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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25670-8.txt b/25670-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c858a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/25670-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9263 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sea-Dogs All!, by Tom Bevan + + +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: Sea-Dogs All! + A Tale of Forest and Sea + + +Author: Tom Bevan + + + +Release Date: June 1, 2008 [eBook #25670] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA-DOGS ALL!*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 25670-h.htm or 25670-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670/25670-h/25670-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670/25670-h.zip) + + + + + +SEA-DOGS ALL! + +A Tale of Forest and Sea + +by + +TOM BEVAN + +Author of + "Red Dickon the Outlaw," + "The Fen Robbers," + etc., etc. + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat] + + + + +Thomas Nelson and Sons +London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and New York +1911 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. The Man in Black + II. The Plotters + III. Two Friends + IV. Johnnie Morgan takes a Walk + V. Master Windybank + VI. A Sinister Meeting + VII. In the Toils + VIII. Master Windybank walks abroad + IX. The Hunt + X. Master Windybank rebels + XI. Darkness and the River + XII. Snaring a Flock of Night Ravens + XIII. A Double Fight + XIV. What happened in Westbury Steeple + XV. A Letter from Court + XVI. To London Town + XVII. Sir Walter as Chaperon + XVIII. Three Broken Mariners + XIX. Paignton Rob's Story + XX. Rob dines at "Ye Swanne" + XXI. Morgan goes to Whitehall + XXII. The Queen + XXIII. Johnnie sees many Sights + XXIV. Two Chance Wayfarers + XXV. Brother Basil + XXVI. All on a bright March Morning + XXVII. In Plymouth + XXVIII. The Parlour of the "Blue Dolphin" + XXIX. The Widow's House + XXX. Ho! for the Spanish Main + XXXI. In the Bay of San Joseph + XXXII. A Glimpse of the Fabled City + XXXIII. Wandering in a Maze + XXXIV. Flood and Fever + XXXV. A Foe + XXXVI. The Attack on the Village + XXXVII. Council Fires in Two Places + XXXVIII. The Way back + XXXIX. John Oxenham's Creek + XL. A Haven of Peace + XLI. The Trap + XLII. Captives + XLIII. In Panama + XLIV. The Trial + XLV. For Faith and Country! + XLVI. The Galley Slaves + XLVII. Hernando speaks + XLVIII. The Revolt of the Slaves + XLIX. Eastward Ho! + L. Home + LI. The Forest again--and the Sea + + + + +List of Illustrations + + +Cover art + +Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat . . _Frontispiece_ + +The odds were hopelessly against him. + + + + +SEA-DOGS ALL! + + +Chapter I. + +THE MAN IN BLACK. + +The river-path along the Severn shore at Gatcombe was almost knee-deep +with turbid water, and only a post here and there showed where river +ordinarily ended and firm land began. Fishers and foresters stood in +the pelting rain and buffeting wind anxiously calculating what havoc +the sudden summer storm might work, helpless themselves to put forth a +hand to save anything from its fury. Stout doors and firm casements +(both were needed in the river-side hamlet) bent with the fury of the +sou'-wester that beat upon them. The tide roared up the narrowing +estuary like a mill-race, and the gale tore off the tops of the waves, +raised them with the lashing raindrops, and hurled both furiously +against everything that fringed the shore. Gatcombe Pill leapt and +plunged muddily between its high, red banks, and the yellow tide surged +up the opening and held back the seething waters like a dam. There was +black sky above, and many-coloured earth and water below. + +The lading jetty against the village only appeared at odd moments above +the tumult of waters, and a couple of timber ships that lay on the +north side, partially loaded, were plunging and leaping at their anchor +cables like two dogs at the end of their chains. Great oaken logs +bobbed up and down like corks, or raced with the current upstream; the +product of many weeks' timber-cutting in the forest would be scattered +as driftwood from Gloucester to the shores of Devon and Wales. + +On the high bank above Gatcombe, one other man, half hidden by the +thick trees, braved the fury of the storm. There was nothing of the +fisher or forester about him; the pale, worn face and the tall, lean +figure soberly clad in black betokened the monk or the scholar, but +claimed no kinship with them that toiled in the woodlands or won a +living from the dangerous sea. Leaning against a giant beech that +rocked in wild rhythm with the storm, he watched the wind and tide at +their work of devastation, an odd smile of satisfaction playing about +the corners of his thin lips. + +"A hundred candles to St. James for this tempest!" he murmured. "If +the ships do but break loose and get aground, I will tramp Christendom +for the money to build him a church." But though the man in black +watched the river for the space of two hours longer, his hopes of utter +destruction were unrealized; the cables held, the rain ceased, the wind +abated, and the tide began to run seawards once more. Bit by bit the +jetty rose above the swirling waters. Inshore the sands of the +river-bed were uncovered, and the fishers and wharfmen swarmed along +them and on the pier, saving from the sea the logs of oak that were +within reach. For a while the man on the cliff watched them; then he +turned aside into the dripping recesses of the forest. "Comfort +thyself," he said, tapping his bosom as he walked; "the omens are good. +What water hath commenced, the fire shall finish!" + +Almost upon the instant a sturdy figure broke from the bushes above +Gatcombe Pill and hurried along the cliff towards the harbour. +Deep-chested, full-throated, weather-stained, compacted of brawn and +sinew, he looked the ruddy-faced, daring sailor-man, every inch of him. +From crown to toe he was clad in homely gray; but if, on the one hand, +the ass peeps out from the borrowed lion's skin, so will royalty shine +through fustian; and the newcomer had the air of a king among men. He +hallooed to the ships, and then hastily scrambled down the cliff. + +Only the groaning of the trees and rustling of the undergrowth hid the +footfalls of the man in black from the ears of the man in gray. He was +looking for him, but the time when they should meet was not yet come. + + + + +Chapter II. + +THE PLOTTERS. + +The morrow after the storm was windless and genial; the morning stepped +out from the east bearing the promise of a fine day; the tide was +running strongly to the sea. At Newnham the ferryman stood knee-deep +in the water washing his boat and hoping for a fare. The man in black +came down and was carried across to Arlingham. He asked many questions +concerning the tides and the sands. The water ran like a mill-race +round the Nab, and the stranger crossed himself when he entered the +boat, and again when the ferryman took him on his back to carry him +through the shallow water and the mud. He paid the penny for the +passage, and then vanished quickly into the trees that shut in the +village of Arlingham from the river. The boatman watched him curiously +and fearfully; and when he was no longer visible he shivered, for a +cold chill was running down his spine. "Seems as though I'd carried +the Evil One," he muttered; "he may halloo till he's as hoarse as his +black children the crows ere I trust myself on the waters with him +again." He waded to his boat and rowed rapidly across stream once more. + +The man in black gave neither thought nor look to the ferryman, but +strode along the woodland paths like one who had not a moment to spare. +The broad Roman way stretched in a bee-line from the eastern shore to +the village, but the wayfarer never once set foot upon it. Swiftness +and secrecy marked every movement. The sun had been above the horizon +scarce an hour when the mysterious stranger knocked at the door of a +farmhouse that lay about a mile from the village and northwards towards +the river. It was opened on the instant by the farmer himself, and +barred and chained again. + +In the kitchen were four men, two of whom wore black doublet and hosen, +black caps with a black feather, and were sallow-looking counterparts +of the last arrival. They stood up, bowed gravely, and sat down again +without speaking. + +"You have kept good tryst, my sons; did any man see you?" + +"Not even the eye of the sun lighted upon us; we walked by the stars," +was the reply. + +"Good! Now, your tidings.--Thine first, Basil." + +The younger of the two men clad in black looked up. Hitherto he had +maintained a strict silence, his eyes fixed on the floor. The face +that was lifted to the morning light was not a pleasant one. It was +pasty, colourless, and shrunken as though from long fasting, but the +eyes glittered in their dull sockets like a pair of black diamonds. +"Fanatic" was written large all over him. He was a monk released from +his vows for the performance of special duties. His tidings were given +slowly in short, terse sentences. + +"Admiral Drake is at Gatcombe." + +The leader nodded. "I know it; I saw him yesterday," he said. + +"He hath wind of our plot and a description of your person. Sir Walter +Raleigh comes up from Bristol on this morning's tide. 'Tis given out +that he is visiting the Throckmortons, from which family he took his +wife. The truth is, that he comes to assist the admiral against us." + +"Doth he bring troops?" + +"No, but the admiral hath a royal warrant empowering him to call the +free foresters and miners to arms if need should arise." + +"That is nothing." + +"I have a list of those families that still profess the true faith. +Almost to a man they place their country before their Church, and +prefer to fight for their heretic Queen rather than the Holy Mother of +Heaven." + +"The fiery pit yawns for them, my son!" + +"But there are true sheep amongst these herds of goats. Two have I +brought with me. Their eyes are opened. Wisdom and far-seeing dwells +with them. They value not the things of this world and the comforts of +the body. They are sworn to serve the Holy Church to the death." The +speaker turned to two rather hang-dog fellows who were squatted beside +the hearth. "Kneel, my brothers," he cried, "and receive a blessing +from Father Jerome, a saint amongst men!" + +"Tush! my son," said Father Jerome; "thou dost rate my poor worth a +thousand times too highly. The blessing I bestow is greater far than +he is who bestows it; the gift is greater than the giver." + +The whole company fell upon their knees, and Father Jerome towered +above them. There was cunning in his sallow face, cruelty in the +corners of his mouth. He held his hands aloft and spoke low and +mysteriously. + +"When the Holy Father called me and entrusted me with my present +mission he gave me his blessing thrice repeated, and bestowed upon me +the power of passing on that blessing to others. The blessing then +that ye receive at my hands is the blessing of the Head of the Church. +Kings have begged for it and have not obtained it; but ye are greater +than kings." The disguised priest--for such was Father Jerome--placed +his hands on them one by one and murmured a long Latin invocation. At +the end of this he addressed the farmer and the two foresters, who had +been beguiled into the plot, speaking in plain, forcible English. + +"Your country," he exclaimed, "wallows in heresy and other deadly sins. +For years hath it openly flouted and resisted the Church. The hour of +retribution is near. By sword and by fire must her sins be purged. +The instruments of vengeance and punishment are appointed, and the +least of these am I. Before the sun hath run another yearly circle +through the heavens a faithful prince shall hold power in this land. +Many who are now in high estate shall be flung down, and there are some +humble ones that shall be mightily exalted. Think of that, my sons, +and be true to the trust reposed in you!" + +Father Jerome raised up his kneeling audience with a well-chosen word +of praise, promise, or encouragement for each one. Then he bade the +farmer set meat and ale before the two foresters, and took his two +clerical spies to the window-seat, where he conversed with them in low +tones. + +"Thy two recruits, son Basil, are not overburdened with brains." + +"The better shall they serve our purpose, my father. We want blind +tools rather than thinking men. I have them in the hollow of my hand. +Thews and sinews are theirs, and an intimate knowledge of the woods. +If they will but carry out my bidding without question, I shall be well +content." + +"Thou art right.--And now, son John, how hast thou sped upon thine +errands?" + +"Well, father, the bracken will be fit to cut in a month. I have +ordered loads to be prepared for me in all parts of the forest. The +soil of the woodlands is everywhere green with the curling fronds; and +where I do not cut, the foresters and miners will be preparing heaps to +carry away for litter and bedding. By the end of July the forest +beneath the oaks will be covered with a carpet of stuff as combustible +as tinder. Let us but fire it at Newnham, Littledean, Blakeney, +Coleford, and at Speech by the courthouse, and we shall lay tens of +thousands of oaks in blackened ruin. Philip of Spain has but to +scatter the present small navy of England, for no more ships can be +built, and there will be nothing to oppose his landing." + +"Thou hast done well. Our plans are fully ripe, but apparently the +time is not quite come. We will separate for a month and remain in +strict hiding. The admiral's suspicions are aroused. If we suddenly +disappear at the moment when he becomes active in searching for us, his +fears will be allayed. But at the appointed moment we must come forth +without a sign of warning, do our work, and begone again. Our tools +must be frightened into secrecy. I will do that. Let us now join them +at breakfast." + +It was not the fault of Father Jerome that the breakfast party was not +a happy affair. Perfectly at ease himself, and satisfied with his +morning's work, he was in the mood for decorous jollity; but although +his two immediate satellites responded to his lead, and indulged in a +few feeble jests, the farmer and foresters hardly vouchsafed a word or +a smile. In part, maybe, this was due to the poverty of the wit of +their sable companions, but the three were obviously ill at ease. +Greed and a sort of religious fanaticism had brought them into the +ranks of the conspirators, but their national instincts were rebuking +them each moment. They felt traitors, and not all the sophistries of +the priests--which put the Church first, and country a long way +after--could ease their minds of a burden of shame. The chief +conspirator watched them narrowly, and some dark thoughts concerning +them ran through his mind. + +The morning was advancing, and it behoved the plotters to separate. +The leader gave them a few words of caution and command, and then bade +the farmer go to his work as though nothing unusual was afoot; the rest +would vanish one by one into the surrounding woods or across the river. +One of the foresters betook himself off immediately, journeying on to +Frampton, where he had some relatives, his visit to them being an +ostensible reason for his presence on the wrong side of the Severn. He +was a hard-faced fellow, with a pair of small, greedy-looking blue +eyes. Father Jerome pressed his hand very affectionately at parting, +and the man found three silver shillings sticking to his palm when his +hand was free again. He strode away with a buoyant step, his +misgivings gone for the while. + +The other woodlander arose the moment the door was closed behind his +companion. + +"Wait a while, my son," said Jerome. + +"I have something to say before I go." + +"Ah! say on." The priest's face set somewhat sternly, for he did not +like the forester's manner. + +The fellow began without hesitation, and spoke as a man whose mind was +full of the matter whereon he talked. The three in black listened. + +"Good father, I have sworn an oath to be thy servant in a certain +business." + +"And thou canst not break that oath without hurling thy soul to eternal +damnation," was the stern rejoinder. + +"It is not in my mind to break my oath." + +"What then?" + +"If thou wilt listen, I will show thee that perhaps it would be better +to release me from my vow." + +"Impossible!" + +"Listen. I am pledged to do a deed that the law will hold to be +treason. I place myself in secret enmity to nearly every one of my +countrymen. Did they but suspect me, they would hang me without mercy. +A dog in their eyes, I should meet a dog's death." + +"Tut!" broke in the priest sharply, "thy reasoning is all wrong. Thou, +for the sake of truth and right, art placing thyself like a second +David against a host of evil men. Dost hope for their good opinion?" + +"But, good father," pleaded the fellow, "it doth not appear to me that +I am doing right. Queen Bess--God bless her!--lives in the hearts of +us all. Why should I work her a mischief in order to advance the King +of Spain, whom we cannot but hate? Now, I bethink me, I have sworn to +serve my Queen, but I have given no oath of fealty to the Pope. And as +for your religion, well, I am in most ways of one mind with you, and I +think these Protestants to be no better than heretics. Master Basil, +whose learning is wonderful, did persuade me for the nonce that my duty +lay along the path you are treading; but my mind misgives me woefully, +and I cannot see that it is an honest thing to work in secret against +the whole body of my fellow-countrymen." + +Jerome's face had darkened, and Basil's lips were working evilly. + +"But the whole body of thy fellow-countrymen are wrong!" he hissed. +"God hath delivered them and their country into the hands of his +faithful servant Philip." + +"Then why doth Admiral Drake thrash the sailors of Philip whenever he +meets them? God surely only fights for the right!" replied the +forester. + +This was a facer for the ex-priest, and ere he could frame a retort +Jerome took up the matter again. "Thou hast said that thou art willing +to keep thine oath." + +"Not _willing_, but I will not willingly break it. My heart is no +longer in the enterprise. I shall be ashamed to look my neighbours in +the face. I shall fear their glances and despise myself. When the +pinch comes, I may turn coward and do nothing. The whisper of +conscience is more terrible than the roar of a lion. What will it +avail you to look for help to such a one as I?" + +"If I release thee--?" + +"My lips are sealed. I have learned your plans, but I am honest with +you. Be honest with me, and men shall tear out my tongue before I will +speak a word of you or your plot." + +Jerome sat silent for a few moments. Suddenly he started up. + +"Thou art an honest fellow," he exclaimed, "and I believe thee. +Half-hearted men are useless to me. Thou art released from thine oath. +Go!" + +Basil started to protest, but his leader placed his hand on his lips. +The forester went out, feeling as though a mountain had been lifted +from his shoulders. He disappeared at a turn in the lane. Then Jerome +spoke. "Thou art our lay-brother, Basil. That man must not cross the +river." + +Basil nodded and went out. Whilst Jerome yet watched him, slipping +from cover to cover, the farmer re-entered, a look of mingled fear and +hesitation on his face. The priest turned instantly and noticed it. +He laid his hand on his shoulder. "I am not yet gone, as thou seest. +There is something I would show thee before I go." + +For the space of about ten minutes the two stood in silence. Then the +priest said "Come," and led the farmer from the house. He followed in +Basil's footsteps, and came at length to the foot of a dwarf oak. A +man lay there, his eyes glazing in death. Basil was wiping a dagger in +the bracken. + +Jerome pointed to the dying woodsman. "That man doubted and +hesitated," he said. + +The farmer shuddered, and went white-faced homewards. + + + + +Chapter III. + +TWO FRIENDS. + +Admiral Drake sat amidst his roses, watching the tide as it raced up +the river. Every day he sat thus, unless some pressing duty forbade, +for the sea held first place in his heart. When the tide was out, the +river was dull and dreary enough to the heart of the bold sailor. To +gaze on a stretch of a mile or more of sand and mud, with a shallow, +yellow stream dividing it into two unequal portions, is not +exhilarating; but when the sea makes its wild rush up the estuary, +quickly filling the wide river-bed from bank to bank, then the Severn +is noble enough, and one looks upon it with pride. The swirl and roar +of the waters was music to Sir Francis, and the tide was an old and +well-beloved friend that came up daily to embrace him. The happiest of +the knight's waking hours were those he spent by the side of the +flowing salt stream. + +There was a click at the latch of the garden gate, and a most elegant +gentleman sauntered gracefully in. His doublet was of blue, slashed +silk, his feathered cap was of a colour to match, and there were golden +buckles to his shoes and golden hilts to sword and dagger. His beard +was trimmed to a dainty point, and curling locks slightly flecked with +white hung down to his broad shoulders. The admiral, in his gray +homespun, his short, frizzled hair bared to the breeze, turned at the +sound of approaching footsteps, caught sight of the gentleman in blue, +and sprang up to greet him. + +"Now the winds of heaven be thanked for wafting thee hither, dear Wat," +he cried. "Thou art more welcome than a fine day." + +And the bluff sailor took the dainty visitor in his arms and kissed him +lovingly on both cheeks. Embrace and kiss were heartily returned, and, +arm in arm, the two sought the garden seat, and sat down to gaze on the +sunlit waters and exchange tidings. Raleigh--for the visitor was none +other than the famous knight of Devon--placed his sword across his knee +and began the conversation; the rough and ready admiral was a better +listener than talker. + +"The Queen hath sent thee some coils of stout rope by my hand." + +"Oh!" + +"She saith that she hath had no news of Spanish acorns dangling from +the Dean oaks. Her words to me were: 'Tell my knight of the seas not +to spare the hemp where traitors are concerned. To hang none is to let +all escape, whereas to hang on reasonable suspicion is a sure way to +rid his plantations of many knaves. If he should make a mistake, +through excess of zeal, tell him that our pardon is assured +beforehand.'" + +Drake smiled. "'Tis a good thing there is but one woman in the +government, and that men are entrusted with the carrying out of her +orders. Beshrew me, Wat, let but a scare be started and she would hang +every ill-favoured fellow she clapped eyes on." + +Raleigh laughed. "Thou hast no faculty for comprehending the whimsies +and oddities of womankind, especially royal womankind." + +"That is but sober truth. I can see in a bee-line as well as most men, +but I cannot follow all the twists and turns of our royal lady's +pathway. Bethink thee how she treated me when I came home from my +voyage round the world, my vessel crammed to the hatchway with Spanish +treasure. Before the court she frowned on me, called me no better than +a sea-thief, and threatened me with a hanging. Aboard my vessel, when +none were there but Cecil, Leicester, and thyself, she praised me +without stint, flattered me, well-nigh took me in her arms and kissed +me, offered me knighthood, and then seized upon the best part of my +hard-won spoils! Her mind doubles like a hare; there is no catching it +and holding it and seeing of what colour it is. I have navigated +unknown seas enough, but I should be shipwrecked in one month of court +life. A palace is as full of guile as an egg is full of meat!" + +The admiral was waxing warm, and his companion was laughingly enjoying +his tirade. + +"Every man to his trade, Frank," he said. "Thou art a striker of +straight blows, and hast no cunning save when the foe is in gunshot. +The sea breeze is life to thee, but some of us would choke with too +much of it. We must breathe ever and anon of the scented atmosphere of +courts. The turns and twists of intrigue attract us; we love to ruffle +it in silk as well as in mail or in homespun. The voices and faces of +fair women make music and beauty for our ears and our eyes; we love the +harp and the lute as well as the mavis and throstle in the hedgerow, +and we pore as diligently over a sonnet as thou dost over a sea chart." + +"And that to me is a strange thing," replied Drake musingly. +"Sometimes thou and I are so close in touch as to be almost one; yet, +again, we find ourselves a world's space asunder: our thoughts oft run +in couples like hounds, and 'tis because of such times that I love thee +as a very dear brother." + +Raleigh laid his hand affectionately on the admiral's shoulder. "Thou, +Frank, art a man of action ever and always. When the battle is in my +blood I can fight on land and sea as whole-heartedly as thou, and cry +out that only such days are worth the living. Yet I am by nature a +dreamer of dreams and a weaver of fancies. The soft, the still, the +beautiful in the world and humankind, attract me. I would have +seclusion rather than bustle and turmoil, the pen rather than the +sword, the sweet whispers from a woman's lips and not the shouts of +warriors. Thou dost not understand me, but I understand thee, and love +thee for thy simplicity and directness. Thou art a better man than I, +Frank, and the world will honour thee more than me. But let us quit +this self-analysis. How art thou faring in thy mission to prevent the +destruction of the forest?" + +"Slowly. The forest is one vast hiding-place, and I have to deal with +men who are very serpents for cunning. The leader is a Spanish priest +masquerading as a gentleman, and he hath with him some of a like sort. +They are for ever popping up in fresh places, but it is not easy to +tell them one from another. There may be a dozen of them, or only two." + +"The lesser number is the more likely. The more in a plot, the greater +the danger of failure." + +"So I have thought, and I put down their many appearances to the +expedition with which they move. At present they can only plan +mischief. There is little woody undergrowth, and the bracken is at its +greenest. Ere long, however, the foresters and miners will begin the +yearly cutting and drying of the bracken, which they take away and +stack for the winter as bedding for themselves and their cattle. Then +the danger is great indeed, and the firing of the forest an easy matter +to a number of determined men skilfully posted." + +"Have the conspirators many adherents?" + +"I think not. The woodland folk are loyal, and have a right and proper +hatred of the King of Spain. Let me but lay hands on one man and we +may sleep in our beds without fear." + +"And that man?" + +"Is the priest, Father Jerome." + +Raleigh sat up. "Canst describe him?" + +"Ay. He is tall, lean, and yellow, looks a Spaniard, but speaks +English as no foreigner could speak it. He hath money in plenty, and +poor folk and greedy folk often fall a prey to Mammon." + +"I have met this Father Jerome, unless I mistake him greatly. He is a +Spaniard without doubt, and came hither first in the train of the +Spanish ambassador in King Harry's reign. He came again with Philip +when he took Queen Mary to wife, and stayed here the whole of that +reign and much of the present. He knows our land and our language as +well as thou or I, and Philip has chosen the fittest leader for his +bold enterprise. Thou hast gotten a dangerous adversary; do not hold +him cheaply, for he obtains a strange power over some men. 'Tis +against his nature to strike openly. He works like a mole, and thou +must find his place of burrowing and trap him. Meantime I commend the +advice of the Queen to thee: lay all suspicious characters by the heels +at once; put rogues to catch rogues, and have a care how thou walkest +in the woods." + +Sir Walter arose, but the admiral pressed him to stay and drink a cup +of wine. So the two friends sat on a while longer, talking of old +times in far-away Devon. + +Hidden in the bushes on the top of the sandstone cliff that backed +Drake's house was the dark figure of Basil. He wriggled thither at the +moment when Raleigh lifted the garden latch. + + + + +Chapter IV. + +JOHNNIE MORGAN TAKES A WALK. + +At the foot of the hill leading out of Blakeney northwards towards +Newnham stood a many-gabled, substantial farmhouse. A plantation of +oaks backed it, and eastwards the meadows stretched away to the Severn. +The house was in the possession of John Morgan, a verderer[1] of the +forest, and the good folk of the forest and river were proud to point +to him as a "proper figure of a man." "Johnnie," as he was familiarly +styled by his associates, stood a good two inches over six feet, was +straight as a fir and tough as a young oak. He had just turned his +twentieth year, and was as fleet of foot as the stags that he guarded. +Dark-eyed and handsome, light-hearted and jovial, a good singer of a +good song, he was as jolly a companion as one might meet on a long +summer's day. + +The morning was hot, and the June sun almost at its zenith. The gale +that had rocked the tall trees in fury but a few days before was almost +forgotten in the windless weather that had succeeded it. Master Morgan +had sauntered along one of the broad woodland paths, and was now lying +on his back in a sweet-smelling bed of bracken, gazing up through the +trees to the blue sky beyond. Johnnie was dreaming the happy dreams of +youth and the summer's noontide. The blue of the heavens haloed his +thoughts, and a pair of sweet blue eyes looked out from the midst of +them. A sigh escaped him. "Plague on 't!" he cried petulantly, "I +cannot get verses or rhymes into marching order. My head aches with a +tumble of conceits and dainty fancies. I could whisper a thousand +pretty things to yonder perky robin; I cannot give tongue to one of +them when Mistress Dorothy turns her eyes upon me; and now that my +heart yearns to set them in verse for her reading, I cannot frame a +line that doth not limp and stumble. What a thing it is that I can +sing the tears into mine eyes with another fellow's verses and cannot +build a couplet of mine own." Johnnie closed his eyes, puckered his +brow, and thought hard. + +For the better part of an hour Morgan had the cool nook in the woodland +all to himself, and he dreamt of a pair of blue eyes, rhymed them with +"skies," joined "love" with "dove," "sweet" with "fleet," "rosy" with +"posy," and "heart" with "part," and cudgelled his brains for images +and conceits that would express in some scant measure the charms of +pretty Mistress Dorothy Dawe. But his lines would not prance and +curvet as he wished them to do; they laboured along in a heavy, +cart-horse fashion, so that Johnnie at length reluctantly recalled his +wandering wits to the consideration of the practical things of life. +And, immediately upon doing so, he became conscious of the presence of +an intruder upon his privacy. Some one was moving very stealthily +through the bracken; the young forester detected the quick breathing of +a man and he held his own breath in an instant, whilst his body +remained as rigid as though it had been a fallen log of oak. He cast +his eye down the line of buttons on the front of his doublet and +carefully scanned his belt. It held no weapon save a hunting-knife. +His hearing became doubly acute at a sign of danger, and he fixed the +spot from which each faint rustle proceeded. Meanwhile his brain was +busy. Who should be stealing along within a few yards of the pathway? +No game was afoot in the immediate neighbourhood, and no forester would +be worming himself along in such a fashion. An honest man would walk +upright. "This fellow is a rogue," commented Morgan. The bracken +fronds curled high above him, and he knew that he was securely hidden. +The rustling sounds circled round rather than approached him, and they +finally ceased at a spot on the edge of the pathway about twenty yards +below where Morgan lay listening. + +The forester remained very still; the other made no sign. Morgan came +to the conclusion that his presence was unsuspected, so he lay in wait +to see what was afoot. Time flew on; to one, at least, the silence +became irksome. + +Sounds at last! Some one was coming down the pathway humming a song. +The spy--for such he was--stirred. Morgan noiselessly raised himself +on his elbow. The singer came on; his voice was rich and musical, and +the young fellow's ears tingled with pleasure. He ventured to peep +above the bracken. A dark form was half visible in front of him, and +the face was turned towards the direction whence the song was coming. +The head disappeared; Morgan ducked also. He could give no guess as to +the identity of the man who lay before him. But his mind was made up +as to the spy's intentions. Villainy was plainly foreshadowed. He +drew his knife from his belt. The footfalls of the traveller were now +audible. He came abreast of the lurking foe; he passed him. There was +a sudden leap; then another. A steel blade flashed in the sunlight. +The song ceased and the singer turned. Another second and the dagger +would have been in his breast. But at the fateful moment of time the +stroke was arrested by Morgan's hand. The would-be assassin turned +with the hiss and wriggle of a viper; his strength was astonishing, +and, ere Morgan was aware, the sharp stab entered his own arm. He +loosened his grip with an exclamation of pain. The spy darted like a +black shadow into the trees--and was gone. + +After an instant of hesitation Morgan and the stranger dashed after +him. They ran hither and thither, but found nothing. On the pathway +they met again, and, for the first time, spoke. He whose life had been +attempted took Morgan's wounded arm in his hands. "I owe thee, if not +a life, at least a whole skin," he said. "I am deeply thy debtor." + +"Sir Walter Raleigh can owe nothing to a forest man," exclaimed Morgan. + +"Ah! thou knowest me. What is thy name?" + +"John Morgan, heart and soul at your service!" + +"I have heard of thee from my kinsman, and the reports were of an +excellent quality. Come, let me see to thy hurt. We can gossip +afterwards." + +Soldiers and huntsmen are usually adepts at rough and ready surgery; +the flow of blood from Morgan's wound was stanched and the injured limb +bound up. Sir Walter inquired how he had so providentially got upon +the track of the spy, and Johnnie poured out the story of his poetic +difficulties. The knight laughed heartily, and offered his help. + +"I am a bit of a rhymster, as thou knowest," he said. "What is the +name of the bonny maiden whose eyes have driven thee to verse-making?" + +"Mistress Dorothy Dawe," replied the forester a little sheepishly--"a +sweet wench, Sir Walter, as e'er the sun shone upon. And I thought her +name as pretty as her face, but, plague on't, I cannot fix a rhyme to +'t." + +"And there I sympathize with thee most heartily, Master Morgan. When I +was of thine age and went a-sweethearting, my own fancy lighted upon a +dainty damosel yclept Dorothy, and, like thee, I found the name most +unreasonable in the matter of rhyme and rhythm. Cut it down to +'Dolly,' and that most unkind rhyme 'folly' straightway dings in one's +ears." + +"How didst thou surmount the difficulty?" + +"How? By keeping the name well in the middle of my line. But there +are a hundred pretty appellations that befit a maiden. Thou canst call +her thy 'sun,' thy 'moon,' thy 'star,' thy 'light, 'life,' 'goddess,' +and so on through a very bookful of terms. Shall I make thee a verse +as we jog along?" + +"A thousand thanks! but no. I will stand on mine own footing, or stand +not at all. I will win the wench by mine own parts or merits, or else +wish her joy with a better man. She shall love me decked in mine own +plain russet, not in velvet and laces borrowed from another's wardrobe." + +"Valiantly spoken, Master Morgan. I like thy spirit, and, beshrew me, +'twill serve thee better with a sensible maiden than any amount of +pretty speeches and cooing verses. 'Tis a poor man that hath not faith +in himself. In wooing, as in fighting, 'tis the brave heart and the +honest soul that gain the clay; and the quick, strong arm serves the +world better than the glib tongue. But let us get to this business +that brought us together this morning. Thou dost not know my +assailant?" + +"Not from Adam. Hath your worship no knowledge of him?" + +"No certain knowledge, Master Morgan; but I can give a shrewd guess or +two concerning him. Thou hast heard of the plot of King Philip to +destroy the forest?" + +"Ay, the rumour was abroad strong enough in the springtime, but since +Admiral Drake came down I have heard nothing. I thought the rascal +plotters had fled, for 'tis well known the health of a Spaniard suffers +grievously if he do but breathe the same air as our gallant sailor." + +"That is so; but some are of tougher constitutions than others, and +they do not sicken in a day. The fellow who hath left his mark upon +thee is an emissary of Spain. I did not know my life was threatened, +but the admiral may find a foe in any thicket. I am heartily sorry the +villain escaped us." + +"I am downright ashamed on 't!" cried Johnnie. He drew himself up to +his full height and stretched out a brawny arm. "I ought to have +crushed him 'twixt finger and thumb as I would a wasp. A lean, +shrivelled, hole-and-corner coward!" + +"But as strong and supple as a wild cat," commented Raleigh. + +"Ay, and he left the mark of his claws behind him," added Morgan. "He +was no weakling." + +"And he is not the only one lying in wait; nor is he the master hand in +this business. You verderers must bestir yourselves, or that which is +entrusted to you will go up to the heavens in smoke. I will wend with +thee to Newnham. The admiral goes thither on the tide this afternoon +on the Queen's business, and 'twill be as well that he, and those that +come to meet him, should see evidence of the activity of our secret +foes." + +So the knight and Master Morgan mended their pace along the woodland +way. + + + +[1] A warden of the forest and an administrator of "forest law." + + + + +Chapter V. + +MASTER WINDYBANK. + +"Then thou dost refuse to listen to my suit, Mistress Dorothy?" + +"Refuse! Alack, good Master Windybank, what a word to utter. Look at +yonder sundial and thou wilt see that I have hearkened most patiently +for more than an hour." Mistress Dorothy opened her blue eyes very +widely, and her tone was a trifle indignant. + +"Ay, but there is listening and listening, mistress," was the testy +response. + +"And surely my listening deserves commendation, seeing that I made no +interruption, scarcely speaking a word." + +"But I wanted thee to speak, to interrupt, to contradict, to argue. +Thy silence betokened indifference. I had rather that thou hadst flown +into a temper and bidden me begone than sat mum all the while." +Windybank jumped up from the garden seat and began to pace to and fro, +to the peril of Dorothy's flower-beds. + +"But why should I argue or contradict or fly into a passion if thou +dost tell me my eyes are blue? 'Tis the truth." Dorothy opened them +wider, and made them look more innocent and beautiful than ever. + +"Was that all I said for the space of an hour?" was the sullen +rejoinder. + +"No," said the cool little maiden, "'twas not; but thou didst offer no +ground for argument. I heard a catalogue of virtues recited, and was +bidden to believe that mine own small person gave lodging and +nourishment to them all. Well, in good faith, sir, 'tis my earnest +hope that some are guests in my heart, and I would fain believe that I +give harbourage to all the noble train. Thou didst speak at some +length of thyself, thy hopes and aspirations, they were such as would +become thy youth and station: why should I quarrel with thee concerning +them? Again, I had a list of thy possessions, the tale of gold in thy +coffers. Should I give thee the lie over thy arithmetic? Thy uncle is +rich, and thou art his heir. Shall I lose my temper because of John +Windybank's money?" + +The youth turned fiercely upon the maiden and gripped +her by the shoulders so that she winced with the pain. +"I--told--thee--that--I--loved--thee!" he said with deliberate +emphasis. "What hast thou to say to that?" + +"That a maid is honoured by the affection of any good man." + +"Dost thou love me?" + +"No," said Dorothy, rising also and removing his hands. + +Windybank's eyes were blue like those he confronted, but they were as +shifty as the maiden's were steady, and whilst the blue of hers +deepened with anger, his assumed a greenish tint that was both uncomely +and cruel. For a moment he stared into the azure deeps before him, +trying to fathom them. He failed. + +"Would 'No' have been Jack Morgan's answer?" he asked. + +Dorothy's eyes flashed, but her lips remained closed. She showed no +signs of anything save anger. The baffled lover lost his head, and +with it went his common sense and veneer of gentlemanly breeding. + +"Silence is answer enough," he snarled. "Morgan's black eyes and +swarthy face have bewitched thee as thou hast bewitched me. Well, take +thy choice between us. He hath the start of me in inches, but a +moon-calf would hardly benefit by bargaining wits with him--a grinning, +guzzling giant whose chief delight is singing songs in a tavern or +wrestling with brawny clowns as empty-headed as himself!" + +Windybank paused for breath, and Dorothy faced him as unflinchingly as +before, her lips curling in contempt. + +"Hast nothing to say now?" he went on. "Have I not given thee matter +for contradiction, fuel to feed the fires of thine anger?" + +"John Morgan needs no woman's help," she said quietly. + +"Neither help of man nor woman shall avail him ere long. Hark'ee, +mistress" (he lowered his voice): "there is power awaiting the man bold +enough to make a venture to obtain it. Look for the day when I am thy +master. And tell some others to look to their heads. I'll break thy +spirit yet, and see fear in thy blue eyes instead of scorn. I am no +braggart!" + +"But thou art a coward!" said Dorothy, whose face had grown very white. +"Think not that I shall feel anything save scorn for the man who +threatens a girl and slanders the absent. Thou art our neighbour, else +I would call a servant to put thee forth on to the highway. Begone!" + +Master Windybank turned to go. It was time, for Johnnie Morgan and Sir +Walter could be seen making their way towards the house door. "Tell +thy long-legged swashbuckler of our meeting," he sneered. + +"I do not fear thee enough to call in a champion," cried Dorothy +calmly. "Yonder is the gate." + +The rejected suitor strode off. The maiden ran into a little arbour +and had a good cry. "Sweet seventeen" does not like to be bullied and +threatened by a man in whom her quick eyes have discerned the +possibilities of a thorough villain. + +The little shower of anger and wounded pride lasted about three +minutes. Then sunny thoughts broke through the clouds, and presently +the sky was clear again. "Johnnie is come!" said Dorothy's heart. +"Sir Walter and Master Morgan are in the house," murmured Dorothy's +lips. "I must see to my duties as hostess, and I do not want to be +quizzed about tear-stains. Plague take that little Windybank!" A +dainty foot was stamped quite viciously. "I hope Johnnie will cudgel +him. A whipping would do him good!" Dorothy sat with folded hands and +pleasantly contemplated the corrective operation. Then a voice was +heard in the garden calling her name. She listened. "Only nurse!" she +murmured in a disappointed tone. + +An old crone with a wrinkled but good-natured face came along to the +arbour. "Dolly, sweetheart," she cried, "dost thou not know who is +within?" + +"I saw Sir Walter turn in at the gate to speak to father." + +"Hoighty-toity!" exclaimed the old dame. "Saw Sir Walter, did we! And +what of the head and pair of shoulders that stood above those of the +knight? We did not see them!" + +"Was it Master Morgan with him, Peggy?" asked Dorothy unconcernedly. + +"Ask him who ran away just now," snapped Peggy. "I saw the toady +little villain sneak off. I'd ha' given my Sunday kirtle to my worst +enemy if Johnnie had espied him and known that he and thee had been +sitting cheek by jowl for an hour." + +"Master Windybank is our neighbour," said Dorothy haughtily, "and he +comes hither with my father's consent." + +"Ay, men are as blind as owls to each other's failings," was the tart +response. "But I can see through a quick-set hedge as far as most +folks, and know when a rascal lies in hiding behind one. Get thee +indoors and talk to Master Morgan, an honest fellow whom thy +mother--God rest her soul!--loved before death took her from us." + +But Dorothy refused to be hurried. Peggy had loved her and mothered +her since she was a tiny prattler of three, and she often found her, as +she declared to her gossips, "a handful." Peggy, angry with her +nursling, turned to go, but she discharged a telling shot at parting. +"Very well!" she cried, "I'll go and bind up Master Morgan's wounds +myself. One of the bravest knights in England is attacked by a Spanish +giant in the forest. A brave lad jumps in to save him, and receives +the dagger in his own body. He comes to those who should love him, to +have the flow of his precious blood stanched; but no, good lack; we +love not brave lads--we dally away God's good time with cowards and +rascals!" + +"Peggy! Peggy!" cried Dorothy, and the blue eyes were running over +again, and the cheeks were pale as a ghost's, "is Master Morgan +wounded?" + +"He may be dying; the dagger perhaps was poisoned," said Peggy. "I'll +go and kiss the brave lad whilst he has wit enough left to know me. +Stay thou here, mistress; only loving hands must tend the brave!" + +But Dorothy flew after her and clutched her arm. "Kiss me, Peggy!" she +wailed, "kiss me!" But Peggy refused. + +"You shall not touch him, Peggy; you are my nurse, but I am his. Do +you hear?" + +But the old woman was deaf, and she stalked on with her thin nose in +the air. Dorothy clung to her, and they reached the house together. +It so happened that the story of the attack had been told to Dorothy's +father, and Sir Walter was getting a little fun at the expense of +Johnnie and his wrestlings with the muse of poetry. A lively, +good-humoured sally, at the moment when Dorothy's trembling limbs +carried her over the threshold, evoked a peal of stentorian laughter +from Master Morgan's capacious lungs. The tearful maid stood +bewildered for an instant, then a roar from all three men brought the +colour back swiftly to her cheeks. Johnnie Morgan dying? The wicked +rascal was convulsed with merriment, and his friends, who should be +sorrowing for his untimely fate, were as merry as he! With an +indignant look at the chuckling Peggy, the maiden turned and fled into +the garden again. But Master Morgan, who had been anxiously listening +for her amidst all the chatter and uproar, heard the light patter of +her footsteps upon the flagged courtyard. He sprang to the window, +caught sight of the flying figure, felt his heart beating like a great +drum, murmured an apology to his companions, and darted out of the +room, almost laying Peggy full length on the threshold as he ran off. + + + + +Chapter VI. + +A SINISTER MEETING. + +When Master Windybank left the quaint, riverside garden of Captain +Dawe, he was feeling about as amiable as a wolf might feel who has just +been scared from the side of a lamb by the timely arrival of a huge +sheep-dog. He growled with anger, showed his teeth for an instant, +then slunk away with his tail between his legs. He was a spiteful, +malevolent creature, cunning, unprincipled, and tainted with cowardice. +He had pluck of the wolfish sort, and could fight desperately if +cornered; but he shunned the open unless hard pressed, and preferred +snapping at an opponent's heels to flying in his face. He was a +dangerous foe, and pretty Dorothy had gone far towards making one of +him. + +In no pleasant frame of mind, Andrew Windybank strode up the high +street of the town. Few of the townsfolk gave him a good-day; he was +not a popular personage. For one thing, he was a Littledean man and +not of the river-side; his family was purse-proud and tyrannical; worst +of all in the eyes of a Pope-hating people, the Windybank family still +clung to the old faith. Young Master Andrew was quite accustomed to +cold looks, and, as a rule, they troubled him not at all. He was by +nature reserved and uncommunicative, and he was sufficiently well +satisfied with himself to care but little for the opinion of other +people. He turned aside from the town and breasted the steep hill that +led to Littledean. + +Windybank had not walked through the town with his ears shut, although +he had studiously kept his eyes lowered. More than once he had heard +the name of his rival mentioned, and each time the speaker's tones had +expressed admiration and affection. The angry young gentleman knew +nothing of Morgan's exploit, but the local gossips had seen the +forester pass through, and one had succeeded in getting an account of +the morning's affray. Johnnie was more than ever a popular hero. It +was unfortunate, perhaps, for Dorothy and her rival suitors that +Morgan's arm and Windybank's pride had both been wounded on the same +morning. The rejected lover had always envied and hated Morgan because +of his popularity; the events of the morning were rapidly turning that +hatred into a sort of malevolent frenzy. His heart burned with rage +and jealousy as he went rapidly homewards. + +Now, a man's heart will sometimes be attuned to goodness, and his whole +nature, being aglow with conscious virtue, will yearn for some outlet +for the kindliness that wells up within him. None is offered, and the +virtuous fountain trickles itself dry, and no one is a whit the wiser +or better. Anon, the same heart breeds envy, hatred, malice, and all +uncharitableness, and straightway comes the chance of working evil. +The temptation is great, the opportunity is eagerly seized, and +wickedness is done; it is so easy to step into the "broad way," so +difficult to find footing in the "strait and narrow path." + +Andrew Windybank was not a good man, but apt opportunity led him +farther astray than, in the depths of his heart, he ever intended to +go. His feet were treading the paths of his own domains. His +ancestral home, Dean Tower, raised its dark red walls before him. Some +of the bitterness was gone from his thoughts. Visions of the wealth, +wherein he was superior to his rival and the maiden who had flouted his +advances, were easing the wounds in his pride. + +A spare figure, garbed in black, stepped from behind a clump of bushes, +and stood bareheaded in the pathway. + +"God be with thee, Master Windybank, and St. James be thine aid!" +exclaimed a harsh voice. Basil confronted him. + +Windybank's first feeling was one of annoyance. Basil and his master, +Father Jerome, had visited Dean Tower before, and although they had +come and gone in secret and by night, yet some suspicion of these +Spanish visits had got abroad. The Dean men were proud of their +magnificent sweep of forest-clad hills and dales, and prouder still of +the oaks that gave their beloved England her impregnable "wooden +walls." They were wild with anger and indignation when the first +rumours of King Philip's plot came to their ears. Now they were +inclined to treat the daring project with quiet contempt, but Windybank +knew that scant mercy would be shown a forest man who should be so +unspeakably treacherous as to favour the scheme, even by so little as +holding converse with one of the hated plotters. + +These thoughts running through his mind, Master Andrew did not return +the Spaniard's salutation, but waved him aside and endeavoured to +continue his way. Basil barred the path, his black plumed hat still in +his hand, and his face wearing a caricature of a smile. + +"One faithful son of the Church should not refuse greeting to a +brother," he said. + +"What dost thou want?" was the curt response. + +"I am come upon business that hath the blessing of the Holy Father." + +"I'll not listen!" + +Windybank thrust out his arm to push his unwelcome companion aside. +Basil took him by the shoulders and stared into his face with an +intentness that made the young fellow fancy that the fierce, black orbs +confronting him were burning holes in his brain. For two minutes, that +seemed two full hours, the gaze was concentrated upon him. Windybank +felt his body shrinking into a smaller compass under the fascination. +His breath came thickly, his knees trembled, and his heart laboured in +its beating. + +"The Holy Father hath sent a message to thee." + +"I have heard it," was slowly gasped out. + +"He hath sent another. Thou darest not refuse to listen." The +ex-monk's hand was uplifted in warning. "Shall I be forced to curse +thee as thou standest?" he whispered. "'Tis obey, and be blessed above +measure; or refuse, and--thou knowest the penalty; I will not speak it +here. Listen! Father Jerome and I will come to thee at midnight. +Thou wilt meet us at thy gate and show us to a chamber where we may +confer in secret. Remember!" + +Windybank felt the iron hand lifted from his shoulder. Basil was gone. +For a minute he stared blankly at the bush behind which he had +disappeared. A warning signal, "At midnight, remember!" came to his +ears, and awoke him from his half-stupor. He shook himself, tried to +answer, uttered no word, then passed on. He entered his house with a +face that matched his ruff in its sickly yellow colouring. + + + + +Chapter VII. + +IN THE TOILS. + +That afternoon the house of Captain Dawe was filled with visitors more +or less illustrious. The dignitaries of the forest and the river were +assembled in solemn conclave. The scare caused by the first rumours of +the Spanish plot was revived in tenfold magnitude. Morgan's wounded +arm was a mute witness to the daring and activity of the foe. The +knight and the forester could describe every lineament of the would-be +assassin. The yellow, parchment face, the spare, sinewy body clad in +black doublet and hosen, had been seen for a moment by many a forester. +And the woodland men, brimful of superstition, had already invested him +with supernatural powers. + +A belated swineherd had gone in terror to his master with a story that +he had come upon the "men in black" dancing beneath an oak, enveloped +in blue flames, and that the smell of the "brimstone" had laid him on +the ground in a stupor from sunset to moonrise, more than an hour +after! The following day, in the early forenoon, he had led a +trembling party to the spot, and, sure enough, there was a blackened +circle in the bracken and the charred bark and singed leaves of the +tree to testify to the truth of his tale. Neither swineherd nor +shepherd nor forester had dared to pass the tree from that hour. The +woodsman's story was not all exaggeration. He had actually stumbled +upon the two villains, Basil and John, trying the kindling properties +of the bracken, and he had promptly fallen in a swoon from sheer +terror. By the common folk his account was believed _ad literam_, and +not all the better sort saw the true inwardness of the occurrence. So +the assembly had serious matter for thought and discussion. + +The leaders saw the gravity of the situation, and their apprehensions +grew when they found that those who best knew the forest were becoming +rapidly infected with superstitious fears. As a race the Dean men were +brave and tenacious--centuries of border warfare had made them so--but +their very life amidst the gloom of the trees and the roaring of the +streams, their brains teeming with mythic tales of the dark, deep pools +and echoing caves, made them ready believers in the "uncanny." The +forest could only be guarded by those who knew its devious ways; the +number of such warders was limited. Now it would be impossible to get +any man to keep a lonely watch; sentinels must be posted in groups for +mutual comfort and assistance, seeing that the tangible danger of +Basil's dagger was to be feared as much as the intangible perils that +sprang from the imagination. To group the watchers was to narrow the +guarded area, and it was plain to the council that, at night +especially, little of the rolling tract of hill and valley could be +patrolled; the foe would have fairly free range. + +One precaution could be taken, and that was promptly done. Orders were +issued that no bracken was to be cut except with the direct sanction of +the admiral. When cut it was to be carried green, and dried away from +the trees. Large rewards were also offered to any man who could bring +any "man in black," alive or dead, to the admiral. Visions of high +preferment were opened out to those of gentle blood. Suspected persons +in the forest area were to be closely watched, and most houses +professing the Romish faith were under suspicion. + +Johnnie Morgan spent but little time in the society of the volatile +Dorothy. His heart was full of love, but his head was overloaded with +affairs of state, and the pain in his arm filled the air with +"phantoms" in black that blotted out the sweeter picture of a teasing +"fairy" in white. The admiral, never so happy as when on the water, +went back to Gatcombe on the tide. Sir Walter tramped through the +woods with Morgan, and, now that the council was over, he came back to +the lighter topics of poetry and love-making. + +"Well, Master Morgan," he cried merrily, "and how didst thou fare in +the pretty arbour in the garden?" + +Johnnie's face dropped to a gloomy length. "But indifferently, sir +knight. The maid will not be wooed. She is as fickle as April." + +"Then catch her just when she melts into tears; 'tis the more +propitious time. Surely there was one little shower over thy wounded +arm. What advantage didst thou reap from it?" + +"Why, none," mourned Johnnie. "'Twas like this. I had wit enough to +see that my unfortunate condition gave me a chance, and, I give thee my +word, I manoeuvred to make the best on't. The wench seemed melting +with pity, and her eyes were moist with kindness, so I made the plunge. +But, gramercy! I found myself in a very thorn bush, and hardly escaped +without a scratching. She'll ha' none of me!" + +Johnnie's brown face was a study. Raleigh glanced at it, and laughed +heartily. + +"Keep heart, friend," he said. "Thou wilt find that 'tis as hard a +matter to embrace a wayward fairy as to lay a sooty goblin by the +heels. But thou'lt do both; a knowing imp hath just whispered the news +in mine ears." + +The forester's face beamed. "Now Heaven bless thee for a cheerful +companion!" he cried. "By St. George! I'll _do_ both." + +And so the twain wandered on. + +At Dean Tower, Andrew Windybank passed an uncomfortable afternoon. His +meeting with the dangerous Basil had affected him more than his +rejection by Dorothy. As the day advanced his agitation increased. He +knew of the meeting at Captain Dawe's. No invitation had been extended +to him, and he was aware from this that his loyalty was suspected. +Tidings of the attack upon Raleigh went the round of the household. +Later, towards evening, a fisherman came up from Newnham with salmon, +and he was full of gossip concerning the deliberations of the admiral's +council. The fellow dropped some broad hints that stung the ears of +the Windybank domestics. At supper Master Andrew felt that his +attendants were uneasy and suspicious, and this increased his +agitation. Night and its solitude brought him no relief. The +household betook itself to rest. The master alone remained up and +awake. + +The night was gloriously clear, and the moonlit forest was like +fairyland. The windows of the chamber in which Windybank awaited the +stroke of midnight faced towards the river, and the sheen of its broad +waters was plainly visible. He sat without a light, and the silvery +beams from without cast fantastic shadows on the oaken floor and the +dark panelling of the low walls. The carved furniture stood distorted +and grotesque. The woodwork creaked as it cooled from the heat of the +day, and a mouse that scuttled sharply across the floor brought the +watcher to his feet with an exclamation of alarm. His nerves were +strung to respond to every sight and sound. Again and again he +resolved that he would not sit up or have further dealings with the +plotters. Loyalty and manliness and the fear of evil report pulled him +one way; greed, ambition, desire for revenge, terror of Father Jerome +and the thunders of the Church pulled him another. His mind was so +torn with dissension and struggle that at last he gave up all endeavour +to fix a path for himself. He sat blank and apathetic, conscious only +that he was carrying out the order so menacingly given to him by Basil. + +Midnight came, and he roused himself and stood up. He listened for +signs of wakefulness in his household, but, within and without, the +hour was soundless. He stole across the room to the window, then +hesitated. Pressing his burning temples with his hands, he tried to +come to some decision as to his conduct. Should he quietly summon a +few of his men, bring in the plotters and arrest them? If he did this, +surely it would atone for the dealings he had had with them? Honour +whispered, "Get thee to thy slumbers, and go to-morrow to the admiral +and make thy confession." He turned away from the lattice. A slight +rattle attracted his attention. The blood rushed from his face, +leaving him as cold as death. The dark form of Basil, silhouetted by +the moonlight, was confronting him. One glare of angry reproach from +the sinister eyes was enough. He opened the casement; Basil stepped +in, and Father Jerome followed. + +The two stood and eyed him severely. The priest laid his hand on his +shoulder, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his pale +countenance. Many a poor wretch had found that smile a herald of +tragedy. Such it now appeared to the hapless owner of Dean Tower. + +"'Tis past midnight, my son," said Jerome. + +Windybank made no reply. The grip on his shoulder tightened with a +startling suddenness. "'Tis past midnight, my son." + +"Yes?--is it? I was coming, good father," faltered the victim. + +"When thou art doing the work of a king--of the Holy Father--of God," +whispered the priest, "thou shouldst put wings upon thy feet. Take +heed, my son! We love thee" (the smile deepened); "we look to thee to +do great things and earn great rewards. Let not our dearest hopes be +disappointed." + +Windybank glanced at Basil. There was death in the fanatic's eyes. +"Forgive me," he murmured, and sank upon his knees. + +Jerome raised him, and imprinted a cold kiss upon his forehead. "Sit," +he said. + +"The admiral hath held a council at Newnham to-day, and thou hast lost +heart because a few dull wits have been pondering together," pursued +the priest. "Dost thou know their plans?" + +"Partly, father." + +"A child might laugh at them! Our brave Basil here will reduce their +watchmen to a jelly of terror before this moon wanes. When flies catch +spiders, then these fools will catch us. Now hearken. If thou dost +show the white feather again, thou diest; Basil hath sworn it. That is +all that I have to say to thee by way of threat or reproof. Now this, +by way of encouragement. We _cannot_ fail. 'Tis the Church against +heretics, the Holy Father against apostates, the mightiest king in +Christendom against a vain and foolish woman. My plans are perfected. +A vessel manned by stout hearts will be here, in the river, a month +from to-day. Men who laugh at danger and have never known defeat will +be aboard of her. They will land at my signal, and must find all +things ready for the last blow. These miles of woodland will be +ablaze; no guard, such as the admiral can set, will prevent us. I want +thine aid. 'Tis an honour for thee to be linked with our holy cause; +beware how thou dost carry the dignity. This house of thine must be +hiding-place and headquarters for me. I shall come and go when I +please, and, be assured, I shall time my movements so that none shall +know of them. A safe asylum in the forest is necessary. I have chosen +this. I command; thou dost obey. Have I made it plain to thee?" + +Windybank's dry lips murmured "Yes." + +"Thou hast an enemy?" + +"I have." + +"Basil hath set his mark upon him." + +"I know it." + +"If thou art faithful, thy rival dies. Now lead us to the chamber of +which thou hast told us. Basil and I are weary, and would sleep. +Come, thou shall wait upon us and make us secure." + +The men in black slept at the Tower that night. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + +MASTER WINDYBANK WALKS ABROAD. + +A month came and went, and during that time the stir of apprehension +died down in the forest. Men pursued their wonted occupations, by the +river, in the greenwood and the mines, without let or hindrance. Night +was as untroubled as the day; the dreaded men in black appeared no +more. Wayfarer and forester forgot to scan bush and bracken for the +deadly and cadaverous form of Basil. Simple, honest souls believed +that the admiral's council at Newnham, and the measures of defence +adopted thereat, had shown the emissaries of King Philip how impossible +was their wild enterprise. + +"Verily," said they, "the villains have gotten a fright, and are gone +back to their rascally master." + +Which opinion did credit to the clean-souled fellows who uttered it, +and a glaring injustice to the cunning knaves who had caused such a +fearful commotion amongst them. And all the while the plotters had +secret harbourage at Dean Tower, coming and going by stealth and in the +darkness, avoiding all men, playing no bogy tricks, but maturing their +plans. + +Andrew Windybank had lived the wretchedest month of his life. A +mountain of care bowed him down, and fear, rage, jealousy, and wounded +pride gnawed unceasingly at his heart. He knew that he was a suspected +person: his neighbours shunned him; many of his servants and +dependants, by sidelong looks and spying ways, showed that they +mistrusted him. Within a week of the time when Father Jerome and his +two lieutenants quartered themselves upon him, the young master of Dean +Tower went about with pale face and bowed head, ashamed to meet the +eyes of a passer-by; and all the time wild anger surged up in his +heart, equally against those whose tool he was and against those who +stepped aside with a shrug to let him pass. He suffered all the +agonies that come upon weak natures that fall into temptation or +succumb to evil influences. He dreaded the power of the Church of +Rome; he shivered as he thought of the terrors of England's laws +against traitors. He loved his country in a way, and he was proud of +her; yet, having done nothing to merit the applause of his +fellow-countrymen, he was maliciously envious of those who had risen to +emergencies, or deliberately planned great deeds, and thus won +themselves fame. He loved Mistress Dorothy, and he felt that, if she +would only love him, he could be brave and noble; yet he hated the +easy-going, simple-hearted Johnnie Morgan, who had made himself a +popular idol, and was marked out by the gossips as the fittest and +properest husband for pretty Mistress Dawe. Master Windybank could not +help but admire the valiant admiral, and he remembered how he had +flushed with pleasure when Drake had taken him by the hand on the +occasion of their introduction. He hated and feared Father Jerome: but +he was aiding his schemes, and endeavouring to frustrate those of the +gallant sailor whom he honoured. + +As the days wore on, unceasing fears began to torture him. Did any one +know of his treason? One aged servitor only had been admitted into the +secret of the unwelcome guests in the Tower, and the honest veteran had +gone straightway upon his knees and besought his young master to cast +them out. Of the Romish faith himself, he would have no hand in plots +against his lawful Queen, and no truckling to the cruel bigot who sat +upon the throne of Spain. But love of his master brought him into the +snare, and made him an unwilling tool of the conspirators. Both fear +and affection lead men to belie their better selves. + +After a month of what was almost seclusion, Andrew Windybank determined +to spend a morning by the river. He walked into Newnham, and made his +way to the ferry to watch the tide race up the river. Men, horses, and +dogs were coming across from Arlingham, as the verderers of the forest +had a great hunt fixed for that very day. Windybank, as a verderer, +should have remembered this, but weightier matters had driven it from +his mind. + +There was plenty of bustle at the ferry; men were shouting, horses were +neighing, and hounds were baying. The townsfolk had come down to +welcome their friends from the other side, but no Newnham man +approached the master of Dean Tower. There was some whispering, some +furtive glancing in his direction, and the Arlingham folk cut him as +completely as did those of Newnham. + +With his heart full of rage and malice, the young gentleman turned on +his heel and strode off up the street. He held his head defiantly +erect, and he gave scorn for scorn and shrug for shrug. From the open +window of "Ye Whyte Beare" a jolly, rolling peal of laughter told him +that young Morgan was within, and two boar-hounds tethered to the +doorpost proclaimed that the Blakeney yeoman purposed hunting other +game than the timid deer that day. + +Higher up the street the angry man encountered a group of dark-haired, +sallow-faced miners who were taking a holiday, and a hiss of "Papist! +papist!" greeted him as he passed. His hand went to the hilt of his +dagger, but the fellows flourished their oaken cudgels within an inch +of his nose; so he contented himself with a counter hiss of "Insolent +dogs!" and went on. + +Resolved to face his foes, Master Andrew walked the whole length of the +high street, although the road to Littledean branched off about halfway +up. This meant that he must pass Captain Dawe's cottage, which dainty +habitation he had not looked upon since the morning when his wooing had +been interrupted by the coming of his wounded rival. The angry colour +fled from his face, and his head sank lower and lower as he neared the +place. The sound of Dorothy's voice in the garden unnerved him +completely; shame swept over him like the swift river-tide that still +roared in his ears, his chin fell on his breast, and a ghastly pallor +whitened his cheeks. A sob broke from him as he bent low and hurried +by. He did not dare to snatch even a glimpse of the scene beyond the +hedge. + +But he heard his name called in quick but quiet tones, "Master +Windybank! Master Windybank!" His heart almost ceased beating. The +shock of detection made him pause for an instant, and that brief space +of time brought Dorothy into view. He would not run, but turned +towards her, throbbing with the panting fears of a creature brought to +bay. The wild light in his eyes was quenched when he saw the kindly +glow in the blue orbs of the maiden. She put out her hand. + +"Thou art almost a stranger," she said. + +The youth's dry lips could frame no answer, nor did he take the +proffered hand. Kindly concern, where he had expected contempt and +reproach, completely unnerved him. Dorothy's hand was still held out, +and her eyes grew kinder as he looked into them. He took the dainty +fingers in his trembling hand and pressed them to his hot, dry lips. +Dorothy had almost the sensation of a burn, and she winced. Windybank +took the movement as a repulse, and threw the hand from him. + +"Art thou going to torture me too?" he cried harshly. "Why do you all +hate me so?" + +"Hate!" echoed Dorothy. "La! Master Windybank." + +"I am shunned like a leper," he went on. "Shall I get me into a sheet, +carry a bell, and cry 'Unclean! unclean!' as I walk the roads?" + +"But I do neither hate thee nor shun thee, else I had not called to +thee. 'Tis thou dost make a hermit of thyself. And thou art ill and +fevered," she added compassionately; "thou art wasted well-nigh to a +shadow." + +"I have no rest, no peace," he groaned. "I am scorned of my +neighbours, spied upon, suspected, insulted. Do ye all think I have no +heart to feel these things, no spirit to resent them? But I can return +hate for hate, injury for injury. Let some men look to themselves!" + +His tones were so fierce that Dorothy quailed. She recovered herself +quickly. + +"Come into the garden," she said. + +"I cannot come where I am not welcome." + +"I am asking thee." + +"I shall not come." + +"Then must I come to thee." + +Suiting action to the words, the maiden hurried through the gate, and +in a minute more Windybank was sitting beside her in the arbour. + +Now Mistress Dorothy was a maiden very prone to act upon impulse. She +would do a thing, and then, after accomplishment, consider the action, +and ofttimes repent. She had never entertained any very great liking +for Master Andrew, although her father had at one time made much of him +and favoured him as an acceptable suitor for his daughter's hand. But +the fact that the young gentleman was in serious disgrace, and spoken +ill of by those who smoked their pipes and sipped their ale around the +captain's table, softened her heart towards him. Ugly clouds of +suspicion hung over him, and men said bitter things concerning him; but +to Dorothy's mind the alleged treason seemed impossible. The accused +man, she would argue, was a gentleman and a forester; he had sat at her +father's board, he had spoken of love to her: such a one could not be a +traitor; she would not condemn him unheard. But she had resolved to +put him upon trial if opportunity offered. The opportunity had come, +and, believing in his innocence, she seized upon it. + +Dorothy went straight to her task without bush-beating. She told +Master Andrew very plainly what men were saying about him, and then she +asked him some blunt and awkward questions. Windybank was cunning; he +saw that in Dorothy he had a friend and a ready champion. To answer +her questions truthfully was to forfeit her good opinion and turn her +liking into loathing. He determined to fence. + +The maiden would have none of it. "I must have plain answer to plain +question!" she cried. + +So Master Windybank gave answers that appeared stamped with the mark of +truth. He assumed the indignation of a wronged innocent, and spouted +with some heat a torrent of lies and cunning half-truths. + +It was all very cleverly done, especially the contrite confessions +concerning interviews with Father Jerome and his brother-conspirators. +He acknowledged that men had had some cause to suspect him. "But," +exclaimed he, "a man should not be written down a criminal because some +one asks him to commit a villainy. All of us are liable to temptation!" + +"Truly spoken!" said Dorothy. "However, we must not parley with the +tempter, but flee from him." + +"That is not easy," answered Andrew, "for these men steal about like +very wolves. They spring into one's path when least expected. It is +impossible to avoid them." + +Dorothy tapped her companion's sword. "Thou art armed," she said, "and +so are they. What shouldst thou do when an avowed enemy of the Queen +crosses thy path actually engaged in evil-doing?" + +Windybank gulped. "Cut him down," he replied. + +"Exactly!" Dorothy arose and held out her hand. + + + + +"I expect to hear that a gentleman and a forester has done his duty to +his Queen, himself, and his friends." + +The master of Dean Tower bowed, murmured some words of loyalty and +devotion, and then took his leave. He went the longest way home, +avoiding all frequented ways near which Basil might be lurking. +Loyalty and treason, lodged in his heart, fought a dire fight, and, +thanks to the vision of a pretty face, treason was rather badly wounded. + + + + +Chapter IX. + +THE HUNT. + +By the time he had reached home, Windybank was persuaded that treason +would bring no grist to his mill. Weak-kneed and inclined to evil, he +was yet an Englishman, and in his heart he felt that all the kings that +ever ruled in Spain were too feeble a power to hold valiant little +England in a conqueror's grip. The Jesuit's plot was feasible, and, as +expounded by Father Jerome, promised a measure of success. The master +of Dean Tower was prepared to acknowledge that the forest might be +fired. What then? Would Philip beat England on the sea? The balance +of numbers would be on his side; but what of the deeds of Drake and his +brother-captains? They were men who laughed when the odds were against +them. "No," said Andrew decisively, "the Spaniard is not yet born who +can trounce that bullet-headed man of Devon. Philip's men can hardly +land in England. If they do--!" The young man shrugged his shoulders +expressively; there were bonny fighters for the shore as well as for +the sea! + +Such was the power of a pair of blue eyes, when the black ones were not +at hand to counteract their witchery, that Windybank determined +straightway to play the honest man that he had determined to become. +He whistled for his dogs, called to his groom, got him upon a sturdy +pony, and hurried away to the hunt. He was late, but he knew that the +quarry was to be roused in the Abbot's Wood, a close belt of forest +lying betwixt Littledean and Blakeney, so he made for the old, +grass-grown Roman road that ran straight through the heart of the +woodland, and, ere he had ridden two miles, he could discern horn and +"halloo!" away to the right towards the Speech.[1] His hounds heard +the welcome sounds, gave mouth in answer, and dashed off through the +green, waving sea of bracken. And master and groom, their forester +blood running like a stimulating wine through them, put spurs to their +steeds and raced off on the heels of the dogs. + +After very little riding, the rapidly swelling volume of sound told the +two hunters that the chase was coming straight in their own direction, +and hardly had they come to this conclusion when a fresh and fiercer +baying from their dogs and a ripping and crashing in the undergrowth +brought them face to face with the quarry--a magnificent ten-point +stag. Confronted unexpectedly by these fresh foes, the noble creature +came to a terrified halt, and, flanks heaving, nostrils quivering, +stared at them with wide-open eyes. But a yelp from the nearest hound +and a view "halloo!" from Windybank sent it off again like a bolt from +a crossbow. + +"Head him back to the main chase!" yelled Master Andrew, and he rode +off at a dangerous pace through the trees to carry out his own +instructions. Dogs and man obeyed his voice with a will, and the +unfortunate stag went bounding from one danger into the jaws of a +greater. Terrified by the shouts and bayings behind him, and sorely +hampered by the trees and undergrowth, he burst wildly into a glade, +hoping to make a quicker dash for safety, but found himself, instead, +confronted by a crowd of hunters on horse and afoot. Effectually +cornered, he turned to bay, and the first hound that approached was +tossed a good dozen yards, landing with a thud and a howl right under +the heels of Dorothy's pony. Snapping viciously out at the nearest +obstacle, the brute bit the pony just above the fetlock, causing it to +rear, spring forward, and throw its rider into the midst of the dogs +and within reach of the stag's horns. A cry of alarm went up, and +Windybank, who was easily the nearest man, had the opportunity of his +life. He hesitated, and his rival, who had quitted the boar hunt when +he found Dorothy riding after other game, sprang to the rescue in an +instant. With his bare hands he threw the dogs aside and snatched up +the unconscious girl just as the stag's antlers made the first savage +rip at her riding-dress. The whole deed was done in the twinkling of +an eye, and done single-handed. Morgan's quickness and cool daring had +proved easily equal to the crisis, and loud cries of "Well done, +Johnnie!" greeted the popular hero. For the nonce the quarry was left +to the dogs, and Windybank, glancing round, saw that he was the only +man still in the saddle; instinctively every other rider had sprung to +the ground. No one appeared to notice him; so, conscious that his +chance of regaining any share of popular esteem was gone, he swung his +horse round and disappeared amidst the trees. His dogs were yelping +with the rest of the pack, and not even his groom followed him. A +feeling of hopeless loneliness crept over the young man's heart, and +his head hung down, weighted with the bitterest thoughts of his life. +His conscience was busy with accusing whispers--"Traitor! Coward! +Fool!" The unspoken words burnt into his brain, and fired his dark +face with the hues of a lurid sunset. He halted; no man could see him, +and he listened to the clamour in the glade. He heard an exultant bay +from one of his own hounds. The brute dared more than his master, and +was taking a bold share in the events of the moment; and the vindictive +master vowed to have the brave dog's life for outdoing him. + +The spirit of mad hate was driving out the feeling of shame. He vowed +with an awful oath that Morgan should share the hound's fate. All men +were his enemies; why, then, should he spare them? + +A hand of ice was laid on his hand, and he almost screamed with the +sudden shock and surprise; he had heard no footstep. He raised his +head, to find the stern, set face of Basil confronting him. + +"What art thou doing here?" he cried hoarsely. + +"Looking after thee." + +"Begone, then; I'll not be dogged," exclaimed Windybank wildly. "If +these men see us, our dooms are sealed." + +"Thine was almost sealed," said Basil curtly. "'Twas in thine heart to +play us false. Hadst thou held out the hand of friendship to yonder +herd of heretics, thou wouldst have found me to-night both thy judge +and executioner. Come, the time is ripe for action. I spare thee +because I need thee; but beware!" + +Basil took the pony by the bridle and turned its head towards Dean +Tower. "Father Jerome awaits thee," he said, "and thy life hangs in +the balance. Go!" + +And Windybank went. + + + +[1] The ancient courthouse of the foresters; it still exists. + + + + +Chapter X. + +MASTER WINDYBANK REBELS. + +Andrew Windybank slunk away through the forest homewards. He had set +out to play the man; he sidled in through his own gateway like a +whipped puppy. Not once during his ride did he look back, and he +neither hurried nor loitered; the former he would not, and the latter +he dared not do, for he felt that Basil was watching him. Never for an +instant did he lose the consciousness that the beady, black eyes were +upon him. He felt them like two hot points in the middle of his back; +they burned and bored, and the flesh seemed to shrink away from them +beneath the taut skin. + +For some time the sounds of the hunt came to his ears, but he heeded +them not. "I am out of the hunt in all ways," he said bitterly. +"Bugle-calls are not for me." + +There is no more pitiable object than a man suffering under mental and +moral defeat. He has lost faith in himself. He has tried, he has +failed; and he usually throws his defeat in the face of Providence, +accusing the Almighty of desertion. Windybank did so. Desperate with +anger and humiliation, he went to his own private sanctum. Father +Jerome and Basil were already there, awaiting him. Windybank could not +repress a start of surprise when he found that the ex-monk had +outstripped him. He had hoped for a few minutes of quiet thought +before facing Jerome. A quick wave of anger swept over him when he +realized how closely he was "shadowed." His footsteps dogged if he +went abroad; his privacy was broken, without so much as a "by your +leave," if he stayed at home; he was treated as a puppet, a cat's-paw, +a thing that must move only according to the will of another. A flash +of light showed him the utter depth of his degradation; and the two +basilisks that sat staring and motionless before him were the +instruments that had accomplished his undoing. A wild yearning for +freedom and vengeance arose in his heart. + +"We have been waiting for thee since early morn, my son," said Jerome, +breaking the silence. The tone of the speaker's voice was cold, hard, +and threatening. The menace in it stung Windybank into rebellion. + +"And why should ye not wait?" he cried. "Who, in God's name, are ye to +establish yourselves unbidden in my house, dog my steps, threaten me, +ruin me with my friends and neighbours, and treat me as though I were a +child without will, aims, or desires of mine own? Ye have tarried for +me; tarry on until doomsday. Henceforth I'll be master of myself!" +Furious with passion, Master Andrew turned to the door. + +The effect of this outburst was electric. Jerome sat as one stupefied, +and for a bare instant Basil gazed as stonily as he; but he recovered +in time to prevent the young man's departure. The yellow-faced fanatic +was as quick-handed as he was quick-witted. Windybank had lifted the +latch, and his fingers were on the door pulling it open. Basil drew +his dagger, held it, poised, by the blade for a moment, then cast it +with great force and precision. Master Andrew felt a hot pain in his +hand, tried to pluck it back to his body, and failed; it was pinned +fast to the door. Basil came forward, drew out the dagger, and led his +host to the feet of Father Jerome. + +"Thou art drunk," he said meaningly--"drunk with the poison of a +wench's flattery. Down on thy knees and crave forgiveness!" + +But the master of Dean Tower was thoroughly aroused, and was not to be +cowed by a word. He threw Basil from him, and, wounded and bleeding +though his hand was, he contrived to draw his sword. + +"I'll kneel for forgiveness to no man living!" he cried. "Get ye from +my house, or I will drive ye forth!" + +Jerome had recovered from his astonishment; he rose up and laid his +hand gently on the young man's shoulder. "Thou art beside thyself for +the nonce, my son. Let us talk calmly. A host does not draw sword on +his guests." + +The words were uttered in a smooth, purring tone, and Andrew lowered +his hand. He was glad to do it, for it throbbed with pain, and the +blood was falling in a quick drip to the floor. His head was reeling, +and he spoke stutteringly. + +"Ye are not guests of mine; ye are intruders," he cried. + +Jerome tried to press him into a chair, but he resisted. "Hands off, +father! I can stand." + +The Spaniard made no further attempt to coerce the maddened young +gentleman, but he took a kerchief from his doublet and carefully bound +up the wounded limb. + +"A drop of wine, son Basil, for our friend," he said. + +Basil went to a cabinet, but Windybank cried out,-- + +"Touch nothing of mine, thou devil's cub! Dost think I would drink +ought from thy hands! When wilt thou be gone, as I have bidden thee? +If thou dost not quit, I will run thee through." + +Jerome saw that the presence of Basil was a continual irritant to the +desperate man, so he himself ordered his satellite to withdraw. Basil +obeyed with no very good grace, and the look that Windybank received +boded ill. Jerome now placed his victim in a cosy chair, threw open +the casement that the fresh breeze from the woods might enter, and +brought the glass of wine he had ordered. Master Andrew drank it, then +lay back with closed eyes, his brain busy with tumultuous thought. The +Spaniard sat and watched him as a wolf might watch a slumbering dog; +his brain was as busy as that of the other. Was his plan doomed to +failure at the last moment? If the master of Dean Tower failed him at +so critical a juncture, he could not see how to proceed. More than +ever did the conspirators require a place of refuge, not only for +themselves, but for others whom Jerome was daily expecting. + +Father Jerome got up and quietly left the room, proceeding to an +ante-chamber where he knew Basil was lurking. + +"Well?" asked the latter when he saw his chief. + +"Thou hast been too harsh and hasty, my son. The meanest man will turn +to bay if his dignity is wounded too sorely. We have found Master +Windybank weak and pliable, and we have been too contemptuous of his +manhood. He hath a little, and that last blow of thine has aroused it." + +Basil fell on his knees in contrition. "Forgive me!" he murmured. + +Jerome raised him up and gave him a perfunctory kiss on the forehead. + +"We can forgive faults that arise from excess of zeal," he replied, +"and we must have patience with the weak-kneed; a time will come when +we shall be able to visit their sins upon them. At present we must +play the loving friend; we can be the merciless judge at the opportune +moment. Get thee to Gatcombe, my son. Watch the admiral well, and +send the messenger thou wottest of down to Chepstow to learn if there +be any tidings of our friends from Ireland. The time for action is +fully come; the foresters are lulled again to security; we must strike +as speedily as possible. I shall expect thee at midnight to-morrow. +Meantime I will bring back our host to a sense of his duty and +religion." + +Basil bent one knee to receive his superior's blessing. "Benedicite!" +murmured Jerome. + +His subordinate seized his hand and pressed it to his lips. "I am +forgiven, father?" he asked. + +"Forgiven and blessed," answered Jerome. "Go! and the Holy Virgin +watch over thee." + +Basil pulled his hood over his face, opened a small oak door whose +hinges had been generously oiled, and disappeared amongst the trees. +Jerome went back to Windybank. + + + + +Chapter XI. + +DARKNESS AND THE RIVER. + +The hunt and its incidents were three days old. + +Johnnie Morgan had been to Newnham, and had spent a whole afternoon in +Dorothy's company. Not once had she snubbed him or even contradicted +him. Johnnie was home again, quietly happy. There was a battle of wit +and song fixed for the night at the local tavern; several "jolly dogs" +had waylaid the young farmer and tried to drag him off for an evening's +revelry, but he would have none of it. The sun was going down over the +hills, and Johnnie sat in his parlour and watched it. His chair was +tilted back against the heavy table, and his feet were on the +window-ledge half shrouded in flowers. He stared at the rosy sky and +dreamed dreams of the same colour. + +Johnnie heard quick footsteps coming up to the porch, and immediately +afterwards there was a lusty banging at the door. + +"Plague take 'em!" exclaimed the contemplative youth; "I'll not go." + +A little, dark-haired maiden, who, with her mother, formed the whole of +the farmer's domestic establishment, came into the room. + +"The admiral's man would speak with you, master," she said. + +Johnnie's feet were on the floor in an instant. "Show him in," he +cried. + +A weather-beaten Devon man, sailor to his finger-tips, rolled into the +room. The two men gripped hands. + +"At last?" asked Johnnie in a low tone. + +"At last!" was the reply. "Gatcombe jetty at nightfall, and well +armed." + +"I'll be there." + +Without further words the messenger turned about and went elsewhere on +his errand. Morgan at once got out his sword, put on a thick leathern +doublet and boots reaching to his thighs. Then, well knowing that he +might be setting out on an all-night expedition, he proceeded to eat a +hasty but hearty supper. + +At the appointed time he stood with about a dozen others on the +river-bank. The tide was about at half-flow and running strongly; +moreover, a breeze was coming up behind it from the south-west. There +was no moon, clouds were packing, and there was every sign of a +pitch-dark night. The admiral's roomy boat, with its mast stepped and +sail ready for hoisting, bobbed up and down on the water. Drake +himself was there to receive his men. + +"A rare night on the river for fish poachers, smugglers, and other +nefarious rascals," said he. + +"True, admiral," answered a Gatcombe pilot; "and I trow we shall find +it trying work looking for black men on a black night." + +"Well spoken, master pilot; but if thou canst keep our lives free of +danger from shoal and sandbank, we'll e'en try to do the rest." + +"I'll warrant ye safe passage anywhere 'twixt Chepstow and Gloucester, +Sir Francis." + +"I ask no more.--Now, gentlemen, aboard!" + +In silence the chosen band seated themselves. "Take the tiller, pilot; +I myself will attend to the sail. Do thou, Master Morgan, seat thyself +in the bow and maintain a sharp lookout; thine eyes are younger than +mine, and more used to the lights of the river." The anchor was lifted +in, and immediately the boat swung round into the path of the racing +waters. "Make for the other side," ordered Drake, "and lay to in the +backwater under the bank." + +A few deft strokes of the oars carried the boat into the rush of the +tide; for an instant it hung wavering, and then shot off like an arrow +up and across the roaring river. Then followed a few minutes of +intense excitement. The little craft rocked and swayed, and rose and +fell, tossed like a cork on the turbid waters. Morgan could scarcely +see a hand's-breadth before him. The rudder creaked as the pilot moved +it to and fro, and only his voice was heard as, very softly, he ordered +one oarsman after another to pull or back-water in order to hold the +course safely between the shallows and avoid the shifting sands, whose +presence, in the darkness, no eye could descry. Morgan was kneeling in +the bow, a stout pole in his hands; only once was he called upon to use +it, when the nose of the boat went crunching along the slope of a +sandbank for a few yards. At length came the welcome order, "Easy +all!" A minute later the boat was riding on an even keel under the +bank, rising and falling in rhythm with the suck and lap of the water +as it devoured the soft, red-brown walls that shut it in. The heads of +the men were on a level with the strip of turf that formed the land's +margin. Fifty yards back was the outer edge of a belt of dark wood +that covered the flat lands and swept up the sides of the hills that +lay off ten or twelve miles to the east. Against such a background +nothing would be visible in the darkness. Across on the Gatcombe side +were the steep sandstone cliffs, storm-washed and clean, and topped +with primeval forest. + +"Master Morgan," said Drake, "how far out in the stream must we lie in +order that thou mayest distinguish the sail or hull of a ten-ton craft +against the cliff face?" + +"I can do it from here, Sir Francis. The channel is about mid-stream; +and now that mine eyes are got accustomed to the dull tinge of the +water, I can see the fleck and scum on the farther sand-ridge." + +"Good! thou art our watch." + +The admiral turned to the rest of his party. "Gentlemen," said he, "in +one sense we work in the dark to-night; our foes have willed it so. Ye +have come out on this errand at my bidding, asking no questions, and +so, in a way, ye are groping in a double darkness. 'Tis not my way to +have men follow me blindly if I can open their eyes. I want those at +my back to see; by so doing they will strike the surer. Now, tidings +have reached me that those Spanish rascals whom ye wot of are about to +bring their plot to a head. Tomorrow night they hope to see the forest +in flames." The men stirred uneasily; Drake went on: "We have had a +long drought, and master-pilot will tell ye that there are strong winds +coming up from the sou'-west. For to-night and to-morrow they may be +dry; after that we may expect rain. Some of ye will know the _Luath_ +that trades between Gloucester and Waterford in Ireland. The Irish are +not loyal to our Queen--that ye also know. The _Luath_ came up to +Chepstow on the tide this morning, and no one, unless in the secret of +these Spanish villains, would dream that she carried ought but honest +cargo. Her hull, gentlemen, hides four rascal priests and other +desperate fellows to the full total of half a score, and much of her +merchandise is tar, oils and resin, and bales of tow. The boat should +wait off Chepstow for the tide that runs to-morrow forenoon before +attempting the dangerous run onwards to Gloucester. She really leaves +to-night. Just above Westbury she hath planned an anchorage, and there +Master Windybank of Dean Tower--whom, God helping me, I will hang over +his own gateway before another sunset--will meet them with pack-horses +wherewith to convey the combustibles to their appointed places. 'Tis +our business to capture the _Luath_. The good knight Sir Walter +Raleigh and the gallant Mayor of Newnham will see to Master Windybank +and the black-garbed villains that consort with him. That is our +mission; it remains for us to bring about a sure accomplishment." + +"'Tis as good as done, admiral," murmured the men. + +"There'll be a little tough fighting first," was the quiet reply. +"Capture means death to these fellows. They are brave, and will prefer +to die fighting." + +The river still rose; the tide was nearing full flood, and the wind +steadily increased. Soon there was water of a navigable depth above +every sandbank, and there was no longer a swirl to indicate a shallow. +Morgan had seen nothing; the men were getting cramped and impatient. +There was now no need for the _Luath_ to pick her way; she might race +up anywhere between the wide banks: her chances of detection were +greatly lessened. + +The pilot spoke. "Saving your presence, admiral, but this Irish +skipper is a deep dog. He should have passed ere now if he intends to +do his business at Westbury and then make Gloucester on this tide. He +suspects us." + +"How so, pilot?" + +"He hath not ventured to navigate the usual channels, which could be +watched." + +"He'll have no pilot; don't forget that." + +"True; nevertheless he is behaving right cunningly." + +"I never expected him to behave foolishly." + +"'Sh!" Morgan's voice broke in. There was tense silence in a moment. +All eyes were staring across the river. "Row out!" cried Johnnie; +"they won't hear us in this wind." + +After about a dozen full strokes the command came from the bow, "Cease +rowing and keep her steady a moment!" + +Another palpitating wait; then an excited cry from more than one voice, +"There she goes!" And the _Luath_, every thread of her brown sail +taut, swept by like a greyhound, wind and wave hurrying her upstream. + +Round swung the admiral's boat, up went the sail, and in a moment she +was bowling along in the wake of the foe. "Put your backs into it, +lads," cried Drake; "we must have her before she gets too far up the +river, else will the longshore rascals get warning." + +The stout foresters and fishers needed no incentive; they were rowing +as well as ever Jason's Argonauts rowed, and a greater than Jason was +directing them. + +The yellow waters rushed and swirled and bubbled; objects drifting up +on the tide were left hopelessly behind. But the stout little Irish +boat had got under good headway, and for a while she kept it, looming +before them a blacker patch in a black night. + + + + +Chapter XII. + +SNARING A FLOCK OF NIGHT RAVENS. + +At about the hour when Johnnie Morgan stepped out over his threshold to +go down to the admiral at Gatcombe, Andrew Windybank stole like a thief +from the Tower and went through by-paths towards Westbury-on-Severn, a +fishing hamlet that lay a little farther up-stream than Newnham. Not a +single man of all his servants and retainers went with him. He was +clad in helmet and cuirass, and armed with sword and poniard. Although +he walked stealthily, he walked firmly. Impelled by superstitious +fears, avarice, and desire for revenge, he had finally thrown himself +whole-heartedly into the Spanish plot. He had found it impossible to +hold out against Jerome and Basil, for, had he withstood them, they +would have killed him without mercy. Therefore, being implicated +hopelessly with them and their schemes, he determined, wisely, to use +no half-measures and thus court defeat and disaster, but to strive to +his uttermost for the success of their plans, treasonable and +dishonourable though he knew them to be. "May as well be hanged for a +royal stag as for lesser game," said Master Windybank; and as he said +it he felt his neck grow uncomfortable. He plucked at his doublet, +found it quite loose, swore at himself for an imaginative fool, and +hurried on his way. + +The wood was almost passed; the trees were thin, and the steep of the +hill was merging into the level of the plain. Master Andrew could hear +the faint roar of the running tide. Nowhere along the river could a +light be seen. From wood to wood across the wide waterway all was a +black hollow, not even the yellow of the half-covered sands showing a +tinge of colour through the thick darkness. "A mirky night for a mirky +deed," whispered the young man. "Father Jerome hath chosen well." He +resumed his walk, turning north towards the cliff at Westbury. The +darkness and the sense of security had heightened his courage; he +stepped out boldly and without hesitation. All at once he was +conscious that some one was near him. Hardly had he realized this +presence when a hand was laid in a familiar fashion on his arm. "Thy +feet are swift in the good cause," said a voice; "thus do men step to +victory!" + +Basil! Windybank felt uncomfortable at once. Had the fellow been +dogging his steps from the Tower? He moved more stealthily than the +night itself, and one never felt free of his presence. + +The two walked on side by side, never exchanging another word; indeed +Windybank made no reply to Basil's remark. They came out on the +river-side path that ran from Newnham to Westbury around the great +horseshoe sweep of the river. The shallow wavelets of the advancing +tide were already lapping at the soft, red bank on their right. On +their left was a ditch; behind that, an embankment topped by a tall +hedge; beyond that, orchards and fields stretching away to forest and +hill. The two conspirators crept along in the shadow of the hedge. +Half a mile farther on was the rendezvous. A faint light coming from +the foam-topped water made the blackness near its margin seem less +intense, and presently Windybank saw three figures ahead of him +silhouetted against the stretch of river. He plucked Basil by the +sleeve, and the fanatic came to a dead stop instantly. + +"Friends or foes?" whispered the young forester. + +"No foe would walk so openly to our meeting-place," replied the other, +"and no friend should risk discovery so stupidly. I'll hurry after +them and teach them discretion." + +The ex-monk crouched down and ran almost on all fours like a dog. The +pace at which he went in so strained a position opened Windybank's +eyes. "The fellow's more beast than man," he thought, "and his +muscular strength is marvellous." He went on to the appointed place +alone and slowly, seeing nothing of Basil or the three others until he +got there. + +About a dozen men were assembled, and Windybank gathered from their +whispers that they were from the northern part of the forest or from +beyond the Wye; neither Father Jerome nor his other lieutenant, John, +was present. Windybank stretched himself on the grass just above the +water, being determined to say nothing to any man. He fell to +contemplating the tall spire of Westbury Church, which stood out like a +blurred finger in the darkness. Meanwhile the tide ran strongly. + +A boat came across from the eastern side of the river. Father Jerome +and five men stepped out, and the boat was tied up under the bank. The +Jesuit asked for "Master Windybank," and Andrew stood up. "Your +leader, friends, if it comes to fighting," said Jerome quietly. +Windybank bowed; he had not anticipated such an honour, and he +certainly did not want it; there was too much danger about it. + +"Where is John?" + +Basil answered. "Gone to meet the company that rides from Gloucester." + +Nearly half an hour went by, a time of dead silence and anxious +watching. Some of the less eager conspirators began to feel the +demoralizing effects of the long wait; their courage began to ebb. +Andrew Windybank had time to reflect, and he wished himself well out of +the whole business. Here and there a man sighed or fidgeted in the +darkness. Basil was quick to notice the signs, and equally quick to +combat them. He whispered words of hope and promise, and stimulated +the nagging ones to fresh zeal. + +A muffled sound of hoofs--the men from Gloucester! Windybank noted +with some degree of satisfaction that they ware well armed and well +mounted. In the darkness he counted nearly a score of men. A few were +"riff-raff;" some, like himself, were perhaps forced; but the majority +seemed to be of some substance and courage. Prospects were looking +brighter. Master Andrew ventured to ask Basil a question. "What of +the Irish ship?" + +"The _Luath_ will not fail us; she is almost due." + +"It is possible that she may pass the cliff in the darkness," put in a +bystander. "Mine eyes are good, but I cannot see mid-stream, and a +boat that carries no lights may easily slip by unseeing and unseen." + +"That is our greatest risk, my son," admitted Basil. "But if the +_Luath_ is to escape other prying eyes, we must take the chance against +ourselves. One thing, we know when and where to expect her, and the +captain will steer inshore after passing Newnham, because of the deeper +channel being this side. I don't think we shall miss her." + +Father Jerome utilized the minutes in slipping from man to man and +giving each a fixed duty to perform the moment the _Luath_ should come +to anchor under the bank. He seemed to have forgotten nothing; ropes +were ready for the tying up of the vessel and the hauling ashore of the +cargo in cradles that the skipper would have aboard with him. The +horses from the city were designed for duty as pack-horses, by means of +which combustibles would be conveyed to divers parts of the forest and +hidden whilst the darkness lasted. Finally, the boat that had brought +Father Jerome and the contingent from the Arlingham side would drift +down-stream on the ebb with materials for giving the fire a good start +round Awre and Blakeney. + +"Ha!"--the exclamation came in a strained whisper from a dozen throats. +A black shape loomed up out of the darkness, and was recognized by more +than one for the _Luath_. The ship swung towards the cliff, and the +men stood ready to drop the anchor. There was a soft call of "Ahoy!" + +"Ahoy!" answered Basil. In an instant every conspirator was alert and +afoot. Father Jerome rubbed his hands with undisguised glee, and +Andrew Windybank felt a great weight drop from his heart. He had now +no doubt of success for the night's venture. The _Luath_ was safe and +to time, and many hours of darkness were yet before them. He had not +expected that things would go so smoothly. He saw visions of satisfied +revenge dancing before him like "Jack-o'-lanthorns." His spirits were +of that sort that are easily elated or depressed. Now they bounded up +like a liberated balloon. + +But another black shape crept up-stream--a small black shape. And from +this came, not a faint call, but a rousing shout of:-- + +"St. George and the Heart of Oak!" + + + + +Chapter XIII. + +A DOUBLE FIGHT. + +The fierce, challenging shout from the river seemed to split the thick +darkness as a wedge might split a tree. For a few seconds only was +there a following silence, in which the conspirators stood rooted in +astonishment; then from the very hedge that fringed the river-path came +another cry, "The Dragon and the Lion!" The veriest fool that hung +round Father Jerome knew that these cries could be naught but answering +signals. They were trapped. The rushing river lay before them, a line +of enemies stood behind, and the darkness was such that no man could +tell friend from foe at the distance of a dozen paces. + +The anchor of the _Luath_ dropped to the deck again with a dull clang. +Hands went to the freeing of the sails, and the tiller swung round to +bring the vessel out of the backwater beneath the cliff into the full +run of the tideway. + +"Shoot!" ordered a rough voice (the admiral's) from the boat. A shower +of arrows whistled over the heads of the group on land, and stuck, +quivering, into ship or sailor. This sign of perfect agreement between +the forces at the rear and on the river decided some of the plotters. +The admiral evidently had known all, and was prepared with a perfect +counterplot. The only chance of safety lay in flight--and they fled. + +But Father Jerome was not beaten. His weapon was out, and Basil's and +John's followed immediately. + +"We fight for it, my sons," he cried. "The ship can hold her own and +help us too; there are fifty bold fellows aboard her." His voice rang +out clearly and resolutely, and the captain of the _Luath_ responded. +"'Tis but a boat-load to beat off," he said. + +But Francis Drake led the boat-load. Under cover of the darkness and +the flight of arrows from the bank he had brought his boat under the +lee of the Irish vessel, and, closely followed by Johnnie Morgan, was +swarming up her side. A stirring shout of "Strike for the Queen, my +lads!" told Raleigh that the admiral was aboard. The next moment Sir +Walter, Captain Dawe, and a dozen bold fellows from Newnham swarmed +through the hedge and down the bank, and dashed upon Jerome and his men. + +"Cut them down, lads!" cried Raleigh. "Every one is a priest of Spain +or a traitor; don't spare the vermin!" + +The din and clamour ashore and afloat--the cries, curses, clash of +weapons, and groans of the wounded--turned midnight and darkness into +an hour of pandemonium. The shore fight was short, for, though the +three chief conspirators and Windybank fought desperately enough, the +rank and file seemed more anxious to save their skins than do aught +else. They dared not ask for quarter after Raleigh's order--'twas +fight to the death, or fly. The men from Gloucester moved at once to +their horses, and some of them managed to spring into the saddle and +get off in the darkness. The rough foresters were poorly armed and ill +prepared for fighting; for the most part those who stood were cut down +like sheep, and paid the full penalty of their treason. Basil +endeavoured to single out Raleigh, and Father Jerome did the same; but +one cloaked man is very like another at midnight, and there were tall +fellows amongst the Newnham lads that could stand shoulder to shoulder +with the famous knight. Windybank hoped to get a thrust at Morgan; and +now that his blood was up, and he had resolved to sell his life dearly, +he was chagrined to find no sign of the hated foe. He did not suspect +that Johnnie was with the admiral on the river. + +Meanwhile there was a fiercer struggle on the _Luath_. The crew and +the men stowed in hiding beneath the hatches were either Irish or +Spanish, all friends of the Pope and King Philip, and inveterate foes +of England's Queen and faith. Moreover, they were well armed and could +fight stoutly. The ship's decks were soon slippery with blood and +cumbered with dead and wounded. Twice the admiral was beaten back to +the bulwarks and almost over the side. His force was hardly great +enough for the task that confronted it; indeed, the astute seaman had, +for once, underestimated both the numbers and the courage of his foe. +He cheered his little company with voice and example. + +"Foot to foot with me, lads!" he cried. "The honour of England is at +stake. Shall Dons and Irish beat us on our own rivers? Well thrust, +Master Morgan! Now, a rush together, boys! Ha! they give; the dogs +give!" + +So, under the pall of night on the swirling waters, the fight went on. +Now the gallant captain of the _Luath_ was exultant, the next moment +the admiral had the advantage; backwards and forwards swung the balance +of conflict. A loud "hurrah!" from the shore, a great shout of +"victory," cries of "Drive them into the river!" showed how matters had +gone between Raleigh and Father Jerome. The news heartened the admiral +and demoralized the conspirators on the ship. The vessel itself, +rocking to and fro, refusing to obey the helmsman, lurched from the +quiet backwater into the swirl of the racing current. She swung half +round, pitched and rolled dangerously, and then went up-stream like a +drunken thing, swaying, turning, threatening to rush for cliff or +sandbank, and endangering the life of every soul on board. The valiant +skipper saw and felt the imminent peril, and, sailor-like, sprang +himself to the helm and headed the staunch little ship along the safe +channel. Then he gave her over to the helmsman again with some +whispered instructions, and sprang back into the fight that had not +slackened because of the chances of shipwreck. But the sense of +doubled danger soon told its tale. The Spanish allies, strangers to +the river, lost their heads, unnerved by the blackness of the night and +the apparently ungoverned course along the tide. Raleigh and his +victorious men were running along the bank and cheering the admiral. +The captain of the _Luath_ took a desperate chance. He blew a call on +a whistle that hung on his neck. It was a signal to the helmsman, who +turned the nose of the ship across stream to the eastern shore. +Diagonally the vessel steered to destruction; she just cleared the +sand-ridge in the centre of the river, and then went crash into the +bank. + +"Save yourselves," cried the skipper, and those of his men who could +jumped into the waters and struggled to land. "I fight to the last," +cried the gallant Irishman, when those who cared to run for life had +had their chance; and the braver ones amongst his men came in a ring +about him, and fought on until struck down. Drake offered them +quarter, but they proudly refused it. "No rope for my neck!" cried the +captain; and his men cheered his resolve, and died fighting beside him. + + + + +Chapter XIV. + +WHAT HAPPENED IN WESTBURY STEEPLE. + +The battle was over, and there remained but the counting of the cost. +The admiral had lost a third of his force, who lay dead on the deck, or +on the shifting sands beneath the yellow tide. There was hardly a man +that had not received a wound. Johnnie Morgan had gone down under the +last wild-cat spring of the Irish captain. + +"We must have a light," cried Drake; "this vessel is a firebrand. Some +of you fetch up combustibles from below." + +The ship was stuck fast into the bank, the tide pounding her viciously +as she lay. In a short while a fire was roaring on the Arlingham bank, +and by its glare the deck was cleared of its ghastly burden, and the +wounded attended to. Hallooing across the river, Drake ordered those +on the other side to secure boats from somewhere, and come across +stream to render him assistance. Messengers went off to the +neighbouring farms to bring carts and mattresses and stuff for +bandaging; for the tale of wounded, friend and foe, was a long one. +Willing hands and legs went to work, but it was bright morning ere much +assistance arrived. Johnnie Morgan was not seriously wounded. A +sword-cut on the head had stunned him for a while, and now laid him, +sick, dizzy, and bleeding, on the bank; but he was able to tell the +admiral that he felt nothing but a "plaguy bad headache." + +We will leave him cooling in the dewy morning, and see what has become +of Master Windybank and some of those associated with him. The master +of Dean Tower, deeming his treachery well known, and not reckoning upon +any chance of life if he fell into the admiral's hands, rose to the +height of a desperate occasion, and fought in so resolute a fashion +that he was not outdone by the tigerish Basil or the cold-blooded +Jerome. The arch-plotter, who kept by the side of his untrustworthy +recruit, was astonished at the reckless valour he displayed. Truth to +tell, Jerome was half inclined to believe that Windybank had played a +double part, and was responsible for the admiral's knowledge of the +plot for unlading the _Luath_. + +Entertaining such a notion, he was watching Master Andrew closely; and +had he detected any signs of half-heartedness, or any movement towards +escape, he would have run the young man through the body without +hesitation. But the suspected one proved, for the nonce, a leader that +would have led stouter-hearted fellows to victory; and Father Jerome, +seeing the fight was hopeless, determined to give Windybank a chance of +further life and usefulness in the Spanish cause. He slowly gave way +in the direction of the river, and whispered his companion to do +likewise. + +"Skin whole?" he asked. + +"Ay," panted Andrew. + +"Fall into the river as though badly wounded, and try to save thyself. +I shall do the same. Leave Basil and John to fight this out." + +A moment later Windybank toppled backwards into the stream. He was a +good swimmer, else had the Jesuit's advice availed him nothing, and he +rose to the surface and turned over on to his breast like a porpoise. +He fixed his sword between his teeth, and left himself to the rush of +the tide, putting in a few strokes now and then in order to keep a +proper course. A short time sufficed to put him out of the area of +actual conflict, and he rested himself for a moment to consider what +was best for him to do. He did not suppose that his foes would put an +escape to his credit, for his voice had been heard loudly enough in the +fight until the waters had closed above him. He determined to essay +the crossing of the river, as giving him the better chance of a run for +liberty, but he found the task beyond him; the fighting had fatigued +him, and the current ran like a mill-race. For the present, at any +rate, he must remain on his own side of the Severn. He swam a little +farther up-stream, then made for a place where the bank was low, and +scrambled out. For a while he waited to see whether Father Jerome had +followed him. Getting no signs of his leader, he turned to the +pressing question of his own immediate safety. He quickly decided not +to seek any hiding-place in the forest; the river offered a better +channel for escape. If he could secrete himself for a while, a chance +would offer itself of running down on the tide after nightfall. It +would not be difficult to find a boat, and the Welsh coast of the +estuary should afford him a safe asylum until he could make fuller +plans concerning his future. The voyage would be a perilous one, but +he saw no other chance of escaping capture and death. + +The gray cottages of Westbury were before him, backed by the church and +its tall spire. A thought flashed across his mind like an inspiration: +his riverside hiding-place was found! The spire was isolated from the +church, and was entirely of wood, save for a stone stump. Great beams +crossed and recrossed one another, in an ever-narrowing pyramid, for +about two hundred feet. Up in the dimness and final darkness near the +apex was security for any man. + +Windybank stole across the river meadow to the nearest house. The door +stood open and the place was empty. The neighbouring house was in like +condition, and a quick survey told him that the fisher-folk, hearing +sounds of the fight, had gone down to learn what strange business was +adoing at midnight. Master Andrew was deficient neither in caution nor +in cunning. He acted promptly. A pantry was visited, and a loaf of +bread abstracted. He slipped from the house and passed through the +orchard. He stuffed his pockets with half-ripe apples; they would help +to quench his thirst, and he could hope for no water in his lofty place +of concealment. + +He got to the churchyard wicket, passed through, floundered over the +melancholy mounds that strewed God's acre, and reached the square, +stone stump upon which the wooden spire was reared, and in which hung +the bells. The door was on the latch, the lower part of the belfry +being used as a storehouse for odds and ends of stone, wood, and rope +belonging to the church itself. Windybank knew his bearings fairly +well. He found the staircase, and began to wend upwards to the +bell-chamber. About twenty feet up he felt a rush of cool, river air, +and he knew that he had passed the first lattice. A little later, and +he was on the belfry floor, his hands feeling the chill, smooth surface +of the largest bell. Aching with fatigue and excitement, he sat down. +He did not propose to attempt the perilous climb upwards in the +darkness, and daylight could not be far off. Hunger sent in its +claims; he broke the loaf, and munched a couple of sour apples. The +food refreshed him, and he felt he could wait patiently for the dawn. + +Day came, and with it a buzz of excitement in the village. Windybank +ventured to peep through the topmost lattice and scan the groups of +excited gossips. Then he looked aloft through the great network of +beams and rafters. He was tired, and his brain swam inside his head. +The apex of the spire looked fearfully high and dark, and the brown, +cobwebbed maze of woodwork bewildered him. The latch below clicked; +some one was in the lower tower. The great bell began to swing; the +sexton was ringing an alarm. Seized by a sudden fright, Windybank +clambered by a bell-wheel to the first huge beam. He got his fingers +on it and swung his body across. He gained the next, and the next; he +was twenty feet above the floor of the bell-chamber. The boom of the +bell was deafening. He paused for breath, and then hurried on his +upward way, slipping sometimes, but never falling. + +Suddenly the bell stopped; a deep hum of sound spun and echoed in the +narrowing cone where Windybank was giddily clinging. He had paused +again to recover breath and stability. Looking down, he saw a head +rising from the tower steps into the bell-chamber; the sexton had come +up to readjust the rope. The fugitive's guilty conscience put another +meaning upon his act; he felt sure that signs of his presence had been +noted, and that the fellow had come up to search for him. A little way +above him was darkness and security. He turned quickly to make a last +noiseless dash, but he missed his grip and his footing. For a moment +he hung, while his heart stood still. Then he fell with sickening thud +and crash from beam to beam. The startled sexton looked up and cried +out; and the traitor's body toppled in its last wild spin, and fell at +his feet. He lifted it up. The face was beaten almost out of +recognition, and the neck was broken. + +The receding tide left Father Jerome's body on the sands. He delayed +his plunge into the river a moment too long, and a thrust from +Raleigh's sword speeded him into the yellow waters. John was found on +the bank, dead likewise. Basil's body was searched for in vain. He +was accounted as dead, for men protested stoutly that they had wounded +him more than once. But a scotched viper does not always die. +Gatcombe men were destined to prove the truth of that. + + + + +Chapter XV. + +A LETTER FROM COURT. + +Affairs in the forest had settled down; "excursions and alarums" were +no longer the order of the day and the dread of the night. Wounded men +were healed of the hurts gotten in the fray with the conspirators, and +their whole-skinned neighbours had ceased to ask them how they did and +envy them the marks of patriotic valour that they carried on their +bodies. The dead were buried, and the tears of wives, mothers, and +sisters were dried, and sad memories--when they came--called up only a +sigh of resignation: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away!" +They humbly thanked the Lord that He had given their men honourable +passage into the next world. + +The admiral was no longer at Gatcombe, but had gone to London, and +thence to Plymouth. Raleigh had gone to London with him, and in London +had he stayed. After the solitude of the forest, the gaiety of the +court attracted him strongly; and, as her most gracious Majesty was +disposed to smile upon him, he had said to Drake, "The sun shines, +Frank; beshrew me if I stray out of the circle of its warm rays." To +which the seaman replied, "God forgive thee, Wat, for dancing so much +after a woman's heels. The sea--as I know full well--can be +treacherous, but I serve a less fickle mistress than thou." + +Raleigh laughed lightly, kissed the storm-roughened cheek of his +friend, and bade him God-speed. "What would our royal mistress say if +she heard thee call her 'fickle'?" he whispered. + +"I am not fool enough, Wat, to speak such words in her hearing. But +have a care--courts are slippery places in which to walk. An honest +man is safer on a ship's deck during a hurricane than on a palace floor +even when the royal sun is shining. Have a care of thyself, dear +heart, if only for the sake of us rough sea-dogs of Devon that love +thee." + +Whereupon Raleigh kissed the admiral again, and sent loving messages to +Jack Hawkins and Dick Grenville and all the other gallant gentlemen +that quaffed their ale with eyes on the sea on Plymouth Hoe. + +Johnnie Morgan stood watching the last wagon from his harvest field go +creaking and groaning into the rickyard in the rear of his house. It +was quite early in the afternoon, and the September sun shone with an +ardour worthy of fierce July. There was a wind, but it came dead from +the south, and its passage across the hot, moist sands of the river had +no cooling influence upon it. Johnnie mopped his brow and leant +wearily upon a pitchfork whilst a maiden ran indoors for a flagon of +cider. She came back, followed closely by a dusty stranger. + +The farmer stared at the stranger. The latter surveyed Johnnie pretty +coolly, measured him from head to heel, and then took off his hat with +a sweeping forward movement of the arm. "By the look of thee thou art +Master Morgan, the yeoman of Blakeney, for whom I have hunted high and +low since noon," he exclaimed. + +"I am Master Morgan," replied Johnnie; "who art thou?" + +"Timothy Jeffreys, at your service. I serve the good knight, Sir +Walter Raleigh." + +"Say no more until thy throat be better moistened," cried Morgan, +handing him the flagon of cider. "Let it never be said that a message +from the noble Sir Walter was spoken to me with dry lips." + +Master Jeffreys took the cider off at a draught. "Passable--on a hot +day, palatable--to a man thirsty enough to lap from a wayside ditch; +but--!" he shook his head expressively, "'tis not Devonshire juice, +Master Morgan." + +"True; 'tis good Glo'stershire, and we humble forest folk keep sound +heads and sound stomachs by quaffing it. I'm sorry 'tis not to your +liking; maybe I should cry 'faugh!' over your Devonshire tipple, good +sir." Johnnie was annoyed, for he prided himself on his apple-brew, +and the airs and graces of Master Jeffreys were not altogether to his +liking. "You have a message to me," he said. "No doubt you will tell +it better sitting than standing. Come into my parlour.--Meg, take this +gentleman's cloak and dust it, and bring him a brush for his boots." +The maid took the horseman's cloak, and her master led his guest +indoors. Meg was ready on the threshold to brush off the heavy coating +of red, forest dust. + +"Bachelor?" asked Jeffreys when he found himself lying back in a cosy +chair, a bowl of sweet, old-time flowers adjacent to his nose. + +"Bachelor!" answered Johnnie. + +"Pardon my question; but this room is so trim and neat that, methought, +there must be some dainty housewife under the roof." + +"And thou wert curious to see her." + +"Exactly. I have travelled, Master Morgan, and I love to look about me +and ponder upon what I see." + +"Thy conclusions are not always correct." + +"The wisest men make mistakes, Master Morgan." + +"What a comfort to us that are fools!" ejaculated the forester. "But +thy message, my good sir." + +"I like thy house; 'tis uncommon pretty." + +"A good enough nest," assented Morgan. + +"Wants another bird in it." + +"True!" + +"Thou hast no thought of quitting the homestead?" + +"Heaven forbid! 'twas my father's before me. I'll never leave it." + +"That's a pity." + +"How so?" + +"I've come down to fetch thee away." + +Johnnie was losing patience with his visitor. His thoughts were busy +with the rick-makers in the yard, and Master Jeffreys was in no hurry +to say his say and be gone. He gave himself more airs than the knight +his master. "Sit and rest thyself," exclaimed the farmer, getting up. +"I can see that thy story will keep another hour. I'll send the wench +into thee with some ale and venison. Eat and drink and take thine ease +until I come to thee again." Without another word he vanished. + +"A hasty fellow," commented Master Jeffreys. "A few trees and a muddy +river make up his world. A winter in London will open his eyes and +give him a broader view of life; then he will behave in a more leisured +manner." + +Johnnie saw to the unlading of his last wagon and the shaping off of +his wheat-rick. Then he went indoors again, and found his visitor +ready to deliver his message without any more beating about the bush. +It was short, but pointed. Jeffreys--who described himself as a poor +gentleman of Devon attached to the fortunes of his more famous +neighbour--was instructed to invite, or rather command, Master Morgan's +presence in London. Raleigh had spoken of him to the Queen, and the +admiral had also written concerning him. Her Majesty was anxious to +see the valiant forester, and Jeffreys duly impressed upon him the +necessity of seizing so glorious a chance to push his fortunes. + +But Morgan was not so eager; in fact, he told the messenger that, much +as he loved Raleigh and honoured the Queen, he did not propose to +venture into London. Jeffreys argued. Morgan was firm. "I'll not +come except at the direct command of the good Sir Walter or the Queen. +If I am left any choice in the matter, I choose to abide in the forest." + +"Very well," said Jeffreys, "then I'll be going. My steed will be +rested. Canst give me a guide to Newnham? I want a Captain Dawe." + +"Ah!" cried Johnnie, all ears in a moment. + +"The knight hath commissioned me to deliver a letter to a Mistress +Dorothy Dawe." + +"Then I'll get me out of my workday suit and walk to Newnham with +thee," exclaimed the farmer. "There's nought so refreshing as a tramp +along the shaded, woodland ways, and I have a little business of mine +own to do with Captain Dawe. I shall serve thee and myself at the same +time." So much the yeoman said aloud. Inwardly he muttered, "I'll not +have this bowing and scraping image ducking and bobbing before my +Dolly, and sniffing round her parlour like a dog that hopes to start +some quarry from behind chair or table. He'll be in luck if his +message-carrying doesn't get him a cracked crown. I hope the knight +hath not many such as he in his train." + +Jeffreys stared when his guide came again into the sunny parlour +prepared for his walk to Newnham. The rough farmer in hodden gray had +disappeared, and in his place stood a stalwart and handsome young +gentleman in green slashed doublet and hosen of soft cream cloth. A +green cap with a white swan's feather perched jauntily on the dark, +curling hair, and from a belt of pale buckskin hung a sword with a +delicately chased handle. The "poor gentleman of Devon" fresh from +London and the court felt as gay as a dusty barndoor fowl might feel +beside a lordly peacock. + +"La! Master Morgan," he cried, "I'm glad thou hast no mind for London +in my company. In good sooth, I've no wish to walk down Chepe or +Whitehall with thee at my elbow. Ne'er a wench would give an eye to +me. Even through the forest, with nought save the birds and beasts to +quiz at us, I think I'll come along humbly in the rear with my cap in +my hand. You foresters go a-visiting in as smart a guise as a town +gallant goes to the play. Dost mind if I wash my face, comb my locks, +and have another brushing ere we set forth?" + +"Ha' done with thy jesting, good sir; thou art a traveller from afar, +and lookest the part to perfection. I am at mine ease at home going to +pay a call to a pretty neighbour. Let us be jogging; 'tis a long walk +to Newnham, and the afternoon is wearing late." + +The two young men set out for the little river town. Morgan at first +had little to say, and let his companion rattle on as he pleased about +London--its streets, shops, taverns, and theatres. But, by-and-by, he +became eager over the wild beauties of river and forest, and he told +tales of cave and cliff and pool, of boar and deer, pirate and +fisherman, and forced Master Jeffreys to listen. And so they got to +Newnham and the pretty cottage with fair flowers outside and a fairer +flower within. "This is Captain Dawe's house," said Johnnie. + +"I thank thee heartily. I can knock and introduce myself and mine +errand, and leave thee free to go at once to the pretty maid in whose +honour thou hast decked thyself so gallantly." + +"Trouble not thyself, Master Jeffreys; I shall do my business the +better by coming in to quicken thine. Follow me; I am in the habit of +entering this house without going through the ceremony of knocking." +Saying this, the forester lifted the latch and stood aside for his +companion to cross the threshold first. A sound of singing came from +the kitchen. + +"A pretty bird in a pretty cage," said Jeffreys. + +"E'en so," commented Morgan; "thine eyes and ears are passably good for +a townsman. Pardon me leaving thee for a moment." + +Morgan strode off kitchenwards. There was a sudden, "La, Jack! thou +dost look like a feast day. Mind the flour!" After that Jeffreys +always declared that he heard the sound of a vigorous kiss. Silence +followed; then excited whisperings; then a scamper of light feet; and +Morgan returned and ushered his waiting companion into the parlour. +"Captain Dawe is down by the river," he said; "Mistress Dorothy will be +with us anon." + +"And the pretty bird that sang in the kitchen over the flour tub?" + +"Was Mistress Dorothy." + +"Thy sleeve is whitened, Master Morgan." + +Johnnie coolly brushed away the tell-tale smudge. "Women always +smother a room up on baking-day," he replied. + +Dorothy came in. + +"This is Sir Walter's man, who hath a packet for thee.--Master +Jeffreys, this is Mistress Dawe." + +Dorothy curtsied, and the messenger bowed. "Never had long journey so +pretty and pleasant an ending," he said. "Here is a packet from my +master, the gallant knight Sir Walter Raleigh. I am to take back an +answer." + +Dorothy took the packet, blushing at the sight of the pretty ribbons +wherewith it was tied. "I am honoured indeed," she murmured; "pray you +be seated, fair sir." + + + + +Chapter XVI. + +TO LONDON TOWN. + +The packet that Master Jeffreys handed to Dorothy was too large and too +heavy for a mere missive; and the maid, recalling some jocular promises +of Raleigh's, at once suspected that some London gew-gaw lay snug +within, and tore off the wrappings with eager fingers. Her hopes were +not disappointed, and a dainty pair of silver shoebuckles shone in the +sunlight. + +"Dear heart alive! surely they are not for me," cried Dolly. + +"Read the letter, mistress," said Jeffreys. + +A knot of blue ribbon was the only seal on the knight's letter, and the +blushing maiden opened and read; and, as she read, the rich colour of +her cheeks grew ever richer and deeper, and Johnnie pulled his +cap-feather to pieces and watched her. She finished, sighed, looked at +her lover and at the writer's messenger, then, with a "By your leave, +Master Jeffreys," she handed the missive to Johnnie. "Read," she said. + +"Nay, why should I?" was the somewhat sheepish response. + +"Because I wish it," said Dolly promptly. + +"I am bad at reading script; each one hath too much of his own fashion +in the twists and curls of the letters." + +"This is as plain as Bible print. Art going to London?" + +"No!" + +Dolly's face fell. "Hath not Master Jeffreys given thee Sir Walter's +message?" + +"Ay, and I have sent back a civil and courteous 'No.' What should I do +in such a place?" + +"What a question for a fellow of spirit to ask!" cried Dolly. + +"What a question, indeed!" echoed Jeffreys; "and a sweet maid with her +toes tingling to tread the golden pavements! Read, Master Morgan; the +gallant knight's words will speak more persuasively than my poor +tongue." + +Johnnie took the letter, and read as follows:-- + + +"To MISTRESSE DAWE. Bye ye hande of my trustie manne, Timothie +Jeffreys--Greetynges to you, faire mistresse, and to youre excellent +and honourable sire. + +"To-daye, a softe wind hath come up from ye west, tempering ye heate +and broil of ye towne, and whisperynge to me of cool forest glades and +greene paths bye a rushynge river. Straightwaie closynge mine eyen to +gette a cleare vision of ye same, I am minded of deare friendes whose +feete have kept time with mine along ye shaded wayes. Here, before me +on my table, hathe my servante placed freshe flowres from countrie +hedgerowe and garden, to sweeten the close aire that cometh in from ye +swelterynge streetes. And, straightwaie, I bethinke me how sweete this +olde citie would be if onlie Ye Rose of Dean Forest would come hither +with her coloure and her perfume! + +"Soe, gentle mistresse and deare friende, I am, on ye sudden, hasting +to do what I have purposed for many dayes. Her Majestie hathe a desire +to see a certaine gallant youthe that dwelleth hard bye ye rivere atte +Blakeney, and I have a desire to showe a pretty maiden ye sightes of +London towne, of the whiche we spoke many a time in ye cool of ye +forest. Therefore, come away with brave Master Morgan and youre +estimable father, ye captaine. My manne will guide you, and I will +welcome you righte heartilie. In assurance that you will come, I shall +bespeake lodgynges with a worthie dame of my acquaintance. Persuade +Master Morgan; it will be for his certaine goode. I shall command him +bye worde of mouthe; but as I knowe the rogue--though merrie enough in +some wayes and eager for travel--is rooted on Severne side like an oak, +'twill neede some powere like thine to move him. + +"Commende me and my invitation to youre sire; accepte a triflynge gift +at my handes; and may God be with you all and give us a joyouse +meetynge.--Youres, in all knightlie devoirs, WALTER RALEIGH." + + +Johnnie handed the letter back. + +"Well?" asked Dorothy. + +"I do not think your father will consent; 'tis a perilous journey for a +maid." + +"Not when three brave gentlemen ride with her." + +"I like not the scheme. What is London to home-dwelling forest folk?" + +"'Tis the heart of the world," broke in Jeffreys, "and no man can say +he knoweth life until he hath felt the pulse-beat of the great city." + +"I am woodland bred, good sir, and shrink from the prisonment of +streets and walls. Half a day in Gloucester makes me fret like a caged +bird." + +"A man must see life in its many aspects if he would claim to have +lived at all, Master Morgan." + +"I do not agree. A man will see deeper into a stream if he sits and +watches than will a fellow who splashes noisily about. However, I am +bounden to Mistress Dorothy by a hundred acts of kindness that she did +me when I lay fevered and with a broken head. If her heart is set upon +this jaunt, and her father does not say 'Nay,' I'll to London or +anywhere else she wills. Nevertheless, for my own liking, I had rather +bide at home." + +Dorothy beamed at the forester. "I was half tempted to remind thee +that thou didst owe me a mended head. I am glad I did not," she said. + +"There is no need to remind me of even a look thou hast given me," +replied Johnnie. "But here comes the captain; his word will be law to +us in this matter." + +Captain Dawe came in, and welcomed Master Jeffreys most heartily when +he learned whom he served. His brow puckered, however, over the +knight's letter. + +"What dost thou say to the project?" he asked Morgan. + +"I am pledged to do as Dorothy wishes." + +"And thy wish, my lass?" + +"Is to go to London." + +"I might have guessed that without troubling to ask. My bones are +getting old, and 'tis a long ride." + +"We will go at your own pace, father." + +"I must think on't; 'tis no light matter for a simple man like myself." + +Captain Dawe thought over the matter for a night and a day, and he +consulted half Newnham before he arrived at a decision. He made up his +mind to go. Then came manifold preparations. Clothing and arms +received careful attention. Dolly's best gowns came out of lavender, +and Morgan set the tailor busy upon new doublet and hosen. Master +Jeffreys lodged with the captain, and gave all the benefit of his +impartial advice. The knight's man was a personage in Newnham for more +than a week, and he carried off the dignity in excellent style. +Johnnie bought Dorothy a stout saddle horse to replace the forest pony +she usually rode; and at last, on a sunny morning, the little cavalcade +rode along the river-path towards Gloucester. Several friends and +neighbours went with them as far as the city. + +They rested that night in Northleach, over the other side of the hills. +Thence they went through Burford to Oxford; afterwards riding in easy +daily stages through Wycombe and Uxbridge to London town. Halting for +a last time at Mary-le-bone, a few miles from the city gates, where +they cleansed themselves from the dust and soil of travelling, they +rode thence to Charing, along the Strand past Alsatia, the Temple, and +Whitefriars, and, crossing the Fleet River, entered the city by the Lud +Gate, St. Paul's great church looking down on them from the hilltop. + +Master Jeffreys halted finally at the "Swanne," in Wood Street off the +Chepe. + + + + +Chapter XVII + +SIR WALTER AS CHAPERON. + +That same evening the Devonshire knight, apprised by Master Jeffreys of +the arrival of his forest friends, paid them a visit in the Wood Street +hostelry. He himself had lodgings at Whitehall, near to the court. He +welcomed them most warmly, paid Dorothy many pretty compliments, and +enjoined the hostess to have the greatest care of her precious charge. + +"Let but a hair of Mistress Dawe be injured beneath thy roof, +goodwife," said he, with a twinkle in his eye, "and a whole host of +wild fellows from caves and holes in the mighty forest will swarm +hither for revenge. Dark, terrible beings are they, who spend much of +their time in the gloomy depths of the mighty woodland or in the very +bowels of the earth. Wild Irish or Spaniards are nought to them. I +have seen them eat up such folk at a mouthful! This nymph is their +maiden queen. Have a care how ye all treat her!" + +The plump hostess, who knew her knight for a merry jester, was yet half +inclined to believe his account of the forest dwellers, and she looked +with added interest upon the blushing Dolly. Master Morgan was quite +to her mind. + +"I am a widow," she said in confidence to the captain, "and 'tis a +great comfort to have a fellow of so many inches, and an honest face +atop of them, under one's roof." + +The captain agreed, and accepted the invitation of Mistress Stowe (the +hostess) to drink a cup of sack with her in her own parlour. + +Sir Walter left his man with the forest folk in the capacity of guide +and counsellor, promising to come again early on the morrow and take +them the round of the city sights. Johnnie went abroad that evening, +down Chepe as far as Cornhill; but Dorothy and the captain preferred to +remain indoors, and Mistress Stowe entertained them with stories of the +great city, telling of the great changes that had taken place of late +years--how scores of churches and religious houses had been pulled down +and hundreds of priests and monks driven out because of the Reformation. + +"I have heard my father say," she declared, "that in his time every +second man you met with in the streets of London was monk or priest; +churches stood everywhere, and there was a perpetual ding-dong of bells +from morn till night. Now you will look in vain for a monk; the bells +are grown silent; and the churches are heaps of ruins, or their sites +occupied by warehouses built of their stones. The monasteries and +nunneries are turned into dwelling-places for the rich folk and +favourites of the court." + +She told them of the tournaments held in the great street called +"Chepe;" of the pageants on the river; the bull-baiting, bear-baiting, +and morris-dancing, and the plays at the theatres. She had an +entranced audience of two until Morgan and Jeffreys returned from their +ramble. + +The next morning about eleven o'clock Sir Walter came in and found the +dinner just served, so he dined with his friends; and then, after a +pipe of tobacco--in which neither the captain nor Morgan ventured to +join him--he took them abroad. Down Chepe they went, past the fine +shops of goldsmith, silversmith, and mercer. The broad thoroughfare +was thronged with gaily-dressed people, afoot and on horseback, and the +apprentices cried their masters' wares so lustily that the place rang +again. 'Twas "What d'ye lack, pretty mistress? Is it gold or jewels, +fal-lals or laces? Buy, buy, gallant sirs; knick-knacks, pretty +things, and gew-gaws for the lady!" + +"Bones o' me!" gasped Johnnie, as he wriggled from the clutches of two +persevering apprentices; "an I had the fee-simple of my scrap of land +in the forest in my pocket, these rogues would have it from me in an +afternoon walk. What wouldst thou like, Dolly? Let me buy thee +something." + +But Dorothy, who was just in front leaning on the knight's arm, had +eyes more for the crowd than for the brave things displayed in the +shops. Gallant after gallant bowed gracefully to her, for all knew the +famous knight; and the ladies eyed her keenly and critically, wondering +who she might be. It was a proud day for Dorothy. She was quick +enough to notice that her clothing was not quite according to London +fashions; but if she were not as gaily dressed as the ladies who stared +at her, she had the comforting thought that her cavalier was the +best-dressed and handsomest man that walked along Chepe that September +day. So she answered Johnnie's question with, "Buy me whatever thou +wilt; I shall say 'thanks!' But ask me not to make a choice at this +time and from such a bewilderment of riches." + +So the young forester shook his head to all pestering salesmen, and +kept his money in his pocket for that day. + +By the Royal Exchange on Cornhill Sir Walter was stopped for a moment +by the Lord Mayor, who wanted a little court news on a certain matter +affecting the city. Then on he went again to the Tower. The governor, +a close friend of the knight's, readily admitted the party, and showed +them over the grim old fortress and palace in which, alas! the brave +Raleigh was destined to spend so many lonely years. He seemed to have +some foreboding of this that day, and when the governor was telling +Dorothy stories of some unfortunates who had spent their last days +within the frowning walls, or left them only for the block on Tower +Hill, Raleigh sighed and remarked, "'Tis but a step from a sovereign's +smile and the summer of the court to the gloom and winter of this +place. In dreams I sometimes see myself taking the very fateful step." + +This he said aside to Morgan, and the young fellow was so struck by the +tone in which the words were said that they remained fixed in his +memory, and he recalled them with bitter sorrow in after years when the +brave knight's fears had reached their awful fulfilment. + +From the Tower steps the knight took a wherry and went up the river as +far as Blackfriars. Shooting the arches of London Bridge gave Dorothy +one quick spasm of fear, for the craft that went ahead of them, being +somewhat clumsily handled, went crash into a pier, spun round, filled +and sank, and left its occupants screaming and struggling in the water. +All were rescued, the boatman himself scrambling nimbly into Raleigh's +boat. + +"The tide is not so strong as that which races up the Severn," said +Johnnie; "sure 'tis bad boating that comes to grief here." + +"Not so, my master," replied the dripping boatman; "'tis the plaguy +narrowness of these arches and the jutting of the pier foundations that +cause the mishaps. Every fool that has handled an oar cannot shoot +London Bridge." + +"That may be," assented the forester; "every stream has its shoals and +currents; nevertheless this Thames tide is to the Severn bore as calf +is to angry bull." + +Meanwhile Sir Walter was pointing out objects of interest to his fair +companion. "Yonder building," he said, pointing to a hexagonal +structure on the Surrey side of the river, "is the Globe Theatre. I +must take ye all there some afternoon to hear some pretty comedy of +sweet Will Shakespeare's. Master Morgan hath an ear for poetry, I +believe; he will not snore through the love-making scenes." + +Dolly blushed. At Blackfriars steps they landed, went into the city by +the Lud Gate, passed through St. Paul's and out into the Chepe again; +thence to the "Swanne," where the knight took leave of them, promising +to have them down to Whitehall next day if his duties at court gave him +any leisure. + +The shops in Chepe were closed; the apprentices ran loose with plenty +of noise and racket. The sober merchants walked out to the Moorfields, +with wife on arm and daughters dutifully following in modest train. +Work was ended. London was taking its evening recreation. + + + + +Chapter XVIII. + +THREE BROKEN MARINERS. + +"Art not coming abroad, Dolly? 'Tis a most rare morning." + +Morgan was leaning his length against the side-post of the door of +Mistress Stowe's kitchen; his head reached to the lintel, and the smoky +rafters of the low ceiling were within easy reach of his hand. Dolly +stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat, and her pretty gown +hidden beneath a long apron. She glanced through the window into the +sunny yard, and then at a pile of dainty cakes she had just kneaded and +fashioned. + +"Nay, Johnnie, I'll not come this morning. I promised our hostess to +bake her some confections after our forest fashion, and I cannot leave +so delicate a duty only half done. Go thou with Master Jeffreys, and +bring back two lusty appetites. I will bide at home, housewife +fashion, and prepare ye the wherewithal to satisfy the appetites when +ye have gotten them." + +"Where is thy father?" + +"With Mistress Stowe in her parlour. She is showing him some rare +things that her brother brought from the Spanish Main. He will have +eyes for nothing else this side of noon." + +So Morgan joined Jeffreys, and the two went along Chepe westwards +towards St. Paul's. At the end of the great street stood the gate +known as the "Little Gate," and they went under the low archway into +the cathedral precincts. Inside, the place was as busy as Chepe +itself. Shops clustered under the wall, their gaudy signs swinging and +creaking in the September breeze, and 'prentices cried their masters' +wares and importuned passing folk to buy. The two men pushed their way +through the throng towards the northern transept of the great church, +and there found their path blocked again by a crowd that stood around +St. Paul's cross and pulpit, all ears for the words of a popular city +preacher. The cleric's discourse was more of a political oration than +a sermon. He thundered against "Rome" and the "Scarlet Woman," and +denounced the King of Spain as the veritable "child of the devil," and +he called upon all men to be up and doing something for the destruction +of the "monster." Master Jeffreys stopped to listen, and Morgan had +perforce to stay with him. The reverend orator dwelt in glowing terms +on the riches of the Indies, the rights of all Christians to a share +therein, and the greed of Spain in refusing other nations a proper +share. He played upon his audience as a skilled player upon a harp, +touching each string of emotion in turn, and then striking a chord to +which all strings would vibrate. For a moment he excited religious +emotion, then political fervour, then greed, love of glory and +adventure, then national pride and hatred of Spain, then all these +together by one cunning sentence. The forester out from the west felt +his heart beating rapidly, his ears warming and tingling, and his right +hand fidgeting with the handle of his sword. His companion could not +keep still, and hot ejaculations sprang from his lips. He was a true +Devon man of that roaring time, sailor, patriot, and pirate all rolled +into one. + +"By my beard, Master Morgan," he gasped, "I have been feeling ill and +full of strange qualms and sinkings these many days past. 'Twas an +active spirit rebelling against imprisonment in an idle body. I must +to sea again--this dalliance in towns and in the company of sleek +shopkeepers and peacock-garbed gallants is slow death to a fellow of +mettle. I must get me down to Plymouth again, and join any bold +captain that hath a mind to turn his ship westward ho!" + +Morgan sighed. "Bones o' me!" he exclaimed, "the parson hath stirred +something within my bosom also." + +The sermon--if such it could be called--being ended, the two young men +went with the crowd through the church door, and into the dim and lofty +transept. And what a crowd it was to find in London's principal +church! The passage through the building from north to south was a +public thoroughfare. Porters, hucksters, errand boys went through with +basket and handbarrow, passing across aisles and nave before the very +screen that shut in choir and altar. Pedlars stood against the tall +pillars, and pushed the sale of their wares. Men bought and sold and +bargained as in the churchyard outside or Chepe beyond. Servants stood +for hire; bravoes lurked behind the gray stone columns in dark corners, +ready to take the price of blood from any hand that offered it. Broken +men, needy adventurers, dissolute women--all had their regular stations +in the sacred building, which was fair, market, and general rendezvous +for every class and trade, legitimate or illegitimate, that had its +footing in London Town. + +Master Jeffreys elbowed his way into the nave and strode down the +middle aisle, Morgan at his heels, full of astonishment and healthy +country disgust. Any gallant who came strutting along to show his fine +feathers received scant courtesy or elbow-room from the indignant +forester. He thrust more than one roughly aside, without so much as a +"by your leave," and his angry face, huge frame, and athletic build +forced the hustled ones to keep civil tongues in their heads. Near the +western door a knot of brown-faced, lean-looking men were standing, and +one started forward at the sight of Jeffreys, hesitated a moment, and +then put forth his hand. + +"Little Timothy! or tropic suns have blinded my eyes," he cried. + +Jeffreys scanned the speaker's weather-stained face. + +"It's not Paignton Rob, surely?" + +"It's all that's left of him, Timothy." + +"Thou art shrunken." + +"And lopped, brother, lopped." + +"Spain?" + +"Inquisition." + +"Indies?" + +"Vera Cruz. Shall I introduce my friends? We are nigh broken, and not +too proud to accept a little charity from a Devon man. Thy heart used +not to beat in a niggard's bosom." + +"It has not changed lodgings, Rob. Wilt know my friend here? This is +Master Morgan of Gloucestershire--a good west countrie man, to say the +least. He has had his cut at King Philip, and is a friend of our +gallant Raleigh." + +"Then I'm open to love him," cried Paignton Rob, holding out a hand +that had lost a thumb. "'Tis a poor grip that fingers can give, Master +Morgan," he said apologetically. "The monks of Vera Cruz can best tell +thee where little 'thumbkin' is." + +Johnnie took the proffered hand. "I am proud to know one who has +sailed the Western Ocean," he replied. + +The mariner called up his two friends, who proved thumbless like +himself. + +"Nick Johnson, and Ned his brother, both of Plymouth town. Master +Timothy Jeffreys, henchman to Sir Walter Raleigh, and Master Morgan, +friend." + +Hand-clasps went round. Jeffreys peeped into the purse that hung at +his girdle. + +"Here is the price of a few flagons of sack, friends. Have you a fancy +for any particular tavern?" + +"All taverns are alike to thirsty men," answered Rob. "Lead us where +thou wilt; we'll speak our thanks under one signboard as well as +another." + +"What say you then to the 'Silver Lion' in Dowgate?" + +"'Tis a good house." + +The party left the cathedral by the western door, went south through +the churchyard, and out at the gate that led riverwards. Thence they +strode down a steep street towards the Dowgate quay, halting at a +gabled and timbered tavern within a stone's throw of the water. Down a +flight of three steps they went into the sanded parlour, and seated +themselves round a corner table. The drawer came bustling up with a +"What do ye drink, my masters?" + +"Bring us five flagons of sack," said Timothy. + +"And a crust for our teeth," whispered Paignton Rob. The ears of the +serving-man were keen, "Shall it be a venison pie?" he said. + +"A venison pie," broke in Morgan; "and I pay." + + + + +Chapter XIX. + +PAIGNTON ROB'S STORY. + +The three broken sailor men attacked the ample venison pasty with a +zeal and thoroughness that betokened long abstention from work of a +similar nature, and the sack trickled gratefully down parched throats. +Morgan and Jeffreys drank to their better fortune, but would not touch +the food, pleading that their ordinary dinner time was a full hour off, +and that they were pledged to make havoc of some pastries made by a +certain young gentlewoman, who would undoubtedly be much grieved if +they did not eat as heartily as was their wont. So the Paignton man +and his Plymouth comrades shared the pie amongst themselves, the two +others looking about and noting the other occupants of the inn parlour. +Some of these were known by repute to Jeffreys, and he gave Morgan +information concerning them. + +The pie-dish stood empty. Johnnie expressed an opinion that apples +were roasting somewhere. Nick Johnson sniffed the air, and promptly +agreed with him, adding that the fragrance of roasting apples awoke +memories of far-off Devon. Whereupon the forester remarked that they +had a like effect upon him, and that he was minded to have a dish with +a little cream, if all the company would join him. There was no +objector, and each man was soon busy with hot apples and cream. After +this Jeffreys ordered fresh flagons of wine, and asked Paignton Rob for +his story. + +"Will Master Morgan care for the recital?" queried Rob. + +"My ears are burning," cried Johnnie. "I seem to have strolled out of +Chepe this morning right into America. Stint not a word of thy story +if thou hast any desire to please me." + +"So be it, friends. I cannot but wish that some other man had the +telling of it. You will remember--at least thou wilt, Timothy--how +Captain John Oxenham sailed out from Plymouth with the _Hawk_, one +hundred and forty ton barque, and a crew of seventy men, for the +Spanish Main?" + +"Ay; report says that all were slain by fever and the Indians." + +"Therein doth report speak falsely. We three went with Oxenham, and we +sit here to-day to tell the tale. Whether any other tongue hath told +it I cannot say. There is scant hope of any more survivors. Well, to +the story itself. We went out of Plymouth Sound, threescore and ten, +men and boys, well armed and victualled for six months. We turned our +prow westwards, prepared like good adventurers to take what fortune the +seas might bring us. The voyage proved a speedy one, with a singular +lack of ungentle weather: good omen, we thought, for the success of our +enterprise. On the way our captain's plans, which had been somewhat +uncertain at the first, took fixed shape. We passed south of the main +isles of the Indies, steering for the eastern seaboard of the Isthmus +of Panama. We cast along the shore for two days seeking an anchorage, +and we found what we sought in a wooded creek, fringed and thronged +with islets. A winding river emptied into the creek, and the banks +were so thickly clothed with forest as almost to shut out the light of +the sun. Dismasting our ship, we thrust her into a tiny bay o'erhung +by giant trees, and neither from river nor bank could a glimpse of her +be obtained. For a day we worked, making all snug aboard; then we +loaded ourselves with provisions and arms, and set out to cross the +isthmus to Panama itself, intending to rob the Spanish nest of the +golden eggs that daily were laid therein. + +"There is little to tell of the story of our march to the Pacific. We +cut our way for days at a time through woods that were well-nigh +impassable. We climbed mountains, threaded defiles, waded through +stream and swamp. Our backs bent beneath the weight of our burdens; +giant thorns tore, first our clothes, then afterwards our flesh. The +sun roasted us by day; mists enwreathed and chilled us by night; a +myriad insects bit us, and roaring beasts and lurking reptiles harassed +our steps. Some of us were quickly down with fever, and added to the +burdens of our comrades, for they bore us upon rude litters of boughs. +Oxenham fought shy of the native villages, not being minded to give +rumour the chance to herald our approach to the golden goal we sought. + +"By good hap we came upon a stream at the foot of some hills, flowing +westwards. We followed it for a while, until we felt assured that it +was navigable, and also that it emptied itself into the Pacific. Then +we halted, built huts for our sick, cut down timber and set about the +making of a stout pinnace that would carry us on the rest of our quest. +We also scoured the woods for game and fruits, and harvested the waters +for fish. When our boat was builded, our sick were also upon their +feet again. We had brought with us three light cannon; these we +mounted on our little craft, rigged up mast and sail, and went down the +swift current, westward ho! once more. + +"It was no longer possible to avoid the native towns and villages, so +at the first we engaged a guide who knew enough of coast Spanish to +understand our wants and be our interpreter to his friends. We found +that the Indians hated the Spaniards and dreaded their rapacity and +cruelty. As Englishmen and foes of Spain, we always got a welcome; and +Oxenham had wit enough to be kind, courteous, and generous, and so win +a welcome for us for our own sakes. Our voyage down the river was a +sort of triumphal progress, and we made ten thousand faithful allies. +At last came the day when the river broadened to an estuary; when we +saw the tide marks along the roots of the mangroves, and the salt +flavour was in the air, and white-winged gulls swept screaming over our +heads, scaring away the gaudy, noisy parrots that had been our +feathered companions for so long. The next morning the sun shot up for +us, a golden ball of cheering presage, from out the glittering bosom of +the Pacific. What a shout we raised! Weeks of toil and fever were +forgotten, scars and bruises healed--or were felt no longer--when the +glorious heave of ocean waters lifted our keel!" + +Paignton Rob paused and lifted his flagon to his lips. He put it down +reflectively. "Do ye mind that morn, comrades?" he asked. + +"Shall we ever forget it!" exclaimed the two Plymouth men in a breath. +The company nodded to Rob, and took a friendly sip of sack in his +honour. He took up again the thread of his story. + +"A native that had come down the coast from the direction of Panama +came to our captain with information that two treasure-ships were +expected from Peru, and he offered to be our guide to the Isle of +Pearls, situated about five-and-twenty leagues from Panama itself, and +in the direct line of sailing to the city. We accepted his offer +gladly, and the fellow led us to a snug anchorage whence we could espy +our prey and make ready to sally forth and seize him. + +"We lay under the island for one night and the better part of a day +before our lookout in a tree-top at the edge of a steep cliff sang out, +'Sail ho! Spanish rig!' We were alert on the instant, watching the +Spaniard bowling north-eastwards before a stiff breeze. At the right +moment we slipped our cable, hoisted sail, and stood out to sea right +in his path. No news of our presence on the isthmus had got abroad, +and the foe did not suspect us until he was within range of our small +guns, when we promptly sent a couple of shots splintering into his +bulwarks. He was not long before he swung round and replied. But we +were too low in the water to be in any danger from his bigger pieces, +and in a little while we were under his lee and swarming aboard. For a +few minutes there was as pretty a fight as man could wish for; then the +Spaniard struck his flag and threw down his weapons. + +"Well, we rifled cabins and holds; got about a hundred goodly bars of +gold and a chest of pearls. The cabin gave us an excellent supply of +wine and some curious golden images of native workmanship. We helped +ourselves also to some better clothing, then let the Spaniard go his +way. + +"For two more days we hung about the island, then seized a ship with a +cargo, mostly of silver bars. Our pinnace was now so heavily laden +that we durst not venture to put anything more aboard her. We were +rich enough already, and, knowing that the authorities at Panama would +soon hear of our exploits, we turned south to our river again, and set +out on our journey back to our hidden ship and the Atlantic. + +"So far we had lost but two men, and one of these had died from fever. +Half a score of us, maybe, had received wounds. The Spanish dogs will +not fight much on a ship's deck, and the silver galleon offered us +hardly any resistance. 'Tis easy work enough, this gathering of +Spanish gold in the Indies. Do I speak within the strict bounds of +truth, comrades?" + +"True as a Bible verse, Rob," said Nick Johnson; and brother Ned +assented with a seaman's "Ay! ay!" + +Rob took advantage of the pause to take another peep into his flagon, +and Johnnie asked him if he could see bottom. + +"Depth enough to float my barque a little longer," replied Rob. + +"We did not waste much time feasting or merrymaking with our Indian +allies; we just stayed long enough for civility and the procuring of a +couple of canoes and rowers to ease the burden in our pinnace. Then we +set off up-stream. An under-chief came with us, and he was to obtain +carriers for our booty and provisions at the last village before we +should be forced to quit the river and take to the forests and +mountains. But we did not get along so quickly as we purposed at the +first. News of our victories over the detested Dons had spread like a +fire through the isthmus. Chiefs came to palaver, offer gifts, and sue +for our protection. The whole land wanted to shelter beneath the +banner of St. George, and our eastward voyage was a sort of triumphal +procession. This was all very pleasant, but 'twas dallying with +danger. The Spaniards were acquainted with our doings--the captains of +the rifled ships would tell them so much; and some of us argued that if +every petty Indian chief knew exactly where to meet us, then assuredly +the Dons must be aware of our route also. However, 'tis hard to make +victors cautious. We had a hearty contempt for the Spaniards in +Panama, and did not give them credit for pluck enough to follow us. So +we journeyed along in a fool's paradise, surrounded by admiring +Indians, and so laden with booty and presents that we could only move +at a snail's pace. + +"One day a native runner came to us from a friendly village with the +news that a force of a hundred Spaniards, well armed, was in pursuit. +The Indians were eager for us to stay and meet the Dons, promising us +help if we would do so. Oxenham decided he had done enough for glory +just then, and thought it wiser to get back to his ship and sail for +home; our spoil was too precious to be risked, and was a tempting bait +to any foe. We set out at once. Coming to a place where two streams +entered the main river, we took the smallest waterway, hoping thus to +baffle pursuit, for our real path lay along the main stream. Our ruse +would have succeeded but for a trivial oversight. The Dons came to the +parting of the ways, and were nonplussed as to our route. They had +decided to follow the main stream, and were seated in their canoes +ready to resume the pursuit, when a bunch of plucked feathers came down +the smallest stream. Within ten minutes other feathers came floating +along, and some were bloodstained. They rightly guessed that these +were evidence that we had prepared food somewhere higher up. Boats +were forsaken, and a march through the forest commenced. That very +night they surprised us. We fought well, and our Indian friends proved +no cowards. Fifty of us, fairly well laden with gold, got away, and +after a toilsome march reached the place where our ship had been +hidden--only to find it gone! + +"We hunted the creek on both sides, and found unmistakable signs that +the Dons had found our vessel and confiscated it. Why they did not lie +in ambush for us we could not imagine. Maybe they thought us +effectually trapped, and likely to be an easy prey to fever, or to +their attack after fever had had its way with us. For a while we were +in despair; then we remembered old England, and what she expects of her +sons. We buried our gold, felled trees, and began to build canoes. +But the side of the creek at night was a death-trap. Heavy foetid +mists wreathed up from the waters, poisoning the air; noxious insects +hummed about our couches, and loathly reptiles crawled out of the mud +and chilled our hearts with their horrible croakings. One by one we +sickened; in ones, twos, threes we died. Then the cunning Dons came in +force. They were five to our one, and we trembling with fever. We +fought as well as we could. Many fell fighting; others, too weak to +stand to deliver a stout blow, were taken as prisoners: we three were +amongst these. Our captors cured us of the fever, then handed us over +to the priests at Vera Cruz. A year we spent in prison. We have been +on the rack; the thumbscrews bereft us of thumbs, for they crushed them +so badly that we were fain to have them off, fearing the arm might +mortify. The villains cropped us of one ear, so that they might track +us if we chanced to escape. By the mercy of God we did escape, and, +despite the mark set upon us, avoided recapture and found our way back +to Plymouth. What perils we passed through in swamp and forest, by +river and sea, ere we found an English ship I cannot now set forth. +Let it suffice that we are here, alive and eager for further +opportunities on the isthmus." + +"How do you propose to get there?" asked Jeffreys. + +"We would see thy master, Sir Walter, and get him to fit a ship. There +is gold enough buried by the creek banks to repay him or any other man." + +Jeffreys shook his head. "Sir Walter's eyes are turned farther south. +He would find 'El Dorado.'" + + + + +Chapter XX. + +ROB DINES AT "YE SWANNE." + +Morgan had a host of questions to ask Paignton Rob, and he wont back to +"Ye Swanne" in Wood Street, off Chepe, his head buzzing with many +ideas. So occupied was he with his own thoughts that he replied but +absently to Captain Dawe's remarks; and he quite forgot to offer Dolly +any compliments over her pastries. The young lady was naturally +indignant with a burly trencherman who devoured a round dozen of +assorted confections that were put on his platter without discovering +that they possessed any flavour whatsoever. + +"La! Master Morgan!" she cried. "If I did not know that such a thing +was impossible with such as thou art, I should declare thou hadst +fallen in love." + +The tone was sharp, and a trifle spiteful, so Johnnie's wits gathered +themselves into marching order. + +"So I have, Dolly," he answered. "I am enamoured of--" + +"Whom?" + +"A friend of Master Jeffreys." + +The girl's cheeks flushed. "Thou art bold to say such a thing to me." + +"I imbibed courage with a flagon of sack this morning." + +"It hath got to thy head." + +"And my heart, Dolly; I am afire, heart and head. I see visions, and +pulse with great hopes." + +"I trust the wench will prove kind, and not grow plain of face on a +closer acquaintance." + +"For that fair wish, a thousand thanks, dear Dolly." + +"Mistress Dawe, if it please you, Master Morgan." Dorothy bobbed a +scornful curtsy, and left the parlour. + +"What's amiss with you two?" asked Captain Dawe. "Ye were billing and +cooing like two pigeons over breakfast this morning." + +"And shall be doing so again over supper," said Johnnie. + +"What's this nonsense about a wench who is a friend to Master Jeffreys?" + +"There is no wench. I am enamoured of a fellow with a visage like +brown leather, and who hath but one thumb and one ear." + +"Thou art talking in riddles." + +"Master Jeffreys shall make them clear; he hath a better gift of words +than I." + +So the Devon man retold the story of John Oxenham's voyage; and he +added many strange things that lie had heard from other Plymouth men +who had gone to the Indies, and whom he had met in Raleigh's company. +He himself had gone westwards to Virginia, and other parts of the +American mainland, and could relate wonders from his own experiences. +He talked for full two hours, and both Mrs. Stowe and Dorothy stole in +to listen. + +The next day Paignton Rob and his two stranded comrades found +themselves seated at Mistress Stowe's table to dinner. Morgan and the +captain hung about the aisles of St. Paul's for more than an hour, +waiting in the hope that the sailors would appear. Jeffreys went down +to Whitehall, found them in the neighbourhood of Raleigh's lodgings, +and brought them into the city. + +The three derelict mariners were not slow to divine one reason for the +pressing invitation that had brought them hot-foot from Whitehall to +Wood Street. Rob's story of the fabled Spanish Main had opened +Mistress Stowe's door to such dilapidated guests; it would have opened +hundreds of other English doors to the maimed adventurers. The whole +country was smitten with the fever of travel, and possessed with the +lust for wealth and conquest. Men and women believed strange things of +the wonderful western world, and they listened eagerly and without +question to things their great-grandchildren would scoff at. + +A travelled sailor can fit himself into any company. Paignton Rob +adjusted himself with the greatest nicety into his proper position that +day. He ate and drank to repletion, praising every dish without stint, +and paying his hostess such daring compliments that her round face was +a very sunset of blushes. + +Nick and Ned Johnson played their accustomed part of chorus, and just +said "ay, ay" at the proper time and place. And Rob did not keep his +audience too long waiting for his stories. He described the tropical +seas--their storms and calms, their fish that flew, and the fearsome +monsters that gambolled along their surface. He took his hearers into +the gloomy forests, with their myriad forms of life, their gaudy birds +and gorgeous insects, their lurking beasts and dense-packed horrors. +Weird cries and terrifying howls rang out in imaginative sounds. And +what horrific beings stalked in the dim alleys betwixt the giant trees, +or peeped forth at the intrepid traveller from cave and den! +One-horned beasts with fiery hoofs; dragons that had wings of brass, +and vomited flames from cavernous throats; huge birds, enormous +reptiles, flew or crawled in their appointed places. Two-headed men +wielded clubs of stone; men with no heads at all, but one great eye in +the centre of their breasts, glared malevolently from the pits wherein +they had their habitation. The little company in the tavern parlour +shivered with affright, and cast uneasy glances at the doorway. +Then--wonderful Rob!--a sinewy, thumbless hand swept the air like an +enchanter's wand, and lo! the scene was changed. Gloom and horror +fled, the forest vanished, the malodorous swamp gave place to smiling +meadow. The hills frowned no longer, but laughed with fertility and +sparkled with a thousand fairy rills and cascades. Fair cities +encircled their bases, and golden temples glittered in the ardent, +tropical sunshine. Brown-skinned, gentle people flitted gracefully +along the streets and through the squares. Music, barbaric but +melodious, hummed through the fragrant air. Here was the paradise of +dreams--bright colours, sweet sounds, fragrant odours, gentle beings, +fair peace, and jocund plenty! Rob was a poet, and his audience panted +with parting lips as he spread the scene before them. + +Then he brought them nearer. See yonder roof?--plates of beaten gold! +Yonder mule hath harness of exquisitely chased silver! Here comes a +noble chief and his favourite wife, with a retinue of slaves. The +soles of his sandals are of gold, the straps are studded with gems; +pearls are sewn in hundreds in his bright-hued robes! Yet is he +completely eclipsed by the splendour of his spouse. She is sprinkled, +hair and clothing, with the precious yellow dust. The breeze blows it +from her hair; she shakes it with a careless laugh from her silken +garments; the slaves walk behind on a gold-strewn pathway. They value +it no more than the beggar values the dust that blows along the Chepe +in London on a July day. Ah! a gloriously generous headpiece hath +Paignton Rob. Why stint the tale of glittering grains? In the land of +"El Dorado" the sands of the rivers can be coined into minted money. +Would mine hostess--who has so lavishly fed three poor sailor-men--like +to go to a banquet in the palace of "El Dorado"? Nothing +simpler!--'tis done with a wave of Rob's brown hand. See! the table +is gold; the platters are the same. The pillars of sweet cedar that +support the lofty roof are richer by far than those of Solomon's +temple. And the "gilded one" smiles at his queen, and lifts a cup of +rosy wine to his lips. Do the company notice that miracle of dazzling +light he holds in his delicate brown hand? 'Tis cut from one precious +stone. It is like a living fire, and the red wine glows warmly through +it. + +Such the land of "El Dorado"--the golden realm!--the home of an +everlasting summer! Rob pauses dramatically; he comes to a full stop. +How mean is the parlour of the comfortable Wood Street tavern! How +paltry its pewter pots and clumsy flagons! How dull its smoky beams +and walls! + +"Ah! Ah!"--longing sighs echo and re-echo. Then come questions, +timidly put at first, for no man would dare to throw suspicion on the +seaman's stories. But--but who has seen any of these things? + +Who? Why, Rob knows men, who know other men, who have heard from other +men, who actually listened to dying Spaniards or faithful natives +recounting how they themselves had seen these sights. Rob himself had +gazed upon a sack of gold dust brought by a Jesuit missionary from "El +Dorado's" kingdom. The monk had shovelled it with his own bare hands +from the bed of a shallow lake. Nick Johnson, with a nervous and +apologetic cough, announced that he had seen a bag of pearls brought +from that same favoured land; and brother Ned, whose memory also got +some stimulus from Rob's stories, related how lie met a Spanish +prisoner in a Dutch town, who told him that the pebbles in "El +Dorado's" land were all pearls or jewels, sometimes one, sometimes the +other--just according to the haphazard luck of the thing. Then honest +Rob took some more sack, and found that he distinctly remembered +meeting a Bideford man on Plymouth Hoe who had sailed with a Bristol +captain whose twin brother had shot a no-headed, breast-eyed monster, +and had immediately afterwards been stunned by the stone club of a +two-headed gentleman of those same parts. 'Twas an exciting adventure +altogether, and Rob proceeded to remember the details and relate them. +As for the forests, the swamps, the lurking reptiles and ravenous +beasts, the huge crabs, venomous snakes, and the fevered ghosts and +ghouls that wreathed up after sunset from the pools and rivers--why! +Rob had seen all those things for himself. He had also handled bars of +gold and lumps of silver, and let pearls run through his fingers like +beads. Captain Dawe, Master Morgan, and the ladies might be assured +that they had heard but a tithe of the wonders and horrors that might +be told them. Ah! that wonderful New World! Brave Rob shook the head +that was bereft of an ear. He had talked to them for three hours, but +he had no gift of speech, and had been unable to give them any real +idea of the glamour and mystery that lay beneath the setting sun. + +Nevertheless, he had set each heart and brain pulsing and throbbing +with wild dreams. The world was changing for Johnnie Morgan. The +admiral and Raleigh had opened his eyes in the glades of the forest, +and taught him to look beyond its treetops. Master Jeffreys had +extended his view, and all men and all things in London Town seemed to +probe deeper into his mind, and find new emotions and desires, and stir +them into active life. The grim old Forest of Dean was dwarfing to a +mere coppice; the rushing Severn was becoming an insignificant brook. +The forester's heart was expanding; his eyes were opening; his arms +were stretching forth to grasp that which was finite, yet infinite. He +dreamed strange dreams; his eyes started open to behold wondrous +visions. The fever of the time was getting into his blood. Vague, +half-understood impulses moved him hither and thither. He groped, and +touched nothing. He cried out, "What do I want?" + +A woman answered the question the very next day. + + + + +Chapter XXI. + +MORGAN GOES TO WHITEHALL. + +In the early forenoon of the next day a man in the livery of Sir Walter +came to "Ye Swanne" and asked for Master Morgan. He brought a command +that the forester was to repair instantly to Whitehall, as the Queen +had intimated that she would see him in the afternoon. The summons +threw Johnnie into a small fever of nervous apprehension, and he wished +heartily that he had never left his snug homestead at Blakeney. His +fingers turned into thumbs, and Dorothy busied herself in fastening +points and laces, adjusting his ruff, and setting his cap at the proper +angle. Captain Dawe found that sword and belt required his critical +attention, and Master Jeffreys started a most elaborate dissertation on +court etiquette in "the most polite court in Europe." Johnnie's head +buzzed, his mind wandered in a maze; and when at last he stepped out +into the sunshine of the streets, he confessed to Mistress Stowe that +he felt "like a thief going to be hanged." Captain Dawe had a desire +to see the royal palace and its precincts, Jeffreys was wanted at +Raleigh's lodgings, so all four gentlemen went westwards. + +Along Chepe, through St. Paul's Churchyard, down the hill to the Lud +Gate lay their way. Then they crossed the Fleet River and stepped out +into Fleet Street. On their left was the palace of Bridewell, +stretching down to the green margin of the Thames; on their right the +fields went northwards to the villages of Bloomsbury, Clerkenwell, and +Islington. The street was thick with dust and crowded with pedestrians +and horsemen. Staid burghers walked soberly along, fops strutted, +bullies swaggered, gentlefolks went in fitting dignity, and beggars +whined for alms at the corners of the narrow lanes that, between the +houses, led down to the river. Law students from the Temple were to be +met with, chaffering with the market wenches for nuts and apples and +bunches of flowers. + +Master Jeffreys took charge of Morgan, and fed him full with +information. "A wonderful thoroughfare, good sir!" he cried; "its dust +hath been pressed by the feet of notable folk for many centuries, and +will take the footprints of the great ones for many centuries to come. +'Tis the highway between our two ancient cities of London and +Westminster. We will keep to the south side, for it is the more +famous, and contains the houses of many of our nobles. The north side +is left for the shopkeepers and smaller gentry. We have just passed +the royal palace of Bridewell, and from here every foot of our way will +have something to interest the curious and inquiring mind." + +Johnnie stared down at the gray old palace, and looked questioningly at +the ruins that lay next to it on the east. + +"All that's left of the monastery of the Whitefriars," said Jeffreys. +"The remains of monkish buildings cumber the ground outside of London +walls as well as within. Some say 'twas a wicked thing to pull down so +many fair edifices; others declare they were no better than +plague-spots and heretical hovels on the fair face of a Protestant +country, and that we are well rid of them." + +"I have noticed," said Morgan, "that royal favourites from King Harry's +time onwards have done most of the pulling down. The common folk +appear to have had little voice in the matter, and not a finger in the +lifting of the plunder." + +"Quite so! quite so! Now let us step into the roadway. 'Tis dusty +enough, and not innocent of some ugly holes, but 'tis safer for a +little while. See those hangdog-looking fellows slouching before us? +Ah! I need not tell thee what they are. Step out; let's see the +sport." + +There was a wild _mêlée_ about a hundred yards ahead. A fellow had +made a cut with his dagger at a lady's purse, and had been promptly +knocked down by her cavalier. At the sound of the would-be robber's +cry a dozen other rascals had rushed to his aid, and from the narrow +lanes and alleys a horde of ruffians--male and female--had been +vomited. They set upon the lady and her companion with cudgels and +knives, and the gentleman was already lying in the dust. Peace-loving +pedestrians had rushed to their aid, and a group of law students bore +down into the fray in gallant style. Master Jeffreys whipped out his +blade and ran, and Morgan went with him stride for stride. But the mob +of ruffians disappeared as quickly as it had come forth; the cutpurse +had been rescued, and the plunder he desired snatched by a slatternly +wench. + +Morgan uttered a hunting cry, and was dashing down a dim passage +between two houses when Jeffreys jerked him back. "Not a foot farther +if thou dost value thy life!" + +Johnnie stopped, and saw in astonishment that no man was attempting +pursuit. + +"Are they to escape red-handed?" he cried. + +His companion shrugged his shoulders. "He'd be an over-bold man who'd +venture into the alleys and courts of Alsatia with less than fifty good +swords at his back. The hangman would be busy for a month if all who +merited his rope were dragged out of yonder dens. But we must be +going; the captain is almost out of sight, and thou hast matters on +hand that are of greater moment than the catching of a thief." + +Walking on, the two came abreast of the Temple, and lawyers, +scriveners, clerks, and students dotted the roadway. + +"A sweetly built place is the Temple," commented Jeffreys: "cool alleys +shaded with trees, spacious courts, goodly halls and chapels; fair +gardens sloping sunnily and warmly to the south and the river. Ah! +there is no fairer site on earth for a fine dwelling than on this bank +of Father Thames. Thou wilt see by the great houses that we shall pass +how many men are of my opinion." + +Morgan came to Temple Bar, and saw, with a shudder, a row of mouldering +heads atop of it. He passed beneath the archway and put foot in the +famous Strand. Immediately before him the Maypole stretched skyward, +its top still ornamented with a few fluttering rags of weather-bleached +ribbon, mementoes of the festivities that had ushered in the +fast-fading summer. On his left, with its front to the river, was a +great house with its courts and gardens, and Master Jeffreys +whispered,-- + +"The town house of my Lord Essex, the Queen's favourite and the great +rival of the gallant knight we both love." + +Morgan stood and gazed at the somewhat ugly pile with the greatest +interest. + +As he moved on a cleanly lad came across the road, with a shining +pannikin in either hand, and asked politely whether "their worships" +would care to quench their thirst in water drawn from the well of St. +Clement or from Holy Well that was hard by. + +"Which is the more precious liquid?" asked Morgan. + +The lad quickly replied that he had no opinion, and that learned men +and excellent divines could come to no agreement over the matter. His +worship might drink of both and judge for himself; the charge was but a +farthing. + +"Cheaper than Mistress Stowe's sack, at any rate, if not so palatable," +said Johnnie. He gave the lad a farthing and took the Holy Well +pannikin, whilst his companion drained that which owned its virtues to +the sanctity of St. Clement, whose church fronted them across the way. +As neither tasted of both, they had, like the water-seller, no opinion +as to the merits of the rival wells. + +They walked on past Somerset House. + +"A stately pile," said Morgan. + +"Fairer even than Whitehall," replied Jeffreys. "'Twas built by an +arch-robber, but the Queen favours it and dwells in it at times. 'Tis +the goodliest palace along the Strand." + +The Savoy, already centuries old and crumbling to decay, was passed; +and then, by other noble edifices, the wayfarers went to the village of +Charing. + +They turned down by Queen Eleanor's Cross into the street leading to +Whitehall itself. They passed through the Holbein Gate, down King's +Street; and close under the shadow of the hoary abbey of St. Peter they +halted at Raleigh's lodgings. Captain Dawe and his guide were resting +in the cool porch and awaiting them. + + + + +Chapter XXII. + +THE QUEEN. + +John Morgan, yeoman and forester, rose from his knee, and stood, with +bowed head and fumbling fingers, abashed in a most august presence. He +plucked nervously at his cap, and dared not raise his face to confront +the calm countenance of his sovereign. Elizabeth, for her part, +scanned him most critically from top to toe. She noted the cut of his +clothes, the stiffness of his ruff, the size of the buckles on his +shoon; from these to the colour of his hair and the healthy tan of his +skin, nothing escaped her. She was rapidly measuring him, height and +girth, with the proportions of her handsome Devon knight who had led +the shy young stalwart in. + +"So this is the gallant young fellow who bled in thy service?" she said +to Raleigh. + +"And in the service of your Majesty," added the knight. "He saved the +life of your humblest servant, but he also fought and bled in defence +of your Majesty's honour and the integrity of your dominions." + +Elizabeth looked again at the bent head. "Dost know the colour of mine +eyes, Master Morgan?" she asked sharply. + +"The colour of heaven, your Majesty," gasped Johnnie. + +The Queen laughed. "I thought thou hadst not looked at them. 'Tis +easy to see that thou hast kept company with a certain Walter Raleigh; +thou canst assume modesty and yet flatter as glibly as he." + +"Your Majesty!" cried Raleigh. + +"Hath excellent eyesight, thank God!" added Elizabeth. "I wish I had +found Master Morgan a simpler gentleman. I am sick of pretty speeches, +and thought to find a plain, unspoiled Englishman who would speak +naught but truth. Wilt let me see what colour thine eyes are, Master +Morgan? I have noted every hair on the top of thy head." + +Johnnie raised a flushed face to the pale, cool countenance of his +sovereign. + +"Dost not find mine eyes _green_?" she asked, and leaned a little +forward in her chair. + +"There is a glint of the verdure of England in them, your Majesty, and +the sheen of the blue of her skies and her seas." + +"And thou dost consider them, therefore, to be perfect for England's +Queen?" + +"God made your Majesty, and we daily thank Him for His abounding +goodness and wisdom." + +A faint blush stole into Elizabeth's cheeks, and the blue-green eyes +danced. "Thou dost see merrie England mirrored in these pale orbs?" + +"The country lives in your Majesty's heart, and the heart looks out +through the eyes." + +Elizabeth sat back. She turned to Raleigh. + +"They breed poets in the shadow of Dean's oaks," she said. + +"When first I met Master Morgan he was writing verses in the woodlands." + +"And to whom?" + +"A pretty maiden." + +"Ah! What colour are her eyes, bold forester?" + +"Blue, an't please your Majesty." + +"It doth not please me at all. I thought thy conceit about the 'green +and blue' of England very pretty and spontaneous for me. Now I +perceive 'tis but an old compliment thou hast paid a thousand times +before to some woodland wench." + +"Your Majesty mistakes. The thought never came to my mind before I +uttered it just now. I know not what made me think it then, unless +'twas your Majesty's presence inspired me. I am a dull fellow, and no +poet, as Mistress Dawe often tells me." + +"Hast never told her that her eyes are blue?" + +"I have, your Majesty." + +"And that she is the fairest maid on earth?" + +"I have said that also, and 'tis God's truth that I think her to be so." + +"Humph!" + +The exclamation was a little unroyal. Raleigh, who had stood in almost +mute astonishment at Morgan's strange readiness of tongue and aptness +of expression, now began to fear that the blunt yeoman was going to +undo all his previous good work. Elizabeth Tudor was not accustomed to +hear that some other "maid" was the fairest on earth. + +"When dost thou hope to wed this dainty nymph?" + +"When the maid wills it, your Majesty." + +"Hath she no father, then, to command her?" + +"She hath; but he would not lay an order upon her, neither would I have +him do so. Maidens will have their whims. I care not, so mine be +constant." + +"Thou dost find her wayward then?" + +"All pretty things are fashioned so." + +"Am I wayward, thinkest thou?" + +"Your Majesty would be very woman but that you are also Queen." + +"But I am a woman when my crown is off." + +Johnnie shook his head. "God hath given your Majesty special graces, +and such strength that the woman in you must obey the sovereign." + +Elizabeth sighed. "Thou art right," she said. "Daily have I to beat +the woman in me down, down. 'Tis hard to do it, for the woman will cry +out for what is hers by nature. Canst thou not perceive, Master +Morgan, that the struggle is bitter at times? Yet the woman in me must +succumb; for, did she have her way, England, my England, would suffer." + +"Therefore did God give the Queen strength," murmured Johnnie. + +Elizabeth arose. "I will see thee again," she said. "Thou hast some +homely mother wisdom, and a truthful tongue. It cheers a Queen's heart +to learn that, far from courts and crowds, she hath valiant and loyal +subjects like to thee. But I must ask thee to consider whether thou +canst not serve us to more advantage than offers on a simple farm. +Thou hast given a little brave blood for England. The world is wide, +and our foes are many. Doth not thy spirit cry out for wings at times?" + +"It hath in these last few days, your Majesty." + +"Yes?" + +"I have been talking with some sailor-men from the Spanish Main, and +the sea sings in mine ears, sleeping and waking." + +"Then obey the call." + +"I will." + +"God prosper you!" + +"And bring your Majesty happiness and length of days." + + + + +Chapter XXIII. + +JOHNNIE SEES MANY SIGHTS. + +The Queen left the audience chamber in company with her +maids-of-honour, and Raleigh held the curtains over the doorway aside +for them to pass through. He came back to where Morgan was standing, +and looked him quizzingly up and down. + +"Upon my faith as a knight! thou, John Morgan, art the biggest packet +of surprises I have yet brought within the gray walls of Whitehall +Palace. They do say that the air of this place is peculiarly suitable +for the breathing of west-country men. We thrive in it amazingly, to +the chagrin of better men born elsewhere. But thou hast developed from +close bud to full-blown flower in a single afternoon. Who cut the +strings of thy tongue, and took the bands from thy wits? Thou didst +speak like a ten years courtier at the least. I will confess that I +hearkened to thee dumb with sheer amazement." + +Johnnie rubbed his chin ruefully. + +"I am sore afraid that my tongue hath undone me; yet, for the life of +me, I could put no bridle upon it when once her Majesty had me by the +eyes. She willed the words out of me. Bones o' me! I pray I may +never have to face her with a secret locked in my bosom, and she +suspicious that I kept something hidden. 'Twould out, like murder. +But her spirit compelled mine as that of a strong man compelling a +weaker." + +"There hast thou solved the royal riddle of England's governance. We +are swayed by the brain of a man behind the mask of woman's face. To +the woman that we behold we pay that chivalrous deference and loving +devotion that her sex and her station claim from true men; but when we +would treat her like a woman, with womanly weaknesses, then peeps the +man from behind the mask, and we kneel to one stronger than ourselves. +The 'woman' that appeals to us, and cries for our love, is at times +capricious as an April day. But the 'man' is ever firm and dominating, +and with 'him' no one of us dares to trifle. Thy fortunate star shone +o'er thee to-day. Few men have made so excellent a first impression on +England's maiden Queen. But be not froward because of a first success, +nor hope too much from a royal smile. The east wind can blow bitingly, +even on a sunny day. Come with me now to the royal buffet; 'tis +treason to quit this roof after a first visit without drinking a bumper +to the sovereign's health. Her Majesty is a very country housewife in +the matter of cakes and ale and clean sheets in the guest chamber." + +Morgan quitted the audience chamber on Raleigh's arm, threaded numerous +corridors, sumptuously curtained and carpeted, and came at last to a +spacious room where, on a huge sideboard of carven oak, constant +provision was maintained for bodily refreshment. Servants in royal +livery stood about, and several gentlemen of the household, who had +just been relieved from duty, or come in from running some royal +errand, stood sipping a cup of wine. All saluted Raleigh courteously, +and bowed ceremoniously to his companion. Johnnie returned the bow, +feeling considerably less at ease than he had done in his sovereign's +presence. The critical stare of so many resplendent gallants unnerved +him, and he was heartily glad to quit the chamber and get out into the +air of the courtyard. Raleigh escorted him to the palace gate, where +Jeffreys awaited him. Captain Dawe had gone to look in at the bowling +green, where some of the royal officers were playing bowls. Him they +found; then, not caring for the walk back down Strand and Fleet Street, +they went to Whitehall Stairs within the palace precincts, hailed a +wherry, and went down on the tide to the stairs at Blackfriars. The +sun was setting when they landed, and columns of smoke rising from a +score of points showed that the city watchmen were lighting the evening +purifying fires at street corners and in the open spaces. The air on +the river had been cool and pleasant enough, but it was stifling in the +narrow lanes leading up from the stream to the hill of St. Paul's. The +pungent smoke from the newly-kindled wood piles came quite refreshingly +to the nostrils. + +"We have had a most fortunate year in London," said Master Jeffreys. +"No case of plague, and very few of fever. The aldermen of the wards +were for stopping these fires a week ago, but the bishop resolved to +keep them going within his boundaries until October set in. 'Tis +wonderful how the smoke and flames do take the noisome vapour from the +air. If we could but get some good rains now to wash out the gutters +and conduits, the city would be cleansed and sweetened for the winter." + +"For my part," answered the forester, "I should always breathe but +chokingly in these streets." + +"Oh, the air is wholesome enough," said Jeffreys "and stout fellows +thrive on it. Just give an eye to yonder band of 'prentice lads. I +would not wish to see better limbs, and I'll warrant that no +forest-bred lad can give harder thwacks with oaken cudgel than can +these retailers of ribbons and fal-lals." + +"The rogues are hearty enough," assented Johnnie, "and their lungs are +like bellows of leather. London is a fine place, and the air, +doubtless, sweet enough to those who have not the lingering fragrance +of the bracken in their nostrils. The scent of the woods or the salt +of the sea for me." + +"And the salt of the sea is the sweeter. Ah!" Master Jeffreys sniffed +longingly. + +Chepe was pretty full of leisurely pedestrians; the doorways of the +taverns were crowded; jugglers balanced themselves in the dusty gutter, +and merry maidens tripped it neatly in the inn courtyards to the sound +of pipe and tabor. The merchants' parlours over their shops were often +the scene of a friendly or family gathering, and more than one +sweetly-sung madrigal floated harmoniously out on the evening air. +Elizabethan London was a musical city, and part-singing was cultivated +beneath the rooftree of every well-to-do burgher. The fresh voices of +the young girls and the mellower notes of journeyman or apprentice +mingled tunefully together. The great city was resting from the +labours of the day, and soothing its spirit to enjoy the deeper rest +and tranquillity of the night. There was a little horseplay amongst +the lads gathered round the tumblers and tavern doors, but it hardly +disturbed the calm peacefulness of the scene. The side streets were +practically deserted, Chepe and St. Paul's Churchyard being the +fashionable promenades. Not a solitary figure blotted the narrow vista +of Wood Street when the three friends turned their wearied legs into +it. They found "Ye Swanne" in charge of the tapster and the +serving-wench, and with Paignton Rob for its solitary guest. He hailed +his hosts of the previous day with delight, and hastened to inform them +that Dame Fortune was "smiling upon him with both eyes." Whilst +lounging in the aisles of St. Paul's he had been recognized by a +Dartmouth skipper under whom he had once crossed the Atlantic on a +piratical expedition against Spain. The venture had failed, and the +golden visions dangled before Rob's eyes had vanished. But the +Dartmouth captain had tried again, and had been eminently successful, +bringing home a shipload of rich booty. Hearing Rob's story of +Oxenham's expedition, and seeing for himself the marks of Spanish +cruelty on the seaman's body, the generous skipper had made Rob a +present of ten crowns, and had also given the Johnsons--whom he had +never seen before--a couple of crowns apiece, and offered all three a +berth aboard his ship, which was leaving for Dartmouth on the next +morning's tide. The Johnsons had accepted, but Rob had declined, being +resolved to see Raleigh and some other gentlemen adventurers concerning +his plans for a recovery of Oxenham's buried treasure. + +"And now," added the sailor, "I owe ye a debt of hospitality, and am +come hither to pay it. The tapster hath my orders, and ye will not +refuse to take bite and sup with me this night." + +Not one of the company said "Nay," for Rob was evidently bent upon +playing the host. But Captain Dawe asked where his daughter and +Mistress Stowe had hidden themselves, and got for answer the tidings +that they had gone out into the Moorfields to take the air and see an +archery contest, the heat in the city having been well-nigh intolerable +that afternoon. + +The twilight was growing faint, the narrow street was in semi-darkness. +Johnnie inquired which way the ladies would return, and getting the +direction started out to meet them and give them escort. He had not +gone far before he saw two ladies hurrying along, huddled rather +closely together, and a couple of city gallants bowing and smirking +beside them in the roadway. The young fellow's face flushed; for, even +in the growing darkness, he recognized one slight, graceful figure as +that of Dorothy. He hastened forward, and soon got near enough to +distinguish the faces of the four, and to perceive that the ladies were +being annoyed by the unwelcome attentions of the two fops, who, +attracted doubtless by Dolly's beauty and apparent rusticity, were +endeavouring to force acquaintance upon the buxom hostess of the +"Swanne." Johnnie seized both the situation and the offenders in a +moment. Grasping the youths by the nape of the neck, he cracked their +curled heads together until they yelled with pain. Then he forced +their noses down to their knees. + +"Bow low, ye rascals," he cried. "Lower still; ye are not doing +sufficient homage to beauty and innocence yet." + +The two collapsed, toppled forward, and lay prone on their stomachs in +the thick, foul dust. + +"Kiss the ground they walk on," pursued the relentless Johnnie; "'tis +what ye mouthing apes profess to do. Kiss it--let me hear ye," and he +held them in his grip until two resounding smacks rewarded his efforts. +"Now," he said, "maybe ye will not annoy womenfolk again for an evening +or two. I'll lout the heads of both of you together if I see your +smirking faces in this street any more." + +The forester straightened himself, offered an arm to each of the +ladies, and led them home. + +Lights shone from the parlour window of "Ye Swanne" that night long +after they were douted in the other houses of Wood Street. Johnnie had +to recount all the incidents of his visit to the court; and Dorothy and +the hostess asked him a hundred questions about the Queen, many of them +concerning her dress and her jewels, and quite beyond his powers of +answering. He said nothing about the promise given to his sovereign in +a moment of loyal enthusiasm, a promise that pledged him to voyage and +adventure on the Spanish Main. + +"Time enough for that," he said to himself. "I'll talk at greater +length to Bob to-morrow; and as no ships will be sailing westward ho! +until the spring comes again, I may as well leave talking for a later +day, and make my plans now in silence." + +The party from the forest spent another week in London, and during that +time Johnnie went twice to Whitehall, on the second occasion taking +Dorothy with him. The Queen was very gracious to her pretty subject +from the west, and praised her beauty openly. Yet, in spite of the +royal condescension, Dolly felt terribly afraid, and owned to Raleigh +that she was very glad to get outside the palace doors again. + +On another day the knight took them to the play on the other side of +the river, where they saw a comedy of Ben Jonson's. After the play the +captain went to see the bear-baiting in the bear-pit hard by, but the +two young people preferred a trip on the river as far as Chelsea. This +was a very busy and momentous day, for in the evening Master Jeffreys +took Morgan down to the "Mermaid Tavern" between Wood Street and Milk +Street, where Raleigh was presiding over a gathering of the "Mermaid +Club," and there the young countryman found himself in a very nest of +poets--Shakespeare, Jonson, Marlowe, Sidney, and Raleigh himself. In +after years he hardly knew which to call the most notable moment in his +life--the one when he kissed his Queen's hand, or the one when he drank +a cup of sack with the greatest wits and geniuses of his age. + +When the Severn-side folks went westwards again, Paignton Rob +accompanied them; for Johnnie had invited the mariner to make his home +with him during the winter, purposing in the spring to go with him on a +first voyage to the New World. + + + + +Chapter XXIV. + +TWO CHANCE WAYFARERS. + +It was the feast of St. Thomas, the sky gray blue, with a pale, +cold-looking sun, the Queen's highway frozen into an iron hardness, and +the pools and ditches frost-bound. The wind had shaken the hoar from +the trees and hedges, and the holly-berries stood out in brilliant +bunches against the dark green of the encircling leaves. Along the +road between Bristol and Gloucester, and, but for the wintry haze that +narrowed the horizon, within sight of the latter city, trudged a burly +fellow, staff in hand and a sea song on his lips. His thick shoon +awoke echoes from hedge to hedge, and his iron-shod staff rang in +unison. Hosen of warm, gray homespun covered his legs, and he had a +doublet of the same goodly stuff; a cap, trimmed with otter-skin, was +pulled down tightly over his ears, and an ample cloak of somewhat gaudy +blue flapped in the keen wind; rime, and tiny beads of frozen vapour, +hung like pearls in his black beard. He rolled in his walk as a sailor +should, and sometimes he whistled the air of his song by way of change +from the singing of the words. + + "Then ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold; + King Philip's ships are riding deep + With the weight of wealth untold. + They're prey for the saucy lads + Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe; + They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam, + With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow, + With a rich galleon in tow!" + + +The mariner swung his staff in rhythm with the swing of his chorus, and +his hearty voice pealed out like a trumpet on the sharp air. + +"A spirited song well sung!" cried a voice in the sailor's rear. + +He turned sharply around, and found a thin, wiry fellow close at his +heels. "_Madre de Dios!_" he cried, with a Spanish oath. "Where didst +thou spring from? I heard no steps behind me." + +"Hardly possible, friend, that thou shouldst hear a little fellow like +me against thy song, staff, and heavier footfalls. I fell in thy wake +out of the lane at Quedgely, and have been trying to come up with thee +for the sake of thy jolly company." + +"Is yonder parcel of huts Quedgely?" + +"Ay. Thou art a stranger; Devon, if thy speech is to be trusted." + +"Devon is my bonny country, lad--Devon every inch of me. Dost know +Devon?" + +"But little. 'Tis a brave shire, and breeds brave sons. Could I be +born again, I'd pray to see the sun first from a Devon cradle." + +"Thy hand, brother. If thou wert less yellow in the gills I'd kiss +thee. Art for Gloucester?" + +"I am." + +"So am I, for to-day; to-morrow I go farther on. Dost know these parts +well?" + +"There are parts that I know worse; but I am not native to the place." + +"Maybe thou hast never been in Dean Forest?" + +The stranger looked at the sailor sharply and queerly. "Dean Forest," +he repeated. "Yes, I have travelled some parts of that wild region. +Thou art surely not thinking of going thither at this time o' the year!" + +"By bad fortune, I am. And from what I hear, 'tis a dangerous place, +full of fierce beasts and uncouth people. But go thither I must, for I +seek a man I shall not find elsewhere. If thou wouldst find a hawk, +needs must that thou find a hawk's nest; no other bird's will serve thy +purpose--that is my position. Is there any chance that I shall light +upon some forest fellow during Yule-tide business in Gloucester?" + +"That I cannot say; but I may be able to help thee. Whom dost thou +seek?" + +"A Devon man, Rob of Paignton." + +"Thou art hunting a bundle of hay to find a needle. The forest is a +wild place, as full of holes as of hills, and its people are not much +given to travelling or to gossip with any but their nearest neighbours. +Hast no more precise knowledge?" + +"None, except that Rob dwells with a tall fellow named Morgan." + +Again the sallow stranger eyed his companion keenly. He shook his +head. "Tall fellows are not scarce amongst the foresters, and Morgans +are as plentiful as oak trees." + +"Then am I like to be long a-searching. However, tired eyes ne'er +found a treasure; I must find Rob and the fellow with whom he dwells. +How far is it to Gloucester now?" + +"A matter of less than three miles to the Cross." + +"Dost know of a good inn, one where beef and ale is not stinted, and +where the hay in the beds is sweet?" + +"There's the 'New Inn' in the Northgate Street, as snug a place as a +man can wish to put head into on a cold day. I shall rest there until +to-morrow." + +"Then I'll cast anchor there also. I can afford to pay for good +lodgings." The sailor jingled some coins in his pouch, and sang again, + + "Then ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold." + + +His companion interrupted him. "When I startled thee just now, did I +not hear thy lips utter a Spanish oath?" + +"Likely enough; I have a goodly stock of them, and one jumps out at +times if it happens to be near the top. How didst thou recognize it +for Spanish?" + +"Because I have some knowledge of that tongue." + +The sailor turned sharp on the speaker, halted, and scrutinized him +closely. "Thy face is yellow enough for a subject of King Philip," he +said slowly; "but the general cut of thee is English." + +"I am English." + +"Hast sailed the Spanish Main?" + +"No; I am a scholar, not a sailor. I am as well acquainted with +French, Latin, and Greek as with Spanish and English." + +"What a gift!" exclaimed the sailor admiringly. "There is not much +body about thee; but now I look into thy face and mark thine eyes, +forehead, and jowl, can well credit thee with brains. I wish I had met +thee in Plymouth." + +"Why, friend?" + +"Because I have some papers writ in Spanish that I'd give much to +decipher. Confidence for confidence, let me tell thee that I am no +scholar, but just a simple sailor--" + +"Who knows the Spanish Main, eh?" + +"As a farmer knows his own duck pond." + +"Ah! these are fine times for the brave lads who sail the seas." + +"My own opinion, brother. I thank God I became a man whilst Queen Bess +was a woman! The west wind blows fortunes into Devon ports nowadays. +Mayhap thou hast no love for the sea?" + +"'Tis the sea that hath no love for me. I am fixed ashore, and yet I +love travel and adventure, and have seen sights in more lands than +England." + +"So! now. I'm glad thou hast not lived a worm 'twixt book covers. +Thou art a fellow of some parts, I'll warrant me. There's plenty of +spring in thy walk for one who hath pored much over books. How art +thou now with, say, the sword?" + +"I have held my own with fellows of more inches than myself." + +The sailor pinched his companion's biceps, and took a grip of his +wrist. "Supple enough, brother, or I'm no judge." + +"Oh! I should second thee well in a tussle, never fear," laughed the +little man. + +"And give me a merry time should we draw on one another." + +"Oh! we are not going to fight. I am a peaceable wayfarer, glad of a +cheery companion on a dull day. But I would offer thee a scrap of +advice. Jingle not thy money so easily to the first man that offers +thee a friendly greeting. I have known the chink of gold turn a good +friend into an ill foe." + +"True, true. But I'll swear to thy honesty." + +"A thousand thanks for the compliment." + +Thus the two chance companions trudged on side by side to the south +gate of Gloucester. There the pressure of a crowd brought them to a +halt for a few minutes. There was a noise of yelling and booing, and +some exclamations that caused the sailor's companion to wince. + +The pressure at the gate slackening, the two pushed through and hurried +after the noisy throng. "Some fellow being whipped at the cart-tail," +exclaimed the man of Devon, stretching his tall form to look over the +heads of the swaying mob. + +"Two of 'em, friend; Papishers both," remarked a delighted citizen. + +"Oh!" exclaimed the younger wayfarer. + +The citizen pointed first to the right and then to the left. "Ruins of +Greyfriars Monastery; ruins of Blackfriars. One rascal caught in +either place praying that the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah might fall on +our town, because he and his fellow vermin were driven out years ago. +I must push ahead and beg the hangman to let me have a cut or two at +them. They cursed me by bell, book, and candle--but not by name, thank +the Lord: they didn't know that!" + +"Why?" asked the little man. + +"Because I--and many others, for the matter of that--have built a snug +house out of the stone of the monasteries. I'll have a cut at 'em if +it costs me a crown." + +"Is this sort of thing to thy liking?" the sailor asked of his +companion. + +"No," was the sharp response. + +"Neither is it to mine; although, mind you, I have seen these same +Papishers play some devil's tricks on good Protestants. Paignton Rob, +whom I seek, hath a head ill-balanced by the loss of an ear and its +ear-ring, because the priests chose to set a mark upon him. But thou +and I are of more generous blood; we have seen the world, and found +honest men in all religions--ay, and rogues in them all too. Let us +get to thine inn and drink a flagon of Gloster ale to all tolerant +souls, whether they call the Pope 'Father' or 'Devil.'" + +The sallow-faced man made no answer, but pushed on beside his burly +companion. + + + + +Chapter XXV. + +BROTHER BASIL. + +Dan Pengelly, the sailor with the Cornish patronymic and Devonian +birthplace, found an excellent boon companion in the little +sallow-faced fellow who had overtaken him a few miles south of +Gloucester. And he found the "New Inn," boastful of having given a +night's lodging to the Queen and the Earl of Leicester, an expensive +but comfortable tavern. Its dimensions were goodly, its position a +sheltered one, its kitchens ample and well-managed, and its October ale +beyond reproach. At first the little man in black doublet and hosen +was inclined to be moody and taciturn; the public whipping, apparently, +had seared his kindly and humane temperament. But jolly Dan poured +oil--not to say ale--on the wounds and eased them. As it was neither +dinner-time nor supper-time, the sailor ordered a repast ample enough +for both, and fell to his trencher with hearty good will. His +companion did his best to emulate him, and for a spare man did +excellently. Dan paid the reckoning. + +They spent a merry evening. As far as the sailor was concerned, when +ale went in, wit went out; he poured out confidences, and was artfully +led into babbling secrets he had never intended to disclose. To all +appearances the little man was just as communicative; he talked glibly +enough about places in France, Holland, and Spain, and answered a score +of eager questions about Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, Lisbon, Cadiz, and +other places. But when Pengelly reeled off to his mattress of fragrant +hay he knew nothing definite about his comrade--neither name, station, +occupation, nor religious or political opinions. On the other hand, +the sallow man knew Dan's lineage for four generations back, at least; +knew his hopes, fears, recent deeds--good and bad; could have told to a +penny what money he had in his pocket; knew the reason why he sought +Rob of Paignton, and a great deal of the latter worthy's past career. +Perhaps most important of all, he knew where Dan had hidden certain +Spanish papers in Plymouth, and guessed at the secret hidden in them. +He had been merry with the bluff sailor to good purpose, and he lay +awake and quietly smiling at a star that peeped in at the lattice, long +after the bibulous Dan had started snoring like a drenched hog on the +pallet beside him. Before he closed his eyes and settled himself to +sleep, he had resolved to be the sailor's companion for a day longer. +This meant an alteration of his previous plans, but the change would be +worth the making. + +The next morning the two travellers were astir with the first robin, +and over breakfast Dan learned that his companion had suddenly +remembered that he ought to pay a visit to Westbury before he quitted +the neighbourhood. The Devonian knew nothing of Westbury, but was +speedily informed that it lay about ten miles along his own route, and +was, in fact, almost at the eastern verge of the forest itself. The +sailor expressed his joy at this news in a practical manner; he +insisted on paying the reckoning for bed and breakfast. The little man +made a show of protest, but submitted amicably enough. The generous +Dan slapped him on the back, and declared that he was growing to love +him. + +"I did not like thee over well at first," he said; "there are none of +the roses of innocence in thy face, thy jaws are too lean and hungry +looking, and thine eyes have an odd sort of stare in them. But +'handsome is that handsome does' is my motto, and I find thee a +downright pretty fellow." + +The "pretty fellow" laughed good-humouredly. "Thou hast queer ways of +paying compliments, Dan Pengelly, and folk who did not understand thee +might take offence. But it's 'peace and good fellowship' betwixt us +twain; so let us take to the road and hope for a pleasant journey." + +The sun shone frostily but cheerily. Down the Westgate Street and out +at the West Gate that abutted on the turbid Severn went the two +strangely assorted comrades. The sailor had a remark or two--not +altogether complimentary--to make about the river. Then they strode +along the causeway that spanned the marshy isle of Olney and led to the +western arm of the river. From thence a broad, tree-bordered highway +ran--at a little distance from the Severn bank--right away to the +hamlet of Westbury. Here they parted company, the sailor going on to +Newnham, where he was to make inquiries after Rob, his companion +striking off across the fields on pretence of visiting a certain farmer. + +Dan was right on the track of his friend, although he anticipated a +dangerous and exciting search through the dense, dark forest that rose +on the swelling hills before him. He was agreeably disappointed. A +grizzled old fisherman stood on the river quay idly watching his boat +as it bobbed up and down on the rushing tide. Dan gave him a brotherly +greeting, then halted for a few minutes' rest and conversation. At +first the traveller talked of "tides" as though they were his chief +interest in life. The fisherman had an opportunity of learning that +the tides of the Plym, Fal, and Dart were beyond computation better +than those of the Severn; in fact, he was asked to believe that the +last-named river was no better than a mud heap that got flooded with +brackish water twice a day. The fisherman stoutly combated this +slander, and a pretty quarrel seemed imminent, when Dan went off at a +tangent, and "wondered" whether any one in Newnham had espied a tall, +lean, one-eared man looking at boat or stream at any time. "He's not a +native of these parts," added he, by way of rounding off his +description. + +But the fisherman was not prepared for this sudden change of subject, +and he took a minute or two for quiet meditation ere he volunteered the +information that "all Newnham" knew the person in question. + +"He was up to Captain Dawe's but yesterday," he said. + +"Ought to be dwelling with a tall fellow named Morgan," said Dan. + +"Lives with Johnnie Morgan of Blakeney," replied the other. "Everybody +knows Johnnie Morgan. He's kissed the Queen's hand in her house in +London, and 'tis whispered that her Majesty kissed him. At any rate, +Johnnie's sweetheart quarrelled with him directly they got home again, +and the gossips put it down to jealousy." + +Dan expressed his sorrow, and promised to advise Johnnie to hope for a +happy ending. "The course of true love never did run smooth, ye know." + +"Never!" assented the fisherman. + +"Now, how far is it to Blakeney, and must I go through the forest?" + +"'Tis an afternoon's tramp, and a lonesome one; ye might run down on +the tide when it ebbs. There's my boat, and I'll take ye for twopence." + +"Done! Shall we spill a flagon of ale, and say it is a bargain?" + +The fisherman put his tongue to his lips and tested the salty flavour +of the tide, then led the way without comment to the "Bear." The +bargain was so deluged with "best October" that it was almost drowned +in forgetfulness. But, more by luck than judgment, Dan and Rob kissed +one another just after nightfall. + +And after supper Dan told the story of his tramp from Bristol. He had +got to the "whipping" incident in Gloucester, and was describing its +effect upon the little, sallow-faced fellow that tramped with him, when +one of Morgan's men burst into the room, his face blanched with terror. +"The man in black! the man in black!" he cried. + +Johnnie was on his feet in an instant. "What dost thou mean?" he asked. + +"The man in black! the one who did not die!" + +Johnnie understood. He took down a sword. "Where is he?" + +"He was looking in at the window as I came up the lane." + +"Follow me. Stay you there, gentlemen; I'm afeard my man has seen a +ghost." + +Blakeney was aroused, but no man had seen anything suspicious, and a +close search revealed nothing. Morgan questioned his man, but he stuck +to his story. An idea flashed across Johnnie's mind, and when he got +home again he questioned Pengelly closely about his companion. The +answers convinced him. + +"Thou hast tramped with the devil in disguise," he said. + +Dan's ruddy face paled, and he asked for an explanation. His host told +him of the events of the past summer. The sailor's face lengthened +with the story. "And I told him all my plans!" he groaned. + +That night Morgan's barns were fired and burned to the ground. The +next night the thatch of Captain Dawe's cottage was discovered to be +smouldering. Two nights later, Dean Tower, which had been confiscated +by the Crown because of Windybank's treason, was reduced to a heap of +ashes. + +Brother Basil stole out of Westbury tower the next morning. He had a +bloodstained chip of oak in his hand. It was cut from a beam Windybank +had struck in his fall. "The blood of a martyr!" he muttered. + + + + +Chapter XXVI. + +ALL ON A BRIGHT MARCH MORNING. + +The March winds were blowing, and the daffydowndillies were nodding +merry heads in the sunshine. The hawthorn hedges were dotted with the +bright green of bursting buds; and behind this promise of cover from +the prying eyes of predatory urchins, the small birds were busy +house-building. The tall elms were still bare of leaves, but the rooks +had framed their crazy nests, and were now busy following the +ploughman, and waxing fat on succulent worms. The sedgy pools and +ditches in the forest were noisy with the hoarse croaking of colonies +of frogs. Lambs skipped in the farmers' meadows, and cropped the grass +that had already lost the brown tinge of winter. + +Spring was come, vouched for by the calendar, the place of King Sol in +the blue heavens, and the changing aspect of reawakening nature. + +By every token of a healthy youth and a glorious March morning, +Johnnie's thoughts should have been light, fanciful, and centred round +the fair image of Mistress Dorothy Dawe. Alas! they were dark as a +midwinter night, and as gloomy as a funeral oration. + + "'She only drove me to despair, + When--she--un-kind--did--prove.'" + + +Johnnie hummed the last few bars of a popular madrigal in slow and +dirge-like tones. "She" was still wayward and unkind, and "He" was +setting out on the morrow in search of treasure to lay at a maiden's +feet. The young fellow's visions of the Indies were no longer rosy, +but drab as November skies. He was pledged to set his face westward +ho! but the zest was gone out of the enterprise. He leaned over a +gate, and watched the gulls fishing in the river. + +Johnnie did not hear a light step coming down the meadow towards him; +no sound disturbed his melancholy reflections. "Jack!" murmured a soft +voice. + +The young man started as though an arrow had struck him. His face +flushed hotly, and a gleam of pleasure lighted up its gloom. + +"Good morrow, Mistress Dorothy," he said. "I suppose thy father waits +at the house? I will go to him at once." + +He turned from the stile; but on his arm there was the flutter of a +hand like to the flutter of a bird's wing, and he stopped. He turned +to look at the river again, and the maiden's eyes followed his. There +was silence whilst a man might have told ten score. + +"The wings of the gulls flash like silver in the sunshine," ventured +Dorothy. + +"So I have thought." + +A pause. + +"Thou art leaving us to-morrow." + +"That is why I have been watching the gulls for near an hour." + +"I don't understand." + +"Paignton Rob says that these white gulls are found all the world over. +I shall see them a thousand leagues away--screaming round the ship; +massing in white armies on the New World cliffs; fishing in the rivers. +My last vision of home must have white gulls in it. Away yonder they +will be fairy birds to me, calling up pictures of my ancestral +homestead along Severn side. The forests there will not recall the +forest here. How shall their stifling heat and towering palms, their +gaudy birds and flowers, their roaring beasts and loathly reptiles, +remind one of the cool, sweet glades, the scented bracken, the gnarled +oaks, the leaping deer, and sweet-throated songsters of home? 'Tis the +vision of the river, the tide, and the wheeling gulls that I shall see +again in the land of 'El Dorado.'" + +There was a sadness and pathos in the forester's voice that went +straight to the heart of the forest maiden. The hand was on his arm +again, fluttering, trembling. "I have been very wicked!" The fluty +notes of a sweet voice were broken. + +"Who says so?" demanded Johnnie harshly and loudly. + +"I do; you do." + +"I do not!" + +"But I have hurt you." + +"Why shouldn't you do so, if it pleases you? Women must aye be +meddling with pins and barbs. If they be not pricking velvets or +home-spun, they must be thrusting sharp points into those that love +them best. Why shouldst thou differ from others of thy sex?" + +The young man's voice was bitter; the barbs still rankled. They had +been long in the wounds they had made, and there was fiery +inflammation. How often had he told the maid that she was like none +other of her sex; that she was peerless--stood alone! The memory of +former passionate declarations flashed across the minds of them both, +and both sighed down into silence. + +"Wilt thou not forgive me?" + +"Why didst thou flout me, Dolly?" + +"Just a maid's foolish temper. Think how full of whimsies we women be. +Men be not so; they have strength denied to us, the weaker vessel." +(Johnnie's face was visibly softening. Dolly sighed with renewed hope, +and went on.) "I was hurt because thou didst plan and resolve to go to +the Indies without ever a word to me. I was not thought on. The Queen +moves a finger, and straightway thou art fashioning wings to take thee +to the ends of the earth. 'Twas thy duty so to do, but why treat me as +a chit or child of no account? Thy head was ever bobbing against that +of Master Jeffreys, or pouring plans into the one ear of Paignton Rob. +'Mum' was the word if ye did but catch the rustle of my gown. Thou +hadst vowed to share thy life with me; yet there did ye sit, like +conspirators, planning momentous issues in life, with never a chance +for me to utter 'Yea' or 'Nay.' Was that just?" + +"I told thee of my resolve as soon as I had made it firm." + +"That was a day too late for my pride. The Dawes have some pride, Jack +Morgan." + +"They have reason for it, Mistress Dawe." + +"Their friends should respect it." + +"I was hoping to increase it. Why, thinkest thou, did I resolve to +risk life and limb in the Indies, unless to gather wealth, that I might +lay it at thy feet?" + +"Nay; thou wert bitten by the flea of adventure, and must needs rush +about the world to deaden the itching. Suppose that I had rather have +thee remain at home, being but a plain maid, who would find contentment +as a farmer's wife?" + +The idea had not occurred to Johnnie, and he gasped in astonishment. +Dolly saw his confusion, and wisely did not press her point. On the +contrary, woman-like, she dropped the whole thread of the argument, and +simply exclaimed a little plaintively,-- + +"I am sore wearied!" + +"Wearied!" cried Johnnie, facing round. "Wearied of what?" + +"I have walked from Newnham, and 'tis a trying journey with the wind +buffeting one so rudely." + +"I thought thou hadst ridden with thy father." + +"I walked alone; I wanted to see thee alone. Why should we part ill +friends, that have loved one another?" + +The next moment a tearful maid was in a strong man's arms. All the +wrongs on both sides, real and imaginary, were forgiven and forgotten. +Two happy, laughing lovers sat and watched the gulls wheeling, dipping, +rising in the spring sunshine. + +"Thou hast rare roses in thy cheeks, sweetheart," said Johnnie. + +"'Tis the wind," replied Dolly. + +"'March wind!'" murmured the youth. + +"'April showers!'" sobbed the maiden; for she thought of the morrow, +and the tears came into the brave blue eyes. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. + +IN PLYMOUTH. + +The arrow sang its curving flight through the air and stuck, with a +quick quiver, in the very centre of the target. "Four times out of six +have I found his heart, and a pennypiece would cover the four," +exclaimed Nick Johnson. "'Twill do!" He put his bow-point to his toe, +loosened the string, and laid the weapon aside. Brother Ned slipped +his own bow from his shoulder, strung it, tested its tautness and +rigidity, and took six arrows from the boy who waited upon the patrons +of archery ground. He shot; the arrow went wide. He sighed, rubbed +his eyes as though to clear them from mist, and shot again. The shaft +lodged on the outer edge of the target, almost splintering the wood. +"Better," said Nick encouragingly. Ned shot a third time; the string +twanged unevenly, and the arrow fell short. With a groan of despair +the sailor threw the bow aside, and called to the boy to fetch the +arrows. "'Tis no use," he cried; "I shall ne'er master the trick on't +again; left hand and eye will not go together as did right hand and eye +in the old days. Time was when I could outshoot thee three matches in +four; now should I miss the side of a house at a hundred paces. Thy +left arm serves thee better than thy right ever did. I know no better +marksman." + +Nick pulled musingly at his sandy beard. "In truth," he admitted, "it +seemeth as though nature intended me for a left-handed man; 'tis +wonderful what skill I have acquired with it in a few months of +practice. Wilt thou not try again?" + +"Not to-day. I'll to the witch-woman under the cliffs, and get her to +say some charms that have power over the left side of a man." Ned +strode moodily off, and Nick followed him. At the stile that led into +the highway they met Dan Pengelly coming in search of them. Yards away +his excited countenance heralded news. "They've turned up at last!" +he cried. + +"Master Morgan and Rob?" + +"No; the Papishers." + +"How?" + +"Get ye to the 'Blue Dolphin,' and Dame Gregory will tell ye all. I'll +be in hiding on the opposite side of the way, and a whistle will bring +me across. Give your legs full play. I'll not be seen with ye. Needs +must that we deal craftily when the devil's in person amongst the foe." + +"Rest easy, Dan. Come on, Ned," cried Nick. And the two brothers +swung off for the harbour side of the town and the back parlour of the +"Blue Dolphin." Whilst they clatter along the cobbled highway, we will +explain their errand. + +When Dan Pengelly babbled secrets into the ears of Brother Basil, he +unwittingly gave that worthy a new scheme of revenge. For some months +after the failure of the plot to burn the forest, the ex-monk had +remained in hiding amidst the mountains of South Wales. He stayed near +Newnham long enough to learn from the farmer at Arlingham the precise +fate of Father Jerome, his co-conspirator John, and Andrew Windybank. +Being assured of their deaths, and the absolute failure of the Spanish +plot, he disappeared. The foresters hoped, and at length believed, +that he was dead; they had learned that he was the fiercest and most +unscrupulous of the fanatics, and rumour had quickly clothed him with +all sorts of unholy attributes. That he was not dead, but plotting +further mischief, was known only to one man, and the knowledge helped +to darken that man's life. The farmer at Arlingham had never been +suspected of complicity in the plot; all, save Basil, who could have +blabbed his secret were amongst the slain on the night of the fight +with the _Luath_. He himself lost heart at the critical moment and +stayed at home, and his only share in the affair was to provide for +some of the wounded and receive the thanks of the admiral for his ready +generosity. Yet, whilst the wounded groaned and tossed on his beds, +Basil lay curled up, wolf fashion, in one of the barns. He lodged +there again for two days after the burning of Dean Tower, and whilst +the forest was being scoured with horse and hound for him. From thence +he had journeyed to Plymouth, hoping to secure the Spanish papers +hidden by the garrulous seaman. He succeeded in his object only a few +hours before Dan came hastening back from Blakeney, fearful for the +safety of his precious packet. The trick had been neatly played. Dame +Gregory had entertained, for one night, a very pleasant and gentlemanly +guest, who had speedily found his way into her good graces, and also +into the back parlour of the "Blue Dolphin," which was sacred to the +intimate cronies of her sailor spouse. It was there, behind a panel in +the wall, that the hostess kept treasures belonging to several homeless +mariners and adventurers who made her their banker and confidential +agent. The foolish Dan, tipsily anxious to let his little comrade know +how cunning he was, had explained the working of the panel and the +difficulty of any one, save those in the secret, getting access to the +precious hoard behind it. An evening's survey matured Basil's plans. +Early the next morning two strange sailor-men entered the inn, and kept +the landlady answering questions for the best part of half an hour. +Not long after she was rid of them, her pleasant guest also bade her +good day and departed. + +No suspicions were aroused until Dan's return and discovery of his +loss. Then Basil's handiwork was apparent enough. His connection with +the two sailors was revealed in an early stage of Dan's search for the +thief. The three had been seen together in a neighbouring hostel the +previous day. No trace of them was discovered after the robbery. But +now, on the very eve of Morgan's arrival in Plymouth, Dame Gregory's +son, an urchin of about fourteen summers, had penetrated the rough +disguise of two mariners who had dropped into the kitchen of the "Blue +Dolphin." Guided by the child's eyes, the mother also had assured +herself of the identity of the two. Dan had been apprised, had given +the alarm to the Johnsons, and they were already lifting the latch of +the parlour door. The two spies were on the ale-bench in the kitchen. + +There was a whispered consultation with the hostess. Was she sure of +her men? Quite. What was Dan going to do in the affair? Watch, in +the hope that the sallow priest-man would pass along by the inn. + +Nick and Ned entered the kitchen. They were taciturn fellows, but they +gave the strangers a nod and a good-morrow! Conversation began, the +Johnsons leaving the lead, after the first words, to the strangers. In +those stirring times it was impossible for four mariners to meet in +Plymouth town and refrain from talking about the wonderful New World +across the Atlantic. All four had sailed its seas and navigated its +rivers. Nick Johnson said many hard things of the Spaniards, and he +expected the strangers to champion them a little. They did not; on the +other hand, they heaped curses on the heads of the arrogant Dons. The +talk turned on "El Dorado" and the fabulous treasures he had heaped up. +The Johnsons were eager with inquiries, but had no information to +offer. The strangers pretended to know a great deal about the +mysterious Indian potentate and his golden land, but they winked at one +another and kept their counsel. Ned Johnson made a plunge. Did the +strangers know that a ship was actually fitting in Plymouth harbour for +an unnamed port on the Orinoco? They did, and thought of trying for a +berth in her, having information that would be valuable to her captain. +By a casual remark, Ned hinted that he had personal knowledge of some +of the co-owners of the _Golden Boar_. Instantly a flood of questions +poured forth, but no answers were returned. The brothers professed a +bond of secrecy. For a full hour a cunning game was played, two +against two, but neither side secured an advantage. The strangers +departed, having promised the Johnsons to meet the next morning at an +inn lower down the harbour. + +The spies were followed to their lodging-place, and a watch set upon +them. But Basil was wary and made no sign. For two or three days the +four sailors fraternized together, and Dan Pengelly and the landlady's +son hung about in their neighbourhood, hoping to catch sight of a +familiar and cunning face. Meanwhile the last touches were being given +to the _Golden Boar_; her captain, John Drake, younger brother of the +famous admiral, was daily aboard, and her three principal +owners--Raleigh, Johnnie Morgan, and Captain Dawe--had arrived in +Plymouth. They had given up all hope of seeing Dan's mysterious +Spanish papers. But hope was not dead in the volatile Dan. + + + + +Chapter XXVIII. + +THE PARLOUR OF THE "BLUE DOLPHIN." + +On the Cornish side of the Sound, and directly facing the harbour of +Plymouth, lay a snug fisher village. In the gray, weather-beaten +church were plentiful records of the births, marriages, and deaths of +the Pengellys. The homeless and wandering Dan might have claimed +relationship with half the inhabitants of the place had he chosen to do +so. Yet, being Plymouth born and at sea four-fifths of his time, he +had never visited the place since his boyhood. He thought less of a +voyage to the Indies than of a trip across the estuary of the Tamar. +And in this place, that echoed with his family name, and where he +himself might walk as a stranger, lodged the man he sought in every +street, byway, and tavern in Plymouth. + +Dan had been down to the _Golden Boar_, and had talked with Captain +Drake and Master Morgan. They wanted news of his papers; he could give +them none. + +"Then," said John Drake, "we can wait here no longer. Maybe thy papers +would give us the very route to 'El Dorado's' land, and save us a world +of danger and trouble; maybe they are about some other matter entirely. +In any case, I must sail in three days' time. We are thoroughly armed, +manned, and victualled; winter is gone, and the winds will serve. 'Tis +westward ho! and take the risks that other bold fellows have taken +before us. Yet I had rather the little priest had not gotten the +manuscript from thee. The cunning thief may be garnering gold whilst +we but reap wounds and fever. The New World is a big place, the +Orinoco a mighty stream; no man can say what lands lie along its +margin, and what mighty nations dwell on those lands. I have no fear +of the night, but 'tis a good thing to have a lantern in hand when one +walks in dark places." + +Master Morgan agreed, and Dan resolved upon a desperate attempt to +recover his lost treasure. He left the harbour, sought and found the +Johnsons, and formulated a plan of action. + +An hour or so later, Nick and Ned and the two stranger mariners entered +the "Blue Dolphin," and begged the landlady to grant them the use of +her parlour, as they wished to talk over a private matter of great +importance. The good woman assented with pleasure, and promised them +freedom from interruption. They went in, and upon their very heels +came Dan. He said something to the hostess in a low voice. She +protested volubly and angrily. He wheedled and coaxed, and at length, +very reluctantly, she relented. Dan tapped at the door thrice +separately and significantly. "This is our friend," said Nick Johnson, +and he opened the door to admit him who knocked. The strangers stared +at Dan; but, never having seen him before, had no suspicion of his +identity. + +All five sat down at the table, the two strangers with their backs to +the fireplace, the three friends facing them, with their backs to the +door. Dan did the talking, addressing himself to Basil's henchmen. + +"These two good fellows," he said, "old shipmates of mine, have +arranged this pleasant meeting at my request. I have heard somewhat of +you, and learn that we are all greatly interested in a certain matter. +If I just mention 'Indies,' 'Dons,' 'gold,' you will guess the run of +my thoughts." + +The strangers nodded, and settled themselves into an attitude of closer +attention. + +"There's a vessel in harbour almost ready to weigh anchor for the land +of the setting sun. Her aim is treasure. I sail in her, and I am in +the secret councils of her captain. Do you follow my thoughts?" + +"Perfectly. You've some bold business on hand for dipping your hands +deep into the spoil of the voyage, and you want a few bold blades at +your back. Say no more. Get us aboard, and when you give the signal +we're with you. To tell you the truth, we were planning some such +scheme ourselves, but could see no chance of a berth on the vessel." + +"I'm glad you're the stout fellows I took you to be. Now, don't be +surprised at what I say next. I have more than one man's secrets +locked in my bosom." Dan turned to Nick Johnson. "Just make sure +there are no eavesdroppers," he said. + +Nick looked out into the passage. "Not a mouse stirring." + +"Then, whilst thou art on thy legs, fetch in some ale. Our new +comrades would like to toast our enterprise." + +Dan leaned back in silence whilst Nick did his errand. Healths were +drunk without words--just a nod, as much as to say, "To you, my hearty!" + +Dan leaned across the table. "A thin, wiry, sallow-faced man; +black-haired, black-eyed, supple as an eel, cunning as a cat; a scholar +and travelled gentleman, who might easily be a cut-throat; one who +professes the old faith, and swears by the Pope--ye know him?" + +The elder of the two spies licked his lips uneasily, looked hurriedly +from his companion to Dan, and from Dan back to his companion. The +latter stared and blinked his eyes in embarrassment. + +"Ye helped him in a little job in this very house about three months +ago," pursued Dan. "D'ye know what he got out of it?" + +"No." + +"The very thing we want to get out of him. A sailor hid some papers in +this very house--papers that point the way to untold wealth, the way to +'El Dorado's' land. I was with him when he learned the secret, and +hurried back here to lay hands upon the precious packet. I was a +little behind time. Now, if we are going in the _Golden Boar_, we must +carry those papers with us. Ye both unwittingly played stalking-horse +whilst another man got the treasure." + +"And he paid us scurvily, the yellow-faced rascal!" cried the spies. + +"And he will pay ye scurvily for spying upon the _Golden Boar_ and +Master Morgan, whom he hates. D'ye see how well I know the fellow and +all his secrets? I could hang him an I could but lay hands on him. +Are we to go on a blind expedition to the Indies, he laughing at us +from the quayside, and straightway fitting a vessel at his leisure to +garner in the wealth we may search for in vain?" + +"By the saints, no! But we took him for an honester man." + +"Ye did not know him; I do. Now, where is he to be found? There is no +time to lose. I know he's not far off, but I had rather not waste +precious hours in searching for him." + +The two rascals, astonished at Dan's knowledge of their doings, fell +into the trap he set for them. They jumped up. "We'll take ye to him +at once!" + +"Softly, friends! I know my man and his ways. Did he but catch sight +of five of us approaching his hiding-place, we should never get a +glimpse of him. Did he but see me with ye, our quest were in vain. +Have I not said I know enough of him to hang him? Leave the business +to me, and wait here with my friends. Would ye send five dogs barking +and tearing through a wood to trap one fox? One silent hound, with a +good nose, sharp teeth, silent tongue, and a knowledge of the fox's +ways, would serve the purpose better. Let me know the lie of his den, +and trust me for the rest." + +The fellows fell in with Dan's plan. Truth to tell, they had seen a +little of the sinister side of Basil's character, and had a pretty +wholesome dread of him. Their new friend, who knew his man so well, +was best fitted for the dangerous enterprise. They wished him joy of +it, and would be content to share its fruits. To Dan's astonishment, +they told him that Basil was hiding across the Sound in his own +ancestral village. + +"Heart o' me!" he exclaimed, "he is mine! Yon place is filled with my +own kith and kin. The fox is in a very ring of dogs." + +"Get not too many helpers, friend," said Nick cunningly, "else will the +spoil be split into too many portions." + +"Well argued!" exclaimed Basil's dupes. "Too many hands in the +meal-tub means small share apiece." + +"Never fear, comrades. A buss on the cheek or a handshake will be +payment enough. I shall not tell them that they are helping me to lay +fingers on the wealth of the Indies. Will ye take another flagon to +wish me success? I must be going. The afternoon wears on, and night +must be my time for work. Where shall we meet to-morrow?" + +"Here, at noon," suggested Ned Johnson. + +"Here, at noon," agreed Dan. He got up and went to the street door, +and Nick went with him. + +"Cunningly managed, Dan," he murmured. "'Tis better than putting sword +to their throats and pricking out the information. Art going alone?" + +"No; meet me at Ian Davey's boathouse at sunset. Let Ned keep an eye +on yon two." + + + + +Chapter XXIX. + +THE WIDOW'S HOUSE. + +The springtide sun set ruddily and frostily across the Sound; and as +the fiery ball hung for a moment on the western shore, a broad pathway +like a pathway of rippling blood, or deep-tinged, running gold, went in +a line from Ian Davey's boatyard to the Cornish coast. + +"An omen!" cried Dan, seeing with the eye of the superstitious sailor. +"We sail to wealth over a golden sea." + +Nick shook his head. "The colour is not yellow enough for my liking. +Is the boat ready?" + +"Ay." + +"Then let us be going whilst the breeze holds easterly." + +Ian Davey's lad came out of the boathouse with a pair of oars on his +shoulders. He went down to a little fisher boat that rocked gently +against the end of the wooden jetty. The two sailor-men followed him. +The mast was stepped, and they pushed out from the shore, the two men +rowing and the lad steering. As soon as they were far enough out to +catch the breeze the sail was set, and the little craft went bowling +along over the fast-darkening sea. The oars were shipped, and Dan fell +to musing. He tried to recollect the occasion of his last visit to the +Cornish village from which his family had sprung, and was astonished to +find that, in the sum of ten thousand leagues of travel since manhood, +the little journey he was now taking did not once enter. He stroked +his red beard, perplexed at the oddity of the whole thing. He pictured +the steep, cobbled street leading up from the shore, and peeped into +every remembered window in the row of rude thatched cottages. Slowly +he recalled the names of old boy and girl companions who had played +with him around the doorstep of his grandfather's house. For half the +voyage the object which had prompted it was forgotten. The journey was +as silent as a secret journey should be. It began in twilight and +ended in darkness. The keel of the boat grated on the soft sand. Dan +and Nick Johnson stepped out. + +"How long will ye be?" asked Davey's lad. + +Dan pondered. "Ye cannot get back without us; 'twill be a matter of +hard rowing against the wind. I have been thinking. This place is +hallowed soil to me, and my feet have not trodden it for thirty years. +Bide thou here to-night; I will find thee supper and a pallet. There +are many folk with whom I would fain speak now that I am here. Keep a +still tongue concerning us: we will speak for ourselves. Tie up thy +boat, and ask for John Pengelly. If he be dead, ask for any of his +children; they will entertain thee for my sake." + +Dan took his companion's arm, and climbed the tide-washed bank. He +stood for a moment listening and peering into the darkness, then he +made for the nearest cottage. The shutter was not closed, and the +faint glow of leaping firelight shone through the oiled paper stretched +across the bars of the lattice. The sailor turned to the door, and +pulled the latch string. + +"Peace be to you all, friends," he said. "'Tis the voice of a Pengelly +that speaks." + +"Come into the light, Pengelly. Your tongue doth not ring familiarly," +came the answer. + +Dan stepped forward, leaving Nick on the threshold. + +A young fisherman and his wife sat in the narrow arc of the firelight, +and beside them, on a deerskin, their little son basked in the genial +warmth. The breeze through the open door fanned the glowing wood into +flame. + +"Close the door, friend," said the fisherman. + +"I have a comrade on the threshold." + +"Then bring him in." + +Nick entered, apologizing for his intrusion, and giving his name, town, +and profession as a guarantee of his honesty of purpose. + +"Ye are welcome both," replied the fisherman. "We have supped, but the +wife shall set meat and drink before you." + +"We are fresh from eating and drinking," said Dan, "and have but looked +in for a little chat, seeing that ye were not abed." + +"Say your say, friends." + +Dan did so, in his own roundabout fashion. He casually mentioned his +voyages to the West, a theme of unfailing interest to any man dwelling +on the shores of Plymouth Sound. Then he came to the real reason for +his visit. He described the two sailors he had met in Plymouth. The +fisherman had never seen them. Dan had guessed as much, but he wanted +to be sure. Then he sketched Basil. The fisherman sat upright in a +moment. + +"I know him," he cried. "He has been amongst us, off and on, for more +than a month. I'll take you to him." + +But Dan would not trouble any one to do that. + +"He knows me well enough," he replied, "and I would rather take him by +surprise. We had a jolly time together last Christmas." + +So the fisherman pointed out where Basil was staying, and his two +callers took their leave, promising to look in upon him again in the +morning. + +Apart from the row of cottages stood the house in which Brother Basil +was staying. At one time the place had made some pretensions to +smartness. It was stone-built throughout and tiled. In the rear was +an orchard of apple-trees; and a herb garden, now choked with weeds, +separated the front of the house from the roadway. The place was in +the occupation of a widow woman, whose late husband had once been a man +of some means. + +The night was sufficiently starlit for a sailor to pick his way with +certainty, and the two men went rapidly forward. The gate in the fence +stood ajar, and Dan went first to spy out the land. The front window +was heavily shuttered, an unusual precaution to take on a fine night. +Putting his eye to a chink, the sailor could just discern the shadowy +outline of a man seated at a table. A rushlight stood beside him, and +apparently he was reading. Passing on to the door, he found that the +latch-string was pulled in through the latch-hole; the door was secure. +Steadily, Dan pressed against it; it was firm as the wall, no play to +and fro on latch and hinge. "Bolted," he muttered, and stole back to +the fence, in whose shadow Nick was still standing. He whispered his +report, and the two consulted together for a moment. Then both went +round to the orchard, stole through a gap in the straggling hedge, and +came over the grass to the rear of the house. A light shone through +the unshuttered window. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Dan, "this looks more like the home of honest people. +Yon thief in front is bolted and barred. I warrant me the widow hath +not pulled in her latch-string. We must open and enter. To knock +would be to give warning to our man, who hath ears that gather sound +quicker than doth a rabbit's." + +"How will the widow take our incoming?" asked Nick. "We be two +strangers, and night hath fallen. Should she cry out, we are undone; +for the fishers would come upon us, and maybe lay us low without a +chance to explain our errand. Thy monk-man, too, is a guest of the +village. Should he sound an alarm, 'twould go hard with us if the +neighbours took us for thieves and him for an honest man." + +Dan paused. "Shrewdly spoken, comrade. But there is no time to go +round the place and prove that we be honest Protestants and good +sailors, whilst the little man is a thieving Papist and murderous +traitor. We should cause clamour enough to give him warning and time +for escape. We will get within. Thou wilt stay with the widow, and +keep her from doing us a mischief. I will see to my man alone." + +"If thou shouldst want help?" + +"I will cry out for it quickly enough." + +As Dan predicted, the latch-string still hung out. A gentle pull, and +the well-used door swung open. The widow was in her kitchen, raking +together the red embers on the hearth preparatory to going to bed. The +noise of her scraping was sufficient to cover up the sounds at the +door, and Dan was at her side, his fingers on her lips, ere she was +aware of his presence. + +"Sh!" he whispered in warning; "not a sound, good mother. We are +friends, but thou art in danger; thy life depends on thy silence." + +The poor woman paled, and shook in every limb. Dan whispered +reassuringly, and removed his hand from her mouth. + +"God 'a mercy!" she gasped. + +Nick brought forward a stool and gently placed her upon it. + +"Have no fear," he said; "I will stay with thee." + +"Who are ye?" + +"Friends and protectors, mother; honest sons of Devon, who have +discovered a deadly plot. Lean thou on my shoulder." + +Nick's whispers were soothing, his face was honest; the widow's brain +was bewildered. She believed him, and clung to him in white terror. +Dan saw that she was safe from any hysterical screaming, enjoined +silence on both, and passed on towards the parlour where Basil was +sitting. He paused for a moment to draw his sword, then tip-toed to +the door. Leaning against the oaken post, he heard the rustling of +paper. He set his teeth; there was a flash of light; the door had been +opened and shut again, and the sailor and the Spanish agent stood face +to face. + +Basil's first emotion was one of the most absolute and complete +astonishment. So surprised was he that he actually sat and rubbed his +eyes as though to clear them from deluding visions. And in just that +moment of stupefaction Dan acted. The papers were on the table: +doubtless they were his papers. He lunged forward, spitted them on the +point of his sword, and crammed them into his doublet by the time Basil +was on his feet, and a dagger in his hand. The sailor expected a +vicious spring from his adversary, but Basil made no move forward. His +quondam roadside companion had the advantage of him in height, reach, +and length of weapon, and he had related sufficient of his exploits +during their Yuletide tramp to prove himself an apt swordsman. The +ex-monk had been trained in a school that set guile above force. He +saw at once that his tongue would be his better weapon, so put his +dagger back into his belt, sat down and snuffed his candle. + +"Thou art not going to fight?" + +"Why should we do so? Sit down, Dan Pengelly, and explain thyself." + +It was the sailor's turn to be astonished. He got a stool and seated +himself, his back to the door, and his weapon across his knee. Basil +laughed with assumed good-humour. + +"Thou art careful, comrade." + +"Thou hast tricked me once." + +"And thou hast neatly tricked me. We cry 'quits.'" + +"Not so." + +"Why not? I have thy papers--I make no secret of that--and thou hast +mine." + +"Are not these the same?" + +"No. But let us exchange, and give over all talk of robbery." Basil +got up and went to a little press in the wall. Before opening the door +he turned again to Dan. "Thou wilt observe that I am not afraid of +turning my back to thee. I have more faith in thine honour than thou +hast in mine." + +The sailor flushed and fidgeted. "Thou didst deceive me under the +guise of friendship," he muttered. + +"Pshaw, man! thou wert undone by thine own foolishness. Why didst +chatter to a stranger about thy papers? Is not all England agog to +find the land of 'El Dorado'? Dost think that any man breathing could +resist the temptation to gain a knowledge of the way thither? I suffer +from no gold hunger, but I would like the honour of discovering that +notable country. So wouldst thou; so would Admiral Drake. I shall +have done thee no harm, but rather given thee a lesson in caution if I +restore thy papers." + +"Wilt do so?" + +Basil opened the press, and tossed a packet on the table. "There they +are." + +Dan snatched it up, and turned it round and round in his fingers. "Why +dost thou give them back?" + +"They are thine, and thou hast come for them." + +"Hast read them?" + +"Of course." + +"What is in them?" + +"Maybe truth, maybe idle tales; their value remains to be proven. +Come, thou hast thy packet; give me mine." + +A cunning gleam came into the sailor's eyes. "I have not read thine. +Can we fairly cry quits until I have done so?" + +Basil bit his lip. "Canst read?" + +"No." + +"Then let me read them to thee. They are part of a treatise on +philosophy which I am writing. The opinion of a plain man upon it +would be valuable. I should like to have thine." + +But Dan was no philosopher, and his present adversary had given him an +excellent lesson in caution. He thrust his own packet into his +doublet, to lie side by side with the other papers. + +"Master Priest, Papist, and spy of Spain--for so I learn thou art--thy +work is more likely to be the hatching of plots than the writing of +learned books. Thou didst keep my papers for a time quite against my +will, and without my consent; therefore shall I hold thine until I +learn their contents. Tit for tat is reasonable justice 'twixt man and +man." + +Basil laughed. "Read me thy riddle," he said. "The world is narrow; +thou art surely confounding me with some other man." + +"That is possible. A few hours will decide the point. A certain +Master Morgan of Gloucestershire and a well-known knight, Sir Walter +Raleigh of Sherborne, are yonder in Plymouth town, and will be able to +testify for or against thee. Thou shalt be haled before them +to-morrow." + +"That's work for a strong man, Dan Pengelly." + +"There are many of my family in this village, and I did not come alone +from Plymouth. The widow hath bonny company in the kitchen." + +Basil's face blazed. "'Tis she hath betrayed me." + +"Not so. We scared her worse than we scared thee." + +Basil sat silent for a while, and Dan drummed on his sword-hilt with +his fingers. At length the spy spoke again. + +"I suppose it is useless to argue with thee?" + +"I never had any head for disputations." + +"Very well then, ye must be my guests for the night. Call thy friends +from the kitchen, ask the widow for some ale, and let her be getting to +bed. Thou and I may get to blows if we sit alone." + +Dan stared. His prisoner was actually asking for an increased guard, +and would be glad of more company. Not suspecting any trick, but +determined not to be caught napping, he got up, opened the door, and +stood with his hand on the latch calling for Nick. He bellowed twice +before he got an answer. With Nick's answering shout he caught sound +of a sudden crash in the room behind. He bounded back. Basil was +gone; the window was opened. He dashed to the opening, and the trick +was disclosed. The prisoner had silently unfastened the shutters, +smashed the lattice, and escaped. Nick came running along. The alarm +was given, and the whole village awakened to chase the Papist spy. +They did not catch him. + +Dan returned to Plymouth next morning and handed his papers to Sir +Walter. The first packet proved to be a description of "El Dorado's" +land, and a guide to the fabled region. It was the work of a Spanish +missionary, and was written to King Philip himself. Basil's treatise +on philosophy was none other than a letter from a Spanish agent in +London, giving particulars of a plot against Elizabeth and in favour of +the Queen of Scots. Raleigh declared the latter paper to be of +immeasurably greater value than the Orinoco packet. The knight had had +experience of such papers before, and knew, only too well, that they +contained more fable than fact. He handed them to Captain John Drake, +and left it to him and the gentlemen adventurers who were to sail with +him to decide what faith they should put in the missionary's +disclosures. + + + + +Chapter XXX. + +HO! FOR THE SPANISH MAIN. + +With a brisk nor'easterly breeze behind her, the _Golden Boar_ slipped +through the sunlit waters of Plymouth Sound as gracefully as a fair +swan might cleave the bosom of a lake. Somewhat narrow in build, +moderately low in the waist, with bow and poop not too high-pitched, +masts tall and sails ample, she was built with an eye to speed. And +with carved posts and rails for her bulwarks, many-windowed cabins in +the after part, tapering, artistic prow with the gilded boar rampant, +her designer had had an eye to beauty also. Hull and decks were of +seasoned English oak, and masts of straight Scots pine. The Knight of +Sherborne had found her building in Plymouth dockyard, and had tempted +her would-be owner to part with her for a price he could not resist. +Captain John Drake had tested her in the Channel from the Goodwins +round to Lundy in fair weather and in foul, and had found no fault in +her. The critical crowd that stood on the Hoe and watched her as she +dipped below the horizon were of opinion that no better-found ship had +left the harbour to brave the perils of the Spanish Main. She was of a +hundred and fifty tons burthen--a goodly tonnage in those venturesome +days--and she carried a captain and crew of twenty men, an equal number +of skilled archers, six gunners, and some dozen and a half of gentlemen +adventurers, who for the most part could handle rope, sail, sword, bow, +pike, or gun as well as any captain might wish. As far as the voyage +was concerned, the expedition was under the absolute command of the +admiral's brother; on land he was bound to take council with the +gentlemen adventurers, all of whom had put some money into the +undertaking. Raleigh himself risked the greatest stake, and in order +after him came Morgan, Captain Dawe (who did not participate in the +voyage itself), the admiral, his brother the skipper, a certain Sir +John Trelawny, and Master Timothy Jeffreys, who had secretly speculated +his own savings and some of those of Mistress Stowe of Wood Street off +Chepe. There was no lack of money in the venture, and the ship was +well-found, well-manned, well-armed, and generously provisioned. Dan +Pengelly's papers were in the cabin; Dan himself was taking first spell +at the helm. Hope was high in every heart, and many a lusty voice +joined in the chorus of the helmsman's song:-- + + "Then ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold; + King Philip's ships are riding deep + With the weight of wealth untold. + They're prey for the saucy lads + Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe; + They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam, + With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow, + With a rich galleon in tow!" + + +Johnnie Morgan was leaning against the stern bulwarks, watching the +heave and fall of the vessel and listening to the sailor's song. +"Hardly to the text, Dan, is it? We are to capture a city and spoil +its treasure houses, and have no idea of hitching a line of galleons +behind us." + +"Sir," replied Dan, "as chief helmsman I know we shall go south to the +Azores and follow the Spanish track across the ocean. Ships of King +Philip's we must meet, and maybe, at first, we shall bid them a +good-morrow and kiss our hands to them. But Dons are Dons, and we are +what our forefathers have made us. Ale and beef must fight salt fish +and thin Canary. I have cut ox meat, drunk October, and ploughed the +deep. I know the effect of all on a man's heart and head. I can drink +with a Dutchman and dance with a Frenchman, but, St. George, his sword! +steel springs from scabbard at the sight of a Spanish face. 'Tis the +breed of us, and nature will out." + +"And I am the last man to quarrel with my breeding. Well, we are set +forth, and no man can say what may hap ere we see yonder line of cliffs +again." + +"True," mused Dan; "but if we break not faith with God and our captain, +nought will happen for which a true man may grieve." + +"Amen to that!" said Johnnie, and he fell to watching the sea once more. + +Nothing could have been more propitious than the first part of the +voyage. The course was south-west, and for days the wind blew steadily +from the east or north-east. A low, misty line to larboard--the line +of the French coast--was the last sight of Europe the adventurers had. +For fifteen days after this the heaving sea met the whole circle of the +gray-blue horizon. The days grew warmer and the winds softer as they +voyaged south; the good ship was bearing them into the arms of summer. +For some few days there was plenty of bustle aboard. Captain and crew +overhauled the stores and stowed them more securely and handily; they +critically studied the behaviour of their trim little craft as good +seamen should; and the gentlemen adventurers became better acquainted +with one another, and got their sea-legs and sea-stomachs. When the +time came that heads and eyes were no longer turned backwards for a +glimpse of familiar landmarks, but were strained forward towards the +land of their hopes, then those aboard the _Golden Boar_ had settled +down, each in his own place, to form a happy brotherly community, +linked by common hopes, aims, and interests. Sailors, soldiers, and +men of gentle breeding fraternized freely together, each prepared to +stand by the other in the last extremity of danger, or to share loyally +in the fruits of good fortune. Harmony was complete, yet discipline +was perfect; for the skipper was worthy of his name, and that name was +the glorious one of "Drake." + +It was an easy matter in those brave old times to get together an +excellent ship's company. Men of all ranks and stations were wild for +adventure, and bold sailors literally trod upon one another in their +eagerness to be berthed aboard a ship chartered for a voyage to the +magic New World. Captain Drake had picked and chosen at his leisure, +and a man needed to be many-sided in his accomplishments to get his +name inscribed on the ship's books. Take Dan Pengelly. He was an +excellent sailor, as bold as a lion, and had sailed the western ocean +before. But a hundred men in Plymouth could claim so much as that. +Dan's precious packet and his skill as a singer were the deciding +points in his favour. A capable band of musicians could be mustered +from amongst the crew and the archers. Life aboard the _Golden Boar_ +was jolly enough, and no man in the whole company wished to be +otherwhere. Glorious days! heroic hearts! and happy, happy, land that +bred them! + +The Azores were readied without accident, almost without incident, and +Captain Drake sailed boldly into the harbour of Flores and sent ashore +for fresh fruits and water. There were two Spanish vessels in the +harbour, one a heavily-armed galleon of about six hundred tons. Like +the English ship, she was going westwards, her destination being Vera +Cruz, from which port she was to escort a treasure-ship filled with the +produce of the Mexican mines. When the English captain heard this he +resolved, other things failing him, to bear King Philip's treasure to +Europe himself. His company was eager to be away, so a night and a day +completed his stay at Flores. + +And now for a full month, with varying winds and under changing skies, +through storm and shine, the _Golden Boar_ ploughed her ocean furrow in +the path of the sun; and on the twenty-fourth of May she cast anchor in +the bay of San Joseph, Trinidad. West and north of her lay the +multitudinous islands of the fertile Indies. Southwards stretched the +continuation of the great American continent, the land of so many +dreams and hopes and desires. Johnnie Morgan stood with Master +Jeffreys and gazed at the long-sought land--at its waving palms, its +gleaming sands, the native huts, and the white houses of the Spaniards. +A native boat shot out from the shore. Two dusky, pleasant-faced +fellows stepped aboard. Johnnie went forward. He put out his hand and +touched them with trembling fingers. Wonderful, new creatures! + + + + +Chapter XXXI. + +IN THE BAY OF SAN JOSEPH. + +The appearance of an English vessel in any harbour of Spanish America +was the reverse of pleasing to the Spanish authorities. The Spaniards +who commanded in the smaller stations were not of the best type of +Castilian chivalry. Soldados of fortune, needy and unscrupulous +adventurers, or intriguing favourites of some colonial governor, they +had all the greed and arrogance of the noble Dons without their proud +reserve and sense of chivalry and honour. In a hurry to get rich, they +ground down the hapless natives into the dust. They robbed and +ill-treated their timid dependants without fear or remorse, and exacted +a cringing obedience that hid smouldering fires of hate and revenge. +The Spanish troops were as lawless as their leaders, and black ink +would turn red were one to attempt to tell the true tale of Spanish +misrule and terrorism in the rich islands of the West. The Don looked +upon the poor Indian as a chattel given over to him to do with +according to his lordly will, and he usually acted in harmony with the +extremest measure of his belief. And therein he differed wholly from +those freebooting, audacious, devil-may-care sons of Devon and the west +who followed in the Spanish wake across the Western Main. To the +English mariner the gentle, heathen Indian was an object of compassion. +God had given him a glorious land in which to dwell, and had heaped +upon him riches that he could neither appreciate nor value; but in the +higher characteristics of manhood, and in the blessings of religious +revelation, He had denied him much, and so we find Drake, Hawkins, +Raleigh, Gilbert, Oxenham, Whiddon, and a score of other bold captains +on all occasions treating the natives with civility and even kindness. +The poor, brown-skinned fellows soon learned to know friend from foe, +and everywhere they came forth to welcome the blue-eyed sons of Albion, +whilst they ran and hid themselves from the darker-hued children of +Spain. + +The commandant of San Joseph quickly learned that an English vessel had +anchored in the bay, and he resolved to extend no courtesies whatsoever +to the unwelcome visitors. On finding that the ship was a small one +and without consorts, his resolution to treat her captain with disdain +was strengthened. John Drake fired a gun to announce his arrival; the +echoes boomed round the bay, but brought no answer from the fort. +Another signal was fired, with a similar lack of result. The gunner, a +grizzled old veteran, who had been buccaneering with the great admiral, +turned to his captain. "Thy brother--God preserve him!--would send an +iron messenger with his third salute." + +John Drake smiled. "I'll send a gentle one first, Diggory," he said. +He called up Master Jeffreys and Nick Johnson. "Which of ye two speaks +the better Spanish?" + +"I had the longer chance to learn the language," replied Nick, ruefully +rubbing the place denuded of an ear; "but Master Timothy doubtless +possesses the choicer collection of words." + +"Quantity will serve us better than quality, perhaps. But go, both of +ye, to the commandant and tell him that Captain Drake of the _Golden +Boar_ out of Plymouth will wait upon him at sunrise to-morrow. Take a +ship's boat with four rowers and four archers, and let the Indians +guide you." + +A boat was instantly lowered, Nick made the Indians understand what was +required of them, and the deputation rowed ashore. Their comrades +watched them curiously, and an equally interested group of natives +gathered on the shore to await their arrival. + +The keel bit into the sand, the two messengers stepped out, and the +escort of archers formed up behind them. The rowers pushed the boat +back so that it floated easily, then shipped their oars and waited. +One of the Indians, proud of his position, strutted importantly at the +head of the small procession. (The unfortunate fellow was soundly +whipped before nightfall for rendering any assistance to the hated +English.) Natives hung about in little groups, but no Spaniard was +seen until the gate of the castle was reached. There a sleepy sentinel +yawned at them until they had repeated for the third time their request +for an interview with the commandant. That officer was indulging in +"siesta" and refused to be disturbed, and the deputation was still on +the outer side of the gate. Master Jeffreys lost his patience and his +temper. "My message to thy master, fellow, was a civil one," he +exclaimed, "and to the effect that Captain Drake of Plymouth, Devon, +England, would honour him by waiting upon him at sunrise to-morrow. +Now, methinks, Captain Drake will come to him in less ceremonious +fashion and without further delay." The irate Devonian turned on his +heel and strode off. + +And by so doing he missed the gratification of seeing the effect of his +words. The name of "Drake" twice repeated acted as a talisman on the +slumberous senses of the sentinel. His jaw dropped in sudden terror; +he stared for a moment at the retreating figures, and then dashed into +the castle at a run. + +He burst in upon his drowsy commander. + +"Alas, signor, what have we done! The army of the saints preserve us!" + +"From what, blockhead?" + +"From the archfiend in the flesh. 'Tis Drake that hath sailed into the +bay." + +The commandant sat and gaped in stupid affright. + +"Drake!" shouted the soldier. + +He had no need to say more. His officer's chin dropped on to his +breast. "We are dead men," he muttered. "Why has he come hither? We +have no gold, no treasure-ships. He will burn the place over our +heads." The man continued muttering to himself and fingering the +buckle of his loosened belt. + +The soldier looked through the window. "The Englishmen stand on the +beach," he said, "talking with Ayatlan, the chief. There is no +movement on the ship; no one signals. The messengers were civil when +they came." + +"Son of a donkey!" blazed forth the commandant, "why didst not thou say +so? Run after them; prevent them from carrying angry faces to the +robber who rules them. If I had men--not sheep--under me, I would +fight this Drake; I'd rid the world of him, and Pope and king should +bless me. But run, run!" + +And the soldier ran. Terror lent wings to his heels. One name rang +through his brain, and the name was "Drake." He caught Master Timothy +just re-embarking his little band. The sight of the Indians restored +him to some measure of dignity, and he volubly explained that the +Spanish captain had not understood the signer's message. He apologized +profusely, and promised that his commandant would make amends for the +mistake by paying the great sea-captain a visit as soon as a boat could +be made ready. + +Nick understood more of the rapidly spoken Spanish than did Jeffreys, +and he was satisfied. "There has doubtless been a mistake," he said to +his companion. "Probably this knave never carried our message +properly. He is scared half out of his wits, and looks like a rogue +condemned to be hanged. All's well that ends well. Let us be getting +back to the ship with a friendly report." + +About an hour later, the commandant, accompanied by an imposing +retinue, both Spanish and Indian, rowed out to the _Golden Boar_. +Captain Drake and the gentlemen of his company had been to their +wardrobes and donned their best, and the visitors by no means carried +off the prize for the splendour of their array. As far as physique was +concerned the Dons were completely outclassed. Sallow and listless +from tropical fevers and loose living, they stood in sharp contrast to +the brawny, clear-skinned Englishmen. The difference was obvious even +to their own proud eyes, and they felt it. + +No sooner were the Spaniards aboard than they fixed their gaze on the +group on the upper deck, and one thought prevailed in the minds of +all--"Which was the terrible Drake?" + +Morgan stood out above his fellows by a good head, but surely he was +too young! The commandant had heard that Drake was no giant; he had +also heard--and half believed--that he had horns, hoof, and a tail. +The puzzle was solved. Captain Drake, short, burly, bearded, +black-haired, bull-throated, but blue-eyed, stood forward; his air was +unmistakably one of command. Master Jeffreys undertook the duties of +master of the ceremonies, and the commanders were introduced to each +other and gracefully bowed their acknowledgments of the honour. + +The interview was short and formal. The Spaniard welcomed the +Englishmen, and hoped that the peace would not be broken. Captain +Drake echoed his hopes. The commandant offered presents of fruit, +wine, and fresh meat; the skipper accepted and requited the kindness in +suitable fashion. A few flagons of wine were drunk, and the interview +ended. The company aboard the _Golden Boar_ had no great opinion of +their visitors, but the visitors had a better one of them. They had +noted the spick and span order on shipboard, the bearing of the men, +and they did not forget the name of the captain--they only made the +mistake of confounding him with the great admiral, his brother. + + + + +Chapter XXXII. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FABLED CITY. + +A week went by, and the _Golden Boar_ still lay in the bay of San +Joseph. Her captain and the Spanish commandant had exchanged many +civilities, and the latter was surprised that the fire-eating Drake had +committed no deed of violence. He suspected that some deep scheme lay +hidden behind all this appearance of friendliness and courtesy. His +suspicions were, in a measure, correct; he was wrong only in his idea +of the nature of the Englishman's plans. Double guards were set round +the fort each night, and the native chief was compelled to sleep within +its walls. Morning after morning the Spaniards awoke, surprised to +find that the hours of darkness had brought no sudden assault on the +fortress. The natives freely visited the ship with fruit, flowers, and +meats, and the English sailors spent hours ashore, wandering in the +near forests or fraternizing with the natives on the beach. The +Spaniards imagined their own midnight extermination was being planned, +and therefore was the chieftain compelled to sleep within reach of a +Spanish sword, and his subjects were given to understand that the first +sound of tumult in the darkness would end Ayatlan's life. The +commandant apparently forgot that the great admiral had sacked towns +three times the size of San Joseph with a less capable force than the +crew of the _Golden Boar_. + +Truth to tell, Captain Drake had never once contemplated any attack on +San Joseph; he valued the place at less than a scratch on an +Englishman's skin. His stay in the harbour was dictated solely by a +desire to glean information concerning the Orinoco and the land of gold +that he sought. The delta of the great river lay, the nearest land, to +the south of the island; the natives professed to know much of the +river and the tribes dwelling on its banks, and they exchanged +mysterious nods and signs one with another when "El Dorado" was +mentioned. + +Presents were liberally bestowed, and promises were scattered +broadcast. Dan Pengelly and the two Johnsons, often accompanied by +Master Jeffreys and Morgan, spent hours at the doors of native huts, +eagerly questioning the Indians, or listening to long, jumbled stories, +eked out in a jargon of Spanish and Indian. Almost invariably they +came away as wise as they went. The natives either knew nothing of +real significance or would not disclose their secrets. + +The adventurers grew impatient. They were in no mood to spend day +after day idling off a dirty Spanish-Indian settlement. Their thoughts +aye fled southwards, and they wanted to spread sail and follow their +thoughts. Dan's papers had been read and re-read until many knew them +by heart. But they obviously contained little, save rumours and vague +indications of locality. What the eager adventurers wanted were +definite directions as to route and distances, and also a native guide +along the lower reaches of the river. At length both appeared to be +forthcoming. + +Ayatlan came aboard early one morning and asked for the captain. +Ushered into the cabin, where a council was being held, he bowed +himself down to the floor, then squatted on a mat and began his story +without further prelude. + +"My white brother, who has come from the great and good White Mother +that rules the rising sun, is growing angry with Ayatlan because he has +not told him that which his heart so desires to know." + +"My Indian brother has received gifts and made promises; the promises +have not been kept. I do right to show anger," replied Drake sharply. +"The Spaniards would have flogged Ayatlan, and maybe have killed his +sons, for such bad faith and crooked dealing." + +The chief bowed. "Spaniards are beasts and the children of beasts. +The Englishmen are sons of the Father of Heaven, and Ayatlan prays to +them as to his gods. Why has my brother grown soft-hearted to his +enemies and mine? The tongue of rumour tells how he has eaten up their +armies at a mouthful. Is my brother grown old and toothless?" + +John Drake flushed. He had had more than one reminder that the +admiral, his brother, would have acted more energetically than he had +done. But the younger man was by nature more cautious and diplomatic. +He made answer: "My teeth are sound, Ayatlan, and the fire of manhood +is still in my heart. Do not foes sometimes make peace for a while?" + +"True; but when one makes peace with them that hate him, he is guilty +of folly, for the enemy gathers strength whilst at rest, and waits to +strike at an advantage." + +"What has all this to do with the thing I seek?" + +"Ayatlan has been working for his white brother since the hour when his +ship came into the bay. He has thought night and day how he might help +him to the desires of his heart." + +"Well?" + +"Last night a youth from another tribe came into the village with one +of my messengers. He knows the great river, and hath journeyed many +days on its bosom. He will guide the children of the great White Queen +to the city of the 'Gilded One.'" + +The quiet announcement thrilled the whole cabin. Here was the end of +uncertainty. Drake grasped the chieftain by the hand. "What bargain +doth Ayatlan wish to make?" he asked. + +"I make no bargain," was the proud rejoinder. "Have I not given my +white brothers joy? They will not forget. The guide waits in my boat." + +"Let us speak with him." + +The chief spoke to one of his attendants, and the guide was brought in. +The adventurers looked at him with great curiosity; he was an object of +the intensest interest to them. The youth's appearance was not +prepossessing. To begin with, he was very dirty; the rags of a Spanish +doublet hung about his body; legs and feet were bare, but a battered +helmet, several sizes too large, covered his head and came down about +his ears; a pair of cunning eyes peeped from under the bent rim of the +headpiece, and quickly took in the details of the gathering. The +hearts of the adventurers sunk at the first sight of the ludicrous and +somewhat sinister personage. So this was the long-sought guide to whom +they were to submit their lives and fortunes! Not one present liked +the prospect. + +There was a moment's silence. "Tell the zany to uncover," exclaimed +the captain. Then he turned to Ayatlan. "Will my brother tell the +young man what we want with him, and question him as to his fitness for +the duties he offers to fulfil?" + +"He will speak for himself. He has been a servant of the Spaniards, +and knows their tongue better than I do." + +Master Jeffreys took the young Indian in hand, and questioned him +pretty closely. He answered glibly enough, with a "Yes" to almost +every question. He had been many voyages up the Orinoco. + +"How many?" + +He held up the fingers of one hand. One voyage had lasted from the +first night of the young moon until it was full. + +What did he know of the city of gold? + +Apparently he knew everything. The city lay on the headwaters of the +river under the great mountains. A mighty lake lay at the foot of the +city. The sands of the lake were composed of the yellow gold that the +signers desired. + +Had he met any one who had visited the city? + +Yes; an Indian trader. He had once come into the camp of his Spanish +masters when they were many days' journey up the great river. His +masters had used him as interpreter. The houses of the city were of +dazzling white stone, and the roofs of plates of gold. The people +bathed in the lake on certain festival days, and afterwards sprinkled +themselves so thickly with the precious yellow dust that they looked +like golden images. Yes; they had temples, and the gods were of gold, +and sacrifices were offered on golden altars. Sparkling stones, such +as the signers loved, were found in the waters of the lake. + +How far off was the city? + +Oh! many moons' journey. No; the inhabitants were not warlike. They +would welcome the white strangers from the land of the rising sun, and +give them yellow dust and sparkling stones as much as their hearts +desired. Yes; the dangers of the way were great, for many forests and +swamps must be passed; roaring waterfalls blocked the passage of the +river. The flow of the waters was fierce, the tides strong, and there +was a thousand channels to bewilder the voyager. But he knew the way +through the maze of waterways. + +Could he guide the Englishmen? + +He could. He hated the Spaniards, and would never act as guide to +those who oppressed his own nation. But the Englishmen were brothers +to the Indian. + +What reward did he desire? + +Clothes like those worn by his white brothers, and a sword to slay his +enemies. + +Needless to say, a bargain was struck forthwith. The guide clapped on +his shapeless headpiece and strutted off, a happy man. He had told not +a few lies; indeed, he had agreed with everything the adventurers +seemed to desire, and spun them the yarns he had heard from the +Spaniards, which tales he knew would gratify his new audience. And +well-nigh a score of brave but credulous men shook hands with one +another most gleefully, rubbed those same hands in joyous anticipation, +and confidently looked forward to fabulous wealth and the glories of +the city of marble and gold, the matchless capital of "El Dorado." + + + + +Chapter XXXIII. + +WANDERING IN A MAZE. + +"Land ho!" + +The idlers on deck sprang to their feet, and the cabins were speedily +emptied of their occupants. All eyes turned southwards. Nothing +visible save the horizon, gray with the heat-haze of noon, and the +gray-blue waters that heaved up to meet it. But the sailor in the +crosstrees could see what was invisible to those on the deck. The +gazers looked at him. He extended his forefinger over their heads. + +"Land ho!" he cried again; "leagues of it, stretching east and west!" + +The adventurers crowded into the bow of the boat, leaning over the +bulwarks to larboard and starboard. Presently a sinuous line, darker +gray than the rest of the horizon, could be discerned above the surface +of the ocean. It lifted, cleared; the gray deepened to black; the low +coast of the Orinoco delta was revealed. The crew raised a resounding +cheer, and the gentlemen of the company waved their caps in the air. +Yacamo, the guide, stood in the forepeak of the ship, the centre of an +eager group. Yonder was land; for what point of it should they steer? +Master Jeffreys was endeavouring to settle that question. The Indian +was pouring out a torrent of coast Spanish, and gesticulating with +every sentence. The Devonian explained the situation to his comrades. + +"From what I can gather," he said, "the arms of the river embrace about +fifty leagues of coastline similar to that which confronts us. In this +stretch there are at least a hundred mouths, connected one with the +other by thousands of cross channels. The whole delta is a bewildering +maze of waterways. Some of these are deep enough to carry our ship +well into the country; others are too shallow to float a ship's boat. +Moreover, the guide says that he has had a free passage up a channel on +one occasion that was impassable on another because of the shifting +sandbanks. One of the main mouths is very deep, but the current is +also of great strength. We take risks whatever we do." + +"Is he sure that we are approaching the Orinoco coast?" + +"Quite." + +"That will do, then. We will skirt it until he recognizes a landmark." + +The light breeze held steady, the tide was running in; so fair progress +was made. The land now stood out quite distinct from the water. Dark +masses of woodland could be discerned standing back on the fringe of +the tidal mud, but no opening was visible in the low, dark line. +Without going farther in, the ship's course was altered until it was +parallel with the coast, and all the afternoon they held steadily +along, looking for some landmark familiar to the Indian. But the coast +was so monotonous in its regularity that distinguishing features were +not plentiful. It was nearly sunset when, following an inward curve of +the shore, they discovered that they were in the mouth of a wide +estuary. The banks were miles apart, but, the tide being out, a turbid +current was distinguishable, flowing in great volume seawards. The +wind, for the time, had practically died down, and the current began to +swing the ship round, and bear her back to the Atlantic. Soundings +were taken, and about three fathoms of water discovered, where at least +twenty times that depth had been anticipated. This was disappointing, +for it was evident that they had turned into one of the shallow mouths, +and navigation might come to an end a few miles up. Captain Drake +dropped anchor well away from the shore and its pestilential night +mists, and made all snug against the morning. He recognized that the +navigation of the river was going to be no easy matter, and he decided +to go warily. + +The tide ran again about midnight, and on the early morning ebb the +_Golden Boar_ stood out to sea once more, and went in search of a more +promising opening. They found one that Yacamo thought he knew, and, +taking advantage of the afternoon tide, they ran up nearly twenty +miles. The current was almost as strong as the tide, and they had to +anchor against the ebb, or be swept out to sea quicker than they had +come in. The next morning they went on again, and were fifty miles up +the channel by nightfall. Away to right and left were masses of flat, +swampy land, the intersecting waterways reddening and glistening in the +setting sun. + +The numerous channels and jutting stretches of land so broke the force +of the tide that hardly any headway was made the next day, and a +council was held to determine methods for further progress. + +Captain Drake was of opinion that it was impossible to continue the +passage of the river in the ship. Rigorous questioning and +cross-questioning of Yacamo brought out further ugly reports of the +shifting nature of the river-bed, and of the frequency of shallows. A +stay of a couple of days in the anchorage was resolved upon, and during +that time exploration by means of boats was to be pushed along +vigorously. + +But it was easier to decide this matter than to carry the decisions +into practice. Three boats were sent out the next day just after +sunrise. All pursued a more or less southerly course through the +channels, and by noon all three crews had lost themselves in the maze. +The waterways were all alike, muddy, tree-bordered, steamy, +oppressively malodorous, and swarming with reptiles. Moreover, they +laced and interlaced so frequently, crossing like the threads in a +woven fabric, that any idea of direction was impossible. The giant +trees shut in the channels from one another, and no boat's crew could +see many yards ahead. In the afternoon, gun-fire from the ship gave +the voyagers a cue to their whereabouts, and a guide back to safety. +The scheme of exploration in order to find a safe passage for the ship +had failed. + +An anxious day followed. Would the mighty river never yield up its +golden secret? Were the adventurers to be baffled and foiled after +their thousands of leagues of journeying? The guide declared that the +Spaniards had got hundreds of miles farther up the river, but by means +of galleys of forty to sixty oars apiece. The _Golden Boar_ had no +such craft aboard. Three good ships' boats she had, the largest +capable of holding about a score of men with arms and provisions, the +others with capacity for about half that number. The largest boat was +fitted with a mast, and a gun might be mounted in the bow. + +No man was in the mind to turn back, and progress by boat was resolved +upon. What should be done with the ship? She must not be wholly +abandoned, for she was wanted for the voyage home. Some counselled +that she should be taken back to Trinidad and harboured there for three +months, coming back to the river again at the end of that period. +Others were for hiding her, as Oxenham had hidden his ship; but Nick +and Ned Johnson were loud against any such proceeding. A plan +suggested by Trelawny was to the effect that half the company should go +buccaneering amongst the islands in the _Golden Boar_, whilst the other +half should try for "El Dorado's" land, the spoils of each expedition +to be put into the common fund, and then shared according to the terms +of the cruise. A few reckless spirits agreed to this, but Captain +Drake would make no such division of his forces. To do so, he argued, +would be to weaken both parties to the verge of powerlessnesa. + +Matters were at a deadlock. Then Dan Pengelly went hunting, and caught +a native canoe and two natives. He brought them to the ship. Yacamo +could make himself understood. He persuaded the Indians that his +masters were not Spaniards, but tender-hearted white men, who loved the +brown man like a brother. Generosity in the matter of presents helped +the faith of the two men. They declared their willingness to help the +white strangers. Their own village was near at hand, hidden in the +wooded recesses of an island, and they had intercourse with other +villages along the delta, and could guide the adventurers through the +network of channels to the main stream. + +But the problem what to do with the ship remained unsolved. The two +natives declared that it was impossible to get her into the main river; +and even if that could be done, her voyage up-stream would be short, as +waterfalls blocked the passage. + +Captain Drake and a small retinue proceeded to the Indian village, and +talked with the chief. He proved friendly enough, and quite willing to +help, when he found that the newcomers were foes to his oppressors, the +Spaniards. He paid a return visit to the ship, and, learning the +difficulty concerning her, offered to hide her in a deep pool on the +eastern side of his own island. She could there be effectively +screened. A survey of the spot and the channels leading to it showed +that the plan was feasible; and, with ship's boats and native canoes, +the _Golden Boar_ was towed to her anchorage, and preparations for the +boat journey were at once begun. The vessel was dismasted, her guns +buried, and the ammunition safely stowed in an empty hut. Masts and +sails were fitted to the two smaller boats, and the chief furnished a +large canoe and rowers for the carriage of stores. Two other canoes of +stronger make were constructed, and at the end of twelve days Captain +Drake had a flotilla of five boats under his command. Sixty men were +to form the expeditionary force; one gentleman adventurer, one ship's +officer, two soldiers, and two seamen--all chosen by lot--being left +behind in the native village in charge of ship and stores. + + + + +Chapter XXXIV. + +FLOOD AND FEVER. + +The Indians were as good as their word. Headed by the chief's canoe, +the adventurers passed in steady procession through more than a hundred +miles of delta waterways. Progress was slow, for, though the current +in the cross channels was not strong, the wind was hardly felt; the +heat was stifling, and rest during the midday hours absolutely +necessary. Then there were villages to be visited, presents to be made +to the chieftains, and feasts to be eaten in return. Haste was +impossible, though very desirable. The rains were beginning, the river +would soon be in flood, and pestilence would stalk through the swampy +regions like a destroying angel. + +At last the apex of the delta was reached, and the broad +river--stretching miles from bank to bank--lay before the navigators. +The milk-white current, laden with chalky washings from the land, swept +by in a mighty flood. On its bosom floated trees and detached masses +of soil, going northwards to build up the growing delta. But for the +wind and the guidance of the natives the adventurers would have made no +headway against the mighty volume of the waters. Happily the +North-East Trades from the Atlantic, unimpeded by mountain or hill, +blew with steady and strong persistence across the flat delta and along +the level plains through which the river made its way. Sandbanks in +the bed diverted the current here and there, making quiet, lake-like +pools under the banks. The Indians knew of these, and skilfully made +use of them. Sails were spread to the breeze, and the flotilla went +steadily on its way. + +One week went by, and then another. The weather grew worse and worse. +Terrific storms swept across the plains, lashing the Orinoco into fury, +tearing down the mighty trees on its banks, and deluging the intrepid +voyagers. The banks of the stream were almost lost; hundreds of square +miles of forest-clad plain were under water, the tree-tops alone +showing the navigators the true course of the river. The flood flowing +sea-wards became thicker, deeper, and mightier than ever. The humid +heat of the stormy summer became well-nigh unbearable. Men sickened, +and in a few cases died. Camping ground at night was almost +unobtainable, and thick, poisonous mists enwreathed the boats during +the hours of darkness, fevering the men's blood, cramping and +stiffening their limbs. It became imperative to call a halt for a +while; the enfeebled rowers made scant progress against the +strengthening current, and the success achieved was not worth the +effort that was made. A pile-supported village was sighted, and the +Indian guides turned their boat thither, the others following. + +The village stood on some rising ground on the western bank of the +stream, and in the dry season must have been at least half a mile from +the margin of the waters. Now the floods rolled between the piles, +submerging at least ten feet of them. Native canoes were tethered to +the supports, and the house platforms were soon covered with knots of +brown-skinned fellows full of anxiety and apprehension concerning the +oncoming fleet. They knew the ship's boats for those used by the white +men who came trading or raiding along the river, and wondered to find +them attempting a voyage at such a time. The friendly Indians went +forward and explained who the white men were, and what they wanted, and +the villagers proved kind and confiding, as indeed had all the natives +dwelling along the river. They gave up room in their huts to the +fevered men, sleeping out on the platforms themselves, and for a few +days the expedition rested and recuperated. + + +The sun had set, the moon was above the tree-tops, steadily making for +its zenith. A group of three--Johnnie Morgan, Timothy Jeffreys, and +Dan Pengelly--sat on the platform of one of the huts, their legs +dangling over the edge within a couple of feet of the water. The day +had been fiercely hot, and the water around had steamed like a smoking +cauldron. With the moon had come a brisk breeze, that swept the +stagnant, mouldy vapours away, and left a clear landscape and cool air. +Dan was stuffing tobacco into a pipe of bamboo, and urging the two +gentlemen to follow his example, the smoke of the weed being, he +declared, an antidote against the malarial poisons breathed out by the +foul mud and rotting vegetation that surrounded them. The old sailor +had enjoyed marvellously good health throughout the river voyage, and, +forgetting his previous travels, and the natural toughness of his +constitution, put his happy condition down to his daily pipes of the +fragrant Indian weed. But his two companions were too languid for +indulgence in smoking. Their heads were giddy, their hearts throbbing, +and their stomachs at war with all solid food. The tropical marsh +fever had them in its grip, and the grasp was tightening every moment. +The trees swayed dismally in the breeze, and the birds chattered +querulously at being disturbed. The waters "lap, lapped" monotonously +against the piles, and horny-backed alligators nosed amongst them, +seeking for scraps and offal or any stray eatables that came their way. +Moths and fireflies flitted about in such numbers that the air seemed +alive with them. All around was a vast, shallow, fresh-water +sea--rolling, heaving, sucking, lapping, shimmering under the tropical +moon. A night full of majesty, beauty, mystery, and death. + +Dan curled himself comfortably against a pillar, closed his eyes, and +smoked with keen enjoyment. Morgan and Jeffreys gazed for a while with +aching eyes at the weird scene around; then the heavy lids dropped, and +they fell a-dreaming. + +Johnnie was back in the cool forest by Severn side; the oaks and the +beeches swayed above him, and the bracken rustled as a rabbit scuttled +through. The nightingale was singing his love song to his mate and the +moon, and the dull, far-off roar of the rushing tide sounded a low +accompaniment to the song. Gone were the white, warm, mud-laden +waters, the floating trunks, the screaming parrots, the croaking frogs, +the howling beasts; the glare of the sun no longer hurt his eyes, and +its fierce heat no longer sent his brain throbbing and burning. The +air was cool, the bracken sweet, and the bird trilled out its +passionate music. Why should he sit uncomfortably propped against a +tree? He would lie down, and let the fresh, green fronds curl above +him. He sighed, his limbs relaxed, he swayed--he fell with a heavy +splash into the warm, lapping waters! + +A nosing alligator swished his tail against a pile and darted off in +sudden alarm; but he came round again speedily, just as the +half-fainting man roused sufficiently to be conscious that he was in +the water. Jeffreys was asleep, but Dan's sailor senses were alert in +an instant. His eyes opened, he glanced around, missed Morgan, and +peered over into the flood. The fallen man cried out, and the huge +reptile that had espied him moved off again. Dan saw both, shouted in +alarm, and hurled a handy log at the prowling horror; then he swung +himself, monkey fashion, down a stout pile, seized Morgan by the hair, +and brought him so that he got a grip of the platform. A minute later +Johnnie swung himself into safety, and only just in time, for more than +one scaly reptile had scented the feast, and was hurrying through the +moonlit waters, eager and voracious. This unlucky sousing in the flood +settled the grip of the fever on Morgan. When next he sunned himself +on the platform the waters had subsided, the mud was baked and +cracking, and the major portion of the expedition leagues away +southwards. + + + + +Chapter XXXV. + +A FOE. + +Johnnie Morgan was not the only sick man left behind in the Indian +village. Master Jeffreys had had the strong hand of the fever upon +him; and the son of the parson of Newnham, like his neighbour and +friend the Blakeney yeoman, found the air of the Orinoco less +invigorating than the air of the Severn. With the three sick men had +been left three sound men as guard and escort. Two of these, the +Johnsons, had elected to remain with their friend Master Timothy, and a +soldier had been chosen to keep them company. Johnnie was the last of +the three invalids to recover; indeed, the others had made plans for +their journey in the wake of the main expedition long before he was fit +to take his place in the boat. + +It was fortunate for the six left behind that all, save one, were +experienced navigators, and that two of these had had the opportunity +of sailing boats on the Severn, the most treacherous of all English +tidal rivers. The boat built after the fashion of a native canoe was +left for them; they rigged a mast and small sail, fixed a rudder, and, +with a native of the village as guide, set off a little after sunrise +one morning. + +For many days the voyage was uneventful enough. Captain Drake had gone +before, and the natives were everywhere eager to welcome the Englishmen +and render them every assistance. They were warned of dangers in the +river, which still ran strongly, and was in places a couple of miles in +width. Guides were readily provided, and everything done to hasten +them on their way. Their light boat went splendidly; they were spared +many of the ceremonious visitations that had fallen upon their captain, +and often, during the day, made two miles of progress to one made by +him over the same stretch of river. Each sunset found them nearer and +nearer to the main body, and they were quick to notice that the latter +were going slower and slower every day. + +The country was no longer monotonously flat, as it had been whilst the +river swept along through the llanos. Hills now rose up to right and +left; great mountains loomed up dimly against the skyline; and the low, +muddy banks gave way to towering limestone cliffs, their natural +whiteness hidden by the luxuriant, clinging vegetation. Shallows in +the river were no longer sandy and sluggish, but rapids were the +dangers to navigation. The air was cooler and fresher, the vegetation +was that of drier soil and drier atmosphere, insect life was less +noxious, and the labours of the way grew more endurable. + +But as the perils from nature decreased, those to be apprehended from +man increased. The adventurers had long passed the most southerly +point of Spanish influence. Hitherto they had found docile Indians, +who had learned to fear the white man and his strange weapons, and to +hate one section of the white race--namely, the Spanish. The +Englishmen were white, and possessed the moral power of the race over +ruder peoples; they also came as foes and rivals to those who +ill-treated the long-suffering native; hence they had been everywhere +treated with awe, not unmixed with real affection. As far as the +inhabitants of the land were concerned, their voyage had been a sort of +triumphal procession. + +But inhabitants of hilly or mountainous land are always hardier and +less docile than their brethren of the fat plains. The Indians on the +hilly fringes of the Orinoco basin were no exception to this rule. +They had heard of the white man; refugees from the lower lands had +spread reports of his rapacity and cruelty, and of the scorn with which +he treated the poor brown man. They were resolved that he should not +lay hands on them or their treasures without a struggle. And so it +came to pass that one day the messengers of Captain Drake returned to +him with reports of a very rough reception from a native dignitary. + +Although annoyed by this rebuff, the adventurers attached but little +importance to it. Perhaps the native messenger had been clumsy over +his diplomatic dealings; maybe the hill chieftain had misunderstood +him: a second mission should be sent with suitable presents. +Accordingly, two of the gentlemen of the company, attended by half a +dozen soldiers and as many natives, left the camp on the river-bank and +threaded the steeply-pitched woods to the native village. An Indian +scout was thrown out in front, on the flanks, and in the rear, and the +white men kept solidly together in the centre. + +They met with no opposition by the way, and in due time came out of the +trees and found themselves on a plateau about a mile square. On the +farther edge of this stood a cluster of stone-built huts, evidently +surrounded by a rude but effective wall. Before them stretched fields +of Indian corn, tall and green after the heavy rains. The evidences of +native civilization were greater than any the adventurers had hitherto +met. They halted for a brief consultation, then went forward again, +resolved to do their errand discreetly and warily. Not one inhabitant +was in sight, but, as the wall was neared, slim, brown figures were +espied slipping through the waving grain towards the gate. + +A close view of the wall showed that the village was a fortress as well +as a place of habitation. The stones were rough from the hillside, and +quite untrimmed, but patience in selection and arrangement had produced +a compact rampart that could not easily be shattered or stormed. The +gate was of wood, and towered some feet above the top of the wall. It +was shut. + +Sir John Trelawny was in command of the embassy, and he directed one of +the soldiers to go forward and sound a summons on his bugle. The man +did so. The musical notes rang back in double echoes from the hills, +and brought a hundred dark heads above the ramparts. Again the soldier +sent the sweet echoes flying. The strange notes had their effect on +the villagers, for a man came from the gate to the strangers and asked +their business. The Indian interpreter, who had been carefully +schooled on his way up, and who, moreover, was proud of the trust +reposed in him by the formidable white men, gave a dignified and +courteous answer. The white men were, he explained, creatures of +another world, a world that lay beneath the rising sun; the sun was +their father, and his glory was in his children's faces. They held the +thunder and lightning in the hollow of their hands, and could slay men +almost at a nod. Yet by nature they were kindly and generous, wishing +harm to none. They were passing down the river to a city of gold of +which they had heard; during the weeks of their voyage they had not +laid an unkindly hand on any man, nor appropriated any man's goods. +His own people, and all the tribes along the river, loved and +reverenced their white brothers, and would die for them. + +The villager listened gravely enough, then swung round towards the +gate, saying he would carry the message to his chief faithfully and +without alteration. At the end of about half an hour he reappeared. +His chief would not see the white men, nor provide them with anything. +He had heard that the children of the sun were cruel and rapacious, +murdering and burning without mercy if they thought that thereby they +might get any of the yellow metal their souls lusted after so strongly. + +The interpreter replied that this was true of one section of white men, +but his brothers were the enemies of those monsters, warring with them +whenever they met them. His brothers were the lordly eagles, and were +called "English;" the others were the voracious birds that stalked in +the mud, feeding on garbage; the chief had heard of these last, the +"Spaniards."' + +The villager went away again, but returned quickly with his message +unaltered; the chief would not trust the strangers. It was useless to +ask him for guides to any city of gold, or to the shores of any lake +such as the white men desired. He had never heard of these places, and +did not believe they existed. The whole story was a trick to get the +country out of the hands of its inhabitants. The trick had worked in +the plains where the men had the hearts and brains of sick women; it +would not succeed with the "Brown Eagles" of the hills. Let the "White +Eagles" from the sun try their strength and wit against them if they so +desired. + +This answer was uncompromising enough, and with it the messengers went +back again to the river. They had looked only into the face of one man +of a tribe of a thousand hillmen. + +There was a long council round the camp fire that night, and for the +first time for some weeks sentinels were set, and keen watch and ward +kept until daybreak. A further consultation was held in the morning, +after each man had slept upon the suggestions of the previous evening. +It was not easy to decide upon a course of conduct. Hitherto the +adventurers had pursued their way in peace, and they were anxious to +avoid hostilities with the natives. They saw that nothing could be +gained by fighting the Indians. They were but a small company in a +strange land, and a thousand miles and more from the sea; their object +was gold, not conquest. Should they go on their way, leaving the +unfriendly chief in the security of his fastness? By so doing would +they be leaving an enemy in their rear? On the other hand, should they +bring him to his knees, and teach him to respect and fear the name of +England? How would their line of conduct operate on the minds of the +natives? The point was a delicate one. Some were for pushing ahead, +reaching their goal, and dealing with the hill village on their return; +others were hot to chastise the stubborn Indian at once, and break the +back of native opposition at a blow. Such was the Spanish method, and +no man could say that the Dons had not gotten wealth enough. + +The latter council prevailed, and it was decided to attack the native +stronghold that very night under cover of the darkness. The solitary +cannon was taken out of the largest boat and fitted with slings, so +that the Indian allies might carry it. Arquebuses were diligently +cleaned, and all arms and armour attended to. + +The forenoon passed busily enough. During the hot hours the men slept +beneath the trees. An hour before sunset supper was served out, and +whilst the men were eating it, a boat shot round the bend, and a loud +"Halloo!" announced the arrival of Morgan and his companions. This +unexpected addition to the fighting strength was heartily welcomed. + + + + +Chapter XXXVI. + +THE ATTACK ON THE VILLAGE. + +Forty Englishmen, with Indian carriers and scouts, stole out from the +river-side camp under the clear light of the tropical stars. The +villagers on the hills slept in a false security. Spies had hung about +the river all day; but the preparations had no meaning for them, except +that they probably signalized an early departure. They had witnessed +the arrival of the other boat, and had sped to their chieftain with the +news. But the idea of a night attack on their stronghold never +occurred to them. This newest type of white man, they had been told +and really believed, fought with their own kind only. The Indians shut +and barred their great gate, curled themselves up on couch of skins or +reed matting, and fell into the deep sleep of the tired savage. + +The friendly scouts had so learned every turn and obstacle in the +upward path from the river that they could have walked it in the +blackest darkness, and the metallic light from the clear heavens was +more than sufficient for the keen-eyed mariners. One torch was carried +for the firing of the big gun and for the lighting of the matches of +the arquebusiers, but its yellow glare was shrouded in a soldier's +helmet. + +The strip of forest was passed, and the men filed out on the plateau. +A breeze from the neighbouring heights stirred the green patches of +corn. A scout came back, and whispered that the way was clear. The +band moved forward. + +The dull, gray mass of the village loomed dimly ahead. No light was +visible, but a thin column of smoke from the communal fire rose above +the walls and bent away before the wind. + +The adventurers were within gunshot of the gate. The big gun was +silently fitted to its carriage, loaded and shotted; and the native +allies ran back into the corn and hid themselves, quaking with terror. + +There was a flash of red flame, a loud roar that came back in echoing +thunder from the hills, the crash of the iron ball against the gate. +The villagers started from sleep, and looked around in dismay. Another +flash, another roar, another crash, a pealing of strange thunder. Then +a shout in a strange tongue: "For England! Mother England!" The +children of the sun, the wielders of the thunder and lightning, were +through the broken gate. + +Then arose a mad stampede of terror. The arquebusiers were within the +rampart, and death-fire and nauseous smoke spurted from a dozen +different places. With squeals and shrieks, as from a mob of terrified +brutes, men, women, and children dashed for the walls and the farther +outlets in mad flight for the hills. + +"Make for the chief's house. Kill no man unless he opposes you," was +the order; and a shouting band soon surrounded the great house in the +centre of the village. Some fired the thatched roofs, and a red glare +shot up to the blue sky. The cries and screams of the scurrying tribe +grew fainter and fainter. But the sturdy headman was not with them. +Spear in hand, and alone, he faced his terrible foes, eyes and teeth +fiercely gleaming--a bronze Hector. He lunged at the foremost man, and +Master Jeffreys knocked him down with the flat of his sword. Instantly +Morgan and three or four others threw themselves upon him. He writhed +and twisted like a limbed snake, and bit and tore with teeth and hands. +But the odds were hopelessly against him; a rope in a sailor's +practised hands wound about his body, and he lay, a panting prisoner, +across his own threshold. A few others of the villagers were seized, +the rest of the roofs were fired, and the adventurers marched back to +the river. No spoil was taken. + +[Illustration: The odds were hopelessly against him.] + +The next morning the rank and file of the prisoners were set at +liberty. A present was given to each one, and it was impressed upon +them that the white strangers bore them no ill-will, and would not +again molest the village if its inhabitants conducted themselves with +due deference and friendliness. They had punished them for their +churlishness and disrespect, and had no thought of doing them further +mischief if they profited by the lesson given them. The men departed, +astonished at the clemency shown them. + +During the day the major portion of the villagers came back from the +mountains and woods, and set stolidly to work repairing their homes. +One of the released prisoners ventured to come down to the white men +and beg permission to cut rushes for the rethatching of his dwelling. +He was quickly told that the river and its rushes were as free to him +as ever they had been; and some of the adventurers cut rushes +themselves, and told the fellow to let the people know that a supply +awaited them. + +These wise measures went far to conciliate the natives. They had +learned that they must not oppose the strangers, but they also were +fairly assured that the white men were not the robbers and destroyers +that rumour had represented them to be. Some of them came freely +enough into the camp, bartering produce for gaudy trinkets; but, to the +intense disappointment of the company, none seemed to know anything +about the "Gilded One" or the marvellous city in which he dwelt. + +The expedition moved on--rapids, rocks, gorges, and waterfalls impeding +the way. The heat was intense; and when at times long marches were +necessary, in order to avoid obstacles in the river, the labour of +tugging the boats was alike heartbreaking and limb-breaking. More than +once the wisdom of leaving the river and marching overland was +discussed. But the river was at least a sure path, according to all +reports. It led to Lake Parimé and its golden sands and wondrous city. +The men grew feverish and unbalanced with anxiety and disappointed +hopes. Night after night they were to be found in groups, listening to +Yacamo or the Indians from the delta as they retold for the thousandth +time the story of "El Dorado;" others would sit beside Master Jeffreys +whilst he read and translated Dan's papers; and any words that fell +from the Johnsons, and others who had sailed the Spanish Main before, +and heard the Spanish stories of fabulous Indian treasures, were stored +up as precious oracles. + +And yet the mysterious region never seemed to come nearer; rather it +receded as the adventurers advanced, a yellow will-o'-the-wisp that had +led them through tangled forest and pestilential swamp only to mock +them in the end. The natives grew fiercer and more threatening; the +guides began to murmur at the length of the way--their river homes +seemed so far behind them. Savage faces peered out from bush and rock +upon the company of wearied, ragged, dispirited men. One soldier went +mad, raved of gold and jewels, and jumped into a whirlpool to seek +both. Two others--one a Cornish squire who had sold his little all to +join the expedition--were stricken by the sun, and dropped dead as they +were pulling at the boat ropes. A jaguar pounced upon another man as +he stooped to get water from a stream. An Indian arrow found the heart +of another. The sun, fatigue, fevers, bruises, and the endless racking +of limbs and brains, reduced the spirits and strength of the men. They +became gaunt, hollow-eyed, tattered, unshorn, uncombed, unkempt, yet +they toiled on, silent--save when they cursed and railed at +fate--dogged, fiercely purposeful, resolved to die rather than turn +back. Song and jest were rarely heard in any boat; haggard fellows +tugged at the oars, or lay dreamily watching the sail as it filled with +the welcome breeze. Their patience being sapped by disappointment and +privation, they were no longer the kindly "white brother" to the +Indians; they estranged their friends and made foes at every +halting-place. + +One man saw this. Since the attack on the hill village the chief of +that place had been dragged along with the expedition by way of +punishment. Sullenly he had tugged at his oar, carried his load, or +pulled at his rope; he neither forgot anything nor forgave anything. +He rarely spoke to the Indians from the delta and the plain, and when +he did his words were full of contempt. One night, when the +adventurers were lodged on the land in a cleft of the mountains, he +disappeared. The natives who slept on either side of him as guard were +both stabbed to the heart. The sight still further dulled the spirits +of all. + + + + +Chapter XXXVII. + +COUNCIL FIRES IN TWO PLACES. + +The rising sun flashed spears of light on a rocky spur that stretched +out from the foot of the mighty Andes. A tall, straight figure stood +silhouetted against a background of sun-bathed cliff. Higher above him +the great masses of land rolled back, league after league, and +stretched upwards foot after foot to the eternal snows and the eternal +heavens. Below him a belt of dark forest swept round the foothills of +the giant range, and through a gap in the mass of trees a noisy, turbid +stream went tumbling down to the sweltering plains and a feeder of the +Orinoco. + +The man stood motionless as his rocky pedestal, and intently watching +something beyond the line of trees. Presently he turned sharply about, +came down from the crag, pushed his way through the trees, and stood in +a little pool-filled hollow. Almost immediately he was joined by about +twoscore men, all armed with spear and bow and arrow, and, like +himself, brown-skinned and stalwart. The newcomers bowed themselves to +the ground and murmured some words of homage and adulation. The +standing savage drew in a deep breath, expanding his broad chest, and +his eyes flashed with pride and power. + +"Arise, my sons," he said; "the gods that make men and unmake them +shall reward you. Ye have been faithful to him whom the gods have set +over you. To the brave shall be the spoils; my sons shall lade +themselves with all their hearts may desire. Now tell me what you have +done." + +A tall warrior stood forth. "We have followed our father since the +white strangers seized him. We have watched him and them, and waited +for this happy moment." + +"Aught else?" + +"We have spoken with the peoples who dwell in the woods and the hills, +and turned their minds against the men from the land of the sun-rising. +They will fight them if any man can discover a charm that will protect +them from the thunder and lightning that springs from the strangers' +hands." + +The chieftain laughed. "I will find them a charm," he cried. "I have +walked all night," he added suddenly; "I will sleep. Watch ye." + +The chieftain slept. One man went to the cliff as sentinel; the rest +squatted around the pool, looked to their weapons, and talked in +whispers. The sun climbed upwards, the shadows shortened, the water of +the pool grew warm, the sentinel ensconced himself in a shaded cleft of +the rock that overlooked the valley, and maintained the unwinking watch +of the stoic savage. + +The chieftain awoke, a giant refreshed. A warrior brought him water in +a gourd; another handed him some fruits from a wallet. A call blown on +a hollow reed brought the watcher down from his eyrie. Led by the tall +warrior who had addressed his chief, the band went off deeper and +higher into the hills. They toiled along through a defile all the +afternoon, and when the sun was dipping behind the western peaks came +into a broad, cup-like valley, that was dotted with the rude stone huts +of a mountain tribe. The tall warrior went forward alone, but +presently came back and piloted the band through the straggling groups +of huts to the spot where the tribal fire was licking up a fresh supply +of fuel. A group of warriors seated by the fire gave the newcomers a +guttural greeting, and motioned them to seats on the other side of the +blazing heap. Silence was maintained until roasted meat, corn cakes, +and fermented liquor were handed round to both parties; then all +gathered on the windward side, and the palaver commenced. + +The visiting chief held forth at great length. He gave a reasonably +good summary of the history of the white man along the Orinoco valley +from the first advent of the Spaniards. He spoke of their cruelties, +their lust for the yellow dust, and their belief in a golden city on +the shores of a lake that fed the head waters of the river. He +described the attack on his village, and his own subsequent captivity +and semi-slavery. He belittled the strength of his captors, and was +inclined to scoff at their thunder-and-lightning tubes. He confessed +that the flame and roar of these formidable weapons were terrifying at +first; but he had witnessed their action at close quarters, and +familiarity had bred a sort of contempt. The lightning would not +always leap forth when wanted, nor did the thunder always slay. He was +inclined to put as much faith in a well-directed arrow. The latter +might be discharged unseen; not so the fire-weapons of the white +strangers. The fire-god must be brought to their nostrils, and breathe +into them before the fire within would answer; and if a man lay on the +ground when he saw the fire he was safe from death. Finally, he urged +with savage passion that the intruders should be killed or expelled +from the land. He spoke of them as wearied and dispirited, sick with +fatigue and the sun-fever, and boldly asserted that they were an easy +prey. The tall warrior arose after his chief, emphasizing all that his +lord had said. + +The chiefs of the tribe did not reply at once, but held a brief +consultation apart. They were not inclined to accept the white men at +their visitor's valuation, nor were they prepared to take up arms +against such wonderful beings without very serious cause. From the +chief's own showing they had treated him in a brotherly spirit at +first. Other native tribes had, apparently, fraternized with the +strangers, and had got considerable advantage thereby. As regards the +city of gold, the chiefs had never heard of the place themselves, +although they had occasional dealings with peoples who dwelt near the +head waters of the great river. But the white strangers were wise, and +knew things that the gods had not told to other men. Maybe the city +really existed. If the white men wanted to get there, why should any +man hinder them? And it was all very well for their visitor to pretend +that he had no fear of the thunder weapons. Why had all his people +fled at the sound of them? + +The chieftain tried to explain, and again urged his points with a +number of fresh arguments. But the council was against him; they +refused to run their heads into unknown and fearful dangers by opposing +a wonderful race that showed no disposition to interfere with them. +And so the council ended. + +From the cliff that guarded the outlet from the small valley into the +gorge a keen-eyed native, gazing intently eastwards towards the greater +valley, might have made out a point of yellow light about three leagues +away in a bee-line. The light was on the bank of the affluent of the +Orinoco, and came from the camp fire of the adventurers. There also a +council was being held, and the question for decision was the momentous +one whether the quest for the golden city should be abandoned as +hopeless. According to the Spanish papers and general rumour the +expedition should now be in touch with superior, light-coloured races, +and a civilization rivalling that of the ancient empires of Assyria or +Babylon for wealth and luxury. The way to Manoa should be as plain and +well-known as the way to Rome or Venice. Yet all around were frowning +mountains and dense forests, the homes of fierce birds and beasts, and +the haunts of savage, warlike tribes. A thousand miles nearer the +ocean the natives talked glibly and circumstantially enough about the +"Gilded One" and his wonderful city. Here, where the gates of his +kingdom should be, no man had heard either of king or country. Months +of hardship and privation, the facing of death a hundred times in +almost as many forms, had brought the intrepid band to--nothing! + +On this particular occasion every man was admitted to the council, and +the words of the common soldier and sailor were listened to as +attentively as the words of any of the gentlemen. An onlooker would +have been sorely puzzled to decide from outward appearance which of the +battered, travel-worn band was its leader. The fire lighted up a ring +of gaunt, brown, bearded faces, and the pairs of eyes that centred on +each speaker's face in turn had little of hope or animation in them. +The conference began after the evening meal, and extended far into the +night. All seemed to realize the hopelessness of pursuing the quest +any farther, yet none cared to face the ordeal of turning the boats +seaward again. They compromised the matter. A last attempt should be +made to acquire guides and information. If the attempt failed, the +search would be abandoned. + + + + +Chapter XXXVIII. + +THE WAY BACK. + +Yacamo, out searching for signs of human occupation, came upon the +entrance to the upland valley, and espied the Indian town. He went +back to the camp and reported. A deputation was sent to wait upon the +chief; a body of men met them in the pass, and refused to allow them to +proceed a step farther. Then some of the adventurers themselves +climbed through the gorge, and were met with a shower of arrows that +wounded three of them. Finally, Captain Drake himself, under the +guidance of Yacamo, worked his way into the valley, and reconnoitred. +He calculated the town at a strength of about fifteen hundred to two +thousand warriors. It was not fortified; but no force could get up the +gorge if reasonable opposition were offered. His own band could be +ambushed in a score of places. He decided it was impossible to attack +the place with any chance of success. + +Scouting parties were sent farther along the river. In every case they +were assailed. The Englishmen themselves were shot at again and again +if they ventured out hunting, and at night arrows dropped at intervals +into the camp. The adventurers were in a hornets' nest, and the +hornets were always stinging. These attacks, which argued the +existence of a host of enemies, were all the work of the escaped +chieftain and his twoscore of followers. Divided into about half a +dozen bands, hiding themselves with perfect native cunning, they were +as effective as ten times the number of less active, less revengeful +foes might be; and they grew bolder every hour. + +Despairing of success--wearied, wounded, harassed, sick--the +adventurers resolved to turn back. Since they had entered the hilly +country, they had lost seven men; and as the whole country seemed +rising to oppose them, it was madness to attempt to force a passage +along the rocky, unknown way. With heavy hearts they paddled into the +main stream, got into the current, and drifted northwards towards the +ocean. + +For days there was hardly any attempt at rowing. The strong rush of +the chalky waters swept the boats along. Awnings were erected to shut +off the terrific heat of the equatorial sun, and the men lay and dozed +and rested, their native allies directing the course of the voyage. No +foes appeared, days and nights were quiet and uneventful, and the +strength and spirits of all began to revive. They had failed in their +quest. What of that? The summer was not yet gone. There were Spanish +galleons to be attacked. The Johnsons could show where Oxenham had +hidden his treasure; and if they had not found Lake Parimé and its city +of gold, they had explored much new and wondrously fertile country. +The passion for exploration and the gaining of knowledge of new lands +was almost as strong in the hearts of the bold fellows as was the +thirst for treasure. Third day down the river Dan sang his song again; +'twas,-- + + "Ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold!" + + +King Philip's ships were the true and sure gold-mines. All eyes looked +and all hearts yearned for the sea. Their thoughts flew to their bonny +little ship. Was she safe? How that question agitated every one, and +what intense speculation there was as to the way the question would be +answered! + +If the way back was easier than the journey forward, it was not less +dangerous. The heat had increased, insect life had multiplied a +myriad-fold, and the pestilential vapours from the swampy lowlands were +thicker and deadlier than before; and the men were not fresh from the +invigorating sea, but were spent and worn with a thousand hardships. +They drooped, sickened, raved in delirium, and in some cases died. +Even the cheery Dan succumbed to the poison of the noisome night mists, +and whilst the fever was on him his songs and jests were sorely missed. +Morgan and some of the others began to sing songs of home, but these +the captain stopped because of the depression they induced in some of +the men. + +At length, after more than a fortnight of drifting with the current, +the first parting of the ways at the beginning of the delta was +reached. To the Indians this was the threshold of home; to the +Englishmen it was but a poor halting-place, from which they must set +out to face fresh perils, and maybe meet newer disappointments. The +bewildering maze of channels was once more threaded, this time with the +varying strengths of the current to indicate the better routes. The +dense, overhanging vegetation sheltered the voyagers by day and stifled +them by night. Rests at friendly villages were eagerly welcomed, and +no bad news awaited the weary band. A few Spanish boats had been seen +in some of the channels, but they had asked no questions concerning the +Englishmen, and the natives had given no information, fearing that +their masters--for so the Dons accounted themselves--would punish them +for having assisted their enemies. + +It was in the heat of sultry afternoon, the air stirless, the water in +the channel warm and rank-smelling. The boats were drifting lazily +under the banks, the native steersmen half sleeping at their posts, the +white men stretched out, listless, sun-wearied, inert. A canoe shot +out across the path of the boats, disappeared along another waterway, +stopped, and a Spaniard got out and plunged into the trees on the low +island. He watched the flotilla go by. He noticed the attitude of the +men. + +"St. James!" he cried, "I could do it with a score of resolute +soldiers! What a chance! And I must miss it!" + +The Englishmen drifted on; the Spaniard followed at a safe distance. +He wanted a solution to an important question: Where was the English +ship? He had hunted for it, and so had others--for the _Golden Boar_ +had been tracked from Trinidad into the delta--but no man had sighted +her, and knew not how far she had gone up-stream. It was not suspected +that she had remained so near the sea as proved to be the case. The +native chief had guarded his secret well. + +That night, about an hour after sunset, and with the light of the +growing moon to guide them, the adventurers tied up their boats in the +pool where the _Golden Boar_ still lay. What a thrill went through +each heart as the outline of their ocean home appeared dimly through +the veil of white mist! Tears stood in their eyes, and more than one +bold fellow had hard work to choke back a sob. The men left behind +came running forth to meet them, all alive, all well. Rough, bearded +lips pressed against thin, tanned cheeks in brotherly kisses, and the +natives thronged round, full of affectionate and admiring welcome. The +brave "white brothers" were back, and their simple hearts rejoiced. + +The villagers began instant preparations for a great feast. Captain +Drake marshalled his men, and went aboard his ship. Standing +bareheaded on his deck, the flag of England unfurled above him, he +returned thanks to Almighty God for a great deliverance from many +perils; and the company responded with a sonorous and devout "Amen!" +There was no word of repining, no lamentation over the failure that had +attended their quest. The dead were remembered in a few moments of +bowed and silent reverence, and, at the command of his captain, Morgan +sang the "_De Profundis_." "Out of the deep," indeed, had they called, +and they thanked God in that He heard them. + +Then they went to the place of feasting, and ate as hungry voyagers +should eat. After that they slept the deep sleep of wearied men who, +after many toils and vicissitudes, had reached a haven where they could +rest. + +Days of bustle followed. The ship was cleaned of the vegetable growths +that clung to her sides; masts were refixed, fittings tested and +replaced, and ample stores put aboard. The salt breeze had got again +into the men's nostrils, and their hearts cried out for the open sea. +Affectionate farewell was taken of their kindly hosts; a promise to +come back again was given. Then a flotilla of canoes towed the stout +ship into the main channel! + + + + +Chapter XXXIX. + +JOHN OXENHAM'S CREEK. + +More than two months after she had quitted the harbour of San Joseph, the +_Golden Boar_ dropped anchor in its waters again. She was not expected, +and some folks were hoping that she had gone to the bottom of the +Atlantic, or was lying rotting in some pestilential mouth of the Orinoco. +Yacamo was put ashore, and a brief visit paid to the governor and the +chief Ayatlan. The latter was pleased enough to see the Englishmen, and +he warned them that mischief was brewing. + +"There has been much coming and going of Spaniards and Spanish ships," he +said; "and one man has offered great rewards to any that could tell him +where you were hidden." + +The visit to the governor nearly led to a quarrel. That dignitary was by +no means so deferential as on the previous visit; indeed, he was barely +civil. Many things had happened during the previous weeks. A ship had +arrived from Spain, and she carried an important passenger--to wit, +Brother Basil. He was weeks behind the _Golden Boar_, but he soon made +up for lost time. In the first place he was able to prove that Captain +John Drake of the _Golden Boar_ was not the redoubtable Captain Francis +Drake so dreaded all along the shores of the Spanish Main. This largely +accounted for the altered demeanour of the governor. Rightly guessing +that the English ship would put into the harbour if she ever returned +from the Orinoco, Basil had at first tried to prepare a warm reception +for her. He failed in this, for soldiers were not easy to obtain, the +governor was not anxious for a fight, and the very name "Drake" still +inspired terror whether it was prefixed by Francis or John. As a second +resource he had sent boats into the delta in the hope of locating the +ship or her company, and stirring up the natives against the Englishmen. +His messengers searched the wrong mouths and channels, and it was only at +the last that one of them happed upon the foe; and he was still on the +mainland and had sent no tidings. + +But the Jesuit, being cognizant of all the plans of the adventurers, and +knowing that the Johnsons would lead the way to the scene of Oxenham's +defeat and death, prepared yet a third scheme, and, deeming this the +surer one, was giving it his personal supervision. He calculated +correctly. + +When Captain Drake and his retinue were leaving the castle, a native +youth who waited upon the soldiers slipped a packet into the hands of the +last man, with a whispered injunction to secrecy. The soldier handed the +papers to the captain as soon as he was aboard again. A few minutes +later Nick and Ned Johnson were sent for into the cabin. The first +question caused each one to prick up his single ear pretty sharply. + +"Were you the only ones who escaped death when Captain Oxenham was slain?" + +"No, some boys were spared." + +"Have they ever reached England?" + +"As far as we know, no. The priests told us that some of them abjured +their faith and had received pardon." + +Captain Drake passed some papers across the table. "Look at this +drawing." + +The brothers did so, and looked at one another pretty shrewdly also. + +"What do you make out of it?" + +"'Tis a guide to the buried spoil." + +The skipper read a rough, explanatory scrawl from the back of the paper. +It purported to have been written by one of the lads who had been in San +Joseph on a Spanish ship since the departure of the _Golden Boar_. He +explained that he wished his countrymen to know that the treasure had +never been found by the Dons, and added that he had bribed the native to +give the paper to them if they came back. He would not affix his name, +because he was ashamed of his weakness in renouncing his faith and +nationality. + +The tale was plausible enough and cunningly set forth. Less credulous +men than the eager adventurers would have been deceived by it. The +English was rough, homely, ill-spelt, and unscholarly, and might well +have been written by one of the lads. One thing was certain--it could +not have been written by a Spaniard. It was written, indeed, by the +renegade Basil. + +Needless to say the bait was swallowed. The _Golden Boar_ made a hurried +departure from San Joseph, and went westwards along the coast towards the +Isthmus of Panama. Basil had gone thither in a Spanish galleon some +twelve days before, and was already ashore awaiting them, and daily +expecting a strong body of troops from Panama itself. The adventurers, +hopes renewed, were putting on all sail to enter a cunningly laid trap. + +Apparently fortune was going to favour them at last. Less than a day's +sail from Trinidad they sighted a Spanish ship. They had vowed war +against everything Spanish, and were resolved not to go home with an +empty hold. The helm was put about, and they bore down on their prey. +The vessel was not a large one, but it was well manned. To the order to +strike his flag, the captain replied with a well-directed shot. The +vessels closed. A sharp fight ensued, and the adventurers won. The +prize was a good one, and the bold band, deeming their enterprise a high +and honourable one, loudly thanked God for His goodness. Then they +sailed on, eager for fresh conquests. + +Even the least hopeful man cast away his doubts and fears. Hitherto they +had searched for what no man had found; now they were going for a +treasure whose position was definitely set forth, and, moreover, they +were on the beaten track where so many of their daring fellow-countrymen +had found fortune. Spanish ships they must meet; and when they met them, +well, there was but one thing to do--they must capture them. To their +reawakened spirits the matter was the plainest of plain sailing. And the +glorious sea, too, had washed the fever from them; they were grown strong +and hearty once more. The singers sang, the fiddlers played, and Master +Jeffreys, Nick and Ned Johnson told their tales afresh. The generous +fellows remembered the brave lives that had been sacrificed to gain the +treasure they were going to carry off so easily. As far as the memory of +the survivors would allow, a list of Oxenham's crew was drawn up; their +homes, where known, were placed against their names, and it was resolved +that half of what they recovered should go to the relatives of the dead +men. Not one man murmured against the decision; it seemed to them the +right and proper thing to do: there were no craven or selfish hearts +aboard the _Golden Boar_. + +And so the eager days sped on. No more possible prizes were sighted, and +the time came when keen eyes no longer looked seawards at all. The ship +was hugging the shore, and Nick Johnson or his brother spent hours at the +masthead searching for a familiar landmark. More than once was the +anchor dropped, and a boat sent up a promising creek in the hope that it +would prove the long-sought one. Failure after failure was reported, but +the search only grew the keener. The adventurers were determined to beat +every mile of the coast if necessary. At length came the joyous forenoon +when Nick gave a frantic hurrah from his lofty perch. Ho had sighted the +bare bluff, the wooded background, and the narrow, winding inlet. His +brother was quickly beside him, and almost immediately shouted his +reassuring opinion to the expectant company. The goal was reached at +last! + +There was no need to send an exploring boat this time. Nick stayed where +he was, and Ned took the helm. A gentle breeze took the _Golden Boar_ +into the sheltered anchorage. The trees encircling the little inland bay +shut her in just as the sun went down behind them. And the gallant +fellows--strange mixture of pirate and patriot--piously and +whole-heartedly bared their heads and thanked God for His bounteous +mercies! + + + + +Chapter XL. + +A HAVEN OF PEACE. + +The night passed; a night of happy contentment. In picturesque groups +on the deck the company slept, their eyes covered from the light of the +tropical night. The sentry tramped the deck, listened to the cries +from the forest and the salty pool, watched the fireflies as they +darted to and fro, and called out the hours and the state of the night +whenever the ship's bell sent its musical note echoing from bank to +bank of the creek, and rousing the denizens of the forest around. A +bird sang in the grove, tuning its lay to reproduce the notes of every +songster that had warbled during the daytime. The scents from the +masses of flowers, that clustered the banks and wound their tendrils +round the giant trees, floated fragrantly on the night air. There was +peace in the heavens above and the downward glances of the quiet-eyed +stars; there was peace in forest and pool, and sweet sounds and +fragrant odours; the ship rocked gently on the flowing tide in a haven +that might have been a harbour on the shores of a paradise. And the +sleeping men dreamed pleasant dreams, for the scents of the flowers +came insensibly into their nostrils, and the song of the bird beat +rhythmically on their resting brains. Here, a sailor laughed softly +and musically in his sleep; there, a gallant young gentleman murmured a +beloved name, as the face of the one beloved passed by in a sweet +vision of the night. In his sleep many a one was already at the home +where he would be; his hard-won treasures glittered on the familiar +table, and he gave this to one and that to another, hung a chain on a +fair young neck or pressed a ring on a dainty finger. Johnnie Morgan +stood by the river, exactly as he had stood on that bright March +morning when Dolly came up and begged for a reconciliation. She came +again; the gulls flew over the sands, and the sun shone warmly. Ah! +how long it was since that March morning. + +The feathered singer in the tree ceased his singing, and hid his head +under his wing as his bright-plumaged fellows had done. The stars +paled; nature stirred in her sleep; the sailor on the deck felt the +tremor that quivered through the animate world, and rubbed his eyes +more vigorously. A breeze moved through the trees; the ripple of the +water was more distinct; there was a splash--another--another. A frog +croaked sleepily to his fellows, and got no answer for a while. A +yellow band stretched across the eastern horizon; it tinged the heaving +waters, it flecked the trees with gold. The whole forest rustled and +twittered. A bird flew down to the water. A parrot screamed noisily; +a sleeper started up from his hard couch. The sentinel cried the hour, +and announced a fine morning. The world heard him and woke up. + +The day was to be a day of great things. Overnight nothing had been +done, and no man had gone ashore. The decks were cleaned, prayers +said, breakfast eaten, and the rough plan of Oxenham's hiding-place +nailed down on the compass-box, where all could see it. Then Captain +Drake and the gentlemen of the company went ashore with Nick and Ned +Johnson. Hearts beat excitedly in the ship's boat, and hearts throbbed +in unison amongst those who waited on the deck. The party landed. +They clambered up the bank and pushed aside the tangled undergrowth, +some of the men using their swords in order to make the quicker way. +Some one kicks against a mass of green creeper; his boot strikes +something wooden and hollow; he has not lighted upon an empty bush. +Quickly he tears aside the clinging mass; a beautifully striped snake +wriggles out, hissing angrily. The man scarcely heeds the dangerous +thing. He shouts aloud; the others come up. What has he found? The +ruins of one of Oxenham's boats. Nick recognizes it. "I worked to +help build it," he says softly. "The Dons came upon us before we could +finish." The rough fellow uncovered his head. + +The adventurers gazed with a strange interest upon the relic of a +former bold adventure. They turned it over almost reverently. "Brave +John Oxenham!" murmured Captain Drake. + +But sentimental recollections were soon swept away. The discovery of +the half-finished boat put aside all doubts as to the identity of their +anchorage with that of Oxenham's. "How far off was the treasure +buried?" was the next eager question. + +"Just out of the tide-way in the heart of a cluster of mangroves; we +notched the biggest tree," answered Nick. He looked around. "Yonder's +the spot," he cried. All followed him. + +The quick-growing vegetation had enwreathed the trees with gay +creepers, but Nick soon found the mark of the axe on the bark. +Undergrowths choked up the gaps between the trunks of the trees, but a +couple of axes cleared a path. The men thronged into the inner space. +The ground was hard and overgrown, and certainly had not been touched +for a long time. Hopes rose higher than ever. Apparently the ground +had never been disturbed since Oxenham's visit. Captain Drake decided +to get to work at once. He rowed back to the ship, ordered the +pickaxes and shovels to be brought up from below, and chose out a first +gang of sailors and soldiers to go ashore and commence digging. A +couple of hours ought to suffice for the securing of the treasure. + +The men tumbled into the boat, eager enough to begin. They rowed +ashore, stripped themselves to the waist, and set to work with a will, +cheering one another on with boisterous jests. Captain Drake remained +aboard. Sir John Trelawny and some of the adventurers superintended +the digging. Timothy Jeffreys and Johnnie Morgan wandered off along +the stream, hoping to light upon some game for the replenishing of the +larder. Nick Johnson pointed out a spring, and others of the company +busied themselves filling the barrels with fresh water. All were +animated, and occupied in some useful way or other. + + + + +Chapter XLI. + +THE TRAP. + +A cheery proverb declares there is no cloud so black that it hath not a +silver lining. Conversely we may say that there is no sky so blue that +no cloud is gathering in it. The sky over the heads of Captain Drake +and his men glowed like a firelit, flawless sapphire; yet behind, where +the giant trees shut out the view of the heavens, a cloud was +gathering, charged with the very mirk of death. + +For days and nights before the _Golden Boar_ had come abreast of the +mouth of the creek, the summit of the bluff had not been without a +keen-eyed sentinel. Squatted on his haunches, or lying prone on the +grass, a patient Indian had scanned sea and horizon for a sign of a +sail. His watch was duly rewarded. He heard the shout of the lookout +man; saw the ship put about for the entrance near which he lay; then he +slipped into the trees behind him, and ran down the declivity and +through the forest like a creature born to a life in the tree-packed +solitudes. He passed round the bay, and ran for another couple of +miles along the creek. Then, in a natural clearing, he came upon a +tent around which were gathered about fifty warriors of his own tribe. +At the entrance to the tent he bowed himself down to the earth, and lay +there until a voice bade him arise. + +"The ship of the white men, O my father!" + +"Where?" + +"They come into the harbourage." + +"Get thy canoe." Basil came forth, and was soon speeding down to the +bay. He got out on the side opposite to the cluster of mangroves, +climbed a tree, and watched the _Golden Boar_ as it beat into the +narrow entrance from the sea. The sun shone on the gilded monster that +stood "rampant" under the bows and lit up the tall figure of Morgan, +who stood watching the muddy waters as they ran lapping along the sides +of the ship. Basil recognized all, and smiled in triumph. He went +back to his tent and dispatched swift messengers along the track across +the isthmus; the Spanish troops were lagging somewhere on the road, and +must needs be hurried. + +All that night, sleepless, noiseless Indians lay near the ship and +heard every call of the watch. With the coming of the dawn they +slipped farther back, but maintained a close espionage. Basil's +messenger returned. The troops were bivouacked not far away. They +would start with the earliest light, and might be expected within two +hours of sunrising. The natives were sent down to the fringe of the +bay to keep unseen watch over every movement of the Englishmen. Basil +waited for the white troops. His plans were carefully made, and he +hoped to capture the ship and every soul of her company. + + +Morgan and Jeffreys pushed their way through the trees, seeking some +open glade where deer might be feeding. Each carried bow and arrows, +so that the quarry might be obtained without raising any alarm that +might arouse near-dwelling natives or any chance party of Spaniards. +The laughter of their comrades died away behind them little by little, +and was presently lost altogether. Once or twice the undergrowth +rustled, and both paused, hoping to sight some eatable prey; but they +saw nothing, and wandered farther and farther on. + +They had gone for nearly a mile, when suddenly an Indian stood in their +path. The fellow paused for an instant, then turned and fled as though +in affright. Both were about to cry out to reassure him, when they +were stealthily assailed from behind. A native cloth or blanket was +thrown over the head of each; brown arms closed round and pinioned +their limbs. They were thrown to the ground, and a heavy blow on the +head rendered them unconscious. They had no chance to cry out, and +were trapped with scarcely a struggle. When they recovered their +senses they were in a canoe going rapidly up-stream; their heads were +still muffled, and their limbs bound with tight thongs. + + +Between the trees the digging went on merrily enough. About three feet +down a skull was found; then another; then various human bones. These +gruesome discoveries checked the singing and laughter, and for a while +the men worked in silence. But there was nothing to dull the spirits +of the water-carriers, and they romped and skylarked like a party of +schoolboys. Those on board ship envied their companions who were +ashore, and the relief digging party leant over the bulwarks, eager to +take their turn amongst the mangroves. + +Meanwhile a net of fire and steel was being drawn around the workers. + +The net was set; every mesh was tested, and yet the fowler hesitated to +draw it in: all the birds were not gathered in the baited area. The +water-carriers were too far from the diggers, and the ship rode clear +of the shore. The Indian allies hid, waiting with inexhaustible +patience. The Spanish troops were restless and ill-controlled. They +saw two small parties of Englishmen busily engaged, and without +suspicion of danger. It was so easy to form two bands, surround and +capture all. Barely a dozen men remained aboard the ship; surely they +could seize the vessel at their leisure! The Spanish commander did not +possess Basil's gift of caution. He determined to attack, and launched +a mixed force against the water-carriers and seized every one. Another +band dashed for the mangroves; but warning had been given. Sir John +and his gentlemen whipped out their swords, and the workers seized +pick-axe and shovel. Captain Drake saw the movement in the trees, +shouted an alarm, and at once turned his guns on the rustling patch. A +couple of terrific charges followed; trees splintered and crashed, and +the Indian allies fled in terror, freeing some of the water-carriers, +who plunged at once into the bay and swam to the ship. The group of +mangroves was a natural fortress, and the Dons failed to get in at the +first rush. The flight of the Indians threw them into a momentary +disorder; and Captain Drake, instant in appreciating an opportunity, +turned a gun a little wide of the cluster, and sent a ball smashing +into the rallying place of the foe. Covered by the armed gentlemen, +the workers retreated to their boat; arrows and a few musket balls flew +after them, but the ship's guns again spoke out, and no Don dared show +himself. The boat was reached at the cost of a few wounds. At the +ship's side the men received arms, and the soldiers aboard leaped down +to take the place of the wounded. The boat went ashore once more, and +the whole of its company made for the spring, hoping to rescue the men +there. The enemy opposed their way, but they drove them before them, +and the guns from the vessel swept and cleared the surrounding patches +of woodland. The spring was reached; the Dons had fled; and the marks +of the short struggle were all the rescue party discovered. They +followed the trail for a while, but the foe had got the start and the +help of their native guides. The men reluctantly returned to the shore +of the bay, fortunately picking up a couple of wounded sailors on their +way. The undergrowth around was diligently searched, but it yielded +nothing alive. + +The ship's roll was called, and the losses counted. No one had seen +anything of Jeffreys and Morgan since the first landing; they had gone +a-hunting, and their fate could hardly be doubted. The digging party +had escaped death and capture, and no man was seriously wounded. Of +the water party, the two Johnsons, who had acted as leaders, were +wounded and prisoners; three others were captives with them; the rest +had escaped. There were no further attempts at digging that day. This +was, perhaps, just as well, for the earth contained no treasure. The +Dons had seized that long before. + + + + +Chapter XLII. + +CAPTIVES. + +The wonderful name of Drake saved the expedition from irretrievable +disaster. "For England, boys!" Sir John had shouted as he laid about +him in the mangrove trees. "For Drake and Devon!" shouted a Plymouth +tar, and his comrades had hurrahed at his words. "Ay, remember the +skipper's name!" Sir John had replied; "defeat and Drake don't go +together!" These shouted words, and the promptness of the round shot +from the ship, had really equal effects in scattering the foe. The +Spanish commander, when he rallied his men farther back at the springs, +asked Nick Johnson who his captain was. + +"Drake of Plymouth!" cried Nick; "and take heed to it, ye dirty Papist. +Ye'll regret this business before sunset!" + +And the soldiers were of their foeman's opinion. Their leader deemed +discretion the better part of valour. He had lost some men; his allies +had fled; five prisoners were in his hands. So far he could claim a +victory, and he was resolved not to lose one leaf from his scanty +laurels. "Drake" was an incarnation of the devil; every Don in America +knew that; it was useless fighting the redoubtable sailor, for no man +could defeat or kill him. The Spanish captain decided on a movement to +the rear. In vain Basil stormed and raved, and vowed that the dreaded +Drake was not within a thousand leagues of the isthmus. The soldiers +remembered that the speaker was a renegade Englishman, and refused to +believe him. + +Basil left them to go on to Panama, whilst he returned to the Indian +camp and the two prisoners whose clever capture he had superintended. +The Indians had gone, and Morgan and Jeffreys were left gagged and +bound. The Jesuit was furious. His first impulse was to kill his +captives and leave their bodies to be found by their companions, who +would assuredly make some search for them. But a moment's reflection +made him abandon that plan. Had he desired only their death, it would +have been easier for the Indians to shoot them than to capture them. +One of the two, Morgan, was an old foe; he had done much to thwart the +scheme for firing the Forest of Dean, a scheme which would have brought +Basil nothing less than a bishopric had it succeeded. He was one of +those who had slain Father Jerome, and must expiate his many offences. +The angry man had little objection to letting out Master Timothy's life +at a blow, but Morgan must have no such easy ending. So he left the +two, half-stifled in their blankets, and went into the woods and along +the creek, calling in the hope of attracting some stray Indians. After +a while, the chief and about a dozen others straggled back. + +The tent, wherein Basil had kept up state in order to overawe the +simple natives, was packed away into a canoe. The prisoners were put +into another, and the company paddled away towards the interior, +following by water the course the Spaniards had taken by land. + +The two parties met that evening at a native village, and a fierce +quarrel broke out betwixt Basil and the Spanish commandant. The +civilian accused the soldier of cowardice and indifference that +amounted to treachery, and fiercely maintained that a little more +wisdom and courage on the part of the troops would have sufficed for +the capture of the whole expedition. The captain retorted that he had +done his duty with due zeal and discretion, and threatened Basil with a +share of the bonds that bound the limbs of his fellow Englishmen. He +took Basil's two prisoners and added them to his own captures, +asserting that he did so in order to ensure their safe keeping. By +easy stages the troops moved west by north along the rivers and over +the mountains to Panama, where the Englishmen were formally imprisoned +as pirates and wicked enemies of his Majesty King Philip. Basil was +soon busily at work in an endeavour to get them accused of heresy +rather than piracy, and so put them into the hands of the Inquisition; +for the ecclesiastics punished with infinitely greater cruelties than +did the King's officers. + +A long and anxious council was held that afternoon aboard the _Golden +Boar_. For the time, the treasure-hunt was forgotten. Seven members +of the company, two of them gentlemen partners in the expedition, were +in the hands of the Spaniards. What could be done for their release? +From the evidence of those of the watering-party that had escaped, it +was plain that the band that had attacked them was as numerous as that +which attacked the gold-seekers. The total forces, Spanish and Indian, +were considerably over a thousand. Now, if the ship was to be at all +adequately guarded and manned, Captain Drake could not spare more than +a score of men as a land force. Obviously, this was totally inadequate +if the foe stood his ground; so weak a band might be shot down one by +one in the forest. Yet no man would leave the coast without making +some real effort to aid his captured comrades. The brave fellows could +readily put themselves in thought into the places of the unfortunate +seven, and they shuddered as they contemplated their possible fate. +One man, Paignton Rob, knew Oxenham's route across the isthmus, and he +volunteered at once to lead any pursuing party. Should the Johnsons +escape, they would almost certainly take this route back. Pursuit was +decided upon, and Captain Drake resolved to lead it himself. The whole +of the gentlemen adventurers volunteered to accompany him, and Dan +Pengelly and Paignton Rob completed the available force. It was small +enough to be called a "forlorn hope;" it was brave enough to do +desperate deeds if occasion offered. + +Since the retreat of the foe no sounds had been heard from the shore. +This did not prove that no enemies were lurking in the thickets, for +silence had prevailed until the moment of the double attack. Rob +offered to go scouting, but his services as guide were too precious for +him to run the risk; and Sir John Trelawny, like the valiant knight he +was, went instead. A boat was rowed down into the shelter of the +bluff, and he slipped ashore. Scaling the rock, he peered about on all +sides, saw nothing suspicious, and advanced into the thick woods. +There were plenty signs of the fray, but no sight of a foe. He wound +round one side of the curve of the bay, and startled nothing but the +birds and a few reptiles. He came down to the water, hailed the ship, +and was taken aboard. The captain resolved to start up the creek at +nightfall and follow its course into the river. + +This was done. Signs of Basil's camp were discovered, and his bivouac +searched. Morgan's helmet was found; the pursuers were on the track. +A hunt in the near woods revealed nothing of note. Re-embarking they +reached an Indian village by midnight, and learned that the foe was +encamped at a larger place up the stream. Here was a chance of a night +assault. But neither bribes nor threats could prevail with any native +to accept the position as guide. The chief finally gave directions +which were either wilfully incorrect or misunderstood. The Englishmen, +on coming to a parting of the waters, took the wrong course, and found +themselves by daylight right in the hills and twenty miles from the +place where the captives lay. + +They came back and took the other channel, arriving at the +halting-place about noon, to find the foe gone and themselves too weary +to follow for some hours. Rob and the captain interviewed the chief, +but the latter was too fearful of the Spaniards to offer any +assistance. The English force in his eyes was too weak to gain any +victory, and he would not be on the losing side. + +The adventurers pushed forward again in the evening, abandoned their +boats, and took to the hills in the hope of cutting off the Spanish +retreat. They lost their bearings, and for a while were lost +themselves. The pursuit became hopeless, and was reluctantly abandoned. + +The party returned to the ship. Nothing further was possible. With a +force ten times as great as the one he really commanded, Captain Drake +might have attempted a march on Panama itself, for the spirit of the +great admiral was strong in him. + +Digging was resumed, and the labour was rewarded by the mocking +discovery of a heap of bones. It was plain to every one that the +company had been led into a cunningly prepared trap. In the heat of +their anger some were for sailing back to Trinidad and sacking San +Joseph. The skipper would hear of no such mad enterprise. He set sail +for the open sea, his heart full of two desires. He wanted to fall in +with some other English ships, and essay an attack on Panama. Failing +this, he hoped for the chance of meeting plenty of King Philip's +galleons. Large or small, he vowed to assail them and take a terrible +requital for his own misfortunes. + +His latter hope was realized. He fell in with two ships in his passage +through the Indies, and attacked and pillaged both. Although shorn of +nearly half his strength by the time he reached the open Atlantic, yet +he made for the Azores and captured yet a third galleon, and fell in +with a fourth sailing for Panama itself. He boarded this, and gave the +captain a letter for the authorities of the isthmian port. In this he +declared his intention of paying the place a speedy visit with such a +force that he would level the town with the ground if a hair on the +head of any captive had been injured. 'Twas a proud, characteristic +boast, but it was never carried into effect. + +Plymouth was duly reached. The _Golden Boar_ brought some goodly +treasure to port, many stories of wonderful lands, and a wealth of bad +news. There was mourning in Plymouth. And Paignton Rob--weeks +after--sat moist-eyed in a cottage at Newnham listening to a maiden's +sobs. + + + + +Chapter XLIII. + +IN PANAMA. + +Panama sweltered in a blaze of summer sunshine. The place reeked with +heat like a furnace. The smooth sea reflected the glare like a mirror; +the white houses dazzled the eyes, and sent fiery darts of pain through +them to the brain. The harbour showed no sign of life, the sentinel at +the castle nodded at his post, and his excellency the governor lay +stretched on a couch at an open window, whilst two slaves fanned him +with palm leaves. The streets were empty even of natives. These, +emulating their white masters, had crawled into the shade of wall or +tree, and curled up in slumber. + +The jail was a long, low building in the southern angle of the castle +courtyard. Its walls were of mud baked in the tropical sun, and its +roof was of palm-thatch. The windows were mere slits in the thick, +hard walls, and gave little light or air. The doors were stout, and +tightly barred. Of all the hot corners in the Pacific inferno, the +jail corner was the hottest. The place was full; either the long spell +of heat or the caprices of the sweltered governor had stirred up an +unruly spirit. Several soldiers had mutinied; the natives had been +troublesome and restive; a party of sailors had run amuck--doubtless +affected by the torrid heat--and so the prison population was at +high-water mark. The commandant had much ado to find room for the +seven Englishmen. On behalf of the Inquisitors, Basil had offered to +relieve him of their company, but the governor had said "No" to the +proposal. The seven were confined in one room of fair size, and, +except for the heat, were no more comfortless than they would have been +in the average English jail. But the heat was fearful! The wretched +men sat and stewed in it. Water was not too plentiful in the city, and +the native water-carriers had grown lazy; thirst racked the prisoners +one and all. They had been shut in for the better part of two weeks, +and wondered why they had not been brought to trial. They had expected +a short shrift and a speedy execution. Usually these expectations +would have been realized, but the governor would not be bothered with +any extra work whilst the heat spell lasted, and he had been warned +that the "Holy Office" would claim the Englishmen as heretics and +blasphemers. This would mean a lengthy wrangle between the military +and ecclesiastical authorities, and his sun-dried excellency was not in +the mood or condition to preside over heated arguments. The fellows +were safe, he said, and would have time to think over their sins, +political and religious. Let them alone for a while. + +It was the turn of Nick Johnson and Johnnie Morgan to be at the window. +A rough bench was drawn up near the opening, and the two knelt thereon +and let the hot air--cool compared with the general atmosphere of the +prison--blow softly on their faces. They were not allowed to put their +heads too near the blessed inlet, for that would shut out the light +from their comrades. Their joint occupation of the room had been +lengthy enough to give rise to a set of rules for their mutual good and +guidance. The law against blocking up the window too closely was a +very strict one. From the angle at which he looked out Nick could see +the drowsy sentinel. + +"'Twill be such a day as this that will give us our chance of freedom," +he said. "Could we but get out now, we might parade the streets +unchallenged for an hour. The Dons are in no hurry either to hang or +burn us, and we cannot wait their convenience. If the Indian will only +bring us the arrowhead that he promised, we will try our legs about +noon tomorrow. We ought to take a block out of this wall in +twenty-four hours." + +Johnnie nodded; his mouth was too parched for speaking. Nick's voice +was very like a raven's croak, and he licked his dry lips and relapsed +into silence. Their spell at the window came to an end. They stepped +down, and went to a corner. Two sailors took their places. + +The stifling afternoon passed, and left the captives limp, panting, and +exhausted. As the shadows lengthened, the stir of life arose anew in +the castle. Towards evening the jailer visited his charges, and an +Indian came with him bearing a pitcher of water and some cakes of +native corn. The soldier stood whilst the man deposited his burden; +then both turned and went out without speaking a word. The cakes were +passed round, and each man quickly broke his open. Nothing was +secreted in them, and eager looks were changed to those of +disappointment. Morgan took up the pitcher, drank, and passed to +Jeffreys, who handed it to Nick; and so it went round, each drinking a +little, curbing his desires in order that some of the precious liquid +might remain for the wakeful watches of the night. Darkness came, but +it brought little or no rest. Swarms of mosquitoes came in and bit +their hapless victims mercilessly as they tossed and turned on the bare +earthen floor. The nights of captivity were worse than the days. At +intervals the pitcher went round; but the water had got lukewarm, and +refreshed them little enough. + +Day broke, and the pitcher circulated for a last time. The tilting of +the vessel brought a happy discovery: the Indian had been true to his +promise. A small spearhead was wedged across the bottom. + +Here was hope, and also employment during the dreary hours. Nick +seized the welcome implement with a cry of joy, and he could not be +persuaded to refrain from using it at once. He measured Morgan's +shoulders on the wall. + +"This," said he, "must be the width of the hole. Let me trace it." + +In the corner, from the floor upwards, he marked off a rectangular +space. + +"We shall have to loosen a block of wall this size, push it out at the +right moment, crawl through, put it back again to avert suspicion, and +then make the best of our way into the forest. That was how we escaped +from Vera Cruz; the trick should serve us a second time." + +"Three hide better than seven," suggested Jeffreys. + +"And seven can fight better than three," added the sailor. "We shall +do no good in the forest without weapons. The game will not walk to +our fire to be cooked. Either Dons or Indians must furnish us. We lie +here, sheep in a pen, awaiting the butcher. If I am to die in Panama, +let it be no sheep's death." + +Each heart echoed these sentiments, and all resolved to risk the +desperate chances for life and liberty. Operations were commenced at +once. It was no great undertaking to remove, with proper tools, a +block of baked clay, some three feet or so by two feet, from a typical +Panama wall. The prison wall was about three feet thick, and almost as +hard as an English brick. The spearhead was of the small sort, and +really little better than a large arrowhead; fortunately it was almost +new, and well sharpened. Nick began working at the floor level, and +the first part of the process was to work the three feet odd along the +base of the wall and back into it until only a thin shell was left on +the outer side. The work could only progress slowly, for there must be +little sound of scraping or ringing of iron on the stone-like clay, and +all dust from the working must be dispersed about the floor. Two +watched at the window all the time. Interruptions were many and +sometimes lengthy, and after three hours of broken labour the workers +had only got some two inches back into the wall along the floor line. +But noon and the death-like stillness of "siesta" gave them a better +opportunity. A shaft that had been procured some days previously was +fished out from its hiding-place, and fitted to the spearhead. Working +in short shifts, by the space of an hour the floor line was worked +through so that daylight was visible in one or two places, and the +upright line in the angle of the wall was worked full depth back to a +height of half a foot. In the late afternoon, after the visit of the +jailer, a groove sufficiently deep to guide them in the darkness was +made all round. The work was to be finished when castle and town sank +to silence after nightfall. + +The oppressive heat of the past weeks was broken just after sunset by a +terrific thunderstorm, and the fury of the elemental outburst covered +all noises and allowed the toilers to work without any precaution. +But, alas! their very haste was their undoing. The head, blunted and +worn, broke off short in the depth of the wall. Attempts to extricate +it in the darkness only wedged it in more tightly. With a groan of +despair, the wearied men gave up their task, and sought slumber. + +The first gleams of stormy daylight found some of them awake, +feverishly at work stuffing the tell-tale grooves with dust moistened +by the last drains of the water in their pitcher. As yet the great +block was quite immovable, and another implement must be obtained to +complete the task. The flood waters from the courtyard had trickled in +through the apertures made near the floor, and under-garments were +taken off, and the betraying waters swabbed up. Some of the little +band huddled in the corner when the jailer came in with breakfast, and +he went out, having seen and suspected nothing. The Indian looked +inquiringly at the Englishmen, but they were unable to give him any +hint of their wants. + +The day passed. The sky cleared; then the clouds gathered again, and +there was another deluge. Panama was flooded out. The sun went down +behind a black veil, but towards midnight the stars came out, and a +delightfully cool breeze swept in at the window to soothe the fevered +bodies within prison walls. What a chance of escape they had missed +during the noisy hours of the storm, when not a soul was abroad in the +place! Knowing the opportunity was there, they tried desperately to +force the door. But the feat was far beyond all the strength at their +command. + +And the morning, delicious in its cool and fragrant freshness, brought +despair. The governor, who like the trees had drooped in the heat, +revived with the rain, and set about the duties of his position with +some vigour. The Englishmen were informed that when "siesta" was over +they would be brought into the castle hall for trial and judgment. The +flood had washed away their chances of escape. They solemnly and in +silence shook hands as men saying a long farewell. + + + + +Chapter XLIV. + +THE TRIAL. + +No bonds had been placed upon the limbs of the Englishmen since the day +when the Spanish captain had taken them out of the hands of Basil. +They walked unfettered to the judgment hall, and stood without shackles +before their judges. The court was crowded; it was not every day that +a band of terrible fire-eating Englishmen was on view in Panama. +Rumour spoke of them as friends and companions of Drake, and Spaniards +and Indians alike were eager to gaze upon the prisoners. The governor +was chief judge; beside him, on the one hand sat the deputy-governor, +and on the other was placed the chief ecclesiastical dignitary of the +colony. Basil stood by the cleric's side. Johnnie caught sight of +him, and stared him almost out of countenance. He had not seen him on +the day of his capture in the forest, but had caught glimpses of him on +the march. Recollections struggled in his mind. Where had he seen the +fellow before? Nick Johnson, too, felt that he had seen or heard of a +dark-eyed, sallow-faced fellow who resembled the man in court. + +The proceedings opened, and the civil authorities formally charged the +prisoners with piracy and invasion of the territory of King Philip of +Spain. The bishop instantly opposed, and claimed to have the charge +amended to one of heresy and murderous opposition to the Church. The +governor asked for evidence in support of his claim. A nod to Basil, +and the latter began a speech for the prosecution. Master Jeffreys +stopped him by an appeal to the governor. + +"May it please your excellency," he said, "my comrades have no +knowledge of Spanish, and I have but little. I am persuaded that your +excellency, as a soldier and a gentleman of honour, is anxious to give +us a fair trial. There is peace between our Queen and King Philip; +there should at least be justice and fair-dealing betwixt you and us. +Mine ears tell me that yonder man is more accustomed to speak my tongue +than yours; his Spanish hath the same rough English smack about it as +hath mine own. I pray you that he may say to us in English what he +saith to you in the language of Spain." + +Basil reddened and turned to his superior; but the governor, though +indolent and capricious, was a man of some honour and chivalry. He +told the accuser to speak alternately in the language of the court and +that of the prisoners. + +Very few sentences in English were necessary to enlighten Johnnie as to +Basil's identity. He could now see the spiteful face that confronted +him on a memorable morning in the shades of Dean Forest. He listened +intently. The harangue was long and tedious, and endeavoured to prove +that the tallest prisoner was a contumacious heretic, who had fought +against the Holy Church, frustrated her lawful efforts at the +conversion of England, and had slain two noble and saintly missionaries +and servants of King Philip--to wit, a certain Jesuit father, Jerome, +and a monk named John. The prisoner had also repeatedly attempted the +life of the speaker. As for the others, one at least had attempted the +speaker's life in Plymouth, well knowing who and what he was; and all +the others were aiders and abettors. + +Johnnie heard, and asked if he had the right of reply. + +"Most certainly," said the governor. "This is a court of law, and it +is our boast and pride that we give justice without fear or favour." + +Whereupon Morgan, with Jeffreys as interpreter, gave his version of the +incidents in the forest. A plot, to which no king could have been a +party, was set afoot by his accuser and others to destroy a forest over +which he (Morgan) was a duly appointed guardian. He fought the +conspirators by way of simple duty to his trust. Could he do less and +hold up his head amongst honourable men? His accuser and his +confederates had basely attempted to assassinate two noble +Englishmen--to wit, Admiral Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, a close +friend and counsellor of England's Queen. He asked whether Spain +fought with the weapons of assassins, and whether King Philip, as a +Christian and friendly monarch, could be a party to any such dastardly +conduct. The governor was a gentleman of honour, and could answer for +his sovereign. + +The governor promptly denied that "His Most Catholic Majesty" could +ever countenance such deeds. Johnnie bowed and thanked him, and +resumed his defence. He dealt with the questions of piracy and +invasion of Spanish dominions. England and Spain were, he declared, at +peace, and no official could deny an Englishman the right to travel +peaceably in Spanish dominions, unless a law expressly excluded them. +Any Spaniard, so long as he did nothing to harm the Queen or the +government, might travel in England, and claim the protection of its +laws as a peaceful sojourner in the land. Surely the Spaniards were +not going to be outdone in matters of international courtesy. As +regards the New World, the Englishman contended that it was open to +explorers and colonizers of all Christian nations, and Spain could not +claim it as her own unless she also occupied it. + +The governor heard Morgan patiently, and hearkened to Master Jeffreys +whilst he expounded his ideas of the rights of England in the New +World. Then his excellency summed up the case. He ruled that the two +gentlemen adventurers were not prisoners of the Holy Office, but of his +Majesty. The charges against them were those of piracy and invasion. +They had certainly been captured on Spanish soil in the act of +appropriating--or endeavouring to appropriate--treasures that belonged +to Spain. Moreover, they were companions of a Captain Drake, who, with +his brother, the admiral, had been guilty of repeated and gross +piracies on the high seas. Their guilt was fully established, and by +law they ought to be taken down to the harbour and hanged in chains, as +a warning to others. Mercy, however, should be shown them; their lives +would be spared, but they must serve ten years in the galleys. A hint +was given, after a whispered consultation with the bishop, that +renunciation of their Protestant heresies would bring about a material +lightening of their sentences. + +The five seamen were next put on trial. Basil promptly claimed the +Johnsons as fugitives from the Inquisition. The cropped ears and lost +thumbs were convincing evidence against them, and they were handed over +to the Church, to be dealt with according to the law ecclesiastical. +An attempt to claim the other three sailors failed. The governor would +not quit his hold on them. His own galley was sadly undermanned, and +he could not let three stout and skilled oarsmen slip through his +fingers. He looked longingly upon the two crop-eared fellows, and +begrudged the Church the possession of them. But he remembered with a +sigh that there must be give and take in this world, and five out of +seven was not a bad proportion. + +The court broke up. The five galley-slaves were taken back to their +cell for that night. Nick and Ned were walked away in charge of the +jailers of the Inquisition. Their ultimate fate was to be decided the +next day. + + + + +Chapter XLV. + +FOR FAITH AND COUNTRY! + +The trial of the two brothers was a very elaborate and ceremonial +business. The Inquisition Court, with the bishop presiding, sat for +about three hours. There was reading of papers, citing of +ecclesiastical and royal decrees, and a good deal of argument between +the bishop, the Chief Inquisitor, and Brother Basil. Through all this +wordy process the two sailors stood, or lounged, or chatted quietly +together. At first they had listened, hoping to glean a little +information; but as Latin predominated over Spanish, and they +understood no word of the former and only the New World barbaric +mixture of the latter, they soon ceased to pay attention, and lawyers +and ecclesiastics droned on as long as it pleased them to do so. + +In the last few minutes the interest swung round to the prisoners. +Basil ordered them to attend and answer truthfully certain questions +the court desired to put to them. The two lean, brown bodies were +straightened, and two pairs of keen, clear eyes stared into Basil's +shifty orbs. + +"Are you sons of the same parents?" + +"Yes." + +"Names?" + +"Nicodemus and Edward." + +"Nationality?" + +"English, God be thanked!" answered Nick. + +"Amen! brother," said Ned. + +"Religion?" + +The two rough fellows looked at one another. The question was really a +puzzler. Living their lives out on the sea, unlettered and unlearned, +they had no knowledge of religious formularies. + +"We believe in God and Jesus Christ His Son," said Nick. "Is that so, +brother?" + +"That is so," said Ned; "those are the names that come in the +chaplain's prayers." + +"Do you acknowledge the authority of his Holiness the Pope of Rome?" + +Another look of consultation, and Ned shook his head. Nick answered. +"We do not believe in the Pope. We did as boys during Mary's reign." + +"Why did you change?" + +"Queen and Parliament no longer believe in him, but hate him for an +enemy. We believe in our Queen and Parliament. Will that do, brother?" + +"Beautifully. Tell the truth and shame the devil. We have drunk +confusion to the Pope in many a cup of sack, and in good company +too--with Franky Drake and Jack Hawkins, Jacob Whiddon, and a host of +bonny sailor-men. No, brother, we do not believe in the Pope, although +there are some honest fellows and many rogues who do. We must stand by +the words passed to old comrades." + +There was a brief consultation on the judges' bench, and the bishop +gave it as his opinion that the two men were utterly ignorant on +religious questions, and simply believed what they were told to +believe. He himself, in pursuance of the duties of his sacred office, +would expound the true faith to them, and show them the heresies of +their own lightly-held belief. Whereupon his lordship addressed the +prisoners for the better part of an hour in very dignified Spanish and +scholarly Latin. The two paid earnest attention, for the +ecclesiastic's tone was kindly, almost fatherly. They understood +little of what he said, and Basil was not allowed to interpret, as the +bishop believed that his own voice and words would have greater weight, +and it was acknowledged that the Englishmen had a fair knowledge of +Spanish. + +As the good man sipped a cup of wine and fanned himself after his +episcopal exhortation, Basil briefly questioned the prisoners again. +The bishop had shown them their errors in matters of faith; were they +prepared to recant, and re-enter the fold from which they had +ignorantly strayed? + +These questions were plain enough, and the brothers looked at one +another once more. Both heads shook. Nick spoke out. "We are not +able," he said, "to judge between Pope and Parliament, or between one +bishop and another. Our faith and our country are one; our home and +our Church are one. We are loyal Englishmen, and will stick to Queen, +Parliament, and friends because we love them and believe in them and +know that they will never betray or desert us. We hold the faith of +our friends, and cannot, without dishonour, turn and accept the faith +of our foes." + +The bishop was angry at this sturdy answer. His vanity was piqued that +two rude sailors should be so uninfluenced by his learned discourse. +He ordered Basil to tell them what the inevitable consequences of their +obstinacy would be. + +The two brothers listened calmly enough. "Will you recant now?" + +"Is it 'No,' brother Ned?" + +"It is 'No!'" + +"No!" said Nick; "and God help us both!" + +Then sentence was pronounced. It was that the next evening, an hour +before sundown, the two should be led to a stake fixed in the +market-place of the town and there publicly burnt, in the hope that the +destruction of their bodies by fire might save their souls from the +everlasting flames of hell. The bishop spoke the sentence, and Basil +translated it piece by piece. The toil-worn figures in the prisoners' +dock became more fixed and rigid as the dread words fell, one by one. +All was said. The brothers faced one another, and there was deathly +pallor whitening the tan of their cheeks. They shook hands silently, +then kissed; then hand in hand, like two children, they walked away +between the guards, and the most curious onlooker never saw even the +tremor of an eyelid. + +That night earnest priests, zealous enough according to the narrow +ideas of the time, place, creed, and race, visited the doomed men and +exhorted them to forsake their errors. Always they got the same +simple, faithful, patriotic reply. They served their Queen, their +country, their captain. What these believed, they believed, and held +to be right. Faith with them was a matter of national obligation and +faithfulness to their leaders and comrades. To deny the faith was to +deny the principles that had ruled their lives. Such treason to +country and conscience was impossible. They thanked the priests for +their ministrations, and begged after a while to be left alone. A +request that they might speak with Morgan or Jeffreys was refused, but +a young monk promised to take a message of affectionate farewell. He +fulfilled the promise, and the simple, childlike, yet valiant words +cheered many a terrible hour in the months that followed. + +Nicodemus Johnson, and Edward his brother, died at the stake in Panama +at the time and on the spot appointed. A curious and silent crowd +watched the agonizing passing away of the two brave, simple-hearted +fellows; and, Spaniard and Indian alike, they went away profoundly +impressed. A brighter lustre was added to the name "Englishman." It +is difficult to say whether the noble fellows were martyrs most to +religion or country. So little versed were they in religious practices +that they hardly knew a prayer for use in their last hours, and their +last thoughts and visions were not of heaven, but of the green fields +and blue waters of England. + +The stakes were placed side by side, and, as the hands and arms were +left free, the brothers could touch one another. + +When the fagots were lighted, and the stifling smoke rolled up into +their faces. Nick stretched out his hand and sought that of his +younger brother. "God bless us, brother, and forgive us whatever we +have done amiss!" he cried. + +"God bless England and give her victory over her enemies," replied Ned. + +And hand in hand--the loving, tortured grip heartening them to endure +the awful agony--the brothers died. + +"_Dulce et decorum est pro patriâ--et fide--mori!_" + + + + +Chapter XLVI. + +THE GALLEY SLAVES. + +The great heats were past; the climate along the Panama littoral was +bearable, and the governor decided to pay official visits to the +stations along the coast. The bishop thought the occasion favourable +for a tour of pastoral inspection, and decided to go with his +excellency. Other functionaries, with other duties to perform, hinted +to the governor's secretary or the bishop's chaplain that the official +progress would be more imposing if they were included. Thus it came to +pass that a notable company embarked on the _Santa Maria_ on a certain +cool October day. + +Besides those that went aboard the galley willingly, hoping for +pleasure and profit, there were about one hundred and fifty hapless +wretches who were dragged down to the water-side in chains, and then +chained to the place they must occupy during the whole of the voyage. +Amongst these were Morgan, Jeffreys, and the three sailors from the +_Golden Boar_. + +The _Santa Maria_ was about one hundred and thirty feet long and +fifteen feet beam, a galley of a somewhat broad and clumsy make. In +the fore-part was a small raised deck, with three guns, and rough +hatches underneath for the sailors, soldiers, and servitors concerned +in the working of the sails and helm, the defence and the comfort of +the dignitaries aboard. In the after-part was another raised deck of +more generous dimensions, and on it were the cabins and state-rooms +belonging to the governor, the bishop, the captain, and the gentlemen +of the retinues belonging to the great personages. Midway between the +two decks were the human engines that propelled the unwieldy craft. +Twenty-five benches ran down along the starboard side and the larboard, +and from each bench a great oar or sweep projected into the water. To +each bench were chained three luckless slaves--seventy-five down each +side, and a hundred and fifty in all. The benches were intended for +four rowers apiece, and could at a pinch accommodate five. The supply +of able-bodied prisoners was small, and the Indians refused to +undertake the work at a wage, so three men were compelled to manage +oars that were a heavy tax on the strength of four. There was a slight +compensation in this--the three had room to lie more comfortably at +night-time. Between the two lines of benches ran a narrow raised +platform, and along this two boatswains walked, whip in hand, to keep +the rowers up to their work, and to visit severely any attempt at +shirking the forced duties of their unhappy position. About a score of +the slaves were white men: there were two Englishmen besides the five +from the _Golden Boar_, the rest being Spaniards or Portuguese +convicted of some crime; but the majority of the rowers were Indians, +who on some pretext or other had been enslaved and sent in chains to +the oars. + +The company were all aboard; some in satins and velvets, in glistening +armour; some in modest fustian; and as many in nothing but a dirty +waist-cloth. The guns from the castle roared out; those of the galley +spoke in answer. The trumpeters blew a fanfare; the chief boatswain +sounded his whistle; there was a simultaneous crack of two long, +cowhide whips, and the human machine in the waist of the galley began +its rhythmic work that put life and motion into the vessel. + +At number three oar on the starboard side Morgan and Jeffreys tugged, +and a Spaniard sat between them. In a line with them were the three +sailors of Captain Drake's crew, and at benches numbers one and two +larboard and starboard Europeans slaved. Behind them streamed brown +lines of meek-faced Indians. In the ordering of his rowers, the +Spanish captain did not forget those whose skins were of the same hue +as his own, and he spared himself and them the degradation of toiling +and suffering side by side with the inferior race; the white men had +the fore-part of the benches to themselves. All were stripped to the +waist; that was necessary down in the stifling den: moreover the +boatswains objected to putting the whip to any back that was covered; +they liked to see the effect of the lash, and judge whether the blow +was sufficient. + +The galley moved out of the harbour in stately fashion; at the peak of +the foremast floated the banner of Spain; on either side of the helm +the flags of the governor and the bishop fluttered gaily--fraternal +strips of emblazoned silk. It was a fair sight and a fair day, and +there were proud eyes watching it; but, as is too often the case, the +tinsel and show of human vain-glory enshrouded many aching hearts. + +The Spaniard that sat between Morgan and Jeffreys was a powerful, +black-bearded fellow, inured to his lot by three years of slavery at +the oar. The Englishmen were also of uncommon size and strength, so +they could keep their sweep going without putting all their energies +into their stroke as some of the rowers were forced to do. Behind +them, where the Indians rowed, there was more than one stinging lash +and squeal of pain before the harbour was cleared. Morgan's cheek +flushed at the first cry, and he almost lost grip of his oar. The slip +was noted instantly, and a warning, "Steady at number three," recalled +him to his task. Jeffreys gave him a look, and the Spaniard cursed +volubly at his companion's clumsiness. + +"Keep a civil tongue, Hernando," called out the boatswain; "your friend +has not had as much practice as yourself; he'll improve." + +Hernando spat on the floor. "Dog! son of a dog!" he muttered. "I'll +choke 'Hernando' out of his throat. Time was when he addressed me as +'Signer,' and grovelled for favours." + +"Pardon, comrade," said Johnnie. + +"Granted! granted!" replied the Spaniard. "I meant no offence to you; +but you will see that if anything goes wrong at this oar, yonder +villain will visit my back with his whip. He always does so." + +"I'll do my best to keep the whip from all of us," answered the +Englishman. He bent his back to the shameful work, and felt, in the +bitterness of his degradation, something less than human. The thoughts +that surged through his brain are too pitiful to be set down here. +Chained down in a filthy den, liable to be whipped like a beast of +burden, fed upon stuff that was but one remove from offal--how +horrible! And he could not forget that about a year before he had +stood in the court of his sovereign, proud, happy, praised; great men +shook him familiarly by the hand, and a winsome maiden smiled upon him. +Now he was a chained slave, doomed to work, eat, and sleep on a narrow +plank for ten long years. Ten years! could he survive ten days of the +horror and squalor and degradation? + +The morning wore on. The upper decks were radiant with sunshine, cool +with fresh breezes, and gay with laughter. The hold steamed like an +oven, stank most offensively, and groaned with anguish. The rowers +began to feel the strain, and the captain ordered the broad, lateen +sails to be set on both masts. The breeze was well behind, the galley +under good way, and for half an hour or so the sweeps were ordered in, +and the slaves fed with a lump of coarse biscuit and refreshed with a +pannikin of tepid water. Morgan and Jeffreys sat and talked quietly, +and called out a cheery word to the three sailors, whose British hearts +were bursting with shame and anger. + +In the heat of noon the breeze dropped, and the oars were set +vigorously to work again. His excellency wanted quicker progress to be +made, so the boatswains commenced to chant a rude song as they walked +up and down, and called on the rowers to keep time to the swing of the +tune. The fellows did their best, and some of the Spanish slaves +joined in the chorus. The song, poor as it was heartened them a +little; but the spurt did not last long and the singing ceased. The +boatswains used other means. Sometimes it was a sharp word or an angry +oath, at others a crack of the whip in the air; too often the thong +came down with a cruel cut on bare flesh, and there was a cry or an +oath from the victim and a frantic tugging at the great oar. + +Thus the day wore on; long spells of rowing, short periods of rest; and +all the while the slaves grew fainter and yet fainter in their horrible +workroom, and the lash of the whips resounded the more often. Hernando +was lashed twice, for no real reason that his companions could +discover. The second blow curled across the muscle of his arm and +benumbed it for a while, and Johnnie whispered him to move in rhythm +with them, whilst he and Jeffreys did the actual rowing. The fellow +was grateful, and vowed by the Virgin never to forget the kindness. + +The late afternoon brought the governor to his first place of call. +Rowing ceased; the anchor was dropped, and the slaves were given their +supper of biscuit, a scrap of meat, and a pannikin of water just +coloured with wine--this last was a special gift from the governor. +Then, wearied and aching, they curled up like tired dogs on the +benches, adjusted their chains so as to relieve themselves of as much +weight as possible, and fell asleep. + + + + +Chapter XLVII. + +HERNANDO SPEAKS. + +The governor's progress lasted about five weeks. The galley sometimes +lay at anchor for several days, and on these occasions the slaves went +ashore for a time in chained gangs for the sake of the fresh air and +the walking exercise; but they spent the greater part of the day +chained to the benches, and always slept on them at night. At one +place there had been some insubordination amongst the garrison, so the +governor paraded the whole of his gaunt, dishevelled, whip-scarred crew +through the town, in order to impress the disloyal ones with the power +and terror of the law. + +During these weeks, and especially during the times of leisure in +harbour, the two Englishmen got better acquainted with their companion. +At first the Spaniard was moody and inclined to be spiteful: he could +not forget that his neighbours were English; but Johnnie's repeated +acts of courtesy and kindness, and his cheeriness at times when the +three sailors from the _Golden Boar_ got dangerously despondent, broke +down the barrier of race and creed and speech. Hernando began to talk +of himself. He had been a gentleman adventurer aboard a Spanish ship; +was hot-tempered and impatient of official control. On several +occasions whilst in harbour at Panama he had come into wordy conflict +with the authorities. A sailor aboard his vessel, who had acted as his +servant, abused his trust, and had been soundly thrashed in +consequence, had gone to the governor with a plausible story concerning +a conspiracy which he declared his master was hatching. Hernando was +in bad odour with the authorities at the time; had been certainly +guilty of rash and foolish speeches; so the story was believed, and he +was sent to the galleys. The treacherous servant was rewarded with the +post of boatswain, and he used his authority over his old master with +the most offensive vindictiveness. + +The Europeans talked with one another fairly freely. Morgan and +Jeffreys were looked up to by the English section. The two stranger +sailors had both been captured in Spanish waters some years before, +and, after a period in the jail of Cadiz, sent out to the Indies; they +had been galley slaves at Panama for about two years. + +One afternoon whilst lolling on his bench, no boatswain or free sailor +within hearing, Hernando asked his two English comrades whether they +had considered the idea of attempting an escape. They replied that at +first they had thought of nothing else, but no ways or means offered, +and they had almost abandoned the idea. They detailed the story of +their attempt to escape from the prison in Panama. The Spaniard +listened carefully. + +"Now," he said, "I have seen chances of escape from these chains over +and over again; not for one man, mind you, but for a body of resolute +fellows who would follow a leader. There are some thorough rascals +chained to these benches; I have sounded them, and found that I dared +not trust them. It is not difficult for a man to earn his freedom by +turning traitor on his comrades; indeed, it is well known that liberty +will be given for the betrayal of any plot for revolt: a coward or +rogue would take such a chance instantly." + +"What about the Indians?" asked Jeffreys. + +"Sheep! I do not count upon them, and I have shown you that we dare +not depend much on some of our own colour. It is the coming of you two +and the three sailors from your ship that has revived my hopes and +plans. All the world knows how you Englishmen can fight. I know it, +and have hated you for it. I hope to live and find my hatred turned to +esteem and affection. The two sailors that were here before you I +sounded long ago. One is eager enough; the other has become +broken-spirited, and hesitates to venture upon anything where failure +would add to his present miseries. Five of you are strong, and not yet +cowed at all by the lash. The whip will never cow me. I have a +revenge to take; and I will take it, or die in a bold attempt to do so. +There are seven of us prepared to plot and dare all in the dash for +liberty; one of your countrymen is weak. I can depend pretty +confidently on four of my own tongue, and on the gray-bearded Portugee +at number one oar. The cut-throats and thieves, that help to make up +our number, will fight stoutly enough if suddenly they find themselves +free and armed. Love of plunder and thirst for slaughter and revenge +will nerve them. But we must not trust them beforehand. The poor +Indians, too, will strike a blow at their oppressors if a clear chance +of freedom offers." + +"You are not hoping for an opportunity in one of these harbours?" + +"No, nor in Panama either. Our chance will not come on this voyage; +there are too many troops aboard. But we sometimes go out with empty +cabins; no one but the captain and his officers. Stores have to be +carried from port to port, and treasure fetched from places farther +down the coast. It is then, at night, that our hour will come. We +must watch for it, prepare for it, and use it without hesitation. Are +you with me in the matter?" + +"Heart and soul! Heart and soul!" + +A boatswain's step was heard, and nothing more was said. + + + + +Chapter XLVIII. + +THE REVOLT OF THE SLAVES. + +The _Santa Maria_ returned to Panama. The governor had no further need +of her for a while, so she lay anchored about two cables' length from +the quay. The slaves remained aboard, still chained to their benches. +The chain that went around their waists was attached to another piece +fastened to a ring in the seat itself. This attached piece was just +long enough to allow a man to rise and stand upright, but it gave him +no chance to take a step in any direction. The galley arrived in +harbour in the late afternoon, and pulled in alongside the quay wall. +For a couple of hours there was plenty of bustle and confusion aboard; +much coming and going of soldiers, sailors, and servitors. Hernando +looked eagerly up to the bulwarks many times, as though expecting +something; and on more than one occasion he moved his oar three times +quickly up and down, just touching the water each time. A sailor ran +along the top of the bulwarks, holding to the rigging. The fellow gave +a quick glance down, and something dropped into the Spaniard's lap. A +minute or two later he was back again; something was dropped this time +also. The short twilight had just commenced. A little afterwards the +boatswain's whistle sounded, the oars moved, and the galley was rowed +out to her berthing station. + +The journey that day had been a long one; the unfortunate slaves were +half dead with fatigue. The anchor chains rattled, and the great +sweeps were drawn in. Lanterns flashed along the boatswains' bridge; +cakes, water, and a little fruit were handed down to be eaten and +drunken in the dark. + +"The saints be praised!" ejaculated Hernando when the last lantern +disappeared; "they will not trouble to fetter us to-night. I have +prayed all day that they might not. They trust to our fatigue and the +guns of the fort. To-morrow we shall probably be chained hand and foot +at the oncoming of night. We often get this freedom the first night in +harbour, especially if we come in late and wearied. This is our +chance, and my friend knew it." + +The Spaniard passed a file to Morgan. "I have had one or two of these +dropped on several occasions before, but have always thrown them into +the water before morning, being afraid to trust my fellows and use +them. I signalled for them to-day. Shall we make the venture?" + +"The chance is desperate," whispered Johnnie. + +"So must any chance be. The guard aboard will be small and sleepy; our +limbs are free; we lie a fair distance from the shore. We are never so +loosely guarded as when in Panama itself." + +The two Englishmen remained silent for perhaps three or four minutes, +thinking the matter out. "Let's try, and God be with us!" said +Jeffreys. "If we fail, then death is preferable to life in this foetid +pit, chained up and treated like dogs." + +"I agree!" answered Johnnie. + +He and Hernando sat themselves astride the bench, so as to get at the +ring that attached the waist chain to the one that was fixed into the +seat. This ring necessarily underwent a lot of friction as the men +moved about at the oars, and the three had given the ring as much +chafing as possible for some two or three weeks. Moreover, the steam +from the panting bodies, the mists and spray from the sea, rusted and +ate into the iron. There was no chain factory nearer than Europe, and +fetters were not easily renewable in Spanish America. In fact, the +bonds of the slaves were by no means secure; but they were quite +sufficient for their purpose, seeing that the men were keenly watched +by day, and when in harbour shackled and manacled at night. + +There was a buzz of talking, and plenty of weary shuffling and moaning +down on the slaves' deck. Chains clanked and rattled incessantly, and +would never be silent for long all through the night, for restless +sleepers would toss and turn on their hard couches to relieve pressure +on limbs only too often covered with festering and verminous sores. +Still, the noise of a file might be detected as an unusual sound; but +Hernando and Johnnie took the ring tightly in the palm of the hand, and +filed so carefully that Jeffreys, by droning a doleful tune, was able +to cover all the noise they made. + +The worn ring was soon filed through, and ten minutes later Jeffreys +had detached himself, and the bench chain was swinging free under the +seat. The files were passed along to the sailors from the _Golden +Boar_, and after a while they were free. No man moved so as to betray +the fact. The files came across the gangway, and were passed to the +Indians behind. Hernando had let them into the plot, preferring to +trust them rather than the white scum. Nine men were soon able to +move; the waist chains still girdled them, but this did not interfere +with freedom and action, and no time was thrown away in an attempt to +cut them through. The three Indians behind the sailors were next +liberated. A dozen eager and desperate men were ready to make a dash +for life, and hardly two hours had gone by. + +"How many more?" whispered Johnnie. + +"We must wait before trusting any others," replied the wary Spaniard. + +About an hour was allowed to slip by. The freed men laid themselves on +their benches and feigned slumber. Twice during the time a sentinel +passed along the gangway, and flashed a lantern here and there on to +the huddled forms. His glance was of a cursory description. The +toil-worn lines of wretched beings lay just as he had seen them a +hundred times: some were still as dead logs; others moved and babbled +in their sleep; here and there one sat with his head in his hands, +bowed down with sleep or agonizing thought. There was nothing unusual; +only the familiar scenes and sounds of the slave deck at night. The +sentinel walked off to the fore-deck to get a breath of sweeter air and +the company of a sailor comrade. + +The slaves slept. Being, for the most part, without hope of anything +better than a few hours of forgetfulness between the sun-setting and +the dawn, the majority gave themselves willingly and thankfully to +slumber as soon as the scanty supper was eaten. No flash of a +sentinel's lantern, no tramping of feet, no cry of nocturnal bird or +beast would waken them; they sank into sleep as into some deep, +soundless, lightless pit. God rest all such unhappy ones! + +The sentry showed no signs of paying any further visit; the captain was +ashore. Hernando slipped from his seat, cautiously wakened the fourth +English sailor, and gave him a file with whispered instructions; then +he passed on to a trustworthy fellow-countryman of his own and gave him +the other. He came back to his bench, and waited for about another +quarter of an hour. "Now," he whispered to his two companions. He +dropped to the floor and crawled on all fours to the after-part of the +ship. No one else moved. After what seemed almost an endless time, he +crawled back again. "The way is clear; not three men are awake above +our heads. I'll take the Indians; they move as noiselessly as cats." + +The Spaniard went to the fore-part of the ship, and three Indians +behind him in single file. The other three moved stealthily from bench +to bench and awoke their fellows. Hardly a sound had been made. The +three sailors from the _Golden Boar_ and Master Jeffreys crawled above +deck; Morgan remained in command below. + +Minutes passed. A slight sound of a scuffle, a cry, came faintly from +the fore-deck. Then dead silence fell again. Time flew on. The tide +was beginning to run out; the galley swung with it. The Indians, +stolid enough as a rule, began to fidget on their seats. A lantern +appeared at the fore end of the rowers' pit. Jeffreys came along. + +"Well?" asked Morgan anxiously. + +"Ugh! an ugly business. Not a man lives of the crew or guard in the +fore-part of the vessel. Hernando's knives and Indian fingers have +done their deadly work. Are all awake?" + +"Not the Europeans." + +"Awaken them; here's a hammer and chisel; get their chains off. +Hernando and his Indians are gone to the after-deck to block up the +cabin doors. Our three boys are at the anchor. Keep this lantern. We +have padded the hawse-hole, but there'll be some noise getting the +anchor up. Have the rowers ready for my signal." + +There was soon clatter and even clamour amongst the slaves, and Morgan +had much ado to keep the wilder ones from shouting and running on deck. +One Spaniard who tried to do so, intent upon robbery, was promptly +knocked down. "You're not safe yet," cried Johnnie; "you're still in +harbour and under the fort guns; you'll sit down and row, or go +overboard to the sharks." The fellow poured out a torrent of foul +language, but the Englishman's fist was hard, his own oar-comrades were +against him, so he sat down and made ready for work. + +"Ready?"--Jeffreys' voice. + +"Yes." + +The anchor rattled on the deck. + +"Pull for life and liberty!" called Morgan. + +A great sigh ran along the benches; dark figures swayed in the faint +light; the splash of oars sounded above the lap of the tide; the great +galley was under way and going seawards. The time was some minutes +short of midnight. + +Panama was asleep. The men rowed slowly, making as little noise as +possible until clear of the swarm of canoes and small craft that hung +about in the bay. Then they went to work with a will. The oars +creaked and groaned; the vessel rolled to the ocean swell. The +officers awoke in their cabins only to find themselves trapped. Dawn +found the galley well out of sight of land and going northwards. + + + + +Chapter XLIX. + +EASTWARD HO! + +Panama awoke with the sun, discovered the flight of the galley, and +made ready for pursuit. There were some small craft in the bay, and +these were manned with Indians and soldiers and sent out to sea; but +they came back as they went. Truth to tell, the flotilla would have +stood no chance against the guns of the _Santa Maria_, and those aboard +the tossing boats knew that. + +Thereafter, for some weeks, the town lived its nights in alarm. Fires +burned along the fort and on the most seaward points of the bay. No +man expected other than that the slaves would come back in the darkness +and take a terrible revenge for the cruelties they had suffered. But +Panama was alarmed quite needlessly: the galley never rode on its +waters again. + +The first care of the revolted slaves was to get as far away from their +late masters as possible. In spite of their fatigue, they rowed hard +until daybreak. At first there was some difficulty with the European +riff-raff. These wanted to swagger about on deck and bully the +Indians; but neither Hernando nor his two English friends would hear of +it. They had chosen the able-bodied sailors from amongst the rowers, +and placed them on deck to attend to helm and sails. All not wanted +for this duty must sit at the oars. Two or three flatly refused to do +so, and began to talk above their deserts. They were promptly put back +into chains again, and Hernando stood over them with a whip and flogged +them into work. The lesson was not lost on the others. + +A breeze came up with the sun; sails were spread, sweeps taken in, and +the Indians freed from their chains. The delight of the poor fellows +was unbounded. They fell down before their rescuers, worshipping them; +then they rushed up on deck, dancing and singing like a mob of children +let loose from confinement. There was plenty of excellent food aboard, +and for once the rowers fed sumptuously. The breeze continuing, all +save the three commanders and the deck hands laid themselves down and +slept until nearly noon. Then labour began again. The wind still held +strongly, so the natives were put to work cleansing the slave-deck of +its accumulated filth. The chains, save about a score of the strongest +sets, were tossed overboard. These were kept in case of mutiny amongst +the scum whites. There was no fear of trouble with the natives; the +faithful, grateful creatures would follow their liberators everywhere. + +The cleaning being finished, a council of all the whites--save the +three put into bonds--was held on the after-deck. Hernando, as prime +mover in the revolt, presided. As the Spaniard was a good seaman, he +was unanimously appointed captain; whereupon he chose Morgan, Jeffreys, +and a trustworthy Spaniard as his chief officers. Then, before the +whole assembly, he swore solemnly to do his utmost for the welfare of +his ship; and his three officers, having his promise to issue no orders +that a gentleman might hesitate to fulfil, solemnly swore to obey him +to the death. The others, according to their several stations, took +vows of faithful obedience to their officers. + +The captain then proceeded to set matters in order. There were +prisoners in the cabins near them; these were brought forth one by one, +and examined with commendable fairness. Morgan was surprised at the +change in Hernando. He had expected to find him vindictive and cruel, +and he knew that not a soul in the fore-part of the galley had been +spared in the darkness of the previous night. But liberty had softened +the Spaniard; he remembered the injustice he had suffered, not with a +view to exacting "eye for eye" and "tooth for tooth" from others, but +with the resolve not to inflict injustice upon his fellows. The trials +of the prisoners took up the remainder of the day. Some who had been +cruel to the slaves were hanged with but little ceremony; it was hardly +to be expected that men whose backs still smarted would do otherwise. +The two boatswains had perished the night before; the chief boatswain +was doomed to share their fate; two others were hanged; the rest were +sent below to the slave-deck, and chained to one of the oars, far +enough away from the troublesome slaves who were undergoing punishment. + +The night passed without alarm. Hernando and Morgan walked the deck +for hours in the starlight, planning for the future. They saw the +difficulties and dangers of their position, but could not clearly see a +way out of them. They had a ship, well manned and well armed, and +fairly well victualled. What should they do with her? Search would be +made for them, and galley after galley, ship after ship, coming into +Panama, would be sent in quest of them. It they continued in Spanish +waters, they must be overtaken at some time or other. What would the +result be? They had guns, ammunition, and a fair supply of weapons, +but their fighting capacity was very small. The Indians--or most of +them--must be at the oars. Out of less than a score of Europeans, some +must be about deck duties. A mere handful of men would be left to work +the guns and fight. A foe of any strength must inevitably capture them. + +Should they attempt to cross the Atlantic to England? There again came +the question of capture. Would the Indians remain faithful if any +attempt were made to take them thousands of miles from their homes? +Should they turn corsairs; capture a sailing ship; set the Indians +ashore on their own coast, or leave them the galley to do as they +pleased with it? The two men could not make up their minds. + +The next day the same thoughts came to the rest of the Europeans, and +they were heard discussing their chances of ultimate escape. Another +full council was held, and the position placed clearly before them all. +There were many differences of opinion, but eventually it was agreed +that there was too much danger in remaining near the seaboard of +Spanish America, and equal or greater peril to be encountered in an +attempt to make a winter passage to Europe. No man would face the +voyage round Cape Horn with an inadequate crew and a clumsy galley +mainly propelled by oars. The voyage would take nearly a year, and +they had provisions for about a fortnight. The plan of capturing a +small ship was more favourably considered; but the question arose, +Where could such a ship be found? If they got into the ordinary track +of navigation, other and less welcome vessels might sight them. The +position was distinctly perilous, and a bad feature of it all was that +some of the rescued men were thoroughly treacherous and untrustworthy, +and others so broken down by years of slavery as to be helpless for +strenuous action. The three ringleaders saw plainly that they had less +than a dozen men, including themselves, that could be relied upon for +loyal, valiant, and intelligent conduct in an emergency. They went to +rest that night with no definite plans for the morrow. The galley was +kept slowly going northward towards the Pacific coast of Mexico; the +oars were little used. + +The next morning Hernando took definite steps. He took the captured +officers and the recalcitrant whites, put them into a boat within sight +of land, set them adrift, and stood out to sea again. He had none +under his command then who were not at least faithful. + +For a couple of days he went north, well out to sea. Then he turned +inshore again, coasted for a while, until he came to a wooded bay that +offered good anchorage. Entering this he dropped his anchor, and went +ashore with Morgan and half a dozen or so of the Indians. The party +was away for some hours, and only returned at sunset. The next day the +object of the expedition was disclosed. Hernando called the whole +crew, white and Indian, before him. He explained the dangers they were +hourly in on the high seas, and the impossibility of fighting any +strong adversary. Food was running short, and a long voyage in the +galley was out of the question. He proposed to take to the land +himself, and hazard his chance of life and liberty there. The Indians +could scatter abroad. The forest teemed with game, and he and his +party had seen many streams. No village or town was anywhere in sight. +The chances of escape into Mexico were excellent for whites and natives +alike. Or any man who wished it might try to reach his own tribe +again; a matter of half a moon of marching would bring him to his +people. Every man should take some weapon and as much food as he cared +to carry. His plan included the burning of the galley, so that all +trace of them might be lost. + +The natives rejoiced at the chance of quitting the hated galley for +their native woods, and the Europeans saw that their captain's plan +offered them the best hope of safety; they agreed also. + +The _Santa Maria_ was partially dismantled. All that was of value in +her was taken out; the food was shared, arms distributed, and the whole +party went ashore in the boats. Hernando stayed last, and fired the +vessel before he left her. During the whole night she blazed, +illuminating the camp of her late occupants amid the trees on the +shore. The Indians had rigged up two tents with the sails, and in +these their white companions slept comfortably. + +No move was made from the camping-place on the shore for several days. +The Indians scouted round in all directions, going fifty or sixty miles +through forest and over mountain, and spying out the land. Hernando, +meanwhile, tried to get some idea of his position on the Pacific coast. +From his observations, and the reports of the natives, he concluded +that he must be somewhere west of the great lake of Nicaragua, and in a +line for the small town of San Juan on the Atlantic coast, not more +than a week's march away. + +When fairly satisfied of this, he struck his camp, and marched inland +over the mountains. The natives carried one boat. In due time they +saw a vast stretch of water below them, and knew that the lake lay in +their path. + +On the shores of the lake the white men had decided to part from their +native companions. Villages clustered here and there on the margin of +the waters, and the appearance of a large company would spread alarm, +and send reports through the land that might betray them all. The +leave-taking was pathetic enough. The poor Indians looked like so many +helpless children. They begged the white men to stay with them, and +settle in the mountains between the lake and the sea. The country was +rich, and food and water plentiful. They would be faithful children to +their white fathers, if the latter would but stay to guide, protect, +and counsel them. + +But neither Englishmen nor Spaniards had any desire to rule as petty +chiefs in a Central American forest; their thoughts and hopes took +higher flights than that. Adieus were said; the Europeans took to +their boat, with but one Indian as a scout and possible interpreter, +and pulled out from the shore, the mass of natives rushing after them +into the water, weeping and lamenting. + +The passage of the lake was safely accomplished; the course of a river +flowing into it was followed as far as it was navigable. Then the +party camped whilst the Indian went to the hilltops in the east, and +surveyed the land that sloped away to the coast. He was away about +forty hours. + +On his return with a favourable report the camp was struck and the boat +burned. Then, carefully covering up their tracks, the fugitives set +out for the Atlantic coast. It was hardly possible that any report of +their escape would have reached so far, and the authorities would never +look for them on the eastern ocean. + +When the outskirts of San Juan were reached, Hernando went on as +advance guard. The next day they all entered the town as a party of +shipwrecked sailors. The Englishmen had been rechristened with Spanish +names for the nonce, and they wisely left the talking to their Spanish +companions. They were received without suspicion. + + + + +Chapter L. + +HOME. + +The Englishmen were doomed to idle about in San Juan for some weeks, +and during that time the little money they had found on the _Santa +Maria_ melted away. Vessels did not enter the little port very often. +The Portuguese and Spaniards, save Hernando, found temporary work on +neighbouring estates and plantations, and Morgan and his fellows of the +_Golden Boar_ had plenty of offers of employment; but they preferred to +abide together under the wing of Hernando, fearing to betray their +nationality by mixing separately and freely with the Spanish settlers. +Hernando for his part stuck loyally to them, and none of the others +said or did aught to bring suspicion upon their late comrades. The +fugitives longed and waited for a ship, hoping to get a passage in her +to some place off the mainland. It was by no means an unusual thing +for sailors to desert their ship when she touched at a port; some, +indeed, undertook a voyage with this end in view, the allurements of +the golden tropics proving stronger than any sense of duty. + +At length a small ship arrived from Cuba, bringing a consignment of +Spanish goods from the depôt at Santiago; she was to take back silver +bars for transhipment to Lisbon. Would the skipper give a passage to +seven strange sailors whose appearance was not too Spanish? It was +doubtful. Yet it turned out that he was only too glad to do so. More +than seven of his crew deserted, and went away to the west in search of +the silver mines from which the bars had come. Morgan always had a +shrewd suspicion that Hernando cleverly engineered the desertion for +the sake of his English friends. In any case the desertion took place +most opportunely, and the fugitives got the passage they desired. For +the sake of appearances both gentlemen adventurers played the part of +common sailors. At the last moment Hernando decided to go to Cuba with +them. He felt that a few months there would do him good, and help +certain keen-eyed people to forget his face. Moreover, he was +generously anxious to see the safety of the Englishmen more fully +assured. + +The season was not the best in the year for sailing, and the voyage to +Santiago was a rough one. The new sailors behaved admirably; and +though the captain was more than a little suspicious of their +nationality, he said nothing and paid them well. Moreover, he was +largely instrumental in getting them a passage to Europe. Hernando's +tongue and the talismanic name of Drake did the rest. + +The _Donna Philippa_ was a galleon of medium class, but well-built and +swift-sailing. She was attempting the Atlantic voyage in the winter +season, as the authorities preferred to trust her precious cargo to the +chances of the storms rather than to the mercies of the English +corsairs. These were not abroad on the high seas in the cold season, +when ocean traffic was small and tempests frequent; but in the summer +time no Spanish captain knew when one of the dreaded craft might appear +above the horizon. It is difficult to realize nowadays the terror that +Drake and fellow captains--pirates all--had inspired in the breasts of +Spanish seamen. + +The galleon had not her full complement of crew, for there were some +who had come out who were not as favourably disposed towards a winter +voyage as was their captain. The latter spoke to the skipper of the +coaster concerning his difficulties, and the skipper told him of the +men he had picked up at San Juan. He did not hide his suspicions that +there was more English than Spanish blood in their veins. He +acknowledged that they were splendid sailors; but, being as he believed +English deserters, he regarded them as desperate fellows, assuming a +gentleness and zealous obedience quite foreign to their nature. + +It was here that Hernando stepped in and played his part. No one +doubted his nationality; and he, hearing of the shortage of good +sailors on the galleon, did his last ingenious act of kindness for his +comrades in misfortune. Over a cup of wine in the state-room of the +_Donna Philippa_ he told a story that did his heart and his wits equal +credit. He began it by confirming the skipper's suspicions that his +last batch of sailors were English to the very marrow of their bones. + +"Yet I love them," he declared, "and would place my life and my +father's life in their hands without an instant's hesitation." + +Then followed an account of his own shipwreck months before with some +other Spanish gentlemen. "We found," said he, "a boat, and coasted +with her seeking a harbour. We met the Englishmen, wrecked also. They +were a stronger party than we were. They joined us--worked with us for +months like brothers. We sailed seas together, fought foes, swam +rivers, climbed mountains, threaded forests, shared food, drink, +raiment, money--everything. They told us their story. Two of them, as +you may see, are not common sailors, but gentlemen of position, +favourites of their Queen, bosom friends and lovers of Drake, Raleigh, +Hawkins, Grenville, Whiddon, and all the mighty English captains. They +want to get home. Take them as they are. I'll pledge my life they'll +serve you faithfully and cheerfully, and they'll _insure your cargo +against seizure by their friends_! Mark that; their presence aboard +the _Donna Philippa_ will assure her the polite and friendly attentions +of every English captain on the high seas. See the two gentlemen in my +presence, and find out their value for yourself. Were I in your place +I should fall down and thank the Mother of God for sending me such help +in my hour of need." + +The captain of the galleon pondered the matter. Hernando pressed his +views upon him, and the skipper of the coaster seconded him. Morgan +and Jeffreys were brought aboard. They readily offered themselves as +working passengers; expressed themselves as willing to take an oath of +fidelity to the captain if he would take another one to them; and +assured him that no English captain would rob him of a jot of his +cargo, or treat him other than as a friend and brother, whilst they +were with him to tell of his kindness to them. + +The bargain was struck. Morgan, Jeffreys, and the five sailors were +duly entered on the ship's books, owning to the Spanish names bestowed +on them by Hernando. The two gentlemen went as passengers, with a +sailor each as servant; the other three took their places amongst the +crew. Two of them had been long enough in the galleys to speak Spanish +as well as they spoke their mother tongue. They cleared Santiago +safely towards the end of January. + +The _Donna Philippa_ was called upon to pay some penalty for her +rashness in crossing the Atlantic in winter. Again and again did the +tempests strike her, shattering some of her timbers, swamping her with +terrific seas, and driving her for days out of her proper course. It +is probable that the greater skill of her English sailors and +passengers alone saved her from destruction. They were more accustomed +to the stormy northern seas than were their Spanish comrades, and they +set an example of cool courage and endurance that saved the galleon +from worse disasters than those that actually befell her. If he met no +English corsairs, the Spanish captain had reason to congratulate +himself on his wisdom in accepting Hernando's advice in Santiago. +Needless to say, the ship was never becalmed, and the howling winds +that drove her out of her way would often moderate, turn round, and +send her bowling homewards. The skipper hoped to make the Azores as +his first land, but a south-westerly wind springing up in early March +and continuing for some days, he held on direct for Lisbon. So far no +human enemy had molested him. + +The ship was nearing the coast of Portugal, and the sailors were +expecting to sight land on the morrow. March was half-way through, the +sun warm by day and the breezes often southerly and genial. Morgan and +Jeffreys were wondering what might befall them in the realms of King +Philip, and how they should get ship from there to England. They had +but little money, as the captain had treated them as guests of gentle +birth, paying with food the services they could render him. Spain was +dangerous ground for English feet, and no foreign land could well be +pleasant to a set of penniless men. The prospect was not alluring. + +Now and again sails appeared above the horizon, and after weary +watching Jeffreys espied one that he declared to be English. The +vessel was coming up from the south, and the _Donna Philippa_ was +steering almost due east. At a certain point their paths would cross. +The two Englishmen went to the captain and called his attention to +this, and asked him to shape his course so as to meet the oncoming +boat, and put them aboard if she chanced to be English. + +The skipper demurred at first. His cargo was precious, but safe; he +was almost in sight of home. Why should he run risks? The adventurers +assured him that there could be no risk. The stranger vessel was a +small one; if any other than English, she would never dare to fight a +ship of the tonnage of the _Donna Philippa_; and if English, they would +guarantee that not a blow should be struck. After much persuasion the +captain consented. + +The little ship was hailed, and proved to be a Canary trader bound for +Bristol. Morgan went aboard and explained matters, and the captain +gladly consented to receive them and give them a passage home. So, to +the surprise of the crew of the galleon, the men were transhipped a +day's sail from harbour. + +Ten days later the trader dropped anchor in the Avon. Morgan went to +the mayor of the city, saw him privately, and explained who he was, and +what had befallen him and his comrades. His worship listened to the +story, and advanced the adventurer money to take him and his friends to +their homes. The next day the seven, with handshakes, kisses, even +tears, separated and went their several ways. + + + + +Chapter LI. + +THE FOREST AGAIN--AND THE SEA. + +Johnnie Morgan had tramped up from Bristol to Berkeley, and now stood +on the Severn bank at the eastern end of the ferry to Gatcombe and the +snug ingle-corner of the old farmhouse. Such a crowd of thoughts, +hopes, dreads, rushed into his mind that the whirl and jostle of them +in his brain made him giddy. He had left Bristol at dawn; it was now +late afternoon and an April day. He had entered the "Berkeley Arms" in +the old feudal town, called for his ale, and been stared at by an old +crony, yet never recognized. A year of absence, danger, privation, +slavery had put five years at least on to the young yeoman's back. The +laughter had gone out of his eyes, the roundness out of his cheeks, and +his walk was stiff. + +He hailed the ferryman. The man came slowly across from Gatcombe. +Johnnie recognized his stroke before he clearly detected the body from +the boat. Here was the real touch of home. Old Evan would stare at +him, doubtless, but only for a moment. Then would come the +affectionate cry, "Plague take me! if it b'aint Jack Morgan. Welcome +home, my son; we'd given thee up for dead!" + +The ferryman came; his fare stepped in. The ferryman stared not once +nor twice, but apparently he gave up the puzzle that troubled his mind, +for he took the ha'penny fare with no other remark than that the day +had been very warm for the time o' year. Johnnie went up the hill +feeling very depressed. On a sudden impulse he turned aside from the +highroad and took the path by the river through the fields to his own +lands. He felt he could not bear another familiar face to look into +his and not give him an old-time affectionate greeting. He tried to +persuade himself that the light was getting weak, but looking around he +could distinguish small objects on the other side of the river, and he +recognized old Biddy Gale coming down to the well at the bottom of her +garden to draw water. + +The red roofs of Blakeney showed up against the dark background of the +trees. He looked for his own house. No smoke curled from the +chimneys. His heart seemed suddenly to turn to a lump of lead. An +urchin was coming along the path; he determined to talk to him. + +The boy came whistling along, spied the tall, gaunt, bearded stranger, +and ceased his piping. When Johnnie turned towards him he made as +though to bolt, but thought better of it and came on. + +"Is yonder place Blakeney?" asked the young man. + +"It is," was the reply. + +"Doth one Master John Morgan live there?" + +"A-did in the time past, good master; but, preserve us from evil! the +Spaniards roasted and eat him somewhere in the Indies." + +A faint smile flickered across Johnnie's face. "How sad!" he cried. +"Who then lives in his house yonder?" + +"Just a widow woman and her maid. They will not quit, they say, until +a twelvemonth and a day be gone by from the time the rascal Dons laid +hands on their master. They will have it that he will come back; and +Mistress Dawe of Newnham, and a sailor-man named Dan of Plymouth, do +hold with them." + +Johnnie wanted to ask a question about Dolly, but the words would not +come. The lad relieved him by continuing to unload his budget of +information. + +"The sailor-man be lodged at the farm, much against the widow's +wish--so she says; but he declares he will not budge, lest Master +Morgan should come home and find never the face of an old shipmate to +cheer him." (The smile flickered across Johnnie's face again.) +"Mistress Dawe be now at the house, if thou art minded to walk thither. +She comes there at times and stays for two or three days. Folks do say +that she expects John Morgan to walk in some evening. They were +lovers, ye know." + +"Ah!" said Johnnie, with a catch in his breath. + +"Yon's the house, behind the hayricks. Fine harvest Master Morgan had +last year. All the lads in this part of the forest looked after his +fields in turns. I helped to get in his hay and corn, and the widow +gave a harvest home just as the master would have done." + +"Didst know this Morgan, sonnie?" + +"Ay, I do mind him well. Thou dost favour him somewhat, only he was a +taller and properer man and had no beard." + +"Well, I'll go to the house; here's a penny for thee. Tell thy father +that a tall man who hath been in the Indies hath been asking for Master +Morgan." + +Johnnie walked on, his heart beating to the rhythm, "Dolly is there! +Dolly is there!" He jumped a stile. His own fields! He looked +around; no one was in sight, so he pressed his lips to the turf, then +whispered a quick, passionate prayer. Rising up again, eyes wet, knees +trembling, he walked on. + +He had turned up the path from the river; his orchard was before him. +He turned to look behind at the rushing stream and the gulls circling +in the rays of the setting sun. There was a flutter of white at the +river-stile. His heart stood still. Could it be? No!--Was it?--Yes! +He started riverwards at a run; then stopped; hesitated; walked soberly +on. + +The flutter of white again from the shadow of the hedge; the figure of +a girl, bonnetless, her hair gently lifting with the breeze, stood out +clear and unmistakable. He stopped. The maid stepped a little forward +and shaded her eyes with her hand. With an uncontrollable impulse his +arms stretched out. + +"Dolly!" + +A cry from the stile. A girl sprang forward, raced up the field, and +threw herself into his arms. "Johnnie! Johnnie! Thank God! thank +God! I dreamt you would come back and find me where we last met, just +like this!" + + +The next day the forest rang with the news that Johnnie Morgan was home +again, and foresters, miners, and fishers made so merry over the event +that Johnnie thought it worth while to have gone through so much in +order to give them such a jubilant time. + +Three weeks afterwards the maidens chose pretty Dolly as "Queen of +May," and when she was crowned they led her to the church above the +river--all in her garlands gay--and there a tall, sun-browned youth +took her "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," till +death should part them. And there were rare junketings and feastings +to celebrate the union of the two woodland favourites. + + +Johnnie abode at home for one year. Then he was tempted to go again to +London, and from thence he went by sea to Plymouth. There he met the +admiral, his brother John, Jacob Whiddon, Sir John Trelawny, and other +sea-going worthies, and there was much talk concerning the Indies. + +Johnnie came home, and one night he said to his wife Dorothy, "I have +been thinking that I left some honour behind me on the other side of +the world. Master Jeffreys sends me a letter this morning, and Sir +Walter hath written a postscript to it. I cannot forget what was done +at Panama, and there are some who should suffer for the cruelties done +to Nick and Ned Johnson and others who sailed on the _Golden Boar_. +The ship is fitting for another voyage, and I have still an interest in +her. What dost say, sweetheart? thou knowest the thoughts that are in +my mind." + +Well, Mistress Morgan said nothing that night, but she wept a little +and sighed oft. But the next day she said "Go, husband, and God go +with thee!" + +So the _Golden Boar_ went westward ho! again, and Dan Pengelly and all +her old company that were above ground went in her. And Captain Jacob +Whiddon went too, in a second ship called the _Elizabeth_. There was +no wild-goose chase this time after golden cities that could not be +found. But the Englishmen harried the Spanish settlements along the +South American coast and in the Mexican Gulf, and preyed upon King +Philip's shipping. They sent an expedition two hundred strong across +to Panama and raided the town, daringly marching back to the Atlantic +with no man presuming to stop them. + +They came home to Plymouth laden with spoil, gotten mainly by piracy +and the breaking of the laws of nations. But their countrymen +acclaimed them to the skies, holding them to be no robbers, but heroes +and patriots all! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA-DOGS ALL!*** + + +******* This file should be named 25670-8.txt or 25670-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Sea-Dogs All!</p> +<p> A Tale of Forest and Sea</p> +<p>Author: Tom Bevan</p> +<p>Release Date: June 1, 2008 [eBook #25670]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA-DOGS ALL!***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p> </p> + +<A NAME="img-cover"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2" WIDTH="494" HEIGHT="748"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 494px"> +Cover art +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="628"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 407px"> +Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Sea-Dogs All! +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +<I>A Tale of Forest and Sea</I> +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +TOM BEVAN +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Author of +<BR> +"Red Dickon the Outlaw,"<BR> +"The Fen Robbers,"<BR> +etc., etc.<BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THOMAS NELSON AND SONS +<BR> +<I>London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and New York</I> +<BR> +1911 +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">The Man in Black</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">The Plotters</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">Two Friends</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">Johnnie Morgan takes a Walk</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">Master Windybank</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">A Sinister Meeting</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">In the Toils</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">Master Windybank walks abroad</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">The Hunt</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">Master Windybank rebels</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">Darkness and the River</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">Snaring a Flock of Night Ravens</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">A Double Fight</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">What happened in Westbury Steeple</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A Letter from Court</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">To London Town</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">Sir Walter as Chaperon</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">Three Broken Mariners</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">Paignton Rob's Story</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">Rob dines at "Ye Swanne"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">Morgan goes to Whitehall</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">The Queen</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">Johnnie sees many Sights</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">Two Chance Wayfarers</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">Brother Basil</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">All on a bright March Morning</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">In Plymouth</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">The Parlour of the "Blue Dolphin"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">The Widow's House</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">Ho! for the Spanish Main</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">In the Bay of San Joseph</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">A Glimpse of the Fabled City</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap33">Wandering in a Maze</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap34">Flood and Fever</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap35">A Foe</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap36">The Attack on the Village</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap37">Council Fires in Two Places</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap38">The Way back</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap39">John Oxenham's Creek</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XL. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap40">A Haven of Peace</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap41">The Trap</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap42">Captives</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap43">In Panama</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap44">The Trial</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap45">For Faith and Country!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap46">The Galley Slaves</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap47">Hernando speaks</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap48">The Revolt of the Slaves</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XLIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap49">Eastward Ho!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">L. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap50">Home</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">LI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap51">The Forest again—and the Sea</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +List of Illustrations +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-cover"> +Cover art +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-228"> +The odds were hopelessly against him. +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +SEA-DOGS ALL! +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MAN IN BLACK. +</H3> + +<P> +The river-path along the Severn shore at Gatcombe was almost knee-deep +with turbid water, and only a post here and there showed where river +ordinarily ended and firm land began. Fishers and foresters stood in +the pelting rain and buffeting wind anxiously calculating what havoc +the sudden summer storm might work, helpless themselves to put forth a +hand to save anything from its fury. Stout doors and firm casements +(both were needed in the river-side hamlet) bent with the fury of the +sou'-wester that beat upon them. The tide roared up the narrowing +estuary like a mill-race, and the gale tore off the tops of the waves, +raised them with the lashing raindrops, and hurled both furiously +against everything that fringed the shore. Gatcombe Pill leapt and +plunged muddily between its high, red banks, and the yellow tide surged +up the opening and held back the seething waters like a dam. There was +black sky above, and many-coloured earth and water below. +</P> + +<P> +The lading jetty against the village only appeared at odd moments above +the tumult of waters, and a couple of timber ships that lay on the +north side, partially loaded, were plunging and leaping at their anchor +cables like two dogs at the end of their chains. Great oaken logs +bobbed up and down like corks, or raced with the current upstream; the +product of many weeks' timber-cutting in the forest would be scattered +as driftwood from Gloucester to the shores of Devon and Wales. +</P> + +<P> +On the high bank above Gatcombe, one other man, half hidden by the +thick trees, braved the fury of the storm. There was nothing of the +fisher or forester about him; the pale, worn face and the tall, lean +figure soberly clad in black betokened the monk or the scholar, but +claimed no kinship with them that toiled in the woodlands or won a +living from the dangerous sea. Leaning against a giant beech that +rocked in wild rhythm with the storm, he watched the wind and tide at +their work of devastation, an odd smile of satisfaction playing about +the corners of his thin lips. +</P> + +<P> +"A hundred candles to St. James for this tempest!" he murmured. "If +the ships do but break loose and get aground, I will tramp Christendom +for the money to build him a church." But though the man in black +watched the river for the space of two hours longer, his hopes of utter +destruction were unrealized; the cables held, the rain ceased, the wind +abated, and the tide began to run seawards once more. Bit by bit the +jetty rose above the swirling waters. Inshore the sands of the +river-bed were uncovered, and the fishers and wharfmen swarmed along +them and on the pier, saving from the sea the logs of oak that were +within reach. For a while the man on the cliff watched them; then he +turned aside into the dripping recesses of the forest. "Comfort +thyself," he said, tapping his bosom as he walked; "the omens are good. +What water hath commenced, the fire shall finish!" +</P> + +<P> +Almost upon the instant a sturdy figure broke from the bushes above +Gatcombe Pill and hurried along the cliff towards the harbour. +Deep-chested, full-throated, weather-stained, compacted of brawn and +sinew, he looked the ruddy-faced, daring sailor-man, every inch of him. +From crown to toe he was clad in homely gray; but if, on the one hand, +the ass peeps out from the borrowed lion's skin, so will royalty shine +through fustian; and the newcomer had the air of a king among men. He +hallooed to the ships, and then hastily scrambled down the cliff. +</P> + +<P> +Only the groaning of the trees and rustling of the undergrowth hid the +footfalls of the man in black from the ears of the man in gray. He was +looking for him, but the time when they should meet was not yet come. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PLOTTERS. +</H3> + +<P> +The morrow after the storm was windless and genial; the morning stepped +out from the east bearing the promise of a fine day; the tide was +running strongly to the sea. At Newnham the ferryman stood knee-deep +in the water washing his boat and hoping for a fare. The man in black +came down and was carried across to Arlingham. He asked many questions +concerning the tides and the sands. The water ran like a mill-race +round the Nab, and the stranger crossed himself when he entered the +boat, and again when the ferryman took him on his back to carry him +through the shallow water and the mud. He paid the penny for the +passage, and then vanished quickly into the trees that shut in the +village of Arlingham from the river. The boatman watched him curiously +and fearfully; and when he was no longer visible he shivered, for a +cold chill was running down his spine. "Seems as though I'd carried +the Evil One," he muttered; "he may halloo till he's as hoarse as his +black children the crows ere I trust myself on the waters with him +again." He waded to his boat and rowed rapidly across stream once more. +</P> + +<P> +The man in black gave neither thought nor look to the ferryman, but +strode along the woodland paths like one who had not a moment to spare. +The broad Roman way stretched in a bee-line from the eastern shore to +the village, but the wayfarer never once set foot upon it. Swiftness +and secrecy marked every movement. The sun had been above the horizon +scarce an hour when the mysterious stranger knocked at the door of a +farmhouse that lay about a mile from the village and northwards towards +the river. It was opened on the instant by the farmer himself, and +barred and chained again. +</P> + +<P> +In the kitchen were four men, two of whom wore black doublet and hosen, +black caps with a black feather, and were sallow-looking counterparts +of the last arrival. They stood up, bowed gravely, and sat down again +without speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"You have kept good tryst, my sons; did any man see you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not even the eye of the sun lighted upon us; we walked by the stars," +was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Good! Now, your tidings.—Thine first, Basil." +</P> + +<P> +The younger of the two men clad in black looked up. Hitherto he had +maintained a strict silence, his eyes fixed on the floor. The face +that was lifted to the morning light was not a pleasant one. It was +pasty, colourless, and shrunken as though from long fasting, but the +eyes glittered in their dull sockets like a pair of black diamonds. +"Fanatic" was written large all over him. He was a monk released from +his vows for the performance of special duties. His tidings were given +slowly in short, terse sentences. +</P> + +<P> +"Admiral Drake is at Gatcombe." +</P> + +<P> +The leader nodded. "I know it; I saw him yesterday," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"He hath wind of our plot and a description of your person. Sir Walter +Raleigh comes up from Bristol on this morning's tide. 'Tis given out +that he is visiting the Throckmortons, from which family he took his +wife. The truth is, that he comes to assist the admiral against us." +</P> + +<P> +"Doth he bring troops?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but the admiral hath a royal warrant empowering him to call the +free foresters and miners to arms if need should arise." +</P> + +<P> +"That is nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"I have a list of those families that still profess the true faith. +Almost to a man they place their country before their Church, and +prefer to fight for their heretic Queen rather than the Holy Mother of +Heaven." +</P> + +<P> +"The fiery pit yawns for them, my son!" +</P> + +<P> +"But there are true sheep amongst these herds of goats. Two have I +brought with me. Their eyes are opened. Wisdom and far-seeing dwells +with them. They value not the things of this world and the comforts of +the body. They are sworn to serve the Holy Church to the death." The +speaker turned to two rather hang-dog fellows who were squatted beside +the hearth. "Kneel, my brothers," he cried, "and receive a blessing +from Father Jerome, a saint amongst men!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tush! my son," said Father Jerome; "thou dost rate my poor worth a +thousand times too highly. The blessing I bestow is greater far than +he is who bestows it; the gift is greater than the giver." +</P> + +<P> +The whole company fell upon their knees, and Father Jerome towered +above them. There was cunning in his sallow face, cruelty in the +corners of his mouth. He held his hands aloft and spoke low and +mysteriously. +</P> + +<P> +"When the Holy Father called me and entrusted me with my present +mission he gave me his blessing thrice repeated, and bestowed upon me +the power of passing on that blessing to others. The blessing then +that ye receive at my hands is the blessing of the Head of the Church. +Kings have begged for it and have not obtained it; but ye are greater +than kings." The disguised priest—for such was Father Jerome—placed +his hands on them one by one and murmured a long Latin invocation. At +the end of this he addressed the farmer and the two foresters, who had +been beguiled into the plot, speaking in plain, forcible English. +</P> + +<P> +"Your country," he exclaimed, "wallows in heresy and other deadly sins. +For years hath it openly flouted and resisted the Church. The hour of +retribution is near. By sword and by fire must her sins be purged. +The instruments of vengeance and punishment are appointed, and the +least of these am I. Before the sun hath run another yearly circle +through the heavens a faithful prince shall hold power in this land. +Many who are now in high estate shall be flung down, and there are some +humble ones that shall be mightily exalted. Think of that, my sons, +and be true to the trust reposed in you!" +</P> + +<P> +Father Jerome raised up his kneeling audience with a well-chosen word +of praise, promise, or encouragement for each one. Then he bade the +farmer set meat and ale before the two foresters, and took his two +clerical spies to the window-seat, where he conversed with them in low +tones. +</P> + +<P> +"Thy two recruits, son Basil, are not overburdened with brains." +</P> + +<P> +"The better shall they serve our purpose, my father. We want blind +tools rather than thinking men. I have them in the hollow of my hand. +Thews and sinews are theirs, and an intimate knowledge of the woods. +If they will but carry out my bidding without question, I shall be well +content." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art right.—And now, son John, how hast thou sped upon thine +errands?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, father, the bracken will be fit to cut in a month. I have +ordered loads to be prepared for me in all parts of the forest. The +soil of the woodlands is everywhere green with the curling fronds; and +where I do not cut, the foresters and miners will be preparing heaps to +carry away for litter and bedding. By the end of July the forest +beneath the oaks will be covered with a carpet of stuff as combustible +as tinder. Let us but fire it at Newnham, Littledean, Blakeney, +Coleford, and at Speech by the courthouse, and we shall lay tens of +thousands of oaks in blackened ruin. Philip of Spain has but to +scatter the present small navy of England, for no more ships can be +built, and there will be nothing to oppose his landing." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast done well. Our plans are fully ripe, but apparently the +time is not quite come. We will separate for a month and remain in +strict hiding. The admiral's suspicions are aroused. If we suddenly +disappear at the moment when he becomes active in searching for us, his +fears will be allayed. But at the appointed moment we must come forth +without a sign of warning, do our work, and begone again. Our tools +must be frightened into secrecy. I will do that. Let us now join them +at breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +It was not the fault of Father Jerome that the breakfast party was not +a happy affair. Perfectly at ease himself, and satisfied with his +morning's work, he was in the mood for decorous jollity; but although +his two immediate satellites responded to his lead, and indulged in a +few feeble jests, the farmer and foresters hardly vouchsafed a word or +a smile. In part, maybe, this was due to the poverty of the wit of +their sable companions, but the three were obviously ill at ease. +Greed and a sort of religious fanaticism had brought them into the +ranks of the conspirators, but their national instincts were rebuking +them each moment. They felt traitors, and not all the sophistries of +the priests—which put the Church first, and country a long way +after—could ease their minds of a burden of shame. The chief +conspirator watched them narrowly, and some dark thoughts concerning +them ran through his mind. +</P> + +<P> +The morning was advancing, and it behoved the plotters to separate. +The leader gave them a few words of caution and command, and then bade +the farmer go to his work as though nothing unusual was afoot; the rest +would vanish one by one into the surrounding woods or across the river. +One of the foresters betook himself off immediately, journeying on to +Frampton, where he had some relatives, his visit to them being an +ostensible reason for his presence on the wrong side of the Severn. He +was a hard-faced fellow, with a pair of small, greedy-looking blue +eyes. Father Jerome pressed his hand very affectionately at parting, +and the man found three silver shillings sticking to his palm when his +hand was free again. He strode away with a buoyant step, his +misgivings gone for the while. +</P> + +<P> +The other woodlander arose the moment the door was closed behind his +companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a while, my son," said Jerome. +</P> + +<P> +"I have something to say before I go." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! say on." The priest's face set somewhat sternly, for he did not +like the forester's manner. +</P> + +<P> +The fellow began without hesitation, and spoke as a man whose mind was +full of the matter whereon he talked. The three in black listened. +</P> + +<P> +"Good father, I have sworn an oath to be thy servant in a certain +business." +</P> + +<P> +"And thou canst not break that oath without hurling thy soul to eternal +damnation," was the stern rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not in my mind to break my oath." +</P> + +<P> +"What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"If thou wilt listen, I will show thee that perhaps it would be better +to release me from my vow." +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" +</P> + +<P> +"Listen. I am pledged to do a deed that the law will hold to be +treason. I place myself in secret enmity to nearly every one of my +countrymen. Did they but suspect me, they would hang me without mercy. +A dog in their eyes, I should meet a dog's death." +</P> + +<P> +"Tut!" broke in the priest sharply, "thy reasoning is all wrong. Thou, +for the sake of truth and right, art placing thyself like a second +David against a host of evil men. Dost hope for their good opinion?" +</P> + +<P> +"But, good father," pleaded the fellow, "it doth not appear to me that +I am doing right. Queen Bess—God bless her!—lives in the hearts of +us all. Why should I work her a mischief in order to advance the King +of Spain, whom we cannot but hate? Now, I bethink me, I have sworn to +serve my Queen, but I have given no oath of fealty to the Pope. And as +for your religion, well, I am in most ways of one mind with you, and I +think these Protestants to be no better than heretics. Master Basil, +whose learning is wonderful, did persuade me for the nonce that my duty +lay along the path you are treading; but my mind misgives me woefully, +and I cannot see that it is an honest thing to work in secret against +the whole body of my fellow-countrymen." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome's face had darkened, and Basil's lips were working evilly. +</P> + +<P> +"But the whole body of thy fellow-countrymen are wrong!" he hissed. +"God hath delivered them and their country into the hands of his +faithful servant Philip." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why doth Admiral Drake thrash the sailors of Philip whenever he +meets them? God surely only fights for the right!" replied the +forester. +</P> + +<P> +This was a facer for the ex-priest, and ere he could frame a retort +Jerome took up the matter again. "Thou hast said that thou art willing +to keep thine oath." +</P> + +<P> +"Not <I>willing</I>, but I will not willingly break it. My heart is no +longer in the enterprise. I shall be ashamed to look my neighbours in +the face. I shall fear their glances and despise myself. When the +pinch comes, I may turn coward and do nothing. The whisper of +conscience is more terrible than the roar of a lion. What will it +avail you to look for help to such a one as I?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I release thee—?" +</P> + +<P> +"My lips are sealed. I have learned your plans, but I am honest with +you. Be honest with me, and men shall tear out my tongue before I will +speak a word of you or your plot." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome sat silent for a few moments. Suddenly he started up. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art an honest fellow," he exclaimed, "and I believe thee. +Half-hearted men are useless to me. Thou art released from thine oath. +Go!" +</P> + +<P> +Basil started to protest, but his leader placed his hand on his lips. +The forester went out, feeling as though a mountain had been lifted +from his shoulders. He disappeared at a turn in the lane. Then Jerome +spoke. "Thou art our lay-brother, Basil. That man must not cross the +river." +</P> + +<P> +Basil nodded and went out. Whilst Jerome yet watched him, slipping +from cover to cover, the farmer re-entered, a look of mingled fear and +hesitation on his face. The priest turned instantly and noticed it. +He laid his hand on his shoulder. "I am not yet gone, as thou seest. +There is something I would show thee before I go." +</P> + +<P> +For the space of about ten minutes the two stood in silence. Then the +priest said "Come," and led the farmer from the house. He followed in +Basil's footsteps, and came at length to the foot of a dwarf oak. A +man lay there, his eyes glazing in death. Basil was wiping a dagger in +the bracken. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome pointed to the dying woodsman. "That man doubted and +hesitated," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The farmer shuddered, and went white-faced homewards. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO FRIENDS. +</H3> + +<P> +Admiral Drake sat amidst his roses, watching the tide as it raced up +the river. Every day he sat thus, unless some pressing duty forbade, +for the sea held first place in his heart. When the tide was out, the +river was dull and dreary enough to the heart of the bold sailor. To +gaze on a stretch of a mile or more of sand and mud, with a shallow, +yellow stream dividing it into two unequal portions, is not +exhilarating; but when the sea makes its wild rush up the estuary, +quickly filling the wide river-bed from bank to bank, then the Severn +is noble enough, and one looks upon it with pride. The swirl and roar +of the waters was music to Sir Francis, and the tide was an old and +well-beloved friend that came up daily to embrace him. The happiest of +the knight's waking hours were those he spent by the side of the +flowing salt stream. +</P> + +<P> +There was a click at the latch of the garden gate, and a most elegant +gentleman sauntered gracefully in. His doublet was of blue, slashed +silk, his feathered cap was of a colour to match, and there were golden +buckles to his shoes and golden hilts to sword and dagger. His beard +was trimmed to a dainty point, and curling locks slightly flecked with +white hung down to his broad shoulders. The admiral, in his gray +homespun, his short, frizzled hair bared to the breeze, turned at the +sound of approaching footsteps, caught sight of the gentleman in blue, +and sprang up to greet him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now the winds of heaven be thanked for wafting thee hither, dear Wat," +he cried. "Thou art more welcome than a fine day." +</P> + +<P> +And the bluff sailor took the dainty visitor in his arms and kissed him +lovingly on both cheeks. Embrace and kiss were heartily returned, and, +arm in arm, the two sought the garden seat, and sat down to gaze on the +sunlit waters and exchange tidings. Raleigh—for the visitor was none +other than the famous knight of Devon—placed his sword across his knee +and began the conversation; the rough and ready admiral was a better +listener than talker. +</P> + +<P> +"The Queen hath sent thee some coils of stout rope by my hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" +</P> + +<P> +"She saith that she hath had no news of Spanish acorns dangling from +the Dean oaks. Her words to me were: 'Tell my knight of the seas not +to spare the hemp where traitors are concerned. To hang none is to let +all escape, whereas to hang on reasonable suspicion is a sure way to +rid his plantations of many knaves. If he should make a mistake, +through excess of zeal, tell him that our pardon is assured +beforehand.'" +</P> + +<P> +Drake smiled. "'Tis a good thing there is but one woman in the +government, and that men are entrusted with the carrying out of her +orders. Beshrew me, Wat, let but a scare be started and she would hang +every ill-favoured fellow she clapped eyes on." +</P> + +<P> +Raleigh laughed. "Thou hast no faculty for comprehending the whimsies +and oddities of womankind, especially royal womankind." +</P> + +<P> +"That is but sober truth. I can see in a bee-line as well as most men, +but I cannot follow all the twists and turns of our royal lady's +pathway. Bethink thee how she treated me when I came home from my +voyage round the world, my vessel crammed to the hatchway with Spanish +treasure. Before the court she frowned on me, called me no better than +a sea-thief, and threatened me with a hanging. Aboard my vessel, when +none were there but Cecil, Leicester, and thyself, she praised me +without stint, flattered me, well-nigh took me in her arms and kissed +me, offered me knighthood, and then seized upon the best part of my +hard-won spoils! Her mind doubles like a hare; there is no catching it +and holding it and seeing of what colour it is. I have navigated +unknown seas enough, but I should be shipwrecked in one month of court +life. A palace is as full of guile as an egg is full of meat!" +</P> + +<P> +The admiral was waxing warm, and his companion was laughingly enjoying +his tirade. +</P> + +<P> +"Every man to his trade, Frank," he said. "Thou art a striker of +straight blows, and hast no cunning save when the foe is in gunshot. +The sea breeze is life to thee, but some of us would choke with too +much of it. We must breathe ever and anon of the scented atmosphere of +courts. The turns and twists of intrigue attract us; we love to ruffle +it in silk as well as in mail or in homespun. The voices and faces of +fair women make music and beauty for our ears and our eyes; we love the +harp and the lute as well as the mavis and throstle in the hedgerow, +and we pore as diligently over a sonnet as thou dost over a sea chart." +</P> + +<P> +"And that to me is a strange thing," replied Drake musingly. +"Sometimes thou and I are so close in touch as to be almost one; yet, +again, we find ourselves a world's space asunder: our thoughts oft run +in couples like hounds, and 'tis because of such times that I love thee +as a very dear brother." +</P> + +<P> +Raleigh laid his hand affectionately on the admiral's shoulder. "Thou, +Frank, art a man of action ever and always. When the battle is in my +blood I can fight on land and sea as whole-heartedly as thou, and cry +out that only such days are worth the living. Yet I am by nature a +dreamer of dreams and a weaver of fancies. The soft, the still, the +beautiful in the world and humankind, attract me. I would have +seclusion rather than bustle and turmoil, the pen rather than the +sword, the sweet whispers from a woman's lips and not the shouts of +warriors. Thou dost not understand me, but I understand thee, and love +thee for thy simplicity and directness. Thou art a better man than I, +Frank, and the world will honour thee more than me. But let us quit +this self-analysis. How art thou faring in thy mission to prevent the +destruction of the forest?" +</P> + +<P> +"Slowly. The forest is one vast hiding-place, and I have to deal with +men who are very serpents for cunning. The leader is a Spanish priest +masquerading as a gentleman, and he hath with him some of a like sort. +They are for ever popping up in fresh places, but it is not easy to +tell them one from another. There may be a dozen of them, or only two." +</P> + +<P> +"The lesser number is the more likely. The more in a plot, the greater +the danger of failure." +</P> + +<P> +"So I have thought, and I put down their many appearances to the +expedition with which they move. At present they can only plan +mischief. There is little woody undergrowth, and the bracken is at its +greenest. Ere long, however, the foresters and miners will begin the +yearly cutting and drying of the bracken, which they take away and +stack for the winter as bedding for themselves and their cattle. Then +the danger is great indeed, and the firing of the forest an easy matter +to a number of determined men skilfully posted." +</P> + +<P> +"Have the conspirators many adherents?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think not. The woodland folk are loyal, and have a right and proper +hatred of the King of Spain. Let me but lay hands on one man and we +may sleep in our beds without fear." +</P> + +<P> +"And that man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is the priest, Father Jerome." +</P> + +<P> +Raleigh sat up. "Canst describe him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay. He is tall, lean, and yellow, looks a Spaniard, but speaks +English as no foreigner could speak it. He hath money in plenty, and +poor folk and greedy folk often fall a prey to Mammon." +</P> + +<P> +"I have met this Father Jerome, unless I mistake him greatly. He is a +Spaniard without doubt, and came hither first in the train of the +Spanish ambassador in King Harry's reign. He came again with Philip +when he took Queen Mary to wife, and stayed here the whole of that +reign and much of the present. He knows our land and our language as +well as thou or I, and Philip has chosen the fittest leader for his +bold enterprise. Thou hast gotten a dangerous adversary; do not hold +him cheaply, for he obtains a strange power over some men. 'Tis +against his nature to strike openly. He works like a mole, and thou +must find his place of burrowing and trap him. Meantime I commend the +advice of the Queen to thee: lay all suspicious characters by the heels +at once; put rogues to catch rogues, and have a care how thou walkest +in the woods." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Walter arose, but the admiral pressed him to stay and drink a cup +of wine. So the two friends sat on a while longer, talking of old +times in far-away Devon. +</P> + +<P> +Hidden in the bushes on the top of the sandstone cliff that backed +Drake's house was the dark figure of Basil. He wriggled thither at the +moment when Raleigh lifted the garden latch. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOHNNIE MORGAN TAKES A WALK. +</H3> + +<P> +At the foot of the hill leading out of Blakeney northwards towards +Newnham stood a many-gabled, substantial farmhouse. A plantation of +oaks backed it, and eastwards the meadows stretched away to the Severn. +The house was in the possession of John Morgan, a verderer[1] of the +forest, and the good folk of the forest and river were proud to point +to him as a "proper figure of a man." "Johnnie," as he was familiarly +styled by his associates, stood a good two inches over six feet, was +straight as a fir and tough as a young oak. He had just turned his +twentieth year, and was as fleet of foot as the stags that he guarded. +Dark-eyed and handsome, light-hearted and jovial, a good singer of a +good song, he was as jolly a companion as one might meet on a long +summer's day. +</P> + +<P> +The morning was hot, and the June sun almost at its zenith. The gale +that had rocked the tall trees in fury but a few days before was almost +forgotten in the windless weather that had succeeded it. Master Morgan +had sauntered along one of the broad woodland paths, and was now lying +on his back in a sweet-smelling bed of bracken, gazing up through the +trees to the blue sky beyond. Johnnie was dreaming the happy dreams of +youth and the summer's noontide. The blue of the heavens haloed his +thoughts, and a pair of sweet blue eyes looked out from the midst of +them. A sigh escaped him. "Plague on 't!" he cried petulantly, "I +cannot get verses or rhymes into marching order. My head aches with a +tumble of conceits and dainty fancies. I could whisper a thousand +pretty things to yonder perky robin; I cannot give tongue to one of +them when Mistress Dorothy turns her eyes upon me; and now that my +heart yearns to set them in verse for her reading, I cannot frame a +line that doth not limp and stumble. What a thing it is that I can +sing the tears into mine eyes with another fellow's verses and cannot +build a couplet of mine own." Johnnie closed his eyes, puckered his +brow, and thought hard. +</P> + +<P> +For the better part of an hour Morgan had the cool nook in the woodland +all to himself, and he dreamt of a pair of blue eyes, rhymed them with +"skies," joined "love" with "dove," "sweet" with "fleet," "rosy" with +"posy," and "heart" with "part," and cudgelled his brains for images +and conceits that would express in some scant measure the charms of +pretty Mistress Dorothy Dawe. But his lines would not prance and +curvet as he wished them to do; they laboured along in a heavy, +cart-horse fashion, so that Johnnie at length reluctantly recalled his +wandering wits to the consideration of the practical things of life. +And, immediately upon doing so, he became conscious of the presence of +an intruder upon his privacy. Some one was moving very stealthily +through the bracken; the young forester detected the quick breathing of +a man and he held his own breath in an instant, whilst his body +remained as rigid as though it had been a fallen log of oak. He cast +his eye down the line of buttons on the front of his doublet and +carefully scanned his belt. It held no weapon save a hunting-knife. +His hearing became doubly acute at a sign of danger, and he fixed the +spot from which each faint rustle proceeded. Meanwhile his brain was +busy. Who should be stealing along within a few yards of the pathway? +No game was afoot in the immediate neighbourhood, and no forester would +be worming himself along in such a fashion. An honest man would walk +upright. "This fellow is a rogue," commented Morgan. The bracken +fronds curled high above him, and he knew that he was securely hidden. +The rustling sounds circled round rather than approached him, and they +finally ceased at a spot on the edge of the pathway about twenty yards +below where Morgan lay listening. +</P> + +<P> +The forester remained very still; the other made no sign. Morgan came +to the conclusion that his presence was unsuspected, so he lay in wait +to see what was afoot. Time flew on; to one, at least, the silence +became irksome. +</P> + +<P> +Sounds at last! Some one was coming down the pathway humming a song. +The spy—for such he was—stirred. Morgan noiselessly raised himself +on his elbow. The singer came on; his voice was rich and musical, and +the young fellow's ears tingled with pleasure. He ventured to peep +above the bracken. A dark form was half visible in front of him, and +the face was turned towards the direction whence the song was coming. +The head disappeared; Morgan ducked also. He could give no guess as to +the identity of the man who lay before him. But his mind was made up +as to the spy's intentions. Villainy was plainly foreshadowed. He +drew his knife from his belt. The footfalls of the traveller were now +audible. He came abreast of the lurking foe; he passed him. There was +a sudden leap; then another. A steel blade flashed in the sunlight. +The song ceased and the singer turned. Another second and the dagger +would have been in his breast. But at the fateful moment of time the +stroke was arrested by Morgan's hand. The would-be assassin turned +with the hiss and wriggle of a viper; his strength was astonishing, +and, ere Morgan was aware, the sharp stab entered his own arm. He +loosened his grip with an exclamation of pain. The spy darted like a +black shadow into the trees—and was gone. +</P> + +<P> +After an instant of hesitation Morgan and the stranger dashed after +him. They ran hither and thither, but found nothing. On the pathway +they met again, and, for the first time, spoke. He whose life had been +attempted took Morgan's wounded arm in his hands. "I owe thee, if not +a life, at least a whole skin," he said. "I am deeply thy debtor." +</P> + +<P> +"Sir Walter Raleigh can owe nothing to a forest man," exclaimed Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! thou knowest me. What is thy name?" +</P> + +<P> +"John Morgan, heart and soul at your service!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard of thee from my kinsman, and the reports were of an +excellent quality. Come, let me see to thy hurt. We can gossip +afterwards." +</P> + +<P> +Soldiers and huntsmen are usually adepts at rough and ready surgery; +the flow of blood from Morgan's wound was stanched and the injured limb +bound up. Sir Walter inquired how he had so providentially got upon +the track of the spy, and Johnnie poured out the story of his poetic +difficulties. The knight laughed heartily, and offered his help. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a bit of a rhymster, as thou knowest," he said. "What is the +name of the bonny maiden whose eyes have driven thee to verse-making?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mistress Dorothy Dawe," replied the forester a little sheepishly—"a +sweet wench, Sir Walter, as e'er the sun shone upon. And I thought her +name as pretty as her face, but, plague on't, I cannot fix a rhyme to +'t." +</P> + +<P> +"And there I sympathize with thee most heartily, Master Morgan. When I +was of thine age and went a-sweethearting, my own fancy lighted upon a +dainty damosel yclept Dorothy, and, like thee, I found the name most +unreasonable in the matter of rhyme and rhythm. Cut it down to +'Dolly,' and that most unkind rhyme 'folly' straightway dings in one's +ears." +</P> + +<P> +"How didst thou surmount the difficulty?" +</P> + +<P> +"How? By keeping the name well in the middle of my line. But there +are a hundred pretty appellations that befit a maiden. Thou canst call +her thy 'sun,' thy 'moon,' thy 'star,' thy 'light, 'life,' 'goddess,' +and so on through a very bookful of terms. Shall I make thee a verse +as we jog along?" +</P> + +<P> +"A thousand thanks! but no. I will stand on mine own footing, or stand +not at all. I will win the wench by mine own parts or merits, or else +wish her joy with a better man. She shall love me decked in mine own +plain russet, not in velvet and laces borrowed from another's wardrobe." +</P> + +<P> +"Valiantly spoken, Master Morgan. I like thy spirit, and, beshrew me, +'twill serve thee better with a sensible maiden than any amount of +pretty speeches and cooing verses. 'Tis a poor man that hath not faith +in himself. In wooing, as in fighting, 'tis the brave heart and the +honest soul that gain the clay; and the quick, strong arm serves the +world better than the glib tongue. But let us get to this business +that brought us together this morning. Thou dost not know my +assailant?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not from Adam. Hath your worship no knowledge of him?" +</P> + +<P> +"No certain knowledge, Master Morgan; but I can give a shrewd guess or +two concerning him. Thou hast heard of the plot of King Philip to +destroy the forest?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, the rumour was abroad strong enough in the springtime, but since +Admiral Drake came down I have heard nothing. I thought the rascal +plotters had fled, for 'tis well known the health of a Spaniard suffers +grievously if he do but breathe the same air as our gallant sailor." +</P> + +<P> +"That is so; but some are of tougher constitutions than others, and +they do not sicken in a day. The fellow who hath left his mark upon +thee is an emissary of Spain. I did not know my life was threatened, +but the admiral may find a foe in any thicket. I am heartily sorry the +villain escaped us." +</P> + +<P> +"I am downright ashamed on 't!" cried Johnnie. He drew himself up to +his full height and stretched out a brawny arm. "I ought to have +crushed him 'twixt finger and thumb as I would a wasp. A lean, +shrivelled, hole-and-corner coward!" +</P> + +<P> +"But as strong and supple as a wild cat," commented Raleigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, and he left the mark of his claws behind him," added Morgan. "He +was no weakling." +</P> + +<P> +"And he is not the only one lying in wait; nor is he the master hand in +this business. You verderers must bestir yourselves, or that which is +entrusted to you will go up to the heavens in smoke. I will wend with +thee to Newnham. The admiral goes thither on the tide this afternoon +on the Queen's business, and 'twill be as well that he, and those that +come to meet him, should see evidence of the activity of our secret +foes." +</P> + +<P> +So the knight and Master Morgan mended their pace along the woodland +way. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +[1] A warden of the forest and an administrator of "forest law." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MASTER WINDYBANK. +</H3> + +<P> +"Then thou dost refuse to listen to my suit, Mistress Dorothy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Refuse! Alack, good Master Windybank, what a word to utter. Look at +yonder sundial and thou wilt see that I have hearkened most patiently +for more than an hour." Mistress Dorothy opened her blue eyes very +widely, and her tone was a trifle indignant. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, but there is listening and listening, mistress," was the testy +response. +</P> + +<P> +"And surely my listening deserves commendation, seeing that I made no +interruption, scarcely speaking a word." +</P> + +<P> +"But I wanted thee to speak, to interrupt, to contradict, to argue. +Thy silence betokened indifference. I had rather that thou hadst flown +into a temper and bidden me begone than sat mum all the while." +Windybank jumped up from the garden seat and began to pace to and fro, +to the peril of Dorothy's flower-beds. +</P> + +<P> +"But why should I argue or contradict or fly into a passion if thou +dost tell me my eyes are blue? 'Tis the truth." Dorothy opened them +wider, and made them look more innocent and beautiful than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"Was that all I said for the space of an hour?" was the sullen +rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the cool little maiden, "'twas not; but thou didst offer no +ground for argument. I heard a catalogue of virtues recited, and was +bidden to believe that mine own small person gave lodging and +nourishment to them all. Well, in good faith, sir, 'tis my earnest +hope that some are guests in my heart, and I would fain believe that I +give harbourage to all the noble train. Thou didst speak at some +length of thyself, thy hopes and aspirations, they were such as would +become thy youth and station: why should I quarrel with thee concerning +them? Again, I had a list of thy possessions, the tale of gold in thy +coffers. Should I give thee the lie over thy arithmetic? Thy uncle is +rich, and thou art his heir. Shall I lose my temper because of John +Windybank's money?" +</P> + +<P> +The youth turned fiercely upon the maiden and gripped her by the +shoulders so that she winced with the pain. +"I—told—thee—that—I—loved—thee!" he said with deliberate +emphasis. "What hast thou to say to that?" +</P> + +<P> +"That a maid is honoured by the affection of any good man." +</P> + +<P> +"Dost thou love me?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Dorothy, rising also and removing his hands. +</P> + +<P> +Windybank's eyes were blue like those he confronted, but they were as +shifty as the maiden's were steady, and whilst the blue of hers +deepened with anger, his assumed a greenish tint that was both uncomely +and cruel. For a moment he stared into the azure deeps before him, +trying to fathom them. He failed. +</P> + +<P> +"Would 'No' have been Jack Morgan's answer?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy's eyes flashed, but her lips remained closed. She showed no +signs of anything save anger. The baffled lover lost his head, and +with it went his common sense and veneer of gentlemanly breeding. +</P> + +<P> +"Silence is answer enough," he snarled. "Morgan's black eyes and +swarthy face have bewitched thee as thou hast bewitched me. Well, take +thy choice between us. He hath the start of me in inches, but a +moon-calf would hardly benefit by bargaining wits with him—a grinning, +guzzling giant whose chief delight is singing songs in a tavern or +wrestling with brawny clowns as empty-headed as himself!" +</P> + +<P> +Windybank paused for breath, and Dorothy faced him as unflinchingly as +before, her lips curling in contempt. +</P> + +<P> +"Hast nothing to say now?" he went on. "Have I not given thee matter +for contradiction, fuel to feed the fires of thine anger?" +</P> + +<P> +"John Morgan needs no woman's help," she said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither help of man nor woman shall avail him ere long. Hark'ee, +mistress" (he lowered his voice): "there is power awaiting the man bold +enough to make a venture to obtain it. Look for the day when I am thy +master. And tell some others to look to their heads. I'll break thy +spirit yet, and see fear in thy blue eyes instead of scorn. I am no +braggart!" +</P> + +<P> +"But thou art a coward!" said Dorothy, whose face had grown very white. +"Think not that I shall feel anything save scorn for the man who +threatens a girl and slanders the absent. Thou art our neighbour, else +I would call a servant to put thee forth on to the highway. Begone!" +</P> + +<P> +Master Windybank turned to go. It was time, for Johnnie Morgan and Sir +Walter could be seen making their way towards the house door. "Tell +thy long-legged swashbuckler of our meeting," he sneered. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not fear thee enough to call in a champion," cried Dorothy +calmly. "Yonder is the gate." +</P> + +<P> +The rejected suitor strode off. The maiden ran into a little arbour +and had a good cry. "Sweet seventeen" does not like to be bullied and +threatened by a man in whom her quick eyes have discerned the +possibilities of a thorough villain. +</P> + +<P> +The little shower of anger and wounded pride lasted about three +minutes. Then sunny thoughts broke through the clouds, and presently +the sky was clear again. "Johnnie is come!" said Dorothy's heart. +"Sir Walter and Master Morgan are in the house," murmured Dorothy's +lips. "I must see to my duties as hostess, and I do not want to be +quizzed about tear-stains. Plague take that little Windybank!" A +dainty foot was stamped quite viciously. "I hope Johnnie will cudgel +him. A whipping would do him good!" Dorothy sat with folded hands and +pleasantly contemplated the corrective operation. Then a voice was +heard in the garden calling her name. She listened. "Only nurse!" she +murmured in a disappointed tone. +</P> + +<P> +An old crone with a wrinkled but good-natured face came along to the +arbour. "Dolly, sweetheart," she cried, "dost thou not know who is +within?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw Sir Walter turn in at the gate to speak to father." +</P> + +<P> +"Hoighty-toity!" exclaimed the old dame. "Saw Sir Walter, did we! And +what of the head and pair of shoulders that stood above those of the +knight? We did not see them!" +</P> + +<P> +"Was it Master Morgan with him, Peggy?" asked Dorothy unconcernedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ask him who ran away just now," snapped Peggy. "I saw the toady +little villain sneak off. I'd ha' given my Sunday kirtle to my worst +enemy if Johnnie had espied him and known that he and thee had been +sitting cheek by jowl for an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"Master Windybank is our neighbour," said Dorothy haughtily, "and he +comes hither with my father's consent." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, men are as blind as owls to each other's failings," was the tart +response. "But I can see through a quick-set hedge as far as most +folks, and know when a rascal lies in hiding behind one. Get thee +indoors and talk to Master Morgan, an honest fellow whom thy +mother—God rest her soul!—loved before death took her from us." +</P> + +<P> +But Dorothy refused to be hurried. Peggy had loved her and mothered +her since she was a tiny prattler of three, and she often found her, as +she declared to her gossips, "a handful." Peggy, angry with her +nursling, turned to go, but she discharged a telling shot at parting. +"Very well!" she cried, "I'll go and bind up Master Morgan's wounds +myself. One of the bravest knights in England is attacked by a Spanish +giant in the forest. A brave lad jumps in to save him, and receives +the dagger in his own body. He comes to those who should love him, to +have the flow of his precious blood stanched; but no, good lack; we +love not brave lads—we dally away God's good time with cowards and +rascals!" +</P> + +<P> +"Peggy! Peggy!" cried Dorothy, and the blue eyes were running over +again, and the cheeks were pale as a ghost's, "is Master Morgan +wounded?" +</P> + +<P> +"He may be dying; the dagger perhaps was poisoned," said Peggy. "I'll +go and kiss the brave lad whilst he has wit enough left to know me. +Stay thou here, mistress; only loving hands must tend the brave!" +</P> + +<P> +But Dorothy flew after her and clutched her arm. "Kiss me, Peggy!" she +wailed, "kiss me!" But Peggy refused. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall not touch him, Peggy; you are my nurse, but I am his. Do +you hear?" +</P> + +<P> +But the old woman was deaf, and she stalked on with her thin nose in +the air. Dorothy clung to her, and they reached the house together. +It so happened that the story of the attack had been told to Dorothy's +father, and Sir Walter was getting a little fun at the expense of +Johnnie and his wrestlings with the muse of poetry. A lively, +good-humoured sally, at the moment when Dorothy's trembling limbs +carried her over the threshold, evoked a peal of stentorian laughter +from Master Morgan's capacious lungs. The tearful maid stood +bewildered for an instant, then a roar from all three men brought the +colour back swiftly to her cheeks. Johnnie Morgan dying? The wicked +rascal was convulsed with merriment, and his friends, who should be +sorrowing for his untimely fate, were as merry as he! With an +indignant look at the chuckling Peggy, the maiden turned and fled into +the garden again. But Master Morgan, who had been anxiously listening +for her amidst all the chatter and uproar, heard the light patter of +her footsteps upon the flagged courtyard. He sprang to the window, +caught sight of the flying figure, felt his heart beating like a great +drum, murmured an apology to his companions, and darted out of the +room, almost laying Peggy full length on the threshold as he ran off. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A SINISTER MEETING. +</H3> + +<P> +When Master Windybank left the quaint, riverside garden of Captain +Dawe, he was feeling about as amiable as a wolf might feel who has just +been scared from the side of a lamb by the timely arrival of a huge +sheep-dog. He growled with anger, showed his teeth for an instant, +then slunk away with his tail between his legs. He was a spiteful, +malevolent creature, cunning, unprincipled, and tainted with cowardice. +He had pluck of the wolfish sort, and could fight desperately if +cornered; but he shunned the open unless hard pressed, and preferred +snapping at an opponent's heels to flying in his face. He was a +dangerous foe, and pretty Dorothy had gone far towards making one of +him. +</P> + +<P> +In no pleasant frame of mind, Andrew Windybank strode up the high +street of the town. Few of the townsfolk gave him a good-day; he was +not a popular personage. For one thing, he was a Littledean man and +not of the river-side; his family was purse-proud and tyrannical; worst +of all in the eyes of a Pope-hating people, the Windybank family still +clung to the old faith. Young Master Andrew was quite accustomed to +cold looks, and, as a rule, they troubled him not at all. He was by +nature reserved and uncommunicative, and he was sufficiently well +satisfied with himself to care but little for the opinion of other +people. He turned aside from the town and breasted the steep hill that +led to Littledean. +</P> + +<P> +Windybank had not walked through the town with his ears shut, although +he had studiously kept his eyes lowered. More than once he had heard +the name of his rival mentioned, and each time the speaker's tones had +expressed admiration and affection. The angry young gentleman knew +nothing of Morgan's exploit, but the local gossips had seen the +forester pass through, and one had succeeded in getting an account of +the morning's affray. Johnnie was more than ever a popular hero. It +was unfortunate, perhaps, for Dorothy and her rival suitors that +Morgan's arm and Windybank's pride had both been wounded on the same +morning. The rejected lover had always envied and hated Morgan because +of his popularity; the events of the morning were rapidly turning that +hatred into a sort of malevolent frenzy. His heart burned with rage +and jealousy as he went rapidly homewards. +</P> + +<P> +Now, a man's heart will sometimes be attuned to goodness, and his whole +nature, being aglow with conscious virtue, will yearn for some outlet +for the kindliness that wells up within him. None is offered, and the +virtuous fountain trickles itself dry, and no one is a whit the wiser +or better. Anon, the same heart breeds envy, hatred, malice, and all +uncharitableness, and straightway comes the chance of working evil. +The temptation is great, the opportunity is eagerly seized, and +wickedness is done; it is so easy to step into the "broad way," so +difficult to find footing in the "strait and narrow path." +</P> + +<P> +Andrew Windybank was not a good man, but apt opportunity led him +farther astray than, in the depths of his heart, he ever intended to +go. His feet were treading the paths of his own domains. His +ancestral home, Dean Tower, raised its dark red walls before him. Some +of the bitterness was gone from his thoughts. Visions of the wealth, +wherein he was superior to his rival and the maiden who had flouted his +advances, were easing the wounds in his pride. +</P> + +<P> +A spare figure, garbed in black, stepped from behind a clump of bushes, +and stood bareheaded in the pathway. +</P> + +<P> +"God be with thee, Master Windybank, and St. James be thine aid!" +exclaimed a harsh voice. Basil confronted him. +</P> + +<P> +Windybank's first feeling was one of annoyance. Basil and his master, +Father Jerome, had visited Dean Tower before, and although they had +come and gone in secret and by night, yet some suspicion of these +Spanish visits had got abroad. The Dean men were proud of their +magnificent sweep of forest-clad hills and dales, and prouder still of +the oaks that gave their beloved England her impregnable "wooden +walls." They were wild with anger and indignation when the first +rumours of King Philip's plot came to their ears. Now they were +inclined to treat the daring project with quiet contempt, but Windybank +knew that scant mercy would be shown a forest man who should be so +unspeakably treacherous as to favour the scheme, even by so little as +holding converse with one of the hated plotters. +</P> + +<P> +These thoughts running through his mind, Master Andrew did not return +the Spaniard's salutation, but waved him aside and endeavoured to +continue his way. Basil barred the path, his black plumed hat still in +his hand, and his face wearing a caricature of a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"One faithful son of the Church should not refuse greeting to a +brother," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"What dost thou want?" was the curt response. +</P> + +<P> +"I am come upon business that hath the blessing of the Holy Father." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll not listen!" +</P> + +<P> +Windybank thrust out his arm to push his unwelcome companion aside. +Basil took him by the shoulders and stared into his face with an +intentness that made the young fellow fancy that the fierce, black orbs +confronting him were burning holes in his brain. For two minutes, that +seemed two full hours, the gaze was concentrated upon him. Windybank +felt his body shrinking into a smaller compass under the fascination. +His breath came thickly, his knees trembled, and his heart laboured in +its beating. +</P> + +<P> +"The Holy Father hath sent a message to thee." +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard it," was slowly gasped out. +</P> + +<P> +"He hath sent another. Thou darest not refuse to listen." The +ex-monk's hand was uplifted in warning. "Shall I be forced to curse +thee as thou standest?" he whispered. "'Tis obey, and be blessed above +measure; or refuse, and—thou knowest the penalty; I will not speak it +here. Listen! Father Jerome and I will come to thee at midnight. +Thou wilt meet us at thy gate and show us to a chamber where we may +confer in secret. Remember!" +</P> + +<P> +Windybank felt the iron hand lifted from his shoulder. Basil was gone. +For a minute he stared blankly at the bush behind which he had +disappeared. A warning signal, "At midnight, remember!" came to his +ears, and awoke him from his half-stupor. He shook himself, tried to +answer, uttered no word, then passed on. He entered his house with a +face that matched his ruff in its sickly yellow colouring. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE TOILS. +</H3> + +<P> +That afternoon the house of Captain Dawe was filled with visitors more +or less illustrious. The dignitaries of the forest and the river were +assembled in solemn conclave. The scare caused by the first rumours of +the Spanish plot was revived in tenfold magnitude. Morgan's wounded +arm was a mute witness to the daring and activity of the foe. The +knight and the forester could describe every lineament of the would-be +assassin. The yellow, parchment face, the spare, sinewy body clad in +black doublet and hosen, had been seen for a moment by many a forester. +And the woodland men, brimful of superstition, had already invested him +with supernatural powers. +</P> + +<P> +A belated swineherd had gone in terror to his master with a story that +he had come upon the "men in black" dancing beneath an oak, enveloped +in blue flames, and that the smell of the "brimstone" had laid him on +the ground in a stupor from sunset to moonrise, more than an hour +after! The following day, in the early forenoon, he had led a +trembling party to the spot, and, sure enough, there was a blackened +circle in the bracken and the charred bark and singed leaves of the +tree to testify to the truth of his tale. Neither swineherd nor +shepherd nor forester had dared to pass the tree from that hour. The +woodsman's story was not all exaggeration. He had actually stumbled +upon the two villains, Basil and John, trying the kindling properties +of the bracken, and he had promptly fallen in a swoon from sheer +terror. By the common folk his account was believed <I>ad literam</I>, and +not all the better sort saw the true inwardness of the occurrence. So +the assembly had serious matter for thought and discussion. +</P> + +<P> +The leaders saw the gravity of the situation, and their apprehensions +grew when they found that those who best knew the forest were becoming +rapidly infected with superstitious fears. As a race the Dean men were +brave and tenacious—centuries of border warfare had made them so—but +their very life amidst the gloom of the trees and the roaring of the +streams, their brains teeming with mythic tales of the dark, deep pools +and echoing caves, made them ready believers in the "uncanny." The +forest could only be guarded by those who knew its devious ways; the +number of such warders was limited. Now it would be impossible to get +any man to keep a lonely watch; sentinels must be posted in groups for +mutual comfort and assistance, seeing that the tangible danger of +Basil's dagger was to be feared as much as the intangible perils that +sprang from the imagination. To group the watchers was to narrow the +guarded area, and it was plain to the council that, at night +especially, little of the rolling tract of hill and valley could be +patrolled; the foe would have fairly free range. +</P> + +<P> +One precaution could be taken, and that was promptly done. Orders were +issued that no bracken was to be cut except with the direct sanction of +the admiral. When cut it was to be carried green, and dried away from +the trees. Large rewards were also offered to any man who could bring +any "man in black," alive or dead, to the admiral. Visions of high +preferment were opened out to those of gentle blood. Suspected persons +in the forest area were to be closely watched, and most houses +professing the Romish faith were under suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie Morgan spent but little time in the society of the volatile +Dorothy. His heart was full of love, but his head was overloaded with +affairs of state, and the pain in his arm filled the air with +"phantoms" in black that blotted out the sweeter picture of a teasing +"fairy" in white. The admiral, never so happy as when on the water, +went back to Gatcombe on the tide. Sir Walter tramped through the +woods with Morgan, and, now that the council was over, he came back to +the lighter topics of poetry and love-making. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Master Morgan," he cried merrily, "and how didst thou fare in +the pretty arbour in the garden?" +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie's face dropped to a gloomy length. "But indifferently, sir +knight. The maid will not be wooed. She is as fickle as April." +</P> + +<P> +"Then catch her just when she melts into tears; 'tis the more +propitious time. Surely there was one little shower over thy wounded +arm. What advantage didst thou reap from it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, none," mourned Johnnie. "'Twas like this. I had wit enough to +see that my unfortunate condition gave me a chance, and, I give thee my +word, I manoeuvred to make the best on't. The wench seemed melting +with pity, and her eyes were moist with kindness, so I made the plunge. +But, gramercy! I found myself in a very thorn bush, and hardly escaped +without a scratching. She'll ha' none of me!" +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie's brown face was a study. Raleigh glanced at it, and laughed +heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep heart, friend," he said. "Thou wilt find that 'tis as hard a +matter to embrace a wayward fairy as to lay a sooty goblin by the +heels. But thou'lt do both; a knowing imp hath just whispered the news +in mine ears." +</P> + +<P> +The forester's face beamed. "Now Heaven bless thee for a cheerful +companion!" he cried. "By St. George! I'll <I>do</I> both." +</P> + +<P> +And so the twain wandered on. +</P> + +<P> +At Dean Tower, Andrew Windybank passed an uncomfortable afternoon. His +meeting with the dangerous Basil had affected him more than his +rejection by Dorothy. As the day advanced his agitation increased. He +knew of the meeting at Captain Dawe's. No invitation had been extended +to him, and he was aware from this that his loyalty was suspected. +Tidings of the attack upon Raleigh went the round of the household. +Later, towards evening, a fisherman came up from Newnham with salmon, +and he was full of gossip concerning the deliberations of the admiral's +council. The fellow dropped some broad hints that stung the ears of +the Windybank domestics. At supper Master Andrew felt that his +attendants were uneasy and suspicious, and this increased his +agitation. Night and its solitude brought him no relief. The +household betook itself to rest. The master alone remained up and +awake. +</P> + +<P> +The night was gloriously clear, and the moonlit forest was like +fairyland. The windows of the chamber in which Windybank awaited the +stroke of midnight faced towards the river, and the sheen of its broad +waters was plainly visible. He sat without a light, and the silvery +beams from without cast fantastic shadows on the oaken floor and the +dark panelling of the low walls. The carved furniture stood distorted +and grotesque. The woodwork creaked as it cooled from the heat of the +day, and a mouse that scuttled sharply across the floor brought the +watcher to his feet with an exclamation of alarm. His nerves were +strung to respond to every sight and sound. Again and again he +resolved that he would not sit up or have further dealings with the +plotters. Loyalty and manliness and the fear of evil report pulled him +one way; greed, ambition, desire for revenge, terror of Father Jerome +and the thunders of the Church pulled him another. His mind was so +torn with dissension and struggle that at last he gave up all endeavour +to fix a path for himself. He sat blank and apathetic, conscious only +that he was carrying out the order so menacingly given to him by Basil. +</P> + +<P> +Midnight came, and he roused himself and stood up. He listened for +signs of wakefulness in his household, but, within and without, the +hour was soundless. He stole across the room to the window, then +hesitated. Pressing his burning temples with his hands, he tried to +come to some decision as to his conduct. Should he quietly summon a +few of his men, bring in the plotters and arrest them? If he did this, +surely it would atone for the dealings he had had with them? Honour +whispered, "Get thee to thy slumbers, and go to-morrow to the admiral +and make thy confession." He turned away from the lattice. A slight +rattle attracted his attention. The blood rushed from his face, +leaving him as cold as death. The dark form of Basil, silhouetted by +the moonlight, was confronting him. One glare of angry reproach from +the sinister eyes was enough. He opened the casement; Basil stepped +in, and Father Jerome followed. +</P> + +<P> +The two stood and eyed him severely. The priest laid his hand on his +shoulder, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his pale +countenance. Many a poor wretch had found that smile a herald of +tragedy. Such it now appeared to the hapless owner of Dean Tower. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis past midnight, my son," said Jerome. +</P> + +<P> +Windybank made no reply. The grip on his shoulder tightened with a +startling suddenness. "'Tis past midnight, my son." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?—is it? I was coming, good father," faltered the victim. +</P> + +<P> +"When thou art doing the work of a king—of the Holy Father—of God," +whispered the priest, "thou shouldst put wings upon thy feet. Take +heed, my son! We love thee" (the smile deepened); "we look to thee to +do great things and earn great rewards. Let not our dearest hopes be +disappointed." +</P> + +<P> +Windybank glanced at Basil. There was death in the fanatic's eyes. +"Forgive me," he murmured, and sank upon his knees. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome raised him, and imprinted a cold kiss upon his forehead. "Sit," +he said. +</P> + +<P> +"The admiral hath held a council at Newnham to-day, and thou hast lost +heart because a few dull wits have been pondering together," pursued +the priest. "Dost thou know their plans?" +</P> + +<P> +"Partly, father." +</P> + +<P> +"A child might laugh at them! Our brave Basil here will reduce their +watchmen to a jelly of terror before this moon wanes. When flies catch +spiders, then these fools will catch us. Now hearken. If thou dost +show the white feather again, thou diest; Basil hath sworn it. That is +all that I have to say to thee by way of threat or reproof. Now this, +by way of encouragement. We <I>cannot</I> fail. 'Tis the Church against +heretics, the Holy Father against apostates, the mightiest king in +Christendom against a vain and foolish woman. My plans are perfected. +A vessel manned by stout hearts will be here, in the river, a month +from to-day. Men who laugh at danger and have never known defeat will +be aboard of her. They will land at my signal, and must find all +things ready for the last blow. These miles of woodland will be +ablaze; no guard, such as the admiral can set, will prevent us. I want +thine aid. 'Tis an honour for thee to be linked with our holy cause; +beware how thou dost carry the dignity. This house of thine must be +hiding-place and headquarters for me. I shall come and go when I +please, and, be assured, I shall time my movements so that none shall +know of them. A safe asylum in the forest is necessary. I have chosen +this. I command; thou dost obey. Have I made it plain to thee?" +</P> + +<P> +Windybank's dry lips murmured "Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast an enemy?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have." +</P> + +<P> +"Basil hath set his mark upon him." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it." +</P> + +<P> +"If thou art faithful, thy rival dies. Now lead us to the chamber of +which thou hast told us. Basil and I are weary, and would sleep. +Come, thou shall wait upon us and make us secure." +</P> + +<P> +The men in black slept at the Tower that night. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MASTER WINDYBANK WALKS ABROAD. +</H3> + +<P> +A month came and went, and during that time the stir of apprehension +died down in the forest. Men pursued their wonted occupations, by the +river, in the greenwood and the mines, without let or hindrance. Night +was as untroubled as the day; the dreaded men in black appeared no +more. Wayfarer and forester forgot to scan bush and bracken for the +deadly and cadaverous form of Basil. Simple, honest souls believed +that the admiral's council at Newnham, and the measures of defence +adopted thereat, had shown the emissaries of King Philip how impossible +was their wild enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Verily," said they, "the villains have gotten a fright, and are gone +back to their rascally master." +</P> + +<P> +Which opinion did credit to the clean-souled fellows who uttered it, +and a glaring injustice to the cunning knaves who had caused such a +fearful commotion amongst them. And all the while the plotters had +secret harbourage at Dean Tower, coming and going by stealth and in the +darkness, avoiding all men, playing no bogy tricks, but maturing their +plans. +</P> + +<P> +Andrew Windybank had lived the wretchedest month of his life. A +mountain of care bowed him down, and fear, rage, jealousy, and wounded +pride gnawed unceasingly at his heart. He knew that he was a suspected +person: his neighbours shunned him; many of his servants and +dependants, by sidelong looks and spying ways, showed that they +mistrusted him. Within a week of the time when Father Jerome and his +two lieutenants quartered themselves upon him, the young master of Dean +Tower went about with pale face and bowed head, ashamed to meet the +eyes of a passer-by; and all the time wild anger surged up in his +heart, equally against those whose tool he was and against those who +stepped aside with a shrug to let him pass. He suffered all the +agonies that come upon weak natures that fall into temptation or +succumb to evil influences. He dreaded the power of the Church of +Rome; he shivered as he thought of the terrors of England's laws +against traitors. He loved his country in a way, and he was proud of +her; yet, having done nothing to merit the applause of his +fellow-countrymen, he was maliciously envious of those who had risen to +emergencies, or deliberately planned great deeds, and thus won +themselves fame. He loved Mistress Dorothy, and he felt that, if she +would only love him, he could be brave and noble; yet he hated the +easy-going, simple-hearted Johnnie Morgan, who had made himself a +popular idol, and was marked out by the gossips as the fittest and +properest husband for pretty Mistress Dawe. Master Windybank could not +help but admire the valiant admiral, and he remembered how he had +flushed with pleasure when Drake had taken him by the hand on the +occasion of their introduction. He hated and feared Father Jerome: but +he was aiding his schemes, and endeavouring to frustrate those of the +gallant sailor whom he honoured. +</P> + +<P> +As the days wore on, unceasing fears began to torture him. Did any one +know of his treason? One aged servitor only had been admitted into the +secret of the unwelcome guests in the Tower, and the honest veteran had +gone straightway upon his knees and besought his young master to cast +them out. Of the Romish faith himself, he would have no hand in plots +against his lawful Queen, and no truckling to the cruel bigot who sat +upon the throne of Spain. But love of his master brought him into the +snare, and made him an unwilling tool of the conspirators. Both fear +and affection lead men to belie their better selves. +</P> + +<P> +After a month of what was almost seclusion, Andrew Windybank determined +to spend a morning by the river. He walked into Newnham, and made his +way to the ferry to watch the tide race up the river. Men, horses, and +dogs were coming across from Arlingham, as the verderers of the forest +had a great hunt fixed for that very day. Windybank, as a verderer, +should have remembered this, but weightier matters had driven it from +his mind. +</P> + +<P> +There was plenty of bustle at the ferry; men were shouting, horses were +neighing, and hounds were baying. The townsfolk had come down to +welcome their friends from the other side, but no Newnham man +approached the master of Dean Tower. There was some whispering, some +furtive glancing in his direction, and the Arlingham folk cut him as +completely as did those of Newnham. +</P> + +<P> +With his heart full of rage and malice, the young gentleman turned on +his heel and strode off up the street. He held his head defiantly +erect, and he gave scorn for scorn and shrug for shrug. From the open +window of "Ye Whyte Beare" a jolly, rolling peal of laughter told him +that young Morgan was within, and two boar-hounds tethered to the +doorpost proclaimed that the Blakeney yeoman purposed hunting other +game than the timid deer that day. +</P> + +<P> +Higher up the street the angry man encountered a group of dark-haired, +sallow-faced miners who were taking a holiday, and a hiss of "Papist! +papist!" greeted him as he passed. His hand went to the hilt of his +dagger, but the fellows flourished their oaken cudgels within an inch +of his nose; so he contented himself with a counter hiss of "Insolent +dogs!" and went on. +</P> + +<P> +Resolved to face his foes, Master Andrew walked the whole length of the +high street, although the road to Littledean branched off about halfway +up. This meant that he must pass Captain Dawe's cottage, which dainty +habitation he had not looked upon since the morning when his wooing had +been interrupted by the coming of his wounded rival. The angry colour +fled from his face, and his head sank lower and lower as he neared the +place. The sound of Dorothy's voice in the garden unnerved him +completely; shame swept over him like the swift river-tide that still +roared in his ears, his chin fell on his breast, and a ghastly pallor +whitened his cheeks. A sob broke from him as he bent low and hurried +by. He did not dare to snatch even a glimpse of the scene beyond the +hedge. +</P> + +<P> +But he heard his name called in quick but quiet tones, "Master +Windybank! Master Windybank!" His heart almost ceased beating. The +shock of detection made him pause for an instant, and that brief space +of time brought Dorothy into view. He would not run, but turned +towards her, throbbing with the panting fears of a creature brought to +bay. The wild light in his eyes was quenched when he saw the kindly +glow in the blue orbs of the maiden. She put out her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art almost a stranger," she said. +</P> + +<P> +The youth's dry lips could frame no answer, nor did he take the +proffered hand. Kindly concern, where he had expected contempt and +reproach, completely unnerved him. Dorothy's hand was still held out, +and her eyes grew kinder as he looked into them. He took the dainty +fingers in his trembling hand and pressed them to his hot, dry lips. +Dorothy had almost the sensation of a burn, and she winced. Windybank +took the movement as a repulse, and threw the hand from him. +</P> + +<P> +"Art thou going to torture me too?" he cried harshly. "Why do you all +hate me so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hate!" echoed Dorothy. "La! Master Windybank." +</P> + +<P> +"I am shunned like a leper," he went on. "Shall I get me into a sheet, +carry a bell, and cry 'Unclean! unclean!' as I walk the roads?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I do neither hate thee nor shun thee, else I had not called to +thee. 'Tis thou dost make a hermit of thyself. And thou art ill and +fevered," she added compassionately; "thou art wasted well-nigh to a +shadow." +</P> + +<P> +"I have no rest, no peace," he groaned. "I am scorned of my +neighbours, spied upon, suspected, insulted. Do ye all think I have no +heart to feel these things, no spirit to resent them? But I can return +hate for hate, injury for injury. Let some men look to themselves!" +</P> + +<P> +His tones were so fierce that Dorothy quailed. She recovered herself +quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Come into the garden," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot come where I am not welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"I am asking thee." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not come." +</P> + +<P> +"Then must I come to thee." +</P> + +<P> +Suiting action to the words, the maiden hurried through the gate, and +in a minute more Windybank was sitting beside her in the arbour. +</P> + +<P> +Now Mistress Dorothy was a maiden very prone to act upon impulse. She +would do a thing, and then, after accomplishment, consider the action, +and ofttimes repent. She had never entertained any very great liking +for Master Andrew, although her father had at one time made much of him +and favoured him as an acceptable suitor for his daughter's hand. But +the fact that the young gentleman was in serious disgrace, and spoken +ill of by those who smoked their pipes and sipped their ale around the +captain's table, softened her heart towards him. Ugly clouds of +suspicion hung over him, and men said bitter things concerning him; but +to Dorothy's mind the alleged treason seemed impossible. The accused +man, she would argue, was a gentleman and a forester; he had sat at her +father's board, he had spoken of love to her: such a one could not be a +traitor; she would not condemn him unheard. But she had resolved to +put him upon trial if opportunity offered. The opportunity had come, +and, believing in his innocence, she seized upon it. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy went straight to her task without bush-beating. She told +Master Andrew very plainly what men were saying about him, and then she +asked him some blunt and awkward questions. Windybank was cunning; he +saw that in Dorothy he had a friend and a ready champion. To answer +her questions truthfully was to forfeit her good opinion and turn her +liking into loathing. He determined to fence. +</P> + +<P> +The maiden would have none of it. "I must have plain answer to plain +question!" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +So Master Windybank gave answers that appeared stamped with the mark of +truth. He assumed the indignation of a wronged innocent, and spouted +with some heat a torrent of lies and cunning half-truths. +</P> + +<P> +It was all very cleverly done, especially the contrite confessions +concerning interviews with Father Jerome and his brother-conspirators. +He acknowledged that men had had some cause to suspect him. "But," +exclaimed he, "a man should not be written down a criminal because some +one asks him to commit a villainy. All of us are liable to temptation!" +</P> + +<P> +"Truly spoken!" said Dorothy. "However, we must not parley with the +tempter, but flee from him." +</P> + +<P> +"That is not easy," answered Andrew, "for these men steal about like +very wolves. They spring into one's path when least expected. It is +impossible to avoid them." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy tapped her companion's sword. "Thou art armed," she said, "and +so are they. What shouldst thou do when an avowed enemy of the Queen +crosses thy path actually engaged in evil-doing?" +</P> + +<P> +Windybank gulped. "Cut him down," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly!" Dorothy arose and held out her hand. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"I expect to hear that a gentleman and a forester has done his duty to +his Queen, himself, and his friends." +</P> + +<P> +The master of Dean Tower bowed, murmured some words of loyalty and +devotion, and then took his leave. He went the longest way home, +avoiding all frequented ways near which Basil might be lurking. +Loyalty and treason, lodged in his heart, fought a dire fight, and, +thanks to the vision of a pretty face, treason was rather badly wounded. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HUNT. +</H3> + +<P> +By the time he had reached home, Windybank was persuaded that treason +would bring no grist to his mill. Weak-kneed and inclined to evil, he +was yet an Englishman, and in his heart he felt that all the kings that +ever ruled in Spain were too feeble a power to hold valiant little +England in a conqueror's grip. The Jesuit's plot was feasible, and, as +expounded by Father Jerome, promised a measure of success. The master +of Dean Tower was prepared to acknowledge that the forest might be +fired. What then? Would Philip beat England on the sea? The balance +of numbers would be on his side; but what of the deeds of Drake and his +brother-captains? They were men who laughed when the odds were against +them. "No," said Andrew decisively, "the Spaniard is not yet born who +can trounce that bullet-headed man of Devon. Philip's men can hardly +land in England. If they do—!" The young man shrugged his shoulders +expressively; there were bonny fighters for the shore as well as for +the sea! +</P> + +<P> +Such was the power of a pair of blue eyes, when the black ones were not +at hand to counteract their witchery, that Windybank determined +straightway to play the honest man that he had determined to become. +He whistled for his dogs, called to his groom, got him upon a sturdy +pony, and hurried away to the hunt. He was late, but he knew that the +quarry was to be roused in the Abbot's Wood, a close belt of forest +lying betwixt Littledean and Blakeney, so he made for the old, +grass-grown Roman road that ran straight through the heart of the +woodland, and, ere he had ridden two miles, he could discern horn and +"halloo!" away to the right towards the Speech.[1] His hounds heard +the welcome sounds, gave mouth in answer, and dashed off through the +green, waving sea of bracken. And master and groom, their forester +blood running like a stimulating wine through them, put spurs to their +steeds and raced off on the heels of the dogs. +</P> + +<P> +After very little riding, the rapidly swelling volume of sound told the +two hunters that the chase was coming straight in their own direction, +and hardly had they come to this conclusion when a fresh and fiercer +baying from their dogs and a ripping and crashing in the undergrowth +brought them face to face with the quarry—a magnificent ten-point +stag. Confronted unexpectedly by these fresh foes, the noble creature +came to a terrified halt, and, flanks heaving, nostrils quivering, +stared at them with wide-open eyes. But a yelp from the nearest hound +and a view "halloo!" from Windybank sent it off again like a bolt from +a crossbow. +</P> + +<P> +"Head him back to the main chase!" yelled Master Andrew, and he rode +off at a dangerous pace through the trees to carry out his own +instructions. Dogs and man obeyed his voice with a will, and the +unfortunate stag went bounding from one danger into the jaws of a +greater. Terrified by the shouts and bayings behind him, and sorely +hampered by the trees and undergrowth, he burst wildly into a glade, +hoping to make a quicker dash for safety, but found himself, instead, +confronted by a crowd of hunters on horse and afoot. Effectually +cornered, he turned to bay, and the first hound that approached was +tossed a good dozen yards, landing with a thud and a howl right under +the heels of Dorothy's pony. Snapping viciously out at the nearest +obstacle, the brute bit the pony just above the fetlock, causing it to +rear, spring forward, and throw its rider into the midst of the dogs +and within reach of the stag's horns. A cry of alarm went up, and +Windybank, who was easily the nearest man, had the opportunity of his +life. He hesitated, and his rival, who had quitted the boar hunt when +he found Dorothy riding after other game, sprang to the rescue in an +instant. With his bare hands he threw the dogs aside and snatched up +the unconscious girl just as the stag's antlers made the first savage +rip at her riding-dress. The whole deed was done in the twinkling of +an eye, and done single-handed. Morgan's quickness and cool daring had +proved easily equal to the crisis, and loud cries of "Well done, +Johnnie!" greeted the popular hero. For the nonce the quarry was left +to the dogs, and Windybank, glancing round, saw that he was the only +man still in the saddle; instinctively every other rider had sprung to +the ground. No one appeared to notice him; so, conscious that his +chance of regaining any share of popular esteem was gone, he swung his +horse round and disappeared amidst the trees. His dogs were yelping +with the rest of the pack, and not even his groom followed him. A +feeling of hopeless loneliness crept over the young man's heart, and +his head hung down, weighted with the bitterest thoughts of his life. +His conscience was busy with accusing whispers—"Traitor! Coward! +Fool!" The unspoken words burnt into his brain, and fired his dark +face with the hues of a lurid sunset. He halted; no man could see him, +and he listened to the clamour in the glade. He heard an exultant bay +from one of his own hounds. The brute dared more than his master, and +was taking a bold share in the events of the moment; and the vindictive +master vowed to have the brave dog's life for outdoing him. +</P> + +<P> +The spirit of mad hate was driving out the feeling of shame. He vowed +with an awful oath that Morgan should share the hound's fate. All men +were his enemies; why, then, should he spare them? +</P> + +<P> +A hand of ice was laid on his hand, and he almost screamed with the +sudden shock and surprise; he had heard no footstep. He raised his +head, to find the stern, set face of Basil confronting him. +</P> + +<P> +"What art thou doing here?" he cried hoarsely. +</P> + +<P> +"Looking after thee." +</P> + +<P> +"Begone, then; I'll not be dogged," exclaimed Windybank wildly. "If +these men see us, our dooms are sealed." +</P> + +<P> +"Thine was almost sealed," said Basil curtly. "'Twas in thine heart to +play us false. Hadst thou held out the hand of friendship to yonder +herd of heretics, thou wouldst have found me to-night both thy judge +and executioner. Come, the time is ripe for action. I spare thee +because I need thee; but beware!" +</P> + +<P> +Basil took the pony by the bridle and turned its head towards Dean +Tower. "Father Jerome awaits thee," he said, "and thy life hangs in +the balance. Go!" +</P> + +<P> +And Windybank went. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +[1] The ancient courthouse of the foresters; it still exists. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MASTER WINDYBANK REBELS. +</H3> + +<P> +Andrew Windybank slunk away through the forest homewards. He had set +out to play the man; he sidled in through his own gateway like a +whipped puppy. Not once during his ride did he look back, and he +neither hurried nor loitered; the former he would not, and the latter +he dared not do, for he felt that Basil was watching him. Never for an +instant did he lose the consciousness that the beady, black eyes were +upon him. He felt them like two hot points in the middle of his back; +they burned and bored, and the flesh seemed to shrink away from them +beneath the taut skin. +</P> + +<P> +For some time the sounds of the hunt came to his ears, but he heeded +them not. "I am out of the hunt in all ways," he said bitterly. +"Bugle-calls are not for me." +</P> + +<P> +There is no more pitiable object than a man suffering under mental and +moral defeat. He has lost faith in himself. He has tried, he has +failed; and he usually throws his defeat in the face of Providence, +accusing the Almighty of desertion. Windybank did so. Desperate with +anger and humiliation, he went to his own private sanctum. Father +Jerome and Basil were already there, awaiting him. Windybank could not +repress a start of surprise when he found that the ex-monk had +outstripped him. He had hoped for a few minutes of quiet thought +before facing Jerome. A quick wave of anger swept over him when he +realized how closely he was "shadowed." His footsteps dogged if he +went abroad; his privacy was broken, without so much as a "by your +leave," if he stayed at home; he was treated as a puppet, a cat's-paw, +a thing that must move only according to the will of another. A flash +of light showed him the utter depth of his degradation; and the two +basilisks that sat staring and motionless before him were the +instruments that had accomplished his undoing. A wild yearning for +freedom and vengeance arose in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"We have been waiting for thee since early morn, my son," said Jerome, +breaking the silence. The tone of the speaker's voice was cold, hard, +and threatening. The menace in it stung Windybank into rebellion. +</P> + +<P> +"And why should ye not wait?" he cried. "Who, in God's name, are ye to +establish yourselves unbidden in my house, dog my steps, threaten me, +ruin me with my friends and neighbours, and treat me as though I were a +child without will, aims, or desires of mine own? Ye have tarried for +me; tarry on until doomsday. Henceforth I'll be master of myself!" +Furious with passion, Master Andrew turned to the door. +</P> + +<P> +The effect of this outburst was electric. Jerome sat as one stupefied, +and for a bare instant Basil gazed as stonily as he; but he recovered +in time to prevent the young man's departure. The yellow-faced fanatic +was as quick-handed as he was quick-witted. Windybank had lifted the +latch, and his fingers were on the door pulling it open. Basil drew +his dagger, held it, poised, by the blade for a moment, then cast it +with great force and precision. Master Andrew felt a hot pain in his +hand, tried to pluck it back to his body, and failed; it was pinned +fast to the door. Basil came forward, drew out the dagger, and led his +host to the feet of Father Jerome. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art drunk," he said meaningly—"drunk with the poison of a +wench's flattery. Down on thy knees and crave forgiveness!" +</P> + +<P> +But the master of Dean Tower was thoroughly aroused, and was not to be +cowed by a word. He threw Basil from him, and, wounded and bleeding +though his hand was, he contrived to draw his sword. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll kneel for forgiveness to no man living!" he cried. "Get ye from +my house, or I will drive ye forth!" +</P> + +<P> +Jerome had recovered from his astonishment; he rose up and laid his +hand gently on the young man's shoulder. "Thou art beside thyself for +the nonce, my son. Let us talk calmly. A host does not draw sword on +his guests." +</P> + +<P> +The words were uttered in a smooth, purring tone, and Andrew lowered +his hand. He was glad to do it, for it throbbed with pain, and the +blood was falling in a quick drip to the floor. His head was reeling, +and he spoke stutteringly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ye are not guests of mine; ye are intruders," he cried. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome tried to press him into a chair, but he resisted. "Hands off, +father! I can stand." +</P> + +<P> +The Spaniard made no further attempt to coerce the maddened young +gentleman, but he took a kerchief from his doublet and carefully bound +up the wounded limb. +</P> + +<P> +"A drop of wine, son Basil, for our friend," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Basil went to a cabinet, but Windybank cried out,— +</P> + +<P> +"Touch nothing of mine, thou devil's cub! Dost think I would drink +ought from thy hands! When wilt thou be gone, as I have bidden thee? +If thou dost not quit, I will run thee through." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome saw that the presence of Basil was a continual irritant to the +desperate man, so he himself ordered his satellite to withdraw. Basil +obeyed with no very good grace, and the look that Windybank received +boded ill. Jerome now placed his victim in a cosy chair, threw open +the casement that the fresh breeze from the woods might enter, and +brought the glass of wine he had ordered. Master Andrew drank it, then +lay back with closed eyes, his brain busy with tumultuous thought. The +Spaniard sat and watched him as a wolf might watch a slumbering dog; +his brain was as busy as that of the other. Was his plan doomed to +failure at the last moment? If the master of Dean Tower failed him at +so critical a juncture, he could not see how to proceed. More than +ever did the conspirators require a place of refuge, not only for +themselves, but for others whom Jerome was daily expecting. +</P> + +<P> +Father Jerome got up and quietly left the room, proceeding to an +ante-chamber where he knew Basil was lurking. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" asked the latter when he saw his chief. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast been too harsh and hasty, my son. The meanest man will turn +to bay if his dignity is wounded too sorely. We have found Master +Windybank weak and pliable, and we have been too contemptuous of his +manhood. He hath a little, and that last blow of thine has aroused it." +</P> + +<P> +Basil fell on his knees in contrition. "Forgive me!" he murmured. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome raised him up and gave him a perfunctory kiss on the forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"We can forgive faults that arise from excess of zeal," he replied, +"and we must have patience with the weak-kneed; a time will come when +we shall be able to visit their sins upon them. At present we must +play the loving friend; we can be the merciless judge at the opportune +moment. Get thee to Gatcombe, my son. Watch the admiral well, and +send the messenger thou wottest of down to Chepstow to learn if there +be any tidings of our friends from Ireland. The time for action is +fully come; the foresters are lulled again to security; we must strike +as speedily as possible. I shall expect thee at midnight to-morrow. +Meantime I will bring back our host to a sense of his duty and +religion." +</P> + +<P> +Basil bent one knee to receive his superior's blessing. "Benedicite!" +murmured Jerome. +</P> + +<P> +His subordinate seized his hand and pressed it to his lips. "I am +forgiven, father?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgiven and blessed," answered Jerome. "Go! and the Holy Virgin +watch over thee." +</P> + +<P> +Basil pulled his hood over his face, opened a small oak door whose +hinges had been generously oiled, and disappeared amongst the trees. +Jerome went back to Windybank. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DARKNESS AND THE RIVER. +</H3> + +<P> +The hunt and its incidents were three days old. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie Morgan had been to Newnham, and had spent a whole afternoon in +Dorothy's company. Not once had she snubbed him or even contradicted +him. Johnnie was home again, quietly happy. There was a battle of wit +and song fixed for the night at the local tavern; several "jolly dogs" +had waylaid the young farmer and tried to drag him off for an evening's +revelry, but he would have none of it. The sun was going down over the +hills, and Johnnie sat in his parlour and watched it. His chair was +tilted back against the heavy table, and his feet were on the +window-ledge half shrouded in flowers. He stared at the rosy sky and +dreamed dreams of the same colour. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie heard quick footsteps coming up to the porch, and immediately +afterwards there was a lusty banging at the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Plague take 'em!" exclaimed the contemplative youth; "I'll not go." +</P> + +<P> +A little, dark-haired maiden, who, with her mother, formed the whole of +the farmer's domestic establishment, came into the room. +</P> + +<P> +"The admiral's man would speak with you, master," she said. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie's feet were on the floor in an instant. "Show him in," he +cried. +</P> + +<P> +A weather-beaten Devon man, sailor to his finger-tips, rolled into the +room. The two men gripped hands. +</P> + +<P> +"At last?" asked Johnnie in a low tone. +</P> + +<P> +"At last!" was the reply. "Gatcombe jetty at nightfall, and well +armed." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be there." +</P> + +<P> +Without further words the messenger turned about and went elsewhere on +his errand. Morgan at once got out his sword, put on a thick leathern +doublet and boots reaching to his thighs. Then, well knowing that he +might be setting out on an all-night expedition, he proceeded to eat a +hasty but hearty supper. +</P> + +<P> +At the appointed time he stood with about a dozen others on the +river-bank. The tide was about at half-flow and running strongly; +moreover, a breeze was coming up behind it from the south-west. There +was no moon, clouds were packing, and there was every sign of a +pitch-dark night. The admiral's roomy boat, with its mast stepped and +sail ready for hoisting, bobbed up and down on the water. Drake +himself was there to receive his men. +</P> + +<P> +"A rare night on the river for fish poachers, smugglers, and other +nefarious rascals," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"True, admiral," answered a Gatcombe pilot; "and I trow we shall find +it trying work looking for black men on a black night." +</P> + +<P> +"Well spoken, master pilot; but if thou canst keep our lives free of +danger from shoal and sandbank, we'll e'en try to do the rest." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll warrant ye safe passage anywhere 'twixt Chepstow and Gloucester, +Sir Francis." +</P> + +<P> +"I ask no more.—Now, gentlemen, aboard!" +</P> + +<P> +In silence the chosen band seated themselves. "Take the tiller, pilot; +I myself will attend to the sail. Do thou, Master Morgan, seat thyself +in the bow and maintain a sharp lookout; thine eyes are younger than +mine, and more used to the lights of the river." The anchor was lifted +in, and immediately the boat swung round into the path of the racing +waters. "Make for the other side," ordered Drake, "and lay to in the +backwater under the bank." +</P> + +<P> +A few deft strokes of the oars carried the boat into the rush of the +tide; for an instant it hung wavering, and then shot off like an arrow +up and across the roaring river. Then followed a few minutes of +intense excitement. The little craft rocked and swayed, and rose and +fell, tossed like a cork on the turbid waters. Morgan could scarcely +see a hand's-breadth before him. The rudder creaked as the pilot moved +it to and fro, and only his voice was heard as, very softly, he ordered +one oarsman after another to pull or back-water in order to hold the +course safely between the shallows and avoid the shifting sands, whose +presence, in the darkness, no eye could descry. Morgan was kneeling in +the bow, a stout pole in his hands; only once was he called upon to use +it, when the nose of the boat went crunching along the slope of a +sandbank for a few yards. At length came the welcome order, "Easy +all!" A minute later the boat was riding on an even keel under the +bank, rising and falling in rhythm with the suck and lap of the water +as it devoured the soft, red-brown walls that shut it in. The heads of +the men were on a level with the strip of turf that formed the land's +margin. Fifty yards back was the outer edge of a belt of dark wood +that covered the flat lands and swept up the sides of the hills that +lay off ten or twelve miles to the east. Against such a background +nothing would be visible in the darkness. Across on the Gatcombe side +were the steep sandstone cliffs, storm-washed and clean, and topped +with primeval forest. +</P> + +<P> +"Master Morgan," said Drake, "how far out in the stream must we lie in +order that thou mayest distinguish the sail or hull of a ten-ton craft +against the cliff face?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can do it from here, Sir Francis. The channel is about mid-stream; +and now that mine eyes are got accustomed to the dull tinge of the +water, I can see the fleck and scum on the farther sand-ridge." +</P> + +<P> +"Good! thou art our watch." +</P> + +<P> +The admiral turned to the rest of his party. "Gentlemen," said he, "in +one sense we work in the dark to-night; our foes have willed it so. Ye +have come out on this errand at my bidding, asking no questions, and +so, in a way, ye are groping in a double darkness. 'Tis not my way to +have men follow me blindly if I can open their eyes. I want those at +my back to see; by so doing they will strike the surer. Now, tidings +have reached me that those Spanish rascals whom ye wot of are about to +bring their plot to a head. Tomorrow night they hope to see the forest +in flames." The men stirred uneasily; Drake went on: "We have had a +long drought, and master-pilot will tell ye that there are strong winds +coming up from the sou'-west. For to-night and to-morrow they may be +dry; after that we may expect rain. Some of ye will know the <I>Luath</I> +that trades between Gloucester and Waterford in Ireland. The Irish are +not loyal to our Queen—that ye also know. The <I>Luath</I> came up to +Chepstow on the tide this morning, and no one, unless in the secret of +these Spanish villains, would dream that she carried ought but honest +cargo. Her hull, gentlemen, hides four rascal priests and other +desperate fellows to the full total of half a score, and much of her +merchandise is tar, oils and resin, and bales of tow. The boat should +wait off Chepstow for the tide that runs to-morrow forenoon before +attempting the dangerous run onwards to Gloucester. She really leaves +to-night. Just above Westbury she hath planned an anchorage, and there +Master Windybank of Dean Tower—whom, God helping me, I will hang over +his own gateway before another sunset—will meet them with pack-horses +wherewith to convey the combustibles to their appointed places. 'Tis +our business to capture the <I>Luath</I>. The good knight Sir Walter +Raleigh and the gallant Mayor of Newnham will see to Master Windybank +and the black-garbed villains that consort with him. That is our +mission; it remains for us to bring about a sure accomplishment." +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis as good as done, admiral," murmured the men. +</P> + +<P> +"There'll be a little tough fighting first," was the quiet reply. +"Capture means death to these fellows. They are brave, and will prefer +to die fighting." +</P> + +<P> +The river still rose; the tide was nearing full flood, and the wind +steadily increased. Soon there was water of a navigable depth above +every sandbank, and there was no longer a swirl to indicate a shallow. +Morgan had seen nothing; the men were getting cramped and impatient. +There was now no need for the <I>Luath</I> to pick her way; she might race +up anywhere between the wide banks: her chances of detection were +greatly lessened. +</P> + +<P> +The pilot spoke. "Saving your presence, admiral, but this Irish +skipper is a deep dog. He should have passed ere now if he intends to +do his business at Westbury and then make Gloucester on this tide. He +suspects us." +</P> + +<P> +"How so, pilot?" +</P> + +<P> +"He hath not ventured to navigate the usual channels, which could be +watched." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll have no pilot; don't forget that." +</P> + +<P> +"True; nevertheless he is behaving right cunningly." +</P> + +<P> +"I never expected him to behave foolishly." +</P> + +<P> +"'Sh!" Morgan's voice broke in. There was tense silence in a moment. +All eyes were staring across the river. "Row out!" cried Johnnie; +"they won't hear us in this wind." +</P> + +<P> +After about a dozen full strokes the command came from the bow, "Cease +rowing and keep her steady a moment!" +</P> + +<P> +Another palpitating wait; then an excited cry from more than one voice, +"There she goes!" And the <I>Luath</I>, every thread of her brown sail +taut, swept by like a greyhound, wind and wave hurrying her upstream. +</P> + +<P> +Round swung the admiral's boat, up went the sail, and in a moment she +was bowling along in the wake of the foe. "Put your backs into it, +lads," cried Drake; "we must have her before she gets too far up the +river, else will the longshore rascals get warning." +</P> + +<P> +The stout foresters and fishers needed no incentive; they were rowing +as well as ever Jason's Argonauts rowed, and a greater than Jason was +directing them. +</P> + +<P> +The yellow waters rushed and swirled and bubbled; objects drifting up +on the tide were left hopelessly behind. But the stout little Irish +boat had got under good headway, and for a while she kept it, looming +before them a blacker patch in a black night. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SNARING A FLOCK OF NIGHT RAVENS. +</H3> + +<P> +At about the hour when Johnnie Morgan stepped out over his threshold to +go down to the admiral at Gatcombe, Andrew Windybank stole like a thief +from the Tower and went through by-paths towards Westbury-on-Severn, a +fishing hamlet that lay a little farther up-stream than Newnham. Not a +single man of all his servants and retainers went with him. He was +clad in helmet and cuirass, and armed with sword and poniard. Although +he walked stealthily, he walked firmly. Impelled by superstitious +fears, avarice, and desire for revenge, he had finally thrown himself +whole-heartedly into the Spanish plot. He had found it impossible to +hold out against Jerome and Basil, for, had he withstood them, they +would have killed him without mercy. Therefore, being implicated +hopelessly with them and their schemes, he determined, wisely, to use +no half-measures and thus court defeat and disaster, but to strive to +his uttermost for the success of their plans, treasonable and +dishonourable though he knew them to be. "May as well be hanged for a +royal stag as for lesser game," said Master Windybank; and as he said +it he felt his neck grow uncomfortable. He plucked at his doublet, +found it quite loose, swore at himself for an imaginative fool, and +hurried on his way. +</P> + +<P> +The wood was almost passed; the trees were thin, and the steep of the +hill was merging into the level of the plain. Master Andrew could hear +the faint roar of the running tide. Nowhere along the river could a +light be seen. From wood to wood across the wide waterway all was a +black hollow, not even the yellow of the half-covered sands showing a +tinge of colour through the thick darkness. "A mirky night for a mirky +deed," whispered the young man. "Father Jerome hath chosen well." He +resumed his walk, turning north towards the cliff at Westbury. The +darkness and the sense of security had heightened his courage; he +stepped out boldly and without hesitation. All at once he was +conscious that some one was near him. Hardly had he realized this +presence when a hand was laid in a familiar fashion on his arm. "Thy +feet are swift in the good cause," said a voice; "thus do men step to +victory!" +</P> + +<P> +Basil! Windybank felt uncomfortable at once. Had the fellow been +dogging his steps from the Tower? He moved more stealthily than the +night itself, and one never felt free of his presence. +</P> + +<P> +The two walked on side by side, never exchanging another word; indeed +Windybank made no reply to Basil's remark. They came out on the +river-side path that ran from Newnham to Westbury around the great +horseshoe sweep of the river. The shallow wavelets of the advancing +tide were already lapping at the soft, red bank on their right. On +their left was a ditch; behind that, an embankment topped by a tall +hedge; beyond that, orchards and fields stretching away to forest and +hill. The two conspirators crept along in the shadow of the hedge. +Half a mile farther on was the rendezvous. A faint light coming from +the foam-topped water made the blackness near its margin seem less +intense, and presently Windybank saw three figures ahead of him +silhouetted against the stretch of river. He plucked Basil by the +sleeve, and the fanatic came to a dead stop instantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Friends or foes?" whispered the young forester. +</P> + +<P> +"No foe would walk so openly to our meeting-place," replied the other, +"and no friend should risk discovery so stupidly. I'll hurry after +them and teach them discretion." +</P> + +<P> +The ex-monk crouched down and ran almost on all fours like a dog. The +pace at which he went in so strained a position opened Windybank's +eyes. "The fellow's more beast than man," he thought, "and his +muscular strength is marvellous." He went on to the appointed place +alone and slowly, seeing nothing of Basil or the three others until he +got there. +</P> + +<P> +About a dozen men were assembled, and Windybank gathered from their +whispers that they were from the northern part of the forest or from +beyond the Wye; neither Father Jerome nor his other lieutenant, John, +was present. Windybank stretched himself on the grass just above the +water, being determined to say nothing to any man. He fell to +contemplating the tall spire of Westbury Church, which stood out like a +blurred finger in the darkness. Meanwhile the tide ran strongly. +</P> + +<P> +A boat came across from the eastern side of the river. Father Jerome +and five men stepped out, and the boat was tied up under the bank. The +Jesuit asked for "Master Windybank," and Andrew stood up. "Your +leader, friends, if it comes to fighting," said Jerome quietly. +Windybank bowed; he had not anticipated such an honour, and he +certainly did not want it; there was too much danger about it. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is John?" +</P> + +<P> +Basil answered. "Gone to meet the company that rides from Gloucester." +</P> + +<P> +Nearly half an hour went by, a time of dead silence and anxious +watching. Some of the less eager conspirators began to feel the +demoralizing effects of the long wait; their courage began to ebb. +Andrew Windybank had time to reflect, and he wished himself well out of +the whole business. Here and there a man sighed or fidgeted in the +darkness. Basil was quick to notice the signs, and equally quick to +combat them. He whispered words of hope and promise, and stimulated +the nagging ones to fresh zeal. +</P> + +<P> +A muffled sound of hoofs—the men from Gloucester! Windybank noted +with some degree of satisfaction that they ware well armed and well +mounted. In the darkness he counted nearly a score of men. A few were +"riff-raff;" some, like himself, were perhaps forced; but the majority +seemed to be of some substance and courage. Prospects were looking +brighter. Master Andrew ventured to ask Basil a question. "What of +the Irish ship?" +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>Luath</I> will not fail us; she is almost due." +</P> + +<P> +"It is possible that she may pass the cliff in the darkness," put in a +bystander. "Mine eyes are good, but I cannot see mid-stream, and a +boat that carries no lights may easily slip by unseeing and unseen." +</P> + +<P> +"That is our greatest risk, my son," admitted Basil. "But if the +<I>Luath</I> is to escape other prying eyes, we must take the chance against +ourselves. One thing, we know when and where to expect her, and the +captain will steer inshore after passing Newnham, because of the deeper +channel being this side. I don't think we shall miss her." +</P> + +<P> +Father Jerome utilized the minutes in slipping from man to man and +giving each a fixed duty to perform the moment the <I>Luath</I> should come +to anchor under the bank. He seemed to have forgotten nothing; ropes +were ready for the tying up of the vessel and the hauling ashore of the +cargo in cradles that the skipper would have aboard with him. The +horses from the city were designed for duty as pack-horses, by means of +which combustibles would be conveyed to divers parts of the forest and +hidden whilst the darkness lasted. Finally, the boat that had brought +Father Jerome and the contingent from the Arlingham side would drift +down-stream on the ebb with materials for giving the fire a good start +round Awre and Blakeney. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!"—the exclamation came in a strained whisper from a dozen throats. +A black shape loomed up out of the darkness, and was recognized by more +than one for the <I>Luath</I>. The ship swung towards the cliff, and the +men stood ready to drop the anchor. There was a soft call of "Ahoy!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy!" answered Basil. In an instant every conspirator was alert and +afoot. Father Jerome rubbed his hands with undisguised glee, and +Andrew Windybank felt a great weight drop from his heart. He had now +no doubt of success for the night's venture. The <I>Luath</I> was safe and +to time, and many hours of darkness were yet before them. He had not +expected that things would go so smoothly. He saw visions of satisfied +revenge dancing before him like "Jack-o'-lanthorns." His spirits were +of that sort that are easily elated or depressed. Now they bounded up +like a liberated balloon. +</P> + +<P> +But another black shape crept up-stream—a small black shape. And from +this came, not a faint call, but a rousing shout of:— +</P> + +<P> +"St. George and the Heart of Oak!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A DOUBLE FIGHT. +</H3> + +<P> +The fierce, challenging shout from the river seemed to split the thick +darkness as a wedge might split a tree. For a few seconds only was +there a following silence, in which the conspirators stood rooted in +astonishment; then from the very hedge that fringed the river-path came +another cry, "The Dragon and the Lion!" The veriest fool that hung +round Father Jerome knew that these cries could be naught but answering +signals. They were trapped. The rushing river lay before them, a line +of enemies stood behind, and the darkness was such that no man could +tell friend from foe at the distance of a dozen paces. +</P> + +<P> +The anchor of the <I>Luath</I> dropped to the deck again with a dull clang. +Hands went to the freeing of the sails, and the tiller swung round to +bring the vessel out of the backwater beneath the cliff into the full +run of the tideway. +</P> + +<P> +"Shoot!" ordered a rough voice (the admiral's) from the boat. A shower +of arrows whistled over the heads of the group on land, and stuck, +quivering, into ship or sailor. This sign of perfect agreement between +the forces at the rear and on the river decided some of the plotters. +The admiral evidently had known all, and was prepared with a perfect +counterplot. The only chance of safety lay in flight—and they fled. +</P> + +<P> +But Father Jerome was not beaten. His weapon was out, and Basil's and +John's followed immediately. +</P> + +<P> +"We fight for it, my sons," he cried. "The ship can hold her own and +help us too; there are fifty bold fellows aboard her." His voice rang +out clearly and resolutely, and the captain of the <I>Luath</I> responded. +"'Tis but a boat-load to beat off," he said. +</P> + +<P> +But Francis Drake led the boat-load. Under cover of the darkness and +the flight of arrows from the bank he had brought his boat under the +lee of the Irish vessel, and, closely followed by Johnnie Morgan, was +swarming up her side. A stirring shout of "Strike for the Queen, my +lads!" told Raleigh that the admiral was aboard. The next moment Sir +Walter, Captain Dawe, and a dozen bold fellows from Newnham swarmed +through the hedge and down the bank, and dashed upon Jerome and his men. +</P> + +<P> +"Cut them down, lads!" cried Raleigh. "Every one is a priest of Spain +or a traitor; don't spare the vermin!" +</P> + +<P> +The din and clamour ashore and afloat—the cries, curses, clash of +weapons, and groans of the wounded—turned midnight and darkness into +an hour of pandemonium. The shore fight was short, for, though the +three chief conspirators and Windybank fought desperately enough, the +rank and file seemed more anxious to save their skins than do aught +else. They dared not ask for quarter after Raleigh's order—'twas +fight to the death, or fly. The men from Gloucester moved at once to +their horses, and some of them managed to spring into the saddle and +get off in the darkness. The rough foresters were poorly armed and ill +prepared for fighting; for the most part those who stood were cut down +like sheep, and paid the full penalty of their treason. Basil +endeavoured to single out Raleigh, and Father Jerome did the same; but +one cloaked man is very like another at midnight, and there were tall +fellows amongst the Newnham lads that could stand shoulder to shoulder +with the famous knight. Windybank hoped to get a thrust at Morgan; and +now that his blood was up, and he had resolved to sell his life dearly, +he was chagrined to find no sign of the hated foe. He did not suspect +that Johnnie was with the admiral on the river. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile there was a fiercer struggle on the <I>Luath</I>. The crew and +the men stowed in hiding beneath the hatches were either Irish or +Spanish, all friends of the Pope and King Philip, and inveterate foes +of England's Queen and faith. Moreover, they were well armed and could +fight stoutly. The ship's decks were soon slippery with blood and +cumbered with dead and wounded. Twice the admiral was beaten back to +the bulwarks and almost over the side. His force was hardly great +enough for the task that confronted it; indeed, the astute seaman had, +for once, underestimated both the numbers and the courage of his foe. +He cheered his little company with voice and example. +</P> + +<P> +"Foot to foot with me, lads!" he cried. "The honour of England is at +stake. Shall Dons and Irish beat us on our own rivers? Well thrust, +Master Morgan! Now, a rush together, boys! Ha! they give; the dogs +give!" +</P> + +<P> +So, under the pall of night on the swirling waters, the fight went on. +Now the gallant captain of the <I>Luath</I> was exultant, the next moment +the admiral had the advantage; backwards and forwards swung the balance +of conflict. A loud "hurrah!" from the shore, a great shout of +"victory," cries of "Drive them into the river!" showed how matters had +gone between Raleigh and Father Jerome. The news heartened the admiral +and demoralized the conspirators on the ship. The vessel itself, +rocking to and fro, refusing to obey the helmsman, lurched from the +quiet backwater into the swirl of the racing current. She swung half +round, pitched and rolled dangerously, and then went up-stream like a +drunken thing, swaying, turning, threatening to rush for cliff or +sandbank, and endangering the life of every soul on board. The valiant +skipper saw and felt the imminent peril, and, sailor-like, sprang +himself to the helm and headed the staunch little ship along the safe +channel. Then he gave her over to the helmsman again with some +whispered instructions, and sprang back into the fight that had not +slackened because of the chances of shipwreck. But the sense of +doubled danger soon told its tale. The Spanish allies, strangers to +the river, lost their heads, unnerved by the blackness of the night and +the apparently ungoverned course along the tide. Raleigh and his +victorious men were running along the bank and cheering the admiral. +The captain of the <I>Luath</I> took a desperate chance. He blew a call on +a whistle that hung on his neck. It was a signal to the helmsman, who +turned the nose of the ship across stream to the eastern shore. +Diagonally the vessel steered to destruction; she just cleared the +sand-ridge in the centre of the river, and then went crash into the +bank. +</P> + +<P> +"Save yourselves," cried the skipper, and those of his men who could +jumped into the waters and struggled to land. "I fight to the last," +cried the gallant Irishman, when those who cared to run for life had +had their chance; and the braver ones amongst his men came in a ring +about him, and fought on until struck down. Drake offered them +quarter, but they proudly refused it. "No rope for my neck!" cried the +captain; and his men cheered his resolve, and died fighting beside him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT HAPPENED IN WESTBURY STEEPLE. +</H3> + +<P> +The battle was over, and there remained but the counting of the cost. +The admiral had lost a third of his force, who lay dead on the deck, or +on the shifting sands beneath the yellow tide. There was hardly a man +that had not received a wound. Johnnie Morgan had gone down under the +last wild-cat spring of the Irish captain. +</P> + +<P> +"We must have a light," cried Drake; "this vessel is a firebrand. Some +of you fetch up combustibles from below." +</P> + +<P> +The ship was stuck fast into the bank, the tide pounding her viciously +as she lay. In a short while a fire was roaring on the Arlingham bank, +and by its glare the deck was cleared of its ghastly burden, and the +wounded attended to. Hallooing across the river, Drake ordered those +on the other side to secure boats from somewhere, and come across +stream to render him assistance. Messengers went off to the +neighbouring farms to bring carts and mattresses and stuff for +bandaging; for the tale of wounded, friend and foe, was a long one. +Willing hands and legs went to work, but it was bright morning ere much +assistance arrived. Johnnie Morgan was not seriously wounded. A +sword-cut on the head had stunned him for a while, and now laid him, +sick, dizzy, and bleeding, on the bank; but he was able to tell the +admiral that he felt nothing but a "plaguy bad headache." +</P> + +<P> +We will leave him cooling in the dewy morning, and see what has become +of Master Windybank and some of those associated with him. The master +of Dean Tower, deeming his treachery well known, and not reckoning upon +any chance of life if he fell into the admiral's hands, rose to the +height of a desperate occasion, and fought in so resolute a fashion +that he was not outdone by the tigerish Basil or the cold-blooded +Jerome. The arch-plotter, who kept by the side of his untrustworthy +recruit, was astonished at the reckless valour he displayed. Truth to +tell, Jerome was half inclined to believe that Windybank had played a +double part, and was responsible for the admiral's knowledge of the +plot for unlading the <I>Luath</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Entertaining such a notion, he was watching Master Andrew closely; and +had he detected any signs of half-heartedness, or any movement towards +escape, he would have run the young man through the body without +hesitation. But the suspected one proved, for the nonce, a leader that +would have led stouter-hearted fellows to victory; and Father Jerome, +seeing the fight was hopeless, determined to give Windybank a chance of +further life and usefulness in the Spanish cause. He slowly gave way +in the direction of the river, and whispered his companion to do +likewise. +</P> + +<P> +"Skin whole?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay," panted Andrew. +</P> + +<P> +"Fall into the river as though badly wounded, and try to save thyself. +I shall do the same. Leave Basil and John to fight this out." +</P> + +<P> +A moment later Windybank toppled backwards into the stream. He was a +good swimmer, else had the Jesuit's advice availed him nothing, and he +rose to the surface and turned over on to his breast like a porpoise. +He fixed his sword between his teeth, and left himself to the rush of +the tide, putting in a few strokes now and then in order to keep a +proper course. A short time sufficed to put him out of the area of +actual conflict, and he rested himself for a moment to consider what +was best for him to do. He did not suppose that his foes would put an +escape to his credit, for his voice had been heard loudly enough in the +fight until the waters had closed above him. He determined to essay +the crossing of the river, as giving him the better chance of a run for +liberty, but he found the task beyond him; the fighting had fatigued +him, and the current ran like a mill-race. For the present, at any +rate, he must remain on his own side of the Severn. He swam a little +farther up-stream, then made for a place where the bank was low, and +scrambled out. For a while he waited to see whether Father Jerome had +followed him. Getting no signs of his leader, he turned to the +pressing question of his own immediate safety. He quickly decided not +to seek any hiding-place in the forest; the river offered a better +channel for escape. If he could secrete himself for a while, a chance +would offer itself of running down on the tide after nightfall. It +would not be difficult to find a boat, and the Welsh coast of the +estuary should afford him a safe asylum until he could make fuller +plans concerning his future. The voyage would be a perilous one, but +he saw no other chance of escaping capture and death. +</P> + +<P> +The gray cottages of Westbury were before him, backed by the church and +its tall spire. A thought flashed across his mind like an inspiration: +his riverside hiding-place was found! The spire was isolated from the +church, and was entirely of wood, save for a stone stump. Great beams +crossed and recrossed one another, in an ever-narrowing pyramid, for +about two hundred feet. Up in the dimness and final darkness near the +apex was security for any man. +</P> + +<P> +Windybank stole across the river meadow to the nearest house. The door +stood open and the place was empty. The neighbouring house was in like +condition, and a quick survey told him that the fisher-folk, hearing +sounds of the fight, had gone down to learn what strange business was +adoing at midnight. Master Andrew was deficient neither in caution nor +in cunning. He acted promptly. A pantry was visited, and a loaf of +bread abstracted. He slipped from the house and passed through the +orchard. He stuffed his pockets with half-ripe apples; they would help +to quench his thirst, and he could hope for no water in his lofty place +of concealment. +</P> + +<P> +He got to the churchyard wicket, passed through, floundered over the +melancholy mounds that strewed God's acre, and reached the square, +stone stump upon which the wooden spire was reared, and in which hung +the bells. The door was on the latch, the lower part of the belfry +being used as a storehouse for odds and ends of stone, wood, and rope +belonging to the church itself. Windybank knew his bearings fairly +well. He found the staircase, and began to wend upwards to the +bell-chamber. About twenty feet up he felt a rush of cool, river air, +and he knew that he had passed the first lattice. A little later, and +he was on the belfry floor, his hands feeling the chill, smooth surface +of the largest bell. Aching with fatigue and excitement, he sat down. +He did not propose to attempt the perilous climb upwards in the +darkness, and daylight could not be far off. Hunger sent in its +claims; he broke the loaf, and munched a couple of sour apples. The +food refreshed him, and he felt he could wait patiently for the dawn. +</P> + +<P> +Day came, and with it a buzz of excitement in the village. Windybank +ventured to peep through the topmost lattice and scan the groups of +excited gossips. Then he looked aloft through the great network of +beams and rafters. He was tired, and his brain swam inside his head. +The apex of the spire looked fearfully high and dark, and the brown, +cobwebbed maze of woodwork bewildered him. The latch below clicked; +some one was in the lower tower. The great bell began to swing; the +sexton was ringing an alarm. Seized by a sudden fright, Windybank +clambered by a bell-wheel to the first huge beam. He got his fingers +on it and swung his body across. He gained the next, and the next; he +was twenty feet above the floor of the bell-chamber. The boom of the +bell was deafening. He paused for breath, and then hurried on his +upward way, slipping sometimes, but never falling. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the bell stopped; a deep hum of sound spun and echoed in the +narrowing cone where Windybank was giddily clinging. He had paused +again to recover breath and stability. Looking down, he saw a head +rising from the tower steps into the bell-chamber; the sexton had come +up to readjust the rope. The fugitive's guilty conscience put another +meaning upon his act; he felt sure that signs of his presence had been +noted, and that the fellow had come up to search for him. A little way +above him was darkness and security. He turned quickly to make a last +noiseless dash, but he missed his grip and his footing. For a moment +he hung, while his heart stood still. Then he fell with sickening thud +and crash from beam to beam. The startled sexton looked up and cried +out; and the traitor's body toppled in its last wild spin, and fell at +his feet. He lifted it up. The face was beaten almost out of +recognition, and the neck was broken. +</P> + +<P> +The receding tide left Father Jerome's body on the sands. He delayed +his plunge into the river a moment too long, and a thrust from +Raleigh's sword speeded him into the yellow waters. John was found on +the bank, dead likewise. Basil's body was searched for in vain. He +was accounted as dead, for men protested stoutly that they had wounded +him more than once. But a scotched viper does not always die. +Gatcombe men were destined to prove the truth of that. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A LETTER FROM COURT. +</H3> + +<P> +Affairs in the forest had settled down; "excursions and alarums" were +no longer the order of the day and the dread of the night. Wounded men +were healed of the hurts gotten in the fray with the conspirators, and +their whole-skinned neighbours had ceased to ask them how they did and +envy them the marks of patriotic valour that they carried on their +bodies. The dead were buried, and the tears of wives, mothers, and +sisters were dried, and sad memories—when they came—called up only a +sigh of resignation: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away!" +They humbly thanked the Lord that He had given their men honourable +passage into the next world. +</P> + +<P> +The admiral was no longer at Gatcombe, but had gone to London, and +thence to Plymouth. Raleigh had gone to London with him, and in London +had he stayed. After the solitude of the forest, the gaiety of the +court attracted him strongly; and, as her most gracious Majesty was +disposed to smile upon him, he had said to Drake, "The sun shines, +Frank; beshrew me if I stray out of the circle of its warm rays." To +which the seaman replied, "God forgive thee, Wat, for dancing so much +after a woman's heels. The sea—as I know full well—can be +treacherous, but I serve a less fickle mistress than thou." +</P> + +<P> +Raleigh laughed lightly, kissed the storm-roughened cheek of his +friend, and bade him God-speed. "What would our royal mistress say if +she heard thee call her 'fickle'?" he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not fool enough, Wat, to speak such words in her hearing. But +have a care—courts are slippery places in which to walk. An honest +man is safer on a ship's deck during a hurricane than on a palace floor +even when the royal sun is shining. Have a care of thyself, dear +heart, if only for the sake of us rough sea-dogs of Devon that love +thee." +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon Raleigh kissed the admiral again, and sent loving messages to +Jack Hawkins and Dick Grenville and all the other gallant gentlemen +that quaffed their ale with eyes on the sea on Plymouth Hoe. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie Morgan stood watching the last wagon from his harvest field go +creaking and groaning into the rickyard in the rear of his house. It +was quite early in the afternoon, and the September sun shone with an +ardour worthy of fierce July. There was a wind, but it came dead from +the south, and its passage across the hot, moist sands of the river had +no cooling influence upon it. Johnnie mopped his brow and leant +wearily upon a pitchfork whilst a maiden ran indoors for a flagon of +cider. She came back, followed closely by a dusty stranger. +</P> + +<P> +The farmer stared at the stranger. The latter surveyed Johnnie pretty +coolly, measured him from head to heel, and then took off his hat with +a sweeping forward movement of the arm. "By the look of thee thou art +Master Morgan, the yeoman of Blakeney, for whom I have hunted high and +low since noon," he exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Master Morgan," replied Johnnie; "who art thou?" +</P> + +<P> +"Timothy Jeffreys, at your service. I serve the good knight, Sir +Walter Raleigh." +</P> + +<P> +"Say no more until thy throat be better moistened," cried Morgan, +handing him the flagon of cider. "Let it never be said that a message +from the noble Sir Walter was spoken to me with dry lips." +</P> + +<P> +Master Jeffreys took the cider off at a draught. "Passable—on a hot +day, palatable—to a man thirsty enough to lap from a wayside ditch; +but—!" he shook his head expressively, "'tis not Devonshire juice, +Master Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +"True; 'tis good Glo'stershire, and we humble forest folk keep sound +heads and sound stomachs by quaffing it. I'm sorry 'tis not to your +liking; maybe I should cry 'faugh!' over your Devonshire tipple, good +sir." Johnnie was annoyed, for he prided himself on his apple-brew, +and the airs and graces of Master Jeffreys were not altogether to his +liking. "You have a message to me," he said. "No doubt you will tell +it better sitting than standing. Come into my parlour.—Meg, take this +gentleman's cloak and dust it, and bring him a brush for his boots." +The maid took the horseman's cloak, and her master led his guest +indoors. Meg was ready on the threshold to brush off the heavy coating +of red, forest dust. +</P> + +<P> +"Bachelor?" asked Jeffreys when he found himself lying back in a cosy +chair, a bowl of sweet, old-time flowers adjacent to his nose. +</P> + +<P> +"Bachelor!" answered Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon my question; but this room is so trim and neat that, methought, +there must be some dainty housewife under the roof." +</P> + +<P> +"And thou wert curious to see her." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly. I have travelled, Master Morgan, and I love to look about me +and ponder upon what I see." +</P> + +<P> +"Thy conclusions are not always correct." +</P> + +<P> +"The wisest men make mistakes, Master Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +"What a comfort to us that are fools!" ejaculated the forester. "But +thy message, my good sir." +</P> + +<P> +"I like thy house; 'tis uncommon pretty." +</P> + +<P> +"A good enough nest," assented Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"Wants another bird in it." +</P> + +<P> +"True!" +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast no thought of quitting the homestead?" +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven forbid! 'twas my father's before me. I'll never leave it." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a pity." +</P> + +<P> +"How so?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've come down to fetch thee away." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie was losing patience with his visitor. His thoughts were busy +with the rick-makers in the yard, and Master Jeffreys was in no hurry +to say his say and be gone. He gave himself more airs than the knight +his master. "Sit and rest thyself," exclaimed the farmer, getting up. +"I can see that thy story will keep another hour. I'll send the wench +into thee with some ale and venison. Eat and drink and take thine ease +until I come to thee again." Without another word he vanished. +</P> + +<P> +"A hasty fellow," commented Master Jeffreys. "A few trees and a muddy +river make up his world. A winter in London will open his eyes and +give him a broader view of life; then he will behave in a more leisured +manner." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie saw to the unlading of his last wagon and the shaping off of +his wheat-rick. Then he went indoors again, and found his visitor +ready to deliver his message without any more beating about the bush. +It was short, but pointed. Jeffreys—who described himself as a poor +gentleman of Devon attached to the fortunes of his more famous +neighbour—was instructed to invite, or rather command, Master Morgan's +presence in London. Raleigh had spoken of him to the Queen, and the +admiral had also written concerning him. Her Majesty was anxious to +see the valiant forester, and Jeffreys duly impressed upon him the +necessity of seizing so glorious a chance to push his fortunes. +</P> + +<P> +But Morgan was not so eager; in fact, he told the messenger that, much +as he loved Raleigh and honoured the Queen, he did not propose to +venture into London. Jeffreys argued. Morgan was firm. "I'll not +come except at the direct command of the good Sir Walter or the Queen. +If I am left any choice in the matter, I choose to abide in the forest." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Jeffreys, "then I'll be going. My steed will be +rested. Canst give me a guide to Newnham? I want a Captain Dawe." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" cried Johnnie, all ears in a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"The knight hath commissioned me to deliver a letter to a Mistress +Dorothy Dawe." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll get me out of my workday suit and walk to Newnham with +thee," exclaimed the farmer. "There's nought so refreshing as a tramp +along the shaded, woodland ways, and I have a little business of mine +own to do with Captain Dawe. I shall serve thee and myself at the same +time." So much the yeoman said aloud. Inwardly he muttered, "I'll not +have this bowing and scraping image ducking and bobbing before my +Dolly, and sniffing round her parlour like a dog that hopes to start +some quarry from behind chair or table. He'll be in luck if his +message-carrying doesn't get him a cracked crown. I hope the knight +hath not many such as he in his train." +</P> + +<P> +Jeffreys stared when his guide came again into the sunny parlour +prepared for his walk to Newnham. The rough farmer in hodden gray had +disappeared, and in his place stood a stalwart and handsome young +gentleman in green slashed doublet and hosen of soft cream cloth. A +green cap with a white swan's feather perched jauntily on the dark, +curling hair, and from a belt of pale buckskin hung a sword with a +delicately chased handle. The "poor gentleman of Devon" fresh from +London and the court felt as gay as a dusty barndoor fowl might feel +beside a lordly peacock. +</P> + +<P> +"La! Master Morgan," he cried, "I'm glad thou hast no mind for London +in my company. In good sooth, I've no wish to walk down Chepe or +Whitehall with thee at my elbow. Ne'er a wench would give an eye to +me. Even through the forest, with nought save the birds and beasts to +quiz at us, I think I'll come along humbly in the rear with my cap in +my hand. You foresters go a-visiting in as smart a guise as a town +gallant goes to the play. Dost mind if I wash my face, comb my locks, +and have another brushing ere we set forth?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha' done with thy jesting, good sir; thou art a traveller from afar, +and lookest the part to perfection. I am at mine ease at home going to +pay a call to a pretty neighbour. Let us be jogging; 'tis a long walk +to Newnham, and the afternoon is wearing late." +</P> + +<P> +The two young men set out for the little river town. Morgan at first +had little to say, and let his companion rattle on as he pleased about +London—its streets, shops, taverns, and theatres. But, by-and-by, he +became eager over the wild beauties of river and forest, and he told +tales of cave and cliff and pool, of boar and deer, pirate and +fisherman, and forced Master Jeffreys to listen. And so they got to +Newnham and the pretty cottage with fair flowers outside and a fairer +flower within. "This is Captain Dawe's house," said Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"I thank thee heartily. I can knock and introduce myself and mine +errand, and leave thee free to go at once to the pretty maid in whose +honour thou hast decked thyself so gallantly." +</P> + +<P> +"Trouble not thyself, Master Jeffreys; I shall do my business the +better by coming in to quicken thine. Follow me; I am in the habit of +entering this house without going through the ceremony of knocking." +Saying this, the forester lifted the latch and stood aside for his +companion to cross the threshold first. A sound of singing came from +the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +"A pretty bird in a pretty cage," said Jeffreys. +</P> + +<P> +"E'en so," commented Morgan; "thine eyes and ears are passably good for +a townsman. Pardon me leaving thee for a moment." +</P> + +<P> +Morgan strode off kitchenwards. There was a sudden, "La, Jack! thou +dost look like a feast day. Mind the flour!" After that Jeffreys +always declared that he heard the sound of a vigorous kiss. Silence +followed; then excited whisperings; then a scamper of light feet; and +Morgan returned and ushered his waiting companion into the parlour. +"Captain Dawe is down by the river," he said; "Mistress Dorothy will be +with us anon." +</P> + +<P> +"And the pretty bird that sang in the kitchen over the flour tub?" +</P> + +<P> +"Was Mistress Dorothy." +</P> + +<P> +"Thy sleeve is whitened, Master Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie coolly brushed away the tell-tale smudge. "Women always +smother a room up on baking-day," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy came in. +</P> + +<P> +"This is Sir Walter's man, who hath a packet for thee.—Master +Jeffreys, this is Mistress Dawe." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy curtsied, and the messenger bowed. "Never had long journey so +pretty and pleasant an ending," he said. "Here is a packet from my +master, the gallant knight Sir Walter Raleigh. I am to take back an +answer." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy took the packet, blushing at the sight of the pretty ribbons +wherewith it was tied. "I am honoured indeed," she murmured; "pray you +be seated, fair sir." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO LONDON TOWN. +</H3> + +<P> +The packet that Master Jeffreys handed to Dorothy was too large and too +heavy for a mere missive; and the maid, recalling some jocular promises +of Raleigh's, at once suspected that some London gew-gaw lay snug +within, and tore off the wrappings with eager fingers. Her hopes were +not disappointed, and a dainty pair of silver shoebuckles shone in the +sunlight. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear heart alive! surely they are not for me," cried Dolly. +</P> + +<P> +"Read the letter, mistress," said Jeffreys. +</P> + +<P> +A knot of blue ribbon was the only seal on the knight's letter, and the +blushing maiden opened and read; and, as she read, the rich colour of +her cheeks grew ever richer and deeper, and Johnnie pulled his +cap-feather to pieces and watched her. She finished, sighed, looked at +her lover and at the writer's messenger, then, with a "By your leave, +Master Jeffreys," she handed the missive to Johnnie. "Read," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, why should I?" was the somewhat sheepish response. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I wish it," said Dolly promptly. +</P> + +<P> +"I am bad at reading script; each one hath too much of his own fashion +in the twists and curls of the letters." +</P> + +<P> +"This is as plain as Bible print. Art going to London?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" +</P> + +<P> +Dolly's face fell. "Hath not Master Jeffreys given thee Sir Walter's +message?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, and I have sent back a civil and courteous 'No.' What should I do +in such a place?" +</P> + +<P> +"What a question for a fellow of spirit to ask!" cried Dolly. +</P> + +<P> +"What a question, indeed!" echoed Jeffreys; "and a sweet maid with her +toes tingling to tread the golden pavements! Read, Master Morgan; the +gallant knight's words will speak more persuasively than my poor +tongue." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie took the letter, and read as follows:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"To MISTRESSE DAWE. Bye ye hande of my trustie manne, Timothie +Jeffreys—Greetynges to you, faire mistresse, and to youre excellent +and honourable sire. +</P> + +<P> +"To-daye, a softe wind hath come up from ye west, tempering ye heate +and broil of ye towne, and whisperynge to me of cool forest glades and +greene paths bye a rushynge river. Straightwaie closynge mine eyen to +gette a cleare vision of ye same, I am minded of deare friendes whose +feete have kept time with mine along ye shaded wayes. Here, before me +on my table, hathe my servante placed freshe flowres from countrie +hedgerowe and garden, to sweeten the close aire that cometh in from ye +swelterynge streetes. And, straightwaie, I bethinke me how sweete this +olde citie would be if onlie Ye Rose of Dean Forest would come hither +with her coloure and her perfume! +</P> + +<P> +"Soe, gentle mistresse and deare friende, I am, on ye sudden, hasting +to do what I have purposed for many dayes. Her Majestie hathe a desire +to see a certaine gallant youthe that dwelleth hard bye ye rivere atte +Blakeney, and I have a desire to showe a pretty maiden ye sightes of +London towne, of the whiche we spoke many a time in ye cool of ye +forest. Therefore, come away with brave Master Morgan and youre +estimable father, ye captaine. My manne will guide you, and I will +welcome you righte heartilie. In assurance that you will come, I shall +bespeake lodgynges with a worthie dame of my acquaintance. Persuade +Master Morgan; it will be for his certaine goode. I shall command him +bye worde of mouthe; but as I knowe the rogue—though merrie enough in +some wayes and eager for travel—is rooted on Severne side like an oak, +'twill neede some powere like thine to move him. +</P> + +<P> +"Commende me and my invitation to youre sire; accepte a triflynge gift +at my handes; and may God be with you all and give us a joyouse +meetynge.—Youres, in all knightlie devoirs, WALTER RALEIGH." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Johnnie handed the letter back. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" asked Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not think your father will consent; 'tis a perilous journey for a +maid." +</P> + +<P> +"Not when three brave gentlemen ride with her." +</P> + +<P> +"I like not the scheme. What is London to home-dwelling forest folk?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis the heart of the world," broke in Jeffreys, "and no man can say +he knoweth life until he hath felt the pulse-beat of the great city." +</P> + +<P> +"I am woodland bred, good sir, and shrink from the prisonment of +streets and walls. Half a day in Gloucester makes me fret like a caged +bird." +</P> + +<P> +"A man must see life in its many aspects if he would claim to have +lived at all, Master Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not agree. A man will see deeper into a stream if he sits and +watches than will a fellow who splashes noisily about. However, I am +bounden to Mistress Dorothy by a hundred acts of kindness that she did +me when I lay fevered and with a broken head. If her heart is set upon +this jaunt, and her father does not say 'Nay,' I'll to London or +anywhere else she wills. Nevertheless, for my own liking, I had rather +bide at home." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy beamed at the forester. "I was half tempted to remind thee +that thou didst owe me a mended head. I am glad I did not," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no need to remind me of even a look thou hast given me," +replied Johnnie. "But here comes the captain; his word will be law to +us in this matter." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Dawe came in, and welcomed Master Jeffreys most heartily when +he learned whom he served. His brow puckered, however, over the +knight's letter. +</P> + +<P> +"What dost thou say to the project?" he asked Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"I am pledged to do as Dorothy wishes." +</P> + +<P> +"And thy wish, my lass?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is to go to London." +</P> + +<P> +"I might have guessed that without troubling to ask. My bones are +getting old, and 'tis a long ride." +</P> + +<P> +"We will go at your own pace, father." +</P> + +<P> +"I must think on't; 'tis no light matter for a simple man like myself." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Dawe thought over the matter for a night and a day, and he +consulted half Newnham before he arrived at a decision. He made up his +mind to go. Then came manifold preparations. Clothing and arms +received careful attention. Dolly's best gowns came out of lavender, +and Morgan set the tailor busy upon new doublet and hosen. Master +Jeffreys lodged with the captain, and gave all the benefit of his +impartial advice. The knight's man was a personage in Newnham for more +than a week, and he carried off the dignity in excellent style. +Johnnie bought Dorothy a stout saddle horse to replace the forest pony +she usually rode; and at last, on a sunny morning, the little cavalcade +rode along the river-path towards Gloucester. Several friends and +neighbours went with them as far as the city. +</P> + +<P> +They rested that night in Northleach, over the other side of the hills. +Thence they went through Burford to Oxford; afterwards riding in easy +daily stages through Wycombe and Uxbridge to London town. Halting for +a last time at Mary-le-bone, a few miles from the city gates, where +they cleansed themselves from the dust and soil of travelling, they +rode thence to Charing, along the Strand past Alsatia, the Temple, and +Whitefriars, and, crossing the Fleet River, entered the city by the Lud +Gate, St. Paul's great church looking down on them from the hilltop. +</P> + +<P> +Master Jeffreys halted finally at the "Swanne," in Wood Street off the +Chepe. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SIR WALTER AS CHAPERON. +</H3> + +<P> +That same evening the Devonshire knight, apprised by Master Jeffreys of +the arrival of his forest friends, paid them a visit in the Wood Street +hostelry. He himself had lodgings at Whitehall, near to the court. He +welcomed them most warmly, paid Dorothy many pretty compliments, and +enjoined the hostess to have the greatest care of her precious charge. +</P> + +<P> +"Let but a hair of Mistress Dawe be injured beneath thy roof, +goodwife," said he, with a twinkle in his eye, "and a whole host of +wild fellows from caves and holes in the mighty forest will swarm +hither for revenge. Dark, terrible beings are they, who spend much of +their time in the gloomy depths of the mighty woodland or in the very +bowels of the earth. Wild Irish or Spaniards are nought to them. I +have seen them eat up such folk at a mouthful! This nymph is their +maiden queen. Have a care how ye all treat her!" +</P> + +<P> +The plump hostess, who knew her knight for a merry jester, was yet half +inclined to believe his account of the forest dwellers, and she looked +with added interest upon the blushing Dolly. Master Morgan was quite +to her mind. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a widow," she said in confidence to the captain, "and 'tis a +great comfort to have a fellow of so many inches, and an honest face +atop of them, under one's roof." +</P> + +<P> +The captain agreed, and accepted the invitation of Mistress Stowe (the +hostess) to drink a cup of sack with her in her own parlour. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Walter left his man with the forest folk in the capacity of guide +and counsellor, promising to come again early on the morrow and take +them the round of the city sights. Johnnie went abroad that evening, +down Chepe as far as Cornhill; but Dorothy and the captain preferred to +remain indoors, and Mistress Stowe entertained them with stories of the +great city, telling of the great changes that had taken place of late +years—how scores of churches and religious houses had been pulled down +and hundreds of priests and monks driven out because of the Reformation. +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard my father say," she declared, "that in his time every +second man you met with in the streets of London was monk or priest; +churches stood everywhere, and there was a perpetual ding-dong of bells +from morn till night. Now you will look in vain for a monk; the bells +are grown silent; and the churches are heaps of ruins, or their sites +occupied by warehouses built of their stones. The monasteries and +nunneries are turned into dwelling-places for the rich folk and +favourites of the court." +</P> + +<P> +She told them of the tournaments held in the great street called +"Chepe;" of the pageants on the river; the bull-baiting, bear-baiting, +and morris-dancing, and the plays at the theatres. She had an +entranced audience of two until Morgan and Jeffreys returned from their +ramble. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning about eleven o'clock Sir Walter came in and found the +dinner just served, so he dined with his friends; and then, after a +pipe of tobacco—in which neither the captain nor Morgan ventured to +join him—he took them abroad. Down Chepe they went, past the fine +shops of goldsmith, silversmith, and mercer. The broad thoroughfare +was thronged with gaily-dressed people, afoot and on horseback, and the +apprentices cried their masters' wares so lustily that the place rang +again. 'Twas "What d'ye lack, pretty mistress? Is it gold or jewels, +fal-lals or laces? Buy, buy, gallant sirs; knick-knacks, pretty +things, and gew-gaws for the lady!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bones o' me!" gasped Johnnie, as he wriggled from the clutches of two +persevering apprentices; "an I had the fee-simple of my scrap of land +in the forest in my pocket, these rogues would have it from me in an +afternoon walk. What wouldst thou like, Dolly? Let me buy thee +something." +</P> + +<P> +But Dorothy, who was just in front leaning on the knight's arm, had +eyes more for the crowd than for the brave things displayed in the +shops. Gallant after gallant bowed gracefully to her, for all knew the +famous knight; and the ladies eyed her keenly and critically, wondering +who she might be. It was a proud day for Dorothy. She was quick +enough to notice that her clothing was not quite according to London +fashions; but if she were not as gaily dressed as the ladies who stared +at her, she had the comforting thought that her cavalier was the +best-dressed and handsomest man that walked along Chepe that September +day. So she answered Johnnie's question with, "Buy me whatever thou +wilt; I shall say 'thanks!' But ask me not to make a choice at this +time and from such a bewilderment of riches." +</P> + +<P> +So the young forester shook his head to all pestering salesmen, and +kept his money in his pocket for that day. +</P> + +<P> +By the Royal Exchange on Cornhill Sir Walter was stopped for a moment +by the Lord Mayor, who wanted a little court news on a certain matter +affecting the city. Then on he went again to the Tower. The governor, +a close friend of the knight's, readily admitted the party, and showed +them over the grim old fortress and palace in which, alas! the brave +Raleigh was destined to spend so many lonely years. He seemed to have +some foreboding of this that day, and when the governor was telling +Dorothy stories of some unfortunates who had spent their last days +within the frowning walls, or left them only for the block on Tower +Hill, Raleigh sighed and remarked, "'Tis but a step from a sovereign's +smile and the summer of the court to the gloom and winter of this +place. In dreams I sometimes see myself taking the very fateful step." +</P> + +<P> +This he said aside to Morgan, and the young fellow was so struck by the +tone in which the words were said that they remained fixed in his +memory, and he recalled them with bitter sorrow in after years when the +brave knight's fears had reached their awful fulfilment. +</P> + +<P> +From the Tower steps the knight took a wherry and went up the river as +far as Blackfriars. Shooting the arches of London Bridge gave Dorothy +one quick spasm of fear, for the craft that went ahead of them, being +somewhat clumsily handled, went crash into a pier, spun round, filled +and sank, and left its occupants screaming and struggling in the water. +All were rescued, the boatman himself scrambling nimbly into Raleigh's +boat. +</P> + +<P> +"The tide is not so strong as that which races up the Severn," said +Johnnie; "sure 'tis bad boating that comes to grief here." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so, my master," replied the dripping boatman; "'tis the plaguy +narrowness of these arches and the jutting of the pier foundations that +cause the mishaps. Every fool that has handled an oar cannot shoot +London Bridge." +</P> + +<P> +"That may be," assented the forester; "every stream has its shoals and +currents; nevertheless this Thames tide is to the Severn bore as calf +is to angry bull." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Sir Walter was pointing out objects of interest to his fair +companion. "Yonder building," he said, pointing to a hexagonal +structure on the Surrey side of the river, "is the Globe Theatre. I +must take ye all there some afternoon to hear some pretty comedy of +sweet Will Shakespeare's. Master Morgan hath an ear for poetry, I +believe; he will not snore through the love-making scenes." +</P> + +<P> +Dolly blushed. At Blackfriars steps they landed, went into the city by +the Lud Gate, passed through St. Paul's and out into the Chepe again; +thence to the "Swanne," where the knight took leave of them, promising +to have them down to Whitehall next day if his duties at court gave him +any leisure. +</P> + +<P> +The shops in Chepe were closed; the apprentices ran loose with plenty +of noise and racket. The sober merchants walked out to the Moorfields, +with wife on arm and daughters dutifully following in modest train. +Work was ended. London was taking its evening recreation. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THREE BROKEN MARINERS. +</H3> + +<P> +"Art not coming abroad, Dolly? 'Tis a most rare morning." +</P> + +<P> +Morgan was leaning his length against the side-post of the door of +Mistress Stowe's kitchen; his head reached to the lintel, and the smoky +rafters of the low ceiling were within easy reach of his hand. Dolly +stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat, and her pretty gown +hidden beneath a long apron. She glanced through the window into the +sunny yard, and then at a pile of dainty cakes she had just kneaded and +fashioned. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, Johnnie, I'll not come this morning. I promised our hostess to +bake her some confections after our forest fashion, and I cannot leave +so delicate a duty only half done. Go thou with Master Jeffreys, and +bring back two lusty appetites. I will bide at home, housewife +fashion, and prepare ye the wherewithal to satisfy the appetites when +ye have gotten them." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is thy father?" +</P> + +<P> +"With Mistress Stowe in her parlour. She is showing him some rare +things that her brother brought from the Spanish Main. He will have +eyes for nothing else this side of noon." +</P> + +<P> +So Morgan joined Jeffreys, and the two went along Chepe westwards +towards St. Paul's. At the end of the great street stood the gate +known as the "Little Gate," and they went under the low archway into +the cathedral precincts. Inside, the place was as busy as Chepe +itself. Shops clustered under the wall, their gaudy signs swinging and +creaking in the September breeze, and 'prentices cried their masters' +wares and importuned passing folk to buy. The two men pushed their way +through the throng towards the northern transept of the great church, +and there found their path blocked again by a crowd that stood around +St. Paul's cross and pulpit, all ears for the words of a popular city +preacher. The cleric's discourse was more of a political oration than +a sermon. He thundered against "Rome" and the "Scarlet Woman," and +denounced the King of Spain as the veritable "child of the devil," and +he called upon all men to be up and doing something for the destruction +of the "monster." Master Jeffreys stopped to listen, and Morgan had +perforce to stay with him. The reverend orator dwelt in glowing terms +on the riches of the Indies, the rights of all Christians to a share +therein, and the greed of Spain in refusing other nations a proper +share. He played upon his audience as a skilled player upon a harp, +touching each string of emotion in turn, and then striking a chord to +which all strings would vibrate. For a moment he excited religious +emotion, then political fervour, then greed, love of glory and +adventure, then national pride and hatred of Spain, then all these +together by one cunning sentence. The forester out from the west felt +his heart beating rapidly, his ears warming and tingling, and his right +hand fidgeting with the handle of his sword. His companion could not +keep still, and hot ejaculations sprang from his lips. He was a true +Devon man of that roaring time, sailor, patriot, and pirate all rolled +into one. +</P> + +<P> +"By my beard, Master Morgan," he gasped, "I have been feeling ill and +full of strange qualms and sinkings these many days past. 'Twas an +active spirit rebelling against imprisonment in an idle body. I must +to sea again—this dalliance in towns and in the company of sleek +shopkeepers and peacock-garbed gallants is slow death to a fellow of +mettle. I must get me down to Plymouth again, and join any bold +captain that hath a mind to turn his ship westward ho!" +</P> + +<P> +Morgan sighed. "Bones o' me!" he exclaimed, "the parson hath stirred +something within my bosom also." +</P> + +<P> +The sermon—if such it could be called—being ended, the two young men +went with the crowd through the church door, and into the dim and lofty +transept. And what a crowd it was to find in London's principal +church! The passage through the building from north to south was a +public thoroughfare. Porters, hucksters, errand boys went through with +basket and handbarrow, passing across aisles and nave before the very +screen that shut in choir and altar. Pedlars stood against the tall +pillars, and pushed the sale of their wares. Men bought and sold and +bargained as in the churchyard outside or Chepe beyond. Servants stood +for hire; bravoes lurked behind the gray stone columns in dark corners, +ready to take the price of blood from any hand that offered it. Broken +men, needy adventurers, dissolute women—all had their regular stations +in the sacred building, which was fair, market, and general rendezvous +for every class and trade, legitimate or illegitimate, that had its +footing in London Town. +</P> + +<P> +Master Jeffreys elbowed his way into the nave and strode down the +middle aisle, Morgan at his heels, full of astonishment and healthy +country disgust. Any gallant who came strutting along to show his fine +feathers received scant courtesy or elbow-room from the indignant +forester. He thrust more than one roughly aside, without so much as a +"by your leave," and his angry face, huge frame, and athletic build +forced the hustled ones to keep civil tongues in their heads. Near the +western door a knot of brown-faced, lean-looking men were standing, and +one started forward at the sight of Jeffreys, hesitated a moment, and +then put forth his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Little Timothy! or tropic suns have blinded my eyes," he cried. +</P> + +<P> +Jeffreys scanned the speaker's weather-stained face. +</P> + +<P> +"It's not Paignton Rob, surely?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's all that's left of him, Timothy." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art shrunken." +</P> + +<P> +"And lopped, brother, lopped." +</P> + +<P> +"Spain?" +</P> + +<P> +"Inquisition." +</P> + +<P> +"Indies?" +</P> + +<P> +"Vera Cruz. Shall I introduce my friends? We are nigh broken, and not +too proud to accept a little charity from a Devon man. Thy heart used +not to beat in a niggard's bosom." +</P> + +<P> +"It has not changed lodgings, Rob. Wilt know my friend here? This is +Master Morgan of Gloucestershire—a good west countrie man, to say the +least. He has had his cut at King Philip, and is a friend of our +gallant Raleigh." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'm open to love him," cried Paignton Rob, holding out a hand +that had lost a thumb. "'Tis a poor grip that fingers can give, Master +Morgan," he said apologetically. "The monks of Vera Cruz can best tell +thee where little 'thumbkin' is." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie took the proffered hand. "I am proud to know one who has +sailed the Western Ocean," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +The mariner called up his two friends, who proved thumbless like +himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Nick Johnson, and Ned his brother, both of Plymouth town. Master +Timothy Jeffreys, henchman to Sir Walter Raleigh, and Master Morgan, +friend." +</P> + +<P> +Hand-clasps went round. Jeffreys peeped into the purse that hung at +his girdle. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is the price of a few flagons of sack, friends. Have you a fancy +for any particular tavern?" +</P> + +<P> +"All taverns are alike to thirsty men," answered Rob. "Lead us where +thou wilt; we'll speak our thanks under one signboard as well as +another." +</P> + +<P> +"What say you then to the 'Silver Lion' in Dowgate?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis a good house." +</P> + +<P> +The party left the cathedral by the western door, went south through +the churchyard, and out at the gate that led riverwards. Thence they +strode down a steep street towards the Dowgate quay, halting at a +gabled and timbered tavern within a stone's throw of the water. Down a +flight of three steps they went into the sanded parlour, and seated +themselves round a corner table. The drawer came bustling up with a +"What do ye drink, my masters?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bring us five flagons of sack," said Timothy. +</P> + +<P> +"And a crust for our teeth," whispered Paignton Rob. The ears of the +serving-man were keen, "Shall it be a venison pie?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"A venison pie," broke in Morgan; "and I pay." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PAIGNTON ROB'S STORY. +</H3> + +<P> +The three broken sailor men attacked the ample venison pasty with a +zeal and thoroughness that betokened long abstention from work of a +similar nature, and the sack trickled gratefully down parched throats. +Morgan and Jeffreys drank to their better fortune, but would not touch +the food, pleading that their ordinary dinner time was a full hour off, +and that they were pledged to make havoc of some pastries made by a +certain young gentlewoman, who would undoubtedly be much grieved if +they did not eat as heartily as was their wont. So the Paignton man +and his Plymouth comrades shared the pie amongst themselves, the two +others looking about and noting the other occupants of the inn parlour. +Some of these were known by repute to Jeffreys, and he gave Morgan +information concerning them. +</P> + +<P> +The pie-dish stood empty. Johnnie expressed an opinion that apples +were roasting somewhere. Nick Johnson sniffed the air, and promptly +agreed with him, adding that the fragrance of roasting apples awoke +memories of far-off Devon. Whereupon the forester remarked that they +had a like effect upon him, and that he was minded to have a dish with +a little cream, if all the company would join him. There was no +objector, and each man was soon busy with hot apples and cream. After +this Jeffreys ordered fresh flagons of wine, and asked Paignton Rob for +his story. +</P> + +<P> +"Will Master Morgan care for the recital?" queried Rob. +</P> + +<P> +"My ears are burning," cried Johnnie. "I seem to have strolled out of +Chepe this morning right into America. Stint not a word of thy story +if thou hast any desire to please me." +</P> + +<P> +"So be it, friends. I cannot but wish that some other man had the +telling of it. You will remember—at least thou wilt, Timothy—how +Captain John Oxenham sailed out from Plymouth with the <I>Hawk</I>, one +hundred and forty ton barque, and a crew of seventy men, for the +Spanish Main?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay; report says that all were slain by fever and the Indians." +</P> + +<P> +"Therein doth report speak falsely. We three went with Oxenham, and we +sit here to-day to tell the tale. Whether any other tongue hath told +it I cannot say. There is scant hope of any more survivors. Well, to +the story itself. We went out of Plymouth Sound, threescore and ten, +men and boys, well armed and victualled for six months. We turned our +prow westwards, prepared like good adventurers to take what fortune the +seas might bring us. The voyage proved a speedy one, with a singular +lack of ungentle weather: good omen, we thought, for the success of our +enterprise. On the way our captain's plans, which had been somewhat +uncertain at the first, took fixed shape. We passed south of the main +isles of the Indies, steering for the eastern seaboard of the Isthmus +of Panama. We cast along the shore for two days seeking an anchorage, +and we found what we sought in a wooded creek, fringed and thronged +with islets. A winding river emptied into the creek, and the banks +were so thickly clothed with forest as almost to shut out the light of +the sun. Dismasting our ship, we thrust her into a tiny bay o'erhung +by giant trees, and neither from river nor bank could a glimpse of her +be obtained. For a day we worked, making all snug aboard; then we +loaded ourselves with provisions and arms, and set out to cross the +isthmus to Panama itself, intending to rob the Spanish nest of the +golden eggs that daily were laid therein. +</P> + +<P> +"There is little to tell of the story of our march to the Pacific. We +cut our way for days at a time through woods that were well-nigh +impassable. We climbed mountains, threaded defiles, waded through +stream and swamp. Our backs bent beneath the weight of our burdens; +giant thorns tore, first our clothes, then afterwards our flesh. The +sun roasted us by day; mists enwreathed and chilled us by night; a +myriad insects bit us, and roaring beasts and lurking reptiles harassed +our steps. Some of us were quickly down with fever, and added to the +burdens of our comrades, for they bore us upon rude litters of boughs. +Oxenham fought shy of the native villages, not being minded to give +rumour the chance to herald our approach to the golden goal we sought. +</P> + +<P> +"By good hap we came upon a stream at the foot of some hills, flowing +westwards. We followed it for a while, until we felt assured that it +was navigable, and also that it emptied itself into the Pacific. Then +we halted, built huts for our sick, cut down timber and set about the +making of a stout pinnace that would carry us on the rest of our quest. +We also scoured the woods for game and fruits, and harvested the waters +for fish. When our boat was builded, our sick were also upon their +feet again. We had brought with us three light cannon; these we +mounted on our little craft, rigged up mast and sail, and went down the +swift current, westward ho! once more. +</P> + +<P> +"It was no longer possible to avoid the native towns and villages, so +at the first we engaged a guide who knew enough of coast Spanish to +understand our wants and be our interpreter to his friends. We found +that the Indians hated the Spaniards and dreaded their rapacity and +cruelty. As Englishmen and foes of Spain, we always got a welcome; and +Oxenham had wit enough to be kind, courteous, and generous, and so win +a welcome for us for our own sakes. Our voyage down the river was a +sort of triumphal progress, and we made ten thousand faithful allies. +At last came the day when the river broadened to an estuary; when we +saw the tide marks along the roots of the mangroves, and the salt +flavour was in the air, and white-winged gulls swept screaming over our +heads, scaring away the gaudy, noisy parrots that had been our +feathered companions for so long. The next morning the sun shot up for +us, a golden ball of cheering presage, from out the glittering bosom of +the Pacific. What a shout we raised! Weeks of toil and fever were +forgotten, scars and bruises healed—or were felt no longer—when the +glorious heave of ocean waters lifted our keel!" +</P> + +<P> +Paignton Rob paused and lifted his flagon to his lips. He put it down +reflectively. "Do ye mind that morn, comrades?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we ever forget it!" exclaimed the two Plymouth men in a breath. +The company nodded to Rob, and took a friendly sip of sack in his +honour. He took up again the thread of his story. +</P> + +<P> +"A native that had come down the coast from the direction of Panama +came to our captain with information that two treasure-ships were +expected from Peru, and he offered to be our guide to the Isle of +Pearls, situated about five-and-twenty leagues from Panama itself, and +in the direct line of sailing to the city. We accepted his offer +gladly, and the fellow led us to a snug anchorage whence we could espy +our prey and make ready to sally forth and seize him. +</P> + +<P> +"We lay under the island for one night and the better part of a day +before our lookout in a tree-top at the edge of a steep cliff sang out, +'Sail ho! Spanish rig!' We were alert on the instant, watching the +Spaniard bowling north-eastwards before a stiff breeze. At the right +moment we slipped our cable, hoisted sail, and stood out to sea right +in his path. No news of our presence on the isthmus had got abroad, +and the foe did not suspect us until he was within range of our small +guns, when we promptly sent a couple of shots splintering into his +bulwarks. He was not long before he swung round and replied. But we +were too low in the water to be in any danger from his bigger pieces, +and in a little while we were under his lee and swarming aboard. For a +few minutes there was as pretty a fight as man could wish for; then the +Spaniard struck his flag and threw down his weapons. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we rifled cabins and holds; got about a hundred goodly bars of +gold and a chest of pearls. The cabin gave us an excellent supply of +wine and some curious golden images of native workmanship. We helped +ourselves also to some better clothing, then let the Spaniard go his +way. +</P> + +<P> +"For two more days we hung about the island, then seized a ship with a +cargo, mostly of silver bars. Our pinnace was now so heavily laden +that we durst not venture to put anything more aboard her. We were +rich enough already, and, knowing that the authorities at Panama would +soon hear of our exploits, we turned south to our river again, and set +out on our journey back to our hidden ship and the Atlantic. +</P> + +<P> +"So far we had lost but two men, and one of these had died from fever. +Half a score of us, maybe, had received wounds. The Spanish dogs will +not fight much on a ship's deck, and the silver galleon offered us +hardly any resistance. 'Tis easy work enough, this gathering of +Spanish gold in the Indies. Do I speak within the strict bounds of +truth, comrades?" +</P> + +<P> +"True as a Bible verse, Rob," said Nick Johnson; and brother Ned +assented with a seaman's "Ay! ay!" +</P> + +<P> +Rob took advantage of the pause to take another peep into his flagon, +and Johnnie asked him if he could see bottom. +</P> + +<P> +"Depth enough to float my barque a little longer," replied Rob. +</P> + +<P> +"We did not waste much time feasting or merrymaking with our Indian +allies; we just stayed long enough for civility and the procuring of a +couple of canoes and rowers to ease the burden in our pinnace. Then we +set off up-stream. An under-chief came with us, and he was to obtain +carriers for our booty and provisions at the last village before we +should be forced to quit the river and take to the forests and +mountains. But we did not get along so quickly as we purposed at the +first. News of our victories over the detested Dons had spread like a +fire through the isthmus. Chiefs came to palaver, offer gifts, and sue +for our protection. The whole land wanted to shelter beneath the +banner of St. George, and our eastward voyage was a sort of triumphal +procession. This was all very pleasant, but 'twas dallying with +danger. The Spaniards were acquainted with our doings—the captains of +the rifled ships would tell them so much; and some of us argued that if +every petty Indian chief knew exactly where to meet us, then assuredly +the Dons must be aware of our route also. However, 'tis hard to make +victors cautious. We had a hearty contempt for the Spaniards in +Panama, and did not give them credit for pluck enough to follow us. So +we journeyed along in a fool's paradise, surrounded by admiring +Indians, and so laden with booty and presents that we could only move +at a snail's pace. +</P> + +<P> +"One day a native runner came to us from a friendly village with the +news that a force of a hundred Spaniards, well armed, was in pursuit. +The Indians were eager for us to stay and meet the Dons, promising us +help if we would do so. Oxenham decided he had done enough for glory +just then, and thought it wiser to get back to his ship and sail for +home; our spoil was too precious to be risked, and was a tempting bait +to any foe. We set out at once. Coming to a place where two streams +entered the main river, we took the smallest waterway, hoping thus to +baffle pursuit, for our real path lay along the main stream. Our ruse +would have succeeded but for a trivial oversight. The Dons came to the +parting of the ways, and were nonplussed as to our route. They had +decided to follow the main stream, and were seated in their canoes +ready to resume the pursuit, when a bunch of plucked feathers came down +the smallest stream. Within ten minutes other feathers came floating +along, and some were bloodstained. They rightly guessed that these +were evidence that we had prepared food somewhere higher up. Boats +were forsaken, and a march through the forest commenced. That very +night they surprised us. We fought well, and our Indian friends proved +no cowards. Fifty of us, fairly well laden with gold, got away, and +after a toilsome march reached the place where our ship had been +hidden—only to find it gone! +</P> + +<P> +"We hunted the creek on both sides, and found unmistakable signs that +the Dons had found our vessel and confiscated it. Why they did not lie +in ambush for us we could not imagine. Maybe they thought us +effectually trapped, and likely to be an easy prey to fever, or to +their attack after fever had had its way with us. For a while we were +in despair; then we remembered old England, and what she expects of her +sons. We buried our gold, felled trees, and began to build canoes. +But the side of the creek at night was a death-trap. Heavy foetid +mists wreathed up from the waters, poisoning the air; noxious insects +hummed about our couches, and loathly reptiles crawled out of the mud +and chilled our hearts with their horrible croakings. One by one we +sickened; in ones, twos, threes we died. Then the cunning Dons came in +force. They were five to our one, and we trembling with fever. We +fought as well as we could. Many fell fighting; others, too weak to +stand to deliver a stout blow, were taken as prisoners: we three were +amongst these. Our captors cured us of the fever, then handed us over +to the priests at Vera Cruz. A year we spent in prison. We have been +on the rack; the thumbscrews bereft us of thumbs, for they crushed them +so badly that we were fain to have them off, fearing the arm might +mortify. The villains cropped us of one ear, so that they might track +us if we chanced to escape. By the mercy of God we did escape, and, +despite the mark set upon us, avoided recapture and found our way back +to Plymouth. What perils we passed through in swamp and forest, by +river and sea, ere we found an English ship I cannot now set forth. +Let it suffice that we are here, alive and eager for further +opportunities on the isthmus." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you propose to get there?" asked Jeffreys. +</P> + +<P> +"We would see thy master, Sir Walter, and get him to fit a ship. There +is gold enough buried by the creek banks to repay him or any other man." +</P> + +<P> +Jeffreys shook his head. "Sir Walter's eyes are turned farther south. +He would find 'El Dorado.'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ROB DINES AT "YE SWANNE." +</H3> + +<P> +Morgan had a host of questions to ask Paignton Rob, and he wont back to +"Ye Swanne" in Wood Street, off Chepe, his head buzzing with many +ideas. So occupied was he with his own thoughts that he replied but +absently to Captain Dawe's remarks; and he quite forgot to offer Dolly +any compliments over her pastries. The young lady was naturally +indignant with a burly trencherman who devoured a round dozen of +assorted confections that were put on his platter without discovering +that they possessed any flavour whatsoever. +</P> + +<P> +"La! Master Morgan!" she cried. "If I did not know that such a thing +was impossible with such as thou art, I should declare thou hadst +fallen in love." +</P> + +<P> +The tone was sharp, and a trifle spiteful, so Johnnie's wits gathered +themselves into marching order. +</P> + +<P> +"So I have, Dolly," he answered. "I am enamoured of—" +</P> + +<P> +"Whom?" +</P> + +<P> +"A friend of Master Jeffreys." +</P> + +<P> +The girl's cheeks flushed. "Thou art bold to say such a thing to me." +</P> + +<P> +"I imbibed courage with a flagon of sack this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"It hath got to thy head." +</P> + +<P> +"And my heart, Dolly; I am afire, heart and head. I see visions, and +pulse with great hopes." +</P> + +<P> +"I trust the wench will prove kind, and not grow plain of face on a +closer acquaintance." +</P> + +<P> +"For that fair wish, a thousand thanks, dear Dolly." +</P> + +<P> +"Mistress Dawe, if it please you, Master Morgan." Dorothy bobbed a +scornful curtsy, and left the parlour. +</P> + +<P> +"What's amiss with you two?" asked Captain Dawe. "Ye were billing and +cooing like two pigeons over breakfast this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"And shall be doing so again over supper," said Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"What's this nonsense about a wench who is a friend to Master Jeffreys?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is no wench. I am enamoured of a fellow with a visage like +brown leather, and who hath but one thumb and one ear." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art talking in riddles." +</P> + +<P> +"Master Jeffreys shall make them clear; he hath a better gift of words +than I." +</P> + +<P> +So the Devon man retold the story of John Oxenham's voyage; and he +added many strange things that lie had heard from other Plymouth men +who had gone to the Indies, and whom he had met in Raleigh's company. +He himself had gone westwards to Virginia, and other parts of the +American mainland, and could relate wonders from his own experiences. +He talked for full two hours, and both Mrs. Stowe and Dorothy stole in +to listen. +</P> + +<P> +The next day Paignton Rob and his two stranded comrades found +themselves seated at Mistress Stowe's table to dinner. Morgan and the +captain hung about the aisles of St. Paul's for more than an hour, +waiting in the hope that the sailors would appear. Jeffreys went down +to Whitehall, found them in the neighbourhood of Raleigh's lodgings, +and brought them into the city. +</P> + +<P> +The three derelict mariners were not slow to divine one reason for the +pressing invitation that had brought them hot-foot from Whitehall to +Wood Street. Rob's story of the fabled Spanish Main had opened +Mistress Stowe's door to such dilapidated guests; it would have opened +hundreds of other English doors to the maimed adventurers. The whole +country was smitten with the fever of travel, and possessed with the +lust for wealth and conquest. Men and women believed strange things of +the wonderful western world, and they listened eagerly and without +question to things their great-grandchildren would scoff at. +</P> + +<P> +A travelled sailor can fit himself into any company. Paignton Rob +adjusted himself with the greatest nicety into his proper position that +day. He ate and drank to repletion, praising every dish without stint, +and paying his hostess such daring compliments that her round face was +a very sunset of blushes. +</P> + +<P> +Nick and Ned Johnson played their accustomed part of chorus, and just +said "ay, ay" at the proper time and place. And Rob did not keep his +audience too long waiting for his stories. He described the tropical +seas—their storms and calms, their fish that flew, and the fearsome +monsters that gambolled along their surface. He took his hearers into +the gloomy forests, with their myriad forms of life, their gaudy birds +and gorgeous insects, their lurking beasts and dense-packed horrors. +Weird cries and terrifying howls rang out in imaginative sounds. And +what horrific beings stalked in the dim alleys betwixt the giant trees, +or peeped forth at the intrepid traveller from cave and den! +One-horned beasts with fiery hoofs; dragons that had wings of brass, +and vomited flames from cavernous throats; huge birds, enormous +reptiles, flew or crawled in their appointed places. Two-headed men +wielded clubs of stone; men with no heads at all, but one great eye in +the centre of their breasts, glared malevolently from the pits wherein +they had their habitation. The little company in the tavern parlour +shivered with affright, and cast uneasy glances at the doorway. +Then—wonderful Rob!—a sinewy, thumbless hand swept the air like an +enchanter's wand, and lo! the scene was changed. Gloom and horror +fled, the forest vanished, the malodorous swamp gave place to smiling +meadow. The hills frowned no longer, but laughed with fertility and +sparkled with a thousand fairy rills and cascades. Fair cities +encircled their bases, and golden temples glittered in the ardent, +tropical sunshine. Brown-skinned, gentle people flitted gracefully +along the streets and through the squares. Music, barbaric but +melodious, hummed through the fragrant air. Here was the paradise of +dreams—bright colours, sweet sounds, fragrant odours, gentle beings, +fair peace, and jocund plenty! Rob was a poet, and his audience panted +with parting lips as he spread the scene before them. +</P> + +<P> +Then he brought them nearer. See yonder roof?—plates of beaten gold! +Yonder mule hath harness of exquisitely chased silver! Here comes a +noble chief and his favourite wife, with a retinue of slaves. The +soles of his sandals are of gold, the straps are studded with gems; +pearls are sewn in hundreds in his bright-hued robes! Yet is he +completely eclipsed by the splendour of his spouse. She is sprinkled, +hair and clothing, with the precious yellow dust. The breeze blows it +from her hair; she shakes it with a careless laugh from her silken +garments; the slaves walk behind on a gold-strewn pathway. They value +it no more than the beggar values the dust that blows along the Chepe +in London on a July day. Ah! a gloriously generous headpiece hath +Paignton Rob. Why stint the tale of glittering grains? In the land of +"El Dorado" the sands of the rivers can be coined into minted money. +Would mine hostess—who has so lavishly fed three poor sailor-men—like +to go to a banquet in the palace of "El Dorado"? Nothing +simpler!—'tis done with a wave of Rob's brown hand. See! the table +is gold; the platters are the same. The pillars of sweet cedar that +support the lofty roof are richer by far than those of Solomon's +temple. And the "gilded one" smiles at his queen, and lifts a cup of +rosy wine to his lips. Do the company notice that miracle of dazzling +light he holds in his delicate brown hand? 'Tis cut from one precious +stone. It is like a living fire, and the red wine glows warmly through +it. +</P> + +<P> +Such the land of "El Dorado"—the golden realm!—the home of an +everlasting summer! Rob pauses dramatically; he comes to a full stop. +How mean is the parlour of the comfortable Wood Street tavern! How +paltry its pewter pots and clumsy flagons! How dull its smoky beams +and walls! +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Ah!"—longing sighs echo and re-echo. Then come questions, +timidly put at first, for no man would dare to throw suspicion on the +seaman's stories. But—but who has seen any of these things? +</P> + +<P> +Who? Why, Rob knows men, who know other men, who have heard from other +men, who actually listened to dying Spaniards or faithful natives +recounting how they themselves had seen these sights. Rob himself had +gazed upon a sack of gold dust brought by a Jesuit missionary from "El +Dorado's" kingdom. The monk had shovelled it with his own bare hands +from the bed of a shallow lake. Nick Johnson, with a nervous and +apologetic cough, announced that he had seen a bag of pearls brought +from that same favoured land; and brother Ned, whose memory also got +some stimulus from Rob's stories, related how lie met a Spanish +prisoner in a Dutch town, who told him that the pebbles in "El +Dorado's" land were all pearls or jewels, sometimes one, sometimes the +other—just according to the haphazard luck of the thing. Then honest +Rob took some more sack, and found that he distinctly remembered +meeting a Bideford man on Plymouth Hoe who had sailed with a Bristol +captain whose twin brother had shot a no-headed, breast-eyed monster, +and had immediately afterwards been stunned by the stone club of a +two-headed gentleman of those same parts. 'Twas an exciting adventure +altogether, and Rob proceeded to remember the details and relate them. +As for the forests, the swamps, the lurking reptiles and ravenous +beasts, the huge crabs, venomous snakes, and the fevered ghosts and +ghouls that wreathed up after sunset from the pools and rivers—why! +Rob had seen all those things for himself. He had also handled bars of +gold and lumps of silver, and let pearls run through his fingers like +beads. Captain Dawe, Master Morgan, and the ladies might be assured +that they had heard but a tithe of the wonders and horrors that might +be told them. Ah! that wonderful New World! Brave Rob shook the head +that was bereft of an ear. He had talked to them for three hours, but +he had no gift of speech, and had been unable to give them any real +idea of the glamour and mystery that lay beneath the setting sun. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, he had set each heart and brain pulsing and throbbing +with wild dreams. The world was changing for Johnnie Morgan. The +admiral and Raleigh had opened his eyes in the glades of the forest, +and taught him to look beyond its treetops. Master Jeffreys had +extended his view, and all men and all things in London Town seemed to +probe deeper into his mind, and find new emotions and desires, and stir +them into active life. The grim old Forest of Dean was dwarfing to a +mere coppice; the rushing Severn was becoming an insignificant brook. +The forester's heart was expanding; his eyes were opening; his arms +were stretching forth to grasp that which was finite, yet infinite. He +dreamed strange dreams; his eyes started open to behold wondrous +visions. The fever of the time was getting into his blood. Vague, +half-understood impulses moved him hither and thither. He groped, and +touched nothing. He cried out, "What do I want?" +</P> + +<P> +A woman answered the question the very next day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MORGAN GOES TO WHITEHALL. +</H3> + +<P> +In the early forenoon of the next day a man in the livery of Sir Walter +came to "Ye Swanne" and asked for Master Morgan. He brought a command +that the forester was to repair instantly to Whitehall, as the Queen +had intimated that she would see him in the afternoon. The summons +threw Johnnie into a small fever of nervous apprehension, and he wished +heartily that he had never left his snug homestead at Blakeney. His +fingers turned into thumbs, and Dorothy busied herself in fastening +points and laces, adjusting his ruff, and setting his cap at the proper +angle. Captain Dawe found that sword and belt required his critical +attention, and Master Jeffreys started a most elaborate dissertation on +court etiquette in "the most polite court in Europe." Johnnie's head +buzzed, his mind wandered in a maze; and when at last he stepped out +into the sunshine of the streets, he confessed to Mistress Stowe that +he felt "like a thief going to be hanged." Captain Dawe had a desire +to see the royal palace and its precincts, Jeffreys was wanted at +Raleigh's lodgings, so all four gentlemen went westwards. +</P> + +<P> +Along Chepe, through St. Paul's Churchyard, down the hill to the Lud +Gate lay their way. Then they crossed the Fleet River and stepped out +into Fleet Street. On their left was the palace of Bridewell, +stretching down to the green margin of the Thames; on their right the +fields went northwards to the villages of Bloomsbury, Clerkenwell, and +Islington. The street was thick with dust and crowded with pedestrians +and horsemen. Staid burghers walked soberly along, fops strutted, +bullies swaggered, gentlefolks went in fitting dignity, and beggars +whined for alms at the corners of the narrow lanes that, between the +houses, led down to the river. Law students from the Temple were to be +met with, chaffering with the market wenches for nuts and apples and +bunches of flowers. +</P> + +<P> +Master Jeffreys took charge of Morgan, and fed him full with +information. "A wonderful thoroughfare, good sir!" he cried; "its dust +hath been pressed by the feet of notable folk for many centuries, and +will take the footprints of the great ones for many centuries to come. +'Tis the highway between our two ancient cities of London and +Westminster. We will keep to the south side, for it is the more +famous, and contains the houses of many of our nobles. The north side +is left for the shopkeepers and smaller gentry. We have just passed +the royal palace of Bridewell, and from here every foot of our way will +have something to interest the curious and inquiring mind." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie stared down at the gray old palace, and looked questioningly at +the ruins that lay next to it on the east. +</P> + +<P> +"All that's left of the monastery of the Whitefriars," said Jeffreys. +"The remains of monkish buildings cumber the ground outside of London +walls as well as within. Some say 'twas a wicked thing to pull down so +many fair edifices; others declare they were no better than +plague-spots and heretical hovels on the fair face of a Protestant +country, and that we are well rid of them." +</P> + +<P> +"I have noticed," said Morgan, "that royal favourites from King Harry's +time onwards have done most of the pulling down. The common folk +appear to have had little voice in the matter, and not a finger in the +lifting of the plunder." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so! quite so! Now let us step into the roadway. 'Tis dusty +enough, and not innocent of some ugly holes, but 'tis safer for a +little while. See those hangdog-looking fellows slouching before us? +Ah! I need not tell thee what they are. Step out; let's see the +sport." +</P> + +<P> +There was a wild <I>mêlée</I> about a hundred yards ahead. A fellow had +made a cut with his dagger at a lady's purse, and had been promptly +knocked down by her cavalier. At the sound of the would-be robber's +cry a dozen other rascals had rushed to his aid, and from the narrow +lanes and alleys a horde of ruffians—male and female—had been +vomited. They set upon the lady and her companion with cudgels and +knives, and the gentleman was already lying in the dust. Peace-loving +pedestrians had rushed to their aid, and a group of law students bore +down into the fray in gallant style. Master Jeffreys whipped out his +blade and ran, and Morgan went with him stride for stride. But the mob +of ruffians disappeared as quickly as it had come forth; the cutpurse +had been rescued, and the plunder he desired snatched by a slatternly +wench. +</P> + +<P> +Morgan uttered a hunting cry, and was dashing down a dim passage +between two houses when Jeffreys jerked him back. "Not a foot farther +if thou dost value thy life!" +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie stopped, and saw in astonishment that no man was attempting +pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +"Are they to escape red-handed?" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +His companion shrugged his shoulders. "He'd be an over-bold man who'd +venture into the alleys and courts of Alsatia with less than fifty good +swords at his back. The hangman would be busy for a month if all who +merited his rope were dragged out of yonder dens. But we must be +going; the captain is almost out of sight, and thou hast matters on +hand that are of greater moment than the catching of a thief." +</P> + +<P> +Walking on, the two came abreast of the Temple, and lawyers, +scriveners, clerks, and students dotted the roadway. +</P> + +<P> +"A sweetly built place is the Temple," commented Jeffreys: "cool alleys +shaded with trees, spacious courts, goodly halls and chapels; fair +gardens sloping sunnily and warmly to the south and the river. Ah! +there is no fairer site on earth for a fine dwelling than on this bank +of Father Thames. Thou wilt see by the great houses that we shall pass +how many men are of my opinion." +</P> + +<P> +Morgan came to Temple Bar, and saw, with a shudder, a row of mouldering +heads atop of it. He passed beneath the archway and put foot in the +famous Strand. Immediately before him the Maypole stretched skyward, +its top still ornamented with a few fluttering rags of weather-bleached +ribbon, mementoes of the festivities that had ushered in the +fast-fading summer. On his left, with its front to the river, was a +great house with its courts and gardens, and Master Jeffreys +whispered,— +</P> + +<P> +"The town house of my Lord Essex, the Queen's favourite and the great +rival of the gallant knight we both love." +</P> + +<P> +Morgan stood and gazed at the somewhat ugly pile with the greatest +interest. +</P> + +<P> +As he moved on a cleanly lad came across the road, with a shining +pannikin in either hand, and asked politely whether "their worships" +would care to quench their thirst in water drawn from the well of St. +Clement or from Holy Well that was hard by. +</P> + +<P> +"Which is the more precious liquid?" asked Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +The lad quickly replied that he had no opinion, and that learned men +and excellent divines could come to no agreement over the matter. His +worship might drink of both and judge for himself; the charge was but a +farthing. +</P> + +<P> +"Cheaper than Mistress Stowe's sack, at any rate, if not so palatable," +said Johnnie. He gave the lad a farthing and took the Holy Well +pannikin, whilst his companion drained that which owned its virtues to +the sanctity of St. Clement, whose church fronted them across the way. +As neither tasted of both, they had, like the water-seller, no opinion +as to the merits of the rival wells. +</P> + +<P> +They walked on past Somerset House. +</P> + +<P> +"A stately pile," said Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +"Fairer even than Whitehall," replied Jeffreys. "'Twas built by an +arch-robber, but the Queen favours it and dwells in it at times. 'Tis +the goodliest palace along the Strand." +</P> + +<P> +The Savoy, already centuries old and crumbling to decay, was passed; +and then, by other noble edifices, the wayfarers went to the village of +Charing. +</P> + +<P> +They turned down by Queen Eleanor's Cross into the street leading to +Whitehall itself. They passed through the Holbein Gate, down King's +Street; and close under the shadow of the hoary abbey of St. Peter they +halted at Raleigh's lodgings. Captain Dawe and his guide were resting +in the cool porch and awaiting them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE QUEEN. +</H3> + +<P> +John Morgan, yeoman and forester, rose from his knee, and stood, with +bowed head and fumbling fingers, abashed in a most august presence. He +plucked nervously at his cap, and dared not raise his face to confront +the calm countenance of his sovereign. Elizabeth, for her part, +scanned him most critically from top to toe. She noted the cut of his +clothes, the stiffness of his ruff, the size of the buckles on his +shoon; from these to the colour of his hair and the healthy tan of his +skin, nothing escaped her. She was rapidly measuring him, height and +girth, with the proportions of her handsome Devon knight who had led +the shy young stalwart in. +</P> + +<P> +"So this is the gallant young fellow who bled in thy service?" she said +to Raleigh. +</P> + +<P> +"And in the service of your Majesty," added the knight. "He saved the +life of your humblest servant, but he also fought and bled in defence +of your Majesty's honour and the integrity of your dominions." +</P> + +<P> +Elizabeth looked again at the bent head. "Dost know the colour of mine +eyes, Master Morgan?" she asked sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"The colour of heaven, your Majesty," gasped Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +The Queen laughed. "I thought thou hadst not looked at them. 'Tis +easy to see that thou hast kept company with a certain Walter Raleigh; +thou canst assume modesty and yet flatter as glibly as he." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty!" cried Raleigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Hath excellent eyesight, thank God!" added Elizabeth. "I wish I had +found Master Morgan a simpler gentleman. I am sick of pretty speeches, +and thought to find a plain, unspoiled Englishman who would speak +naught but truth. Wilt let me see what colour thine eyes are, Master +Morgan? I have noted every hair on the top of thy head." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie raised a flushed face to the pale, cool countenance of his +sovereign. +</P> + +<P> +"Dost not find mine eyes <I>green</I>?" she asked, and leaned a little +forward in her chair. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a glint of the verdure of England in them, your Majesty, and +the sheen of the blue of her skies and her seas." +</P> + +<P> +"And thou dost consider them, therefore, to be perfect for England's +Queen?" +</P> + +<P> +"God made your Majesty, and we daily thank Him for His abounding +goodness and wisdom." +</P> + +<P> +A faint blush stole into Elizabeth's cheeks, and the blue-green eyes +danced. "Thou dost see merrie England mirrored in these pale orbs?" +</P> + +<P> +"The country lives in your Majesty's heart, and the heart looks out +through the eyes." +</P> + +<P> +Elizabeth sat back. She turned to Raleigh. +</P> + +<P> +"They breed poets in the shadow of Dean's oaks," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"When first I met Master Morgan he was writing verses in the woodlands." +</P> + +<P> +"And to whom?" +</P> + +<P> +"A pretty maiden." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! What colour are her eyes, bold forester?" +</P> + +<P> +"Blue, an't please your Majesty." +</P> + +<P> +"It doth not please me at all. I thought thy conceit about the 'green +and blue' of England very pretty and spontaneous for me. Now I +perceive 'tis but an old compliment thou hast paid a thousand times +before to some woodland wench." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty mistakes. The thought never came to my mind before I +uttered it just now. I know not what made me think it then, unless +'twas your Majesty's presence inspired me. I am a dull fellow, and no +poet, as Mistress Dawe often tells me." +</P> + +<P> +"Hast never told her that her eyes are blue?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have, your Majesty." +</P> + +<P> +"And that she is the fairest maid on earth?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have said that also, and 'tis God's truth that I think her to be so." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" +</P> + +<P> +The exclamation was a little unroyal. Raleigh, who had stood in almost +mute astonishment at Morgan's strange readiness of tongue and aptness +of expression, now began to fear that the blunt yeoman was going to +undo all his previous good work. Elizabeth Tudor was not accustomed to +hear that some other "maid" was the fairest on earth. +</P> + +<P> +"When dost thou hope to wed this dainty nymph?" +</P> + +<P> +"When the maid wills it, your Majesty." +</P> + +<P> +"Hath she no father, then, to command her?" +</P> + +<P> +"She hath; but he would not lay an order upon her, neither would I have +him do so. Maidens will have their whims. I care not, so mine be +constant." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou dost find her wayward then?" +</P> + +<P> +"All pretty things are fashioned so." +</P> + +<P> +"Am I wayward, thinkest thou?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty would be very woman but that you are also Queen." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am a woman when my crown is off." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie shook his head. "God hath given your Majesty special graces, +and such strength that the woman in you must obey the sovereign." +</P> + +<P> +Elizabeth sighed. "Thou art right," she said. "Daily have I to beat +the woman in me down, down. 'Tis hard to do it, for the woman will cry +out for what is hers by nature. Canst thou not perceive, Master +Morgan, that the struggle is bitter at times? Yet the woman in me must +succumb; for, did she have her way, England, my England, would suffer." +</P> + +<P> +"Therefore did God give the Queen strength," murmured Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +Elizabeth arose. "I will see thee again," she said. "Thou hast some +homely mother wisdom, and a truthful tongue. It cheers a Queen's heart +to learn that, far from courts and crowds, she hath valiant and loyal +subjects like to thee. But I must ask thee to consider whether thou +canst not serve us to more advantage than offers on a simple farm. +Thou hast given a little brave blood for England. The world is wide, +and our foes are many. Doth not thy spirit cry out for wings at times?" +</P> + +<P> +"It hath in these last few days, your Majesty." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have been talking with some sailor-men from the Spanish Main, and +the sea sings in mine ears, sleeping and waking." +</P> + +<P> +"Then obey the call." +</P> + +<P> +"I will." +</P> + +<P> +"God prosper you!" +</P> + +<P> +"And bring your Majesty happiness and length of days." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOHNNIE SEES MANY SIGHTS. +</H3> + +<P> +The Queen left the audience chamber in company with her +maids-of-honour, and Raleigh held the curtains over the doorway aside +for them to pass through. He came back to where Morgan was standing, +and looked him quizzingly up and down. +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my faith as a knight! thou, John Morgan, art the biggest packet +of surprises I have yet brought within the gray walls of Whitehall +Palace. They do say that the air of this place is peculiarly suitable +for the breathing of west-country men. We thrive in it amazingly, to +the chagrin of better men born elsewhere. But thou hast developed from +close bud to full-blown flower in a single afternoon. Who cut the +strings of thy tongue, and took the bands from thy wits? Thou didst +speak like a ten years courtier at the least. I will confess that I +hearkened to thee dumb with sheer amazement." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie rubbed his chin ruefully. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sore afraid that my tongue hath undone me; yet, for the life of +me, I could put no bridle upon it when once her Majesty had me by the +eyes. She willed the words out of me. Bones o' me! I pray I may +never have to face her with a secret locked in my bosom, and she +suspicious that I kept something hidden. 'Twould out, like murder. +But her spirit compelled mine as that of a strong man compelling a +weaker." +</P> + +<P> +"There hast thou solved the royal riddle of England's governance. We +are swayed by the brain of a man behind the mask of woman's face. To +the woman that we behold we pay that chivalrous deference and loving +devotion that her sex and her station claim from true men; but when we +would treat her like a woman, with womanly weaknesses, then peeps the +man from behind the mask, and we kneel to one stronger than ourselves. +The 'woman' that appeals to us, and cries for our love, is at times +capricious as an April day. But the 'man' is ever firm and dominating, +and with 'him' no one of us dares to trifle. Thy fortunate star shone +o'er thee to-day. Few men have made so excellent a first impression on +England's maiden Queen. But be not froward because of a first success, +nor hope too much from a royal smile. The east wind can blow bitingly, +even on a sunny day. Come with me now to the royal buffet; 'tis +treason to quit this roof after a first visit without drinking a bumper +to the sovereign's health. Her Majesty is a very country housewife in +the matter of cakes and ale and clean sheets in the guest chamber." +</P> + +<P> +Morgan quitted the audience chamber on Raleigh's arm, threaded numerous +corridors, sumptuously curtained and carpeted, and came at last to a +spacious room where, on a huge sideboard of carven oak, constant +provision was maintained for bodily refreshment. Servants in royal +livery stood about, and several gentlemen of the household, who had +just been relieved from duty, or come in from running some royal +errand, stood sipping a cup of wine. All saluted Raleigh courteously, +and bowed ceremoniously to his companion. Johnnie returned the bow, +feeling considerably less at ease than he had done in his sovereign's +presence. The critical stare of so many resplendent gallants unnerved +him, and he was heartily glad to quit the chamber and get out into the +air of the courtyard. Raleigh escorted him to the palace gate, where +Jeffreys awaited him. Captain Dawe had gone to look in at the bowling +green, where some of the royal officers were playing bowls. Him they +found; then, not caring for the walk back down Strand and Fleet Street, +they went to Whitehall Stairs within the palace precincts, hailed a +wherry, and went down on the tide to the stairs at Blackfriars. The +sun was setting when they landed, and columns of smoke rising from a +score of points showed that the city watchmen were lighting the evening +purifying fires at street corners and in the open spaces. The air on +the river had been cool and pleasant enough, but it was stifling in the +narrow lanes leading up from the stream to the hill of St. Paul's. The +pungent smoke from the newly-kindled wood piles came quite refreshingly +to the nostrils. +</P> + +<P> +"We have had a most fortunate year in London," said Master Jeffreys. +"No case of plague, and very few of fever. The aldermen of the wards +were for stopping these fires a week ago, but the bishop resolved to +keep them going within his boundaries until October set in. 'Tis +wonderful how the smoke and flames do take the noisome vapour from the +air. If we could but get some good rains now to wash out the gutters +and conduits, the city would be cleansed and sweetened for the winter." +</P> + +<P> +"For my part," answered the forester, "I should always breathe but +chokingly in these streets." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the air is wholesome enough," said Jeffreys "and stout fellows +thrive on it. Just give an eye to yonder band of 'prentice lads. I +would not wish to see better limbs, and I'll warrant that no +forest-bred lad can give harder thwacks with oaken cudgel than can +these retailers of ribbons and fal-lals." +</P> + +<P> +"The rogues are hearty enough," assented Johnnie, "and their lungs are +like bellows of leather. London is a fine place, and the air, +doubtless, sweet enough to those who have not the lingering fragrance +of the bracken in their nostrils. The scent of the woods or the salt +of the sea for me." +</P> + +<P> +"And the salt of the sea is the sweeter. Ah!" Master Jeffreys sniffed +longingly. +</P> + +<P> +Chepe was pretty full of leisurely pedestrians; the doorways of the +taverns were crowded; jugglers balanced themselves in the dusty gutter, +and merry maidens tripped it neatly in the inn courtyards to the sound +of pipe and tabor. The merchants' parlours over their shops were often +the scene of a friendly or family gathering, and more than one +sweetly-sung madrigal floated harmoniously out on the evening air. +Elizabethan London was a musical city, and part-singing was cultivated +beneath the rooftree of every well-to-do burgher. The fresh voices of +the young girls and the mellower notes of journeyman or apprentice +mingled tunefully together. The great city was resting from the +labours of the day, and soothing its spirit to enjoy the deeper rest +and tranquillity of the night. There was a little horseplay amongst +the lads gathered round the tumblers and tavern doors, but it hardly +disturbed the calm peacefulness of the scene. The side streets were +practically deserted, Chepe and St. Paul's Churchyard being the +fashionable promenades. Not a solitary figure blotted the narrow vista +of Wood Street when the three friends turned their wearied legs into +it. They found "Ye Swanne" in charge of the tapster and the +serving-wench, and with Paignton Rob for its solitary guest. He hailed +his hosts of the previous day with delight, and hastened to inform them +that Dame Fortune was "smiling upon him with both eyes." Whilst +lounging in the aisles of St. Paul's he had been recognized by a +Dartmouth skipper under whom he had once crossed the Atlantic on a +piratical expedition against Spain. The venture had failed, and the +golden visions dangled before Rob's eyes had vanished. But the +Dartmouth captain had tried again, and had been eminently successful, +bringing home a shipload of rich booty. Hearing Rob's story of +Oxenham's expedition, and seeing for himself the marks of Spanish +cruelty on the seaman's body, the generous skipper had made Rob a +present of ten crowns, and had also given the Johnsons—whom he had +never seen before—a couple of crowns apiece, and offered all three a +berth aboard his ship, which was leaving for Dartmouth on the next +morning's tide. The Johnsons had accepted, but Rob had declined, being +resolved to see Raleigh and some other gentlemen adventurers concerning +his plans for a recovery of Oxenham's buried treasure. +</P> + +<P> +"And now," added the sailor, "I owe ye a debt of hospitality, and am +come hither to pay it. The tapster hath my orders, and ye will not +refuse to take bite and sup with me this night." +</P> + +<P> +Not one of the company said "Nay," for Rob was evidently bent upon +playing the host. But Captain Dawe asked where his daughter and +Mistress Stowe had hidden themselves, and got for answer the tidings +that they had gone out into the Moorfields to take the air and see an +archery contest, the heat in the city having been well-nigh intolerable +that afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +The twilight was growing faint, the narrow street was in semi-darkness. +Johnnie inquired which way the ladies would return, and getting the +direction started out to meet them and give them escort. He had not +gone far before he saw two ladies hurrying along, huddled rather +closely together, and a couple of city gallants bowing and smirking +beside them in the roadway. The young fellow's face flushed; for, even +in the growing darkness, he recognized one slight, graceful figure as +that of Dorothy. He hastened forward, and soon got near enough to +distinguish the faces of the four, and to perceive that the ladies were +being annoyed by the unwelcome attentions of the two fops, who, +attracted doubtless by Dolly's beauty and apparent rusticity, were +endeavouring to force acquaintance upon the buxom hostess of the +"Swanne." Johnnie seized both the situation and the offenders in a +moment. Grasping the youths by the nape of the neck, he cracked their +curled heads together until they yelled with pain. Then he forced +their noses down to their knees. +</P> + +<P> +"Bow low, ye rascals," he cried. "Lower still; ye are not doing +sufficient homage to beauty and innocence yet." +</P> + +<P> +The two collapsed, toppled forward, and lay prone on their stomachs in +the thick, foul dust. +</P> + +<P> +"Kiss the ground they walk on," pursued the relentless Johnnie; "'tis +what ye mouthing apes profess to do. Kiss it—let me hear ye," and he +held them in his grip until two resounding smacks rewarded his efforts. +"Now," he said, "maybe ye will not annoy womenfolk again for an evening +or two. I'll lout the heads of both of you together if I see your +smirking faces in this street any more." +</P> + +<P> +The forester straightened himself, offered an arm to each of the +ladies, and led them home. +</P> + +<P> +Lights shone from the parlour window of "Ye Swanne" that night long +after they were douted in the other houses of Wood Street. Johnnie had +to recount all the incidents of his visit to the court; and Dorothy and +the hostess asked him a hundred questions about the Queen, many of them +concerning her dress and her jewels, and quite beyond his powers of +answering. He said nothing about the promise given to his sovereign in +a moment of loyal enthusiasm, a promise that pledged him to voyage and +adventure on the Spanish Main. +</P> + +<P> +"Time enough for that," he said to himself. "I'll talk at greater +length to Bob to-morrow; and as no ships will be sailing westward ho! +until the spring comes again, I may as well leave talking for a later +day, and make my plans now in silence." +</P> + +<P> +The party from the forest spent another week in London, and during that +time Johnnie went twice to Whitehall, on the second occasion taking +Dorothy with him. The Queen was very gracious to her pretty subject +from the west, and praised her beauty openly. Yet, in spite of the +royal condescension, Dolly felt terribly afraid, and owned to Raleigh +that she was very glad to get outside the palace doors again. +</P> + +<P> +On another day the knight took them to the play on the other side of +the river, where they saw a comedy of Ben Jonson's. After the play the +captain went to see the bear-baiting in the bear-pit hard by, but the +two young people preferred a trip on the river as far as Chelsea. This +was a very busy and momentous day, for in the evening Master Jeffreys +took Morgan down to the "Mermaid Tavern" between Wood Street and Milk +Street, where Raleigh was presiding over a gathering of the "Mermaid +Club," and there the young countryman found himself in a very nest of +poets—Shakespeare, Jonson, Marlowe, Sidney, and Raleigh himself. In +after years he hardly knew which to call the most notable moment in his +life—the one when he kissed his Queen's hand, or the one when he drank +a cup of sack with the greatest wits and geniuses of his age. +</P> + +<P> +When the Severn-side folks went westwards again, Paignton Rob +accompanied them; for Johnnie had invited the mariner to make his home +with him during the winter, purposing in the spring to go with him on a +first voyage to the New World. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO CHANCE WAYFARERS. +</H3> + +<P> +It was the feast of St. Thomas, the sky gray blue, with a pale, +cold-looking sun, the Queen's highway frozen into an iron hardness, and +the pools and ditches frost-bound. The wind had shaken the hoar from +the trees and hedges, and the holly-berries stood out in brilliant +bunches against the dark green of the encircling leaves. Along the +road between Bristol and Gloucester, and, but for the wintry haze that +narrowed the horizon, within sight of the latter city, trudged a burly +fellow, staff in hand and a sea song on his lips. His thick shoon +awoke echoes from hedge to hedge, and his iron-shod staff rang in +unison. Hosen of warm, gray homespun covered his legs, and he had a +doublet of the same goodly stuff; a cap, trimmed with otter-skin, was +pulled down tightly over his ears, and an ample cloak of somewhat gaudy +blue flapped in the keen wind; rime, and tiny beads of frozen vapour, +hung like pearls in his black beard. He rolled in his walk as a sailor +should, and sometimes he whistled the air of his song by way of change +from the singing of the words. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Then ho! for the Spanish Main,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">And ha! for the Spanish gold;</SPAN><BR> +King Philip's ships are riding deep<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">With the weight of wealth untold.</SPAN><BR> +They're prey for the saucy lads<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe;</SPAN><BR> +They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow,</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">With a rich galleon in tow!"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The mariner swung his staff in rhythm with the swing of his chorus, and +his hearty voice pealed out like a trumpet on the sharp air. +</P> + +<P> +"A spirited song well sung!" cried a voice in the sailor's rear. +</P> + +<P> +He turned sharply around, and found a thin, wiry fellow close at his +heels. "<I>Madre de Dios!</I>" he cried, with a Spanish oath. "Where didst +thou spring from? I heard no steps behind me." +</P> + +<P> +"Hardly possible, friend, that thou shouldst hear a little fellow like +me against thy song, staff, and heavier footfalls. I fell in thy wake +out of the lane at Quedgely, and have been trying to come up with thee +for the sake of thy jolly company." +</P> + +<P> +"Is yonder parcel of huts Quedgely?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay. Thou art a stranger; Devon, if thy speech is to be trusted." +</P> + +<P> +"Devon is my bonny country, lad—Devon every inch of me. Dost know +Devon?" +</P> + +<P> +"But little. 'Tis a brave shire, and breeds brave sons. Could I be +born again, I'd pray to see the sun first from a Devon cradle." +</P> + +<P> +"Thy hand, brother. If thou wert less yellow in the gills I'd kiss +thee. Art for Gloucester?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I, for to-day; to-morrow I go farther on. Dost know these parts +well?" +</P> + +<P> +"There are parts that I know worse; but I am not native to the place." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe thou hast never been in Dean Forest?" +</P> + +<P> +The stranger looked at the sailor sharply and queerly. "Dean Forest," +he repeated. "Yes, I have travelled some parts of that wild region. +Thou art surely not thinking of going thither at this time o' the year!" +</P> + +<P> +"By bad fortune, I am. And from what I hear, 'tis a dangerous place, +full of fierce beasts and uncouth people. But go thither I must, for I +seek a man I shall not find elsewhere. If thou wouldst find a hawk, +needs must that thou find a hawk's nest; no other bird's will serve thy +purpose—that is my position. Is there any chance that I shall light +upon some forest fellow during Yule-tide business in Gloucester?" +</P> + +<P> +"That I cannot say; but I may be able to help thee. Whom dost thou +seek?" +</P> + +<P> +"A Devon man, Rob of Paignton." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art hunting a bundle of hay to find a needle. The forest is a +wild place, as full of holes as of hills, and its people are not much +given to travelling or to gossip with any but their nearest neighbours. +Hast no more precise knowledge?" +</P> + +<P> +"None, except that Rob dwells with a tall fellow named Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +Again the sallow stranger eyed his companion keenly. He shook his +head. "Tall fellows are not scarce amongst the foresters, and Morgans +are as plentiful as oak trees." +</P> + +<P> +"Then am I like to be long a-searching. However, tired eyes ne'er +found a treasure; I must find Rob and the fellow with whom he dwells. +How far is it to Gloucester now?" +</P> + +<P> +"A matter of less than three miles to the Cross." +</P> + +<P> +"Dost know of a good inn, one where beef and ale is not stinted, and +where the hay in the beds is sweet?" +</P> + +<P> +"There's the 'New Inn' in the Northgate Street, as snug a place as a +man can wish to put head into on a cold day. I shall rest there until +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll cast anchor there also. I can afford to pay for good +lodgings." The sailor jingled some coins in his pouch, and sang again, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Then ho! for the Spanish Main,<BR> +And ha! for the Spanish gold."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +His companion interrupted him. "When I startled thee just now, did I +not hear thy lips utter a Spanish oath?" +</P> + +<P> +"Likely enough; I have a goodly stock of them, and one jumps out at +times if it happens to be near the top. How didst thou recognize it +for Spanish?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I have some knowledge of that tongue." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor turned sharp on the speaker, halted, and scrutinized him +closely. "Thy face is yellow enough for a subject of King Philip," he +said slowly; "but the general cut of thee is English." +</P> + +<P> +"I am English." +</P> + +<P> +"Hast sailed the Spanish Main?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; I am a scholar, not a sailor. I am as well acquainted with +French, Latin, and Greek as with Spanish and English." +</P> + +<P> +"What a gift!" exclaimed the sailor admiringly. "There is not much +body about thee; but now I look into thy face and mark thine eyes, +forehead, and jowl, can well credit thee with brains. I wish I had met +thee in Plymouth." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I have some papers writ in Spanish that I'd give much to +decipher. Confidence for confidence, let me tell thee that I am no +scholar, but just a simple sailor—" +</P> + +<P> +"Who knows the Spanish Main, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"As a farmer knows his own duck pond." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! these are fine times for the brave lads who sail the seas." +</P> + +<P> +"My own opinion, brother. I thank God I became a man whilst Queen Bess +was a woman! The west wind blows fortunes into Devon ports nowadays. +Mayhap thou hast no love for the sea?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis the sea that hath no love for me. I am fixed ashore, and yet I +love travel and adventure, and have seen sights in more lands than +England." +</P> + +<P> +"So! now. I'm glad thou hast not lived a worm 'twixt book covers. +Thou art a fellow of some parts, I'll warrant me. There's plenty of +spring in thy walk for one who hath pored much over books. How art +thou now with, say, the sword?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have held my own with fellows of more inches than myself." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor pinched his companion's biceps, and took a grip of his +wrist. "Supple enough, brother, or I'm no judge." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! I should second thee well in a tussle, never fear," laughed the +little man. +</P> + +<P> +"And give me a merry time should we draw on one another." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! we are not going to fight. I am a peaceable wayfarer, glad of a +cheery companion on a dull day. But I would offer thee a scrap of +advice. Jingle not thy money so easily to the first man that offers +thee a friendly greeting. I have known the chink of gold turn a good +friend into an ill foe." +</P> + +<P> +"True, true. But I'll swear to thy honesty." +</P> + +<P> +"A thousand thanks for the compliment." +</P> + +<P> +Thus the two chance companions trudged on side by side to the south +gate of Gloucester. There the pressure of a crowd brought them to a +halt for a few minutes. There was a noise of yelling and booing, and +some exclamations that caused the sailor's companion to wince. +</P> + +<P> +The pressure at the gate slackening, the two pushed through and hurried +after the noisy throng. "Some fellow being whipped at the cart-tail," +exclaimed the man of Devon, stretching his tall form to look over the +heads of the swaying mob. +</P> + +<P> +"Two of 'em, friend; Papishers both," remarked a delighted citizen. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" exclaimed the younger wayfarer. +</P> + +<P> +The citizen pointed first to the right and then to the left. "Ruins of +Greyfriars Monastery; ruins of Blackfriars. One rascal caught in +either place praying that the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah might fall on +our town, because he and his fellow vermin were driven out years ago. +I must push ahead and beg the hangman to let me have a cut or two at +them. They cursed me by bell, book, and candle—but not by name, thank +the Lord: they didn't know that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked the little man. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I—and many others, for the matter of that—have built a snug +house out of the stone of the monasteries. I'll have a cut at 'em if +it costs me a crown." +</P> + +<P> +"Is this sort of thing to thy liking?" the sailor asked of his +companion. +</P> + +<P> +"No," was the sharp response. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither is it to mine; although, mind you, I have seen these same +Papishers play some devil's tricks on good Protestants. Paignton Rob, +whom I seek, hath a head ill-balanced by the loss of an ear and its +ear-ring, because the priests chose to set a mark upon him. But thou +and I are of more generous blood; we have seen the world, and found +honest men in all religions—ay, and rogues in them all too. Let us +get to thine inn and drink a flagon of Gloster ale to all tolerant +souls, whether they call the Pope 'Father' or 'Devil.'" +</P> + +<P> +The sallow-faced man made no answer, but pushed on beside his burly +companion. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BROTHER BASIL. +</H3> + +<P> +Dan Pengelly, the sailor with the Cornish patronymic and Devonian +birthplace, found an excellent boon companion in the little +sallow-faced fellow who had overtaken him a few miles south of +Gloucester. And he found the "New Inn," boastful of having given a +night's lodging to the Queen and the Earl of Leicester, an expensive +but comfortable tavern. Its dimensions were goodly, its position a +sheltered one, its kitchens ample and well-managed, and its October ale +beyond reproach. At first the little man in black doublet and hosen +was inclined to be moody and taciturn; the public whipping, apparently, +had seared his kindly and humane temperament. But jolly Dan poured +oil—not to say ale—on the wounds and eased them. As it was neither +dinner-time nor supper-time, the sailor ordered a repast ample enough +for both, and fell to his trencher with hearty good will. His +companion did his best to emulate him, and for a spare man did +excellently. Dan paid the reckoning. +</P> + +<P> +They spent a merry evening. As far as the sailor was concerned, when +ale went in, wit went out; he poured out confidences, and was artfully +led into babbling secrets he had never intended to disclose. To all +appearances the little man was just as communicative; he talked glibly +enough about places in France, Holland, and Spain, and answered a score +of eager questions about Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, Lisbon, Cadiz, and +other places. But when Pengelly reeled off to his mattress of fragrant +hay he knew nothing definite about his comrade—neither name, station, +occupation, nor religious or political opinions. On the other hand, +the sallow man knew Dan's lineage for four generations back, at least; +knew his hopes, fears, recent deeds—good and bad; could have told to a +penny what money he had in his pocket; knew the reason why he sought +Rob of Paignton, and a great deal of the latter worthy's past career. +Perhaps most important of all, he knew where Dan had hidden certain +Spanish papers in Plymouth, and guessed at the secret hidden in them. +He had been merry with the bluff sailor to good purpose, and he lay +awake and quietly smiling at a star that peeped in at the lattice, long +after the bibulous Dan had started snoring like a drenched hog on the +pallet beside him. Before he closed his eyes and settled himself to +sleep, he had resolved to be the sailor's companion for a day longer. +This meant an alteration of his previous plans, but the change would be +worth the making. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning the two travellers were astir with the first robin, +and over breakfast Dan learned that his companion had suddenly +remembered that he ought to pay a visit to Westbury before he quitted +the neighbourhood. The Devonian knew nothing of Westbury, but was +speedily informed that it lay about ten miles along his own route, and +was, in fact, almost at the eastern verge of the forest itself. The +sailor expressed his joy at this news in a practical manner; he +insisted on paying the reckoning for bed and breakfast. The little man +made a show of protest, but submitted amicably enough. The generous +Dan slapped him on the back, and declared that he was growing to love +him. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not like thee over well at first," he said; "there are none of +the roses of innocence in thy face, thy jaws are too lean and hungry +looking, and thine eyes have an odd sort of stare in them. But +'handsome is that handsome does' is my motto, and I find thee a +downright pretty fellow." +</P> + +<P> +The "pretty fellow" laughed good-humouredly. "Thou hast queer ways of +paying compliments, Dan Pengelly, and folk who did not understand thee +might take offence. But it's 'peace and good fellowship' betwixt us +twain; so let us take to the road and hope for a pleasant journey." +</P> + +<P> +The sun shone frostily but cheerily. Down the Westgate Street and out +at the West Gate that abutted on the turbid Severn went the two +strangely assorted comrades. The sailor had a remark or two—not +altogether complimentary—to make about the river. Then they strode +along the causeway that spanned the marshy isle of Olney and led to the +western arm of the river. From thence a broad, tree-bordered highway +ran—at a little distance from the Severn bank—right away to the +hamlet of Westbury. Here they parted company, the sailor going on to +Newnham, where he was to make inquiries after Rob, his companion +striking off across the fields on pretence of visiting a certain farmer. +</P> + +<P> +Dan was right on the track of his friend, although he anticipated a +dangerous and exciting search through the dense, dark forest that rose +on the swelling hills before him. He was agreeably disappointed. A +grizzled old fisherman stood on the river quay idly watching his boat +as it bobbed up and down on the rushing tide. Dan gave him a brotherly +greeting, then halted for a few minutes' rest and conversation. At +first the traveller talked of "tides" as though they were his chief +interest in life. The fisherman had an opportunity of learning that +the tides of the Plym, Fal, and Dart were beyond computation better +than those of the Severn; in fact, he was asked to believe that the +last-named river was no better than a mud heap that got flooded with +brackish water twice a day. The fisherman stoutly combated this +slander, and a pretty quarrel seemed imminent, when Dan went off at a +tangent, and "wondered" whether any one in Newnham had espied a tall, +lean, one-eared man looking at boat or stream at any time. "He's not a +native of these parts," added he, by way of rounding off his +description. +</P> + +<P> +But the fisherman was not prepared for this sudden change of subject, +and he took a minute or two for quiet meditation ere he volunteered the +information that "all Newnham" knew the person in question. +</P> + +<P> +"He was up to Captain Dawe's but yesterday," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Ought to be dwelling with a tall fellow named Morgan," said Dan. +</P> + +<P> +"Lives with Johnnie Morgan of Blakeney," replied the other. "Everybody +knows Johnnie Morgan. He's kissed the Queen's hand in her house in +London, and 'tis whispered that her Majesty kissed him. At any rate, +Johnnie's sweetheart quarrelled with him directly they got home again, +and the gossips put it down to jealousy." +</P> + +<P> +Dan expressed his sorrow, and promised to advise Johnnie to hope for a +happy ending. "The course of true love never did run smooth, ye know." +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" assented the fisherman. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, how far is it to Blakeney, and must I go through the forest?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis an afternoon's tramp, and a lonesome one; ye might run down on +the tide when it ebbs. There's my boat, and I'll take ye for twopence." +</P> + +<P> +"Done! Shall we spill a flagon of ale, and say it is a bargain?" +</P> + +<P> +The fisherman put his tongue to his lips and tested the salty flavour +of the tide, then led the way without comment to the "Bear." The +bargain was so deluged with "best October" that it was almost drowned +in forgetfulness. But, more by luck than judgment, Dan and Rob kissed +one another just after nightfall. +</P> + +<P> +And after supper Dan told the story of his tramp from Bristol. He had +got to the "whipping" incident in Gloucester, and was describing its +effect upon the little, sallow-faced fellow that tramped with him, when +one of Morgan's men burst into the room, his face blanched with terror. +"The man in black! the man in black!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie was on his feet in an instant. "What dost thou mean?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"The man in black! the one who did not die!" +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie understood. He took down a sword. "Where is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was looking in at the window as I came up the lane." +</P> + +<P> +"Follow me. Stay you there, gentlemen; I'm afeard my man has seen a +ghost." +</P> + +<P> +Blakeney was aroused, but no man had seen anything suspicious, and a +close search revealed nothing. Morgan questioned his man, but he stuck +to his story. An idea flashed across Johnnie's mind, and when he got +home again he questioned Pengelly closely about his companion. The +answers convinced him. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast tramped with the devil in disguise," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Dan's ruddy face paled, and he asked for an explanation. His host told +him of the events of the past summer. The sailor's face lengthened +with the story. "And I told him all my plans!" he groaned. +</P> + +<P> +That night Morgan's barns were fired and burned to the ground. The +next night the thatch of Captain Dawe's cottage was discovered to be +smouldering. Two nights later, Dean Tower, which had been confiscated +by the Crown because of Windybank's treason, was reduced to a heap of +ashes. +</P> + +<P> +Brother Basil stole out of Westbury tower the next morning. He had a +bloodstained chip of oak in his hand. It was cut from a beam Windybank +had struck in his fall. "The blood of a martyr!" he muttered. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ALL ON A BRIGHT MARCH MORNING. +</H3> + +<P> +The March winds were blowing, and the daffydowndillies were nodding +merry heads in the sunshine. The hawthorn hedges were dotted with the +bright green of bursting buds; and behind this promise of cover from +the prying eyes of predatory urchins, the small birds were busy +house-building. The tall elms were still bare of leaves, but the rooks +had framed their crazy nests, and were now busy following the +ploughman, and waxing fat on succulent worms. The sedgy pools and +ditches in the forest were noisy with the hoarse croaking of colonies +of frogs. Lambs skipped in the farmers' meadows, and cropped the grass +that had already lost the brown tinge of winter. +</P> + +<P> +Spring was come, vouched for by the calendar, the place of King Sol in +the blue heavens, and the changing aspect of reawakening nature. +</P> + +<P> +By every token of a healthy youth and a glorious March morning, +Johnnie's thoughts should have been light, fanciful, and centred round +the fair image of Mistress Dorothy Dawe. Alas! they were dark as a +midwinter night, and as gloomy as a funeral oration. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'She only drove me to despair,<BR> +When—she—un-kind—did—prove.'"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Johnnie hummed the last few bars of a popular madrigal in slow and +dirge-like tones. "She" was still wayward and unkind, and "He" was +setting out on the morrow in search of treasure to lay at a maiden's +feet. The young fellow's visions of the Indies were no longer rosy, +but drab as November skies. He was pledged to set his face westward +ho! but the zest was gone out of the enterprise. He leaned over a +gate, and watched the gulls fishing in the river. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie did not hear a light step coming down the meadow towards him; +no sound disturbed his melancholy reflections. "Jack!" murmured a soft +voice. +</P> + +<P> +The young man started as though an arrow had struck him. His face +flushed hotly, and a gleam of pleasure lighted up its gloom. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morrow, Mistress Dorothy," he said. "I suppose thy father waits +at the house? I will go to him at once." +</P> + +<P> +He turned from the stile; but on his arm there was the flutter of a +hand like to the flutter of a bird's wing, and he stopped. He turned +to look at the river again, and the maiden's eyes followed his. There +was silence whilst a man might have told ten score. +</P> + +<P> +"The wings of the gulls flash like silver in the sunshine," ventured +Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"So I have thought." +</P> + +<P> +A pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art leaving us to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"That is why I have been watching the gulls for near an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand." +</P> + +<P> +"Paignton Rob says that these white gulls are found all the world over. +I shall see them a thousand leagues away—screaming round the ship; +massing in white armies on the New World cliffs; fishing in the rivers. +My last vision of home must have white gulls in it. Away yonder they +will be fairy birds to me, calling up pictures of my ancestral +homestead along Severn side. The forests there will not recall the +forest here. How shall their stifling heat and towering palms, their +gaudy birds and flowers, their roaring beasts and loathly reptiles, +remind one of the cool, sweet glades, the scented bracken, the gnarled +oaks, the leaping deer, and sweet-throated songsters of home? 'Tis the +vision of the river, the tide, and the wheeling gulls that I shall see +again in the land of 'El Dorado.'" +</P> + +<P> +There was a sadness and pathos in the forester's voice that went +straight to the heart of the forest maiden. The hand was on his arm +again, fluttering, trembling. "I have been very wicked!" The fluty +notes of a sweet voice were broken. +</P> + +<P> +"Who says so?" demanded Johnnie harshly and loudly. +</P> + +<P> +"I do; you do." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not!" +</P> + +<P> +"But I have hurt you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why shouldn't you do so, if it pleases you? Women must aye be +meddling with pins and barbs. If they be not pricking velvets or +home-spun, they must be thrusting sharp points into those that love +them best. Why shouldst thou differ from others of thy sex?" +</P> + +<P> +The young man's voice was bitter; the barbs still rankled. They had +been long in the wounds they had made, and there was fiery +inflammation. How often had he told the maid that she was like none +other of her sex; that she was peerless—stood alone! The memory of +former passionate declarations flashed across the minds of them both, +and both sighed down into silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Wilt thou not forgive me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why didst thou flout me, Dolly?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just a maid's foolish temper. Think how full of whimsies we women be. +Men be not so; they have strength denied to us, the weaker vessel." +(Johnnie's face was visibly softening. Dolly sighed with renewed hope, +and went on.) "I was hurt because thou didst plan and resolve to go to +the Indies without ever a word to me. I was not thought on. The Queen +moves a finger, and straightway thou art fashioning wings to take thee +to the ends of the earth. 'Twas thy duty so to do, but why treat me as +a chit or child of no account? Thy head was ever bobbing against that +of Master Jeffreys, or pouring plans into the one ear of Paignton Rob. +'Mum' was the word if ye did but catch the rustle of my gown. Thou +hadst vowed to share thy life with me; yet there did ye sit, like +conspirators, planning momentous issues in life, with never a chance +for me to utter 'Yea' or 'Nay.' Was that just?" +</P> + +<P> +"I told thee of my resolve as soon as I had made it firm." +</P> + +<P> +"That was a day too late for my pride. The Dawes have some pride, Jack +Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +"They have reason for it, Mistress Dawe." +</P> + +<P> +"Their friends should respect it." +</P> + +<P> +"I was hoping to increase it. Why, thinkest thou, did I resolve to +risk life and limb in the Indies, unless to gather wealth, that I might +lay it at thy feet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay; thou wert bitten by the flea of adventure, and must needs rush +about the world to deaden the itching. Suppose that I had rather have +thee remain at home, being but a plain maid, who would find contentment +as a farmer's wife?" +</P> + +<P> +The idea had not occurred to Johnnie, and he gasped in astonishment. +Dolly saw his confusion, and wisely did not press her point. On the +contrary, woman-like, she dropped the whole thread of the argument, and +simply exclaimed a little plaintively,— +</P> + +<P> +"I am sore wearied!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wearied!" cried Johnnie, facing round. "Wearied of what?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have walked from Newnham, and 'tis a trying journey with the wind +buffeting one so rudely." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought thou hadst ridden with thy father." +</P> + +<P> +"I walked alone; I wanted to see thee alone. Why should we part ill +friends, that have loved one another?" +</P> + +<P> +The next moment a tearful maid was in a strong man's arms. All the +wrongs on both sides, real and imaginary, were forgiven and forgotten. +Two happy, laughing lovers sat and watched the gulls wheeling, dipping, +rising in the spring sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast rare roses in thy cheeks, sweetheart," said Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis the wind," replied Dolly. +</P> + +<P> +"'March wind!'" murmured the youth. +</P> + +<P> +"'April showers!'" sobbed the maiden; for she thought of the morrow, +and the tears came into the brave blue eyes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN PLYMOUTH. +</H3> + +<P> +The arrow sang its curving flight through the air and stuck, with a +quick quiver, in the very centre of the target. "Four times out of six +have I found his heart, and a pennypiece would cover the four," +exclaimed Nick Johnson. "'Twill do!" He put his bow-point to his toe, +loosened the string, and laid the weapon aside. Brother Ned slipped +his own bow from his shoulder, strung it, tested its tautness and +rigidity, and took six arrows from the boy who waited upon the patrons +of archery ground. He shot; the arrow went wide. He sighed, rubbed +his eyes as though to clear them from mist, and shot again. The shaft +lodged on the outer edge of the target, almost splintering the wood. +"Better," said Nick encouragingly. Ned shot a third time; the string +twanged unevenly, and the arrow fell short. With a groan of despair +the sailor threw the bow aside, and called to the boy to fetch the +arrows. "'Tis no use," he cried; "I shall ne'er master the trick on't +again; left hand and eye will not go together as did right hand and eye +in the old days. Time was when I could outshoot thee three matches in +four; now should I miss the side of a house at a hundred paces. Thy +left arm serves thee better than thy right ever did. I know no better +marksman." +</P> + +<P> +Nick pulled musingly at his sandy beard. "In truth," he admitted, "it +seemeth as though nature intended me for a left-handed man; 'tis +wonderful what skill I have acquired with it in a few months of +practice. Wilt thou not try again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not to-day. I'll to the witch-woman under the cliffs, and get her to +say some charms that have power over the left side of a man." Ned +strode moodily off, and Nick followed him. At the stile that led into +the highway they met Dan Pengelly coming in search of them. Yards away +his excited countenance heralded news. "They've turned up at last!" +he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Master Morgan and Rob?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; the Papishers." +</P> + +<P> +"How?" +</P> + +<P> +"Get ye to the 'Blue Dolphin,' and Dame Gregory will tell ye all. I'll +be in hiding on the opposite side of the way, and a whistle will bring +me across. Give your legs full play. I'll not be seen with ye. Needs +must that we deal craftily when the devil's in person amongst the foe." +</P> + +<P> +"Rest easy, Dan. Come on, Ned," cried Nick. And the two brothers +swung off for the harbour side of the town and the back parlour of the +"Blue Dolphin." Whilst they clatter along the cobbled highway, we will +explain their errand. +</P> + +<P> +When Dan Pengelly babbled secrets into the ears of Brother Basil, he +unwittingly gave that worthy a new scheme of revenge. For some months +after the failure of the plot to burn the forest, the ex-monk had +remained in hiding amidst the mountains of South Wales. He stayed near +Newnham long enough to learn from the farmer at Arlingham the precise +fate of Father Jerome, his co-conspirator John, and Andrew Windybank. +Being assured of their deaths, and the absolute failure of the Spanish +plot, he disappeared. The foresters hoped, and at length believed, +that he was dead; they had learned that he was the fiercest and most +unscrupulous of the fanatics, and rumour had quickly clothed him with +all sorts of unholy attributes. That he was not dead, but plotting +further mischief, was known only to one man, and the knowledge helped +to darken that man's life. The farmer at Arlingham had never been +suspected of complicity in the plot; all, save Basil, who could have +blabbed his secret were amongst the slain on the night of the fight +with the <I>Luath</I>. He himself lost heart at the critical moment and +stayed at home, and his only share in the affair was to provide for +some of the wounded and receive the thanks of the admiral for his ready +generosity. Yet, whilst the wounded groaned and tossed on his beds, +Basil lay curled up, wolf fashion, in one of the barns. He lodged +there again for two days after the burning of Dean Tower, and whilst +the forest was being scoured with horse and hound for him. From thence +he had journeyed to Plymouth, hoping to secure the Spanish papers +hidden by the garrulous seaman. He succeeded in his object only a few +hours before Dan came hastening back from Blakeney, fearful for the +safety of his precious packet. The trick had been neatly played. Dame +Gregory had entertained, for one night, a very pleasant and gentlemanly +guest, who had speedily found his way into her good graces, and also +into the back parlour of the "Blue Dolphin," which was sacred to the +intimate cronies of her sailor spouse. It was there, behind a panel in +the wall, that the hostess kept treasures belonging to several homeless +mariners and adventurers who made her their banker and confidential +agent. The foolish Dan, tipsily anxious to let his little comrade know +how cunning he was, had explained the working of the panel and the +difficulty of any one, save those in the secret, getting access to the +precious hoard behind it. An evening's survey matured Basil's plans. +Early the next morning two strange sailor-men entered the inn, and kept +the landlady answering questions for the best part of half an hour. +Not long after she was rid of them, her pleasant guest also bade her +good day and departed. +</P> + +<P> +No suspicions were aroused until Dan's return and discovery of his +loss. Then Basil's handiwork was apparent enough. His connection with +the two sailors was revealed in an early stage of Dan's search for the +thief. The three had been seen together in a neighbouring hostel the +previous day. No trace of them was discovered after the robbery. But +now, on the very eve of Morgan's arrival in Plymouth, Dame Gregory's +son, an urchin of about fourteen summers, had penetrated the rough +disguise of two mariners who had dropped into the kitchen of the "Blue +Dolphin." Guided by the child's eyes, the mother also had assured +herself of the identity of the two. Dan had been apprised, had given +the alarm to the Johnsons, and they were already lifting the latch of +the parlour door. The two spies were on the ale-bench in the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +There was a whispered consultation with the hostess. Was she sure of +her men? Quite. What was Dan going to do in the affair? Watch, in +the hope that the sallow priest-man would pass along by the inn. +</P> + +<P> +Nick and Ned entered the kitchen. They were taciturn fellows, but they +gave the strangers a nod and a good-morrow! Conversation began, the +Johnsons leaving the lead, after the first words, to the strangers. In +those stirring times it was impossible for four mariners to meet in +Plymouth town and refrain from talking about the wonderful New World +across the Atlantic. All four had sailed its seas and navigated its +rivers. Nick Johnson said many hard things of the Spaniards, and he +expected the strangers to champion them a little. They did not; on the +other hand, they heaped curses on the heads of the arrogant Dons. The +talk turned on "El Dorado" and the fabulous treasures he had heaped up. +The Johnsons were eager with inquiries, but had no information to +offer. The strangers pretended to know a great deal about the +mysterious Indian potentate and his golden land, but they winked at one +another and kept their counsel. Ned Johnson made a plunge. Did the +strangers know that a ship was actually fitting in Plymouth harbour for +an unnamed port on the Orinoco? They did, and thought of trying for a +berth in her, having information that would be valuable to her captain. +By a casual remark, Ned hinted that he had personal knowledge of some +of the co-owners of the <I>Golden Boar</I>. Instantly a flood of questions +poured forth, but no answers were returned. The brothers professed a +bond of secrecy. For a full hour a cunning game was played, two +against two, but neither side secured an advantage. The strangers +departed, having promised the Johnsons to meet the next morning at an +inn lower down the harbour. +</P> + +<P> +The spies were followed to their lodging-place, and a watch set upon +them. But Basil was wary and made no sign. For two or three days the +four sailors fraternized together, and Dan Pengelly and the landlady's +son hung about in their neighbourhood, hoping to catch sight of a +familiar and cunning face. Meanwhile the last touches were being given +to the <I>Golden Boar</I>; her captain, John Drake, younger brother of the +famous admiral, was daily aboard, and her three principal +owners—Raleigh, Johnnie Morgan, and Captain Dawe—had arrived in +Plymouth. They had given up all hope of seeing Dan's mysterious +Spanish papers. But hope was not dead in the volatile Dan. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PARLOUR OF THE "BLUE DOLPHIN." +</H3> + +<P> +On the Cornish side of the Sound, and directly facing the harbour of +Plymouth, lay a snug fisher village. In the gray, weather-beaten +church were plentiful records of the births, marriages, and deaths of +the Pengellys. The homeless and wandering Dan might have claimed +relationship with half the inhabitants of the place had he chosen to do +so. Yet, being Plymouth born and at sea four-fifths of his time, he +had never visited the place since his boyhood. He thought less of a +voyage to the Indies than of a trip across the estuary of the Tamar. +And in this place, that echoed with his family name, and where he +himself might walk as a stranger, lodged the man he sought in every +street, byway, and tavern in Plymouth. +</P> + +<P> +Dan had been down to the <I>Golden Boar</I>, and had talked with Captain +Drake and Master Morgan. They wanted news of his papers; he could give +them none. +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said John Drake, "we can wait here no longer. Maybe thy papers +would give us the very route to 'El Dorado's' land, and save us a world +of danger and trouble; maybe they are about some other matter entirely. +In any case, I must sail in three days' time. We are thoroughly armed, +manned, and victualled; winter is gone, and the winds will serve. 'Tis +westward ho! and take the risks that other bold fellows have taken +before us. Yet I had rather the little priest had not gotten the +manuscript from thee. The cunning thief may be garnering gold whilst +we but reap wounds and fever. The New World is a big place, the +Orinoco a mighty stream; no man can say what lands lie along its +margin, and what mighty nations dwell on those lands. I have no fear +of the night, but 'tis a good thing to have a lantern in hand when one +walks in dark places." +</P> + +<P> +Master Morgan agreed, and Dan resolved upon a desperate attempt to +recover his lost treasure. He left the harbour, sought and found the +Johnsons, and formulated a plan of action. +</P> + +<P> +An hour or so later, Nick and Ned and the two stranger mariners entered +the "Blue Dolphin," and begged the landlady to grant them the use of +her parlour, as they wished to talk over a private matter of great +importance. The good woman assented with pleasure, and promised them +freedom from interruption. They went in, and upon their very heels +came Dan. He said something to the hostess in a low voice. She +protested volubly and angrily. He wheedled and coaxed, and at length, +very reluctantly, she relented. Dan tapped at the door thrice +separately and significantly. "This is our friend," said Nick Johnson, +and he opened the door to admit him who knocked. The strangers stared +at Dan; but, never having seen him before, had no suspicion of his +identity. +</P> + +<P> +All five sat down at the table, the two strangers with their backs to +the fireplace, the three friends facing them, with their backs to the +door. Dan did the talking, addressing himself to Basil's henchmen. +</P> + +<P> +"These two good fellows," he said, "old shipmates of mine, have +arranged this pleasant meeting at my request. I have heard somewhat of +you, and learn that we are all greatly interested in a certain matter. +If I just mention 'Indies,' 'Dons,' 'gold,' you will guess the run of +my thoughts." +</P> + +<P> +The strangers nodded, and settled themselves into an attitude of closer +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a vessel in harbour almost ready to weigh anchor for the land +of the setting sun. Her aim is treasure. I sail in her, and I am in +the secret councils of her captain. Do you follow my thoughts?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly. You've some bold business on hand for dipping your hands +deep into the spoil of the voyage, and you want a few bold blades at +your back. Say no more. Get us aboard, and when you give the signal +we're with you. To tell you the truth, we were planning some such +scheme ourselves, but could see no chance of a berth on the vessel." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you're the stout fellows I took you to be. Now, don't be +surprised at what I say next. I have more than one man's secrets +locked in my bosom." Dan turned to Nick Johnson. "Just make sure +there are no eavesdroppers," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Nick looked out into the passage. "Not a mouse stirring." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, whilst thou art on thy legs, fetch in some ale. Our new +comrades would like to toast our enterprise." +</P> + +<P> +Dan leaned back in silence whilst Nick did his errand. Healths were +drunk without words—just a nod, as much as to say, "To you, my hearty!" +</P> + +<P> +Dan leaned across the table. "A thin, wiry, sallow-faced man; +black-haired, black-eyed, supple as an eel, cunning as a cat; a scholar +and travelled gentleman, who might easily be a cut-throat; one who +professes the old faith, and swears by the Pope—ye know him?" +</P> + +<P> +The elder of the two spies licked his lips uneasily, looked hurriedly +from his companion to Dan, and from Dan back to his companion. The +latter stared and blinked his eyes in embarrassment. +</P> + +<P> +"Ye helped him in a little job in this very house about three months +ago," pursued Dan. "D'ye know what he got out of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"The very thing we want to get out of him. A sailor hid some papers in +this very house—papers that point the way to untold wealth, the way to +'El Dorado's' land. I was with him when he learned the secret, and +hurried back here to lay hands upon the precious packet. I was a +little behind time. Now, if we are going in the <I>Golden Boar</I>, we must +carry those papers with us. Ye both unwittingly played stalking-horse +whilst another man got the treasure." +</P> + +<P> +"And he paid us scurvily, the yellow-faced rascal!" cried the spies. +</P> + +<P> +"And he will pay ye scurvily for spying upon the <I>Golden Boar</I> and +Master Morgan, whom he hates. D'ye see how well I know the fellow and +all his secrets? I could hang him an I could but lay hands on him. +Are we to go on a blind expedition to the Indies, he laughing at us +from the quayside, and straightway fitting a vessel at his leisure to +garner in the wealth we may search for in vain?" +</P> + +<P> +"By the saints, no! But we took him for an honester man." +</P> + +<P> +"Ye did not know him; I do. Now, where is he to be found? There is no +time to lose. I know he's not far off, but I had rather not waste +precious hours in searching for him." +</P> + +<P> +The two rascals, astonished at Dan's knowledge of their doings, fell +into the trap he set for them. They jumped up. "We'll take ye to him +at once!" +</P> + +<P> +"Softly, friends! I know my man and his ways. Did he but catch sight +of five of us approaching his hiding-place, we should never get a +glimpse of him. Did he but see me with ye, our quest were in vain. +Have I not said I know enough of him to hang him? Leave the business +to me, and wait here with my friends. Would ye send five dogs barking +and tearing through a wood to trap one fox? One silent hound, with a +good nose, sharp teeth, silent tongue, and a knowledge of the fox's +ways, would serve the purpose better. Let me know the lie of his den, +and trust me for the rest." +</P> + +<P> +The fellows fell in with Dan's plan. Truth to tell, they had seen a +little of the sinister side of Basil's character, and had a pretty +wholesome dread of him. Their new friend, who knew his man so well, +was best fitted for the dangerous enterprise. They wished him joy of +it, and would be content to share its fruits. To Dan's astonishment, +they told him that Basil was hiding across the Sound in his own +ancestral village. +</P> + +<P> +"Heart o' me!" he exclaimed, "he is mine! Yon place is filled with my +own kith and kin. The fox is in a very ring of dogs." +</P> + +<P> +"Get not too many helpers, friend," said Nick cunningly, "else will the +spoil be split into too many portions." +</P> + +<P> +"Well argued!" exclaimed Basil's dupes. "Too many hands in the +meal-tub means small share apiece." +</P> + +<P> +"Never fear, comrades. A buss on the cheek or a handshake will be +payment enough. I shall not tell them that they are helping me to lay +fingers on the wealth of the Indies. Will ye take another flagon to +wish me success? I must be going. The afternoon wears on, and night +must be my time for work. Where shall we meet to-morrow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here, at noon," suggested Ned Johnson. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, at noon," agreed Dan. He got up and went to the street door, +and Nick went with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Cunningly managed, Dan," he murmured. "'Tis better than putting sword +to their throats and pricking out the information. Art going alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; meet me at Ian Davey's boathouse at sunset. Let Ned keep an eye +on yon two." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WIDOW'S HOUSE. +</H3> + +<P> +The springtide sun set ruddily and frostily across the Sound; and as +the fiery ball hung for a moment on the western shore, a broad pathway +like a pathway of rippling blood, or deep-tinged, running gold, went in +a line from Ian Davey's boatyard to the Cornish coast. +</P> + +<P> +"An omen!" cried Dan, seeing with the eye of the superstitious sailor. +"We sail to wealth over a golden sea." +</P> + +<P> +Nick shook his head. "The colour is not yellow enough for my liking. +Is the boat ready?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let us be going whilst the breeze holds easterly." +</P> + +<P> +Ian Davey's lad came out of the boathouse with a pair of oars on his +shoulders. He went down to a little fisher boat that rocked gently +against the end of the wooden jetty. The two sailor-men followed him. +The mast was stepped, and they pushed out from the shore, the two men +rowing and the lad steering. As soon as they were far enough out to +catch the breeze the sail was set, and the little craft went bowling +along over the fast-darkening sea. The oars were shipped, and Dan fell +to musing. He tried to recollect the occasion of his last visit to the +Cornish village from which his family had sprung, and was astonished to +find that, in the sum of ten thousand leagues of travel since manhood, +the little journey he was now taking did not once enter. He stroked +his red beard, perplexed at the oddity of the whole thing. He pictured +the steep, cobbled street leading up from the shore, and peeped into +every remembered window in the row of rude thatched cottages. Slowly +he recalled the names of old boy and girl companions who had played +with him around the doorstep of his grandfather's house. For half the +voyage the object which had prompted it was forgotten. The journey was +as silent as a secret journey should be. It began in twilight and +ended in darkness. The keel of the boat grated on the soft sand. Dan +and Nick Johnson stepped out. +</P> + +<P> +"How long will ye be?" asked Davey's lad. +</P> + +<P> +Dan pondered. "Ye cannot get back without us; 'twill be a matter of +hard rowing against the wind. I have been thinking. This place is +hallowed soil to me, and my feet have not trodden it for thirty years. +Bide thou here to-night; I will find thee supper and a pallet. There +are many folk with whom I would fain speak now that I am here. Keep a +still tongue concerning us: we will speak for ourselves. Tie up thy +boat, and ask for John Pengelly. If he be dead, ask for any of his +children; they will entertain thee for my sake." +</P> + +<P> +Dan took his companion's arm, and climbed the tide-washed bank. He +stood for a moment listening and peering into the darkness, then he +made for the nearest cottage. The shutter was not closed, and the +faint glow of leaping firelight shone through the oiled paper stretched +across the bars of the lattice. The sailor turned to the door, and +pulled the latch string. +</P> + +<P> +"Peace be to you all, friends," he said. "'Tis the voice of a Pengelly +that speaks." +</P> + +<P> +"Come into the light, Pengelly. Your tongue doth not ring familiarly," +came the answer. +</P> + +<P> +Dan stepped forward, leaving Nick on the threshold. +</P> + +<P> +A young fisherman and his wife sat in the narrow arc of the firelight, +and beside them, on a deerskin, their little son basked in the genial +warmth. The breeze through the open door fanned the glowing wood into +flame. +</P> + +<P> +"Close the door, friend," said the fisherman. +</P> + +<P> +"I have a comrade on the threshold." +</P> + +<P> +"Then bring him in." +</P> + +<P> +Nick entered, apologizing for his intrusion, and giving his name, town, +and profession as a guarantee of his honesty of purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"Ye are welcome both," replied the fisherman. "We have supped, but the +wife shall set meat and drink before you." +</P> + +<P> +"We are fresh from eating and drinking," said Dan, "and have but looked +in for a little chat, seeing that ye were not abed." +</P> + +<P> +"Say your say, friends." +</P> + +<P> +Dan did so, in his own roundabout fashion. He casually mentioned his +voyages to the West, a theme of unfailing interest to any man dwelling +on the shores of Plymouth Sound. Then he came to the real reason for +his visit. He described the two sailors he had met in Plymouth. The +fisherman had never seen them. Dan had guessed as much, but he wanted +to be sure. Then he sketched Basil. The fisherman sat upright in a +moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I know him," he cried. "He has been amongst us, off and on, for more +than a month. I'll take you to him." +</P> + +<P> +But Dan would not trouble any one to do that. +</P> + +<P> +"He knows me well enough," he replied, "and I would rather take him by +surprise. We had a jolly time together last Christmas." +</P> + +<P> +So the fisherman pointed out where Basil was staying, and his two +callers took their leave, promising to look in upon him again in the +morning. +</P> + +<P> +Apart from the row of cottages stood the house in which Brother Basil +was staying. At one time the place had made some pretensions to +smartness. It was stone-built throughout and tiled. In the rear was +an orchard of apple-trees; and a herb garden, now choked with weeds, +separated the front of the house from the roadway. The place was in +the occupation of a widow woman, whose late husband had once been a man +of some means. +</P> + +<P> +The night was sufficiently starlit for a sailor to pick his way with +certainty, and the two men went rapidly forward. The gate in the fence +stood ajar, and Dan went first to spy out the land. The front window +was heavily shuttered, an unusual precaution to take on a fine night. +Putting his eye to a chink, the sailor could just discern the shadowy +outline of a man seated at a table. A rushlight stood beside him, and +apparently he was reading. Passing on to the door, he found that the +latch-string was pulled in through the latch-hole; the door was secure. +Steadily, Dan pressed against it; it was firm as the wall, no play to +and fro on latch and hinge. "Bolted," he muttered, and stole back to +the fence, in whose shadow Nick was still standing. He whispered his +report, and the two consulted together for a moment. Then both went +round to the orchard, stole through a gap in the straggling hedge, and +came over the grass to the rear of the house. A light shone through +the unshuttered window. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" exclaimed Dan, "this looks more like the home of honest people. +Yon thief in front is bolted and barred. I warrant me the widow hath +not pulled in her latch-string. We must open and enter. To knock +would be to give warning to our man, who hath ears that gather sound +quicker than doth a rabbit's." +</P> + +<P> +"How will the widow take our incoming?" asked Nick. "We be two +strangers, and night hath fallen. Should she cry out, we are undone; +for the fishers would come upon us, and maybe lay us low without a +chance to explain our errand. Thy monk-man, too, is a guest of the +village. Should he sound an alarm, 'twould go hard with us if the +neighbours took us for thieves and him for an honest man." +</P> + +<P> +Dan paused. "Shrewdly spoken, comrade. But there is no time to go +round the place and prove that we be honest Protestants and good +sailors, whilst the little man is a thieving Papist and murderous +traitor. We should cause clamour enough to give him warning and time +for escape. We will get within. Thou wilt stay with the widow, and +keep her from doing us a mischief. I will see to my man alone." +</P> + +<P> +"If thou shouldst want help?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will cry out for it quickly enough." +</P> + +<P> +As Dan predicted, the latch-string still hung out. A gentle pull, and +the well-used door swung open. The widow was in her kitchen, raking +together the red embers on the hearth preparatory to going to bed. The +noise of her scraping was sufficient to cover up the sounds at the +door, and Dan was at her side, his fingers on her lips, ere she was +aware of his presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!" he whispered in warning; "not a sound, good mother. We are +friends, but thou art in danger; thy life depends on thy silence." +</P> + +<P> +The poor woman paled, and shook in every limb. Dan whispered +reassuringly, and removed his hand from her mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"God 'a mercy!" she gasped. +</P> + +<P> +Nick brought forward a stool and gently placed her upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"Have no fear," he said; "I will stay with thee." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are ye?" +</P> + +<P> +"Friends and protectors, mother; honest sons of Devon, who have +discovered a deadly plot. Lean thou on my shoulder." +</P> + +<P> +Nick's whispers were soothing, his face was honest; the widow's brain +was bewildered. She believed him, and clung to him in white terror. +Dan saw that she was safe from any hysterical screaming, enjoined +silence on both, and passed on towards the parlour where Basil was +sitting. He paused for a moment to draw his sword, then tip-toed to +the door. Leaning against the oaken post, he heard the rustling of +paper. He set his teeth; there was a flash of light; the door had been +opened and shut again, and the sailor and the Spanish agent stood face +to face. +</P> + +<P> +Basil's first emotion was one of the most absolute and complete +astonishment. So surprised was he that he actually sat and rubbed his +eyes as though to clear them from deluding visions. And in just that +moment of stupefaction Dan acted. The papers were on the table: +doubtless they were his papers. He lunged forward, spitted them on the +point of his sword, and crammed them into his doublet by the time Basil +was on his feet, and a dagger in his hand. The sailor expected a +vicious spring from his adversary, but Basil made no move forward. His +quondam roadside companion had the advantage of him in height, reach, +and length of weapon, and he had related sufficient of his exploits +during their Yuletide tramp to prove himself an apt swordsman. The +ex-monk had been trained in a school that set guile above force. He +saw at once that his tongue would be his better weapon, so put his +dagger back into his belt, sat down and snuffed his candle. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art not going to fight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why should we do so? Sit down, Dan Pengelly, and explain thyself." +</P> + +<P> +It was the sailor's turn to be astonished. He got a stool and seated +himself, his back to the door, and his weapon across his knee. Basil +laughed with assumed good-humour. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art careful, comrade." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou hast tricked me once." +</P> + +<P> +"And thou hast neatly tricked me. We cry 'quits.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Not so." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? I have thy papers—I make no secret of that—and thou hast +mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Are not these the same?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. But let us exchange, and give over all talk of robbery." Basil +got up and went to a little press in the wall. Before opening the door +he turned again to Dan. "Thou wilt observe that I am not afraid of +turning my back to thee. I have more faith in thine honour than thou +hast in mine." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor flushed and fidgeted. "Thou didst deceive me under the +guise of friendship," he muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"Pshaw, man! thou wert undone by thine own foolishness. Why didst +chatter to a stranger about thy papers? Is not all England agog to +find the land of 'El Dorado'? Dost think that any man breathing could +resist the temptation to gain a knowledge of the way thither? I suffer +from no gold hunger, but I would like the honour of discovering that +notable country. So wouldst thou; so would Admiral Drake. I shall +have done thee no harm, but rather given thee a lesson in caution if I +restore thy papers." +</P> + +<P> +"Wilt do so?" +</P> + +<P> +Basil opened the press, and tossed a packet on the table. "There they +are." +</P> + +<P> +Dan snatched it up, and turned it round and round in his fingers. "Why +dost thou give them back?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are thine, and thou hast come for them." +</P> + +<P> +"Hast read them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course." +</P> + +<P> +"What is in them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe truth, maybe idle tales; their value remains to be proven. +Come, thou hast thy packet; give me mine." +</P> + +<P> +A cunning gleam came into the sailor's eyes. "I have not read thine. +Can we fairly cry quits until I have done so?" +</P> + +<P> +Basil bit his lip. "Canst read?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let me read them to thee. They are part of a treatise on +philosophy which I am writing. The opinion of a plain man upon it +would be valuable. I should like to have thine." +</P> + +<P> +But Dan was no philosopher, and his present adversary had given him an +excellent lesson in caution. He thrust his own packet into his +doublet, to lie side by side with the other papers. +</P> + +<P> +"Master Priest, Papist, and spy of Spain—for so I learn thou art—thy +work is more likely to be the hatching of plots than the writing of +learned books. Thou didst keep my papers for a time quite against my +will, and without my consent; therefore shall I hold thine until I +learn their contents. Tit for tat is reasonable justice 'twixt man and +man." +</P> + +<P> +Basil laughed. "Read me thy riddle," he said. "The world is narrow; +thou art surely confounding me with some other man." +</P> + +<P> +"That is possible. A few hours will decide the point. A certain +Master Morgan of Gloucestershire and a well-known knight, Sir Walter +Raleigh of Sherborne, are yonder in Plymouth town, and will be able to +testify for or against thee. Thou shalt be haled before them +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"That's work for a strong man, Dan Pengelly." +</P> + +<P> +"There are many of my family in this village, and I did not come alone +from Plymouth. The widow hath bonny company in the kitchen." +</P> + +<P> +Basil's face blazed. "'Tis she hath betrayed me." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so. We scared her worse than we scared thee." +</P> + +<P> +Basil sat silent for a while, and Dan drummed on his sword-hilt with +his fingers. At length the spy spoke again. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is useless to argue with thee?" +</P> + +<P> +"I never had any head for disputations." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well then, ye must be my guests for the night. Call thy friends +from the kitchen, ask the widow for some ale, and let her be getting to +bed. Thou and I may get to blows if we sit alone." +</P> + +<P> +Dan stared. His prisoner was actually asking for an increased guard, +and would be glad of more company. Not suspecting any trick, but +determined not to be caught napping, he got up, opened the door, and +stood with his hand on the latch calling for Nick. He bellowed twice +before he got an answer. With Nick's answering shout he caught sound +of a sudden crash in the room behind. He bounded back. Basil was +gone; the window was opened. He dashed to the opening, and the trick +was disclosed. The prisoner had silently unfastened the shutters, +smashed the lattice, and escaped. Nick came running along. The alarm +was given, and the whole village awakened to chase the Papist spy. +They did not catch him. +</P> + +<P> +Dan returned to Plymouth next morning and handed his papers to Sir +Walter. The first packet proved to be a description of "El Dorado's" +land, and a guide to the fabled region. It was the work of a Spanish +missionary, and was written to King Philip himself. Basil's treatise +on philosophy was none other than a letter from a Spanish agent in +London, giving particulars of a plot against Elizabeth and in favour of +the Queen of Scots. Raleigh declared the latter paper to be of +immeasurably greater value than the Orinoco packet. The knight had had +experience of such papers before, and knew, only too well, that they +contained more fable than fact. He handed them to Captain John Drake, +and left it to him and the gentlemen adventurers who were to sail with +him to decide what faith they should put in the missionary's +disclosures. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HO! FOR THE SPANISH MAIN. +</H3> + +<P> +With a brisk nor'easterly breeze behind her, the <I>Golden Boar</I> slipped +through the sunlit waters of Plymouth Sound as gracefully as a fair +swan might cleave the bosom of a lake. Somewhat narrow in build, +moderately low in the waist, with bow and poop not too high-pitched, +masts tall and sails ample, she was built with an eye to speed. And +with carved posts and rails for her bulwarks, many-windowed cabins in +the after part, tapering, artistic prow with the gilded boar rampant, +her designer had had an eye to beauty also. Hull and decks were of +seasoned English oak, and masts of straight Scots pine. The Knight of +Sherborne had found her building in Plymouth dockyard, and had tempted +her would-be owner to part with her for a price he could not resist. +Captain John Drake had tested her in the Channel from the Goodwins +round to Lundy in fair weather and in foul, and had found no fault in +her. The critical crowd that stood on the Hoe and watched her as she +dipped below the horizon were of opinion that no better-found ship had +left the harbour to brave the perils of the Spanish Main. She was of a +hundred and fifty tons burthen—a goodly tonnage in those venturesome +days—and she carried a captain and crew of twenty men, an equal number +of skilled archers, six gunners, and some dozen and a half of gentlemen +adventurers, who for the most part could handle rope, sail, sword, bow, +pike, or gun as well as any captain might wish. As far as the voyage +was concerned, the expedition was under the absolute command of the +admiral's brother; on land he was bound to take council with the +gentlemen adventurers, all of whom had put some money into the +undertaking. Raleigh himself risked the greatest stake, and in order +after him came Morgan, Captain Dawe (who did not participate in the +voyage itself), the admiral, his brother the skipper, a certain Sir +John Trelawny, and Master Timothy Jeffreys, who had secretly speculated +his own savings and some of those of Mistress Stowe of Wood Street off +Chepe. There was no lack of money in the venture, and the ship was +well-found, well-manned, well-armed, and generously provisioned. Dan +Pengelly's papers were in the cabin; Dan himself was taking first spell +at the helm. Hope was high in every heart, and many a lusty voice +joined in the chorus of the helmsman's song:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Then ho! for the Spanish Main,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">And ha! for the Spanish gold;</SPAN><BR> +King Philip's ships are riding deep<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">With the weight of wealth untold.</SPAN><BR> +They're prey for the saucy lads<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe;</SPAN><BR> +They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow,</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">With a rich galleon in tow!"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Johnnie Morgan was leaning against the stern bulwarks, watching the +heave and fall of the vessel and listening to the sailor's song. +"Hardly to the text, Dan, is it? We are to capture a city and spoil +its treasure houses, and have no idea of hitching a line of galleons +behind us." +</P> + +<P> +"Sir," replied Dan, "as chief helmsman I know we shall go south to the +Azores and follow the Spanish track across the ocean. Ships of King +Philip's we must meet, and maybe, at first, we shall bid them a +good-morrow and kiss our hands to them. But Dons are Dons, and we are +what our forefathers have made us. Ale and beef must fight salt fish +and thin Canary. I have cut ox meat, drunk October, and ploughed the +deep. I know the effect of all on a man's heart and head. I can drink +with a Dutchman and dance with a Frenchman, but, St. George, his sword! +steel springs from scabbard at the sight of a Spanish face. 'Tis the +breed of us, and nature will out." +</P> + +<P> +"And I am the last man to quarrel with my breeding. Well, we are set +forth, and no man can say what may hap ere we see yonder line of cliffs +again." +</P> + +<P> +"True," mused Dan; "but if we break not faith with God and our captain, +nought will happen for which a true man may grieve." +</P> + +<P> +"Amen to that!" said Johnnie, and he fell to watching the sea once more. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing could have been more propitious than the first part of the +voyage. The course was south-west, and for days the wind blew steadily +from the east or north-east. A low, misty line to larboard—the line +of the French coast—was the last sight of Europe the adventurers had. +For fifteen days after this the heaving sea met the whole circle of the +gray-blue horizon. The days grew warmer and the winds softer as they +voyaged south; the good ship was bearing them into the arms of summer. +For some few days there was plenty of bustle aboard. Captain and crew +overhauled the stores and stowed them more securely and handily; they +critically studied the behaviour of their trim little craft as good +seamen should; and the gentlemen adventurers became better acquainted +with one another, and got their sea-legs and sea-stomachs. When the +time came that heads and eyes were no longer turned backwards for a +glimpse of familiar landmarks, but were strained forward towards the +land of their hopes, then those aboard the <I>Golden Boar</I> had settled +down, each in his own place, to form a happy brotherly community, +linked by common hopes, aims, and interests. Sailors, soldiers, and +men of gentle breeding fraternized freely together, each prepared to +stand by the other in the last extremity of danger, or to share loyally +in the fruits of good fortune. Harmony was complete, yet discipline +was perfect; for the skipper was worthy of his name, and that name was +the glorious one of "Drake." +</P> + +<P> +It was an easy matter in those brave old times to get together an +excellent ship's company. Men of all ranks and stations were wild for +adventure, and bold sailors literally trod upon one another in their +eagerness to be berthed aboard a ship chartered for a voyage to the +magic New World. Captain Drake had picked and chosen at his leisure, +and a man needed to be many-sided in his accomplishments to get his +name inscribed on the ship's books. Take Dan Pengelly. He was an +excellent sailor, as bold as a lion, and had sailed the western ocean +before. But a hundred men in Plymouth could claim so much as that. +Dan's precious packet and his skill as a singer were the deciding +points in his favour. A capable band of musicians could be mustered +from amongst the crew and the archers. Life aboard the <I>Golden Boar</I> +was jolly enough, and no man in the whole company wished to be +otherwhere. Glorious days! heroic hearts! and happy, happy, land that +bred them! +</P> + +<P> +The Azores were readied without accident, almost without incident, and +Captain Drake sailed boldly into the harbour of Flores and sent ashore +for fresh fruits and water. There were two Spanish vessels in the +harbour, one a heavily-armed galleon of about six hundred tons. Like +the English ship, she was going westwards, her destination being Vera +Cruz, from which port she was to escort a treasure-ship filled with the +produce of the Mexican mines. When the English captain heard this he +resolved, other things failing him, to bear King Philip's treasure to +Europe himself. His company was eager to be away, so a night and a day +completed his stay at Flores. +</P> + +<P> +And now for a full month, with varying winds and under changing skies, +through storm and shine, the <I>Golden Boar</I> ploughed her ocean furrow in +the path of the sun; and on the twenty-fourth of May she cast anchor in +the bay of San Joseph, Trinidad. West and north of her lay the +multitudinous islands of the fertile Indies. Southwards stretched the +continuation of the great American continent, the land of so many +dreams and hopes and desires. Johnnie Morgan stood with Master +Jeffreys and gazed at the long-sought land—at its waving palms, its +gleaming sands, the native huts, and the white houses of the Spaniards. +A native boat shot out from the shore. Two dusky, pleasant-faced +fellows stepped aboard. Johnnie went forward. He put out his hand and +touched them with trembling fingers. Wonderful, new creatures! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE BAY OF SAN JOSEPH. +</H3> + +<P> +The appearance of an English vessel in any harbour of Spanish America +was the reverse of pleasing to the Spanish authorities. The Spaniards +who commanded in the smaller stations were not of the best type of +Castilian chivalry. Soldados of fortune, needy and unscrupulous +adventurers, or intriguing favourites of some colonial governor, they +had all the greed and arrogance of the noble Dons without their proud +reserve and sense of chivalry and honour. In a hurry to get rich, they +ground down the hapless natives into the dust. They robbed and +ill-treated their timid dependants without fear or remorse, and exacted +a cringing obedience that hid smouldering fires of hate and revenge. +The Spanish troops were as lawless as their leaders, and black ink +would turn red were one to attempt to tell the true tale of Spanish +misrule and terrorism in the rich islands of the West. The Don looked +upon the poor Indian as a chattel given over to him to do with +according to his lordly will, and he usually acted in harmony with the +extremest measure of his belief. And therein he differed wholly from +those freebooting, audacious, devil-may-care sons of Devon and the west +who followed in the Spanish wake across the Western Main. To the +English mariner the gentle, heathen Indian was an object of compassion. +God had given him a glorious land in which to dwell, and had heaped +upon him riches that he could neither appreciate nor value; but in the +higher characteristics of manhood, and in the blessings of religious +revelation, He had denied him much, and so we find Drake, Hawkins, +Raleigh, Gilbert, Oxenham, Whiddon, and a score of other bold captains +on all occasions treating the natives with civility and even kindness. +The poor, brown-skinned fellows soon learned to know friend from foe, +and everywhere they came forth to welcome the blue-eyed sons of Albion, +whilst they ran and hid themselves from the darker-hued children of +Spain. +</P> + +<P> +The commandant of San Joseph quickly learned that an English vessel had +anchored in the bay, and he resolved to extend no courtesies whatsoever +to the unwelcome visitors. On finding that the ship was a small one +and without consorts, his resolution to treat her captain with disdain +was strengthened. John Drake fired a gun to announce his arrival; the +echoes boomed round the bay, but brought no answer from the fort. +Another signal was fired, with a similar lack of result. The gunner, a +grizzled old veteran, who had been buccaneering with the great admiral, +turned to his captain. "Thy brother—God preserve him!—would send an +iron messenger with his third salute." +</P> + +<P> +John Drake smiled. "I'll send a gentle one first, Diggory," he said. +He called up Master Jeffreys and Nick Johnson. "Which of ye two speaks +the better Spanish?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had the longer chance to learn the language," replied Nick, ruefully +rubbing the place denuded of an ear; "but Master Timothy doubtless +possesses the choicer collection of words." +</P> + +<P> +"Quantity will serve us better than quality, perhaps. But go, both of +ye, to the commandant and tell him that Captain Drake of the <I>Golden +Boar</I> out of Plymouth will wait upon him at sunrise to-morrow. Take a +ship's boat with four rowers and four archers, and let the Indians +guide you." +</P> + +<P> +A boat was instantly lowered, Nick made the Indians understand what was +required of them, and the deputation rowed ashore. Their comrades +watched them curiously, and an equally interested group of natives +gathered on the shore to await their arrival. +</P> + +<P> +The keel bit into the sand, the two messengers stepped out, and the +escort of archers formed up behind them. The rowers pushed the boat +back so that it floated easily, then shipped their oars and waited. +One of the Indians, proud of his position, strutted importantly at the +head of the small procession. (The unfortunate fellow was soundly +whipped before nightfall for rendering any assistance to the hated +English.) Natives hung about in little groups, but no Spaniard was +seen until the gate of the castle was reached. There a sleepy sentinel +yawned at them until they had repeated for the third time their request +for an interview with the commandant. That officer was indulging in +"siesta" and refused to be disturbed, and the deputation was still on +the outer side of the gate. Master Jeffreys lost his patience and his +temper. "My message to thy master, fellow, was a civil one," he +exclaimed, "and to the effect that Captain Drake of Plymouth, Devon, +England, would honour him by waiting upon him at sunrise to-morrow. +Now, methinks, Captain Drake will come to him in less ceremonious +fashion and without further delay." The irate Devonian turned on his +heel and strode off. +</P> + +<P> +And by so doing he missed the gratification of seeing the effect of his +words. The name of "Drake" twice repeated acted as a talisman on the +slumberous senses of the sentinel. His jaw dropped in sudden terror; +he stared for a moment at the retreating figures, and then dashed into +the castle at a run. +</P> + +<P> +He burst in upon his drowsy commander. +</P> + +<P> +"Alas, signor, what have we done! The army of the saints preserve us!" +</P> + +<P> +"From what, blockhead?" +</P> + +<P> +"From the archfiend in the flesh. 'Tis Drake that hath sailed into the +bay." +</P> + +<P> +The commandant sat and gaped in stupid affright. +</P> + +<P> +"Drake!" shouted the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +He had no need to say more. His officer's chin dropped on to his +breast. "We are dead men," he muttered. "Why has he come hither? We +have no gold, no treasure-ships. He will burn the place over our +heads." The man continued muttering to himself and fingering the +buckle of his loosened belt. +</P> + +<P> +The soldier looked through the window. "The Englishmen stand on the +beach," he said, "talking with Ayatlan, the chief. There is no +movement on the ship; no one signals. The messengers were civil when +they came." +</P> + +<P> +"Son of a donkey!" blazed forth the commandant, "why didst not thou say +so? Run after them; prevent them from carrying angry faces to the +robber who rules them. If I had men—not sheep—under me, I would +fight this Drake; I'd rid the world of him, and Pope and king should +bless me. But run, run!" +</P> + +<P> +And the soldier ran. Terror lent wings to his heels. One name rang +through his brain, and the name was "Drake." He caught Master Timothy +just re-embarking his little band. The sight of the Indians restored +him to some measure of dignity, and he volubly explained that the +Spanish captain had not understood the signer's message. He apologized +profusely, and promised that his commandant would make amends for the +mistake by paying the great sea-captain a visit as soon as a boat could +be made ready. +</P> + +<P> +Nick understood more of the rapidly spoken Spanish than did Jeffreys, +and he was satisfied. "There has doubtless been a mistake," he said to +his companion. "Probably this knave never carried our message +properly. He is scared half out of his wits, and looks like a rogue +condemned to be hanged. All's well that ends well. Let us be getting +back to the ship with a friendly report." +</P> + +<P> +About an hour later, the commandant, accompanied by an imposing +retinue, both Spanish and Indian, rowed out to the <I>Golden Boar</I>. +Captain Drake and the gentlemen of his company had been to their +wardrobes and donned their best, and the visitors by no means carried +off the prize for the splendour of their array. As far as physique was +concerned the Dons were completely outclassed. Sallow and listless +from tropical fevers and loose living, they stood in sharp contrast to +the brawny, clear-skinned Englishmen. The difference was obvious even +to their own proud eyes, and they felt it. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner were the Spaniards aboard than they fixed their gaze on the +group on the upper deck, and one thought prevailed in the minds of +all—"Which was the terrible Drake?" +</P> + +<P> +Morgan stood out above his fellows by a good head, but surely he was +too young! The commandant had heard that Drake was no giant; he had +also heard—and half believed—that he had horns, hoof, and a tail. +The puzzle was solved. Captain Drake, short, burly, bearded, +black-haired, bull-throated, but blue-eyed, stood forward; his air was +unmistakably one of command. Master Jeffreys undertook the duties of +master of the ceremonies, and the commanders were introduced to each +other and gracefully bowed their acknowledgments of the honour. +</P> + +<P> +The interview was short and formal. The Spaniard welcomed the +Englishmen, and hoped that the peace would not be broken. Captain +Drake echoed his hopes. The commandant offered presents of fruit, +wine, and fresh meat; the skipper accepted and requited the kindness in +suitable fashion. A few flagons of wine were drunk, and the interview +ended. The company aboard the <I>Golden Boar</I> had no great opinion of +their visitors, but the visitors had a better one of them. They had +noted the spick and span order on shipboard, the bearing of the men, +and they did not forget the name of the captain—they only made the +mistake of confounding him with the great admiral, his brother. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A GLIMPSE OF THE FABLED CITY. +</H3> + +<P> +A week went by, and the <I>Golden Boar</I> still lay in the bay of San +Joseph. Her captain and the Spanish commandant had exchanged many +civilities, and the latter was surprised that the fire-eating Drake had +committed no deed of violence. He suspected that some deep scheme lay +hidden behind all this appearance of friendliness and courtesy. His +suspicions were, in a measure, correct; he was wrong only in his idea +of the nature of the Englishman's plans. Double guards were set round +the fort each night, and the native chief was compelled to sleep within +its walls. Morning after morning the Spaniards awoke, surprised to +find that the hours of darkness had brought no sudden assault on the +fortress. The natives freely visited the ship with fruit, flowers, and +meats, and the English sailors spent hours ashore, wandering in the +near forests or fraternizing with the natives on the beach. The +Spaniards imagined their own midnight extermination was being planned, +and therefore was the chieftain compelled to sleep within reach of a +Spanish sword, and his subjects were given to understand that the first +sound of tumult in the darkness would end Ayatlan's life. The +commandant apparently forgot that the great admiral had sacked towns +three times the size of San Joseph with a less capable force than the +crew of the <I>Golden Boar</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Truth to tell, Captain Drake had never once contemplated any attack on +San Joseph; he valued the place at less than a scratch on an +Englishman's skin. His stay in the harbour was dictated solely by a +desire to glean information concerning the Orinoco and the land of gold +that he sought. The delta of the great river lay, the nearest land, to +the south of the island; the natives professed to know much of the +river and the tribes dwelling on its banks, and they exchanged +mysterious nods and signs one with another when "El Dorado" was +mentioned. +</P> + +<P> +Presents were liberally bestowed, and promises were scattered +broadcast. Dan Pengelly and the two Johnsons, often accompanied by +Master Jeffreys and Morgan, spent hours at the doors of native huts, +eagerly questioning the Indians, or listening to long, jumbled stories, +eked out in a jargon of Spanish and Indian. Almost invariably they +came away as wise as they went. The natives either knew nothing of +real significance or would not disclose their secrets. +</P> + +<P> +The adventurers grew impatient. They were in no mood to spend day +after day idling off a dirty Spanish-Indian settlement. Their thoughts +aye fled southwards, and they wanted to spread sail and follow their +thoughts. Dan's papers had been read and re-read until many knew them +by heart. But they obviously contained little, save rumours and vague +indications of locality. What the eager adventurers wanted were +definite directions as to route and distances, and also a native guide +along the lower reaches of the river. At length both appeared to be +forthcoming. +</P> + +<P> +Ayatlan came aboard early one morning and asked for the captain. +Ushered into the cabin, where a council was being held, he bowed +himself down to the floor, then squatted on a mat and began his story +without further prelude. +</P> + +<P> +"My white brother, who has come from the great and good White Mother +that rules the rising sun, is growing angry with Ayatlan because he has +not told him that which his heart so desires to know." +</P> + +<P> +"My Indian brother has received gifts and made promises; the promises +have not been kept. I do right to show anger," replied Drake sharply. +"The Spaniards would have flogged Ayatlan, and maybe have killed his +sons, for such bad faith and crooked dealing." +</P> + +<P> +The chief bowed. "Spaniards are beasts and the children of beasts. +The Englishmen are sons of the Father of Heaven, and Ayatlan prays to +them as to his gods. Why has my brother grown soft-hearted to his +enemies and mine? The tongue of rumour tells how he has eaten up their +armies at a mouthful. Is my brother grown old and toothless?" +</P> + +<P> +John Drake flushed. He had had more than one reminder that the +admiral, his brother, would have acted more energetically than he had +done. But the younger man was by nature more cautious and diplomatic. +He made answer: "My teeth are sound, Ayatlan, and the fire of manhood +is still in my heart. Do not foes sometimes make peace for a while?" +</P> + +<P> +"True; but when one makes peace with them that hate him, he is guilty +of folly, for the enemy gathers strength whilst at rest, and waits to +strike at an advantage." +</P> + +<P> +"What has all this to do with the thing I seek?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ayatlan has been working for his white brother since the hour when his +ship came into the bay. He has thought night and day how he might help +him to the desires of his heart." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Last night a youth from another tribe came into the village with one +of my messengers. He knows the great river, and hath journeyed many +days on its bosom. He will guide the children of the great White Queen +to the city of the 'Gilded One.'" +</P> + +<P> +The quiet announcement thrilled the whole cabin. Here was the end of +uncertainty. Drake grasped the chieftain by the hand. "What bargain +doth Ayatlan wish to make?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I make no bargain," was the proud rejoinder. "Have I not given my +white brothers joy? They will not forget. The guide waits in my boat." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us speak with him." +</P> + +<P> +The chief spoke to one of his attendants, and the guide was brought in. +The adventurers looked at him with great curiosity; he was an object of +the intensest interest to them. The youth's appearance was not +prepossessing. To begin with, he was very dirty; the rags of a Spanish +doublet hung about his body; legs and feet were bare, but a battered +helmet, several sizes too large, covered his head and came down about +his ears; a pair of cunning eyes peeped from under the bent rim of the +headpiece, and quickly took in the details of the gathering. The +hearts of the adventurers sunk at the first sight of the ludicrous and +somewhat sinister personage. So this was the long-sought guide to whom +they were to submit their lives and fortunes! Not one present liked +the prospect. +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment's silence. "Tell the zany to uncover," exclaimed +the captain. Then he turned to Ayatlan. "Will my brother tell the +young man what we want with him, and question him as to his fitness for +the duties he offers to fulfil?" +</P> + +<P> +"He will speak for himself. He has been a servant of the Spaniards, +and knows their tongue better than I do." +</P> + +<P> +Master Jeffreys took the young Indian in hand, and questioned him +pretty closely. He answered glibly enough, with a "Yes" to almost +every question. He had been many voyages up the Orinoco. +</P> + +<P> +"How many?" +</P> + +<P> +He held up the fingers of one hand. One voyage had lasted from the +first night of the young moon until it was full. +</P> + +<P> +What did he know of the city of gold? +</P> + +<P> +Apparently he knew everything. The city lay on the headwaters of the +river under the great mountains. A mighty lake lay at the foot of the +city. The sands of the lake were composed of the yellow gold that the +signers desired. +</P> + +<P> +Had he met any one who had visited the city? +</P> + +<P> +Yes; an Indian trader. He had once come into the camp of his Spanish +masters when they were many days' journey up the great river. His +masters had used him as interpreter. The houses of the city were of +dazzling white stone, and the roofs of plates of gold. The people +bathed in the lake on certain festival days, and afterwards sprinkled +themselves so thickly with the precious yellow dust that they looked +like golden images. Yes; they had temples, and the gods were of gold, +and sacrifices were offered on golden altars. Sparkling stones, such +as the signers loved, were found in the waters of the lake. +</P> + +<P> +How far off was the city? +</P> + +<P> +Oh! many moons' journey. No; the inhabitants were not warlike. They +would welcome the white strangers from the land of the rising sun, and +give them yellow dust and sparkling stones as much as their hearts +desired. Yes; the dangers of the way were great, for many forests and +swamps must be passed; roaring waterfalls blocked the passage of the +river. The flow of the waters was fierce, the tides strong, and there +was a thousand channels to bewilder the voyager. But he knew the way +through the maze of waterways. +</P> + +<P> +Could he guide the Englishmen? +</P> + +<P> +He could. He hated the Spaniards, and would never act as guide to +those who oppressed his own nation. But the Englishmen were brothers +to the Indian. +</P> + +<P> +What reward did he desire? +</P> + +<P> +Clothes like those worn by his white brothers, and a sword to slay his +enemies. +</P> + +<P> +Needless to say, a bargain was struck forthwith. The guide clapped on +his shapeless headpiece and strutted off, a happy man. He had told not +a few lies; indeed, he had agreed with everything the adventurers +seemed to desire, and spun them the yarns he had heard from the +Spaniards, which tales he knew would gratify his new audience. And +well-nigh a score of brave but credulous men shook hands with one +another most gleefully, rubbed those same hands in joyous anticipation, +and confidently looked forward to fabulous wealth and the glories of +the city of marble and gold, the matchless capital of "El Dorado." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap33"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WANDERING IN A MAZE. +</H3> + +<P> +"Land ho!" +</P> + +<P> +The idlers on deck sprang to their feet, and the cabins were speedily +emptied of their occupants. All eyes turned southwards. Nothing +visible save the horizon, gray with the heat-haze of noon, and the +gray-blue waters that heaved up to meet it. But the sailor in the +crosstrees could see what was invisible to those on the deck. The +gazers looked at him. He extended his forefinger over their heads. +</P> + +<P> +"Land ho!" he cried again; "leagues of it, stretching east and west!" +</P> + +<P> +The adventurers crowded into the bow of the boat, leaning over the +bulwarks to larboard and starboard. Presently a sinuous line, darker +gray than the rest of the horizon, could be discerned above the surface +of the ocean. It lifted, cleared; the gray deepened to black; the low +coast of the Orinoco delta was revealed. The crew raised a resounding +cheer, and the gentlemen of the company waved their caps in the air. +Yacamo, the guide, stood in the forepeak of the ship, the centre of an +eager group. Yonder was land; for what point of it should they steer? +Master Jeffreys was endeavouring to settle that question. The Indian +was pouring out a torrent of coast Spanish, and gesticulating with +every sentence. The Devonian explained the situation to his comrades. +</P> + +<P> +"From what I can gather," he said, "the arms of the river embrace about +fifty leagues of coastline similar to that which confronts us. In this +stretch there are at least a hundred mouths, connected one with the +other by thousands of cross channels. The whole delta is a bewildering +maze of waterways. Some of these are deep enough to carry our ship +well into the country; others are too shallow to float a ship's boat. +Moreover, the guide says that he has had a free passage up a channel on +one occasion that was impassable on another because of the shifting +sandbanks. One of the main mouths is very deep, but the current is +also of great strength. We take risks whatever we do." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he sure that we are approaching the Orinoco coast?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite." +</P> + +<P> +"That will do, then. We will skirt it until he recognizes a landmark." +</P> + +<P> +The light breeze held steady, the tide was running in; so fair progress +was made. The land now stood out quite distinct from the water. Dark +masses of woodland could be discerned standing back on the fringe of +the tidal mud, but no opening was visible in the low, dark line. +Without going farther in, the ship's course was altered until it was +parallel with the coast, and all the afternoon they held steadily +along, looking for some landmark familiar to the Indian. But the coast +was so monotonous in its regularity that distinguishing features were +not plentiful. It was nearly sunset when, following an inward curve of +the shore, they discovered that they were in the mouth of a wide +estuary. The banks were miles apart, but, the tide being out, a turbid +current was distinguishable, flowing in great volume seawards. The +wind, for the time, had practically died down, and the current began to +swing the ship round, and bear her back to the Atlantic. Soundings +were taken, and about three fathoms of water discovered, where at least +twenty times that depth had been anticipated. This was disappointing, +for it was evident that they had turned into one of the shallow mouths, +and navigation might come to an end a few miles up. Captain Drake +dropped anchor well away from the shore and its pestilential night +mists, and made all snug against the morning. He recognized that the +navigation of the river was going to be no easy matter, and he decided +to go warily. +</P> + +<P> +The tide ran again about midnight, and on the early morning ebb the +<I>Golden Boar</I> stood out to sea once more, and went in search of a more +promising opening. They found one that Yacamo thought he knew, and, +taking advantage of the afternoon tide, they ran up nearly twenty +miles. The current was almost as strong as the tide, and they had to +anchor against the ebb, or be swept out to sea quicker than they had +come in. The next morning they went on again, and were fifty miles up +the channel by nightfall. Away to right and left were masses of flat, +swampy land, the intersecting waterways reddening and glistening in the +setting sun. +</P> + +<P> +The numerous channels and jutting stretches of land so broke the force +of the tide that hardly any headway was made the next day, and a +council was held to determine methods for further progress. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Drake was of opinion that it was impossible to continue the +passage of the river in the ship. Rigorous questioning and +cross-questioning of Yacamo brought out further ugly reports of the +shifting nature of the river-bed, and of the frequency of shallows. A +stay of a couple of days in the anchorage was resolved upon, and during +that time exploration by means of boats was to be pushed along +vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +But it was easier to decide this matter than to carry the decisions +into practice. Three boats were sent out the next day just after +sunrise. All pursued a more or less southerly course through the +channels, and by noon all three crews had lost themselves in the maze. +The waterways were all alike, muddy, tree-bordered, steamy, +oppressively malodorous, and swarming with reptiles. Moreover, they +laced and interlaced so frequently, crossing like the threads in a +woven fabric, that any idea of direction was impossible. The giant +trees shut in the channels from one another, and no boat's crew could +see many yards ahead. In the afternoon, gun-fire from the ship gave +the voyagers a cue to their whereabouts, and a guide back to safety. +The scheme of exploration in order to find a safe passage for the ship +had failed. +</P> + +<P> +An anxious day followed. Would the mighty river never yield up its +golden secret? Were the adventurers to be baffled and foiled after +their thousands of leagues of journeying? The guide declared that the +Spaniards had got hundreds of miles farther up the river, but by means +of galleys of forty to sixty oars apiece. The <I>Golden Boar</I> had no +such craft aboard. Three good ships' boats she had, the largest +capable of holding about a score of men with arms and provisions, the +others with capacity for about half that number. The largest boat was +fitted with a mast, and a gun might be mounted in the bow. +</P> + +<P> +No man was in the mind to turn back, and progress by boat was resolved +upon. What should be done with the ship? She must not be wholly +abandoned, for she was wanted for the voyage home. Some counselled +that she should be taken back to Trinidad and harboured there for three +months, coming back to the river again at the end of that period. +Others were for hiding her, as Oxenham had hidden his ship; but Nick +and Ned Johnson were loud against any such proceeding. A plan +suggested by Trelawny was to the effect that half the company should go +buccaneering amongst the islands in the <I>Golden Boar</I>, whilst the other +half should try for "El Dorado's" land, the spoils of each expedition +to be put into the common fund, and then shared according to the terms +of the cruise. A few reckless spirits agreed to this, but Captain +Drake would make no such division of his forces. To do so, he argued, +would be to weaken both parties to the verge of powerlessnesa. +</P> + +<P> +Matters were at a deadlock. Then Dan Pengelly went hunting, and caught +a native canoe and two natives. He brought them to the ship. Yacamo +could make himself understood. He persuaded the Indians that his +masters were not Spaniards, but tender-hearted white men, who loved the +brown man like a brother. Generosity in the matter of presents helped +the faith of the two men. They declared their willingness to help the +white strangers. Their own village was near at hand, hidden in the +wooded recesses of an island, and they had intercourse with other +villages along the delta, and could guide the adventurers through the +network of channels to the main stream. +</P> + +<P> +But the problem what to do with the ship remained unsolved. The two +natives declared that it was impossible to get her into the main river; +and even if that could be done, her voyage up-stream would be short, as +waterfalls blocked the passage. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Drake and a small retinue proceeded to the Indian village, and +talked with the chief. He proved friendly enough, and quite willing to +help, when he found that the newcomers were foes to his oppressors, the +Spaniards. He paid a return visit to the ship, and, learning the +difficulty concerning her, offered to hide her in a deep pool on the +eastern side of his own island. She could there be effectively +screened. A survey of the spot and the channels leading to it showed +that the plan was feasible; and, with ship's boats and native canoes, +the <I>Golden Boar</I> was towed to her anchorage, and preparations for the +boat journey were at once begun. The vessel was dismasted, her guns +buried, and the ammunition safely stowed in an empty hut. Masts and +sails were fitted to the two smaller boats, and the chief furnished a +large canoe and rowers for the carriage of stores. Two other canoes of +stronger make were constructed, and at the end of twelve days Captain +Drake had a flotilla of five boats under his command. Sixty men were +to form the expeditionary force; one gentleman adventurer, one ship's +officer, two soldiers, and two seamen—all chosen by lot—being left +behind in the native village in charge of ship and stores. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap34"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FLOOD AND FEVER. +</H3> + +<P> +The Indians were as good as their word. Headed by the chief's canoe, +the adventurers passed in steady procession through more than a hundred +miles of delta waterways. Progress was slow, for, though the current +in the cross channels was not strong, the wind was hardly felt; the +heat was stifling, and rest during the midday hours absolutely +necessary. Then there were villages to be visited, presents to be made +to the chieftains, and feasts to be eaten in return. Haste was +impossible, though very desirable. The rains were beginning, the river +would soon be in flood, and pestilence would stalk through the swampy +regions like a destroying angel. +</P> + +<P> +At last the apex of the delta was reached, and the broad +river—stretching miles from bank to bank—lay before the navigators. +The milk-white current, laden with chalky washings from the land, swept +by in a mighty flood. On its bosom floated trees and detached masses +of soil, going northwards to build up the growing delta. But for the +wind and the guidance of the natives the adventurers would have made no +headway against the mighty volume of the waters. Happily the +North-East Trades from the Atlantic, unimpeded by mountain or hill, +blew with steady and strong persistence across the flat delta and along +the level plains through which the river made its way. Sandbanks in +the bed diverted the current here and there, making quiet, lake-like +pools under the banks. The Indians knew of these, and skilfully made +use of them. Sails were spread to the breeze, and the flotilla went +steadily on its way. +</P> + +<P> +One week went by, and then another. The weather grew worse and worse. +Terrific storms swept across the plains, lashing the Orinoco into fury, +tearing down the mighty trees on its banks, and deluging the intrepid +voyagers. The banks of the stream were almost lost; hundreds of square +miles of forest-clad plain were under water, the tree-tops alone +showing the navigators the true course of the river. The flood flowing +sea-wards became thicker, deeper, and mightier than ever. The humid +heat of the stormy summer became well-nigh unbearable. Men sickened, +and in a few cases died. Camping ground at night was almost +unobtainable, and thick, poisonous mists enwreathed the boats during +the hours of darkness, fevering the men's blood, cramping and +stiffening their limbs. It became imperative to call a halt for a +while; the enfeebled rowers made scant progress against the +strengthening current, and the success achieved was not worth the +effort that was made. A pile-supported village was sighted, and the +Indian guides turned their boat thither, the others following. +</P> + +<P> +The village stood on some rising ground on the western bank of the +stream, and in the dry season must have been at least half a mile from +the margin of the waters. Now the floods rolled between the piles, +submerging at least ten feet of them. Native canoes were tethered to +the supports, and the house platforms were soon covered with knots of +brown-skinned fellows full of anxiety and apprehension concerning the +oncoming fleet. They knew the ship's boats for those used by the white +men who came trading or raiding along the river, and wondered to find +them attempting a voyage at such a time. The friendly Indians went +forward and explained who the white men were, and what they wanted, and +the villagers proved kind and confiding, as indeed had all the natives +dwelling along the river. They gave up room in their huts to the +fevered men, sleeping out on the platforms themselves, and for a few +days the expedition rested and recuperated. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The sun had set, the moon was above the tree-tops, steadily making for +its zenith. A group of three—Johnnie Morgan, Timothy Jeffreys, and +Dan Pengelly—sat on the platform of one of the huts, their legs +dangling over the edge within a couple of feet of the water. The day +had been fiercely hot, and the water around had steamed like a smoking +cauldron. With the moon had come a brisk breeze, that swept the +stagnant, mouldy vapours away, and left a clear landscape and cool air. +Dan was stuffing tobacco into a pipe of bamboo, and urging the two +gentlemen to follow his example, the smoke of the weed being, he +declared, an antidote against the malarial poisons breathed out by the +foul mud and rotting vegetation that surrounded them. The old sailor +had enjoyed marvellously good health throughout the river voyage, and, +forgetting his previous travels, and the natural toughness of his +constitution, put his happy condition down to his daily pipes of the +fragrant Indian weed. But his two companions were too languid for +indulgence in smoking. Their heads were giddy, their hearts throbbing, +and their stomachs at war with all solid food. The tropical marsh +fever had them in its grip, and the grasp was tightening every moment. +The trees swayed dismally in the breeze, and the birds chattered +querulously at being disturbed. The waters "lap, lapped" monotonously +against the piles, and horny-backed alligators nosed amongst them, +seeking for scraps and offal or any stray eatables that came their way. +Moths and fireflies flitted about in such numbers that the air seemed +alive with them. All around was a vast, shallow, fresh-water +sea—rolling, heaving, sucking, lapping, shimmering under the tropical +moon. A night full of majesty, beauty, mystery, and death. +</P> + +<P> +Dan curled himself comfortably against a pillar, closed his eyes, and +smoked with keen enjoyment. Morgan and Jeffreys gazed for a while with +aching eyes at the weird scene around; then the heavy lids dropped, and +they fell a-dreaming. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie was back in the cool forest by Severn side; the oaks and the +beeches swayed above him, and the bracken rustled as a rabbit scuttled +through. The nightingale was singing his love song to his mate and the +moon, and the dull, far-off roar of the rushing tide sounded a low +accompaniment to the song. Gone were the white, warm, mud-laden +waters, the floating trunks, the screaming parrots, the croaking frogs, +the howling beasts; the glare of the sun no longer hurt his eyes, and +its fierce heat no longer sent his brain throbbing and burning. The +air was cool, the bracken sweet, and the bird trilled out its +passionate music. Why should he sit uncomfortably propped against a +tree? He would lie down, and let the fresh, green fronds curl above +him. He sighed, his limbs relaxed, he swayed—he fell with a heavy +splash into the warm, lapping waters! +</P> + +<P> +A nosing alligator swished his tail against a pile and darted off in +sudden alarm; but he came round again speedily, just as the +half-fainting man roused sufficiently to be conscious that he was in +the water. Jeffreys was asleep, but Dan's sailor senses were alert in +an instant. His eyes opened, he glanced around, missed Morgan, and +peered over into the flood. The fallen man cried out, and the huge +reptile that had espied him moved off again. Dan saw both, shouted in +alarm, and hurled a handy log at the prowling horror; then he swung +himself, monkey fashion, down a stout pile, seized Morgan by the hair, +and brought him so that he got a grip of the platform. A minute later +Johnnie swung himself into safety, and only just in time, for more than +one scaly reptile had scented the feast, and was hurrying through the +moonlit waters, eager and voracious. This unlucky sousing in the flood +settled the grip of the fever on Morgan. When next he sunned himself +on the platform the waters had subsided, the mud was baked and +cracking, and the major portion of the expedition leagues away +southwards. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap35"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A FOE. +</H3> + +<P> +Johnnie Morgan was not the only sick man left behind in the Indian +village. Master Jeffreys had had the strong hand of the fever upon +him; and the son of the parson of Newnham, like his neighbour and +friend the Blakeney yeoman, found the air of the Orinoco less +invigorating than the air of the Severn. With the three sick men had +been left three sound men as guard and escort. Two of these, the +Johnsons, had elected to remain with their friend Master Timothy, and a +soldier had been chosen to keep them company. Johnnie was the last of +the three invalids to recover; indeed, the others had made plans for +their journey in the wake of the main expedition long before he was fit +to take his place in the boat. +</P> + +<P> +It was fortunate for the six left behind that all, save one, were +experienced navigators, and that two of these had had the opportunity +of sailing boats on the Severn, the most treacherous of all English +tidal rivers. The boat built after the fashion of a native canoe was +left for them; they rigged a mast and small sail, fixed a rudder, and, +with a native of the village as guide, set off a little after sunrise +one morning. +</P> + +<P> +For many days the voyage was uneventful enough. Captain Drake had gone +before, and the natives were everywhere eager to welcome the Englishmen +and render them every assistance. They were warned of dangers in the +river, which still ran strongly, and was in places a couple of miles in +width. Guides were readily provided, and everything done to hasten +them on their way. Their light boat went splendidly; they were spared +many of the ceremonious visitations that had fallen upon their captain, +and often, during the day, made two miles of progress to one made by +him over the same stretch of river. Each sunset found them nearer and +nearer to the main body, and they were quick to notice that the latter +were going slower and slower every day. +</P> + +<P> +The country was no longer monotonously flat, as it had been whilst the +river swept along through the llanos. Hills now rose up to right and +left; great mountains loomed up dimly against the skyline; and the low, +muddy banks gave way to towering limestone cliffs, their natural +whiteness hidden by the luxuriant, clinging vegetation. Shallows in +the river were no longer sandy and sluggish, but rapids were the +dangers to navigation. The air was cooler and fresher, the vegetation +was that of drier soil and drier atmosphere, insect life was less +noxious, and the labours of the way grew more endurable. +</P> + +<P> +But as the perils from nature decreased, those to be apprehended from +man increased. The adventurers had long passed the most southerly +point of Spanish influence. Hitherto they had found docile Indians, +who had learned to fear the white man and his strange weapons, and to +hate one section of the white race—namely, the Spanish. The +Englishmen were white, and possessed the moral power of the race over +ruder peoples; they also came as foes and rivals to those who +ill-treated the long-suffering native; hence they had been everywhere +treated with awe, not unmixed with real affection. As far as the +inhabitants of the land were concerned, their voyage had been a sort of +triumphal procession. +</P> + +<P> +But inhabitants of hilly or mountainous land are always hardier and +less docile than their brethren of the fat plains. The Indians on the +hilly fringes of the Orinoco basin were no exception to this rule. +They had heard of the white man; refugees from the lower lands had +spread reports of his rapacity and cruelty, and of the scorn with which +he treated the poor brown man. They were resolved that he should not +lay hands on them or their treasures without a struggle. And so it +came to pass that one day the messengers of Captain Drake returned to +him with reports of a very rough reception from a native dignitary. +</P> + +<P> +Although annoyed by this rebuff, the adventurers attached but little +importance to it. Perhaps the native messenger had been clumsy over +his diplomatic dealings; maybe the hill chieftain had misunderstood +him: a second mission should be sent with suitable presents. +Accordingly, two of the gentlemen of the company, attended by half a +dozen soldiers and as many natives, left the camp on the river-bank and +threaded the steeply-pitched woods to the native village. An Indian +scout was thrown out in front, on the flanks, and in the rear, and the +white men kept solidly together in the centre. +</P> + +<P> +They met with no opposition by the way, and in due time came out of the +trees and found themselves on a plateau about a mile square. On the +farther edge of this stood a cluster of stone-built huts, evidently +surrounded by a rude but effective wall. Before them stretched fields +of Indian corn, tall and green after the heavy rains. The evidences of +native civilization were greater than any the adventurers had hitherto +met. They halted for a brief consultation, then went forward again, +resolved to do their errand discreetly and warily. Not one inhabitant +was in sight, but, as the wall was neared, slim, brown figures were +espied slipping through the waving grain towards the gate. +</P> + +<P> +A close view of the wall showed that the village was a fortress as well +as a place of habitation. The stones were rough from the hillside, and +quite untrimmed, but patience in selection and arrangement had produced +a compact rampart that could not easily be shattered or stormed. The +gate was of wood, and towered some feet above the top of the wall. It +was shut. +</P> + +<P> +Sir John Trelawny was in command of the embassy, and he directed one of +the soldiers to go forward and sound a summons on his bugle. The man +did so. The musical notes rang back in double echoes from the hills, +and brought a hundred dark heads above the ramparts. Again the soldier +sent the sweet echoes flying. The strange notes had their effect on +the villagers, for a man came from the gate to the strangers and asked +their business. The Indian interpreter, who had been carefully +schooled on his way up, and who, moreover, was proud of the trust +reposed in him by the formidable white men, gave a dignified and +courteous answer. The white men were, he explained, creatures of +another world, a world that lay beneath the rising sun; the sun was +their father, and his glory was in his children's faces. They held the +thunder and lightning in the hollow of their hands, and could slay men +almost at a nod. Yet by nature they were kindly and generous, wishing +harm to none. They were passing down the river to a city of gold of +which they had heard; during the weeks of their voyage they had not +laid an unkindly hand on any man, nor appropriated any man's goods. +His own people, and all the tribes along the river, loved and +reverenced their white brothers, and would die for them. +</P> + +<P> +The villager listened gravely enough, then swung round towards the +gate, saying he would carry the message to his chief faithfully and +without alteration. At the end of about half an hour he reappeared. +His chief would not see the white men, nor provide them with anything. +He had heard that the children of the sun were cruel and rapacious, +murdering and burning without mercy if they thought that thereby they +might get any of the yellow metal their souls lusted after so strongly. +</P> + +<P> +The interpreter replied that this was true of one section of white men, +but his brothers were the enemies of those monsters, warring with them +whenever they met them. His brothers were the lordly eagles, and were +called "English;" the others were the voracious birds that stalked in +the mud, feeding on garbage; the chief had heard of these last, the +"Spaniards."' +</P> + +<P> +The villager went away again, but returned quickly with his message +unaltered; the chief would not trust the strangers. It was useless to +ask him for guides to any city of gold, or to the shores of any lake +such as the white men desired. He had never heard of these places, and +did not believe they existed. The whole story was a trick to get the +country out of the hands of its inhabitants. The trick had worked in +the plains where the men had the hearts and brains of sick women; it +would not succeed with the "Brown Eagles" of the hills. Let the "White +Eagles" from the sun try their strength and wit against them if they so +desired. +</P> + +<P> +This answer was uncompromising enough, and with it the messengers went +back again to the river. They had looked only into the face of one man +of a tribe of a thousand hillmen. +</P> + +<P> +There was a long council round the camp fire that night, and for the +first time for some weeks sentinels were set, and keen watch and ward +kept until daybreak. A further consultation was held in the morning, +after each man had slept upon the suggestions of the previous evening. +It was not easy to decide upon a course of conduct. Hitherto the +adventurers had pursued their way in peace, and they were anxious to +avoid hostilities with the natives. They saw that nothing could be +gained by fighting the Indians. They were but a small company in a +strange land, and a thousand miles and more from the sea; their object +was gold, not conquest. Should they go on their way, leaving the +unfriendly chief in the security of his fastness? By so doing would +they be leaving an enemy in their rear? On the other hand, should they +bring him to his knees, and teach him to respect and fear the name of +England? How would their line of conduct operate on the minds of the +natives? The point was a delicate one. Some were for pushing ahead, +reaching their goal, and dealing with the hill village on their return; +others were hot to chastise the stubborn Indian at once, and break the +back of native opposition at a blow. Such was the Spanish method, and +no man could say that the Dons had not gotten wealth enough. +</P> + +<P> +The latter council prevailed, and it was decided to attack the native +stronghold that very night under cover of the darkness. The solitary +cannon was taken out of the largest boat and fitted with slings, so +that the Indian allies might carry it. Arquebuses were diligently +cleaned, and all arms and armour attended to. +</P> + +<P> +The forenoon passed busily enough. During the hot hours the men slept +beneath the trees. An hour before sunset supper was served out, and +whilst the men were eating it, a boat shot round the bend, and a loud +"Halloo!" announced the arrival of Morgan and his companions. This +unexpected addition to the fighting strength was heartily welcomed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap36"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ATTACK ON THE VILLAGE. +</H3> + +<P> +Forty Englishmen, with Indian carriers and scouts, stole out from the +river-side camp under the clear light of the tropical stars. The +villagers on the hills slept in a false security. Spies had hung about +the river all day; but the preparations had no meaning for them, except +that they probably signalized an early departure. They had witnessed +the arrival of the other boat, and had sped to their chieftain with the +news. But the idea of a night attack on their stronghold never +occurred to them. This newest type of white man, they had been told +and really believed, fought with their own kind only. The Indians shut +and barred their great gate, curled themselves up on couch of skins or +reed matting, and fell into the deep sleep of the tired savage. +</P> + +<P> +The friendly scouts had so learned every turn and obstacle in the +upward path from the river that they could have walked it in the +blackest darkness, and the metallic light from the clear heavens was +more than sufficient for the keen-eyed mariners. One torch was carried +for the firing of the big gun and for the lighting of the matches of +the arquebusiers, but its yellow glare was shrouded in a soldier's +helmet. +</P> + +<P> +The strip of forest was passed, and the men filed out on the plateau. +A breeze from the neighbouring heights stirred the green patches of +corn. A scout came back, and whispered that the way was clear. The +band moved forward. +</P> + +<P> +The dull, gray mass of the village loomed dimly ahead. No light was +visible, but a thin column of smoke from the communal fire rose above +the walls and bent away before the wind. +</P> + +<P> +The adventurers were within gunshot of the gate. The big gun was +silently fitted to its carriage, loaded and shotted; and the native +allies ran back into the corn and hid themselves, quaking with terror. +</P> + +<P> +There was a flash of red flame, a loud roar that came back in echoing +thunder from the hills, the crash of the iron ball against the gate. +The villagers started from sleep, and looked around in dismay. Another +flash, another roar, another crash, a pealing of strange thunder. Then +a shout in a strange tongue: "For England! Mother England!" The +children of the sun, the wielders of the thunder and lightning, were +through the broken gate. +</P> + +<P> +Then arose a mad stampede of terror. The arquebusiers were within the +rampart, and death-fire and nauseous smoke spurted from a dozen +different places. With squeals and shrieks, as from a mob of terrified +brutes, men, women, and children dashed for the walls and the farther +outlets in mad flight for the hills. +</P> + +<P> +"Make for the chief's house. Kill no man unless he opposes you," was +the order; and a shouting band soon surrounded the great house in the +centre of the village. Some fired the thatched roofs, and a red glare +shot up to the blue sky. The cries and screams of the scurrying tribe +grew fainter and fainter. But the sturdy headman was not with them. +Spear in hand, and alone, he faced his terrible foes, eyes and teeth +fiercely gleaming—a bronze Hector. He lunged at the foremost man, and +Master Jeffreys knocked him down with the flat of his sword. Instantly +Morgan and three or four others threw themselves upon him. He writhed +and twisted like a limbed snake, and bit and tore with teeth and hands. +But the odds were hopelessly against him; a rope in a sailor's +practised hands wound about his body, and he lay, a panting prisoner, +across his own threshold. A few others of the villagers were seized, +the rest of the roofs were fired, and the adventurers marched back to +the river. No spoil was taken. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-228"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-228.jpg" ALT="The odds were hopelessly against him." BORDER="2" WIDTH="403" HEIGHT="627"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 403px"> +The odds were hopelessly against him. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The next morning the rank and file of the prisoners were set at +liberty. A present was given to each one, and it was impressed upon +them that the white strangers bore them no ill-will, and would not +again molest the village if its inhabitants conducted themselves with +due deference and friendliness. They had punished them for their +churlishness and disrespect, and had no thought of doing them further +mischief if they profited by the lesson given them. The men departed, +astonished at the clemency shown them. +</P> + +<P> +During the day the major portion of the villagers came back from the +mountains and woods, and set stolidly to work repairing their homes. +One of the released prisoners ventured to come down to the white men +and beg permission to cut rushes for the rethatching of his dwelling. +He was quickly told that the river and its rushes were as free to him +as ever they had been; and some of the adventurers cut rushes +themselves, and told the fellow to let the people know that a supply +awaited them. +</P> + +<P> +These wise measures went far to conciliate the natives. They had +learned that they must not oppose the strangers, but they also were +fairly assured that the white men were not the robbers and destroyers +that rumour had represented them to be. Some of them came freely +enough into the camp, bartering produce for gaudy trinkets; but, to the +intense disappointment of the company, none seemed to know anything +about the "Gilded One" or the marvellous city in which he dwelt. +</P> + +<P> +The expedition moved on—rapids, rocks, gorges, and waterfalls impeding +the way. The heat was intense; and when at times long marches were +necessary, in order to avoid obstacles in the river, the labour of +tugging the boats was alike heartbreaking and limb-breaking. More than +once the wisdom of leaving the river and marching overland was +discussed. But the river was at least a sure path, according to all +reports. It led to Lake Parimé and its golden sands and wondrous city. +The men grew feverish and unbalanced with anxiety and disappointed +hopes. Night after night they were to be found in groups, listening to +Yacamo or the Indians from the delta as they retold for the thousandth +time the story of "El Dorado;" others would sit beside Master Jeffreys +whilst he read and translated Dan's papers; and any words that fell +from the Johnsons, and others who had sailed the Spanish Main before, +and heard the Spanish stories of fabulous Indian treasures, were stored +up as precious oracles. +</P> + +<P> +And yet the mysterious region never seemed to come nearer; rather it +receded as the adventurers advanced, a yellow will-o'-the-wisp that had +led them through tangled forest and pestilential swamp only to mock +them in the end. The natives grew fiercer and more threatening; the +guides began to murmur at the length of the way—their river homes +seemed so far behind them. Savage faces peered out from bush and rock +upon the company of wearied, ragged, dispirited men. One soldier went +mad, raved of gold and jewels, and jumped into a whirlpool to seek +both. Two others—one a Cornish squire who had sold his little all to +join the expedition—were stricken by the sun, and dropped dead as they +were pulling at the boat ropes. A jaguar pounced upon another man as +he stooped to get water from a stream. An Indian arrow found the heart +of another. The sun, fatigue, fevers, bruises, and the endless racking +of limbs and brains, reduced the spirits and strength of the men. They +became gaunt, hollow-eyed, tattered, unshorn, uncombed, unkempt, yet +they toiled on, silent—save when they cursed and railed at +fate—dogged, fiercely purposeful, resolved to die rather than turn +back. Song and jest were rarely heard in any boat; haggard fellows +tugged at the oars, or lay dreamily watching the sail as it filled with +the welcome breeze. Their patience being sapped by disappointment and +privation, they were no longer the kindly "white brother" to the +Indians; they estranged their friends and made foes at every +halting-place. +</P> + +<P> +One man saw this. Since the attack on the hill village the chief of +that place had been dragged along with the expedition by way of +punishment. Sullenly he had tugged at his oar, carried his load, or +pulled at his rope; he neither forgot anything nor forgave anything. +He rarely spoke to the Indians from the delta and the plain, and when +he did his words were full of contempt. One night, when the +adventurers were lodged on the land in a cleft of the mountains, he +disappeared. The natives who slept on either side of him as guard were +both stabbed to the heart. The sight still further dulled the spirits +of all. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap37"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +COUNCIL FIRES IN TWO PLACES. +</H3> + +<P> +The rising sun flashed spears of light on a rocky spur that stretched +out from the foot of the mighty Andes. A tall, straight figure stood +silhouetted against a background of sun-bathed cliff. Higher above him +the great masses of land rolled back, league after league, and +stretched upwards foot after foot to the eternal snows and the eternal +heavens. Below him a belt of dark forest swept round the foothills of +the giant range, and through a gap in the mass of trees a noisy, turbid +stream went tumbling down to the sweltering plains and a feeder of the +Orinoco. +</P> + +<P> +The man stood motionless as his rocky pedestal, and intently watching +something beyond the line of trees. Presently he turned sharply about, +came down from the crag, pushed his way through the trees, and stood in +a little pool-filled hollow. Almost immediately he was joined by about +twoscore men, all armed with spear and bow and arrow, and, like +himself, brown-skinned and stalwart. The newcomers bowed themselves to +the ground and murmured some words of homage and adulation. The +standing savage drew in a deep breath, expanding his broad chest, and +his eyes flashed with pride and power. +</P> + +<P> +"Arise, my sons," he said; "the gods that make men and unmake them +shall reward you. Ye have been faithful to him whom the gods have set +over you. To the brave shall be the spoils; my sons shall lade +themselves with all their hearts may desire. Now tell me what you have +done." +</P> + +<P> +A tall warrior stood forth. "We have followed our father since the +white strangers seized him. We have watched him and them, and waited +for this happy moment." +</P> + +<P> +"Aught else?" +</P> + +<P> +"We have spoken with the peoples who dwell in the woods and the hills, +and turned their minds against the men from the land of the sun-rising. +They will fight them if any man can discover a charm that will protect +them from the thunder and lightning that springs from the strangers' +hands." +</P> + +<P> +The chieftain laughed. "I will find them a charm," he cried. "I have +walked all night," he added suddenly; "I will sleep. Watch ye." +</P> + +<P> +The chieftain slept. One man went to the cliff as sentinel; the rest +squatted around the pool, looked to their weapons, and talked in +whispers. The sun climbed upwards, the shadows shortened, the water of +the pool grew warm, the sentinel ensconced himself in a shaded cleft of +the rock that overlooked the valley, and maintained the unwinking watch +of the stoic savage. +</P> + +<P> +The chieftain awoke, a giant refreshed. A warrior brought him water in +a gourd; another handed him some fruits from a wallet. A call blown on +a hollow reed brought the watcher down from his eyrie. Led by the tall +warrior who had addressed his chief, the band went off deeper and +higher into the hills. They toiled along through a defile all the +afternoon, and when the sun was dipping behind the western peaks came +into a broad, cup-like valley, that was dotted with the rude stone huts +of a mountain tribe. The tall warrior went forward alone, but +presently came back and piloted the band through the straggling groups +of huts to the spot where the tribal fire was licking up a fresh supply +of fuel. A group of warriors seated by the fire gave the newcomers a +guttural greeting, and motioned them to seats on the other side of the +blazing heap. Silence was maintained until roasted meat, corn cakes, +and fermented liquor were handed round to both parties; then all +gathered on the windward side, and the palaver commenced. +</P> + +<P> +The visiting chief held forth at great length. He gave a reasonably +good summary of the history of the white man along the Orinoco valley +from the first advent of the Spaniards. He spoke of their cruelties, +their lust for the yellow dust, and their belief in a golden city on +the shores of a lake that fed the head waters of the river. He +described the attack on his village, and his own subsequent captivity +and semi-slavery. He belittled the strength of his captors, and was +inclined to scoff at their thunder-and-lightning tubes. He confessed +that the flame and roar of these formidable weapons were terrifying at +first; but he had witnessed their action at close quarters, and +familiarity had bred a sort of contempt. The lightning would not +always leap forth when wanted, nor did the thunder always slay. He was +inclined to put as much faith in a well-directed arrow. The latter +might be discharged unseen; not so the fire-weapons of the white +strangers. The fire-god must be brought to their nostrils, and breathe +into them before the fire within would answer; and if a man lay on the +ground when he saw the fire he was safe from death. Finally, he urged +with savage passion that the intruders should be killed or expelled +from the land. He spoke of them as wearied and dispirited, sick with +fatigue and the sun-fever, and boldly asserted that they were an easy +prey. The tall warrior arose after his chief, emphasizing all that his +lord had said. +</P> + +<P> +The chiefs of the tribe did not reply at once, but held a brief +consultation apart. They were not inclined to accept the white men at +their visitor's valuation, nor were they prepared to take up arms +against such wonderful beings without very serious cause. From the +chief's own showing they had treated him in a brotherly spirit at +first. Other native tribes had, apparently, fraternized with the +strangers, and had got considerable advantage thereby. As regards the +city of gold, the chiefs had never heard of the place themselves, +although they had occasional dealings with peoples who dwelt near the +head waters of the great river. But the white strangers were wise, and +knew things that the gods had not told to other men. Maybe the city +really existed. If the white men wanted to get there, why should any +man hinder them? And it was all very well for their visitor to pretend +that he had no fear of the thunder weapons. Why had all his people +fled at the sound of them? +</P> + +<P> +The chieftain tried to explain, and again urged his points with a +number of fresh arguments. But the council was against him; they +refused to run their heads into unknown and fearful dangers by opposing +a wonderful race that showed no disposition to interfere with them. +And so the council ended. +</P> + +<P> +From the cliff that guarded the outlet from the small valley into the +gorge a keen-eyed native, gazing intently eastwards towards the greater +valley, might have made out a point of yellow light about three leagues +away in a bee-line. The light was on the bank of the affluent of the +Orinoco, and came from the camp fire of the adventurers. There also a +council was being held, and the question for decision was the momentous +one whether the quest for the golden city should be abandoned as +hopeless. According to the Spanish papers and general rumour the +expedition should now be in touch with superior, light-coloured races, +and a civilization rivalling that of the ancient empires of Assyria or +Babylon for wealth and luxury. The way to Manoa should be as plain and +well-known as the way to Rome or Venice. Yet all around were frowning +mountains and dense forests, the homes of fierce birds and beasts, and +the haunts of savage, warlike tribes. A thousand miles nearer the +ocean the natives talked glibly and circumstantially enough about the +"Gilded One" and his wonderful city. Here, where the gates of his +kingdom should be, no man had heard either of king or country. Months +of hardship and privation, the facing of death a hundred times in +almost as many forms, had brought the intrepid band to—nothing! +</P> + +<P> +On this particular occasion every man was admitted to the council, and +the words of the common soldier and sailor were listened to as +attentively as the words of any of the gentlemen. An onlooker would +have been sorely puzzled to decide from outward appearance which of the +battered, travel-worn band was its leader. The fire lighted up a ring +of gaunt, brown, bearded faces, and the pairs of eyes that centred on +each speaker's face in turn had little of hope or animation in them. +The conference began after the evening meal, and extended far into the +night. All seemed to realize the hopelessness of pursuing the quest +any farther, yet none cared to face the ordeal of turning the boats +seaward again. They compromised the matter. A last attempt should be +made to acquire guides and information. If the attempt failed, the +search would be abandoned. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap38"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WAY BACK. +</H3> + +<P> +Yacamo, out searching for signs of human occupation, came upon the +entrance to the upland valley, and espied the Indian town. He went +back to the camp and reported. A deputation was sent to wait upon the +chief; a body of men met them in the pass, and refused to allow them to +proceed a step farther. Then some of the adventurers themselves +climbed through the gorge, and were met with a shower of arrows that +wounded three of them. Finally, Captain Drake himself, under the +guidance of Yacamo, worked his way into the valley, and reconnoitred. +He calculated the town at a strength of about fifteen hundred to two +thousand warriors. It was not fortified; but no force could get up the +gorge if reasonable opposition were offered. His own band could be +ambushed in a score of places. He decided it was impossible to attack +the place with any chance of success. +</P> + +<P> +Scouting parties were sent farther along the river. In every case they +were assailed. The Englishmen themselves were shot at again and again +if they ventured out hunting, and at night arrows dropped at intervals +into the camp. The adventurers were in a hornets' nest, and the +hornets were always stinging. These attacks, which argued the +existence of a host of enemies, were all the work of the escaped +chieftain and his twoscore of followers. Divided into about half a +dozen bands, hiding themselves with perfect native cunning, they were +as effective as ten times the number of less active, less revengeful +foes might be; and they grew bolder every hour. +</P> + +<P> +Despairing of success—wearied, wounded, harassed, sick—the +adventurers resolved to turn back. Since they had entered the hilly +country, they had lost seven men; and as the whole country seemed +rising to oppose them, it was madness to attempt to force a passage +along the rocky, unknown way. With heavy hearts they paddled into the +main stream, got into the current, and drifted northwards towards the +ocean. +</P> + +<P> +For days there was hardly any attempt at rowing. The strong rush of +the chalky waters swept the boats along. Awnings were erected to shut +off the terrific heat of the equatorial sun, and the men lay and dozed +and rested, their native allies directing the course of the voyage. No +foes appeared, days and nights were quiet and uneventful, and the +strength and spirits of all began to revive. They had failed in their +quest. What of that? The summer was not yet gone. There were Spanish +galleons to be attacked. The Johnsons could show where Oxenham had +hidden his treasure; and if they had not found Lake Parimé and its city +of gold, they had explored much new and wondrously fertile country. +The passion for exploration and the gaining of knowledge of new lands +was almost as strong in the hearts of the bold fellows as was the +thirst for treasure. Third day down the river Dan sang his song again; +'twas,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Ho! for the Spanish Main,<BR> +And ha! for the Spanish gold!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +King Philip's ships were the true and sure gold-mines. All eyes looked +and all hearts yearned for the sea. Their thoughts flew to their bonny +little ship. Was she safe? How that question agitated every one, and +what intense speculation there was as to the way the question would be +answered! +</P> + +<P> +If the way back was easier than the journey forward, it was not less +dangerous. The heat had increased, insect life had multiplied a +myriad-fold, and the pestilential vapours from the swampy lowlands were +thicker and deadlier than before; and the men were not fresh from the +invigorating sea, but were spent and worn with a thousand hardships. +They drooped, sickened, raved in delirium, and in some cases died. +Even the cheery Dan succumbed to the poison of the noisome night mists, +and whilst the fever was on him his songs and jests were sorely missed. +Morgan and some of the others began to sing songs of home, but these +the captain stopped because of the depression they induced in some of +the men. +</P> + +<P> +At length, after more than a fortnight of drifting with the current, +the first parting of the ways at the beginning of the delta was +reached. To the Indians this was the threshold of home; to the +Englishmen it was but a poor halting-place, from which they must set +out to face fresh perils, and maybe meet newer disappointments. The +bewildering maze of channels was once more threaded, this time with the +varying strengths of the current to indicate the better routes. The +dense, overhanging vegetation sheltered the voyagers by day and stifled +them by night. Rests at friendly villages were eagerly welcomed, and +no bad news awaited the weary band. A few Spanish boats had been seen +in some of the channels, but they had asked no questions concerning the +Englishmen, and the natives had given no information, fearing that +their masters—for so the Dons accounted themselves—would punish them +for having assisted their enemies. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the heat of sultry afternoon, the air stirless, the water in +the channel warm and rank-smelling. The boats were drifting lazily +under the banks, the native steersmen half sleeping at their posts, the +white men stretched out, listless, sun-wearied, inert. A canoe shot +out across the path of the boats, disappeared along another waterway, +stopped, and a Spaniard got out and plunged into the trees on the low +island. He watched the flotilla go by. He noticed the attitude of the +men. +</P> + +<P> +"St. James!" he cried, "I could do it with a score of resolute +soldiers! What a chance! And I must miss it!" +</P> + +<P> +The Englishmen drifted on; the Spaniard followed at a safe distance. +He wanted a solution to an important question: Where was the English +ship? He had hunted for it, and so had others—for the <I>Golden Boar</I> +had been tracked from Trinidad into the delta—but no man had sighted +her, and knew not how far she had gone up-stream. It was not suspected +that she had remained so near the sea as proved to be the case. The +native chief had guarded his secret well. +</P> + +<P> +That night, about an hour after sunset, and with the light of the +growing moon to guide them, the adventurers tied up their boats in the +pool where the <I>Golden Boar</I> still lay. What a thrill went through +each heart as the outline of their ocean home appeared dimly through +the veil of white mist! Tears stood in their eyes, and more than one +bold fellow had hard work to choke back a sob. The men left behind +came running forth to meet them, all alive, all well. Rough, bearded +lips pressed against thin, tanned cheeks in brotherly kisses, and the +natives thronged round, full of affectionate and admiring welcome. The +brave "white brothers" were back, and their simple hearts rejoiced. +</P> + +<P> +The villagers began instant preparations for a great feast. Captain +Drake marshalled his men, and went aboard his ship. Standing +bareheaded on his deck, the flag of England unfurled above him, he +returned thanks to Almighty God for a great deliverance from many +perils; and the company responded with a sonorous and devout "Amen!" +There was no word of repining, no lamentation over the failure that had +attended their quest. The dead were remembered in a few moments of +bowed and silent reverence, and, at the command of his captain, Morgan +sang the "<I>De Profundis</I>." "Out of the deep," indeed, had they called, +and they thanked God in that He heard them. +</P> + +<P> +Then they went to the place of feasting, and ate as hungry voyagers +should eat. After that they slept the deep sleep of wearied men who, +after many toils and vicissitudes, had reached a haven where they could +rest. +</P> + +<P> +Days of bustle followed. The ship was cleaned of the vegetable growths +that clung to her sides; masts were refixed, fittings tested and +replaced, and ample stores put aboard. The salt breeze had got again +into the men's nostrils, and their hearts cried out for the open sea. +Affectionate farewell was taken of their kindly hosts; a promise to +come back again was given. Then a flotilla of canoes towed the stout +ship into the main channel! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap39"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XXXIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOHN OXENHAM'S CREEK. +</H3> + +<P> +More than two months after she had quitted the harbour of San Joseph, the +<I>Golden Boar</I> dropped anchor in its waters again. She was not expected, +and some folks were hoping that she had gone to the bottom of the +Atlantic, or was lying rotting in some pestilential mouth of the Orinoco. +Yacamo was put ashore, and a brief visit paid to the governor and the +chief Ayatlan. The latter was pleased enough to see the Englishmen, and +he warned them that mischief was brewing. +</P> + +<P> +"There has been much coming and going of Spaniards and Spanish ships," he +said; "and one man has offered great rewards to any that could tell him +where you were hidden." +</P> + +<P> +The visit to the governor nearly led to a quarrel. That dignitary was by +no means so deferential as on the previous visit; indeed, he was barely +civil. Many things had happened during the previous weeks. A ship had +arrived from Spain, and she carried an important passenger—to wit, +Brother Basil. He was weeks behind the <I>Golden Boar</I>, but he soon made +up for lost time. In the first place he was able to prove that Captain +John Drake of the <I>Golden Boar</I> was not the redoubtable Captain Francis +Drake so dreaded all along the shores of the Spanish Main. This largely +accounted for the altered demeanour of the governor. Rightly guessing +that the English ship would put into the harbour if she ever returned +from the Orinoco, Basil had at first tried to prepare a warm reception +for her. He failed in this, for soldiers were not easy to obtain, the +governor was not anxious for a fight, and the very name "Drake" still +inspired terror whether it was prefixed by Francis or John. As a second +resource he had sent boats into the delta in the hope of locating the +ship or her company, and stirring up the natives against the Englishmen. +His messengers searched the wrong mouths and channels, and it was only at +the last that one of them happed upon the foe; and he was still on the +mainland and had sent no tidings. +</P> + +<P> +But the Jesuit, being cognizant of all the plans of the adventurers, and +knowing that the Johnsons would lead the way to the scene of Oxenham's +defeat and death, prepared yet a third scheme, and, deeming this the +surer one, was giving it his personal supervision. He calculated +correctly. +</P> + +<P> +When Captain Drake and his retinue were leaving the castle, a native +youth who waited upon the soldiers slipped a packet into the hands of the +last man, with a whispered injunction to secrecy. The soldier handed the +papers to the captain as soon as he was aboard again. A few minutes +later Nick and Ned Johnson were sent for into the cabin. The first +question caused each one to prick up his single ear pretty sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Were you the only ones who escaped death when Captain Oxenham was slain?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, some boys were spared." +</P> + +<P> +"Have they ever reached England?" +</P> + +<P> +"As far as we know, no. The priests told us that some of them abjured +their faith and had received pardon." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Drake passed some papers across the table. "Look at this +drawing." +</P> + +<P> +The brothers did so, and looked at one another pretty shrewdly also. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make out of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis a guide to the buried spoil." +</P> + +<P> +The skipper read a rough, explanatory scrawl from the back of the paper. +It purported to have been written by one of the lads who had been in San +Joseph on a Spanish ship since the departure of the <I>Golden Boar</I>. He +explained that he wished his countrymen to know that the treasure had +never been found by the Dons, and added that he had bribed the native to +give the paper to them if they came back. He would not affix his name, +because he was ashamed of his weakness in renouncing his faith and +nationality. +</P> + +<P> +The tale was plausible enough and cunningly set forth. Less credulous +men than the eager adventurers would have been deceived by it. The +English was rough, homely, ill-spelt, and unscholarly, and might well +have been written by one of the lads. One thing was certain—it could +not have been written by a Spaniard. It was written, indeed, by the +renegade Basil. +</P> + +<P> +Needless to say the bait was swallowed. The <I>Golden Boar</I> made a hurried +departure from San Joseph, and went westwards along the coast towards the +Isthmus of Panama. Basil had gone thither in a Spanish galleon some +twelve days before, and was already ashore awaiting them, and daily +expecting a strong body of troops from Panama itself. The adventurers, +hopes renewed, were putting on all sail to enter a cunningly laid trap. +</P> + +<P> +Apparently fortune was going to favour them at last. Less than a day's +sail from Trinidad they sighted a Spanish ship. They had vowed war +against everything Spanish, and were resolved not to go home with an +empty hold. The helm was put about, and they bore down on their prey. +The vessel was not a large one, but it was well manned. To the order to +strike his flag, the captain replied with a well-directed shot. The +vessels closed. A sharp fight ensued, and the adventurers won. The +prize was a good one, and the bold band, deeming their enterprise a high +and honourable one, loudly thanked God for His goodness. Then they +sailed on, eager for fresh conquests. +</P> + +<P> +Even the least hopeful man cast away his doubts and fears. Hitherto they +had searched for what no man had found; now they were going for a +treasure whose position was definitely set forth, and, moreover, they +were on the beaten track where so many of their daring fellow-countrymen +had found fortune. Spanish ships they must meet; and when they met them, +well, there was but one thing to do—they must capture them. To their +reawakened spirits the matter was the plainest of plain sailing. And the +glorious sea, too, had washed the fever from them; they were grown strong +and hearty once more. The singers sang, the fiddlers played, and Master +Jeffreys, Nick and Ned Johnson told their tales afresh. The generous +fellows remembered the brave lives that had been sacrificed to gain the +treasure they were going to carry off so easily. As far as the memory of +the survivors would allow, a list of Oxenham's crew was drawn up; their +homes, where known, were placed against their names, and it was resolved +that half of what they recovered should go to the relatives of the dead +men. Not one man murmured against the decision; it seemed to them the +right and proper thing to do: there were no craven or selfish hearts +aboard the <I>Golden Boar</I>. +</P> + +<P> +And so the eager days sped on. No more possible prizes were sighted, and +the time came when keen eyes no longer looked seawards at all. The ship +was hugging the shore, and Nick Johnson or his brother spent hours at the +masthead searching for a familiar landmark. More than once was the +anchor dropped, and a boat sent up a promising creek in the hope that it +would prove the long-sought one. Failure after failure was reported, but +the search only grew the keener. The adventurers were determined to beat +every mile of the coast if necessary. At length came the joyous forenoon +when Nick gave a frantic hurrah from his lofty perch. Ho had sighted the +bare bluff, the wooded background, and the narrow, winding inlet. His +brother was quickly beside him, and almost immediately shouted his +reassuring opinion to the expectant company. The goal was reached at +last! +</P> + +<P> +There was no need to send an exploring boat this time. Nick stayed where +he was, and Ned took the helm. A gentle breeze took the <I>Golden Boar</I> +into the sheltered anchorage. The trees encircling the little inland bay +shut her in just as the sun went down behind them. And the gallant +fellows—strange mixture of pirate and patriot—piously and +whole-heartedly bared their heads and thanked God for His bounteous +mercies! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap40"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XL. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A HAVEN OF PEACE. +</H3> + +<P> +The night passed; a night of happy contentment. In picturesque groups +on the deck the company slept, their eyes covered from the light of the +tropical night. The sentry tramped the deck, listened to the cries +from the forest and the salty pool, watched the fireflies as they +darted to and fro, and called out the hours and the state of the night +whenever the ship's bell sent its musical note echoing from bank to +bank of the creek, and rousing the denizens of the forest around. A +bird sang in the grove, tuning its lay to reproduce the notes of every +songster that had warbled during the daytime. The scents from the +masses of flowers, that clustered the banks and wound their tendrils +round the giant trees, floated fragrantly on the night air. There was +peace in the heavens above and the downward glances of the quiet-eyed +stars; there was peace in forest and pool, and sweet sounds and +fragrant odours; the ship rocked gently on the flowing tide in a haven +that might have been a harbour on the shores of a paradise. And the +sleeping men dreamed pleasant dreams, for the scents of the flowers +came insensibly into their nostrils, and the song of the bird beat +rhythmically on their resting brains. Here, a sailor laughed softly +and musically in his sleep; there, a gallant young gentleman murmured a +beloved name, as the face of the one beloved passed by in a sweet +vision of the night. In his sleep many a one was already at the home +where he would be; his hard-won treasures glittered on the familiar +table, and he gave this to one and that to another, hung a chain on a +fair young neck or pressed a ring on a dainty finger. Johnnie Morgan +stood by the river, exactly as he had stood on that bright March +morning when Dolly came up and begged for a reconciliation. She came +again; the gulls flew over the sands, and the sun shone warmly. Ah! +how long it was since that March morning. +</P> + +<P> +The feathered singer in the tree ceased his singing, and hid his head +under his wing as his bright-plumaged fellows had done. The stars +paled; nature stirred in her sleep; the sailor on the deck felt the +tremor that quivered through the animate world, and rubbed his eyes +more vigorously. A breeze moved through the trees; the ripple of the +water was more distinct; there was a splash—another—another. A frog +croaked sleepily to his fellows, and got no answer for a while. A +yellow band stretched across the eastern horizon; it tinged the heaving +waters, it flecked the trees with gold. The whole forest rustled and +twittered. A bird flew down to the water. A parrot screamed noisily; +a sleeper started up from his hard couch. The sentinel cried the hour, +and announced a fine morning. The world heard him and woke up. +</P> + +<P> +The day was to be a day of great things. Overnight nothing had been +done, and no man had gone ashore. The decks were cleaned, prayers +said, breakfast eaten, and the rough plan of Oxenham's hiding-place +nailed down on the compass-box, where all could see it. Then Captain +Drake and the gentlemen of the company went ashore with Nick and Ned +Johnson. Hearts beat excitedly in the ship's boat, and hearts throbbed +in unison amongst those who waited on the deck. The party landed. +They clambered up the bank and pushed aside the tangled undergrowth, +some of the men using their swords in order to make the quicker way. +Some one kicks against a mass of green creeper; his boot strikes +something wooden and hollow; he has not lighted upon an empty bush. +Quickly he tears aside the clinging mass; a beautifully striped snake +wriggles out, hissing angrily. The man scarcely heeds the dangerous +thing. He shouts aloud; the others come up. What has he found? The +ruins of one of Oxenham's boats. Nick recognizes it. "I worked to +help build it," he says softly. "The Dons came upon us before we could +finish." The rough fellow uncovered his head. +</P> + +<P> +The adventurers gazed with a strange interest upon the relic of a +former bold adventure. They turned it over almost reverently. "Brave +John Oxenham!" murmured Captain Drake. +</P> + +<P> +But sentimental recollections were soon swept away. The discovery of +the half-finished boat put aside all doubts as to the identity of their +anchorage with that of Oxenham's. "How far off was the treasure +buried?" was the next eager question. +</P> + +<P> +"Just out of the tide-way in the heart of a cluster of mangroves; we +notched the biggest tree," answered Nick. He looked around. "Yonder's +the spot," he cried. All followed him. +</P> + +<P> +The quick-growing vegetation had enwreathed the trees with gay +creepers, but Nick soon found the mark of the axe on the bark. +Undergrowths choked up the gaps between the trunks of the trees, but a +couple of axes cleared a path. The men thronged into the inner space. +The ground was hard and overgrown, and certainly had not been touched +for a long time. Hopes rose higher than ever. Apparently the ground +had never been disturbed since Oxenham's visit. Captain Drake decided +to get to work at once. He rowed back to the ship, ordered the +pickaxes and shovels to be brought up from below, and chose out a first +gang of sailors and soldiers to go ashore and commence digging. A +couple of hours ought to suffice for the securing of the treasure. +</P> + +<P> +The men tumbled into the boat, eager enough to begin. They rowed +ashore, stripped themselves to the waist, and set to work with a will, +cheering one another on with boisterous jests. Captain Drake remained +aboard. Sir John Trelawny and some of the adventurers superintended +the digging. Timothy Jeffreys and Johnnie Morgan wandered off along +the stream, hoping to light upon some game for the replenishing of the +larder. Nick Johnson pointed out a spring, and others of the company +busied themselves filling the barrels with fresh water. All were +animated, and occupied in some useful way or other. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap41"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TRAP. +</H3> + +<P> +A cheery proverb declares there is no cloud so black that it hath not a +silver lining. Conversely we may say that there is no sky so blue that +no cloud is gathering in it. The sky over the heads of Captain Drake +and his men glowed like a firelit, flawless sapphire; yet behind, where +the giant trees shut out the view of the heavens, a cloud was +gathering, charged with the very mirk of death. +</P> + +<P> +For days and nights before the <I>Golden Boar</I> had come abreast of the +mouth of the creek, the summit of the bluff had not been without a +keen-eyed sentinel. Squatted on his haunches, or lying prone on the +grass, a patient Indian had scanned sea and horizon for a sign of a +sail. His watch was duly rewarded. He heard the shout of the lookout +man; saw the ship put about for the entrance near which he lay; then he +slipped into the trees behind him, and ran down the declivity and +through the forest like a creature born to a life in the tree-packed +solitudes. He passed round the bay, and ran for another couple of +miles along the creek. Then, in a natural clearing, he came upon a +tent around which were gathered about fifty warriors of his own tribe. +At the entrance to the tent he bowed himself down to the earth, and lay +there until a voice bade him arise. +</P> + +<P> +"The ship of the white men, O my father!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"They come into the harbourage." +</P> + +<P> +"Get thy canoe." Basil came forth, and was soon speeding down to the +bay. He got out on the side opposite to the cluster of mangroves, +climbed a tree, and watched the <I>Golden Boar</I> as it beat into the +narrow entrance from the sea. The sun shone on the gilded monster that +stood "rampant" under the bows and lit up the tall figure of Morgan, +who stood watching the muddy waters as they ran lapping along the sides +of the ship. Basil recognized all, and smiled in triumph. He went +back to his tent and dispatched swift messengers along the track across +the isthmus; the Spanish troops were lagging somewhere on the road, and +must needs be hurried. +</P> + +<P> +All that night, sleepless, noiseless Indians lay near the ship and +heard every call of the watch. With the coming of the dawn they +slipped farther back, but maintained a close espionage. Basil's +messenger returned. The troops were bivouacked not far away. They +would start with the earliest light, and might be expected within two +hours of sunrising. The natives were sent down to the fringe of the +bay to keep unseen watch over every movement of the Englishmen. Basil +waited for the white troops. His plans were carefully made, and he +hoped to capture the ship and every soul of her company. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Morgan and Jeffreys pushed their way through the trees, seeking some +open glade where deer might be feeding. Each carried bow and arrows, +so that the quarry might be obtained without raising any alarm that +might arouse near-dwelling natives or any chance party of Spaniards. +The laughter of their comrades died away behind them little by little, +and was presently lost altogether. Once or twice the undergrowth +rustled, and both paused, hoping to sight some eatable prey; but they +saw nothing, and wandered farther and farther on. +</P> + +<P> +They had gone for nearly a mile, when suddenly an Indian stood in their +path. The fellow paused for an instant, then turned and fled as though +in affright. Both were about to cry out to reassure him, when they +were stealthily assailed from behind. A native cloth or blanket was +thrown over the head of each; brown arms closed round and pinioned +their limbs. They were thrown to the ground, and a heavy blow on the +head rendered them unconscious. They had no chance to cry out, and +were trapped with scarcely a struggle. When they recovered their +senses they were in a canoe going rapidly up-stream; their heads were +still muffled, and their limbs bound with tight thongs. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Between the trees the digging went on merrily enough. About three feet +down a skull was found; then another; then various human bones. These +gruesome discoveries checked the singing and laughter, and for a while +the men worked in silence. But there was nothing to dull the spirits +of the water-carriers, and they romped and skylarked like a party of +schoolboys. Those on board ship envied their companions who were +ashore, and the relief digging party leant over the bulwarks, eager to +take their turn amongst the mangroves. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile a net of fire and steel was being drawn around the workers. +</P> + +<P> +The net was set; every mesh was tested, and yet the fowler hesitated to +draw it in: all the birds were not gathered in the baited area. The +water-carriers were too far from the diggers, and the ship rode clear +of the shore. The Indian allies hid, waiting with inexhaustible +patience. The Spanish troops were restless and ill-controlled. They +saw two small parties of Englishmen busily engaged, and without +suspicion of danger. It was so easy to form two bands, surround and +capture all. Barely a dozen men remained aboard the ship; surely they +could seize the vessel at their leisure! The Spanish commander did not +possess Basil's gift of caution. He determined to attack, and launched +a mixed force against the water-carriers and seized every one. Another +band dashed for the mangroves; but warning had been given. Sir John +and his gentlemen whipped out their swords, and the workers seized +pick-axe and shovel. Captain Drake saw the movement in the trees, +shouted an alarm, and at once turned his guns on the rustling patch. A +couple of terrific charges followed; trees splintered and crashed, and +the Indian allies fled in terror, freeing some of the water-carriers, +who plunged at once into the bay and swam to the ship. The group of +mangroves was a natural fortress, and the Dons failed to get in at the +first rush. The flight of the Indians threw them into a momentary +disorder; and Captain Drake, instant in appreciating an opportunity, +turned a gun a little wide of the cluster, and sent a ball smashing +into the rallying place of the foe. Covered by the armed gentlemen, +the workers retreated to their boat; arrows and a few musket balls flew +after them, but the ship's guns again spoke out, and no Don dared show +himself. The boat was reached at the cost of a few wounds. At the +ship's side the men received arms, and the soldiers aboard leaped down +to take the place of the wounded. The boat went ashore once more, and +the whole of its company made for the spring, hoping to rescue the men +there. The enemy opposed their way, but they drove them before them, +and the guns from the vessel swept and cleared the surrounding patches +of woodland. The spring was reached; the Dons had fled; and the marks +of the short struggle were all the rescue party discovered. They +followed the trail for a while, but the foe had got the start and the +help of their native guides. The men reluctantly returned to the shore +of the bay, fortunately picking up a couple of wounded sailors on their +way. The undergrowth around was diligently searched, but it yielded +nothing alive. +</P> + +<P> +The ship's roll was called, and the losses counted. No one had seen +anything of Jeffreys and Morgan since the first landing; they had gone +a-hunting, and their fate could hardly be doubted. The digging party +had escaped death and capture, and no man was seriously wounded. Of +the water party, the two Johnsons, who had acted as leaders, were +wounded and prisoners; three others were captives with them; the rest +had escaped. There were no further attempts at digging that day. This +was, perhaps, just as well, for the earth contained no treasure. The +Dons had seized that long before. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap42"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CAPTIVES. +</H3> + +<P> +The wonderful name of Drake saved the expedition from irretrievable +disaster. "For England, boys!" Sir John had shouted as he laid about +him in the mangrove trees. "For Drake and Devon!" shouted a Plymouth +tar, and his comrades had hurrahed at his words. "Ay, remember the +skipper's name!" Sir John had replied; "defeat and Drake don't go +together!" These shouted words, and the promptness of the round shot +from the ship, had really equal effects in scattering the foe. The +Spanish commander, when he rallied his men farther back at the springs, +asked Nick Johnson who his captain was. +</P> + +<P> +"Drake of Plymouth!" cried Nick; "and take heed to it, ye dirty Papist. +Ye'll regret this business before sunset!" +</P> + +<P> +And the soldiers were of their foeman's opinion. Their leader deemed +discretion the better part of valour. He had lost some men; his allies +had fled; five prisoners were in his hands. So far he could claim a +victory, and he was resolved not to lose one leaf from his scanty +laurels. "Drake" was an incarnation of the devil; every Don in America +knew that; it was useless fighting the redoubtable sailor, for no man +could defeat or kill him. The Spanish captain decided on a movement to +the rear. In vain Basil stormed and raved, and vowed that the dreaded +Drake was not within a thousand leagues of the isthmus. The soldiers +remembered that the speaker was a renegade Englishman, and refused to +believe him. +</P> + +<P> +Basil left them to go on to Panama, whilst he returned to the Indian +camp and the two prisoners whose clever capture he had superintended. +The Indians had gone, and Morgan and Jeffreys were left gagged and +bound. The Jesuit was furious. His first impulse was to kill his +captives and leave their bodies to be found by their companions, who +would assuredly make some search for them. But a moment's reflection +made him abandon that plan. Had he desired only their death, it would +have been easier for the Indians to shoot them than to capture them. +One of the two, Morgan, was an old foe; he had done much to thwart the +scheme for firing the Forest of Dean, a scheme which would have brought +Basil nothing less than a bishopric had it succeeded. He was one of +those who had slain Father Jerome, and must expiate his many offences. +The angry man had little objection to letting out Master Timothy's life +at a blow, but Morgan must have no such easy ending. So he left the +two, half-stifled in their blankets, and went into the woods and along +the creek, calling in the hope of attracting some stray Indians. After +a while, the chief and about a dozen others straggled back. +</P> + +<P> +The tent, wherein Basil had kept up state in order to overawe the +simple natives, was packed away into a canoe. The prisoners were put +into another, and the company paddled away towards the interior, +following by water the course the Spaniards had taken by land. +</P> + +<P> +The two parties met that evening at a native village, and a fierce +quarrel broke out betwixt Basil and the Spanish commandant. The +civilian accused the soldier of cowardice and indifference that +amounted to treachery, and fiercely maintained that a little more +wisdom and courage on the part of the troops would have sufficed for +the capture of the whole expedition. The captain retorted that he had +done his duty with due zeal and discretion, and threatened Basil with a +share of the bonds that bound the limbs of his fellow Englishmen. He +took Basil's two prisoners and added them to his own captures, +asserting that he did so in order to ensure their safe keeping. By +easy stages the troops moved west by north along the rivers and over +the mountains to Panama, where the Englishmen were formally imprisoned +as pirates and wicked enemies of his Majesty King Philip. Basil was +soon busily at work in an endeavour to get them accused of heresy +rather than piracy, and so put them into the hands of the Inquisition; +for the ecclesiastics punished with infinitely greater cruelties than +did the King's officers. +</P> + +<P> +A long and anxious council was held that afternoon aboard the <I>Golden +Boar</I>. For the time, the treasure-hunt was forgotten. Seven members +of the company, two of them gentlemen partners in the expedition, were +in the hands of the Spaniards. What could be done for their release? +From the evidence of those of the watering-party that had escaped, it +was plain that the band that had attacked them was as numerous as that +which attacked the gold-seekers. The total forces, Spanish and Indian, +were considerably over a thousand. Now, if the ship was to be at all +adequately guarded and manned, Captain Drake could not spare more than +a score of men as a land force. Obviously, this was totally inadequate +if the foe stood his ground; so weak a band might be shot down one by +one in the forest. Yet no man would leave the coast without making +some real effort to aid his captured comrades. The brave fellows could +readily put themselves in thought into the places of the unfortunate +seven, and they shuddered as they contemplated their possible fate. +One man, Paignton Rob, knew Oxenham's route across the isthmus, and he +volunteered at once to lead any pursuing party. Should the Johnsons +escape, they would almost certainly take this route back. Pursuit was +decided upon, and Captain Drake resolved to lead it himself. The whole +of the gentlemen adventurers volunteered to accompany him, and Dan +Pengelly and Paignton Rob completed the available force. It was small +enough to be called a "forlorn hope;" it was brave enough to do +desperate deeds if occasion offered. +</P> + +<P> +Since the retreat of the foe no sounds had been heard from the shore. +This did not prove that no enemies were lurking in the thickets, for +silence had prevailed until the moment of the double attack. Rob +offered to go scouting, but his services as guide were too precious for +him to run the risk; and Sir John Trelawny, like the valiant knight he +was, went instead. A boat was rowed down into the shelter of the +bluff, and he slipped ashore. Scaling the rock, he peered about on all +sides, saw nothing suspicious, and advanced into the thick woods. +There were plenty signs of the fray, but no sight of a foe. He wound +round one side of the curve of the bay, and startled nothing but the +birds and a few reptiles. He came down to the water, hailed the ship, +and was taken aboard. The captain resolved to start up the creek at +nightfall and follow its course into the river. +</P> + +<P> +This was done. Signs of Basil's camp were discovered, and his bivouac +searched. Morgan's helmet was found; the pursuers were on the track. +A hunt in the near woods revealed nothing of note. Re-embarking they +reached an Indian village by midnight, and learned that the foe was +encamped at a larger place up the stream. Here was a chance of a night +assault. But neither bribes nor threats could prevail with any native +to accept the position as guide. The chief finally gave directions +which were either wilfully incorrect or misunderstood. The Englishmen, +on coming to a parting of the waters, took the wrong course, and found +themselves by daylight right in the hills and twenty miles from the +place where the captives lay. +</P> + +<P> +They came back and took the other channel, arriving at the +halting-place about noon, to find the foe gone and themselves too weary +to follow for some hours. Rob and the captain interviewed the chief, +but the latter was too fearful of the Spaniards to offer any +assistance. The English force in his eyes was too weak to gain any +victory, and he would not be on the losing side. +</P> + +<P> +The adventurers pushed forward again in the evening, abandoned their +boats, and took to the hills in the hope of cutting off the Spanish +retreat. They lost their bearings, and for a while were lost +themselves. The pursuit became hopeless, and was reluctantly abandoned. +</P> + +<P> +The party returned to the ship. Nothing further was possible. With a +force ten times as great as the one he really commanded, Captain Drake +might have attempted a march on Panama itself, for the spirit of the +great admiral was strong in him. +</P> + +<P> +Digging was resumed, and the labour was rewarded by the mocking +discovery of a heap of bones. It was plain to every one that the +company had been led into a cunningly prepared trap. In the heat of +their anger some were for sailing back to Trinidad and sacking San +Joseph. The skipper would hear of no such mad enterprise. He set sail +for the open sea, his heart full of two desires. He wanted to fall in +with some other English ships, and essay an attack on Panama. Failing +this, he hoped for the chance of meeting plenty of King Philip's +galleons. Large or small, he vowed to assail them and take a terrible +requital for his own misfortunes. +</P> + +<P> +His latter hope was realized. He fell in with two ships in his passage +through the Indies, and attacked and pillaged both. Although shorn of +nearly half his strength by the time he reached the open Atlantic, yet +he made for the Azores and captured yet a third galleon, and fell in +with a fourth sailing for Panama itself. He boarded this, and gave the +captain a letter for the authorities of the isthmian port. In this he +declared his intention of paying the place a speedy visit with such a +force that he would level the town with the ground if a hair on the +head of any captive had been injured. 'Twas a proud, characteristic +boast, but it was never carried into effect. +</P> + +<P> +Plymouth was duly reached. The <I>Golden Boar</I> brought some goodly +treasure to port, many stories of wonderful lands, and a wealth of bad +news. There was mourning in Plymouth. And Paignton Rob—weeks +after—sat moist-eyed in a cottage at Newnham listening to a maiden's +sobs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap43"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN PANAMA. +</H3> + +<P> +Panama sweltered in a blaze of summer sunshine. The place reeked with +heat like a furnace. The smooth sea reflected the glare like a mirror; +the white houses dazzled the eyes, and sent fiery darts of pain through +them to the brain. The harbour showed no sign of life, the sentinel at +the castle nodded at his post, and his excellency the governor lay +stretched on a couch at an open window, whilst two slaves fanned him +with palm leaves. The streets were empty even of natives. These, +emulating their white masters, had crawled into the shade of wall or +tree, and curled up in slumber. +</P> + +<P> +The jail was a long, low building in the southern angle of the castle +courtyard. Its walls were of mud baked in the tropical sun, and its +roof was of palm-thatch. The windows were mere slits in the thick, +hard walls, and gave little light or air. The doors were stout, and +tightly barred. Of all the hot corners in the Pacific inferno, the +jail corner was the hottest. The place was full; either the long spell +of heat or the caprices of the sweltered governor had stirred up an +unruly spirit. Several soldiers had mutinied; the natives had been +troublesome and restive; a party of sailors had run amuck—doubtless +affected by the torrid heat—and so the prison population was at +high-water mark. The commandant had much ado to find room for the +seven Englishmen. On behalf of the Inquisitors, Basil had offered to +relieve him of their company, but the governor had said "No" to the +proposal. The seven were confined in one room of fair size, and, +except for the heat, were no more comfortless than they would have been +in the average English jail. But the heat was fearful! The wretched +men sat and stewed in it. Water was not too plentiful in the city, and +the native water-carriers had grown lazy; thirst racked the prisoners +one and all. They had been shut in for the better part of two weeks, +and wondered why they had not been brought to trial. They had expected +a short shrift and a speedy execution. Usually these expectations +would have been realized, but the governor would not be bothered with +any extra work whilst the heat spell lasted, and he had been warned +that the "Holy Office" would claim the Englishmen as heretics and +blasphemers. This would mean a lengthy wrangle between the military +and ecclesiastical authorities, and his sun-dried excellency was not in +the mood or condition to preside over heated arguments. The fellows +were safe, he said, and would have time to think over their sins, +political and religious. Let them alone for a while. +</P> + +<P> +It was the turn of Nick Johnson and Johnnie Morgan to be at the window. +A rough bench was drawn up near the opening, and the two knelt thereon +and let the hot air—cool compared with the general atmosphere of the +prison—blow softly on their faces. They were not allowed to put their +heads too near the blessed inlet, for that would shut out the light +from their comrades. Their joint occupation of the room had been +lengthy enough to give rise to a set of rules for their mutual good and +guidance. The law against blocking up the window too closely was a +very strict one. From the angle at which he looked out Nick could see +the drowsy sentinel. +</P> + +<P> +"'Twill be such a day as this that will give us our chance of freedom," +he said. "Could we but get out now, we might parade the streets +unchallenged for an hour. The Dons are in no hurry either to hang or +burn us, and we cannot wait their convenience. If the Indian will only +bring us the arrowhead that he promised, we will try our legs about +noon tomorrow. We ought to take a block out of this wall in +twenty-four hours." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie nodded; his mouth was too parched for speaking. Nick's voice +was very like a raven's croak, and he licked his dry lips and relapsed +into silence. Their spell at the window came to an end. They stepped +down, and went to a corner. Two sailors took their places. +</P> + +<P> +The stifling afternoon passed, and left the captives limp, panting, and +exhausted. As the shadows lengthened, the stir of life arose anew in +the castle. Towards evening the jailer visited his charges, and an +Indian came with him bearing a pitcher of water and some cakes of +native corn. The soldier stood whilst the man deposited his burden; +then both turned and went out without speaking a word. The cakes were +passed round, and each man quickly broke his open. Nothing was +secreted in them, and eager looks were changed to those of +disappointment. Morgan took up the pitcher, drank, and passed to +Jeffreys, who handed it to Nick; and so it went round, each drinking a +little, curbing his desires in order that some of the precious liquid +might remain for the wakeful watches of the night. Darkness came, but +it brought little or no rest. Swarms of mosquitoes came in and bit +their hapless victims mercilessly as they tossed and turned on the bare +earthen floor. The nights of captivity were worse than the days. At +intervals the pitcher went round; but the water had got lukewarm, and +refreshed them little enough. +</P> + +<P> +Day broke, and the pitcher circulated for a last time. The tilting of +the vessel brought a happy discovery: the Indian had been true to his +promise. A small spearhead was wedged across the bottom. +</P> + +<P> +Here was hope, and also employment during the dreary hours. Nick +seized the welcome implement with a cry of joy, and he could not be +persuaded to refrain from using it at once. He measured Morgan's +shoulders on the wall. +</P> + +<P> +"This," said he, "must be the width of the hole. Let me trace it." +</P> + +<P> +In the corner, from the floor upwards, he marked off a rectangular +space. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall have to loosen a block of wall this size, push it out at the +right moment, crawl through, put it back again to avert suspicion, and +then make the best of our way into the forest. That was how we escaped +from Vera Cruz; the trick should serve us a second time." +</P> + +<P> +"Three hide better than seven," suggested Jeffreys. +</P> + +<P> +"And seven can fight better than three," added the sailor. "We shall +do no good in the forest without weapons. The game will not walk to +our fire to be cooked. Either Dons or Indians must furnish us. We lie +here, sheep in a pen, awaiting the butcher. If I am to die in Panama, +let it be no sheep's death." +</P> + +<P> +Each heart echoed these sentiments, and all resolved to risk the +desperate chances for life and liberty. Operations were commenced at +once. It was no great undertaking to remove, with proper tools, a +block of baked clay, some three feet or so by two feet, from a typical +Panama wall. The prison wall was about three feet thick, and almost as +hard as an English brick. The spearhead was of the small sort, and +really little better than a large arrowhead; fortunately it was almost +new, and well sharpened. Nick began working at the floor level, and +the first part of the process was to work the three feet odd along the +base of the wall and back into it until only a thin shell was left on +the outer side. The work could only progress slowly, for there must be +little sound of scraping or ringing of iron on the stone-like clay, and +all dust from the working must be dispersed about the floor. Two +watched at the window all the time. Interruptions were many and +sometimes lengthy, and after three hours of broken labour the workers +had only got some two inches back into the wall along the floor line. +But noon and the death-like stillness of "siesta" gave them a better +opportunity. A shaft that had been procured some days previously was +fished out from its hiding-place, and fitted to the spearhead. Working +in short shifts, by the space of an hour the floor line was worked +through so that daylight was visible in one or two places, and the +upright line in the angle of the wall was worked full depth back to a +height of half a foot. In the late afternoon, after the visit of the +jailer, a groove sufficiently deep to guide them in the darkness was +made all round. The work was to be finished when castle and town sank +to silence after nightfall. +</P> + +<P> +The oppressive heat of the past weeks was broken just after sunset by a +terrific thunderstorm, and the fury of the elemental outburst covered +all noises and allowed the toilers to work without any precaution. +But, alas! their very haste was their undoing. The head, blunted and +worn, broke off short in the depth of the wall. Attempts to extricate +it in the darkness only wedged it in more tightly. With a groan of +despair, the wearied men gave up their task, and sought slumber. +</P> + +<P> +The first gleams of stormy daylight found some of them awake, +feverishly at work stuffing the tell-tale grooves with dust moistened +by the last drains of the water in their pitcher. As yet the great +block was quite immovable, and another implement must be obtained to +complete the task. The flood waters from the courtyard had trickled in +through the apertures made near the floor, and under-garments were +taken off, and the betraying waters swabbed up. Some of the little +band huddled in the corner when the jailer came in with breakfast, and +he went out, having seen and suspected nothing. The Indian looked +inquiringly at the Englishmen, but they were unable to give him any +hint of their wants. +</P> + +<P> +The day passed. The sky cleared; then the clouds gathered again, and +there was another deluge. Panama was flooded out. The sun went down +behind a black veil, but towards midnight the stars came out, and a +delightfully cool breeze swept in at the window to soothe the fevered +bodies within prison walls. What a chance of escape they had missed +during the noisy hours of the storm, when not a soul was abroad in the +place! Knowing the opportunity was there, they tried desperately to +force the door. But the feat was far beyond all the strength at their +command. +</P> + +<P> +And the morning, delicious in its cool and fragrant freshness, brought +despair. The governor, who like the trees had drooped in the heat, +revived with the rain, and set about the duties of his position with +some vigour. The Englishmen were informed that when "siesta" was over +they would be brought into the castle hall for trial and judgment. The +flood had washed away their chances of escape. They solemnly and in +silence shook hands as men saying a long farewell. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap44"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TRIAL. +</H3> + +<P> +No bonds had been placed upon the limbs of the Englishmen since the day +when the Spanish captain had taken them out of the hands of Basil. +They walked unfettered to the judgment hall, and stood without shackles +before their judges. The court was crowded; it was not every day that +a band of terrible fire-eating Englishmen was on view in Panama. +Rumour spoke of them as friends and companions of Drake, and Spaniards +and Indians alike were eager to gaze upon the prisoners. The governor +was chief judge; beside him, on the one hand sat the deputy-governor, +and on the other was placed the chief ecclesiastical dignitary of the +colony. Basil stood by the cleric's side. Johnnie caught sight of +him, and stared him almost out of countenance. He had not seen him on +the day of his capture in the forest, but had caught glimpses of him on +the march. Recollections struggled in his mind. Where had he seen the +fellow before? Nick Johnson, too, felt that he had seen or heard of a +dark-eyed, sallow-faced fellow who resembled the man in court. +</P> + +<P> +The proceedings opened, and the civil authorities formally charged the +prisoners with piracy and invasion of the territory of King Philip of +Spain. The bishop instantly opposed, and claimed to have the charge +amended to one of heresy and murderous opposition to the Church. The +governor asked for evidence in support of his claim. A nod to Basil, +and the latter began a speech for the prosecution. Master Jeffreys +stopped him by an appeal to the governor. +</P> + +<P> +"May it please your excellency," he said, "my comrades have no +knowledge of Spanish, and I have but little. I am persuaded that your +excellency, as a soldier and a gentleman of honour, is anxious to give +us a fair trial. There is peace between our Queen and King Philip; +there should at least be justice and fair-dealing betwixt you and us. +Mine ears tell me that yonder man is more accustomed to speak my tongue +than yours; his Spanish hath the same rough English smack about it as +hath mine own. I pray you that he may say to us in English what he +saith to you in the language of Spain." +</P> + +<P> +Basil reddened and turned to his superior; but the governor, though +indolent and capricious, was a man of some honour and chivalry. He +told the accuser to speak alternately in the language of the court and +that of the prisoners. +</P> + +<P> +Very few sentences in English were necessary to enlighten Johnnie as to +Basil's identity. He could now see the spiteful face that confronted +him on a memorable morning in the shades of Dean Forest. He listened +intently. The harangue was long and tedious, and endeavoured to prove +that the tallest prisoner was a contumacious heretic, who had fought +against the Holy Church, frustrated her lawful efforts at the +conversion of England, and had slain two noble and saintly missionaries +and servants of King Philip—to wit, a certain Jesuit father, Jerome, +and a monk named John. The prisoner had also repeatedly attempted the +life of the speaker. As for the others, one at least had attempted the +speaker's life in Plymouth, well knowing who and what he was; and all +the others were aiders and abettors. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie heard, and asked if he had the right of reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Most certainly," said the governor. "This is a court of law, and it +is our boast and pride that we give justice without fear or favour." +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon Morgan, with Jeffreys as interpreter, gave his version of the +incidents in the forest. A plot, to which no king could have been a +party, was set afoot by his accuser and others to destroy a forest over +which he (Morgan) was a duly appointed guardian. He fought the +conspirators by way of simple duty to his trust. Could he do less and +hold up his head amongst honourable men? His accuser and his +confederates had basely attempted to assassinate two noble +Englishmen—to wit, Admiral Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, a close +friend and counsellor of England's Queen. He asked whether Spain +fought with the weapons of assassins, and whether King Philip, as a +Christian and friendly monarch, could be a party to any such dastardly +conduct. The governor was a gentleman of honour, and could answer for +his sovereign. +</P> + +<P> +The governor promptly denied that "His Most Catholic Majesty" could +ever countenance such deeds. Johnnie bowed and thanked him, and +resumed his defence. He dealt with the questions of piracy and +invasion of Spanish dominions. England and Spain were, he declared, at +peace, and no official could deny an Englishman the right to travel +peaceably in Spanish dominions, unless a law expressly excluded them. +Any Spaniard, so long as he did nothing to harm the Queen or the +government, might travel in England, and claim the protection of its +laws as a peaceful sojourner in the land. Surely the Spaniards were +not going to be outdone in matters of international courtesy. As +regards the New World, the Englishman contended that it was open to +explorers and colonizers of all Christian nations, and Spain could not +claim it as her own unless she also occupied it. +</P> + +<P> +The governor heard Morgan patiently, and hearkened to Master Jeffreys +whilst he expounded his ideas of the rights of England in the New +World. Then his excellency summed up the case. He ruled that the two +gentlemen adventurers were not prisoners of the Holy Office, but of his +Majesty. The charges against them were those of piracy and invasion. +They had certainly been captured on Spanish soil in the act of +appropriating—or endeavouring to appropriate—treasures that belonged +to Spain. Moreover, they were companions of a Captain Drake, who, with +his brother, the admiral, had been guilty of repeated and gross +piracies on the high seas. Their guilt was fully established, and by +law they ought to be taken down to the harbour and hanged in chains, as +a warning to others. Mercy, however, should be shown them; their lives +would be spared, but they must serve ten years in the galleys. A hint +was given, after a whispered consultation with the bishop, that +renunciation of their Protestant heresies would bring about a material +lightening of their sentences. +</P> + +<P> +The five seamen were next put on trial. Basil promptly claimed the +Johnsons as fugitives from the Inquisition. The cropped ears and lost +thumbs were convincing evidence against them, and they were handed over +to the Church, to be dealt with according to the law ecclesiastical. +An attempt to claim the other three sailors failed. The governor would +not quit his hold on them. His own galley was sadly undermanned, and +he could not let three stout and skilled oarsmen slip through his +fingers. He looked longingly upon the two crop-eared fellows, and +begrudged the Church the possession of them. But he remembered with a +sigh that there must be give and take in this world, and five out of +seven was not a bad proportion. +</P> + +<P> +The court broke up. The five galley-slaves were taken back to their +cell for that night. Nick and Ned were walked away in charge of the +jailers of the Inquisition. Their ultimate fate was to be decided the +next day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap45"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOR FAITH AND COUNTRY! +</H3> + +<P> +The trial of the two brothers was a very elaborate and ceremonial +business. The Inquisition Court, with the bishop presiding, sat for +about three hours. There was reading of papers, citing of +ecclesiastical and royal decrees, and a good deal of argument between +the bishop, the Chief Inquisitor, and Brother Basil. Through all this +wordy process the two sailors stood, or lounged, or chatted quietly +together. At first they had listened, hoping to glean a little +information; but as Latin predominated over Spanish, and they +understood no word of the former and only the New World barbaric +mixture of the latter, they soon ceased to pay attention, and lawyers +and ecclesiastics droned on as long as it pleased them to do so. +</P> + +<P> +In the last few minutes the interest swung round to the prisoners. +Basil ordered them to attend and answer truthfully certain questions +the court desired to put to them. The two lean, brown bodies were +straightened, and two pairs of keen, clear eyes stared into Basil's +shifty orbs. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sons of the same parents?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Names?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nicodemus and Edward." +</P> + +<P> +"Nationality?" +</P> + +<P> +"English, God be thanked!" answered Nick. +</P> + +<P> +"Amen! brother," said Ned. +</P> + +<P> +"Religion?" +</P> + +<P> +The two rough fellows looked at one another. The question was really a +puzzler. Living their lives out on the sea, unlettered and unlearned, +they had no knowledge of religious formularies. +</P> + +<P> +"We believe in God and Jesus Christ His Son," said Nick. "Is that so, +brother?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is so," said Ned; "those are the names that come in the +chaplain's prayers." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you acknowledge the authority of his Holiness the Pope of Rome?" +</P> + +<P> +Another look of consultation, and Ned shook his head. Nick answered. +"We do not believe in the Pope. We did as boys during Mary's reign." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you change?" +</P> + +<P> +"Queen and Parliament no longer believe in him, but hate him for an +enemy. We believe in our Queen and Parliament. Will that do, brother?" +</P> + +<P> +"Beautifully. Tell the truth and shame the devil. We have drunk +confusion to the Pope in many a cup of sack, and in good company +too—with Franky Drake and Jack Hawkins, Jacob Whiddon, and a host of +bonny sailor-men. No, brother, we do not believe in the Pope, although +there are some honest fellows and many rogues who do. We must stand by +the words passed to old comrades." +</P> + +<P> +There was a brief consultation on the judges' bench, and the bishop +gave it as his opinion that the two men were utterly ignorant on +religious questions, and simply believed what they were told to +believe. He himself, in pursuance of the duties of his sacred office, +would expound the true faith to them, and show them the heresies of +their own lightly-held belief. Whereupon his lordship addressed the +prisoners for the better part of an hour in very dignified Spanish and +scholarly Latin. The two paid earnest attention, for the +ecclesiastic's tone was kindly, almost fatherly. They understood +little of what he said, and Basil was not allowed to interpret, as the +bishop believed that his own voice and words would have greater weight, +and it was acknowledged that the Englishmen had a fair knowledge of +Spanish. +</P> + +<P> +As the good man sipped a cup of wine and fanned himself after his +episcopal exhortation, Basil briefly questioned the prisoners again. +The bishop had shown them their errors in matters of faith; were they +prepared to recant, and re-enter the fold from which they had +ignorantly strayed? +</P> + +<P> +These questions were plain enough, and the brothers looked at one +another once more. Both heads shook. Nick spoke out. "We are not +able," he said, "to judge between Pope and Parliament, or between one +bishop and another. Our faith and our country are one; our home and +our Church are one. We are loyal Englishmen, and will stick to Queen, +Parliament, and friends because we love them and believe in them and +know that they will never betray or desert us. We hold the faith of +our friends, and cannot, without dishonour, turn and accept the faith +of our foes." +</P> + +<P> +The bishop was angry at this sturdy answer. His vanity was piqued that +two rude sailors should be so uninfluenced by his learned discourse. +He ordered Basil to tell them what the inevitable consequences of their +obstinacy would be. +</P> + +<P> +The two brothers listened calmly enough. "Will you recant now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is it 'No,' brother Ned?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is 'No!'" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" said Nick; "and God help us both!" +</P> + +<P> +Then sentence was pronounced. It was that the next evening, an hour +before sundown, the two should be led to a stake fixed in the +market-place of the town and there publicly burnt, in the hope that the +destruction of their bodies by fire might save their souls from the +everlasting flames of hell. The bishop spoke the sentence, and Basil +translated it piece by piece. The toil-worn figures in the prisoners' +dock became more fixed and rigid as the dread words fell, one by one. +All was said. The brothers faced one another, and there was deathly +pallor whitening the tan of their cheeks. They shook hands silently, +then kissed; then hand in hand, like two children, they walked away +between the guards, and the most curious onlooker never saw even the +tremor of an eyelid. +</P> + +<P> +That night earnest priests, zealous enough according to the narrow +ideas of the time, place, creed, and race, visited the doomed men and +exhorted them to forsake their errors. Always they got the same +simple, faithful, patriotic reply. They served their Queen, their +country, their captain. What these believed, they believed, and held +to be right. Faith with them was a matter of national obligation and +faithfulness to their leaders and comrades. To deny the faith was to +deny the principles that had ruled their lives. Such treason to +country and conscience was impossible. They thanked the priests for +their ministrations, and begged after a while to be left alone. A +request that they might speak with Morgan or Jeffreys was refused, but +a young monk promised to take a message of affectionate farewell. He +fulfilled the promise, and the simple, childlike, yet valiant words +cheered many a terrible hour in the months that followed. +</P> + +<P> +Nicodemus Johnson, and Edward his brother, died at the stake in Panama +at the time and on the spot appointed. A curious and silent crowd +watched the agonizing passing away of the two brave, simple-hearted +fellows; and, Spaniard and Indian alike, they went away profoundly +impressed. A brighter lustre was added to the name "Englishman." It +is difficult to say whether the noble fellows were martyrs most to +religion or country. So little versed were they in religious practices +that they hardly knew a prayer for use in their last hours, and their +last thoughts and visions were not of heaven, but of the green fields +and blue waters of England. +</P> + +<P> +The stakes were placed side by side, and, as the hands and arms were +left free, the brothers could touch one another. +</P> + +<P> +When the fagots were lighted, and the stifling smoke rolled up into +their faces. Nick stretched out his hand and sought that of his +younger brother. "God bless us, brother, and forgive us whatever we +have done amiss!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"God bless England and give her victory over her enemies," replied Ned. +</P> + +<P> +And hand in hand—the loving, tortured grip heartening them to endure +the awful agony—the brothers died. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Dulce et decorum est pro patriâ—et fide—mori!</I>" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap46"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GALLEY SLAVES. +</H3> + +<P> +The great heats were past; the climate along the Panama littoral was +bearable, and the governor decided to pay official visits to the +stations along the coast. The bishop thought the occasion favourable +for a tour of pastoral inspection, and decided to go with his +excellency. Other functionaries, with other duties to perform, hinted +to the governor's secretary or the bishop's chaplain that the official +progress would be more imposing if they were included. Thus it came to +pass that a notable company embarked on the <I>Santa Maria</I> on a certain +cool October day. +</P> + +<P> +Besides those that went aboard the galley willingly, hoping for +pleasure and profit, there were about one hundred and fifty hapless +wretches who were dragged down to the water-side in chains, and then +chained to the place they must occupy during the whole of the voyage. +Amongst these were Morgan, Jeffreys, and the three sailors from the +<I>Golden Boar</I>. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Santa Maria</I> was about one hundred and thirty feet long and +fifteen feet beam, a galley of a somewhat broad and clumsy make. In +the fore-part was a small raised deck, with three guns, and rough +hatches underneath for the sailors, soldiers, and servitors concerned +in the working of the sails and helm, the defence and the comfort of +the dignitaries aboard. In the after-part was another raised deck of +more generous dimensions, and on it were the cabins and state-rooms +belonging to the governor, the bishop, the captain, and the gentlemen +of the retinues belonging to the great personages. Midway between the +two decks were the human engines that propelled the unwieldy craft. +Twenty-five benches ran down along the starboard side and the larboard, +and from each bench a great oar or sweep projected into the water. To +each bench were chained three luckless slaves—seventy-five down each +side, and a hundred and fifty in all. The benches were intended for +four rowers apiece, and could at a pinch accommodate five. The supply +of able-bodied prisoners was small, and the Indians refused to +undertake the work at a wage, so three men were compelled to manage +oars that were a heavy tax on the strength of four. There was a slight +compensation in this—the three had room to lie more comfortably at +night-time. Between the two lines of benches ran a narrow raised +platform, and along this two boatswains walked, whip in hand, to keep +the rowers up to their work, and to visit severely any attempt at +shirking the forced duties of their unhappy position. About a score of +the slaves were white men: there were two Englishmen besides the five +from the <I>Golden Boar</I>, the rest being Spaniards or Portuguese +convicted of some crime; but the majority of the rowers were Indians, +who on some pretext or other had been enslaved and sent in chains to +the oars. +</P> + +<P> +The company were all aboard; some in satins and velvets, in glistening +armour; some in modest fustian; and as many in nothing but a dirty +waist-cloth. The guns from the castle roared out; those of the galley +spoke in answer. The trumpeters blew a fanfare; the chief boatswain +sounded his whistle; there was a simultaneous crack of two long, +cowhide whips, and the human machine in the waist of the galley began +its rhythmic work that put life and motion into the vessel. +</P> + +<P> +At number three oar on the starboard side Morgan and Jeffreys tugged, +and a Spaniard sat between them. In a line with them were the three +sailors of Captain Drake's crew, and at benches numbers one and two +larboard and starboard Europeans slaved. Behind them streamed brown +lines of meek-faced Indians. In the ordering of his rowers, the +Spanish captain did not forget those whose skins were of the same hue +as his own, and he spared himself and them the degradation of toiling +and suffering side by side with the inferior race; the white men had +the fore-part of the benches to themselves. All were stripped to the +waist; that was necessary down in the stifling den: moreover the +boatswains objected to putting the whip to any back that was covered; +they liked to see the effect of the lash, and judge whether the blow +was sufficient. +</P> + +<P> +The galley moved out of the harbour in stately fashion; at the peak of +the foremast floated the banner of Spain; on either side of the helm +the flags of the governor and the bishop fluttered gaily—fraternal +strips of emblazoned silk. It was a fair sight and a fair day, and +there were proud eyes watching it; but, as is too often the case, the +tinsel and show of human vain-glory enshrouded many aching hearts. +</P> + +<P> +The Spaniard that sat between Morgan and Jeffreys was a powerful, +black-bearded fellow, inured to his lot by three years of slavery at +the oar. The Englishmen were also of uncommon size and strength, so +they could keep their sweep going without putting all their energies +into their stroke as some of the rowers were forced to do. Behind +them, where the Indians rowed, there was more than one stinging lash +and squeal of pain before the harbour was cleared. Morgan's cheek +flushed at the first cry, and he almost lost grip of his oar. The slip +was noted instantly, and a warning, "Steady at number three," recalled +him to his task. Jeffreys gave him a look, and the Spaniard cursed +volubly at his companion's clumsiness. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a civil tongue, Hernando," called out the boatswain; "your friend +has not had as much practice as yourself; he'll improve." +</P> + +<P> +Hernando spat on the floor. "Dog! son of a dog!" he muttered. "I'll +choke 'Hernando' out of his throat. Time was when he addressed me as +'Signer,' and grovelled for favours." +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon, comrade," said Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"Granted! granted!" replied the Spaniard. "I meant no offence to you; +but you will see that if anything goes wrong at this oar, yonder +villain will visit my back with his whip. He always does so." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do my best to keep the whip from all of us," answered the +Englishman. He bent his back to the shameful work, and felt, in the +bitterness of his degradation, something less than human. The thoughts +that surged through his brain are too pitiful to be set down here. +Chained down in a filthy den, liable to be whipped like a beast of +burden, fed upon stuff that was but one remove from offal—how +horrible! And he could not forget that about a year before he had +stood in the court of his sovereign, proud, happy, praised; great men +shook him familiarly by the hand, and a winsome maiden smiled upon him. +Now he was a chained slave, doomed to work, eat, and sleep on a narrow +plank for ten long years. Ten years! could he survive ten days of the +horror and squalor and degradation? +</P> + +<P> +The morning wore on. The upper decks were radiant with sunshine, cool +with fresh breezes, and gay with laughter. The hold steamed like an +oven, stank most offensively, and groaned with anguish. The rowers +began to feel the strain, and the captain ordered the broad, lateen +sails to be set on both masts. The breeze was well behind, the galley +under good way, and for half an hour or so the sweeps were ordered in, +and the slaves fed with a lump of coarse biscuit and refreshed with a +pannikin of tepid water. Morgan and Jeffreys sat and talked quietly, +and called out a cheery word to the three sailors, whose British hearts +were bursting with shame and anger. +</P> + +<P> +In the heat of noon the breeze dropped, and the oars were set +vigorously to work again. His excellency wanted quicker progress to be +made, so the boatswains commenced to chant a rude song as they walked +up and down, and called on the rowers to keep time to the swing of the +tune. The fellows did their best, and some of the Spanish slaves +joined in the chorus. The song, poor as it was heartened them a +little; but the spurt did not last long and the singing ceased. The +boatswains used other means. Sometimes it was a sharp word or an angry +oath, at others a crack of the whip in the air; too often the thong +came down with a cruel cut on bare flesh, and there was a cry or an +oath from the victim and a frantic tugging at the great oar. +</P> + +<P> +Thus the day wore on; long spells of rowing, short periods of rest; and +all the while the slaves grew fainter and yet fainter in their horrible +workroom, and the lash of the whips resounded the more often. Hernando +was lashed twice, for no real reason that his companions could +discover. The second blow curled across the muscle of his arm and +benumbed it for a while, and Johnnie whispered him to move in rhythm +with them, whilst he and Jeffreys did the actual rowing. The fellow +was grateful, and vowed by the Virgin never to forget the kindness. +</P> + +<P> +The late afternoon brought the governor to his first place of call. +Rowing ceased; the anchor was dropped, and the slaves were given their +supper of biscuit, a scrap of meat, and a pannikin of water just +coloured with wine—this last was a special gift from the governor. +Then, wearied and aching, they curled up like tired dogs on the +benches, adjusted their chains so as to relieve themselves of as much +weight as possible, and fell asleep. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap47"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HERNANDO SPEAKS. +</H3> + +<P> +The governor's progress lasted about five weeks. The galley sometimes +lay at anchor for several days, and on these occasions the slaves went +ashore for a time in chained gangs for the sake of the fresh air and +the walking exercise; but they spent the greater part of the day +chained to the benches, and always slept on them at night. At one +place there had been some insubordination amongst the garrison, so the +governor paraded the whole of his gaunt, dishevelled, whip-scarred crew +through the town, in order to impress the disloyal ones with the power +and terror of the law. +</P> + +<P> +During these weeks, and especially during the times of leisure in +harbour, the two Englishmen got better acquainted with their companion. +At first the Spaniard was moody and inclined to be spiteful: he could +not forget that his neighbours were English; but Johnnie's repeated +acts of courtesy and kindness, and his cheeriness at times when the +three sailors from the <I>Golden Boar</I> got dangerously despondent, broke +down the barrier of race and creed and speech. Hernando began to talk +of himself. He had been a gentleman adventurer aboard a Spanish ship; +was hot-tempered and impatient of official control. On several +occasions whilst in harbour at Panama he had come into wordy conflict +with the authorities. A sailor aboard his vessel, who had acted as his +servant, abused his trust, and had been soundly thrashed in +consequence, had gone to the governor with a plausible story concerning +a conspiracy which he declared his master was hatching. Hernando was +in bad odour with the authorities at the time; had been certainly +guilty of rash and foolish speeches; so the story was believed, and he +was sent to the galleys. The treacherous servant was rewarded with the +post of boatswain, and he used his authority over his old master with +the most offensive vindictiveness. +</P> + +<P> +The Europeans talked with one another fairly freely. Morgan and +Jeffreys were looked up to by the English section. The two stranger +sailors had both been captured in Spanish waters some years before, +and, after a period in the jail of Cadiz, sent out to the Indies; they +had been galley slaves at Panama for about two years. +</P> + +<P> +One afternoon whilst lolling on his bench, no boatswain or free sailor +within hearing, Hernando asked his two English comrades whether they +had considered the idea of attempting an escape. They replied that at +first they had thought of nothing else, but no ways or means offered, +and they had almost abandoned the idea. They detailed the story of +their attempt to escape from the prison in Panama. The Spaniard +listened carefully. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he said, "I have seen chances of escape from these chains over +and over again; not for one man, mind you, but for a body of resolute +fellows who would follow a leader. There are some thorough rascals +chained to these benches; I have sounded them, and found that I dared +not trust them. It is not difficult for a man to earn his freedom by +turning traitor on his comrades; indeed, it is well known that liberty +will be given for the betrayal of any plot for revolt: a coward or +rogue would take such a chance instantly." +</P> + +<P> +"What about the Indians?" asked Jeffreys. +</P> + +<P> +"Sheep! I do not count upon them, and I have shown you that we dare +not depend much on some of our own colour. It is the coming of you two +and the three sailors from your ship that has revived my hopes and +plans. All the world knows how you Englishmen can fight. I know it, +and have hated you for it. I hope to live and find my hatred turned to +esteem and affection. The two sailors that were here before you I +sounded long ago. One is eager enough; the other has become +broken-spirited, and hesitates to venture upon anything where failure +would add to his present miseries. Five of you are strong, and not yet +cowed at all by the lash. The whip will never cow me. I have a +revenge to take; and I will take it, or die in a bold attempt to do so. +There are seven of us prepared to plot and dare all in the dash for +liberty; one of your countrymen is weak. I can depend pretty +confidently on four of my own tongue, and on the gray-bearded Portugee +at number one oar. The cut-throats and thieves, that help to make up +our number, will fight stoutly enough if suddenly they find themselves +free and armed. Love of plunder and thirst for slaughter and revenge +will nerve them. But we must not trust them beforehand. The poor +Indians, too, will strike a blow at their oppressors if a clear chance +of freedom offers." +</P> + +<P> +"You are not hoping for an opportunity in one of these harbours?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, nor in Panama either. Our chance will not come on this voyage; +there are too many troops aboard. But we sometimes go out with empty +cabins; no one but the captain and his officers. Stores have to be +carried from port to port, and treasure fetched from places farther +down the coast. It is then, at night, that our hour will come. We +must watch for it, prepare for it, and use it without hesitation. Are +you with me in the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Heart and soul! Heart and soul!" +</P> + +<P> +A boatswain's step was heard, and nothing more was said. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap48"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE REVOLT OF THE SLAVES. +</H3> + +<P> +The <I>Santa Maria</I> returned to Panama. The governor had no further need +of her for a while, so she lay anchored about two cables' length from +the quay. The slaves remained aboard, still chained to their benches. +The chain that went around their waists was attached to another piece +fastened to a ring in the seat itself. This attached piece was just +long enough to allow a man to rise and stand upright, but it gave him +no chance to take a step in any direction. The galley arrived in +harbour in the late afternoon, and pulled in alongside the quay wall. +For a couple of hours there was plenty of bustle and confusion aboard; +much coming and going of soldiers, sailors, and servitors. Hernando +looked eagerly up to the bulwarks many times, as though expecting +something; and on more than one occasion he moved his oar three times +quickly up and down, just touching the water each time. A sailor ran +along the top of the bulwarks, holding to the rigging. The fellow gave +a quick glance down, and something dropped into the Spaniard's lap. A +minute or two later he was back again; something was dropped this time +also. The short twilight had just commenced. A little afterwards the +boatswain's whistle sounded, the oars moved, and the galley was rowed +out to her berthing station. +</P> + +<P> +The journey that day had been a long one; the unfortunate slaves were +half dead with fatigue. The anchor chains rattled, and the great +sweeps were drawn in. Lanterns flashed along the boatswains' bridge; +cakes, water, and a little fruit were handed down to be eaten and +drunken in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +"The saints be praised!" ejaculated Hernando when the last lantern +disappeared; "they will not trouble to fetter us to-night. I have +prayed all day that they might not. They trust to our fatigue and the +guns of the fort. To-morrow we shall probably be chained hand and foot +at the oncoming of night. We often get this freedom the first night in +harbour, especially if we come in late and wearied. This is our +chance, and my friend knew it." +</P> + +<P> +The Spaniard passed a file to Morgan. "I have had one or two of these +dropped on several occasions before, but have always thrown them into +the water before morning, being afraid to trust my fellows and use +them. I signalled for them to-day. Shall we make the venture?" +</P> + +<P> +"The chance is desperate," whispered Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"So must any chance be. The guard aboard will be small and sleepy; our +limbs are free; we lie a fair distance from the shore. We are never so +loosely guarded as when in Panama itself." +</P> + +<P> +The two Englishmen remained silent for perhaps three or four minutes, +thinking the matter out. "Let's try, and God be with us!" said +Jeffreys. "If we fail, then death is preferable to life in this foetid +pit, chained up and treated like dogs." +</P> + +<P> +"I agree!" answered Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +He and Hernando sat themselves astride the bench, so as to get at the +ring that attached the waist chain to the one that was fixed into the +seat. This ring necessarily underwent a lot of friction as the men +moved about at the oars, and the three had given the ring as much +chafing as possible for some two or three weeks. Moreover, the steam +from the panting bodies, the mists and spray from the sea, rusted and +ate into the iron. There was no chain factory nearer than Europe, and +fetters were not easily renewable in Spanish America. In fact, the +bonds of the slaves were by no means secure; but they were quite +sufficient for their purpose, seeing that the men were keenly watched +by day, and when in harbour shackled and manacled at night. +</P> + +<P> +There was a buzz of talking, and plenty of weary shuffling and moaning +down on the slaves' deck. Chains clanked and rattled incessantly, and +would never be silent for long all through the night, for restless +sleepers would toss and turn on their hard couches to relieve pressure +on limbs only too often covered with festering and verminous sores. +Still, the noise of a file might be detected as an unusual sound; but +Hernando and Johnnie took the ring tightly in the palm of the hand, and +filed so carefully that Jeffreys, by droning a doleful tune, was able +to cover all the noise they made. +</P> + +<P> +The worn ring was soon filed through, and ten minutes later Jeffreys +had detached himself, and the bench chain was swinging free under the +seat. The files were passed along to the sailors from the <I>Golden +Boar</I>, and after a while they were free. No man moved so as to betray +the fact. The files came across the gangway, and were passed to the +Indians behind. Hernando had let them into the plot, preferring to +trust them rather than the white scum. Nine men were soon able to +move; the waist chains still girdled them, but this did not interfere +with freedom and action, and no time was thrown away in an attempt to +cut them through. The three Indians behind the sailors were next +liberated. A dozen eager and desperate men were ready to make a dash +for life, and hardly two hours had gone by. +</P> + +<P> +"How many more?" whispered Johnnie. +</P> + +<P> +"We must wait before trusting any others," replied the wary Spaniard. +</P> + +<P> +About an hour was allowed to slip by. The freed men laid themselves on +their benches and feigned slumber. Twice during the time a sentinel +passed along the gangway, and flashed a lantern here and there on to +the huddled forms. His glance was of a cursory description. The +toil-worn lines of wretched beings lay just as he had seen them a +hundred times: some were still as dead logs; others moved and babbled +in their sleep; here and there one sat with his head in his hands, +bowed down with sleep or agonizing thought. There was nothing unusual; +only the familiar scenes and sounds of the slave deck at night. The +sentinel walked off to the fore-deck to get a breath of sweeter air and +the company of a sailor comrade. +</P> + +<P> +The slaves slept. Being, for the most part, without hope of anything +better than a few hours of forgetfulness between the sun-setting and +the dawn, the majority gave themselves willingly and thankfully to +slumber as soon as the scanty supper was eaten. No flash of a +sentinel's lantern, no tramping of feet, no cry of nocturnal bird or +beast would waken them; they sank into sleep as into some deep, +soundless, lightless pit. God rest all such unhappy ones! +</P> + +<P> +The sentry showed no signs of paying any further visit; the captain was +ashore. Hernando slipped from his seat, cautiously wakened the fourth +English sailor, and gave him a file with whispered instructions; then +he passed on to a trustworthy fellow-countryman of his own and gave him +the other. He came back to his bench, and waited for about another +quarter of an hour. "Now," he whispered to his two companions. He +dropped to the floor and crawled on all fours to the after-part of the +ship. No one else moved. After what seemed almost an endless time, he +crawled back again. "The way is clear; not three men are awake above +our heads. I'll take the Indians; they move as noiselessly as cats." +</P> + +<P> +The Spaniard went to the fore-part of the ship, and three Indians +behind him in single file. The other three moved stealthily from bench +to bench and awoke their fellows. Hardly a sound had been made. The +three sailors from the <I>Golden Boar</I> and Master Jeffreys crawled above +deck; Morgan remained in command below. +</P> + +<P> +Minutes passed. A slight sound of a scuffle, a cry, came faintly from +the fore-deck. Then dead silence fell again. Time flew on. The tide +was beginning to run out; the galley swung with it. The Indians, +stolid enough as a rule, began to fidget on their seats. A lantern +appeared at the fore end of the rowers' pit. Jeffreys came along. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" asked Morgan anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh! an ugly business. Not a man lives of the crew or guard in the +fore-part of the vessel. Hernando's knives and Indian fingers have +done their deadly work. Are all awake?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not the Europeans." +</P> + +<P> +"Awaken them; here's a hammer and chisel; get their chains off. +Hernando and his Indians are gone to the after-deck to block up the +cabin doors. Our three boys are at the anchor. Keep this lantern. We +have padded the hawse-hole, but there'll be some noise getting the +anchor up. Have the rowers ready for my signal." +</P> + +<P> +There was soon clatter and even clamour amongst the slaves, and Morgan +had much ado to keep the wilder ones from shouting and running on deck. +One Spaniard who tried to do so, intent upon robbery, was promptly +knocked down. "You're not safe yet," cried Johnnie; "you're still in +harbour and under the fort guns; you'll sit down and row, or go +overboard to the sharks." The fellow poured out a torrent of foul +language, but the Englishman's fist was hard, his own oar-comrades were +against him, so he sat down and made ready for work. +</P> + +<P> +"Ready?"—Jeffreys' voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +The anchor rattled on the deck. +</P> + +<P> +"Pull for life and liberty!" called Morgan. +</P> + +<P> +A great sigh ran along the benches; dark figures swayed in the faint +light; the splash of oars sounded above the lap of the tide; the great +galley was under way and going seawards. The time was some minutes +short of midnight. +</P> + +<P> +Panama was asleep. The men rowed slowly, making as little noise as +possible until clear of the swarm of canoes and small craft that hung +about in the bay. Then they went to work with a will. The oars +creaked and groaned; the vessel rolled to the ocean swell. The +officers awoke in their cabins only to find themselves trapped. Dawn +found the galley well out of sight of land and going northwards. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap49"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter XLIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EASTWARD HO! +</H3> + +<P> +Panama awoke with the sun, discovered the flight of the galley, and +made ready for pursuit. There were some small craft in the bay, and +these were manned with Indians and soldiers and sent out to sea; but +they came back as they went. Truth to tell, the flotilla would have +stood no chance against the guns of the <I>Santa Maria</I>, and those aboard +the tossing boats knew that. +</P> + +<P> +Thereafter, for some weeks, the town lived its nights in alarm. Fires +burned along the fort and on the most seaward points of the bay. No +man expected other than that the slaves would come back in the darkness +and take a terrible revenge for the cruelties they had suffered. But +Panama was alarmed quite needlessly: the galley never rode on its +waters again. +</P> + +<P> +The first care of the revolted slaves was to get as far away from their +late masters as possible. In spite of their fatigue, they rowed hard +until daybreak. At first there was some difficulty with the European +riff-raff. These wanted to swagger about on deck and bully the +Indians; but neither Hernando nor his two English friends would hear of +it. They had chosen the able-bodied sailors from amongst the rowers, +and placed them on deck to attend to helm and sails. All not wanted +for this duty must sit at the oars. Two or three flatly refused to do +so, and began to talk above their deserts. They were promptly put back +into chains again, and Hernando stood over them with a whip and flogged +them into work. The lesson was not lost on the others. +</P> + +<P> +A breeze came up with the sun; sails were spread, sweeps taken in, and +the Indians freed from their chains. The delight of the poor fellows +was unbounded. They fell down before their rescuers, worshipping them; +then they rushed up on deck, dancing and singing like a mob of children +let loose from confinement. There was plenty of excellent food aboard, +and for once the rowers fed sumptuously. The breeze continuing, all +save the three commanders and the deck hands laid themselves down and +slept until nearly noon. Then labour began again. The wind still held +strongly, so the natives were put to work cleansing the slave-deck of +its accumulated filth. The chains, save about a score of the strongest +sets, were tossed overboard. These were kept in case of mutiny amongst +the scum whites. There was no fear of trouble with the natives; the +faithful, grateful creatures would follow their liberators everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +The cleaning being finished, a council of all the whites—save the +three put into bonds—was held on the after-deck. Hernando, as prime +mover in the revolt, presided. As the Spaniard was a good seaman, he +was unanimously appointed captain; whereupon he chose Morgan, Jeffreys, +and a trustworthy Spaniard as his chief officers. Then, before the +whole assembly, he swore solemnly to do his utmost for the welfare of +his ship; and his three officers, having his promise to issue no orders +that a gentleman might hesitate to fulfil, solemnly swore to obey him +to the death. The others, according to their several stations, took +vows of faithful obedience to their officers. +</P> + +<P> +The captain then proceeded to set matters in order. There were +prisoners in the cabins near them; these were brought forth one by one, +and examined with commendable fairness. Morgan was surprised at the +change in Hernando. He had expected to find him vindictive and cruel, +and he knew that not a soul in the fore-part of the galley had been +spared in the darkness of the previous night. But liberty had softened +the Spaniard; he remembered the injustice he had suffered, not with a +view to exacting "eye for eye" and "tooth for tooth" from others, but +with the resolve not to inflict injustice upon his fellows. The trials +of the prisoners took up the remainder of the day. Some who had been +cruel to the slaves were hanged with but little ceremony; it was hardly +to be expected that men whose backs still smarted would do otherwise. +The two boatswains had perished the night before; the chief boatswain +was doomed to share their fate; two others were hanged; the rest were +sent below to the slave-deck, and chained to one of the oars, far +enough away from the troublesome slaves who were undergoing punishment. +</P> + +<P> +The night passed without alarm. Hernando and Morgan walked the deck +for hours in the starlight, planning for the future. They saw the +difficulties and dangers of their position, but could not clearly see a +way out of them. They had a ship, well manned and well armed, and +fairly well victualled. What should they do with her? Search would be +made for them, and galley after galley, ship after ship, coming into +Panama, would be sent in quest of them. It they continued in Spanish +waters, they must be overtaken at some time or other. What would the +result be? They had guns, ammunition, and a fair supply of weapons, +but their fighting capacity was very small. The Indians—or most of +them—must be at the oars. Out of less than a score of Europeans, some +must be about deck duties. A mere handful of men would be left to work +the guns and fight. A foe of any strength must inevitably capture them. +</P> + +<P> +Should they attempt to cross the Atlantic to England? There again came +the question of capture. Would the Indians remain faithful if any +attempt were made to take them thousands of miles from their homes? +Should they turn corsairs; capture a sailing ship; set the Indians +ashore on their own coast, or leave them the galley to do as they +pleased with it? The two men could not make up their minds. +</P> + +<P> +The next day the same thoughts came to the rest of the Europeans, and +they were heard discussing their chances of ultimate escape. Another +full council was held, and the position placed clearly before them all. +There were many differences of opinion, but eventually it was agreed +that there was too much danger in remaining near the seaboard of +Spanish America, and equal or greater peril to be encountered in an +attempt to make a winter passage to Europe. No man would face the +voyage round Cape Horn with an inadequate crew and a clumsy galley +mainly propelled by oars. The voyage would take nearly a year, and +they had provisions for about a fortnight. The plan of capturing a +small ship was more favourably considered; but the question arose, +Where could such a ship be found? If they got into the ordinary track +of navigation, other and less welcome vessels might sight them. The +position was distinctly perilous, and a bad feature of it all was that +some of the rescued men were thoroughly treacherous and untrustworthy, +and others so broken down by years of slavery as to be helpless for +strenuous action. The three ringleaders saw plainly that they had less +than a dozen men, including themselves, that could be relied upon for +loyal, valiant, and intelligent conduct in an emergency. They went to +rest that night with no definite plans for the morrow. The galley was +kept slowly going northward towards the Pacific coast of Mexico; the +oars were little used. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning Hernando took definite steps. He took the captured +officers and the recalcitrant whites, put them into a boat within sight +of land, set them adrift, and stood out to sea again. He had none +under his command then who were not at least faithful. +</P> + +<P> +For a couple of days he went north, well out to sea. Then he turned +inshore again, coasted for a while, until he came to a wooded bay that +offered good anchorage. Entering this he dropped his anchor, and went +ashore with Morgan and half a dozen or so of the Indians. The party +was away for some hours, and only returned at sunset. The next day the +object of the expedition was disclosed. Hernando called the whole +crew, white and Indian, before him. He explained the dangers they were +hourly in on the high seas, and the impossibility of fighting any +strong adversary. Food was running short, and a long voyage in the +galley was out of the question. He proposed to take to the land +himself, and hazard his chance of life and liberty there. The Indians +could scatter abroad. The forest teemed with game, and he and his +party had seen many streams. No village or town was anywhere in sight. +The chances of escape into Mexico were excellent for whites and natives +alike. Or any man who wished it might try to reach his own tribe +again; a matter of half a moon of marching would bring him to his +people. Every man should take some weapon and as much food as he cared +to carry. His plan included the burning of the galley, so that all +trace of them might be lost. +</P> + +<P> +The natives rejoiced at the chance of quitting the hated galley for +their native woods, and the Europeans saw that their captain's plan +offered them the best hope of safety; they agreed also. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Santa Maria</I> was partially dismantled. All that was of value in +her was taken out; the food was shared, arms distributed, and the whole +party went ashore in the boats. Hernando stayed last, and fired the +vessel before he left her. During the whole night she blazed, +illuminating the camp of her late occupants amid the trees on the +shore. The Indians had rigged up two tents with the sails, and in +these their white companions slept comfortably. +</P> + +<P> +No move was made from the camping-place on the shore for several days. +The Indians scouted round in all directions, going fifty or sixty miles +through forest and over mountain, and spying out the land. Hernando, +meanwhile, tried to get some idea of his position on the Pacific coast. +From his observations, and the reports of the natives, he concluded +that he must be somewhere west of the great lake of Nicaragua, and in a +line for the small town of San Juan on the Atlantic coast, not more +than a week's march away. +</P> + +<P> +When fairly satisfied of this, he struck his camp, and marched inland +over the mountains. The natives carried one boat. In due time they +saw a vast stretch of water below them, and knew that the lake lay in +their path. +</P> + +<P> +On the shores of the lake the white men had decided to part from their +native companions. Villages clustered here and there on the margin of +the waters, and the appearance of a large company would spread alarm, +and send reports through the land that might betray them all. The +leave-taking was pathetic enough. The poor Indians looked like so many +helpless children. They begged the white men to stay with them, and +settle in the mountains between the lake and the sea. The country was +rich, and food and water plentiful. They would be faithful children to +their white fathers, if the latter would but stay to guide, protect, +and counsel them. +</P> + +<P> +But neither Englishmen nor Spaniards had any desire to rule as petty +chiefs in a Central American forest; their thoughts and hopes took +higher flights than that. Adieus were said; the Europeans took to +their boat, with but one Indian as a scout and possible interpreter, +and pulled out from the shore, the mass of natives rushing after them +into the water, weeping and lamenting. +</P> + +<P> +The passage of the lake was safely accomplished; the course of a river +flowing into it was followed as far as it was navigable. Then the +party camped whilst the Indian went to the hilltops in the east, and +surveyed the land that sloped away to the coast. He was away about +forty hours. +</P> + +<P> +On his return with a favourable report the camp was struck and the boat +burned. Then, carefully covering up their tracks, the fugitives set +out for the Atlantic coast. It was hardly possible that any report of +their escape would have reached so far, and the authorities would never +look for them on the eastern ocean. +</P> + +<P> +When the outskirts of San Juan were reached, Hernando went on as +advance guard. The next day they all entered the town as a party of +shipwrecked sailors. The Englishmen had been rechristened with Spanish +names for the nonce, and they wisely left the talking to their Spanish +companions. They were received without suspicion. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap50"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter L. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOME. +</H3> + +<P> +The Englishmen were doomed to idle about in San Juan for some weeks, +and during that time the little money they had found on the <I>Santa +Maria</I> melted away. Vessels did not enter the little port very often. +The Portuguese and Spaniards, save Hernando, found temporary work on +neighbouring estates and plantations, and Morgan and his fellows of the +<I>Golden Boar</I> had plenty of offers of employment; but they preferred to +abide together under the wing of Hernando, fearing to betray their +nationality by mixing separately and freely with the Spanish settlers. +Hernando for his part stuck loyally to them, and none of the others +said or did aught to bring suspicion upon their late comrades. The +fugitives longed and waited for a ship, hoping to get a passage in her +to some place off the mainland. It was by no means an unusual thing +for sailors to desert their ship when she touched at a port; some, +indeed, undertook a voyage with this end in view, the allurements of +the golden tropics proving stronger than any sense of duty. +</P> + +<P> +At length a small ship arrived from Cuba, bringing a consignment of +Spanish goods from the depôt at Santiago; she was to take back silver +bars for transhipment to Lisbon. Would the skipper give a passage to +seven strange sailors whose appearance was not too Spanish? It was +doubtful. Yet it turned out that he was only too glad to do so. More +than seven of his crew deserted, and went away to the west in search of +the silver mines from which the bars had come. Morgan always had a +shrewd suspicion that Hernando cleverly engineered the desertion for +the sake of his English friends. In any case the desertion took place +most opportunely, and the fugitives got the passage they desired. For +the sake of appearances both gentlemen adventurers played the part of +common sailors. At the last moment Hernando decided to go to Cuba with +them. He felt that a few months there would do him good, and help +certain keen-eyed people to forget his face. Moreover, he was +generously anxious to see the safety of the Englishmen more fully +assured. +</P> + +<P> +The season was not the best in the year for sailing, and the voyage to +Santiago was a rough one. The new sailors behaved admirably; and +though the captain was more than a little suspicious of their +nationality, he said nothing and paid them well. Moreover, he was +largely instrumental in getting them a passage to Europe. Hernando's +tongue and the talismanic name of Drake did the rest. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Donna Philippa</I> was a galleon of medium class, but well-built and +swift-sailing. She was attempting the Atlantic voyage in the winter +season, as the authorities preferred to trust her precious cargo to the +chances of the storms rather than to the mercies of the English +corsairs. These were not abroad on the high seas in the cold season, +when ocean traffic was small and tempests frequent; but in the summer +time no Spanish captain knew when one of the dreaded craft might appear +above the horizon. It is difficult to realize nowadays the terror that +Drake and fellow captains—pirates all—had inspired in the breasts of +Spanish seamen. +</P> + +<P> +The galleon had not her full complement of crew, for there were some +who had come out who were not as favourably disposed towards a winter +voyage as was their captain. The latter spoke to the skipper of the +coaster concerning his difficulties, and the skipper told him of the +men he had picked up at San Juan. He did not hide his suspicions that +there was more English than Spanish blood in their veins. He +acknowledged that they were splendid sailors; but, being as he believed +English deserters, he regarded them as desperate fellows, assuming a +gentleness and zealous obedience quite foreign to their nature. +</P> + +<P> +It was here that Hernando stepped in and played his part. No one +doubted his nationality; and he, hearing of the shortage of good +sailors on the galleon, did his last ingenious act of kindness for his +comrades in misfortune. Over a cup of wine in the state-room of the +<I>Donna Philippa</I> he told a story that did his heart and his wits equal +credit. He began it by confirming the skipper's suspicions that his +last batch of sailors were English to the very marrow of their bones. +</P> + +<P> +"Yet I love them," he declared, "and would place my life and my +father's life in their hands without an instant's hesitation." +</P> + +<P> +Then followed an account of his own shipwreck months before with some +other Spanish gentlemen. "We found," said he, "a boat, and coasted +with her seeking a harbour. We met the Englishmen, wrecked also. They +were a stronger party than we were. They joined us—worked with us for +months like brothers. We sailed seas together, fought foes, swam +rivers, climbed mountains, threaded forests, shared food, drink, +raiment, money—everything. They told us their story. Two of them, as +you may see, are not common sailors, but gentlemen of position, +favourites of their Queen, bosom friends and lovers of Drake, Raleigh, +Hawkins, Grenville, Whiddon, and all the mighty English captains. They +want to get home. Take them as they are. I'll pledge my life they'll +serve you faithfully and cheerfully, and they'll <I>insure your cargo +against seizure by their friends</I>! Mark that; their presence aboard +the <I>Donna Philippa</I> will assure her the polite and friendly attentions +of every English captain on the high seas. See the two gentlemen in my +presence, and find out their value for yourself. Were I in your place +I should fall down and thank the Mother of God for sending me such help +in my hour of need." +</P> + +<P> +The captain of the galleon pondered the matter. Hernando pressed his +views upon him, and the skipper of the coaster seconded him. Morgan +and Jeffreys were brought aboard. They readily offered themselves as +working passengers; expressed themselves as willing to take an oath of +fidelity to the captain if he would take another one to them; and +assured him that no English captain would rob him of a jot of his +cargo, or treat him other than as a friend and brother, whilst they +were with him to tell of his kindness to them. +</P> + +<P> +The bargain was struck. Morgan, Jeffreys, and the five sailors were +duly entered on the ship's books, owning to the Spanish names bestowed +on them by Hernando. The two gentlemen went as passengers, with a +sailor each as servant; the other three took their places amongst the +crew. Two of them had been long enough in the galleys to speak Spanish +as well as they spoke their mother tongue. They cleared Santiago +safely towards the end of January. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Donna Philippa</I> was called upon to pay some penalty for her +rashness in crossing the Atlantic in winter. Again and again did the +tempests strike her, shattering some of her timbers, swamping her with +terrific seas, and driving her for days out of her proper course. It +is probable that the greater skill of her English sailors and +passengers alone saved her from destruction. They were more accustomed +to the stormy northern seas than were their Spanish comrades, and they +set an example of cool courage and endurance that saved the galleon +from worse disasters than those that actually befell her. If he met no +English corsairs, the Spanish captain had reason to congratulate +himself on his wisdom in accepting Hernando's advice in Santiago. +Needless to say, the ship was never becalmed, and the howling winds +that drove her out of her way would often moderate, turn round, and +send her bowling homewards. The skipper hoped to make the Azores as +his first land, but a south-westerly wind springing up in early March +and continuing for some days, he held on direct for Lisbon. So far no +human enemy had molested him. +</P> + +<P> +The ship was nearing the coast of Portugal, and the sailors were +expecting to sight land on the morrow. March was half-way through, the +sun warm by day and the breezes often southerly and genial. Morgan and +Jeffreys were wondering what might befall them in the realms of King +Philip, and how they should get ship from there to England. They had +but little money, as the captain had treated them as guests of gentle +birth, paying with food the services they could render him. Spain was +dangerous ground for English feet, and no foreign land could well be +pleasant to a set of penniless men. The prospect was not alluring. +</P> + +<P> +Now and again sails appeared above the horizon, and after weary +watching Jeffreys espied one that he declared to be English. The +vessel was coming up from the south, and the <I>Donna Philippa</I> was +steering almost due east. At a certain point their paths would cross. +The two Englishmen went to the captain and called his attention to +this, and asked him to shape his course so as to meet the oncoming +boat, and put them aboard if she chanced to be English. +</P> + +<P> +The skipper demurred at first. His cargo was precious, but safe; he +was almost in sight of home. Why should he run risks? The adventurers +assured him that there could be no risk. The stranger vessel was a +small one; if any other than English, she would never dare to fight a +ship of the tonnage of the <I>Donna Philippa</I>; and if English, they would +guarantee that not a blow should be struck. After much persuasion the +captain consented. +</P> + +<P> +The little ship was hailed, and proved to be a Canary trader bound for +Bristol. Morgan went aboard and explained matters, and the captain +gladly consented to receive them and give them a passage home. So, to +the surprise of the crew of the galleon, the men were transhipped a +day's sail from harbour. +</P> + +<P> +Ten days later the trader dropped anchor in the Avon. Morgan went to +the mayor of the city, saw him privately, and explained who he was, and +what had befallen him and his comrades. His worship listened to the +story, and advanced the adventurer money to take him and his friends to +their homes. The next day the seven, with handshakes, kisses, even +tears, separated and went their several ways. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap51"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter LI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FOREST AGAIN—AND THE SEA. +</H3> + +<P> +Johnnie Morgan had tramped up from Bristol to Berkeley, and now stood +on the Severn bank at the eastern end of the ferry to Gatcombe and the +snug ingle-corner of the old farmhouse. Such a crowd of thoughts, +hopes, dreads, rushed into his mind that the whirl and jostle of them +in his brain made him giddy. He had left Bristol at dawn; it was now +late afternoon and an April day. He had entered the "Berkeley Arms" in +the old feudal town, called for his ale, and been stared at by an old +crony, yet never recognized. A year of absence, danger, privation, +slavery had put five years at least on to the young yeoman's back. The +laughter had gone out of his eyes, the roundness out of his cheeks, and +his walk was stiff. +</P> + +<P> +He hailed the ferryman. The man came slowly across from Gatcombe. +Johnnie recognized his stroke before he clearly detected the body from +the boat. Here was the real touch of home. Old Evan would stare at +him, doubtless, but only for a moment. Then would come the +affectionate cry, "Plague take me! if it b'aint Jack Morgan. Welcome +home, my son; we'd given thee up for dead!" +</P> + +<P> +The ferryman came; his fare stepped in. The ferryman stared not once +nor twice, but apparently he gave up the puzzle that troubled his mind, +for he took the ha'penny fare with no other remark than that the day +had been very warm for the time o' year. Johnnie went up the hill +feeling very depressed. On a sudden impulse he turned aside from the +highroad and took the path by the river through the fields to his own +lands. He felt he could not bear another familiar face to look into +his and not give him an old-time affectionate greeting. He tried to +persuade himself that the light was getting weak, but looking around he +could distinguish small objects on the other side of the river, and he +recognized old Biddy Gale coming down to the well at the bottom of her +garden to draw water. +</P> + +<P> +The red roofs of Blakeney showed up against the dark background of the +trees. He looked for his own house. No smoke curled from the +chimneys. His heart seemed suddenly to turn to a lump of lead. An +urchin was coming along the path; he determined to talk to him. +</P> + +<P> +The boy came whistling along, spied the tall, gaunt, bearded stranger, +and ceased his piping. When Johnnie turned towards him he made as +though to bolt, but thought better of it and came on. +</P> + +<P> +"Is yonder place Blakeney?" asked the young man. +</P> + +<P> +"It is," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Doth one Master John Morgan live there?" +</P> + +<P> +"A-did in the time past, good master; but, preserve us from evil! the +Spaniards roasted and eat him somewhere in the Indies." +</P> + +<P> +A faint smile flickered across Johnnie's face. "How sad!" he cried. +"Who then lives in his house yonder?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just a widow woman and her maid. They will not quit, they say, until +a twelvemonth and a day be gone by from the time the rascal Dons laid +hands on their master. They will have it that he will come back; and +Mistress Dawe of Newnham, and a sailor-man named Dan of Plymouth, do +hold with them." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie wanted to ask a question about Dolly, but the words would not +come. The lad relieved him by continuing to unload his budget of +information. +</P> + +<P> +"The sailor-man be lodged at the farm, much against the widow's +wish—so she says; but he declares he will not budge, lest Master +Morgan should come home and find never the face of an old shipmate to +cheer him." (The smile flickered across Johnnie's face again.) +"Mistress Dawe be now at the house, if thou art minded to walk thither. +She comes there at times and stays for two or three days. Folks do say +that she expects John Morgan to walk in some evening. They were +lovers, ye know." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Johnnie, with a catch in his breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Yon's the house, behind the hayricks. Fine harvest Master Morgan had +last year. All the lads in this part of the forest looked after his +fields in turns. I helped to get in his hay and corn, and the widow +gave a harvest home just as the master would have done." +</P> + +<P> +"Didst know this Morgan, sonnie?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, I do mind him well. Thou dost favour him somewhat, only he was a +taller and properer man and had no beard." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll go to the house; here's a penny for thee. Tell thy father +that a tall man who hath been in the Indies hath been asking for Master +Morgan." +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie walked on, his heart beating to the rhythm, "Dolly is there! +Dolly is there!" He jumped a stile. His own fields! He looked +around; no one was in sight, so he pressed his lips to the turf, then +whispered a quick, passionate prayer. Rising up again, eyes wet, knees +trembling, he walked on. +</P> + +<P> +He had turned up the path from the river; his orchard was before him. +He turned to look behind at the rushing stream and the gulls circling +in the rays of the setting sun. There was a flutter of white at the +river-stile. His heart stood still. Could it be? No!—Was it?—Yes! +He started riverwards at a run; then stopped; hesitated; walked soberly +on. +</P> + +<P> +The flutter of white again from the shadow of the hedge; the figure of +a girl, bonnetless, her hair gently lifting with the breeze, stood out +clear and unmistakable. He stopped. The maid stepped a little forward +and shaded her eyes with her hand. With an uncontrollable impulse his +arms stretched out. +</P> + +<P> +"Dolly!" +</P> + +<P> +A cry from the stile. A girl sprang forward, raced up the field, and +threw herself into his arms. "Johnnie! Johnnie! Thank God! thank +God! I dreamt you would come back and find me where we last met, just +like this!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The next day the forest rang with the news that Johnnie Morgan was home +again, and foresters, miners, and fishers made so merry over the event +that Johnnie thought it worth while to have gone through so much in +order to give them such a jubilant time. +</P> + +<P> +Three weeks afterwards the maidens chose pretty Dolly as "Queen of +May," and when she was crowned they led her to the church above the +river—all in her garlands gay—and there a tall, sun-browned youth +took her "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," till +death should part them. And there were rare junketings and feastings +to celebrate the union of the two woodland favourites. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Johnnie abode at home for one year. Then he was tempted to go again to +London, and from thence he went by sea to Plymouth. There he met the +admiral, his brother John, Jacob Whiddon, Sir John Trelawny, and other +sea-going worthies, and there was much talk concerning the Indies. +</P> + +<P> +Johnnie came home, and one night he said to his wife Dorothy, "I have +been thinking that I left some honour behind me on the other side of +the world. Master Jeffreys sends me a letter this morning, and Sir +Walter hath written a postscript to it. I cannot forget what was done +at Panama, and there are some who should suffer for the cruelties done +to Nick and Ned Johnson and others who sailed on the <I>Golden Boar</I>. +The ship is fitting for another voyage, and I have still an interest in +her. What dost say, sweetheart? thou knowest the thoughts that are in +my mind." +</P> + +<P> +Well, Mistress Morgan said nothing that night, but she wept a little +and sighed oft. But the next day she said "Go, husband, and God go +with thee!" +</P> + +<P> +So the <I>Golden Boar</I> went westward ho! again, and Dan Pengelly and all +her old company that were above ground went in her. And Captain Jacob +Whiddon went too, in a second ship called the <I>Elizabeth</I>. There was +no wild-goose chase this time after golden cities that could not be +found. But the Englishmen harried the Spanish settlements along the +South American coast and in the Mexican Gulf, and preyed upon King +Philip's shipping. They sent an expedition two hundred strong across +to Panama and raided the town, daringly marching back to the Atlantic +with no man presuming to stop them. +</P> + +<P> +They came home to Plymouth laden with spoil, gotten mainly by piracy +and the breaking of the laws of nations. But their countrymen +acclaimed them to the skies, holding them to be no robbers, but heroes +and patriots all! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA-DOGS ALL!***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 25670-h.txt or 25670-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/6/7/25670</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/25670-h/images/img-228.jpg b/25670-h/images/img-228.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b174c39 --- /dev/null +++ b/25670-h/images/img-228.jpg diff --git a/25670-h/images/img-cover.jpg b/25670-h/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..80500d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/25670-h/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/25670-h/images/img-front.jpg b/25670-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b591a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/25670-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/25670.txt b/25670.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a14e657 --- /dev/null +++ b/25670.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9263 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sea-Dogs All!, by Tom Bevan + + +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: Sea-Dogs All! + A Tale of Forest and Sea + + +Author: Tom Bevan + + + +Release Date: June 1, 2008 [eBook #25670] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA-DOGS ALL!*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 25670-h.htm or 25670-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670/25670-h/25670-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670/25670-h.zip) + + + + + +SEA-DOGS ALL! + +A Tale of Forest and Sea + +by + +TOM BEVAN + +Author of + "Red Dickon the Outlaw," + "The Fen Robbers," + etc., etc. + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat] + + + + +Thomas Nelson and Sons +London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and New York +1911 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. The Man in Black + II. The Plotters + III. Two Friends + IV. Johnnie Morgan takes a Walk + V. Master Windybank + VI. A Sinister Meeting + VII. In the Toils + VIII. Master Windybank walks abroad + IX. The Hunt + X. Master Windybank rebels + XI. Darkness and the River + XII. Snaring a Flock of Night Ravens + XIII. A Double Fight + XIV. What happened in Westbury Steeple + XV. A Letter from Court + XVI. To London Town + XVII. Sir Walter as Chaperon + XVIII. Three Broken Mariners + XIX. Paignton Rob's Story + XX. Rob dines at "Ye Swanne" + XXI. Morgan goes to Whitehall + XXII. The Queen + XXIII. Johnnie sees many Sights + XXIV. Two Chance Wayfarers + XXV. Brother Basil + XXVI. All on a bright March Morning + XXVII. In Plymouth + XXVIII. The Parlour of the "Blue Dolphin" + XXIX. The Widow's House + XXX. Ho! for the Spanish Main + XXXI. In the Bay of San Joseph + XXXII. A Glimpse of the Fabled City + XXXIII. Wandering in a Maze + XXXIV. Flood and Fever + XXXV. A Foe + XXXVI. The Attack on the Village + XXXVII. Council Fires in Two Places + XXXVIII. The Way back + XXXIX. John Oxenham's Creek + XL. A Haven of Peace + XLI. The Trap + XLII. Captives + XLIII. In Panama + XLIV. The Trial + XLV. For Faith and Country! + XLVI. The Galley Slaves + XLVII. Hernando speaks + XLVIII. The Revolt of the Slaves + XLIX. Eastward Ho! + L. Home + LI. The Forest again--and the Sea + + + + +List of Illustrations + + +Cover art + +Dolly stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat . . _Frontispiece_ + +The odds were hopelessly against him. + + + + +SEA-DOGS ALL! + + +Chapter I. + +THE MAN IN BLACK. + +The river-path along the Severn shore at Gatcombe was almost knee-deep +with turbid water, and only a post here and there showed where river +ordinarily ended and firm land began. Fishers and foresters stood in +the pelting rain and buffeting wind anxiously calculating what havoc +the sudden summer storm might work, helpless themselves to put forth a +hand to save anything from its fury. Stout doors and firm casements +(both were needed in the river-side hamlet) bent with the fury of the +sou'-wester that beat upon them. The tide roared up the narrowing +estuary like a mill-race, and the gale tore off the tops of the waves, +raised them with the lashing raindrops, and hurled both furiously +against everything that fringed the shore. Gatcombe Pill leapt and +plunged muddily between its high, red banks, and the yellow tide surged +up the opening and held back the seething waters like a dam. There was +black sky above, and many-coloured earth and water below. + +The lading jetty against the village only appeared at odd moments above +the tumult of waters, and a couple of timber ships that lay on the +north side, partially loaded, were plunging and leaping at their anchor +cables like two dogs at the end of their chains. Great oaken logs +bobbed up and down like corks, or raced with the current upstream; the +product of many weeks' timber-cutting in the forest would be scattered +as driftwood from Gloucester to the shores of Devon and Wales. + +On the high bank above Gatcombe, one other man, half hidden by the +thick trees, braved the fury of the storm. There was nothing of the +fisher or forester about him; the pale, worn face and the tall, lean +figure soberly clad in black betokened the monk or the scholar, but +claimed no kinship with them that toiled in the woodlands or won a +living from the dangerous sea. Leaning against a giant beech that +rocked in wild rhythm with the storm, he watched the wind and tide at +their work of devastation, an odd smile of satisfaction playing about +the corners of his thin lips. + +"A hundred candles to St. James for this tempest!" he murmured. "If +the ships do but break loose and get aground, I will tramp Christendom +for the money to build him a church." But though the man in black +watched the river for the space of two hours longer, his hopes of utter +destruction were unrealized; the cables held, the rain ceased, the wind +abated, and the tide began to run seawards once more. Bit by bit the +jetty rose above the swirling waters. Inshore the sands of the +river-bed were uncovered, and the fishers and wharfmen swarmed along +them and on the pier, saving from the sea the logs of oak that were +within reach. For a while the man on the cliff watched them; then he +turned aside into the dripping recesses of the forest. "Comfort +thyself," he said, tapping his bosom as he walked; "the omens are good. +What water hath commenced, the fire shall finish!" + +Almost upon the instant a sturdy figure broke from the bushes above +Gatcombe Pill and hurried along the cliff towards the harbour. +Deep-chested, full-throated, weather-stained, compacted of brawn and +sinew, he looked the ruddy-faced, daring sailor-man, every inch of him. +From crown to toe he was clad in homely gray; but if, on the one hand, +the ass peeps out from the borrowed lion's skin, so will royalty shine +through fustian; and the newcomer had the air of a king among men. He +hallooed to the ships, and then hastily scrambled down the cliff. + +Only the groaning of the trees and rustling of the undergrowth hid the +footfalls of the man in black from the ears of the man in gray. He was +looking for him, but the time when they should meet was not yet come. + + + + +Chapter II. + +THE PLOTTERS. + +The morrow after the storm was windless and genial; the morning stepped +out from the east bearing the promise of a fine day; the tide was +running strongly to the sea. At Newnham the ferryman stood knee-deep +in the water washing his boat and hoping for a fare. The man in black +came down and was carried across to Arlingham. He asked many questions +concerning the tides and the sands. The water ran like a mill-race +round the Nab, and the stranger crossed himself when he entered the +boat, and again when the ferryman took him on his back to carry him +through the shallow water and the mud. He paid the penny for the +passage, and then vanished quickly into the trees that shut in the +village of Arlingham from the river. The boatman watched him curiously +and fearfully; and when he was no longer visible he shivered, for a +cold chill was running down his spine. "Seems as though I'd carried +the Evil One," he muttered; "he may halloo till he's as hoarse as his +black children the crows ere I trust myself on the waters with him +again." He waded to his boat and rowed rapidly across stream once more. + +The man in black gave neither thought nor look to the ferryman, but +strode along the woodland paths like one who had not a moment to spare. +The broad Roman way stretched in a bee-line from the eastern shore to +the village, but the wayfarer never once set foot upon it. Swiftness +and secrecy marked every movement. The sun had been above the horizon +scarce an hour when the mysterious stranger knocked at the door of a +farmhouse that lay about a mile from the village and northwards towards +the river. It was opened on the instant by the farmer himself, and +barred and chained again. + +In the kitchen were four men, two of whom wore black doublet and hosen, +black caps with a black feather, and were sallow-looking counterparts +of the last arrival. They stood up, bowed gravely, and sat down again +without speaking. + +"You have kept good tryst, my sons; did any man see you?" + +"Not even the eye of the sun lighted upon us; we walked by the stars," +was the reply. + +"Good! Now, your tidings.--Thine first, Basil." + +The younger of the two men clad in black looked up. Hitherto he had +maintained a strict silence, his eyes fixed on the floor. The face +that was lifted to the morning light was not a pleasant one. It was +pasty, colourless, and shrunken as though from long fasting, but the +eyes glittered in their dull sockets like a pair of black diamonds. +"Fanatic" was written large all over him. He was a monk released from +his vows for the performance of special duties. His tidings were given +slowly in short, terse sentences. + +"Admiral Drake is at Gatcombe." + +The leader nodded. "I know it; I saw him yesterday," he said. + +"He hath wind of our plot and a description of your person. Sir Walter +Raleigh comes up from Bristol on this morning's tide. 'Tis given out +that he is visiting the Throckmortons, from which family he took his +wife. The truth is, that he comes to assist the admiral against us." + +"Doth he bring troops?" + +"No, but the admiral hath a royal warrant empowering him to call the +free foresters and miners to arms if need should arise." + +"That is nothing." + +"I have a list of those families that still profess the true faith. +Almost to a man they place their country before their Church, and +prefer to fight for their heretic Queen rather than the Holy Mother of +Heaven." + +"The fiery pit yawns for them, my son!" + +"But there are true sheep amongst these herds of goats. Two have I +brought with me. Their eyes are opened. Wisdom and far-seeing dwells +with them. They value not the things of this world and the comforts of +the body. They are sworn to serve the Holy Church to the death." The +speaker turned to two rather hang-dog fellows who were squatted beside +the hearth. "Kneel, my brothers," he cried, "and receive a blessing +from Father Jerome, a saint amongst men!" + +"Tush! my son," said Father Jerome; "thou dost rate my poor worth a +thousand times too highly. The blessing I bestow is greater far than +he is who bestows it; the gift is greater than the giver." + +The whole company fell upon their knees, and Father Jerome towered +above them. There was cunning in his sallow face, cruelty in the +corners of his mouth. He held his hands aloft and spoke low and +mysteriously. + +"When the Holy Father called me and entrusted me with my present +mission he gave me his blessing thrice repeated, and bestowed upon me +the power of passing on that blessing to others. The blessing then +that ye receive at my hands is the blessing of the Head of the Church. +Kings have begged for it and have not obtained it; but ye are greater +than kings." The disguised priest--for such was Father Jerome--placed +his hands on them one by one and murmured a long Latin invocation. At +the end of this he addressed the farmer and the two foresters, who had +been beguiled into the plot, speaking in plain, forcible English. + +"Your country," he exclaimed, "wallows in heresy and other deadly sins. +For years hath it openly flouted and resisted the Church. The hour of +retribution is near. By sword and by fire must her sins be purged. +The instruments of vengeance and punishment are appointed, and the +least of these am I. Before the sun hath run another yearly circle +through the heavens a faithful prince shall hold power in this land. +Many who are now in high estate shall be flung down, and there are some +humble ones that shall be mightily exalted. Think of that, my sons, +and be true to the trust reposed in you!" + +Father Jerome raised up his kneeling audience with a well-chosen word +of praise, promise, or encouragement for each one. Then he bade the +farmer set meat and ale before the two foresters, and took his two +clerical spies to the window-seat, where he conversed with them in low +tones. + +"Thy two recruits, son Basil, are not overburdened with brains." + +"The better shall they serve our purpose, my father. We want blind +tools rather than thinking men. I have them in the hollow of my hand. +Thews and sinews are theirs, and an intimate knowledge of the woods. +If they will but carry out my bidding without question, I shall be well +content." + +"Thou art right.--And now, son John, how hast thou sped upon thine +errands?" + +"Well, father, the bracken will be fit to cut in a month. I have +ordered loads to be prepared for me in all parts of the forest. The +soil of the woodlands is everywhere green with the curling fronds; and +where I do not cut, the foresters and miners will be preparing heaps to +carry away for litter and bedding. By the end of July the forest +beneath the oaks will be covered with a carpet of stuff as combustible +as tinder. Let us but fire it at Newnham, Littledean, Blakeney, +Coleford, and at Speech by the courthouse, and we shall lay tens of +thousands of oaks in blackened ruin. Philip of Spain has but to +scatter the present small navy of England, for no more ships can be +built, and there will be nothing to oppose his landing." + +"Thou hast done well. Our plans are fully ripe, but apparently the +time is not quite come. We will separate for a month and remain in +strict hiding. The admiral's suspicions are aroused. If we suddenly +disappear at the moment when he becomes active in searching for us, his +fears will be allayed. But at the appointed moment we must come forth +without a sign of warning, do our work, and begone again. Our tools +must be frightened into secrecy. I will do that. Let us now join them +at breakfast." + +It was not the fault of Father Jerome that the breakfast party was not +a happy affair. Perfectly at ease himself, and satisfied with his +morning's work, he was in the mood for decorous jollity; but although +his two immediate satellites responded to his lead, and indulged in a +few feeble jests, the farmer and foresters hardly vouchsafed a word or +a smile. In part, maybe, this was due to the poverty of the wit of +their sable companions, but the three were obviously ill at ease. +Greed and a sort of religious fanaticism had brought them into the +ranks of the conspirators, but their national instincts were rebuking +them each moment. They felt traitors, and not all the sophistries of +the priests--which put the Church first, and country a long way +after--could ease their minds of a burden of shame. The chief +conspirator watched them narrowly, and some dark thoughts concerning +them ran through his mind. + +The morning was advancing, and it behoved the plotters to separate. +The leader gave them a few words of caution and command, and then bade +the farmer go to his work as though nothing unusual was afoot; the rest +would vanish one by one into the surrounding woods or across the river. +One of the foresters betook himself off immediately, journeying on to +Frampton, where he had some relatives, his visit to them being an +ostensible reason for his presence on the wrong side of the Severn. He +was a hard-faced fellow, with a pair of small, greedy-looking blue +eyes. Father Jerome pressed his hand very affectionately at parting, +and the man found three silver shillings sticking to his palm when his +hand was free again. He strode away with a buoyant step, his +misgivings gone for the while. + +The other woodlander arose the moment the door was closed behind his +companion. + +"Wait a while, my son," said Jerome. + +"I have something to say before I go." + +"Ah! say on." The priest's face set somewhat sternly, for he did not +like the forester's manner. + +The fellow began without hesitation, and spoke as a man whose mind was +full of the matter whereon he talked. The three in black listened. + +"Good father, I have sworn an oath to be thy servant in a certain +business." + +"And thou canst not break that oath without hurling thy soul to eternal +damnation," was the stern rejoinder. + +"It is not in my mind to break my oath." + +"What then?" + +"If thou wilt listen, I will show thee that perhaps it would be better +to release me from my vow." + +"Impossible!" + +"Listen. I am pledged to do a deed that the law will hold to be +treason. I place myself in secret enmity to nearly every one of my +countrymen. Did they but suspect me, they would hang me without mercy. +A dog in their eyes, I should meet a dog's death." + +"Tut!" broke in the priest sharply, "thy reasoning is all wrong. Thou, +for the sake of truth and right, art placing thyself like a second +David against a host of evil men. Dost hope for their good opinion?" + +"But, good father," pleaded the fellow, "it doth not appear to me that +I am doing right. Queen Bess--God bless her!--lives in the hearts of +us all. Why should I work her a mischief in order to advance the King +of Spain, whom we cannot but hate? Now, I bethink me, I have sworn to +serve my Queen, but I have given no oath of fealty to the Pope. And as +for your religion, well, I am in most ways of one mind with you, and I +think these Protestants to be no better than heretics. Master Basil, +whose learning is wonderful, did persuade me for the nonce that my duty +lay along the path you are treading; but my mind misgives me woefully, +and I cannot see that it is an honest thing to work in secret against +the whole body of my fellow-countrymen." + +Jerome's face had darkened, and Basil's lips were working evilly. + +"But the whole body of thy fellow-countrymen are wrong!" he hissed. +"God hath delivered them and their country into the hands of his +faithful servant Philip." + +"Then why doth Admiral Drake thrash the sailors of Philip whenever he +meets them? God surely only fights for the right!" replied the +forester. + +This was a facer for the ex-priest, and ere he could frame a retort +Jerome took up the matter again. "Thou hast said that thou art willing +to keep thine oath." + +"Not _willing_, but I will not willingly break it. My heart is no +longer in the enterprise. I shall be ashamed to look my neighbours in +the face. I shall fear their glances and despise myself. When the +pinch comes, I may turn coward and do nothing. The whisper of +conscience is more terrible than the roar of a lion. What will it +avail you to look for help to such a one as I?" + +"If I release thee--?" + +"My lips are sealed. I have learned your plans, but I am honest with +you. Be honest with me, and men shall tear out my tongue before I will +speak a word of you or your plot." + +Jerome sat silent for a few moments. Suddenly he started up. + +"Thou art an honest fellow," he exclaimed, "and I believe thee. +Half-hearted men are useless to me. Thou art released from thine oath. +Go!" + +Basil started to protest, but his leader placed his hand on his lips. +The forester went out, feeling as though a mountain had been lifted +from his shoulders. He disappeared at a turn in the lane. Then Jerome +spoke. "Thou art our lay-brother, Basil. That man must not cross the +river." + +Basil nodded and went out. Whilst Jerome yet watched him, slipping +from cover to cover, the farmer re-entered, a look of mingled fear and +hesitation on his face. The priest turned instantly and noticed it. +He laid his hand on his shoulder. "I am not yet gone, as thou seest. +There is something I would show thee before I go." + +For the space of about ten minutes the two stood in silence. Then the +priest said "Come," and led the farmer from the house. He followed in +Basil's footsteps, and came at length to the foot of a dwarf oak. A +man lay there, his eyes glazing in death. Basil was wiping a dagger in +the bracken. + +Jerome pointed to the dying woodsman. "That man doubted and +hesitated," he said. + +The farmer shuddered, and went white-faced homewards. + + + + +Chapter III. + +TWO FRIENDS. + +Admiral Drake sat amidst his roses, watching the tide as it raced up +the river. Every day he sat thus, unless some pressing duty forbade, +for the sea held first place in his heart. When the tide was out, the +river was dull and dreary enough to the heart of the bold sailor. To +gaze on a stretch of a mile or more of sand and mud, with a shallow, +yellow stream dividing it into two unequal portions, is not +exhilarating; but when the sea makes its wild rush up the estuary, +quickly filling the wide river-bed from bank to bank, then the Severn +is noble enough, and one looks upon it with pride. The swirl and roar +of the waters was music to Sir Francis, and the tide was an old and +well-beloved friend that came up daily to embrace him. The happiest of +the knight's waking hours were those he spent by the side of the +flowing salt stream. + +There was a click at the latch of the garden gate, and a most elegant +gentleman sauntered gracefully in. His doublet was of blue, slashed +silk, his feathered cap was of a colour to match, and there were golden +buckles to his shoes and golden hilts to sword and dagger. His beard +was trimmed to a dainty point, and curling locks slightly flecked with +white hung down to his broad shoulders. The admiral, in his gray +homespun, his short, frizzled hair bared to the breeze, turned at the +sound of approaching footsteps, caught sight of the gentleman in blue, +and sprang up to greet him. + +"Now the winds of heaven be thanked for wafting thee hither, dear Wat," +he cried. "Thou art more welcome than a fine day." + +And the bluff sailor took the dainty visitor in his arms and kissed him +lovingly on both cheeks. Embrace and kiss were heartily returned, and, +arm in arm, the two sought the garden seat, and sat down to gaze on the +sunlit waters and exchange tidings. Raleigh--for the visitor was none +other than the famous knight of Devon--placed his sword across his knee +and began the conversation; the rough and ready admiral was a better +listener than talker. + +"The Queen hath sent thee some coils of stout rope by my hand." + +"Oh!" + +"She saith that she hath had no news of Spanish acorns dangling from +the Dean oaks. Her words to me were: 'Tell my knight of the seas not +to spare the hemp where traitors are concerned. To hang none is to let +all escape, whereas to hang on reasonable suspicion is a sure way to +rid his plantations of many knaves. If he should make a mistake, +through excess of zeal, tell him that our pardon is assured +beforehand.'" + +Drake smiled. "'Tis a good thing there is but one woman in the +government, and that men are entrusted with the carrying out of her +orders. Beshrew me, Wat, let but a scare be started and she would hang +every ill-favoured fellow she clapped eyes on." + +Raleigh laughed. "Thou hast no faculty for comprehending the whimsies +and oddities of womankind, especially royal womankind." + +"That is but sober truth. I can see in a bee-line as well as most men, +but I cannot follow all the twists and turns of our royal lady's +pathway. Bethink thee how she treated me when I came home from my +voyage round the world, my vessel crammed to the hatchway with Spanish +treasure. Before the court she frowned on me, called me no better than +a sea-thief, and threatened me with a hanging. Aboard my vessel, when +none were there but Cecil, Leicester, and thyself, she praised me +without stint, flattered me, well-nigh took me in her arms and kissed +me, offered me knighthood, and then seized upon the best part of my +hard-won spoils! Her mind doubles like a hare; there is no catching it +and holding it and seeing of what colour it is. I have navigated +unknown seas enough, but I should be shipwrecked in one month of court +life. A palace is as full of guile as an egg is full of meat!" + +The admiral was waxing warm, and his companion was laughingly enjoying +his tirade. + +"Every man to his trade, Frank," he said. "Thou art a striker of +straight blows, and hast no cunning save when the foe is in gunshot. +The sea breeze is life to thee, but some of us would choke with too +much of it. We must breathe ever and anon of the scented atmosphere of +courts. The turns and twists of intrigue attract us; we love to ruffle +it in silk as well as in mail or in homespun. The voices and faces of +fair women make music and beauty for our ears and our eyes; we love the +harp and the lute as well as the mavis and throstle in the hedgerow, +and we pore as diligently over a sonnet as thou dost over a sea chart." + +"And that to me is a strange thing," replied Drake musingly. +"Sometimes thou and I are so close in touch as to be almost one; yet, +again, we find ourselves a world's space asunder: our thoughts oft run +in couples like hounds, and 'tis because of such times that I love thee +as a very dear brother." + +Raleigh laid his hand affectionately on the admiral's shoulder. "Thou, +Frank, art a man of action ever and always. When the battle is in my +blood I can fight on land and sea as whole-heartedly as thou, and cry +out that only such days are worth the living. Yet I am by nature a +dreamer of dreams and a weaver of fancies. The soft, the still, the +beautiful in the world and humankind, attract me. I would have +seclusion rather than bustle and turmoil, the pen rather than the +sword, the sweet whispers from a woman's lips and not the shouts of +warriors. Thou dost not understand me, but I understand thee, and love +thee for thy simplicity and directness. Thou art a better man than I, +Frank, and the world will honour thee more than me. But let us quit +this self-analysis. How art thou faring in thy mission to prevent the +destruction of the forest?" + +"Slowly. The forest is one vast hiding-place, and I have to deal with +men who are very serpents for cunning. The leader is a Spanish priest +masquerading as a gentleman, and he hath with him some of a like sort. +They are for ever popping up in fresh places, but it is not easy to +tell them one from another. There may be a dozen of them, or only two." + +"The lesser number is the more likely. The more in a plot, the greater +the danger of failure." + +"So I have thought, and I put down their many appearances to the +expedition with which they move. At present they can only plan +mischief. There is little woody undergrowth, and the bracken is at its +greenest. Ere long, however, the foresters and miners will begin the +yearly cutting and drying of the bracken, which they take away and +stack for the winter as bedding for themselves and their cattle. Then +the danger is great indeed, and the firing of the forest an easy matter +to a number of determined men skilfully posted." + +"Have the conspirators many adherents?" + +"I think not. The woodland folk are loyal, and have a right and proper +hatred of the King of Spain. Let me but lay hands on one man and we +may sleep in our beds without fear." + +"And that man?" + +"Is the priest, Father Jerome." + +Raleigh sat up. "Canst describe him?" + +"Ay. He is tall, lean, and yellow, looks a Spaniard, but speaks +English as no foreigner could speak it. He hath money in plenty, and +poor folk and greedy folk often fall a prey to Mammon." + +"I have met this Father Jerome, unless I mistake him greatly. He is a +Spaniard without doubt, and came hither first in the train of the +Spanish ambassador in King Harry's reign. He came again with Philip +when he took Queen Mary to wife, and stayed here the whole of that +reign and much of the present. He knows our land and our language as +well as thou or I, and Philip has chosen the fittest leader for his +bold enterprise. Thou hast gotten a dangerous adversary; do not hold +him cheaply, for he obtains a strange power over some men. 'Tis +against his nature to strike openly. He works like a mole, and thou +must find his place of burrowing and trap him. Meantime I commend the +advice of the Queen to thee: lay all suspicious characters by the heels +at once; put rogues to catch rogues, and have a care how thou walkest +in the woods." + +Sir Walter arose, but the admiral pressed him to stay and drink a cup +of wine. So the two friends sat on a while longer, talking of old +times in far-away Devon. + +Hidden in the bushes on the top of the sandstone cliff that backed +Drake's house was the dark figure of Basil. He wriggled thither at the +moment when Raleigh lifted the garden latch. + + + + +Chapter IV. + +JOHNNIE MORGAN TAKES A WALK. + +At the foot of the hill leading out of Blakeney northwards towards +Newnham stood a many-gabled, substantial farmhouse. A plantation of +oaks backed it, and eastwards the meadows stretched away to the Severn. +The house was in the possession of John Morgan, a verderer[1] of the +forest, and the good folk of the forest and river were proud to point +to him as a "proper figure of a man." "Johnnie," as he was familiarly +styled by his associates, stood a good two inches over six feet, was +straight as a fir and tough as a young oak. He had just turned his +twentieth year, and was as fleet of foot as the stags that he guarded. +Dark-eyed and handsome, light-hearted and jovial, a good singer of a +good song, he was as jolly a companion as one might meet on a long +summer's day. + +The morning was hot, and the June sun almost at its zenith. The gale +that had rocked the tall trees in fury but a few days before was almost +forgotten in the windless weather that had succeeded it. Master Morgan +had sauntered along one of the broad woodland paths, and was now lying +on his back in a sweet-smelling bed of bracken, gazing up through the +trees to the blue sky beyond. Johnnie was dreaming the happy dreams of +youth and the summer's noontide. The blue of the heavens haloed his +thoughts, and a pair of sweet blue eyes looked out from the midst of +them. A sigh escaped him. "Plague on 't!" he cried petulantly, "I +cannot get verses or rhymes into marching order. My head aches with a +tumble of conceits and dainty fancies. I could whisper a thousand +pretty things to yonder perky robin; I cannot give tongue to one of +them when Mistress Dorothy turns her eyes upon me; and now that my +heart yearns to set them in verse for her reading, I cannot frame a +line that doth not limp and stumble. What a thing it is that I can +sing the tears into mine eyes with another fellow's verses and cannot +build a couplet of mine own." Johnnie closed his eyes, puckered his +brow, and thought hard. + +For the better part of an hour Morgan had the cool nook in the woodland +all to himself, and he dreamt of a pair of blue eyes, rhymed them with +"skies," joined "love" with "dove," "sweet" with "fleet," "rosy" with +"posy," and "heart" with "part," and cudgelled his brains for images +and conceits that would express in some scant measure the charms of +pretty Mistress Dorothy Dawe. But his lines would not prance and +curvet as he wished them to do; they laboured along in a heavy, +cart-horse fashion, so that Johnnie at length reluctantly recalled his +wandering wits to the consideration of the practical things of life. +And, immediately upon doing so, he became conscious of the presence of +an intruder upon his privacy. Some one was moving very stealthily +through the bracken; the young forester detected the quick breathing of +a man and he held his own breath in an instant, whilst his body +remained as rigid as though it had been a fallen log of oak. He cast +his eye down the line of buttons on the front of his doublet and +carefully scanned his belt. It held no weapon save a hunting-knife. +His hearing became doubly acute at a sign of danger, and he fixed the +spot from which each faint rustle proceeded. Meanwhile his brain was +busy. Who should be stealing along within a few yards of the pathway? +No game was afoot in the immediate neighbourhood, and no forester would +be worming himself along in such a fashion. An honest man would walk +upright. "This fellow is a rogue," commented Morgan. The bracken +fronds curled high above him, and he knew that he was securely hidden. +The rustling sounds circled round rather than approached him, and they +finally ceased at a spot on the edge of the pathway about twenty yards +below where Morgan lay listening. + +The forester remained very still; the other made no sign. Morgan came +to the conclusion that his presence was unsuspected, so he lay in wait +to see what was afoot. Time flew on; to one, at least, the silence +became irksome. + +Sounds at last! Some one was coming down the pathway humming a song. +The spy--for such he was--stirred. Morgan noiselessly raised himself +on his elbow. The singer came on; his voice was rich and musical, and +the young fellow's ears tingled with pleasure. He ventured to peep +above the bracken. A dark form was half visible in front of him, and +the face was turned towards the direction whence the song was coming. +The head disappeared; Morgan ducked also. He could give no guess as to +the identity of the man who lay before him. But his mind was made up +as to the spy's intentions. Villainy was plainly foreshadowed. He +drew his knife from his belt. The footfalls of the traveller were now +audible. He came abreast of the lurking foe; he passed him. There was +a sudden leap; then another. A steel blade flashed in the sunlight. +The song ceased and the singer turned. Another second and the dagger +would have been in his breast. But at the fateful moment of time the +stroke was arrested by Morgan's hand. The would-be assassin turned +with the hiss and wriggle of a viper; his strength was astonishing, +and, ere Morgan was aware, the sharp stab entered his own arm. He +loosened his grip with an exclamation of pain. The spy darted like a +black shadow into the trees--and was gone. + +After an instant of hesitation Morgan and the stranger dashed after +him. They ran hither and thither, but found nothing. On the pathway +they met again, and, for the first time, spoke. He whose life had been +attempted took Morgan's wounded arm in his hands. "I owe thee, if not +a life, at least a whole skin," he said. "I am deeply thy debtor." + +"Sir Walter Raleigh can owe nothing to a forest man," exclaimed Morgan. + +"Ah! thou knowest me. What is thy name?" + +"John Morgan, heart and soul at your service!" + +"I have heard of thee from my kinsman, and the reports were of an +excellent quality. Come, let me see to thy hurt. We can gossip +afterwards." + +Soldiers and huntsmen are usually adepts at rough and ready surgery; +the flow of blood from Morgan's wound was stanched and the injured limb +bound up. Sir Walter inquired how he had so providentially got upon +the track of the spy, and Johnnie poured out the story of his poetic +difficulties. The knight laughed heartily, and offered his help. + +"I am a bit of a rhymster, as thou knowest," he said. "What is the +name of the bonny maiden whose eyes have driven thee to verse-making?" + +"Mistress Dorothy Dawe," replied the forester a little sheepishly--"a +sweet wench, Sir Walter, as e'er the sun shone upon. And I thought her +name as pretty as her face, but, plague on't, I cannot fix a rhyme to +'t." + +"And there I sympathize with thee most heartily, Master Morgan. When I +was of thine age and went a-sweethearting, my own fancy lighted upon a +dainty damosel yclept Dorothy, and, like thee, I found the name most +unreasonable in the matter of rhyme and rhythm. Cut it down to +'Dolly,' and that most unkind rhyme 'folly' straightway dings in one's +ears." + +"How didst thou surmount the difficulty?" + +"How? By keeping the name well in the middle of my line. But there +are a hundred pretty appellations that befit a maiden. Thou canst call +her thy 'sun,' thy 'moon,' thy 'star,' thy 'light, 'life,' 'goddess,' +and so on through a very bookful of terms. Shall I make thee a verse +as we jog along?" + +"A thousand thanks! but no. I will stand on mine own footing, or stand +not at all. I will win the wench by mine own parts or merits, or else +wish her joy with a better man. She shall love me decked in mine own +plain russet, not in velvet and laces borrowed from another's wardrobe." + +"Valiantly spoken, Master Morgan. I like thy spirit, and, beshrew me, +'twill serve thee better with a sensible maiden than any amount of +pretty speeches and cooing verses. 'Tis a poor man that hath not faith +in himself. In wooing, as in fighting, 'tis the brave heart and the +honest soul that gain the clay; and the quick, strong arm serves the +world better than the glib tongue. But let us get to this business +that brought us together this morning. Thou dost not know my +assailant?" + +"Not from Adam. Hath your worship no knowledge of him?" + +"No certain knowledge, Master Morgan; but I can give a shrewd guess or +two concerning him. Thou hast heard of the plot of King Philip to +destroy the forest?" + +"Ay, the rumour was abroad strong enough in the springtime, but since +Admiral Drake came down I have heard nothing. I thought the rascal +plotters had fled, for 'tis well known the health of a Spaniard suffers +grievously if he do but breathe the same air as our gallant sailor." + +"That is so; but some are of tougher constitutions than others, and +they do not sicken in a day. The fellow who hath left his mark upon +thee is an emissary of Spain. I did not know my life was threatened, +but the admiral may find a foe in any thicket. I am heartily sorry the +villain escaped us." + +"I am downright ashamed on 't!" cried Johnnie. He drew himself up to +his full height and stretched out a brawny arm. "I ought to have +crushed him 'twixt finger and thumb as I would a wasp. A lean, +shrivelled, hole-and-corner coward!" + +"But as strong and supple as a wild cat," commented Raleigh. + +"Ay, and he left the mark of his claws behind him," added Morgan. "He +was no weakling." + +"And he is not the only one lying in wait; nor is he the master hand in +this business. You verderers must bestir yourselves, or that which is +entrusted to you will go up to the heavens in smoke. I will wend with +thee to Newnham. The admiral goes thither on the tide this afternoon +on the Queen's business, and 'twill be as well that he, and those that +come to meet him, should see evidence of the activity of our secret +foes." + +So the knight and Master Morgan mended their pace along the woodland +way. + + + +[1] A warden of the forest and an administrator of "forest law." + + + + +Chapter V. + +MASTER WINDYBANK. + +"Then thou dost refuse to listen to my suit, Mistress Dorothy?" + +"Refuse! Alack, good Master Windybank, what a word to utter. Look at +yonder sundial and thou wilt see that I have hearkened most patiently +for more than an hour." Mistress Dorothy opened her blue eyes very +widely, and her tone was a trifle indignant. + +"Ay, but there is listening and listening, mistress," was the testy +response. + +"And surely my listening deserves commendation, seeing that I made no +interruption, scarcely speaking a word." + +"But I wanted thee to speak, to interrupt, to contradict, to argue. +Thy silence betokened indifference. I had rather that thou hadst flown +into a temper and bidden me begone than sat mum all the while." +Windybank jumped up from the garden seat and began to pace to and fro, +to the peril of Dorothy's flower-beds. + +"But why should I argue or contradict or fly into a passion if thou +dost tell me my eyes are blue? 'Tis the truth." Dorothy opened them +wider, and made them look more innocent and beautiful than ever. + +"Was that all I said for the space of an hour?" was the sullen +rejoinder. + +"No," said the cool little maiden, "'twas not; but thou didst offer no +ground for argument. I heard a catalogue of virtues recited, and was +bidden to believe that mine own small person gave lodging and +nourishment to them all. Well, in good faith, sir, 'tis my earnest +hope that some are guests in my heart, and I would fain believe that I +give harbourage to all the noble train. Thou didst speak at some +length of thyself, thy hopes and aspirations, they were such as would +become thy youth and station: why should I quarrel with thee concerning +them? Again, I had a list of thy possessions, the tale of gold in thy +coffers. Should I give thee the lie over thy arithmetic? Thy uncle is +rich, and thou art his heir. Shall I lose my temper because of John +Windybank's money?" + +The youth turned fiercely upon the maiden and gripped +her by the shoulders so that she winced with the pain. +"I--told--thee--that--I--loved--thee!" he said with deliberate +emphasis. "What hast thou to say to that?" + +"That a maid is honoured by the affection of any good man." + +"Dost thou love me?" + +"No," said Dorothy, rising also and removing his hands. + +Windybank's eyes were blue like those he confronted, but they were as +shifty as the maiden's were steady, and whilst the blue of hers +deepened with anger, his assumed a greenish tint that was both uncomely +and cruel. For a moment he stared into the azure deeps before him, +trying to fathom them. He failed. + +"Would 'No' have been Jack Morgan's answer?" he asked. + +Dorothy's eyes flashed, but her lips remained closed. She showed no +signs of anything save anger. The baffled lover lost his head, and +with it went his common sense and veneer of gentlemanly breeding. + +"Silence is answer enough," he snarled. "Morgan's black eyes and +swarthy face have bewitched thee as thou hast bewitched me. Well, take +thy choice between us. He hath the start of me in inches, but a +moon-calf would hardly benefit by bargaining wits with him--a grinning, +guzzling giant whose chief delight is singing songs in a tavern or +wrestling with brawny clowns as empty-headed as himself!" + +Windybank paused for breath, and Dorothy faced him as unflinchingly as +before, her lips curling in contempt. + +"Hast nothing to say now?" he went on. "Have I not given thee matter +for contradiction, fuel to feed the fires of thine anger?" + +"John Morgan needs no woman's help," she said quietly. + +"Neither help of man nor woman shall avail him ere long. Hark'ee, +mistress" (he lowered his voice): "there is power awaiting the man bold +enough to make a venture to obtain it. Look for the day when I am thy +master. And tell some others to look to their heads. I'll break thy +spirit yet, and see fear in thy blue eyes instead of scorn. I am no +braggart!" + +"But thou art a coward!" said Dorothy, whose face had grown very white. +"Think not that I shall feel anything save scorn for the man who +threatens a girl and slanders the absent. Thou art our neighbour, else +I would call a servant to put thee forth on to the highway. Begone!" + +Master Windybank turned to go. It was time, for Johnnie Morgan and Sir +Walter could be seen making their way towards the house door. "Tell +thy long-legged swashbuckler of our meeting," he sneered. + +"I do not fear thee enough to call in a champion," cried Dorothy +calmly. "Yonder is the gate." + +The rejected suitor strode off. The maiden ran into a little arbour +and had a good cry. "Sweet seventeen" does not like to be bullied and +threatened by a man in whom her quick eyes have discerned the +possibilities of a thorough villain. + +The little shower of anger and wounded pride lasted about three +minutes. Then sunny thoughts broke through the clouds, and presently +the sky was clear again. "Johnnie is come!" said Dorothy's heart. +"Sir Walter and Master Morgan are in the house," murmured Dorothy's +lips. "I must see to my duties as hostess, and I do not want to be +quizzed about tear-stains. Plague take that little Windybank!" A +dainty foot was stamped quite viciously. "I hope Johnnie will cudgel +him. A whipping would do him good!" Dorothy sat with folded hands and +pleasantly contemplated the corrective operation. Then a voice was +heard in the garden calling her name. She listened. "Only nurse!" she +murmured in a disappointed tone. + +An old crone with a wrinkled but good-natured face came along to the +arbour. "Dolly, sweetheart," she cried, "dost thou not know who is +within?" + +"I saw Sir Walter turn in at the gate to speak to father." + +"Hoighty-toity!" exclaimed the old dame. "Saw Sir Walter, did we! And +what of the head and pair of shoulders that stood above those of the +knight? We did not see them!" + +"Was it Master Morgan with him, Peggy?" asked Dorothy unconcernedly. + +"Ask him who ran away just now," snapped Peggy. "I saw the toady +little villain sneak off. I'd ha' given my Sunday kirtle to my worst +enemy if Johnnie had espied him and known that he and thee had been +sitting cheek by jowl for an hour." + +"Master Windybank is our neighbour," said Dorothy haughtily, "and he +comes hither with my father's consent." + +"Ay, men are as blind as owls to each other's failings," was the tart +response. "But I can see through a quick-set hedge as far as most +folks, and know when a rascal lies in hiding behind one. Get thee +indoors and talk to Master Morgan, an honest fellow whom thy +mother--God rest her soul!--loved before death took her from us." + +But Dorothy refused to be hurried. Peggy had loved her and mothered +her since she was a tiny prattler of three, and she often found her, as +she declared to her gossips, "a handful." Peggy, angry with her +nursling, turned to go, but she discharged a telling shot at parting. +"Very well!" she cried, "I'll go and bind up Master Morgan's wounds +myself. One of the bravest knights in England is attacked by a Spanish +giant in the forest. A brave lad jumps in to save him, and receives +the dagger in his own body. He comes to those who should love him, to +have the flow of his precious blood stanched; but no, good lack; we +love not brave lads--we dally away God's good time with cowards and +rascals!" + +"Peggy! Peggy!" cried Dorothy, and the blue eyes were running over +again, and the cheeks were pale as a ghost's, "is Master Morgan +wounded?" + +"He may be dying; the dagger perhaps was poisoned," said Peggy. "I'll +go and kiss the brave lad whilst he has wit enough left to know me. +Stay thou here, mistress; only loving hands must tend the brave!" + +But Dorothy flew after her and clutched her arm. "Kiss me, Peggy!" she +wailed, "kiss me!" But Peggy refused. + +"You shall not touch him, Peggy; you are my nurse, but I am his. Do +you hear?" + +But the old woman was deaf, and she stalked on with her thin nose in +the air. Dorothy clung to her, and they reached the house together. +It so happened that the story of the attack had been told to Dorothy's +father, and Sir Walter was getting a little fun at the expense of +Johnnie and his wrestlings with the muse of poetry. A lively, +good-humoured sally, at the moment when Dorothy's trembling limbs +carried her over the threshold, evoked a peal of stentorian laughter +from Master Morgan's capacious lungs. The tearful maid stood +bewildered for an instant, then a roar from all three men brought the +colour back swiftly to her cheeks. Johnnie Morgan dying? The wicked +rascal was convulsed with merriment, and his friends, who should be +sorrowing for his untimely fate, were as merry as he! With an +indignant look at the chuckling Peggy, the maiden turned and fled into +the garden again. But Master Morgan, who had been anxiously listening +for her amidst all the chatter and uproar, heard the light patter of +her footsteps upon the flagged courtyard. He sprang to the window, +caught sight of the flying figure, felt his heart beating like a great +drum, murmured an apology to his companions, and darted out of the +room, almost laying Peggy full length on the threshold as he ran off. + + + + +Chapter VI. + +A SINISTER MEETING. + +When Master Windybank left the quaint, riverside garden of Captain +Dawe, he was feeling about as amiable as a wolf might feel who has just +been scared from the side of a lamb by the timely arrival of a huge +sheep-dog. He growled with anger, showed his teeth for an instant, +then slunk away with his tail between his legs. He was a spiteful, +malevolent creature, cunning, unprincipled, and tainted with cowardice. +He had pluck of the wolfish sort, and could fight desperately if +cornered; but he shunned the open unless hard pressed, and preferred +snapping at an opponent's heels to flying in his face. He was a +dangerous foe, and pretty Dorothy had gone far towards making one of +him. + +In no pleasant frame of mind, Andrew Windybank strode up the high +street of the town. Few of the townsfolk gave him a good-day; he was +not a popular personage. For one thing, he was a Littledean man and +not of the river-side; his family was purse-proud and tyrannical; worst +of all in the eyes of a Pope-hating people, the Windybank family still +clung to the old faith. Young Master Andrew was quite accustomed to +cold looks, and, as a rule, they troubled him not at all. He was by +nature reserved and uncommunicative, and he was sufficiently well +satisfied with himself to care but little for the opinion of other +people. He turned aside from the town and breasted the steep hill that +led to Littledean. + +Windybank had not walked through the town with his ears shut, although +he had studiously kept his eyes lowered. More than once he had heard +the name of his rival mentioned, and each time the speaker's tones had +expressed admiration and affection. The angry young gentleman knew +nothing of Morgan's exploit, but the local gossips had seen the +forester pass through, and one had succeeded in getting an account of +the morning's affray. Johnnie was more than ever a popular hero. It +was unfortunate, perhaps, for Dorothy and her rival suitors that +Morgan's arm and Windybank's pride had both been wounded on the same +morning. The rejected lover had always envied and hated Morgan because +of his popularity; the events of the morning were rapidly turning that +hatred into a sort of malevolent frenzy. His heart burned with rage +and jealousy as he went rapidly homewards. + +Now, a man's heart will sometimes be attuned to goodness, and his whole +nature, being aglow with conscious virtue, will yearn for some outlet +for the kindliness that wells up within him. None is offered, and the +virtuous fountain trickles itself dry, and no one is a whit the wiser +or better. Anon, the same heart breeds envy, hatred, malice, and all +uncharitableness, and straightway comes the chance of working evil. +The temptation is great, the opportunity is eagerly seized, and +wickedness is done; it is so easy to step into the "broad way," so +difficult to find footing in the "strait and narrow path." + +Andrew Windybank was not a good man, but apt opportunity led him +farther astray than, in the depths of his heart, he ever intended to +go. His feet were treading the paths of his own domains. His +ancestral home, Dean Tower, raised its dark red walls before him. Some +of the bitterness was gone from his thoughts. Visions of the wealth, +wherein he was superior to his rival and the maiden who had flouted his +advances, were easing the wounds in his pride. + +A spare figure, garbed in black, stepped from behind a clump of bushes, +and stood bareheaded in the pathway. + +"God be with thee, Master Windybank, and St. James be thine aid!" +exclaimed a harsh voice. Basil confronted him. + +Windybank's first feeling was one of annoyance. Basil and his master, +Father Jerome, had visited Dean Tower before, and although they had +come and gone in secret and by night, yet some suspicion of these +Spanish visits had got abroad. The Dean men were proud of their +magnificent sweep of forest-clad hills and dales, and prouder still of +the oaks that gave their beloved England her impregnable "wooden +walls." They were wild with anger and indignation when the first +rumours of King Philip's plot came to their ears. Now they were +inclined to treat the daring project with quiet contempt, but Windybank +knew that scant mercy would be shown a forest man who should be so +unspeakably treacherous as to favour the scheme, even by so little as +holding converse with one of the hated plotters. + +These thoughts running through his mind, Master Andrew did not return +the Spaniard's salutation, but waved him aside and endeavoured to +continue his way. Basil barred the path, his black plumed hat still in +his hand, and his face wearing a caricature of a smile. + +"One faithful son of the Church should not refuse greeting to a +brother," he said. + +"What dost thou want?" was the curt response. + +"I am come upon business that hath the blessing of the Holy Father." + +"I'll not listen!" + +Windybank thrust out his arm to push his unwelcome companion aside. +Basil took him by the shoulders and stared into his face with an +intentness that made the young fellow fancy that the fierce, black orbs +confronting him were burning holes in his brain. For two minutes, that +seemed two full hours, the gaze was concentrated upon him. Windybank +felt his body shrinking into a smaller compass under the fascination. +His breath came thickly, his knees trembled, and his heart laboured in +its beating. + +"The Holy Father hath sent a message to thee." + +"I have heard it," was slowly gasped out. + +"He hath sent another. Thou darest not refuse to listen." The +ex-monk's hand was uplifted in warning. "Shall I be forced to curse +thee as thou standest?" he whispered. "'Tis obey, and be blessed above +measure; or refuse, and--thou knowest the penalty; I will not speak it +here. Listen! Father Jerome and I will come to thee at midnight. +Thou wilt meet us at thy gate and show us to a chamber where we may +confer in secret. Remember!" + +Windybank felt the iron hand lifted from his shoulder. Basil was gone. +For a minute he stared blankly at the bush behind which he had +disappeared. A warning signal, "At midnight, remember!" came to his +ears, and awoke him from his half-stupor. He shook himself, tried to +answer, uttered no word, then passed on. He entered his house with a +face that matched his ruff in its sickly yellow colouring. + + + + +Chapter VII. + +IN THE TOILS. + +That afternoon the house of Captain Dawe was filled with visitors more +or less illustrious. The dignitaries of the forest and the river were +assembled in solemn conclave. The scare caused by the first rumours of +the Spanish plot was revived in tenfold magnitude. Morgan's wounded +arm was a mute witness to the daring and activity of the foe. The +knight and the forester could describe every lineament of the would-be +assassin. The yellow, parchment face, the spare, sinewy body clad in +black doublet and hosen, had been seen for a moment by many a forester. +And the woodland men, brimful of superstition, had already invested him +with supernatural powers. + +A belated swineherd had gone in terror to his master with a story that +he had come upon the "men in black" dancing beneath an oak, enveloped +in blue flames, and that the smell of the "brimstone" had laid him on +the ground in a stupor from sunset to moonrise, more than an hour +after! The following day, in the early forenoon, he had led a +trembling party to the spot, and, sure enough, there was a blackened +circle in the bracken and the charred bark and singed leaves of the +tree to testify to the truth of his tale. Neither swineherd nor +shepherd nor forester had dared to pass the tree from that hour. The +woodsman's story was not all exaggeration. He had actually stumbled +upon the two villains, Basil and John, trying the kindling properties +of the bracken, and he had promptly fallen in a swoon from sheer +terror. By the common folk his account was believed _ad literam_, and +not all the better sort saw the true inwardness of the occurrence. So +the assembly had serious matter for thought and discussion. + +The leaders saw the gravity of the situation, and their apprehensions +grew when they found that those who best knew the forest were becoming +rapidly infected with superstitious fears. As a race the Dean men were +brave and tenacious--centuries of border warfare had made them so--but +their very life amidst the gloom of the trees and the roaring of the +streams, their brains teeming with mythic tales of the dark, deep pools +and echoing caves, made them ready believers in the "uncanny." The +forest could only be guarded by those who knew its devious ways; the +number of such warders was limited. Now it would be impossible to get +any man to keep a lonely watch; sentinels must be posted in groups for +mutual comfort and assistance, seeing that the tangible danger of +Basil's dagger was to be feared as much as the intangible perils that +sprang from the imagination. To group the watchers was to narrow the +guarded area, and it was plain to the council that, at night +especially, little of the rolling tract of hill and valley could be +patrolled; the foe would have fairly free range. + +One precaution could be taken, and that was promptly done. Orders were +issued that no bracken was to be cut except with the direct sanction of +the admiral. When cut it was to be carried green, and dried away from +the trees. Large rewards were also offered to any man who could bring +any "man in black," alive or dead, to the admiral. Visions of high +preferment were opened out to those of gentle blood. Suspected persons +in the forest area were to be closely watched, and most houses +professing the Romish faith were under suspicion. + +Johnnie Morgan spent but little time in the society of the volatile +Dorothy. His heart was full of love, but his head was overloaded with +affairs of state, and the pain in his arm filled the air with +"phantoms" in black that blotted out the sweeter picture of a teasing +"fairy" in white. The admiral, never so happy as when on the water, +went back to Gatcombe on the tide. Sir Walter tramped through the +woods with Morgan, and, now that the council was over, he came back to +the lighter topics of poetry and love-making. + +"Well, Master Morgan," he cried merrily, "and how didst thou fare in +the pretty arbour in the garden?" + +Johnnie's face dropped to a gloomy length. "But indifferently, sir +knight. The maid will not be wooed. She is as fickle as April." + +"Then catch her just when she melts into tears; 'tis the more +propitious time. Surely there was one little shower over thy wounded +arm. What advantage didst thou reap from it?" + +"Why, none," mourned Johnnie. "'Twas like this. I had wit enough to +see that my unfortunate condition gave me a chance, and, I give thee my +word, I manoeuvred to make the best on't. The wench seemed melting +with pity, and her eyes were moist with kindness, so I made the plunge. +But, gramercy! I found myself in a very thorn bush, and hardly escaped +without a scratching. She'll ha' none of me!" + +Johnnie's brown face was a study. Raleigh glanced at it, and laughed +heartily. + +"Keep heart, friend," he said. "Thou wilt find that 'tis as hard a +matter to embrace a wayward fairy as to lay a sooty goblin by the +heels. But thou'lt do both; a knowing imp hath just whispered the news +in mine ears." + +The forester's face beamed. "Now Heaven bless thee for a cheerful +companion!" he cried. "By St. George! I'll _do_ both." + +And so the twain wandered on. + +At Dean Tower, Andrew Windybank passed an uncomfortable afternoon. His +meeting with the dangerous Basil had affected him more than his +rejection by Dorothy. As the day advanced his agitation increased. He +knew of the meeting at Captain Dawe's. No invitation had been extended +to him, and he was aware from this that his loyalty was suspected. +Tidings of the attack upon Raleigh went the round of the household. +Later, towards evening, a fisherman came up from Newnham with salmon, +and he was full of gossip concerning the deliberations of the admiral's +council. The fellow dropped some broad hints that stung the ears of +the Windybank domestics. At supper Master Andrew felt that his +attendants were uneasy and suspicious, and this increased his +agitation. Night and its solitude brought him no relief. The +household betook itself to rest. The master alone remained up and +awake. + +The night was gloriously clear, and the moonlit forest was like +fairyland. The windows of the chamber in which Windybank awaited the +stroke of midnight faced towards the river, and the sheen of its broad +waters was plainly visible. He sat without a light, and the silvery +beams from without cast fantastic shadows on the oaken floor and the +dark panelling of the low walls. The carved furniture stood distorted +and grotesque. The woodwork creaked as it cooled from the heat of the +day, and a mouse that scuttled sharply across the floor brought the +watcher to his feet with an exclamation of alarm. His nerves were +strung to respond to every sight and sound. Again and again he +resolved that he would not sit up or have further dealings with the +plotters. Loyalty and manliness and the fear of evil report pulled him +one way; greed, ambition, desire for revenge, terror of Father Jerome +and the thunders of the Church pulled him another. His mind was so +torn with dissension and struggle that at last he gave up all endeavour +to fix a path for himself. He sat blank and apathetic, conscious only +that he was carrying out the order so menacingly given to him by Basil. + +Midnight came, and he roused himself and stood up. He listened for +signs of wakefulness in his household, but, within and without, the +hour was soundless. He stole across the room to the window, then +hesitated. Pressing his burning temples with his hands, he tried to +come to some decision as to his conduct. Should he quietly summon a +few of his men, bring in the plotters and arrest them? If he did this, +surely it would atone for the dealings he had had with them? Honour +whispered, "Get thee to thy slumbers, and go to-morrow to the admiral +and make thy confession." He turned away from the lattice. A slight +rattle attracted his attention. The blood rushed from his face, +leaving him as cold as death. The dark form of Basil, silhouetted by +the moonlight, was confronting him. One glare of angry reproach from +the sinister eyes was enough. He opened the casement; Basil stepped +in, and Father Jerome followed. + +The two stood and eyed him severely. The priest laid his hand on his +shoulder, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his pale +countenance. Many a poor wretch had found that smile a herald of +tragedy. Such it now appeared to the hapless owner of Dean Tower. + +"'Tis past midnight, my son," said Jerome. + +Windybank made no reply. The grip on his shoulder tightened with a +startling suddenness. "'Tis past midnight, my son." + +"Yes?--is it? I was coming, good father," faltered the victim. + +"When thou art doing the work of a king--of the Holy Father--of God," +whispered the priest, "thou shouldst put wings upon thy feet. Take +heed, my son! We love thee" (the smile deepened); "we look to thee to +do great things and earn great rewards. Let not our dearest hopes be +disappointed." + +Windybank glanced at Basil. There was death in the fanatic's eyes. +"Forgive me," he murmured, and sank upon his knees. + +Jerome raised him, and imprinted a cold kiss upon his forehead. "Sit," +he said. + +"The admiral hath held a council at Newnham to-day, and thou hast lost +heart because a few dull wits have been pondering together," pursued +the priest. "Dost thou know their plans?" + +"Partly, father." + +"A child might laugh at them! Our brave Basil here will reduce their +watchmen to a jelly of terror before this moon wanes. When flies catch +spiders, then these fools will catch us. Now hearken. If thou dost +show the white feather again, thou diest; Basil hath sworn it. That is +all that I have to say to thee by way of threat or reproof. Now this, +by way of encouragement. We _cannot_ fail. 'Tis the Church against +heretics, the Holy Father against apostates, the mightiest king in +Christendom against a vain and foolish woman. My plans are perfected. +A vessel manned by stout hearts will be here, in the river, a month +from to-day. Men who laugh at danger and have never known defeat will +be aboard of her. They will land at my signal, and must find all +things ready for the last blow. These miles of woodland will be +ablaze; no guard, such as the admiral can set, will prevent us. I want +thine aid. 'Tis an honour for thee to be linked with our holy cause; +beware how thou dost carry the dignity. This house of thine must be +hiding-place and headquarters for me. I shall come and go when I +please, and, be assured, I shall time my movements so that none shall +know of them. A safe asylum in the forest is necessary. I have chosen +this. I command; thou dost obey. Have I made it plain to thee?" + +Windybank's dry lips murmured "Yes." + +"Thou hast an enemy?" + +"I have." + +"Basil hath set his mark upon him." + +"I know it." + +"If thou art faithful, thy rival dies. Now lead us to the chamber of +which thou hast told us. Basil and I are weary, and would sleep. +Come, thou shall wait upon us and make us secure." + +The men in black slept at the Tower that night. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + +MASTER WINDYBANK WALKS ABROAD. + +A month came and went, and during that time the stir of apprehension +died down in the forest. Men pursued their wonted occupations, by the +river, in the greenwood and the mines, without let or hindrance. Night +was as untroubled as the day; the dreaded men in black appeared no +more. Wayfarer and forester forgot to scan bush and bracken for the +deadly and cadaverous form of Basil. Simple, honest souls believed +that the admiral's council at Newnham, and the measures of defence +adopted thereat, had shown the emissaries of King Philip how impossible +was their wild enterprise. + +"Verily," said they, "the villains have gotten a fright, and are gone +back to their rascally master." + +Which opinion did credit to the clean-souled fellows who uttered it, +and a glaring injustice to the cunning knaves who had caused such a +fearful commotion amongst them. And all the while the plotters had +secret harbourage at Dean Tower, coming and going by stealth and in the +darkness, avoiding all men, playing no bogy tricks, but maturing their +plans. + +Andrew Windybank had lived the wretchedest month of his life. A +mountain of care bowed him down, and fear, rage, jealousy, and wounded +pride gnawed unceasingly at his heart. He knew that he was a suspected +person: his neighbours shunned him; many of his servants and +dependants, by sidelong looks and spying ways, showed that they +mistrusted him. Within a week of the time when Father Jerome and his +two lieutenants quartered themselves upon him, the young master of Dean +Tower went about with pale face and bowed head, ashamed to meet the +eyes of a passer-by; and all the time wild anger surged up in his +heart, equally against those whose tool he was and against those who +stepped aside with a shrug to let him pass. He suffered all the +agonies that come upon weak natures that fall into temptation or +succumb to evil influences. He dreaded the power of the Church of +Rome; he shivered as he thought of the terrors of England's laws +against traitors. He loved his country in a way, and he was proud of +her; yet, having done nothing to merit the applause of his +fellow-countrymen, he was maliciously envious of those who had risen to +emergencies, or deliberately planned great deeds, and thus won +themselves fame. He loved Mistress Dorothy, and he felt that, if she +would only love him, he could be brave and noble; yet he hated the +easy-going, simple-hearted Johnnie Morgan, who had made himself a +popular idol, and was marked out by the gossips as the fittest and +properest husband for pretty Mistress Dawe. Master Windybank could not +help but admire the valiant admiral, and he remembered how he had +flushed with pleasure when Drake had taken him by the hand on the +occasion of their introduction. He hated and feared Father Jerome: but +he was aiding his schemes, and endeavouring to frustrate those of the +gallant sailor whom he honoured. + +As the days wore on, unceasing fears began to torture him. Did any one +know of his treason? One aged servitor only had been admitted into the +secret of the unwelcome guests in the Tower, and the honest veteran had +gone straightway upon his knees and besought his young master to cast +them out. Of the Romish faith himself, he would have no hand in plots +against his lawful Queen, and no truckling to the cruel bigot who sat +upon the throne of Spain. But love of his master brought him into the +snare, and made him an unwilling tool of the conspirators. Both fear +and affection lead men to belie their better selves. + +After a month of what was almost seclusion, Andrew Windybank determined +to spend a morning by the river. He walked into Newnham, and made his +way to the ferry to watch the tide race up the river. Men, horses, and +dogs were coming across from Arlingham, as the verderers of the forest +had a great hunt fixed for that very day. Windybank, as a verderer, +should have remembered this, but weightier matters had driven it from +his mind. + +There was plenty of bustle at the ferry; men were shouting, horses were +neighing, and hounds were baying. The townsfolk had come down to +welcome their friends from the other side, but no Newnham man +approached the master of Dean Tower. There was some whispering, some +furtive glancing in his direction, and the Arlingham folk cut him as +completely as did those of Newnham. + +With his heart full of rage and malice, the young gentleman turned on +his heel and strode off up the street. He held his head defiantly +erect, and he gave scorn for scorn and shrug for shrug. From the open +window of "Ye Whyte Beare" a jolly, rolling peal of laughter told him +that young Morgan was within, and two boar-hounds tethered to the +doorpost proclaimed that the Blakeney yeoman purposed hunting other +game than the timid deer that day. + +Higher up the street the angry man encountered a group of dark-haired, +sallow-faced miners who were taking a holiday, and a hiss of "Papist! +papist!" greeted him as he passed. His hand went to the hilt of his +dagger, but the fellows flourished their oaken cudgels within an inch +of his nose; so he contented himself with a counter hiss of "Insolent +dogs!" and went on. + +Resolved to face his foes, Master Andrew walked the whole length of the +high street, although the road to Littledean branched off about halfway +up. This meant that he must pass Captain Dawe's cottage, which dainty +habitation he had not looked upon since the morning when his wooing had +been interrupted by the coming of his wounded rival. The angry colour +fled from his face, and his head sank lower and lower as he neared the +place. The sound of Dorothy's voice in the garden unnerved him +completely; shame swept over him like the swift river-tide that still +roared in his ears, his chin fell on his breast, and a ghastly pallor +whitened his cheeks. A sob broke from him as he bent low and hurried +by. He did not dare to snatch even a glimpse of the scene beyond the +hedge. + +But he heard his name called in quick but quiet tones, "Master +Windybank! Master Windybank!" His heart almost ceased beating. The +shock of detection made him pause for an instant, and that brief space +of time brought Dorothy into view. He would not run, but turned +towards her, throbbing with the panting fears of a creature brought to +bay. The wild light in his eyes was quenched when he saw the kindly +glow in the blue orbs of the maiden. She put out her hand. + +"Thou art almost a stranger," she said. + +The youth's dry lips could frame no answer, nor did he take the +proffered hand. Kindly concern, where he had expected contempt and +reproach, completely unnerved him. Dorothy's hand was still held out, +and her eyes grew kinder as he looked into them. He took the dainty +fingers in his trembling hand and pressed them to his hot, dry lips. +Dorothy had almost the sensation of a burn, and she winced. Windybank +took the movement as a repulse, and threw the hand from him. + +"Art thou going to torture me too?" he cried harshly. "Why do you all +hate me so?" + +"Hate!" echoed Dorothy. "La! Master Windybank." + +"I am shunned like a leper," he went on. "Shall I get me into a sheet, +carry a bell, and cry 'Unclean! unclean!' as I walk the roads?" + +"But I do neither hate thee nor shun thee, else I had not called to +thee. 'Tis thou dost make a hermit of thyself. And thou art ill and +fevered," she added compassionately; "thou art wasted well-nigh to a +shadow." + +"I have no rest, no peace," he groaned. "I am scorned of my +neighbours, spied upon, suspected, insulted. Do ye all think I have no +heart to feel these things, no spirit to resent them? But I can return +hate for hate, injury for injury. Let some men look to themselves!" + +His tones were so fierce that Dorothy quailed. She recovered herself +quickly. + +"Come into the garden," she said. + +"I cannot come where I am not welcome." + +"I am asking thee." + +"I shall not come." + +"Then must I come to thee." + +Suiting action to the words, the maiden hurried through the gate, and +in a minute more Windybank was sitting beside her in the arbour. + +Now Mistress Dorothy was a maiden very prone to act upon impulse. She +would do a thing, and then, after accomplishment, consider the action, +and ofttimes repent. She had never entertained any very great liking +for Master Andrew, although her father had at one time made much of him +and favoured him as an acceptable suitor for his daughter's hand. But +the fact that the young gentleman was in serious disgrace, and spoken +ill of by those who smoked their pipes and sipped their ale around the +captain's table, softened her heart towards him. Ugly clouds of +suspicion hung over him, and men said bitter things concerning him; but +to Dorothy's mind the alleged treason seemed impossible. The accused +man, she would argue, was a gentleman and a forester; he had sat at her +father's board, he had spoken of love to her: such a one could not be a +traitor; she would not condemn him unheard. But she had resolved to +put him upon trial if opportunity offered. The opportunity had come, +and, believing in his innocence, she seized upon it. + +Dorothy went straight to her task without bush-beating. She told +Master Andrew very plainly what men were saying about him, and then she +asked him some blunt and awkward questions. Windybank was cunning; he +saw that in Dorothy he had a friend and a ready champion. To answer +her questions truthfully was to forfeit her good opinion and turn her +liking into loathing. He determined to fence. + +The maiden would have none of it. "I must have plain answer to plain +question!" she cried. + +So Master Windybank gave answers that appeared stamped with the mark of +truth. He assumed the indignation of a wronged innocent, and spouted +with some heat a torrent of lies and cunning half-truths. + +It was all very cleverly done, especially the contrite confessions +concerning interviews with Father Jerome and his brother-conspirators. +He acknowledged that men had had some cause to suspect him. "But," +exclaimed he, "a man should not be written down a criminal because some +one asks him to commit a villainy. All of us are liable to temptation!" + +"Truly spoken!" said Dorothy. "However, we must not parley with the +tempter, but flee from him." + +"That is not easy," answered Andrew, "for these men steal about like +very wolves. They spring into one's path when least expected. It is +impossible to avoid them." + +Dorothy tapped her companion's sword. "Thou art armed," she said, "and +so are they. What shouldst thou do when an avowed enemy of the Queen +crosses thy path actually engaged in evil-doing?" + +Windybank gulped. "Cut him down," he replied. + +"Exactly!" Dorothy arose and held out her hand. + + + + +"I expect to hear that a gentleman and a forester has done his duty to +his Queen, himself, and his friends." + +The master of Dean Tower bowed, murmured some words of loyalty and +devotion, and then took his leave. He went the longest way home, +avoiding all frequented ways near which Basil might be lurking. +Loyalty and treason, lodged in his heart, fought a dire fight, and, +thanks to the vision of a pretty face, treason was rather badly wounded. + + + + +Chapter IX. + +THE HUNT. + +By the time he had reached home, Windybank was persuaded that treason +would bring no grist to his mill. Weak-kneed and inclined to evil, he +was yet an Englishman, and in his heart he felt that all the kings that +ever ruled in Spain were too feeble a power to hold valiant little +England in a conqueror's grip. The Jesuit's plot was feasible, and, as +expounded by Father Jerome, promised a measure of success. The master +of Dean Tower was prepared to acknowledge that the forest might be +fired. What then? Would Philip beat England on the sea? The balance +of numbers would be on his side; but what of the deeds of Drake and his +brother-captains? They were men who laughed when the odds were against +them. "No," said Andrew decisively, "the Spaniard is not yet born who +can trounce that bullet-headed man of Devon. Philip's men can hardly +land in England. If they do--!" The young man shrugged his shoulders +expressively; there were bonny fighters for the shore as well as for +the sea! + +Such was the power of a pair of blue eyes, when the black ones were not +at hand to counteract their witchery, that Windybank determined +straightway to play the honest man that he had determined to become. +He whistled for his dogs, called to his groom, got him upon a sturdy +pony, and hurried away to the hunt. He was late, but he knew that the +quarry was to be roused in the Abbot's Wood, a close belt of forest +lying betwixt Littledean and Blakeney, so he made for the old, +grass-grown Roman road that ran straight through the heart of the +woodland, and, ere he had ridden two miles, he could discern horn and +"halloo!" away to the right towards the Speech.[1] His hounds heard +the welcome sounds, gave mouth in answer, and dashed off through the +green, waving sea of bracken. And master and groom, their forester +blood running like a stimulating wine through them, put spurs to their +steeds and raced off on the heels of the dogs. + +After very little riding, the rapidly swelling volume of sound told the +two hunters that the chase was coming straight in their own direction, +and hardly had they come to this conclusion when a fresh and fiercer +baying from their dogs and a ripping and crashing in the undergrowth +brought them face to face with the quarry--a magnificent ten-point +stag. Confronted unexpectedly by these fresh foes, the noble creature +came to a terrified halt, and, flanks heaving, nostrils quivering, +stared at them with wide-open eyes. But a yelp from the nearest hound +and a view "halloo!" from Windybank sent it off again like a bolt from +a crossbow. + +"Head him back to the main chase!" yelled Master Andrew, and he rode +off at a dangerous pace through the trees to carry out his own +instructions. Dogs and man obeyed his voice with a will, and the +unfortunate stag went bounding from one danger into the jaws of a +greater. Terrified by the shouts and bayings behind him, and sorely +hampered by the trees and undergrowth, he burst wildly into a glade, +hoping to make a quicker dash for safety, but found himself, instead, +confronted by a crowd of hunters on horse and afoot. Effectually +cornered, he turned to bay, and the first hound that approached was +tossed a good dozen yards, landing with a thud and a howl right under +the heels of Dorothy's pony. Snapping viciously out at the nearest +obstacle, the brute bit the pony just above the fetlock, causing it to +rear, spring forward, and throw its rider into the midst of the dogs +and within reach of the stag's horns. A cry of alarm went up, and +Windybank, who was easily the nearest man, had the opportunity of his +life. He hesitated, and his rival, who had quitted the boar hunt when +he found Dorothy riding after other game, sprang to the rescue in an +instant. With his bare hands he threw the dogs aside and snatched up +the unconscious girl just as the stag's antlers made the first savage +rip at her riding-dress. The whole deed was done in the twinkling of +an eye, and done single-handed. Morgan's quickness and cool daring had +proved easily equal to the crisis, and loud cries of "Well done, +Johnnie!" greeted the popular hero. For the nonce the quarry was left +to the dogs, and Windybank, glancing round, saw that he was the only +man still in the saddle; instinctively every other rider had sprung to +the ground. No one appeared to notice him; so, conscious that his +chance of regaining any share of popular esteem was gone, he swung his +horse round and disappeared amidst the trees. His dogs were yelping +with the rest of the pack, and not even his groom followed him. A +feeling of hopeless loneliness crept over the young man's heart, and +his head hung down, weighted with the bitterest thoughts of his life. +His conscience was busy with accusing whispers--"Traitor! Coward! +Fool!" The unspoken words burnt into his brain, and fired his dark +face with the hues of a lurid sunset. He halted; no man could see him, +and he listened to the clamour in the glade. He heard an exultant bay +from one of his own hounds. The brute dared more than his master, and +was taking a bold share in the events of the moment; and the vindictive +master vowed to have the brave dog's life for outdoing him. + +The spirit of mad hate was driving out the feeling of shame. He vowed +with an awful oath that Morgan should share the hound's fate. All men +were his enemies; why, then, should he spare them? + +A hand of ice was laid on his hand, and he almost screamed with the +sudden shock and surprise; he had heard no footstep. He raised his +head, to find the stern, set face of Basil confronting him. + +"What art thou doing here?" he cried hoarsely. + +"Looking after thee." + +"Begone, then; I'll not be dogged," exclaimed Windybank wildly. "If +these men see us, our dooms are sealed." + +"Thine was almost sealed," said Basil curtly. "'Twas in thine heart to +play us false. Hadst thou held out the hand of friendship to yonder +herd of heretics, thou wouldst have found me to-night both thy judge +and executioner. Come, the time is ripe for action. I spare thee +because I need thee; but beware!" + +Basil took the pony by the bridle and turned its head towards Dean +Tower. "Father Jerome awaits thee," he said, "and thy life hangs in +the balance. Go!" + +And Windybank went. + + + +[1] The ancient courthouse of the foresters; it still exists. + + + + +Chapter X. + +MASTER WINDYBANK REBELS. + +Andrew Windybank slunk away through the forest homewards. He had set +out to play the man; he sidled in through his own gateway like a +whipped puppy. Not once during his ride did he look back, and he +neither hurried nor loitered; the former he would not, and the latter +he dared not do, for he felt that Basil was watching him. Never for an +instant did he lose the consciousness that the beady, black eyes were +upon him. He felt them like two hot points in the middle of his back; +they burned and bored, and the flesh seemed to shrink away from them +beneath the taut skin. + +For some time the sounds of the hunt came to his ears, but he heeded +them not. "I am out of the hunt in all ways," he said bitterly. +"Bugle-calls are not for me." + +There is no more pitiable object than a man suffering under mental and +moral defeat. He has lost faith in himself. He has tried, he has +failed; and he usually throws his defeat in the face of Providence, +accusing the Almighty of desertion. Windybank did so. Desperate with +anger and humiliation, he went to his own private sanctum. Father +Jerome and Basil were already there, awaiting him. Windybank could not +repress a start of surprise when he found that the ex-monk had +outstripped him. He had hoped for a few minutes of quiet thought +before facing Jerome. A quick wave of anger swept over him when he +realized how closely he was "shadowed." His footsteps dogged if he +went abroad; his privacy was broken, without so much as a "by your +leave," if he stayed at home; he was treated as a puppet, a cat's-paw, +a thing that must move only according to the will of another. A flash +of light showed him the utter depth of his degradation; and the two +basilisks that sat staring and motionless before him were the +instruments that had accomplished his undoing. A wild yearning for +freedom and vengeance arose in his heart. + +"We have been waiting for thee since early morn, my son," said Jerome, +breaking the silence. The tone of the speaker's voice was cold, hard, +and threatening. The menace in it stung Windybank into rebellion. + +"And why should ye not wait?" he cried. "Who, in God's name, are ye to +establish yourselves unbidden in my house, dog my steps, threaten me, +ruin me with my friends and neighbours, and treat me as though I were a +child without will, aims, or desires of mine own? Ye have tarried for +me; tarry on until doomsday. Henceforth I'll be master of myself!" +Furious with passion, Master Andrew turned to the door. + +The effect of this outburst was electric. Jerome sat as one stupefied, +and for a bare instant Basil gazed as stonily as he; but he recovered +in time to prevent the young man's departure. The yellow-faced fanatic +was as quick-handed as he was quick-witted. Windybank had lifted the +latch, and his fingers were on the door pulling it open. Basil drew +his dagger, held it, poised, by the blade for a moment, then cast it +with great force and precision. Master Andrew felt a hot pain in his +hand, tried to pluck it back to his body, and failed; it was pinned +fast to the door. Basil came forward, drew out the dagger, and led his +host to the feet of Father Jerome. + +"Thou art drunk," he said meaningly--"drunk with the poison of a +wench's flattery. Down on thy knees and crave forgiveness!" + +But the master of Dean Tower was thoroughly aroused, and was not to be +cowed by a word. He threw Basil from him, and, wounded and bleeding +though his hand was, he contrived to draw his sword. + +"I'll kneel for forgiveness to no man living!" he cried. "Get ye from +my house, or I will drive ye forth!" + +Jerome had recovered from his astonishment; he rose up and laid his +hand gently on the young man's shoulder. "Thou art beside thyself for +the nonce, my son. Let us talk calmly. A host does not draw sword on +his guests." + +The words were uttered in a smooth, purring tone, and Andrew lowered +his hand. He was glad to do it, for it throbbed with pain, and the +blood was falling in a quick drip to the floor. His head was reeling, +and he spoke stutteringly. + +"Ye are not guests of mine; ye are intruders," he cried. + +Jerome tried to press him into a chair, but he resisted. "Hands off, +father! I can stand." + +The Spaniard made no further attempt to coerce the maddened young +gentleman, but he took a kerchief from his doublet and carefully bound +up the wounded limb. + +"A drop of wine, son Basil, for our friend," he said. + +Basil went to a cabinet, but Windybank cried out,-- + +"Touch nothing of mine, thou devil's cub! Dost think I would drink +ought from thy hands! When wilt thou be gone, as I have bidden thee? +If thou dost not quit, I will run thee through." + +Jerome saw that the presence of Basil was a continual irritant to the +desperate man, so he himself ordered his satellite to withdraw. Basil +obeyed with no very good grace, and the look that Windybank received +boded ill. Jerome now placed his victim in a cosy chair, threw open +the casement that the fresh breeze from the woods might enter, and +brought the glass of wine he had ordered. Master Andrew drank it, then +lay back with closed eyes, his brain busy with tumultuous thought. The +Spaniard sat and watched him as a wolf might watch a slumbering dog; +his brain was as busy as that of the other. Was his plan doomed to +failure at the last moment? If the master of Dean Tower failed him at +so critical a juncture, he could not see how to proceed. More than +ever did the conspirators require a place of refuge, not only for +themselves, but for others whom Jerome was daily expecting. + +Father Jerome got up and quietly left the room, proceeding to an +ante-chamber where he knew Basil was lurking. + +"Well?" asked the latter when he saw his chief. + +"Thou hast been too harsh and hasty, my son. The meanest man will turn +to bay if his dignity is wounded too sorely. We have found Master +Windybank weak and pliable, and we have been too contemptuous of his +manhood. He hath a little, and that last blow of thine has aroused it." + +Basil fell on his knees in contrition. "Forgive me!" he murmured. + +Jerome raised him up and gave him a perfunctory kiss on the forehead. + +"We can forgive faults that arise from excess of zeal," he replied, +"and we must have patience with the weak-kneed; a time will come when +we shall be able to visit their sins upon them. At present we must +play the loving friend; we can be the merciless judge at the opportune +moment. Get thee to Gatcombe, my son. Watch the admiral well, and +send the messenger thou wottest of down to Chepstow to learn if there +be any tidings of our friends from Ireland. The time for action is +fully come; the foresters are lulled again to security; we must strike +as speedily as possible. I shall expect thee at midnight to-morrow. +Meantime I will bring back our host to a sense of his duty and +religion." + +Basil bent one knee to receive his superior's blessing. "Benedicite!" +murmured Jerome. + +His subordinate seized his hand and pressed it to his lips. "I am +forgiven, father?" he asked. + +"Forgiven and blessed," answered Jerome. "Go! and the Holy Virgin +watch over thee." + +Basil pulled his hood over his face, opened a small oak door whose +hinges had been generously oiled, and disappeared amongst the trees. +Jerome went back to Windybank. + + + + +Chapter XI. + +DARKNESS AND THE RIVER. + +The hunt and its incidents were three days old. + +Johnnie Morgan had been to Newnham, and had spent a whole afternoon in +Dorothy's company. Not once had she snubbed him or even contradicted +him. Johnnie was home again, quietly happy. There was a battle of wit +and song fixed for the night at the local tavern; several "jolly dogs" +had waylaid the young farmer and tried to drag him off for an evening's +revelry, but he would have none of it. The sun was going down over the +hills, and Johnnie sat in his parlour and watched it. His chair was +tilted back against the heavy table, and his feet were on the +window-ledge half shrouded in flowers. He stared at the rosy sky and +dreamed dreams of the same colour. + +Johnnie heard quick footsteps coming up to the porch, and immediately +afterwards there was a lusty banging at the door. + +"Plague take 'em!" exclaimed the contemplative youth; "I'll not go." + +A little, dark-haired maiden, who, with her mother, formed the whole of +the farmer's domestic establishment, came into the room. + +"The admiral's man would speak with you, master," she said. + +Johnnie's feet were on the floor in an instant. "Show him in," he +cried. + +A weather-beaten Devon man, sailor to his finger-tips, rolled into the +room. The two men gripped hands. + +"At last?" asked Johnnie in a low tone. + +"At last!" was the reply. "Gatcombe jetty at nightfall, and well +armed." + +"I'll be there." + +Without further words the messenger turned about and went elsewhere on +his errand. Morgan at once got out his sword, put on a thick leathern +doublet and boots reaching to his thighs. Then, well knowing that he +might be setting out on an all-night expedition, he proceeded to eat a +hasty but hearty supper. + +At the appointed time he stood with about a dozen others on the +river-bank. The tide was about at half-flow and running strongly; +moreover, a breeze was coming up behind it from the south-west. There +was no moon, clouds were packing, and there was every sign of a +pitch-dark night. The admiral's roomy boat, with its mast stepped and +sail ready for hoisting, bobbed up and down on the water. Drake +himself was there to receive his men. + +"A rare night on the river for fish poachers, smugglers, and other +nefarious rascals," said he. + +"True, admiral," answered a Gatcombe pilot; "and I trow we shall find +it trying work looking for black men on a black night." + +"Well spoken, master pilot; but if thou canst keep our lives free of +danger from shoal and sandbank, we'll e'en try to do the rest." + +"I'll warrant ye safe passage anywhere 'twixt Chepstow and Gloucester, +Sir Francis." + +"I ask no more.--Now, gentlemen, aboard!" + +In silence the chosen band seated themselves. "Take the tiller, pilot; +I myself will attend to the sail. Do thou, Master Morgan, seat thyself +in the bow and maintain a sharp lookout; thine eyes are younger than +mine, and more used to the lights of the river." The anchor was lifted +in, and immediately the boat swung round into the path of the racing +waters. "Make for the other side," ordered Drake, "and lay to in the +backwater under the bank." + +A few deft strokes of the oars carried the boat into the rush of the +tide; for an instant it hung wavering, and then shot off like an arrow +up and across the roaring river. Then followed a few minutes of +intense excitement. The little craft rocked and swayed, and rose and +fell, tossed like a cork on the turbid waters. Morgan could scarcely +see a hand's-breadth before him. The rudder creaked as the pilot moved +it to and fro, and only his voice was heard as, very softly, he ordered +one oarsman after another to pull or back-water in order to hold the +course safely between the shallows and avoid the shifting sands, whose +presence, in the darkness, no eye could descry. Morgan was kneeling in +the bow, a stout pole in his hands; only once was he called upon to use +it, when the nose of the boat went crunching along the slope of a +sandbank for a few yards. At length came the welcome order, "Easy +all!" A minute later the boat was riding on an even keel under the +bank, rising and falling in rhythm with the suck and lap of the water +as it devoured the soft, red-brown walls that shut it in. The heads of +the men were on a level with the strip of turf that formed the land's +margin. Fifty yards back was the outer edge of a belt of dark wood +that covered the flat lands and swept up the sides of the hills that +lay off ten or twelve miles to the east. Against such a background +nothing would be visible in the darkness. Across on the Gatcombe side +were the steep sandstone cliffs, storm-washed and clean, and topped +with primeval forest. + +"Master Morgan," said Drake, "how far out in the stream must we lie in +order that thou mayest distinguish the sail or hull of a ten-ton craft +against the cliff face?" + +"I can do it from here, Sir Francis. The channel is about mid-stream; +and now that mine eyes are got accustomed to the dull tinge of the +water, I can see the fleck and scum on the farther sand-ridge." + +"Good! thou art our watch." + +The admiral turned to the rest of his party. "Gentlemen," said he, "in +one sense we work in the dark to-night; our foes have willed it so. Ye +have come out on this errand at my bidding, asking no questions, and +so, in a way, ye are groping in a double darkness. 'Tis not my way to +have men follow me blindly if I can open their eyes. I want those at +my back to see; by so doing they will strike the surer. Now, tidings +have reached me that those Spanish rascals whom ye wot of are about to +bring their plot to a head. Tomorrow night they hope to see the forest +in flames." The men stirred uneasily; Drake went on: "We have had a +long drought, and master-pilot will tell ye that there are strong winds +coming up from the sou'-west. For to-night and to-morrow they may be +dry; after that we may expect rain. Some of ye will know the _Luath_ +that trades between Gloucester and Waterford in Ireland. The Irish are +not loyal to our Queen--that ye also know. The _Luath_ came up to +Chepstow on the tide this morning, and no one, unless in the secret of +these Spanish villains, would dream that she carried ought but honest +cargo. Her hull, gentlemen, hides four rascal priests and other +desperate fellows to the full total of half a score, and much of her +merchandise is tar, oils and resin, and bales of tow. The boat should +wait off Chepstow for the tide that runs to-morrow forenoon before +attempting the dangerous run onwards to Gloucester. She really leaves +to-night. Just above Westbury she hath planned an anchorage, and there +Master Windybank of Dean Tower--whom, God helping me, I will hang over +his own gateway before another sunset--will meet them with pack-horses +wherewith to convey the combustibles to their appointed places. 'Tis +our business to capture the _Luath_. The good knight Sir Walter +Raleigh and the gallant Mayor of Newnham will see to Master Windybank +and the black-garbed villains that consort with him. That is our +mission; it remains for us to bring about a sure accomplishment." + +"'Tis as good as done, admiral," murmured the men. + +"There'll be a little tough fighting first," was the quiet reply. +"Capture means death to these fellows. They are brave, and will prefer +to die fighting." + +The river still rose; the tide was nearing full flood, and the wind +steadily increased. Soon there was water of a navigable depth above +every sandbank, and there was no longer a swirl to indicate a shallow. +Morgan had seen nothing; the men were getting cramped and impatient. +There was now no need for the _Luath_ to pick her way; she might race +up anywhere between the wide banks: her chances of detection were +greatly lessened. + +The pilot spoke. "Saving your presence, admiral, but this Irish +skipper is a deep dog. He should have passed ere now if he intends to +do his business at Westbury and then make Gloucester on this tide. He +suspects us." + +"How so, pilot?" + +"He hath not ventured to navigate the usual channels, which could be +watched." + +"He'll have no pilot; don't forget that." + +"True; nevertheless he is behaving right cunningly." + +"I never expected him to behave foolishly." + +"'Sh!" Morgan's voice broke in. There was tense silence in a moment. +All eyes were staring across the river. "Row out!" cried Johnnie; +"they won't hear us in this wind." + +After about a dozen full strokes the command came from the bow, "Cease +rowing and keep her steady a moment!" + +Another palpitating wait; then an excited cry from more than one voice, +"There she goes!" And the _Luath_, every thread of her brown sail +taut, swept by like a greyhound, wind and wave hurrying her upstream. + +Round swung the admiral's boat, up went the sail, and in a moment she +was bowling along in the wake of the foe. "Put your backs into it, +lads," cried Drake; "we must have her before she gets too far up the +river, else will the longshore rascals get warning." + +The stout foresters and fishers needed no incentive; they were rowing +as well as ever Jason's Argonauts rowed, and a greater than Jason was +directing them. + +The yellow waters rushed and swirled and bubbled; objects drifting up +on the tide were left hopelessly behind. But the stout little Irish +boat had got under good headway, and for a while she kept it, looming +before them a blacker patch in a black night. + + + + +Chapter XII. + +SNARING A FLOCK OF NIGHT RAVENS. + +At about the hour when Johnnie Morgan stepped out over his threshold to +go down to the admiral at Gatcombe, Andrew Windybank stole like a thief +from the Tower and went through by-paths towards Westbury-on-Severn, a +fishing hamlet that lay a little farther up-stream than Newnham. Not a +single man of all his servants and retainers went with him. He was +clad in helmet and cuirass, and armed with sword and poniard. Although +he walked stealthily, he walked firmly. Impelled by superstitious +fears, avarice, and desire for revenge, he had finally thrown himself +whole-heartedly into the Spanish plot. He had found it impossible to +hold out against Jerome and Basil, for, had he withstood them, they +would have killed him without mercy. Therefore, being implicated +hopelessly with them and their schemes, he determined, wisely, to use +no half-measures and thus court defeat and disaster, but to strive to +his uttermost for the success of their plans, treasonable and +dishonourable though he knew them to be. "May as well be hanged for a +royal stag as for lesser game," said Master Windybank; and as he said +it he felt his neck grow uncomfortable. He plucked at his doublet, +found it quite loose, swore at himself for an imaginative fool, and +hurried on his way. + +The wood was almost passed; the trees were thin, and the steep of the +hill was merging into the level of the plain. Master Andrew could hear +the faint roar of the running tide. Nowhere along the river could a +light be seen. From wood to wood across the wide waterway all was a +black hollow, not even the yellow of the half-covered sands showing a +tinge of colour through the thick darkness. "A mirky night for a mirky +deed," whispered the young man. "Father Jerome hath chosen well." He +resumed his walk, turning north towards the cliff at Westbury. The +darkness and the sense of security had heightened his courage; he +stepped out boldly and without hesitation. All at once he was +conscious that some one was near him. Hardly had he realized this +presence when a hand was laid in a familiar fashion on his arm. "Thy +feet are swift in the good cause," said a voice; "thus do men step to +victory!" + +Basil! Windybank felt uncomfortable at once. Had the fellow been +dogging his steps from the Tower? He moved more stealthily than the +night itself, and one never felt free of his presence. + +The two walked on side by side, never exchanging another word; indeed +Windybank made no reply to Basil's remark. They came out on the +river-side path that ran from Newnham to Westbury around the great +horseshoe sweep of the river. The shallow wavelets of the advancing +tide were already lapping at the soft, red bank on their right. On +their left was a ditch; behind that, an embankment topped by a tall +hedge; beyond that, orchards and fields stretching away to forest and +hill. The two conspirators crept along in the shadow of the hedge. +Half a mile farther on was the rendezvous. A faint light coming from +the foam-topped water made the blackness near its margin seem less +intense, and presently Windybank saw three figures ahead of him +silhouetted against the stretch of river. He plucked Basil by the +sleeve, and the fanatic came to a dead stop instantly. + +"Friends or foes?" whispered the young forester. + +"No foe would walk so openly to our meeting-place," replied the other, +"and no friend should risk discovery so stupidly. I'll hurry after +them and teach them discretion." + +The ex-monk crouched down and ran almost on all fours like a dog. The +pace at which he went in so strained a position opened Windybank's +eyes. "The fellow's more beast than man," he thought, "and his +muscular strength is marvellous." He went on to the appointed place +alone and slowly, seeing nothing of Basil or the three others until he +got there. + +About a dozen men were assembled, and Windybank gathered from their +whispers that they were from the northern part of the forest or from +beyond the Wye; neither Father Jerome nor his other lieutenant, John, +was present. Windybank stretched himself on the grass just above the +water, being determined to say nothing to any man. He fell to +contemplating the tall spire of Westbury Church, which stood out like a +blurred finger in the darkness. Meanwhile the tide ran strongly. + +A boat came across from the eastern side of the river. Father Jerome +and five men stepped out, and the boat was tied up under the bank. The +Jesuit asked for "Master Windybank," and Andrew stood up. "Your +leader, friends, if it comes to fighting," said Jerome quietly. +Windybank bowed; he had not anticipated such an honour, and he +certainly did not want it; there was too much danger about it. + +"Where is John?" + +Basil answered. "Gone to meet the company that rides from Gloucester." + +Nearly half an hour went by, a time of dead silence and anxious +watching. Some of the less eager conspirators began to feel the +demoralizing effects of the long wait; their courage began to ebb. +Andrew Windybank had time to reflect, and he wished himself well out of +the whole business. Here and there a man sighed or fidgeted in the +darkness. Basil was quick to notice the signs, and equally quick to +combat them. He whispered words of hope and promise, and stimulated +the nagging ones to fresh zeal. + +A muffled sound of hoofs--the men from Gloucester! Windybank noted +with some degree of satisfaction that they ware well armed and well +mounted. In the darkness he counted nearly a score of men. A few were +"riff-raff;" some, like himself, were perhaps forced; but the majority +seemed to be of some substance and courage. Prospects were looking +brighter. Master Andrew ventured to ask Basil a question. "What of +the Irish ship?" + +"The _Luath_ will not fail us; she is almost due." + +"It is possible that she may pass the cliff in the darkness," put in a +bystander. "Mine eyes are good, but I cannot see mid-stream, and a +boat that carries no lights may easily slip by unseeing and unseen." + +"That is our greatest risk, my son," admitted Basil. "But if the +_Luath_ is to escape other prying eyes, we must take the chance against +ourselves. One thing, we know when and where to expect her, and the +captain will steer inshore after passing Newnham, because of the deeper +channel being this side. I don't think we shall miss her." + +Father Jerome utilized the minutes in slipping from man to man and +giving each a fixed duty to perform the moment the _Luath_ should come +to anchor under the bank. He seemed to have forgotten nothing; ropes +were ready for the tying up of the vessel and the hauling ashore of the +cargo in cradles that the skipper would have aboard with him. The +horses from the city were designed for duty as pack-horses, by means of +which combustibles would be conveyed to divers parts of the forest and +hidden whilst the darkness lasted. Finally, the boat that had brought +Father Jerome and the contingent from the Arlingham side would drift +down-stream on the ebb with materials for giving the fire a good start +round Awre and Blakeney. + +"Ha!"--the exclamation came in a strained whisper from a dozen throats. +A black shape loomed up out of the darkness, and was recognized by more +than one for the _Luath_. The ship swung towards the cliff, and the +men stood ready to drop the anchor. There was a soft call of "Ahoy!" + +"Ahoy!" answered Basil. In an instant every conspirator was alert and +afoot. Father Jerome rubbed his hands with undisguised glee, and +Andrew Windybank felt a great weight drop from his heart. He had now +no doubt of success for the night's venture. The _Luath_ was safe and +to time, and many hours of darkness were yet before them. He had not +expected that things would go so smoothly. He saw visions of satisfied +revenge dancing before him like "Jack-o'-lanthorns." His spirits were +of that sort that are easily elated or depressed. Now they bounded up +like a liberated balloon. + +But another black shape crept up-stream--a small black shape. And from +this came, not a faint call, but a rousing shout of:-- + +"St. George and the Heart of Oak!" + + + + +Chapter XIII. + +A DOUBLE FIGHT. + +The fierce, challenging shout from the river seemed to split the thick +darkness as a wedge might split a tree. For a few seconds only was +there a following silence, in which the conspirators stood rooted in +astonishment; then from the very hedge that fringed the river-path came +another cry, "The Dragon and the Lion!" The veriest fool that hung +round Father Jerome knew that these cries could be naught but answering +signals. They were trapped. The rushing river lay before them, a line +of enemies stood behind, and the darkness was such that no man could +tell friend from foe at the distance of a dozen paces. + +The anchor of the _Luath_ dropped to the deck again with a dull clang. +Hands went to the freeing of the sails, and the tiller swung round to +bring the vessel out of the backwater beneath the cliff into the full +run of the tideway. + +"Shoot!" ordered a rough voice (the admiral's) from the boat. A shower +of arrows whistled over the heads of the group on land, and stuck, +quivering, into ship or sailor. This sign of perfect agreement between +the forces at the rear and on the river decided some of the plotters. +The admiral evidently had known all, and was prepared with a perfect +counterplot. The only chance of safety lay in flight--and they fled. + +But Father Jerome was not beaten. His weapon was out, and Basil's and +John's followed immediately. + +"We fight for it, my sons," he cried. "The ship can hold her own and +help us too; there are fifty bold fellows aboard her." His voice rang +out clearly and resolutely, and the captain of the _Luath_ responded. +"'Tis but a boat-load to beat off," he said. + +But Francis Drake led the boat-load. Under cover of the darkness and +the flight of arrows from the bank he had brought his boat under the +lee of the Irish vessel, and, closely followed by Johnnie Morgan, was +swarming up her side. A stirring shout of "Strike for the Queen, my +lads!" told Raleigh that the admiral was aboard. The next moment Sir +Walter, Captain Dawe, and a dozen bold fellows from Newnham swarmed +through the hedge and down the bank, and dashed upon Jerome and his men. + +"Cut them down, lads!" cried Raleigh. "Every one is a priest of Spain +or a traitor; don't spare the vermin!" + +The din and clamour ashore and afloat--the cries, curses, clash of +weapons, and groans of the wounded--turned midnight and darkness into +an hour of pandemonium. The shore fight was short, for, though the +three chief conspirators and Windybank fought desperately enough, the +rank and file seemed more anxious to save their skins than do aught +else. They dared not ask for quarter after Raleigh's order--'twas +fight to the death, or fly. The men from Gloucester moved at once to +their horses, and some of them managed to spring into the saddle and +get off in the darkness. The rough foresters were poorly armed and ill +prepared for fighting; for the most part those who stood were cut down +like sheep, and paid the full penalty of their treason. Basil +endeavoured to single out Raleigh, and Father Jerome did the same; but +one cloaked man is very like another at midnight, and there were tall +fellows amongst the Newnham lads that could stand shoulder to shoulder +with the famous knight. Windybank hoped to get a thrust at Morgan; and +now that his blood was up, and he had resolved to sell his life dearly, +he was chagrined to find no sign of the hated foe. He did not suspect +that Johnnie was with the admiral on the river. + +Meanwhile there was a fiercer struggle on the _Luath_. The crew and +the men stowed in hiding beneath the hatches were either Irish or +Spanish, all friends of the Pope and King Philip, and inveterate foes +of England's Queen and faith. Moreover, they were well armed and could +fight stoutly. The ship's decks were soon slippery with blood and +cumbered with dead and wounded. Twice the admiral was beaten back to +the bulwarks and almost over the side. His force was hardly great +enough for the task that confronted it; indeed, the astute seaman had, +for once, underestimated both the numbers and the courage of his foe. +He cheered his little company with voice and example. + +"Foot to foot with me, lads!" he cried. "The honour of England is at +stake. Shall Dons and Irish beat us on our own rivers? Well thrust, +Master Morgan! Now, a rush together, boys! Ha! they give; the dogs +give!" + +So, under the pall of night on the swirling waters, the fight went on. +Now the gallant captain of the _Luath_ was exultant, the next moment +the admiral had the advantage; backwards and forwards swung the balance +of conflict. A loud "hurrah!" from the shore, a great shout of +"victory," cries of "Drive them into the river!" showed how matters had +gone between Raleigh and Father Jerome. The news heartened the admiral +and demoralized the conspirators on the ship. The vessel itself, +rocking to and fro, refusing to obey the helmsman, lurched from the +quiet backwater into the swirl of the racing current. She swung half +round, pitched and rolled dangerously, and then went up-stream like a +drunken thing, swaying, turning, threatening to rush for cliff or +sandbank, and endangering the life of every soul on board. The valiant +skipper saw and felt the imminent peril, and, sailor-like, sprang +himself to the helm and headed the staunch little ship along the safe +channel. Then he gave her over to the helmsman again with some +whispered instructions, and sprang back into the fight that had not +slackened because of the chances of shipwreck. But the sense of +doubled danger soon told its tale. The Spanish allies, strangers to +the river, lost their heads, unnerved by the blackness of the night and +the apparently ungoverned course along the tide. Raleigh and his +victorious men were running along the bank and cheering the admiral. +The captain of the _Luath_ took a desperate chance. He blew a call on +a whistle that hung on his neck. It was a signal to the helmsman, who +turned the nose of the ship across stream to the eastern shore. +Diagonally the vessel steered to destruction; she just cleared the +sand-ridge in the centre of the river, and then went crash into the +bank. + +"Save yourselves," cried the skipper, and those of his men who could +jumped into the waters and struggled to land. "I fight to the last," +cried the gallant Irishman, when those who cared to run for life had +had their chance; and the braver ones amongst his men came in a ring +about him, and fought on until struck down. Drake offered them +quarter, but they proudly refused it. "No rope for my neck!" cried the +captain; and his men cheered his resolve, and died fighting beside him. + + + + +Chapter XIV. + +WHAT HAPPENED IN WESTBURY STEEPLE. + +The battle was over, and there remained but the counting of the cost. +The admiral had lost a third of his force, who lay dead on the deck, or +on the shifting sands beneath the yellow tide. There was hardly a man +that had not received a wound. Johnnie Morgan had gone down under the +last wild-cat spring of the Irish captain. + +"We must have a light," cried Drake; "this vessel is a firebrand. Some +of you fetch up combustibles from below." + +The ship was stuck fast into the bank, the tide pounding her viciously +as she lay. In a short while a fire was roaring on the Arlingham bank, +and by its glare the deck was cleared of its ghastly burden, and the +wounded attended to. Hallooing across the river, Drake ordered those +on the other side to secure boats from somewhere, and come across +stream to render him assistance. Messengers went off to the +neighbouring farms to bring carts and mattresses and stuff for +bandaging; for the tale of wounded, friend and foe, was a long one. +Willing hands and legs went to work, but it was bright morning ere much +assistance arrived. Johnnie Morgan was not seriously wounded. A +sword-cut on the head had stunned him for a while, and now laid him, +sick, dizzy, and bleeding, on the bank; but he was able to tell the +admiral that he felt nothing but a "plaguy bad headache." + +We will leave him cooling in the dewy morning, and see what has become +of Master Windybank and some of those associated with him. The master +of Dean Tower, deeming his treachery well known, and not reckoning upon +any chance of life if he fell into the admiral's hands, rose to the +height of a desperate occasion, and fought in so resolute a fashion +that he was not outdone by the tigerish Basil or the cold-blooded +Jerome. The arch-plotter, who kept by the side of his untrustworthy +recruit, was astonished at the reckless valour he displayed. Truth to +tell, Jerome was half inclined to believe that Windybank had played a +double part, and was responsible for the admiral's knowledge of the +plot for unlading the _Luath_. + +Entertaining such a notion, he was watching Master Andrew closely; and +had he detected any signs of half-heartedness, or any movement towards +escape, he would have run the young man through the body without +hesitation. But the suspected one proved, for the nonce, a leader that +would have led stouter-hearted fellows to victory; and Father Jerome, +seeing the fight was hopeless, determined to give Windybank a chance of +further life and usefulness in the Spanish cause. He slowly gave way +in the direction of the river, and whispered his companion to do +likewise. + +"Skin whole?" he asked. + +"Ay," panted Andrew. + +"Fall into the river as though badly wounded, and try to save thyself. +I shall do the same. Leave Basil and John to fight this out." + +A moment later Windybank toppled backwards into the stream. He was a +good swimmer, else had the Jesuit's advice availed him nothing, and he +rose to the surface and turned over on to his breast like a porpoise. +He fixed his sword between his teeth, and left himself to the rush of +the tide, putting in a few strokes now and then in order to keep a +proper course. A short time sufficed to put him out of the area of +actual conflict, and he rested himself for a moment to consider what +was best for him to do. He did not suppose that his foes would put an +escape to his credit, for his voice had been heard loudly enough in the +fight until the waters had closed above him. He determined to essay +the crossing of the river, as giving him the better chance of a run for +liberty, but he found the task beyond him; the fighting had fatigued +him, and the current ran like a mill-race. For the present, at any +rate, he must remain on his own side of the Severn. He swam a little +farther up-stream, then made for a place where the bank was low, and +scrambled out. For a while he waited to see whether Father Jerome had +followed him. Getting no signs of his leader, he turned to the +pressing question of his own immediate safety. He quickly decided not +to seek any hiding-place in the forest; the river offered a better +channel for escape. If he could secrete himself for a while, a chance +would offer itself of running down on the tide after nightfall. It +would not be difficult to find a boat, and the Welsh coast of the +estuary should afford him a safe asylum until he could make fuller +plans concerning his future. The voyage would be a perilous one, but +he saw no other chance of escaping capture and death. + +The gray cottages of Westbury were before him, backed by the church and +its tall spire. A thought flashed across his mind like an inspiration: +his riverside hiding-place was found! The spire was isolated from the +church, and was entirely of wood, save for a stone stump. Great beams +crossed and recrossed one another, in an ever-narrowing pyramid, for +about two hundred feet. Up in the dimness and final darkness near the +apex was security for any man. + +Windybank stole across the river meadow to the nearest house. The door +stood open and the place was empty. The neighbouring house was in like +condition, and a quick survey told him that the fisher-folk, hearing +sounds of the fight, had gone down to learn what strange business was +adoing at midnight. Master Andrew was deficient neither in caution nor +in cunning. He acted promptly. A pantry was visited, and a loaf of +bread abstracted. He slipped from the house and passed through the +orchard. He stuffed his pockets with half-ripe apples; they would help +to quench his thirst, and he could hope for no water in his lofty place +of concealment. + +He got to the churchyard wicket, passed through, floundered over the +melancholy mounds that strewed God's acre, and reached the square, +stone stump upon which the wooden spire was reared, and in which hung +the bells. The door was on the latch, the lower part of the belfry +being used as a storehouse for odds and ends of stone, wood, and rope +belonging to the church itself. Windybank knew his bearings fairly +well. He found the staircase, and began to wend upwards to the +bell-chamber. About twenty feet up he felt a rush of cool, river air, +and he knew that he had passed the first lattice. A little later, and +he was on the belfry floor, his hands feeling the chill, smooth surface +of the largest bell. Aching with fatigue and excitement, he sat down. +He did not propose to attempt the perilous climb upwards in the +darkness, and daylight could not be far off. Hunger sent in its +claims; he broke the loaf, and munched a couple of sour apples. The +food refreshed him, and he felt he could wait patiently for the dawn. + +Day came, and with it a buzz of excitement in the village. Windybank +ventured to peep through the topmost lattice and scan the groups of +excited gossips. Then he looked aloft through the great network of +beams and rafters. He was tired, and his brain swam inside his head. +The apex of the spire looked fearfully high and dark, and the brown, +cobwebbed maze of woodwork bewildered him. The latch below clicked; +some one was in the lower tower. The great bell began to swing; the +sexton was ringing an alarm. Seized by a sudden fright, Windybank +clambered by a bell-wheel to the first huge beam. He got his fingers +on it and swung his body across. He gained the next, and the next; he +was twenty feet above the floor of the bell-chamber. The boom of the +bell was deafening. He paused for breath, and then hurried on his +upward way, slipping sometimes, but never falling. + +Suddenly the bell stopped; a deep hum of sound spun and echoed in the +narrowing cone where Windybank was giddily clinging. He had paused +again to recover breath and stability. Looking down, he saw a head +rising from the tower steps into the bell-chamber; the sexton had come +up to readjust the rope. The fugitive's guilty conscience put another +meaning upon his act; he felt sure that signs of his presence had been +noted, and that the fellow had come up to search for him. A little way +above him was darkness and security. He turned quickly to make a last +noiseless dash, but he missed his grip and his footing. For a moment +he hung, while his heart stood still. Then he fell with sickening thud +and crash from beam to beam. The startled sexton looked up and cried +out; and the traitor's body toppled in its last wild spin, and fell at +his feet. He lifted it up. The face was beaten almost out of +recognition, and the neck was broken. + +The receding tide left Father Jerome's body on the sands. He delayed +his plunge into the river a moment too long, and a thrust from +Raleigh's sword speeded him into the yellow waters. John was found on +the bank, dead likewise. Basil's body was searched for in vain. He +was accounted as dead, for men protested stoutly that they had wounded +him more than once. But a scotched viper does not always die. +Gatcombe men were destined to prove the truth of that. + + + + +Chapter XV. + +A LETTER FROM COURT. + +Affairs in the forest had settled down; "excursions and alarums" were +no longer the order of the day and the dread of the night. Wounded men +were healed of the hurts gotten in the fray with the conspirators, and +their whole-skinned neighbours had ceased to ask them how they did and +envy them the marks of patriotic valour that they carried on their +bodies. The dead were buried, and the tears of wives, mothers, and +sisters were dried, and sad memories--when they came--called up only a +sigh of resignation: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away!" +They humbly thanked the Lord that He had given their men honourable +passage into the next world. + +The admiral was no longer at Gatcombe, but had gone to London, and +thence to Plymouth. Raleigh had gone to London with him, and in London +had he stayed. After the solitude of the forest, the gaiety of the +court attracted him strongly; and, as her most gracious Majesty was +disposed to smile upon him, he had said to Drake, "The sun shines, +Frank; beshrew me if I stray out of the circle of its warm rays." To +which the seaman replied, "God forgive thee, Wat, for dancing so much +after a woman's heels. The sea--as I know full well--can be +treacherous, but I serve a less fickle mistress than thou." + +Raleigh laughed lightly, kissed the storm-roughened cheek of his +friend, and bade him God-speed. "What would our royal mistress say if +she heard thee call her 'fickle'?" he whispered. + +"I am not fool enough, Wat, to speak such words in her hearing. But +have a care--courts are slippery places in which to walk. An honest +man is safer on a ship's deck during a hurricane than on a palace floor +even when the royal sun is shining. Have a care of thyself, dear +heart, if only for the sake of us rough sea-dogs of Devon that love +thee." + +Whereupon Raleigh kissed the admiral again, and sent loving messages to +Jack Hawkins and Dick Grenville and all the other gallant gentlemen +that quaffed their ale with eyes on the sea on Plymouth Hoe. + +Johnnie Morgan stood watching the last wagon from his harvest field go +creaking and groaning into the rickyard in the rear of his house. It +was quite early in the afternoon, and the September sun shone with an +ardour worthy of fierce July. There was a wind, but it came dead from +the south, and its passage across the hot, moist sands of the river had +no cooling influence upon it. Johnnie mopped his brow and leant +wearily upon a pitchfork whilst a maiden ran indoors for a flagon of +cider. She came back, followed closely by a dusty stranger. + +The farmer stared at the stranger. The latter surveyed Johnnie pretty +coolly, measured him from head to heel, and then took off his hat with +a sweeping forward movement of the arm. "By the look of thee thou art +Master Morgan, the yeoman of Blakeney, for whom I have hunted high and +low since noon," he exclaimed. + +"I am Master Morgan," replied Johnnie; "who art thou?" + +"Timothy Jeffreys, at your service. I serve the good knight, Sir +Walter Raleigh." + +"Say no more until thy throat be better moistened," cried Morgan, +handing him the flagon of cider. "Let it never be said that a message +from the noble Sir Walter was spoken to me with dry lips." + +Master Jeffreys took the cider off at a draught. "Passable--on a hot +day, palatable--to a man thirsty enough to lap from a wayside ditch; +but--!" he shook his head expressively, "'tis not Devonshire juice, +Master Morgan." + +"True; 'tis good Glo'stershire, and we humble forest folk keep sound +heads and sound stomachs by quaffing it. I'm sorry 'tis not to your +liking; maybe I should cry 'faugh!' over your Devonshire tipple, good +sir." Johnnie was annoyed, for he prided himself on his apple-brew, +and the airs and graces of Master Jeffreys were not altogether to his +liking. "You have a message to me," he said. "No doubt you will tell +it better sitting than standing. Come into my parlour.--Meg, take this +gentleman's cloak and dust it, and bring him a brush for his boots." +The maid took the horseman's cloak, and her master led his guest +indoors. Meg was ready on the threshold to brush off the heavy coating +of red, forest dust. + +"Bachelor?" asked Jeffreys when he found himself lying back in a cosy +chair, a bowl of sweet, old-time flowers adjacent to his nose. + +"Bachelor!" answered Johnnie. + +"Pardon my question; but this room is so trim and neat that, methought, +there must be some dainty housewife under the roof." + +"And thou wert curious to see her." + +"Exactly. I have travelled, Master Morgan, and I love to look about me +and ponder upon what I see." + +"Thy conclusions are not always correct." + +"The wisest men make mistakes, Master Morgan." + +"What a comfort to us that are fools!" ejaculated the forester. "But +thy message, my good sir." + +"I like thy house; 'tis uncommon pretty." + +"A good enough nest," assented Morgan. + +"Wants another bird in it." + +"True!" + +"Thou hast no thought of quitting the homestead?" + +"Heaven forbid! 'twas my father's before me. I'll never leave it." + +"That's a pity." + +"How so?" + +"I've come down to fetch thee away." + +Johnnie was losing patience with his visitor. His thoughts were busy +with the rick-makers in the yard, and Master Jeffreys was in no hurry +to say his say and be gone. He gave himself more airs than the knight +his master. "Sit and rest thyself," exclaimed the farmer, getting up. +"I can see that thy story will keep another hour. I'll send the wench +into thee with some ale and venison. Eat and drink and take thine ease +until I come to thee again." Without another word he vanished. + +"A hasty fellow," commented Master Jeffreys. "A few trees and a muddy +river make up his world. A winter in London will open his eyes and +give him a broader view of life; then he will behave in a more leisured +manner." + +Johnnie saw to the unlading of his last wagon and the shaping off of +his wheat-rick. Then he went indoors again, and found his visitor +ready to deliver his message without any more beating about the bush. +It was short, but pointed. Jeffreys--who described himself as a poor +gentleman of Devon attached to the fortunes of his more famous +neighbour--was instructed to invite, or rather command, Master Morgan's +presence in London. Raleigh had spoken of him to the Queen, and the +admiral had also written concerning him. Her Majesty was anxious to +see the valiant forester, and Jeffreys duly impressed upon him the +necessity of seizing so glorious a chance to push his fortunes. + +But Morgan was not so eager; in fact, he told the messenger that, much +as he loved Raleigh and honoured the Queen, he did not propose to +venture into London. Jeffreys argued. Morgan was firm. "I'll not +come except at the direct command of the good Sir Walter or the Queen. +If I am left any choice in the matter, I choose to abide in the forest." + +"Very well," said Jeffreys, "then I'll be going. My steed will be +rested. Canst give me a guide to Newnham? I want a Captain Dawe." + +"Ah!" cried Johnnie, all ears in a moment. + +"The knight hath commissioned me to deliver a letter to a Mistress +Dorothy Dawe." + +"Then I'll get me out of my workday suit and walk to Newnham with +thee," exclaimed the farmer. "There's nought so refreshing as a tramp +along the shaded, woodland ways, and I have a little business of mine +own to do with Captain Dawe. I shall serve thee and myself at the same +time." So much the yeoman said aloud. Inwardly he muttered, "I'll not +have this bowing and scraping image ducking and bobbing before my +Dolly, and sniffing round her parlour like a dog that hopes to start +some quarry from behind chair or table. He'll be in luck if his +message-carrying doesn't get him a cracked crown. I hope the knight +hath not many such as he in his train." + +Jeffreys stared when his guide came again into the sunny parlour +prepared for his walk to Newnham. The rough farmer in hodden gray had +disappeared, and in his place stood a stalwart and handsome young +gentleman in green slashed doublet and hosen of soft cream cloth. A +green cap with a white swan's feather perched jauntily on the dark, +curling hair, and from a belt of pale buckskin hung a sword with a +delicately chased handle. The "poor gentleman of Devon" fresh from +London and the court felt as gay as a dusty barndoor fowl might feel +beside a lordly peacock. + +"La! Master Morgan," he cried, "I'm glad thou hast no mind for London +in my company. In good sooth, I've no wish to walk down Chepe or +Whitehall with thee at my elbow. Ne'er a wench would give an eye to +me. Even through the forest, with nought save the birds and beasts to +quiz at us, I think I'll come along humbly in the rear with my cap in +my hand. You foresters go a-visiting in as smart a guise as a town +gallant goes to the play. Dost mind if I wash my face, comb my locks, +and have another brushing ere we set forth?" + +"Ha' done with thy jesting, good sir; thou art a traveller from afar, +and lookest the part to perfection. I am at mine ease at home going to +pay a call to a pretty neighbour. Let us be jogging; 'tis a long walk +to Newnham, and the afternoon is wearing late." + +The two young men set out for the little river town. Morgan at first +had little to say, and let his companion rattle on as he pleased about +London--its streets, shops, taverns, and theatres. But, by-and-by, he +became eager over the wild beauties of river and forest, and he told +tales of cave and cliff and pool, of boar and deer, pirate and +fisherman, and forced Master Jeffreys to listen. And so they got to +Newnham and the pretty cottage with fair flowers outside and a fairer +flower within. "This is Captain Dawe's house," said Johnnie. + +"I thank thee heartily. I can knock and introduce myself and mine +errand, and leave thee free to go at once to the pretty maid in whose +honour thou hast decked thyself so gallantly." + +"Trouble not thyself, Master Jeffreys; I shall do my business the +better by coming in to quicken thine. Follow me; I am in the habit of +entering this house without going through the ceremony of knocking." +Saying this, the forester lifted the latch and stood aside for his +companion to cross the threshold first. A sound of singing came from +the kitchen. + +"A pretty bird in a pretty cage," said Jeffreys. + +"E'en so," commented Morgan; "thine eyes and ears are passably good for +a townsman. Pardon me leaving thee for a moment." + +Morgan strode off kitchenwards. There was a sudden, "La, Jack! thou +dost look like a feast day. Mind the flour!" After that Jeffreys +always declared that he heard the sound of a vigorous kiss. Silence +followed; then excited whisperings; then a scamper of light feet; and +Morgan returned and ushered his waiting companion into the parlour. +"Captain Dawe is down by the river," he said; "Mistress Dorothy will be +with us anon." + +"And the pretty bird that sang in the kitchen over the flour tub?" + +"Was Mistress Dorothy." + +"Thy sleeve is whitened, Master Morgan." + +Johnnie coolly brushed away the tell-tale smudge. "Women always +smother a room up on baking-day," he replied. + +Dorothy came in. + +"This is Sir Walter's man, who hath a packet for thee.--Master +Jeffreys, this is Mistress Dawe." + +Dorothy curtsied, and the messenger bowed. "Never had long journey so +pretty and pleasant an ending," he said. "Here is a packet from my +master, the gallant knight Sir Walter Raleigh. I am to take back an +answer." + +Dorothy took the packet, blushing at the sight of the pretty ribbons +wherewith it was tied. "I am honoured indeed," she murmured; "pray you +be seated, fair sir." + + + + +Chapter XVI. + +TO LONDON TOWN. + +The packet that Master Jeffreys handed to Dorothy was too large and too +heavy for a mere missive; and the maid, recalling some jocular promises +of Raleigh's, at once suspected that some London gew-gaw lay snug +within, and tore off the wrappings with eager fingers. Her hopes were +not disappointed, and a dainty pair of silver shoebuckles shone in the +sunlight. + +"Dear heart alive! surely they are not for me," cried Dolly. + +"Read the letter, mistress," said Jeffreys. + +A knot of blue ribbon was the only seal on the knight's letter, and the +blushing maiden opened and read; and, as she read, the rich colour of +her cheeks grew ever richer and deeper, and Johnnie pulled his +cap-feather to pieces and watched her. She finished, sighed, looked at +her lover and at the writer's messenger, then, with a "By your leave, +Master Jeffreys," she handed the missive to Johnnie. "Read," she said. + +"Nay, why should I?" was the somewhat sheepish response. + +"Because I wish it," said Dolly promptly. + +"I am bad at reading script; each one hath too much of his own fashion +in the twists and curls of the letters." + +"This is as plain as Bible print. Art going to London?" + +"No!" + +Dolly's face fell. "Hath not Master Jeffreys given thee Sir Walter's +message?" + +"Ay, and I have sent back a civil and courteous 'No.' What should I do +in such a place?" + +"What a question for a fellow of spirit to ask!" cried Dolly. + +"What a question, indeed!" echoed Jeffreys; "and a sweet maid with her +toes tingling to tread the golden pavements! Read, Master Morgan; the +gallant knight's words will speak more persuasively than my poor +tongue." + +Johnnie took the letter, and read as follows:-- + + +"To MISTRESSE DAWE. Bye ye hande of my trustie manne, Timothie +Jeffreys--Greetynges to you, faire mistresse, and to youre excellent +and honourable sire. + +"To-daye, a softe wind hath come up from ye west, tempering ye heate +and broil of ye towne, and whisperynge to me of cool forest glades and +greene paths bye a rushynge river. Straightwaie closynge mine eyen to +gette a cleare vision of ye same, I am minded of deare friendes whose +feete have kept time with mine along ye shaded wayes. Here, before me +on my table, hathe my servante placed freshe flowres from countrie +hedgerowe and garden, to sweeten the close aire that cometh in from ye +swelterynge streetes. And, straightwaie, I bethinke me how sweete this +olde citie would be if onlie Ye Rose of Dean Forest would come hither +with her coloure and her perfume! + +"Soe, gentle mistresse and deare friende, I am, on ye sudden, hasting +to do what I have purposed for many dayes. Her Majestie hathe a desire +to see a certaine gallant youthe that dwelleth hard bye ye rivere atte +Blakeney, and I have a desire to showe a pretty maiden ye sightes of +London towne, of the whiche we spoke many a time in ye cool of ye +forest. Therefore, come away with brave Master Morgan and youre +estimable father, ye captaine. My manne will guide you, and I will +welcome you righte heartilie. In assurance that you will come, I shall +bespeake lodgynges with a worthie dame of my acquaintance. Persuade +Master Morgan; it will be for his certaine goode. I shall command him +bye worde of mouthe; but as I knowe the rogue--though merrie enough in +some wayes and eager for travel--is rooted on Severne side like an oak, +'twill neede some powere like thine to move him. + +"Commende me and my invitation to youre sire; accepte a triflynge gift +at my handes; and may God be with you all and give us a joyouse +meetynge.--Youres, in all knightlie devoirs, WALTER RALEIGH." + + +Johnnie handed the letter back. + +"Well?" asked Dorothy. + +"I do not think your father will consent; 'tis a perilous journey for a +maid." + +"Not when three brave gentlemen ride with her." + +"I like not the scheme. What is London to home-dwelling forest folk?" + +"'Tis the heart of the world," broke in Jeffreys, "and no man can say +he knoweth life until he hath felt the pulse-beat of the great city." + +"I am woodland bred, good sir, and shrink from the prisonment of +streets and walls. Half a day in Gloucester makes me fret like a caged +bird." + +"A man must see life in its many aspects if he would claim to have +lived at all, Master Morgan." + +"I do not agree. A man will see deeper into a stream if he sits and +watches than will a fellow who splashes noisily about. However, I am +bounden to Mistress Dorothy by a hundred acts of kindness that she did +me when I lay fevered and with a broken head. If her heart is set upon +this jaunt, and her father does not say 'Nay,' I'll to London or +anywhere else she wills. Nevertheless, for my own liking, I had rather +bide at home." + +Dorothy beamed at the forester. "I was half tempted to remind thee +that thou didst owe me a mended head. I am glad I did not," she said. + +"There is no need to remind me of even a look thou hast given me," +replied Johnnie. "But here comes the captain; his word will be law to +us in this matter." + +Captain Dawe came in, and welcomed Master Jeffreys most heartily when +he learned whom he served. His brow puckered, however, over the +knight's letter. + +"What dost thou say to the project?" he asked Morgan. + +"I am pledged to do as Dorothy wishes." + +"And thy wish, my lass?" + +"Is to go to London." + +"I might have guessed that without troubling to ask. My bones are +getting old, and 'tis a long ride." + +"We will go at your own pace, father." + +"I must think on't; 'tis no light matter for a simple man like myself." + +Captain Dawe thought over the matter for a night and a day, and he +consulted half Newnham before he arrived at a decision. He made up his +mind to go. Then came manifold preparations. Clothing and arms +received careful attention. Dolly's best gowns came out of lavender, +and Morgan set the tailor busy upon new doublet and hosen. Master +Jeffreys lodged with the captain, and gave all the benefit of his +impartial advice. The knight's man was a personage in Newnham for more +than a week, and he carried off the dignity in excellent style. +Johnnie bought Dorothy a stout saddle horse to replace the forest pony +she usually rode; and at last, on a sunny morning, the little cavalcade +rode along the river-path towards Gloucester. Several friends and +neighbours went with them as far as the city. + +They rested that night in Northleach, over the other side of the hills. +Thence they went through Burford to Oxford; afterwards riding in easy +daily stages through Wycombe and Uxbridge to London town. Halting for +a last time at Mary-le-bone, a few miles from the city gates, where +they cleansed themselves from the dust and soil of travelling, they +rode thence to Charing, along the Strand past Alsatia, the Temple, and +Whitefriars, and, crossing the Fleet River, entered the city by the Lud +Gate, St. Paul's great church looking down on them from the hilltop. + +Master Jeffreys halted finally at the "Swanne," in Wood Street off the +Chepe. + + + + +Chapter XVII + +SIR WALTER AS CHAPERON. + +That same evening the Devonshire knight, apprised by Master Jeffreys of +the arrival of his forest friends, paid them a visit in the Wood Street +hostelry. He himself had lodgings at Whitehall, near to the court. He +welcomed them most warmly, paid Dorothy many pretty compliments, and +enjoined the hostess to have the greatest care of her precious charge. + +"Let but a hair of Mistress Dawe be injured beneath thy roof, +goodwife," said he, with a twinkle in his eye, "and a whole host of +wild fellows from caves and holes in the mighty forest will swarm +hither for revenge. Dark, terrible beings are they, who spend much of +their time in the gloomy depths of the mighty woodland or in the very +bowels of the earth. Wild Irish or Spaniards are nought to them. I +have seen them eat up such folk at a mouthful! This nymph is their +maiden queen. Have a care how ye all treat her!" + +The plump hostess, who knew her knight for a merry jester, was yet half +inclined to believe his account of the forest dwellers, and she looked +with added interest upon the blushing Dolly. Master Morgan was quite +to her mind. + +"I am a widow," she said in confidence to the captain, "and 'tis a +great comfort to have a fellow of so many inches, and an honest face +atop of them, under one's roof." + +The captain agreed, and accepted the invitation of Mistress Stowe (the +hostess) to drink a cup of sack with her in her own parlour. + +Sir Walter left his man with the forest folk in the capacity of guide +and counsellor, promising to come again early on the morrow and take +them the round of the city sights. Johnnie went abroad that evening, +down Chepe as far as Cornhill; but Dorothy and the captain preferred to +remain indoors, and Mistress Stowe entertained them with stories of the +great city, telling of the great changes that had taken place of late +years--how scores of churches and religious houses had been pulled down +and hundreds of priests and monks driven out because of the Reformation. + +"I have heard my father say," she declared, "that in his time every +second man you met with in the streets of London was monk or priest; +churches stood everywhere, and there was a perpetual ding-dong of bells +from morn till night. Now you will look in vain for a monk; the bells +are grown silent; and the churches are heaps of ruins, or their sites +occupied by warehouses built of their stones. The monasteries and +nunneries are turned into dwelling-places for the rich folk and +favourites of the court." + +She told them of the tournaments held in the great street called +"Chepe;" of the pageants on the river; the bull-baiting, bear-baiting, +and morris-dancing, and the plays at the theatres. She had an +entranced audience of two until Morgan and Jeffreys returned from their +ramble. + +The next morning about eleven o'clock Sir Walter came in and found the +dinner just served, so he dined with his friends; and then, after a +pipe of tobacco--in which neither the captain nor Morgan ventured to +join him--he took them abroad. Down Chepe they went, past the fine +shops of goldsmith, silversmith, and mercer. The broad thoroughfare +was thronged with gaily-dressed people, afoot and on horseback, and the +apprentices cried their masters' wares so lustily that the place rang +again. 'Twas "What d'ye lack, pretty mistress? Is it gold or jewels, +fal-lals or laces? Buy, buy, gallant sirs; knick-knacks, pretty +things, and gew-gaws for the lady!" + +"Bones o' me!" gasped Johnnie, as he wriggled from the clutches of two +persevering apprentices; "an I had the fee-simple of my scrap of land +in the forest in my pocket, these rogues would have it from me in an +afternoon walk. What wouldst thou like, Dolly? Let me buy thee +something." + +But Dorothy, who was just in front leaning on the knight's arm, had +eyes more for the crowd than for the brave things displayed in the +shops. Gallant after gallant bowed gracefully to her, for all knew the +famous knight; and the ladies eyed her keenly and critically, wondering +who she might be. It was a proud day for Dorothy. She was quick +enough to notice that her clothing was not quite according to London +fashions; but if she were not as gaily dressed as the ladies who stared +at her, she had the comforting thought that her cavalier was the +best-dressed and handsomest man that walked along Chepe that September +day. So she answered Johnnie's question with, "Buy me whatever thou +wilt; I shall say 'thanks!' But ask me not to make a choice at this +time and from such a bewilderment of riches." + +So the young forester shook his head to all pestering salesmen, and +kept his money in his pocket for that day. + +By the Royal Exchange on Cornhill Sir Walter was stopped for a moment +by the Lord Mayor, who wanted a little court news on a certain matter +affecting the city. Then on he went again to the Tower. The governor, +a close friend of the knight's, readily admitted the party, and showed +them over the grim old fortress and palace in which, alas! the brave +Raleigh was destined to spend so many lonely years. He seemed to have +some foreboding of this that day, and when the governor was telling +Dorothy stories of some unfortunates who had spent their last days +within the frowning walls, or left them only for the block on Tower +Hill, Raleigh sighed and remarked, "'Tis but a step from a sovereign's +smile and the summer of the court to the gloom and winter of this +place. In dreams I sometimes see myself taking the very fateful step." + +This he said aside to Morgan, and the young fellow was so struck by the +tone in which the words were said that they remained fixed in his +memory, and he recalled them with bitter sorrow in after years when the +brave knight's fears had reached their awful fulfilment. + +From the Tower steps the knight took a wherry and went up the river as +far as Blackfriars. Shooting the arches of London Bridge gave Dorothy +one quick spasm of fear, for the craft that went ahead of them, being +somewhat clumsily handled, went crash into a pier, spun round, filled +and sank, and left its occupants screaming and struggling in the water. +All were rescued, the boatman himself scrambling nimbly into Raleigh's +boat. + +"The tide is not so strong as that which races up the Severn," said +Johnnie; "sure 'tis bad boating that comes to grief here." + +"Not so, my master," replied the dripping boatman; "'tis the plaguy +narrowness of these arches and the jutting of the pier foundations that +cause the mishaps. Every fool that has handled an oar cannot shoot +London Bridge." + +"That may be," assented the forester; "every stream has its shoals and +currents; nevertheless this Thames tide is to the Severn bore as calf +is to angry bull." + +Meanwhile Sir Walter was pointing out objects of interest to his fair +companion. "Yonder building," he said, pointing to a hexagonal +structure on the Surrey side of the river, "is the Globe Theatre. I +must take ye all there some afternoon to hear some pretty comedy of +sweet Will Shakespeare's. Master Morgan hath an ear for poetry, I +believe; he will not snore through the love-making scenes." + +Dolly blushed. At Blackfriars steps they landed, went into the city by +the Lud Gate, passed through St. Paul's and out into the Chepe again; +thence to the "Swanne," where the knight took leave of them, promising +to have them down to Whitehall next day if his duties at court gave him +any leisure. + +The shops in Chepe were closed; the apprentices ran loose with plenty +of noise and racket. The sober merchants walked out to the Moorfields, +with wife on arm and daughters dutifully following in modest train. +Work was ended. London was taking its evening recreation. + + + + +Chapter XVIII. + +THREE BROKEN MARINERS. + +"Art not coming abroad, Dolly? 'Tis a most rare morning." + +Morgan was leaning his length against the side-post of the door of +Mistress Stowe's kitchen; his head reached to the lintel, and the smoky +rafters of the low ceiling were within easy reach of his hand. Dolly +stood near the fire, her face rosy with the heat, and her pretty gown +hidden beneath a long apron. She glanced through the window into the +sunny yard, and then at a pile of dainty cakes she had just kneaded and +fashioned. + +"Nay, Johnnie, I'll not come this morning. I promised our hostess to +bake her some confections after our forest fashion, and I cannot leave +so delicate a duty only half done. Go thou with Master Jeffreys, and +bring back two lusty appetites. I will bide at home, housewife +fashion, and prepare ye the wherewithal to satisfy the appetites when +ye have gotten them." + +"Where is thy father?" + +"With Mistress Stowe in her parlour. She is showing him some rare +things that her brother brought from the Spanish Main. He will have +eyes for nothing else this side of noon." + +So Morgan joined Jeffreys, and the two went along Chepe westwards +towards St. Paul's. At the end of the great street stood the gate +known as the "Little Gate," and they went under the low archway into +the cathedral precincts. Inside, the place was as busy as Chepe +itself. Shops clustered under the wall, their gaudy signs swinging and +creaking in the September breeze, and 'prentices cried their masters' +wares and importuned passing folk to buy. The two men pushed their way +through the throng towards the northern transept of the great church, +and there found their path blocked again by a crowd that stood around +St. Paul's cross and pulpit, all ears for the words of a popular city +preacher. The cleric's discourse was more of a political oration than +a sermon. He thundered against "Rome" and the "Scarlet Woman," and +denounced the King of Spain as the veritable "child of the devil," and +he called upon all men to be up and doing something for the destruction +of the "monster." Master Jeffreys stopped to listen, and Morgan had +perforce to stay with him. The reverend orator dwelt in glowing terms +on the riches of the Indies, the rights of all Christians to a share +therein, and the greed of Spain in refusing other nations a proper +share. He played upon his audience as a skilled player upon a harp, +touching each string of emotion in turn, and then striking a chord to +which all strings would vibrate. For a moment he excited religious +emotion, then political fervour, then greed, love of glory and +adventure, then national pride and hatred of Spain, then all these +together by one cunning sentence. The forester out from the west felt +his heart beating rapidly, his ears warming and tingling, and his right +hand fidgeting with the handle of his sword. His companion could not +keep still, and hot ejaculations sprang from his lips. He was a true +Devon man of that roaring time, sailor, patriot, and pirate all rolled +into one. + +"By my beard, Master Morgan," he gasped, "I have been feeling ill and +full of strange qualms and sinkings these many days past. 'Twas an +active spirit rebelling against imprisonment in an idle body. I must +to sea again--this dalliance in towns and in the company of sleek +shopkeepers and peacock-garbed gallants is slow death to a fellow of +mettle. I must get me down to Plymouth again, and join any bold +captain that hath a mind to turn his ship westward ho!" + +Morgan sighed. "Bones o' me!" he exclaimed, "the parson hath stirred +something within my bosom also." + +The sermon--if such it could be called--being ended, the two young men +went with the crowd through the church door, and into the dim and lofty +transept. And what a crowd it was to find in London's principal +church! The passage through the building from north to south was a +public thoroughfare. Porters, hucksters, errand boys went through with +basket and handbarrow, passing across aisles and nave before the very +screen that shut in choir and altar. Pedlars stood against the tall +pillars, and pushed the sale of their wares. Men bought and sold and +bargained as in the churchyard outside or Chepe beyond. Servants stood +for hire; bravoes lurked behind the gray stone columns in dark corners, +ready to take the price of blood from any hand that offered it. Broken +men, needy adventurers, dissolute women--all had their regular stations +in the sacred building, which was fair, market, and general rendezvous +for every class and trade, legitimate or illegitimate, that had its +footing in London Town. + +Master Jeffreys elbowed his way into the nave and strode down the +middle aisle, Morgan at his heels, full of astonishment and healthy +country disgust. Any gallant who came strutting along to show his fine +feathers received scant courtesy or elbow-room from the indignant +forester. He thrust more than one roughly aside, without so much as a +"by your leave," and his angry face, huge frame, and athletic build +forced the hustled ones to keep civil tongues in their heads. Near the +western door a knot of brown-faced, lean-looking men were standing, and +one started forward at the sight of Jeffreys, hesitated a moment, and +then put forth his hand. + +"Little Timothy! or tropic suns have blinded my eyes," he cried. + +Jeffreys scanned the speaker's weather-stained face. + +"It's not Paignton Rob, surely?" + +"It's all that's left of him, Timothy." + +"Thou art shrunken." + +"And lopped, brother, lopped." + +"Spain?" + +"Inquisition." + +"Indies?" + +"Vera Cruz. Shall I introduce my friends? We are nigh broken, and not +too proud to accept a little charity from a Devon man. Thy heart used +not to beat in a niggard's bosom." + +"It has not changed lodgings, Rob. Wilt know my friend here? This is +Master Morgan of Gloucestershire--a good west countrie man, to say the +least. He has had his cut at King Philip, and is a friend of our +gallant Raleigh." + +"Then I'm open to love him," cried Paignton Rob, holding out a hand +that had lost a thumb. "'Tis a poor grip that fingers can give, Master +Morgan," he said apologetically. "The monks of Vera Cruz can best tell +thee where little 'thumbkin' is." + +Johnnie took the proffered hand. "I am proud to know one who has +sailed the Western Ocean," he replied. + +The mariner called up his two friends, who proved thumbless like +himself. + +"Nick Johnson, and Ned his brother, both of Plymouth town. Master +Timothy Jeffreys, henchman to Sir Walter Raleigh, and Master Morgan, +friend." + +Hand-clasps went round. Jeffreys peeped into the purse that hung at +his girdle. + +"Here is the price of a few flagons of sack, friends. Have you a fancy +for any particular tavern?" + +"All taverns are alike to thirsty men," answered Rob. "Lead us where +thou wilt; we'll speak our thanks under one signboard as well as +another." + +"What say you then to the 'Silver Lion' in Dowgate?" + +"'Tis a good house." + +The party left the cathedral by the western door, went south through +the churchyard, and out at the gate that led riverwards. Thence they +strode down a steep street towards the Dowgate quay, halting at a +gabled and timbered tavern within a stone's throw of the water. Down a +flight of three steps they went into the sanded parlour, and seated +themselves round a corner table. The drawer came bustling up with a +"What do ye drink, my masters?" + +"Bring us five flagons of sack," said Timothy. + +"And a crust for our teeth," whispered Paignton Rob. The ears of the +serving-man were keen, "Shall it be a venison pie?" he said. + +"A venison pie," broke in Morgan; "and I pay." + + + + +Chapter XIX. + +PAIGNTON ROB'S STORY. + +The three broken sailor men attacked the ample venison pasty with a +zeal and thoroughness that betokened long abstention from work of a +similar nature, and the sack trickled gratefully down parched throats. +Morgan and Jeffreys drank to their better fortune, but would not touch +the food, pleading that their ordinary dinner time was a full hour off, +and that they were pledged to make havoc of some pastries made by a +certain young gentlewoman, who would undoubtedly be much grieved if +they did not eat as heartily as was their wont. So the Paignton man +and his Plymouth comrades shared the pie amongst themselves, the two +others looking about and noting the other occupants of the inn parlour. +Some of these were known by repute to Jeffreys, and he gave Morgan +information concerning them. + +The pie-dish stood empty. Johnnie expressed an opinion that apples +were roasting somewhere. Nick Johnson sniffed the air, and promptly +agreed with him, adding that the fragrance of roasting apples awoke +memories of far-off Devon. Whereupon the forester remarked that they +had a like effect upon him, and that he was minded to have a dish with +a little cream, if all the company would join him. There was no +objector, and each man was soon busy with hot apples and cream. After +this Jeffreys ordered fresh flagons of wine, and asked Paignton Rob for +his story. + +"Will Master Morgan care for the recital?" queried Rob. + +"My ears are burning," cried Johnnie. "I seem to have strolled out of +Chepe this morning right into America. Stint not a word of thy story +if thou hast any desire to please me." + +"So be it, friends. I cannot but wish that some other man had the +telling of it. You will remember--at least thou wilt, Timothy--how +Captain John Oxenham sailed out from Plymouth with the _Hawk_, one +hundred and forty ton barque, and a crew of seventy men, for the +Spanish Main?" + +"Ay; report says that all were slain by fever and the Indians." + +"Therein doth report speak falsely. We three went with Oxenham, and we +sit here to-day to tell the tale. Whether any other tongue hath told +it I cannot say. There is scant hope of any more survivors. Well, to +the story itself. We went out of Plymouth Sound, threescore and ten, +men and boys, well armed and victualled for six months. We turned our +prow westwards, prepared like good adventurers to take what fortune the +seas might bring us. The voyage proved a speedy one, with a singular +lack of ungentle weather: good omen, we thought, for the success of our +enterprise. On the way our captain's plans, which had been somewhat +uncertain at the first, took fixed shape. We passed south of the main +isles of the Indies, steering for the eastern seaboard of the Isthmus +of Panama. We cast along the shore for two days seeking an anchorage, +and we found what we sought in a wooded creek, fringed and thronged +with islets. A winding river emptied into the creek, and the banks +were so thickly clothed with forest as almost to shut out the light of +the sun. Dismasting our ship, we thrust her into a tiny bay o'erhung +by giant trees, and neither from river nor bank could a glimpse of her +be obtained. For a day we worked, making all snug aboard; then we +loaded ourselves with provisions and arms, and set out to cross the +isthmus to Panama itself, intending to rob the Spanish nest of the +golden eggs that daily were laid therein. + +"There is little to tell of the story of our march to the Pacific. We +cut our way for days at a time through woods that were well-nigh +impassable. We climbed mountains, threaded defiles, waded through +stream and swamp. Our backs bent beneath the weight of our burdens; +giant thorns tore, first our clothes, then afterwards our flesh. The +sun roasted us by day; mists enwreathed and chilled us by night; a +myriad insects bit us, and roaring beasts and lurking reptiles harassed +our steps. Some of us were quickly down with fever, and added to the +burdens of our comrades, for they bore us upon rude litters of boughs. +Oxenham fought shy of the native villages, not being minded to give +rumour the chance to herald our approach to the golden goal we sought. + +"By good hap we came upon a stream at the foot of some hills, flowing +westwards. We followed it for a while, until we felt assured that it +was navigable, and also that it emptied itself into the Pacific. Then +we halted, built huts for our sick, cut down timber and set about the +making of a stout pinnace that would carry us on the rest of our quest. +We also scoured the woods for game and fruits, and harvested the waters +for fish. When our boat was builded, our sick were also upon their +feet again. We had brought with us three light cannon; these we +mounted on our little craft, rigged up mast and sail, and went down the +swift current, westward ho! once more. + +"It was no longer possible to avoid the native towns and villages, so +at the first we engaged a guide who knew enough of coast Spanish to +understand our wants and be our interpreter to his friends. We found +that the Indians hated the Spaniards and dreaded their rapacity and +cruelty. As Englishmen and foes of Spain, we always got a welcome; and +Oxenham had wit enough to be kind, courteous, and generous, and so win +a welcome for us for our own sakes. Our voyage down the river was a +sort of triumphal progress, and we made ten thousand faithful allies. +At last came the day when the river broadened to an estuary; when we +saw the tide marks along the roots of the mangroves, and the salt +flavour was in the air, and white-winged gulls swept screaming over our +heads, scaring away the gaudy, noisy parrots that had been our +feathered companions for so long. The next morning the sun shot up for +us, a golden ball of cheering presage, from out the glittering bosom of +the Pacific. What a shout we raised! Weeks of toil and fever were +forgotten, scars and bruises healed--or were felt no longer--when the +glorious heave of ocean waters lifted our keel!" + +Paignton Rob paused and lifted his flagon to his lips. He put it down +reflectively. "Do ye mind that morn, comrades?" he asked. + +"Shall we ever forget it!" exclaimed the two Plymouth men in a breath. +The company nodded to Rob, and took a friendly sip of sack in his +honour. He took up again the thread of his story. + +"A native that had come down the coast from the direction of Panama +came to our captain with information that two treasure-ships were +expected from Peru, and he offered to be our guide to the Isle of +Pearls, situated about five-and-twenty leagues from Panama itself, and +in the direct line of sailing to the city. We accepted his offer +gladly, and the fellow led us to a snug anchorage whence we could espy +our prey and make ready to sally forth and seize him. + +"We lay under the island for one night and the better part of a day +before our lookout in a tree-top at the edge of a steep cliff sang out, +'Sail ho! Spanish rig!' We were alert on the instant, watching the +Spaniard bowling north-eastwards before a stiff breeze. At the right +moment we slipped our cable, hoisted sail, and stood out to sea right +in his path. No news of our presence on the isthmus had got abroad, +and the foe did not suspect us until he was within range of our small +guns, when we promptly sent a couple of shots splintering into his +bulwarks. He was not long before he swung round and replied. But we +were too low in the water to be in any danger from his bigger pieces, +and in a little while we were under his lee and swarming aboard. For a +few minutes there was as pretty a fight as man could wish for; then the +Spaniard struck his flag and threw down his weapons. + +"Well, we rifled cabins and holds; got about a hundred goodly bars of +gold and a chest of pearls. The cabin gave us an excellent supply of +wine and some curious golden images of native workmanship. We helped +ourselves also to some better clothing, then let the Spaniard go his +way. + +"For two more days we hung about the island, then seized a ship with a +cargo, mostly of silver bars. Our pinnace was now so heavily laden +that we durst not venture to put anything more aboard her. We were +rich enough already, and, knowing that the authorities at Panama would +soon hear of our exploits, we turned south to our river again, and set +out on our journey back to our hidden ship and the Atlantic. + +"So far we had lost but two men, and one of these had died from fever. +Half a score of us, maybe, had received wounds. The Spanish dogs will +not fight much on a ship's deck, and the silver galleon offered us +hardly any resistance. 'Tis easy work enough, this gathering of +Spanish gold in the Indies. Do I speak within the strict bounds of +truth, comrades?" + +"True as a Bible verse, Rob," said Nick Johnson; and brother Ned +assented with a seaman's "Ay! ay!" + +Rob took advantage of the pause to take another peep into his flagon, +and Johnnie asked him if he could see bottom. + +"Depth enough to float my barque a little longer," replied Rob. + +"We did not waste much time feasting or merrymaking with our Indian +allies; we just stayed long enough for civility and the procuring of a +couple of canoes and rowers to ease the burden in our pinnace. Then we +set off up-stream. An under-chief came with us, and he was to obtain +carriers for our booty and provisions at the last village before we +should be forced to quit the river and take to the forests and +mountains. But we did not get along so quickly as we purposed at the +first. News of our victories over the detested Dons had spread like a +fire through the isthmus. Chiefs came to palaver, offer gifts, and sue +for our protection. The whole land wanted to shelter beneath the +banner of St. George, and our eastward voyage was a sort of triumphal +procession. This was all very pleasant, but 'twas dallying with +danger. The Spaniards were acquainted with our doings--the captains of +the rifled ships would tell them so much; and some of us argued that if +every petty Indian chief knew exactly where to meet us, then assuredly +the Dons must be aware of our route also. However, 'tis hard to make +victors cautious. We had a hearty contempt for the Spaniards in +Panama, and did not give them credit for pluck enough to follow us. So +we journeyed along in a fool's paradise, surrounded by admiring +Indians, and so laden with booty and presents that we could only move +at a snail's pace. + +"One day a native runner came to us from a friendly village with the +news that a force of a hundred Spaniards, well armed, was in pursuit. +The Indians were eager for us to stay and meet the Dons, promising us +help if we would do so. Oxenham decided he had done enough for glory +just then, and thought it wiser to get back to his ship and sail for +home; our spoil was too precious to be risked, and was a tempting bait +to any foe. We set out at once. Coming to a place where two streams +entered the main river, we took the smallest waterway, hoping thus to +baffle pursuit, for our real path lay along the main stream. Our ruse +would have succeeded but for a trivial oversight. The Dons came to the +parting of the ways, and were nonplussed as to our route. They had +decided to follow the main stream, and were seated in their canoes +ready to resume the pursuit, when a bunch of plucked feathers came down +the smallest stream. Within ten minutes other feathers came floating +along, and some were bloodstained. They rightly guessed that these +were evidence that we had prepared food somewhere higher up. Boats +were forsaken, and a march through the forest commenced. That very +night they surprised us. We fought well, and our Indian friends proved +no cowards. Fifty of us, fairly well laden with gold, got away, and +after a toilsome march reached the place where our ship had been +hidden--only to find it gone! + +"We hunted the creek on both sides, and found unmistakable signs that +the Dons had found our vessel and confiscated it. Why they did not lie +in ambush for us we could not imagine. Maybe they thought us +effectually trapped, and likely to be an easy prey to fever, or to +their attack after fever had had its way with us. For a while we were +in despair; then we remembered old England, and what she expects of her +sons. We buried our gold, felled trees, and began to build canoes. +But the side of the creek at night was a death-trap. Heavy foetid +mists wreathed up from the waters, poisoning the air; noxious insects +hummed about our couches, and loathly reptiles crawled out of the mud +and chilled our hearts with their horrible croakings. One by one we +sickened; in ones, twos, threes we died. Then the cunning Dons came in +force. They were five to our one, and we trembling with fever. We +fought as well as we could. Many fell fighting; others, too weak to +stand to deliver a stout blow, were taken as prisoners: we three were +amongst these. Our captors cured us of the fever, then handed us over +to the priests at Vera Cruz. A year we spent in prison. We have been +on the rack; the thumbscrews bereft us of thumbs, for they crushed them +so badly that we were fain to have them off, fearing the arm might +mortify. The villains cropped us of one ear, so that they might track +us if we chanced to escape. By the mercy of God we did escape, and, +despite the mark set upon us, avoided recapture and found our way back +to Plymouth. What perils we passed through in swamp and forest, by +river and sea, ere we found an English ship I cannot now set forth. +Let it suffice that we are here, alive and eager for further +opportunities on the isthmus." + +"How do you propose to get there?" asked Jeffreys. + +"We would see thy master, Sir Walter, and get him to fit a ship. There +is gold enough buried by the creek banks to repay him or any other man." + +Jeffreys shook his head. "Sir Walter's eyes are turned farther south. +He would find 'El Dorado.'" + + + + +Chapter XX. + +ROB DINES AT "YE SWANNE." + +Morgan had a host of questions to ask Paignton Rob, and he wont back to +"Ye Swanne" in Wood Street, off Chepe, his head buzzing with many +ideas. So occupied was he with his own thoughts that he replied but +absently to Captain Dawe's remarks; and he quite forgot to offer Dolly +any compliments over her pastries. The young lady was naturally +indignant with a burly trencherman who devoured a round dozen of +assorted confections that were put on his platter without discovering +that they possessed any flavour whatsoever. + +"La! Master Morgan!" she cried. "If I did not know that such a thing +was impossible with such as thou art, I should declare thou hadst +fallen in love." + +The tone was sharp, and a trifle spiteful, so Johnnie's wits gathered +themselves into marching order. + +"So I have, Dolly," he answered. "I am enamoured of--" + +"Whom?" + +"A friend of Master Jeffreys." + +The girl's cheeks flushed. "Thou art bold to say such a thing to me." + +"I imbibed courage with a flagon of sack this morning." + +"It hath got to thy head." + +"And my heart, Dolly; I am afire, heart and head. I see visions, and +pulse with great hopes." + +"I trust the wench will prove kind, and not grow plain of face on a +closer acquaintance." + +"For that fair wish, a thousand thanks, dear Dolly." + +"Mistress Dawe, if it please you, Master Morgan." Dorothy bobbed a +scornful curtsy, and left the parlour. + +"What's amiss with you two?" asked Captain Dawe. "Ye were billing and +cooing like two pigeons over breakfast this morning." + +"And shall be doing so again over supper," said Johnnie. + +"What's this nonsense about a wench who is a friend to Master Jeffreys?" + +"There is no wench. I am enamoured of a fellow with a visage like +brown leather, and who hath but one thumb and one ear." + +"Thou art talking in riddles." + +"Master Jeffreys shall make them clear; he hath a better gift of words +than I." + +So the Devon man retold the story of John Oxenham's voyage; and he +added many strange things that lie had heard from other Plymouth men +who had gone to the Indies, and whom he had met in Raleigh's company. +He himself had gone westwards to Virginia, and other parts of the +American mainland, and could relate wonders from his own experiences. +He talked for full two hours, and both Mrs. Stowe and Dorothy stole in +to listen. + +The next day Paignton Rob and his two stranded comrades found +themselves seated at Mistress Stowe's table to dinner. Morgan and the +captain hung about the aisles of St. Paul's for more than an hour, +waiting in the hope that the sailors would appear. Jeffreys went down +to Whitehall, found them in the neighbourhood of Raleigh's lodgings, +and brought them into the city. + +The three derelict mariners were not slow to divine one reason for the +pressing invitation that had brought them hot-foot from Whitehall to +Wood Street. Rob's story of the fabled Spanish Main had opened +Mistress Stowe's door to such dilapidated guests; it would have opened +hundreds of other English doors to the maimed adventurers. The whole +country was smitten with the fever of travel, and possessed with the +lust for wealth and conquest. Men and women believed strange things of +the wonderful western world, and they listened eagerly and without +question to things their great-grandchildren would scoff at. + +A travelled sailor can fit himself into any company. Paignton Rob +adjusted himself with the greatest nicety into his proper position that +day. He ate and drank to repletion, praising every dish without stint, +and paying his hostess such daring compliments that her round face was +a very sunset of blushes. + +Nick and Ned Johnson played their accustomed part of chorus, and just +said "ay, ay" at the proper time and place. And Rob did not keep his +audience too long waiting for his stories. He described the tropical +seas--their storms and calms, their fish that flew, and the fearsome +monsters that gambolled along their surface. He took his hearers into +the gloomy forests, with their myriad forms of life, their gaudy birds +and gorgeous insects, their lurking beasts and dense-packed horrors. +Weird cries and terrifying howls rang out in imaginative sounds. And +what horrific beings stalked in the dim alleys betwixt the giant trees, +or peeped forth at the intrepid traveller from cave and den! +One-horned beasts with fiery hoofs; dragons that had wings of brass, +and vomited flames from cavernous throats; huge birds, enormous +reptiles, flew or crawled in their appointed places. Two-headed men +wielded clubs of stone; men with no heads at all, but one great eye in +the centre of their breasts, glared malevolently from the pits wherein +they had their habitation. The little company in the tavern parlour +shivered with affright, and cast uneasy glances at the doorway. +Then--wonderful Rob!--a sinewy, thumbless hand swept the air like an +enchanter's wand, and lo! the scene was changed. Gloom and horror +fled, the forest vanished, the malodorous swamp gave place to smiling +meadow. The hills frowned no longer, but laughed with fertility and +sparkled with a thousand fairy rills and cascades. Fair cities +encircled their bases, and golden temples glittered in the ardent, +tropical sunshine. Brown-skinned, gentle people flitted gracefully +along the streets and through the squares. Music, barbaric but +melodious, hummed through the fragrant air. Here was the paradise of +dreams--bright colours, sweet sounds, fragrant odours, gentle beings, +fair peace, and jocund plenty! Rob was a poet, and his audience panted +with parting lips as he spread the scene before them. + +Then he brought them nearer. See yonder roof?--plates of beaten gold! +Yonder mule hath harness of exquisitely chased silver! Here comes a +noble chief and his favourite wife, with a retinue of slaves. The +soles of his sandals are of gold, the straps are studded with gems; +pearls are sewn in hundreds in his bright-hued robes! Yet is he +completely eclipsed by the splendour of his spouse. She is sprinkled, +hair and clothing, with the precious yellow dust. The breeze blows it +from her hair; she shakes it with a careless laugh from her silken +garments; the slaves walk behind on a gold-strewn pathway. They value +it no more than the beggar values the dust that blows along the Chepe +in London on a July day. Ah! a gloriously generous headpiece hath +Paignton Rob. Why stint the tale of glittering grains? In the land of +"El Dorado" the sands of the rivers can be coined into minted money. +Would mine hostess--who has so lavishly fed three poor sailor-men--like +to go to a banquet in the palace of "El Dorado"? Nothing +simpler!--'tis done with a wave of Rob's brown hand. See! the table +is gold; the platters are the same. The pillars of sweet cedar that +support the lofty roof are richer by far than those of Solomon's +temple. And the "gilded one" smiles at his queen, and lifts a cup of +rosy wine to his lips. Do the company notice that miracle of dazzling +light he holds in his delicate brown hand? 'Tis cut from one precious +stone. It is like a living fire, and the red wine glows warmly through +it. + +Such the land of "El Dorado"--the golden realm!--the home of an +everlasting summer! Rob pauses dramatically; he comes to a full stop. +How mean is the parlour of the comfortable Wood Street tavern! How +paltry its pewter pots and clumsy flagons! How dull its smoky beams +and walls! + +"Ah! Ah!"--longing sighs echo and re-echo. Then come questions, +timidly put at first, for no man would dare to throw suspicion on the +seaman's stories. But--but who has seen any of these things? + +Who? Why, Rob knows men, who know other men, who have heard from other +men, who actually listened to dying Spaniards or faithful natives +recounting how they themselves had seen these sights. Rob himself had +gazed upon a sack of gold dust brought by a Jesuit missionary from "El +Dorado's" kingdom. The monk had shovelled it with his own bare hands +from the bed of a shallow lake. Nick Johnson, with a nervous and +apologetic cough, announced that he had seen a bag of pearls brought +from that same favoured land; and brother Ned, whose memory also got +some stimulus from Rob's stories, related how lie met a Spanish +prisoner in a Dutch town, who told him that the pebbles in "El +Dorado's" land were all pearls or jewels, sometimes one, sometimes the +other--just according to the haphazard luck of the thing. Then honest +Rob took some more sack, and found that he distinctly remembered +meeting a Bideford man on Plymouth Hoe who had sailed with a Bristol +captain whose twin brother had shot a no-headed, breast-eyed monster, +and had immediately afterwards been stunned by the stone club of a +two-headed gentleman of those same parts. 'Twas an exciting adventure +altogether, and Rob proceeded to remember the details and relate them. +As for the forests, the swamps, the lurking reptiles and ravenous +beasts, the huge crabs, venomous snakes, and the fevered ghosts and +ghouls that wreathed up after sunset from the pools and rivers--why! +Rob had seen all those things for himself. He had also handled bars of +gold and lumps of silver, and let pearls run through his fingers like +beads. Captain Dawe, Master Morgan, and the ladies might be assured +that they had heard but a tithe of the wonders and horrors that might +be told them. Ah! that wonderful New World! Brave Rob shook the head +that was bereft of an ear. He had talked to them for three hours, but +he had no gift of speech, and had been unable to give them any real +idea of the glamour and mystery that lay beneath the setting sun. + +Nevertheless, he had set each heart and brain pulsing and throbbing +with wild dreams. The world was changing for Johnnie Morgan. The +admiral and Raleigh had opened his eyes in the glades of the forest, +and taught him to look beyond its treetops. Master Jeffreys had +extended his view, and all men and all things in London Town seemed to +probe deeper into his mind, and find new emotions and desires, and stir +them into active life. The grim old Forest of Dean was dwarfing to a +mere coppice; the rushing Severn was becoming an insignificant brook. +The forester's heart was expanding; his eyes were opening; his arms +were stretching forth to grasp that which was finite, yet infinite. He +dreamed strange dreams; his eyes started open to behold wondrous +visions. The fever of the time was getting into his blood. Vague, +half-understood impulses moved him hither and thither. He groped, and +touched nothing. He cried out, "What do I want?" + +A woman answered the question the very next day. + + + + +Chapter XXI. + +MORGAN GOES TO WHITEHALL. + +In the early forenoon of the next day a man in the livery of Sir Walter +came to "Ye Swanne" and asked for Master Morgan. He brought a command +that the forester was to repair instantly to Whitehall, as the Queen +had intimated that she would see him in the afternoon. The summons +threw Johnnie into a small fever of nervous apprehension, and he wished +heartily that he had never left his snug homestead at Blakeney. His +fingers turned into thumbs, and Dorothy busied herself in fastening +points and laces, adjusting his ruff, and setting his cap at the proper +angle. Captain Dawe found that sword and belt required his critical +attention, and Master Jeffreys started a most elaborate dissertation on +court etiquette in "the most polite court in Europe." Johnnie's head +buzzed, his mind wandered in a maze; and when at last he stepped out +into the sunshine of the streets, he confessed to Mistress Stowe that +he felt "like a thief going to be hanged." Captain Dawe had a desire +to see the royal palace and its precincts, Jeffreys was wanted at +Raleigh's lodgings, so all four gentlemen went westwards. + +Along Chepe, through St. Paul's Churchyard, down the hill to the Lud +Gate lay their way. Then they crossed the Fleet River and stepped out +into Fleet Street. On their left was the palace of Bridewell, +stretching down to the green margin of the Thames; on their right the +fields went northwards to the villages of Bloomsbury, Clerkenwell, and +Islington. The street was thick with dust and crowded with pedestrians +and horsemen. Staid burghers walked soberly along, fops strutted, +bullies swaggered, gentlefolks went in fitting dignity, and beggars +whined for alms at the corners of the narrow lanes that, between the +houses, led down to the river. Law students from the Temple were to be +met with, chaffering with the market wenches for nuts and apples and +bunches of flowers. + +Master Jeffreys took charge of Morgan, and fed him full with +information. "A wonderful thoroughfare, good sir!" he cried; "its dust +hath been pressed by the feet of notable folk for many centuries, and +will take the footprints of the great ones for many centuries to come. +'Tis the highway between our two ancient cities of London and +Westminster. We will keep to the south side, for it is the more +famous, and contains the houses of many of our nobles. The north side +is left for the shopkeepers and smaller gentry. We have just passed +the royal palace of Bridewell, and from here every foot of our way will +have something to interest the curious and inquiring mind." + +Johnnie stared down at the gray old palace, and looked questioningly at +the ruins that lay next to it on the east. + +"All that's left of the monastery of the Whitefriars," said Jeffreys. +"The remains of monkish buildings cumber the ground outside of London +walls as well as within. Some say 'twas a wicked thing to pull down so +many fair edifices; others declare they were no better than +plague-spots and heretical hovels on the fair face of a Protestant +country, and that we are well rid of them." + +"I have noticed," said Morgan, "that royal favourites from King Harry's +time onwards have done most of the pulling down. The common folk +appear to have had little voice in the matter, and not a finger in the +lifting of the plunder." + +"Quite so! quite so! Now let us step into the roadway. 'Tis dusty +enough, and not innocent of some ugly holes, but 'tis safer for a +little while. See those hangdog-looking fellows slouching before us? +Ah! I need not tell thee what they are. Step out; let's see the +sport." + +There was a wild _melee_ about a hundred yards ahead. A fellow had +made a cut with his dagger at a lady's purse, and had been promptly +knocked down by her cavalier. At the sound of the would-be robber's +cry a dozen other rascals had rushed to his aid, and from the narrow +lanes and alleys a horde of ruffians--male and female--had been +vomited. They set upon the lady and her companion with cudgels and +knives, and the gentleman was already lying in the dust. Peace-loving +pedestrians had rushed to their aid, and a group of law students bore +down into the fray in gallant style. Master Jeffreys whipped out his +blade and ran, and Morgan went with him stride for stride. But the mob +of ruffians disappeared as quickly as it had come forth; the cutpurse +had been rescued, and the plunder he desired snatched by a slatternly +wench. + +Morgan uttered a hunting cry, and was dashing down a dim passage +between two houses when Jeffreys jerked him back. "Not a foot farther +if thou dost value thy life!" + +Johnnie stopped, and saw in astonishment that no man was attempting +pursuit. + +"Are they to escape red-handed?" he cried. + +His companion shrugged his shoulders. "He'd be an over-bold man who'd +venture into the alleys and courts of Alsatia with less than fifty good +swords at his back. The hangman would be busy for a month if all who +merited his rope were dragged out of yonder dens. But we must be +going; the captain is almost out of sight, and thou hast matters on +hand that are of greater moment than the catching of a thief." + +Walking on, the two came abreast of the Temple, and lawyers, +scriveners, clerks, and students dotted the roadway. + +"A sweetly built place is the Temple," commented Jeffreys: "cool alleys +shaded with trees, spacious courts, goodly halls and chapels; fair +gardens sloping sunnily and warmly to the south and the river. Ah! +there is no fairer site on earth for a fine dwelling than on this bank +of Father Thames. Thou wilt see by the great houses that we shall pass +how many men are of my opinion." + +Morgan came to Temple Bar, and saw, with a shudder, a row of mouldering +heads atop of it. He passed beneath the archway and put foot in the +famous Strand. Immediately before him the Maypole stretched skyward, +its top still ornamented with a few fluttering rags of weather-bleached +ribbon, mementoes of the festivities that had ushered in the +fast-fading summer. On his left, with its front to the river, was a +great house with its courts and gardens, and Master Jeffreys +whispered,-- + +"The town house of my Lord Essex, the Queen's favourite and the great +rival of the gallant knight we both love." + +Morgan stood and gazed at the somewhat ugly pile with the greatest +interest. + +As he moved on a cleanly lad came across the road, with a shining +pannikin in either hand, and asked politely whether "their worships" +would care to quench their thirst in water drawn from the well of St. +Clement or from Holy Well that was hard by. + +"Which is the more precious liquid?" asked Morgan. + +The lad quickly replied that he had no opinion, and that learned men +and excellent divines could come to no agreement over the matter. His +worship might drink of both and judge for himself; the charge was but a +farthing. + +"Cheaper than Mistress Stowe's sack, at any rate, if not so palatable," +said Johnnie. He gave the lad a farthing and took the Holy Well +pannikin, whilst his companion drained that which owned its virtues to +the sanctity of St. Clement, whose church fronted them across the way. +As neither tasted of both, they had, like the water-seller, no opinion +as to the merits of the rival wells. + +They walked on past Somerset House. + +"A stately pile," said Morgan. + +"Fairer even than Whitehall," replied Jeffreys. "'Twas built by an +arch-robber, but the Queen favours it and dwells in it at times. 'Tis +the goodliest palace along the Strand." + +The Savoy, already centuries old and crumbling to decay, was passed; +and then, by other noble edifices, the wayfarers went to the village of +Charing. + +They turned down by Queen Eleanor's Cross into the street leading to +Whitehall itself. They passed through the Holbein Gate, down King's +Street; and close under the shadow of the hoary abbey of St. Peter they +halted at Raleigh's lodgings. Captain Dawe and his guide were resting +in the cool porch and awaiting them. + + + + +Chapter XXII. + +THE QUEEN. + +John Morgan, yeoman and forester, rose from his knee, and stood, with +bowed head and fumbling fingers, abashed in a most august presence. He +plucked nervously at his cap, and dared not raise his face to confront +the calm countenance of his sovereign. Elizabeth, for her part, +scanned him most critically from top to toe. She noted the cut of his +clothes, the stiffness of his ruff, the size of the buckles on his +shoon; from these to the colour of his hair and the healthy tan of his +skin, nothing escaped her. She was rapidly measuring him, height and +girth, with the proportions of her handsome Devon knight who had led +the shy young stalwart in. + +"So this is the gallant young fellow who bled in thy service?" she said +to Raleigh. + +"And in the service of your Majesty," added the knight. "He saved the +life of your humblest servant, but he also fought and bled in defence +of your Majesty's honour and the integrity of your dominions." + +Elizabeth looked again at the bent head. "Dost know the colour of mine +eyes, Master Morgan?" she asked sharply. + +"The colour of heaven, your Majesty," gasped Johnnie. + +The Queen laughed. "I thought thou hadst not looked at them. 'Tis +easy to see that thou hast kept company with a certain Walter Raleigh; +thou canst assume modesty and yet flatter as glibly as he." + +"Your Majesty!" cried Raleigh. + +"Hath excellent eyesight, thank God!" added Elizabeth. "I wish I had +found Master Morgan a simpler gentleman. I am sick of pretty speeches, +and thought to find a plain, unspoiled Englishman who would speak +naught but truth. Wilt let me see what colour thine eyes are, Master +Morgan? I have noted every hair on the top of thy head." + +Johnnie raised a flushed face to the pale, cool countenance of his +sovereign. + +"Dost not find mine eyes _green_?" she asked, and leaned a little +forward in her chair. + +"There is a glint of the verdure of England in them, your Majesty, and +the sheen of the blue of her skies and her seas." + +"And thou dost consider them, therefore, to be perfect for England's +Queen?" + +"God made your Majesty, and we daily thank Him for His abounding +goodness and wisdom." + +A faint blush stole into Elizabeth's cheeks, and the blue-green eyes +danced. "Thou dost see merrie England mirrored in these pale orbs?" + +"The country lives in your Majesty's heart, and the heart looks out +through the eyes." + +Elizabeth sat back. She turned to Raleigh. + +"They breed poets in the shadow of Dean's oaks," she said. + +"When first I met Master Morgan he was writing verses in the woodlands." + +"And to whom?" + +"A pretty maiden." + +"Ah! What colour are her eyes, bold forester?" + +"Blue, an't please your Majesty." + +"It doth not please me at all. I thought thy conceit about the 'green +and blue' of England very pretty and spontaneous for me. Now I +perceive 'tis but an old compliment thou hast paid a thousand times +before to some woodland wench." + +"Your Majesty mistakes. The thought never came to my mind before I +uttered it just now. I know not what made me think it then, unless +'twas your Majesty's presence inspired me. I am a dull fellow, and no +poet, as Mistress Dawe often tells me." + +"Hast never told her that her eyes are blue?" + +"I have, your Majesty." + +"And that she is the fairest maid on earth?" + +"I have said that also, and 'tis God's truth that I think her to be so." + +"Humph!" + +The exclamation was a little unroyal. Raleigh, who had stood in almost +mute astonishment at Morgan's strange readiness of tongue and aptness +of expression, now began to fear that the blunt yeoman was going to +undo all his previous good work. Elizabeth Tudor was not accustomed to +hear that some other "maid" was the fairest on earth. + +"When dost thou hope to wed this dainty nymph?" + +"When the maid wills it, your Majesty." + +"Hath she no father, then, to command her?" + +"She hath; but he would not lay an order upon her, neither would I have +him do so. Maidens will have their whims. I care not, so mine be +constant." + +"Thou dost find her wayward then?" + +"All pretty things are fashioned so." + +"Am I wayward, thinkest thou?" + +"Your Majesty would be very woman but that you are also Queen." + +"But I am a woman when my crown is off." + +Johnnie shook his head. "God hath given your Majesty special graces, +and such strength that the woman in you must obey the sovereign." + +Elizabeth sighed. "Thou art right," she said. "Daily have I to beat +the woman in me down, down. 'Tis hard to do it, for the woman will cry +out for what is hers by nature. Canst thou not perceive, Master +Morgan, that the struggle is bitter at times? Yet the woman in me must +succumb; for, did she have her way, England, my England, would suffer." + +"Therefore did God give the Queen strength," murmured Johnnie. + +Elizabeth arose. "I will see thee again," she said. "Thou hast some +homely mother wisdom, and a truthful tongue. It cheers a Queen's heart +to learn that, far from courts and crowds, she hath valiant and loyal +subjects like to thee. But I must ask thee to consider whether thou +canst not serve us to more advantage than offers on a simple farm. +Thou hast given a little brave blood for England. The world is wide, +and our foes are many. Doth not thy spirit cry out for wings at times?" + +"It hath in these last few days, your Majesty." + +"Yes?" + +"I have been talking with some sailor-men from the Spanish Main, and +the sea sings in mine ears, sleeping and waking." + +"Then obey the call." + +"I will." + +"God prosper you!" + +"And bring your Majesty happiness and length of days." + + + + +Chapter XXIII. + +JOHNNIE SEES MANY SIGHTS. + +The Queen left the audience chamber in company with her +maids-of-honour, and Raleigh held the curtains over the doorway aside +for them to pass through. He came back to where Morgan was standing, +and looked him quizzingly up and down. + +"Upon my faith as a knight! thou, John Morgan, art the biggest packet +of surprises I have yet brought within the gray walls of Whitehall +Palace. They do say that the air of this place is peculiarly suitable +for the breathing of west-country men. We thrive in it amazingly, to +the chagrin of better men born elsewhere. But thou hast developed from +close bud to full-blown flower in a single afternoon. Who cut the +strings of thy tongue, and took the bands from thy wits? Thou didst +speak like a ten years courtier at the least. I will confess that I +hearkened to thee dumb with sheer amazement." + +Johnnie rubbed his chin ruefully. + +"I am sore afraid that my tongue hath undone me; yet, for the life of +me, I could put no bridle upon it when once her Majesty had me by the +eyes. She willed the words out of me. Bones o' me! I pray I may +never have to face her with a secret locked in my bosom, and she +suspicious that I kept something hidden. 'Twould out, like murder. +But her spirit compelled mine as that of a strong man compelling a +weaker." + +"There hast thou solved the royal riddle of England's governance. We +are swayed by the brain of a man behind the mask of woman's face. To +the woman that we behold we pay that chivalrous deference and loving +devotion that her sex and her station claim from true men; but when we +would treat her like a woman, with womanly weaknesses, then peeps the +man from behind the mask, and we kneel to one stronger than ourselves. +The 'woman' that appeals to us, and cries for our love, is at times +capricious as an April day. But the 'man' is ever firm and dominating, +and with 'him' no one of us dares to trifle. Thy fortunate star shone +o'er thee to-day. Few men have made so excellent a first impression on +England's maiden Queen. But be not froward because of a first success, +nor hope too much from a royal smile. The east wind can blow bitingly, +even on a sunny day. Come with me now to the royal buffet; 'tis +treason to quit this roof after a first visit without drinking a bumper +to the sovereign's health. Her Majesty is a very country housewife in +the matter of cakes and ale and clean sheets in the guest chamber." + +Morgan quitted the audience chamber on Raleigh's arm, threaded numerous +corridors, sumptuously curtained and carpeted, and came at last to a +spacious room where, on a huge sideboard of carven oak, constant +provision was maintained for bodily refreshment. Servants in royal +livery stood about, and several gentlemen of the household, who had +just been relieved from duty, or come in from running some royal +errand, stood sipping a cup of wine. All saluted Raleigh courteously, +and bowed ceremoniously to his companion. Johnnie returned the bow, +feeling considerably less at ease than he had done in his sovereign's +presence. The critical stare of so many resplendent gallants unnerved +him, and he was heartily glad to quit the chamber and get out into the +air of the courtyard. Raleigh escorted him to the palace gate, where +Jeffreys awaited him. Captain Dawe had gone to look in at the bowling +green, where some of the royal officers were playing bowls. Him they +found; then, not caring for the walk back down Strand and Fleet Street, +they went to Whitehall Stairs within the palace precincts, hailed a +wherry, and went down on the tide to the stairs at Blackfriars. The +sun was setting when they landed, and columns of smoke rising from a +score of points showed that the city watchmen were lighting the evening +purifying fires at street corners and in the open spaces. The air on +the river had been cool and pleasant enough, but it was stifling in the +narrow lanes leading up from the stream to the hill of St. Paul's. The +pungent smoke from the newly-kindled wood piles came quite refreshingly +to the nostrils. + +"We have had a most fortunate year in London," said Master Jeffreys. +"No case of plague, and very few of fever. The aldermen of the wards +were for stopping these fires a week ago, but the bishop resolved to +keep them going within his boundaries until October set in. 'Tis +wonderful how the smoke and flames do take the noisome vapour from the +air. If we could but get some good rains now to wash out the gutters +and conduits, the city would be cleansed and sweetened for the winter." + +"For my part," answered the forester, "I should always breathe but +chokingly in these streets." + +"Oh, the air is wholesome enough," said Jeffreys "and stout fellows +thrive on it. Just give an eye to yonder band of 'prentice lads. I +would not wish to see better limbs, and I'll warrant that no +forest-bred lad can give harder thwacks with oaken cudgel than can +these retailers of ribbons and fal-lals." + +"The rogues are hearty enough," assented Johnnie, "and their lungs are +like bellows of leather. London is a fine place, and the air, +doubtless, sweet enough to those who have not the lingering fragrance +of the bracken in their nostrils. The scent of the woods or the salt +of the sea for me." + +"And the salt of the sea is the sweeter. Ah!" Master Jeffreys sniffed +longingly. + +Chepe was pretty full of leisurely pedestrians; the doorways of the +taverns were crowded; jugglers balanced themselves in the dusty gutter, +and merry maidens tripped it neatly in the inn courtyards to the sound +of pipe and tabor. The merchants' parlours over their shops were often +the scene of a friendly or family gathering, and more than one +sweetly-sung madrigal floated harmoniously out on the evening air. +Elizabethan London was a musical city, and part-singing was cultivated +beneath the rooftree of every well-to-do burgher. The fresh voices of +the young girls and the mellower notes of journeyman or apprentice +mingled tunefully together. The great city was resting from the +labours of the day, and soothing its spirit to enjoy the deeper rest +and tranquillity of the night. There was a little horseplay amongst +the lads gathered round the tumblers and tavern doors, but it hardly +disturbed the calm peacefulness of the scene. The side streets were +practically deserted, Chepe and St. Paul's Churchyard being the +fashionable promenades. Not a solitary figure blotted the narrow vista +of Wood Street when the three friends turned their wearied legs into +it. They found "Ye Swanne" in charge of the tapster and the +serving-wench, and with Paignton Rob for its solitary guest. He hailed +his hosts of the previous day with delight, and hastened to inform them +that Dame Fortune was "smiling upon him with both eyes." Whilst +lounging in the aisles of St. Paul's he had been recognized by a +Dartmouth skipper under whom he had once crossed the Atlantic on a +piratical expedition against Spain. The venture had failed, and the +golden visions dangled before Rob's eyes had vanished. But the +Dartmouth captain had tried again, and had been eminently successful, +bringing home a shipload of rich booty. Hearing Rob's story of +Oxenham's expedition, and seeing for himself the marks of Spanish +cruelty on the seaman's body, the generous skipper had made Rob a +present of ten crowns, and had also given the Johnsons--whom he had +never seen before--a couple of crowns apiece, and offered all three a +berth aboard his ship, which was leaving for Dartmouth on the next +morning's tide. The Johnsons had accepted, but Rob had declined, being +resolved to see Raleigh and some other gentlemen adventurers concerning +his plans for a recovery of Oxenham's buried treasure. + +"And now," added the sailor, "I owe ye a debt of hospitality, and am +come hither to pay it. The tapster hath my orders, and ye will not +refuse to take bite and sup with me this night." + +Not one of the company said "Nay," for Rob was evidently bent upon +playing the host. But Captain Dawe asked where his daughter and +Mistress Stowe had hidden themselves, and got for answer the tidings +that they had gone out into the Moorfields to take the air and see an +archery contest, the heat in the city having been well-nigh intolerable +that afternoon. + +The twilight was growing faint, the narrow street was in semi-darkness. +Johnnie inquired which way the ladies would return, and getting the +direction started out to meet them and give them escort. He had not +gone far before he saw two ladies hurrying along, huddled rather +closely together, and a couple of city gallants bowing and smirking +beside them in the roadway. The young fellow's face flushed; for, even +in the growing darkness, he recognized one slight, graceful figure as +that of Dorothy. He hastened forward, and soon got near enough to +distinguish the faces of the four, and to perceive that the ladies were +being annoyed by the unwelcome attentions of the two fops, who, +attracted doubtless by Dolly's beauty and apparent rusticity, were +endeavouring to force acquaintance upon the buxom hostess of the +"Swanne." Johnnie seized both the situation and the offenders in a +moment. Grasping the youths by the nape of the neck, he cracked their +curled heads together until they yelled with pain. Then he forced +their noses down to their knees. + +"Bow low, ye rascals," he cried. "Lower still; ye are not doing +sufficient homage to beauty and innocence yet." + +The two collapsed, toppled forward, and lay prone on their stomachs in +the thick, foul dust. + +"Kiss the ground they walk on," pursued the relentless Johnnie; "'tis +what ye mouthing apes profess to do. Kiss it--let me hear ye," and he +held them in his grip until two resounding smacks rewarded his efforts. +"Now," he said, "maybe ye will not annoy womenfolk again for an evening +or two. I'll lout the heads of both of you together if I see your +smirking faces in this street any more." + +The forester straightened himself, offered an arm to each of the +ladies, and led them home. + +Lights shone from the parlour window of "Ye Swanne" that night long +after they were douted in the other houses of Wood Street. Johnnie had +to recount all the incidents of his visit to the court; and Dorothy and +the hostess asked him a hundred questions about the Queen, many of them +concerning her dress and her jewels, and quite beyond his powers of +answering. He said nothing about the promise given to his sovereign in +a moment of loyal enthusiasm, a promise that pledged him to voyage and +adventure on the Spanish Main. + +"Time enough for that," he said to himself. "I'll talk at greater +length to Bob to-morrow; and as no ships will be sailing westward ho! +until the spring comes again, I may as well leave talking for a later +day, and make my plans now in silence." + +The party from the forest spent another week in London, and during that +time Johnnie went twice to Whitehall, on the second occasion taking +Dorothy with him. The Queen was very gracious to her pretty subject +from the west, and praised her beauty openly. Yet, in spite of the +royal condescension, Dolly felt terribly afraid, and owned to Raleigh +that she was very glad to get outside the palace doors again. + +On another day the knight took them to the play on the other side of +the river, where they saw a comedy of Ben Jonson's. After the play the +captain went to see the bear-baiting in the bear-pit hard by, but the +two young people preferred a trip on the river as far as Chelsea. This +was a very busy and momentous day, for in the evening Master Jeffreys +took Morgan down to the "Mermaid Tavern" between Wood Street and Milk +Street, where Raleigh was presiding over a gathering of the "Mermaid +Club," and there the young countryman found himself in a very nest of +poets--Shakespeare, Jonson, Marlowe, Sidney, and Raleigh himself. In +after years he hardly knew which to call the most notable moment in his +life--the one when he kissed his Queen's hand, or the one when he drank +a cup of sack with the greatest wits and geniuses of his age. + +When the Severn-side folks went westwards again, Paignton Rob +accompanied them; for Johnnie had invited the mariner to make his home +with him during the winter, purposing in the spring to go with him on a +first voyage to the New World. + + + + +Chapter XXIV. + +TWO CHANCE WAYFARERS. + +It was the feast of St. Thomas, the sky gray blue, with a pale, +cold-looking sun, the Queen's highway frozen into an iron hardness, and +the pools and ditches frost-bound. The wind had shaken the hoar from +the trees and hedges, and the holly-berries stood out in brilliant +bunches against the dark green of the encircling leaves. Along the +road between Bristol and Gloucester, and, but for the wintry haze that +narrowed the horizon, within sight of the latter city, trudged a burly +fellow, staff in hand and a sea song on his lips. His thick shoon +awoke echoes from hedge to hedge, and his iron-shod staff rang in +unison. Hosen of warm, gray homespun covered his legs, and he had a +doublet of the same goodly stuff; a cap, trimmed with otter-skin, was +pulled down tightly over his ears, and an ample cloak of somewhat gaudy +blue flapped in the keen wind; rime, and tiny beads of frozen vapour, +hung like pearls in his black beard. He rolled in his walk as a sailor +should, and sometimes he whistled the air of his song by way of change +from the singing of the words. + + "Then ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold; + King Philip's ships are riding deep + With the weight of wealth untold. + They're prey for the saucy lads + Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe; + They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam, + With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow, + With a rich galleon in tow!" + + +The mariner swung his staff in rhythm with the swing of his chorus, and +his hearty voice pealed out like a trumpet on the sharp air. + +"A spirited song well sung!" cried a voice in the sailor's rear. + +He turned sharply around, and found a thin, wiry fellow close at his +heels. "_Madre de Dios!_" he cried, with a Spanish oath. "Where didst +thou spring from? I heard no steps behind me." + +"Hardly possible, friend, that thou shouldst hear a little fellow like +me against thy song, staff, and heavier footfalls. I fell in thy wake +out of the lane at Quedgely, and have been trying to come up with thee +for the sake of thy jolly company." + +"Is yonder parcel of huts Quedgely?" + +"Ay. Thou art a stranger; Devon, if thy speech is to be trusted." + +"Devon is my bonny country, lad--Devon every inch of me. Dost know +Devon?" + +"But little. 'Tis a brave shire, and breeds brave sons. Could I be +born again, I'd pray to see the sun first from a Devon cradle." + +"Thy hand, brother. If thou wert less yellow in the gills I'd kiss +thee. Art for Gloucester?" + +"I am." + +"So am I, for to-day; to-morrow I go farther on. Dost know these parts +well?" + +"There are parts that I know worse; but I am not native to the place." + +"Maybe thou hast never been in Dean Forest?" + +The stranger looked at the sailor sharply and queerly. "Dean Forest," +he repeated. "Yes, I have travelled some parts of that wild region. +Thou art surely not thinking of going thither at this time o' the year!" + +"By bad fortune, I am. And from what I hear, 'tis a dangerous place, +full of fierce beasts and uncouth people. But go thither I must, for I +seek a man I shall not find elsewhere. If thou wouldst find a hawk, +needs must that thou find a hawk's nest; no other bird's will serve thy +purpose--that is my position. Is there any chance that I shall light +upon some forest fellow during Yule-tide business in Gloucester?" + +"That I cannot say; but I may be able to help thee. Whom dost thou +seek?" + +"A Devon man, Rob of Paignton." + +"Thou art hunting a bundle of hay to find a needle. The forest is a +wild place, as full of holes as of hills, and its people are not much +given to travelling or to gossip with any but their nearest neighbours. +Hast no more precise knowledge?" + +"None, except that Rob dwells with a tall fellow named Morgan." + +Again the sallow stranger eyed his companion keenly. He shook his +head. "Tall fellows are not scarce amongst the foresters, and Morgans +are as plentiful as oak trees." + +"Then am I like to be long a-searching. However, tired eyes ne'er +found a treasure; I must find Rob and the fellow with whom he dwells. +How far is it to Gloucester now?" + +"A matter of less than three miles to the Cross." + +"Dost know of a good inn, one where beef and ale is not stinted, and +where the hay in the beds is sweet?" + +"There's the 'New Inn' in the Northgate Street, as snug a place as a +man can wish to put head into on a cold day. I shall rest there until +to-morrow." + +"Then I'll cast anchor there also. I can afford to pay for good +lodgings." The sailor jingled some coins in his pouch, and sang again, + + "Then ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold." + + +His companion interrupted him. "When I startled thee just now, did I +not hear thy lips utter a Spanish oath?" + +"Likely enough; I have a goodly stock of them, and one jumps out at +times if it happens to be near the top. How didst thou recognize it +for Spanish?" + +"Because I have some knowledge of that tongue." + +The sailor turned sharp on the speaker, halted, and scrutinized him +closely. "Thy face is yellow enough for a subject of King Philip," he +said slowly; "but the general cut of thee is English." + +"I am English." + +"Hast sailed the Spanish Main?" + +"No; I am a scholar, not a sailor. I am as well acquainted with +French, Latin, and Greek as with Spanish and English." + +"What a gift!" exclaimed the sailor admiringly. "There is not much +body about thee; but now I look into thy face and mark thine eyes, +forehead, and jowl, can well credit thee with brains. I wish I had met +thee in Plymouth." + +"Why, friend?" + +"Because I have some papers writ in Spanish that I'd give much to +decipher. Confidence for confidence, let me tell thee that I am no +scholar, but just a simple sailor--" + +"Who knows the Spanish Main, eh?" + +"As a farmer knows his own duck pond." + +"Ah! these are fine times for the brave lads who sail the seas." + +"My own opinion, brother. I thank God I became a man whilst Queen Bess +was a woman! The west wind blows fortunes into Devon ports nowadays. +Mayhap thou hast no love for the sea?" + +"'Tis the sea that hath no love for me. I am fixed ashore, and yet I +love travel and adventure, and have seen sights in more lands than +England." + +"So! now. I'm glad thou hast not lived a worm 'twixt book covers. +Thou art a fellow of some parts, I'll warrant me. There's plenty of +spring in thy walk for one who hath pored much over books. How art +thou now with, say, the sword?" + +"I have held my own with fellows of more inches than myself." + +The sailor pinched his companion's biceps, and took a grip of his +wrist. "Supple enough, brother, or I'm no judge." + +"Oh! I should second thee well in a tussle, never fear," laughed the +little man. + +"And give me a merry time should we draw on one another." + +"Oh! we are not going to fight. I am a peaceable wayfarer, glad of a +cheery companion on a dull day. But I would offer thee a scrap of +advice. Jingle not thy money so easily to the first man that offers +thee a friendly greeting. I have known the chink of gold turn a good +friend into an ill foe." + +"True, true. But I'll swear to thy honesty." + +"A thousand thanks for the compliment." + +Thus the two chance companions trudged on side by side to the south +gate of Gloucester. There the pressure of a crowd brought them to a +halt for a few minutes. There was a noise of yelling and booing, and +some exclamations that caused the sailor's companion to wince. + +The pressure at the gate slackening, the two pushed through and hurried +after the noisy throng. "Some fellow being whipped at the cart-tail," +exclaimed the man of Devon, stretching his tall form to look over the +heads of the swaying mob. + +"Two of 'em, friend; Papishers both," remarked a delighted citizen. + +"Oh!" exclaimed the younger wayfarer. + +The citizen pointed first to the right and then to the left. "Ruins of +Greyfriars Monastery; ruins of Blackfriars. One rascal caught in +either place praying that the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah might fall on +our town, because he and his fellow vermin were driven out years ago. +I must push ahead and beg the hangman to let me have a cut or two at +them. They cursed me by bell, book, and candle--but not by name, thank +the Lord: they didn't know that!" + +"Why?" asked the little man. + +"Because I--and many others, for the matter of that--have built a snug +house out of the stone of the monasteries. I'll have a cut at 'em if +it costs me a crown." + +"Is this sort of thing to thy liking?" the sailor asked of his +companion. + +"No," was the sharp response. + +"Neither is it to mine; although, mind you, I have seen these same +Papishers play some devil's tricks on good Protestants. Paignton Rob, +whom I seek, hath a head ill-balanced by the loss of an ear and its +ear-ring, because the priests chose to set a mark upon him. But thou +and I are of more generous blood; we have seen the world, and found +honest men in all religions--ay, and rogues in them all too. Let us +get to thine inn and drink a flagon of Gloster ale to all tolerant +souls, whether they call the Pope 'Father' or 'Devil.'" + +The sallow-faced man made no answer, but pushed on beside his burly +companion. + + + + +Chapter XXV. + +BROTHER BASIL. + +Dan Pengelly, the sailor with the Cornish patronymic and Devonian +birthplace, found an excellent boon companion in the little +sallow-faced fellow who had overtaken him a few miles south of +Gloucester. And he found the "New Inn," boastful of having given a +night's lodging to the Queen and the Earl of Leicester, an expensive +but comfortable tavern. Its dimensions were goodly, its position a +sheltered one, its kitchens ample and well-managed, and its October ale +beyond reproach. At first the little man in black doublet and hosen +was inclined to be moody and taciturn; the public whipping, apparently, +had seared his kindly and humane temperament. But jolly Dan poured +oil--not to say ale--on the wounds and eased them. As it was neither +dinner-time nor supper-time, the sailor ordered a repast ample enough +for both, and fell to his trencher with hearty good will. His +companion did his best to emulate him, and for a spare man did +excellently. Dan paid the reckoning. + +They spent a merry evening. As far as the sailor was concerned, when +ale went in, wit went out; he poured out confidences, and was artfully +led into babbling secrets he had never intended to disclose. To all +appearances the little man was just as communicative; he talked glibly +enough about places in France, Holland, and Spain, and answered a score +of eager questions about Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, Lisbon, Cadiz, and +other places. But when Pengelly reeled off to his mattress of fragrant +hay he knew nothing definite about his comrade--neither name, station, +occupation, nor religious or political opinions. On the other hand, +the sallow man knew Dan's lineage for four generations back, at least; +knew his hopes, fears, recent deeds--good and bad; could have told to a +penny what money he had in his pocket; knew the reason why he sought +Rob of Paignton, and a great deal of the latter worthy's past career. +Perhaps most important of all, he knew where Dan had hidden certain +Spanish papers in Plymouth, and guessed at the secret hidden in them. +He had been merry with the bluff sailor to good purpose, and he lay +awake and quietly smiling at a star that peeped in at the lattice, long +after the bibulous Dan had started snoring like a drenched hog on the +pallet beside him. Before he closed his eyes and settled himself to +sleep, he had resolved to be the sailor's companion for a day longer. +This meant an alteration of his previous plans, but the change would be +worth the making. + +The next morning the two travellers were astir with the first robin, +and over breakfast Dan learned that his companion had suddenly +remembered that he ought to pay a visit to Westbury before he quitted +the neighbourhood. The Devonian knew nothing of Westbury, but was +speedily informed that it lay about ten miles along his own route, and +was, in fact, almost at the eastern verge of the forest itself. The +sailor expressed his joy at this news in a practical manner; he +insisted on paying the reckoning for bed and breakfast. The little man +made a show of protest, but submitted amicably enough. The generous +Dan slapped him on the back, and declared that he was growing to love +him. + +"I did not like thee over well at first," he said; "there are none of +the roses of innocence in thy face, thy jaws are too lean and hungry +looking, and thine eyes have an odd sort of stare in them. But +'handsome is that handsome does' is my motto, and I find thee a +downright pretty fellow." + +The "pretty fellow" laughed good-humouredly. "Thou hast queer ways of +paying compliments, Dan Pengelly, and folk who did not understand thee +might take offence. But it's 'peace and good fellowship' betwixt us +twain; so let us take to the road and hope for a pleasant journey." + +The sun shone frostily but cheerily. Down the Westgate Street and out +at the West Gate that abutted on the turbid Severn went the two +strangely assorted comrades. The sailor had a remark or two--not +altogether complimentary--to make about the river. Then they strode +along the causeway that spanned the marshy isle of Olney and led to the +western arm of the river. From thence a broad, tree-bordered highway +ran--at a little distance from the Severn bank--right away to the +hamlet of Westbury. Here they parted company, the sailor going on to +Newnham, where he was to make inquiries after Rob, his companion +striking off across the fields on pretence of visiting a certain farmer. + +Dan was right on the track of his friend, although he anticipated a +dangerous and exciting search through the dense, dark forest that rose +on the swelling hills before him. He was agreeably disappointed. A +grizzled old fisherman stood on the river quay idly watching his boat +as it bobbed up and down on the rushing tide. Dan gave him a brotherly +greeting, then halted for a few minutes' rest and conversation. At +first the traveller talked of "tides" as though they were his chief +interest in life. The fisherman had an opportunity of learning that +the tides of the Plym, Fal, and Dart were beyond computation better +than those of the Severn; in fact, he was asked to believe that the +last-named river was no better than a mud heap that got flooded with +brackish water twice a day. The fisherman stoutly combated this +slander, and a pretty quarrel seemed imminent, when Dan went off at a +tangent, and "wondered" whether any one in Newnham had espied a tall, +lean, one-eared man looking at boat or stream at any time. "He's not a +native of these parts," added he, by way of rounding off his +description. + +But the fisherman was not prepared for this sudden change of subject, +and he took a minute or two for quiet meditation ere he volunteered the +information that "all Newnham" knew the person in question. + +"He was up to Captain Dawe's but yesterday," he said. + +"Ought to be dwelling with a tall fellow named Morgan," said Dan. + +"Lives with Johnnie Morgan of Blakeney," replied the other. "Everybody +knows Johnnie Morgan. He's kissed the Queen's hand in her house in +London, and 'tis whispered that her Majesty kissed him. At any rate, +Johnnie's sweetheart quarrelled with him directly they got home again, +and the gossips put it down to jealousy." + +Dan expressed his sorrow, and promised to advise Johnnie to hope for a +happy ending. "The course of true love never did run smooth, ye know." + +"Never!" assented the fisherman. + +"Now, how far is it to Blakeney, and must I go through the forest?" + +"'Tis an afternoon's tramp, and a lonesome one; ye might run down on +the tide when it ebbs. There's my boat, and I'll take ye for twopence." + +"Done! Shall we spill a flagon of ale, and say it is a bargain?" + +The fisherman put his tongue to his lips and tested the salty flavour +of the tide, then led the way without comment to the "Bear." The +bargain was so deluged with "best October" that it was almost drowned +in forgetfulness. But, more by luck than judgment, Dan and Rob kissed +one another just after nightfall. + +And after supper Dan told the story of his tramp from Bristol. He had +got to the "whipping" incident in Gloucester, and was describing its +effect upon the little, sallow-faced fellow that tramped with him, when +one of Morgan's men burst into the room, his face blanched with terror. +"The man in black! the man in black!" he cried. + +Johnnie was on his feet in an instant. "What dost thou mean?" he asked. + +"The man in black! the one who did not die!" + +Johnnie understood. He took down a sword. "Where is he?" + +"He was looking in at the window as I came up the lane." + +"Follow me. Stay you there, gentlemen; I'm afeard my man has seen a +ghost." + +Blakeney was aroused, but no man had seen anything suspicious, and a +close search revealed nothing. Morgan questioned his man, but he stuck +to his story. An idea flashed across Johnnie's mind, and when he got +home again he questioned Pengelly closely about his companion. The +answers convinced him. + +"Thou hast tramped with the devil in disguise," he said. + +Dan's ruddy face paled, and he asked for an explanation. His host told +him of the events of the past summer. The sailor's face lengthened +with the story. "And I told him all my plans!" he groaned. + +That night Morgan's barns were fired and burned to the ground. The +next night the thatch of Captain Dawe's cottage was discovered to be +smouldering. Two nights later, Dean Tower, which had been confiscated +by the Crown because of Windybank's treason, was reduced to a heap of +ashes. + +Brother Basil stole out of Westbury tower the next morning. He had a +bloodstained chip of oak in his hand. It was cut from a beam Windybank +had struck in his fall. "The blood of a martyr!" he muttered. + + + + +Chapter XXVI. + +ALL ON A BRIGHT MARCH MORNING. + +The March winds were blowing, and the daffydowndillies were nodding +merry heads in the sunshine. The hawthorn hedges were dotted with the +bright green of bursting buds; and behind this promise of cover from +the prying eyes of predatory urchins, the small birds were busy +house-building. The tall elms were still bare of leaves, but the rooks +had framed their crazy nests, and were now busy following the +ploughman, and waxing fat on succulent worms. The sedgy pools and +ditches in the forest were noisy with the hoarse croaking of colonies +of frogs. Lambs skipped in the farmers' meadows, and cropped the grass +that had already lost the brown tinge of winter. + +Spring was come, vouched for by the calendar, the place of King Sol in +the blue heavens, and the changing aspect of reawakening nature. + +By every token of a healthy youth and a glorious March morning, +Johnnie's thoughts should have been light, fanciful, and centred round +the fair image of Mistress Dorothy Dawe. Alas! they were dark as a +midwinter night, and as gloomy as a funeral oration. + + "'She only drove me to despair, + When--she--un-kind--did--prove.'" + + +Johnnie hummed the last few bars of a popular madrigal in slow and +dirge-like tones. "She" was still wayward and unkind, and "He" was +setting out on the morrow in search of treasure to lay at a maiden's +feet. The young fellow's visions of the Indies were no longer rosy, +but drab as November skies. He was pledged to set his face westward +ho! but the zest was gone out of the enterprise. He leaned over a +gate, and watched the gulls fishing in the river. + +Johnnie did not hear a light step coming down the meadow towards him; +no sound disturbed his melancholy reflections. "Jack!" murmured a soft +voice. + +The young man started as though an arrow had struck him. His face +flushed hotly, and a gleam of pleasure lighted up its gloom. + +"Good morrow, Mistress Dorothy," he said. "I suppose thy father waits +at the house? I will go to him at once." + +He turned from the stile; but on his arm there was the flutter of a +hand like to the flutter of a bird's wing, and he stopped. He turned +to look at the river again, and the maiden's eyes followed his. There +was silence whilst a man might have told ten score. + +"The wings of the gulls flash like silver in the sunshine," ventured +Dorothy. + +"So I have thought." + +A pause. + +"Thou art leaving us to-morrow." + +"That is why I have been watching the gulls for near an hour." + +"I don't understand." + +"Paignton Rob says that these white gulls are found all the world over. +I shall see them a thousand leagues away--screaming round the ship; +massing in white armies on the New World cliffs; fishing in the rivers. +My last vision of home must have white gulls in it. Away yonder they +will be fairy birds to me, calling up pictures of my ancestral +homestead along Severn side. The forests there will not recall the +forest here. How shall their stifling heat and towering palms, their +gaudy birds and flowers, their roaring beasts and loathly reptiles, +remind one of the cool, sweet glades, the scented bracken, the gnarled +oaks, the leaping deer, and sweet-throated songsters of home? 'Tis the +vision of the river, the tide, and the wheeling gulls that I shall see +again in the land of 'El Dorado.'" + +There was a sadness and pathos in the forester's voice that went +straight to the heart of the forest maiden. The hand was on his arm +again, fluttering, trembling. "I have been very wicked!" The fluty +notes of a sweet voice were broken. + +"Who says so?" demanded Johnnie harshly and loudly. + +"I do; you do." + +"I do not!" + +"But I have hurt you." + +"Why shouldn't you do so, if it pleases you? Women must aye be +meddling with pins and barbs. If they be not pricking velvets or +home-spun, they must be thrusting sharp points into those that love +them best. Why shouldst thou differ from others of thy sex?" + +The young man's voice was bitter; the barbs still rankled. They had +been long in the wounds they had made, and there was fiery +inflammation. How often had he told the maid that she was like none +other of her sex; that she was peerless--stood alone! The memory of +former passionate declarations flashed across the minds of them both, +and both sighed down into silence. + +"Wilt thou not forgive me?" + +"Why didst thou flout me, Dolly?" + +"Just a maid's foolish temper. Think how full of whimsies we women be. +Men be not so; they have strength denied to us, the weaker vessel." +(Johnnie's face was visibly softening. Dolly sighed with renewed hope, +and went on.) "I was hurt because thou didst plan and resolve to go to +the Indies without ever a word to me. I was not thought on. The Queen +moves a finger, and straightway thou art fashioning wings to take thee +to the ends of the earth. 'Twas thy duty so to do, but why treat me as +a chit or child of no account? Thy head was ever bobbing against that +of Master Jeffreys, or pouring plans into the one ear of Paignton Rob. +'Mum' was the word if ye did but catch the rustle of my gown. Thou +hadst vowed to share thy life with me; yet there did ye sit, like +conspirators, planning momentous issues in life, with never a chance +for me to utter 'Yea' or 'Nay.' Was that just?" + +"I told thee of my resolve as soon as I had made it firm." + +"That was a day too late for my pride. The Dawes have some pride, Jack +Morgan." + +"They have reason for it, Mistress Dawe." + +"Their friends should respect it." + +"I was hoping to increase it. Why, thinkest thou, did I resolve to +risk life and limb in the Indies, unless to gather wealth, that I might +lay it at thy feet?" + +"Nay; thou wert bitten by the flea of adventure, and must needs rush +about the world to deaden the itching. Suppose that I had rather have +thee remain at home, being but a plain maid, who would find contentment +as a farmer's wife?" + +The idea had not occurred to Johnnie, and he gasped in astonishment. +Dolly saw his confusion, and wisely did not press her point. On the +contrary, woman-like, she dropped the whole thread of the argument, and +simply exclaimed a little plaintively,-- + +"I am sore wearied!" + +"Wearied!" cried Johnnie, facing round. "Wearied of what?" + +"I have walked from Newnham, and 'tis a trying journey with the wind +buffeting one so rudely." + +"I thought thou hadst ridden with thy father." + +"I walked alone; I wanted to see thee alone. Why should we part ill +friends, that have loved one another?" + +The next moment a tearful maid was in a strong man's arms. All the +wrongs on both sides, real and imaginary, were forgiven and forgotten. +Two happy, laughing lovers sat and watched the gulls wheeling, dipping, +rising in the spring sunshine. + +"Thou hast rare roses in thy cheeks, sweetheart," said Johnnie. + +"'Tis the wind," replied Dolly. + +"'March wind!'" murmured the youth. + +"'April showers!'" sobbed the maiden; for she thought of the morrow, +and the tears came into the brave blue eyes. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. + +IN PLYMOUTH. + +The arrow sang its curving flight through the air and stuck, with a +quick quiver, in the very centre of the target. "Four times out of six +have I found his heart, and a pennypiece would cover the four," +exclaimed Nick Johnson. "'Twill do!" He put his bow-point to his toe, +loosened the string, and laid the weapon aside. Brother Ned slipped +his own bow from his shoulder, strung it, tested its tautness and +rigidity, and took six arrows from the boy who waited upon the patrons +of archery ground. He shot; the arrow went wide. He sighed, rubbed +his eyes as though to clear them from mist, and shot again. The shaft +lodged on the outer edge of the target, almost splintering the wood. +"Better," said Nick encouragingly. Ned shot a third time; the string +twanged unevenly, and the arrow fell short. With a groan of despair +the sailor threw the bow aside, and called to the boy to fetch the +arrows. "'Tis no use," he cried; "I shall ne'er master the trick on't +again; left hand and eye will not go together as did right hand and eye +in the old days. Time was when I could outshoot thee three matches in +four; now should I miss the side of a house at a hundred paces. Thy +left arm serves thee better than thy right ever did. I know no better +marksman." + +Nick pulled musingly at his sandy beard. "In truth," he admitted, "it +seemeth as though nature intended me for a left-handed man; 'tis +wonderful what skill I have acquired with it in a few months of +practice. Wilt thou not try again?" + +"Not to-day. I'll to the witch-woman under the cliffs, and get her to +say some charms that have power over the left side of a man." Ned +strode moodily off, and Nick followed him. At the stile that led into +the highway they met Dan Pengelly coming in search of them. Yards away +his excited countenance heralded news. "They've turned up at last!" +he cried. + +"Master Morgan and Rob?" + +"No; the Papishers." + +"How?" + +"Get ye to the 'Blue Dolphin,' and Dame Gregory will tell ye all. I'll +be in hiding on the opposite side of the way, and a whistle will bring +me across. Give your legs full play. I'll not be seen with ye. Needs +must that we deal craftily when the devil's in person amongst the foe." + +"Rest easy, Dan. Come on, Ned," cried Nick. And the two brothers +swung off for the harbour side of the town and the back parlour of the +"Blue Dolphin." Whilst they clatter along the cobbled highway, we will +explain their errand. + +When Dan Pengelly babbled secrets into the ears of Brother Basil, he +unwittingly gave that worthy a new scheme of revenge. For some months +after the failure of the plot to burn the forest, the ex-monk had +remained in hiding amidst the mountains of South Wales. He stayed near +Newnham long enough to learn from the farmer at Arlingham the precise +fate of Father Jerome, his co-conspirator John, and Andrew Windybank. +Being assured of their deaths, and the absolute failure of the Spanish +plot, he disappeared. The foresters hoped, and at length believed, +that he was dead; they had learned that he was the fiercest and most +unscrupulous of the fanatics, and rumour had quickly clothed him with +all sorts of unholy attributes. That he was not dead, but plotting +further mischief, was known only to one man, and the knowledge helped +to darken that man's life. The farmer at Arlingham had never been +suspected of complicity in the plot; all, save Basil, who could have +blabbed his secret were amongst the slain on the night of the fight +with the _Luath_. He himself lost heart at the critical moment and +stayed at home, and his only share in the affair was to provide for +some of the wounded and receive the thanks of the admiral for his ready +generosity. Yet, whilst the wounded groaned and tossed on his beds, +Basil lay curled up, wolf fashion, in one of the barns. He lodged +there again for two days after the burning of Dean Tower, and whilst +the forest was being scoured with horse and hound for him. From thence +he had journeyed to Plymouth, hoping to secure the Spanish papers +hidden by the garrulous seaman. He succeeded in his object only a few +hours before Dan came hastening back from Blakeney, fearful for the +safety of his precious packet. The trick had been neatly played. Dame +Gregory had entertained, for one night, a very pleasant and gentlemanly +guest, who had speedily found his way into her good graces, and also +into the back parlour of the "Blue Dolphin," which was sacred to the +intimate cronies of her sailor spouse. It was there, behind a panel in +the wall, that the hostess kept treasures belonging to several homeless +mariners and adventurers who made her their banker and confidential +agent. The foolish Dan, tipsily anxious to let his little comrade know +how cunning he was, had explained the working of the panel and the +difficulty of any one, save those in the secret, getting access to the +precious hoard behind it. An evening's survey matured Basil's plans. +Early the next morning two strange sailor-men entered the inn, and kept +the landlady answering questions for the best part of half an hour. +Not long after she was rid of them, her pleasant guest also bade her +good day and departed. + +No suspicions were aroused until Dan's return and discovery of his +loss. Then Basil's handiwork was apparent enough. His connection with +the two sailors was revealed in an early stage of Dan's search for the +thief. The three had been seen together in a neighbouring hostel the +previous day. No trace of them was discovered after the robbery. But +now, on the very eve of Morgan's arrival in Plymouth, Dame Gregory's +son, an urchin of about fourteen summers, had penetrated the rough +disguise of two mariners who had dropped into the kitchen of the "Blue +Dolphin." Guided by the child's eyes, the mother also had assured +herself of the identity of the two. Dan had been apprised, had given +the alarm to the Johnsons, and they were already lifting the latch of +the parlour door. The two spies were on the ale-bench in the kitchen. + +There was a whispered consultation with the hostess. Was she sure of +her men? Quite. What was Dan going to do in the affair? Watch, in +the hope that the sallow priest-man would pass along by the inn. + +Nick and Ned entered the kitchen. They were taciturn fellows, but they +gave the strangers a nod and a good-morrow! Conversation began, the +Johnsons leaving the lead, after the first words, to the strangers. In +those stirring times it was impossible for four mariners to meet in +Plymouth town and refrain from talking about the wonderful New World +across the Atlantic. All four had sailed its seas and navigated its +rivers. Nick Johnson said many hard things of the Spaniards, and he +expected the strangers to champion them a little. They did not; on the +other hand, they heaped curses on the heads of the arrogant Dons. The +talk turned on "El Dorado" and the fabulous treasures he had heaped up. +The Johnsons were eager with inquiries, but had no information to +offer. The strangers pretended to know a great deal about the +mysterious Indian potentate and his golden land, but they winked at one +another and kept their counsel. Ned Johnson made a plunge. Did the +strangers know that a ship was actually fitting in Plymouth harbour for +an unnamed port on the Orinoco? They did, and thought of trying for a +berth in her, having information that would be valuable to her captain. +By a casual remark, Ned hinted that he had personal knowledge of some +of the co-owners of the _Golden Boar_. Instantly a flood of questions +poured forth, but no answers were returned. The brothers professed a +bond of secrecy. For a full hour a cunning game was played, two +against two, but neither side secured an advantage. The strangers +departed, having promised the Johnsons to meet the next morning at an +inn lower down the harbour. + +The spies were followed to their lodging-place, and a watch set upon +them. But Basil was wary and made no sign. For two or three days the +four sailors fraternized together, and Dan Pengelly and the landlady's +son hung about in their neighbourhood, hoping to catch sight of a +familiar and cunning face. Meanwhile the last touches were being given +to the _Golden Boar_; her captain, John Drake, younger brother of the +famous admiral, was daily aboard, and her three principal +owners--Raleigh, Johnnie Morgan, and Captain Dawe--had arrived in +Plymouth. They had given up all hope of seeing Dan's mysterious +Spanish papers. But hope was not dead in the volatile Dan. + + + + +Chapter XXVIII. + +THE PARLOUR OF THE "BLUE DOLPHIN." + +On the Cornish side of the Sound, and directly facing the harbour of +Plymouth, lay a snug fisher village. In the gray, weather-beaten +church were plentiful records of the births, marriages, and deaths of +the Pengellys. The homeless and wandering Dan might have claimed +relationship with half the inhabitants of the place had he chosen to do +so. Yet, being Plymouth born and at sea four-fifths of his time, he +had never visited the place since his boyhood. He thought less of a +voyage to the Indies than of a trip across the estuary of the Tamar. +And in this place, that echoed with his family name, and where he +himself might walk as a stranger, lodged the man he sought in every +street, byway, and tavern in Plymouth. + +Dan had been down to the _Golden Boar_, and had talked with Captain +Drake and Master Morgan. They wanted news of his papers; he could give +them none. + +"Then," said John Drake, "we can wait here no longer. Maybe thy papers +would give us the very route to 'El Dorado's' land, and save us a world +of danger and trouble; maybe they are about some other matter entirely. +In any case, I must sail in three days' time. We are thoroughly armed, +manned, and victualled; winter is gone, and the winds will serve. 'Tis +westward ho! and take the risks that other bold fellows have taken +before us. Yet I had rather the little priest had not gotten the +manuscript from thee. The cunning thief may be garnering gold whilst +we but reap wounds and fever. The New World is a big place, the +Orinoco a mighty stream; no man can say what lands lie along its +margin, and what mighty nations dwell on those lands. I have no fear +of the night, but 'tis a good thing to have a lantern in hand when one +walks in dark places." + +Master Morgan agreed, and Dan resolved upon a desperate attempt to +recover his lost treasure. He left the harbour, sought and found the +Johnsons, and formulated a plan of action. + +An hour or so later, Nick and Ned and the two stranger mariners entered +the "Blue Dolphin," and begged the landlady to grant them the use of +her parlour, as they wished to talk over a private matter of great +importance. The good woman assented with pleasure, and promised them +freedom from interruption. They went in, and upon their very heels +came Dan. He said something to the hostess in a low voice. She +protested volubly and angrily. He wheedled and coaxed, and at length, +very reluctantly, she relented. Dan tapped at the door thrice +separately and significantly. "This is our friend," said Nick Johnson, +and he opened the door to admit him who knocked. The strangers stared +at Dan; but, never having seen him before, had no suspicion of his +identity. + +All five sat down at the table, the two strangers with their backs to +the fireplace, the three friends facing them, with their backs to the +door. Dan did the talking, addressing himself to Basil's henchmen. + +"These two good fellows," he said, "old shipmates of mine, have +arranged this pleasant meeting at my request. I have heard somewhat of +you, and learn that we are all greatly interested in a certain matter. +If I just mention 'Indies,' 'Dons,' 'gold,' you will guess the run of +my thoughts." + +The strangers nodded, and settled themselves into an attitude of closer +attention. + +"There's a vessel in harbour almost ready to weigh anchor for the land +of the setting sun. Her aim is treasure. I sail in her, and I am in +the secret councils of her captain. Do you follow my thoughts?" + +"Perfectly. You've some bold business on hand for dipping your hands +deep into the spoil of the voyage, and you want a few bold blades at +your back. Say no more. Get us aboard, and when you give the signal +we're with you. To tell you the truth, we were planning some such +scheme ourselves, but could see no chance of a berth on the vessel." + +"I'm glad you're the stout fellows I took you to be. Now, don't be +surprised at what I say next. I have more than one man's secrets +locked in my bosom." Dan turned to Nick Johnson. "Just make sure +there are no eavesdroppers," he said. + +Nick looked out into the passage. "Not a mouse stirring." + +"Then, whilst thou art on thy legs, fetch in some ale. Our new +comrades would like to toast our enterprise." + +Dan leaned back in silence whilst Nick did his errand. Healths were +drunk without words--just a nod, as much as to say, "To you, my hearty!" + +Dan leaned across the table. "A thin, wiry, sallow-faced man; +black-haired, black-eyed, supple as an eel, cunning as a cat; a scholar +and travelled gentleman, who might easily be a cut-throat; one who +professes the old faith, and swears by the Pope--ye know him?" + +The elder of the two spies licked his lips uneasily, looked hurriedly +from his companion to Dan, and from Dan back to his companion. The +latter stared and blinked his eyes in embarrassment. + +"Ye helped him in a little job in this very house about three months +ago," pursued Dan. "D'ye know what he got out of it?" + +"No." + +"The very thing we want to get out of him. A sailor hid some papers in +this very house--papers that point the way to untold wealth, the way to +'El Dorado's' land. I was with him when he learned the secret, and +hurried back here to lay hands upon the precious packet. I was a +little behind time. Now, if we are going in the _Golden Boar_, we must +carry those papers with us. Ye both unwittingly played stalking-horse +whilst another man got the treasure." + +"And he paid us scurvily, the yellow-faced rascal!" cried the spies. + +"And he will pay ye scurvily for spying upon the _Golden Boar_ and +Master Morgan, whom he hates. D'ye see how well I know the fellow and +all his secrets? I could hang him an I could but lay hands on him. +Are we to go on a blind expedition to the Indies, he laughing at us +from the quayside, and straightway fitting a vessel at his leisure to +garner in the wealth we may search for in vain?" + +"By the saints, no! But we took him for an honester man." + +"Ye did not know him; I do. Now, where is he to be found? There is no +time to lose. I know he's not far off, but I had rather not waste +precious hours in searching for him." + +The two rascals, astonished at Dan's knowledge of their doings, fell +into the trap he set for them. They jumped up. "We'll take ye to him +at once!" + +"Softly, friends! I know my man and his ways. Did he but catch sight +of five of us approaching his hiding-place, we should never get a +glimpse of him. Did he but see me with ye, our quest were in vain. +Have I not said I know enough of him to hang him? Leave the business +to me, and wait here with my friends. Would ye send five dogs barking +and tearing through a wood to trap one fox? One silent hound, with a +good nose, sharp teeth, silent tongue, and a knowledge of the fox's +ways, would serve the purpose better. Let me know the lie of his den, +and trust me for the rest." + +The fellows fell in with Dan's plan. Truth to tell, they had seen a +little of the sinister side of Basil's character, and had a pretty +wholesome dread of him. Their new friend, who knew his man so well, +was best fitted for the dangerous enterprise. They wished him joy of +it, and would be content to share its fruits. To Dan's astonishment, +they told him that Basil was hiding across the Sound in his own +ancestral village. + +"Heart o' me!" he exclaimed, "he is mine! Yon place is filled with my +own kith and kin. The fox is in a very ring of dogs." + +"Get not too many helpers, friend," said Nick cunningly, "else will the +spoil be split into too many portions." + +"Well argued!" exclaimed Basil's dupes. "Too many hands in the +meal-tub means small share apiece." + +"Never fear, comrades. A buss on the cheek or a handshake will be +payment enough. I shall not tell them that they are helping me to lay +fingers on the wealth of the Indies. Will ye take another flagon to +wish me success? I must be going. The afternoon wears on, and night +must be my time for work. Where shall we meet to-morrow?" + +"Here, at noon," suggested Ned Johnson. + +"Here, at noon," agreed Dan. He got up and went to the street door, +and Nick went with him. + +"Cunningly managed, Dan," he murmured. "'Tis better than putting sword +to their throats and pricking out the information. Art going alone?" + +"No; meet me at Ian Davey's boathouse at sunset. Let Ned keep an eye +on yon two." + + + + +Chapter XXIX. + +THE WIDOW'S HOUSE. + +The springtide sun set ruddily and frostily across the Sound; and as +the fiery ball hung for a moment on the western shore, a broad pathway +like a pathway of rippling blood, or deep-tinged, running gold, went in +a line from Ian Davey's boatyard to the Cornish coast. + +"An omen!" cried Dan, seeing with the eye of the superstitious sailor. +"We sail to wealth over a golden sea." + +Nick shook his head. "The colour is not yellow enough for my liking. +Is the boat ready?" + +"Ay." + +"Then let us be going whilst the breeze holds easterly." + +Ian Davey's lad came out of the boathouse with a pair of oars on his +shoulders. He went down to a little fisher boat that rocked gently +against the end of the wooden jetty. The two sailor-men followed him. +The mast was stepped, and they pushed out from the shore, the two men +rowing and the lad steering. As soon as they were far enough out to +catch the breeze the sail was set, and the little craft went bowling +along over the fast-darkening sea. The oars were shipped, and Dan fell +to musing. He tried to recollect the occasion of his last visit to the +Cornish village from which his family had sprung, and was astonished to +find that, in the sum of ten thousand leagues of travel since manhood, +the little journey he was now taking did not once enter. He stroked +his red beard, perplexed at the oddity of the whole thing. He pictured +the steep, cobbled street leading up from the shore, and peeped into +every remembered window in the row of rude thatched cottages. Slowly +he recalled the names of old boy and girl companions who had played +with him around the doorstep of his grandfather's house. For half the +voyage the object which had prompted it was forgotten. The journey was +as silent as a secret journey should be. It began in twilight and +ended in darkness. The keel of the boat grated on the soft sand. Dan +and Nick Johnson stepped out. + +"How long will ye be?" asked Davey's lad. + +Dan pondered. "Ye cannot get back without us; 'twill be a matter of +hard rowing against the wind. I have been thinking. This place is +hallowed soil to me, and my feet have not trodden it for thirty years. +Bide thou here to-night; I will find thee supper and a pallet. There +are many folk with whom I would fain speak now that I am here. Keep a +still tongue concerning us: we will speak for ourselves. Tie up thy +boat, and ask for John Pengelly. If he be dead, ask for any of his +children; they will entertain thee for my sake." + +Dan took his companion's arm, and climbed the tide-washed bank. He +stood for a moment listening and peering into the darkness, then he +made for the nearest cottage. The shutter was not closed, and the +faint glow of leaping firelight shone through the oiled paper stretched +across the bars of the lattice. The sailor turned to the door, and +pulled the latch string. + +"Peace be to you all, friends," he said. "'Tis the voice of a Pengelly +that speaks." + +"Come into the light, Pengelly. Your tongue doth not ring familiarly," +came the answer. + +Dan stepped forward, leaving Nick on the threshold. + +A young fisherman and his wife sat in the narrow arc of the firelight, +and beside them, on a deerskin, their little son basked in the genial +warmth. The breeze through the open door fanned the glowing wood into +flame. + +"Close the door, friend," said the fisherman. + +"I have a comrade on the threshold." + +"Then bring him in." + +Nick entered, apologizing for his intrusion, and giving his name, town, +and profession as a guarantee of his honesty of purpose. + +"Ye are welcome both," replied the fisherman. "We have supped, but the +wife shall set meat and drink before you." + +"We are fresh from eating and drinking," said Dan, "and have but looked +in for a little chat, seeing that ye were not abed." + +"Say your say, friends." + +Dan did so, in his own roundabout fashion. He casually mentioned his +voyages to the West, a theme of unfailing interest to any man dwelling +on the shores of Plymouth Sound. Then he came to the real reason for +his visit. He described the two sailors he had met in Plymouth. The +fisherman had never seen them. Dan had guessed as much, but he wanted +to be sure. Then he sketched Basil. The fisherman sat upright in a +moment. + +"I know him," he cried. "He has been amongst us, off and on, for more +than a month. I'll take you to him." + +But Dan would not trouble any one to do that. + +"He knows me well enough," he replied, "and I would rather take him by +surprise. We had a jolly time together last Christmas." + +So the fisherman pointed out where Basil was staying, and his two +callers took their leave, promising to look in upon him again in the +morning. + +Apart from the row of cottages stood the house in which Brother Basil +was staying. At one time the place had made some pretensions to +smartness. It was stone-built throughout and tiled. In the rear was +an orchard of apple-trees; and a herb garden, now choked with weeds, +separated the front of the house from the roadway. The place was in +the occupation of a widow woman, whose late husband had once been a man +of some means. + +The night was sufficiently starlit for a sailor to pick his way with +certainty, and the two men went rapidly forward. The gate in the fence +stood ajar, and Dan went first to spy out the land. The front window +was heavily shuttered, an unusual precaution to take on a fine night. +Putting his eye to a chink, the sailor could just discern the shadowy +outline of a man seated at a table. A rushlight stood beside him, and +apparently he was reading. Passing on to the door, he found that the +latch-string was pulled in through the latch-hole; the door was secure. +Steadily, Dan pressed against it; it was firm as the wall, no play to +and fro on latch and hinge. "Bolted," he muttered, and stole back to +the fence, in whose shadow Nick was still standing. He whispered his +report, and the two consulted together for a moment. Then both went +round to the orchard, stole through a gap in the straggling hedge, and +came over the grass to the rear of the house. A light shone through +the unshuttered window. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Dan, "this looks more like the home of honest people. +Yon thief in front is bolted and barred. I warrant me the widow hath +not pulled in her latch-string. We must open and enter. To knock +would be to give warning to our man, who hath ears that gather sound +quicker than doth a rabbit's." + +"How will the widow take our incoming?" asked Nick. "We be two +strangers, and night hath fallen. Should she cry out, we are undone; +for the fishers would come upon us, and maybe lay us low without a +chance to explain our errand. Thy monk-man, too, is a guest of the +village. Should he sound an alarm, 'twould go hard with us if the +neighbours took us for thieves and him for an honest man." + +Dan paused. "Shrewdly spoken, comrade. But there is no time to go +round the place and prove that we be honest Protestants and good +sailors, whilst the little man is a thieving Papist and murderous +traitor. We should cause clamour enough to give him warning and time +for escape. We will get within. Thou wilt stay with the widow, and +keep her from doing us a mischief. I will see to my man alone." + +"If thou shouldst want help?" + +"I will cry out for it quickly enough." + +As Dan predicted, the latch-string still hung out. A gentle pull, and +the well-used door swung open. The widow was in her kitchen, raking +together the red embers on the hearth preparatory to going to bed. The +noise of her scraping was sufficient to cover up the sounds at the +door, and Dan was at her side, his fingers on her lips, ere she was +aware of his presence. + +"Sh!" he whispered in warning; "not a sound, good mother. We are +friends, but thou art in danger; thy life depends on thy silence." + +The poor woman paled, and shook in every limb. Dan whispered +reassuringly, and removed his hand from her mouth. + +"God 'a mercy!" she gasped. + +Nick brought forward a stool and gently placed her upon it. + +"Have no fear," he said; "I will stay with thee." + +"Who are ye?" + +"Friends and protectors, mother; honest sons of Devon, who have +discovered a deadly plot. Lean thou on my shoulder." + +Nick's whispers were soothing, his face was honest; the widow's brain +was bewildered. She believed him, and clung to him in white terror. +Dan saw that she was safe from any hysterical screaming, enjoined +silence on both, and passed on towards the parlour where Basil was +sitting. He paused for a moment to draw his sword, then tip-toed to +the door. Leaning against the oaken post, he heard the rustling of +paper. He set his teeth; there was a flash of light; the door had been +opened and shut again, and the sailor and the Spanish agent stood face +to face. + +Basil's first emotion was one of the most absolute and complete +astonishment. So surprised was he that he actually sat and rubbed his +eyes as though to clear them from deluding visions. And in just that +moment of stupefaction Dan acted. The papers were on the table: +doubtless they were his papers. He lunged forward, spitted them on the +point of his sword, and crammed them into his doublet by the time Basil +was on his feet, and a dagger in his hand. The sailor expected a +vicious spring from his adversary, but Basil made no move forward. His +quondam roadside companion had the advantage of him in height, reach, +and length of weapon, and he had related sufficient of his exploits +during their Yuletide tramp to prove himself an apt swordsman. The +ex-monk had been trained in a school that set guile above force. He +saw at once that his tongue would be his better weapon, so put his +dagger back into his belt, sat down and snuffed his candle. + +"Thou art not going to fight?" + +"Why should we do so? Sit down, Dan Pengelly, and explain thyself." + +It was the sailor's turn to be astonished. He got a stool and seated +himself, his back to the door, and his weapon across his knee. Basil +laughed with assumed good-humour. + +"Thou art careful, comrade." + +"Thou hast tricked me once." + +"And thou hast neatly tricked me. We cry 'quits.'" + +"Not so." + +"Why not? I have thy papers--I make no secret of that--and thou hast +mine." + +"Are not these the same?" + +"No. But let us exchange, and give over all talk of robbery." Basil +got up and went to a little press in the wall. Before opening the door +he turned again to Dan. "Thou wilt observe that I am not afraid of +turning my back to thee. I have more faith in thine honour than thou +hast in mine." + +The sailor flushed and fidgeted. "Thou didst deceive me under the +guise of friendship," he muttered. + +"Pshaw, man! thou wert undone by thine own foolishness. Why didst +chatter to a stranger about thy papers? Is not all England agog to +find the land of 'El Dorado'? Dost think that any man breathing could +resist the temptation to gain a knowledge of the way thither? I suffer +from no gold hunger, but I would like the honour of discovering that +notable country. So wouldst thou; so would Admiral Drake. I shall +have done thee no harm, but rather given thee a lesson in caution if I +restore thy papers." + +"Wilt do so?" + +Basil opened the press, and tossed a packet on the table. "There they +are." + +Dan snatched it up, and turned it round and round in his fingers. "Why +dost thou give them back?" + +"They are thine, and thou hast come for them." + +"Hast read them?" + +"Of course." + +"What is in them?" + +"Maybe truth, maybe idle tales; their value remains to be proven. +Come, thou hast thy packet; give me mine." + +A cunning gleam came into the sailor's eyes. "I have not read thine. +Can we fairly cry quits until I have done so?" + +Basil bit his lip. "Canst read?" + +"No." + +"Then let me read them to thee. They are part of a treatise on +philosophy which I am writing. The opinion of a plain man upon it +would be valuable. I should like to have thine." + +But Dan was no philosopher, and his present adversary had given him an +excellent lesson in caution. He thrust his own packet into his +doublet, to lie side by side with the other papers. + +"Master Priest, Papist, and spy of Spain--for so I learn thou art--thy +work is more likely to be the hatching of plots than the writing of +learned books. Thou didst keep my papers for a time quite against my +will, and without my consent; therefore shall I hold thine until I +learn their contents. Tit for tat is reasonable justice 'twixt man and +man." + +Basil laughed. "Read me thy riddle," he said. "The world is narrow; +thou art surely confounding me with some other man." + +"That is possible. A few hours will decide the point. A certain +Master Morgan of Gloucestershire and a well-known knight, Sir Walter +Raleigh of Sherborne, are yonder in Plymouth town, and will be able to +testify for or against thee. Thou shalt be haled before them +to-morrow." + +"That's work for a strong man, Dan Pengelly." + +"There are many of my family in this village, and I did not come alone +from Plymouth. The widow hath bonny company in the kitchen." + +Basil's face blazed. "'Tis she hath betrayed me." + +"Not so. We scared her worse than we scared thee." + +Basil sat silent for a while, and Dan drummed on his sword-hilt with +his fingers. At length the spy spoke again. + +"I suppose it is useless to argue with thee?" + +"I never had any head for disputations." + +"Very well then, ye must be my guests for the night. Call thy friends +from the kitchen, ask the widow for some ale, and let her be getting to +bed. Thou and I may get to blows if we sit alone." + +Dan stared. His prisoner was actually asking for an increased guard, +and would be glad of more company. Not suspecting any trick, but +determined not to be caught napping, he got up, opened the door, and +stood with his hand on the latch calling for Nick. He bellowed twice +before he got an answer. With Nick's answering shout he caught sound +of a sudden crash in the room behind. He bounded back. Basil was +gone; the window was opened. He dashed to the opening, and the trick +was disclosed. The prisoner had silently unfastened the shutters, +smashed the lattice, and escaped. Nick came running along. The alarm +was given, and the whole village awakened to chase the Papist spy. +They did not catch him. + +Dan returned to Plymouth next morning and handed his papers to Sir +Walter. The first packet proved to be a description of "El Dorado's" +land, and a guide to the fabled region. It was the work of a Spanish +missionary, and was written to King Philip himself. Basil's treatise +on philosophy was none other than a letter from a Spanish agent in +London, giving particulars of a plot against Elizabeth and in favour of +the Queen of Scots. Raleigh declared the latter paper to be of +immeasurably greater value than the Orinoco packet. The knight had had +experience of such papers before, and knew, only too well, that they +contained more fable than fact. He handed them to Captain John Drake, +and left it to him and the gentlemen adventurers who were to sail with +him to decide what faith they should put in the missionary's +disclosures. + + + + +Chapter XXX. + +HO! FOR THE SPANISH MAIN. + +With a brisk nor'easterly breeze behind her, the _Golden Boar_ slipped +through the sunlit waters of Plymouth Sound as gracefully as a fair +swan might cleave the bosom of a lake. Somewhat narrow in build, +moderately low in the waist, with bow and poop not too high-pitched, +masts tall and sails ample, she was built with an eye to speed. And +with carved posts and rails for her bulwarks, many-windowed cabins in +the after part, tapering, artistic prow with the gilded boar rampant, +her designer had had an eye to beauty also. Hull and decks were of +seasoned English oak, and masts of straight Scots pine. The Knight of +Sherborne had found her building in Plymouth dockyard, and had tempted +her would-be owner to part with her for a price he could not resist. +Captain John Drake had tested her in the Channel from the Goodwins +round to Lundy in fair weather and in foul, and had found no fault in +her. The critical crowd that stood on the Hoe and watched her as she +dipped below the horizon were of opinion that no better-found ship had +left the harbour to brave the perils of the Spanish Main. She was of a +hundred and fifty tons burthen--a goodly tonnage in those venturesome +days--and she carried a captain and crew of twenty men, an equal number +of skilled archers, six gunners, and some dozen and a half of gentlemen +adventurers, who for the most part could handle rope, sail, sword, bow, +pike, or gun as well as any captain might wish. As far as the voyage +was concerned, the expedition was under the absolute command of the +admiral's brother; on land he was bound to take council with the +gentlemen adventurers, all of whom had put some money into the +undertaking. Raleigh himself risked the greatest stake, and in order +after him came Morgan, Captain Dawe (who did not participate in the +voyage itself), the admiral, his brother the skipper, a certain Sir +John Trelawny, and Master Timothy Jeffreys, who had secretly speculated +his own savings and some of those of Mistress Stowe of Wood Street off +Chepe. There was no lack of money in the venture, and the ship was +well-found, well-manned, well-armed, and generously provisioned. Dan +Pengelly's papers were in the cabin; Dan himself was taking first spell +at the helm. Hope was high in every heart, and many a lusty voice +joined in the chorus of the helmsman's song:-- + + "Then ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold; + King Philip's ships are riding deep + With the weight of wealth untold. + They're prey for the saucy lads + Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe; + They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam, + With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow, + With a rich galleon in tow!" + + +Johnnie Morgan was leaning against the stern bulwarks, watching the +heave and fall of the vessel and listening to the sailor's song. +"Hardly to the text, Dan, is it? We are to capture a city and spoil +its treasure houses, and have no idea of hitching a line of galleons +behind us." + +"Sir," replied Dan, "as chief helmsman I know we shall go south to the +Azores and follow the Spanish track across the ocean. Ships of King +Philip's we must meet, and maybe, at first, we shall bid them a +good-morrow and kiss our hands to them. But Dons are Dons, and we are +what our forefathers have made us. Ale and beef must fight salt fish +and thin Canary. I have cut ox meat, drunk October, and ploughed the +deep. I know the effect of all on a man's heart and head. I can drink +with a Dutchman and dance with a Frenchman, but, St. George, his sword! +steel springs from scabbard at the sight of a Spanish face. 'Tis the +breed of us, and nature will out." + +"And I am the last man to quarrel with my breeding. Well, we are set +forth, and no man can say what may hap ere we see yonder line of cliffs +again." + +"True," mused Dan; "but if we break not faith with God and our captain, +nought will happen for which a true man may grieve." + +"Amen to that!" said Johnnie, and he fell to watching the sea once more. + +Nothing could have been more propitious than the first part of the +voyage. The course was south-west, and for days the wind blew steadily +from the east or north-east. A low, misty line to larboard--the line +of the French coast--was the last sight of Europe the adventurers had. +For fifteen days after this the heaving sea met the whole circle of the +gray-blue horizon. The days grew warmer and the winds softer as they +voyaged south; the good ship was bearing them into the arms of summer. +For some few days there was plenty of bustle aboard. Captain and crew +overhauled the stores and stowed them more securely and handily; they +critically studied the behaviour of their trim little craft as good +seamen should; and the gentlemen adventurers became better acquainted +with one another, and got their sea-legs and sea-stomachs. When the +time came that heads and eyes were no longer turned backwards for a +glimpse of familiar landmarks, but were strained forward towards the +land of their hopes, then those aboard the _Golden Boar_ had settled +down, each in his own place, to form a happy brotherly community, +linked by common hopes, aims, and interests. Sailors, soldiers, and +men of gentle breeding fraternized freely together, each prepared to +stand by the other in the last extremity of danger, or to share loyally +in the fruits of good fortune. Harmony was complete, yet discipline +was perfect; for the skipper was worthy of his name, and that name was +the glorious one of "Drake." + +It was an easy matter in those brave old times to get together an +excellent ship's company. Men of all ranks and stations were wild for +adventure, and bold sailors literally trod upon one another in their +eagerness to be berthed aboard a ship chartered for a voyage to the +magic New World. Captain Drake had picked and chosen at his leisure, +and a man needed to be many-sided in his accomplishments to get his +name inscribed on the ship's books. Take Dan Pengelly. He was an +excellent sailor, as bold as a lion, and had sailed the western ocean +before. But a hundred men in Plymouth could claim so much as that. +Dan's precious packet and his skill as a singer were the deciding +points in his favour. A capable band of musicians could be mustered +from amongst the crew and the archers. Life aboard the _Golden Boar_ +was jolly enough, and no man in the whole company wished to be +otherwhere. Glorious days! heroic hearts! and happy, happy, land that +bred them! + +The Azores were readied without accident, almost without incident, and +Captain Drake sailed boldly into the harbour of Flores and sent ashore +for fresh fruits and water. There were two Spanish vessels in the +harbour, one a heavily-armed galleon of about six hundred tons. Like +the English ship, she was going westwards, her destination being Vera +Cruz, from which port she was to escort a treasure-ship filled with the +produce of the Mexican mines. When the English captain heard this he +resolved, other things failing him, to bear King Philip's treasure to +Europe himself. His company was eager to be away, so a night and a day +completed his stay at Flores. + +And now for a full month, with varying winds and under changing skies, +through storm and shine, the _Golden Boar_ ploughed her ocean furrow in +the path of the sun; and on the twenty-fourth of May she cast anchor in +the bay of San Joseph, Trinidad. West and north of her lay the +multitudinous islands of the fertile Indies. Southwards stretched the +continuation of the great American continent, the land of so many +dreams and hopes and desires. Johnnie Morgan stood with Master +Jeffreys and gazed at the long-sought land--at its waving palms, its +gleaming sands, the native huts, and the white houses of the Spaniards. +A native boat shot out from the shore. Two dusky, pleasant-faced +fellows stepped aboard. Johnnie went forward. He put out his hand and +touched them with trembling fingers. Wonderful, new creatures! + + + + +Chapter XXXI. + +IN THE BAY OF SAN JOSEPH. + +The appearance of an English vessel in any harbour of Spanish America +was the reverse of pleasing to the Spanish authorities. The Spaniards +who commanded in the smaller stations were not of the best type of +Castilian chivalry. Soldados of fortune, needy and unscrupulous +adventurers, or intriguing favourites of some colonial governor, they +had all the greed and arrogance of the noble Dons without their proud +reserve and sense of chivalry and honour. In a hurry to get rich, they +ground down the hapless natives into the dust. They robbed and +ill-treated their timid dependants without fear or remorse, and exacted +a cringing obedience that hid smouldering fires of hate and revenge. +The Spanish troops were as lawless as their leaders, and black ink +would turn red were one to attempt to tell the true tale of Spanish +misrule and terrorism in the rich islands of the West. The Don looked +upon the poor Indian as a chattel given over to him to do with +according to his lordly will, and he usually acted in harmony with the +extremest measure of his belief. And therein he differed wholly from +those freebooting, audacious, devil-may-care sons of Devon and the west +who followed in the Spanish wake across the Western Main. To the +English mariner the gentle, heathen Indian was an object of compassion. +God had given him a glorious land in which to dwell, and had heaped +upon him riches that he could neither appreciate nor value; but in the +higher characteristics of manhood, and in the blessings of religious +revelation, He had denied him much, and so we find Drake, Hawkins, +Raleigh, Gilbert, Oxenham, Whiddon, and a score of other bold captains +on all occasions treating the natives with civility and even kindness. +The poor, brown-skinned fellows soon learned to know friend from foe, +and everywhere they came forth to welcome the blue-eyed sons of Albion, +whilst they ran and hid themselves from the darker-hued children of +Spain. + +The commandant of San Joseph quickly learned that an English vessel had +anchored in the bay, and he resolved to extend no courtesies whatsoever +to the unwelcome visitors. On finding that the ship was a small one +and without consorts, his resolution to treat her captain with disdain +was strengthened. John Drake fired a gun to announce his arrival; the +echoes boomed round the bay, but brought no answer from the fort. +Another signal was fired, with a similar lack of result. The gunner, a +grizzled old veteran, who had been buccaneering with the great admiral, +turned to his captain. "Thy brother--God preserve him!--would send an +iron messenger with his third salute." + +John Drake smiled. "I'll send a gentle one first, Diggory," he said. +He called up Master Jeffreys and Nick Johnson. "Which of ye two speaks +the better Spanish?" + +"I had the longer chance to learn the language," replied Nick, ruefully +rubbing the place denuded of an ear; "but Master Timothy doubtless +possesses the choicer collection of words." + +"Quantity will serve us better than quality, perhaps. But go, both of +ye, to the commandant and tell him that Captain Drake of the _Golden +Boar_ out of Plymouth will wait upon him at sunrise to-morrow. Take a +ship's boat with four rowers and four archers, and let the Indians +guide you." + +A boat was instantly lowered, Nick made the Indians understand what was +required of them, and the deputation rowed ashore. Their comrades +watched them curiously, and an equally interested group of natives +gathered on the shore to await their arrival. + +The keel bit into the sand, the two messengers stepped out, and the +escort of archers formed up behind them. The rowers pushed the boat +back so that it floated easily, then shipped their oars and waited. +One of the Indians, proud of his position, strutted importantly at the +head of the small procession. (The unfortunate fellow was soundly +whipped before nightfall for rendering any assistance to the hated +English.) Natives hung about in little groups, but no Spaniard was +seen until the gate of the castle was reached. There a sleepy sentinel +yawned at them until they had repeated for the third time their request +for an interview with the commandant. That officer was indulging in +"siesta" and refused to be disturbed, and the deputation was still on +the outer side of the gate. Master Jeffreys lost his patience and his +temper. "My message to thy master, fellow, was a civil one," he +exclaimed, "and to the effect that Captain Drake of Plymouth, Devon, +England, would honour him by waiting upon him at sunrise to-morrow. +Now, methinks, Captain Drake will come to him in less ceremonious +fashion and without further delay." The irate Devonian turned on his +heel and strode off. + +And by so doing he missed the gratification of seeing the effect of his +words. The name of "Drake" twice repeated acted as a talisman on the +slumberous senses of the sentinel. His jaw dropped in sudden terror; +he stared for a moment at the retreating figures, and then dashed into +the castle at a run. + +He burst in upon his drowsy commander. + +"Alas, signor, what have we done! The army of the saints preserve us!" + +"From what, blockhead?" + +"From the archfiend in the flesh. 'Tis Drake that hath sailed into the +bay." + +The commandant sat and gaped in stupid affright. + +"Drake!" shouted the soldier. + +He had no need to say more. His officer's chin dropped on to his +breast. "We are dead men," he muttered. "Why has he come hither? We +have no gold, no treasure-ships. He will burn the place over our +heads." The man continued muttering to himself and fingering the +buckle of his loosened belt. + +The soldier looked through the window. "The Englishmen stand on the +beach," he said, "talking with Ayatlan, the chief. There is no +movement on the ship; no one signals. The messengers were civil when +they came." + +"Son of a donkey!" blazed forth the commandant, "why didst not thou say +so? Run after them; prevent them from carrying angry faces to the +robber who rules them. If I had men--not sheep--under me, I would +fight this Drake; I'd rid the world of him, and Pope and king should +bless me. But run, run!" + +And the soldier ran. Terror lent wings to his heels. One name rang +through his brain, and the name was "Drake." He caught Master Timothy +just re-embarking his little band. The sight of the Indians restored +him to some measure of dignity, and he volubly explained that the +Spanish captain had not understood the signer's message. He apologized +profusely, and promised that his commandant would make amends for the +mistake by paying the great sea-captain a visit as soon as a boat could +be made ready. + +Nick understood more of the rapidly spoken Spanish than did Jeffreys, +and he was satisfied. "There has doubtless been a mistake," he said to +his companion. "Probably this knave never carried our message +properly. He is scared half out of his wits, and looks like a rogue +condemned to be hanged. All's well that ends well. Let us be getting +back to the ship with a friendly report." + +About an hour later, the commandant, accompanied by an imposing +retinue, both Spanish and Indian, rowed out to the _Golden Boar_. +Captain Drake and the gentlemen of his company had been to their +wardrobes and donned their best, and the visitors by no means carried +off the prize for the splendour of their array. As far as physique was +concerned the Dons were completely outclassed. Sallow and listless +from tropical fevers and loose living, they stood in sharp contrast to +the brawny, clear-skinned Englishmen. The difference was obvious even +to their own proud eyes, and they felt it. + +No sooner were the Spaniards aboard than they fixed their gaze on the +group on the upper deck, and one thought prevailed in the minds of +all--"Which was the terrible Drake?" + +Morgan stood out above his fellows by a good head, but surely he was +too young! The commandant had heard that Drake was no giant; he had +also heard--and half believed--that he had horns, hoof, and a tail. +The puzzle was solved. Captain Drake, short, burly, bearded, +black-haired, bull-throated, but blue-eyed, stood forward; his air was +unmistakably one of command. Master Jeffreys undertook the duties of +master of the ceremonies, and the commanders were introduced to each +other and gracefully bowed their acknowledgments of the honour. + +The interview was short and formal. The Spaniard welcomed the +Englishmen, and hoped that the peace would not be broken. Captain +Drake echoed his hopes. The commandant offered presents of fruit, +wine, and fresh meat; the skipper accepted and requited the kindness in +suitable fashion. A few flagons of wine were drunk, and the interview +ended. The company aboard the _Golden Boar_ had no great opinion of +their visitors, but the visitors had a better one of them. They had +noted the spick and span order on shipboard, the bearing of the men, +and they did not forget the name of the captain--they only made the +mistake of confounding him with the great admiral, his brother. + + + + +Chapter XXXII. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FABLED CITY. + +A week went by, and the _Golden Boar_ still lay in the bay of San +Joseph. Her captain and the Spanish commandant had exchanged many +civilities, and the latter was surprised that the fire-eating Drake had +committed no deed of violence. He suspected that some deep scheme lay +hidden behind all this appearance of friendliness and courtesy. His +suspicions were, in a measure, correct; he was wrong only in his idea +of the nature of the Englishman's plans. Double guards were set round +the fort each night, and the native chief was compelled to sleep within +its walls. Morning after morning the Spaniards awoke, surprised to +find that the hours of darkness had brought no sudden assault on the +fortress. The natives freely visited the ship with fruit, flowers, and +meats, and the English sailors spent hours ashore, wandering in the +near forests or fraternizing with the natives on the beach. The +Spaniards imagined their own midnight extermination was being planned, +and therefore was the chieftain compelled to sleep within reach of a +Spanish sword, and his subjects were given to understand that the first +sound of tumult in the darkness would end Ayatlan's life. The +commandant apparently forgot that the great admiral had sacked towns +three times the size of San Joseph with a less capable force than the +crew of the _Golden Boar_. + +Truth to tell, Captain Drake had never once contemplated any attack on +San Joseph; he valued the place at less than a scratch on an +Englishman's skin. His stay in the harbour was dictated solely by a +desire to glean information concerning the Orinoco and the land of gold +that he sought. The delta of the great river lay, the nearest land, to +the south of the island; the natives professed to know much of the +river and the tribes dwelling on its banks, and they exchanged +mysterious nods and signs one with another when "El Dorado" was +mentioned. + +Presents were liberally bestowed, and promises were scattered +broadcast. Dan Pengelly and the two Johnsons, often accompanied by +Master Jeffreys and Morgan, spent hours at the doors of native huts, +eagerly questioning the Indians, or listening to long, jumbled stories, +eked out in a jargon of Spanish and Indian. Almost invariably they +came away as wise as they went. The natives either knew nothing of +real significance or would not disclose their secrets. + +The adventurers grew impatient. They were in no mood to spend day +after day idling off a dirty Spanish-Indian settlement. Their thoughts +aye fled southwards, and they wanted to spread sail and follow their +thoughts. Dan's papers had been read and re-read until many knew them +by heart. But they obviously contained little, save rumours and vague +indications of locality. What the eager adventurers wanted were +definite directions as to route and distances, and also a native guide +along the lower reaches of the river. At length both appeared to be +forthcoming. + +Ayatlan came aboard early one morning and asked for the captain. +Ushered into the cabin, where a council was being held, he bowed +himself down to the floor, then squatted on a mat and began his story +without further prelude. + +"My white brother, who has come from the great and good White Mother +that rules the rising sun, is growing angry with Ayatlan because he has +not told him that which his heart so desires to know." + +"My Indian brother has received gifts and made promises; the promises +have not been kept. I do right to show anger," replied Drake sharply. +"The Spaniards would have flogged Ayatlan, and maybe have killed his +sons, for such bad faith and crooked dealing." + +The chief bowed. "Spaniards are beasts and the children of beasts. +The Englishmen are sons of the Father of Heaven, and Ayatlan prays to +them as to his gods. Why has my brother grown soft-hearted to his +enemies and mine? The tongue of rumour tells how he has eaten up their +armies at a mouthful. Is my brother grown old and toothless?" + +John Drake flushed. He had had more than one reminder that the +admiral, his brother, would have acted more energetically than he had +done. But the younger man was by nature more cautious and diplomatic. +He made answer: "My teeth are sound, Ayatlan, and the fire of manhood +is still in my heart. Do not foes sometimes make peace for a while?" + +"True; but when one makes peace with them that hate him, he is guilty +of folly, for the enemy gathers strength whilst at rest, and waits to +strike at an advantage." + +"What has all this to do with the thing I seek?" + +"Ayatlan has been working for his white brother since the hour when his +ship came into the bay. He has thought night and day how he might help +him to the desires of his heart." + +"Well?" + +"Last night a youth from another tribe came into the village with one +of my messengers. He knows the great river, and hath journeyed many +days on its bosom. He will guide the children of the great White Queen +to the city of the 'Gilded One.'" + +The quiet announcement thrilled the whole cabin. Here was the end of +uncertainty. Drake grasped the chieftain by the hand. "What bargain +doth Ayatlan wish to make?" he asked. + +"I make no bargain," was the proud rejoinder. "Have I not given my +white brothers joy? They will not forget. The guide waits in my boat." + +"Let us speak with him." + +The chief spoke to one of his attendants, and the guide was brought in. +The adventurers looked at him with great curiosity; he was an object of +the intensest interest to them. The youth's appearance was not +prepossessing. To begin with, he was very dirty; the rags of a Spanish +doublet hung about his body; legs and feet were bare, but a battered +helmet, several sizes too large, covered his head and came down about +his ears; a pair of cunning eyes peeped from under the bent rim of the +headpiece, and quickly took in the details of the gathering. The +hearts of the adventurers sunk at the first sight of the ludicrous and +somewhat sinister personage. So this was the long-sought guide to whom +they were to submit their lives and fortunes! Not one present liked +the prospect. + +There was a moment's silence. "Tell the zany to uncover," exclaimed +the captain. Then he turned to Ayatlan. "Will my brother tell the +young man what we want with him, and question him as to his fitness for +the duties he offers to fulfil?" + +"He will speak for himself. He has been a servant of the Spaniards, +and knows their tongue better than I do." + +Master Jeffreys took the young Indian in hand, and questioned him +pretty closely. He answered glibly enough, with a "Yes" to almost +every question. He had been many voyages up the Orinoco. + +"How many?" + +He held up the fingers of one hand. One voyage had lasted from the +first night of the young moon until it was full. + +What did he know of the city of gold? + +Apparently he knew everything. The city lay on the headwaters of the +river under the great mountains. A mighty lake lay at the foot of the +city. The sands of the lake were composed of the yellow gold that the +signers desired. + +Had he met any one who had visited the city? + +Yes; an Indian trader. He had once come into the camp of his Spanish +masters when they were many days' journey up the great river. His +masters had used him as interpreter. The houses of the city were of +dazzling white stone, and the roofs of plates of gold. The people +bathed in the lake on certain festival days, and afterwards sprinkled +themselves so thickly with the precious yellow dust that they looked +like golden images. Yes; they had temples, and the gods were of gold, +and sacrifices were offered on golden altars. Sparkling stones, such +as the signers loved, were found in the waters of the lake. + +How far off was the city? + +Oh! many moons' journey. No; the inhabitants were not warlike. They +would welcome the white strangers from the land of the rising sun, and +give them yellow dust and sparkling stones as much as their hearts +desired. Yes; the dangers of the way were great, for many forests and +swamps must be passed; roaring waterfalls blocked the passage of the +river. The flow of the waters was fierce, the tides strong, and there +was a thousand channels to bewilder the voyager. But he knew the way +through the maze of waterways. + +Could he guide the Englishmen? + +He could. He hated the Spaniards, and would never act as guide to +those who oppressed his own nation. But the Englishmen were brothers +to the Indian. + +What reward did he desire? + +Clothes like those worn by his white brothers, and a sword to slay his +enemies. + +Needless to say, a bargain was struck forthwith. The guide clapped on +his shapeless headpiece and strutted off, a happy man. He had told not +a few lies; indeed, he had agreed with everything the adventurers +seemed to desire, and spun them the yarns he had heard from the +Spaniards, which tales he knew would gratify his new audience. And +well-nigh a score of brave but credulous men shook hands with one +another most gleefully, rubbed those same hands in joyous anticipation, +and confidently looked forward to fabulous wealth and the glories of +the city of marble and gold, the matchless capital of "El Dorado." + + + + +Chapter XXXIII. + +WANDERING IN A MAZE. + +"Land ho!" + +The idlers on deck sprang to their feet, and the cabins were speedily +emptied of their occupants. All eyes turned southwards. Nothing +visible save the horizon, gray with the heat-haze of noon, and the +gray-blue waters that heaved up to meet it. But the sailor in the +crosstrees could see what was invisible to those on the deck. The +gazers looked at him. He extended his forefinger over their heads. + +"Land ho!" he cried again; "leagues of it, stretching east and west!" + +The adventurers crowded into the bow of the boat, leaning over the +bulwarks to larboard and starboard. Presently a sinuous line, darker +gray than the rest of the horizon, could be discerned above the surface +of the ocean. It lifted, cleared; the gray deepened to black; the low +coast of the Orinoco delta was revealed. The crew raised a resounding +cheer, and the gentlemen of the company waved their caps in the air. +Yacamo, the guide, stood in the forepeak of the ship, the centre of an +eager group. Yonder was land; for what point of it should they steer? +Master Jeffreys was endeavouring to settle that question. The Indian +was pouring out a torrent of coast Spanish, and gesticulating with +every sentence. The Devonian explained the situation to his comrades. + +"From what I can gather," he said, "the arms of the river embrace about +fifty leagues of coastline similar to that which confronts us. In this +stretch there are at least a hundred mouths, connected one with the +other by thousands of cross channels. The whole delta is a bewildering +maze of waterways. Some of these are deep enough to carry our ship +well into the country; others are too shallow to float a ship's boat. +Moreover, the guide says that he has had a free passage up a channel on +one occasion that was impassable on another because of the shifting +sandbanks. One of the main mouths is very deep, but the current is +also of great strength. We take risks whatever we do." + +"Is he sure that we are approaching the Orinoco coast?" + +"Quite." + +"That will do, then. We will skirt it until he recognizes a landmark." + +The light breeze held steady, the tide was running in; so fair progress +was made. The land now stood out quite distinct from the water. Dark +masses of woodland could be discerned standing back on the fringe of +the tidal mud, but no opening was visible in the low, dark line. +Without going farther in, the ship's course was altered until it was +parallel with the coast, and all the afternoon they held steadily +along, looking for some landmark familiar to the Indian. But the coast +was so monotonous in its regularity that distinguishing features were +not plentiful. It was nearly sunset when, following an inward curve of +the shore, they discovered that they were in the mouth of a wide +estuary. The banks were miles apart, but, the tide being out, a turbid +current was distinguishable, flowing in great volume seawards. The +wind, for the time, had practically died down, and the current began to +swing the ship round, and bear her back to the Atlantic. Soundings +were taken, and about three fathoms of water discovered, where at least +twenty times that depth had been anticipated. This was disappointing, +for it was evident that they had turned into one of the shallow mouths, +and navigation might come to an end a few miles up. Captain Drake +dropped anchor well away from the shore and its pestilential night +mists, and made all snug against the morning. He recognized that the +navigation of the river was going to be no easy matter, and he decided +to go warily. + +The tide ran again about midnight, and on the early morning ebb the +_Golden Boar_ stood out to sea once more, and went in search of a more +promising opening. They found one that Yacamo thought he knew, and, +taking advantage of the afternoon tide, they ran up nearly twenty +miles. The current was almost as strong as the tide, and they had to +anchor against the ebb, or be swept out to sea quicker than they had +come in. The next morning they went on again, and were fifty miles up +the channel by nightfall. Away to right and left were masses of flat, +swampy land, the intersecting waterways reddening and glistening in the +setting sun. + +The numerous channels and jutting stretches of land so broke the force +of the tide that hardly any headway was made the next day, and a +council was held to determine methods for further progress. + +Captain Drake was of opinion that it was impossible to continue the +passage of the river in the ship. Rigorous questioning and +cross-questioning of Yacamo brought out further ugly reports of the +shifting nature of the river-bed, and of the frequency of shallows. A +stay of a couple of days in the anchorage was resolved upon, and during +that time exploration by means of boats was to be pushed along +vigorously. + +But it was easier to decide this matter than to carry the decisions +into practice. Three boats were sent out the next day just after +sunrise. All pursued a more or less southerly course through the +channels, and by noon all three crews had lost themselves in the maze. +The waterways were all alike, muddy, tree-bordered, steamy, +oppressively malodorous, and swarming with reptiles. Moreover, they +laced and interlaced so frequently, crossing like the threads in a +woven fabric, that any idea of direction was impossible. The giant +trees shut in the channels from one another, and no boat's crew could +see many yards ahead. In the afternoon, gun-fire from the ship gave +the voyagers a cue to their whereabouts, and a guide back to safety. +The scheme of exploration in order to find a safe passage for the ship +had failed. + +An anxious day followed. Would the mighty river never yield up its +golden secret? Were the adventurers to be baffled and foiled after +their thousands of leagues of journeying? The guide declared that the +Spaniards had got hundreds of miles farther up the river, but by means +of galleys of forty to sixty oars apiece. The _Golden Boar_ had no +such craft aboard. Three good ships' boats she had, the largest +capable of holding about a score of men with arms and provisions, the +others with capacity for about half that number. The largest boat was +fitted with a mast, and a gun might be mounted in the bow. + +No man was in the mind to turn back, and progress by boat was resolved +upon. What should be done with the ship? She must not be wholly +abandoned, for she was wanted for the voyage home. Some counselled +that she should be taken back to Trinidad and harboured there for three +months, coming back to the river again at the end of that period. +Others were for hiding her, as Oxenham had hidden his ship; but Nick +and Ned Johnson were loud against any such proceeding. A plan +suggested by Trelawny was to the effect that half the company should go +buccaneering amongst the islands in the _Golden Boar_, whilst the other +half should try for "El Dorado's" land, the spoils of each expedition +to be put into the common fund, and then shared according to the terms +of the cruise. A few reckless spirits agreed to this, but Captain +Drake would make no such division of his forces. To do so, he argued, +would be to weaken both parties to the verge of powerlessnesa. + +Matters were at a deadlock. Then Dan Pengelly went hunting, and caught +a native canoe and two natives. He brought them to the ship. Yacamo +could make himself understood. He persuaded the Indians that his +masters were not Spaniards, but tender-hearted white men, who loved the +brown man like a brother. Generosity in the matter of presents helped +the faith of the two men. They declared their willingness to help the +white strangers. Their own village was near at hand, hidden in the +wooded recesses of an island, and they had intercourse with other +villages along the delta, and could guide the adventurers through the +network of channels to the main stream. + +But the problem what to do with the ship remained unsolved. The two +natives declared that it was impossible to get her into the main river; +and even if that could be done, her voyage up-stream would be short, as +waterfalls blocked the passage. + +Captain Drake and a small retinue proceeded to the Indian village, and +talked with the chief. He proved friendly enough, and quite willing to +help, when he found that the newcomers were foes to his oppressors, the +Spaniards. He paid a return visit to the ship, and, learning the +difficulty concerning her, offered to hide her in a deep pool on the +eastern side of his own island. She could there be effectively +screened. A survey of the spot and the channels leading to it showed +that the plan was feasible; and, with ship's boats and native canoes, +the _Golden Boar_ was towed to her anchorage, and preparations for the +boat journey were at once begun. The vessel was dismasted, her guns +buried, and the ammunition safely stowed in an empty hut. Masts and +sails were fitted to the two smaller boats, and the chief furnished a +large canoe and rowers for the carriage of stores. Two other canoes of +stronger make were constructed, and at the end of twelve days Captain +Drake had a flotilla of five boats under his command. Sixty men were +to form the expeditionary force; one gentleman adventurer, one ship's +officer, two soldiers, and two seamen--all chosen by lot--being left +behind in the native village in charge of ship and stores. + + + + +Chapter XXXIV. + +FLOOD AND FEVER. + +The Indians were as good as their word. Headed by the chief's canoe, +the adventurers passed in steady procession through more than a hundred +miles of delta waterways. Progress was slow, for, though the current +in the cross channels was not strong, the wind was hardly felt; the +heat was stifling, and rest during the midday hours absolutely +necessary. Then there were villages to be visited, presents to be made +to the chieftains, and feasts to be eaten in return. Haste was +impossible, though very desirable. The rains were beginning, the river +would soon be in flood, and pestilence would stalk through the swampy +regions like a destroying angel. + +At last the apex of the delta was reached, and the broad +river--stretching miles from bank to bank--lay before the navigators. +The milk-white current, laden with chalky washings from the land, swept +by in a mighty flood. On its bosom floated trees and detached masses +of soil, going northwards to build up the growing delta. But for the +wind and the guidance of the natives the adventurers would have made no +headway against the mighty volume of the waters. Happily the +North-East Trades from the Atlantic, unimpeded by mountain or hill, +blew with steady and strong persistence across the flat delta and along +the level plains through which the river made its way. Sandbanks in +the bed diverted the current here and there, making quiet, lake-like +pools under the banks. The Indians knew of these, and skilfully made +use of them. Sails were spread to the breeze, and the flotilla went +steadily on its way. + +One week went by, and then another. The weather grew worse and worse. +Terrific storms swept across the plains, lashing the Orinoco into fury, +tearing down the mighty trees on its banks, and deluging the intrepid +voyagers. The banks of the stream were almost lost; hundreds of square +miles of forest-clad plain were under water, the tree-tops alone +showing the navigators the true course of the river. The flood flowing +sea-wards became thicker, deeper, and mightier than ever. The humid +heat of the stormy summer became well-nigh unbearable. Men sickened, +and in a few cases died. Camping ground at night was almost +unobtainable, and thick, poisonous mists enwreathed the boats during +the hours of darkness, fevering the men's blood, cramping and +stiffening their limbs. It became imperative to call a halt for a +while; the enfeebled rowers made scant progress against the +strengthening current, and the success achieved was not worth the +effort that was made. A pile-supported village was sighted, and the +Indian guides turned their boat thither, the others following. + +The village stood on some rising ground on the western bank of the +stream, and in the dry season must have been at least half a mile from +the margin of the waters. Now the floods rolled between the piles, +submerging at least ten feet of them. Native canoes were tethered to +the supports, and the house platforms were soon covered with knots of +brown-skinned fellows full of anxiety and apprehension concerning the +oncoming fleet. They knew the ship's boats for those used by the white +men who came trading or raiding along the river, and wondered to find +them attempting a voyage at such a time. The friendly Indians went +forward and explained who the white men were, and what they wanted, and +the villagers proved kind and confiding, as indeed had all the natives +dwelling along the river. They gave up room in their huts to the +fevered men, sleeping out on the platforms themselves, and for a few +days the expedition rested and recuperated. + + +The sun had set, the moon was above the tree-tops, steadily making for +its zenith. A group of three--Johnnie Morgan, Timothy Jeffreys, and +Dan Pengelly--sat on the platform of one of the huts, their legs +dangling over the edge within a couple of feet of the water. The day +had been fiercely hot, and the water around had steamed like a smoking +cauldron. With the moon had come a brisk breeze, that swept the +stagnant, mouldy vapours away, and left a clear landscape and cool air. +Dan was stuffing tobacco into a pipe of bamboo, and urging the two +gentlemen to follow his example, the smoke of the weed being, he +declared, an antidote against the malarial poisons breathed out by the +foul mud and rotting vegetation that surrounded them. The old sailor +had enjoyed marvellously good health throughout the river voyage, and, +forgetting his previous travels, and the natural toughness of his +constitution, put his happy condition down to his daily pipes of the +fragrant Indian weed. But his two companions were too languid for +indulgence in smoking. Their heads were giddy, their hearts throbbing, +and their stomachs at war with all solid food. The tropical marsh +fever had them in its grip, and the grasp was tightening every moment. +The trees swayed dismally in the breeze, and the birds chattered +querulously at being disturbed. The waters "lap, lapped" monotonously +against the piles, and horny-backed alligators nosed amongst them, +seeking for scraps and offal or any stray eatables that came their way. +Moths and fireflies flitted about in such numbers that the air seemed +alive with them. All around was a vast, shallow, fresh-water +sea--rolling, heaving, sucking, lapping, shimmering under the tropical +moon. A night full of majesty, beauty, mystery, and death. + +Dan curled himself comfortably against a pillar, closed his eyes, and +smoked with keen enjoyment. Morgan and Jeffreys gazed for a while with +aching eyes at the weird scene around; then the heavy lids dropped, and +they fell a-dreaming. + +Johnnie was back in the cool forest by Severn side; the oaks and the +beeches swayed above him, and the bracken rustled as a rabbit scuttled +through. The nightingale was singing his love song to his mate and the +moon, and the dull, far-off roar of the rushing tide sounded a low +accompaniment to the song. Gone were the white, warm, mud-laden +waters, the floating trunks, the screaming parrots, the croaking frogs, +the howling beasts; the glare of the sun no longer hurt his eyes, and +its fierce heat no longer sent his brain throbbing and burning. The +air was cool, the bracken sweet, and the bird trilled out its +passionate music. Why should he sit uncomfortably propped against a +tree? He would lie down, and let the fresh, green fronds curl above +him. He sighed, his limbs relaxed, he swayed--he fell with a heavy +splash into the warm, lapping waters! + +A nosing alligator swished his tail against a pile and darted off in +sudden alarm; but he came round again speedily, just as the +half-fainting man roused sufficiently to be conscious that he was in +the water. Jeffreys was asleep, but Dan's sailor senses were alert in +an instant. His eyes opened, he glanced around, missed Morgan, and +peered over into the flood. The fallen man cried out, and the huge +reptile that had espied him moved off again. Dan saw both, shouted in +alarm, and hurled a handy log at the prowling horror; then he swung +himself, monkey fashion, down a stout pile, seized Morgan by the hair, +and brought him so that he got a grip of the platform. A minute later +Johnnie swung himself into safety, and only just in time, for more than +one scaly reptile had scented the feast, and was hurrying through the +moonlit waters, eager and voracious. This unlucky sousing in the flood +settled the grip of the fever on Morgan. When next he sunned himself +on the platform the waters had subsided, the mud was baked and +cracking, and the major portion of the expedition leagues away +southwards. + + + + +Chapter XXXV. + +A FOE. + +Johnnie Morgan was not the only sick man left behind in the Indian +village. Master Jeffreys had had the strong hand of the fever upon +him; and the son of the parson of Newnham, like his neighbour and +friend the Blakeney yeoman, found the air of the Orinoco less +invigorating than the air of the Severn. With the three sick men had +been left three sound men as guard and escort. Two of these, the +Johnsons, had elected to remain with their friend Master Timothy, and a +soldier had been chosen to keep them company. Johnnie was the last of +the three invalids to recover; indeed, the others had made plans for +their journey in the wake of the main expedition long before he was fit +to take his place in the boat. + +It was fortunate for the six left behind that all, save one, were +experienced navigators, and that two of these had had the opportunity +of sailing boats on the Severn, the most treacherous of all English +tidal rivers. The boat built after the fashion of a native canoe was +left for them; they rigged a mast and small sail, fixed a rudder, and, +with a native of the village as guide, set off a little after sunrise +one morning. + +For many days the voyage was uneventful enough. Captain Drake had gone +before, and the natives were everywhere eager to welcome the Englishmen +and render them every assistance. They were warned of dangers in the +river, which still ran strongly, and was in places a couple of miles in +width. Guides were readily provided, and everything done to hasten +them on their way. Their light boat went splendidly; they were spared +many of the ceremonious visitations that had fallen upon their captain, +and often, during the day, made two miles of progress to one made by +him over the same stretch of river. Each sunset found them nearer and +nearer to the main body, and they were quick to notice that the latter +were going slower and slower every day. + +The country was no longer monotonously flat, as it had been whilst the +river swept along through the llanos. Hills now rose up to right and +left; great mountains loomed up dimly against the skyline; and the low, +muddy banks gave way to towering limestone cliffs, their natural +whiteness hidden by the luxuriant, clinging vegetation. Shallows in +the river were no longer sandy and sluggish, but rapids were the +dangers to navigation. The air was cooler and fresher, the vegetation +was that of drier soil and drier atmosphere, insect life was less +noxious, and the labours of the way grew more endurable. + +But as the perils from nature decreased, those to be apprehended from +man increased. The adventurers had long passed the most southerly +point of Spanish influence. Hitherto they had found docile Indians, +who had learned to fear the white man and his strange weapons, and to +hate one section of the white race--namely, the Spanish. The +Englishmen were white, and possessed the moral power of the race over +ruder peoples; they also came as foes and rivals to those who +ill-treated the long-suffering native; hence they had been everywhere +treated with awe, not unmixed with real affection. As far as the +inhabitants of the land were concerned, their voyage had been a sort of +triumphal procession. + +But inhabitants of hilly or mountainous land are always hardier and +less docile than their brethren of the fat plains. The Indians on the +hilly fringes of the Orinoco basin were no exception to this rule. +They had heard of the white man; refugees from the lower lands had +spread reports of his rapacity and cruelty, and of the scorn with which +he treated the poor brown man. They were resolved that he should not +lay hands on them or their treasures without a struggle. And so it +came to pass that one day the messengers of Captain Drake returned to +him with reports of a very rough reception from a native dignitary. + +Although annoyed by this rebuff, the adventurers attached but little +importance to it. Perhaps the native messenger had been clumsy over +his diplomatic dealings; maybe the hill chieftain had misunderstood +him: a second mission should be sent with suitable presents. +Accordingly, two of the gentlemen of the company, attended by half a +dozen soldiers and as many natives, left the camp on the river-bank and +threaded the steeply-pitched woods to the native village. An Indian +scout was thrown out in front, on the flanks, and in the rear, and the +white men kept solidly together in the centre. + +They met with no opposition by the way, and in due time came out of the +trees and found themselves on a plateau about a mile square. On the +farther edge of this stood a cluster of stone-built huts, evidently +surrounded by a rude but effective wall. Before them stretched fields +of Indian corn, tall and green after the heavy rains. The evidences of +native civilization were greater than any the adventurers had hitherto +met. They halted for a brief consultation, then went forward again, +resolved to do their errand discreetly and warily. Not one inhabitant +was in sight, but, as the wall was neared, slim, brown figures were +espied slipping through the waving grain towards the gate. + +A close view of the wall showed that the village was a fortress as well +as a place of habitation. The stones were rough from the hillside, and +quite untrimmed, but patience in selection and arrangement had produced +a compact rampart that could not easily be shattered or stormed. The +gate was of wood, and towered some feet above the top of the wall. It +was shut. + +Sir John Trelawny was in command of the embassy, and he directed one of +the soldiers to go forward and sound a summons on his bugle. The man +did so. The musical notes rang back in double echoes from the hills, +and brought a hundred dark heads above the ramparts. Again the soldier +sent the sweet echoes flying. The strange notes had their effect on +the villagers, for a man came from the gate to the strangers and asked +their business. The Indian interpreter, who had been carefully +schooled on his way up, and who, moreover, was proud of the trust +reposed in him by the formidable white men, gave a dignified and +courteous answer. The white men were, he explained, creatures of +another world, a world that lay beneath the rising sun; the sun was +their father, and his glory was in his children's faces. They held the +thunder and lightning in the hollow of their hands, and could slay men +almost at a nod. Yet by nature they were kindly and generous, wishing +harm to none. They were passing down the river to a city of gold of +which they had heard; during the weeks of their voyage they had not +laid an unkindly hand on any man, nor appropriated any man's goods. +His own people, and all the tribes along the river, loved and +reverenced their white brothers, and would die for them. + +The villager listened gravely enough, then swung round towards the +gate, saying he would carry the message to his chief faithfully and +without alteration. At the end of about half an hour he reappeared. +His chief would not see the white men, nor provide them with anything. +He had heard that the children of the sun were cruel and rapacious, +murdering and burning without mercy if they thought that thereby they +might get any of the yellow metal their souls lusted after so strongly. + +The interpreter replied that this was true of one section of white men, +but his brothers were the enemies of those monsters, warring with them +whenever they met them. His brothers were the lordly eagles, and were +called "English;" the others were the voracious birds that stalked in +the mud, feeding on garbage; the chief had heard of these last, the +"Spaniards."' + +The villager went away again, but returned quickly with his message +unaltered; the chief would not trust the strangers. It was useless to +ask him for guides to any city of gold, or to the shores of any lake +such as the white men desired. He had never heard of these places, and +did not believe they existed. The whole story was a trick to get the +country out of the hands of its inhabitants. The trick had worked in +the plains where the men had the hearts and brains of sick women; it +would not succeed with the "Brown Eagles" of the hills. Let the "White +Eagles" from the sun try their strength and wit against them if they so +desired. + +This answer was uncompromising enough, and with it the messengers went +back again to the river. They had looked only into the face of one man +of a tribe of a thousand hillmen. + +There was a long council round the camp fire that night, and for the +first time for some weeks sentinels were set, and keen watch and ward +kept until daybreak. A further consultation was held in the morning, +after each man had slept upon the suggestions of the previous evening. +It was not easy to decide upon a course of conduct. Hitherto the +adventurers had pursued their way in peace, and they were anxious to +avoid hostilities with the natives. They saw that nothing could be +gained by fighting the Indians. They were but a small company in a +strange land, and a thousand miles and more from the sea; their object +was gold, not conquest. Should they go on their way, leaving the +unfriendly chief in the security of his fastness? By so doing would +they be leaving an enemy in their rear? On the other hand, should they +bring him to his knees, and teach him to respect and fear the name of +England? How would their line of conduct operate on the minds of the +natives? The point was a delicate one. Some were for pushing ahead, +reaching their goal, and dealing with the hill village on their return; +others were hot to chastise the stubborn Indian at once, and break the +back of native opposition at a blow. Such was the Spanish method, and +no man could say that the Dons had not gotten wealth enough. + +The latter council prevailed, and it was decided to attack the native +stronghold that very night under cover of the darkness. The solitary +cannon was taken out of the largest boat and fitted with slings, so +that the Indian allies might carry it. Arquebuses were diligently +cleaned, and all arms and armour attended to. + +The forenoon passed busily enough. During the hot hours the men slept +beneath the trees. An hour before sunset supper was served out, and +whilst the men were eating it, a boat shot round the bend, and a loud +"Halloo!" announced the arrival of Morgan and his companions. This +unexpected addition to the fighting strength was heartily welcomed. + + + + +Chapter XXXVI. + +THE ATTACK ON THE VILLAGE. + +Forty Englishmen, with Indian carriers and scouts, stole out from the +river-side camp under the clear light of the tropical stars. The +villagers on the hills slept in a false security. Spies had hung about +the river all day; but the preparations had no meaning for them, except +that they probably signalized an early departure. They had witnessed +the arrival of the other boat, and had sped to their chieftain with the +news. But the idea of a night attack on their stronghold never +occurred to them. This newest type of white man, they had been told +and really believed, fought with their own kind only. The Indians shut +and barred their great gate, curled themselves up on couch of skins or +reed matting, and fell into the deep sleep of the tired savage. + +The friendly scouts had so learned every turn and obstacle in the +upward path from the river that they could have walked it in the +blackest darkness, and the metallic light from the clear heavens was +more than sufficient for the keen-eyed mariners. One torch was carried +for the firing of the big gun and for the lighting of the matches of +the arquebusiers, but its yellow glare was shrouded in a soldier's +helmet. + +The strip of forest was passed, and the men filed out on the plateau. +A breeze from the neighbouring heights stirred the green patches of +corn. A scout came back, and whispered that the way was clear. The +band moved forward. + +The dull, gray mass of the village loomed dimly ahead. No light was +visible, but a thin column of smoke from the communal fire rose above +the walls and bent away before the wind. + +The adventurers were within gunshot of the gate. The big gun was +silently fitted to its carriage, loaded and shotted; and the native +allies ran back into the corn and hid themselves, quaking with terror. + +There was a flash of red flame, a loud roar that came back in echoing +thunder from the hills, the crash of the iron ball against the gate. +The villagers started from sleep, and looked around in dismay. Another +flash, another roar, another crash, a pealing of strange thunder. Then +a shout in a strange tongue: "For England! Mother England!" The +children of the sun, the wielders of the thunder and lightning, were +through the broken gate. + +Then arose a mad stampede of terror. The arquebusiers were within the +rampart, and death-fire and nauseous smoke spurted from a dozen +different places. With squeals and shrieks, as from a mob of terrified +brutes, men, women, and children dashed for the walls and the farther +outlets in mad flight for the hills. + +"Make for the chief's house. Kill no man unless he opposes you," was +the order; and a shouting band soon surrounded the great house in the +centre of the village. Some fired the thatched roofs, and a red glare +shot up to the blue sky. The cries and screams of the scurrying tribe +grew fainter and fainter. But the sturdy headman was not with them. +Spear in hand, and alone, he faced his terrible foes, eyes and teeth +fiercely gleaming--a bronze Hector. He lunged at the foremost man, and +Master Jeffreys knocked him down with the flat of his sword. Instantly +Morgan and three or four others threw themselves upon him. He writhed +and twisted like a limbed snake, and bit and tore with teeth and hands. +But the odds were hopelessly against him; a rope in a sailor's +practised hands wound about his body, and he lay, a panting prisoner, +across his own threshold. A few others of the villagers were seized, +the rest of the roofs were fired, and the adventurers marched back to +the river. No spoil was taken. + +[Illustration: The odds were hopelessly against him.] + +The next morning the rank and file of the prisoners were set at +liberty. A present was given to each one, and it was impressed upon +them that the white strangers bore them no ill-will, and would not +again molest the village if its inhabitants conducted themselves with +due deference and friendliness. They had punished them for their +churlishness and disrespect, and had no thought of doing them further +mischief if they profited by the lesson given them. The men departed, +astonished at the clemency shown them. + +During the day the major portion of the villagers came back from the +mountains and woods, and set stolidly to work repairing their homes. +One of the released prisoners ventured to come down to the white men +and beg permission to cut rushes for the rethatching of his dwelling. +He was quickly told that the river and its rushes were as free to him +as ever they had been; and some of the adventurers cut rushes +themselves, and told the fellow to let the people know that a supply +awaited them. + +These wise measures went far to conciliate the natives. They had +learned that they must not oppose the strangers, but they also were +fairly assured that the white men were not the robbers and destroyers +that rumour had represented them to be. Some of them came freely +enough into the camp, bartering produce for gaudy trinkets; but, to the +intense disappointment of the company, none seemed to know anything +about the "Gilded One" or the marvellous city in which he dwelt. + +The expedition moved on--rapids, rocks, gorges, and waterfalls impeding +the way. The heat was intense; and when at times long marches were +necessary, in order to avoid obstacles in the river, the labour of +tugging the boats was alike heartbreaking and limb-breaking. More than +once the wisdom of leaving the river and marching overland was +discussed. But the river was at least a sure path, according to all +reports. It led to Lake Parime and its golden sands and wondrous city. +The men grew feverish and unbalanced with anxiety and disappointed +hopes. Night after night they were to be found in groups, listening to +Yacamo or the Indians from the delta as they retold for the thousandth +time the story of "El Dorado;" others would sit beside Master Jeffreys +whilst he read and translated Dan's papers; and any words that fell +from the Johnsons, and others who had sailed the Spanish Main before, +and heard the Spanish stories of fabulous Indian treasures, were stored +up as precious oracles. + +And yet the mysterious region never seemed to come nearer; rather it +receded as the adventurers advanced, a yellow will-o'-the-wisp that had +led them through tangled forest and pestilential swamp only to mock +them in the end. The natives grew fiercer and more threatening; the +guides began to murmur at the length of the way--their river homes +seemed so far behind them. Savage faces peered out from bush and rock +upon the company of wearied, ragged, dispirited men. One soldier went +mad, raved of gold and jewels, and jumped into a whirlpool to seek +both. Two others--one a Cornish squire who had sold his little all to +join the expedition--were stricken by the sun, and dropped dead as they +were pulling at the boat ropes. A jaguar pounced upon another man as +he stooped to get water from a stream. An Indian arrow found the heart +of another. The sun, fatigue, fevers, bruises, and the endless racking +of limbs and brains, reduced the spirits and strength of the men. They +became gaunt, hollow-eyed, tattered, unshorn, uncombed, unkempt, yet +they toiled on, silent--save when they cursed and railed at +fate--dogged, fiercely purposeful, resolved to die rather than turn +back. Song and jest were rarely heard in any boat; haggard fellows +tugged at the oars, or lay dreamily watching the sail as it filled with +the welcome breeze. Their patience being sapped by disappointment and +privation, they were no longer the kindly "white brother" to the +Indians; they estranged their friends and made foes at every +halting-place. + +One man saw this. Since the attack on the hill village the chief of +that place had been dragged along with the expedition by way of +punishment. Sullenly he had tugged at his oar, carried his load, or +pulled at his rope; he neither forgot anything nor forgave anything. +He rarely spoke to the Indians from the delta and the plain, and when +he did his words were full of contempt. One night, when the +adventurers were lodged on the land in a cleft of the mountains, he +disappeared. The natives who slept on either side of him as guard were +both stabbed to the heart. The sight still further dulled the spirits +of all. + + + + +Chapter XXXVII. + +COUNCIL FIRES IN TWO PLACES. + +The rising sun flashed spears of light on a rocky spur that stretched +out from the foot of the mighty Andes. A tall, straight figure stood +silhouetted against a background of sun-bathed cliff. Higher above him +the great masses of land rolled back, league after league, and +stretched upwards foot after foot to the eternal snows and the eternal +heavens. Below him a belt of dark forest swept round the foothills of +the giant range, and through a gap in the mass of trees a noisy, turbid +stream went tumbling down to the sweltering plains and a feeder of the +Orinoco. + +The man stood motionless as his rocky pedestal, and intently watching +something beyond the line of trees. Presently he turned sharply about, +came down from the crag, pushed his way through the trees, and stood in +a little pool-filled hollow. Almost immediately he was joined by about +twoscore men, all armed with spear and bow and arrow, and, like +himself, brown-skinned and stalwart. The newcomers bowed themselves to +the ground and murmured some words of homage and adulation. The +standing savage drew in a deep breath, expanding his broad chest, and +his eyes flashed with pride and power. + +"Arise, my sons," he said; "the gods that make men and unmake them +shall reward you. Ye have been faithful to him whom the gods have set +over you. To the brave shall be the spoils; my sons shall lade +themselves with all their hearts may desire. Now tell me what you have +done." + +A tall warrior stood forth. "We have followed our father since the +white strangers seized him. We have watched him and them, and waited +for this happy moment." + +"Aught else?" + +"We have spoken with the peoples who dwell in the woods and the hills, +and turned their minds against the men from the land of the sun-rising. +They will fight them if any man can discover a charm that will protect +them from the thunder and lightning that springs from the strangers' +hands." + +The chieftain laughed. "I will find them a charm," he cried. "I have +walked all night," he added suddenly; "I will sleep. Watch ye." + +The chieftain slept. One man went to the cliff as sentinel; the rest +squatted around the pool, looked to their weapons, and talked in +whispers. The sun climbed upwards, the shadows shortened, the water of +the pool grew warm, the sentinel ensconced himself in a shaded cleft of +the rock that overlooked the valley, and maintained the unwinking watch +of the stoic savage. + +The chieftain awoke, a giant refreshed. A warrior brought him water in +a gourd; another handed him some fruits from a wallet. A call blown on +a hollow reed brought the watcher down from his eyrie. Led by the tall +warrior who had addressed his chief, the band went off deeper and +higher into the hills. They toiled along through a defile all the +afternoon, and when the sun was dipping behind the western peaks came +into a broad, cup-like valley, that was dotted with the rude stone huts +of a mountain tribe. The tall warrior went forward alone, but +presently came back and piloted the band through the straggling groups +of huts to the spot where the tribal fire was licking up a fresh supply +of fuel. A group of warriors seated by the fire gave the newcomers a +guttural greeting, and motioned them to seats on the other side of the +blazing heap. Silence was maintained until roasted meat, corn cakes, +and fermented liquor were handed round to both parties; then all +gathered on the windward side, and the palaver commenced. + +The visiting chief held forth at great length. He gave a reasonably +good summary of the history of the white man along the Orinoco valley +from the first advent of the Spaniards. He spoke of their cruelties, +their lust for the yellow dust, and their belief in a golden city on +the shores of a lake that fed the head waters of the river. He +described the attack on his village, and his own subsequent captivity +and semi-slavery. He belittled the strength of his captors, and was +inclined to scoff at their thunder-and-lightning tubes. He confessed +that the flame and roar of these formidable weapons were terrifying at +first; but he had witnessed their action at close quarters, and +familiarity had bred a sort of contempt. The lightning would not +always leap forth when wanted, nor did the thunder always slay. He was +inclined to put as much faith in a well-directed arrow. The latter +might be discharged unseen; not so the fire-weapons of the white +strangers. The fire-god must be brought to their nostrils, and breathe +into them before the fire within would answer; and if a man lay on the +ground when he saw the fire he was safe from death. Finally, he urged +with savage passion that the intruders should be killed or expelled +from the land. He spoke of them as wearied and dispirited, sick with +fatigue and the sun-fever, and boldly asserted that they were an easy +prey. The tall warrior arose after his chief, emphasizing all that his +lord had said. + +The chiefs of the tribe did not reply at once, but held a brief +consultation apart. They were not inclined to accept the white men at +their visitor's valuation, nor were they prepared to take up arms +against such wonderful beings without very serious cause. From the +chief's own showing they had treated him in a brotherly spirit at +first. Other native tribes had, apparently, fraternized with the +strangers, and had got considerable advantage thereby. As regards the +city of gold, the chiefs had never heard of the place themselves, +although they had occasional dealings with peoples who dwelt near the +head waters of the great river. But the white strangers were wise, and +knew things that the gods had not told to other men. Maybe the city +really existed. If the white men wanted to get there, why should any +man hinder them? And it was all very well for their visitor to pretend +that he had no fear of the thunder weapons. Why had all his people +fled at the sound of them? + +The chieftain tried to explain, and again urged his points with a +number of fresh arguments. But the council was against him; they +refused to run their heads into unknown and fearful dangers by opposing +a wonderful race that showed no disposition to interfere with them. +And so the council ended. + +From the cliff that guarded the outlet from the small valley into the +gorge a keen-eyed native, gazing intently eastwards towards the greater +valley, might have made out a point of yellow light about three leagues +away in a bee-line. The light was on the bank of the affluent of the +Orinoco, and came from the camp fire of the adventurers. There also a +council was being held, and the question for decision was the momentous +one whether the quest for the golden city should be abandoned as +hopeless. According to the Spanish papers and general rumour the +expedition should now be in touch with superior, light-coloured races, +and a civilization rivalling that of the ancient empires of Assyria or +Babylon for wealth and luxury. The way to Manoa should be as plain and +well-known as the way to Rome or Venice. Yet all around were frowning +mountains and dense forests, the homes of fierce birds and beasts, and +the haunts of savage, warlike tribes. A thousand miles nearer the +ocean the natives talked glibly and circumstantially enough about the +"Gilded One" and his wonderful city. Here, where the gates of his +kingdom should be, no man had heard either of king or country. Months +of hardship and privation, the facing of death a hundred times in +almost as many forms, had brought the intrepid band to--nothing! + +On this particular occasion every man was admitted to the council, and +the words of the common soldier and sailor were listened to as +attentively as the words of any of the gentlemen. An onlooker would +have been sorely puzzled to decide from outward appearance which of the +battered, travel-worn band was its leader. The fire lighted up a ring +of gaunt, brown, bearded faces, and the pairs of eyes that centred on +each speaker's face in turn had little of hope or animation in them. +The conference began after the evening meal, and extended far into the +night. All seemed to realize the hopelessness of pursuing the quest +any farther, yet none cared to face the ordeal of turning the boats +seaward again. They compromised the matter. A last attempt should be +made to acquire guides and information. If the attempt failed, the +search would be abandoned. + + + + +Chapter XXXVIII. + +THE WAY BACK. + +Yacamo, out searching for signs of human occupation, came upon the +entrance to the upland valley, and espied the Indian town. He went +back to the camp and reported. A deputation was sent to wait upon the +chief; a body of men met them in the pass, and refused to allow them to +proceed a step farther. Then some of the adventurers themselves +climbed through the gorge, and were met with a shower of arrows that +wounded three of them. Finally, Captain Drake himself, under the +guidance of Yacamo, worked his way into the valley, and reconnoitred. +He calculated the town at a strength of about fifteen hundred to two +thousand warriors. It was not fortified; but no force could get up the +gorge if reasonable opposition were offered. His own band could be +ambushed in a score of places. He decided it was impossible to attack +the place with any chance of success. + +Scouting parties were sent farther along the river. In every case they +were assailed. The Englishmen themselves were shot at again and again +if they ventured out hunting, and at night arrows dropped at intervals +into the camp. The adventurers were in a hornets' nest, and the +hornets were always stinging. These attacks, which argued the +existence of a host of enemies, were all the work of the escaped +chieftain and his twoscore of followers. Divided into about half a +dozen bands, hiding themselves with perfect native cunning, they were +as effective as ten times the number of less active, less revengeful +foes might be; and they grew bolder every hour. + +Despairing of success--wearied, wounded, harassed, sick--the +adventurers resolved to turn back. Since they had entered the hilly +country, they had lost seven men; and as the whole country seemed +rising to oppose them, it was madness to attempt to force a passage +along the rocky, unknown way. With heavy hearts they paddled into the +main stream, got into the current, and drifted northwards towards the +ocean. + +For days there was hardly any attempt at rowing. The strong rush of +the chalky waters swept the boats along. Awnings were erected to shut +off the terrific heat of the equatorial sun, and the men lay and dozed +and rested, their native allies directing the course of the voyage. No +foes appeared, days and nights were quiet and uneventful, and the +strength and spirits of all began to revive. They had failed in their +quest. What of that? The summer was not yet gone. There were Spanish +galleons to be attacked. The Johnsons could show where Oxenham had +hidden his treasure; and if they had not found Lake Parime and its city +of gold, they had explored much new and wondrously fertile country. +The passion for exploration and the gaining of knowledge of new lands +was almost as strong in the hearts of the bold fellows as was the +thirst for treasure. Third day down the river Dan sang his song again; +'twas,-- + + "Ho! for the Spanish Main, + And ha! for the Spanish gold!" + + +King Philip's ships were the true and sure gold-mines. All eyes looked +and all hearts yearned for the sea. Their thoughts flew to their bonny +little ship. Was she safe? How that question agitated every one, and +what intense speculation there was as to the way the question would be +answered! + +If the way back was easier than the journey forward, it was not less +dangerous. The heat had increased, insect life had multiplied a +myriad-fold, and the pestilential vapours from the swampy lowlands were +thicker and deadlier than before; and the men were not fresh from the +invigorating sea, but were spent and worn with a thousand hardships. +They drooped, sickened, raved in delirium, and in some cases died. +Even the cheery Dan succumbed to the poison of the noisome night mists, +and whilst the fever was on him his songs and jests were sorely missed. +Morgan and some of the others began to sing songs of home, but these +the captain stopped because of the depression they induced in some of +the men. + +At length, after more than a fortnight of drifting with the current, +the first parting of the ways at the beginning of the delta was +reached. To the Indians this was the threshold of home; to the +Englishmen it was but a poor halting-place, from which they must set +out to face fresh perils, and maybe meet newer disappointments. The +bewildering maze of channels was once more threaded, this time with the +varying strengths of the current to indicate the better routes. The +dense, overhanging vegetation sheltered the voyagers by day and stifled +them by night. Rests at friendly villages were eagerly welcomed, and +no bad news awaited the weary band. A few Spanish boats had been seen +in some of the channels, but they had asked no questions concerning the +Englishmen, and the natives had given no information, fearing that +their masters--for so the Dons accounted themselves--would punish them +for having assisted their enemies. + +It was in the heat of sultry afternoon, the air stirless, the water in +the channel warm and rank-smelling. The boats were drifting lazily +under the banks, the native steersmen half sleeping at their posts, the +white men stretched out, listless, sun-wearied, inert. A canoe shot +out across the path of the boats, disappeared along another waterway, +stopped, and a Spaniard got out and plunged into the trees on the low +island. He watched the flotilla go by. He noticed the attitude of the +men. + +"St. James!" he cried, "I could do it with a score of resolute +soldiers! What a chance! And I must miss it!" + +The Englishmen drifted on; the Spaniard followed at a safe distance. +He wanted a solution to an important question: Where was the English +ship? He had hunted for it, and so had others--for the _Golden Boar_ +had been tracked from Trinidad into the delta--but no man had sighted +her, and knew not how far she had gone up-stream. It was not suspected +that she had remained so near the sea as proved to be the case. The +native chief had guarded his secret well. + +That night, about an hour after sunset, and with the light of the +growing moon to guide them, the adventurers tied up their boats in the +pool where the _Golden Boar_ still lay. What a thrill went through +each heart as the outline of their ocean home appeared dimly through +the veil of white mist! Tears stood in their eyes, and more than one +bold fellow had hard work to choke back a sob. The men left behind +came running forth to meet them, all alive, all well. Rough, bearded +lips pressed against thin, tanned cheeks in brotherly kisses, and the +natives thronged round, full of affectionate and admiring welcome. The +brave "white brothers" were back, and their simple hearts rejoiced. + +The villagers began instant preparations for a great feast. Captain +Drake marshalled his men, and went aboard his ship. Standing +bareheaded on his deck, the flag of England unfurled above him, he +returned thanks to Almighty God for a great deliverance from many +perils; and the company responded with a sonorous and devout "Amen!" +There was no word of repining, no lamentation over the failure that had +attended their quest. The dead were remembered in a few moments of +bowed and silent reverence, and, at the command of his captain, Morgan +sang the "_De Profundis_." "Out of the deep," indeed, had they called, +and they thanked God in that He heard them. + +Then they went to the place of feasting, and ate as hungry voyagers +should eat. After that they slept the deep sleep of wearied men who, +after many toils and vicissitudes, had reached a haven where they could +rest. + +Days of bustle followed. The ship was cleaned of the vegetable growths +that clung to her sides; masts were refixed, fittings tested and +replaced, and ample stores put aboard. The salt breeze had got again +into the men's nostrils, and their hearts cried out for the open sea. +Affectionate farewell was taken of their kindly hosts; a promise to +come back again was given. Then a flotilla of canoes towed the stout +ship into the main channel! + + + + +Chapter XXXIX. + +JOHN OXENHAM'S CREEK. + +More than two months after she had quitted the harbour of San Joseph, the +_Golden Boar_ dropped anchor in its waters again. She was not expected, +and some folks were hoping that she had gone to the bottom of the +Atlantic, or was lying rotting in some pestilential mouth of the Orinoco. +Yacamo was put ashore, and a brief visit paid to the governor and the +chief Ayatlan. The latter was pleased enough to see the Englishmen, and +he warned them that mischief was brewing. + +"There has been much coming and going of Spaniards and Spanish ships," he +said; "and one man has offered great rewards to any that could tell him +where you were hidden." + +The visit to the governor nearly led to a quarrel. That dignitary was by +no means so deferential as on the previous visit; indeed, he was barely +civil. Many things had happened during the previous weeks. A ship had +arrived from Spain, and she carried an important passenger--to wit, +Brother Basil. He was weeks behind the _Golden Boar_, but he soon made +up for lost time. In the first place he was able to prove that Captain +John Drake of the _Golden Boar_ was not the redoubtable Captain Francis +Drake so dreaded all along the shores of the Spanish Main. This largely +accounted for the altered demeanour of the governor. Rightly guessing +that the English ship would put into the harbour if she ever returned +from the Orinoco, Basil had at first tried to prepare a warm reception +for her. He failed in this, for soldiers were not easy to obtain, the +governor was not anxious for a fight, and the very name "Drake" still +inspired terror whether it was prefixed by Francis or John. As a second +resource he had sent boats into the delta in the hope of locating the +ship or her company, and stirring up the natives against the Englishmen. +His messengers searched the wrong mouths and channels, and it was only at +the last that one of them happed upon the foe; and he was still on the +mainland and had sent no tidings. + +But the Jesuit, being cognizant of all the plans of the adventurers, and +knowing that the Johnsons would lead the way to the scene of Oxenham's +defeat and death, prepared yet a third scheme, and, deeming this the +surer one, was giving it his personal supervision. He calculated +correctly. + +When Captain Drake and his retinue were leaving the castle, a native +youth who waited upon the soldiers slipped a packet into the hands of the +last man, with a whispered injunction to secrecy. The soldier handed the +papers to the captain as soon as he was aboard again. A few minutes +later Nick and Ned Johnson were sent for into the cabin. The first +question caused each one to prick up his single ear pretty sharply. + +"Were you the only ones who escaped death when Captain Oxenham was slain?" + +"No, some boys were spared." + +"Have they ever reached England?" + +"As far as we know, no. The priests told us that some of them abjured +their faith and had received pardon." + +Captain Drake passed some papers across the table. "Look at this +drawing." + +The brothers did so, and looked at one another pretty shrewdly also. + +"What do you make out of it?" + +"'Tis a guide to the buried spoil." + +The skipper read a rough, explanatory scrawl from the back of the paper. +It purported to have been written by one of the lads who had been in San +Joseph on a Spanish ship since the departure of the _Golden Boar_. He +explained that he wished his countrymen to know that the treasure had +never been found by the Dons, and added that he had bribed the native to +give the paper to them if they came back. He would not affix his name, +because he was ashamed of his weakness in renouncing his faith and +nationality. + +The tale was plausible enough and cunningly set forth. Less credulous +men than the eager adventurers would have been deceived by it. The +English was rough, homely, ill-spelt, and unscholarly, and might well +have been written by one of the lads. One thing was certain--it could +not have been written by a Spaniard. It was written, indeed, by the +renegade Basil. + +Needless to say the bait was swallowed. The _Golden Boar_ made a hurried +departure from San Joseph, and went westwards along the coast towards the +Isthmus of Panama. Basil had gone thither in a Spanish galleon some +twelve days before, and was already ashore awaiting them, and daily +expecting a strong body of troops from Panama itself. The adventurers, +hopes renewed, were putting on all sail to enter a cunningly laid trap. + +Apparently fortune was going to favour them at last. Less than a day's +sail from Trinidad they sighted a Spanish ship. They had vowed war +against everything Spanish, and were resolved not to go home with an +empty hold. The helm was put about, and they bore down on their prey. +The vessel was not a large one, but it was well manned. To the order to +strike his flag, the captain replied with a well-directed shot. The +vessels closed. A sharp fight ensued, and the adventurers won. The +prize was a good one, and the bold band, deeming their enterprise a high +and honourable one, loudly thanked God for His goodness. Then they +sailed on, eager for fresh conquests. + +Even the least hopeful man cast away his doubts and fears. Hitherto they +had searched for what no man had found; now they were going for a +treasure whose position was definitely set forth, and, moreover, they +were on the beaten track where so many of their daring fellow-countrymen +had found fortune. Spanish ships they must meet; and when they met them, +well, there was but one thing to do--they must capture them. To their +reawakened spirits the matter was the plainest of plain sailing. And the +glorious sea, too, had washed the fever from them; they were grown strong +and hearty once more. The singers sang, the fiddlers played, and Master +Jeffreys, Nick and Ned Johnson told their tales afresh. The generous +fellows remembered the brave lives that had been sacrificed to gain the +treasure they were going to carry off so easily. As far as the memory of +the survivors would allow, a list of Oxenham's crew was drawn up; their +homes, where known, were placed against their names, and it was resolved +that half of what they recovered should go to the relatives of the dead +men. Not one man murmured against the decision; it seemed to them the +right and proper thing to do: there were no craven or selfish hearts +aboard the _Golden Boar_. + +And so the eager days sped on. No more possible prizes were sighted, and +the time came when keen eyes no longer looked seawards at all. The ship +was hugging the shore, and Nick Johnson or his brother spent hours at the +masthead searching for a familiar landmark. More than once was the +anchor dropped, and a boat sent up a promising creek in the hope that it +would prove the long-sought one. Failure after failure was reported, but +the search only grew the keener. The adventurers were determined to beat +every mile of the coast if necessary. At length came the joyous forenoon +when Nick gave a frantic hurrah from his lofty perch. Ho had sighted the +bare bluff, the wooded background, and the narrow, winding inlet. His +brother was quickly beside him, and almost immediately shouted his +reassuring opinion to the expectant company. The goal was reached at +last! + +There was no need to send an exploring boat this time. Nick stayed where +he was, and Ned took the helm. A gentle breeze took the _Golden Boar_ +into the sheltered anchorage. The trees encircling the little inland bay +shut her in just as the sun went down behind them. And the gallant +fellows--strange mixture of pirate and patriot--piously and +whole-heartedly bared their heads and thanked God for His bounteous +mercies! + + + + +Chapter XL. + +A HAVEN OF PEACE. + +The night passed; a night of happy contentment. In picturesque groups +on the deck the company slept, their eyes covered from the light of the +tropical night. The sentry tramped the deck, listened to the cries +from the forest and the salty pool, watched the fireflies as they +darted to and fro, and called out the hours and the state of the night +whenever the ship's bell sent its musical note echoing from bank to +bank of the creek, and rousing the denizens of the forest around. A +bird sang in the grove, tuning its lay to reproduce the notes of every +songster that had warbled during the daytime. The scents from the +masses of flowers, that clustered the banks and wound their tendrils +round the giant trees, floated fragrantly on the night air. There was +peace in the heavens above and the downward glances of the quiet-eyed +stars; there was peace in forest and pool, and sweet sounds and +fragrant odours; the ship rocked gently on the flowing tide in a haven +that might have been a harbour on the shores of a paradise. And the +sleeping men dreamed pleasant dreams, for the scents of the flowers +came insensibly into their nostrils, and the song of the bird beat +rhythmically on their resting brains. Here, a sailor laughed softly +and musically in his sleep; there, a gallant young gentleman murmured a +beloved name, as the face of the one beloved passed by in a sweet +vision of the night. In his sleep many a one was already at the home +where he would be; his hard-won treasures glittered on the familiar +table, and he gave this to one and that to another, hung a chain on a +fair young neck or pressed a ring on a dainty finger. Johnnie Morgan +stood by the river, exactly as he had stood on that bright March +morning when Dolly came up and begged for a reconciliation. She came +again; the gulls flew over the sands, and the sun shone warmly. Ah! +how long it was since that March morning. + +The feathered singer in the tree ceased his singing, and hid his head +under his wing as his bright-plumaged fellows had done. The stars +paled; nature stirred in her sleep; the sailor on the deck felt the +tremor that quivered through the animate world, and rubbed his eyes +more vigorously. A breeze moved through the trees; the ripple of the +water was more distinct; there was a splash--another--another. A frog +croaked sleepily to his fellows, and got no answer for a while. A +yellow band stretched across the eastern horizon; it tinged the heaving +waters, it flecked the trees with gold. The whole forest rustled and +twittered. A bird flew down to the water. A parrot screamed noisily; +a sleeper started up from his hard couch. The sentinel cried the hour, +and announced a fine morning. The world heard him and woke up. + +The day was to be a day of great things. Overnight nothing had been +done, and no man had gone ashore. The decks were cleaned, prayers +said, breakfast eaten, and the rough plan of Oxenham's hiding-place +nailed down on the compass-box, where all could see it. Then Captain +Drake and the gentlemen of the company went ashore with Nick and Ned +Johnson. Hearts beat excitedly in the ship's boat, and hearts throbbed +in unison amongst those who waited on the deck. The party landed. +They clambered up the bank and pushed aside the tangled undergrowth, +some of the men using their swords in order to make the quicker way. +Some one kicks against a mass of green creeper; his boot strikes +something wooden and hollow; he has not lighted upon an empty bush. +Quickly he tears aside the clinging mass; a beautifully striped snake +wriggles out, hissing angrily. The man scarcely heeds the dangerous +thing. He shouts aloud; the others come up. What has he found? The +ruins of one of Oxenham's boats. Nick recognizes it. "I worked to +help build it," he says softly. "The Dons came upon us before we could +finish." The rough fellow uncovered his head. + +The adventurers gazed with a strange interest upon the relic of a +former bold adventure. They turned it over almost reverently. "Brave +John Oxenham!" murmured Captain Drake. + +But sentimental recollections were soon swept away. The discovery of +the half-finished boat put aside all doubts as to the identity of their +anchorage with that of Oxenham's. "How far off was the treasure +buried?" was the next eager question. + +"Just out of the tide-way in the heart of a cluster of mangroves; we +notched the biggest tree," answered Nick. He looked around. "Yonder's +the spot," he cried. All followed him. + +The quick-growing vegetation had enwreathed the trees with gay +creepers, but Nick soon found the mark of the axe on the bark. +Undergrowths choked up the gaps between the trunks of the trees, but a +couple of axes cleared a path. The men thronged into the inner space. +The ground was hard and overgrown, and certainly had not been touched +for a long time. Hopes rose higher than ever. Apparently the ground +had never been disturbed since Oxenham's visit. Captain Drake decided +to get to work at once. He rowed back to the ship, ordered the +pickaxes and shovels to be brought up from below, and chose out a first +gang of sailors and soldiers to go ashore and commence digging. A +couple of hours ought to suffice for the securing of the treasure. + +The men tumbled into the boat, eager enough to begin. They rowed +ashore, stripped themselves to the waist, and set to work with a will, +cheering one another on with boisterous jests. Captain Drake remained +aboard. Sir John Trelawny and some of the adventurers superintended +the digging. Timothy Jeffreys and Johnnie Morgan wandered off along +the stream, hoping to light upon some game for the replenishing of the +larder. Nick Johnson pointed out a spring, and others of the company +busied themselves filling the barrels with fresh water. All were +animated, and occupied in some useful way or other. + + + + +Chapter XLI. + +THE TRAP. + +A cheery proverb declares there is no cloud so black that it hath not a +silver lining. Conversely we may say that there is no sky so blue that +no cloud is gathering in it. The sky over the heads of Captain Drake +and his men glowed like a firelit, flawless sapphire; yet behind, where +the giant trees shut out the view of the heavens, a cloud was +gathering, charged with the very mirk of death. + +For days and nights before the _Golden Boar_ had come abreast of the +mouth of the creek, the summit of the bluff had not been without a +keen-eyed sentinel. Squatted on his haunches, or lying prone on the +grass, a patient Indian had scanned sea and horizon for a sign of a +sail. His watch was duly rewarded. He heard the shout of the lookout +man; saw the ship put about for the entrance near which he lay; then he +slipped into the trees behind him, and ran down the declivity and +through the forest like a creature born to a life in the tree-packed +solitudes. He passed round the bay, and ran for another couple of +miles along the creek. Then, in a natural clearing, he came upon a +tent around which were gathered about fifty warriors of his own tribe. +At the entrance to the tent he bowed himself down to the earth, and lay +there until a voice bade him arise. + +"The ship of the white men, O my father!" + +"Where?" + +"They come into the harbourage." + +"Get thy canoe." Basil came forth, and was soon speeding down to the +bay. He got out on the side opposite to the cluster of mangroves, +climbed a tree, and watched the _Golden Boar_ as it beat into the +narrow entrance from the sea. The sun shone on the gilded monster that +stood "rampant" under the bows and lit up the tall figure of Morgan, +who stood watching the muddy waters as they ran lapping along the sides +of the ship. Basil recognized all, and smiled in triumph. He went +back to his tent and dispatched swift messengers along the track across +the isthmus; the Spanish troops were lagging somewhere on the road, and +must needs be hurried. + +All that night, sleepless, noiseless Indians lay near the ship and +heard every call of the watch. With the coming of the dawn they +slipped farther back, but maintained a close espionage. Basil's +messenger returned. The troops were bivouacked not far away. They +would start with the earliest light, and might be expected within two +hours of sunrising. The natives were sent down to the fringe of the +bay to keep unseen watch over every movement of the Englishmen. Basil +waited for the white troops. His plans were carefully made, and he +hoped to capture the ship and every soul of her company. + + +Morgan and Jeffreys pushed their way through the trees, seeking some +open glade where deer might be feeding. Each carried bow and arrows, +so that the quarry might be obtained without raising any alarm that +might arouse near-dwelling natives or any chance party of Spaniards. +The laughter of their comrades died away behind them little by little, +and was presently lost altogether. Once or twice the undergrowth +rustled, and both paused, hoping to sight some eatable prey; but they +saw nothing, and wandered farther and farther on. + +They had gone for nearly a mile, when suddenly an Indian stood in their +path. The fellow paused for an instant, then turned and fled as though +in affright. Both were about to cry out to reassure him, when they +were stealthily assailed from behind. A native cloth or blanket was +thrown over the head of each; brown arms closed round and pinioned +their limbs. They were thrown to the ground, and a heavy blow on the +head rendered them unconscious. They had no chance to cry out, and +were trapped with scarcely a struggle. When they recovered their +senses they were in a canoe going rapidly up-stream; their heads were +still muffled, and their limbs bound with tight thongs. + + +Between the trees the digging went on merrily enough. About three feet +down a skull was found; then another; then various human bones. These +gruesome discoveries checked the singing and laughter, and for a while +the men worked in silence. But there was nothing to dull the spirits +of the water-carriers, and they romped and skylarked like a party of +schoolboys. Those on board ship envied their companions who were +ashore, and the relief digging party leant over the bulwarks, eager to +take their turn amongst the mangroves. + +Meanwhile a net of fire and steel was being drawn around the workers. + +The net was set; every mesh was tested, and yet the fowler hesitated to +draw it in: all the birds were not gathered in the baited area. The +water-carriers were too far from the diggers, and the ship rode clear +of the shore. The Indian allies hid, waiting with inexhaustible +patience. The Spanish troops were restless and ill-controlled. They +saw two small parties of Englishmen busily engaged, and without +suspicion of danger. It was so easy to form two bands, surround and +capture all. Barely a dozen men remained aboard the ship; surely they +could seize the vessel at their leisure! The Spanish commander did not +possess Basil's gift of caution. He determined to attack, and launched +a mixed force against the water-carriers and seized every one. Another +band dashed for the mangroves; but warning had been given. Sir John +and his gentlemen whipped out their swords, and the workers seized +pick-axe and shovel. Captain Drake saw the movement in the trees, +shouted an alarm, and at once turned his guns on the rustling patch. A +couple of terrific charges followed; trees splintered and crashed, and +the Indian allies fled in terror, freeing some of the water-carriers, +who plunged at once into the bay and swam to the ship. The group of +mangroves was a natural fortress, and the Dons failed to get in at the +first rush. The flight of the Indians threw them into a momentary +disorder; and Captain Drake, instant in appreciating an opportunity, +turned a gun a little wide of the cluster, and sent a ball smashing +into the rallying place of the foe. Covered by the armed gentlemen, +the workers retreated to their boat; arrows and a few musket balls flew +after them, but the ship's guns again spoke out, and no Don dared show +himself. The boat was reached at the cost of a few wounds. At the +ship's side the men received arms, and the soldiers aboard leaped down +to take the place of the wounded. The boat went ashore once more, and +the whole of its company made for the spring, hoping to rescue the men +there. The enemy opposed their way, but they drove them before them, +and the guns from the vessel swept and cleared the surrounding patches +of woodland. The spring was reached; the Dons had fled; and the marks +of the short struggle were all the rescue party discovered. They +followed the trail for a while, but the foe had got the start and the +help of their native guides. The men reluctantly returned to the shore +of the bay, fortunately picking up a couple of wounded sailors on their +way. The undergrowth around was diligently searched, but it yielded +nothing alive. + +The ship's roll was called, and the losses counted. No one had seen +anything of Jeffreys and Morgan since the first landing; they had gone +a-hunting, and their fate could hardly be doubted. The digging party +had escaped death and capture, and no man was seriously wounded. Of +the water party, the two Johnsons, who had acted as leaders, were +wounded and prisoners; three others were captives with them; the rest +had escaped. There were no further attempts at digging that day. This +was, perhaps, just as well, for the earth contained no treasure. The +Dons had seized that long before. + + + + +Chapter XLII. + +CAPTIVES. + +The wonderful name of Drake saved the expedition from irretrievable +disaster. "For England, boys!" Sir John had shouted as he laid about +him in the mangrove trees. "For Drake and Devon!" shouted a Plymouth +tar, and his comrades had hurrahed at his words. "Ay, remember the +skipper's name!" Sir John had replied; "defeat and Drake don't go +together!" These shouted words, and the promptness of the round shot +from the ship, had really equal effects in scattering the foe. The +Spanish commander, when he rallied his men farther back at the springs, +asked Nick Johnson who his captain was. + +"Drake of Plymouth!" cried Nick; "and take heed to it, ye dirty Papist. +Ye'll regret this business before sunset!" + +And the soldiers were of their foeman's opinion. Their leader deemed +discretion the better part of valour. He had lost some men; his allies +had fled; five prisoners were in his hands. So far he could claim a +victory, and he was resolved not to lose one leaf from his scanty +laurels. "Drake" was an incarnation of the devil; every Don in America +knew that; it was useless fighting the redoubtable sailor, for no man +could defeat or kill him. The Spanish captain decided on a movement to +the rear. In vain Basil stormed and raved, and vowed that the dreaded +Drake was not within a thousand leagues of the isthmus. The soldiers +remembered that the speaker was a renegade Englishman, and refused to +believe him. + +Basil left them to go on to Panama, whilst he returned to the Indian +camp and the two prisoners whose clever capture he had superintended. +The Indians had gone, and Morgan and Jeffreys were left gagged and +bound. The Jesuit was furious. His first impulse was to kill his +captives and leave their bodies to be found by their companions, who +would assuredly make some search for them. But a moment's reflection +made him abandon that plan. Had he desired only their death, it would +have been easier for the Indians to shoot them than to capture them. +One of the two, Morgan, was an old foe; he had done much to thwart the +scheme for firing the Forest of Dean, a scheme which would have brought +Basil nothing less than a bishopric had it succeeded. He was one of +those who had slain Father Jerome, and must expiate his many offences. +The angry man had little objection to letting out Master Timothy's life +at a blow, but Morgan must have no such easy ending. So he left the +two, half-stifled in their blankets, and went into the woods and along +the creek, calling in the hope of attracting some stray Indians. After +a while, the chief and about a dozen others straggled back. + +The tent, wherein Basil had kept up state in order to overawe the +simple natives, was packed away into a canoe. The prisoners were put +into another, and the company paddled away towards the interior, +following by water the course the Spaniards had taken by land. + +The two parties met that evening at a native village, and a fierce +quarrel broke out betwixt Basil and the Spanish commandant. The +civilian accused the soldier of cowardice and indifference that +amounted to treachery, and fiercely maintained that a little more +wisdom and courage on the part of the troops would have sufficed for +the capture of the whole expedition. The captain retorted that he had +done his duty with due zeal and discretion, and threatened Basil with a +share of the bonds that bound the limbs of his fellow Englishmen. He +took Basil's two prisoners and added them to his own captures, +asserting that he did so in order to ensure their safe keeping. By +easy stages the troops moved west by north along the rivers and over +the mountains to Panama, where the Englishmen were formally imprisoned +as pirates and wicked enemies of his Majesty King Philip. Basil was +soon busily at work in an endeavour to get them accused of heresy +rather than piracy, and so put them into the hands of the Inquisition; +for the ecclesiastics punished with infinitely greater cruelties than +did the King's officers. + +A long and anxious council was held that afternoon aboard the _Golden +Boar_. For the time, the treasure-hunt was forgotten. Seven members +of the company, two of them gentlemen partners in the expedition, were +in the hands of the Spaniards. What could be done for their release? +From the evidence of those of the watering-party that had escaped, it +was plain that the band that had attacked them was as numerous as that +which attacked the gold-seekers. The total forces, Spanish and Indian, +were considerably over a thousand. Now, if the ship was to be at all +adequately guarded and manned, Captain Drake could not spare more than +a score of men as a land force. Obviously, this was totally inadequate +if the foe stood his ground; so weak a band might be shot down one by +one in the forest. Yet no man would leave the coast without making +some real effort to aid his captured comrades. The brave fellows could +readily put themselves in thought into the places of the unfortunate +seven, and they shuddered as they contemplated their possible fate. +One man, Paignton Rob, knew Oxenham's route across the isthmus, and he +volunteered at once to lead any pursuing party. Should the Johnsons +escape, they would almost certainly take this route back. Pursuit was +decided upon, and Captain Drake resolved to lead it himself. The whole +of the gentlemen adventurers volunteered to accompany him, and Dan +Pengelly and Paignton Rob completed the available force. It was small +enough to be called a "forlorn hope;" it was brave enough to do +desperate deeds if occasion offered. + +Since the retreat of the foe no sounds had been heard from the shore. +This did not prove that no enemies were lurking in the thickets, for +silence had prevailed until the moment of the double attack. Rob +offered to go scouting, but his services as guide were too precious for +him to run the risk; and Sir John Trelawny, like the valiant knight he +was, went instead. A boat was rowed down into the shelter of the +bluff, and he slipped ashore. Scaling the rock, he peered about on all +sides, saw nothing suspicious, and advanced into the thick woods. +There were plenty signs of the fray, but no sight of a foe. He wound +round one side of the curve of the bay, and startled nothing but the +birds and a few reptiles. He came down to the water, hailed the ship, +and was taken aboard. The captain resolved to start up the creek at +nightfall and follow its course into the river. + +This was done. Signs of Basil's camp were discovered, and his bivouac +searched. Morgan's helmet was found; the pursuers were on the track. +A hunt in the near woods revealed nothing of note. Re-embarking they +reached an Indian village by midnight, and learned that the foe was +encamped at a larger place up the stream. Here was a chance of a night +assault. But neither bribes nor threats could prevail with any native +to accept the position as guide. The chief finally gave directions +which were either wilfully incorrect or misunderstood. The Englishmen, +on coming to a parting of the waters, took the wrong course, and found +themselves by daylight right in the hills and twenty miles from the +place where the captives lay. + +They came back and took the other channel, arriving at the +halting-place about noon, to find the foe gone and themselves too weary +to follow for some hours. Rob and the captain interviewed the chief, +but the latter was too fearful of the Spaniards to offer any +assistance. The English force in his eyes was too weak to gain any +victory, and he would not be on the losing side. + +The adventurers pushed forward again in the evening, abandoned their +boats, and took to the hills in the hope of cutting off the Spanish +retreat. They lost their bearings, and for a while were lost +themselves. The pursuit became hopeless, and was reluctantly abandoned. + +The party returned to the ship. Nothing further was possible. With a +force ten times as great as the one he really commanded, Captain Drake +might have attempted a march on Panama itself, for the spirit of the +great admiral was strong in him. + +Digging was resumed, and the labour was rewarded by the mocking +discovery of a heap of bones. It was plain to every one that the +company had been led into a cunningly prepared trap. In the heat of +their anger some were for sailing back to Trinidad and sacking San +Joseph. The skipper would hear of no such mad enterprise. He set sail +for the open sea, his heart full of two desires. He wanted to fall in +with some other English ships, and essay an attack on Panama. Failing +this, he hoped for the chance of meeting plenty of King Philip's +galleons. Large or small, he vowed to assail them and take a terrible +requital for his own misfortunes. + +His latter hope was realized. He fell in with two ships in his passage +through the Indies, and attacked and pillaged both. Although shorn of +nearly half his strength by the time he reached the open Atlantic, yet +he made for the Azores and captured yet a third galleon, and fell in +with a fourth sailing for Panama itself. He boarded this, and gave the +captain a letter for the authorities of the isthmian port. In this he +declared his intention of paying the place a speedy visit with such a +force that he would level the town with the ground if a hair on the +head of any captive had been injured. 'Twas a proud, characteristic +boast, but it was never carried into effect. + +Plymouth was duly reached. The _Golden Boar_ brought some goodly +treasure to port, many stories of wonderful lands, and a wealth of bad +news. There was mourning in Plymouth. And Paignton Rob--weeks +after--sat moist-eyed in a cottage at Newnham listening to a maiden's +sobs. + + + + +Chapter XLIII. + +IN PANAMA. + +Panama sweltered in a blaze of summer sunshine. The place reeked with +heat like a furnace. The smooth sea reflected the glare like a mirror; +the white houses dazzled the eyes, and sent fiery darts of pain through +them to the brain. The harbour showed no sign of life, the sentinel at +the castle nodded at his post, and his excellency the governor lay +stretched on a couch at an open window, whilst two slaves fanned him +with palm leaves. The streets were empty even of natives. These, +emulating their white masters, had crawled into the shade of wall or +tree, and curled up in slumber. + +The jail was a long, low building in the southern angle of the castle +courtyard. Its walls were of mud baked in the tropical sun, and its +roof was of palm-thatch. The windows were mere slits in the thick, +hard walls, and gave little light or air. The doors were stout, and +tightly barred. Of all the hot corners in the Pacific inferno, the +jail corner was the hottest. The place was full; either the long spell +of heat or the caprices of the sweltered governor had stirred up an +unruly spirit. Several soldiers had mutinied; the natives had been +troublesome and restive; a party of sailors had run amuck--doubtless +affected by the torrid heat--and so the prison population was at +high-water mark. The commandant had much ado to find room for the +seven Englishmen. On behalf of the Inquisitors, Basil had offered to +relieve him of their company, but the governor had said "No" to the +proposal. The seven were confined in one room of fair size, and, +except for the heat, were no more comfortless than they would have been +in the average English jail. But the heat was fearful! The wretched +men sat and stewed in it. Water was not too plentiful in the city, and +the native water-carriers had grown lazy; thirst racked the prisoners +one and all. They had been shut in for the better part of two weeks, +and wondered why they had not been brought to trial. They had expected +a short shrift and a speedy execution. Usually these expectations +would have been realized, but the governor would not be bothered with +any extra work whilst the heat spell lasted, and he had been warned +that the "Holy Office" would claim the Englishmen as heretics and +blasphemers. This would mean a lengthy wrangle between the military +and ecclesiastical authorities, and his sun-dried excellency was not in +the mood or condition to preside over heated arguments. The fellows +were safe, he said, and would have time to think over their sins, +political and religious. Let them alone for a while. + +It was the turn of Nick Johnson and Johnnie Morgan to be at the window. +A rough bench was drawn up near the opening, and the two knelt thereon +and let the hot air--cool compared with the general atmosphere of the +prison--blow softly on their faces. They were not allowed to put their +heads too near the blessed inlet, for that would shut out the light +from their comrades. Their joint occupation of the room had been +lengthy enough to give rise to a set of rules for their mutual good and +guidance. The law against blocking up the window too closely was a +very strict one. From the angle at which he looked out Nick could see +the drowsy sentinel. + +"'Twill be such a day as this that will give us our chance of freedom," +he said. "Could we but get out now, we might parade the streets +unchallenged for an hour. The Dons are in no hurry either to hang or +burn us, and we cannot wait their convenience. If the Indian will only +bring us the arrowhead that he promised, we will try our legs about +noon tomorrow. We ought to take a block out of this wall in +twenty-four hours." + +Johnnie nodded; his mouth was too parched for speaking. Nick's voice +was very like a raven's croak, and he licked his dry lips and relapsed +into silence. Their spell at the window came to an end. They stepped +down, and went to a corner. Two sailors took their places. + +The stifling afternoon passed, and left the captives limp, panting, and +exhausted. As the shadows lengthened, the stir of life arose anew in +the castle. Towards evening the jailer visited his charges, and an +Indian came with him bearing a pitcher of water and some cakes of +native corn. The soldier stood whilst the man deposited his burden; +then both turned and went out without speaking a word. The cakes were +passed round, and each man quickly broke his open. Nothing was +secreted in them, and eager looks were changed to those of +disappointment. Morgan took up the pitcher, drank, and passed to +Jeffreys, who handed it to Nick; and so it went round, each drinking a +little, curbing his desires in order that some of the precious liquid +might remain for the wakeful watches of the night. Darkness came, but +it brought little or no rest. Swarms of mosquitoes came in and bit +their hapless victims mercilessly as they tossed and turned on the bare +earthen floor. The nights of captivity were worse than the days. At +intervals the pitcher went round; but the water had got lukewarm, and +refreshed them little enough. + +Day broke, and the pitcher circulated for a last time. The tilting of +the vessel brought a happy discovery: the Indian had been true to his +promise. A small spearhead was wedged across the bottom. + +Here was hope, and also employment during the dreary hours. Nick +seized the welcome implement with a cry of joy, and he could not be +persuaded to refrain from using it at once. He measured Morgan's +shoulders on the wall. + +"This," said he, "must be the width of the hole. Let me trace it." + +In the corner, from the floor upwards, he marked off a rectangular +space. + +"We shall have to loosen a block of wall this size, push it out at the +right moment, crawl through, put it back again to avert suspicion, and +then make the best of our way into the forest. That was how we escaped +from Vera Cruz; the trick should serve us a second time." + +"Three hide better than seven," suggested Jeffreys. + +"And seven can fight better than three," added the sailor. "We shall +do no good in the forest without weapons. The game will not walk to +our fire to be cooked. Either Dons or Indians must furnish us. We lie +here, sheep in a pen, awaiting the butcher. If I am to die in Panama, +let it be no sheep's death." + +Each heart echoed these sentiments, and all resolved to risk the +desperate chances for life and liberty. Operations were commenced at +once. It was no great undertaking to remove, with proper tools, a +block of baked clay, some three feet or so by two feet, from a typical +Panama wall. The prison wall was about three feet thick, and almost as +hard as an English brick. The spearhead was of the small sort, and +really little better than a large arrowhead; fortunately it was almost +new, and well sharpened. Nick began working at the floor level, and +the first part of the process was to work the three feet odd along the +base of the wall and back into it until only a thin shell was left on +the outer side. The work could only progress slowly, for there must be +little sound of scraping or ringing of iron on the stone-like clay, and +all dust from the working must be dispersed about the floor. Two +watched at the window all the time. Interruptions were many and +sometimes lengthy, and after three hours of broken labour the workers +had only got some two inches back into the wall along the floor line. +But noon and the death-like stillness of "siesta" gave them a better +opportunity. A shaft that had been procured some days previously was +fished out from its hiding-place, and fitted to the spearhead. Working +in short shifts, by the space of an hour the floor line was worked +through so that daylight was visible in one or two places, and the +upright line in the angle of the wall was worked full depth back to a +height of half a foot. In the late afternoon, after the visit of the +jailer, a groove sufficiently deep to guide them in the darkness was +made all round. The work was to be finished when castle and town sank +to silence after nightfall. + +The oppressive heat of the past weeks was broken just after sunset by a +terrific thunderstorm, and the fury of the elemental outburst covered +all noises and allowed the toilers to work without any precaution. +But, alas! their very haste was their undoing. The head, blunted and +worn, broke off short in the depth of the wall. Attempts to extricate +it in the darkness only wedged it in more tightly. With a groan of +despair, the wearied men gave up their task, and sought slumber. + +The first gleams of stormy daylight found some of them awake, +feverishly at work stuffing the tell-tale grooves with dust moistened +by the last drains of the water in their pitcher. As yet the great +block was quite immovable, and another implement must be obtained to +complete the task. The flood waters from the courtyard had trickled in +through the apertures made near the floor, and under-garments were +taken off, and the betraying waters swabbed up. Some of the little +band huddled in the corner when the jailer came in with breakfast, and +he went out, having seen and suspected nothing. The Indian looked +inquiringly at the Englishmen, but they were unable to give him any +hint of their wants. + +The day passed. The sky cleared; then the clouds gathered again, and +there was another deluge. Panama was flooded out. The sun went down +behind a black veil, but towards midnight the stars came out, and a +delightfully cool breeze swept in at the window to soothe the fevered +bodies within prison walls. What a chance of escape they had missed +during the noisy hours of the storm, when not a soul was abroad in the +place! Knowing the opportunity was there, they tried desperately to +force the door. But the feat was far beyond all the strength at their +command. + +And the morning, delicious in its cool and fragrant freshness, brought +despair. The governor, who like the trees had drooped in the heat, +revived with the rain, and set about the duties of his position with +some vigour. The Englishmen were informed that when "siesta" was over +they would be brought into the castle hall for trial and judgment. The +flood had washed away their chances of escape. They solemnly and in +silence shook hands as men saying a long farewell. + + + + +Chapter XLIV. + +THE TRIAL. + +No bonds had been placed upon the limbs of the Englishmen since the day +when the Spanish captain had taken them out of the hands of Basil. +They walked unfettered to the judgment hall, and stood without shackles +before their judges. The court was crowded; it was not every day that +a band of terrible fire-eating Englishmen was on view in Panama. +Rumour spoke of them as friends and companions of Drake, and Spaniards +and Indians alike were eager to gaze upon the prisoners. The governor +was chief judge; beside him, on the one hand sat the deputy-governor, +and on the other was placed the chief ecclesiastical dignitary of the +colony. Basil stood by the cleric's side. Johnnie caught sight of +him, and stared him almost out of countenance. He had not seen him on +the day of his capture in the forest, but had caught glimpses of him on +the march. Recollections struggled in his mind. Where had he seen the +fellow before? Nick Johnson, too, felt that he had seen or heard of a +dark-eyed, sallow-faced fellow who resembled the man in court. + +The proceedings opened, and the civil authorities formally charged the +prisoners with piracy and invasion of the territory of King Philip of +Spain. The bishop instantly opposed, and claimed to have the charge +amended to one of heresy and murderous opposition to the Church. The +governor asked for evidence in support of his claim. A nod to Basil, +and the latter began a speech for the prosecution. Master Jeffreys +stopped him by an appeal to the governor. + +"May it please your excellency," he said, "my comrades have no +knowledge of Spanish, and I have but little. I am persuaded that your +excellency, as a soldier and a gentleman of honour, is anxious to give +us a fair trial. There is peace between our Queen and King Philip; +there should at least be justice and fair-dealing betwixt you and us. +Mine ears tell me that yonder man is more accustomed to speak my tongue +than yours; his Spanish hath the same rough English smack about it as +hath mine own. I pray you that he may say to us in English what he +saith to you in the language of Spain." + +Basil reddened and turned to his superior; but the governor, though +indolent and capricious, was a man of some honour and chivalry. He +told the accuser to speak alternately in the language of the court and +that of the prisoners. + +Very few sentences in English were necessary to enlighten Johnnie as to +Basil's identity. He could now see the spiteful face that confronted +him on a memorable morning in the shades of Dean Forest. He listened +intently. The harangue was long and tedious, and endeavoured to prove +that the tallest prisoner was a contumacious heretic, who had fought +against the Holy Church, frustrated her lawful efforts at the +conversion of England, and had slain two noble and saintly missionaries +and servants of King Philip--to wit, a certain Jesuit father, Jerome, +and a monk named John. The prisoner had also repeatedly attempted the +life of the speaker. As for the others, one at least had attempted the +speaker's life in Plymouth, well knowing who and what he was; and all +the others were aiders and abettors. + +Johnnie heard, and asked if he had the right of reply. + +"Most certainly," said the governor. "This is a court of law, and it +is our boast and pride that we give justice without fear or favour." + +Whereupon Morgan, with Jeffreys as interpreter, gave his version of the +incidents in the forest. A plot, to which no king could have been a +party, was set afoot by his accuser and others to destroy a forest over +which he (Morgan) was a duly appointed guardian. He fought the +conspirators by way of simple duty to his trust. Could he do less and +hold up his head amongst honourable men? His accuser and his +confederates had basely attempted to assassinate two noble +Englishmen--to wit, Admiral Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, a close +friend and counsellor of England's Queen. He asked whether Spain +fought with the weapons of assassins, and whether King Philip, as a +Christian and friendly monarch, could be a party to any such dastardly +conduct. The governor was a gentleman of honour, and could answer for +his sovereign. + +The governor promptly denied that "His Most Catholic Majesty" could +ever countenance such deeds. Johnnie bowed and thanked him, and +resumed his defence. He dealt with the questions of piracy and +invasion of Spanish dominions. England and Spain were, he declared, at +peace, and no official could deny an Englishman the right to travel +peaceably in Spanish dominions, unless a law expressly excluded them. +Any Spaniard, so long as he did nothing to harm the Queen or the +government, might travel in England, and claim the protection of its +laws as a peaceful sojourner in the land. Surely the Spaniards were +not going to be outdone in matters of international courtesy. As +regards the New World, the Englishman contended that it was open to +explorers and colonizers of all Christian nations, and Spain could not +claim it as her own unless she also occupied it. + +The governor heard Morgan patiently, and hearkened to Master Jeffreys +whilst he expounded his ideas of the rights of England in the New +World. Then his excellency summed up the case. He ruled that the two +gentlemen adventurers were not prisoners of the Holy Office, but of his +Majesty. The charges against them were those of piracy and invasion. +They had certainly been captured on Spanish soil in the act of +appropriating--or endeavouring to appropriate--treasures that belonged +to Spain. Moreover, they were companions of a Captain Drake, who, with +his brother, the admiral, had been guilty of repeated and gross +piracies on the high seas. Their guilt was fully established, and by +law they ought to be taken down to the harbour and hanged in chains, as +a warning to others. Mercy, however, should be shown them; their lives +would be spared, but they must serve ten years in the galleys. A hint +was given, after a whispered consultation with the bishop, that +renunciation of their Protestant heresies would bring about a material +lightening of their sentences. + +The five seamen were next put on trial. Basil promptly claimed the +Johnsons as fugitives from the Inquisition. The cropped ears and lost +thumbs were convincing evidence against them, and they were handed over +to the Church, to be dealt with according to the law ecclesiastical. +An attempt to claim the other three sailors failed. The governor would +not quit his hold on them. His own galley was sadly undermanned, and +he could not let three stout and skilled oarsmen slip through his +fingers. He looked longingly upon the two crop-eared fellows, and +begrudged the Church the possession of them. But he remembered with a +sigh that there must be give and take in this world, and five out of +seven was not a bad proportion. + +The court broke up. The five galley-slaves were taken back to their +cell for that night. Nick and Ned were walked away in charge of the +jailers of the Inquisition. Their ultimate fate was to be decided the +next day. + + + + +Chapter XLV. + +FOR FAITH AND COUNTRY! + +The trial of the two brothers was a very elaborate and ceremonial +business. The Inquisition Court, with the bishop presiding, sat for +about three hours. There was reading of papers, citing of +ecclesiastical and royal decrees, and a good deal of argument between +the bishop, the Chief Inquisitor, and Brother Basil. Through all this +wordy process the two sailors stood, or lounged, or chatted quietly +together. At first they had listened, hoping to glean a little +information; but as Latin predominated over Spanish, and they +understood no word of the former and only the New World barbaric +mixture of the latter, they soon ceased to pay attention, and lawyers +and ecclesiastics droned on as long as it pleased them to do so. + +In the last few minutes the interest swung round to the prisoners. +Basil ordered them to attend and answer truthfully certain questions +the court desired to put to them. The two lean, brown bodies were +straightened, and two pairs of keen, clear eyes stared into Basil's +shifty orbs. + +"Are you sons of the same parents?" + +"Yes." + +"Names?" + +"Nicodemus and Edward." + +"Nationality?" + +"English, God be thanked!" answered Nick. + +"Amen! brother," said Ned. + +"Religion?" + +The two rough fellows looked at one another. The question was really a +puzzler. Living their lives out on the sea, unlettered and unlearned, +they had no knowledge of religious formularies. + +"We believe in God and Jesus Christ His Son," said Nick. "Is that so, +brother?" + +"That is so," said Ned; "those are the names that come in the +chaplain's prayers." + +"Do you acknowledge the authority of his Holiness the Pope of Rome?" + +Another look of consultation, and Ned shook his head. Nick answered. +"We do not believe in the Pope. We did as boys during Mary's reign." + +"Why did you change?" + +"Queen and Parliament no longer believe in him, but hate him for an +enemy. We believe in our Queen and Parliament. Will that do, brother?" + +"Beautifully. Tell the truth and shame the devil. We have drunk +confusion to the Pope in many a cup of sack, and in good company +too--with Franky Drake and Jack Hawkins, Jacob Whiddon, and a host of +bonny sailor-men. No, brother, we do not believe in the Pope, although +there are some honest fellows and many rogues who do. We must stand by +the words passed to old comrades." + +There was a brief consultation on the judges' bench, and the bishop +gave it as his opinion that the two men were utterly ignorant on +religious questions, and simply believed what they were told to +believe. He himself, in pursuance of the duties of his sacred office, +would expound the true faith to them, and show them the heresies of +their own lightly-held belief. Whereupon his lordship addressed the +prisoners for the better part of an hour in very dignified Spanish and +scholarly Latin. The two paid earnest attention, for the +ecclesiastic's tone was kindly, almost fatherly. They understood +little of what he said, and Basil was not allowed to interpret, as the +bishop believed that his own voice and words would have greater weight, +and it was acknowledged that the Englishmen had a fair knowledge of +Spanish. + +As the good man sipped a cup of wine and fanned himself after his +episcopal exhortation, Basil briefly questioned the prisoners again. +The bishop had shown them their errors in matters of faith; were they +prepared to recant, and re-enter the fold from which they had +ignorantly strayed? + +These questions were plain enough, and the brothers looked at one +another once more. Both heads shook. Nick spoke out. "We are not +able," he said, "to judge between Pope and Parliament, or between one +bishop and another. Our faith and our country are one; our home and +our Church are one. We are loyal Englishmen, and will stick to Queen, +Parliament, and friends because we love them and believe in them and +know that they will never betray or desert us. We hold the faith of +our friends, and cannot, without dishonour, turn and accept the faith +of our foes." + +The bishop was angry at this sturdy answer. His vanity was piqued that +two rude sailors should be so uninfluenced by his learned discourse. +He ordered Basil to tell them what the inevitable consequences of their +obstinacy would be. + +The two brothers listened calmly enough. "Will you recant now?" + +"Is it 'No,' brother Ned?" + +"It is 'No!'" + +"No!" said Nick; "and God help us both!" + +Then sentence was pronounced. It was that the next evening, an hour +before sundown, the two should be led to a stake fixed in the +market-place of the town and there publicly burnt, in the hope that the +destruction of their bodies by fire might save their souls from the +everlasting flames of hell. The bishop spoke the sentence, and Basil +translated it piece by piece. The toil-worn figures in the prisoners' +dock became more fixed and rigid as the dread words fell, one by one. +All was said. The brothers faced one another, and there was deathly +pallor whitening the tan of their cheeks. They shook hands silently, +then kissed; then hand in hand, like two children, they walked away +between the guards, and the most curious onlooker never saw even the +tremor of an eyelid. + +That night earnest priests, zealous enough according to the narrow +ideas of the time, place, creed, and race, visited the doomed men and +exhorted them to forsake their errors. Always they got the same +simple, faithful, patriotic reply. They served their Queen, their +country, their captain. What these believed, they believed, and held +to be right. Faith with them was a matter of national obligation and +faithfulness to their leaders and comrades. To deny the faith was to +deny the principles that had ruled their lives. Such treason to +country and conscience was impossible. They thanked the priests for +their ministrations, and begged after a while to be left alone. A +request that they might speak with Morgan or Jeffreys was refused, but +a young monk promised to take a message of affectionate farewell. He +fulfilled the promise, and the simple, childlike, yet valiant words +cheered many a terrible hour in the months that followed. + +Nicodemus Johnson, and Edward his brother, died at the stake in Panama +at the time and on the spot appointed. A curious and silent crowd +watched the agonizing passing away of the two brave, simple-hearted +fellows; and, Spaniard and Indian alike, they went away profoundly +impressed. A brighter lustre was added to the name "Englishman." It +is difficult to say whether the noble fellows were martyrs most to +religion or country. So little versed were they in religious practices +that they hardly knew a prayer for use in their last hours, and their +last thoughts and visions were not of heaven, but of the green fields +and blue waters of England. + +The stakes were placed side by side, and, as the hands and arms were +left free, the brothers could touch one another. + +When the fagots were lighted, and the stifling smoke rolled up into +their faces. Nick stretched out his hand and sought that of his +younger brother. "God bless us, brother, and forgive us whatever we +have done amiss!" he cried. + +"God bless England and give her victory over her enemies," replied Ned. + +And hand in hand--the loving, tortured grip heartening them to endure +the awful agony--the brothers died. + +"_Dulce et decorum est pro patria--et fide--mori!_" + + + + +Chapter XLVI. + +THE GALLEY SLAVES. + +The great heats were past; the climate along the Panama littoral was +bearable, and the governor decided to pay official visits to the +stations along the coast. The bishop thought the occasion favourable +for a tour of pastoral inspection, and decided to go with his +excellency. Other functionaries, with other duties to perform, hinted +to the governor's secretary or the bishop's chaplain that the official +progress would be more imposing if they were included. Thus it came to +pass that a notable company embarked on the _Santa Maria_ on a certain +cool October day. + +Besides those that went aboard the galley willingly, hoping for +pleasure and profit, there were about one hundred and fifty hapless +wretches who were dragged down to the water-side in chains, and then +chained to the place they must occupy during the whole of the voyage. +Amongst these were Morgan, Jeffreys, and the three sailors from the +_Golden Boar_. + +The _Santa Maria_ was about one hundred and thirty feet long and +fifteen feet beam, a galley of a somewhat broad and clumsy make. In +the fore-part was a small raised deck, with three guns, and rough +hatches underneath for the sailors, soldiers, and servitors concerned +in the working of the sails and helm, the defence and the comfort of +the dignitaries aboard. In the after-part was another raised deck of +more generous dimensions, and on it were the cabins and state-rooms +belonging to the governor, the bishop, the captain, and the gentlemen +of the retinues belonging to the great personages. Midway between the +two decks were the human engines that propelled the unwieldy craft. +Twenty-five benches ran down along the starboard side and the larboard, +and from each bench a great oar or sweep projected into the water. To +each bench were chained three luckless slaves--seventy-five down each +side, and a hundred and fifty in all. The benches were intended for +four rowers apiece, and could at a pinch accommodate five. The supply +of able-bodied prisoners was small, and the Indians refused to +undertake the work at a wage, so three men were compelled to manage +oars that were a heavy tax on the strength of four. There was a slight +compensation in this--the three had room to lie more comfortably at +night-time. Between the two lines of benches ran a narrow raised +platform, and along this two boatswains walked, whip in hand, to keep +the rowers up to their work, and to visit severely any attempt at +shirking the forced duties of their unhappy position. About a score of +the slaves were white men: there were two Englishmen besides the five +from the _Golden Boar_, the rest being Spaniards or Portuguese +convicted of some crime; but the majority of the rowers were Indians, +who on some pretext or other had been enslaved and sent in chains to +the oars. + +The company were all aboard; some in satins and velvets, in glistening +armour; some in modest fustian; and as many in nothing but a dirty +waist-cloth. The guns from the castle roared out; those of the galley +spoke in answer. The trumpeters blew a fanfare; the chief boatswain +sounded his whistle; there was a simultaneous crack of two long, +cowhide whips, and the human machine in the waist of the galley began +its rhythmic work that put life and motion into the vessel. + +At number three oar on the starboard side Morgan and Jeffreys tugged, +and a Spaniard sat between them. In a line with them were the three +sailors of Captain Drake's crew, and at benches numbers one and two +larboard and starboard Europeans slaved. Behind them streamed brown +lines of meek-faced Indians. In the ordering of his rowers, the +Spanish captain did not forget those whose skins were of the same hue +as his own, and he spared himself and them the degradation of toiling +and suffering side by side with the inferior race; the white men had +the fore-part of the benches to themselves. All were stripped to the +waist; that was necessary down in the stifling den: moreover the +boatswains objected to putting the whip to any back that was covered; +they liked to see the effect of the lash, and judge whether the blow +was sufficient. + +The galley moved out of the harbour in stately fashion; at the peak of +the foremast floated the banner of Spain; on either side of the helm +the flags of the governor and the bishop fluttered gaily--fraternal +strips of emblazoned silk. It was a fair sight and a fair day, and +there were proud eyes watching it; but, as is too often the case, the +tinsel and show of human vain-glory enshrouded many aching hearts. + +The Spaniard that sat between Morgan and Jeffreys was a powerful, +black-bearded fellow, inured to his lot by three years of slavery at +the oar. The Englishmen were also of uncommon size and strength, so +they could keep their sweep going without putting all their energies +into their stroke as some of the rowers were forced to do. Behind +them, where the Indians rowed, there was more than one stinging lash +and squeal of pain before the harbour was cleared. Morgan's cheek +flushed at the first cry, and he almost lost grip of his oar. The slip +was noted instantly, and a warning, "Steady at number three," recalled +him to his task. Jeffreys gave him a look, and the Spaniard cursed +volubly at his companion's clumsiness. + +"Keep a civil tongue, Hernando," called out the boatswain; "your friend +has not had as much practice as yourself; he'll improve." + +Hernando spat on the floor. "Dog! son of a dog!" he muttered. "I'll +choke 'Hernando' out of his throat. Time was when he addressed me as +'Signer,' and grovelled for favours." + +"Pardon, comrade," said Johnnie. + +"Granted! granted!" replied the Spaniard. "I meant no offence to you; +but you will see that if anything goes wrong at this oar, yonder +villain will visit my back with his whip. He always does so." + +"I'll do my best to keep the whip from all of us," answered the +Englishman. He bent his back to the shameful work, and felt, in the +bitterness of his degradation, something less than human. The thoughts +that surged through his brain are too pitiful to be set down here. +Chained down in a filthy den, liable to be whipped like a beast of +burden, fed upon stuff that was but one remove from offal--how +horrible! And he could not forget that about a year before he had +stood in the court of his sovereign, proud, happy, praised; great men +shook him familiarly by the hand, and a winsome maiden smiled upon him. +Now he was a chained slave, doomed to work, eat, and sleep on a narrow +plank for ten long years. Ten years! could he survive ten days of the +horror and squalor and degradation? + +The morning wore on. The upper decks were radiant with sunshine, cool +with fresh breezes, and gay with laughter. The hold steamed like an +oven, stank most offensively, and groaned with anguish. The rowers +began to feel the strain, and the captain ordered the broad, lateen +sails to be set on both masts. The breeze was well behind, the galley +under good way, and for half an hour or so the sweeps were ordered in, +and the slaves fed with a lump of coarse biscuit and refreshed with a +pannikin of tepid water. Morgan and Jeffreys sat and talked quietly, +and called out a cheery word to the three sailors, whose British hearts +were bursting with shame and anger. + +In the heat of noon the breeze dropped, and the oars were set +vigorously to work again. His excellency wanted quicker progress to be +made, so the boatswains commenced to chant a rude song as they walked +up and down, and called on the rowers to keep time to the swing of the +tune. The fellows did their best, and some of the Spanish slaves +joined in the chorus. The song, poor as it was heartened them a +little; but the spurt did not last long and the singing ceased. The +boatswains used other means. Sometimes it was a sharp word or an angry +oath, at others a crack of the whip in the air; too often the thong +came down with a cruel cut on bare flesh, and there was a cry or an +oath from the victim and a frantic tugging at the great oar. + +Thus the day wore on; long spells of rowing, short periods of rest; and +all the while the slaves grew fainter and yet fainter in their horrible +workroom, and the lash of the whips resounded the more often. Hernando +was lashed twice, for no real reason that his companions could +discover. The second blow curled across the muscle of his arm and +benumbed it for a while, and Johnnie whispered him to move in rhythm +with them, whilst he and Jeffreys did the actual rowing. The fellow +was grateful, and vowed by the Virgin never to forget the kindness. + +The late afternoon brought the governor to his first place of call. +Rowing ceased; the anchor was dropped, and the slaves were given their +supper of biscuit, a scrap of meat, and a pannikin of water just +coloured with wine--this last was a special gift from the governor. +Then, wearied and aching, they curled up like tired dogs on the +benches, adjusted their chains so as to relieve themselves of as much +weight as possible, and fell asleep. + + + + +Chapter XLVII. + +HERNANDO SPEAKS. + +The governor's progress lasted about five weeks. The galley sometimes +lay at anchor for several days, and on these occasions the slaves went +ashore for a time in chained gangs for the sake of the fresh air and +the walking exercise; but they spent the greater part of the day +chained to the benches, and always slept on them at night. At one +place there had been some insubordination amongst the garrison, so the +governor paraded the whole of his gaunt, dishevelled, whip-scarred crew +through the town, in order to impress the disloyal ones with the power +and terror of the law. + +During these weeks, and especially during the times of leisure in +harbour, the two Englishmen got better acquainted with their companion. +At first the Spaniard was moody and inclined to be spiteful: he could +not forget that his neighbours were English; but Johnnie's repeated +acts of courtesy and kindness, and his cheeriness at times when the +three sailors from the _Golden Boar_ got dangerously despondent, broke +down the barrier of race and creed and speech. Hernando began to talk +of himself. He had been a gentleman adventurer aboard a Spanish ship; +was hot-tempered and impatient of official control. On several +occasions whilst in harbour at Panama he had come into wordy conflict +with the authorities. A sailor aboard his vessel, who had acted as his +servant, abused his trust, and had been soundly thrashed in +consequence, had gone to the governor with a plausible story concerning +a conspiracy which he declared his master was hatching. Hernando was +in bad odour with the authorities at the time; had been certainly +guilty of rash and foolish speeches; so the story was believed, and he +was sent to the galleys. The treacherous servant was rewarded with the +post of boatswain, and he used his authority over his old master with +the most offensive vindictiveness. + +The Europeans talked with one another fairly freely. Morgan and +Jeffreys were looked up to by the English section. The two stranger +sailors had both been captured in Spanish waters some years before, +and, after a period in the jail of Cadiz, sent out to the Indies; they +had been galley slaves at Panama for about two years. + +One afternoon whilst lolling on his bench, no boatswain or free sailor +within hearing, Hernando asked his two English comrades whether they +had considered the idea of attempting an escape. They replied that at +first they had thought of nothing else, but no ways or means offered, +and they had almost abandoned the idea. They detailed the story of +their attempt to escape from the prison in Panama. The Spaniard +listened carefully. + +"Now," he said, "I have seen chances of escape from these chains over +and over again; not for one man, mind you, but for a body of resolute +fellows who would follow a leader. There are some thorough rascals +chained to these benches; I have sounded them, and found that I dared +not trust them. It is not difficult for a man to earn his freedom by +turning traitor on his comrades; indeed, it is well known that liberty +will be given for the betrayal of any plot for revolt: a coward or +rogue would take such a chance instantly." + +"What about the Indians?" asked Jeffreys. + +"Sheep! I do not count upon them, and I have shown you that we dare +not depend much on some of our own colour. It is the coming of you two +and the three sailors from your ship that has revived my hopes and +plans. All the world knows how you Englishmen can fight. I know it, +and have hated you for it. I hope to live and find my hatred turned to +esteem and affection. The two sailors that were here before you I +sounded long ago. One is eager enough; the other has become +broken-spirited, and hesitates to venture upon anything where failure +would add to his present miseries. Five of you are strong, and not yet +cowed at all by the lash. The whip will never cow me. I have a +revenge to take; and I will take it, or die in a bold attempt to do so. +There are seven of us prepared to plot and dare all in the dash for +liberty; one of your countrymen is weak. I can depend pretty +confidently on four of my own tongue, and on the gray-bearded Portugee +at number one oar. The cut-throats and thieves, that help to make up +our number, will fight stoutly enough if suddenly they find themselves +free and armed. Love of plunder and thirst for slaughter and revenge +will nerve them. But we must not trust them beforehand. The poor +Indians, too, will strike a blow at their oppressors if a clear chance +of freedom offers." + +"You are not hoping for an opportunity in one of these harbours?" + +"No, nor in Panama either. Our chance will not come on this voyage; +there are too many troops aboard. But we sometimes go out with empty +cabins; no one but the captain and his officers. Stores have to be +carried from port to port, and treasure fetched from places farther +down the coast. It is then, at night, that our hour will come. We +must watch for it, prepare for it, and use it without hesitation. Are +you with me in the matter?" + +"Heart and soul! Heart and soul!" + +A boatswain's step was heard, and nothing more was said. + + + + +Chapter XLVIII. + +THE REVOLT OF THE SLAVES. + +The _Santa Maria_ returned to Panama. The governor had no further need +of her for a while, so she lay anchored about two cables' length from +the quay. The slaves remained aboard, still chained to their benches. +The chain that went around their waists was attached to another piece +fastened to a ring in the seat itself. This attached piece was just +long enough to allow a man to rise and stand upright, but it gave him +no chance to take a step in any direction. The galley arrived in +harbour in the late afternoon, and pulled in alongside the quay wall. +For a couple of hours there was plenty of bustle and confusion aboard; +much coming and going of soldiers, sailors, and servitors. Hernando +looked eagerly up to the bulwarks many times, as though expecting +something; and on more than one occasion he moved his oar three times +quickly up and down, just touching the water each time. A sailor ran +along the top of the bulwarks, holding to the rigging. The fellow gave +a quick glance down, and something dropped into the Spaniard's lap. A +minute or two later he was back again; something was dropped this time +also. The short twilight had just commenced. A little afterwards the +boatswain's whistle sounded, the oars moved, and the galley was rowed +out to her berthing station. + +The journey that day had been a long one; the unfortunate slaves were +half dead with fatigue. The anchor chains rattled, and the great +sweeps were drawn in. Lanterns flashed along the boatswains' bridge; +cakes, water, and a little fruit were handed down to be eaten and +drunken in the dark. + +"The saints be praised!" ejaculated Hernando when the last lantern +disappeared; "they will not trouble to fetter us to-night. I have +prayed all day that they might not. They trust to our fatigue and the +guns of the fort. To-morrow we shall probably be chained hand and foot +at the oncoming of night. We often get this freedom the first night in +harbour, especially if we come in late and wearied. This is our +chance, and my friend knew it." + +The Spaniard passed a file to Morgan. "I have had one or two of these +dropped on several occasions before, but have always thrown them into +the water before morning, being afraid to trust my fellows and use +them. I signalled for them to-day. Shall we make the venture?" + +"The chance is desperate," whispered Johnnie. + +"So must any chance be. The guard aboard will be small and sleepy; our +limbs are free; we lie a fair distance from the shore. We are never so +loosely guarded as when in Panama itself." + +The two Englishmen remained silent for perhaps three or four minutes, +thinking the matter out. "Let's try, and God be with us!" said +Jeffreys. "If we fail, then death is preferable to life in this foetid +pit, chained up and treated like dogs." + +"I agree!" answered Johnnie. + +He and Hernando sat themselves astride the bench, so as to get at the +ring that attached the waist chain to the one that was fixed into the +seat. This ring necessarily underwent a lot of friction as the men +moved about at the oars, and the three had given the ring as much +chafing as possible for some two or three weeks. Moreover, the steam +from the panting bodies, the mists and spray from the sea, rusted and +ate into the iron. There was no chain factory nearer than Europe, and +fetters were not easily renewable in Spanish America. In fact, the +bonds of the slaves were by no means secure; but they were quite +sufficient for their purpose, seeing that the men were keenly watched +by day, and when in harbour shackled and manacled at night. + +There was a buzz of talking, and plenty of weary shuffling and moaning +down on the slaves' deck. Chains clanked and rattled incessantly, and +would never be silent for long all through the night, for restless +sleepers would toss and turn on their hard couches to relieve pressure +on limbs only too often covered with festering and verminous sores. +Still, the noise of a file might be detected as an unusual sound; but +Hernando and Johnnie took the ring tightly in the palm of the hand, and +filed so carefully that Jeffreys, by droning a doleful tune, was able +to cover all the noise they made. + +The worn ring was soon filed through, and ten minutes later Jeffreys +had detached himself, and the bench chain was swinging free under the +seat. The files were passed along to the sailors from the _Golden +Boar_, and after a while they were free. No man moved so as to betray +the fact. The files came across the gangway, and were passed to the +Indians behind. Hernando had let them into the plot, preferring to +trust them rather than the white scum. Nine men were soon able to +move; the waist chains still girdled them, but this did not interfere +with freedom and action, and no time was thrown away in an attempt to +cut them through. The three Indians behind the sailors were next +liberated. A dozen eager and desperate men were ready to make a dash +for life, and hardly two hours had gone by. + +"How many more?" whispered Johnnie. + +"We must wait before trusting any others," replied the wary Spaniard. + +About an hour was allowed to slip by. The freed men laid themselves on +their benches and feigned slumber. Twice during the time a sentinel +passed along the gangway, and flashed a lantern here and there on to +the huddled forms. His glance was of a cursory description. The +toil-worn lines of wretched beings lay just as he had seen them a +hundred times: some were still as dead logs; others moved and babbled +in their sleep; here and there one sat with his head in his hands, +bowed down with sleep or agonizing thought. There was nothing unusual; +only the familiar scenes and sounds of the slave deck at night. The +sentinel walked off to the fore-deck to get a breath of sweeter air and +the company of a sailor comrade. + +The slaves slept. Being, for the most part, without hope of anything +better than a few hours of forgetfulness between the sun-setting and +the dawn, the majority gave themselves willingly and thankfully to +slumber as soon as the scanty supper was eaten. No flash of a +sentinel's lantern, no tramping of feet, no cry of nocturnal bird or +beast would waken them; they sank into sleep as into some deep, +soundless, lightless pit. God rest all such unhappy ones! + +The sentry showed no signs of paying any further visit; the captain was +ashore. Hernando slipped from his seat, cautiously wakened the fourth +English sailor, and gave him a file with whispered instructions; then +he passed on to a trustworthy fellow-countryman of his own and gave him +the other. He came back to his bench, and waited for about another +quarter of an hour. "Now," he whispered to his two companions. He +dropped to the floor and crawled on all fours to the after-part of the +ship. No one else moved. After what seemed almost an endless time, he +crawled back again. "The way is clear; not three men are awake above +our heads. I'll take the Indians; they move as noiselessly as cats." + +The Spaniard went to the fore-part of the ship, and three Indians +behind him in single file. The other three moved stealthily from bench +to bench and awoke their fellows. Hardly a sound had been made. The +three sailors from the _Golden Boar_ and Master Jeffreys crawled above +deck; Morgan remained in command below. + +Minutes passed. A slight sound of a scuffle, a cry, came faintly from +the fore-deck. Then dead silence fell again. Time flew on. The tide +was beginning to run out; the galley swung with it. The Indians, +stolid enough as a rule, began to fidget on their seats. A lantern +appeared at the fore end of the rowers' pit. Jeffreys came along. + +"Well?" asked Morgan anxiously. + +"Ugh! an ugly business. Not a man lives of the crew or guard in the +fore-part of the vessel. Hernando's knives and Indian fingers have +done their deadly work. Are all awake?" + +"Not the Europeans." + +"Awaken them; here's a hammer and chisel; get their chains off. +Hernando and his Indians are gone to the after-deck to block up the +cabin doors. Our three boys are at the anchor. Keep this lantern. We +have padded the hawse-hole, but there'll be some noise getting the +anchor up. Have the rowers ready for my signal." + +There was soon clatter and even clamour amongst the slaves, and Morgan +had much ado to keep the wilder ones from shouting and running on deck. +One Spaniard who tried to do so, intent upon robbery, was promptly +knocked down. "You're not safe yet," cried Johnnie; "you're still in +harbour and under the fort guns; you'll sit down and row, or go +overboard to the sharks." The fellow poured out a torrent of foul +language, but the Englishman's fist was hard, his own oar-comrades were +against him, so he sat down and made ready for work. + +"Ready?"--Jeffreys' voice. + +"Yes." + +The anchor rattled on the deck. + +"Pull for life and liberty!" called Morgan. + +A great sigh ran along the benches; dark figures swayed in the faint +light; the splash of oars sounded above the lap of the tide; the great +galley was under way and going seawards. The time was some minutes +short of midnight. + +Panama was asleep. The men rowed slowly, making as little noise as +possible until clear of the swarm of canoes and small craft that hung +about in the bay. Then they went to work with a will. The oars +creaked and groaned; the vessel rolled to the ocean swell. The +officers awoke in their cabins only to find themselves trapped. Dawn +found the galley well out of sight of land and going northwards. + + + + +Chapter XLIX. + +EASTWARD HO! + +Panama awoke with the sun, discovered the flight of the galley, and +made ready for pursuit. There were some small craft in the bay, and +these were manned with Indians and soldiers and sent out to sea; but +they came back as they went. Truth to tell, the flotilla would have +stood no chance against the guns of the _Santa Maria_, and those aboard +the tossing boats knew that. + +Thereafter, for some weeks, the town lived its nights in alarm. Fires +burned along the fort and on the most seaward points of the bay. No +man expected other than that the slaves would come back in the darkness +and take a terrible revenge for the cruelties they had suffered. But +Panama was alarmed quite needlessly: the galley never rode on its +waters again. + +The first care of the revolted slaves was to get as far away from their +late masters as possible. In spite of their fatigue, they rowed hard +until daybreak. At first there was some difficulty with the European +riff-raff. These wanted to swagger about on deck and bully the +Indians; but neither Hernando nor his two English friends would hear of +it. They had chosen the able-bodied sailors from amongst the rowers, +and placed them on deck to attend to helm and sails. All not wanted +for this duty must sit at the oars. Two or three flatly refused to do +so, and began to talk above their deserts. They were promptly put back +into chains again, and Hernando stood over them with a whip and flogged +them into work. The lesson was not lost on the others. + +A breeze came up with the sun; sails were spread, sweeps taken in, and +the Indians freed from their chains. The delight of the poor fellows +was unbounded. They fell down before their rescuers, worshipping them; +then they rushed up on deck, dancing and singing like a mob of children +let loose from confinement. There was plenty of excellent food aboard, +and for once the rowers fed sumptuously. The breeze continuing, all +save the three commanders and the deck hands laid themselves down and +slept until nearly noon. Then labour began again. The wind still held +strongly, so the natives were put to work cleansing the slave-deck of +its accumulated filth. The chains, save about a score of the strongest +sets, were tossed overboard. These were kept in case of mutiny amongst +the scum whites. There was no fear of trouble with the natives; the +faithful, grateful creatures would follow their liberators everywhere. + +The cleaning being finished, a council of all the whites--save the +three put into bonds--was held on the after-deck. Hernando, as prime +mover in the revolt, presided. As the Spaniard was a good seaman, he +was unanimously appointed captain; whereupon he chose Morgan, Jeffreys, +and a trustworthy Spaniard as his chief officers. Then, before the +whole assembly, he swore solemnly to do his utmost for the welfare of +his ship; and his three officers, having his promise to issue no orders +that a gentleman might hesitate to fulfil, solemnly swore to obey him +to the death. The others, according to their several stations, took +vows of faithful obedience to their officers. + +The captain then proceeded to set matters in order. There were +prisoners in the cabins near them; these were brought forth one by one, +and examined with commendable fairness. Morgan was surprised at the +change in Hernando. He had expected to find him vindictive and cruel, +and he knew that not a soul in the fore-part of the galley had been +spared in the darkness of the previous night. But liberty had softened +the Spaniard; he remembered the injustice he had suffered, not with a +view to exacting "eye for eye" and "tooth for tooth" from others, but +with the resolve not to inflict injustice upon his fellows. The trials +of the prisoners took up the remainder of the day. Some who had been +cruel to the slaves were hanged with but little ceremony; it was hardly +to be expected that men whose backs still smarted would do otherwise. +The two boatswains had perished the night before; the chief boatswain +was doomed to share their fate; two others were hanged; the rest were +sent below to the slave-deck, and chained to one of the oars, far +enough away from the troublesome slaves who were undergoing punishment. + +The night passed without alarm. Hernando and Morgan walked the deck +for hours in the starlight, planning for the future. They saw the +difficulties and dangers of their position, but could not clearly see a +way out of them. They had a ship, well manned and well armed, and +fairly well victualled. What should they do with her? Search would be +made for them, and galley after galley, ship after ship, coming into +Panama, would be sent in quest of them. It they continued in Spanish +waters, they must be overtaken at some time or other. What would the +result be? They had guns, ammunition, and a fair supply of weapons, +but their fighting capacity was very small. The Indians--or most of +them--must be at the oars. Out of less than a score of Europeans, some +must be about deck duties. A mere handful of men would be left to work +the guns and fight. A foe of any strength must inevitably capture them. + +Should they attempt to cross the Atlantic to England? There again came +the question of capture. Would the Indians remain faithful if any +attempt were made to take them thousands of miles from their homes? +Should they turn corsairs; capture a sailing ship; set the Indians +ashore on their own coast, or leave them the galley to do as they +pleased with it? The two men could not make up their minds. + +The next day the same thoughts came to the rest of the Europeans, and +they were heard discussing their chances of ultimate escape. Another +full council was held, and the position placed clearly before them all. +There were many differences of opinion, but eventually it was agreed +that there was too much danger in remaining near the seaboard of +Spanish America, and equal or greater peril to be encountered in an +attempt to make a winter passage to Europe. No man would face the +voyage round Cape Horn with an inadequate crew and a clumsy galley +mainly propelled by oars. The voyage would take nearly a year, and +they had provisions for about a fortnight. The plan of capturing a +small ship was more favourably considered; but the question arose, +Where could such a ship be found? If they got into the ordinary track +of navigation, other and less welcome vessels might sight them. The +position was distinctly perilous, and a bad feature of it all was that +some of the rescued men were thoroughly treacherous and untrustworthy, +and others so broken down by years of slavery as to be helpless for +strenuous action. The three ringleaders saw plainly that they had less +than a dozen men, including themselves, that could be relied upon for +loyal, valiant, and intelligent conduct in an emergency. They went to +rest that night with no definite plans for the morrow. The galley was +kept slowly going northward towards the Pacific coast of Mexico; the +oars were little used. + +The next morning Hernando took definite steps. He took the captured +officers and the recalcitrant whites, put them into a boat within sight +of land, set them adrift, and stood out to sea again. He had none +under his command then who were not at least faithful. + +For a couple of days he went north, well out to sea. Then he turned +inshore again, coasted for a while, until he came to a wooded bay that +offered good anchorage. Entering this he dropped his anchor, and went +ashore with Morgan and half a dozen or so of the Indians. The party +was away for some hours, and only returned at sunset. The next day the +object of the expedition was disclosed. Hernando called the whole +crew, white and Indian, before him. He explained the dangers they were +hourly in on the high seas, and the impossibility of fighting any +strong adversary. Food was running short, and a long voyage in the +galley was out of the question. He proposed to take to the land +himself, and hazard his chance of life and liberty there. The Indians +could scatter abroad. The forest teemed with game, and he and his +party had seen many streams. No village or town was anywhere in sight. +The chances of escape into Mexico were excellent for whites and natives +alike. Or any man who wished it might try to reach his own tribe +again; a matter of half a moon of marching would bring him to his +people. Every man should take some weapon and as much food as he cared +to carry. His plan included the burning of the galley, so that all +trace of them might be lost. + +The natives rejoiced at the chance of quitting the hated galley for +their native woods, and the Europeans saw that their captain's plan +offered them the best hope of safety; they agreed also. + +The _Santa Maria_ was partially dismantled. All that was of value in +her was taken out; the food was shared, arms distributed, and the whole +party went ashore in the boats. Hernando stayed last, and fired the +vessel before he left her. During the whole night she blazed, +illuminating the camp of her late occupants amid the trees on the +shore. The Indians had rigged up two tents with the sails, and in +these their white companions slept comfortably. + +No move was made from the camping-place on the shore for several days. +The Indians scouted round in all directions, going fifty or sixty miles +through forest and over mountain, and spying out the land. Hernando, +meanwhile, tried to get some idea of his position on the Pacific coast. +From his observations, and the reports of the natives, he concluded +that he must be somewhere west of the great lake of Nicaragua, and in a +line for the small town of San Juan on the Atlantic coast, not more +than a week's march away. + +When fairly satisfied of this, he struck his camp, and marched inland +over the mountains. The natives carried one boat. In due time they +saw a vast stretch of water below them, and knew that the lake lay in +their path. + +On the shores of the lake the white men had decided to part from their +native companions. Villages clustered here and there on the margin of +the waters, and the appearance of a large company would spread alarm, +and send reports through the land that might betray them all. The +leave-taking was pathetic enough. The poor Indians looked like so many +helpless children. They begged the white men to stay with them, and +settle in the mountains between the lake and the sea. The country was +rich, and food and water plentiful. They would be faithful children to +their white fathers, if the latter would but stay to guide, protect, +and counsel them. + +But neither Englishmen nor Spaniards had any desire to rule as petty +chiefs in a Central American forest; their thoughts and hopes took +higher flights than that. Adieus were said; the Europeans took to +their boat, with but one Indian as a scout and possible interpreter, +and pulled out from the shore, the mass of natives rushing after them +into the water, weeping and lamenting. + +The passage of the lake was safely accomplished; the course of a river +flowing into it was followed as far as it was navigable. Then the +party camped whilst the Indian went to the hilltops in the east, and +surveyed the land that sloped away to the coast. He was away about +forty hours. + +On his return with a favourable report the camp was struck and the boat +burned. Then, carefully covering up their tracks, the fugitives set +out for the Atlantic coast. It was hardly possible that any report of +their escape would have reached so far, and the authorities would never +look for them on the eastern ocean. + +When the outskirts of San Juan were reached, Hernando went on as +advance guard. The next day they all entered the town as a party of +shipwrecked sailors. The Englishmen had been rechristened with Spanish +names for the nonce, and they wisely left the talking to their Spanish +companions. They were received without suspicion. + + + + +Chapter L. + +HOME. + +The Englishmen were doomed to idle about in San Juan for some weeks, +and during that time the little money they had found on the _Santa +Maria_ melted away. Vessels did not enter the little port very often. +The Portuguese and Spaniards, save Hernando, found temporary work on +neighbouring estates and plantations, and Morgan and his fellows of the +_Golden Boar_ had plenty of offers of employment; but they preferred to +abide together under the wing of Hernando, fearing to betray their +nationality by mixing separately and freely with the Spanish settlers. +Hernando for his part stuck loyally to them, and none of the others +said or did aught to bring suspicion upon their late comrades. The +fugitives longed and waited for a ship, hoping to get a passage in her +to some place off the mainland. It was by no means an unusual thing +for sailors to desert their ship when she touched at a port; some, +indeed, undertook a voyage with this end in view, the allurements of +the golden tropics proving stronger than any sense of duty. + +At length a small ship arrived from Cuba, bringing a consignment of +Spanish goods from the depot at Santiago; she was to take back silver +bars for transhipment to Lisbon. Would the skipper give a passage to +seven strange sailors whose appearance was not too Spanish? It was +doubtful. Yet it turned out that he was only too glad to do so. More +than seven of his crew deserted, and went away to the west in search of +the silver mines from which the bars had come. Morgan always had a +shrewd suspicion that Hernando cleverly engineered the desertion for +the sake of his English friends. In any case the desertion took place +most opportunely, and the fugitives got the passage they desired. For +the sake of appearances both gentlemen adventurers played the part of +common sailors. At the last moment Hernando decided to go to Cuba with +them. He felt that a few months there would do him good, and help +certain keen-eyed people to forget his face. Moreover, he was +generously anxious to see the safety of the Englishmen more fully +assured. + +The season was not the best in the year for sailing, and the voyage to +Santiago was a rough one. The new sailors behaved admirably; and +though the captain was more than a little suspicious of their +nationality, he said nothing and paid them well. Moreover, he was +largely instrumental in getting them a passage to Europe. Hernando's +tongue and the talismanic name of Drake did the rest. + +The _Donna Philippa_ was a galleon of medium class, but well-built and +swift-sailing. She was attempting the Atlantic voyage in the winter +season, as the authorities preferred to trust her precious cargo to the +chances of the storms rather than to the mercies of the English +corsairs. These were not abroad on the high seas in the cold season, +when ocean traffic was small and tempests frequent; but in the summer +time no Spanish captain knew when one of the dreaded craft might appear +above the horizon. It is difficult to realize nowadays the terror that +Drake and fellow captains--pirates all--had inspired in the breasts of +Spanish seamen. + +The galleon had not her full complement of crew, for there were some +who had come out who were not as favourably disposed towards a winter +voyage as was their captain. The latter spoke to the skipper of the +coaster concerning his difficulties, and the skipper told him of the +men he had picked up at San Juan. He did not hide his suspicions that +there was more English than Spanish blood in their veins. He +acknowledged that they were splendid sailors; but, being as he believed +English deserters, he regarded them as desperate fellows, assuming a +gentleness and zealous obedience quite foreign to their nature. + +It was here that Hernando stepped in and played his part. No one +doubted his nationality; and he, hearing of the shortage of good +sailors on the galleon, did his last ingenious act of kindness for his +comrades in misfortune. Over a cup of wine in the state-room of the +_Donna Philippa_ he told a story that did his heart and his wits equal +credit. He began it by confirming the skipper's suspicions that his +last batch of sailors were English to the very marrow of their bones. + +"Yet I love them," he declared, "and would place my life and my +father's life in their hands without an instant's hesitation." + +Then followed an account of his own shipwreck months before with some +other Spanish gentlemen. "We found," said he, "a boat, and coasted +with her seeking a harbour. We met the Englishmen, wrecked also. They +were a stronger party than we were. They joined us--worked with us for +months like brothers. We sailed seas together, fought foes, swam +rivers, climbed mountains, threaded forests, shared food, drink, +raiment, money--everything. They told us their story. Two of them, as +you may see, are not common sailors, but gentlemen of position, +favourites of their Queen, bosom friends and lovers of Drake, Raleigh, +Hawkins, Grenville, Whiddon, and all the mighty English captains. They +want to get home. Take them as they are. I'll pledge my life they'll +serve you faithfully and cheerfully, and they'll _insure your cargo +against seizure by their friends_! Mark that; their presence aboard +the _Donna Philippa_ will assure her the polite and friendly attentions +of every English captain on the high seas. See the two gentlemen in my +presence, and find out their value for yourself. Were I in your place +I should fall down and thank the Mother of God for sending me such help +in my hour of need." + +The captain of the galleon pondered the matter. Hernando pressed his +views upon him, and the skipper of the coaster seconded him. Morgan +and Jeffreys were brought aboard. They readily offered themselves as +working passengers; expressed themselves as willing to take an oath of +fidelity to the captain if he would take another one to them; and +assured him that no English captain would rob him of a jot of his +cargo, or treat him other than as a friend and brother, whilst they +were with him to tell of his kindness to them. + +The bargain was struck. Morgan, Jeffreys, and the five sailors were +duly entered on the ship's books, owning to the Spanish names bestowed +on them by Hernando. The two gentlemen went as passengers, with a +sailor each as servant; the other three took their places amongst the +crew. Two of them had been long enough in the galleys to speak Spanish +as well as they spoke their mother tongue. They cleared Santiago +safely towards the end of January. + +The _Donna Philippa_ was called upon to pay some penalty for her +rashness in crossing the Atlantic in winter. Again and again did the +tempests strike her, shattering some of her timbers, swamping her with +terrific seas, and driving her for days out of her proper course. It +is probable that the greater skill of her English sailors and +passengers alone saved her from destruction. They were more accustomed +to the stormy northern seas than were their Spanish comrades, and they +set an example of cool courage and endurance that saved the galleon +from worse disasters than those that actually befell her. If he met no +English corsairs, the Spanish captain had reason to congratulate +himself on his wisdom in accepting Hernando's advice in Santiago. +Needless to say, the ship was never becalmed, and the howling winds +that drove her out of her way would often moderate, turn round, and +send her bowling homewards. The skipper hoped to make the Azores as +his first land, but a south-westerly wind springing up in early March +and continuing for some days, he held on direct for Lisbon. So far no +human enemy had molested him. + +The ship was nearing the coast of Portugal, and the sailors were +expecting to sight land on the morrow. March was half-way through, the +sun warm by day and the breezes often southerly and genial. Morgan and +Jeffreys were wondering what might befall them in the realms of King +Philip, and how they should get ship from there to England. They had +but little money, as the captain had treated them as guests of gentle +birth, paying with food the services they could render him. Spain was +dangerous ground for English feet, and no foreign land could well be +pleasant to a set of penniless men. The prospect was not alluring. + +Now and again sails appeared above the horizon, and after weary +watching Jeffreys espied one that he declared to be English. The +vessel was coming up from the south, and the _Donna Philippa_ was +steering almost due east. At a certain point their paths would cross. +The two Englishmen went to the captain and called his attention to +this, and asked him to shape his course so as to meet the oncoming +boat, and put them aboard if she chanced to be English. + +The skipper demurred at first. His cargo was precious, but safe; he +was almost in sight of home. Why should he run risks? The adventurers +assured him that there could be no risk. The stranger vessel was a +small one; if any other than English, she would never dare to fight a +ship of the tonnage of the _Donna Philippa_; and if English, they would +guarantee that not a blow should be struck. After much persuasion the +captain consented. + +The little ship was hailed, and proved to be a Canary trader bound for +Bristol. Morgan went aboard and explained matters, and the captain +gladly consented to receive them and give them a passage home. So, to +the surprise of the crew of the galleon, the men were transhipped a +day's sail from harbour. + +Ten days later the trader dropped anchor in the Avon. Morgan went to +the mayor of the city, saw him privately, and explained who he was, and +what had befallen him and his comrades. His worship listened to the +story, and advanced the adventurer money to take him and his friends to +their homes. The next day the seven, with handshakes, kisses, even +tears, separated and went their several ways. + + + + +Chapter LI. + +THE FOREST AGAIN--AND THE SEA. + +Johnnie Morgan had tramped up from Bristol to Berkeley, and now stood +on the Severn bank at the eastern end of the ferry to Gatcombe and the +snug ingle-corner of the old farmhouse. Such a crowd of thoughts, +hopes, dreads, rushed into his mind that the whirl and jostle of them +in his brain made him giddy. He had left Bristol at dawn; it was now +late afternoon and an April day. He had entered the "Berkeley Arms" in +the old feudal town, called for his ale, and been stared at by an old +crony, yet never recognized. A year of absence, danger, privation, +slavery had put five years at least on to the young yeoman's back. The +laughter had gone out of his eyes, the roundness out of his cheeks, and +his walk was stiff. + +He hailed the ferryman. The man came slowly across from Gatcombe. +Johnnie recognized his stroke before he clearly detected the body from +the boat. Here was the real touch of home. Old Evan would stare at +him, doubtless, but only for a moment. Then would come the +affectionate cry, "Plague take me! if it b'aint Jack Morgan. Welcome +home, my son; we'd given thee up for dead!" + +The ferryman came; his fare stepped in. The ferryman stared not once +nor twice, but apparently he gave up the puzzle that troubled his mind, +for he took the ha'penny fare with no other remark than that the day +had been very warm for the time o' year. Johnnie went up the hill +feeling very depressed. On a sudden impulse he turned aside from the +highroad and took the path by the river through the fields to his own +lands. He felt he could not bear another familiar face to look into +his and not give him an old-time affectionate greeting. He tried to +persuade himself that the light was getting weak, but looking around he +could distinguish small objects on the other side of the river, and he +recognized old Biddy Gale coming down to the well at the bottom of her +garden to draw water. + +The red roofs of Blakeney showed up against the dark background of the +trees. He looked for his own house. No smoke curled from the +chimneys. His heart seemed suddenly to turn to a lump of lead. An +urchin was coming along the path; he determined to talk to him. + +The boy came whistling along, spied the tall, gaunt, bearded stranger, +and ceased his piping. When Johnnie turned towards him he made as +though to bolt, but thought better of it and came on. + +"Is yonder place Blakeney?" asked the young man. + +"It is," was the reply. + +"Doth one Master John Morgan live there?" + +"A-did in the time past, good master; but, preserve us from evil! the +Spaniards roasted and eat him somewhere in the Indies." + +A faint smile flickered across Johnnie's face. "How sad!" he cried. +"Who then lives in his house yonder?" + +"Just a widow woman and her maid. They will not quit, they say, until +a twelvemonth and a day be gone by from the time the rascal Dons laid +hands on their master. They will have it that he will come back; and +Mistress Dawe of Newnham, and a sailor-man named Dan of Plymouth, do +hold with them." + +Johnnie wanted to ask a question about Dolly, but the words would not +come. The lad relieved him by continuing to unload his budget of +information. + +"The sailor-man be lodged at the farm, much against the widow's +wish--so she says; but he declares he will not budge, lest Master +Morgan should come home and find never the face of an old shipmate to +cheer him." (The smile flickered across Johnnie's face again.) +"Mistress Dawe be now at the house, if thou art minded to walk thither. +She comes there at times and stays for two or three days. Folks do say +that she expects John Morgan to walk in some evening. They were +lovers, ye know." + +"Ah!" said Johnnie, with a catch in his breath. + +"Yon's the house, behind the hayricks. Fine harvest Master Morgan had +last year. All the lads in this part of the forest looked after his +fields in turns. I helped to get in his hay and corn, and the widow +gave a harvest home just as the master would have done." + +"Didst know this Morgan, sonnie?" + +"Ay, I do mind him well. Thou dost favour him somewhat, only he was a +taller and properer man and had no beard." + +"Well, I'll go to the house; here's a penny for thee. Tell thy father +that a tall man who hath been in the Indies hath been asking for Master +Morgan." + +Johnnie walked on, his heart beating to the rhythm, "Dolly is there! +Dolly is there!" He jumped a stile. His own fields! He looked +around; no one was in sight, so he pressed his lips to the turf, then +whispered a quick, passionate prayer. Rising up again, eyes wet, knees +trembling, he walked on. + +He had turned up the path from the river; his orchard was before him. +He turned to look behind at the rushing stream and the gulls circling +in the rays of the setting sun. There was a flutter of white at the +river-stile. His heart stood still. Could it be? No!--Was it?--Yes! +He started riverwards at a run; then stopped; hesitated; walked soberly +on. + +The flutter of white again from the shadow of the hedge; the figure of +a girl, bonnetless, her hair gently lifting with the breeze, stood out +clear and unmistakable. He stopped. The maid stepped a little forward +and shaded her eyes with her hand. With an uncontrollable impulse his +arms stretched out. + +"Dolly!" + +A cry from the stile. A girl sprang forward, raced up the field, and +threw herself into his arms. "Johnnie! Johnnie! Thank God! thank +God! I dreamt you would come back and find me where we last met, just +like this!" + + +The next day the forest rang with the news that Johnnie Morgan was home +again, and foresters, miners, and fishers made so merry over the event +that Johnnie thought it worth while to have gone through so much in +order to give them such a jubilant time. + +Three weeks afterwards the maidens chose pretty Dolly as "Queen of +May," and when she was crowned they led her to the church above the +river--all in her garlands gay--and there a tall, sun-browned youth +took her "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," till +death should part them. And there were rare junketings and feastings +to celebrate the union of the two woodland favourites. + + +Johnnie abode at home for one year. Then he was tempted to go again to +London, and from thence he went by sea to Plymouth. There he met the +admiral, his brother John, Jacob Whiddon, Sir John Trelawny, and other +sea-going worthies, and there was much talk concerning the Indies. + +Johnnie came home, and one night he said to his wife Dorothy, "I have +been thinking that I left some honour behind me on the other side of +the world. Master Jeffreys sends me a letter this morning, and Sir +Walter hath written a postscript to it. I cannot forget what was done +at Panama, and there are some who should suffer for the cruelties done +to Nick and Ned Johnson and others who sailed on the _Golden Boar_. +The ship is fitting for another voyage, and I have still an interest in +her. What dost say, sweetheart? thou knowest the thoughts that are in +my mind." + +Well, Mistress Morgan said nothing that night, but she wept a little +and sighed oft. But the next day she said "Go, husband, and God go +with thee!" + +So the _Golden Boar_ went westward ho! again, and Dan Pengelly and all +her old company that were above ground went in her. And Captain Jacob +Whiddon went too, in a second ship called the _Elizabeth_. There was +no wild-goose chase this time after golden cities that could not be +found. But the Englishmen harried the Spanish settlements along the +South American coast and in the Mexican Gulf, and preyed upon King +Philip's shipping. They sent an expedition two hundred strong across +to Panama and raided the town, daringly marching back to the Atlantic +with no man presuming to stop them. + +They came home to Plymouth laden with spoil, gotten mainly by piracy +and the breaking of the laws of nations. But their countrymen +acclaimed them to the skies, holding them to be no robbers, but heroes +and patriots all! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA-DOGS ALL!*** + + +******* This file should be named 25670.txt or 25670.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/7/25670 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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