasts, and they literally swarmed into the ruins, and climbed here and +there among the flames and smoke. + +Fully expecting to be stopped, Roy opened his door; but the sentry had +been summoned with those from the towers and ramparts to defend the +great gap, and Roy passed on to his mother's room, entered without +stopping to knock, to see her surrounded by the women-servants at the +window, their faces lit up by the flames rising brighter and brighter +from the ruins. + +Lady Royland did not hear her son enter, but turned and caught his hands +as he ran to her. + +"Roy!" she cried, wildly. "What does this mean?" + +"Our turn at last, mother," he said, wild with excitement. "Look,--look +at them, the Royalists; they've blown down that side, and father is +there with two hundred Cavaliers!" + +"Roy!" she cried, hysterically. + +"Yes," continued the lad, as he forced himself to the front, and gazed +out; "look, mother; nothing stops them. Hurrah! More and more, and--" + +The roar of one of the guns from the middle of the court drowned his +words, and there was another roar, but the effect was little. The guns +were discharged point-blank at the storming party climbing on the ruins; +but they were scattered like skirmishers, and the gun-fire did not check +them in the least. To Roy it only seemed that they dashed in more +furiously, swarming, by the light of the blazing ruins, like bees; and +before the guns could be reloaded, the Cavaliers were upon the defenders +of the place, and a desperate hand-to-hand fight commenced. + +Roy turned excitedly to his mother. + +"Stop here; keep the women with you, and don't go near the window; there +may be firing;" and, even as he spoke, shots began to ring out. + +"Stop! Where are you going?" cried Lady Royland, clinging to him. + +"To release our men, and help my father," said Roy. + +Lady Royland's hands fell to her sides, and the boy darted out of the +room and along the corridor, full of the idea that had flashed into his +brain. + +Away to the end he ran unchallenged, turned to the right, and without +meeting a soul, reached the north-east tower, listening to the shouting +and clashing of swords in the court as the desperate fight went on, his +way lit by the glare from the flames in spite of the dense, heavy smoke +and the choking fumes of exploded gunpowder which rolled along the +passage. + +With his heart beating wildly for fear he should be too late, Roy dashed +down the spiral staircase to the basement, and the next minute he +reached the door of the lower hall, which formed the men's +prison-chamber. + +The sentries were gone, and he thrust back the bolts and turned the +ponderous key. + +"Ben! Corporal! Donny! All of you--quick!" + +"Ay, ay, sir. You're only just in time, for we're most smothered. What +does it all mean?" + +"Don't talk! Follow me--guard-room. Enemy all in the court." + +He led the way back, the men literally staggering after him, half +suffocated as they had been by the fumes of the powder, the explosion +having been so near their prison. But they revived moment by moment in +the pure air, and growing excited by the sounds that reached them from +the court-yard, they followed on along the lower passages till they +reached the crypt of the south-west tower, passed on to the stairway at +the base of the gate tower, and ascended unchallenged to the great +gate-way, where Roy dashed into the untenanted guard-room, and the men +rapidly armed themselves with weapons from the racks. + +"Ready?" said Roy, in a whisper. + +"Yes," came in a deep, excited growl. + +"Back, then," cried Roy, "and we'll attack them in the rear." + +He ranged his men in the shadow, the combatants being wildly engaged +amid a blaze of light, which prevented the movements of Roy's little +party being seen; and he was about to lead them back through the great +corridor to where they could dash out suddenly and make their diversion +in the rear, when Ben suddenly laid his hand upon the boy's arm, and ran +to one of the narrow slits of windows in the guard-room. + +"Trampling of horses," he whispered, as he peered out, the glow upward +now lighting the other side of the moat. "General's men coming back, +sir. Take us up into the portcullis-room, and we must defend that and +keep it and the furnace-chamber to the death. They must not come in." + +Roy grasped the position, knowing well enough that as soon as the +defenders knew of the return of their friends, they would admit them, +and the Cavaliers would suffer defeat. + +Giving the word, he dashed up the spiral followed by his men, and as +they stood ready to defend the place to the last, and keep bridge and +portcullis as they were, he stepped up into the window and thrust out +his head, to see dimly a body of about fifty horsemen, who galloped up +to the edge of the moat. + +"Halt!" shouted their leader. "No good: impossible. We must ride +round, dismount, and join Royland through the breach. Forward!" + +"Halt!" shrieked Roy with all his force in his cry, and then in a voice +he did not know as his own, he yelled out, "Royland! Royland! God save +the king!" + +The effect was electrical. His words were answered by a loud "hurrah!" + +Roy looked back from the window-splay. + +"Friends!" he panted. "Ben, up with you, and lower the bridge;" and as +the old sergeant sprang to the staircase, followed by five more, the +others seized the capstan-bars and began to hoist the portcullis; while, +sword in hand, Roy stood on the narrow stair, determined to die sooner +than an enemy should pass. + +But the next minute the bridge was down, with the defenders in ignorance +of what was going on; the first knowledge they had of what was to come +being given by the thunder of the horses' hoofs, and a deafening cheer +as the Cavaliers dashed in. + +That charge decided the fight, for in less than five minutes, in spite +of the officer's desperate valour, the defenders broke and fled, to take +refuge in corridor and chamber, from whence they could fire upon their +enemies. + +But, half-mad now with excitement, and flushed by the certainty of +victory, the Cavaliers, headed by Sir Granby Royland, went in pursuit, +chasing the Parliamentary party through the passages, never giving them +time to combine, capturing knot after knot, and forcibly driving the +rest below, where, feeling that all was over, their captain ended the +carnage by offering to surrender. Then the triumphant Cavaliers +gathered in the court-yard, waving hat and sword in the bright light of +the burning building, and raising the echoes with their shouts. + +It was about this time that Roy, followed by his little party, sought +out his father, to find him at last, busy, like the careful soldier he +was, stationing men at the towers, and then arranging for a proper +defence of the great gap in the castle side, though temporarily it was +now well defended by a line of flames that no man could pass. + +Roy gazed in dismay at the blackened, blood-stained man, bleeding from +two fresh wounds, and was ready to wonder whether this was the gallant, +handsome cavalier who had left the castle to go on the king's service so +short a time before. + +"Ah! my brave, true boy!" cried Sir Granby, catching him by the +shoulders; "old Martlet tells me how you led them to open a way for our +friends. It was the work of a good soldier, Roy. You'll be a general +yet. What do you say?" he continued, with a laugh; "as I am now? +There, everything is safe for the present. Where is your mother? Am I +fit to see her, though?" + +Roy said nothing, but clung to the hand that grasped his; and a few +minutes later Sir Granby was locked in his wife's arms. + +By this time a strong party had been formed to attack the flames; and as +there was an abundance of water from the moat, the day broke upon the +quenching of the last burst of fire, and revealed a sad scene of +desolation, the side of the castle on the east being one long hollow +range of burnt-out buildings, saving the hospital-room, which had +escaped, with a wide gap of tottering and piled-up ruins where the +magazine had exploded, hurling great masses of stone into the court-yard +and the moat. + +The fire mastered, Sir Granby commenced forming a rough breastwork of +the stones, using for the most part all that could be dragged from the +moat, the Cavaliers wading in and working like labourers to strengthen +the breach, which towards evening began to look strong with the rough +platforms made for the enemy's three heavy guns. The work was so far +completed none too soon, for just at dusk a body of men was seen +approaching in the distance, and General Hepburn soon after appeared, to +find that he had been outwitted in turn, and that a long siege would be +necessary before he could hope to be master of the place again. + +That long siege followed; and at last, weakened by loss of men and +reduced from want of food, the Cavaliers were unable to combat the +terrible assault delivered by the little army that had gradually been +gathered about the walls, and the castle fell once more into the hands +of the Parliamentarians, who were generous enough to treat the gallant +defenders with the honours they deserved. + +"But they would never have taken it, Roy," said Sir Granby, "if that gap +had not been blown out. I'd give something to know how it occurred. +Could it have been done by that villain Pawson out of despite?" + +It was long before the truth was known, when, after years of exile with +his wife and son, Sir Granby Royland returned to take possession of his +ruined castle and estate. For the young king had ridden into London, +and his father's defenders were being made welcome to their homes. + +It happened during the excavating that went on, while the masons were at +work digging out and cleaning all the stones which would be available +for rebuilding the shattered side, that Sir Granby wrote a letter to +Captain Roy Royland, the young officer in the body-guard of his majesty, +King Charles the Second. The letter was full of congratulations to the +young man on his promotion, and towards the end Sir Granby said-- + +"I have kept your mother away from the work going on, for I have been +afraid that the digging would mean the turning over of plenty of sad +mementoes of that terrible time; but, strangely enough, these +discoveries have been confined to two. You remember how we wondered +that Master Palgrave Pawson never showed himself again, to take +possession of the place he schemed to win, and how often we wondered +what became of poor old Jenk. Well, in one day, Roy, the men came upon +the poor old man crouched up in a corner of the vault, close to the +magazine. From what we could judge, the powder must have exerted its +force upward, for several of the places where the stones were cleared +out were almost uninjured, and this was especially so where they found +old Jenk. The poor fellow must have been striking his blow against his +master's enemies, for, when the stones were removed, he lay there with a +lantern and a coil of slow-match beneath, showing what his object must +have been in going down to the magazine. The other discovery was that +of the remains of my scoundrel of a secretary. They came upon him +crushed beneath the stones which fell upon the east rampart, where, +perhaps you remember, there was a little shelter for the guard. Master +Pawson must have been on the ramparts that night, and perished in the +explosion. + +"Come home soon, Roy, my lad; we want to see you again. They ought to +give you leave of absence now, and by the time you get here, I hope to +have the old garden restored, and looking something like itself once +more. The building will, however, take another year. + +"Roy, my boy, they bury soldiers, as you know, generally where they +fall; and your mother and I thought that if poor old Jenk could have +chosen his resting-place, it might have been where we laid him. As you +remember, the old sun-dial in the middle of the court was levelled by +the explosion. It has been restored to its place, and it is beneath the +stones that your grandfather's faithful old servant lies at rest. + +"Ben Martlet begs me to remember him to you, and says it will do his +eyes good to see you again; and your mother, who writes to you as well, +says you must come now. My wounds worry me a good deal at times, and I +don't feel so young as I was; but there, as your mother says, what does +it matter now we can rest in peace? for we live again in another, our +own son--Roy." + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Young Castellan, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG CASTELLAN *** + +***** This file should be named 25449.txt or 25449.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/4/4/25449/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +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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