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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/29304-h.zip b/29304-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aaa6daf --- /dev/null +++ b/29304-h.zip diff --git a/29304-h/29304-h.htm b/29304-h/29304-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..05b695a --- /dev/null +++ b/29304-h/29304-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4743 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of In the Days Of Drake, by J. S. Fletcher. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + td {vertical-align: top;} + + hr.large {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + hr.medium {width: 45%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + + div.centered {text-align:center;} /*work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; text-align:left;} /* work around for IE problem part 2 */ + + body{margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .bbox {border: none;} + .centerbox {width: 21.5em; /* heading box */ + margin: 0 auto; + text-align: center; + padding: 0.5em;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .gap {margin-top: 1em;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Days of Drake, by J. S. Fletcher + +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: In the Days of Drake + +Author: J. S. Fletcher + +Release Date: July 4, 2009 [EBook #29304] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 290px;"> +<img src="images/icover.jpg" width="290" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h1><span class="smcap">In the Days of Drake</span></h1> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>J. S. FLETCHER,</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">“When Charles I. was King,” “Where<br /> +Highways Cross.”</span></h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 82px;"> +<img src="images/ititle.jpg" width="82" height="110" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Chicago and New York</span>:</h4> +<h3>RAND, M<span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">c</span>NALLY & COMPANY.</h3> +<h4>MDCCCXCVII.</h4> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p class="center">Copyright, 1897, by Rand, McNally & Co.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="centered"><h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr> +<td align="left">INTRODUCTION</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">5</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">OF MY HOME, FRIENDS, AND SURROUNDINGS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#IN_THE_DAYS_OF_DRAKE">9</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">PHARAOH NANJULIAN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">21</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">ROSE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">34</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">FOUL PLAY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">45</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">PHARAOH NANJULIAN AGAIN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">60</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">SCHEMES AND STRATAGEMS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">70</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">WE ESCAPE THE SPANIARDS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">84</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">AN UNKNOWN LAND</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">95</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">AN ADVENTURE OF SOME IMPORTANCE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">107</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">THE BLACK SHADOWS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">122</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CAPTIVE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">130</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">MORE CRUEL THAN WILD BEASTS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">142</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">THE AUTO-DA-FE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">158</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">ON BOARD THE GALLEY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">168</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">NUNEZ IN A NEW GUISE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">178</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">THE FLAG OF ENGLAND</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">182</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">FRANCIS DRAKE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">188</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">THE FATE OF NUNEZ AND FREY BARTOLOMEO</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">201</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">HOME WITH DRAKE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">212</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">BEECHCOT ONCE MORE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">224</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">HOW THEY RANG THE BELLS AT BEECHCOT CHURCH</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">237</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p>In the whole history of the English people there is no period so +absolutely heroic, so full of enthralling interest, as that in which the +might of England made itself apparent by land and sea—the period which +saw good Queen Bess mistress of English hearts and Englishmen and +sovereign of the great beginnings which have come to such a magnificent +fruition under Victoria. That was indeed a golden time—an age of great +venture and enterprise—a period wherein men’s hearts were set on +personal valor and bravery—the day of great deeds and of courage most +marvelous. To write down a catalogue of all the names that then were +glorious, to make a list of all the daring deeds that then were +done—this were an impossible task for the most painstaking of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>statisticians, the most conscientious of historians and chroniclers. +For there were men in those days who achieved world-wide fame, such as +Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Raleigh, Grenville, and Gilbert—but there +were also other men, the rough “sea-dogs” of that time, whose names have +never been remembered, or even recorded, and who were yet heroes of a +quality not inferior to their commanders and leaders. All men of that +age whose calling led them to adventure and enterprise could scarcely +fail to find opportunity for heroism, self-denial, and sacrifice, and +thus the Elizabethan Englishman of whatever station stands out to us of +these later days as a great figure—the type and emblem of the England +that was to be. It is this fact that makes the Elizabethan period so +fascinating and so full of romance and glamour. Whenever we call it up +before our mind’s eye it is surrounded for us with all those qualities +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>which go toward making a great picture. There is the awful feud ’twixt +England, the modern spirit making toward progress and civilization, and +Spain, the well-nigh worn-out retrogressive force that would dam the +river of human thought. There is the spectacle of the Armada, baffled +and beaten, and of the English war-ships under men like Drake and +Frobisher, dropping like avenging angels upon some Spanish port and +working havoc on the Spanish treasure galleons. There, too, are the +figures of men like Grenville and Raleigh, born adventurers, leaders of +men, who knew how to die as bravely and fearlessly as they had lived. +And beyond all the glory and adventure there looms in the background of +the picture the black cruelties of Spain, practiced in the dark corners +of the earth, against which the English spirit of that day never ceased +from protesting with speech and sword. It was well for the world that in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>that fierce contest England triumphed. Had Spain succeeded in +perpetuating its hellish system, how different would life in east and +west have been! But it was God’s will that not Spain but England should +win—and so to-day we find the English-speaking peoples of the world in +Great Britain and America, in Australia and Africa, free, enlightened, +full of great purpose and noble aims, working out in very truth their +own salvation. It is when one comes to think of this, that one first +realizes the immeasurable thanks due to the heroes, known and unknown, +of the Elizabethan age. Whether they stand high on the scroll of fame or +lie forgotten in some quiet graveyard or in the vast oceans which they +crossed, it was they, and they only, who laid the great foundations of +the England and the United States of to-day.</p> + +<p class="right">J. S. FLETCHER.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="IN_THE_DAYS_OF_DRAKE" id="IN_THE_DAYS_OF_DRAKE"></a>IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>OF MY HOME, FRIENDS, AND SURROUNDINGS.</h3> + +<p>Now that I am an old man, and have some leisure, which formerly I did +not enjoy, I am often minded to write down my memories of that +surprising and remarkable adventure of mine, which began in the year +1578, and came to an end, by God’s mercy, two years later.</p> + +<p>There are more reasons than one why I should engage in this task. Every +Christmas brings a houseful of grandchildren and young folks about me, +and they, though they have heard it a dozen times already, are never +tired of hearing me re-tell the story which seems to them so wonderful.</p> + +<p>Then, again, I am often visited by folk <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>who have heard of my travels, +and would fain have particulars of them from my own lips; so that +ofttimes I have to tell my tale, or part of it, a dozen times in the +year. Nay, upon one occasion I even told it to the King’s majesty, which +was when I went up to London on some tiresome law business. Sir Ralph +Wood, who is my near neighbor and a Parliament man, had mentioned me to +the King, and so I had to go to Whitehall and tell my story before the +court, which was a hard matter for a plain-spoken country gentleman, as +you may well believe.</p> + +<p>Now all these matters have oft prompted me to write down my story, so +that when any visitor of mine might ask me for it, I could satisfy him +without trouble to myself, by simply putting the manuscript into his +hand and bidding him read what I had there written. But until this +present time I have never seemed to have opportunity such as I desired, +for my duties as magistrate <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>and church-warden have been neither light +nor unimportant. Now that I have resigned them to younger hands, I have +leisure time of my own, and therefore I shall now proceed to carry out +the intention which has been in my mind for many years.</p> + +<p>I was born at York, in the year 1558. My father, Richard Salkeld, was +the youngest son of Oliver Salkeld, lord-of-the-manor of +Beechcot-on-the-Wold, and he practiced in York as an attorney. Whether +he did well or ill in this calling I know not, for at the early age of +six years I was left an orphan. My father being seized by a fever, my +mother devoted herself to nursing him, which was a right and proper +thing to do; but the consequence was disastrous, for she also contracted +the disease, and they both died, leaving me alone in the world.</p> + +<p>However, I was not long left in this sad condition, for there presently +appeared my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>uncle, Sir Thurstan Salkeld of Beechcot, who settled my +father’s affairs and took me away with him. I was somewhat afraid of him +at first, for he was a good twenty years older than my father, and wore +a grave, severe air. Moreover, he had been knighted by the Queen for his +zealous conduct in administering the law. But I presently found him to +be exceeding kind of heart, and ere many months were over I had grown +fond of him, and of Beechcot. He had never married, and was not likely +to, and so to the folks round about his home he now introduced me as his +adopted son and heir. And thus things went very pleasantly for me, and, +as children will, I soon forgot my early troubles.</p> + +<p>I think we had nothing to cause us any vexation or sorrow at Beechcot +until Dame Barbara Stapleton and her son Jasper came to share our lot. +Jasper was then a lad of my own age, and like me an orphan, and the +nephew of Sir Thurstan. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>His mother, Sir Thurstan’s sister, had married +Devereux Stapleton, an officer in the Queen’s household, and when she +was left a widow she returned to Beechcot and quartered herself and her +boy on her brother. Thereafter we had trouble one way or another, for +Dame Barbara could not a-bear to think that I was preferred before her +own boy as Sir Thurstan’s heir. Nor did she scruple to tell Sir Thurstan +her thoughts on the matter, on one occasion at any rate, for I heard +them talking in the great hall when they fancied themselves alone.</p> + +<p>“’Tis neither right nor just,” said Dame Barbara, “that you should make +one nephew your son and heir to the exclusion of the other. What! is not +Jasper as much your own flesh and blood as Humphrey?”</p> + +<p>“You forget that Humphrey is a Salkeld in name as well as in blood,” +said Sir Thurstan. “If the lad’s father, my poor brother Richard, had +lived, he would have succeeded <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>me as lord of Beechcot. Therefore, ’tis +but right that Dick’s boy should step into his father’s place.”</p> + +<p>“To the hurt of my poor Jasper!” sighed Dame Barbara.</p> + +<p>“Jasper is a Stapleton,” answered Sir Thurstan. “However, sister, I will +do what is right as regards your lad. I will charge myself with the cost +of his education and training, and will give him a start in life, and +maybe leave him a goodly sum of money when I die. Therefore, make your +mind easy on that point.”</p> + +<p>But I knew, though I was then but a lad, that she would never give over +fretting herself at the thought that I was to be lord of all the broad +acres and wide moors of Beechcot, and that Jasper would be but a +landless man. And so, though she never dare flout or oppress me in any +way, for fear of Sir Thurstan’s displeasure, she, without being openly +unfavorable, wasted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>no love on me, and no doubt often wished me out of +the way.</p> + +<p>At that time Jasper and I contrived to get on very well together. We +were but lads, and there was no feeling of rivalry between us. Indeed, I +do not think there would ever have been rivalry between us if that +foolish woman, my Aunt Barbara, had not begun sowing the seeds of +discord in her son’s mind. But as soon as he was old enough to +understand her, she began talking to him of Beechcot and its glories, +pointing out to him the wide park and noble trees, the broad acres +filled with golden grain, and the great moors that stretched away for +miles towards the sea; and she said, no doubt, how grand a thing it +would be to be lord of so excellent an estate, and how a man might enjoy +himself in its possession. Then she told him that I was to have all +these things when Sir Thurstan died, and thereafter my cousin Jasper +hated me. But he let his hate <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>smoulder within him a good while before +he showed it openly. One day, however, when we were out in the park with +our bows, he began to talk of the matter, and after a time we got to +high words.</p> + +<p>“My mother tells me, Humphrey,” said he, “that when my uncle Thurstan +dies all these fair lands will pass to thee. That is not right.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis our uncle’s land to do with as he pleases,” I answered. “We have +naught to do with it. If he likes to leave it to me, what hast thou to +say in the matter? ’Tis his affair; not thine, Master Jasper. Besides, I +am a Salkeld, and you are not.”</p> + +<p>“Is not my mother a Salkeld?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“It counts not by the mother,” I answered. “And, moreover, my father +would have heired the estate had he lived. But be not down-hearted about +it, Jasper, I will see that thou art provided for. When I am lord of +Beechcot I will make thee my steward.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p><p>Now, that vexed him sore, and he flew into a violent rage, declaring +that he would serve no man, and me last of all; and so violent did he +become that he was foolish to look at, and thereupon I laughed at him. +At that his rage did but increase, and he presently fitted an arrow to +his bow and shot at me meaning, I doubt not, to put an end to me +forever. But by good fortune his aim mischanced, and the arrow did no +more than pin me to the tree by which I stood, passing through my +clothes between the arm and the body. And at that we were both sobered, +and Jasper cooled his hot temper.</p> + +<p>“What wouldst thou have done if the arrow had passed through my heart, +as it might easily have chanced to do?” I inquired of him.</p> + +<p>“I would have gone home and told them that I had killed thee by +accident,” he answered readily enough. “Thou wouldst <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>have been dead, +and therefore no one could have denied my tale.”</p> + +<p>I said naught to that, but I there and then made up my mind that if ever +I went shooting with him again I would keep my eyes open. For I now saw +that he was not only false, but also treacherous. Indeed, I was somewhat +minded to go to my uncle and tell him what had taken place between us, +but I remembered that the good knight was not fond of carried tales, and +therefore I refrained.</p> + +<p>After that there was peace for some years, Dame Barbara having evidently +made up her mind to take things as they were. She was mortally afraid of +offending Sir Thurstan, for she had no jointure or portion of her own, +and was totally dependent upon his charity for a sustenance. This made +her conduct herself towards me with more consideration than I should +otherwise have received from her. Possibly she thought that it might be +well to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>keep in good favor with me in view of my succeeding Sir +Thurstan at no distant period. At any rate I had no more trouble with +Jasper, and I overheard no more unpleasant discussions between Dame +Barbara and the knight.</p> + +<p>From our tenth year upwards Jasper and myself daily attended the +vicarage, in order to be taught Greek, Latin, and other matters by the +Reverend Mr. Timotheus Herrick, vicar of Beechcot. He was a tall, thin, +spindle-shanked gentleman, very absent-minded, but a great scholar. It +was said of him, that if he had not married a very managing woman in the +shape of Mistress Priscilla Horbury, he would never have got through the +world. He had one child, Rose, of whom you will hear somewhat in this +history, and she was three years younger than myself. When Jasper and I +were thirteen and Rose ten years of age, she began to learn with us, and +presently made such progress that she caught <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>up to us, and then passed +us, and so made us ashamed of ourselves. After that she was always in +advance of us, and we used to procure her help in our lessons; then she +lorded it over us, as little maidens will over big lads, and we were her +humble slaves in everything.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>PHARAOH NANJULIAN.</h3> + +<p>Now it chanced that one afternoon in the June of 1575 Jasper and I were +on our way from the vicarage to the manor, our lessons for that day +being over. We had to pass through the village of Beechcot on our +homeward journey, and it was when we were opposite the inn, then kept by +Geoffrey Scales, that there occurred an incident which was to have a +greater influence upon our future lives than we then imagined. In the +wide space by the inn, formed by the meeting of four roads, there was +gathered together a goodly company of people, who seemed to be talking +as one man, and looking as with one eye at something in their midst.</p> + +<p>“What have we here?” said Jasper, as we paused. “Is it some bear-ward +with his bear, or one of those wandering Italians <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>that go about with a +guitar and a monkey?”</p> + +<p>“I hear no music,” said I. “It seems to be something of more importance +than either bear or monkey. Let us see for ourselves.”</p> + +<p>So we ran forward and joined the crowd, which began presently to make +way for us. Then we saw that nearly everybody in the village, saving +only the men who were at work in the fields, had run together with one +accord in order to stare and wonder at a man, who sat on the bench just +outside the ale-house door. It was clear to me at once that he was not a +native of those parts, and might possibly be a foreigner. He seemed to +be of thirty-five or forty years of age, his skin and hair were very +dark, and he wore a great black beard, which looked as if it had known +neither comb nor scissors for many a long month. Also he was of great +size and height, and on his brawny arms, which were bare from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>the +elbows downwards, there were figures and patterns traced in blue and +red, so that I at once set him down for a sailor, who had seen much life +in strange countries. As for his garments, they were much stained and +worn, and his feet, which were naked, were evidently callous and +hardened enough to stand even the roughest roads.</p> + +<p>When we first set eyes upon him the man was leaning back against the +wall of the ale-house, looking defiantly at John Broad, the constable, +who stood by him, and at Geoffrey Scales, the landlord, who stood behind +Broad. In the rear, holding his chin with one hand, and looking +exceeding rueful of countenance, stood Peter Pipe, the drawer. All round +them hung the crowd of men and women, lads and lasses, staring +open-mouthed at the great man with the black beard.</p> + +<p>“What’s all this?” said I, as we pushed our way to the front.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p><p>The sailor jumped to his feet and touched his forelock civilly enough. +He looked at John Broad.</p> + +<p>“Marry, Master Humphrey,” answered John Broad, “you see this great +fellow here, with a beard so long as the Turks? A’ cometh into our +village here, God knows where from, and must needs fall to breaking the +heads of peaceable and honest men.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis a lie,” said the sailor. “At least, that part of it which refers +to peaceable and honest men. As to the breaking of heads, I say naught.”</p> + +<p>“But whose head hath he broken?” asked Jasper.</p> + +<p>“Mine, sir,” whined Peter Pipe. “God ha’ mercy!—it sings like Benjamin +Good’s bees when they are hiving.”</p> + +<p>“And why did he break thy head?”</p> + +<p>“Let him say,” said the sailor. “Aye, let him say.”</p> + +<p>Peter Pipe shuffled his feet and looked <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>out of his eye-corners. He was +a creature of no spirit, and always in deadly fear of something or +somebody.</p> + +<p>“Maybe he will clout me again,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“Fear not,” said the sailor. “I would not hurt thee, thou +two-penny-halfpenny drawer of small beer. Say on.”</p> + +<p>“This man, then, Master Humphrey, a’ cometh into our kitchen and demands +a pot of ale. So I fetched it to him and he paid me—”</p> + +<p>“Was his money good?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, aye, good money enough, I warrant him,” said Geoffrey Scales.</p> + +<p>“I said naught to the contrary,” continued Peter. “But no sooner had he +drunk than he fell to cursing me for a thief, and swore that I had +served him with small beer, and with that he caught up the tankard and +heaved it at me with such force that my jaw is well-nigh broken.”</p> + +<p>“And didst serve him with small beer?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>“I serve him with small beer! Nay, Master Humphrey, bethink you. As if I +did not know the difference betwixt small beer and good ale!”</p> + +<p>“That thou dost not,” said the sailor. “Young sir, listen to me. I know +thee not, and I fear thee not, and I know not why I should trouble to +talk to thee. But thou seemest to be in authority.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis Sir Thurstan’s nephew,” whispered the constable.</p> + +<p>“What know I of Sir Thurstan? Young sir, I am a man of Cornwall, and my +name it is Pharaoh Nanjulian. They know me in Marazion. I have been on a +venture to the North Seas—plague take it, there is naught but ice and +snow there, with white bears twenty feet long—”</p> + +<p>“List to him!” said someone in the crowd.</p> + +<p>“I will show thee the white bear’s trick, an’ thou doubtest me. But to +proceed. Young sir, we were wrecked—sixteen <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>good men and true we +were—off the Norroway coasts, which methinks are fashioned of iron, and +we underwent trials, yea, and hunger. After a time we came to +Drontheim—”</p> + +<p>“Where is that?”</p> + +<p>“A sea-coast town of Norroway, young sir. And thence we took ship to +Scarborough. But there was no ship at Scarborough going south, wherefore +I set out for mine own country on foot. And to-day, which is my first on +this journey, I came to this inn for a pint of good ale, and paid my +money for it too, whereupon yonder scurvy knave gives me small beer, +thin as water. And I, being somewhat hot and choleric of temper, threw +the measure at him, and rewarded him for his insolence. So now I will go +on my way, for ’tis a brave step from here to Marazion, and I love not +ye north-country folk.”</p> + +<p>“Not so fast,” quoth John Broad. “Thou must needs see Sir Thurstan +before we let thee go.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>“What want I with Sir Thurstan?”</p> + +<p>“Marry, naught; but he may want something with thee. We allow not that +wandering rascals shall break the peace in our village.”</p> + +<p>“If thou talkest to me like that, Master Constable, I shall break thy +head, and in such a fashion that thou wilt never more know what peace +is. We men of Devon and Cornwall allow no man to lord it over us.”</p> + +<p>“Thou shalt to Sir Thurstan, anyhow,” said John Broad. “We will see what +the law says to thee. I fear me thou art a man of lawless behavior; and, +moreover, there are strange characters about at this moment.”</p> + +<p>“Dame Good had two fowls stolen last night,” said a voice in the crowd.</p> + +<p>“Yea, and there are two fine linen sheets stolen from the vicarage +hedge,” piped another.</p> + +<p>“He looks a strange mortal,” said a third.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p><p>“And wears gold rings in his ears,” cried a fourth. “A’ must be a +foreigner, and maybe a Papist.”</p> + +<p>“Foreigner or Papist I am not, good folks, but a true-born Englishman, +and a good hater of all Frenchmen and Spaniards. So let me go forward +peaceably. As for the clout I gave Master Peter, here is a groat to mend +it. I have but a round dozen, or I would give him two.”</p> + +<p>With that he would have moved forward, but John Broad barred the way.</p> + +<p>“Not till I have taken thee before his worship,” said he. “What, am I +not constable of this parish, and duly sworn to arrest all suspicious +persons, sturdy beggars, and what not?”</p> + +<p>The sailor paused and drew his breath, and looked at the constable’s +round figure as if in doubt what to do.</p> + +<p>“I am loth to hurt thee,” said he, “but if I hit thee, Master Constable, +thou wilt never more drink ale nor smell beef. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Know that once in +Palermo there came upon me a great brown bear that had got loose from +his ward, and I hit him fair and square between the eyes, and he fell, +and when they took him up, his skull it was cracked. Is thy skull harder +than the bear’s?”</p> + +<p>At this John Broad trembled and shrank away, but continued to mutter +something about the law and its majesty.</p> + +<p>“You had better go with him before my uncle,” said I. “He will deal +justly with thee. He is hard upon no man, but it might fare ill with +John Broad if Sir Thurstan knew that he had suffered you to go +unapprehended.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, if you put it in that way,” he answered, and turned again, “I will +go with you. Heaven send that the good gentleman do not detain me, for I +would fain reach York to-night.”</p> + +<p>So we all moved off to the manor, and as many as could find room crowded +into <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>the great hall where Sir Thurstan sat to deliver judgment on all +naughty and evilly-disposed persons. And presently he came and took his +seat in the justice-chair and commanded silence, and bade John Broad +state his case. Then Peter Pipe gave his testimony, and likewise +Geoffrey Scales, and then Sir Thurstan called upon the sailor to have +his say, for he made a practice of never condemning any man unheard.</p> + +<p>After he had heard them all, my uncle considered matters for a moment +and then delivered judgment, during which everybody preserved strict +silence.</p> + +<p>“I find, first of all,” said he, “that Peter Pipe, the drawer, did serve +this man with small beer instead of good ale. For what! I watched the +man as he told his story, and he did not lie.”</p> + +<p>“I thank your honor,” said the sailor.</p> + +<p>“Wherefore I recommend Geoffrey <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>Scales to admonish Peter at his +convenience—”</p> + +<p>“Yea, and with a stick, your honor,” said Geoffrey.</p> + +<p>“So that he transgress not again. Nevertheless, the sailor did wrong to +maltreat Peter. There is law to be had, and no man should administer his +own justice. Wherefore I fine thee, sailor, and order thee to pay ten +groats to the court.”</p> + +<p>“As your honor wills,” said the man, and handed over the money. “I have +now one left to see me all the way to Marazion. But justice is justice.”</p> + +<p>“Clear my hall, John Broad,” said my uncle. This order the constable +carried out with promptitude. But when the sailor would have gone, Sir +Thurstan bade him stay, and presently he called him to his side and held +converse with him.</p> + +<p>“Dost thou propose to walk to Marazion?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“With God’s help, sir,” answered the man.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p><p>“Why not try Hull? Thou mightest find a ship there for a southern port.”</p> + +<p>“I had never thought of it, your honor. How far away may Hull be?”</p> + +<p>“Forty miles. What means hast thou?”</p> + +<p>“But one groat, sir. But then I have become used to hardships.”</p> + +<p>“Try Hull: thou wilt find a ship there, I doubt not. Hold, here are +twelve shillings for thee. Humphrey, have him to the kitchen and give +him a good meal ere he starts.”</p> + +<p>“Your honor,” said the sailor, “is a father and a brother to me. I shall +not forget.”</p> + +<p>“Do thy duty,” said Sir Thurstan.</p> + +<p>So I took the man to the kitchen, and fed him, and soon he went away.</p> + +<p>“Young master,” said he, “if I can ever repay this kindness I will, yea, +with interest. Pharaoh Nanjulian never forgets.”</p> + +<p>With that he went away, and we saw him no more.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>ROSE.</h3> + +<p>There being no disposition on my part to renew our differences, and none +on his to lead up to an open rupture, my cousin Jasper Stapleton and I +got on together very well, until we had reached the age of nineteen +years, when a new and far more important matter of contention arose +between us.</p> + +<p>Now, our first quarrel had arisen over the ultimate disposition of my +uncle’s estates; our second was as to which should be lord over the +heart and hand of a fair maiden. To both of us the second quarrel was +far more serious than the first—which is a thing that will readily be +understood by all young folks. It seemed to both of us that not all the +broad acres of Beechcot, nay, of Yorkshire itself, were to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>be reckoned +in comparison with the little hand of Mistress Rose Herrick.</p> + +<p>For by that time Mistress Rose had grown to be a fair and gracious +maiden, whose golden hair, floating from under her dainty cap, was a +dangerous snare for any hot-hearted lad’s thoughts to fall entangled in. +So sweet and gracious was she, so delightful her conversation, so +bewitching her eyes, that I marvel not even at this stretch of time that +I then became her captive and slave for life. Nor do I marvel, either, +that Jasper Stapleton was equally enslaved by her charms. It had indeed +been wonderful if he or I had made any resistance to them.</p> + +<p>As to myself, the little blind god pierced my heart with his arrow at a +very early stage. Indeed, I do not remember any period of my life when I +did not love Rose Herrick more dearly than anything else in God’s fair +world. To me she was all that is sweet and desirable, a companion whose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>company must needs make the path of life a primrose path; and, +therefore, even when I was a lad, I looked forward to the time when I +might take her hand in mine, and enter with her upon the highway which +all of us must travel.</p> + +<p>However, when I was come to nineteen years of age, being then a tall and +strapping lad, and somewhat grave withal, it came to my mind that I +should find out for myself what feelings Rose had with regard to me, and +therefore I began to seek her company, and to engage her in more +constant conversation than we had hitherto enjoyed. And the effect of +this was that my love for her, which had until then been of a placid +nature, now became restless and unsatisfied, and longed to know whether +it was to be answered with love or finally dismissed.</p> + +<p>Thus I became somewhat moody and taciturn, and took to wandering about +the land by myself, by day or night, so that Sir <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>Thurstan more than +once asked me if I had turned poet or fallen in love. Now, both these +things were true, for because I had fallen in love I had also turned +poet; as, I suppose, every lover must. In sooth, I had scribbled lines +and couplets, and here and there a song, to my sweet mistress, though I +had never as yet mustered sufficient courage to show her what I had +written. That, I think, is the way with all lovers who make rhymes. +There is a satisfaction to them in the mere writing of them; and I doubt +not that they often read over their verses, and in the reading find a +certain keen and peculiar sort of pleasure which is not altogether +unmixed with pain.</p> + +<p>Now it chanced that one day in the early spring of 1578 I had been +wandering about the park of Beechcot, thinking of my passion and its +object, and my thoughts as usual had clothed themselves in verses. +Wherefore, when I again reached the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>house, I went into the library and +wrote down my rhymes on paper, in order that I might put them away with +my other compositions. I will write them down here from the copy I then +made. It lies before me now, a yellow, time-stained sheet, and somehow +it brings back to me the long-dead days of happiness which came before +my wonderful adventure.</p> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<p class="center">TO ROSE.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When I first beheld thee, dear,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Day across the land was breaking,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">April skies were fine and clear<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the world to life was waking;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">All was fair<br /></span> +<span class="i4">In earth and air:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spring lay lurking in the sedges:<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Suddenly<br /></span> +<span class="i4">I looked on thee<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And straight forgot the budding hedges.<br /></span></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When I first beheld thee, sweet,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Madcap Love came gayly flying<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the woods and meadows meet:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Then I straightway fell a-sighing.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span><span class="i4">Fair, I said,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Are hills and glade<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sweet the light with which they’re laden,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But ah, to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Nor flower nor tree<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are half so sweet as yonder maiden.<br /></span></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thus when I beheld thee, love,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Vanished quick my first devotion,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Earth below and heaven above<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the mystic, magic ocean<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Seemed to me<br /></span> +<span class="i4">No more to be.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I had eyes for naught but thee, dear,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">With his dart<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Love pierced my heart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thou wert all in all to me, dear!<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>Now, as I came to an end of writing these verses I was suddenly aware of +someone standing at my side, and when I looked up, with anger and +resentment that anyone should spy upon my actions, I saw my cousin +Jasper at my elbow, staring at the two words, “To Rose,” which headed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>my composition. I sprang to my feet and faced him.</p> + +<p>“That is like you, cousin,” said I, striving to master my anger, “to act +the spy upon a man.”</p> + +<p>“As you please,” he answered. “I care what no man thinks of my actions. +But there,” pointing to the paper, “is proof of what I have long +suspected. Humphrey, you are in love with Mistress Rose Herrick!”</p> + +<p>“What if I am?” said I.</p> + +<p>“Nothing, but that I also am in love with her, and mean to win her,” he +replied.</p> + +<p>After that there was silence.</p> + +<p>“We cannot both have her,” said I at last.</p> + +<p>“True,” said he. “She shall be mine.”</p> + +<p>“Not if I can prevent it, cousin. At any rate she has the principal say +in this matter.”</p> + +<p>“Thou hast not spoken to her, Humphrey?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p><p>“What is that to thee, cousin? But I have not.”</p> + +<p>“Humphrey, thou wilt heir our uncle’s lands. Thou hast robbed me of my +share in them. I will not be robbed of my love. Pish! do not stay me. +Thou art hot-tempered and boyish, but I am cold as an icicle. It is men +like me whose love is deep and determined, and therefore I swear thou +shalt not come between me and Rose Herrick.”</p> + +<p>I watched him closely, and saw that he valued nothing of land or money +as he valued his passion, and that he would stay at nothing in order to +gain his own ends. But I was equally firm.</p> + +<p>“What do you propose, Jasper?” I asked. “It is for Mistress Rose Herrick +to decide. We cannot both address her at the same time.”</p> + +<p>“True,” he said; “true. I agree that you have the same right to speak to +her that I have. Let us draw lots. The successful <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>one shall have the +first chance. Do you agree?”</p> + +<p>I agreed willingly, because I felt certain that even if Jasper beat me +he would have no chance with Rose. There was something in my heart that +told me she would look on me, and on me only, with favor.</p> + +<p>We went out into the stackyard, and agreed that each of us should draw a +straw from a wheat-stack. He that drew the longest straw should have the +first right of speaking. Then we put our hands to the stack and drew our +straws. I beat him there—my straw was a good foot longer than his.</p> + +<p>“You have beaten me again,” he said. “Is it always to be so? But I will +wait, cousin Humphrey.”</p> + +<p>And so he turned away and left me.</p> + +<p>Now, seeing how matters stood, it came to my mind that I had best put my +fortune to the test as quickly as possible, and therefore I made haste +over to the vicarage in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>order to find Rose and ask her to make me +either happy or miserable. And as good luck would have it, I found her +alone in the vicarage garden, looking so sweet and gracious that I was +suddenly struck dumb, and in my confusion could think of naught but that +my face was red, my attire negligent, and my whole appearance not at all +like that of a lover.</p> + +<p>“Humphrey,” said Rose, laughing at me, “you look as you used to look in +the days when you came late to your lessons, from robbing an orchard or +chasing Farmer Good’s cattle, or following the hounds. Are you a boy +again?”</p> + +<p>But there she stopped, for I think she saw something in my eyes that +astonished her. And after that I know not what we said or did, save that +presently we understood one another, and for the space of an hour +entirely forgot that there were other people in the world, or, indeed, +that there was any world at all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>So that evening I went home happy. And as I marched up to the manor, +whistling and singing, I met my cousin. He looked at me for a moment, +and then turned on his heel.</p> + +<p>“I see how it is,” he said. “You have no need to speak.”</p> + +<p>“Congratulate me, at any rate, cousin,” I cried.</p> + +<p>“Time enough for that,” said he.</p> + +<p>And from that moment he hated me, and waited his opportunity to do me a +mischief.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>FOUL PLAY.</h3> + +<p>When a man has conceived a deadly hatred of one of his fellow-men, and +has further resolved to let slip no chance of satisfying it, his revenge +becomes to him simply a question of time, for the chance is sure to come +sooner or later.</p> + +<p>It was this conviction, I think, that kept my cousin Jasper Stapleton +quiet during the next few months. He knew that in due course his revenge +would have an opportunity of glutting itself, and for that evil time he +was well content to wait. You may wonder that so young a man should have +possessed such cruel feelings toward one who had never done him any +willful wrong. But as events proved Jasper was of an exceeding cruel and +malignant nature, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>his wickedness was all the worse because it was +of a cold and calculating sort. If a man gave him an honest +straightforward blow or buffet, it was not Jasper’s way to strike back +there and then, face to face, but rather to wait until some evil chance +presented itself—and then, his adversary’s back being turned, Jasper +would plant a dagger between his shoulders. In other words, he bided his +time, and when he did strike, struck at an unguarded place.</p> + +<p>Now at that time I had very little idea that Jasper entertained such +hard thoughts of me—my knowledge of his cruelty only came by later +experience. All that spring and summer of 1578 I was living in a very +paradise, and cared not for Jasper or Dame Barbara or anybody else. My +uncle had sanctioned the betrothal of Rose Herrick and myself, and the +good vicar had given us his blessing in choice Latin. There had been +some little scolding of us from both manor-house and vicarage, for Sir +Thurstan <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>and Master Timotheus both thought us too young to talk of love +and marriage; but in the end our pleadings prevailed, and it was +arranged that we were to consider ourselves plighted lovers, and that +our wedding was to take place in two years. This settled, there was +naught but happiness for me and Rose. I think we spent most of that +summer out of doors, wandering about the Chase, and talking as lovers +will, of all the days to come. Never once did there come a cloud over +the fair heaven of our hopes, unless it was once, when in a remote +corner of the woods, we suddenly came face to face with Jasper +Stapleton. He had been out with his bow, and when we met him he was +advancing along the path, with a young deer slung over his shoulders. At +the sound of our footsteps on the crackling underwood, he stopped, +looked up, and, recognizing us, turned hastily away and vanished in the +thick bushes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p><p>“Why did Jasper go away so suddenly?” asked Rose.</p> + +<p>“Because he was not minded to meet us,” said I.</p> + +<p>“But why? And I have not seen him these many weeks—he seems to avoid +me. Did you mark his face, Humphrey,—how white it turned when he set +eyes on us? And there was a look on it that frightened me—a look that +seemed to promise no love for you, Humphrey,” she said.</p> + +<p>“Have no fear, sweetheart,” I answered. “Jasper is a strange fellow, but +he will do me no harm. He is only disappointed because I have won a +flower that he would fain have possessed himself.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“I mean, sweetheart, that Jasper was much in love with Mistress Rose +Herrick, and liked not that Humphrey Salkeld should win her. +There—perhaps I have done wrong to tell thee this; but, indeed, I like +not mysteries.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p><p>But so strange are women, that Rose immediately fell to sighing and +lamenting on Jasper’s woes. “It is sad,” she said, “that any man should +sorrow over a maiden’s pretty face, when there are so many girls in the +world.” This train of thought, however, suddenly slipped from her when +she remembered Master Jasper’s ugly looks.</p> + +<p>“He will do you a mischief, Humphrey,” she said. “I saw it in his eyes. +He hates you. They say that jealousy breeds murder—oh! what if Jasper +should try to kill you?”</p> + +<p>I laughed at the notion. I was so cock-a-whoop at that time, so elated +with my love and my fair prospects, that I did not believe anything +could harm me, and said so. Nevertheless, I believe Rose was from that +time much concerned as to the relations between me and Jasper, having +some woman-born notion that all might not go so well as I, in my boyish +confidence, anticipated. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>But when she set forth her fears from time to +time, I only laughed at her, never thinking that my cousin’s opportunity +was already close at hand.</p> + +<p>Early in the month of October in that year Sir Thurstan called Jasper +and myself into the library one morning, and informed us that he had +business for us at the port of Scarborough. There was, he said, a ship +coming over from Hamburg, the master of which had been entrusted with a +certain commission from him, and as the vessel was now due, he wished us +to go over to Scarborough and complete the matter, by receiving certain +goods and paying the master his money. Neither Jasper nor I were +displeased at the notion of this trip, for we were both minded to see a +little of the world. True, I did not like the idea of being separated +from my sweetheart for several days; but then, as she said, there would +be the delight of looking forward to our meeting again. Alas! neither of +us <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>knew that that meeting was not to take place for three long and +weary years.</p> + +<p>We set out from Beechcot, Jasper and I, one Monday morning, having with +us money wherewith to pay the charges of the ship-master. From the +manor-house to Scarborough there was a distance of twenty odd miles, and +therefore we rode our horses. Sir Thurstan had given us instructions to +put up at the Mermaid Tavern, near the harbor, and there we accordingly +stabled our beasts and made arrangements for our own accommodation. The +ship which we were expecting had not yet arrived, and was not likely to +come in before the next day, so that we had naught to do but look about +us and derive what amusement we could from the sights of the little +fishing town. Small as the place was, it being then little more than a +great cluster of houses nestling under the shadow of the high rock on +which stands Scarborough Castle, it was still a place of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>importance to +us, who had never for many years seen any town or village bigger than +our own hamlet of Beechcot, where there were no more than a dozen +farmsteads and cottages all told. Also the sailors, who hung about the +harbor or on the quay-side, or who sat in their boats mending their nets +and spinning their yarns one to another, were sources of much interest, +so that we felt two or three days of life in their company would not be +dull nor misspent. Moreover, the merchant, whose ship it was that +carried Sir Thurstan’s goods, showed us much attention, and would have +us to his house to talk with him and tell him of our uncle, whose +acquaintance he had made many years previously, but had not been able to +cultivate.</p> + +<p>There is, near the harbor of Scarborough, lying half-hid amongst the +narrow streets which run up towards the Castle Hill, a quaint and +curious inn known as the Three Jolly Mariners. At its door stands a +figure <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>carved in wood, which at some time, no doubt, acted as +figurehead to a ship, but whether it represents Venus or Diana, Hebe or +Minerva, I do not know. Inside, the house more resembles the cabin of a +vessel than the parlor of a tavern. On the walls are many curious things +brought by mariners from foreign parts, together with relics of ships +that had made many voyages from the harbor outside, and had finally come +home to be broken up. In this place, half-parlor, half-cabin, there +assembled men of seafaring life: salts, young and old, English, Scotch, +Norwegians, and Danes, with now and then a Frenchman or Spaniard, so +that there is never any lack of interesting and ofttimes marvelous +discourse.</p> + +<p>Our ship not having come in on the Tuesday night, Jasper and I, in +company with the merchant aforesaid, entered the Three Jolly Mariners, +and having saluted the assembled company, sat down to wait <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>awhile, the +harbor-master thinking it likely that our vessel would shortly be +signaled. There were several men in the inn, drinking and talking, and +all were of interest in my eyes, but one of them much more so than the +others. He was a stoutly-built, tall man of middle age, dressed in what +seemed to my eyes a very fantastic style, there being more color in his +dress than was then usual. He had a high, white forehead, over which his +jet-black hair was closely cropped, his eyes were set rather too near +together to be pleasant, his nose was long, his teeth very white and +large, and his beard, almost as black as his hair, was trimmed to a +point. As he sat and listened to the conversation around him he never +laughed, but occasionally he smiled, exposing his cruel teeth, and +reminding me of a dog that shows its fangs threateningly.</p> + +<p>Our friend the merchant whispered to us that this gentleman was a +certain Captain Manuel Nunez, who came trading to Scarborough <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>from +Seville. He further informed us that his ship now lay outside in the +harbor, and was a fine vessel, of very graceful proportions, and much +more beautiful to look at than our English ships, which are somewhat +squat and ugly, though not difficult to handle.</p> + +<p>“And although he is a Spaniard,” continued our friend, “this Senor Nunez +is well liked here, for he makes himself courtly and agreeable to those +who have to do with him, so that our recent relations with his country +have not prevented him from coming amongst us.”</p> + +<p>However, there was something about the man which almost made me afraid. +He reminded me of a viper which I once killed in Beechcot Woods. And +though we entered into conversation with him that night, and found him a +mightily agreeable companion, I still preserved the notion that he was a +man not to be trusted, and like to prove cruel and treacherous.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p><p>The following day, going down to the harbor-wall to see if there were +any signs of our ship, I saw my cousin engaged in close conversation +with Senor Nunez. I did not intrude myself upon them, but presently the +Spaniard, catching sight of me, came to my side, and with a courteous +salutation addressed me.</p> + +<p>“I have been inviting your good cousin, Master Stapleton, to go aboard +my vessel yonder,” said he, “and I would tender the same courtesy to +yourself, Master Salkeld. It is not often that an English country +gentleman has a chance of seeing a Spanish ship in these sad days, +unless, alack! it be in this deplorable warfare; and, therefore, I +thought you might both be glad of this opportunity.”</p> + +<p>“What do you say, Humphrey?” asked Jasper, who had now approached us. “I +would like to see the inside of a Spanish ship. If ’tis aught like the +outside it should be well worth an examination.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>“A look at the Santa Luisa will repay your trouble, gentlemen,” said the +Spaniard with a proud smile. “There is no faster ship for her size on +the high seas.”</p> + +<p>“I am agreeable,” said I. “Our own ship is not yet come, and time begins +to hang heavy.”</p> + +<p>“Then you shall come on board to-night,” said Captain Nunez. “Until six +of the clock I am engaged on shore, but at that hour I will have a boat +awaiting us at the harbor stairs, and you shall go aboard with me, +gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>So we agreed and parted with him, Jasper full of the matter, and +exclaiming that we should have much to tell the folks at home. I, +however, was beginning to get somewhat impatient with respect to our own +ship, which its owner now believed to have been unexpectedly detained, +and I only regarded the visit to the Santa Luisa as a diversion.</p> + +<p>At six o’clock that night, Jasper and I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>met the Spaniard at the harbor +stairs and went on board his vessel. We found the Santa Luisa to be a +very fine ship, and of much more pretentious appearance as regarded her +fittings than our own English trading vessels. We passed an hour or so +in examining her, and were then pressed by Senor Nunez to enter his +cabin and enjoy his hospitality.</p> + +<p>I have no very clear recollection of what followed. I remember that we +ate and drank, that the Spaniard was vastly amusing in his discourse, +and that I began to feel mighty sleepy. After that I must have gone to +sleep.</p> + +<p>When I came to my full senses again I was lying in a hammock, and I +could tell from the motion of the ship that we were at sea in a good, +fresh wind. The Spaniard stood by me, regarding me attentively. I +started up and addressed him.</p> + +<p>“Senor Nunez! I have been asleep. Where am I? The ship seems to be +moving!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p><p>“The ship is moving, Master Salkeld,” he answered, in his smooth, rich +voice. “At this moment she is off the Lincolnshire coast. You have slept +for twelve hours.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>PHARAOH NANJULIAN AGAIN.</h3> + +<p>I do not know to this day how I got out of the hammock, but no sooner +did I hear the Spanish captain utter these words than I made haste to go +on deck and examine the truth of his statement for myself. But before I +could reach the companion I reeled and staggered, and should have +fallen, if Nunez had not seized my arm and supported me. He helped me to +a seat, and handed me a glass containing a restorative.</p> + +<p>“You are not well,” he said. “But you will come round presently.”</p> + +<p>“Senor!” I cried, “what is the meaning of this? Why am I on this ship, +and why are we at sea? How is it that I am not at Scarborough? There has +been some treachery—some foul play!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p><p>“Nay,” said he, “be moderate, I entreat you, Senor. Do not let there be +any talk of treachery. Am I not serving you as a friend?”</p> + +<p>“I do not comprehend anything of what you say,” I answered. “There is +some mystery here. Again I ask you—why am I on board your ship and at +sea?”</p> + +<p>“And I ask you, Senor, where else did you expect to be but on board my +ship and at sea?”</p> + +<p>I stared at the man in amaze and wonder. He returned my gaze +unflinchingly, but I felt certain that in his eyes there was a cruel +mockery of me, and my blood seemed to turn cold within me as I +recognized that I was in the Spaniard’s power. But, being now in a +desperate mood, I strove to be cool and to keep my wits about me.</p> + +<p>“I expected to be at Scarborough, Senor,” I said. “Where else? I +remember coming aboard your vessel and eating <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>and drinking with you, +but after that I must have fallen asleep. I wake and find myself at +sea.”</p> + +<p>“Naturally you do,” said he with a smile. “Allow me, Master Salkeld, to +recall to you certain incidents which took place last night. You came on +board my ship with your cousin, Master Stapleton, and I offered you my +poor hospitality. Was that all that took place?”</p> + +<p>“It was,” said I, confidently enough.</p> + +<p>“That is strange,” said he, giving me another of his queer looks. “I +fear you have undergone some strange mental change in your long sleep. +But as I perceive that you do not understand me, I will explain matters +to you. Last night, Master Salkeld, as you and your cousin sat at meat +with me, you explained to me that you had committed some great crime +against the laws of your country, and that it was necessary, if you +would save your head, to leave England at once. I remarked that I was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>about to set sail for the West Indies, and should be pleased to take +you as my passenger, whereupon you and your cousin having consulted +together, you paid me the passage-money—and here we are.”</p> + +<p>The man told me all this with the utmost assurance, his face utterly +unmoved and his strange eyes inscrutable. It was a lie from beginning to +end, and I knew it to be a lie. Nevertheless, I knew also that I was +powerless, and I made up my mind to act prudently.</p> + +<p>“Senor,” I replied, “as between you and me, I may as well tell you that +I do not believe a single word of what you have said. There has been +treachery—and it lies with you and my rascal cousin, Jasper Stapleton. +I have committed no crime against the laws, and I wish to be put ashore +at your earliest opportunity.”</p> + +<p>“You shall be obeyed, Master Salkeld,” he replied, bowing low, but with +a mocking smile about his lips.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p><p>“Where do you first touch land?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“I have already told you, Master Salkeld. Somewhere in the West Indies.”</p> + +<p>“But you do not mean to carry me to the West Indies?” I cried. “Why, +’tis a journey of many thousands of miles!”</p> + +<p>“Precisely. Nevertheless, you must undertake it. We touch no land until +we make Barbadoes or Martinique.”</p> + +<p>I said no more; it was useless. I was in the man’s power. Nothing that I +could say or do would alter his purpose. There had been villainy and +treachery—and my cousin, Jasper Stapleton, had worked it. I +comprehended everything at that moment. I had been lured on board the +Spanish vessel and subsequently drugged, in order that Jasper might rid +himself of my presence. That was plainly to be seen. But what of the +future? The West Indies, I knew, were thousands of miles away. They were +in the hands of our hereditary <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>enemies, the Spaniards. From them I +should receive scant mercy or consideration. I was penniless—for my +money had disappeared—and even if I had possessed money, what would it +have benefited me in a savage land like that to which I was being +carried? I might wait there many a long year without meeting with an +English ship. I turned to the Spaniard.</p> + +<p>“So I am a prisoner, Senor,—your prisoner?”</p> + +<p>“My ship and my goods are at your disposal, Senor,” he replied.</p> + +<p>“So long as I do not make any demands upon them, eh?”</p> + +<p>“Say unreasonable demands, Master Salkeld. As a matter of fact you are +free to walk or stand, sit or lie, wake or sleep as you please. I +entertain you as I best can until we touch land—and then you go your +own way. You have made a contract with me, you have paid your money, and +now I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>have nothing to do but carry out my share of the bargain.”</p> + +<p>“And that is——?”</p> + +<p>“To take you to the West Indies.”</p> + +<p>“Very good, Senor. Now we understand each other. You will perhaps not +object to my telling you, that when I next meet my cousin, Master Jasper +Stapleton, I will break his head for his share in this foul conspiracy.”</p> + +<p>“I do not object in the least, Master Salkeld. But you do well to say, +when you next meet him.”</p> + +<p>“Why so, Senor?”</p> + +<p>“Because it is so highly improbable. Indeed, you will never be so near +England again as you are at this moment.”</p> + +<p>I looked through the port, and saw the long, flat Lincolnshire coast. +The day was dull and heavy, and the land was little more than a gray +bank, but it meant much to me. I was being carried away from all that I +loved, from my sweetheart, my uncle, my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>friends, from everything that +had grown a part of my daily life. And I was going—where? That I knew +not. Not to the West Indies—no, I was sure of that. Captain Manuel +Nunez was an accomplished liar in everything, and I felt sure that he +had another lie in reserve yet. At the thought of him and of Jasper’s +villainy the blood boiled in my veins, and tears of rage and despair +gathered in my eyes. But what was the use of anger or sorrow? I was +powerless.</p> + +<p>I now made up my mind to show a good face to all these troubles and +difficulties, and, therefore, I strove to be as much at my ease as was +possible under the circumstances. I walked the decks, talked with such +of the men as knew a word or two of English, and cultivated as much of +the captain’s acquaintance as my aversion to his wickedness would +permit. I learnt the names of masts, sheets, stays, and sprits, and +picked up other information of seafaring <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>matters, thinking that it +might some day be useful to me. I am bound to say that Senor Manuel +Nunez was very courteous towards me. But what avails courtesy, when the +courteous man is only waiting his time to injure you?</p> + +<p>We had been at sea something like three weeks, and had passed Ushant +four days previously, when, sailing south-by-west, we were overtaken by +a gale and had to run before it with bare poles. Upon the second +morning, our lookout, gazing across a stormy sea, cried that he saw a +man clinging to a piece of wreckage on the lee bow, and presently all +those on deck were conscious of the same sight. The man was drifting and +tossing half a mile away, and had seen us, for he was making frantic +efforts to attract our notice. I was somewhat surprised when Captain +Nunez took steps to rescue him, for it would have fitted in with my +notion of his character if he had suffered the wretch to remain unaided, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>However, he sent off a boat, which eventually brought away the man from +his piece of wreckage, and had hard work to make the ship again, for the +sea was running hard and high. The rescued man crouched in the stern, +hiding his head in his hands, so that I did not see his face until he +came aboard. Then it seemed familiar, but I could not bethink me where I +had seen it before.</p> + +<p>“And who art thou, friend?” asked Nunez.</p> + +<p>“A mariner of Plymouth, good sir,” answered the man, “and sole survivor +of the ship Hawthorn. Lost she is, and all hands, save only me.”</p> + +<p>Then I suddenly recognized him. It was the Cornish sailor, Pharaoh +Nanjulian. So the sea had given me a friend in need.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>SCHEMES AND STRATAGEMS.</h3> + +<p>I was not minded to let Captain Nunez and the crew—every man of which +was either Spaniard or Portugee—see that I had any knowledge of the man +whom they had rescued, and therefore I presently went below and kept out +of the way for a while. Somehow I felt a considerable sense of +gratification at the thought of the Cornishman’s presence on board. He +seemed to me a man of resource and of courage, and I no sooner set eyes +on him in this remarkable fashion, than I began to think how he might +aid me in making my escape from my present position.</p> + +<p>After a time Nunez came down into the cabin where I sat, and began to +talk with me.</p> + +<p>“We have fallen in with a countryman <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>of yours, Master Salkeld,” said +he, regarding me closely, as if he wished to see how I took the news.</p> + +<p>“Indeed!” said I. “The man just come aboard?”</p> + +<p>“The same. A native of Cornwall, with an outlandish name, and an +appetite as large as his body, judging by the way he eats.”</p> + +<p>“He is no doubt hungry, Senor,” I said. “Perhaps he has been tossing +about for a while.”</p> + +<p>“A day and a night. One additional mouth, Master Salkeld, is what I did +not bargain for.”</p> + +<p>“But you would not have allowed the man to drift away to starvation and +death?” I said.</p> + +<p>“His life was no concern of mine, Master Salkeld. But I can make him +useful; therefore he was worth saving. I shall enroll him as one of my +crew, and carry him to the Indies.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p>“And then?”</p> + +<p>“Then he will go ashore with you, unless he prefers to go back with me +to Cadiz—which he probably will not do.”</p> + +<p>He left me then, and I sat wondering what he meant by saying that the +English sailor would probably not care to go back to Spain with him. +There seemed something sinister in his meaning. But I gave over thinking +about it, for I was by that time firmly convinced that Captain Manuel +Nunez was a thorough-paced scoundrel, and well fitted to undertake all +manner of villainy, despite his polished manners and fine words. Also, I +was certain that there was in store for me some unpleasant and possibly +terrible fate, which I was powerless to avoid and which was certain to +come. Therefore I had resigned myself to my conditions, and only hoped +to show myself a true Englishman when my time of trouble came.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, many a sad hour and day <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>did I spend, looking across the +great wild waste of gray water and wondering what they were doing at +Beechcot. In my sad thoughts and in my dreams I could see the little +hamlet nestling against the purple Wold; the brown leaves piled high +about the shivering hedgerows; the autumn sunlight shining over the +close-cropped fields; and in the manor-house the good knight, my uncle, +seated by his wood-fire, wondering what had become of me. Also I could +see the old vicarage and the vicar, good Master Timotheus, thumbing his +well-loved folios, and occasionally pushing his spectacles from his nose +to look round and inquire whether there was yet news of the boy +Humphrey. But more than these, I saw my sweetheart’s face, sad and weary +with fear, and her eyes seemed as if they looked for something and were +unsatisfied. And then would come worse thoughts—thoughts of Jasper and +his villainy, and of what it might have prompted him to in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>way of +lies. He would carry home a straight and an ingenious tale—I was very +sure of that. He would tell them I was drowned or kidnaped, and nobody +would doubt his story. That was the worst thought of all—that my dear +ones should be thinking of me as one dead while I was simply a prisoner, +being carried I knew not where, nor to what fate.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the second day after the Cornish sailor came aboard, +the weather having moderated and the ship making good progress, I was +leaning over the port bulwarks moodily gazing at the sea, when I felt a +touch on my hand. Looking round, I saw the Englishman engaged in coiling +a rope close to me. He continued his task and spoke in a low voice.</p> + +<p>“I recognized you, master,” said he. “I looked through the skylight last +night as you talked with the captain, and I knew you again. I know not +how you came <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>here, nor why, but it is strange company for a young +English gentleman.”</p> + +<p>“I was trapped on board,” I said.</p> + +<p>“I thought so,” he responded. “But speak low, master, and take no heed +of me. We can converse while I work, but it will not do for us to be +seen talking too much. The less we are noticed together the better for +our necks. How came you here, master? I had no thought of seeing you in +such company.”</p> + +<p>I told him as briefly as possible while he continued to coil the rope.</p> + +<p>“Aye,” said he, when I had finished my story, “I expected something of +that sort. Well, I am glad that the old Hawthorn left me swimming, +though sorry enough that all her merry men are gone down below. But +what! death must come. Now, young master, what can we do? I swore a +solemn oath when your good uncle befriended me that I would serve you. +This is the time. What can I do?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p><p>“Alas,” said I, “I know not.”</p> + +<p>“Do you know whither we are bound?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“The Captain says to the West Indies. But I do not know if that be true +or false.”</p> + +<p>“More likely to be false than true, master. Now, then, hearken to me, +young sir. I have seen a deal of life, and have been a mariner this +thirty year or more. We must use our wits. Can you, do you think, find +out what our destination really is?”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid not,” I replied. “Nunez will not tell me more than he has +already told me.”</p> + +<p>“True,” said he; “true—you will get naught out of him. But I have a +better chance. I can talk to the men—well it is that I know their lingo +sufficiently for that. But nay, I will not talk to them, I will listen +instead. They do not know that I understand Spanish. There are three of +them speak broken English—they shall do the talking. I will keep my +ears open for their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>Spanish—peradventure I shall hear something worth +my trouble. You see, master, if we only know where we are going, and +what we have to expect when we get there, we shall be in a much better +position than we are now. For now we are as men that walk in a fog, not +knowing where the next step will take them.”</p> + +<p>“I will do whatever you wish,” said I.</p> + +<p>“Then be careful not to have over-much converse with me, master. Yon +Nunez has the eye of a hawk and the stealth of a viper, and if he does +but suspect that you and I are in treaty together, he will throw me +overboard with a dagger wound under my shoulder-blade.”</p> + +<p>“How shall we hold converse, then?”</p> + +<p>“As we are now doing. If I have aught to tell you I will give you a sign +when you are near me. A wink, or a nod, or a cough—either will do. And +what I have to say I will say quickly, so that whoever watches us will +think we do no more than pass the time of day.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>So for that time we parted, and during the next few days I watched for +Pharaoh Nanjulian’s sign eagerly, and was sadly disappointed when I +received it not. Indeed, for nearly a week he took no notice of me +whatever, giving me not even a sign of recognition as I passed him on +the deck, so that Nunez was minded to remark upon his indifference.</p> + +<p>“Your countryman seems but a surly dog,” said he. “I should have thought +he would have sought your company, Master Salkeld, but he seems to care +no more for it than for that of the ship’s dog.”</p> + +<p>“He is a Cornishman and a sailor, and I am a Yorkshireman and a +gentleman,” said I. “In England we should not associate one with the +other, so wherefore should we here?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, true, unless that you are companions in adversity, and that makes +strange bedfellows,” said he. “But you English are not given to +talking.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>I hoped that he really thought so, and that he had no idea of the +thoughts within me. I was ready enough to talk when Pharaoh Nanjulian +gave the signal.</p> + +<p>It came at last as he stood at the wheel one night, and I stood near, +apparently idling away my time.</p> + +<p>“Now, master,” said he, “continue looking over the side and I will talk. +I have found out where we are going.”</p> + +<p>“Well?” I said, eager enough for his news.</p> + +<p>“We are bound for Vera Cruz, master.”</p> + +<p>“Where is that? In the West Indies?”</p> + +<p>“It is a port of Mexico, master, and in the possession of the Spaniards, +who are devils in human shape.”</p> + +<p>“And what will they do with us there?”</p> + +<p>“That I have also found out. It seems that your good cousin, Master +Stapleton, did make a bargain with this noble Spanish gentleman, Captain +Nunez, for getting you out of the way. The bo’s’n, Pedro, says <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>that +your cousin suggested that Nunez should sail you out to sea, and then +knock you on the head and heave you overboard. But Nunez would have none +of that, and decided that he would carry you with him to Vera Cruz.”</p> + +<p>“And what will befall me at Vera Cruz?”</p> + +<p>“He, being a pious man, will hand you over to the Holy Office.”</p> + +<p>“To the Holy Office! You mean the Inquisitors? And they——”</p> + +<p>“They will burn you for a Lutheran dog, master.”</p> + +<p>We were both silent for awhile. I was thinking of naught but the +fiendish cruelty which existed in such a man as Manuel Nunez. Presently +I thought of Pharaoh Nanjulian.</p> + +<p>“And yourself?” I said. “What will he do with you?”</p> + +<p>“I am to share your fate, master. Senor Nunez is a good and pious son of +Mother Church, and he will wipe out a score or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>two of sins by +presenting the stake with two English heretics.”</p> + +<p>After that I thought again for a time.</p> + +<p>“Pharaoh,” I said at last, “we will not die very willingly. I have a +good deal to live for. There is my sweetheart and my uncle to go back +to, and also I have an account to settle with Jasper Stapleton. I will +make an effort to do all this before my time comes.”</p> + +<p>“I am with you, master,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Have you thought of anything?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“Nothing, but that we must escape,” he answered.</p> + +<p>“Could we manage that after the ship reaches Vera Cruz?”</p> + +<p>“No, for a surety. We shall be watched as cats watch mice. If we ever +set foot on a quay-side in that accursed port, master, we are dead men. +God help us! I know what the mercies of these Spaniards are. I stood in +the City of Mexico and saw two <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>Englishmen burnt. That was ten years +ago. But more of that anon. Let us see to the present. We are dead men, +I say, if we set foot in Vera Cruz, or any port of that cruel region.”</p> + +<p>“Then there is but one thing for us,” I said.</p> + +<p>“And that, master?”</p> + +<p>“We must leave this ship before she drops anchor.”</p> + +<p>“That is a good notion,” said he, “a right good notion; but the thing +is, how to do it?”</p> + +<p>“Could we not take one of the boats some night, and get away in it?”</p> + +<p>“Aye, but there are many things to consider. We should have to victual +it, and then we might run short, for we should have no compass, and no +notion, or very little, of our direction. We might starve to death, or +die of thirst.”</p> + +<p>“I had as soon die of thirst or hunger, as of fire and torture.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p><p>“Marry, and so would I. Yea, it were better to die here on the wide +ocean than in the market-place of Mexico or Vera Cruz.”</p> + +<p>“Let us try it, Pharaoh. Devise some plan. I will not fail to help if I +can be of any use.”</p> + +<p>“I will think,” he said; “I will think till I find a means of escape. I +reckon that we have still a month before us. It shall go hard if our +English brains cannot devise some method whereby we may outwit these +Spanish devils.”</p> + +<p>So we began to plot and plan, spurred on by the knowledge of what +awaited us in Mexico.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>WE ESCAPE THE SPANIARDS.</h3> + +<p>Now that I knew his real sentiments towards me, it was very difficult to +preserve my composure and indifference in the presence of Captain Manuel +Nunez. As I sat at table with him, or talked with him on deck or in his +cabin, I had hard work to keep from telling him my real thoughts of his +wicked nature. Nay, sometimes I was sore put to it to keep my hands from +his throat. Nothing would have pleased me better than to find either him +or my cousin Jasper in some lonely spot where no odds could have favored +them or me. Then my wrongs should have received full vengeance, and none +would have blamed me for meting it out to these two villains. Judge how +hard it was for me to have to associate, week after week, with one of +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>men who had so deeply wronged me, and, moreover, to have to +preserve towards him a certain degree of cordiality. Try as I would, +however, I could not give Nunez as much in the way of politeness as +Nunez gave me. My manners were surly at the best, and I had much ado to +preserve them at all.</p> + +<p>Getting in the way of fair winds, we sighted the Bahamas, and passed the +north-west coast of Cuba somewhere about the beginning of September. We +were then some five hundred miles from Vera Cruz, but it was not until +Christmas week that we bore down upon the Mexican coast. It was, I +think, on Christmas morning that I first saw the shores of that +beautiful land, whose natural loveliness served but to make more evident +the horrible cruelties of the men who had seized and possessed it. Fair +and wonderful it was as the mists lifted under the sun’s warmth to see +the giant peak of Orizaba lifting its head, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>snow-white and awful, into +the clear air, while full seventeen thousand feet below it the land lay +dim and indistinct, nothing more than a bank of gray cloud.</p> + +<p>“You would think a country with such a mountain as that would be a place +of much delight, master, would you not?” said Pharaoh Nanjulian, +pointing to the great white peak. “It looks fair and innocent enough, +but it is a very devil’s land, this Mexico, since the Spaniards overran +it; and yonder peak is an emblem of nothing in it, except it be the +innocence of those who are murdered in God’s name.”</p> + +<p>“What mountain is that?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“Orizaba, master. It lies some sixty miles beyond Vera Cruz, and is of a +height scarcely credible to us Englishmen. God be thanked that there is +so little wind to-day! With a fair breeze we should have been in port +ere nightfall. As it is, we must take our chance to-night, master, or +fall into the hands of the Inquisition.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p><p>“I am ready for aught,” said I. “But have you thought of a plan?”</p> + +<p>“Aye, trust me for that. Marry! I have thought of naught else since we +came through the Bahamas. Certainly our chances are exceedingly small, +for we must needs land in a country that is infested with our enemies, +but we will do our best.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me your plan, Pharaoh.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis simplicity itself, master. To-night it is my watch. When the +captain is asleep in his cabin, do you come on deck and go aft. You will +find a boat alongside, and into it you must contrive to get as you best +can. Hide yourself there so that no one can see you from the deck. When +the watch is changed, instead of going forward I shall make for the +boat. No one will see me, I promise you. When I am with you we shall cut +the boat adrift and let the vessel outsail us. Then we must make for the +coast in the direction of Tuxtla. We shall know which way to steer +because of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>volcano. But after that—why, I know not what we shall +do.”</p> + +<p>“Have you no plan?”</p> + +<p>“Marry, I have ideas. We might go across country to Acapulco, hoping to +find there an English ship; but ’tis a long and weary way, and what with +Indians and wild beasts I fear we should never get there. Howbeit let us +tackle one danger at a time.”</p> + +<p>Being then called to dinner I went below, and was perforce once more +obliged to sit at meat with my jailer, who, now that his charge of me +was coming to an end, was more polite than ever, and treated me with +exceeding great courtesy.</p> + +<p>“You have been on deck, Master Salkeld,” said he, “and have doubtless +perceived that we are in sight of land.”</p> + +<p>“I have seen the great mountain, Senor,” I answered.</p> + +<p>“True, the land is yet little more than a line. If the wind had been +fair we should <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>have dropped anchor ere midnight. Your voyage has been a +long one, but I trust you have not been inconvenienced.”</p> + +<p>“Only as a man may be by the loss of his liberty, Senor.”</p> + +<p>“You will soon be free,” he answered, giving me one of his strange, +mocking smiles. “And I trust that when we part it will be with a full +recognition on your side of the way in which I have carried out our +bargain.”</p> + +<p>“As I do not remember our bargain, Senor, I am afraid that is hardly +possible,” I made answer.</p> + +<p>“Chut! your memory is certainly at fault. However, the facts will +probably occur to you—later.”</p> + +<p>“Part of the bargain, if I remember your first mention of it, Senor, was +that you should carry me to the West Indies.”</p> + +<p>“You are right in that,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Are we approaching the West Indies?”</p> + +<p>“The West Indies is a wide term, Master <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>Salkeld. We are certainly not +approaching the West India islands. We are, in fact, off the coast of +Mexico, and the mountain you see in the distance is the famed peak of +Orizaba. To-morrow morning we shall drop anchor in the port of Vera +Cruz.”</p> + +<p>“And what shall I do there, Senor?”</p> + +<p>He smiled at the question—a mysterious smile, which had a grim meaning +behind it.</p> + +<p>“Who knows, Senor? There are many occupations for a young and active +gentleman.”</p> + +<p>Now, for the life of me I could not help asking him a very pertinent +question before I left the cabin to return on deck.</p> + +<p>“Senor,” I said, “seeing that we are to part so soon you will perhaps +not object to giving me some information. How much did my cousin, Master +Jasper Stapleton, pay you for your share in this matter?”</p> + +<p>He gave me a curious glance out of his eye corners.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>“The amount of your passage-money, Master Salkeld, was two hundred +English guineas. I hope you consider the poor accommodation which I have +been able to give you in accordance with that sum.”</p> + +<p>“I have no fault to find with the accommodation, Senor,” I replied. “So +far as the bodily comfort of your prisoner was concerned you have proved +yourself a good jailer.”</p> + +<p>“Let us hope you will never find a worse, Master Salkeld,” he answered, +with another mocking smile. “But, indeed, you wrong me in speaking of me +as a jailer. Say rather a kind and considerate host.”</p> + +<p>I repressed the words which lay on the tip of my tongue ready to fling +at him, and went on deck. The wind was still against us, and the ship +made little progress, for which both Pharaoh and I were devoutly +thankful, neither of us being minded to make Vera Cruz ere night fell. +Certainly there was little to choose between the two <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>courses open to +us. If we were handed over to the Inquisitors by Nunez, we should +certainly be burned at the stake, or, at any rate, racked, tortured, and +turned over to a slave-master. If we reached shore we should have to +undergo many privations and face all manner of perils, with every +probability of ultimately falling into the hands of the Spaniards once +more. Indeed, so certain did it seem that we should eventually meet our +fate at the stake, or the rack, that more than once I doubted whether it +was worth our while to attempt an escape.</p> + +<p>But life is sweet, however dark its prospects may be, and a true man +will always fight for it, though the odds against him are great. And, +moreover, when a man knows what manner of death it is that awaits him, +he will make the most desperate efforts to escape it, if it be such a +death as that intended for us by the Spaniards. Now, although I had +lived in such an out-of-the-way <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>part of England, I had heard many a +fearful story of the wrongs and cruelties practiced by the Inquisitors +in Mexico. Tales came across the wide ocean of rackings and tormentings +and burnings, of men given over to slavery, wearing their San-benitos +for many a weary year, and perhaps dying of torture in the end. We would +do something to escape a fate like that, God helping us!</p> + +<p>Late that night Captain Nunez stood by my side on deck. The wind now +blew from the north-west, and the ship was making headway towards land. +To the south-east, through the darkness, glimmered the volcanic fire of +Tuxtla, but the giant peak of Orizaba had disappeared.</p> + +<p>“To-morrow at sunrise, Master Salkeld, we shall be in the port of Vera +Cruz,” said Nunez. “I have some friends there to whom I will give you an +introduction. Till then, Senor, sleep well.”</p> + +<p>He smiled at me in the dim lantern <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>light and went below. I remained +pacing the deck for another hour. Once or twice I looked over the side +and saw the boat swinging below our stern. Now, the poop of the Spanish +ship was of a more than usual height, and I foresaw that I should have +some difficulty in getting into the boat, and run a fair chance of +drowning. Better drown, I thought, than burn; and so, after a time, the +deck being quiet, I climbed over the side and managed to drop into the +boat, where I made haste to hide myself as I best could.</p> + +<p>It was some two hours after that when Pharaoh Nanjulian joined me, and +immediately cut us adrift.</p> + +<p>The ship seemed to glide away from us into the darkness.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>AN UNKNOWN LAND.</h3> + +<p>Now, although we were adrift in a perilous sea, and had no hope of +making land, save in a wild and savage country, where there was more +hope of mercy from the Indians than from the civilized Spaniards, I was +yet so thankful to find myself free of the ship and of Senor Manuel +Nunez, that for some moments I could scarcely believe in my freedom.</p> + +<p>“I could swear that I am but dreaming and shall presently awake to find +myself a prisoner,” I said to Pharaoh, who was busily engaged in +examining the boat.</p> + +<p>“’Tis no dream, master,” said he. “This is a very stern reality, as you +shall quickly find. Nor is it time for dreaming. If we mean to come out +of this adventure with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>whole skins, we shall have to acquit ourselves +like true men.”</p> + +<p>“I am ready,” said I. “Tell me what to do, and I will do it.”</p> + +<p>“Well said,” he answered approvingly. “But I could see from the outset +that you had the true spirit in you. You are a Yorkshireman, master, and +I am a sea-dog of Cornwall; but, marry, we are both Englishmen, and we +will come out of this scrape yet. ’Tis not the worst I have been in—but +more of that anon. Now to begin with, we will discuss our present +situation, and then, having determined our course of action, we will put +it into execution.”</p> + +<p>So we talked things over, and eventually came to these conclusions. We +were, so far as Pharaoh could reckon, about ten miles from land, and we +must reach the coast during the night if we wished to escape +observation. That accomplished, we must strike across country for +Acapulco, where it was possible we might meet with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>an English ship. The +distance was some three hundred miles in a bee-line, and the character +of the country rough; but that mattered little, for we should of +necessity be obliged to keep away from the roads and bridges. There was +no considerable town on our way, save Oaxaca, and that we must leave to +our left. If we fell in with Spaniards we were lost men, for they would +certainly carry us to Vera Cruz or to Mexico, and there hand us over to +the Inquisitors. As for wild beasts and Indians, we must take our +chance, trusting in God’s mercy for protection and help.</p> + +<p>We now examined the boat, which was but a small craft that had been +unstrung the day before, in order that the ship’s carpenter might +examine some fancied defect in the rudder. Fortunately a pair of oars +had been left in her, and these Pharaoh now took in hand, bidding me +steer for the volcanic flame, which played over the peak of Tuxtla, +immediately before us.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p><p>“I can pull ten miles in this sea,” said he, “and I warrant you have had +little experience in that line, master. Now, you see that the wind has +drifted us due south until to-night, and therefore Nunez has come some +five-and-thirty miles out of his course for Vera Cruz. He will now beat +up along the coast, heading north and west, and so if we steer +south-by-east he will have hard work to catch us when he finds that we +are gone, as he will ere morning. And now to work.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon he fell to the oars, and with such good-will, that the light +craft, her nose kept towards the volcanic fire, began to shoot through +the regular swell of the placid ocean at a comfortable rate. Hour after +hour he toiled, and would hear naught of my relieving him, though his +throat grew dry with thirst and his arms ached. Gradually the coast +loomed higher and higher through the gloom, and at length Pharaoh pulled +in his oars, and stood up in the bow to look around him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>“When I was off this coast ten years ago,” said he, “I remember a spot +hereabouts where a boat might land with safety and ease. We will lie +quiet till the light comes, master, and then attempt a landing.”</p> + +<p>“But suppose Nunez should see us?”</p> + +<p>“He could not catch us ere we land if he did, unless by some strange +chance he has gotten to the east of us—and that’s not possible,” said +Pharaoh. “I reckon that by this time he is twenty miles to westward of +us, and therefore we are well out of his reach.”</p> + +<p>So we hove-to until the morning began to break, when, spying a +convenient creek, we ran the boat ashore, and so set foot on Mexican +soil, wondering what was to befall us next.</p> + +<p>Now, to me, who had never seen aught of any land save England, these new +surroundings were exceeding strange and wonderful. Although it was yet +but a half-light <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>all round us on shore, the giant peak of Orizaba, +rising high and magnificent across the land to the north-west, was +already blazing in the saffron-colored tints of early morning, while +directly above us the lower heights of Tuxtla also reflected the rays of +the rising sun. Once away from the shore the vegetation surprised and +delighted me exceedingly. Great trees, such as I had never seen or heard +of, sprang from the rocks and towered above us like gigantic ferns; the +undergrowth was thick and luxurious, and the grass under foot was soft +and heavy as velvet. Also, though it was winter, there were flowers and +plants blossoming in the open such as never blossom in our English +glass-houses, so that altogether I was amazed at the richness and +prodigality of the land, and said so to my companion.</p> + +<p>“Aye,” said he, “’tis indeed a fair land, master, and would be very well +if these murderous Spaniards had left it alone. As <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>it is, they have +simply turned it into a pandemonium, such as all lands, fair or foul, +become when men go a-lusting for gold and treasure. Yea, not even the +Indians, with all their heathenish practices, were half so cruel as +these Spaniards with their racks and thumb-screws, their stakes and +daggers. And therefore the more reason why we should avoid them.”</p> + +<p>Having somewhat refreshed ourselves by a brief rest, and armed ourselves +with two stout cudgels cut from a neighboring tree by Pharaoh’s knife, +which was the only weapon we had, we set forth through the woods, he +leading the way. By that time we were faint with hunger and could well +have done with a meal, but though there were, doubtless, Indian villages +close at hand we dare enter none of them, and so went forward with empty +stomachs. In the woods, however, we came upon prickly pears, which there +grow wild, and these we essayed to eat; but had great difficulty in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>stripping them of the prickles, which, if they enter the tongue, do +cause an unpleasantness that is not soon forgot. Our hunger growing very +keen we sought to capture or slay some bird or animal, and Pharaoh being +accustomed to this sort of hunting—for he had known many +adventures—presently succeeded in knocking down a wild turkey, flocks +of which bird we constantly encountered. We lighted a fire by means of +his flint and steel, and cooked our quarry, and so went forward again +refreshed by the food, which was pleasant enough to hungry men.</p> + +<p>We pressed on for two days through the woods, living as we best could +upon such animals as Pharaoh was able to knock down, and on the pears, +which were all the more aggravating to our hunger because of their sharp +spines. During those two days we did not come in contact with human +beings, though we thrice saw parties of Indians and had to conceal +ourselves from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>them. We followed no path, and if we chanced to cross +one we immediately left it and plunged deeper into the woods. By the end +of the first day our clothes were torn to rags, and hung in strips from +our backs; by the end of the second our shoes had been cut to pieces, +and so we looked as wretched and lost a couple of vagabonds as you ever +saw.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the second day we came to the verge of the wooded +heights, and saw before us the wide plain of Orizaba, which lay between +us and Acapulco, and must needs be crossed if we meant to reach the +Pacific coast.</p> + +<p>“It is here that I see most reason to be a-feared,” said Pharaoh, as we +halted and looked out across the plain. “There is precious little cover +or shelter on this plain, and it will be a miracle if we escape +observation in crossing it. Moreover, there are constantly traversing it +bodies of Spaniards, going to and from Oaxaca and Mexico, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>so that we +shall be liable to capture at any moment, having nowhere to hide +ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“How would it do to hide ourselves as we best can by day, and to go +forward by night?” said I.</p> + +<p>“’Tis a good notion, master, and we will try it,” he answered. “But I +fear me there is little in which we can hide, and as for food, I do not +see how we are to manage. Howbeit, we will not despair yet awhile, +having managed so far.”</p> + +<p>That night we accordingly made our way across the wide and lonely plain, +having for our guide the constellation Virgo, which Pharaoh Nanjulian +knew and pointed out to me with some learning.</p> + +<p>“Them that go down to the sea in ships,” said he, “must needs learn a +good deal if they would prosper. I have studied the heavens somewhat, +because more than once it has been my lot to find myself at sea without +a compass, and in a plight like <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>that a knowledge of the stars and +planets is a good thing for a man to have at his command. Now, if we do +but set our faces to yonder constellation we shall keep in a straight +line for Acapulco—and God send we may land there safely!”</p> + +<p>We made fairly good progress across the plain, but when morning broke +from the eastern horizon we were still many a long mile from the great +terrace of mountainous land which divides Mexico from Oaxaca and the +Pacific coast. Therefore we had to cast about us for some shelter. This +we had great difficulty in securing, for the plain at that part was +entirely barren of shrub or tree, and there was not even a water-course +at which we could slack our parched throats. But coming upon a +half-ruined hut, which had evidently been the home of some Mexican +Indian, tending his sheep in those wild parts, we took refuge in it and +lay down to sleep, hoping that no one passing that way would feel +curious <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>enough to stop and examine our shelter.</p> + +<p>This sort of life continued to be our lot for another day and night, +during which we had scarcely anything in the way of food, and also +suffered severely from thirst. And what with this, and with our fear of +meeting Indians and Spaniards materially increased, our condition was by +no means a happy one. But we still continued to hope, and to cheer each +other onward.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>AN ADVENTURE OF SOME IMPORTANCE.</h3> + +<p>We traveled in this fashion, sleeping in the daytime and pressing +forward during the night, until the sixth day after our departure from +the ship. By that time we were both considerably changed in health and +appearance. Our clothes were torn to rags, our feet and arms were torn +and bleeding, and our vagabond air increased with every mile we covered. +Of our looks, however, we thought nothing; but we were perforce obliged +to think a good deal of our unfortunate stomachs, which had not been +either filled or reasonably satisfied since we set foot in those +regions. Hunger and privation, in short, were doing their work upon us, +and we were doubtful if we should manage to hold out until we had +crossed the country and made Acapulco.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p><p>Towards evening of the sixth day of our travels, we were lying asleep in +a little gully formed by the descent of a mountain stream into the plain +which we were then quitting. We had arrived at this spot early that +morning, and finding sweet and fresh water there had drunk heartily of +it and lain down to sleep in a sheltered spot. We were both well-nigh +exhausted that morning, and our hunger was exceeding fierce; but +sharp-set as we were our limbs refused to carry us on any foraging +expedition, and therefore we sank to sleep, and slept despite our hunger +and danger. It was well towards evening when I suddenly awoke. I know +not what it was that made me open my eyes so suddenly, but there flashed +through my mind at that moment a notion that we were being watched. It +was a strange feeling, and one that occasioned me considerable +discomposure, not to say fright, and it seemed to enter my brain with +the same ray of sunlight that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>lifted my eyelids. And so strong was this +feeling, that I experienced no surprise or astonishment when I saw two +eyes looking straight into mine from over the top of a rock which rose +immediately in front.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless it was a hideous and fearful sight that I looked upon. The +eyes shone, not out of a human face foul or fair, but out of the slits +in a black cowl, drawn so tightly over its wearer’s head that nothing of +him was to be seen from forehead to chin. There was this horrible black +thing, a blot upon the bright sunlit sky behind, peeping at me from over +the rock, and out of its eye-holes gleamed two eyes, as keen and bright +as those of a wild animal. If I had not just then been parched with +thirst I should have screamed in my terror. As it was, I gave a feeble +cry, and the black head instantly vanished. I leapt to my feet and ran +forward to the rock. Below it the ground was broken and rocky, and at a +few yards’ distance was a belt of wood <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>which stretched down to the +plain. I fancied I could see a black robe disappearing amongst the +trees, but though I waited a few moments I saw no further signs of a +human being.</p> + +<p>I returned to Pharaoh Nanjulian and woke him up. He was sound asleep +when I touched him, but started to his feet as soon as I laid my hand on +his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“What is it, master?” he asked, scanning my face narrowly, as if he saw +some sign of disturbance there. “You look alarmed.”</p> + +<p>“I have seen a man watching us.”</p> + +<p>“What kind of a man? Where has he gone?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, that I know not. When I opened my eyes just now they fell full +upon him. He stood behind that rock, peering over it at me. I saw naught +of him but his head, and that was hidden in a black cowl with eye-slits, +through which his eyes gleamed like fire.”</p> + +<p>Pharaoh shook his head.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>“’Tis a Familiar,” said he. “One of those accursed fanatics, master, +that dog and pry after honest men like sleuth-hounds, and leave them not +until the flame licks their bodies. This is bad news, i’ faith. Which +way went he?”</p> + +<p>I told him that I thought I had seen a black robe vanishing among the +trees below, but could not be certain. At that he seized his staff and +went down the slope himself, examining all the likely places in which a +man might have concealed himself. But he found naught, and so came back +to me, shaking his head.</p> + +<p>“You are sure you were not dreaming?” he asked. “Men dream of strange +things when hunger is on them.”</p> + +<p>“How could I dream of what I never saw in my life?” said I.</p> + +<p>“You mean the black hood, master? Alas! I have seen it, and so has many +a good man, to his sorrow. Those accursed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>fanatics! They creep about in +God’s blessed sunlight like reptiles. You should see them walk the +streets. Close to the walls they go, their hands meekly folded, their +cowled heads bent to the ground, and yet their eyes note everything. God +is on their lips—yea, but the devil is in their hearts.”</p> + +<p>“What shall we do, Pharaoh?” I asked him.</p> + +<p>“Marry, all we can do is to leave this spot and push forward up the +mountains. There are yet two hours of daylight, but we must chance that. +If we can escape this fellow until darkness sets in, we may yet give him +the slip altogether.”</p> + +<p>So we set out once more, our bodies refreshed by our long sleep, but the +hunger still fiercely gnawing within us. We were driven to plucking the +prickly pears again, troublesome as was the peeling of them, for we +could eat them as we walked, whereas if we had gone a-hunting for wild +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>turkeys or rabbits we should have had to light a fire, and that would +have attracted attention to our whereabouts. However, we were successful +in knocking down one or two birds, and these we took along with us, +intending to cook them as soon as we considered ourselves in safety.</p> + +<p>As night fell we emerged from the wooded slope up which we had painfully +traveled, and found ourselves on a good road, evidently much used for +traffic.</p> + +<p>“This must be the highway that leads from Oaxaca to Vera Cruz,” said +Pharaoh, looking out upon it from a sheltering tree; “and lo! yonder is +a post-house. We must bide awhile where we are or we shall be seen.”</p> + +<p>So we sat down amongst the undergrowth, which was there thick and +luxurious, as it was in every wood we had yet crossed, and served to +conceal us very well from observation. More than once, as we stayed +there, we heard the voices of people <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>passing along the highroad above, +and we judged from that, that if we ventured to show ourselves upon it +before nightfall we should certainly be seen and stopped. Therefore, +apart from our usual hunger and discomfort, we were very well content to +remain hidden until such time as the coast cleared.</p> + +<p>Now about dark, and just as we were making up our minds to a fresh +start, and wondering how we should fare in the mountainous range which +we had yet to cross, there arose not far away along the highroad a +chorus of shouts and screams of such exceeding bitterness, that we felt +sure murder was being done. We leapt to our feet and advanced to the +edge of the highway, but feared to go further lest we should be seen.</p> + +<p>“’Tis some footpad affray,” said Pharaoh, “and none of our business.”</p> + +<p>But just then came still shriller cries of entreaty for help, and they +were so pleading <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>and full of agony, that we both leapt into the road +with one accord.</p> + +<p>“That is a woman’s voice,” said Pharaoh. “We must needs go to her +assistance, come what will. Have your staff in readiness, master, and if +there is need, strike hard.”</p> + +<p>We ran swiftly down the road for some fifty yards, and then, turning a +sharp corner, came suddenly upon the cause of the disturbance. In the +middle of the highway stood a coach, drawn by two mules, and on either +side of it were two tall fellows of ferocious aspect, striving to drag +from it the occupants, who screamed for help without ceasing. There was +no driver or servant visible; the rogues had doubtless escaped to the +woods at the first sign of danger.</p> + +<p>“Take the two on the left,” said Pharaoh, “and get in the first blow, +master. Look out for their daggers.”</p> + +<p>Now I had never been engaged in a fight since the days when Jasper and I +occasionally <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>came to fisticuffs with the village boys at Beechcot, but +I felt my blood warm at the notion of combat, and so I sprang in between +the two desperadoes who were busy at the left side of the coach, and +laid my staff about their ears with hearty good-will. They were trying +to drag an old man from the coach when we came up, and were threatening +him with what I took to be the most horrible of curses. I hit one of +them fair and square on the shoulder before he knew of my presence, and +he immediately turned and fled, howling like a beaten dog. The other +turned on me with a cruel-looking knife, but I knocked it out of his +hand with a blow that must have broken his wrist, and he too fled into +the woods with a fearful imprecation. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had beaten off +his men on the other side; one was limping along the highway howling +with pain, and the other lay on the ground senseless. We had carried the +fight with sharp and startling effect.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><p>Inside the coach sat an old gentleman and a young girl, and both were so +frightened, that when we assisted them to alight they were nearly +speechless, and could only sigh and moan. Presently, however, the young +lady found her tongue, and began to pour out an astonishingly rapid flow +of words to me, none of which I understood, but which I took to be +expressions of gratitude.</p> + +<p>“Say naught,” whispered Pharaoh in my ear, “I will talk to them in their +own lingo. Do not let them see that we are English.”</p> + +<p>“Noble gentlemen,” said the old man, presently recovering his speech, “I +know not how to thank you for this valuable assistance. Caramba! if you +had not appeared when you did we should certainly have had our throats +cut. Isabella mia, art thou safe? Did those knaves lay finger on thee?”</p> + +<p>“They did but seize me by the wrist, father,” answered the young lady. +“But yourself—you are not hurt?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p><p>“Nay, child, I called too loudly for that. But certainly another moment +would have been our last. Senor, is yonder villain dead?”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said Pharaoh in his best Spanish, “he breathes, Senor, and will +come to presently.”</p> + +<p>“I am beholden, deeply beholden to you both, gentlemen. Dios! to think +that I should be unable to travel on even so short a journey with +safety! And my own servants—where are they, rascals and poltroons that +they are. Ho! Pedro, Chispa, Antonio! I warrant me the knaves are hiding +in these woods.”</p> + +<p>This was exactly the truth, for at the old gentleman’s call three +serving-men came forward from the trees and advanced tremblingly towards +the coach. At sight of them their master flew into a terrible rage, and +scolded them with a vigor which at any other time would have amused me +highly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p><p>“Cowards and knaves that ye are!” quoth he. “A pretty body-guard, +indeed. What, ye pitiful rogues, did I not fit ye all out with pikes and +pistols before quitting Mexico in case we met with ventures of this +sort? Oh, ye poltroons, to fly me at the first glimpse of danger! And +thou, Pedro Gomez, my coachman these ten years, fie upon thee!”</p> + +<p>“Most noble Senor,” said the man, trembling and bowing, “I did but run +to find assistance.”</p> + +<p>“Thou liest, knave. Thou didst run to save thine own skin. But I will +remember ye when we are safe in Oaxaca. I will have a convoy of soldiers +over these mountains, and trust not to pitiful cowards like ye three. +Tie me up this robber who lies there in the road, and fasten him behind +the coach. We will see justice done on him at Oaxaca.”</p> + +<p>While the men were doing this the old gentleman once more talked to +Pharaoh, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>thanking us again, and asking how he could reward us. Were we +journeying to Oaxaca? If so, let us go along with him, and he would +reward us bounteously for our protection.</p> + +<p>“We thank your honor,” said Pharaoh, “but we are two poor shipwrecked +mariners, bound across country to Acapulco, where we hope to find ship. +But if you would give us food and drink we would thank you, for in good +sooth we are desperately hungered.”</p> + +<p>Now it luckily chanced that the coach was well supplied with both the +commodities which we desired so earnestly, and, therefore, the old +gentleman made haste to reward us according to Pharaoh’s request, so +that presently we found ourselves with our arms full of meat and bread +and bottles of wine, our new-found friend pressing all upon us with +great hospitality. Also, he would have us to take a purse of money, +assuring us that we should find it useful, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>and as we had not a +penny-piece between us we accepted this offering with thankfulness.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry that ye cannot accompany me to Oaxaca,” said he. “I should +have been glad of the company of two such stalwart champions. But know, +caballeros, that I am devoutly thankful to you, and will aid you if ever +ye have need of me, and it lies in my power.”</p> + +<p>So we thanked him and said farewell for that time, and when the coach +had gone on, taking the wounded prisoner with it, we continued our way +up the mountains, first supping heartily of the food and wine, and +blessing God for it.</p> + +<p>“’Tis always well to help them that need help,” said Pharaoh. “Verily we +are rewarded for so doing. This meat and drink makes a new man of me, +master.”</p> + +<p>And so it did of me, and it was well, for previously we had been sorely +put to it to keep any heart or soul within our starving bodies.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>THE BLACK SHADOWS.</h3> + +<p>Our course that night being of more than usual roughness and difficulty, +we made little headway, and by morning we had done no more than reach +the height of the mountain range over which we were climbing, and which +at that point was some three or four thousand feet above sea-level. +Howbeit, we were not disappointed with our night’s work, for when the +sun rose we found ourselves looking out upon the wide plain which +stretches from those mountains to the sea-coast of the Pacific. Half our +journey was over.</p> + +<p>“God send that all may be as well with us during this next journey as it +has been during the last,” said Pharaoh. “We have prospered exceeding +well so far—yea, much better than I expected. Only let us <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>do as well +on our way over yonder plain and we shall reach Acapulco in safety.”</p> + +<p>“But what then?” I asked, not knowing what his plans might be.</p> + +<p>“That,” he answered, “is a difficult question, master. We shall +certainly meet with no more love at Acapulco than at Vera Cruz, for the +Spaniards have still some sore memories of the drubbings we have given +them. But there we may find an English ship, for ’tis a convenient port +for those vessels that come north. Maybe we shall have to wait awhile, +and lie hidden outside the city or on the coast. All that we must leave +till the time comes. ’Tis something that we have come thus far without +let or hindrance.”</p> + +<p>And truly he was right there and we felt thankful to God for it. In +truth we had so far been most mercifully protected, and our adventures +had abundantly proved to us that God is merciful to men who have no hope +of any mercy or consideration from their fellow-creatures.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p><p>We now sought out a convenient resting-place, and having found a quiet +corner amongst the rocks, we sat down there and ate another hearty meal +from the stores given to us by the old Spaniard, after which, feeling +much refreshed, we lay down to sleep in a hopeful state of mind. The +good food and drink had marvelously restored us, giving us new strength +in body and soul, so that we now hoped where we had previously been +inclined to despair. And so, being impelled to brighter thoughts than +had filled our hearts for some days, we slept more composedly, and had +none of those evil visions which had disturbed our sleep on former +occasions.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless evil was drawing near to us while we slept.</p> + +<p>It was about half-way through the afternoon, when I woke with a sudden +feeling that all was not well. It was not the feeling which I had +experienced the previous <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>day, namely, that I was being watched, but a +curious sensation of coming ill. How it came into my mind I know not; +all I know is that I suddenly awoke and came into possession of all my +senses with startling swiftness, so that while I had been sound asleep +one moment I was wide awake the next, and looking and listening with +very eager and acute perception. Also, my heart was beating hard in my +breast, as a man’s heart will when he suddenly fronts some great danger. +And then I knew that evil was at hand, and as I held up my head and +looked round I saw it draw near.</p> + +<p>The place in which we lay was a corner amongst the rocks on the side of +the mountain. Before us lay a wide expanse of smooth stone, the top of a +great rock that had its base in the woods below. Behind us rose a high +wall of rock, and beyond that was the sun, now sinking towards the +western horizon. Where we lay everything was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>in deep shadow, but the +table-like piece of rock in front was bathed in brilliant sunlight, and +when I woke and looked round my eyes fell upon it, and on a sight which +was like to freeze my heart within me.</p> + +<p>Some ridge of rock or mountain high above us was outlined on the bright +stretch of reflected sunlight at our feet, and on this as I looked +appeared two shadows—the shadows of human beings, standing motionless +on the ridge, and evidently looking out from that commanding position +across the wide plain that lay far below.</p> + +<p>I recognized one of the shadows instantly. It was the figure of a man +cloaked in some long clinging garment, that enveloped him from head to +foot. As he turned his head I saw the peculiar cowl, with its peaked +top, which had confronted me the previous day.</p> + +<p>The other shadow seemed to be that of a naked man, of slender, sinewy +limbs, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>who carried a bow, and whose head was ornamented with long, +waving feathers. Now he stood motionless against the sky, looking like a +figure cut out of stone or bronze; now he shaded his eyes with his hand, +evidently gazing across the plain below; now he stooped and seemed to +examine the ground at his feet. But the shadow of the cowled and cloaked +figure stood statue-like and never moved.</p> + +<p>Now, if you can so exercise your imagination as to put yourself in my +place, you will not be slow to recognize the terror which came over me +at this unexpected sight. If I had seen a dozen armed men spring out +upon us from the rocks I should have cared not. But to see these +sinister-looking shadows, motionless or restless, on the bright patch of +sunlight, was an awful thing—yea, to this day I do often see it in my +dreams, and wake sweating with fear and horror.</p> + +<p>I leaned over and touched Pharaoh <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>lightly. He woke on the instant and +sat up.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” I whispered, pointing to the shadows. “Look there!”</p> + +<p>He lifted his hand to his brow and gazed at the shadows with a +wonder-struck air. Then he seemed to recognize their import, and turned +to me with a shake of the head.</p> + +<p>“Lad,” said he, “we are about to have trouble. ’Tis that accursed +Familiar. He hath tracked us. Said I not that these devils in man’s +shape are like sleuth-hounds?”</p> + +<p>“But the other, Pharaoh? What is the other?”</p> + +<p>“An Indian, lad. See there, he is stooping to examine the ground. They +are like dogs—they will find a trace where we should see naught.”</p> + +<p>“What shall we do?”</p> + +<p>“God help us!—I know not. Once on our track they will hunt us down. See +there!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p><p>To the two shadows was suddenly added a third, a fourth, a fifth, then a +sixth and seventh, and presently others until we counted twelve.</p> + +<p>“All Indians except the monk,” said Pharaoh. “He is the huntsman and +they are his dogs. See, they are separating again. Lad, get thy cudgel +in readiness. ’Tis the best weapon we have.”</p> + +<p>We started to our feet and gripped our staves firmly. And at the +prospect of a fight my terror died away. There was no ghostly fear about +things of flesh and blood. You can strike a man, but who can strike a +shadow?</p> + +<p>At that moment, over a rock to our left, appeared the face of an Indian, +scarred and painted, a very devil’s face to look at. We were seen at +last!</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>CAPTIVE.</h3> + +<p>As soon as the Indian’s face appeared above the rock Pharaoh and I +instinctively moved towards him, whereupon he disappeared again with a +sudden sharp cry, which was immediately answered from above.</p> + +<p>“Now, we shall have the whole pack upon us,” said my companion.</p> + +<p>In this prediction he was right, for within a moment the whole body of +twelve Indians had surrounded us, and stood gazing at us with faces in +which I looked in vain for any sign of compassion at our forlorn state. +Behind them came the monk, still clad in his shroud-like cowl, and +moving with silent steps as if he were a ghost rather than a living man. +But as he drew near to where we stood he threw back the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>hood from his +head, and then we saw his face for the first time.</p> + +<p>I will describe this man to you, because he was not only the most +remarkable but also the most relentlessly cruel man that I have ever +come across in my life. As for his name, which we learnt ere long, it +was Bartolomeo de los Rios, and his one aim and passion was the hunting, +torturing, and burning of heretics. He had the faculties of a +sleuth-hound and the instincts of a serpent, and when he had once set +his heart on hunting a man to his death, it was only by God’s mercy that +that man escaped.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless this man as he stood before us, looking steadily upon us +from under his cowl, did not seem so fearful a monster of cruelty as we +afterwards knew him to be. We saw simply a thin, dark-faced monk, whose +face was pale as parchment, and whose eyes were extraordinarily bright +and keen. The lines and furrows on his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>brow and cheeks seemed to tell +of pain or thought, and his tightly-pursed, thin lips betokened firmness +and resolution. I think he could have stood calmly by while his own +father was being tortured and have changed no muscle of his face. Thus +he was an object of much greater fear than the Indians, who were +certainly horrible enough to frighten anybody that had never seen them +before.</p> + +<p>We stood gazing at the monk and his Indians for a moment ere either of +us spoke. The Indians seemed to wait instructions from the monk, and +looked toward him with eager eyes. As for Pharaoh and myself, we waited +to see what would happen. I think we both realized that fortune had +suddenly deserted us, but nevertheless we kept a firm grip on our +cudgels, and were both resolved to use them if necessary.</p> + +<p>The monk spoke. His voice was low, sweet and gentle—there was naught of +cruelty in it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p><p>“Greeting, my children,” said he, addressing us. “Be not afraid. There +shall no harm come to you.”</p> + +<p>“It will be ill for the man who threatens us with any,” answered Pharaoh +in Spanish. “We are travelers, and have no mind to be disturbed.”</p> + +<p>“You travel by strange paths,” said the monk. “To what part of the +country are you going?”</p> + +<p>“To Acapulco,” answered Pharaoh, adding to me, in English, “there is no +harm in telling him that.”</p> + +<p>“There is a good road from Oaxaca to Acapulco,” said the monk. “Why not +follow it?”</p> + +<p>“We are minded to take our own way,” said Pharaoh doggedly.</p> + +<p>“You Englishmen are fond of that,” observed the monk with a strange +smile.</p> + +<p>“Who says we are English?” asked Pharaoh.</p> + +<p>“Your Spanish is proof of that.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>“I am from Catalonia,” said Pharaoh. “We do not speak pure Castilian +there.”</p> + +<p>“And your companion? Is he, too, from Catalonia, or is he dumb?”</p> + +<p>To that Pharaoh answered nothing. The monk turned his bright eyes on me.</p> + +<p>“What is your business here?” he said, in very good English. “If you +cannot speak to me in my tongue, I must talk with you in yours.”</p> + +<p>“Answer him,” said Pharaoh. “There is no use in further concealment.”</p> + +<p>“I see no reason why I should answer you, master,” said I, feeling +somewhat nettled at the man’s peremptory tone. “What right have you to +stop us in this fashion?”</p> + +<p>He smiled again, if that could be called a smile which was simply a +sudden flash of the eyes and a tightening of the thin lips, and looked +round at his Indians.</p> + +<p>“The right of force,” said he quietly. “You are two—we are many.”</p> + +<p>“Two Englishmen are worth twenty Spanish devils,” said I sulkily.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p><p>“If it is to come to fighting,” said Pharaoh, gripping his cudgel.</p> + +<p>The monk said a word in a low tone. The Indians on the instant raised +their bows and drew their arrows to the full extent of the string. The +tips pointed dead upon us.</p> + +<p>“Englishmen,” said the monk, “look at those arrows. Every one of them is +tipped with poison. If you move I give the word, and those arrows will +find a resting place in you. Let them but touch your arms, your +shoulders, inflicting but a scratch, in a few seconds you will be as one +that is paralyzed, in a few minutes you will lie dead.”</p> + +<p>The man’s words were gentle enough, but somehow his low, sweet voice +made my blood run cold. Why did cruelty veil itself in such a honeyed +tone?</p> + +<p>“What is it you want of us, master?” asked Pharaoh presently.</p> + +<p>“Your names and business.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p><p>“That is easily answered. This gentleman is one Master Humphrey Salkeld, +of Yorkshire in England, who hath many powerful friends at court; as for +me, I am a sailor, and my name is Pharaoh Nanjulian, of Marazion in +Cornwall. As for our business, we are shipwrecked mariners, or as good, +and our hope is to find an English vessel at Acapulco and so return +home. If you be a Christian you will help us.”</p> + +<p>“Christians help only Christians. I fear ye are Lutherans, enemies of +God.”</p> + +<p>“That we are not,” answered Pharaoh stoutly. “I will say my Paternoster +in English with anybody, and my Belief too, for that matter.”</p> + +<p>The monk sighed. Perhaps he was disappointed to find that Pharaoh had so +much knowledge.</p> + +<p>“And you?” he said, turning to me.</p> + +<p>“I am a Christian,” I answered, surlily enough, for I did not like this +examination.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><p>“We are both Christians, master,” said Pharaoh. “Maybe we think not as +you do on some points, but ’tis naught. So help us of your charity, and +assist us to get out of this country to our own, and we will say a +Paternoster for you night and morning.”</p> + +<p>“Verily,” answered the monk, “you speak fairly. I will help you. You +shall go with me to Mexico, and there we will see what ships there are +at Vera Cruz.”</p> + +<p>“We would rather push forward to Acapulco,” answered Pharaoh. “There are +more likely to be English ships there.”</p> + +<p>“English ships have gone there little during recent years, and you will +find none now,” said the monk.</p> + +<p>“For all that we would rather take our chance there,” said Pharaoh.</p> + +<p>“It will be better for you to accompany me to Mexico. Vera Cruz is close +at hand. And now, as the day waxes late, we will proceed.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>Now, there was no use in further argument, for the monk had every +advantage of us, and was clearly minded to have us accompany him at +whatever cost. Therefore we had to yield ourselves to his will but never +did men give in with worse grace or heavier hearts than we.</p> + +<p>“God help us!” said Pharaoh. “We are going into the very jaws of death +in going to Mexico. We shall meet Nunez there, and even if we do not, we +shall be handed over to the Inquisitors. But God’s will be done. +Moreover, while there is life there is hope. We may pull through yet.”</p> + +<p>So we set out, the monk going first and taking no further notice of us +for some time. He would walk for hours as if absorbed in his own +thoughts, and again for a long stretch of time he would read his book or +count his beads, but to us he said little. He walked in the midst of the +Indians, who for their part were kind and considerate to us, and +indulged in no cruelties. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>Indeed, during our journey to the City of +Mexico we had no reason to complain of discomfort or poor fare, for we +had all that men can require, and were well treated, save that at night +they guarded us more closely than we liked. But as to food and drink, we +were abundantly served, and so began to wax fat, in spite of our +anxiety.</p> + +<p>There was no restriction placed upon our tongues at this time, and +therefore Pharaoh and I talked freely whenever we were out of hearing of +the monk. As for our conversation, it was all of one thing—the prospect +that awaited us in Mexico.</p> + +<p>“What will come of this venture, Pharaoh?” I asked him one day as we +drew near our destination. “Shall we come off with whole skins, or +what?”</p> + +<p>“It will be well if we come off with our lives, master. I have been +thinking things over to-day, and I make no doubt that this monk will +hand us over to the Inquisition. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>Put no trust in what he says about +finding us a ship at Vera Cruz. The only ship he will find us will be a +dungeon in some of their prisons. Well, now, what are our chances when +we fall into the hands of these fellows?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, very small I should say. I am well-nigh resigned to anything. +Nevertheless, Pharaoh, I shall make a fight for it.”</p> + +<p>“It may not come to fighting. Can you say the Paternoster, the Ave +Maria, and the Creed?”</p> + +<p>“I can say two of them, and I can learn the third. But what difference +does that make?”</p> + +<p>“All the difference ’twixt burning at the stake and wearing a San-benito +in a monastery for a year or two. Now, if we are burnt there is an end +of us, but if they put us into a monastery with a San-benito on our +backs we shall still have a chance of life, and shall be poor Englishmen +if we do not take it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p><p>Thus we talked, striving to comfort ourselves, until at the end of the +fourth day we were brought by our captors to the City of Mexico.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>MORE CRUEL THAN WILD BEASTS.</h3> + +<p>There are times when, looking round these fair lands of Beechcot, and +thinking on the quiet and prosperous life which I have spent in their +midst these many years, I fall to wondering whether those dark days in +Mexico were real or only a dream. It seems to me, sometimes, that all +which then happened to me and to my companion, Pharaoh Nanjulian, must +have been but a dream and naught else, so horrible were the cruelties +and indignities practiced upon us. You could hardly bring yourselves to +believe, you who have lived quiet, stay-at-home lives, how merciless +were the men into whose hands we fell, and if I did but tell you +one-tenth of the malignity which they displayed towards us, you would +not wonder that I sometimes feel inclined to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>wonder if my memories of +that most unhappy time are not dreams rather than realities. But I know +well that there is nothing unreal about them, for I bear on my body +certain marks which came there from the rack and the pincers, and there +are moments when I seem to endure my agony over again, and the sweat +drops from my brow as I think of it.</p> + +<p>We were led into the City of Mexico through the gate of St. Catherine, +and were thence marched forward to the Placa del Marquese, close by the +market-place. There we were soon surrounded by a throng of folks, who +seemed not unkindly disposed towards us. Some, indeed, brought us food +from their houses, and others drink; one man handed Pharaoh Nanjulian a +coat, a noble-looking lady, closely wrapped in her mantilla, gave me +money, hurrying away ere I could refuse the gift. I suppose we looked so +woe-begone and vagabondish in our rags and tatters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> that the hearts of +these people melted towards us. Nevertheless it was plain to see that we +were prisoners, and that the monk had no notion of putting us in the way +of getting a ship.</p> + +<p>Now, as we stood there in the Placa, closely guarded by the Indians, the +monk having disappeared for the moment, who should come up to us but +that polite gentleman, Captain Manuel Nunez, arrayed in very brave +fashion and smiling his cruel smile as usual. He pushed his way through +the throng, folded his arms, and stood smiling upon us.</p> + +<p>“So, Master Salkeld,” he said, “you have fallen into the tiger’s den +after all. Certainly what was born to be burned will never be drowned. I +looked to see you again, Senor.”</p> + +<p>“We shall possibly meet yet once again,” said I. “And it may be where +you and I are on level terms, Captain Nunez. If that time should ever +come, ask God to have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>mercy upon you, for rest assured that I shall +have none.”</p> + +<p>“Brave words, Senor, brave words! I wish it were possible that you might +have the chance to make them good. But that I am afraid you never will +have. You are safely caged.”</p> + +<p>Then he began to abuse us to the people, bidding them look upon us for +English dogs, Lutherans, enemies of God, sweepings of the English sink +of iniquity, for whom neither rack, thumb-screw, nor stake was +sufficient reward. Me he denounced to the people as a runaway criminal, +describing me in such terms as made my blood boil within me, and my +hands itch to take him by the neck and crush the life out of his wicked +heart.</p> + +<p>“You are a liar and a knave,” said I and then for the moment forgetting +my dignity as an English gentleman I spat full in his face. Bethink +you—my hands were tied <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>behind me, and not free to use. Otherwise I had +not done it.</p> + +<p>Now at this insult his face turned deathly white and then flushed a +bright red, and there came into his eyes a gleam which meant murder, and +plucking forth his rapier he would certainly have slain me there and +then, had not the monk returned at that instant and prevented his fury +from wreaking itself upon me. At this interference he grew still more +furious, and well-nigh foamed at the mouth, swearing by all the saints +in his calendar that he would slay me where I stood. But at a word from +the monk he smiled a grim, meaning smile, and thrusting back his rapier +into its sheath turned away from us with a face full of hate and +malignity.</p> + +<p>We were now taken away to a hospital, where we found other +Englishmen—some sailors that had been captured by the Spaniards at sea, +and others merchants who had been taken while prosecuting <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>their trade +in various ports in that part of the world. Some of these men had been +in captivity for many months, and they explained to us that they were +being kept for a new sitting of the Inquisition, at which, they said, we +should all be examined and possibly tortured, with a view to extracting +from us confessions that would doom us to the fire. So under this +prospect we sat down to wait, and for several weeks remained in strict +captivity, having enough to eat, but being terribly cast down by the +knowledge of what awaited us.</p> + +<p>It appeared from such information as we could obtain that the +Inquisitors were at that time absent from the city, conducting +examinations in another part of the country, and that when they returned +our cases would be gone into. There had been no Auto-de-fe, or public +burning of heretics for a year or two, and it seemed only too probable +from what we now heard that one was meditated for the coming Good +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>Friday. Positive information on this point, however, we could not then +get; therefore we remained in our captivity, alternately hopeful and +despondent, praying God either to release us from our desperate +situation or to give us strength to endure whatever might be in store +for us.</p> + +<p>About the beginning of Lent, in the year 1579, the Inquisitors returned +to the City of Mexico, and it immediately began to be whispered amongst +us that the examinations were shortly to begin. We soon found that this +was the truth, and the first intimation of it came to us in highly +unpleasant form. On Ash Wednesday we were removed from the hospital in +which we had been confined until then, and were taken through the city +to certain cells or dungeons, in which we were separately placed, so +that from that time forward we saw nothing of each other, and thus had +no companion to turn to for sympathy when our need was sorest. But as +God <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>would have it, it befell to Pharaoh Nanjulian and to me, that as we +were being led across the market-square by our guards, there came up to +us the old gentleman whom we had saved from highwaymen on the road to +Oaxaca. He seemed vastly surprised to find us in that unhappy condition, +and insisted with some slight show of authority on our guards allowing +him to speak with us.</p> + +<p>“Surely,” said he, “ye are the two brave men who preserved me and my +daughter from those cut-throat villains as we traveled to Oaxaca. How +came ye in this company?”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Pharaoh, “that is what we do not know ourselves. We are two +inoffensive Englishmen, brought into this country against our wills, and +wishing or intending no harm to any man, but only anxious to find a ship +that will carry us back to our own land. Here we are treated like +malefactors and criminals, and yet we <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>have broken no law that we know +of, nor are we brought before any judge to hear what our jailer hath +against us. If you indeed are grateful for what we did for you help us +to our liberty.”</p> + +<p>“I am grateful, friend,” answered the old man, “and will do what I can +for you. But tell me your story.”</p> + +<p>So we told him all that had happened to us from the time of our leaving +England, and mentioning more particularly the treacheries practiced upon +us by Captain Nunez and Frey Bartolomeo, at the mention of whose names +he shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry indeed for you,” said he when we made an end, “and the more +so because ye are in a very grievous plight. But now, keep up your +hearts, for I have some influence with the Chief Inquisitor, and it +shall be exerted on your behalf. ’Tis truly a pity that ye are +Englishmen, but I hope ye are Christians.”</p> + +<p>“Christians we are,” said Pharaoh, “and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>will say our Paternoster and +Credo with any man.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis well, and therefore keep up your hearts, I say. I will see to this +matter at once.”</p> + +<p>This meeting and the cheerful words spoken to us by the old man did +somewhat revive our hopes, more especially when we heard from our guards +that he was a person of some distinction in that city. So we parted, +Pharaoh and I, and were prisoned in solitary dungeons.</p> + +<p>For the next three or four weeks I saw no man save my jailers, who fed +me chiefly on bread and water, or on maize, crushed and boiled, which +food did speedily bring me to a low and miserable condition. Indeed, +what the noisomeness of my cell and the loneliness of my state failed to +do the bad food speedily accomplished, so that within a month of my +imprisonment I became a weak and nerveless creature, and was ready to +weep at a rough word.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p><p>About three weeks before Easter I was taken before the Inquisitors and +put to the question. Now, I had expected and dreaded this ordeal, and +was not in over good a state to face it when at last it came upon me. +Nevertheless I made shift to summon my courage so that I might show a +bold front to my oppressors.</p> + +<p>The Inquisitors sat in a small apartment hung round with black and +lighted by torches, and there was that in their appearance which was +calculated to strike terror into the stoutest heart. Behind a table, set +upon a dais, sat the Chief Inquisitor, with his assistant on one side of +him and his secretary on the other. They were all robed in black, and +their thin, ascetic faces looking out from the dark recesses of their +cowls, had in them neither mercy nor pity, nor indeed aught but +merciless resolution. There were other robed and cowled figures in the +room, but I noticed none of them particularly save the monk Bartolomeo, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>who stood there ready to make accusation against me.</p> + +<p>There was an interpreter in the apartment, a half-breed named Robert +Sweeting, whose name I desire to put on record, because he did me a +kindness at the risk of his own life. To this man the Inquisitors +addressed their questions, and through him I answered them to the best +of my ability.</p> + +<p>They set out by asking me the full particulars of my presence in Mexico, +which questions I replied to with very great delight, as they afforded +me an opportunity of having my say as to Captain Manuel Nunez and his +fellow-villain Frey Bartolomeo, whom I did not spare, though he stood by +and heard me with an unmoved countenance. Indeed, I spake so plainly +concerning him that the Chief Inquisitor stopped me.</p> + +<p>“It is not seemly,” said he, “to speak in disrespectful terms of men +vowed to sacred offices.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p><p>To this I answered that I had been brought up from my birth to treat my +pastors and teachers with respect and reverence, but that I could feel +none for a man who had abused his sacred office by deceiving unfortunate +men.</p> + +<p>Then they began to examine me as to my faith, and commanded me to say +the Paternoster, Ave Maria, and the Creed in Latin, which, rubbing up +such Latin as I remembered from Mr. Timotheus Herrick’s instructions, I +made difficult shift to do, informing them at the same time that I could +say all these things much more readily in English. And this part of my +examination being over, and my judges seeming satisfied, I began to +breathe more freely, hoping that all might end well.</p> + +<p>But now they began to examine me on more particular and nicer points, +and it was plain to me that if I did but make a slip they would visit it +upon my body. For they demanded first, whether I believed or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>not that +any bread or wine remained in the paten or in the chalice after the +consecration, and second, whether or not the bread and the wine were not +actually the very body and blood of our Lord. To have answered “No” to +these questions would have insured my death, therefore I cudgeled my +brains for a fitting reply to them, well knowing what depended upon it. +And bethinking me of the articles and teachings of my own church, I made +answer that I was no scholar or theologian, but a simple country +gentleman that had left subtle points to priests and schoolmen, and had +always held what they taught me, namely, that our blessed Lord is indeed +verily and truly present in the sacrament of His body and blood. This +answer seemed to satisfy them, but presently they asked me if I did not +follow the teachings of Doctor Martin Luther. I cheerfully replied to +that, that I knew naught about Doctor Luther, and had never heard his +name mentioned until <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>I came into Mexico; which was plain truth, for we +were out of the world at Beechcot, and knew naught of controversies. +Then they would have me to tell them what I had been taught to believe +in England, to which I answered that I had never been taught any other +doctrine than that to which I had already testified, and in which I did +firmly and truly believe as a good Christian man, hoping for salvation +in the Christian faith.</p> + +<p>“We must have a more satisfactory answer than that,” said the Chief +Inquisitor, “otherwise we must try what a sterner method will do with +you.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said I, “other answer I cannot give you, for I have already told +you the truth. As for my sins against God I heartily ask His +forgiveness, and also yours if I have offended your laws in any way; but +I beseech you to remember that I came into your country against my own +will, and have never done aught against its laws or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>against you +wittingly. Therefore, I beseech you to have Christian mercy upon my +defenseless condition.”</p> + +<p>But they had none, and that night I was put upon the rack, and cruelly +tortured by Frey Bartolomeo and his fellows, in the hope that I should +confess something against myself. However, God giving me strength, I +said naught, and was preserved through that awful torment, the memory of +which is strong in my mind even after all these years.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE AUTO-DA-FE.</h3> + +<p>About the beginning of Holy Week the Inquisitors caused to be erected a +great scaffold against the large church in the main square, and from it +they proclaimed, with much beating of drums and blaring of trumpets, +that whoever should come there upon Good Friday should have made known +to them the most just judgments of the Holy Inquisition upon the English +heretics, Lutherans, and should, moreover, see the same put into +immediate execution. And so now we were face to face with whatever final +cruelty these devils in human shape might devise upon us, who were +helpless and defenseless in their hands.</p> + +<p>There was little rest for any of us on the night preceding the +judgments, for there came to each of us officers and Familiars of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>the +Inquisition, tormenting us with gibes and sneers, and bringing us the +San-benitos in which we were to appear in the great square next morning. +It was already turning gray in the east when two of these men entered my +dungeon, where I lay still stiff and bruised because of the racking +which I had undergone a few days before. They woke me rudely and without +consideration, caring naught for the woes I had already suffered or the +sorrow I was that day to undergo.</p> + +<p>“Wake, English dog, Lutheran, enemy of God!” cried one. “Wake and robe +thyself to meet thy master the devil. Truly the saints will rejoice to +see the sight provided for them this day.”</p> + +<p>Then they hustled me from my straw pallet and bade me dress in the +San-benito, which was a garment of yellow cotton having divers devices +painted upon it. And this done they took me out into the courtyard of +the prison, and there for the first <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>time for some weeks I met Pharaoh +Nanjulian. It was easy to see, even in the uncertain light of the early +morning, that he had undergone the same torments which they had applied +to me. His face was pinched and thin with suffering, and his great frame +seemed to have been crushed and bruised until it had shrunk in height +and girth. Yet he bore himself with composure and bravery, and I felt at +once that, however the rest of us behaved, he at least would not +disgrace the name of England.</p> + +<p>“Heart up, master!” quoth he, as soon as we came within speaking +distance of each other. “Heart up! Let us show ourselves brave men this +day. I do not think they can torment us more than they have already +done. And what if they kill us? We must all die.”</p> + +<p>“Did they torture you badly, Pharaoh?” I asked, admiring his fortitude.</p> + +<p>He shook his head and smiled grimly.</p> + +<p>“So badly, master, that it seemed as if <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>every bone in my body was +broken and every sinew cracked. But a man may undergo a deal of +suffering and yet live. So let us quit us like men and be strong. For +truly, though we be in the hands of these devils at present, God is near +us, and will maybe be nearer ere the day is done.”</p> + +<p>Then our custodians separated us again, and for a couple of hours they +exercised us in the prison yard, showing us in what order we should +proceed to the scaffold, and admonishing us as to our behavior when we +had come there. And after that was over, it being broad daylight, they +gave us breakfast, which was a cup of wine with a piece of bread fried +in honey, and so we were ready for the ordeal.</p> + +<p>There were some sixty to seventy prisoners in all, of all nationalities, +a considerable number being Englishmen, and all of us were dressed in +those hideous San-benitos, which make the most shameful garb that a man +can wear. Being drawn up in single <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>file, our guards fastened a halter +round the neck of each prisoner, and afterwards gave to each of us a +green wax candle, which we carried, unlighted, in the right hand. Two +Spaniards, well armed, guarded each of us, and so the procession being +arranged, the great doors were thrown open and we were led forth into +the square.</p> + +<p>The crowd in the square was so thick that the guards had much ado to +free a passage through it; but ere long we came to the scaffold, and +were conducted upon it, seating ourselves on long rows of chairs placed +in full sight of the people. We had not long occupied this shameful +position when the Viceroy and his officers came upon the scaffold by +another flight of steps, closely followed by the Inquisitors, who took +the chief places and made much show of their authority. Then three +hundred friars, wearing the garb of their various orders, black, white, +gray, and brown, were marshaled to their places, and all was ready for +the judgments.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p><p>Now, we were so sorely exercised in our minds at that time because of +the agony of sitting there and wondering when our turn would come and +what our fate would be, that I have utterly forgotten many of the names +and sentences of my unfortunate companions. Some still come back to me, +because their sentences were heavier than those which have escaped my +memory.</p> + +<p>The manner of judgment was after this fashion. The clerk to the +Inquisitors calling out our names in a loud voice, we were commanded to +stand up in our places and hear the judgment of the Holy Office upon us.</p> + +<p>Thomas White, Cornelius Johnson, Peter Brown, Henry More, all Englishmen +shipwrecked on those inhospitable coasts or captured at sea, were +condemned to three hundred lashes on horseback, and to serve in the +galleys for ten years.</p> + +<p>William Collier, Thomas Ford, John Page, two hundred lashes and eight +years in the galleys.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p><p>Stephen Brown and Nicholas Peterson, a Dutchman, one hundred lashes and +six years in the galleys.</p> + +<p>Then came some forty or fifty men whose names I have forgotten, who were +condemned to a lesser number of lashes and less servitude in the +galleys, and after them some four or five who were adjudged to serve in +monasteries for various terms of years, wearing their San-benitos all +the time.</p> + +<p>And then, after two or three hours of weary waiting, for they did +everything with exceeding tediousness and much ceremony, they called +upon Pharaoh Nanjulian and myself, and we stood up together to receive +sentence. And then we suddenly knew that God had not deserted us, for +the sentence was a lighter one than any that we had heard passed. We +were to serve two years in the galleys, submitting ourselves to the +chaplain for admonition and instruction. So that was over and we could +breathe freely again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p><p>Nevertheless the horrible work of that day was far from over, for it was +hardly begun. The torments, the murders, were yet to come.</p> + +<p>William Moor, John Wood, and Hans Schewitzer, a German Lutheran, were +brought up for sentence and condemned, being pestilent and naughty +heretics, to be burned to ashes.</p> + +<p>They lost no time, these villainous Spaniards, in carrying out this +sentence. In front of the scaffold stood three stout iron posts, firmly +sunk in the ground, with fagots already piled about them, and to these +the unfortunate men were speedily bound, amidst the silence of the crowd +and the cries of the monks and Familiars, who pressed upon their +victims, bidding them repent and recant ere they were lost forever. But +to these murdering villains the three men answered naught, and presently +it was all over with them, and there was one more crime recorded against +Spain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><p>Then those of us who had been sentenced to so many lashes were led down +from the scaffold and placed upon horses, being stripped to the waist, +and having by them, every man, an executioner armed with a whip. Such of +us as had escaped this sentence were arranged in pairs behind, with our +halters still round our necks and our guards on either side of us. +Before the men who were to be whipped marched two criers, crying “Behold +these English dogs, Lutherans, enemies of God,” and at intervals came +Familiars, such as Frey Bartolomeo, admonishing the executioners to lay +on and spare not. Then the procession started, and was conducted by the +criers through all the principal streets back to the great square, and +at every few steps the executioners laid on with their whips, fetching +blood at every stroke, so that to any man having aught of mercy and +compassion within him the spectacle was horrible and nauseating, though +to the Familiars <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>and Inquisitors it seemed delightful enough.</p> + +<p>Now, as we returned to the great square, this bloody work being over, +the throng pressed upon us so closely that for some few moments we were +unable to move, and while we stood there waiting for what would happen +next, there came to our side Captain Manuel Nunez, his evil eyes mocking +and sneering at us.</p> + +<p>“So, Master Salkeld,” said he, “it would seem that you have not +altogether escaped. Our Holy Office is merciful, Master Salkeld, yea, +sadly too merciful for my liking. But there are those of us, who know +not any mercy for Englishmen and heretics, as you shall find ere long, +both of you.”</p> + +<p>With that he vanished in the crowd, and presently Pharaoh and I were led +back to prison, wondering what his last words meant.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>ON BOARD THE GALLEY.</h3> + +<p>Being led back to the prison, Pharaoh and I found to our unspeakable joy +and astonishment that we were to be placed in one cell and not separated +as heretofore. This consideration on the part of our jailers was +exceedingly pleasant to us, because it afforded us the opportunity of +conversing one with the other. Therefore, in spite of our bruises and +strains, caused by the rack and not yet forgotten, and of the sad sights +which we had that day seen, we made an effort to pluck up our spirits, +and to be cheerful and even hopeful.</p> + +<p>We were further assisted in this laudable desire by a visit from the old +gentleman whom we had rescued from highwaymen on the road to Oaxaca. +About seven o’clock that evening he was admitted to our <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>cell, and left +alone with us. This latter fact at once assured us that our friend was a +man of rank and position, otherwise he would not have been permitted to +see and speak with us, save in the presence of witnesses.</p> + +<p>“I trust all is well with you, friends,” said he, as he entered our +presence, and set down a basket which the jailer had carried to the +door. “I come to see you at a sad time, doubtless, but ’tis indeed with +feelings of friendship.”</p> + +<p>“We have so few friends in this country, Senor,” answered Pharaoh, “that +we are glad to see any of them. Nay, indeed, so far as we know, your +honor is the only friend we have. Therefore, Senor, you are something +more than welcome.”</p> + +<p>Now the jailer being gone, the old gentleman took our hands in his own, +and was like to weep over us, at which we marveled, for we did not know +that his gratitude was so hearty, seeing that we had done such a small +thing for him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p><p>“Alas, friends,” said he. “I grieve for you more than I can say, for I +hate and abominate these murderous Inquisitors, whose hearts are filled +with naught but torment and murder. Nevertheless I have saved you +somewhat, for it was through my efforts and bribes that you came off +with such light sentences.”</p> + +<p>“I thought we had your honor to thank for that,” said Pharaoh. “Aye, +’tis well to have a friend at court when need arises.”</p> + +<p>“I labored hard,” said the old gentleman, “to secure your freedom, but +these bloody-minded Inquisitors are without bowels of mercy, and ye are +fortunate to have escaped death or torture. But now I have brought you a +little matter of wine and fruit, so fall-to and refresh yourselves, and +after that we will talk of what is to come.”</p> + +<p>So he unpacked his basket and set food and wine and delightful fruit +before us, and we ate and drank and were vastly comforted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>thereby, for +our commons during the past week or two had been of the very shortest. +And when we had thus refreshed ourselves, we began to discuss our +situation anew.</p> + +<p>“That you have escaped with your lives and without the torture of the +lash,” said our friend, “is due to my continued exertions on your +behalf. But now, gentlemen, I am powerless to do more for you.”</p> + +<p>Then we once more thanked him for doing so much, saying that we should +always hold his kindness in remembrance, and should ever pray for his +happiness and prosperity.</p> + +<p>“And if,” continued I, “your honor can suggest any means by which we can +escape from these galleys and regain our own country, we shall be +further beholden to you. For, indeed, we have friends in England who +must be anxious about us, if they be not already in despair of ever +seeing us again.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p><p>“I fear there is small chance of your escape,” said he, shaking his +head. “Men that are chained to the oar cannot well escape. I pray God +that you may survive your two years of that work—it is not all that +do.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Pharaoh, “do you know where we shall be taken?”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” answered he, “that I cannot say. Most men who lie under your +sentence are shipped to Spain, and are there placed in the galleys. The +same fate is probably in store for you.”</p> + +<p>“God help us if they take us to Spain!” said Pharaoh. “We shall have to +go through it all over again.”</p> + +<p>However, it seemed almost certain that this would be our fate, and as +nothing that we could say or do could alter it, there was naught for it +but to submit ourselves with such cheerfulness as we could muster. But +here the old Senor gave us some additional comfort, for it seemed that +his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>special purpose in coming to us that night was to give us the names +of friends of his in certain towns and ports of Spain, to whom we might +apply in case of our being in their neighborhood.</p> + +<p>“You are something more than likely to be finally dismissed at Cadiz or +at Seville,” said he, “and it will be none the worse if you know where +to turn for a friend;” and with that he gave us the names of certain +Spanish gentlemen of rank, his friends, assuring us that they would help +us to escape to England. And these names he made us learn by heart, and +then, having no more time to spend with us, he bade us farewell, and we +saw him no more. But in him we found one Spaniard at least who hated the +horrible practices of the Inquisitors, and had a heart within him which +was not insensible to the woes of others.</p> + +<p>After we had remained in the prison five days longer, we were one +morning brought forth and stripped of our San-benitos and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>given rough +clothing suited to galley slaves. And that being done we were mounted on +stout horses, in company with the other prisoners who had been sentenced +to serve in the galleys, and being guarded by a great number of +soldiers, well armed, we were sent off across country to the port of +Acapulco. But ere we left Mexico every man of us had fastened to his +left wrist and ankle a heavily-weighted chain, which would have made it +impossible for us to attempt an escape even if we could have eluded the +vigilance of our escort.</p> + +<p>We were somewhat surprised to find that our first destination was +Acapulco, for we had fancied that we should be sent to Vera Cruz, which +is much nearer to the city of Mexico, and from which we expected to be +sent across seas to Spain. We found, however, that at Acapulco there lay +at that time a great treasure-galleon, the Santa Filomena, which the +Spaniards were minded to take home by way of the Pacific islands <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>and +Africa, it being their belief that by this route there would be less +chance of meeting Hawkins, or Drake, or Frobisher, or any of the great +English sea-captains, of whom they were mortally afraid. In this +galleon, then, we were to be shipped, with the prospect of a long and +tedious voyage, which, according to Pharaoh’s calculations, might cover +the best part of a year even with fair winds.</p> + +<p>Our overland journey to Acapulco was not wholly unpleasant, for our +guards being soldiers, and free from the encouragement of those +murderous fanatics the Inquisitors and Familiars, treated us with as +much consideration as was possible, and forbore to taunt us with our +misfortunes. Moreover, we were frequently lodged for the night in the +neighborhood of some convent or monastery, and then we did exceeding +well, the friars feeding us with their best, and compassionating us for +our many sorrows. And at that time it was plain to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>us that the +Inquisition was heartily hated by the friars—black, white, and +gray,—and met with no favor from any but such as had long since +forgotten all that they had ever known of mercy and compassion.</p> + +<p>Having reached Acapulco, after many days’ journeying over mountains and +plains, we were immediately conveyed on board the Santa Filomena, which +was a great galleon of full rig, having a high poop and a double bank of +oars, and there our chains were knocked off by the armorer. This relief, +however, did not long benefit us, for we were presently conducted below +to a great deck filled with long wooden benches, parallel with the +mighty oars which came through the ports. To one of these benches +Pharaoh and I were immediately chained and padlocked, our companions +suffering a like treatment. In another part of the deck the benches were +filled by negroes, stark naked, whose backs and shoulders were covered +by scars, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>who yelled and grinned at us like fiends or madmen.</p> + +<p>“God help us!” said Pharaoh; “they will not release us from these +benches till we make Seville or Cadiz.”</p> + +<p>And at that awful prospect I half-regretted that we had not died in +Mexico. For simply to think of being chained to the oar all those weary +months amidst that foul and unclean mass of humanity, sleeping where we +labored, and eating amidst dirt and filth, was more than I could +stomach, and at that moment black despair seemed to settle upon my +heart. But Pharaoh once more came to my aid and strove to cheer me.</p> + +<p>“Heart up, master!” said he. “All is not yet over. We are going through +sore trials, but what then? Are we not Englishmen? At any rate let us +show a stern front to these villains. Cowards we will never be.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>NUNEZ IN A NEW GUISE.</h3> + +<p>The second day after our arrival at Acapulco, we knew by the hurry and +scurry on board our vessel that preparations were being made for +sailing. Our deck was now full, and every oar was fully manned with its +complement of slaves or captives. Of these the majority were blacks, +whose misfortunes had transformed them into nothing better than wild +animals; but there were still a large number of whites, and amongst them +thirty to forty of our own countrymen. Every man was chained to his +bench, and it was evident that there was no intention of releasing us +until our voyage came to an end. Thus amongst our miserable company were +many who hung their heads in deep dejection, and envied <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>the three men +who had met death by the flames in the great square of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Towards the evening of that day, as I was sitting lost in sad thoughts, +I looked up and saw standing at my side two figures, which I had given +anything rather than set eyes upon. One was that of Captain Manuel +Nunez, the other the black-robed form of Frey Bartolomeo. They stood +regarding me steadfastly: the monk calm and quiet, the sailor with his +usual cold smile faintly curling about the eyes and mouth.</p> + +<p>“So, Master Salkeld,” said Nunez, “we meet again. You are doubtless on +your way home to England to take vengeance on your cousin, Master +Stapleton.”</p> + +<p>I looked at him steadfastly. I was not going to be cowed by him, +defenseless as I was.</p> + +<p>“That may be, Senor,” said I. “It is a long way to England by the road +we are taking, but I shall reach it if God wills that it should be so.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p><p>“You do well to make that proviso,” said he. “For God gives His power to +men, and at this moment I, as master of this vessel, and Frey +Bartolomeo, as its chaplain, are his viceregents. Wherefore, Master +Salkeld, I think your chances are not good.”</p> + +<p>“We are in God’s hands,” said I; though indeed my heart turned faint and +sick to think that these wretches had us in their power.</p> + +<p>“At present, good Master Salkeld, you are in mine,” he answered, smiling +mockingly upon me. “But then you know what a kind and considerate host I +am. You did admit that, when I carried you across the Atlantic. Still, +Master Salkeld, things are somewhat altered between us. I am not now +paid to carry you to Mexico and get rid of you. Also, since then you +have spat in my face. Ah, you remember that, do you? Dog, you shall +remember it every day of your life! I will not kill you now, as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>I +might, but I will kill you by inches, and you shall die at last at your +bench and lie there to rot. That is the fate of the dog who spits in the +face of a Spanish gentleman.”</p> + +<p>So he turned away, but the man sitting next me put out his hand and +plucked the monk’s cloak, bidding him remember that he had promised to +find him a ship for England, and begging him to keep his plighted word. +But Frey Bartolomeo shook him off.</p> + +<p>“Thou art a heretic,” he said. “With heretics we keep no faith. To thy +oar, Lutheran!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>THE FLAG OF ENGLAND.</h3> + +<p>And now our cup of misery seemed full indeed. We were friendless and +captive, and we had for our jailers two of the most inhuman beings that +ever lived to disgrace the earth, and both of them hated us with an +exceeding bitter hatred; one because I had spat in his face, the other +because we had escaped the fire. Moreover, we were chained to an oar in +a vessel which was sailing over I know not how many thousands of miles +of water, in latitudes where it was not likely we should fall in with +any ship that could rescue us. Verily there seemed before us nothing but +horror and death!</p> + +<p>And truly our lot was hard. Hour upon hour we tugged at the oar. Where +we toiled there we slept, amongst the shrieks, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>sobs, groans, and +heart-rending lamentations of our fellow-captives. Up and down the +gangways that divided us walked stalwart Spaniards, armed with heavy +whips, which they scarcely ever ceased from laying about our bare +shoulders. Our food was such as is given to pigs in England—coarse +maize or meal, soaked in cold water, with bread of the blackest and +hardest description. The heat burned us to madness; the cold night-winds +blew in upon us; the salt-spray dashing through the open ports found the +raw places in our wounds and stung us as if with fire. Verily, we were +in hell! Ere many days had gone by a man dropped and died at his post. +They let him hang there by his chains till another day had gone past, +then they knocked off his irons and flung him through the port-hole. And +there was scarcely a man of us that did not envy him.</p> + +<p>Now that Captain Manuel Nunez had us in his power there was apparently +no <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>limit to his cruelty. Scarcely a day passed on which he did not +descend the ladder to our deck and vex our souls with some new form of +torture. Sometimes he would take his station near us, and bid the +overseers lay on to us with their whips. Sometimes he would take the +whip himself and beat us about the head and face with it until we became +senseless. Now and then he would amuse himself by pricking us with his +sword or dagger; now and then he would spit in our faces and bespatter +us with filth, pouring out upon us every foul and evil name he could +think of. And when he had worked his will upon us, there would come to +us Frey Bartolomeo, cold and cruel, and he would admonish and instruct +us, and finding that he could get naught out of us, would depart cursing +us for Lutherans and dogs.</p> + +<p>These two presently devised a new torture, and put it into operation +upon us. They caused the ship’s armorer to make <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>an iron brand, bearing +the word “Heretic”, and this being heated red, they came down to us and +branded us on back and breast, so that all men, they said, should know +us for what we were. And after that they gave us more lashes, and then +deluged us with salt water, and so left us more dead than alive.</p> + +<p>Now, after I had undergone some weeks of this treatment, I was like to +have lost my senses, for the strength of my body was giving out, and I +felt myself powerless to resist the continued cruelties and insults +which were put upon me. Yea, I should certainly have gone mad at that +time if it had not been for my faithful companion, Pharaoh Nanjulian, +who did his best to cheer and support me, and got no reward for it but +an increase of blows and stripes from Nunez, and venomous curses from +Frey Bartolomeo.</p> + +<p>It was one of Nunez’s chief delights at this period to come down upon +our deck <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>and goad me into a rage that closely approached madness. Thus +after exposing me to numerous insults, he would ask me what I proposed +to do when I reached England again, and what fate I was keeping in store +for my cousin Stapleton.</p> + +<p>“It must afford you the most exquisite delight of which the human mind +is capable, Master Salkeld,” he said one day, when he had tormented and +plagued me beyond endurance, “to sit here in these pleasant quarters and +think of your cousin at home. He hath doubtless entered upon the family +estates and married the lady whose affections you stole from him, and +maybe he hath by this time told her of the trick he played upon you, and +they laugh at it together.”</p> + +<p>And at that I cursed him before God and man and wept bitter tears, for I +was thoroughly broken, and had no more heart in me than a child.</p> + +<p>“So you are broken at last?” said he, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>struck me across the mouth +and went away.</p> + +<p>And then I wished to die, for I was indeed broken; but Pharaoh did his +best to console me and bade me be of good cheer, for we should triumph +yet.</p> + +<p>Now the next day, our voyage having then lasted some nine or ten weeks, +we were aware of a sail bearing down upon us from the south-east, and +before long it became evident that this ship was chasing us, whereupon +there was much to-do on board the Santa Filomena, and our overseers +urged us to renewed exertions with continual lashing of their whips. +Nevertheless, within three hours the ship had overhauled us, and from +our post we saw flying from her mast-head the flag of England.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>FRANCIS DRAKE.</h3> + +<p>Now, if you can bring yourself to imagine what he feels like who, having +remained in dire and horrible distress for many weary days, suddenly +sees salvation coming to him, you will know what we felt as we gazed +through the port-hole and saw that noble English ship draw near with the +English flag flying at her mast-head. If you have ever been in like +peril yourself you will understand it better. A man condemned to die and +suddenly reprieved; another suddenly released from awful slavery; a +third suffering from heavy sorrow and suddenly overwhelmed with good +tidings—any of these will know what we felt.</p> + +<p>“An English ship!” cried Pharaoh. “Thanks be to God—an English ship!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><p>And straightway there rose from the crowded benches on our deck a +strange and marvelous babble of sound. Some burst into tears of +thankfulness and relief, some howled like wild beasts because of their +chains, some cursed and blasphemed because there was small chance of the +English ship’s folk knowing our condition. Others shouted and yelled for +help; the men sitting next the port-holes thrust forth their heads and +cried loudly across the waters, though the ship was yet a good mile +away. Every man betrayed his emotion and his misery in some way: here +they tugged at the chains which bound them, there they showed their +teeth at the Spaniards, snarling and snapping like dogs chained to a +staple in the wall. And then the overseers fell upon us once more, and +their great hide-whips descended mercilessly upon our shoulders, so that +we were forced to tug at the oars with redoubled force, and the galleon +shot forward again <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>under a storm of yells and cries and loud groans.</p> + +<p>“Yon is an English ship, as I live,” said Pharaoh, as we tugged at our +oar. “And she will overhaul us. Pray God she does not slay a score of us +in this rat-trap by her first shot. If she only knew what we know. +Listen, master!”</p> + +<p>Over the strip of sea that separated us came the dull, heavy roar of a +cannon-shot. They were firing at us in order to make the Spaniard +lay-to. But Captain Manuel Nunez had no intention of acceding to the +Englishman’s wishes in that respect, and it was evident that he was +crowding on all sail, and making every possible effort to escape that +terrible ship which overhauled him hand over hand. On deck we heard the +Spaniards rushing hither and thither, the mates and boatswain shrieking +and yelling orders to the crew, the armorer and the soldiers making +ready the ordnance and small arms. Now and then we caught the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>voice of +Nunez, cool and collected as usual, but very fierce and determined; and +once the pale face of Frey Bartolomeo appeared, and we heard him +admonishing the overseers to lay on with their whips.</p> + +<p>“We are like to be flayed alive if this goes on much longer,” muttered +Pharaoh as the lash curled about his shoulders again. “Oh, if we were +but free and had some weapon in our hands! Lay on, ye murderous +villains, lay on! Your reign is well-nigh over. Master, hold up a while +longer. See there!”</p> + +<p>Another puff of white smoke burst from the English ship’s side, followed +by a dull roar, and, immediately after, by a loud crashing and +splintering of the deck above our heads. Then came shrieks, groans, and +loud cries of pain. The shot had swept the deck. Fathom by fathom the +English ship overhauled us. Through our port-hole we could see her deck +swarming with men armed to the teeth. On her poop <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>stood a little knot +of men evidently in command, and one of these was directing the +boatswain with outstretched arm.</p> + +<p>“I see their plan,” said Pharaoh; “they have seen the oars, and they are +minded not to fire upon us again for fear of killing or wounding the +captives. They are going to lay their ship alongside ours and board us.”</p> + +<p>So the ship came nearer and nearer, sailing nearly twice as fast as our +great lumbering galleon, and at last we could make out the faces of the +men on deck. And suddenly Pharaoh set up a great cry that made every +Englishman on our deck turn to him with astonishment.</p> + +<p>“’Tis Francis Drake!” he cried. “God be thanked, ’tis Francis Drake +himself! See yonder, lads, there he stands on the poop. Are there any +men here that ever served under Francis Drake? If so, let them look out +at yonder captain and speak.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p><p>“’Tis Francis Drake and no other!” cried one. “I know him by the gold +band round his scarlet cap. He always wears that at sea. Now may God be +praised for this deliverance.”</p> + +<p>But there was much to be done ere our deliverance could be accomplished. +Nay, indeed, it seemed as if our cruel jailers were minded to murder us +before ever help would come, for they proceeded to beat us so +unmercifully with their whips that many of us sank down faint and +bleeding, and lay like dead men. But the rest of us kept up because of +the fierce excitement.</p> + +<p>Presently the English ship was within a boat’s length of us, and then +she slowly crashed against our side, the brass muzzles of her guns, in +some cases, coming through our ports. Meanwhile the Spaniards had not +been idle, for their gunners were plying their cannon with all possible +speed, and the noise and confusion was horrible. But yet never a shot +did the Englishman fire, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>but their ship closed steadily upon us. At +last we heard the grappling-irons thrown out and made fast, and knew +that the two ships were locked together, like lions that fasten teeth +and claws in each other and will not loose their grip till death comes.</p> + +<p>Then began a noise and confusion as if all the devils of hell had +suddenly been let loose. We heard the shouts of the Englishmen, hoarse +and deep, and the shriller cries of the Spaniards, above the roaring of +the guns. On deck there sounded the wild rush and hurry of feet as the +combatants were driven hither and thither. The overseers had thrown down +their whips and fled to the upper decks as soon as the English boarded, +and now we captives sat breathless and bleeding, listening to the noise +above us and longing for release, so that we too might join in the +fight.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there leapt through one of the ports a brawny Englishman, armed +not with sword or pike, but with hammer and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>chisel, and he was speedily +followed by half-a-dozen more, armed in similar fashion.</p> + +<p>“Are there Englishmen here?” roared the first as he tumbled in amongst +us. “Speak, lads, if ye be English!”</p> + +<p>And at that there went up such a roar as was like to burst open the deck +above us. Men stretched out their hands and arms to these great English +sailors as if they were angels, and prayed them to knock off their +bonds. So they, staring stupidly at us for a moment,—as is the manner +of Englishmen when they see something which they do not +understand,—suddenly fell to and knocked away our chains and padlocks, +while we wept over them and blessed them as our saviors. And meanwhile +others had handed in pikes and swords and glaives through the ports, and +others were guarding the ladder against the Spaniards, in case any of +them should come below. But they were too <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>busy on the upper decks to +have even a thought of us, and so we were uninterrupted, and ere long +every man of us was free of his chains.</p> + +<p>“Now, lads!” cried the big man who had first leapt in upon us, “can ye +fight, or are ye too weak for a brush? If any man thinks he can hold +pike or sword, let him pick his weapon and follow me.”</p> + +<p>Some of us could fight and some could not. Here and there a man was only +released from his chains to fall upon the deck and die. Others, suddenly +made free, found on striving to rise from the benches that the use of +their legs was gone. Others again, whose minds had suffered under those +long months of fiendish torture, were no sooner released than they +became utterly mad, and fell to laughing and gibbering at their +preservers. But many of us, weak as we were, felt the strength of ten +men come into our arms, and we seized eagerly upon the weapons offered +to us, and followed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>the sailors up the gangway with a fierce resolve to +call our late oppressors to a final account.</p> + +<p>On the upper deck the fight was raging furiously. The Spaniards, furious +and desperate, were massed together in a solid body, keeping back the +Englishmen by sheer skill. Already between the gangways and the bulwarks +lay a great heap of dead and dying. High above the combatants on the +poop stood Nunez, his pale face set and drawn, watching the progress of +the fight with gleaming eyes and compressed lips. From the tops the +sharp-shooters were pouring showers of arrows into the English ship, but +the guns had ceased, and the gunners lay dead beside them.</p> + +<p>We dashed on deck with a great cry, and for an instant the whole body of +combatants turned and looked at us. A strange and awful sight we must +needs have presented at that moment. There was scarcely a rag <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>upon us, +our hair was long and unkempt, our shoulders were torn and bleeding from +the effects of the lashes lately laid on them, and our entire aspect +must have resembled that of wild beasts rather than of men. I saw Nunez +turn paler as he caught sight of us, and heard the English storm of +execration burst forth over the noise and confusion of the fight. Then +we fell upon the Spaniards from behind, and after that all was red, and +I seemed to do naught but strike and strike again, unconscious of pain +or wounds or anything but a fierce desire to be avenged on the villains +who had wrought such cruelty upon me.</p> + +<p>Howbeit, after a time I felt myself dragged by a friendly hand out of +the thick of the fight and led across the bulwarks to the English ship, +where I was presently conducted on to the poop, into the presence of a +man whom I at once knew to be some great captain. He was of middle +height, with a high forehead, crisp brown hair, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>very steady gray eyes, +and a hard, fierce mouth, slightly covered by a beard and moustache. He +wore a loose, dark, seaman’s shirt, belted at the waist, and about his +neck was a plaited cord, having attached to it a ring, with which his +fingers played as he spoke to me. On his head was a scarlet cap with a +gold band, even as the man in the galleon had said.</p> + +<p>Such was my first glimpse of the great captain, Francis Drake, then +thirty years of age, and making his first voyage round the world. I +stood staring at him for a moment, and he at me, and I know not which +was most interested in the other.</p> + +<p>“Who art thou, friend?” he inquired, presently.</p> + +<p>“An English gentleman, sir, kidnaped by the Spaniards and carried to +Mexico, where I have undergone torments at the hands of the Inquisitors. +I was a galley slave on board yonder vessel.”</p> + +<p>“How many Englishmen are there with you?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p><p>“At least forty.”</p> + +<p>“Does the ship carry treasure?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” I answered; “and she also carries two of the most cruel +wretches that ever walked the earth.”</p> + +<p>“Who are they, friend?”</p> + +<p>“Manuel Nunez, the captain, and Bartolomeo, the monk. In God’s name, +sir, do justice upon them.”</p> + +<p>He turned and gave some orders to an officer who stood by. Then he gave +his attention to the Spanish ship again, so I caught up my weapon and +rushed back over the side, eager to find Pharaoh Nanjulian.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE FATE OF NUNEZ AND FREY BARTOLOMEO.</h3> + +<p>By that time the fight was well-nigh over. During its progress another +English ship had sailed up on the other side of the Spaniard, and her +men were now swarming over the side, eager to have some share in the +struggle. Thus it came about that in a few moments, the Spaniards were +completely worsted, and were forced to lay down their arms and beg for +mercy.</p> + +<p>I found Pharaoh Nanjulian busily occupied in seeing to the removal of +several men, who were too weak to move of their own accord, from the +benches where we had lately been chained. These were being carried to +the English ships, where they were received with such indignation as is +felt by honest men who abhor cruelty. So <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>strong, indeed, were the +feelings aroused amongst the English sailors at the sight of our +bleeding backs, that their officers had much ado to prevent them from +slaying the Spaniards without mercy.</p> + +<p>“Where is the monk, Pharaoh?” I said. “He must not escape. Have you seen +aught of him during the fight?”</p> + +<p>But Pharaoh had seen naught. He had been fighting hard himself, and that +being over he had turned his attention to such of our unfortunate +companions as were unable to help themselves.</p> + +<p>“He cannot be far away, master,” said he. “The rat will have found some +hole, no doubt.”</p> + +<p>At that moment one of Drake’s officers came pressing on board, asking +for the friar.</p> + +<p>“Bring him aboard the Golden Hinde unharmed,” said he, “and the Spanish +captain too. ’Tis Captain Drake’s special order. Harm neither of them, +but have them aboard.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>But neither Nunez nor Frey Bartolomeo were to be seen. Their men, such +as survived—and they were but few,—stood bound on deck, glaring +sullenly at their captors, but neither monk nor captain were at hand.</p> + +<p>“Try the cabin,” said one, and we made our way to the cabin under the +poop, where Nunez was used to sit. But the door was fast, and we had to +break it down. As the first man rushed in he fell back dead, with a +sword-thrust through his heart from Nunez, while the second dropped with +a dagger-wound in his throat. But ere he could strike again Pharaoh +Nanjulian had seized him by the neck, and Captain Manuel Nunez was +dragged into the light, dispossessed of his weapons and bound securely. +I stood and looked at him, and suddenly the fierce scowl of hate and +rage cleared away from his features, and the old mocking, cold smile +began to play about the corners of his eyes and mouth again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p><p>“The fortunes of war, Master Salkeld,” said he. “Yesterday you were down +and I was up. To-day you are up and I am down. ’Tis fate.”</p> + +<p>But I had no time to talk with him then, for I was anxious to find Frey +Bartolomeo. Therefore Pharaoh and I left Nunez with the officer and +began searching the ship high and low. Because on first coming aboard +her we had been straightway conducted to the oars we knew next to +nothing of the Santa Filomena, and were accordingly some time in getting +our bearings. Nevertheless we could find no trace of the monk, who +seemed to have vanished into thin air, or to have gone overboard during +the fight. He was not to be found either in cockpit or cabin, forecastle +or lazaretto, and at last we stared blankly in each other’s faces and +wondered what had become of him.</p> + +<p>“There is one place we have not yet tried,” said Pharaoh, “and that is +the powder <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>magazine. Maybe he has retreated there.”</p> + +<p>We fetched a Spaniard from the upper deck and obliged him to conduct us +to the magazine, and there, sure enough, was Frey Bartolomeo, calm and +impassive as ever. He had stove in the head of one barrel of gunpowder, +and now stood over the powder holding a lighted candle in his hand. As +we burst in the door and confronted him, he raised his pale face and +regarded us with calmness and scorn.</p> + +<p>“Lay but a finger on me, ye Lutheran dogs,” he said, “and I will drop +this light into the powder and send your souls to perdition!”</p> + +<p>The men with us started back, dismayed and affrighted by his grim looks +and determined words. But Pharaoh Nanjulian laughed.</p> + +<p>“Your own soul will go with ours, friar,” said he.</p> + +<p>Frey Bartolomeo shot a fierce glance at him from under his cowl.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p><p>“Fool!” he said. “Thinkest thou that I value life? What hinders me from +destroying every one of you and myself as well?”</p> + +<p>“This!” said Pharaoh, suddenly knocking the candle out of his hand. It +flew across the powder, and striking a bulkhead opposite, went out +harmlessly. So we seized Frey Bartolomeo, who now bitterly reproached +himself for not having blown up the ship before we reached him, and +conducted him to the upper deck, from whence he and Captain Nunez were +presently conveyed to the Golden Hinde, where they were safely stowed in +irons.</p> + +<p>And now, the fight being over, Drake and his men made haste to see what +treasure the galleon contained. In this quest, however, those of us who +had been rescued from the oars took no part, for now that the excitement +was dying away our feverish strength went with it, so that we presently +began to exhibit signs of terrible <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>distress and exhaustion, and many of +us swooned away. Here, however, our rescuers came to our further relief, +and the ship’s doctor was soon busily engaged in seeing to us, dressing +our wounds, giving us oils and unguents for our bloody stripes, and +ordering wine and food for all of us. So we were much refreshed; but +none of these things, comforting as they were, seemed so good to us as +the words of kindness, which we heard with wonder and astonishment, our +ears having become accustomed to naught but threatenings and revilings.</p> + +<p>While we were occupied in this pleasant fashion, Drake’s men transferred +a vast amount of treasure from the Santa Filomena to the Golden Hinde. +There was a large quantity of jewels, fourteen chests of ryals of plate, +over a hundred pounds weight of gold, twenty tons of uncoined silver, +and pieces of wrought gold and silver plate of great value. The +discovery of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>all this treasure put our newly-found friends in high +good-humor, such ventures not having come in their way since they had +left the coast of Panama some months previous.</p> + +<p>When all this treasure had been transferred to Drake’s vessel, the +Golden Hinde, the admiral sent for the Englishmen who had been rescued +from the Santa Filomena, and gave audience to us on the quarterdeck. A +sad and sorry multitude we looked, spite of the surgeon’s care, as we +stood gazing at the great sea-captain who had rescued us, and waiting +for him to speak.</p> + +<p>“Friends and fellow-countrymen,” said he, “every one of you shall go +back with me to England. We have strange tales to tell ourselves, and +so, it is somewhat evident, have ye. Be content now, I will charge +myself with your welfare. Where is he that spoke with me this morning?”</p> + +<p>So I stepped forward, and he looked upon me keenly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p><p>“Thy name, friend?”</p> + +<p>“Humphrey Salkeld, sir, nephew of Sir Thurstan Salkeld of Beechcot, in +the East Riding of Yorkshire.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me thy tale, Master Salkeld.”</p> + +<p>So I gave him the history that I have here written down, and when it +came to our doings in Mexico I spoke for Pharaoh Nanjulian and for all +who stood behind me. When I had got to the period which we spent on +board the Santa Filomena, my companions in distress bared their +shoulders and backs, and showed him the scars and the wounds and the +stripes which we had received. Then his face grew stern and set and the +English sailors that stood by groaned in their wrath and indignation.</p> + +<p>“I am beholden to you, Master Salkeld,” he said, when I had done. “Are +there any of you that would say more?”</p> + +<p>But none wished to speak save one old white-haired man, who lifted up +his hand and called God to witness that all I had said <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>was true, and +that our torments under the Inquisition had been such as could only be +prompted by the devil.</p> + +<p>Then Drake commanded his men to bring forward Manuel Nunez and Frey +Bartolomeo, and presently they stood before us, still bold and defiant, +and Drake looked upon them.</p> + +<p>“I am thinking, Senors,” said he, “that if I had wrought such misdeeds +upon your people as you have upon mine, and you had caught me red-handed +as I have caught you, there would have been something in the way of +torture for me before I came to my last end. But be not alarmed; we +Englishmen love justice, but we hate cruelty. And so we will be just to +you, and we will send you to your true place, where there is doubtless a +reward prepared for you. Hang them to the yard-arm of their own ship.”</p> + +<p>So they carried Nunez and the monk over the side, and presently their +bodies <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>swung from the yard-arm of the Santa Filomena, and so they +passed to their reward. And as for Nunez, he mocked us till the end, but +the monk said never a word, but stared fixedly before him, seeming to +care no more for death than he had for the sufferings that he had heaped +upon his fellow-men.</p> + +<p>After that Drake restored the Spaniards whom we had captured to their +own ship, and bade them go home, or back to Mexico, or wherever they +pleased, and to tell their masters what Francis Drake had done to them, +and that he would do the same to every Spaniard who crossed his path.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>HOME WITH DRAKE.</h3> + +<p>During our awful captivity on board the galleon we had well-nigh lost +all count or notion of time. To us one day was pretty much like another. +If we slept it was only to be awakened by the overseer’s whip. Day or +night it was all one with us; never did our tormentors cease to afflict +us. We were reduced to the condition of animals, and had not even the +comfort which is allowed to them. Thus when the time of our rescue came, +we had no notion of where we were or what part of the year it was.</p> + +<p>We now found that it was the middle of August, and that we were in the +North Pacific Ocean and bearing direct for the Moluccas, where Drake +intended to trade before continuing his voyage homeward by way of the +Cape. We also learnt that this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>great captain was now taking his first +voyage round the world, and that he had had many great and remarkable +adventures on the Spanish Main and on the coast of Peru, and had +enriched his vessels with the spoils of Spanish treasure-ships, so that +he now had with him a store of great and unusual value. For from some +ships he had taken bars of silver, and from others blocks of gold, +together with rich ladings, merchandise and silks, so rare and curious +as to be worth great sums of money. And all this treasure had been +chiefly won from the Spaniards in fair fight, and that without any +cruelty or lust of blood or revenge.</p> + +<p>About the thirteenth day of September we came within view of some +islands, situated about eight degrees northward from the line. From +these the islanders came out to us in canoes hollowed out of solid +trunks of a tree, and raised very high out of the water at both ends, so +that they almost formed a semicircle. These canoes were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>polished so +highly that they shone like ebony, and were kept steady by pieces of +timber fixed on each side of them by strong canes, fastened at one end +to the canoe, and at the other to the timber.</p> + +<p>The first company that came out to us brought fruits, potatoes, and +other commodities, none of any great value, and seemed anxious to trade +with us, making a great show of good-will and honesty. Soon after, +however, they sent out another fleet of canoes, the crews of which +showed themselves to be nothing better than thieves, for if we placed +anything in their hands they immediately considered it to belong to +them, and would neither restore nor pay for it. Upon this we were +obliged to get rid of them, which we did by discharging a gun. As they +had never seen ordnance discharged before they were vastly astonished by +this, and fled precipitately to the shore, having first pelted us with +showers of stones which they carried in their canoes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p><p>On the fifth of November we cast anchor before Ternate, and had scarce +arrived when the viceroy of that place, attended by the chief nobles, +came out in three boats, rowed by forty men on each side. Soon +afterwards appeared the king himself, attended by a large and imposing +retinue. Him we received with discharges of cannon and musketry, +together with various kinds of music, with which he was so highly +delighted that he would have the musicians down into his own boat. At +this place we stayed some days, trafficking with the inhabitants, who +brought us large quantities of provisions, and behaved to us with +civility. After that we repaired to a neighboring island, and there +found a commodious harbor where we repaired the Golden Hinde, and did +ourselves enjoy a much-needed rest.</p> + +<p>Leaving this place on the 12th day of December, we sailed southwards +towards the Celebes; but the wind being against <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>us, we drifted about +among a multitude of islands mingled with shallows until the middle of +January. And now we met with an adventure which was like to have stayed +our further progress and put a summary end to all our hopes. For sailing +forward under a strong gale we were one night suddenly surprised by a +shock, caused by our being thrown upon a shoal, on which the speed of +our course served to fix us very fast. Upon examination we found that +the rock on which we had struck rose perpendicularly from the water, and +there was no anchorage, nor any bottom to be found for some distance. On +making this discovery we lightened the ship by throwing into the sea a +not inconsiderable portion of her lading. Even then the ship seemed +hopelessly fast, and we had almost given way to despair when we were on +a sudden relieved by a remission of the wind, which, having hitherto +blown strongly against that side of the ship which lay towards the sea, +holding <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>it upright against the rock, now slackened, and blowing no +longer against our vessel allowed it to reel into deep water, to our +great comfort and relief. We had enjoyed so little hope of ever +extricating ourselves from this perilous position, that Drake had caused +the sacrament to be administered to us as if we had been on the point of +death, and now that we were mercifully set free we sang a Te Deum and +went forward very cautiously, hardly daring to set sails lest we should +chance upon some reef still more dangerous.</p> + +<p>We now continued our voyage without any remarkable occurrence or +adventure, until about the middle of March we came to anchor off the +Island of Java. Having sent to the king a present of clothes and silks, +we received from him in return a quantity of provisions; and on the +following day Drake himself went on shore, and after entertaining the +king with music obtained leave from him to forage for fresh <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>food. Here, +then, we remained some days, taking in provisions, and being visited by +the princes and head men of that country, and later by the king, all of +whom manifested great interest in us, and in our armaments and +instruments of navigation.</p> + +<p>Leaving Java about the end of March we sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, +which we sighted about the middle of June. During all that time we met +with no very remarkable adventure; nevertheless, because we were sailing +through seas which no Englishman had ever previously traversed there was +not a day which did not present some feature of interest to us, or add +to our knowledge of those strange parts of the world. To me, and to such +of my companions as had suffered with me in the dungeons of the +Inquisition or on the deck of the galleon, this voyage was as a glimpse +of Paradise. For we were treated with the utmost kindness and +consideration by Drake and his men, and they would not suffer us <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>to +undertake anything in the shape of work until our wounds were fairly +healed and our strength recruited. To those of us who had suffered so +bitterly that our strength was well-nigh departed, this welcome relief +was very grateful. As for me, on discovering my condition I was rated +with Drake and his officers, and with them did spend many exceeding +pleasant hours, listening to their marvelous adventures and stories of +fights with our old enemies, the Spaniards. But Pharaoh, hating to do +naught, applied for a rating, and so they made him boatswain’s mate, and +thenceforth he was happy, and seemed quickly to forget the many +privations and discomforts which he and I had undergone.</p> + +<p>So on the third week of September, 1580, we came to Plymouth Sound, and +once more looked upon English land and English faces. And this we did +with such thankfulness and rejoicing as you cannot conceive. As for +Drake and his men, they <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>had been away two years and some ten months, +and in that time had taken their ships round the world. And because they +were the first Englishmen that had ever done this, there was such +ringing of bells, and lighting of bonfires, and setting up of feasts and +jollities as had never been known in England. From the queen to the +meanest hind there was nobody that did not join in the general +rejoicing. Wherefore, at Plymouth, where we landed, there were great +stirrings, and men clung around us to hear our marvelous tales and +adventures. And as for Drake himself, the queen soon afterwards made him +a knight on the deck of the Golden Hinde; and so he became Sir Francis, +and thereafter did many wonderful deeds which are set forth in the +chronicles of that time.</p> + +<p>Now, I no sooner set foot upon English soil than I was immediately +consumed with impatience to go home to Beechcot, and therefore I sought +out Drake and begged him to let me begone.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p><p>“Why,” quoth he, “knowing your story as I do, Master Salkeld, I make no +wonder that you should be in some haste to return to your own friends. I +pray God that you may find all well with them.”</p> + +<p>Then he generously pressed upon me a sum of money in gold, wherewith to +fit myself out for the journey and defray my expenses on the way; and +for this kindness I was deeply grateful, seeing that I was utterly +penniless, and owed the very garments I then wore to the charity of one +of his officers. So I said farewell to him and his company, and begged +them to remember me if we should meet no more, and then I went to find +Pharaoh Nanjulian.</p> + +<p>“Pharaoh,” said I, when I came upon him on the deck of the Golden Hinde, +“I am going home.”</p> + +<p>He pushed back his cap and scratched his head and looked at me.</p> + +<p>“Aye,” he said, “I supposed it would be so, master. As for me, I have no +home to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>go to. My mother is dead and buried in Marazion churchyard, and +I have neither kith nor kin in the wide world.”</p> + +<p>“Come with me to Beechcot,” said I, “you shall abide there for the rest +of your days in peace and plenty.”</p> + +<p>But he shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Nay, master,” he answered, “that would never do. I am naught but a +rough sea-dog, and I should be too big and savage for a quiet life. +Besides, yon constable of yours would be forever at my heels, fearing +lest I should break the peace again.”</p> + +<p>“There shall no man harm you if you will come with me,” said I. “Come +and be my man.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, master, not so. Born and bred to the sea I was, and to the sea I +will cleave. Besides, I am Francis Drake’s man now, and with him I shall +see rare ventures. Already there is talk of an expedition against the +Spaniards. That is the life for me.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p><p>So there was no more to be said, and I gave him my hand sorrowfully, for +he had proved a true friend.</p> + +<p>“Good-bye, then, Pharaoh Nanjulian.”</p> + +<p>“Good-bye, master. We have seen some rare ventures together. I thank God +for bringing us safely out of them.”</p> + +<p>“Amen! I shall not forget them or thee. And God grant we may meet +again.”</p> + +<p>So we pressed each other’s hands with full hearts, and I went away and +left him gazing after me.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3>BEECHCOT ONCE MORE.</h3> + +<p>Because it was autumn, I found some slight difficulty in traveling +across country from Plymouth to Beechcot, and it accordingly was several +days before I reached York and entered upon the final stage of my +journey. At Plymouth I had bought a stout horse, and pushed forward, +mounted in creditable fashion, to Exeter, and from thence to Bristol, +where I struck into the Midlands and made for Derby and Sheffield. It +took me a fortnight to reach York, and there, my horse being well-nigh +spent, though I had used him with mercy, I exchanged him for a cob, +which was of stout build, and good enough to carry me over the thirty +miles which yet remained of my journey.</p> + +<p>Now, as I drew near the old place, in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>twilight of a dull October +afternoon, my heart beat within my breast as if it would suffocate me. I +had been away two years, and had gone under circumstances of the +strangest character. Those whom I had left behind had probably long +since given me up as dead. Worse than that—how did I know what +malicious story might not have been invented and set forth by my cousin +Jasper as to my disappearance? Well, the time was now at hand when all +should be explained. But yet—what changes might there not be? I dreaded +to think of them. I might find my good uncle dead, Jasper in possession, +my sweetheart married—but nay, that seemed hardly to be believed. And +yet if she thought me dead?</p> + +<p>Thus I went forward, my heart torn by many conflicting emotions. Then I +began to think of the changes that had taken place in me. Two years ago +I had set out a light-hearted, careless lad, full of confidence and +ignorance, knowing naught of the world <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>nor of its cruelties. Now I came +back a man, full of strange experiences, my mind charged with many +terrible memories, my body bearing witness of the sufferings and +privations which I had undergone. It was not the old Humphrey Salkeld +that rode down Beechcot village street. Nay, it was not even the old +Humphrey Salkeld in looks. Stopping a few hours at the inn in York I had +examined myself in a mirror, and had decided that it would be hard work +for my old friends to recognize me. I had grown an inch or two, my face +was seamed and wrinkled, and wore a strange, grim, wearied look, my +beard was a good three inches long, and my mouth covered by a moustache. +Changed I was indeed.</p> + +<p>I rode up to the door of the inn at Beechcot, where I had first seen +Pharaoh Nanjulian, and called loudly for the host. There was no one +about the door of the inn, but presently Geoffrey Scales, looking no +different to what he did when I had last <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>seen him, came bustling along +the sanded passage with his lantern, and turned the light full on my +face. I trembled, and could scarce control my voice as I spoke to him; +but I soon saw that he did not recognize me.</p> + +<p>“How far is it to Scarborough, master?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“A good twenty miles, sir, and a bad road.”</p> + +<p>“What, are there thieves on it?”</p> + +<p>“There are highwaymen, sir, and ruts, which is worse; and as for +mud—there, your honor would be lost in it.”</p> + +<p>“Then I had better stay here for the night, eh?”</p> + +<p>“Much better, if your honor pleases.”</p> + +<p>So I dismounted and bade him take my cob round to his stable, and +followed him myself to hear more news.</p> + +<p>“What place is this?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“Beechcot, sir—a village of the Wolds.”</p> + +<p>“And who owns it, landlord?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p><p>“Sir Thurstan Salkeld, sir.”</p> + +<p>“Is he alive and well, landlord?”</p> + +<p>Now, whether it was my voice or the unwonted agitation in it that +attracted his attention, I know not, but certain it is that when I asked +this question Geoffrey Scales held up his light to my face, and after +anxiously peering therein for a moment, cried out loudly:</p> + +<p>“Marry, I knew it! ’Tis Master Humphrey, come home again, alive and +well!” and therewith he would have rushed away to rouse the whole +village if I had not stayed him.</p> + +<p>“Hush! Geoffrey,” I said. “It is I, true enough, and I am well enough, +but prithee keep quiet awhile, for I do not wish anyone to know that I +have returned for a season. Tell me first how is my uncle and Mistress +Rose. Are they well, Geoffrey? Quick!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Master Humphrey,” quoth he, “what a turn you have given me! Yes, +sir, yes; your uncle, good man, is well, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>though he hath never been the +same man since you disappeared, Master Humphrey. And as for Mistress +Rose, ’tis just the same sweet maiden as ever, and hath grieved for you +mightily. But what a to-do there will be, Master Humphrey! Prithee, let +me go and tell all the folk.”</p> + +<p>“Not now, Geoffrey, on thy life. Let me first see my sweetheart and my +uncle, and then I will cause the great bell at the manor to be rung, and +you shall take it for a signal and shall tell who you like.”</p> + +<p>So he promised to obey me, and I left him and took my way towards the +vicarage, for my heart longed sore for the presence of my sweetheart.</p> + +<p>Now, as I came up to the front of the house there was a light burning in +the parlor, and I stole up to the window and looked in, and saw Rose +busy with her needle. Fair and sweet she was, aye, sweeter, I think, +than ever; but it was easy to see that she had sorrowed, and that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>sorrow had left its mark upon her. I had always remembered her in my +trials and torments as the merry, laughing maiden, that had flown hither +and thither like a spirit of spring; now I saw her a woman, sweet and +lovely, but with a touch of sadness about her that I knew had come there +because of me.</p> + +<p>I went round to the door and tapped softly upon it. Presently came Rose, +bearing a candle, and opened it to my knock, and looked out upon me. I +drew farther away into the darkness.</p> + +<p>“Is this the abode of Master Timotheus Herrick?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” she answered, “but he is not in at this moment. You will +find him at the church, where he has gone to read the evening service.”</p> + +<p>“I had a message for his daughter,” said I.</p> + +<p>“I am his daughter, sir. What message have you for me?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p><p>“I have come from sea,” I answered. “It is a message from one you know.”</p> + +<p>“From one I know—at sea? But I know no one at sea. Oh, sir, what is it +you would tell me?”</p> + +<p>“Let me come in,” I said; and she turned and led the way into the +parlor, and set down the candle and looked steadily at me. And then she +suddenly knew me, and in another instant I had her in my arms, and her +face was upon my breast, and all the woes and sorrows of my captivity +were forgotten.</p> + +<p>“Humphrey!” she cried. “O, thank God—thank God! My dear, my dear, it is +you, is it not? Am I dreaming—shall I wake presently to find you gone?”</p> + +<p>“Never again, sweetheart, never again! I am come back indeed—somewhat +changed, it is true, but still your true and faithful lover.”</p> + +<p>“And I thought you were dead! O my poor Humphrey, where have you been +and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>what has been done to you? Yes, you are changed—you have suffered, +have you not?”</p> + +<p>“More than I could wish my worst enemy to suffer,” I answered. “But I +forget it all when I look at you, Rose. Oh, sweetheart, if you knew how +I have longed for this moment!”</p> + +<p>And then, hand in hand, we kneeled down together and thanked God for all +his goodness, and for the marvelous mercy with which he had brought us +through this time of sore trouble. And on our knees we kissed each other +solemnly, and so sealed our reunion, and blotted out all the bitterness +of the past from our hearts, so that there was nothing left there but +memories, sad indeed, but no longer painful.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said Rose, “tell me, Humphrey, where you have been and how it +was you went away. Oh, if you knew how we have sorrowed for you.”</p> + +<p>“First tell me, Rose, how is my uncle?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p><p>“He is well, Humphrey, but he has mourned for you ever since Jasper came +home and told us of your death.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! Jasper came home and told you of my death, did he? And by what +manner of death did I die, according to Master Jasper?”</p> + +<p>“He said you were drowned at Scarborough, in coming from some vessel +where you and he had been paying a visit at night to the captain.”</p> + +<p>“And did no one doubt him, Rose? Were there no inquiries made?”</p> + +<p>“I doubted him, Humphrey. I felt sure there was some strange mystery, +but how could I find it out? And what could be done—they could not drag +Scarborough Bay for your body. Humphrey, did Jasper play some trick upon +you—did he get you out of the way?”</p> + +<p>“He did, Rose. Yea, he got me out of the way so well that I have been +right round the world since last I set foot in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>Beechcot. Think of that, +my dear. Right round the world! I have seen Mexico and the Pacific and +Java and the Celebes and Africa, and I know not what, and here I am +again.”</p> + +<p>“But you have suffered, Humphrey? Where—and how?”</p> + +<p>So I told her very briefly of what had happened to me in the cells of +the Inquisition, and as I spoke, her sweet face was filled with +compassion and her eyes were bright with tears, and she held my hands +tightly clasped in her own as if she would never let them go again.</p> + +<p>“Can such things be?” she asked. “Oh, why God does allow them I cannot +understand. My poor Humphrey!”</p> + +<p>“Naught but God’s help could have brought us through them, dear heart,” +I answered. “And, indeed, I think naught of them now, and would +cheerfully face them again if I thought they would cause you to love me +more.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p><p>But she answered that that was impossible, and scolded me very prettily +for thinking of such a thing.</p> + +<p>And then came Master Timotheus back from reading prayers, and entered +the parlor, carrying a great folio in his hand and blinking at us +through his big spectacles. And when he saw me, he stopped and stared.</p> + +<p>“Here is a visitor, father,” said Rose. “Look closely at him—do you not +know him?”</p> + +<p>But the good man, taking my hand in his own, did stare at me hard and +long ere he discovered me, and then he fell upon my neck and embraced me +heartily and wept with joy.</p> + +<p>“Of a truth,” said he, “I might have known that it was thee, Humphrey, +for two reasons. First, I have been of an uncommonly light-hearted +nature all this day, and did once detect myself in the act of singing a +merry song; and secondly, I saw on entering <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>the parlor that Rose’s face +was brighter than it hath been since last we saw thee.”</p> + +<p>Then he laid his hand on my head and blessed me, and thanked God for +sending me home again; and he shed more tears, and was fain to take off +his spectacles and polish them anew. And he would have had me sup with +them, but on hearing that I had not yet seen my uncle he bade me go to +him at once, so I said farewell for that time and took my way to the +manor.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3>HOW THEY RANG THE BELLS AT BEECHCOT<br /> CHURCH.</h3> + +<p>As I walked across from the vicarage to the manor house, the moon came +out in the autumn evening sky and lighted the landscape with a +brightness that was little short of daylight. I stood for a few moments +at the vicarage gate admiring the prospect. Far away to the eastward +rose the Wolds, dark and unbroken, different indeed from the giant bulk +of Orizaba, but far more beautiful to me. Beneath them lay the village +of Beechcot, with its farmsteads and cottages casting black shadows upon +the moonlit meadow, and here and there a rushlight burning dimly in the +windows. I had kept that scene in my mind’s eye many a time during my +recent tribulations, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>and had wondered if ever I should see it again. +Now that I did see it, it was far more beautiful than I had ever known +it or imagined it to be, for it meant home, and love, and peace after +much sorrow.</p> + +<p>My path led me through the churchyard. There the moonlight fell bright +and clear on the silent mounds and ghostly tombstones. By the chancel I +paused for a moment to glance at the monument which Sir Thurstan had +long since erected to my father and mother’s memory. It was light enough +to read the inscription, and also to see that a new one had been added +to it. Wondering what member of our family was dead, I went nearer and +examined the stone more carefully. Then I saw that the new inscription +was in memory of myself!</p> + +<p>I have never heard of a man reading his own epitaph, and truly it gave +me many curious feelings to stand there and read of myself as a dead +man. And yet I had been dead to all of them for more than two years.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p><p>“And of Humphrey Salkeld, only son of the above Richard Salkeld and his +wife Barbara, who was drowned at Scarborough, October, 1578, to the +great grief and sorrow of his uncle, Thurstan Salkeld, Knight.”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>“So I am dead and yet alive,” I said, and laughed gayly at the notion. +“If that is so, there are some great surprises in store for more than +one in this parish. And no one will be more surprised than my worthy +cousin, but he will be the only person that is sorry to see me. Oh, for +half an hour with him alone!”</p> + +<p>At that very moment Jasper was coming to meet me. I knew it not, nor did +he.</p> + +<p>Between the churchyard and the manor-house of Beechcot there is a field +called the Duke’s Garth, and across this runs a foot-path. As I turned +away from reading my own epitaph, I saw a figure advancing along this +path and making for the churchyard. It was the figure of a man, and he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>was singing some catch or song softly to himself. I recognized the +voice at once. It was Jasper’s. I drew back into the shadow cast by the +buttress of the chancel and waited his coming. We were going to settle +our account once and forever.</p> + +<p>He came lightly over the stile which separates the garth from the +churchyard, and was making rapid strides towards the vicarage when I +stopped him.</p> + +<p>“Jasper,” I said, speaking in a deep voice and concealing myself in the +shadow. “Jasper Stapleton.”</p> + +<p>He stopped instantly, and stood looking intently towards where I stood.</p> + +<p>“Who calls me?” he said.</p> + +<p>“I, Jasper,—thy cousin, Humphrey Salkeld.”</p> + +<p>I could have sworn that he started and began to tremble. But suddenly he +laughed.</p> + +<p>“Dead men call nobody,” said he. “You are some fool that is trying to +frighten me. Come out, sirrah!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p><p>And he drew near. I waited till he was close by, and then I stepped into +the moonlight, which fell full and clear on my face. He gave a great +cry, and lifting up his arm as if to ward off a blow fell back a pace or +two and stood staring at me.</p> + +<p>“Humphrey!” he cried.</p> + +<p>“None other, cousin. The dead, you see, sometimes come to life again. +And I am very much alive, Jasper.”</p> + +<p>He stood still staring at me, and clutching his heart as if his breath +came with difficulty.</p> + +<p>“What have you to say, Jasper?” I asked at length.</p> + +<p>“We—we thought you were drowned,” he gasped out. “There is an +inscription on your father’s tombstone.”</p> + +<p>“Liar!” I said. “You know I was not drowned. You know that you contrived +that I should be carried to Mexico. Tell me no more lies, cousin. Let us +for once have the plain truth. Why did you treat me as you did at +Scarborough?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p><p>“Because you stood ’twixt me and the inheritance,” he muttered sullenly.</p> + +<p>“And so for the sake of a few acres of land and a goodly heritage you +would condemn one who had never harmed you to horrors such as you cannot +imagine?” I said. “Look at me, Jasper. Even in this light it is not +difficult to see how I am changed. I have gone through such woes and +torments as you would scarcely credit. I have been in the hands of +devils in human shape, and they have so worked their will upon me that +there is hardly an inch of my body that is not marked and scarred. That +was thy doing, Jasper,—thine and thy fellow-villain’s. Dost know what +happened to him?”</p> + +<p>“No,” he whispered, “what of him?”</p> + +<p>“I saw him hanged to his own yard-arm in the Pacific Ocean, Jasper, and +he went to his own place with the lives of many an innocent man upon his +black soul. Take care you do not follow him. Shame upon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>you, cousin, +for the trick you played me!”</p> + +<p>“You came between me and the girl I loved,” he said fiercely. “All is +fair in love and war.”</p> + +<p>“Coward!” I said. “And liar, too! I never came between her and thee, for +she had never a word to give such a black-hearted villain as thou hast +proved thyself. And now, what is to prevent me from taking my revenge +upon thee, Jasper?”</p> + +<p>“This,” he said, very suddenly, whipping out his rapier. “This, Master +Humphrey. Home you have come again, worse luck, and have no doubt done +your best to injure me in more quarters than one, but you shall not live +to enjoy either land, or title, or sweetheart, for you shall die here +and now.”</p> + +<p>And with that he came pressing upon me with a sudden fury that was full +of murderous intent.</p> + +<p>Now I had no weapon by me save a stout cudgel which I had cut from a +coppice by the wayside that morning, and this you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>would think was +naught when set against a rapier. Nevertheless I made such play with it, +that presently I knocked Jasper’s weapon clean out of his hand so that +he could not recover it. And after that I seized him by the throat and +beat with my cudgel until he roared and begged for mercy, beseeching me +not to kill him.</p> + +<p>“Have no fear, cousin,” said I, still laying on to him, “I will not kill +thee, for I would have thee repent of all thy misdeeds.”</p> + +<p>And with that I gave him two or three sound cuts and then flung him from +me against the wall, where he lay groaning and cursing me.</p> + +<p>After that I saw Jasper Stapleton no more. He never showed his face in +Beechcot again, and in a few days his mother, Dame Barbara, disappeared +also; and so they vanished out of my life, and I was glad of it, for +they had worked me much mischief.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p><p>When I reached the manor-house I let myself in by a secret way that I +knew of and went straight to the great hall, where sat my uncle, Sir +Thurstan, wrapped in cloaks and rugs, before a great fire of wood. He +was all alone, and hearing my step he half turned his head.</p> + +<p>“Is that Jasper?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>“Nay, sir,” said I. “It is I—Humphrey—and I am come home again.”</p> + +<p>And I went forward and kneeled down before him and put my hands on his +knees.</p> + +<p>For a moment he stared at me as men stare at ghosts, then he gave a +great sob of delight, stretched out his arms, put them about my neck, +and wept over me like a woman.</p> + +<p>“Oh lad, lad!” said he. “If thou didst but know how this old heart did +grieve for thy sake. And thou art here, well and strong, and I did cause +thy name to be graven on thy parents’ tombstone!”</p> + +<p>“Never mind, sir,” said I, “we can cut it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>out again. Anyway I am not +dead, but I have seen some rare and terrible adventures.”</p> + +<p>“Sit thyself down at my side,” quoth he, “and tell me all about them. +Alive and well—yes, and two inches taller, as I live! Well, I thank God +humbly. But thou art hungry, poor boy,—what ho! where are those +rascals? Call for them, Humphrey,—thou must be famished.”</p> + +<p>“All in good time, sir,” said I, and went over to the rope which led to +the great bell and pulled it vigorously, so that the clangor filled the +park below with stirring sound. And Geoffrey Scales, waiting impatiently +at the inn, heard it and ran round with the news, and they rang the +church bells, and every soul in Beechcot that could walk came hurrying +to the manor and would have audience of me in the great hall.</p> + +<p>Thus did I come home again. And having told my story to my uncle, Sir +Thurstan, and to Master Timotheus Herrick, we <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>agreed that for the +present we would leave Jasper Stapleton’s name out of it. But somehow, +most likely because Jasper and his evil-tongued mother disappeared, the +truth got out, and ere long everybody knew my story from beginning to +end.</p> + +<p>Within a few weeks of my home-coming Rose and I were married in Beechcot +church, and again the bells rang out merrily. Never had bridegroom a +sweeter bride; never had husband a truer or nobler wife. I say it after +fifty years of blessed companionship, and in my heart I thank God for +the delights which he hath given me in her.</p> + +<p>And now I have brought my history to a close. Yet there is one matter +which I must speak of before I say farewell to you.</p> + +<p>It is about twenty years since one of my servants came to me one summer +evening and said that an old man stood at my door waiting to see me. I +followed him presently, and there saw a tall, white-haired, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>white-bearded figure, dressed in a rough seaman’s dress and leaning +upon a staff. He looked at me and smiled, and then I saw that it was +Pharaoh Nanjulian.</p> + +<p>“You have not forgotten me, master?” he said.</p> + +<p>“Forgotten thee! May God forget me if ever I forget thee, my old, true +friend!” I said, and I led him in and made him welcome as a king to my +house and to all that I had. And with me he lived, an honored guest and +friend, for ten years longer, when he died, being then a very old man of +near one hundred years. And him I still mourn with true sorrow and +affection, for his was a mighty heart, and it had been knit to mine by +those bonds of sorrow which are scarcely less strong than the bonds of +love.</p> + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Notes:</span></h3> + +<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters’ errors; otherwise, every effort has been +made to remain true to the author’s words and intent.</p> + +<p>2. The original book did not have a Table of Contents; one has been added to this e-text for the +reader’s convenience.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Days of Drake, by J. S. 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S. Fletcher + +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: In the Days of Drake + +Author: J. S. Fletcher + +Release Date: July 4, 2009 [EBook #29304] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE + + BY + + J. S. FLETCHER, + + AUTHOR OF + + "WHEN CHARLES I. WAS KING," "WHERE + HIGHWAYS CROSS." + + CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: + RAND, MCNALLY & COMPANY. + MDCCCXCVII. + + + + +Copyright, 1897, by Rand, McNally & Co. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In the whole history of the English people there is no period so +absolutely heroic, so full of enthralling interest, as that in which +the might of England made itself apparent by land and sea--the period +which saw good Queen Bess mistress of English hearts and Englishmen and +sovereign of the great beginnings which have come to such a magnificent +fruition under Victoria. That was indeed a golden time--an age of great +venture and enterprise--a period wherein men's hearts were set on +personal valor and bravery--the day of great deeds and of courage most +marvelous. To write down a catalogue of all the names that then were +glorious, to make a list of all the daring deeds that then were +done--this were an impossible task for the most painstaking of +statisticians, the most conscientious of historians and chroniclers. +For there were men in those days who achieved world-wide fame, such as +Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, Raleigh, Grenville, and Gilbert--but there +were also other men, the rough "sea-dogs" of that time, whose names have +never been remembered, or even recorded, and who were yet heroes of a +quality not inferior to their commanders and leaders. All men of that +age whose calling led them to adventure and enterprise could scarcely +fail to find opportunity for heroism, self-denial, and sacrifice, and +thus the Elizabethan Englishman of whatever station stands out to us of +these later days as a great figure--the type and emblem of the England +that was to be. It is this fact that makes the Elizabethan period so +fascinating and so full of romance and glamour. Whenever we call it up +before our mind's eye it is surrounded for us with all those qualities +which go toward making a great picture. There is the awful feud 'twixt +England, the modern spirit making toward progress and civilization, and +Spain, the well-nigh worn-out retrogressive force that would dam the +river of human thought. There is the spectacle of the Armada, baffled +and beaten, and of the English war-ships under men like Drake and +Frobisher, dropping like avenging angels upon some Spanish port and +working havoc on the Spanish treasure galleons. There, too, are the +figures of men like Grenville and Raleigh, born adventurers, leaders of +men, who knew how to die as bravely and fearlessly as they had lived. +And beyond all the glory and adventure there looms in the background of +the picture the black cruelties of Spain, practiced in the dark corners +of the earth, against which the English spirit of that day never ceased +from protesting with speech and sword. It was well for the world that in +that fierce contest England triumphed. Had Spain succeeded in +perpetuating its hellish system, how different would life in east and +west have been! But it was God's will that not Spain but England should +win--and so to-day we find the English-speaking peoples of the world in +Great Britain and America, in Australia and Africa, free, enlightened, +full of great purpose and noble aims, working out in very truth their +own salvation. It is when one comes to think of this, that one first +realizes the immeasurable thanks due to the heroes, known and unknown, +of the Elizabethan age. Whether they stand high on the scroll of fame or +lie forgotten in some quiet graveyard or in the vast oceans which they +crossed, it was they, and they only, who laid the great foundations of +the England and the United States of to-day. + +J. S. FLETCHER. + + + + +IN THE DAYS OF DRAKE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +OF MY HOME, FRIENDS, AND SURROUNDINGS. + + +Now that I am an old man, and have some leisure, which formerly I did +not enjoy, I am often minded to write down my memories of that +surprising and remarkable adventure of mine, which began in the year +1578, and came to an end, by God's mercy, two years later. + +There are more reasons than one why I should engage in this task. Every +Christmas brings a houseful of grandchildren and young folks about me, +and they, though they have heard it a dozen times already, are never +tired of hearing me re-tell the story which seems to them so wonderful. + +Then, again, I am often visited by folk who have heard of my travels, +and would fain have particulars of them from my own lips; so that +ofttimes I have to tell my tale, or part of it, a dozen times in the +year. Nay, upon one occasion I even told it to the King's majesty, which +was when I went up to London on some tiresome law business. Sir Ralph +Wood, who is my near neighbor and a Parliament man, had mentioned me to +the King, and so I had to go to Whitehall and tell my story before the +court, which was a hard matter for a plain-spoken country gentleman, as +you may well believe. + +Now all these matters have oft prompted me to write down my story, so +that when any visitor of mine might ask me for it, I could satisfy him +without trouble to myself, by simply putting the manuscript into his +hand and bidding him read what I had there written. But until this +present time I have never seemed to have opportunity such as I desired, +for my duties as magistrate and church-warden have been neither light +nor unimportant. Now that I have resigned them to younger hands, I have +leisure time of my own, and therefore I shall now proceed to carry out +the intention which has been in my mind for many years. + +I was born at York, in the year 1558. My father, Richard Salkeld +was the youngest son of Oliver Salkeld, lord-of-the-manor of +Beechcot-on-the-Wold, and he practiced in York as an attorney. Whether +he did well or ill in this calling I know not, for at the early age of +six years I was left an orphan. My father being seized by a fever, my +mother devoted herself to nursing him, which was a right and proper +thing to do; but the consequence was disastrous, for she also contracted +the disease, and they both died, leaving me alone in the world. + +However, I was not long left in this sad condition, for there presently +appeared my uncle, Sir Thurstan Salkeld of Beechcot, who settled my +father's affairs and took me away with him. I was somewhat afraid of him +at first, for he was a good twenty years older than my father, and wore +a grave, severe air. Moreover, he had been knighted by the Queen for his +zealous conduct in administering the law. But I presently found him to +be exceeding kind of heart, and ere many months were over I had grown +fond of him, and of Beechcot. He had never married, and was not likely +to, and so to the folks round about his home he now introduced me as his +adopted son and heir. And thus things went very pleasantly for me, and, +as children will, I soon forgot my early troubles. + +I think we had nothing to cause us any vexation or sorrow at Beechcot +until Dame Barbara Stapleton and her son Jasper came to share our lot. +Jasper was then a lad of my own age, and like me an orphan, and the +nephew of Sir Thurstan. His mother, Sir Thurstan's sister, had married +Devereux Stapleton, an officer in the Queen's household, and when she +was left a widow she returned to Beechcot and quartered herself and her +boy on her brother. Thereafter we had trouble one way or another, for +Dame Barbara could not a-bear to think that I was preferred before her +own boy as Sir Thurstan's heir. Nor did she scruple to tell Sir Thurstan +her thoughts on the matter, on one occasion at any rate, for I heard +them talking in the great hall when they fancied themselves alone. + +"'Tis neither right nor just," said Dame Barbara, "that you should make +one nephew your son and heir to the exclusion of the other. What! is not +Jasper as much your own flesh and blood as Humphrey?" + +"You forget that Humphrey is a Salkeld in name as well as in blood," +said Sir Thurstan. "If the lad's father, my poor brother Richard, had +lived, he would have succeeded me as lord of Beechcot. Therefore, 'tis +but right that Dick's boy should step into his father's place." + +"To the hurt of my poor Jasper!" sighed Dame Barbara. + +"Jasper is a Stapleton," answered Sir Thurstan. "However, sister, I will +do what is right as regards your lad. I will charge myself with the cost +of his education and training, and will give him a start in life, and +maybe leave him a goodly sum of money when I die. Therefore, make your +mind easy on that point." + +But I knew, though I was then but a lad, that she would never give over +fretting herself at the thought that I was to be lord of all the broad +acres and wide moors of Beechcot, and that Jasper would be but a +landless man. And so, though she never dare flout or oppress me in any +way, for fear of Sir Thurstan's displeasure, she, without being openly +unfavorable, wasted no love on me, and no doubt often wished me out of +the way. + +At that time Jasper and I contrived to get on very well together. We +were but lads, and there was no feeling of rivalry between us. Indeed, I +do not think there would ever have been rivalry between us if that +foolish woman, my Aunt Barbara, had not begun sowing the seeds of +discord in her son's mind. But as soon as he was old enough to +understand her, she began talking to him of Beechcot and its glories, +pointing out to him the wide park and noble trees, the broad acres +filled with golden grain, and the great moors that stretched away for +miles towards the sea; and she said, no doubt, how grand a thing it +would be to be lord of so excellent an estate, and how a man might enjoy +himself in its possession. Then she told him that I was to have all +these things when Sir Thurstan died, and thereafter my cousin Jasper +hated me. But he let his hate smoulder within him a good while before +he showed it openly. One day, however, when we were out in the park with +our bows, he began to talk of the matter, and after a time we got to +high words. + +"My mother tells me, Humphrey," said he, "that when my uncle Thurstan +dies all these fair lands will pass to thee. That is not right." + +"'Tis our uncle's land to do with as he pleases," I answered. "We have +naught to do with it. If he likes to leave it to me, what hast thou to +say in the matter? 'Tis his affair; not thine, Master Jasper. Besides, I +am a Salkeld, and you are not." + +"Is not my mother a Salkeld?" he asked. + +"It counts not by the mother," I answered. "And, moreover, my father +would have heired the estate had he lived. But be not down-hearted about +it, Jasper, I will see that thou art provided for. When I am lord of +Beechcot I will make thee my steward." + +Now, that vexed him sore, and he flew into a violent rage, declaring +that he would serve no man, and me last of all; and so violent did he +become that he was foolish to look at, and thereupon I laughed at him. +At that his rage did but increase, and he presently fitted an arrow to +his bow and shot at me meaning, I doubt not, to put an end to me +forever. But by good fortune his aim mischanced, and the arrow did no +more than pin me to the tree by which I stood, passing through my +clothes between the arm and the body. And at that we were both sobered, +and Jasper cooled his hot temper. + +"What wouldst thou have done if the arrow had passed through my heart, +as it might easily have chanced to do?" I inquired of him. + +"I would have gone home and told them that I had killed thee by +accident," he answered readily enough. "Thou wouldst have been dead, +and therefore no one could have denied my tale." + +I said naught to that, but I there and then made up my mind that if ever +I went shooting with him again I would keep my eyes open. For I now saw +that he was not only false, but also treacherous. Indeed, I was somewhat +minded to go to my uncle and tell him what had taken place between us, +but I remembered that the good knight was not fond of carried tales, and +therefore I refrained. + +After that there was peace for some years, Dame Barbara having evidently +made up her mind to take things as they were. She was mortally afraid of +offending Sir Thurstan, for she had no jointure or portion of her own, +and was totally dependent upon his charity for a sustenance. This made +her conduct herself towards me with more consideration than I should +otherwise have received from her. Possibly she thought that it might be +well to keep in good favor with me in view of my succeeding Sir +Thurstan at no distant period. At any rate I had no more trouble with +Jasper, and I overheard no more unpleasant discussions between Dame +Barbara and the knight. + +From our tenth year upwards Jasper and myself daily attended the +vicarage, in order to be taught Greek, Latin, and other matters by the +Reverend Mr. Timotheus Herrick, vicar of Beechcot. He was a tall, thin, +spindle-shanked gentleman, very absent-minded, but a great scholar. It +was said of him, that if he had not married a very managing woman in the +shape of Mistress Priscilla Horbury, he would never have got through the +world. He had one child, Rose, of whom you will hear somewhat in this +history, and she was three years younger than myself. When Jasper and I +were thirteen and Rose ten years of age, she began to learn with us, and +presently made such progress that she caught up to us, and then passed +us, and so made us ashamed of ourselves. After that she was always in +advance of us, and we used to procure her help in our lessons; then she +lorded it over us, as little maidens will over big lads, and we were her +humble slaves in everything. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +PHARAOH NANJULIAN. + + +Now it chanced that one afternoon in the June of 1575 Jasper and I were +on our way from the vicarage to the manor, our lessons for that day +being over. We had to pass through the village of Beechcot on our +homeward journey, and it was when we were opposite the inn, then kept by +Geoffrey Scales, that there occurred an incident which was to have a +greater influence upon our future lives than we then imagined. In the +wide space by the inn, formed by the meeting of four roads, there was +gathered together a goodly company of people, who seemed to be talking +as one man, and looking as with one eye at something in their midst. + +"What have we here?" said Jasper, as we paused. "Is it some bear-ward +with his bear, or one of those wandering Italians that go about with a +guitar and a monkey?" + +"I hear no music," said I. "It seems to be something of more importance +than either bear or monkey. Let us see for ourselves." + +So we ran forward and joined the crowd, which began presently to make +way for us. Then we saw that nearly everybody in the village, saving +only the men who were at work in the fields, had run together with one +accord in order to stare and wonder at a man, who sat on the bench just +outside the ale-house door. It was clear to me at once that he was not a +native of those parts, and might possibly be a foreigner. He seemed to +be of thirty-five or forty years of age, his skin and hair were very +dark, and he wore a great black beard, which looked as if it had known +neither comb nor scissors for many a long month. Also he was of great +size and height, and on his brawny arms, which were bare from the +elbows downwards, there were figures and patterns traced in blue and +red, so that I at once set him down for a sailor, who had seen much life +in strange countries. As for his garments, they were much stained and +worn, and his feet, which were naked, were evidently callous and +hardened enough to stand even the roughest roads. + +When we first set eyes upon him the man was leaning back against the +wall of the ale-house, looking defiantly at John Broad, the constable, +who stood by him, and at Geoffrey Scales, the landlord, who stood behind +Broad. In the rear, holding his chin with one hand, and looking +exceeding rueful of countenance, stood Peter Pipe, the drawer. All round +them hung the crowd of men and women, lads and lasses, staring +open-mouthed at the great man with the black beard. + +"What's all this?" said I, as we pushed our way to the front. + +The sailor jumped to his feet and touched his forelock civilly enough. +He looked at John Broad. + +"Marry, Master Humphrey," answered John Broad, "you see this great +fellow here, with a beard so long as the Turks? A' cometh into our +village here, God knows where from, and must needs fall to breaking the +heads of peaceable and honest men." + +"'Tis a lie," said the sailor. "At least, that part of it which refers +to peaceable and honest men. As to the breaking of heads, I say naught." + +"But whose head hath he broken?" asked Jasper. + +"Mine, sir," whined Peter Pipe. "God ha' mercy!--it sings like Benjamin +Good's bees when they are hiving." + +"And why did he break thy head?" + +"Let him say," said the sailor. "Aye, let him say." + +Peter Pipe shuffled his feet and looked out of his eye-corners. He was +a creature of no spirit, and always in deadly fear of something or +somebody. + +"Maybe he will clout me again," said Peter. + +"Fear not," said the sailor. "I would not hurt thee, thou +two-penny-halfpenny drawer of small beer. Say on." + +"This man, then, Master Humphrey, a' cometh into our kitchen and demands +a pot of ale. So I fetched it to him and he paid me--" + +"Was his money good?" + +"Oh, aye, good money enough, I warrant him," said Geoffrey Scales. + +"I said naught to the contrary," continued Peter. "But no sooner had he +drunk than he fell to cursing me for a thief, and swore that I had +served him with small beer, and with that he caught up the tankard and +heaved it at me with such force that my jaw is well-nigh broken." + +"And didst serve him with small beer?" + +"I serve him with small beer! Nay, Master Humphrey, bethink you. As if I +did not know the difference betwixt small beer and good ale!" + +"That thou dost not," said the sailor. "Young sir, listen to me. I know +thee not, and I fear thee not, and I know not why I should trouble to +talk to thee. But thou seemest to be in authority." + +"'Tis Sir Thurstan's nephew," whispered the constable. + +"What know I of Sir Thurstan? Young sir, I am a man of Cornwall, and my +name it is Pharaoh Nanjulian. They know me in Marazion. I have been on a +venture to the North Seas--plague take it, there is naught but ice and +snow there, with white bears twenty feet long--" + +"List to him!" said someone in the crowd. + +"I will show thee the white bear's trick, an' thou doubtest me. But to +proceed. Young sir, we were wrecked--sixteen good men and true we +were--off the Norroway coasts, which methinks are fashioned of iron, and +we underwent trials, yea, and hunger. After a time we came to +Drontheim--" + +"Where is that?" + +"A sea-coast town of Norroway, young sir. And thence we took ship to +Scarborough. But there was no ship at Scarborough going south, wherefore +I set out for mine own country on foot. And to-day, which is my first on +this journey, I came to this inn for a pint of good ale, and paid my +money for it too, whereupon yonder scurvy knave gives me small beer, +thin as water. And I, being somewhat hot and choleric of temper, threw +the measure at him, and rewarded him for his insolence. So now I will go +on my way, for 'tis a brave step from here to Marazion, and I love not +ye north-country folk." + +"Not so fast," quoth John Broad. "Thou must needs see Sir Thurstan +before we let thee go." + +"What want I with Sir Thurstan?" + +"Marry, naught; but he may want something with thee. We allow not that +wandering rascals shall break the peace in our village." + +"If thou talkest to me like that, Master Constable, I shall break thy +head, and in such a fashion that thou wilt never more know what peace +is. We men of Devon and Cornwall allow no man to lord it over us." + +"Thou shalt to Sir Thurstan, anyhow," said John Broad. "We will see what +the law says to thee. I fear me thou art a man of lawless behavior; and, +moreover, there are strange characters about at this moment." + +"Dame Good had two fowls stolen last night," said a voice in the crowd. + +"Yea, and there are two fine linen sheets stolen from the vicarage +hedge," piped another. + +"He looks a strange mortal," said a third. + +"And wears gold rings in his ears," cried a fourth. "A' must be a +foreigner, and maybe a Papist." + +"Foreigner or Papist I am not, good folks, but a true-born Englishman, +and a good hater of all Frenchmen and Spaniards. So let me go forward +peaceably. As for the clout I gave Master Peter, here is a groat to mend +it. I have but a round dozen, or I would give him two." + +With that he would have moved forward, but John Broad barred the way. + +"Not till I have taken thee before his worship," said he. "What, am I +not constable of this parish, and duly sworn to arrest all suspicious +persons, sturdy beggars, and what not?" + +The sailor paused and drew his breath, and looked at the constable's +round figure as if in doubt what to do. + +"I am loth to hurt thee," said he, "but if I hit thee, Master Constable, +thou wilt never more drink ale nor smell beef. Know that once in +Palermo there came upon me a great brown bear that had got loose from +his ward, and I hit him fair and square between the eyes, and he fell, +and when they took him up, his skull it was cracked. Is thy skull harder +than the bear's?" + +At this John Broad trembled and shrank away, but continued to mutter +something about the law and its majesty. + +"You had better go with him before my uncle," said I. "He will deal +justly with thee. He is hard upon no man, but it might fare ill with +John Broad if Sir Thurstan knew that he had suffered you to go +unapprehended." + +"Oh, if you put it in that way," he answered, and turned again, "I will +go with you. Heaven send that the good gentleman do not detain me, for I +would fain reach York to-night." + +So we all moved off to the manor, and as many as could find room crowded +into the great hall where Sir Thurstan sat to deliver judgment on all +naughty and evilly-disposed persons. And presently he came and took his +seat in the justice-chair and commanded silence, and bade John Broad +state his case. Then Peter Pipe gave his testimony, and likewise +Geoffrey Scales, and then Sir Thurstan called upon the sailor to have +his say, for he made a practice of never condemning any man unheard. + +After he had heard them all, my uncle considered matters for a moment +and then delivered judgment, during which everybody preserved strict +silence. + +"I find, first of all," said he, "that Peter Pipe, the drawer, did serve +this man with small beer instead of good ale. For what! I watched the +man as he told his story, and he did not lie." + +"I thank your honor," said the sailor. + +"Wherefore I recommend Geoffrey Scales to admonish Peter at his +convenience--" + +"Yea, and with a stick, your honor," said Geoffrey. + +"So that he transgress not again. Nevertheless, the sailor did wrong to +maltreat Peter. There is law to be had, and no man should administer his +own justice. Wherefore I fine thee, sailor, and order thee to pay ten +groats to the court." + +"As your honor wills," said the man, and handed over the money. "I have +now one left to see me all the way to Marazion. But justice is justice." + +"Clear my hall, John Broad," said my uncle. This order the constable +carried out with promptitude. But when the sailor would have gone, Sir +Thurstan bade him stay, and presently he called him to his side and held +converse with him. + +"Dost thou propose to walk to Marazion?" he asked. + +"With God's help, sir," answered the man. + +"Why not try Hull? Thou mightest find a ship there for a southern port." + +"I had never thought of it, your honor. How far away may Hull be?" + +"Forty miles. What means hast thou?" + +"But one groat, sir. But then I have become used to hardships." + +"Try Hull: thou wilt find a ship there, I doubt not. Hold, here are +twelve shillings for thee. Humphrey, have him to the kitchen and give +him a good meal ere he starts." + +"Your honor," said the sailor, "is a father and a brother to me. I shall +not forget." + +"Do thy duty," said Sir Thurstan. + +So I took the man to the kitchen, and fed him, and soon he went away. + +"Young master," said he, "if I can ever repay this kindness I will, yea, +with interest. Pharaoh Nanjulian never forgets." + +With that he went away, and we saw him no more. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ROSE. + + +There being no disposition on my part to renew our differences, and none +on his to lead up to an open rupture, my cousin Jasper Stapleton and I +got on together very well, until we had reached the age of nineteen +years, when a new and far more important matter of contention arose +between us. + +Now, our first quarrel had arisen over the ultimate disposition of my +uncle's estates; our second was as to which should be lord over the +heart and hand of a fair maiden. To both of us the second quarrel was +far more serious than the first--which is a thing that will readily be +understood by all young folks. It seemed to both of us that not all the +broad acres of Beechcot, nay, of Yorkshire itself, were to be reckoned +in comparison with the little hand of Mistress Rose Herrick. + +For by that time Mistress Rose had grown to be a fair and gracious +maiden, whose golden hair, floating from under her dainty cap, was a +dangerous snare for any hot-hearted lad's thoughts to fall entangled in. +So sweet and gracious was she, so delightful her conversation, so +bewitching her eyes, that I marvel not even at this stretch of time that +I then became her captive and slave for life. Nor do I marvel, either, +that Jasper Stapleton was equally enslaved by her charms. It had indeed +been wonderful if he or I had made any resistance to them. + +As to myself, the little blind god pierced my heart with his arrow at a +very early stage. Indeed, I do not remember any period of my life when I +did not love Rose Herrick more dearly than anything else in God's fair +world. To me she was all that is sweet and desirable, a companion whose +company must needs make the path of life a primrose path; and, +therefore, even when I was a lad, I looked forward to the time when I +might take her hand in mine, and enter with her upon the highway which +all of us must travel. + +However, when I was come to nineteen years of age, being then a tall and +strapping lad, and somewhat grave withal, it came to my mind that I +should find out for myself what feelings Rose had with regard to me, and +therefore I began to seek her company, and to engage her in more +constant conversation than we had hitherto enjoyed. And the effect of +this was that my love for her, which had until then been of a placid +nature, now became restless and unsatisfied, and longed to know whether +it was to be answered with love or finally dismissed. + +Thus I became somewhat moody and taciturn, and took to wandering about +the land by myself, by day or night, so that Sir Thurstan more than +once asked me if I had turned poet or fallen in love. Now, both these +things were true, for because I had fallen in love I had also turned +poet; as, I suppose, every lover must. In sooth, I had scribbled lines +and couplets, and here and there a song, to my sweet mistress, though I +had never as yet mustered sufficient courage to show her what I had +written. That, I think, is the way with all lovers who make rhymes. +There is a satisfaction to them in the mere writing of them; and I doubt +not that they often read over their verses, and in the reading find a +certain keen and peculiar sort of pleasure which is not altogether +unmixed with pain. + +Now it chanced that one day in the early spring of 1578 I had been +wandering about the park of Beechcot, thinking of my passion and its +object, and my thoughts as usual had clothed themselves in verses. +Wherefore, when I again reached the house, I went into the library and +wrote down my rhymes on paper, in order that I might put them away with +my other compositions. I will write them down here from the copy I then +made. It lies before me now, a yellow, time-stained sheet, and somehow +it brings back to me the long-dead days of happiness which came before +my wonderful adventure. + + TO ROSE. + + When I first beheld thee, dear, + Day across the land was breaking, + April skies were fine and clear + And the world to life was waking; + All was fair + In earth and air: + Spring lay lurking in the sedges: + Suddenly + I looked on thee + And straight forgot the budding hedges. + + When I first beheld thee, sweet, + Madcap Love came gayly flying + Where the woods and meadows meet: + Then I straightway fell a-sighing. + Fair, I said, + Are hills and glade + And sweet the light with which they're laden, + But ah, to me, + Nor flower nor tree + Are half so sweet as yonder maiden. + + Thus when I beheld thee, love, + Vanished quick my first devotion, + Earth below and heaven above + And the mystic, magic ocean + Seemed to me + No more to be. + I had eyes for naught but thee, dear, + With his dart + Love pierced my heart + And thou wert all in all to me, dear! + +Now, as I came to an end of writing these verses I was suddenly aware of +someone standing at my side, and when I looked up, with anger and +resentment that anyone should spy upon my actions, I saw my cousin +Jasper at my elbow, staring at the two words, "To Rose," which headed +my composition. I sprang to my feet and faced him. + +"That is like you, cousin," said I, striving to master my anger, "to act +the spy upon a man." + +"As you please," he answered. "I care what no man thinks of my actions. +But there," pointing to the paper, "is proof of what I have long +suspected. Humphrey, you are in love with Mistress Rose Herrick!" + +"What if I am?" said I. + +"Nothing, but that I also am in love with her, and mean to win her," he +replied. + +After that there was silence. + +"We cannot both have her," said I at last. + +"True," said he. "She shall be mine." + +"Not if I can prevent it, cousin. At any rate she has the principal say +in this matter." + +"Thou hast not spoken to her, Humphrey?" + +"What is that to thee, cousin? But I have not." + +"Humphrey, thou wilt heir our uncle's lands. Thou hast robbed me of my +share in them. I will not be robbed of my love. Pish! do not stay me. +Thou art hot-tempered and boyish, but I am cold as an icicle. It is men +like me whose love is deep and determined, and therefore I swear thou +shalt not come between me and Rose Herrick." + +I watched him closely, and saw that he valued nothing of land or money +as he valued his passion, and that he would stay at nothing in order to +gain his own ends. But I was equally firm. + +"What do you propose, Jasper?" I asked. "It is for Mistress Rose Herrick +to decide. We cannot both address her at the same time." + +"True," he said; "true. I agree that you have the same right to speak to +her that I have. Let us draw lots. The successful one shall have the +first chance. Do you agree?" + +I agreed willingly, because I felt certain that even if Jasper beat me +he would have no chance with Rose. There was something in my heart that +told me she would look on me, and on me only, with favor. + +We went out into the stackyard, and agreed that each of us should draw a +straw from a wheat-stack. He that drew the longest straw should have the +first right of speaking. Then we put our hands to the stack and drew our +straws. I beat him there--my straw was a good foot longer than his. + +"You have beaten me again," he said. "Is it always to be so? But I will +wait, cousin Humphrey." + +And so he turned away and left me. + +Now, seeing how matters stood, it came to my mind that I had best put my +fortune to the test as quickly as possible, and therefore I made haste +over to the vicarage in order to find Rose and ask her to make me +either happy or miserable. And as good luck would have it, I found her +alone in the vicarage garden, looking so sweet and gracious that I was +suddenly struck dumb, and in my confusion could think of naught but that +my face was red, my attire negligent, and my whole appearance not at all +like that of a lover. + +"Humphrey," said Rose, laughing at me, "you look as you used to look in +the days when you came late to your lessons, from robbing an orchard or +chasing Farmer Good's cattle, or following the hounds. Are you a boy +again?" + +But there she stopped, for I think she saw something in my eyes that +astonished her. And after that I know not what we said or did, save that +presently we understood one another, and for the space of an hour +entirely forgot that there were other people in the world, or, indeed, +that there was any world at all. + +So that evening I went home happy. And as I marched up to the manor, +whistling and singing, I met my cousin. He looked at me for a moment, +and then turned on his heel. + +"I see how it is," he said. "You have no need to speak." + +"Congratulate me, at any rate, cousin," I cried. + +"Time enough for that," said he. + +And from that moment he hated me, and waited his opportunity to do me a +mischief. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +FOUL PLAY. + + +When a man has conceived a deadly hatred of one of his fellow-men, and +has further resolved to let slip no chance of satisfying it, his revenge +becomes to him simply a question of time, for the chance is sure to come +sooner or later. + +It was this conviction, I think, that kept my cousin Jasper Stapleton +quiet during the next few months. He knew that in due course his revenge +would have an opportunity of glutting itself, and for that evil time he +was well content to wait. You may wonder that so young a man should have +possessed such cruel feelings toward one who had never done him any +willful wrong. But as events proved Jasper was of an exceeding cruel +and malignant nature, and his wickedness was all the worse because it +was of a cold and calculating sort. If a man gave him an honest +straightforward blow or buffet, it was not Jasper's way to strike back +there and then, face to face, but rather to wait until some evil chance +presented itself--and then, his adversary's back being turned, Jasper +would plant a dagger between his shoulders. In other words, he bided his +time, and when he did strike, struck at an unguarded place. + +Now at that time I had very little idea that Jasper entertained such +hard thoughts of me--my knowledge of his cruelty only came by later +experience. All that spring and summer of 1578 I was living in a very +paradise, and cared not for Jasper or Dame Barbara or anybody else. My +uncle had sanctioned the betrothal of Rose Herrick and myself, and the +good vicar had given us his blessing in choice Latin. There had been +some little scolding of us from both manor-house and vicarage, for Sir +Thurstan and Master Timotheus both thought us too young to talk of love +and marriage; but in the end our pleadings prevailed, and it was +arranged that we were to consider ourselves plighted lovers, and that +our wedding was to take place in two years. This settled, there was +naught but happiness for me and Rose. I think we spent most of that +summer out of doors, wandering about the Chase, and talking as lovers +will, of all the days to come. Never once did there come a cloud over +the fair heaven of our hopes, unless it was once, when in a remote +corner of the woods, we suddenly came face to face with Jasper +Stapleton. He had been out with his bow, and when we met him he was +advancing along the path, with a young deer slung over his shoulders. At +the sound of our footsteps on the crackling underwood, he stopped, +looked up, and, recognizing us, turned hastily away and vanished in the +thick bushes. + +"Why did Jasper go away so suddenly?" asked Rose. + +"Because he was not minded to meet us," said I. + +"But why? And I have not seen him these many weeks--he seems to avoid +me. Did you mark his face, Humphrey,--how white it turned when he set +eyes on us? And there was a look on it that frightened me--a look that +seemed to promise no love for you, Humphrey," she said. + +"Have no fear, sweetheart," I answered. "Jasper is a strange fellow, +but he will do me no harm. He is only disappointed because I have won +a flower that he would fain have possessed himself." + +"What do you mean?" she asked. + +"I mean, sweetheart, that Jasper was much in love with Mistress Rose +Herrick, and liked not that Humphrey Salkeld should win her. +There--perhaps I have done wrong to tell thee this; but, indeed, I like +not mysteries." + +But so strange are women, that Rose immediately fell to sighing and +lamenting on Jasper's woes. "It is sad," she said, "that any man should +sorrow over a maiden's pretty face, when there are so many girls in the +world." This train of thought, however, suddenly slipped from her when +she remembered Master Jasper's ugly looks. + +"He will do you a mischief, Humphrey," she said. "I saw it in his eyes. +He hates you. They say that jealousy breeds murder--oh! what if Jasper +should try to kill you?" + +I laughed at the notion. I was so cock-a-whoop at that time, so elated +with my love and my fair prospects, that I did not believe anything +could harm me, and said so. Nevertheless, I believe Rose was from that +time much concerned as to the relations between me and Jasper, having +some woman-born notion that all might not go so well as I, in my boyish +confidence, anticipated. But when she set forth her fears from time to +time, I only laughed at her, never thinking that my cousin's opportunity +was already close at hand. + +Early in the month of October in that year Sir Thurstan called Jasper +and myself into the library one morning, and informed us that he had +business for us at the port of Scarborough. There was, he said, a ship +coming over from Hamburg, the master of which had been entrusted with a +certain commission from him, and as the vessel was now due, he wished us +to go over to Scarborough and complete the matter, by receiving certain +goods and paying the master his money. Neither Jasper nor I were +displeased at the notion of this trip, for we were both minded to see a +little of the world. True, I did not like the idea of being separated +from my sweetheart for several days; but then, as she said, there would +be the delight of looking forward to our meeting again. Alas! neither of +us knew that that meeting was not to take place for three long and +weary years. + +We set out from Beechcot, Jasper and I, one Monday morning, having with +us money wherewith to pay the charges of the ship-master. From the +manor-house to Scarborough there was a distance of twenty odd miles, and +therefore we rode our horses. Sir Thurstan had given us instructions to +put up at the Mermaid Tavern, near the harbor, and there we accordingly +stabled our beasts and made arrangements for our own accommodation. The +ship which we were expecting had not yet arrived, and was not likely to +come in before the next day, so that we had naught to do but look about +us and derive what amusement we could from the sights of the little +fishing town. Small as the place was, it being then little more than a +great cluster of houses nestling under the shadow of the high rock on +which stands Scarborough Castle, it was still a place of importance to +us, who had never for many years seen any town or village bigger than +our own hamlet of Beechcot, where there were no more than a dozen +farmsteads and cottages all told. Also the sailors, who hung about the +harbor or on the quay-side, or who sat in their boats mending their nets +and spinning their yarns one to another, were sources of much interest, +so that we felt two or three days of life in their company would not be +dull nor misspent. Moreover, the merchant, whose ship it was that +carried Sir Thurstan's goods, showed us much attention, and would have +us to his house to talk with him and tell him of our uncle, whose +acquaintance he had made many years previously, but had not been able to +cultivate. + +There is, near the harbor of Scarborough, lying half-hid amongst the +narrow streets which run up towards the Castle Hill, a quaint and +curious inn known as the Three Jolly Mariners. At its door stands +a figure carved in wood, which at some time, no doubt, acted as +figurehead to a ship, but whether it represents Venus or Diana, Hebe or +Minerva, I do not know. Inside, the house more resembles the cabin of a +vessel than the parlor of a tavern. On the walls are many curious things +brought by mariners from foreign parts, together with relics of ships +that had made many voyages from the harbor outside, and had finally come +home to be broken up. In this place, half-parlor, half-cabin, there +assembled men of seafaring life: salts, young and old, English, Scotch, +Norwegians, and Danes, with now and then a Frenchman or Spaniard, so +that there is never any lack of interesting and ofttimes marvelous +discourse. + +Our ship not having come in on the Tuesday night, Jasper and I, in +company with the merchant aforesaid, entered the Three Jolly Mariners, +and having saluted the assembled company, sat down to wait awhile, the +harbor-master thinking it likely that our vessel would shortly be +signaled. There were several men in the inn, drinking and talking, and +all were of interest in my eyes, but one of them much more so than the +others. He was a stoutly-built, tall man of middle age, dressed in what +seemed to my eyes a very fantastic style, there being more color in his +dress than was then usual. He had a high, white forehead, over which his +jet-black hair was closely cropped, his eyes were set rather too near +together to be pleasant, his nose was long, his teeth very white and +large, and his beard, almost as black as his hair, was trimmed to a +point. As he sat and listened to the conversation around him he never +laughed, but occasionally he smiled, exposing his cruel teeth, and +reminding me of a dog that shows its fangs threateningly. + +Our friend the merchant whispered to us that this gentleman was a +certain Captain Manuel Nunez, who came trading to Scarborough from +Seville. He further informed us that his ship now lay outside in the +harbor, and was a fine vessel, of very graceful proportions, and much +more beautiful to look at than our English ships, which are somewhat +squat and ugly, though not difficult to handle. + +"And although he is a Spaniard," continued our friend, "this Senor Nunez +is well liked here, for he makes himself courtly and agreeable to those +who have to do with him, so that our recent relations with his country +have not prevented him from coming amongst us." + +However, there was something about the man which almost made me afraid. +He reminded me of a viper which I once killed in Beechcot Woods. And +though we entered into conversation with him that night, and found him a +mightily agreeable companion, I still preserved the notion that he was a +man not to be trusted, and like to prove cruel and treacherous. + +The following day, going down to the harbor-wall to see if there were +any signs of our ship, I saw my cousin engaged in close conversation +with Senor Nunez. I did not intrude myself upon them, but presently the +Spaniard, catching sight of me, came to my side, and with a courteous +salutation addressed me. + +"I have been inviting your good cousin, Master Stapleton, to go aboard +my vessel yonder," said he, "and I would tender the same courtesy to +yourself, Master Salkeld. It is not often that an English country +gentleman has a chance of seeing a Spanish ship in these sad days, +unless, alack! it be in this deplorable warfare; and, therefore, I +thought you might both be glad of this opportunity." + +"What do you say, Humphrey?" asked Jasper, who had now approached us. "I +would like to see the inside of a Spanish ship. If 'tis aught like the +outside it should be well worth an examination." + +"A look at the Santa Luisa will repay your trouble, gentlemen," said the +Spaniard with a proud smile. "There is no faster ship for her size on +the high seas." + +"I am agreeable," said I. "Our own ship is not yet come, and time begins +to hang heavy." + +"Then you shall come on board to-night," said Captain Nunez. "Until six +of the clock I am engaged on shore, but at that hour I will have a boat +awaiting us at the harbor stairs, and you shall go aboard with me, +gentlemen." + +So we agreed and parted with him, Jasper full of the matter, and +exclaiming that we should have much to tell the folks at home. I, +however, was beginning to get somewhat impatient with respect to our own +ship, which its owner now believed to have been unexpectedly detained, +and I only regarded the visit to the Santa Luisa as a diversion. + +At six o'clock that night, Jasper and I met the Spaniard at the harbor +stairs and went on board his vessel. We found the Santa Luisa to be a +very fine ship, and of much more pretentious appearance as regarded her +fittings than our own English trading vessels. We passed an hour or so +in examining her, and were then pressed by Senor Nunez to enter his +cabin and enjoy his hospitality. + +I have no very clear recollection of what followed. I remember that we +ate and drank, that the Spaniard was vastly amusing in his discourse, +and that I began to feel mighty sleepy. After that I must have gone to +sleep. + +When I came to my full senses again I was lying in a hammock, and I +could tell from the motion of the ship that we were at sea in a good, +fresh wind. The Spaniard stood by me, regarding me attentively. I +started up and addressed him. + +"Senor Nunez! I have been asleep. Where am I? The ship seems to be +moving!" + +"The ship is moving, Master Salkeld," he answered, in his smooth, rich +voice. "At this moment she is off the Lincolnshire coast. You have slept +for twelve hours." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PHARAOH NANJULIAN AGAIN. + + +I do not know to this day how I got out of the hammock, but no sooner +did I hear the Spanish captain utter these words than I made haste to go +on deck and examine the truth of his statement for myself. But before +I could reach the companion I reeled and staggered, and should have +fallen, if Nunez had not seized my arm and supported me. He helped me to +a seat, and handed me a glass containing a restorative. + +"You are not well," he said. "But you will come round presently." + +"Senor!" I cried, "what is the meaning of this? Why am I on this ship, +and why are we at sea? How is it that I am not at Scarborough? There has +been some treachery--some foul play!" + +"Nay," said he, "be moderate, I entreat you, Senor. Do not let there be +any talk of treachery. Am I not serving you as a friend?" + +"I do not comprehend anything of what you say," I answered. "There is +some mystery here. Again I ask you--why am I on board your ship and at +sea?" + +"And I ask you, Senor, where else did you expect to be but on board my +ship and at sea?" + +I stared at the man in amaze and wonder. He returned my gaze +unflinchingly, but I felt certain that in his eyes there was a cruel +mockery of me, and my blood seemed to turn cold within me as I +recognized that I was in the Spaniard's power. But, being now in a +desperate mood, I strove to be cool and to keep my wits about me. + +"I expected to be at Scarborough, Senor," I said. "Where else? I +remember coming aboard your vessel and eating and drinking with you, +but after that I must have fallen asleep. I wake and find myself at +sea." + +"Naturally you do," said he with a smile. "Allow me, Master Salkeld, to +recall to you certain incidents which took place last night. You came on +board my ship with your cousin, Master Stapleton, and I offered you my +poor hospitality. Was that all that took place?" + +"It was," said I, confidently enough. + +"That is strange," said he, giving me another of his queer looks. "I +fear you have undergone some strange mental change in your long sleep. +But as I perceive that you do not understand me, I will explain matters +to you. Last night, Master Salkeld, as you and your cousin sat at meat +with me, you explained to me that you had committed some great crime +against the laws of your country, and that it was necessary, if you +would save your head, to leave England at once. I remarked that I was +about to set sail for the West Indies, and should be pleased to take +you as my passenger, whereupon you and your cousin having consulted +together, you paid me the passage-money--and here we are." + +The man told me all this with the utmost assurance, his face utterly +unmoved and his strange eyes inscrutable. It was a lie from beginning to +end, and I knew it to be a lie. Nevertheless, I knew also that I was +powerless, and I made up my mind to act prudently. + +"Senor," I replied, "as between you and me, I may as well tell you that +I do not believe a single word of what you have said. There has been +treachery--and it lies with you and my rascal cousin, Jasper Stapleton. +I have committed no crime against the laws, and I wish to be put ashore +at your earliest opportunity." + +"You shall be obeyed, Master Salkeld," he replied, bowing low, but with +a mocking smile about his lips. + +"Where do you first touch land?" I inquired. + +"I have already told you, Master Salkeld. Somewhere in the West Indies." + +"But you do not mean to carry me to the West Indies?" I cried. "Why, +'tis a journey of many thousands of miles!" + +"Precisely. Nevertheless, you must undertake it. We touch no land until +we make Barbadoes or Martinique." + +I said no more; it was useless. I was in the man's power. Nothing that I +could say or do would alter his purpose. There had been villainy and +treachery--and my cousin, Jasper Stapleton, had worked it. I +comprehended everything at that moment. I had been lured on board the +Spanish vessel and subsequently drugged, in order that Jasper might rid +himself of my presence. That was plainly to be seen. But what of the +future? The West Indies, I knew, were thousands of miles away. They were +in the hands of our hereditary enemies, the Spaniards. From them I +should receive scant mercy or consideration. I was penniless--for my +money had disappeared--and even if I had possessed money, what would it +have benefited me in a savage land like that to which I was being +carried? I might wait there many a long year without meeting with an +English ship. I turned to the Spaniard. + +"So I am a prisoner, Senor,--your prisoner?" + +"My ship and my goods are at your disposal, Senor," he replied. + +"So long as I do not make any demands upon them, eh?" + +"Say unreasonable demands, Master Salkeld. As a matter of fact you are +free to walk or stand, sit or lie, wake or sleep as you please. I +entertain you as I best can until we touch land--and then you go your +own way. You have made a contract with me, you have paid your money, and +now I have nothing to do but carry out my share of the bargain." + +"And that is----?" + +"To take you to the West Indies." + +"Very good, Senor. Now we understand each other. You will perhaps not +object to my telling you, that when I next meet my cousin, Master Jasper +Stapleton, I will break his head for his share in this foul conspiracy." + +"I do not object in the least, Master Salkeld. But you do well to say, +when you next meet him." + +"Why so, Senor?" + +"Because it is so highly improbable. Indeed, you will never be so near +England again as you are at this moment." + +I looked through the port, and saw the long, flat Lincolnshire coast. +The day was dull and heavy, and the land was little more than a gray +bank, but it meant much to me. I was being carried away from all that I +loved, from my sweetheart, my uncle, my friends, from everything that +had grown a part of my daily life. And I was going--where? That I knew +not. Not to the West Indies--no, I was sure of that. Captain Manuel +Nunez was an accomplished liar in everything, and I felt sure that he +had another lie in reserve yet. At the thought of him and of Jasper's +villainy the blood boiled in my veins, and tears of rage and despair +gathered in my eyes. But what was the use of anger or sorrow? I was +powerless. + +I now made up my mind to show a good face to all these troubles and +difficulties, and, therefore, I strove to be as much at my ease as was +possible under the circumstances. I walked the decks, talked with such +of the men as knew a word or two of English, and cultivated as much of +the captain's acquaintance as my aversion to his wickedness would +permit. I learnt the names of masts, sheets, stays, and sprits, and +picked up other information of seafaring matters, thinking that it +might some day be useful to me. I am bound to say that Senor Manuel +Nunez was very courteous towards me. But what avails courtesy, when the +courteous man is only waiting his time to injure you? + +We had been at sea something like three weeks, and had passed Ushant +four days previously, when, sailing south-by-west, we were overtaken by +a gale and had to run before it with bare poles. Upon the second +morning, our lookout, gazing across a stormy sea, cried that he saw a +man clinging to a piece of wreckage on the lee bow, and presently all +those on deck were conscious of the same sight. The man was drifting and +tossing half a mile away, and had seen us, for he was making frantic +efforts to attract our notice. I was somewhat surprised when Captain +Nunez took steps to rescue him, for it would have fitted in with my +notion of his character if he had suffered the wretch to remain unaided, +However, he sent off a boat, which eventually brought away the man from +his piece of wreckage, and had hard work to make the ship again, for the +sea was running hard and high. The rescued man crouched in the stern, +hiding his head in his hands, so that I did not see his face until he +came aboard. Then it seemed familiar, but I could not bethink me where I +had seen it before. + +"And who art thou, friend?" asked Nunez. + +"A mariner of Plymouth, good sir," answered the man, "and sole survivor +of the ship Hawthorn. Lost she is, and all hands, save only me." + +Then I suddenly recognized him. It was the Cornish sailor, Pharaoh +Nanjulian. So the sea had given me a friend in need. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SCHEMES AND STRATAGEMS. + + +I was not minded to let Captain Nunez and the crew--every man of which +was either Spaniard or Portugee--see that I had any knowledge of the man +whom they had rescued, and therefore I presently went below and kept out +of the way for a while. Somehow I felt a considerable sense of +gratification at the thought of the Cornishman's presence on board. He +seemed to me a man of resource and of courage, and I no sooner set eyes +on him in this remarkable fashion, than I began to think how he might +aid me in making my escape from my present position. + +After a time Nunez came down into the cabin where I sat, and began to +talk with me. + +"We have fallen in with a countryman of yours, Master Salkeld," said +he, regarding me closely, as if he wished to see how I took the news. + +"Indeed!" said I. "The man just come aboard?" + +"The same. A native of Cornwall, with an outlandish name, and an +appetite as large as his body, judging by the way he eats." + +"He is no doubt hungry, Senor," I said. "Perhaps he has been tossing +about for a while." + +"A day and a night. One additional mouth, Master Salkeld, is what I did +not bargain for." + +"But you would not have allowed the man to drift away to starvation and +death?" I said. + +"His life was no concern of mine, Master Salkeld. But I can make him +useful; therefore he was worth saving. I shall enroll him as one of my +crew, and carry him to the Indies." + +"And then?" + +"Then he will go ashore with you, unless he prefers to go back with me +to Cadiz--which he probably will not do." + +He left me then, and I sat wondering what he meant by saying that the +English sailor would probably not care to go back to Spain with him. +There seemed something sinister in his meaning. But I gave over thinking +about it, for I was by that time firmly convinced that Captain Manuel +Nunez was a thorough-paced scoundrel, and well fitted to undertake all +manner of villainy, despite his polished manners and fine words. Also, I +was certain that there was in store for me some unpleasant and possibly +terrible fate, which I was powerless to avoid and which was certain to +come. Therefore I had resigned myself to my conditions, and only hoped +to show myself a true Englishman when my time of trouble came. + +Nevertheless, many a sad hour and day did I spend, looking across the +great wild waste of gray water and wondering what they were doing at +Beechcot. In my sad thoughts and in my dreams I could see the little +hamlet nestling against the purple Wold; the brown leaves piled high +about the shivering hedgerows; the autumn sunlight shining over the +close-cropped fields; and in the manor-house the good knight, my uncle, +seated by his wood-fire, wondering what had become of me. Also I could +see the old vicarage and the vicar, good Master Timotheus, thumbing his +well-loved folios, and occasionally pushing his spectacles from his nose +to look round and inquire whether there was yet news of the boy +Humphrey. But more than these, I saw my sweetheart's face, sad and weary +with fear, and her eyes seemed as if they looked for something and were +unsatisfied. And then would come worse thoughts--thoughts of Jasper and +his villainy, and of what it might have prompted him to in the way of +lies. He would carry home a straight and an ingenious tale--I was very +sure of that. He would tell them I was drowned or kidnaped, and nobody +would doubt his story. That was the worst thought of all--that my dear +ones should be thinking of me as one dead while I was simply a prisoner, +being carried I knew not where, nor to what fate. + +On the evening of the second day after the Cornish sailor came aboard, +the weather having moderated and the ship making good progress, I was +leaning over the port bulwarks moodily gazing at the sea, when I felt a +touch on my hand. Looking round, I saw the Englishman engaged in coiling +a rope close to me. He continued his task and spoke in a low voice. + +"I recognized you, master," said he. "I looked through the skylight last +night as you talked with the captain, and I knew you again. I know not +how you came here, nor why, but it is strange company for a young +English gentleman." + +"I was trapped on board," I said. + +"I thought so," he responded. "But speak low, master, and take no heed +of me. We can converse while I work, but it will not do for us to be +seen talking too much. The less we are noticed together the better for +our necks. How came you here, master? I had no thought of seeing you in +such company." + +I told him as briefly as possible while he continued to coil the rope. + +"Aye," said he, when I had finished my story, "I expected something of +that sort. Well, I am glad that the old Hawthorn left me swimming, +though sorry enough that all her merry men are gone down below. But +what! death must come. Now, young master, what can we do? I swore a +solemn oath when your good uncle befriended me that I would serve you. +This is the time. What can I do?" + +"Alas," said I, "I know not." + +"Do you know whither we are bound?" he asked. + +"The Captain says to the West Indies. But I do not know if that be true +or false." + +"More likely to be false than true, master. Now, then, hearken to me, +young sir. I have seen a deal of life, and have been a mariner this +thirty year or more. We must use our wits. Can you, do you think, find +out what our destination really is?" + +"I am afraid not," I replied. "Nunez will not tell me more than he has +already told me." + +"True," said he; "true--you will get naught out of him. But I have a +better chance. I can talk to the men--well it is that I know their lingo +sufficiently for that. But nay, I will not talk to them, I will listen +instead. They do not know that I understand Spanish. There are three of +them speak broken English--they shall do the talking. I will keep my +ears open for their Spanish--peradventure I shall hear something worth +my trouble. You see, master, if we only know where we are going, and +what we have to expect when we get there, we shall be in a much better +position than we are now. For now we are as men that walk in a fog, not +knowing where the next step will take them." + +"I will do whatever you wish," said I. + +"Then be careful not to have over-much converse with me, master. Yon +Nunez has the eye of a hawk and the stealth of a viper, and if he does +but suspect that you and I are in treaty together, he will throw me +overboard with a dagger wound under my shoulder-blade." + +"How shall we hold converse, then?" + +"As we are now doing. If I have aught to tell you I will give you a sign +when you are near me. A wink, or a nod, or a cough--either will do. And +what I have to say I will say quickly, so that whoever watches us will +think we do no more than pass the time of day." + +So for that time we parted, and during the next few days I watched for +Pharaoh Nanjulian's sign eagerly, and was sadly disappointed when I +received it not. Indeed, for nearly a week he took no notice of me +whatever, giving me not even a sign of recognition as I passed him on +the deck, so that Nunez was minded to remark upon his indifference. + +"Your countryman seems but a surly dog," said he. "I should have thought +he would have sought your company, Master Salkeld, but he seems to care +no more for it than for that of the ship's dog." + +"He is a Cornishman and a sailor, and I am a Yorkshireman and a +gentleman," said I. "In England we should not associate one with the +other, so wherefore should we here?" + +"Nay, true, unless that you are companions in adversity, and that makes +strange bedfellows," said he. "But you English are not given to +talking." + +I hoped that he really thought so, and that he had no idea of the +thoughts within me. I was ready enough to talk when Pharaoh Nanjulian +gave the signal. + +It came at last as he stood at the wheel one night, and I stood near, +apparently idling away my time. + +"Now, master," said he, "continue looking over the side and I will talk. +I have found out where we are going." + +"Well?" I said, eager enough for his news. + +"We are bound for Vera Cruz, master." + +"Where is that? In the West Indies?" + +"It is a port of Mexico, master, and in the possession of the Spaniards, +who are devils in human shape." + +"And what will they do with us there?" + +"That I have also found out. It seems that your good cousin, Master +Stapleton, did make a bargain with this noble Spanish gentleman, Captain +Nunez, for getting you out of the way. The bo's'n, Pedro, says that +your cousin suggested that Nunez should sail you out to sea, and then +knock you on the head and heave you overboard. But Nunez would have none +of that, and decided that he would carry you with him to Vera Cruz." + +"And what will befall me at Vera Cruz?" + +"He, being a pious man, will hand you over to the Holy Office." + +"To the Holy Office! You mean the Inquisitors? And they----" + +"They will burn you for a Lutheran dog, master." + +We were both silent for awhile. I was thinking of naught but the +fiendish cruelty which existed in such a man as Manuel Nunez. Presently +I thought of Pharaoh Nanjulian. + +"And yourself?" I said. "What will he do with you?" + +"I am to share your fate, master. Senor Nunez is a good and pious son of +Mother Church, and he will wipe out a score or two of sins by +presenting the stake with two English heretics." + +After that I thought again for a time. + +"Pharaoh," I said at last, "we will not die very willingly. I have a +good deal to live for. There is my sweetheart and my uncle to go back +to, and also I have an account to settle with Jasper Stapleton. I will +make an effort to do all this before my time comes." + +"I am with you, master," said he. + +"Have you thought of anything?" I asked. + +"Nothing, but that we must escape," he answered. + +"Could we manage that after the ship reaches Vera Cruz?" + +"No, for a surety. We shall be watched as cats watch mice. If we ever +set foot on a quay-side in that accursed port, master, we are dead men. +God help us! I know what the mercies of these Spaniards are. I stood in +the City of Mexico and saw two Englishmen burnt. That was ten years +ago. But more of that anon. Let us see to the present. We are dead men, +I say, if we set foot in Vera Cruz, or any port of that cruel region." + +"Then there is but one thing for us," I said. + +"And that, master?" + +"We must leave this ship before she drops anchor." + +"That is a good notion," said he, "a right good notion; but the thing +is, how to do it?" + +"Could we not take one of the boats some night, and get away in it?" + +"Aye, but there are many things to consider. We should have to victual +it, and then we might run short, for we should have no compass, and no +notion, or very little, of our direction. We might starve to death, or +die of thirst." + +"I had as soon die of thirst or hunger, as of fire and torture." + +"Marry, and so would I. Yea, it were better to die here on the wide +ocean than in the market-place of Mexico or Vera Cruz." + +"Let us try it, Pharaoh. Devise some plan. I will not fail to help if I +can be of any use." + +"I will think," he said; "I will think till I find a means of escape. I +reckon that we have still a month before us. It shall go hard if our +English brains cannot devise some method whereby we may outwit these +Spanish devils." + +So we began to plot and plan, spurred on by the knowledge of what +awaited us in Mexico. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WE ESCAPE THE SPANIARDS. + + +Now that I knew his real sentiments towards me, it was very difficult to +preserve my composure and indifference in the presence of Captain Manuel +Nunez. As I sat at table with him, or talked with him on deck or in his +cabin, I had hard work to keep from telling him my real thoughts of his +wicked nature. Nay, sometimes I was sore put to it to keep my hands from +his throat. Nothing would have pleased me better than to find either him +or my cousin Jasper in some lonely spot where no odds could have favored +them or me. Then my wrongs should have received full vengeance, and none +would have blamed me for meting it out to these two villains. Judge how +hard it was for me to have to associate, week after week, with one of +the men who had so deeply wronged me, and, moreover, to have to +preserve towards him a certain degree of cordiality. Try as I would, +however, I could not give Nunez as much in the way of politeness as +Nunez gave me. My manners were surly at the best, and I had much ado to +preserve them at all. + +Getting in the way of fair winds, we sighted the Bahamas, and passed the +north-west coast of Cuba somewhere about the beginning of September. We +were then some five hundred miles from Vera Cruz, but it was not until +Christmas week that we bore down upon the Mexican coast. It was, I +think, on Christmas morning that I first saw the shores of that +beautiful land, whose natural loveliness served but to make more evident +the horrible cruelties of the men who had seized and possessed it. Fair +and wonderful it was as the mists lifted under the sun's warmth to see +the giant peak of Orizaba lifting its head, snow-white and awful, into +the clear air, while full seventeen thousand feet below it the land lay +dim and indistinct, nothing more than a bank of gray cloud. + +"You would think a country with such a mountain as that would be a place +of much delight, master, would you not?" said Pharaoh Nanjulian, +pointing to the great white peak. "It looks fair and innocent enough, +but it is a very devil's land, this Mexico, since the Spaniards overran +it; and yonder peak is an emblem of nothing in it, except it be the +innocence of those who are murdered in God's name." + +"What mountain is that?" I inquired. + +"Orizaba, master. It lies some sixty miles beyond Vera Cruz, and is of a +height scarcely credible to us Englishmen. God be thanked that there is +so little wind to-day! With a fair breeze we should have been in port +ere nightfall. As it is, we must take our chance to-night, master, or +fall into the hands of the Inquisition." + +"I am ready for aught," said I. "But have you thought of a plan?" + +"Aye, trust me for that. Marry! I have thought of naught else since we +came through the Bahamas. Certainly our chances are exceedingly small, +for we must needs land in a country that is infested with our enemies, +but we will do our best." + +"Tell me your plan, Pharaoh." + +"'Tis simplicity itself, master. To-night it is my watch. When the +captain is asleep in his cabin, do you come on deck and go aft. You will +find a boat alongside, and into it you must contrive to get as you best +can. Hide yourself there so that no one can see you from the deck. When +the watch is changed, instead of going forward I shall make for the +boat. No one will see me, I promise you. When I am with you we shall cut +the boat adrift and let the vessel outsail us. Then we must make for the +coast in the direction of Tuxtla. We shall know which way to steer +because of the volcano. But after that--why, I know not what we shall +do." + +"Have you no plan?" + +"Marry, I have ideas. We might go across country to Acapulco, hoping to +find there an English ship; but 'tis a long and weary way, and what with +Indians and wild beasts I fear we should never get there. Howbeit let us +tackle one danger at a time." + +Being then called to dinner I went below, and was perforce once more +obliged to sit at meat with my jailer, who, now that his charge of me +was coming to an end, was more polite than ever, and treated me with +exceeding great courtesy. + +"You have been on deck, Master Salkeld," said he, "and have doubtless +perceived that we are in sight of land." + +"I have seen the great mountain, Senor," I answered. + +"True, the land is yet little more than a line. If the wind had been +fair we should have dropped anchor ere midnight. Your voyage has been a +long one, but I trust you have not been inconvenienced." + +"Only as a man may be by the loss of his liberty, Senor." + +"You will soon be free," he answered, giving me one of his strange, +mocking smiles. "And I trust that when we part it will be with a full +recognition on your side of the way in which I have carried out our +bargain." + +"As I do not remember our bargain, Senor, I am afraid that is hardly +possible," I made answer. + +"Chut! your memory is certainly at fault. However, the facts will +probably occur to you--later." + +"Part of the bargain, if I remember your first mention of it, Senor, was +that you should carry me to the West Indies." + +"You are right in that," said he. + +"Are we approaching the West Indies?" + +"The West Indies is a wide term, Master Salkeld. We are certainly not +approaching the West India islands. We are, in fact, off the coast of +Mexico, and the mountain you see in the distance is the famed peak of +Orizaba. To-morrow morning we shall drop anchor in the port of Vera +Cruz." + +"And what shall I do there, Senor?" + +He smiled at the question--a mysterious smile, which had a grim meaning +behind it. + +"Who knows, Senor? There are many occupations for a young and active +gentleman." + +Now, for the life of me I could not help asking him a very pertinent +question before I left the cabin to return on deck. + +"Senor," I said, "seeing that we are to part so soon you will perhaps +not object to giving me some information. How much did my cousin, Master +Jasper Stapleton, pay you for your share in this matter?" + +He gave me a curious glance out of his eye corners. + +"The amount of your passage-money, Master Salkeld, was two hundred +English guineas. I hope you consider the poor accommodation which I have +been able to give you in accordance with that sum." + +"I have no fault to find with the accommodation, Senor," I replied. "So +far as the bodily comfort of your prisoner was concerned you have proved +yourself a good jailer." + +"Let us hope you will never find a worse, Master Salkeld," he answered, +with another mocking smile. "But, indeed, you wrong me in speaking of me +as a jailer. Say rather a kind and considerate host." + +I repressed the words which lay on the tip of my tongue ready to fling +at him, and went on deck. The wind was still against us, and the ship +made little progress, for which both Pharaoh and I were devoutly +thankful, neither of us being minded to make Vera Cruz ere night fell. +Certainly there was little to choose between the two courses open to +us. If we were handed over to the Inquisitors by Nunez, we should +certainly be burned at the stake, or, at any rate, racked, tortured, and +turned over to a slave-master. If we reached shore we should have to +undergo many privations and face all manner of perils, with every +probability of ultimately falling into the hands of the Spaniards once +more. Indeed, so certain did it seem that we should eventually meet our +fate at the stake, or the rack, that more than once I doubted whether it +was worth our while to attempt an escape. + +But life is sweet, however dark its prospects may be, and a true man +will always fight for it, though the odds against him are great. And, +moreover, when a man knows what manner of death it is that awaits him, +he will make the most desperate efforts to escape it, if it be such a +death as that intended for us by the Spaniards. Now, although I had +lived in such an out-of-the-way part of England, I had heard many a +fearful story of the wrongs and cruelties practiced by the Inquisitors +in Mexico. Tales came across the wide ocean of rackings and tormentings +and burnings, of men given over to slavery, wearing their San-benitos +for many a weary year, and perhaps dying of torture in the end. We would +do something to escape a fate like that, God helping us! + +Late that night Captain Nunez stood by my side on deck. The wind now +blew from the north-west, and the ship was making headway towards land. +To the south-east, through the darkness, glimmered the volcanic fire of +Tuxtla, but the giant peak of Orizaba had disappeared. + +"To-morrow at sunrise, Master Salkeld, we shall be in the port of Vera +Cruz," said Nunez. "I have some friends there to whom I will give you an +introduction. Till then, Senor, sleep well." + +He smiled at me in the dim lantern light and went below. I remained +pacing the deck for another hour. Once or twice I looked over the side +and saw the boat swinging below our stern. Now, the poop of the Spanish +ship was of a more than usual height, and I foresaw that I should have +some difficulty in getting into the boat, and run a fair chance of +drowning. Better drown, I thought, than burn; and so, after a time, the +deck being quiet, I climbed over the side and managed to drop into the +boat, where I made haste to hide myself as I best could. + +It was some two hours after that when Pharaoh Nanjulian joined me, and +immediately cut us adrift. + +The ship seemed to glide away from us into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AN UNKNOWN LAND. + + +Now, although we were adrift in a perilous sea, and had no hope of +making land, save in a wild and savage country, where there was more +hope of mercy from the Indians than from the civilized Spaniards, I was +yet so thankful to find myself free of the ship and of Senor Manuel +Nunez, that for some moments I could scarcely believe in my freedom. + +"I could swear that I am but dreaming and shall presently awake to find +myself a prisoner," I said to Pharaoh, who was busily engaged in +examining the boat. + +"'Tis no dream, master," said he. "This is a very stern reality, as you +shall quickly find. Nor is it time for dreaming. If we mean to come out +of this adventure with whole skins, we shall have to acquit ourselves +like true men." + +"I am ready," said I. "Tell me what to do, and I will do it." + +"Well said," he answered approvingly. "But I could see from the outset +that you had the true spirit in you. You are a Yorkshireman, master, and +I am a sea-dog of Cornwall; but, marry, we are both Englishmen, and we +will come out of this scrape yet. 'Tis not the worst I have been in--but +more of that anon. Now to begin with, we will discuss our present +situation, and then, having determined our course of action, we will put +it into execution." + +So we talked things over, and eventually came to these conclusions. We +were, so far as Pharaoh could reckon, about ten miles from land, and we +must reach the coast during the night if we wished to escape +observation. That accomplished, we must strike across country for +Acapulco, where it was possible we might meet with an English ship. The +distance was some three hundred miles in a bee-line, and the character +of the country rough; but that mattered little, for we should of +necessity be obliged to keep away from the roads and bridges. There was +no considerable town on our way, save Oaxaca, and that we must leave to +our left. If we fell in with Spaniards we were lost men, for they would +certainly carry us to Vera Cruz or to Mexico, and there hand us over to +the Inquisitors. As for wild beasts and Indians, we must take our +chance, trusting in God's mercy for protection and help. + +We now examined the boat, which was but a small craft that had been +unstrung the day before, in order that the ship's carpenter might +examine some fancied defect in the rudder. Fortunately a pair of oars +had been left in her, and these Pharaoh now took in hand, bidding me +steer for the volcanic flame, which played over the peak of Tuxtla, +immediately before us. + +"I can pull ten miles in this sea," said he, "and I warrant you have had +little experience in that line, master. Now, you see that the wind has +drifted us due south until to-night, and therefore Nunez has come some +five-and-thirty miles out of his course for Vera Cruz. He will now beat +up along the coast, heading north and west, and so if we steer +south-by-east he will have hard work to catch us when he finds that we +are gone, as he will ere morning. And now to work." + +Thereupon he fell to the oars, and with such good-will, that the light +craft, her nose kept towards the volcanic fire, began to shoot through +the regular swell of the placid ocean at a comfortable rate. Hour after +hour he toiled, and would hear naught of my relieving him, though his +throat grew dry with thirst and his arms ached. Gradually the coast +loomed higher and higher through the gloom, and at length Pharaoh pulled +in his oars, and stood up in the bow to look around him. + +"When I was off this coast ten years ago," said he, "I remember a spot +hereabouts where a boat might land with safety and ease. We will lie +quiet till the light comes, master, and then attempt a landing." + +"But suppose Nunez should see us?" + +"He could not catch us ere we land if he did, unless by some strange +chance he has gotten to the east of us--and that's not possible," said +Pharaoh. "I reckon that by this time he is twenty miles to westward of +us, and therefore we are well out of his reach." + +So we hove-to until the morning began to break, when, spying a +convenient creek, we ran the boat ashore, and so set foot on Mexican +soil, wondering what was to befall us next. + +Now, to me, who had never seen aught of any land save England, these new +surroundings were exceeding strange and wonderful. Although it was yet +but a half-light all round us on shore, the giant peak of Orizaba, +rising high and magnificent across the land to the north-west, was +already blazing in the saffron-colored tints of early morning, while +directly above us the lower heights of Tuxtla also reflected the rays of +the rising sun. Once away from the shore the vegetation surprised and +delighted me exceedingly. Great trees, such as I had never seen or heard +of, sprang from the rocks and towered above us like gigantic ferns; the +undergrowth was thick and luxurious, and the grass under foot was soft +and heavy as velvet. Also, though it was winter, there were flowers and +plants blossoming in the open such as never blossom in our English +glass-houses, so that altogether I was amazed at the richness and +prodigality of the land, and said so to my companion. + +"Aye," said he, "'tis indeed a fair land, master, and would be very well +if these murderous Spaniards had left it alone. As it is, they have +simply turned it into a pandemonium, such as all lands, fair or foul, +become when men go a-lusting for gold and treasure. Yea, not even the +Indians, with all their heathenish practices, were half so cruel as +these Spaniards with their racks and thumb-screws, their stakes and +daggers. And therefore the more reason why we should avoid them." + +Having somewhat refreshed ourselves by a brief rest, and armed ourselves +with two stout cudgels cut from a neighboring tree by Pharaoh's knife, +which was the only weapon we had, we set forth through the woods, he +leading the way. By that time we were faint with hunger and could well +have done with a meal, but though there were, doubtless, Indian villages +close at hand we dare enter none of them, and so went forward with empty +stomachs. In the woods, however, we came upon prickly pears, which there +grow wild, and these we essayed to eat; but had great difficulty in +stripping them of the prickles, which, if they enter the tongue, do +cause an unpleasantness that is not soon forgot. Our hunger growing +very keen we sought to capture or slay some bird or animal, and Pharaoh +being accustomed to this sort of hunting--for he had known many +adventures--presently succeeded in knocking down a wild turkey, flocks +of which bird we constantly encountered. We lighted a fire by means of +his flint and steel, and cooked our quarry, and so went forward again +refreshed by the food, which was pleasant enough to hungry men. + +We pressed on for two days through the woods, living as we best could +upon such animals as Pharaoh was able to knock down, and on the pears, +which were all the more aggravating to our hunger because of their sharp +spines. During those two days we did not come in contact with human +beings, though we thrice saw parties of Indians and had to conceal +ourselves from them. We followed no path, and if we chanced to cross +one we immediately left it and plunged deeper into the woods. By the end +of the first day our clothes were torn to rags, and hung in strips from +our backs; by the end of the second our shoes had been cut to pieces, +and so we looked as wretched and lost a couple of vagabonds as you ever +saw. + +On the evening of the second day we came to the verge of the wooded +heights, and saw before us the wide plain of Orizaba, which lay between +us and Acapulco, and must needs be crossed if we meant to reach the +Pacific coast. + +"It is here that I see most reason to be a-feared," said Pharaoh, as we +halted and looked out across the plain. "There is precious little cover +or shelter on this plain, and it will be a miracle if we escape +observation in crossing it. Moreover, there are constantly traversing it +bodies of Spaniards, going to and from Oaxaca and Mexico, so that we +shall be liable to capture at any moment, having nowhere to hide +ourselves." + +"How would it do to hide ourselves as we best can by day, and to go +forward by night?" said I. + +"'Tis a good notion, master, and we will try it," he answered. "But I +fear me there is little in which we can hide, and as for food, I do not +see how we are to manage. Howbeit, we will not despair yet awhile, +having managed so far." + +That night we accordingly made our way across the wide and lonely plain, +having for our guide the constellation Virgo, which Pharaoh Nanjulian +knew and pointed out to me with some learning. + +"Them that go down to the sea in ships," said he, "must needs learn a +good deal if they would prosper. I have studied the heavens somewhat, +because more than once it has been my lot to find myself at sea without +a compass, and in a plight like that a knowledge of the stars and +planets is a good thing for a man to have at his command. Now, if we do +but set our faces to yonder constellation we shall keep in a straight +line for Acapulco--and God send we may land there safely!" + +We made fairly good progress across the plain, but when morning broke +from the eastern horizon we were still many a long mile from the great +terrace of mountainous land which divides Mexico from Oaxaca and the +Pacific coast. Therefore we had to cast about us for some shelter. This +we had great difficulty in securing, for the plain at that part was +entirely barren of shrub or tree, and there was not even a water-course +at which we could slack our parched throats. But coming upon a +half-ruined hut, which had evidently been the home of some Mexican +Indian, tending his sheep in those wild parts, we took refuge in it and +lay down to sleep, hoping that no one passing that way would feel +curious enough to stop and examine our shelter. + +This sort of life continued to be our lot for another day and night, +during which we had scarcely anything in the way of food, and also +suffered severely from thirst. And what with this, and with our fear of +meeting Indians and Spaniards materially increased, our condition was by +no means a happy one. But we still continued to hope, and to cheer each +other onward. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AN ADVENTURE OF SOME IMPORTANCE. + + +We traveled in this fashion, sleeping in the daytime and pressing +forward during the night, until the sixth day after our departure from +the ship. By that time we were both considerably changed in health and +appearance. Our clothes were torn to rags, our feet and arms were torn +and bleeding, and our vagabond air increased with every mile we covered. +Of our looks, however, we thought nothing; but we were perforce obliged +to think a good deal of our unfortunate stomachs, which had not been +either filled or reasonably satisfied since we set foot in those +regions. Hunger and privation, in short, were doing their work upon us, +and we were doubtful if we should manage to hold out until we had +crossed the country and made Acapulco. + +Towards evening of the sixth day of our travels, we were lying asleep in +a little gully formed by the descent of a mountain stream into the plain +which we were then quitting. We had arrived at this spot early that +morning, and finding sweet and fresh water there had drunk heartily of +it and lain down to sleep in a sheltered spot. We were both well-nigh +exhausted that morning, and our hunger was exceeding fierce; but +sharp-set as we were our limbs refused to carry us on any foraging +expedition, and therefore we sank to sleep, and slept despite our hunger +and danger. It was well towards evening when I suddenly awoke. I know +not what it was that made me open my eyes so suddenly, but there flashed +through my mind at that moment a notion that we were being watched. It +was a strange feeling, and one that occasioned me considerable +discomposure, not to say fright, and it seemed to enter my brain with +the same ray of sunlight that lifted my eyelids. And so strong was this +feeling, that I experienced no surprise or astonishment when I saw two +eyes looking straight into mine from over the top of a rock which rose +immediately in front. + +Nevertheless it was a hideous and fearful sight that I looked upon. The +eyes shone, not out of a human face foul or fair, but out of the slits +in a black cowl, drawn so tightly over its wearer's head that nothing of +him was to be seen from forehead to chin. There was this horrible black +thing, a blot upon the bright sunlit sky behind, peeping at me from over +the rock, and out of its eye-holes gleamed two eyes, as keen and bright +as those of a wild animal. If I had not just then been parched with +thirst I should have screamed in my terror. As it was, I gave a feeble +cry, and the black head instantly vanished. I leapt to my feet and ran +forward to the rock. Below it the ground was broken and rocky, and at a +few yards' distance was a belt of wood which stretched down to the +plain. I fancied I could see a black robe disappearing amongst the +trees, but though I waited a few moments I saw no further signs of a +human being. + +I returned to Pharaoh Nanjulian and woke him up. He was sound asleep +when I touched him, but started to his feet as soon as I laid my hand on +his shoulder. + +"What is it, master?" he asked, scanning my face narrowly, as if he saw +some sign of disturbance there. "You look alarmed." + +"I have seen a man watching us." + +"What kind of a man? Where has he gone?" + +"Nay, that I know not. When I opened my eyes just now they fell full +upon him. He stood behind that rock, peering over it at me. I saw naught +of him but his head, and that was hidden in a black cowl with eye-slits, +through which his eyes gleamed like fire." + +Pharaoh shook his head. + +"'Tis a Familiar," said he. "One of those accursed fanatics, master, +that dog and pry after honest men like sleuth-hounds, and leave them not +until the flame licks their bodies. This is bad news, i' faith. Which +way went he?" + +I told him that I thought I had seen a black robe vanishing among the +trees below, but could not be certain. At that he seized his staff and +went down the slope himself, examining all the likely places in which a +man might have concealed himself. But he found naught, and so came back +to me, shaking his head. + +"You are sure you were not dreaming?" he asked. "Men dream of strange +things when hunger is on them." + +"How could I dream of what I never saw in my life?" said I. + +"You mean the black hood, master? Alas! I have seen it, and so has many +a good man, to his sorrow. Those accursed fanatics! They creep about in +God's blessed sunlight like reptiles. You should see them walk the +streets. Close to the walls they go, their hands meekly folded, their +cowled heads bent to the ground, and yet their eyes note everything. God +is on their lips--yea, but the devil is in their hearts." + +"What shall we do, Pharaoh?" I asked him. + +"Marry, all we can do is to leave this spot and push forward up the +mountains. There are yet two hours of daylight, but we must chance that. +If we can escape this fellow until darkness sets in, we may yet give him +the slip altogether." + +So we set out once more, our bodies refreshed by our long sleep, but the +hunger still fiercely gnawing within us. We were driven to plucking the +prickly pears again, troublesome as was the peeling of them, for we +could eat them as we walked, whereas if we had gone a-hunting for wild +turkeys or rabbits we should have had to light a fire, and that would +have attracted attention to our whereabouts. However, we were successful +in knocking down one or two birds, and these we took along with us, +intending to cook them as soon as we considered ourselves in safety. + +As night fell we emerged from the wooded slope up which we had painfully +traveled, and found ourselves on a good road, evidently much used for +traffic. + +"This must be the highway that leads from Oaxaca to Vera Cruz," said +Pharaoh, looking out upon it from a sheltering tree; "and lo! yonder is +a post-house. We must bide awhile where we are or we shall be seen." + +So we sat down amongst the undergrowth, which was there thick and +luxurious, as it was in every wood we had yet crossed, and served to +conceal us very well from observation. More than once, as we stayed +there, we heard the voices of people passing along the highroad above, +and we judged from that, that if we ventured to show ourselves upon it +before nightfall we should certainly be seen and stopped. Therefore, +apart from our usual hunger and discomfort, we were very well content to +remain hidden until such time as the coast cleared. + +Now about dark, and just as we were making up our minds to a fresh +start, and wondering how we should fare in the mountainous range which +we had yet to cross, there arose not far away along the highroad a +chorus of shouts and screams of such exceeding bitterness, that we felt +sure murder was being done. We leapt to our feet and advanced to the +edge of the highway, but feared to go further lest we should be seen. + +"'Tis some footpad affray," said Pharaoh, "and none of our business." + +But just then came still shriller cries of entreaty for help, and they +were so pleading and full of agony, that we both leapt into the road +with one accord. + +"That is a woman's voice," said Pharaoh. "We must needs go to her +assistance, come what will. Have your staff in readiness, master, and if +there is need, strike hard." + +We ran swiftly down the road for some fifty yards, and then, turning a +sharp corner, came suddenly upon the cause of the disturbance. In the +middle of the highway stood a coach, drawn by two mules, and on either +side of it were two tall fellows of ferocious aspect, striving to drag +from it the occupants, who screamed for help without ceasing. There was +no driver or servant visible; the rogues had doubtless escaped to the +woods at the first sign of danger. + +"Take the two on the left," said Pharaoh, "and get in the first blow, +master. Look out for their daggers." + +Now I had never been engaged in a fight since the days when Jasper and I +occasionally came to fisticuffs with the village boys at Beechcot, but +I felt my blood warm at the notion of combat, and so I sprang in between +the two desperadoes who were busy at the left side of the coach, and +laid my staff about their ears with hearty good-will. They were trying +to drag an old man from the coach when we came up, and were threatening +him with what I took to be the most horrible of curses. I hit one of +them fair and square on the shoulder before he knew of my presence, and +he immediately turned and fled, howling like a beaten dog. The other +turned on me with a cruel-looking knife, but I knocked it out of his +hand with a blow that must have broken his wrist, and he too fled into +the woods with a fearful imprecation. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had beaten off +his men on the other side; one was limping along the highway howling +with pain, and the other lay on the ground senseless. We had carried the +fight with sharp and startling effect. + +Inside the coach sat an old gentleman and a young girl, and both were so +frightened, that when we assisted them to alight they were nearly +speechless, and could only sigh and moan. Presently, however, the young +lady found her tongue, and began to pour out an astonishingly rapid flow +of words to me, none of which I understood, but which I took to be +expressions of gratitude. + +"Say naught," whispered Pharaoh in my ear, "I will talk to them in their +own lingo. Do not let them see that we are English." + +"Noble gentlemen," said the old man, presently recovering his speech, "I +know not how to thank you for this valuable assistance. Caramba! if you +had not appeared when you did we should certainly have had our throats +cut. Isabella mia, art thou safe? Did those knaves lay finger on thee?" + +"They did but seize me by the wrist, father," answered the young lady. +"But yourself--you are not hurt?" + +"Nay, child, I called too loudly for that. But certainly another moment +would have been our last. Senor, is yonder villain dead?" + +"Nay," said Pharaoh in his best Spanish, "he breathes, Senor, and will +come to presently." + +"I am beholden, deeply beholden to you both, gentlemen. Dios! to think +that I should be unable to travel on even so short a journey with +safety! And my own servants--where are they, rascals and poltroons that +they are. Ho! Pedro, Chispa, Antonio! I warrant me the knaves are hiding +in these woods." + +This was exactly the truth, for at the old gentleman's call three +serving-men came forward from the trees and advanced tremblingly towards +the coach. At sight of them their master flew into a terrible rage, and +scolded them with a vigor which at any other time would have amused me +highly. + +"Cowards and knaves that ye are!" quoth he. "A pretty body-guard, +indeed. What, ye pitiful rogues, did I not fit ye all out with pikes and +pistols before quitting Mexico in case we met with ventures of this +sort? Oh, ye poltroons, to fly me at the first glimpse of danger! And +thou, Pedro Gomez, my coachman these ten years, fie upon thee!" + +"Most noble Senor," said the man, trembling and bowing, "I did but run +to find assistance." + +"Thou liest, knave. Thou didst run to save thine own skin. But I will +remember ye when we are safe in Oaxaca. I will have a convoy of soldiers +over these mountains, and trust not to pitiful cowards like ye three. +Tie me up this robber who lies there in the road, and fasten him behind +the coach. We will see justice done on him at Oaxaca." + +While the men were doing this the old gentleman once more talked to +Pharaoh, thanking us again, and asking how he could reward us. Were we +journeying to Oaxaca? If so, let us go along with him, and he would +reward us bounteously for our protection. + +"We thank your honor," said Pharaoh, "but we are two poor shipwrecked +mariners, bound across country to Acapulco, where we hope to find ship. +But if you would give us food and drink we would thank you, for in good +sooth we are desperately hungered." + +Now it luckily chanced that the coach was well supplied with both the +commodities which we desired so earnestly, and, therefore, the old +gentleman made haste to reward us according to Pharaoh's request, so +that presently we found ourselves with our arms full of meat and bread +and bottles of wine, our new-found friend pressing all upon us with +great hospitality. Also, he would have us to take a purse of money, +assuring us that we should find it useful, and as we had not a +penny-piece between us we accepted this offering with thankfulness. + +"I am sorry that ye cannot accompany me to Oaxaca," said he. "I should +have been glad of the company of two such stalwart champions. But know, +caballeros, that I am devoutly thankful to you, and will aid you if ever +ye have need of me, and it lies in my power." + +So we thanked him and said farewell for that time, and when the coach +had gone on, taking the wounded prisoner with it, we continued our way +up the mountains, first supping heartily of the food and wine, and +blessing God for it. + +"'Tis always well to help them that need help," said Pharaoh. "Verily we +are rewarded for so doing. This meat and drink makes a new man of me, +master." + +And so it did of me, and it was well, for previously we had been sorely +put to it to keep any heart or soul within our starving bodies. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE BLACK SHADOWS. + + +Our course that night being of more than usual roughness and difficulty, +we made little headway, and by morning we had done no more than reach +the height of the mountain range over which we were climbing, and which +at that point was some three or four thousand feet above sea-level. +Howbeit, we were not disappointed with our night's work, for when the +sun rose we found ourselves looking out upon the wide plain which +stretches from those mountains to the sea-coast of the Pacific. Half our +journey was over. + +"God send that all may be as well with us during this next journey as it +has been during the last," said Pharaoh. "We have prospered exceeding +well so far--yea, much better than I expected. Only let us do as well +on our way over yonder plain and we shall reach Acapulco in safety." + +"But what then?" I asked, not knowing what his plans might be. + +"That," he answered, "is a difficult question, master. We shall +certainly meet with no more love at Acapulco than at Vera Cruz, for the +Spaniards have still some sore memories of the drubbings we have given +them. But there we may find an English ship, for 'tis a convenient port +for those vessels that come north. Maybe we shall have to wait awhile, +and lie hidden outside the city or on the coast. All that we must leave +till the time comes. 'Tis something that we have come thus far without +let or hindrance." + +And truly he was right there and we felt thankful to God for it. In +truth we had so far been most mercifully protected, and our adventures +had abundantly proved to us that God is merciful to men who have no hope +of any mercy or consideration from their fellow-creatures. + +We now sought out a convenient resting-place, and having found a quiet +corner amongst the rocks, we sat down there and ate another hearty meal +from the stores given to us by the old Spaniard, after which, feeling +much refreshed, we lay down to sleep in a hopeful state of mind. The +good food and drink had marvelously restored us, giving us new strength +in body and soul, so that we now hoped where we had previously been +inclined to despair. And so, being impelled to brighter thoughts than +had filled our hearts for some days, we slept more composedly, and had +none of those evil visions which had disturbed our sleep on former +occasions. + +Nevertheless evil was drawing near to us while we slept. + +It was about half-way through the afternoon, when I woke with a sudden +feeling that all was not well. It was not the feeling which I had +experienced the previous day, namely, that I was being watched, but a +curious sensation of coming ill. How it came into my mind I know not; +all I know is that I suddenly awoke and came into possession of all my +senses with startling swiftness, so that while I had been sound asleep +one moment I was wide awake the next, and looking and listening with +very eager and acute perception. Also, my heart was beating hard in my +breast, as a man's heart will when he suddenly fronts some great danger. +And then I knew that evil was at hand, and as I held up my head and +looked round I saw it draw near. + +The place in which we lay was a corner amongst the rocks on the side of +the mountain. Before us lay a wide expanse of smooth stone, the top of a +great rock that had its base in the woods below. Behind us rose a high +wall of rock, and beyond that was the sun, now sinking towards the +western horizon. Where we lay everything was in deep shadow, but the +table-like piece of rock in front was bathed in brilliant sunlight, and +when I woke and looked round my eyes fell upon it, and on a sight which +was like to freeze my heart within me. + +Some ridge of rock or mountain high above us was outlined on the bright +stretch of reflected sunlight at our feet, and on this as I looked +appeared two shadows--the shadows of human beings, standing motionless +on the ridge, and evidently looking out from that commanding position +across the wide plain that lay far below. + +I recognized one of the shadows instantly. It was the figure of a man +cloaked in some long clinging garment, that enveloped him from head to +foot. As he turned his head I saw the peculiar cowl, with its peaked +top, which had confronted me the previous day. + +The other shadow seemed to be that of a naked man, of slender, sinewy +limbs, who carried a bow, and whose head was ornamented with long, +waving feathers. Now he stood motionless against the sky, looking like a +figure cut out of stone or bronze; now he shaded his eyes with his hand, +evidently gazing across the plain below; now he stooped and seemed to +examine the ground at his feet. But the shadow of the cowled and cloaked +figure stood statue-like and never moved. + +Now, if you can so exercise your imagination as to put yourself in my +place, you will not be slow to recognize the terror which came over me +at this unexpected sight. If I had seen a dozen armed men spring out +upon us from the rocks I should have cared not. But to see these +sinister-looking shadows, motionless or restless, on the bright patch of +sunlight, was an awful thing--yea, to this day I do often see it in my +dreams, and wake sweating with fear and horror. + +I leaned over and touched Pharaoh lightly. He woke on the instant and +sat up. + +"Hush!" I whispered, pointing to the shadows. "Look there!" + +He lifted his hand to his brow and gazed at the shadows with a +wonder-struck air. Then he seemed to recognize their import, and turned +to me with a shake of the head. + +"Lad," said he, "we are about to have trouble. 'Tis that accursed +Familiar. He hath tracked us. Said I not that these devils in man's +shape are like sleuth-hounds?" + +"But the other, Pharaoh? What is the other?" + +"An Indian, lad. See there, he is stooping to examine the ground. They +are like dogs--they will find a trace where we should see naught." + +"What shall we do?" + +"God help us!--I know not. Once on our track they will hunt us down. See +there!" + +To the two shadows was suddenly added a third, a fourth, a fifth, then a +sixth and seventh, and presently others until we counted twelve. + +"All Indians except the monk," said Pharaoh. "He is the huntsman and +they are his dogs. See, they are separating again. Lad, get thy cudgel +in readiness. 'Tis the best weapon we have." + +We started to our feet and gripped our staves firmly. And at the +prospect of a fight my terror died away. There was no ghostly fear about +things of flesh and blood. You can strike a man, but who can strike a +shadow? + +At that moment, over a rock to our left, appeared the face of an Indian, +scarred and painted, a very devil's face to look at. We were seen at +last! + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +CAPTIVE. + + +As soon as the Indian's face appeared above the rock Pharaoh and I +instinctively moved towards him, whereupon he disappeared again with a +sudden sharp cry, which was immediately answered from above. + +"Now, we shall have the whole pack upon us," said my companion. + +In this prediction he was right, for within a moment the whole body of +twelve Indians had surrounded us, and stood gazing at us with faces in +which I looked in vain for any sign of compassion at our forlorn state. +Behind them came the monk, still clad in his shroud-like cowl, and +moving with silent steps as if he were a ghost rather than a living man. +But as he drew near to where we stood he threw back the hood from his +head, and then we saw his face for the first time. + +I will describe this man to you, because he was not only the most +remarkable but also the most relentlessly cruel man that I have ever +come across in my life. As for his name, which we learnt ere long, it +was Bartolomeo de los Rios, and his one aim and passion was the hunting, +torturing, and burning of heretics. He had the faculties of a +sleuth-hound and the instincts of a serpent, and when he had once set +his heart on hunting a man to his death, it was only by God's mercy that +that man escaped. + +Nevertheless this man as he stood before us, looking steadily upon us +from under his cowl, did not seem so fearful a monster of cruelty as we +afterwards knew him to be. We saw simply a thin, dark-faced monk, whose +face was pale as parchment, and whose eyes were extraordinarily bright +and keen. The lines and furrows on his brow and cheeks seemed to tell +of pain or thought, and his tightly-pursed, thin lips betokened firmness +and resolution. I think he could have stood calmly by while his own +father was being tortured and have changed no muscle of his face. Thus +he was an object of much greater fear than the Indians, who were +certainly horrible enough to frighten anybody that had never seen them +before. + +We stood gazing at the monk and his Indians for a moment ere either of +us spoke. The Indians seemed to wait instructions from the monk, and +looked toward him with eager eyes. As for Pharaoh and myself, we waited +to see what would happen. I think we both realized that fortune had +suddenly deserted us, but nevertheless we kept a firm grip on our +cudgels, and were both resolved to use them if necessary. + +The monk spoke. His voice was low, sweet and gentle--there was naught of +cruelty in it. + +"Greeting, my children," said he, addressing us. "Be not afraid. There +shall no harm come to you." + +"It will be ill for the man who threatens us with any," answered Pharaoh +in Spanish. "We are travelers, and have no mind to be disturbed." + +"You travel by strange paths," said the monk. "To what part of the +country are you going?" + +"To Acapulco," answered Pharaoh, adding to me, in English, "there is no +harm in telling him that." + +"There is a good road from Oaxaca to Acapulco," said the monk. "Why not +follow it?" + +"We are minded to take our own way," said Pharaoh doggedly. + +"You Englishmen are fond of that," observed the monk with a strange +smile. + +"Who says we are English?" asked Pharaoh. + +"Your Spanish is proof of that." + +"I am from Catalonia," said Pharaoh. "We do not speak pure Castilian +there." + +"And your companion? Is he, too, from Catalonia, or is he dumb?" + +To that Pharaoh answered nothing. The monk turned his bright eyes on me. + +"What is your business here?" he said, in very good English. "If you +cannot speak to me in my tongue, I must talk with you in yours." + +"Answer him," said Pharaoh. "There is no use in further concealment." + +"I see no reason why I should answer you, master," said I, feeling +somewhat nettled at the man's peremptory tone. "What right have you to +stop us in this fashion?" + +He smiled again, if that could be called a smile which was simply a +sudden flash of the eyes and a tightening of the thin lips, and looked +round at his Indians. + +"The right of force," said he quietly. "You are two--we are many." + +"Two Englishmen are worth twenty Spanish devils," said I sulkily. + +"If it is to come to fighting," said Pharaoh, gripping his cudgel. + +The monk said a word in a low tone. The Indians on the instant raised +their bows and drew their arrows to the full extent of the string. The +tips pointed dead upon us. + +"Englishmen," said the monk, "look at those arrows. Every one of them is +tipped with poison. If you move I give the word, and those arrows will +find a resting place in you. Let them but touch your arms, your +shoulders, inflicting but a scratch, in a few seconds you will be as one +that is paralyzed, in a few minutes you will lie dead." + +The man's words were gentle enough, but somehow his low, sweet voice +made my blood run cold. Why did cruelty veil itself in such a honeyed +tone? + +"What is it you want of us, master?" asked Pharaoh presently. + +"Your names and business." + +"That is easily answered. This gentleman is one Master Humphrey Salkeld, +of Yorkshire in England, who hath many powerful friends at court; as for +me, I am a sailor, and my name is Pharaoh Nanjulian, of Marazion in +Cornwall. As for our business, we are shipwrecked mariners, or as good, +and our hope is to find an English vessel at Acapulco and so return +home. If you be a Christian you will help us." + +"Christians help only Christians. I fear ye are Lutherans, enemies of +God." + +"That we are not," answered Pharaoh stoutly. "I will say my Paternoster +in English with anybody, and my Belief too, for that matter." + +The monk sighed. Perhaps he was disappointed to find that Pharaoh had so +much knowledge. + +"And you?" he said, turning to me. + +"I am a Christian," I answered, surlily enough, for I did not like this +examination. + +"We are both Christians, master," said Pharaoh. "Maybe we think not as +you do on some points, but 'tis naught. So help us of your charity, and +assist us to get out of this country to our own, and we will say a +Paternoster for you night and morning." + +"Verily," answered the monk, "you speak fairly. I will help you. You +shall go with me to Mexico, and there we will see what ships there are +at Vera Cruz." + +"We would rather push forward to Acapulco," answered Pharaoh. "There are +more likely to be English ships there." + +"English ships have gone there little during recent years, and you will +find none now," said the monk. + +"For all that we would rather take our chance there," said Pharaoh. + +"It will be better for you to accompany me to Mexico. Vera Cruz is close +at hand. And now, as the day waxes late, we will proceed." + +Now, there was no use in further argument, for the monk had every +advantage of us, and was clearly minded to have us accompany him at +whatever cost. Therefore we had to yield ourselves to his will but never +did men give in with worse grace or heavier hearts than we. + +"God help us!" said Pharaoh. "We are going into the very jaws of death +in going to Mexico. We shall meet Nunez there, and even if we do not, we +shall be handed over to the Inquisitors. But God's will be done. +Moreover, while there is life there is hope. We may pull through yet." + +So we set out, the monk going first and taking no further notice of us +for some time. He would walk for hours as if absorbed in his own +thoughts, and again for a long stretch of time he would read his book or +count his beads, but to us he said little. He walked in the midst of the +Indians, who for their part were kind and considerate to us, and +indulged in no cruelties. Indeed, during our journey to the City of +Mexico we had no reason to complain of discomfort or poor fare, for we +had all that men can require, and were well treated, save that at night +they guarded us more closely than we liked. But as to food and drink, we +were abundantly served, and so began to wax fat, in spite of our +anxiety. + +There was no restriction placed upon our tongues at this time, and +therefore Pharaoh and I talked freely whenever we were out of hearing of +the monk. As for our conversation, it was all of one thing--the prospect +that awaited us in Mexico. + +"What will come of this venture, Pharaoh?" I asked him one day as we +drew near our destination. "Shall we come off with whole skins, or +what?" + +"It will be well if we come off with our lives, master. I have been +thinking things over to-day, and I make no doubt that this monk will +hand us over to the Inquisition. Put no trust in what he says about +finding us a ship at Vera Cruz. The only ship he will find us will be a +dungeon in some of their prisons. Well, now, what are our chances when +we fall into the hands of these fellows?" + +"Nay, very small I should say. I am well-nigh resigned to anything. +Nevertheless, Pharaoh, I shall make a fight for it." + +"It may not come to fighting. Can you say the Paternoster, the Ave +Maria, and the Creed?" + +"I can say two of them, and I can learn the third. But what difference +does that make?" + +"All the difference 'twixt burning at the stake and wearing a San-benito +in a monastery for a year or two. Now, if we are burnt there is an end +of us, but if they put us into a monastery with a San-benito on our +backs we shall still have a chance of life, and shall be poor Englishmen +if we do not take it." + +Thus we talked, striving to comfort ourselves, until at the end of the +fourth day we were brought by our captors to the City of Mexico. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MORE CRUEL THAN WILD BEASTS. + + +There are times when, looking round these fair lands of Beechcot, and +thinking on the quiet and prosperous life which I have spent in their +midst these many years, I fall to wondering whether those dark days in +Mexico were real or only a dream. It seems to me, sometimes, that all +which then happened to me and to my companion, Pharaoh Nanjulian, must +have been but a dream and naught else, so horrible were the cruelties +and indignities practiced upon us. You could hardly bring yourselves to +believe, you who have lived quiet, stay-at-home lives, how merciless +were the men into whose hands we fell, and if I did but tell you +one-tenth of the malignity which they displayed towards us, you would +not wonder that I sometimes feel inclined to wonder if my memories of +that most unhappy time are not dreams rather than realities. But I know +well that there is nothing unreal about them, for I bear on my body +certain marks which came there from the rack and the pincers, and there +are moments when I seem to endure my agony over again, and the sweat +drops from my brow as I think of it. + +We were led into the City of Mexico through the gate of St. Catherine, +and were thence marched forward to the Placa del Marquese, close by the +market-place. There we were soon surrounded by a throng of folks, who +seemed not unkindly disposed towards us. Some, indeed, brought us food +from their houses, and others drink; one man handed Pharaoh Nanjulian a +coat, a noble-looking lady, closely wrapped in her mantilla, gave me +money, hurrying away ere I could refuse the gift. I suppose we looked so +woe-begone and vagabondish in our rags and tatters, that the hearts of +these people melted towards us. Nevertheless it was plain to see that we +were prisoners, and that the monk had no notion of putting us in the way +of getting a ship. + +Now, as we stood there in the Placa, closely guarded by the Indians, the +monk having disappeared for the moment, who should come up to us but +that polite gentleman, Captain Manuel Nunez, arrayed in very brave +fashion and smiling his cruel smile as usual. He pushed his way through +the throng, folded his arms, and stood smiling upon us. + +"So, Master Salkeld," he said, "you have fallen into the tiger's den +after all. Certainly what was born to be burned will never be drowned. I +looked to see you again, Senor." + +"We shall possibly meet yet once again," said I. "And it may be where +you and I are on level terms, Captain Nunez. If that time should ever +come, ask God to have mercy upon you, for rest assured that I shall +have none." + +"Brave words, Senor, brave words! I wish it were possible that you might +have the chance to make them good. But that I am afraid you never will +have. You are safely caged." + +Then he began to abuse us to the people, bidding them look upon us for +English dogs, Lutherans, enemies of God, sweepings of the English sink +of iniquity, for whom neither rack, thumb-screw, nor stake was +sufficient reward. Me he denounced to the people as a runaway criminal, +describing me in such terms as made my blood boil within me, and my +hands itch to take him by the neck and crush the life out of his wicked +heart. + +"You are a liar and a knave," said I and then for the moment forgetting +my dignity as an English gentleman I spat full in his face. Bethink +you--my hands were tied behind me, and not free to use. Otherwise I had +not done it. + +Now at this insult his face turned deathly white and then flushed a +bright red, and there came into his eyes a gleam which meant murder, and +plucking forth his rapier he would certainly have slain me there and +then, had not the monk returned at that instant and prevented his fury +from wreaking itself upon me. At this interference he grew still more +furious, and well-nigh foamed at the mouth, swearing by all the saints +in his calendar that he would slay me where I stood. But at a word from +the monk he smiled a grim, meaning smile, and thrusting back his rapier +into its sheath turned away from us with a face full of hate and +malignity. + +We were now taken away to a hospital, where we found other +Englishmen--some sailors that had been captured by the Spaniards at sea, +and others merchants who had been taken while prosecuting their trade +in various ports in that part of the world. Some of these men had been +in captivity for many months, and they explained to us that they were +being kept for a new sitting of the Inquisition, at which, they said, we +should all be examined and possibly tortured, with a view to extracting +from us confessions that would doom us to the fire. So under this +prospect we sat down to wait, and for several weeks remained in strict +captivity, having enough to eat, but being terribly cast down by the +knowledge of what awaited us. + +It appeared from such information as we could obtain that the +Inquisitors were at that time absent from the city, conducting +examinations in another part of the country, and that when they returned +our cases would be gone into. There had been no Auto-de-fe, or public +burning of heretics for a year or two, and it seemed only too probable +from what we now heard that one was meditated for the coming Good +Friday. Positive information on this point, however, we could not then +get; therefore we remained in our captivity, alternately hopeful and +despondent, praying God either to release us from our desperate +situation or to give us strength to endure whatever might be in store +for us. + +About the beginning of Lent, in the year 1579, the Inquisitors returned +to the City of Mexico, and it immediately began to be whispered amongst +us that the examinations were shortly to begin. We soon found that this +was the truth, and the first intimation of it came to us in highly +unpleasant form. On Ash Wednesday we were removed from the hospital in +which we had been confined until then, and were taken through the city +to certain cells or dungeons, in which we were separately placed, so +that from that time forward we saw nothing of each other, and thus had +no companion to turn to for sympathy when our need was sorest. But as +God would have it, it befell to Pharaoh Nanjulian and to me, that as we +were being led across the market-square by our guards, there came up to +us the old gentleman whom we had saved from highwaymen on the road to +Oaxaca. He seemed vastly surprised to find us in that unhappy condition, +and insisted with some slight show of authority on our guards allowing +him to speak with us. + +"Surely," said he, "ye are the two brave men who preserved me and my +daughter from those cut-throat villains as we traveled to Oaxaca. How +came ye in this company?" + +"Sir," said Pharaoh, "that is what we do not know ourselves. We are two +inoffensive Englishmen, brought into this country against our wills, and +wishing or intending no harm to any man, but only anxious to find a ship +that will carry us back to our own land. Here we are treated like +malefactors and criminals, and yet we have broken no law that we know +of, nor are we brought before any judge to hear what our jailer hath +against us. If you indeed are grateful for what we did for you help us +to our liberty." + +"I am grateful, friend," answered the old man, "and will do what I can +for you. But tell me your story." + +So we told him all that had happened to us from the time of our leaving +England, and mentioning more particularly the treacheries practiced upon +us by Captain Nunez and Frey Bartolomeo, at the mention of whose names +he shook his head. + +"I am sorry indeed for you," said he when we made an end, "and the more +so because ye are in a very grievous plight. But now, keep up your +hearts, for I have some influence with the Chief Inquisitor, and it +shall be exerted on your behalf. 'Tis truly a pity that ye are +Englishmen, but I hope ye are Christians." + +"Christians we are," said Pharaoh, "and will say our Paternoster and +Credo with any man." + +"'Tis well, and therefore keep up your hearts, I say. I will see to this +matter at once." + +This meeting and the cheerful words spoken to us by the old man did +somewhat revive our hopes, more especially when we heard from our guards +that he was a person of some distinction in that city. So we parted, +Pharaoh and I, and were prisoned in solitary dungeons. + +For the next three or four weeks I saw no man save my jailers, who fed +me chiefly on bread and water, or on maize, crushed and boiled, which +food did speedily bring me to a low and miserable condition. Indeed, +what the noisomeness of my cell and the loneliness of my state failed to +do the bad food speedily accomplished, so that within a month of my +imprisonment I became a weak and nerveless creature, and was ready to +weep at a rough word. + +About three weeks before Easter I was taken before the Inquisitors and +put to the question. Now, I had expected and dreaded this ordeal, and +was not in over good a state to face it when at last it came upon me. +Nevertheless I made shift to summon my courage so that I might show a +bold front to my oppressors. + +The Inquisitors sat in a small apartment hung round with black and +lighted by torches, and there was that in their appearance which was +calculated to strike terror into the stoutest heart. Behind a table, set +upon a dais, sat the Chief Inquisitor, with his assistant on one side of +him and his secretary on the other. They were all robed in black, and +their thin, ascetic faces looking out from the dark recesses of their +cowls, had in them neither mercy nor pity, nor indeed aught but +merciless resolution. There were other robed and cowled figures in the +room, but I noticed none of them particularly save the monk Bartolomeo, +who stood there ready to make accusation against me. + +There was an interpreter in the apartment, a half-breed named Robert +Sweeting, whose name I desire to put on record, because he did me a +kindness at the risk of his own life. To this man the Inquisitors +addressed their questions, and through him I answered them to the best +of my ability. + +They set out by asking me the full particulars of my presence in Mexico, +which questions I replied to with very great delight, as they afforded +me an opportunity of having my say as to Captain Manuel Nunez and his +fellow-villain Frey Bartolomeo, whom I did not spare, though he stood by +and heard me with an unmoved countenance. Indeed, I spake so plainly +concerning him that the Chief Inquisitor stopped me. + +"It is not seemly," said he, "to speak in disrespectful terms of men +vowed to sacred offices." + +To this I answered that I had been brought up from my birth to treat my +pastors and teachers with respect and reverence, but that I could feel +none for a man who had abused his sacred office by deceiving unfortunate +men. + +Then they began to examine me as to my faith, and commanded me to say +the Paternoster, Ave Maria, and the Creed in Latin, which, rubbing up +such Latin as I remembered from Mr. Timotheus Herrick's instructions, I +made difficult shift to do, informing them at the same time that I could +say all these things much more readily in English. And this part of my +examination being over, and my judges seeming satisfied, I began to +breathe more freely, hoping that all might end well. + +But now they began to examine me on more particular and nicer points, +and it was plain to me that if I did but make a slip they would visit it +upon my body. For they demanded first, whether I believed or not that +any bread or wine remained in the paten or in the chalice after the +consecration, and second, whether or not the bread and the wine were not +actually the very body and blood of our Lord. To have answered "No" to +these questions would have insured my death, therefore I cudgeled my +brains for a fitting reply to them, well knowing what depended upon it. +And bethinking me of the articles and teachings of my own church, I made +answer that I was no scholar or theologian, but a simple country +gentleman that had left subtle points to priests and schoolmen, and had +always held what they taught me, namely, that our blessed Lord is indeed +verily and truly present in the sacrament of His body and blood. This +answer seemed to satisfy them, but presently they asked me if I did not +follow the teachings of Doctor Martin Luther. I cheerfully replied to +that, that I knew naught about Doctor Luther, and had never heard his +name mentioned until I came into Mexico; which was plain truth, for we +were out of the world at Beechcot, and knew naught of controversies. +Then they would have me to tell them what I had been taught to believe +in England, to which I answered that I had never been taught any other +doctrine than that to which I had already testified, and in which I did +firmly and truly believe as a good Christian man, hoping for salvation +in the Christian faith. + +"We must have a more satisfactory answer than that," said the Chief +Inquisitor, "otherwise we must try what a sterner method will do with +you." + +"Sir," said I, "other answer I cannot give you, for I have already told +you the truth. As for my sins against God I heartily ask His +forgiveness, and also yours if I have offended your laws in any way; but +I beseech you to remember that I came into your country against my own +will, and have never done aught against its laws or against you +wittingly. Therefore, I beseech you to have Christian mercy upon my +defenseless condition." + +But they had none, and that night I was put upon the rack, and cruelly +tortured by Frey Bartolomeo and his fellows, in the hope that I should +confess something against myself. However, God giving me strength, I +said naught, and was preserved through that awful torment, the memory of +which is strong in my mind even after all these years. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE AUTO-DA-FE. + + +About the beginning of Holy Week the Inquisitors caused to be erected a +great scaffold against the large church in the main square, and from it +they proclaimed, with much beating of drums and blaring of trumpets, +that whoever should come there upon Good Friday should have made known +to them the most just judgments of the Holy Inquisition upon the English +heretics, Lutherans, and should, moreover, see the same put into +immediate execution. And so now we were face to face with whatever final +cruelty these devils in human shape might devise upon us, who were +helpless and defenseless in their hands. + +There was little rest for any of us on the night preceding the +judgments, for there came to each of us officers and Familiars of the +Inquisition, tormenting us with gibes and sneers, and bringing us the +San-benitos in which we were to appear in the great square next morning. +It was already turning gray in the east when two of these men entered my +dungeon, where I lay still stiff and bruised because of the racking +which I had undergone a few days before. They woke me rudely and without +consideration, caring naught for the woes I had already suffered or the +sorrow I was that day to undergo. + +"Wake, English dog, Lutheran, enemy of God!" cried one. "Wake and robe +thyself to meet thy master the devil. Truly the saints will rejoice to +see the sight provided for them this day." + +Then they hustled me from my straw pallet and bade me dress in the +San-benito, which was a garment of yellow cotton having divers devices +painted upon it. And this done they took me out into the courtyard of +the prison, and there for the first time for some weeks I met Pharaoh +Nanjulian. It was easy to see, even in the uncertain light of the early +morning, that he had undergone the same torments which they had applied +to me. His face was pinched and thin with suffering, and his great frame +seemed to have been crushed and bruised until it had shrunk in height +and girth. Yet he bore himself with composure and bravery, and I felt at +once that, however the rest of us behaved, he at least would not +disgrace the name of England. + +"Heart up, master!" quoth he, as soon as we came within speaking +distance of each other. "Heart up! Let us show ourselves brave men this +day. I do not think they can torment us more than they have already +done. And what if they kill us? We must all die." + +"Did they torture you badly, Pharaoh?" I asked, admiring his fortitude. + +He shook his head and smiled grimly. + +"So badly, master, that it seemed as if every bone in my body was +broken and every sinew cracked. But a man may undergo a deal of +suffering and yet live. So let us quit us like men and be strong. For +truly, though we be in the hands of these devils at present, God is near +us, and will maybe be nearer ere the day is done." + +Then our custodians separated us again, and for a couple of hours they +exercised us in the prison yard, showing us in what order we should +proceed to the scaffold, and admonishing us as to our behavior when we +had come there. And after that was over, it being broad daylight, they +gave us breakfast, which was a cup of wine with a piece of bread fried +in honey, and so we were ready for the ordeal. + +There were some sixty to seventy prisoners in all, of all nationalities, +a considerable number being Englishmen, and all of us were dressed in +those hideous San-benitos, which make the most shameful garb that a man +can wear. Being drawn up in single file, our guards fastened a halter +round the neck of each prisoner, and afterwards gave to each of us a +green wax candle, which we carried, unlighted, in the right hand. Two +Spaniards, well armed, guarded each of us, and so the procession being +arranged, the great doors were thrown open and we were led forth into +the square. + +The crowd in the square was so thick that the guards had much ado to +free a passage through it; but ere long we came to the scaffold, and +were conducted upon it, seating ourselves on long rows of chairs placed +in full sight of the people. We had not long occupied this shameful +position when the Viceroy and his officers came upon the scaffold by +another flight of steps, closely followed by the Inquisitors, who took +the chief places and made much show of their authority. Then three +hundred friars, wearing the garb of their various orders, black, white, +gray, and brown, were marshaled to their places, and all was ready for +the judgments. + +Now, we were so sorely exercised in our minds at that time because of +the agony of sitting there and wondering when our turn would come and +what our fate would be, that I have utterly forgotten many of the names +and sentences of my unfortunate companions. Some still come back to me, +because their sentences were heavier than those which have escaped my +memory. + +The manner of judgment was after this fashion. The clerk to the +Inquisitors calling out our names in a loud voice, we were commanded to +stand up in our places and hear the judgment of the Holy Office upon us. + +Thomas White, Cornelius Johnson, Peter Brown, Henry More, all Englishmen +shipwrecked on those inhospitable coasts or captured at sea, were +condemned to three hundred lashes on horseback, and to serve in the +galleys for ten years. + +William Collier, Thomas Ford, John Page, two hundred lashes and eight +years in the galleys. + +Stephen Brown and Nicholas Peterson, a Dutchman, one hundred lashes and +six years in the galleys. + +Then came some forty or fifty men whose names I have forgotten, who were +condemned to a lesser number of lashes and less servitude in the +galleys, and after them some four or five who were adjudged to serve in +monasteries for various terms of years, wearing their San-benitos all +the time. + +And then, after two or three hours of weary waiting, for they did +everything with exceeding tediousness and much ceremony, they called +upon Pharaoh Nanjulian and myself, and we stood up together to receive +sentence. And then we suddenly knew that God had not deserted us, for +the sentence was a lighter one than any that we had heard passed. We +were to serve two years in the galleys, submitting ourselves to the +chaplain for admonition and instruction. So that was over and we could +breathe freely again. + +Nevertheless the horrible work of that day was far from over, for it was +hardly begun. The torments, the murders, were yet to come. + +William Moor, John Wood, and Hans Schewitzer, a German Lutheran, were +brought up for sentence and condemned, being pestilent and naughty +heretics, to be burned to ashes. + +They lost no time, these villainous Spaniards, in carrying out this +sentence. In front of the scaffold stood three stout iron posts, firmly +sunk in the ground, with fagots already piled about them, and to these +the unfortunate men were speedily bound, amidst the silence of the crowd +and the cries of the monks and Familiars, who pressed upon their +victims, bidding them repent and recant ere they were lost forever. But +to these murdering villains the three men answered naught, and presently +it was all over with them, and there was one more crime recorded against +Spain. + +Then those of us who had been sentenced to so many lashes were led down +from the scaffold and placed upon horses, being stripped to the waist, +and having by them, every man, an executioner armed with a whip. Such of +us as had escaped this sentence were arranged in pairs behind, with our +halters still round our necks and our guards on either side of us. +Before the men who were to be whipped marched two criers, crying "Behold +these English dogs, Lutherans, enemies of God," and at intervals came +Familiars, such as Frey Bartolomeo, admonishing the executioners to lay +on and spare not. Then the procession started, and was conducted by the +criers through all the principal streets back to the great square, and +at every few steps the executioners laid on with their whips, fetching +blood at every stroke, so that to any man having aught of mercy and +compassion within him the spectacle was horrible and nauseating, though +to the Familiars and Inquisitors it seemed delightful enough. + +Now, as we returned to the great square, this bloody work being over, +the throng pressed upon us so closely that for some few moments we were +unable to move, and while we stood there waiting for what would happen +next, there came to our side Captain Manuel Nunez, his evil eyes mocking +and sneering at us. + +"So, Master Salkeld," said he, "it would seem that you have not +altogether escaped. Our Holy Office is merciful, Master Salkeld, yea, +sadly too merciful for my liking. But there are those of us, who know +not any mercy for Englishmen and heretics, as you shall find ere long, +both of you." + +With that he vanished in the crowd, and presently Pharaoh and I were led +back to prison, wondering what his last words meant. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ON BOARD THE GALLEY. + + +Being led back to the prison, Pharaoh and I found to our unspeakable joy +and astonishment that we were to be placed in one cell and not separated +as heretofore. This consideration on the part of our jailers was +exceedingly pleasant to us, because it afforded us the opportunity of +conversing one with the other. Therefore, in spite of our bruises and +strains, caused by the rack and not yet forgotten, and of the sad sights +which we had that day seen, we made an effort to pluck up our spirits, +and to be cheerful and even hopeful. + +We were further assisted in this laudable desire by a visit from the old +gentleman whom we had rescued from highwaymen on the road to Oaxaca. +About seven o'clock that evening he was admitted to our cell, and left +alone with us. This latter fact at once assured us that our friend was a +man of rank and position, otherwise he would not have been permitted to +see and speak with us, save in the presence of witnesses. + +"I trust all is well with you, friends," said he, as he entered our +presence, and set down a basket which the jailer had carried to the +door. "I come to see you at a sad time, doubtless, but 'tis indeed with +feelings of friendship." + +"We have so few friends in this country, Senor," answered Pharaoh, "that +we are glad to see any of them. Nay, indeed, so far as we know, your +honor is the only friend we have. Therefore, Senor, you are something +more than welcome." + +Now the jailer being gone, the old gentleman took our hands in his own, +and was like to weep over us, at which we marveled, for we did not know +that his gratitude was so hearty, seeing that we had done such a small +thing for him. + +"Alas, friends," said he. "I grieve for you more than I can say, for I +hate and abominate these murderous Inquisitors, whose hearts are filled +with naught but torment and murder. Nevertheless I have saved you +somewhat, for it was through my efforts and bribes that you came off +with such light sentences." + +"I thought we had your honor to thank for that," said Pharaoh. "Aye, +'tis well to have a friend at court when need arises." + +"I labored hard," said the old gentleman, "to secure your freedom, but +these bloody-minded Inquisitors are without bowels of mercy, and ye are +fortunate to have escaped death or torture. But now I have brought you a +little matter of wine and fruit, so fall-to and refresh yourselves, and +after that we will talk of what is to come." + +So he unpacked his basket and set food and wine and delightful fruit +before us, and we ate and drank and were vastly comforted thereby, for +our commons during the past week or two had been of the very shortest. +And when we had thus refreshed ourselves, we began to discuss our +situation anew. + +"That you have escaped with your lives and without the torture of the +lash," said our friend, "is due to my continued exertions on your +behalf. But now, gentlemen, I am powerless to do more for you." + +Then we once more thanked him for doing so much, saying that we should +always hold his kindness in remembrance, and should ever pray for his +happiness and prosperity. + +"And if," continued I, "your honor can suggest any means by which we can +escape from these galleys and regain our own country, we shall be +further beholden to you. For, indeed, we have friends in England who +must be anxious about us, if they be not already in despair of ever +seeing us again." + +"I fear there is small chance of your escape," said he, shaking his +head. "Men that are chained to the oar cannot well escape. I pray God +that you may survive your two years of that work--it is not all that +do." + +"Sir," said Pharaoh, "do you know where we shall be taken?" + +"Nay," answered he, "that I cannot say. Most men who lie under your +sentence are shipped to Spain, and are there placed in the galleys. The +same fate is probably in store for you." + +"God help us if they take us to Spain!" said Pharaoh. "We shall have to +go through it all over again." + +However, it seemed almost certain that this would be our fate, and as +nothing that we could say or do could alter it, there was naught for it +but to submit ourselves with such cheerfulness as we could muster. But +here the old Senor gave us some additional comfort, for it seemed that +his special purpose in coming to us that night was to give us the names +of friends of his in certain towns and ports of Spain, to whom we might +apply in case of our being in their neighborhood. + +"You are something more than likely to be finally dismissed at Cadiz or +at Seville," said he, "and it will be none the worse if you know where +to turn for a friend;" and with that he gave us the names of certain +Spanish gentlemen of rank, his friends, assuring us that they would help +us to escape to England. And these names he made us learn by heart, and +then, having no more time to spend with us, he bade us farewell, and we +saw him no more. But in him we found one Spaniard at least who hated the +horrible practices of the Inquisitors, and had a heart within him which +was not insensible to the woes of others. + +After we had remained in the prison five days longer, we were one +morning brought forth and stripped of our San-benitos and given rough +clothing suited to galley slaves. And that being done we were mounted on +stout horses, in company with the other prisoners who had been sentenced +to serve in the galleys, and being guarded by a great number of +soldiers, well armed, we were sent off across country to the port of +Acapulco. But ere we left Mexico every man of us had fastened to his +left wrist and ankle a heavily-weighted chain, which would have made it +impossible for us to attempt an escape even if we could have eluded the +vigilance of our escort. + +We were somewhat surprised to find that our first destination was +Acapulco, for we had fancied that we should be sent to Vera Cruz, which +is much nearer to the city of Mexico, and from which we expected to be +sent across seas to Spain. We found, however, that at Acapulco there lay +at that time a great treasure-galleon, the Santa Filomena, which the +Spaniards were minded to take home by way of the Pacific islands and +Africa, it being their belief that by this route there would be less +chance of meeting Hawkins, or Drake, or Frobisher, or any of the great +English sea-captains, of whom they were mortally afraid. In this +galleon, then, we were to be shipped, with the prospect of a long and +tedious voyage, which, according to Pharaoh's calculations, might cover +the best part of a year even with fair winds. + +Our overland journey to Acapulco was not wholly unpleasant, for our +guards being soldiers, and free from the encouragement of those +murderous fanatics the Inquisitors and Familiars, treated us with as +much consideration as was possible, and forbore to taunt us with our +misfortunes. Moreover, we were frequently lodged for the night in the +neighborhood of some convent or monastery, and then we did exceeding +well, the friars feeding us with their best, and compassionating us for +our many sorrows. And at that time it was plain to us that the +Inquisition was heartily hated by the friars--black, white, and +gray,--and met with no favor from any but such as had long since +forgotten all that they had ever known of mercy and compassion. + +Having reached Acapulco, after many days' journeying over mountains and +plains, we were immediately conveyed on board the Santa Filomena, which +was a great galleon of full rig, having a high poop and a double bank of +oars, and there our chains were knocked off by the armorer. This relief, +however, did not long benefit us, for we were presently conducted below +to a great deck filled with long wooden benches, parallel with the +mighty oars which came through the ports. To one of these benches +Pharaoh and I were immediately chained and padlocked, our companions +suffering a like treatment. In another part of the deck the benches were +filled by negroes, stark naked, whose backs and shoulders were covered +by scars, and who yelled and grinned at us like fiends or madmen. + +"God help us!" said Pharaoh; "they will not release us from these +benches till we make Seville or Cadiz." + +And at that awful prospect I half-regretted that we had not died in +Mexico. For simply to think of being chained to the oar all those weary +months amidst that foul and unclean mass of humanity, sleeping where we +labored, and eating amidst dirt and filth, was more than I could +stomach, and at that moment black despair seemed to settle upon my +heart. But Pharaoh once more came to my aid and strove to cheer me. + +"Heart up, master!" said he. "All is not yet over. We are going through +sore trials, but what then? Are we not Englishmen? At any rate let us +show a stern front to these villains. Cowards we will never be." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +NUNEZ IN A NEW GUISE. + + +The second day after our arrival at Acapulco, we knew by the hurry and +scurry on board our vessel that preparations were being made for +sailing. Our deck was now full, and every oar was fully manned with its +complement of slaves or captives. Of these the majority were blacks, +whose misfortunes had transformed them into nothing better than wild +animals; but there were still a large number of whites, and amongst them +thirty to forty of our own countrymen. Every man was chained to his +bench, and it was evident that there was no intention of releasing us +until our voyage came to an end. Thus amongst our miserable company were +many who hung their heads in deep dejection, and envied the three men +who had met death by the flames in the great square of Mexico. + +Towards the evening of that day, as I was sitting lost in sad thoughts, +I looked up and saw standing at my side two figures, which I had given +anything rather than set eyes upon. One was that of Captain Manuel +Nunez, the other the black-robed form of Frey Bartolomeo. They stood +regarding me steadfastly: the monk calm and quiet, the sailor with his +usual cold smile faintly curling about the eyes and mouth. + +"So, Master Salkeld," said Nunez, "we meet again. You are doubtless on +your way home to England to take vengeance on your cousin, Master +Stapleton." + +I looked at him steadfastly. I was not going to be cowed by him, +defenseless as I was. + +"That may be, Senor," said I. "It is a long way to England by the road +we are taking, but I shall reach it if God wills that it should be so." + +"You do well to make that proviso," said he. "For God gives His power to +men, and at this moment I, as master of this vessel, and Frey +Bartolomeo, as its chaplain, are his viceregents. Wherefore, Master +Salkeld, I think your chances are not good." + +"We are in God's hands," said I; though indeed my heart turned faint and +sick to think that these wretches had us in their power. + +"At present, good Master Salkeld, you are in mine," he answered, smiling +mockingly upon me. "But then you know what a kind and considerate host I +am. You did admit that, when I carried you across the Atlantic. Still, +Master Salkeld, things are somewhat altered between us. I am not now +paid to carry you to Mexico and get rid of you. Also, since then you +have spat in my face. Ah, you remember that, do you? Dog, you shall +remember it every day of your life! I will not kill you now, as I +might, but I will kill you by inches, and you shall die at last at your +bench and lie there to rot. That is the fate of the dog who spits in the +face of a Spanish gentleman." + +So he turned away, but the man sitting next me put out his hand and +plucked the monk's cloak, bidding him remember that he had promised to +find him a ship for England, and begging him to keep his plighted word. +But Frey Bartolomeo shook him off. + +"Thou art a heretic," he said. "With heretics we keep no faith. To thy +oar, Lutheran!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE FLAG OF ENGLAND. + + +And now our cup of misery seemed full indeed. We were friendless and +captive, and we had for our jailers two of the most inhuman beings that +ever lived to disgrace the earth, and both of them hated us with an +exceeding bitter hatred; one because I had spat in his face, the other +because we had escaped the fire. Moreover, we were chained to an oar in +a vessel which was sailing over I know not how many thousands of miles +of water, in latitudes where it was not likely we should fall in with +any ship that could rescue us. Verily there seemed before us nothing but +horror and death! + +And truly our lot was hard. Hour upon hour we tugged at the oar. Where +we toiled there we slept, amongst the shrieks, sobs, groans, and +heart-rending lamentations of our fellow-captives. Up and down the +gangways that divided us walked stalwart Spaniards, armed with heavy +whips, which they scarcely ever ceased from laying about our bare +shoulders. Our food was such as is given to pigs in England--coarse +maize or meal, soaked in cold water, with bread of the blackest and +hardest description. The heat burned us to madness; the cold night-winds +blew in upon us; the salt-spray dashing through the open ports found the +raw places in our wounds and stung us as if with fire. Verily, we were +in hell! Ere many days had gone by a man dropped and died at his post. +They let him hang there by his chains till another day had gone past, +then they knocked off his irons and flung him through the port-hole. And +there was scarcely a man of us that did not envy him. + +Now that Captain Manuel Nunez had us in his power there was apparently +no limit to his cruelty. Scarcely a day passed on which he did not +descend the ladder to our deck and vex our souls with some new form of +torture. Sometimes he would take his station near us, and bid the +overseers lay on to us with their whips. Sometimes he would take the +whip himself and beat us about the head and face with it until we became +senseless. Now and then he would amuse himself by pricking us with his +sword or dagger; now and then he would spit in our faces and bespatter +us with filth, pouring out upon us every foul and evil name he could +think of. And when he had worked his will upon us, there would come to +us Frey Bartolomeo, cold and cruel, and he would admonish and instruct +us, and finding that he could get naught out of us, would depart cursing +us for Lutherans and dogs. + +These two presently devised a new torture, and put it into operation +upon us. They caused the ship's armorer to make an iron brand, bearing +the word "Heretic", and this being heated red, they came down to us and +branded us on back and breast, so that all men, they said, should know +us for what we were. And after that they gave us more lashes, and then +deluged us with salt water, and so left us more dead than alive. + +Now, after I had undergone some weeks of this treatment, I was like to +have lost my senses, for the strength of my body was giving out, and I +felt myself powerless to resist the continued cruelties and insults +which were put upon me. Yea, I should certainly have gone mad at that +time if it had not been for my faithful companion, Pharaoh Nanjulian, +who did his best to cheer and support me, and got no reward for it but +an increase of blows and stripes from Nunez, and venomous curses from +Frey Bartolomeo. + +It was one of Nunez's chief delights at this period to come down upon +our deck and goad me into a rage that closely approached madness. Thus +after exposing me to numerous insults, he would ask me what I proposed +to do when I reached England again, and what fate I was keeping in store +for my cousin Stapleton. + +"It must afford you the most exquisite delight of which the human mind +is capable, Master Salkeld," he said one day, when he had tormented and +plagued me beyond endurance, "to sit here in these pleasant quarters and +think of your cousin at home. He hath doubtless entered upon the family +estates and married the lady whose affections you stole from him, and +maybe he hath by this time told her of the trick he played upon you, and +they laugh at it together." + +And at that I cursed him before God and man and wept bitter tears, for I +was thoroughly broken, and had no more heart in me than a child. + +"So you are broken at last?" said he, and struck me across the mouth +and went away. + +And then I wished to die, for I was indeed broken; but Pharaoh did his +best to console me and bade me be of good cheer, for we should triumph +yet. + +Now the next day, our voyage having then lasted some nine or ten weeks, +we were aware of a sail bearing down upon us from the south-east, and +before long it became evident that this ship was chasing us, whereupon +there was much to-do on board the Santa Filomena, and our overseers +urged us to renewed exertions with continual lashing of their whips. +Nevertheless, within three hours the ship had overhauled us, and from +our post we saw flying from her mast-head the flag of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FRANCIS DRAKE. + + +Now, if you can bring yourself to imagine what he feels like who, having +remained in dire and horrible distress for many weary days, suddenly +sees salvation coming to him, you will know what we felt as we gazed +through the port-hole and saw that noble English ship draw near with the +English flag flying at her mast-head. If you have ever been in like +peril yourself you will understand it better. A man condemned to die and +suddenly reprieved; another suddenly released from awful slavery; a +third suffering from heavy sorrow and suddenly overwhelmed with good +tidings--any of these will know what we felt. + +"An English ship!" cried Pharaoh. "Thanks be to God--an English ship!" + +And straightway there rose from the crowded benches on our deck a +strange and marvelous babble of sound. Some burst into tears of +thankfulness and relief, some howled like wild beasts because of their +chains, some cursed and blasphemed because there was small chance of the +English ship's folk knowing our condition. Others shouted and yelled for +help; the men sitting next the port-holes thrust forth their heads and +cried loudly across the waters, though the ship was yet a good mile +away. Every man betrayed his emotion and his misery in some way: here +they tugged at the chains which bound them, there they showed their +teeth at the Spaniards, snarling and snapping like dogs chained to a +staple in the wall. And then the overseers fell upon us once more, and +their great hide-whips descended mercilessly upon our shoulders, so that +we were forced to tug at the oars with redoubled force, and the galleon +shot forward again under a storm of yells and cries and loud groans. + +"Yon is an English ship, as I live," said Pharaoh, as we tugged at our +oar. "And she will overhaul us. Pray God she does not slay a score of us +in this rat-trap by her first shot. If she only knew what we know. +Listen, master!" + +Over the strip of sea that separated us came the dull, heavy roar of a +cannon-shot. They were firing at us in order to make the Spaniard +lay-to. But Captain Manuel Nunez had no intention of acceding to the +Englishman's wishes in that respect, and it was evident that he was +crowding on all sail, and making every possible effort to escape that +terrible ship which overhauled him hand over hand. On deck we heard the +Spaniards rushing hither and thither, the mates and boatswain shrieking +and yelling orders to the crew, the armorer and the soldiers making +ready the ordnance and small arms. Now and then we caught the voice of +Nunez, cool and collected as usual, but very fierce and determined; and +once the pale face of Frey Bartolomeo appeared, and we heard him +admonishing the overseers to lay on with their whips. + +"We are like to be flayed alive if this goes on much longer," muttered +Pharaoh as the lash curled about his shoulders again. "Oh, if we were +but free and had some weapon in our hands! Lay on, ye murderous +villains, lay on! Your reign is well-nigh over. Master, hold up a while +longer. See there!" + +Another puff of white smoke burst from the English ship's side, followed +by a dull roar, and, immediately after, by a loud crashing and +splintering of the deck above our heads. Then came shrieks, groans, and +loud cries of pain. The shot had swept the deck. Fathom by fathom the +English ship overhauled us. Through our port-hole we could see her deck +swarming with men armed to the teeth. On her poop stood a little knot +of men evidently in command, and one of these was directing the +boatswain with outstretched arm. + +"I see their plan," said Pharaoh; "they have seen the oars, and they are +minded not to fire upon us again for fear of killing or wounding the +captives. They are going to lay their ship alongside ours and board us." + +So the ship came nearer and nearer, sailing nearly twice as fast as our +great lumbering galleon, and at last we could make out the faces of the +men on deck. And suddenly Pharaoh set up a great cry that made every +Englishman on our deck turn to him with astonishment. + +"'Tis Francis Drake!" he cried. "God be thanked, 'tis Francis Drake +himself! See yonder, lads, there he stands on the poop. Are there any +men here that ever served under Francis Drake? If so, let them look out +at yonder captain and speak." + +"'Tis Francis Drake and no other!" cried one. "I know him by the gold +band round his scarlet cap. He always wears that at sea. Now may God be +praised for this deliverance." + +But there was much to be done ere our deliverance could be accomplished. +Nay, indeed, it seemed as if our cruel jailers were minded to murder us +before ever help would come, for they proceeded to beat us so +unmercifully with their whips that many of us sank down faint and +bleeding, and lay like dead men. But the rest of us kept up because of +the fierce excitement. + +Presently the English ship was within a boat's length of us, and then +she slowly crashed against our side, the brass muzzles of her guns, in +some cases, coming through our ports. Meanwhile the Spaniards had not +been idle, for their gunners were plying their cannon with all possible +speed, and the noise and confusion was horrible. But yet never a shot +did the Englishman fire, but their ship closed steadily upon us. At +last we heard the grappling-irons thrown out and made fast, and knew +that the two ships were locked together, like lions that fasten teeth +and claws in each other and will not loose their grip till death comes. + +Then began a noise and confusion as if all the devils of hell had +suddenly been let loose. We heard the shouts of the Englishmen, hoarse +and deep, and the shriller cries of the Spaniards, above the roaring of +the guns. On deck there sounded the wild rush and hurry of feet as the +combatants were driven hither and thither. The overseers had thrown down +their whips and fled to the upper decks as soon as the English boarded, +and now we captives sat breathless and bleeding, listening to the noise +above us and longing for release, so that we too might join in the +fight. + +Suddenly there leapt through one of the ports a brawny Englishman, armed +not with sword or pike, but with hammer and chisel, and he was speedily +followed by half-a-dozen more, armed in similar fashion. + +"Are there Englishmen here?" roared the first as he tumbled in amongst +us. "Speak, lads, if ye be English!" + +And at that there went up such a roar as was like to burst open the +deck above us. Men stretched out their hands and arms to these great +English sailors as if they were angels, and prayed them to knock off +their bonds. So they, staring stupidly at us for a moment,--as is +the manner of Englishmen when they see something which they do not +understand,--suddenly fell to and knocked away our chains and padlocks, +while we wept over them and blessed them as our saviors. And meanwhile +others had handed in pikes and swords and glaives through the ports, and +others were guarding the ladder against the Spaniards, in case any of +them should come below. But they were too busy on the upper decks to +have even a thought of us, and so we were uninterrupted, and ere long +every man of us was free of his chains. + +"Now, lads!" cried the big man who had first leapt in upon us, "can ye +fight, or are ye too weak for a brush? If any man thinks he can hold +pike or sword, let him pick his weapon and follow me." + +Some of us could fight and some could not. Here and there a man was only +released from his chains to fall upon the deck and die. Others, suddenly +made free, found on striving to rise from the benches that the use of +their legs was gone. Others again, whose minds had suffered under those +long months of fiendish torture, were no sooner released than they +became utterly mad, and fell to laughing and gibbering at their +preservers. But many of us, weak as we were, felt the strength of ten +men come into our arms, and we seized eagerly upon the weapons offered +to us, and followed the sailors up the gangway with a fierce resolve to +call our late oppressors to a final account. + +On the upper deck the fight was raging furiously. The Spaniards, furious +and desperate, were massed together in a solid body, keeping back the +Englishmen by sheer skill. Already between the gangways and the bulwarks +lay a great heap of dead and dying. High above the combatants on the +poop stood Nunez, his pale face set and drawn, watching the progress of +the fight with gleaming eyes and compressed lips. From the tops the +sharp-shooters were pouring showers of arrows into the English ship, but +the guns had ceased, and the gunners lay dead beside them. + +We dashed on deck with a great cry, and for an instant the whole body of +combatants turned and looked at us. A strange and awful sight we must +needs have presented at that moment. There was scarcely a rag upon us, +our hair was long and unkempt, our shoulders were torn and bleeding from +the effects of the lashes lately laid on them, and our entire aspect +must have resembled that of wild beasts rather than of men. I saw Nunez +turn paler as he caught sight of us, and heard the English storm of +execration burst forth over the noise and confusion of the fight. Then +we fell upon the Spaniards from behind, and after that all was red, and +I seemed to do naught but strike and strike again, unconscious of pain +or wounds or anything but a fierce desire to be avenged on the villains +who had wrought such cruelty upon me. + +Howbeit, after a time I felt myself dragged by a friendly hand out of +the thick of the fight and led across the bulwarks to the English ship, +where I was presently conducted on to the poop, into the presence of a +man whom I at once knew to be some great captain. He was of middle +height, with a high forehead, crisp brown hair, very steady gray eyes, +and a hard, fierce mouth, slightly covered by a beard and moustache. He +wore a loose, dark, seaman's shirt, belted at the waist, and about his +neck was a plaited cord, having attached to it a ring, with which his +fingers played as he spoke to me. On his head was a scarlet cap with a +gold band, even as the man in the galleon had said. + +Such was my first glimpse of the great captain, Francis Drake, then +thirty years of age, and making his first voyage round the world. I +stood staring at him for a moment, and he at me, and I know not which +was most interested in the other. + +"Who art thou, friend?" he inquired, presently. + +"An English gentleman, sir, kidnaped by the Spaniards and carried to +Mexico, where I have undergone torments at the hands of the Inquisitors. +I was a galley slave on board yonder vessel." + +"How many Englishmen are there with you?" + +"At least forty." + +"Does the ship carry treasure?" + +"Yes, sir," I answered; "and she also carries two of the most cruel +wretches that ever walked the earth." + +"Who are they, friend?" + +"Manuel Nunez, the captain, and Bartolomeo, the monk. In God's name, +sir, do justice upon them." + +He turned and gave some orders to an officer who stood by. Then he gave +his attention to the Spanish ship again, so I caught up my weapon and +rushed back over the side, eager to find Pharaoh Nanjulian. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE FATE OF NUNEZ AND FREY BARTOLOMEO. + + +By that time the fight was well-nigh over. During its progress another +English ship had sailed up on the other side of the Spaniard, and her +men were now swarming over the side, eager to have some share in the +struggle. Thus it came about that in a few moments, the Spaniards were +completely worsted, and were forced to lay down their arms and beg for +mercy. + +I found Pharaoh Nanjulian busily occupied in seeing to the removal of +several men, who were too weak to move of their own accord, from the +benches where we had lately been chained. These were being carried to +the English ships, where they were received with such indignation as is +felt by honest men who abhor cruelty. So strong, indeed, were the +feelings aroused amongst the English sailors at the sight of our +bleeding backs, that their officers had much ado to prevent them from +slaying the Spaniards without mercy. + +"Where is the monk, Pharaoh?" I said. "He must not escape. Have you seen +aught of him during the fight?" + +But Pharaoh had seen naught. He had been fighting hard himself, and that +being over he had turned his attention to such of our unfortunate +companions as were unable to help themselves. + +"He cannot be far away, master," said he. "The rat will have found some +hole, no doubt." + +At that moment one of Drake's officers came pressing on board, asking +for the friar. + +"Bring him aboard the Golden Hinde unharmed," said he, "and the Spanish +captain too. 'Tis Captain Drake's special order. Harm neither of them, +but have them aboard." + +But neither Nunez nor Frey Bartolomeo were to be seen. Their men, such +as survived--and they were but few,--stood bound on deck, glaring +sullenly at their captors, but neither monk nor captain were at hand. + +"Try the cabin," said one, and we made our way to the cabin under the +poop, where Nunez was used to sit. But the door was fast, and we had to +break it down. As the first man rushed in he fell back dead, with a +sword-thrust through his heart from Nunez, while the second dropped with +a dagger-wound in his throat. But ere he could strike again Pharaoh +Nanjulian had seized him by the neck, and Captain Manuel Nunez was +dragged into the light, dispossessed of his weapons and bound securely. +I stood and looked at him, and suddenly the fierce scowl of hate and +rage cleared away from his features, and the old mocking, cold smile +began to play about the corners of his eyes and mouth again. + +"The fortunes of war, Master Salkeld," said he. "Yesterday you were down +and I was up. To-day you are up and I am down. 'Tis fate." + +But I had no time to talk with him then, for I was anxious to find Frey +Bartolomeo. Therefore Pharaoh and I left Nunez with the officer and +began searching the ship high and low. Because on first coming aboard +her we had been straightway conducted to the oars we knew next to +nothing of the Santa Filomena, and were accordingly some time in getting +our bearings. Nevertheless we could find no trace of the monk, who +seemed to have vanished into thin air, or to have gone overboard during +the fight. He was not to be found either in cockpit or cabin, forecastle +or lazaretto, and at last we stared blankly in each other's faces and +wondered what had become of him. + +"There is one place we have not yet tried," said Pharaoh, "and that is +the powder magazine. Maybe he has retreated there." + +We fetched a Spaniard from the upper deck and obliged him to conduct us +to the magazine, and there, sure enough, was Frey Bartolomeo, calm and +impassive as ever. He had stove in the head of one barrel of gunpowder, +and now stood over the powder holding a lighted candle in his hand. As +we burst in the door and confronted him, he raised his pale face and +regarded us with calmness and scorn. + +"Lay but a finger on me, ye Lutheran dogs," he said, "and I will drop +this light into the powder and send your souls to perdition!" + +The men with us started back, dismayed and affrighted by his grim looks +and determined words. But Pharaoh Nanjulian laughed. + +"Your own soul will go with ours, friar," said he. + +Frey Bartolomeo shot a fierce glance at him from under his cowl. + +"Fool!" he said. "Thinkest thou that I value life? What hinders me from +destroying every one of you and myself as well?" + +"This!" said Pharaoh, suddenly knocking the candle out of his hand. It +flew across the powder, and striking a bulkhead opposite, went out +harmlessly. So we seized Frey Bartolomeo, who now bitterly reproached +himself for not having blown up the ship before we reached him, and +conducted him to the upper deck, from whence he and Captain Nunez were +presently conveyed to the Golden Hinde, where they were safely stowed in +irons. + +And now, the fight being over, Drake and his men made haste to see what +treasure the galleon contained. In this quest, however, those of us who +had been rescued from the oars took no part, for now that the excitement +was dying away our feverish strength went with it, so that we presently +began to exhibit signs of terrible distress and exhaustion, and many of +us swooned away. Here, however, our rescuers came to our further relief, +and the ship's doctor was soon busily engaged in seeing to us, dressing +our wounds, giving us oils and unguents for our bloody stripes, and +ordering wine and food for all of us. So we were much refreshed; but +none of these things, comforting as they were, seemed so good to us as +the words of kindness, which we heard with wonder and astonishment, our +ears having become accustomed to naught but threatenings and revilings. + +While we were occupied in this pleasant fashion, Drake's men transferred +a vast amount of treasure from the Santa Filomena to the Golden Hinde. +There was a large quantity of jewels, fourteen chests of ryals of plate, +over a hundred pounds weight of gold, twenty tons of uncoined silver, +and pieces of wrought gold and silver plate of great value. The +discovery of all this treasure put our newly-found friends in high +good-humor, such ventures not having come in their way since they had +left the coast of Panama some months previous. + +When all this treasure had been transferred to Drake's vessel, the +Golden Hinde, the admiral sent for the Englishmen who had been rescued +from the Santa Filomena, and gave audience to us on the quarterdeck. A +sad and sorry multitude we looked, spite of the surgeon's care, as we +stood gazing at the great sea-captain who had rescued us, and waiting +for him to speak. + +"Friends and fellow-countrymen," said he, "every one of you shall go +back with me to England. We have strange tales to tell ourselves, and +so, it is somewhat evident, have ye. Be content now, I will charge +myself with your welfare. Where is he that spoke with me this morning?" + +So I stepped forward, and he looked upon me keenly. + +"Thy name, friend?" + +"Humphrey Salkeld, sir, nephew of Sir Thurstan Salkeld of Beechcot, in +the East Riding of Yorkshire." + +"Tell me thy tale, Master Salkeld." + +So I gave him the history that I have here written down, and when it +came to our doings in Mexico I spoke for Pharaoh Nanjulian and for all +who stood behind me. When I had got to the period which we spent on +board the Santa Filomena, my companions in distress bared their +shoulders and backs, and showed him the scars and the wounds and the +stripes which we had received. Then his face grew stern and set and the +English sailors that stood by groaned in their wrath and indignation. + +"I am beholden to you, Master Salkeld," he said, when I had done. "Are +there any of you that would say more?" + +But none wished to speak save one old white-haired man, who lifted up +his hand and called God to witness that all I had said was true, and +that our torments under the Inquisition had been such as could only be +prompted by the devil. + +Then Drake commanded his men to bring forward Manuel Nunez and Frey +Bartolomeo, and presently they stood before us, still bold and defiant, +and Drake looked upon them. + +"I am thinking, Senors," said he, "that if I had wrought such misdeeds +upon your people as you have upon mine, and you had caught me red-handed +as I have caught you, there would have been something in the way of +torture for me before I came to my last end. But be not alarmed; we +Englishmen love justice, but we hate cruelty. And so we will be just to +you, and we will send you to your true place, where there is doubtless a +reward prepared for you. Hang them to the yard-arm of their own ship." + +So they carried Nunez and the monk over the side, and presently their +bodies swung from the yard-arm of the Santa Filomena, and so they +passed to their reward. And as for Nunez, he mocked us till the end, but +the monk said never a word, but stared fixedly before him, seeming to +care no more for death than he had for the sufferings that he had heaped +upon his fellow-men. + +After that Drake restored the Spaniards whom we had captured to their +own ship, and bade them go home, or back to Mexico, or wherever they +pleased, and to tell their masters what Francis Drake had done to them, +and that he would do the same to every Spaniard who crossed his path. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +HOME WITH DRAKE. + + +During our awful captivity on board the galleon we had well-nigh lost +all count or notion of time. To us one day was pretty much like another. +If we slept it was only to be awakened by the overseer's whip. Day or +night it was all one with us; never did our tormentors cease to afflict +us. We were reduced to the condition of animals, and had not even the +comfort which is allowed to them. Thus when the time of our rescue came, +we had no notion of where we were or what part of the year it was. + +We now found that it was the middle of August, and that we were in the +North Pacific Ocean and bearing direct for the Moluccas, where Drake +intended to trade before continuing his voyage homeward by way of the +Cape. We also learnt that this great captain was now taking his first +voyage round the world, and that he had had many great and remarkable +adventures on the Spanish Main and on the coast of Peru, and had +enriched his vessels with the spoils of Spanish treasure-ships, so that +he now had with him a store of great and unusual value. For from some +ships he had taken bars of silver, and from others blocks of gold, +together with rich ladings, merchandise and silks, so rare and curious +as to be worth great sums of money. And all this treasure had been +chiefly won from the Spaniards in fair fight, and that without any +cruelty or lust of blood or revenge. + +About the thirteenth day of September we came within view of some +islands, situated about eight degrees northward from the line. From +these the islanders came out to us in canoes hollowed out of solid +trunks of a tree, and raised very high out of the water at both ends, so +that they almost formed a semicircle. These canoes were polished so +highly that they shone like ebony, and were kept steady by pieces of +timber fixed on each side of them by strong canes, fastened at one end +to the canoe, and at the other to the timber. + +The first company that came out to us brought fruits, potatoes, and +other commodities, none of any great value, and seemed anxious to trade +with us, making a great show of good-will and honesty. Soon after, +however, they sent out another fleet of canoes, the crews of which +showed themselves to be nothing better than thieves, for if we placed +anything in their hands they immediately considered it to belong to +them, and would neither restore nor pay for it. Upon this we were +obliged to get rid of them, which we did by discharging a gun. As they +had never seen ordnance discharged before they were vastly astonished by +this, and fled precipitately to the shore, having first pelted us with +showers of stones which they carried in their canoes. + +On the fifth of November we cast anchor before Ternate, and had scarce +arrived when the viceroy of that place, attended by the chief nobles, +came out in three boats, rowed by forty men on each side. Soon +afterwards appeared the king himself, attended by a large and imposing +retinue. Him we received with discharges of cannon and musketry, +together with various kinds of music, with which he was so highly +delighted that he would have the musicians down into his own boat. At +this place we stayed some days, trafficking with the inhabitants, who +brought us large quantities of provisions, and behaved to us with +civility. After that we repaired to a neighboring island, and there +found a commodious harbor where we repaired the Golden Hinde, and did +ourselves enjoy a much-needed rest. + +Leaving this place on the 12th day of December, we sailed southwards +towards the Celebes; but the wind being against us, we drifted about +among a multitude of islands mingled with shallows until the middle of +January. And now we met with an adventure which was like to have stayed +our further progress and put a summary end to all our hopes. For sailing +forward under a strong gale we were one night suddenly surprised by a +shock, caused by our being thrown upon a shoal, on which the speed of +our course served to fix us very fast. Upon examination we found that +the rock on which we had struck rose perpendicularly from the water, and +there was no anchorage, nor any bottom to be found for some distance. On +making this discovery we lightened the ship by throwing into the sea a +not inconsiderable portion of her lading. Even then the ship seemed +hopelessly fast, and we had almost given way to despair when we were on +a sudden relieved by a remission of the wind, which, having hitherto +blown strongly against that side of the ship which lay towards the sea, +holding it upright against the rock, now slackened, and blowing no +longer against our vessel allowed it to reel into deep water, to our +great comfort and relief. We had enjoyed so little hope of ever +extricating ourselves from this perilous position, that Drake had caused +the sacrament to be administered to us as if we had been on the point of +death, and now that we were mercifully set free we sang a Te Deum and +went forward very cautiously, hardly daring to set sails lest we should +chance upon some reef still more dangerous. + +We now continued our voyage without any remarkable occurrence or +adventure, until about the middle of March we came to anchor off the +Island of Java. Having sent to the king a present of clothes and silks, +we received from him in return a quantity of provisions; and on the +following day Drake himself went on shore, and after entertaining the +king with music obtained leave from him to forage for fresh food. Here, +then, we remained some days, taking in provisions, and being visited by +the princes and head men of that country, and later by the king, all of +whom manifested great interest in us, and in our armaments and +instruments of navigation. + +Leaving Java about the end of March we sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, +which we sighted about the middle of June. During all that time we met +with no very remarkable adventure; nevertheless, because we were sailing +through seas which no Englishman had ever previously traversed there was +not a day which did not present some feature of interest to us, or add +to our knowledge of those strange parts of the world. To me, and to such +of my companions as had suffered with me in the dungeons of the +Inquisition or on the deck of the galleon, this voyage was as a glimpse +of Paradise. For we were treated with the utmost kindness and +consideration by Drake and his men, and they would not suffer us to +undertake anything in the shape of work until our wounds were fairly +healed and our strength recruited. To those of us who had suffered so +bitterly that our strength was well-nigh departed, this welcome relief +was very grateful. As for me, on discovering my condition I was rated +with Drake and his officers, and with them did spend many exceeding +pleasant hours, listening to their marvelous adventures and stories of +fights with our old enemies, the Spaniards. But Pharaoh, hating to do +naught, applied for a rating, and so they made him boatswain's mate, and +thenceforth he was happy, and seemed quickly to forget the many +privations and discomforts which he and I had undergone. + +So on the third week of September, 1580, we came to Plymouth Sound, and +once more looked upon English land and English faces. And this we did +with such thankfulness and rejoicing as you cannot conceive. As for +Drake and his men, they had been away two years and some ten months, +and in that time had taken their ships round the world. And because they +were the first Englishmen that had ever done this, there was such +ringing of bells, and lighting of bonfires, and setting up of feasts and +jollities as had never been known in England. From the queen to the +meanest hind there was nobody that did not join in the general +rejoicing. Wherefore, at Plymouth, where we landed, there were great +stirrings, and men clung around us to hear our marvelous tales and +adventures. And as for Drake himself, the queen soon afterwards made him +a knight on the deck of the Golden Hinde; and so he became Sir Francis, +and thereafter did many wonderful deeds which are set forth in the +chronicles of that time. + +Now, I no sooner set foot upon English soil than I was immediately +consumed with impatience to go home to Beechcot, and therefore I sought +out Drake and begged him to let me begone. + +"Why," quoth he, "knowing your story as I do, Master Salkeld, I make no +wonder that you should be in some haste to return to your own friends. I +pray God that you may find all well with them." + +Then he generously pressed upon me a sum of money in gold, wherewith to +fit myself out for the journey and defray my expenses on the way; and +for this kindness I was deeply grateful, seeing that I was utterly +penniless, and owed the very garments I then wore to the charity of one +of his officers. So I said farewell to him and his company, and begged +them to remember me if we should meet no more, and then I went to find +Pharaoh Nanjulian. + +"Pharaoh," said I, when I came upon him on the deck of the Golden Hinde, +"I am going home." + +He pushed back his cap and scratched his head and looked at me. + +"Aye," he said, "I supposed it would be so, master. As for me, I have no +home to go to. My mother is dead and buried in Marazion churchyard, and +I have neither kith nor kin in the wide world." + +"Come with me to Beechcot," said I, "you shall abide there for the rest +of your days in peace and plenty." + +But he shook his head. + +"Nay, master," he answered, "that would never do. I am naught but a +rough sea-dog, and I should be too big and savage for a quiet life. +Besides, yon constable of yours would be forever at my heels, fearing +lest I should break the peace again." + +"There shall no man harm you if you will come with me," said I. "Come +and be my man." + +"Nay, master, not so. Born and bred to the sea I was, and to the sea I +will cleave. Besides, I am Francis Drake's man now, and with him I shall +see rare ventures. Already there is talk of an expedition against the +Spaniards. That is the life for me." + +So there was no more to be said, and I gave him my hand sorrowfully, for +he had proved a true friend. + +"Good-bye, then, Pharaoh Nanjulian." + +"Good-bye, master. We have seen some rare ventures together. I thank God +for bringing us safely out of them." + +"Amen! I shall not forget them or thee. And God grant we may meet +again." + +So we pressed each other's hands with full hearts, and I went away and +left him gazing after me. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +BEECHCOT ONCE MORE. + + +Because it was autumn, I found some slight difficulty in traveling +across country from Plymouth to Beechcot, and it accordingly was several +days before I reached York and entered upon the final stage of my +journey. At Plymouth I had bought a stout horse, and pushed forward, +mounted in creditable fashion, to Exeter, and from thence to Bristol, +where I struck into the Midlands and made for Derby and Sheffield. It +took me a fortnight to reach York, and there, my horse being well-nigh +spent, though I had used him with mercy, I exchanged him for a cob, +which was of stout build, and good enough to carry me over the thirty +miles which yet remained of my journey. + +Now, as I drew near the old place, in the twilight of a dull October +afternoon, my heart beat within my breast as if it would suffocate me. I +had been away two years, and had gone under circumstances of the +strangest character. Those whom I had left behind had probably long +since given me up as dead. Worse than that--how did I know what +malicious story might not have been invented and set forth by my cousin +Jasper as to my disappearance? Well, the time was now at hand when all +should be explained. But yet--what changes might there not be? I dreaded +to think of them. I might find my good uncle dead, Jasper in possession, +my sweetheart married--but nay, that seemed hardly to be believed. And +yet if she thought me dead? + +Thus I went forward, my heart torn by many conflicting emotions. Then I +began to think of the changes that had taken place in me. Two years ago +I had set out a light-hearted, careless lad, full of confidence and +ignorance, knowing naught of the world nor of its cruelties. Now I came +back a man, full of strange experiences, my mind charged with many +terrible memories, my body bearing witness of the sufferings and +privations which I had undergone. It was not the old Humphrey Salkeld +that rode down Beechcot village street. Nay, it was not even the old +Humphrey Salkeld in looks. Stopping a few hours at the inn in York I had +examined myself in a mirror, and had decided that it would be hard work +for my old friends to recognize me. I had grown an inch or two, my face +was seamed and wrinkled, and wore a strange, grim, wearied look, my +beard was a good three inches long, and my mouth covered by a moustache. +Changed I was indeed. + +I rode up to the door of the inn at Beechcot, where I had first seen +Pharaoh Nanjulian, and called loudly for the host. There was no one +about the door of the inn, but presently Geoffrey Scales, looking no +different to what he did when I had last seen him, came bustling along +the sanded passage with his lantern, and turned the light full on my +face. I trembled, and could scarce control my voice as I spoke to him; +but I soon saw that he did not recognize me. + +"How far is it to Scarborough, master?" I inquired. + +"A good twenty miles, sir, and a bad road." + +"What, are there thieves on it?" + +"There are highwaymen, sir, and ruts, which is worse; and as for +mud--there, your honor would be lost in it." + +"Then I had better stay here for the night, eh?" + +"Much better, if your honor pleases." + +So I dismounted and bade him take my cob round to his stable, and +followed him myself to hear more news. + +"What place is this?" I inquired. + +"Beechcot, sir--a village of the Wolds." + +"And who owns it, landlord?" + +"Sir Thurstan Salkeld, sir." + +"Is he alive and well, landlord?" + +Now, whether it was my voice or the unwonted agitation in it that +attracted his attention, I know not, but certain it is that when I asked +this question Geoffrey Scales held up his light to my face, and after +anxiously peering therein for a moment, cried out loudly: + +"Marry, I knew it! 'Tis Master Humphrey, come home again, alive and +well!" and therewith he would have rushed away to rouse the whole +village if I had not stayed him. + +"Hush! Geoffrey," I said. "It is I, true enough, and I am well enough, +but prithee keep quiet awhile, for I do not wish anyone to know that I +have returned for a season. Tell me first how is my uncle and Mistress +Rose. Are they well, Geoffrey? Quick!" + +"Oh, Master Humphrey," quoth he, "what a turn you have given me! Yes, +sir, yes; your uncle, good man, is well, though he hath never been the +same man since you disappeared, Master Humphrey. And as for Mistress +Rose, 'tis just the same sweet maiden as ever, and hath grieved for you +mightily. But what a to-do there will be, Master Humphrey! Prithee, let +me go and tell all the folk." + +"Not now, Geoffrey, on thy life. Let me first see my sweetheart and my +uncle, and then I will cause the great bell at the manor to be rung, and +you shall take it for a signal and shall tell who you like." + +So he promised to obey me, and I left him and took my way towards the +vicarage, for my heart longed sore for the presence of my sweetheart. + +Now, as I came up to the front of the house there was a light burning in +the parlor, and I stole up to the window and looked in, and saw Rose +busy with her needle. Fair and sweet she was, aye, sweeter, I think, +than ever; but it was easy to see that she had sorrowed, and that the +sorrow had left its mark upon her. I had always remembered her in my +trials and torments as the merry, laughing maiden, that had flown hither +and thither like a spirit of spring; now I saw her a woman, sweet and +lovely, but with a touch of sadness about her that I knew had come there +because of me. + +I went round to the door and tapped softly upon it. Presently came Rose, +bearing a candle, and opened it to my knock, and looked out upon me. I +drew farther away into the darkness. + +"Is this the abode of Master Timotheus Herrick?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir," she answered, "but he is not in at this moment. You will +find him at the church, where he has gone to read the evening service." + +"I had a message for his daughter," said I. + +"I am his daughter, sir. What message have you for me?" + +"I have come from sea," I answered. "It is a message from one you know." + +"From one I know--at sea? But I know no one at sea. Oh, sir, what is it +you would tell me?" + +"Let me come in," I said; and she turned and led the way into the +parlor, and set down the candle and looked steadily at me. And then she +suddenly knew me, and in another instant I had her in my arms, and her +face was upon my breast, and all the woes and sorrows of my captivity +were forgotten. + +"Humphrey!" she cried. "O, thank God--thank God! My dear, my dear, it is +you, is it not? Am I dreaming--shall I wake presently to find you gone?" + +"Never again, sweetheart, never again! I am come back indeed--somewhat +changed, it is true, but still your true and faithful lover." + +"And I thought you were dead! O my poor Humphrey, where have you been +and what has been done to you? Yes, you are changed--you have suffered, +have you not?" + +"More than I could wish my worst enemy to suffer," I answered. "But I +forget it all when I look at you, Rose. Oh, sweetheart, if you knew how +I have longed for this moment!" + +And then, hand in hand, we kneeled down together and thanked God for all +his goodness, and for the marvelous mercy with which he had brought us +through this time of sore trouble. And on our knees we kissed each other +solemnly, and so sealed our reunion, and blotted out all the bitterness +of the past from our hearts, so that there was nothing left there but +memories, sad indeed, but no longer painful. + +"And now," said Rose, "tell me, Humphrey, where you have been and how it +was you went away. Oh, if you knew how we have sorrowed for you." + +"First tell me, Rose, how is my uncle?" + +"He is well, Humphrey, but he has mourned for you ever since Jasper came +home and told us of your death." + +"Ah! Jasper came home and told you of my death, did he? And by what +manner of death did I die, according to Master Jasper?" + +"He said you were drowned at Scarborough, in coming from some vessel +where you and he had been paying a visit at night to the captain." + +"And did no one doubt him, Rose? Were there no inquiries made?" + +"I doubted him, Humphrey. I felt sure there was some strange mystery, +but how could I find it out? And what could be done--they could not drag +Scarborough Bay for your body. Humphrey, did Jasper play some trick upon +you--did he get you out of the way?" + +"He did, Rose. Yea, he got me out of the way so well that I have been +right round the world since last I set foot in Beechcot. Think of that, +my dear. Right round the world! I have seen Mexico and the Pacific and +Java and the Celebes and Africa, and I know not what, and here I am +again." + +"But you have suffered, Humphrey? Where--and how?" + +So I told her very briefly of what had happened to me in the cells of +the Inquisition, and as I spoke, her sweet face was filled with +compassion and her eyes were bright with tears, and she held my hands +tightly clasped in her own as if she would never let them go again. + +"Can such things be?" she asked. "Oh, why God does allow them I cannot +understand. My poor Humphrey!" + +"Naught but God's help could have brought us through them, dear heart," +I answered. "And, indeed, I think naught of them now, and would +cheerfully face them again if I thought they would cause you to love me +more." + +But she answered that that was impossible, and scolded me very prettily +for thinking of such a thing. + +And then came Master Timotheus back from reading prayers, and entered +the parlor, carrying a great folio in his hand and blinking at us +through his big spectacles. And when he saw me, he stopped and stared. + +"Here is a visitor, father," said Rose. "Look closely at him--do you not +know him?" + +But the good man, taking my hand in his own, did stare at me hard and +long ere he discovered me, and then he fell upon my neck and embraced me +heartily and wept with joy. + +"Of a truth," said he, "I might have known that it was thee, Humphrey, +for two reasons. First, I have been of an uncommonly light-hearted +nature all this day, and did once detect myself in the act of singing a +merry song; and secondly, I saw on entering the parlor that Rose's face +was brighter than it hath been since last we saw thee." + +Then he laid his hand on my head and blessed me, and thanked God for +sending me home again; and he shed more tears, and was fain to take off +his spectacles and polish them anew. And he would have had me sup with +them, but on hearing that I had not yet seen my uncle he bade me go to +him at once, so I said farewell for that time and took my way to the +manor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +HOW THEY RANG THE BELLS AT BEECHCOT CHURCH. + + +As I walked across from the vicarage to the manor house, the moon came +out in the autumn evening sky and lighted the landscape with a +brightness that was little short of daylight. I stood for a few moments +at the vicarage gate admiring the prospect. Far away to the eastward +rose the Wolds, dark and unbroken, different indeed from the giant bulk +of Orizaba, but far more beautiful to me. Beneath them lay the village +of Beechcot, with its farmsteads and cottages casting black shadows upon +the moonlit meadow, and here and there a rushlight burning dimly in the +windows. I had kept that scene in my mind's eye many a time during my +recent tribulations, and had wondered if ever I should see it again. +Now that I did see it, it was far more beautiful than I had ever known +it or imagined it to be, for it meant home, and love, and peace after +much sorrow. + +My path led me through the churchyard. There the moonlight fell bright +and clear on the silent mounds and ghostly tombstones. By the chancel I +paused for a moment to glance at the monument which Sir Thurstan had +long since erected to my father and mother's memory. It was light enough +to read the inscription, and also to see that a new one had been added +to it. Wondering what member of our family was dead, I went nearer and +examined the stone more carefully. Then I saw that the new inscription +was in memory of myself! + +I have never heard of a man reading his own epitaph, and truly it gave +me many curious feelings to stand there and read of myself as a dead +man. And yet I had been dead to all of them for more than two years. + +"And of Humphrey Salkeld, only son of the above Richard Salkeld and his +wife Barbara, who was drowned at Scarborough, October, 1578, to the +great grief and sorrow of his uncle, Thurstan Salkeld, Knight." + + * * * * * + +"So I am dead and yet alive," I said, and laughed gayly at the notion. +"If that is so, there are some great surprises in store for more than +one in this parish. And no one will be more surprised than my worthy +cousin, but he will be the only person that is sorry to see me. Oh, for +half an hour with him alone!" + +At that very moment Jasper was coming to meet me. I knew it not, nor did +he. + +Between the churchyard and the manor-house of Beechcot there is a field +called the Duke's Garth, and across this runs a foot-path. As I turned +away from reading my own epitaph, I saw a figure advancing along this +path and making for the churchyard. It was the figure of a man, and he +was singing some catch or song softly to himself. I recognized the +voice at once. It was Jasper's. I drew back into the shadow cast by the +buttress of the chancel and waited his coming. We were going to settle +our account once and forever. + +He came lightly over the stile which separates the garth from the +churchyard, and was making rapid strides towards the vicarage when I +stopped him. + +"Jasper," I said, speaking in a deep voice and concealing myself in the +shadow. "Jasper Stapleton." + +He stopped instantly, and stood looking intently towards where I stood. + +"Who calls me?" he said. + +"I, Jasper,--thy cousin, Humphrey Salkeld." + +I could have sworn that he started and began to tremble. But suddenly he +laughed. + +"Dead men call nobody," said he. "You are some fool that is trying to +frighten me. Come out, sirrah!" + +And he drew near. I waited till he was close by, and then I stepped into +the moonlight, which fell full and clear on my face. He gave a great +cry, and lifting up his arm as if to ward off a blow fell back a pace or +two and stood staring at me. + +"Humphrey!" he cried. + +"None other, cousin. The dead, you see, sometimes come to life again. +And I am very much alive, Jasper." + +He stood still staring at me, and clutching his heart as if his breath +came with difficulty. + +"What have you to say, Jasper?" I asked at length. + +"We--we thought you were drowned," he gasped out. "There is an +inscription on your father's tombstone." + +"Liar!" I said. "You know I was not drowned. You know that you contrived +that I should be carried to Mexico. Tell me no more lies, cousin. Let us +for once have the plain truth. Why did you treat me as you did at +Scarborough?" + +"Because you stood 'twixt me and the inheritance," he muttered sullenly. + +"And so for the sake of a few acres of land and a goodly heritage you +would condemn one who had never harmed you to horrors such as you cannot +imagine?" I said. "Look at me, Jasper. Even in this light it is not +difficult to see how I am changed. I have gone through such woes and +torments as you would scarcely credit. I have been in the hands of +devils in human shape, and they have so worked their will upon me that +there is hardly an inch of my body that is not marked and scarred. That +was thy doing, Jasper,--thine and thy fellow-villain's. Dost know what +happened to him?" + +"No," he whispered, "what of him?" + +"I saw him hanged to his own yard-arm in the Pacific Ocean, Jasper, and +he went to his own place with the lives of many an innocent man upon his +black soul. Take care you do not follow him. Shame upon you, cousin, +for the trick you played me!" + +"You came between me and the girl I loved," he said fiercely. "All is +fair in love and war." + +"Coward!" I said. "And liar, too! I never came between her and thee, for +she had never a word to give such a black-hearted villain as thou hast +proved thyself. And now, what is to prevent me from taking my revenge +upon thee, Jasper?" + +"This," he said, very suddenly, whipping out his rapier. "This, Master +Humphrey. Home you have come again, worse luck, and have no doubt done +your best to injure me in more quarters than one, but you shall not live +to enjoy either land, or title, or sweetheart, for you shall die here +and now." + +And with that he came pressing upon me with a sudden fury that was full +of murderous intent. + +Now I had no weapon by me save a stout cudgel which I had cut from a +coppice by the wayside that morning, and this you would think was +naught when set against a rapier. Nevertheless I made such play with it, +that presently I knocked Jasper's weapon clean out of his hand so that +he could not recover it. And after that I seized him by the throat and +beat with my cudgel until he roared and begged for mercy, beseeching me +not to kill him. + +"Have no fear, cousin," said I, still laying on to him, "I will not kill +thee, for I would have thee repent of all thy misdeeds." + +And with that I gave him two or three sound cuts and then flung him from +me against the wall, where he lay groaning and cursing me. + +After that I saw Jasper Stapleton no more. He never showed his face in +Beechcot again, and in a few days his mother, Dame Barbara, disappeared +also; and so they vanished out of my life, and I was glad of it, for +they had worked me much mischief. + +When I reached the manor-house I let myself in by a secret way that I +knew of and went straight to the great hall, where sat my uncle, Sir +Thurstan, wrapped in cloaks and rugs, before a great fire of wood. He +was all alone, and hearing my step he half turned his head. + +"Is that Jasper?" he inquired. + +"Nay, sir," said I. "It is I--Humphrey--and I am come home again." + +And I went forward and kneeled down before him and put my hands on his +knees. + +For a moment he stared at me as men stare at ghosts, then he gave a +great sob of delight, stretched out his arms, put them about my neck, +and wept over me like a woman. + +"Oh lad, lad!" said he. "If thou didst but know how this old heart did +grieve for thy sake. And thou art here, well and strong, and I did cause +thy name to be graven on thy parents' tombstone!" + +"Never mind, sir," said I, "we can cut it out again. Anyway I am not +dead, but I have seen some rare and terrible adventures." + +"Sit thyself down at my side," quoth he, "and tell me all about them. +Alive and well--yes, and two inches taller, as I live! Well, I thank God +humbly. But thou art hungry, poor boy,--what ho! where are those +rascals? Call for them, Humphrey,--thou must be famished." + +"All in good time, sir," said I, and went over to the rope which led to +the great bell and pulled it vigorously, so that the clangor filled the +park below with stirring sound. And Geoffrey Scales, waiting impatiently +at the inn, heard it and ran round with the news, and they rang the +church bells, and every soul in Beechcot that could walk came hurrying +to the manor and would have audience of me in the great hall. + +Thus did I come home again. And having told my story to my uncle, Sir +Thurstan, and to Master Timotheus Herrick, we agreed that for the +present we would leave Jasper Stapleton's name out of it. But somehow, +most likely because Jasper and his evil-tongued mother disappeared, the +truth got out, and ere long everybody knew my story from beginning to +end. + +Within a few weeks of my home-coming Rose and I were married in Beechcot +church, and again the bells rang out merrily. Never had bridegroom a +sweeter bride; never had husband a truer or nobler wife. I say it after +fifty years of blessed companionship, and in my heart I thank God for +the delights which he hath given me in her. + +And now I have brought my history to a close. Yet there is one matter +which I must speak of before I say farewell to you. + +It is about twenty years since one of my servants came to me one +summer evening and said that an old man stood at my door waiting to +see me. I followed him presently, and there saw a tall, white-haired, +white-bearded figure, dressed in a rough seaman's dress and leaning +upon a staff. He looked at me and smiled, and then I saw that it was +Pharaoh Nanjulian. + +"You have not forgotten me, master?" he said. + +"Forgotten thee! May God forget me if ever I forget thee, my old, true +friend!" I said, and I led him in and made him welcome as a king to my +house and to all that I had. And with me he lived, an honored guest and +friend, for ten years longer, when he died, being then a very old man of +near one hundred years. And him I still mourn with true sorrow and +affection, for his was a mighty heart, and it had been knit to mine by +those bonds of sorrow which are scarcely less strong than the bonds of +love. + + THE END. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and +intent. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Days of Drake, by J. S. 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