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diff --git a/40508-0.txt b/40508-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5bdad3 --- /dev/null +++ b/40508-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9155 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40508 *** + +TRUE STORIES OF GIRL HEROINES + +[Illustration: The brave young wife rode forth at the head of her whole +garrison. + +_Page 109. Frontispiece._] + + + + +TRUE STORIES OF GIRL HEROINES + +BY + +E. EVERETT-GREEN + +AUTHOR OF "GOLDEN GWENDOLYN," "THE SILVER AXE," "OLIVIA'S EXPERIMENT," +ETC. + +WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +E. F. SHERIE + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK +E. P. DUTTON & CO. + +LONDON +HUTCHINSON & CO. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +INEZ ARROYA 1 + +CATHARINE THE ROSE 17 + +ELSJE VAN HOUWENING 35 + +GRIZEL COCHRANE 55 + +EVA VON GROSS 73 + +EMMA FITZ-OSBORN 93 + +ELIZABETH STUART 111 + +CHARLOTTE HONEYMAN 131 + +MARY BRIDGES 149 + +THERESA DUROC 167 + +JANE LANE 185 + +HELEN KOTTENNER 205 + +MAID LILLYARD 223 + +MARGARET WILSON 241 + +AGOSTINA OF ZARAGOZA 259 + +AGNES BEAUMONT 277 + +HANNAH HEWLING 297 + +MONA DRUMMOND 317 + +JESSY VARCOE 337 + +URSULA PENDRILL 355 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +The brave young wife rode forth at the head of her whole +garrison _Frontispiece_ + +The first great stone leapt from her hand and went +bounding and crashing upon the head of the foremost +Moor _ To face p._ 8 + +The Commandant pulled her down beside him before it +was too late " " 30 + +"Is the chest to be examined before it goes on board?" " " 48 + +With a beating heart Grizel tore open this bundle and +looked at its contents " " 66 + +He stopped short on seeing the Countess " " 125 + +Suddenly, close above her, the steps came to a dead stop " " 145 + +Theresa forgot everything in the sight of the child's peril. " " 183 + +"Well, now, I did hear as young Charles Stuart himself +was taken," answered the smith " " 193 + +The men plunged down into the vault " " 218 + +She set herself in their ranks, and went charging down +the hill " " 237 + +A wounded man half rose from the ground at their feet " " 270 + +Bunyan looked down at her with rather a grim smile upon +his face " " 283 + +The Judge plucked his robe out of her detaining hand. " " 310 + +"Dare to come one step nearer, and I fire" " " 335 + +"The first man that touches him I'll kill!" cried Jessy " " 351 + + + + +True Stories of Girl Heroines + + + + +INEZ ARROYA + + +"Mistress! my mistress! the Moriscos are upon us!" + +Inez sprang to her feet, the rich southern blood receding for a moment +from her cheek, as those words fell upon her ears--words of such fearful +significance to the Christian inhabitants of the Moorish territory along +the Sierra Nevada. + +"Juana, what mean you? Speak, girl! What have you heard? What have you +seen?" + +Juana's face had been white when she came bursting in upon her young +mistress; she held her hand to her side; her breath came and went in +great gasps; yet already she was recovering the power of speech, and she +seized Inez by the arm. + +"Mistress, they are below already; they are robbing the house. Can you +not hear them? When they have taken the wine and the oil they will come +hither and murder us!" + +Inez held her breath to listen. Yes, there were sounds from +below--sounds of voices--loud, threatening voices, and the laughter of +men assured of victory. + +Juana, the maid, spoke in a fierce whisper. Fear was receding. The high +courage which comes to weak women in the hour of extremest need +possessed the hearts alike of mistress and maid. + +"The master went forth not an hour ago. Five minutes since little Aluch +ran up to tell me that, as the master was taking the air, there suddenly +appeared a band of rebel Moriscos from Orgiba, who set upon him, and +chased him, and would have killed him, but he took refuge in his +father's house; and he will hide him, and get him safe away. But all +Istan will join the rebels, and already they are crying that every +Christian shall be slain!" + +"Every Christian!" cried Inez, with a flash in her dark eyes. "And how +many Christians are there in Istan? Two weak women, Juana, you and I, +and my uncle, whom they have already set upon and chased to the +mountains. Pray Heaven and our Lady that he may reach them safely, and +send us help from Marbella, else there will be but short work with the +Christian population of Istan." + +There was scorn in the girl's voice, scorn in the flashing eyes. Istan +was a Moorish village, where one Christian priest had been placed to +work amongst the Moslems, and seek to convert them to the true faith. + +Success in this missionary work had been small; but the good man had +hitherto lived in peace with his alien flock. The wise and kindly +traditions of Ferdinand and Isabella, and Hermando de Talavera, had for +long kept under the natural hatred of Moor towards Christian in Southern +Spain. But a monarch had arisen who hated the word toleration. To keep +faith with the Moslem was to break it with the Almighty. The edict of +1567 was now a year or more old, and its pernicious effects were already +made abundantly evident in fierce Moorish risings here, there, and +everywhere. + +Inez had heard stories as to the fate of Christian prisoners who had +fallen into the hands of the Moors. Before she followed Juana she had +caught up a shining dagger which hung against the wall; and she thrust +it into her girdle as she ran down the broken steps of the tower. + +"At least, they shall not take us alive!" she breathed to herself; and +Juana seemed to hear, for she flashed back a glance at her young +mistress, and for a moment showed the gleam of a long stiletto which she +carried in the bosom of her tunic. + +The priest of Istan dwelt in a strange house. It was, properly speaking, +no house at all, but a Moorish fortalice, dismantled and ruinous, which +he had partially repaired soon after his arrival there, and which, since +the arrival of his orphan niece to live with him, he had desired to make +more habitable still. + +The place was, in fact, a sort of tower. The lowest floor was their +storehouse for supplies of wheat, oil, and so forth; and from this level +came up the sound of rough voices, as the Moors leisurely removed the +spoil before proceeding upwards. There was only one door from the +fortalice into the world without, and this it was impossible to reach, +for the Moors were swarming in the lowest part, effectually preventing +their egress. They knew perfectly that the two girls were as helplessly +caught as a rat in a trap; they did not even hasten the work in which +they were engaged. Inez, standing at the top of the long flight of stone +steps which led downwards to the basement, heard what they were saying +one to another, and into her olive cheek there crept a deep glow of red, +whilst her lips set themselves, her teeth clenched, and her black eyes +gleamed with a light like that of fire. + +"Our Lady and the blessed saints protect us!" whispered Juana, with a +furtive glance into the beautiful face of her young mistress; and Inez +looked back at her without a quiver as she replied: + +"The Christian's God helps those who help themselves, Juana. We are not +here to wring our hands and look for a miracle to save us. We fight for +our lives, and Christ and our Lady will help us. See, we are not quite +defenceless, Heaven be thanked for that! Collect those stones, quickly, +quietly. Keep out of sight. Do not let them observe us. Get together a +number, then you shall see!" + +It was as Inez had said. The repairs of the fortalice, which had been +already commenced, had put the means of defence into their hands. Large +quantities of great stones had been collected at first in the basement, +but only the previous week had been laboriously carried up the steep, +narrow stairs which led upwards to the dwelling rooms; and these large +stones the two brave girls were now quietly collecting in a great heap +at the top of the flight. + +They were in deep shadow, and below the brown-skinned men, in their +picturesque Arab dress, were far too busy examining their spoil, and +making away with it, to heed the slight sounds from above. They talked +together as they worked; they told of the attack they had made upon +Orgiba, and of that fearful massacre of Christian men, women, and +children at Uxixar. Inez held her breath to listen to the confirmation +of certain vague rumours which had reached them before this, but had +scarcely been believed. Peaceful Istan, with its terraced gardens +overhanging the lovely gorge of the Verde, had seemed so far removed +from the storm and strife; and its people were peaceable and kindly +disposed, even though they were Moriscos. But these men were rebels and +freebooters, with the fierce lust of blood upon them, their hands red +from the butchery of innocent, helpless women and children; men who +laughed aloud at tales of hideous deeds done in cold blood; men mad with +hatred to the conquering race, knowing themselves doomed to final +defeat, yet resolved to revenge themselves in every possible way upon +those of the hated faith ere their own turn came. + +Upon such a band of men did Inez look down, with the fire of courageous +despair in her eyes. What could they do? what hope was there for them? +two slight girls against a score of trained warriors. + +The Moriscos of Istan would probably not join in the attack upon them; +but they would not interfere with what their brethren of the faith might +do. Help from without there would be none, unless the priest himself +could find means of escape, and could get to Marbella and bring it. Inez +knew that he would strain every nerve in this effort. But what chance +had they of holding out for perhaps six hours or more? Could it be done? +Oh, could it be done? She looked at the heap of stones. She looked at +the flitting forms below in the gloom. And then she held her breath once +again, listening to stories of how in other places Christians had taken +refuge in towers and churches, whilst their Moorish foes piled faggots +soaked in pitch, and such-like inflammable material against and around +the walls, and reduced the building to one mass of flames. + +If they kept the men from laying immediate hands upon them, would that +fiery doom be theirs? + +"Better that than to fall into their hands," said Inez, between her shut +teeth; and Juana, looking at her mistress, with a world of faithful love +in her eyes, exclaimed softly: + +"Our Lady will surely send us help, mistress. You are too beautiful to +die such a death!" + +Inez put her hands upon the shoulders of the faithful girl, and said in +a low voice: + +"You would come with me from Granada, Juana, where you would have been +safe; and there were those who warned us that we might not long be safe +out here. But my duty seemed to my uncle; and you--you would not leave +me. And what if I have brought you hither to your death?" + +"We must all die once," answered Juana, her eyes full of love and +courage; "and I would sooner die with you, mistress, than live without +you. If I had stayed behind, and had heard this story of you, I should +have killed myself, or died for grief and shame that I was not with +you." + +Then Inez put her arms about the faithful girl's neck, and kissed her +thrice upon the lips. + +"We will do battle for our lives, Juana; and then, if needs be, we will +die together," she said. + +Suddenly there was a cry from below. Some one had looked up, and had +seen the two girlish figures clinging together. Perhaps the very action +had been misunderstood, and instantly there was a rush towards the +steep, broken, narrow steps of some dozen swarthy Moors. + +Instantly the girls were at their post at the head of the flight. Inez, +quiet and composed, gave the word. + +"Welcome to the Moriscos!" she cried, in a clear and ringing voice, as +the first great stone leapt from her hand and went bounding and crashing +upon the head of the foremost Moor. + +"Welcome to the Moriscos!" echoed Juana, dislodging another, which +sprang from stair to stair, and then, bounding sideways, went crashing +upon the bent back of a man in the basement beneath, who fell like a log +from the blow, his spine fractured. + +Crash, crash, crash! Down hurtled the huge stones, flinging the +unprepared Moriscos from the steep stairs, where they fell in a confused +mass, one upon the top of the other, pinned down by the great boulders +which came rolling down upon them from above, cursing, raging, crushed +and maimed, utterly taken aback by such a reception; and now only eager +and anxious to get out of a place that seemed to rain nether mill-stones +upon them. + +[Illustration: The first great stone leapt from her hand and went +bounding and crashing: upon the head of the foremost Moor. + +_Page 8._] + +Three of their number lay stretched dead upon the ground. A number more +were badly hurt; and all were flying from the stairs, which threatened +to become a veritable death-trap for all who tried to mount. + +There was a rush for the outer door. The wounded were dragged away +groaning by their comrades; those who were sound carried the dead. They +turned and shook threatening fists at the two girls standing behind +their heap of stones at the top of the stairs; they promised them that +they were coming back. They breathed out threats which might well make +the stoutest hearts quail. But Inez stood up tall and straight, with a +great stone poised in her hand; and the strength and accuracy with which +those formidable weapons had been launched against them before, caused +the men to jostle each other through the doorway in their haste to +escape from possible hurt from the same source. + +Scarcely had the last man disappeared before Juana was down the stairs +like a flash, had slammed-to the heavy oaken door, and had drawn the +great iron bolts and the heavy iron bar across it. + +"The master left it open when he went out this morning," she said to +Inez, "and I never thought to shut it. Why should I? That is how they +got in so easily; but they will not get in again so fast!" + +This was true enough; for the door had been made to withstand attack, +as, indeed, had the tower itself, and though it had fallen into a +ruinous state inside, it was built in a very solid fashion, the walls +being exceedingly thick, and light being admitted mainly by loopholes. +The top, also, was protected by a low battlement, from which a view of +the surrounding country could be obtained. This battlement had fallen a +good deal into disrepair, like the tower itself, and material for +repairing it had been brought in; so that not only had the girls the +remainder of the stones they had already used with such effect, but +there was a large quantity of such material that had been laboriously +carried up to the very top only three days earlier; and some of these +stones were very large and heavy, as they had been designed to form the +coping of the battlement. + +"See there!" cried Inez, as the two girls ran up the stairs to the top, +to watch the retreat of the temporarily baffled foe. "Juana, how long, +think you, would such artillery last us? We could slay a score of our +foes, as the woman in the tower slew Abimelech the king. Did not mine +uncle tell us that tale the other night? and how little we thought----" + +Juana's eyes were shining. The thrill of victory was upon her. The peril +was not over. Nay, they might have worse to encounter than they had +done already. But at least they had driven forth the foe from the +tower. Their citadel was their own. They had weapons of defence under +their hands. If help would only come at last, they could hold out for +awhile. + +"See, see!" cried Inez, as she leaned over the wall to watch the baffled +Moriscos wending their way downwards, sometimes turning to shake +threatening fists at the tower and its defenders. "There is little Aluch +hiding below in the orange grove, and making signals to us. Run, Juana, +to that loophole below, and he will tell you what he has come to say!" + +Juana disappeared down the stairs, and returned quickly with a face in +which anxiety and satisfaction were strangely blended. + +"The master has got safely off to the mountains. He will be at Marbella +very soon, and then they will start out to help us; but Aluch said he +heard the Moriscos vowing vengeance upon us as they went away. They will +quickly be back; and he thinks if they cannot batter in the door and +take us alive, that they will burn the tower down over our heads." + +"They will if they can," said Inez, looking out over the fair, wild +valley, with the expression of one who knows she may be looking almost +her last upon a familiar scene; "but we have a welcome ready for them!" + +They leaned over the battlements, those two brave-hearted girls, and +they watched the little village at their feet, almost wishing that the +Moriscos would show themselves; for suspense was harder to bear than +action. + +"Let us say our prayers," said Inez, suddenly kneeling in the hot +sunshine upon the hard stone floor; and Juana instantly knelt beside her +and took her rosary in her hands. + +When they rose from their knees a few minutes later, suspense was at an +end. The attack was approaching. + +"They have weapons now!" cried Juana. "Mistress, have a care. Those bows +and arrows are deadly weapons in the hands of a good marksman. And +look--they are bringing faggots; and that mule has a barrel of tar upon +his back! And see that great ram of wood! They will seek to batter down +the door with that. If they do----" + +Yes, if they did that, the girls' position would be desperate indeed. +Before, the men had only been armed with daggers and scimitars, which +were useless save at close quarters. Now they had the deadly bow and +arrow, and if they once obtained entrance, it would be useless for the +girls to repeat the defensive manoeuvre of the earlier hours. They +would be shot down instantly, and fall an easy prey. Inez realised that +in a moment, as she watched the approach of the Moors; and scarcely had +her head appeared above the battlement, before a shower of arrows fell +clattering about them. + +"This side!" she said to Juana, between shut teeth. "They will try the +door first; we will be ready for them!" + +The girls dared not show themselves openly; but the battlements were +built with a view to defence, and they were able to look cautiously over +without being seen. The Moors were approaching the door; they were +almost directly underneath. + +"Now!" cried Inez, setting her hand to a huge stone. Juana put all her +strength into the task, the great coping stone was hoisted between them, +and pushed bodily over. + +A fearful yell and a thundering crash told that it had done its work +well; a storm of furious execration went up, and in the midst of it down +came another stone which dashed out the brains of a fellow in the crowd +below. + +Juana peered over and then drew back, a fierce triumph on her girlish +face; for she had seen that there were two enemies the less. + +"We have plenty of stones, the saints be praised!" she exclaimed. "They +are closing in again, Mistress. Let us give them another!" + +The Moors were always careless of life in battle; and again and again +they advanced to fix their battering ram; whilst again and again the +huge stones came thundering down, and, besides these large ones, were +many smaller, which the girls aimed with such precision and coolness, +that not only could the assailants not fix their ram against the door to +batter it down, but the men approaching the walls with faggots and +combustibles were picked off one by one, and dropped wounded or crushed +beneath the hail of stones from above. + +Inez looked over once again, drawing herself up to her full height, and +straining her eyes towards Marbella in the hope of seeing the +long-looked-for relief. + +"Have a care, Mistress, have a care!" cried Juana anxiously, and sprang +forward; but she was just too late. The arrow had buried itself in the +shoulder of Inez; she gave a start and an exclamation of pain; but, +taking hold of it firmly, she instantly plucked it out. + +"Pray heaven it be not poisoned!" cried Juana, as she stanched the flow +of blood with quick, skilful fingers. And Inez smiled bravely through +her pain. + +"Hark! They are at the door again; we must show them that the garrison +is not disabled yet. That stone there, Juana; now both together! down it +goes! Hark! what a yell that was. I am revenged for my sore shoulder!" + +But the brave resistance of the girls seemed rather to stimulate than to +baffle the assailants. The air was rent with frightful threats and +curses; and Inez, looking rather white, though there was no fear in her +heart, said quietly: + +"There is no hope of mercy, Juana. If we are not relieved; if help comes +not, we must sell our lives as dearly as we can; and plunge our daggers +into our own hearts sooner than fall alive into their hands." + +"We will, Mistress," said Juana firmly. "But surely our Lady will send +us aid ere that!" + +"Look! look! look!" cried Inez suddenly. "The banner of the cross! Oh, +Juana, do my eyes deceive me? Is it a vision that I see?" + +And indeed for a moment both the girls thought that it must be; for the +light fell sparkling upon mailed headpieces and flashing swords; and a +banner with the cross flaunting in the golden light of the southern +afternoon was borne aloft, and waved as though in signal that help +indeed was at hand. + +"What can it be? Whence come they?" cried Inez, with breathless +agitation. "That is not the road from Marbella! Our Lady herself must +have sent them to our aid! Pray heaven it be not a vision!" + +"See, see!" cried Juana in ungovernable excitement, running to the +battlement and showing herself fearlessly. "The Moriscos--they run! They +fly Mistress, we are saved! We are saved! It is our brave Spanish +soldiers come to our rescue!" + +Inez looked over in turn, and though the mists seemed to rise before her +eyes in the revulsion of her feeling, she could see the flying figures +of the Moriscos dashing down helter-skelter into the deep ravine below, +to escape the Christian swords, and she saw the lifted headpiece of the +officer in charge of the band, as he looked up and marked the two girls +leaning over the low rampart. + +The next minute Juana had dashed down and opened the door, while little +Aluch, flushed with triumph, was telling Inez how this band had come in +pursuit of the rebels of Orgiba; how he had met them and told them of +the predicament of the Christian maidens, and had brought them by the +nearest route to the rescue. + +So Istan was saved--saved from Spanish vengeance through little Aluch's +act, as the Christian population of three souls was saved by the heroism +of the two brave girls. Inez rode into Marbella that evening beside the +officer of the band, to find her uncle there, beseeching help, which the +citizens could not believe was wanted in such a peaceful spot, till the +young officer rode into the great square, still holding Inez by the +hand, and told the tale of how she and Juana had held the tower against +the rebel Moriscos. + + + + +CATHARINE THE ROSE + + +He held her hands and looked steadfastly into her eyes. + +"You would not hold me back, Kate?" + +The eyes which looked bravely at him were full of tears; but the girl +shook the drops from her long lashes as she threw back her head, and +spoke with unfaltering lips. + +"I would hold no man back from his duty; least of all the man I love." + +In a moment his arm was about her. The troth plight, spoken amid the +clang of arms and the rattle of musketry, was but three days old; and +the strange sweetness of it had penetrated the life of the English +Captain in a fashion which he had no skill to analyse. But in these +stern days there was little scope for the sweetness of spoken love; and +even the minutes snatched from the pressing needs of garrison life were +few and far between. + +But Hart had volunteered the second time for a service of extra peril, +and he had come to speak a farewell to his love--a farewell which both +knew might be final. + +"I went and returned in safety last time, sweetheart," he said, "and +wherefore not again? I shall have your prayers to Heaven on my side this +time." + +"You had them before," said Kate, lifting her head from his shoulder and +looking straight into his eyes; and he kissed away the last of the +raindrops from her lashes. + +"Help we must have if Sluys is to be saved," he said. "I swim forth +to-night, under cover of the darkness, with letters for England's Queen. +The devil take that pestilent peace-party, who would beguile her into +dallying with Spain and her tyrant King and treacherous Princes!" broke +out the young Captain suddenly, in a gust of hot anger. "Can she not see +that her only safety lies in joining heart and soul with the Netherlands +in their struggle for life and liberty? Let Philip of Spain once get +these lands beneath his iron heel, and then England will have cause to +tremble for her very existence!" + +"But the Queen has sent us help already," said Kate; "surely she will do +more, when she knows our dire extremity!" + +"Eight hundred men," answered the young officer, with a tone of scorn, +"eight hundred English soldiers with eight hundred Dutch, to hold a +place like Sluys! How is it possible the thing should be done? It has +come to this, that if help comes not, Sluys must fall. Alexander Farnese +and his Spanish host will score another triumph for tyranny and the +Inquisition!" + +A shudder ran through the girlish frame at the sound of that word, more +hateful and terrible to the party of freedom than any other which could +be spoken. Then her eyes flashed with a spark as of fire, and, flinging +back her head, she cried: + +"And what would the men do if they came, Harold? What work would you set +them first to do?" + +"There is work and to spare, both in attack and defence," answered Hart, +with something of grimness in his tone. "We are in dire need of at least +four redoubts between the citadel and the ramparts. The burghers have +banded themselves together to build us one. We are sending every man +that can be spared from garrison duty and the actual fighting to throw +up the second; but how the others are to be constructed with our present +force it is impossible to see. Help we must have at all cost, and I +trust these dispatches which you have been so carefully sewing in my +clothing, will bring it to us, ere it be too late." + +He could not linger. The shadows of the coming evening were beginning to +fall, although the summer day lingered long. He put his hands upon the +shoulders of the girl, and looked into her face with a long wistful +gaze. His own face was very thin and brown, and though he was still +quite young, there were a few grey hairs to be seen about his temples. +Hard living, hard fighting, days and nights of anxious toil had left +their impress upon him, as upon many another compatriot at that season +of bitter struggle. And the bitterness was greater rather than less for +the knowledge that if England's Queen and her counsellors would but show +a little more firmness of purpose and readiness of dispatch, many of the +horrors of this protracted struggle might even now be saved to the +courageous and devoted Dutch. + +Even upon the fair young face of Catharine Rose, the perils in which she +had been reared had traced their lines. That look of firm determination, +of high-souled courage, of resolute devotion to duty, be the cost what +it might, could not have been so clearly written there had she not lived +her young life amidst scenes and tales of stress and storm. + +Men and women, youths and maidens, had to face from week to week, and +even from day to day, the possibility of having to yield up life and +liberty, home and friends, for their fidelity to their country and their +faith. Catharine's father had died a martyr at the stake. Her brother +had been slain in the memorable defence of Antwerp, two years since; and +the loss of her only son had broken the mother's heart, so that she +faded away and died a few months later. + +But these troubles and losses had broken neither the heart nor the +spirit of Catharine. She had the mixed blood in her veins of an English +father and a Dutch mother; the courage and devotion of two warlike +nations seemed to combine in her youthful frame. + +Her quarrel with Fate was that she had been born a woman, and not a man. +Her longing was to gird on sword and buckler, and go forth to fight the +hated Spaniard--the tool of the bloody tyrant whose very name was not +heard without curses both loud and deep. + +"Oh, if I were but a man!" had for long been the cry of her heart; and +if in the sweetness of feeling herself beloved by one of the heroes of +Sluys she no longer breathed this aspiration, it was not because her +heart was less filled with an ardent longing to do and to dare. + +"Farewell, sweetheart," spoke the Captain, looking deep into her eyes, +and knowing, as she too knew, that perhaps he was looking his last. But +the consciousness of ever-present peril was one of the elements of daily +life in the beleaguered city; and although this mission upon which Hart +set forth was one of more than ordinary peril, a soldier never went +forth upon his daily duty with any certainty of seeing home or friend +again. + +"Farewell; God be with you, and bring you safely back to us," she +answered steadfastly; and their lips met once before he dropped her +hands, and hurried away without trusting himself to look behind again. + +Catharine looked after him from the window as he walked rapidly away in +the gathering twilight. Her accustomed ears scarcely heeded the sullen +booming of the great guns, or the dropping shots of muskets from the +ramparts. The life of the town went on with a curious quietude in the +midst of warlike strife; notwithstanding the fact that it became daily +more and more evident that without substantial succour in men, and +munitions, and food, Sluys could not hold out against such overmastering +odds. + +Suddenly the girl turned from the window, and, with fleet steps, crossed +the room, descended a dim stairway, and entered the chamber beneath, +where, by the light of a solitary lamp, a girl, a few years her senior, +was setting out a frugal meal with the aid of a youthful servant-maid. + +"Has he gone, Kate?" she asked, as she saw that Catharine was alone; "I +had hoped he would have had something to eat ere he sallied forth into +the night. The rations of the soldiers are meagre enough now, and he has +a hard task before him. God in His mercy give him safe transit through +those sullen waters, and blind the eyes of sentries and soldiers!" + +"He could not stay," answered Kate, "and he said he had eaten well. +May," she broke out suddenly, clasping her hands together, the colour +coming and going in her cheeks, "May, I have a plan, and you must help +me. I have learned what the sons and daughters of the city can do for +Sluys. I am going to toil for her, and you will help me!" + +"What mean you, Kate? What have you heard? What can be done for the city +by weak women like ourselves?" + +"I am not a weak woman!" answered Kate, throwing back her head in her +favourite gesture, "I am a strong woman, and so are you, May, and so are +dozens, ay, and scores of the daughters and the wives of the burghers. +Listen, May. You know of the need for redoubts, and how your husband is +toiling almost day and night to construct one on yonder side of the +citadel. But they need more; Harold himself told me so. They need more +than soldiers or burghers can build. I am going to organise a band of +women and girls. You and I, May Hart, will be the leaders. I have not +watched the building of forts and defences for nothing all these weeks. +You and I with the women of the city, will build them a redoubt, and it +shall be the work of the girls of Sluys!" + +The young wife fired instantly at the suggestion. All over the city it +was known of the dire want of men to construct these defensive works. +Boys and men of the burgher class had gone forth willingly in defence +of their town, and were working night and day at the unaccustomed toil. + +But Sluys was to see another sight ere long: a great band of women, many +of them mere girls, and even little children, armed with the needful +tools led by Mary Hart and Catharine Rose, going forth morning by +morning from their homes, delving, building, toiling through the long +hot summer's day, in rivalry of the brothers and fathers on the +corresponding side of the citadel; the new redoubt rising bit by bit +before their strenuous efforts, the work as accurate and solid as that +of the men, though every detail was the work of women and girls. + +"Impossible!" had been the first cry of the burghers when they heard of +the proposed scheme. Proud though they were of the spirit that inspired +their women-kind, they shook their heads at the thought of their ever +being able to carry out such a plan. But Catharine was a power amongst +the girls of Sluys. She came of a race who had laid down their lives for +the country of their adoption. Her mother had been a townswoman; and the +girl had been born and bred amongst them. "Catharine the Rose" she had +been called in affectionate parlance, a play upon her patronymic, and a +compliment to her brilliant colouring which even the privations and +anxieties of the siege had not dimmed. + +Mary Hart was also a girl of Sluys, lately wedded to Roger Hart, the +elder brother of the gallant English Captain, who had been sent with the +small band of troops into the city a short time previously, and had +already so distinguished himself by personal courage, that any specially +perilous errand was readily entrusted to him. + +Roger was not a soldier by profession. The Harts' father had settled in +the Netherlands during a time of Tudor intolerance and persecution in +England, little foreseeing how soon the land of their adoption would +become the arena of a struggle to the death against a tyranny of which +England in her worst and darkest hour had never dreamed. He had, +however, thriven and prospered in the country he had chosen as his home, +and had not been driven away by the troubles which speedily befell it. +His sons, like Catharine Rose, combined in their veins the blood of +England's sons and that of the Netherlands; and it was with the Harts +that the girl had found a home, when her mother's death had left her +alone in the world. Perhaps it was not strange when Harold Hart came to +Sluys and spent his few spare hours at his brother's house, that he and +the girl he had played with in childhood should draw together as they +had done, animated by a common love, a common hatred, and a common +steadfast resolve to do and dare all in the cause which was nearest +their heart. + +But how would the amazons of Sluys face the fire from the guns of the +enemy when their earthworks grew to the height that would make them +increasingly a target for the Spanish guns? + +"Leave it to us now," said some of the burghers, who came as a +deputation to the spot where the women and girls were at work. "Commence +the fort if you will, brave maidens, but leave this part to men. It is +too stern work for delicate girls when the storm of lead whistles about +those who work." + +It was to Catharine the Rose they spoke, and she turned upon them with a +flash in her eyes, as she made answer: + +"Think you that we have not counted the cost? Think you that we are +afraid? Have we not seen? do we not know? Are we of different nature +from yourselves? I answer for the maidens of Sluys. That which we have +begun we will carry through. Have not you men your work cut out? Are you +not toiling--ay, and dying--daily for our defence and that of our homes? +Do you think we are afraid to toil, and, if need be, to die in the same +cause? It was like you to offer thus to relieve us in the time of +chiefest peril; but I give you the answer of the girls of Sluys--go to +Captain May for the answer of the wives!" + +Captain Catharine and Captain May were the titles by which the two +leaders were known to their own squads; but the men called them +"Catharine the Rose" and "May in the Heart"--a sort of graceful parody +upon their names. + +Mary Hart had the same answer to give on behalf of the wives of the +burghers. And, indeed, it was abundantly evident that the men had their +hands full with what they themselves had undertaken, and that unless the +brave work were carried out by those who had commenced it, it must +perforce be abandoned; whilst more and more needful for the safety of +the city did these redoubts become. + +The temper of the besiegers was known to be sorely tried, and scant was +the chance that even if they heeded the sex of the workers upon the +growing redoubt, they would on that account permit it to grow without +opposition. Again and again in the history of those bloody wars women +had fought side by side with men in the defence of their homes and +liberties, and the Spanish soldier had as ruthlessly cut down the one as +the other. + +"Girls, are you afraid?" asked Kate, as she led forth her band upon the +morrow. "You have heard the balls hissing overhead these many days; but +to-day, perchance, we shall feel the sting of the hot bullet, or the +splinter of some shell tearing its way into our flesh. Are you afraid to +face such experience?" + +"We are not afraid; where you lead us, we will go!" was the almost +universal rejoinder, spoken with a quiet gravity and resolve which +attested its sincerity. These girls were not undertaking the task in +ignorance of its perils. They had seen enough of wounds and death. They +knew what they were facing; but there were only a few waverers who, on +Kate's invitation, went back; and even they could not tear themselves +away from the scene of their labours; they came to look on beneath the +shelter of the rampart, to give help should help be needed; and before +long the stern excitement of the hour possessed them also, and scarce +one but was soon working with the rest, only shrinking and perhaps +uttering a little cry as some bullet might whizz close to her ear. + +Under fire!--a rain of bullets falling round!--a comrade beside you +sometimes falling silent and helpless, or with a cry and a struggle. It +is so easy to speak of such things, but how many of us realise what they +mean to those who have passed through such experience? + +Catharine in the foremost post of danger worked on directing and +encouraging. She had insisted that her squad of girls should take the +side most exposed to the enemy's fire, leaving the less perilous place +for the married women. There had been a generous rivalry for this +position of peril and honour; but Catharine's word and determination had +prevailed. + +"You who have husbands and perhaps children to think of, and to miss you +if you are taken, must give this post to us," she said; and she thought +of the man she loved, of whom no tidings had yet come; who had ventured +his life so many times; and in her heart she prayed that if he were +taken, she might join him on the other side of the narrow stream of +death, the stream which seemed so small and narrow when so many were +crossing it day by day. + +So the work progressed rapidly, though many a brave young life paid +forfeit, and the tears would well up sometimes in Kate's eyes, as she +saw a comrade carried off dead, or bent over a dying girl, to hear her +last brave message for home and friends; or, when in the silence of the +night, she thought upon these things, and cried in her heart, "How long, +O Lord, how long?" + +But there was never a quiver of fear in her face or in her heart as she +stood to her post day by day; and the walls grew, and the Commandant of +the garrison came and gave warm praise and thanks, and timely cautions +and instructions to the heroic girls who toiled through the hot summer +days without one selfish thought of fear. + +Once, as he stood beside the leader of these brave young amazons, a +shell came screaming through the air, and he shouted a word of command. + +"Down on your faces!" he cried, and himself set the example, to show +them what to do. The shell was from a new battery, and it had been +directed with a view to stopping the work on this very redoubt. The +girls dropped their tools and fell flat, but Catharine was a thought too +late. She had been so interested in the work of that battery that she +forgot for a moment the peril in which she stood. Luckily the Commandant +pulled her down beside him before it was too late; but a portion of the +explosive struck her, tearing a ghastly wound from wrist to elbow. The +stones and rubble seemed to fly up around them; a fragment dashed itself +against Catharine's head; a blood-red mist seemed to swirl before her +eyes, and blank darkness swallowed her up. + +When she opened her eyes next it was to find herself at home, lying upon +the wide couch beneath her favourite window which looked down the +street. The light showed that the evening was advancing; May was in the +room setting the table for supper, and--but was not that part and parcel +of the dream which still seemed to enwrap her faculties?--Harold, her +bronzed-faced soldier, was seated beside her, his eyes hungrily bent +upon her face. + +She smiled, half afraid to move lest the dream should vanish, and the +next moment he had her fingers close in his grasp. + +"Kate, my Kate!" he cried; and she smiled back, and sat up. + +[Illustration: The Commandant pulled her down beside him before it was +too late. + +_Page 30._] + +"Harold! you have done it again! and have come back safe." + +"Yes, I have come back, and to find--what? That my Kate has set an +example to the women of the Netherlands, that----" + +But she put her hand upon his mouth and stopped him. + +"It was not I more than others; and there are some who have laid down +their lives for the cause. You must not praise me; why should not women +do their duty to the cause of freedom as well as men? You do not praise +your men for standing to their guns." + +"But we will praise you!" cried Harold hotly. "Know you not that all the +city is ringing with the news that the women's redoubt is all but +finished, and that in spite of the deadly fire from the new battery? And +Kate, to-night the soldiers will get the guns mounted, and to-morrow +Fort Venus will give her answer back. Oh, my Kate, will you be able to +come and see?" + +"Fort Venus?" she queried, with a smile in her eyes. + +"That is what the Commandant has christened it, and the soldiers +received the name with ringing cheers. The names of Catharine the Rose +and May in the Heart are in all men's mouths. Surely, surely you must be +there to see!" + +And she was; for the wound, although severe, was not crippling, and the +dauntless spirit of the girl carried her through the triumph and +gladness of the next day, as it had carried her through the previous +perils and hardships. + +A spectator would have thought that Sluys was _en fête_ that day instead +of a sorely pressed beleaguered city, wanting food, help, everything. +Citizens and soldiers marched in squadrons to the new fort, which had +been the scene of arduous toil all the night, and from whose loopholes +the mouths of guns could now be seen protruding. + +And foremost in that procession, cheered to the echo by burghers and +soldiers alike marched the brave women and girls, who had done such work +for their country and their city, headed by Mary Hart and Kate Rose. + +Then, at a given signal, "Fort Venus" opened her mouth and roared forth +her message of defiance and resolve. + +"Hear the voice of the women of the Netherlands!" cried Arnold de +Groenevelt, the grave Commandant, as the guns belched forth fire and +smoke, and the welkin rang with the shouts of the citizens and soldiers. +And so true was the aim of the gunners, that the new battery was +speedily silenced; and cheer after cheer went up as the destruction +wrought became more and more visible; and the youths of the city bore +aloft upon their shoulders through the streets to their homes, +Catharine the Rose and May in the Heart, crying aloud as they took their +triumphal way: "Hear the voice of Fort Venus! Hear the voice of the +women of the Netherlands! Death to the tyrant! Life and immortality to +the liberties of the people, and freedom of faith. The voice of the +girls is the voice of the nation." + + + + +ELSJE VAN HOUWENING + + +For two years she had lived within the walls of a grim fortress; a +prison had been her home. Thirteen massive doors, secured by iron bolts +and bars and huge locks, stood between her and the outer world; and yet +this maiden of nineteen summers was no prisoner; she was here in this +gloomy place of her own freewill. + +And for what cause was she here? Was it to guard and tend one who was +very near and dear to her,--a father, a mother, a brother? No; it was +none of her own kindred who were thus shut up, but her master, Hugo de +Groot, or Grotius, as he is more generally known to history. + +With the causes for the unjust captivity of this great and learned man, +we need not deal here. They belong to the page of history, where they +can be read in full. Suffice it to say, that Grotius was condemned by +the States-General of the Netherlands to a life-long captivity in the +great fortress of Loevenstein, under the spiteful tyranny of its +governor, Lieutenant Deventer, who had an especial grudge against him, +and seemed resolved to make his captivity as bitter as it was possible +to do. + +The one grace allowed to the unhappy prisoner was that his wife and +family might share his captivity; might live within the fortress in the +quarters allotted to him, although not suffering all the rigours of +imprisonment. And with Madame de Groot and her family of children had +come Elsje van Houwening, their young maid-servant, who had stoutly +refused to leave them in their hour of trial and trouble, and had +already spent two years of her young life within the walls of the +prison. + +The tie that binds master and servant together was stronger in those +days than it is now. The race of devoted servants seems well-nigh +extinct in these degenerate days; our mothers and grandmothers had +experience of a fidelity which is seldom met with now. But even in their +times an instance of such courage and devotion must needs be rare. Yet +to Elsje it seemed perfectly natural to cleave to the family that had +befriended her in a lonely childhood, and she loved her master and +mistress and their children with a love which only grew stronger and +stronger during the long, monotonous days of this captivity. Small +wonder was it that Madame de Groot should sit for hours over their +scanty fire, her children asleep, her husband poring over the books +which came to him from time to time in a great chest from friends in +Gorcum, talking with Elsje as though to a friend, talking over the +difficulties of keeping house upon the pittance allowed them from the +Government after the sequestration of their family property; the +mournful future that seemed to stretch indefinitely before them, and now +and again of that ever recurrent dream of hapless prisoners--the chances +of escape! + +And yet what was the possibility of this? How could it be even dreamed +of that a closely guarded prisoner should pass through those thirteen +iron-bound doors which lay between him and liberty? And if the sad-eyed +wife or eager maid looked down from their windows, what did they see, +save the rushing, tumultuous flow of a deep turbid river? + +Nature and art had combined, as it seemed, to make this fortress +impregnable alike from without and within. It stood in the very narrow +and acute angle, where the strong and turbid Waal joins its rushing +waters with those of the Meuse; and on the land side immensely strong +walls with a double moat guarded it from attack, and held in helpless +captivity all those upon whom the great doors had closed. + +True Madame de Groot with her children, or Elsje with her market basket, +were permitted to sally forth at will by day, or, at least, under +modified restrictions; to cross by the boat to Gorcum, which lay exactly +opposite on the farther bank of the Waal. They made their purchases +here, and saw their friends from time to time; but how did this help +the prisoner? Madame de Groot was very stout and somewhat short, whilst +Grotius himself was tall and slight, possessed of singular personal +beauty, and an air and bearing that would be most difficult to disguise. +The idea of dressing him up in their clothes, and smuggling him out in +that fashion, had been talked of a hundred times, but only in a sort of +despair. Hugo himself had shaken his head over the plan. It was doomed +to ignominious failure, as he saw from the first. No one was permitted +to leave the prison save in broad daylight, and all had to pass +innumerable guards and sentries on the way. If the prisoner were to be +detected seeking to escape in such fashion, it would only lead to a more +rigorous and harsh captivity, and, probably, to his entire separation +from his family. + +The wife had sorrowfully agreed that it was too great a risk to run; +yet, nevertheless, she and Elsje were ceaselessly racking their brains +to think out some plan whereby the prisoner might escape the dreadful +doom of life-long captivity. + +It was evening. Madame de Groot was bending over the stove, cooking her +husband's frugal supper. Elsje went in search of the children, to put +such of them to bed as were not already there. + +Her favourite out of all the little ones was Cornelia, a lovely little +girl of nine years, wonderfully like her father, and perfectly devoted +to him. She and her brother Hugo were often to be found in the room in +which he studied and wrote from morning to night, only varying his +sedentary pursuits by the spinning of a huge top that had been made for +him by friends in Gorcum, that he might not suffer too greatly from lack +of accustomed exercise. + +Elsje stole softly into the room, so as not to disturb her master, and +glanced round the bare place again and again. Where could the children +be? She had looked everywhere else in their limited quarters; there was +no other room except this one that had not been searched through and +through. She would not disturb her master by a question, and continued +softly moving and looking about, till the sound of a suppressed child's +laugh, close beside her, made her almost jump; for there was nothing to +be seen, save--ah! yes; she saw it all now--there was the great empty +chest that had brought the last load of books from Gorcum. She raised +the lid, and a simultaneous shriek of laughter arose from two pairs of +rosy child-lips. There were little Cornelia and Hugo, curled up like +dormice in the chest, peeping at Elsje, with eyes brimming with +laughter. + +She carried them off, laughing herself, and asking them how they managed +to breathe with the heavy lid closed fast down. + +"Oh, there is a long crack just under the top of the lid, it doesn't +show from outside; but we could see light, and your shadow came right +over us, and then Hugo laughed, and you heard. We sat there a long time +this afternoon and told ghost stories. It was such fun!" + +Elsje put the children to bed, and went thither shortly herself, but all +the night long she was dreaming, dreaming, dreaming. She saw the chest +with the two children inside; and then she saw it again, and instead of +two small figures there was one large one--a tall man's figure crushed +together in the chest, and when he turned his face towards her it was +the face of her master! + +The girl was up and about with the dawn; and her mistress coming to help +her, she told her in whispers of the incident of the previous night and +of her dream, and the two women stood staring at each other, with white +faces and glowing eyes, as the idea slowly formulated itself and took +shape. + +"It might be done! It might be done!" whispered Madame de Groot at last; +"if he could get in, it might perchance be done. Oh! if heaven should +open us such a way as that!" + +That day passed like a dream to all. They waited till dark; till all the +children were sound asleep, and no one from without would trouble them +again, before they even dared to make the experiment. Grotius was a tall +man, as has been said, though he was slender in his proportions. At +another time he would have pronounced it impossible that he should so +fold himself up as to get inside that chest, and let the lid be fastened +down upon him. But when a man sees life-long captivity before him on the +one side, and the hope of escape and freedom on the other, he can +sometimes achieve the impossible. And, at last, after many efforts, the +thing was done; the lid was closed, and the man found that he could +breathe and endure the pressure even for a considerable period. + +Day by day, or, rather, night by night, he made these trials till his +limbs in some sort grew accustomed to the strange constriction, and he +was able to bear the cramped posture for a more prolonged time. Madame +de Groot, upon her next journey into Gorcum, spoke jestingly with a +friend as to how her husband would be received were he to turn-up some +day, and Madame Daatselaer answered, in the same jesting spirit, that he +would have a warm and hearty welcome; for the Daatselaers were old and +tried friends, though only of the rank of merchants. They owned a large +warehouse of great repute, and their dwelling-house was at the rear of +the shop, where ribbons and other merchandise were vended to all comers. + +It was through the immediate agency of these friends that the books lent +to Grotius by Professor Erpenius were consigned to him in his prison. +The Professor sent them to the Daatselaers, who dispatched the chest by +the boat which plied between Gorcum and the fortress opposite. It was +returned in the same manner to them when the books were done with, for +transmission back to the Professor. Therefore, if Grotius could conceal +himself in the chest for the journey over the water, he would be +consigned to the safe-keeping of friends, who might be trusted to do +everything in their power to facilitate his escape to Antwerp, and so to +France, where he would be safe from the malice of his enemies. + +Days flew by, and the plan seemed more and more feasible, albeit fraught +with no small danger of discovery. Madame de Groot's anxiety was almost +greater than that of her husband, and perhaps it was her visible +agitation, occasionally manifesting itself in spite of her great courage +and self-control, which led the prisoner to speak as follows to Elsje, +when he and she were alone one day, his wife having gone once more to +Gorcum, prepared to drop a faint hint to Madame Daatselaer, without, +however, really arousing her suspicions of what was in the wind; for all +knew how much the success of such a scheme depended upon the maintenance +of absolute secrecy. + +"My good girl, is it true what thy mistress says of thee, that this +whole plan is one of thine own making?" + +"Not of my making, master, but rather as a thing revealed to me in a +dream. I seemed to see the chest, and when it was opened there was my +master within. I told the dream to my mistress, and the rest seemed to +follow of itself." + +"And if the plan be carried out when next that chest is returned, who +will accompany it across the water?" + +Elsje paused in thought. Sometimes she had gone with it on former +occasions, sometimes her mistress. There had been no peril in the +transit then. It had mattered nothing who went; but now things would be +quite different. She looked her master questioningly in the face. He +returned her glance. + +"I have been thinking much on that point," he said; "it will be a +memorable journey for those concerned. There be moments when I misdoubt +me if my wife hath the needful firmness. It is not courage that she +lacks, nor firmness of purpose; but can she pass the many barriers, the +many posts of peril, the many prying eyes within and without, and so +command her face that her anxiety be not seen? The sorrows and anxieties +of these last years have told upon her. And if she betray too great +solicitude for this chest of books, why in a moment we may be undone!" + +Elsje stood looking very thoughtful. She saw at once the danger of +self-betrayal; the danger that would be far more quickly noted in the +prisoner's wife than in his servant. Her gaze was lifted to her +master's face. + +"Shall I be the one to go?" she asked. + +"Wouldst thou not be afraid, my child?" + +"What punishment could they give to me were the plot to be discovered?" +she asked. + +"Legally none," answered Grotius, whose training in the law gave him +full knowledge on all such subjects; "but, my girl, I myself am guilty +of no crime--yet see what has befallen me. I cannot tell what might be +thy fate were this thing discovered during the perilous transit." + +For a moment Elsje stood motionless, thinking deeply. Then she lifted +her head, and her eyes shone brightly. + +"No matter for that," she said, "whatever comes of it I will be the one +to go. If they must punish another innocent person, let the victim be me +rather than my dear mistress!" + +Grotius took her hand, and the tears stood in his eyes. Elsje rattled on +as though to hinder him from speaking the words that for the moment +stuck in his throat. + +"It will be better so every way," she said, "for see--the men must come +in hither to get the chest, and so it must seem that you, master, are +sick and in bed, else would they look to see you here at work. We must +draw the curtains close; but leave your clothes visible by the bedside, +and my mistress must seem to be attending upon you. So it will be best +every way for me to go with the box; and the soldiers all know me, and +we have our quips and jests together. I will talk to them all the while, +as my mistress could scarce do without rousing suspicion, so they will +not note if the weight of the chest be something greater than usual." + +"Thou art a brave girl; thou hast a great heart and a ready wit," said +the prisoner with emotion in his voice, "may God reward thee for thy +devotion to a family in distress; for we may never be able to do so." + +"I want no reward," answered Elsje stoutly, "save to know that I have +helped those I love, and who once befriended me." + +The next day was Sunday, and a wild March gale was raging round the +castle, lashing the waves of the river into foam. The rain dashed +against the windows as they sat with their books of devotion, as usual, +through the earlier hours of the day. Grotius had read and offered +prayer as was his wont, when suddenly little Cornelia turned her face +towards the barred window, and her eyes seemed full of a strange light. + +"To-morrow, Papa must be off to Gorcum, whatever the weather may be," +she said; and then, slipping off her chair, took the little ones away +with her for the usual midday repast. + +Husband and wife looked at each other aghast. The strangeness of the +coincidence seemed to them most remarkable. + +"Let us take it for a direction from heaven," said Grotius. "Out of the +mouth of babes and sucklings--the child knew nothing, yet something was +revealed to her spirit." + +Later in the day Elsje came breathless with the news that the Commandant +of the fortress was just leaving it for a few days' absence. He had +received his captaincy, and was to go to Heusden to receive his company. +All things seemed pointing in one direction; and early on Monday +morning, Madame de Groot asked leave of Madame Deventer to send back the +chest of books to Gorcum. + +"My husband is not well; he is wearing himself out with so much study. +If the books are sent away I can persuade him to remain in bed and take +some needful repose. I got him to pack them up last night; but if they +stay in his sight, he will assuredly remember something more he wants to +study, and nothing I can say will then persuade him to keep in bed." + +Madame Deventer was a kind-hearted woman, and sorry for the prisoner's +wife. She gave ready consent to the request, and said she would send +some soldiers shortly to take the chest away. + +The crucial moment had come. Grotius, dressed in the thinnest linen +under-garments--for there was not space for much clothing--took his +place in the chest. A book, padded with a cloth, served as a sort of +pillow, a few books and papers were placed in such interstices as were +left by the curves of his body; and his wife took a solemn farewell of +him before she shut down the lid and snapped the key in the lock, giving +it in deep silence to Elsje. + +Outside the storm still raged and howled, but the tumult of their souls +seemed greater; yet Elsje stood with a careless smile on her face as the +soldiers entered the room, and Madame de Groot bent over the fire, +stirring something in a saucepan, and telling her husband that she would +soon have his soup ready, and she hoped he would enjoy it more than his +breakfast. The curtains of the alcove bed were drawn, and the ordinary +clothes of the prisoner lay upon a chair near it. + +"My word, but it is a heavy boxful this time!" exclaimed the men, as +they laid hold of the chest. + +"To be sure," cried Elsje; "what would you have? They are Arminian +books, and those are mighty solid, I can tell you. You had best have a +care how you treat them when you get to the water. Arminian books have +sunk many a good bark ere now, before it has got into harbour!" + +The men laughed at the innuendo of the girl's words. It was in truth +their adherence to the Arminian side of the great Arminian and +Calvinist controversy which had shipwrecked the lives of Grotius and so +many others. Elsje chattered gaily to them as they dragged and lifted +the heavy chest down the stairs and through the thirteen ponderous +doors. She kept them laughing by her droll remarks, and the little +anecdotes she retailed for them whenever a halt was called. At last it +stood without the last of the doors, and the soldiers paused and wiped +their brows. + +"Is the chest to be examined before it goes on board?" + +Elsje's heart thumped against her ribs. This was the crucial moment. At +first when the box had gone in and out its contents had been carefully +examined; but as nothing save the books had ever been found there the +practice had been given up latterly. But there was never any actual +certainty. + +Elsje dangled the key from her girdle, and swung it carelessly round and +round. + +"It always used to be done," she said, "but methinks my lord Commandant +love not the smell of Arminian books; perchance it smacks too much of +brimstone to please him! For of late he has not troubled. But I care +not, only pray you make haste. I have marketing to do in Gorcum, and +what if all the best things are sold ere I get there, and my poor master +lying sick?" + +[Illustration: "Is the chest to be examined before it goes on board?" + +_Page 48._] + +"Ask the will of madame," said somebody; and the messenger went and +returned, whilst Elsje stood almost sick with apprehension, though she +never ceased laughing and talking the while. + +"Madame says it may pass," came the answer back, "since her lord +troubles not now, she will not delay the transit." + +"Perhaps she fears lest some little Arminian imp should spring out upon +her!" quoth Elsje merrily; and away they went with their load towards +the boat. + +It was indeed a rough passage that lay before them; and the girl's heart +was in her mouth many times ere she got her precious chest safe on +board, and securely lashed to keep it from slipping overboard. They +laughed at her solicitude; but she always had a ready retort; and a +young officer of the garrison, crossing at the same time, was so taken +by her rosy face and bright eyes that he sat himself down upon the chest +and drummed upon it with his feet, as he chatted with the little servant +girl. + +"Why do you wave your kerchief?" he asked, as the boat began her rough +voyage across the tumbling waters. + +"To tell yon children at that window that I am safe afloat. They feared +the boat might not go in such a storm. And, fair sir, be pleased to +leave kicking of that box, and come away to this better seat; for there +is some precious porcelain inside, and if it be broken, I shall get the +blame, for I packed it." + +But Elsje's signal was for the straining eyes of her mistress far more +than for those of the children. All was well thus far, and the worst of +the peril was over; but--but there was still the landing on the other +side. + +"Take my box first," she pleaded, as they approached the wharf. + +"That lumbersome thing?--that can wait till the last," answered the +skipper, rather surlily; "'tis as heavy as if it held a man." + +"I have heard tell how a criminal was once carried from prison in a +box," remarked a soldier's wife laughingly, "and, methinks, if one has +so escaped another might. Let us peep inside, maiden!" + +Elsje laughed, bending to tie her shoe-string. + +"What, and let the Professor's books be all scattered this way and that, +and perhaps fall into the water! He would never send my master another +chest; and, methinks, without books he would die." + +"I'll get a gimlet and bore a hole in the Arminian!" laughed the +soldier, whose wife had first spoken. + +"Ay do!" cried Elsje; "get a gimlet long enough to reach the top of the +castle. I will stand by and watch you as you bore!" + +"Out of the way there!" cried the skipper and his son, as the boat swung +towards the wharf; and in a moment all was bustle and confusion. The +soldier helped his wife ashore, the young officer made a bow to Elsje +and sprung over the side; there was hurry and bustle, and a welcome +confusion; and the girl stood beside her precious chest, and at last, by +the promise of an exorbitant fee, got the skipper and his son to +transport the chest at once to the Daatselaers' house, on a barrow. + +She walked a little ahead in her excitement; but was recalled by a surly +question from the old man. + +"Do you hear that, girl--do you hear what my son says? You have got +something alive in that box!" + +"Ah, to be sure, to be sure," she cried, laughing, "it is the Arminian +books; they are often like that, because they say the devil helped to +write them. Why, when I was a little girl I knew an old woman who lived +all by herself in a wood; and she had a big book, and they said the +devil had given it to her; and if she wanted a ride, she just got +astride of it and it flew with her wherever she wanted to go! That's +what my mistress says about some of these big books. There's magic in +them, and she wants to be rid of them." + +The men looked awed; but superstition was rife in those days, and their +one aim now was to be rid of the uncanny load. It was wheeled, and then +lifted into the back room of the house, and Elsje paid and dismissed the +bearers with perfect calmness. + +The next minute she had glided into the shop where Madame Daatselaer was +serving customers, and whispered something in her ear. + +Leaving everything, but with a face as white as paper, the worthy woman +hastened after Elsje, who rapped on the lid, but got no reply; for a +moment her fortitude gave way, and she cried aloud in her anguish: + +"My master!--my poor master--he is dead--stifled!" + +"Ah!" cried Madame Daatselaer in bewildered dismay, "better a live +husband in a prison than a dead one at liberty; my poor friend, my poor +friend!" + +But a sharp rap on the trunk from the inside reassured them. + +"I am not dead," gasped Grotius, "but I was not sure of your voices. +Open and let me have some air!" + +Elsje unlocked the chest, whilst her friend locked the door of the room, +and Grotius raised himself slowly as from a coffin. + +"Praised be God for this deliverance!" he cried, as Elsje brought a +cloak in which to wrap him, for he was cramped and numbed by cold, and +the constraint of his posture. "God be praised for His mercy; and how +can I thank you enough, good friend, for receiving me thus into your +house!" + +"If only it bring not my husband to prison in your place," cried Madame +Daatselaer, whose face was deadly pale. + +"Nay, nay, sooner than that I will return to my prison in yon chest as I +came forth!" answered Grotius. + +But Madame Daatselaer rallied her courage and spoke quickly. + +"Nay, nay, that shall never be since thou art here. But thou art no +common person, and all the world talks of thee, and will soon be talking +of thy escape. But before that we will have you safe from pursuit. My +husband will see to that. And now I must hide you in the attics till +dark, when we can make farther plans." + +Elsje's work was done. Her master took her hands in his, and kissed her +on the brow. + +"Farewell, my brave maiden. May God reward you and keep you always safe +from harm. There will be many heartfelt prayers offered that no ill +shall befall you through your devotion to me and mine. And now go--tell +the story to my dear wife; and so soon as I be safe in France she and +the children shall join me, and in our home there will always be a place +for thee; if thou dost not find another and a better home for thyself." + +Elsje's tears fell as she said farewell to her master; but her heart was +full of joy as she returned to the castle with the story for her +mistress. And soon they knew that Grotius had effected his escape to +France, and that all peril was at an end. + +The Commandant, it is true, raged at the women when he found how his +prisoner had escaped him; but nothing was done to them, and they were +shortly released. + +They joined their lord and master in his new home, and from thence one +day, not so long after, Elsje van Houwening was married to a faithful +servant of the family, who had also shared their captivity in the +fortress of Loevenstein; and had been so well taught by his master the +rudiments of law and of Latin, that he rose in time to be a thriving +advocate. + +But of nothing was he ever so proud as of the bravery and address of his +wife in her girlhood, when she had been the instrument by which the +celebrated escape of Grotius had been effected from the grim fortress of +Loevenstein. + + + + +GRIZEL COCHRANE + + +Father and daughter stood facing each other in the gloomy prison of the +Tolbooth: the girl's face was tense with emotion, and the man's eyes +seemed to devour her with their gaze; for Sir John Cochrane believed +that he was looking his last upon his favourite child. + +He was not a man of great parts, nor one who can be regarded as in any +sort a hero. He was more rash than brave, and his ill-judged support of +the claims of the luckless Duke of Monmouth had brought him to his +present doleful position--that of a prisoner in the hands of a deeply +offended and implacable monarch, expecting each day to hear that his +death-warrant had arrived from London. + +Sir John had been one of the leaders of the insurrection in Scotland, +which had been even more of a fiasco than the one conducted by Lord Grey +in the West of England, where a temporary success at the outset had +cheered and encouraged the adherents of the champion of Protestantism. + +King James II., savage of temper and bitterly angry with all those +concerned in this rebellion, had sent the terrible Jeffreys to the +Western Assizes, which henceforth were to be known as the Bloody +Assizes; and here, in Edinburgh, lay another illustrious victim, +awaiting the king's warrant, which would doom him to the scaffold. + +Whatever might have been his faults and errors in his public life, Sir +John was a tender and loving husband and father. His wife, a delicate +invalid, shattered by grief and anxiety, was unable to leave her room; +but Grizel had come. Grizel had paid visits before this to her captive +father, and each one was more sorrowful than the last, since the end +must now be drawing very near. + +"Methinks, my child," said the father hoarsely, "that this will be our +last meeting on earth. They told me to-day that the death-warrant would, +in all likelihood, be here in three days' time from this." + +A quiver passed over Grizel's face; yet her voice was calm. + +"Can our grandfather do nothing?" she asked. + +Now Sir John's father was Lord Dundonald, a man of wealth and influence, +and the question was a natural one to put. + +"He is doing his utmost," answered Sir John, "I have had tidings of +that. He has got the King's Confessor on his side, and they hope to gain +the ear of His Majesty. But I fear me it will be all too late. If the +warrant could be delayed, pardon might perchance reach in time; but as +things now stand I fear to cherish hope. Let the will of God be done, my +child. We must believe that He knows best." + +A sudden light had flashed into Grizel's eyes, it illumined her whole +face. + +"Thou dost speak truth, my father," she said. "God, indeed, does know +best; and let His will be done. But is it His will that one should +perish whom even an earthly sovereign has pardoned, and who has never +offended against Him?" + +Sir John looked at her with a questioning gaze. + +"God's ways, my daughter, are not as our ways, and His thoughts are past +finding out. Let us brace our spirits for what may lie before us, and +resign ourselves to that which He shall send. Kiss me once again, and +bid me good-bye. It will not be for ever. This life is but a span, and +we shall meet on the shores of eternity." + +She flung her arms about his neck, and pressed her lips to his. + +"Farewell, sweet father, farewell," she cried, with a little catch in +her voice. "Farewell, but not good-bye. Something within me tells me +that we shall meet again--in this life." + +He looked into her strangely shining eyes, noted the resolute expression +of her beautiful mouth, and asked almost anxiously: + +"What dost thou mean, my child? What hast thou in that busy head of +thine? Thou must run no risk for me; for thou art the stay and prop at +home. Thou must be son, daughter, and husband--all to thy poor +mother--when I am taken." + +Steps were heard approaching. Grizel drew herself away, and looked once +more into her father's face: + +"Son and daughter--that will I be in all sooth, dear sir; but +husband!--nay that will not be needed, methinks----" + +"Grizel, what dost thou mean? What----" + +The key was turning in the lock. She put her hands upon her father's +shoulders and kissed him once again. + +"Fear nothing," she said, "I am a Cochrane." And with those words on her +lips she turned and left him, following her grim guide, the gaoler, till +she stood outside in the street once more. + +The same expression of high courage and resolve was on her face, as she +pursued her way through the darkening streets, followed by the +man-servant who had been awaiting her. But she did not go straight home. +She turned aside up a narrow thoroughfare, and entered a house in it, +with the familiarity of one who is known there intimately; and her +servant had to wait long before his youthful mistress reappeared. + +She went home, and went straight to her mother, who was weeping and +praying in her upper chamber; there, kneeling beside the bed, Grizel +told of the interview with her father, and then said in a low, earnest +tone: + +"Mother mine, give me thy blessing, for I must needs start forth this +very night to save my father." + +"Thou, child? What canst thou do?" + +"Mother, I have a plan. I will not tell it thee, for it were better none +should know. But pray for me whilst I am gone, that God will bless and +watch over me. Methinks it was He who put the thought into my heart, and +that He will speed me on my way and give me success in the carrying out +of it." + +"Thou wilt not run into danger, my child?" said the mother, who had come +to lean upon Grizel, since her husband's captivity, almost as she would +have done upon a son. + +"I will not seek danger; I will avoid it where possible. But thou +would'st not have me flinch, mother, when my father's life is at stake?" + +"And thou must go to-night? But not alone?" + +"I will take old Donald with me! And we must have the two best horses in +the stable. But fear not, mother mine! In three or four days I will be +back; and I trow that I shall have such news to tell, as will make thy +heart sing aloud for joy." + +That night, just before the gates of the city were shut, the guard saw +two men riding forth together, the elder of whom he recognised as the +old servant of the Cochranes. The younger of the pair, who looked like +a youth, had his hat drawn somewhat close over his face. Donald gave the +man a ready "Good-night," and paused a moment or two to gossip with him +over the latest news from England. + +"They say the next mail-bags will bring poor Sir John's death-warrant," +remarked the soldier; "they must be in sore grief yonder, doubtless." + +"How long does a letter take passing betwixt London and Edinburgh?" +asked Donald. + +"A matter of eight days each way," answered the man; and, after a few +more words, Donald rode on, and joined his companion speedily. + +"Eight days?" spoke a soft voice, not much like a youth's, as Donald +told the news; "then, should anything go wrong with the warrant, it +would be full sixteen days ere another could be got from London. Sure +that would give the time--the time so sorely needed. Sixteen days!" and +the words ended in a deep-drawn breath. + +The old servant looked with loving eyes at the youth--who, of course, +was none other than Grizel habited in the attire of a lad--a plain and +inconspicuous riding suit, which she had borrowed from the brother of a +dear friend, and which a little skill had altered to fit her slim figure +well. Her floating locks aroused no suspicion as to her sex, in days +when huge wigs adorned (or disfigured) the heads of men, and where +those who could not afford these costly luxuries, and yet desired to +keep in the fashion, let their own hair grow, and kept it curled and +powdered. There was nothing specially womanish in the aspect of Grizel's +abundant, curly hair flowing over her shoulders. She looked exactly like +a smooth-faced boy, and bore herself with a bold and boyish air so soon +as they were beyond the radius of the locality where her face +might be known. By the time that the pair rode into the city of +Berwick-upon-Tweed Grizel had come to feel so well at home in her part +that she feared neither to converse with those about her, nor to show +herself abroad in the unfamiliar habiliments of the other sex. + +"Donald," she said, that night before they sought their beds, "we are in +time. The mail has not yet passed through. To-morrow, bide thou here, +whilst I ride to Belford, where I hear the messenger with the mails +always pauses for a few hours' sleep. If he come hither with his +mail-bags undisturbed, use thou thy wits, and seek to accomplish that in +which I shall then have failed; but if he should bring news that he has +been robbed, then set spurs to thy horse, and meet me at the house that +I did point out to you as we rode into the town; and bring without fail +the bag containing mine own attire and saddle: for then I must no longer +travel as I do now." + +Donald was loth to let his young mistress ride forth unattended; but +Grizel would not have it otherwise. She believed that she would +accomplish the thing better alone; and by leaving Donald in the place +through which the messenger must pass, she felt that she gave herself +another chance, should her first scheme miscarry. + +The landlady of the little wayside inn at Belford smiled upon the +bright-faced youth who reined up at her door and asked for a meal for +himself and his horse. + +"Step softly, if you will, fair sir," she said, pausing as she opened +the door of the one room the inn boasted for the accommodation of +travellers, "for the bearer of His Majesty's mail-bags stops here each +time he passes, and has a spell of sleep ere he rides on to Berwick. He +is sleeping soundly now, and I would not willingly have him disturbed. +'Tis a weary ride from London." + +Grizel's heart beat thick and fast as she stepped softly within the +room, golden possibilities presenting themselves to her imagination of +getting at the bags and destroying certain of its contents, whilst the +messenger slept the sleep of exhausted nature close beside her. But alas +for her hopes! when she saw the sleeper, stretched snoring upon the +alcove bed let into the wall, she noted that he had placed his bags for +his pillow, and that each bag was securely sealed. This being so, she +could neither possess herself of them without too great risk, nor undo +and purloin papers without instant detection. + +Food was brought to her, and she forced herself to eat, for she knew +well that she might need all her strength and powers of endurance that +day. And whilst she dined, and the man slumbered, her quick wits were +working at full speed. + +Outside, the voices of the landlady and the ostler told her that she +would not be disturbed by a visitor just now. The pistols of the +messenger lay upon the table almost within reach of her hand. With a +quick, stealthy gesture she drew them towards her, and quickly removed +the charges; putting the weapons back accurately in their place when she +had done. + +Then, rising from the table, she went out, paid her reckoning, mounted +her horse, and rode leisurely away. + +"Your guest sleeps sound," had been her parting remark to the woman. + +"Ay, that he do, poor fellow, and I'm grateful that you've not wakened +him, sir; but I must go and do so soon, since he must be on the road +again in half an hour's time." + +"Then I shall not have long to wait to know my fate," said Grizel, +between her shut teeth, as she set her horse at a gentle trot. "If he +looks to his pistols when he gets up and loads again, the chances are +that I shall have an ounce or two of cold lead in my brain ere an hour +be past. If not, well then I may have my father's death-warrant safe in +mine own hands in that time! Is that hope not enough for me gladly to +take all the chance of what may else betide!" + +The light sprang into Grizel's eyes--the light of a deep devotion. She +looked round at the fair world of nature with the unconsciously wistful +gravity of one who knows he may be looking his last; of one who feels +possible death within measurable distance. Yet there was not a sign of +flinching in that fair face. The soldier spirit, and the spirit of +devoted love were burning upon the altar of her heart. There was no room +for thoughts of self there. + +The beat of horse-hoofs behind her told that the moment had come. The +man with the mail-bags strapped to his saddle was advancing rapidly +towards her. Grizel reined back her horse into the shadow of the trees, +and drew out a pistol from her belt. Her heart beat fast and furiously. + +Next moment the man had ridden up. + +"Stand and deliver!" shouted Grizel, in the most masculine voice she was +capable of assuming; then as the man reined up and regarded the slight, +boyish-looking youth with glances of inquiry and surprise, she added in +a quieter tone: "Sir, I desire to obtain possession of certain papers in +those bags of yours; wherefore deliver them up peaceably to me, and +your life will be safe. Otherwise----" and here Grizel rode full up to +the messenger with her pistol pointed at his head. + +In a moment the fellow had whipped out his own weapon; and was holding +it close against her cheek. + +"Lay so much as a finger on His Majesty's mails, and I blow out your +brains," he cried; "I am not one to shed blood needlessly, and thou art +a mere boy; but not a finger shalt thou lay upon my bags." + +"Nevertheless, it is those bags I mean to have," said Grizel, and put +out a hand to take them. + +Click! went the trigger, there was a flash in the pan--nothing more. +Grizel's heart leapt up within her. He was at her mercy now. She would +gain her end! With an exclamation of astonished dismay the man pulled +out the second pistol. Grizel watched him with a smile. The weapon +played him the same trick. He flung it from him with an oath, and threw +himself off his horse to grapple with his slim antagonist, +notwithstanding that the lad held a pistol in his hand. + +Now was quick-witted Grizel's opportunity. She seized the reins of the +horse, dashed spurs into her own, and set off at full gallop with the +mail-bags, ere the astonished man well knew what had happened. She had +travelled a quarter of a mile before she paused to look over her +shoulder, and saw the breathless messenger tearing along, panting and +blowing. Grizel calmly dismounted, and tied the horses to a tree hard +by. Then, pistol in hand, she advanced, and signalled the man to stop, +which he did. + +"Good friend," she said, "I do not desire to kill thee, so come no +nigher. Nor do I want any but a few of the papers in yon bags. +Wherefore, go back, I pray you, to the inn for one brief hour; and then, +when you return, you shall find your horse and your bags all safe in +this spot; and you may take the news to Berwick as fast as you will!" + +A strange bewilderment had taken possession of the man, or else there +was something very compelling in the presence and pistol of Grizel, for +he turned back slowly and walked away, whilst the girl went back to her +precious bags. + +These were soon opened and the mere private letters tossed aside. Here +was a likely looking bundle of great parchments with the seals upon +them, which told that they had come from high places. With a beating +heart Grizel tore open this bundle and looked at its contents. Her head +seemed to swim and her cheek grew white as her eyes read the fatal words +that doomed her father to death. There were other parchments, too, with +lighter sentences of fine or imprisonment for others--some of them +friends--who had taken part in the recent insurrection. All these she +took with her, carefully hiding them upon her person; tied up the bags, +replaced them upon the tethered horse, and, mounting her own, set spurs +to him, and never drew rein till she was safe within the walls of +Berwick, and within the friendly shelter of a kinsman's house. + +[Illustration: With a beating heart Grizel tore open this bundle and +looked at its contents. + +_Page 66._] + +Here, with bated breath, she told her tale, and showed the priceless +papers. Here Donald found her, bringing tidings that the whole town was +ringing with the news of how His Majesty's mails had been robbed by a +daring young highwayman. Here, by a blazing fire, Grizel destroyed, one +by one, the fatal documents that else would have desolated so many +homes; and whilst soldiers were going forth to scour the country round +for the youth who had done that daring deed, and who was regarded as a +member of some regular gang, Grizel, in her own attire, was quietly +riding away towards Edinburgh from her kinsman's house, with the old +serving-man in attendance at her side. + +It was dusk one evening when Grizel found her way to her mother's room, +and, kneeling down beside the bed, broke quite unexpectedly into +convulsive weeping. Nature was taking her revenge at last; but Lady +Cochrane sat up, and, folding her arms about her daughter, cried in a +strangled voice: + +"The will of God be done, my child. No one can achieve the impossible!" + +Grizel could not speak; she tried many times, but always broke down, +and suddenly there were sounds in the house of confusion and excitement, +the door was burst open, and two of the younger girls broke in. + +"Mother, mother, all Edinburgh is ringing with the news! A young highway +robber has stopped the messenger who was bringing our father's +death-warrant, and it has been stolen, and other expected papers too. +And there can be nothing done to him till the news has gone to London, +and the messenger has returned with a new warrant. And that will mean +time!--time!--time! And if our grandfather's letter be true: why time is +all we need!" + +The mother's face had turned from red to white, and from white to red. +Grizel's was hidden in the bed-clothes. Her sisters thought her overcome +by the news they had brought. + +"Ask me nothing, mother, yet," gasped Grizel, when they were alone +together, "I will tell all when my father is pardoned!" + +Great was the stir and excitement that prevailed when the story of the +robbery became known. Lady Cochrane herself was so far uplifted by hope +as to be able to leave her bed, and drive to the Tolbooth to visit her +husband; and thus it came about that she had the joy of being with him +when the Earl of Dundonald, who had travelled with the greatest possible +speed from London, in terror and almost despair of being in time, was +ushered into his son's prison, and fell upon his neck crying: + +"Ah, John, John, thou hast been a sad fool, my boy; but the King's +Majesty has been pleased to grant thee a pardon, thou art a free man +from this hour!" + +Then husband and wife fell into each other's arms and wept aloud, whilst +the old Earl, after storming up and down, and rating his son for his +folly, broke down and wept too; and who so proud and happy as Lady +Cochrane as she led her husband home at last, and set him in his own +accustomed chair before the fireside! + +That night Lord Dundonald had to tell all his tale of how the pardon had +been procured; bought practically for many thousand pounds, through the +influence of a priest. But little cared the family for aught save the +one great fact, they had their loved one home again. His life was safe. +He was theirs indeed! + +But Sir John missed Grizel from the group. She had slipped away whilst +her grandfather's tale was drawing to a close. Why did she not return? + +It was old Donald who entered the room after a while and said: "May it +please you, master, the young man who stopped the messenger, and robbed +the King's mails, craves leave of speech with you, if you will give him +a brief audience." + +Sir John uttered an eager exclamation of astonishment and pleasure. His +wife caught her breath, and her hands began to tremble. + +"Let him come in! Oh, bring him here!" was the general cry, and Lord +Dundonald added: "Doubtless he comes for his reward, and right willingly +will I give it him; for had it not been for that daring deed of his, my +labour and my gold would alike have been thrown away. I could never have +arrived in time. Thy head would have fallen, John, or ever I had reached +Edinburgh. It was with more of despair than of hope that I rode those +weary miles. Though something within me always bid me not give up." + +It was a large room in which they sat, and the farther end was in deep +shadow. All turned with breathless expectancy as Donald come in, +bringing with him a slenderly made youth, who wore his hat so deeply +drawn over his face that nothing of the features could be seen. Perhaps +it was from a lack of knowledge of good manners on his part that he did +not remove it upon entering; or perhaps he was too shy to lift his eyes, +and observe the presence of ladies. Shyness does occasionally go hand in +hand with considerable personal courage. + +"This is the youth who robbed the King's mails," said old Donald, in a +voice not quite his own. + +"My deliverer!" exclaimed Sir John, rising, "and so young and slight, +and of such tender years too! How can I ever thank you enough! Pray +you, dear sir, come somewhat forward, and let us see the face of one to +whom we all owe this great and unspeakable happiness." + +Slowly the stranger advanced, at first with drooping head; then suddenly +he flung away his downcast air, put up his hand, and snatched off his +hat! + +There was a cry from all present! The mother clasped her hands together +and whispered: + +"I knew it! I knew it!" + +The Earl stared as though he could not believe the sight of his eyes. +The sisters shrieked and broke into incoherent questioning; but Sir John +opened his arms uttering no word, and Grizel went straight into them, +and hid her face on his breast. + + + + +EVA VON GROSS + + +She lay face downwards upon her pallet bed, in the dim, narrow cell that +she had been striving to regard as a home of sanctity and peace. She had +torn from her head the stiff, white covering that it had worn for hard +upon a year now, and which now seemed ready to stifle her. The long +heavy robe of the nun which she wore fell about her in a mass of gloomy +drapery. Everything was gloomy here. The narrow walls seemed to hem her +in; the loophole window to admit an insufficiency both of air and light. +It was all like the narrow, narrow, pent-up life of the cloister to +which she had been doomed, and which had by this time become as a very +dungeon to her. + +"How can I bear it? How can I bear it?" she moaned; "I am so young, so +very young. I have not taken the full vows yet. Oh, why would they not +let me forth? Why may I not be free? I cannot bear the thought of the +long, long years that lie before me--fifty--sixty, perhaps; who can say? +The Reverend Mother is over seventy; and one sister lived to be nigh +upon ninety. Oh, how did she bear it? How did she bear it?" + +The young head sank down upon the hard pillow; a moaning came from the +lips that should have been smiling and happy with the dawn of tender +womanhood. But on that fair young face there was a look as of fixed +despair. + +Clasped in her hand was a letter, which seemed the immediate cause of +her grief, as in a sense it was; for it was the stern reply sent to her +by her parents in response to her passionate appeal to be taken away +from the convent, and permitted to live the life of happy girlhood in +her father's house, where, as she strove to point out, her place had +been set. + +"It is some subtle device of the enemy that is tempting thee away from +the higher life," her father had written; "thy choice was made. It would +be sacrilege that would imperil thy soul's salvation to seek to retrace +thy steps." + +"I did not choose! I did not choose!" cried Eva, as if in passionate +remonstrance with the unseen father; "I was weak from sickness; thou and +the priest did persuade me. It all sounded so peaceful, so beautiful, so +holy. But I have tried it; and it is not peace, it is not joy. The +Church is composed of all holy men and women, and we who are baptised +into it become its members, knit into its life. I ask no more. Are these +nuns better than other women? No--I say NO! I have watched. I have +listened. I have felt. It is not a holy life; it is no holier than what +we see led by the saints in the world outside cloister walls. There are +saintly nuns, I deny it not; as there are saintly wives and mothers, and +saintly maidens and virgins without the cloister wall. It is not the +dress, the vow, the life, that makes the saint. It is something far, far +higher. And the Spirit divides His gifts as He will. He is not bound by +gates and bars and high imprisoning walls!" + +Again the passionate sobs broke forth; and there was a sound as of anger +and fierce resolve in that weeping, rather than of mere helpless +despair. Eva suddenly sat up, a bright light shining in her eyes, her +mouth taking an expression of almost grim determination. + +"They cannot force me to ratify my vows at the close of my novitiate! +What would happen if I refused? What are the tales that are whispered +within these walls of nuns who have been found unfaithful--as they are +pleased to term it?" + +The girl was silent. There was a tense look upon her face. She was +pondering deeply. In her dark eyes there showed from time to time a +gleam as of fire. It was plain that within the spirit of this novice of +the convent there dwelt a daring and a courage that is not vouchsafed to +all. + +And whence had come to Eva and to some other of her sister nuns this +sudden disgust of convent life?--this sudden conviction that it was not +in accordance with the dictates of nature, nor with the scheme of +salvation as set down in Holy Writ? How came that convent-bred girl to +have glimmerings of a higher calling as a member of the Church, than as +just a so-called cloister bride, brought, as it was then believed, in +some way nearer perfection by having abandoned the place in the world in +which she had been set. + +That question is easily answered. Not very long before there had broken +from the bonds of monastic life a young monk, Martin Luther by name, who +had since then been taking the world by storm, preaching and teaching +doctrines of liberty and enlightenment which had made the ears of his +listeners tingle. This bold young teacher was related to some friends of +two sisters, nuns in the Convent at Nimptsch, where Eva was undergoing +her training, and in some way or other many of his writings had been +introduced and circulated within the convent walls, with the effect that +nine of its inmates, including the young Eva, had become so keenly +dissatisfied with the life of seclusion to which they were vowed, that +they were making every effort in their power to gain permission to +rejoin their own families, and to be taken home by their parents. + +But however much men's minds might be working with a sense of impending +change--a suspicion that the things in which they had hitherto put +their trust were about to fail them, and crumble into dust;--in spite of +all the upheaval that was beginning in the Church and in the world, +men's minds were not yet prepared for the revolt of nuns from their +cloistered homes. The breaking of the solemn vows they had taken still +seemed a thing impossible to condone or to permit. Not one of the +fathers appealed to had consented to the earnest petition addressed to +him. Not one had admitted the arguments by which the cloistered captives +had sought to win upon the hearts of those in authority over them. Eva's +heart had sunk within her these past days, as the stern replies came +back; but she had ever buoyed herself up with the hope that in her case +mercy would be shown. She was so young. Her full vows had not been +taken. She had pleaded so earnestly. It seemed impossible that her +father should not be moved to compassion. And yet his answer was now in +her hands, and it was a stern, uncompromising refusal to consider her +petition for a moment. + +"It was just a temptation of the devil," he concluded. + +A step was heard in the corridor without, and Eva quickly resumed her +discarded headgear. Order and discipline were strong elements in her +present life. What would the Reverend Mother or one of the senior +sisters think, if they found her in such dishevelment? But the door had +barely opened before she uttered a little cry of joyous relief. + +"Oh, Katharine! is it indeed thou?" + +It was one of the marks of those who longed to renounce the convent +rule, that they had discarded, amongst themselves, their convent names. +Katharine von Bora[A] was known as Sister Therese, as Eva was known as +Sister Angela to their sister--nuns; but with the longing after home +ties had come the longing after home titles. It gave Eva a thrill of joy +each time she heard her once familiar name pass the lips of those about +her. + +[Footnote A: Afterwards the wife of Martin Luther.] + +"My little one, I saw by thy face in the chapel just now, that thou art +in trouble. Is it that thou hast had thine answer too?" + +Eva held out the crumpled sheet, and the elder nun's eyes quickly ran +over the written words. She sighed as she read. + +"It is no more than I feared; although so much less than I hoped. The +walls and bars of the convent are strong indeed." + +"Katharine--ah, sweet Katharine!--do not tell me that thou hast yielded +up hope! I would dare so much! I would do so much! If a monk has +escaped--like that brave Martin Luther--and nought is done to him, why +may not we?" + +The elder woman looked searchingly into the eager, quivering face, and +caught the light of courage and purpose in the soft, dark eyes. Her own +kindled beneath the glance. + +"Little one, art thou brave enough, and discreet enough to be entrusted +with a secret?" asked Katharine, "or wouldst thou rather remain in +ignorance until the final moment? There is safety sometimes in +ignorance; and thou art little more than a child." + +The colour was coming and going in Eva's face; the look of purpose in +her eyes deepened each moment. + +"Tell me," she whispered, her eyes beginning to shine, "is it that there +is hope for us? Can it be that help can reach us, even within these +grim, strong walls?" + +Katharine glanced round her to be certain that the door of the cell was +fast shut. She even moved to it, and looked down the bare corridor, as +if to assure herself that there was no spy within hearing. Who could +tell, in such a community as that, whether it would not seem the bounden +duty of any passing nun to play the eavesdropper, should she harbour for +a moment a suspicion that all was not well with her fellow sisters? Who +could tell whether or not the Reverend Mother had got wind of the +discontent of some of her nuns? Probably she knew somewhat about it, +since the appeal of certain of their number to their friends had been +made. Might she not have set traps and devices in order to discover +whether or not the answers they had received would be sufficient to +quiet their discontent, and induce them to settle contentedly in their +cloistered home? Would she not be intensely alert to discover if any +other phase of revolt were passing in the minds of the imprisoned nuns? + +"Thou art brave enough to know the truth and not to betray it?" + +"I will die sooner!" cried Eva. "Ah, sweet Katharine, tell me! Is there +indeed some hope for us?" + +"I trust so. I believe so. We have done what we can. We have made appeal +to Martin Luther himself!" + +Eva's hands were clasped closely together. Her breath came and went in +an ecstasy of excitement and hopeful expectation. The elder woman spoke +on in a carefully lowered voice. + +"It hath been done through Margaret and Katharine von Zeschau. Thou +knowest that their relatives are friends of this Luther's, and that +although their parents are still beneath the thrall of the old beliefs, +others of their house are beginning to break through the toils. They +have the letter, and will place it safely in the hands for whom it is +meant. Word came through a safe channel to-day, that we might be assured +of this; Martin Luther will never turn a deaf ear to such an appeal. He +will rest not until he has answered us, and won for us our liberty!" + +A look of ecstasy transfigured Eva's face. She threw her arms about +Katharine's neck; her voice quivered as she cried: + +"Oh, Katharine!--to be free--to be free! To drink in the pure air of +heaven! To see one's life opening before one amid the sweet surroundings +of home! To have brothers, sisters, a father and mother once more! +But----" and here she paused, and a look of anxiety crossed her face. +"But what if our parents refuse to receive us when we are free?" + +Katharine's calm face expressed full comprehension. She drew Eva towards +her, and they sat close together on the narrow pallet bed. The elder nun +supported the quivering frame of her girl companion, as she sought to +make her understand the situation. + +"There are many things to think of, little one," she said; "and thou +must not embark upon such an enterprise not knowing all its risks. First +there is the peril to ourselves should this thing get wind before we are +safe without the walls." + +Eva shivered a little, and clung more closely to Katharine. + +"What would they do to us?" she asked in a whisper. + +"Nay, I know not. There are many frightful tales of the punishment +inflicted upon nuns who have been 'unfaithful to their vows,'" answered +Katharine steadily; "thou dost know the bricked-up niche in the crypt +beneath the chapel, where they say such an one was walled-up to perish +by hunger and thirst." + +"Katharine," said Eva suddenly, "is it right to be unfaithful to our +vows? We are not doing that which is abhorrent?" + +"I think not--and truly believe not," answered Katharine, her eyes +glowing and dilating; "and I have spent many a night in prayer and +fasting, asking to be led and guided. These vows were forced upon us ere +we understood their meaning. They wrapped up the real truth in such a +way that we were much deceived. There is a terrible side to convent life +which is never breathed beyond the walls. There is a wide-spreading +corruption going on that shows to me the system is not Heavenly. God +will understand that, in the spirit, our vows to be His for ever will be +kept, as far as poor frail flesh can keep them, albeit the letter be +broken. I fear not to cast myself upon His mercy in this thing. I know +that were I to remain here they could not be kept as truly as they shall +and can be without!" + +Eva felt a shiver run through Katharine's frame. She only partly +understood; but she knew enough to cause her to spring to her feet and +cry, although in the instinctively hushed tones that soon become natural +to the convent-bred girl: + +"Then take me, take me too! I will do anything, I will dare anything, to +escape from these terrible walls! I would even face that terrible fate; +for is it not a living death to be for ever here without the prospect of +release?" + +After that the days seemed to go by strangely in the convent. It was +Lent; the celebration of the Lord's Passion was drawing very near. The +nuns were engrossed in their appointed hours and religious exercises; +they grew thin and pale from vigil and fasting; but there was another +reason why some of them looked white and careworn. The looked-for answer +to their appeal had not reached them yet. Could it be that the thing was +too hard for this bold advocate of liberty to attempt? + +Good Friday had come. The long exhausting services had been gone through +with rigorous exactitude; and the Reverend Mother had now retired to her +own room, the nuns being bidden each to her cell, to spend the interval +in meditation. Eva felt a light touch upon her arm as she was leaving +the chapel. Katharine's voice in her ear spoke in the softest whisper: + +"Come to my room." + +A sudden hope flooded Eva's heart. She dared not lift up her eyes lest +they should betray her. She continued her soft walk with drooping head +and hushed footfall; but there was a clangour in her temples of the +young blood coursing there, and she was asking herself a thousand eager +questions as she slipped like a ghost past her own door, and to the +apartment of Katharine von Bora, where, to her amazement, there were +gathered together the whole party of those nuns who desired escape, a +look of strained expectancy upon all faces. + +When Eva entered, Katharine closed and locked the door, and flung the +key through the open window into the courtyard below. There was +something in her aspect so resolute and tense, that Eva's heart leapt up +within her, and she cried: + +"Katharine--tell me--ah, tell me!" + +"They have promised to come for us to-night," answered the other +Katharine. "We are to wait here for the signal. When it comes we are to +drop noiselessly into the court below, and they will have means to +convey us over the wall and away! It seemed a good day; all the world +resting and exhausted after the day's exercises. Suspicion dulled, we +trust. We may hear the signal at any moment now. Pray heaven it comes +speedily!" + +They were all trembling with excitement and a nervous terror that was +inevitable in their reduced condition. Katharine von Bora looked round +upon the ring of white faces, and said: + +"If we have been betrayed;--if the thing is known--and who can be +certain that it is not? Spies abound within cloister walls, as women +have found to their cost ere now;--if it be known we shall be captured, +and our punishment will not be light. If any is afraid, there is yet +time to turn back. Let none who is faint-hearted seek the perils of +flight!" + +Her eyes dwelt chiefly upon the tender flower-like face of Eva. Her love +for the youthful novice was deep and tender. She longed for her to +escape from the terrible bondage of the convent; but what if they should +be discovered and brought back? She could bear the thought for herself; +but for Eva---- + +But there was no fear in Eva's face as she read the thought in the eyes +of her friend. The pulsations of her heart seemed to become quiet and +regular; her gaze was steady and fearless. She was the youngest and +tenderest of all that band; but there was no tremor in her tones as she +said: + +"Heaven will help us, I am sure of it. Have we not been asking it? But +even if not, let me go with you. Far better is death itself, than a +living death within these pitiless walls." + +"The signal! the signal!" cried a strangled voice from the window; and +Magdalene von Staupitz, who had been leaning out with straining ears, +held up her hand to enforce instant silence. + +They all heard it then; the rumble of wheels, and the careless whistling +by the driver of a familiar tune, agreed upon as the signal of +approaching help. + +The room in which they were assembled was quite dark, save for the dying +twilight of the April evening. The bars of the casement had been +carefully filed through before, and could be removed noiselessly now +with a single wrench. The courtyard was not far below; and the sisters +helped each other to drop silently down into it, having selected this +particular window on the north side of the convent, as being most remote +from danger of observation. + +Eva was the last to descend; she was so light and bird-like in her +movements, that having helped to lower the others, she found no trouble +in hanging by her hands from the sill, and dropping lightly into the +arms of her sister nuns, as she fancied. To her astonishment, and for a +moment to her terror, she found herself confronted by a goodly youth of +fine proportions, but, of course, a perfect stranger to her, who set her +gently on her feet with the reassuring words: + +"Your pardon, sweet maid; but time presses, and your companions are +being hurried over the wall to the waggon. They tell me you are the +last. So let us lose not another moment." + +He took her hand and led her across the courtyard, the beating of her +heart sounding in her ears like the clangour of an alarm-bell in the +tower overhead. Suppose this was a trap? Were they walking blindfold to +their destruction? For a moment her feet faltered; but a strong hand +upheld her, and a voice spoke in her ear with masculine reassurance: + +"Fear not, sweet lady. Having so far succeeded, we will not give you up +without such a struggle as shall set all Germany in a blaze!" He looked +at the fair face beneath the nun's coif, and added with sudden fire and +chivalry: "I would lay down my life to save you from all hurt!" + +Eva felt herself quivering and tingling all over. The blood was racing +through her veins as it never seemed to do within those stagnating +cells. The next instant she found herself being helped up a ladder to +the top of the wall, and immediately a pair of strong arms lifted her, +and she was placed beneath the friendly covering of a waggon, where she +felt, rather than saw, that her friends were all packed together. + +"Ladies," spoke the voice of the elder man, "we must ask you, for awhile +at least, to consent to somewhat cramped quarters. There are a dozen big +barrels in the waggon. Each is roomy enough to hold a human being. The +only safe way in which we can convey you through the country we have to +traverse is by concealing you in these barrels. I trust you will not +find the captivity a very oppressive one." + +Instantly there was willing bustle and confusion, as the nuns joyfully +concealed themselves within the great casks, which were sufficiently +roomy to permit of their squatting down upon the thick layer of straw +considerately provided, whilst the air-holes previously bored gave them +ample breathing space when the tops were fastened down. + +Eva was helped into her cask by the youth who had caught her on her +descent from the window, and whom she heard the elder man address +sometimes as "Leonard." He picked up a rug from his own seat upon the +box, and tucked it about her to make her nest softer; and when she +looked up with a grateful smile, and asked: + +"Whither are we going, fair sir?" he answered eagerly: + +"We take you first to Dr. Martin Luther, who has arranged all this. But +afterwards you will be housed and sheltered by some of the good citizens +of Wittemberg, till it be seen whether or not your parents will receive +you back. But even if not, methinks there will be other happy homes +speedily open to you. My mother is even now hoping to house and shelter +some of you. Wilt thou be willing to trust thyself to my mother's gentle +care?" And as he spoke young Leonard leaned a little nearer, and just +touched Eva's hand with his. + +She felt a strange thrill run through her frame. She was half-terrified, +half-delighted. It was like a strange dream, this tent-like waggon, with +its heavy cover, and the gleam of the lantern that lighted up the rows +of casks with their living occupants, and shone upon the flushed and +eager face of the handsome youth, and the grave bearded countenance of +his father. It recalled to her a thousand blissful dreams of childhood, +when she had revelled in the romances and stories of knights errant and +bold heroes. As the light was shut out from her eyes, and she felt the +heavy waggon begin to move on, she realised that the first and worst of +the peril was past. They had escaped! They were outside the convent +walls! They had broken the chain which bound them! + +Peril might still menace them for awhile; but at least they had achieved +something. Eva had a feeling, which she was almost afraid to analyse too +closely, that "Leonard" would fight a very grim and determined battle +before he would let her be carried back to the gates of the cloister. + +Many were the halts and interruptions of the journey; and many times did +Eva's heart seem almost to stop beating, as a voice would ask close in +their ears, as it seemed: + +"What have you here in this waggon?" + +"Barrels of herrings," was the reply, made in a grumbling tone from the +driver; "barrels of herrings, and a very slack market for them since +Easter is so nigh. I should have had them before; but there was delay, +and now nobody wants our wares." + +Eva had fallen asleep, and her sleep was so sound that she was startled +at last on waking suddenly, to find the sunlight illuminating the bright +world. The head had been taken from her cask, and the tall, handsome +youth was looking eagerly down upon her, saying with a smile and a +blush: + +"Mistress Eva, you are safe now. Dr. Martin Luther wishes to welcome you +with the rest. And when you have refreshed yourself, and changed your +attire, my father and I are to have the honour of welcoming you and +Mistress Katharine von Bora under our humble roof, there to await the +result of such representations as will be made by you to your parents." + +Eva never forgot that memorable breakfast taken in presence of the great +man, whose name was becoming a household word throughout the length and +breadth of the land. + +She remembered less clearly the drive to Torgau with Councillor Koppe +and his son Leonard. It was like a dream to sit in a coach, attired in +the ordinary garb of a citizen maiden, and to be in conversation with a +handsome youth like Leonard, whose devotion never allowed her a moment's +anxiety or a single ungratified wish. + +But the motherly kindness of Frau Koppe was worth all the rest to Eva, +when that worthy matron opened her arms and folded her in a loving +embrace. And when it came out at last that her offended parents +declined to receive her home, Eva could meet the disappointment bravely; +for had she not found a second home and second mother in Torgau; and +what was to hinder her speedy marriage with Leonard, when both knew +their own hearts so well? + + + + +EMMA FITZ-OSBORN + + +"The King forbids the marriage!" + +Raoul de Gael sprang from his seat beside his betrothed, and stared with +incredulous astonishment into the face of the bearer of this piece of +strange tidings. + +The beautiful Emma lifted her head and gazed wonderingly into the dark, +stern face of her brother. + +"The King forbids the marriage!" repeated Roger Fitz-Osborn, a dark +flush gathering upon his cheek, as his anger slowly kindled and rose; +"he has sent a special courier across the sea with his Royal mandate, +but no word of reason to explain his tyranny. Are we to be the slaves +and chattels of the man we have made?" + +"The King forbids the marriage?" repeated Emma, in her clear, ringing +tones; "and by what right does the King forbid it? Does he not owe to +our father the crown that he wears so proudly upon his head? And are we +to become the slaves of the man in whose cause our father +spent his blood and money, and at last his life itself? Oh, +shame!--shame!--shame!" + +A thunder-cloud rested on the brow of the bridegroom-elect; that swarthy +Breton face was capable of expressing the extreme of haughty passion and +resentment. He paced the long apartment to and fro like a wild beast in +its cage. Then he went up to Emma and took her hand in his. + +"Dost thou fear the anger of this King, who, but a few short years ago, +was but the Duke of Normandy? whose title to the broad realm of England +would never have been won but for the aid of thy noble father, and of +men like ourselves, who have fought and conquered by his side? Dost thou +fear his Royal displeasure?" + +Emma threw back her head, and looked into her lover's eyes. The blood of +a soldier race ran in her veins. + +"I fear nothing," she answered, with simple sincerity. + +"Spoken like a Fitz-Osborn!" cried her brother, whose pride and +self-esteem had been stung to the quick by the haughty mandate from the +Conqueror, and who had himself favoured the marriage of his beautiful +sister to his brother-in-arms and chiefest friend, and had completed +every arrangement for the ceremony, which was to take place almost +immediately. + +Roger Fitz-Osborn was Earl of Hereford by right of sword, as Raoul de +Gael was Earl of Norfolk. Both had distinguished themselves by their +bravery in the war which had made William of Normandy King of England, +and had received these earldoms in recognition of their services. +William the Conqueror was at this time in his own native land, having +left the Primate Lanfranc in temporary charge of England. During this +breathing space the warriors had had time to think of other matters than +the excitement of arms. Raoul had paid a visit to Roger in his new and +stately castle, and the beauty and grace of Emma had so completely won +his heart that they had become affianced in a few weeks' time, and he +was already urging on an immediate marriage. + +Such a marriage was entirely to the mind of the brother, and as for +Emma, her heart had been won by the attractions and manly beauty of +Raoul, whose fierce temperament seemed to find its complement in her +lofty courage. + +Such a thing as any opposition upon the King's part never once entered +the minds of any of the parties concerned. Nor has it ever been made +clear why the Conqueror raised this objection, and by his haughty +mandate alienated the allegiance of some of his most faithful followers. + +Had there been time for the journey to and fro, perhaps the brother +might have crossed the sea and returned with the Royal assent, and the +subsequent tragedy might have been averted; as it was, the mandate only +reached them a few days before the wedding was to be celebrated. They +were already assembled at Norwich Castle, where (in spite of its being +the bridegroom's home) the ceremony was to take place, guests were even +now flocking in to witness the marriage and attend the subsequent feast. +To be forced to give out that the bridal could not take place owing to +the prohibition of the King was a thing abhorrent to the proud spirits +of Roger and Raoul, whilst the equally high spirit and courage of Emma +revolted against the imperious intermeddling of the King, who but a +short while since had been nothing but a noble himself, and whose recent +sudden rise in power was greatly owing to the support of the very +families whose happiness he now sought to mar. + +It wanted but a little to arouse in many hearts a sense of revolt and +anger against the absent William. No man can rise so suddenly to such +power without raising up a host of enemies amongst those who begin to +feel the iron hand of monarchy, where once was only the clasp of a +friend. The genius of the Conqueror had won him a kingdom, supported by +the loyal assistance of the Norman and Breton nobles; but he had not +always been careful to conciliate his friends, even though he had not +been backward in bestowing upon them broad lands and new titles. +Sometimes the very wealth and power thus placed within their reach +became, in some sort, a snare to them. Dreams of ambition are ever quick +to rise when angry men get together, and are heated with wine; and +during the days which intervened between the arrival of the King's +message and that fixed for the marriage ceremony, there were fierce and +eager discussions between hot-headed nobles, young and old; and a wave +of rebellious hatred seemed to be sweeping them along as they discussed +the tyranny of the newly made monarch, and spoke together in angry, +threatening tones, or in still more dangerous whispers of the +possibility of bringing about a better state of affairs in the country, +and one more distinctly advantageous to themselves. If William had so +easily conquered the kingdom and established his own power, perchance +that power might again be easily displaced. + +The spirit of anger and discontent is easily aroused, and Raoul and +Roger resolved to defy the King; yet, half afraid of the consequences of +their defiance, knowing well the implacable nature of the man with whom +they had to deal, they were eager to win to their way of thinking all +those nobles who were assembling to do honour to bride and bridegroom; +and certainly it seemed as though the spirit of disaffection were not +hard to wake. + +"If Waltheof would but join us we might rouse all England against the +Conqueror!" whispered Raoul into the ear of his betrothed upon the +night before their nuptials, as he spoke his fond farewell; and Emma's +eyes glowed, for she knew Earl Waltheof well as a great and warlike man, +whose popularity with his own countrymen would render him an invaluable +ally, supposing that this sudden wave of rebellious impulse were to +break forth into actual insurrection. Girl though she was, she had lived +in an atmosphere of strife, and the sound of battle or the clash of arms +had no terrors for her. Anger was in her heart against the King, and she +cared little if her brother and her future lord chose to take up arms +against him. Sooner than submit to his tyrannous decree, she would fight +with her own hands, and shed the last drop of her blood. For what was +life without Raoul? + +Very lovely was the face of the young bride beneath its drooping veil, +as, in the midst of a stately gathering, she plighted her troth to the +man of her choice. + +The deed was done. The King's mandate had been defied. A subject was in +open revolt. The realisation of this came home to all those present as +the fatal words were spoken. William was not a man either to forget or +to forgive. The gauntlet had been thrown down--what next? + +The wedding guests sat at the long tables in the great banqueting hall. +Bride and bridegroom, together with all the nobles and men of high +degree, sat at the table on the raised daïs, the others of lesser +degree at the tables in the body of the hall. Normans and Bretons were +there, together with a sprinkling of English, Earl Waltheof, who had +married the Conqueror's niece, the afterwards infamous Judith, being one +of them. But his wife was not with him, else perchance even the boldest +had not dared to speak so openly. + +It was as if (after the wine cups had gone round many times, and men's +hearts were inflamed by good cheer and by the whispers that had been +circulating with the cups) some sudden impulse came upon them, for a +murmur arose, and the murmur waxed louder and more fierce, and suddenly +a cry seemed to shake the rafters of the hall: + +"Down with the Usurper! Who is he that he should reign over us? What is +he better than others? Down with him! Let us divide the realm, and +choose Kings of our own!" + +Then came isolated voices crying fierce questions: + +"Did he not poison Conon, our brave Count of Brittany?" + +"What has he done for us, who shed our blood for him?" + +"Has he fulfilled the promise he made?" + +"He gave us barren lands for our wounds, and what does he do when we +have made them of some value? Does he not take them from us by force, +to give them to some new favourite?" + +"Down with him!--Down with him!--Shall we call such a man our King?" + +The deed was done! The die was cast. The banner of revolt was raised. +The assembled company knew that already they had gone too far to draw +back. The King would hear of this thing, and would never forgive. Action +must now follow hard upon words. The Conqueror was absent; much might be +done ere the news of insurrection reached him. Not one of those precious +days must be lost. + +With the first light of the new day the bride stood watching the +departure of her brother and her lord. Roger was to travel night and day +with all speed to Hereford and beat up his followers and the hardy Welsh +on his borders, with whom he had maintained friendly relations. Raoul +was to collect forces nearer at hand in his own earldom; but he must +needs go in person, and to his girl-wife he left the care of the grim +castle which had been the scene of yesterday's wedding and feast, and +which was garrisoned with black-browed Bretons, devoted to the service +of their master, and ready to lay down their lives for his beautiful +bride. + +Did her heart fail her as she saw the departure of her husband, her +brother, and their noble guests, together with the armed followers which +they had brought? Did she feel fear in the knowledge that she and they +were now accounted rebels, and that any day might bring an armed force +before the walls of Norwich? + +No; there was no spark of fear in her heart, though there was for one +moment a glint of tears upon her long lashes as she saw her lord and +master ride away, and knew that peril threatened him and his comrades in +arms, so soon as it should become known that they were in revolt. + +She set herself, as a true soldier's daughter and bride, to see to the +defences of the castle. The Breton garrison were true as steel. They had +no love for Norman or English; but they loved their lord, and for his +sake, as well as her own, they loved his sweet young bride; the sight of +her courage and devotion kindled new ardour in their breasts day by day, +and they toiled with all the energy in their power to strengthen the +stone walls, to obtain supplies of food and such munitions of war as +were needed in those days, and to prepare themselves for whatever might +betide. + +Rumours were flying hither and thither, rumours of strife and of +disaster. It was said that Roger of Hereford was cut off from returning, +and was penned in behind the broad waters of the Severn; and again there +was a whisper nearer at home that Odo, the warlike Bishop of Bayeux, was +in the vicinity with a force of finely equipped men. On hearing this +Emma's cheek grew pale; not with fear for herself, but lest some hurt +should befall her lord, whom she had as yet scarcely learned to speak of +as "husband." + +The watchman upon the tower had blown a warning blast. Something was in +sight; the horn sounded forth again and yet again. + +There was hurrying within the walls of the castle, archers hastening to +their loopholes, and men at arms buckling on their helmets and +breastplates, and seizing their good broad-swords in readiness for the +word of command. + +Emma, breathless and dishevelled, raced to the tower herself, and, as +she looked, she beheld a scattered band of fugitives, flying, as it +were, towards the castle; and so forlorn and woe-begone was the aspect +they bore that her heart seemed to die within her. + +"Bretons, to the rescue of your brethren!" she suddenly cried aloud, and +the cry was taken up and passed from mouth to mouth. Wide swung the +great gates, down sank the drawbridge; the soldiers streamed forth to +meet the flying Bretons and Saxons, who came in crowds for the +protection of those strong walls, bringing with them the gloomy tale of +death and disaster. + +Late in the day, conducting a ghastly company of maimed and mutilated +men, who had been bold stalwart soldiers a few days before, rode Raoul +into the courtyard, the blackness of night upon his brow; and Emma +rushed forth to clasp her husband to her heart, scarce knowing yet what +was the meaning of the things she saw and heard. + +"It means ruin to our hopes of life and liberty, if we cannot yet change +defeat into victory," said the young Earl, as he let his bride divest +him of his heavy armour, whilst he told the tale of his overthrow at the +hands of Bishop Odo. + +"Many died of their wounds; but some few I rescued, and have brought +them hither to thee, my sweet bride. But for myself I may not linger. +Our only hope now lies in getting help from beyond the sea. I must take +ship with all speed to mine own domains in Brittany, and there, when +this tale is told, methinks they will rise to a man in the defence of +their brethren, in answer to my call, in the hope of vengeance and +plunder! I will return with an army at my back, and William, the +so-called Conqueror, shall yet learn to quake at the names of Raoul de +Gael and Roger Fitz-Osborn!" + +"And my brother?--what of him?" asked Emma, "will he go with thee? And +wilt thou take me too?" + +"Nay, my life, I must leave thee here to hold this fortress for me. +Roger is penned in the west; albeit he will break loose I doubt not ere +long, and march day and night to thine assistance. But our Breton +garrison must needs serve under one they can trust and love. Sweet, my +bride, hast thou the courage for the task? Though thou art so young in +years, thou hast the heart of a soldier. Wilt thou hold the castle here +against proud William's forces, till I or Roger come to thine aid?" + +She looked him full in the face. + +"Thou dost think that they will follow and lay siege?" + +"They are so close behind me, that with the first dawn of the morning I +must be gone, else I shall be too late to escape them!" answered Raoul; +and his eyes rested with anxious questioning upon Emma's face. "Our poor +Bretons are treated with savage ferocity by the English," he added. "If +I lead them forth hence, and they fall into the Bishop's hands--well, +thou hast seen with thine own eyes how their brethren have fared." + +The fire flamed in Emma's eyes; she threw back her head with her own +queenly gesture. + +"Go, then, my husband, and I will guard thy castle for thee. I will keep +safe those thou dost leave with me. Go! fly over the water, and return +with the friends of the cause. Thou shalt find thy castle here, +safeguarded as though thou thyself wert at the head of thy soldiers. The +pitiless Bishop shall not lay hands on one of our Breton boys!" + +So the brave young bride was left for the second time alone in the grim +castle, to hold it for her lord till he should arrive with succour. But +this time she was quickly ringed round with foemen, who, in the King's +name, bade her surrender; and when she fearlessly refused, they laid +close siege to the castle, vowing to serve every Breton they should +henceforward take as those hapless creatures had been served, some of +whom she was tending now with her own hands within the walls of the grim +old keep. + +Emma had grown up inured to perils, to hardships, to the sights and +sounds of warfare, and warfare is always cruel. But her soul revolted +against needless cruelties; and the sufferings of the poor maimed +followers of her husband, who had been rescued and brought back by him, +nerved her to every effort to keep from a like fate those who served her +faithfully here, and looked to her to save them from it. + +Parted from her husband upon their very wedding day, wife only in name +as yet, the brave daughter of William Fitz-Osborn played the hero's part +during those three long months of siege. Every day she made the circuit +of the fortifications, careless of the flights of arrows that often made +such exposure of her person a perilous matter; she spoke words of +encouragement to the archers and watchmen; she devised ingenious methods +of frustrating the various attempts made by the wily and determined foe +for cutting off supplies, and for forcing an entrance into the castle. + +When it was known that a woman was in command, many devices were +practised for intimidating her and her soldiers; but all in vain; and +free promises of pardon for herself if she would but betray her trust +were answered with indignation and scorn. + +The hard part of it to the brave young chatelaine was the uncertainty of +what was passing elsewhere. Penned within the four walls of her eastern +fortress, she knew nothing as to the fate of her brother in the west, +nor how the rebellion against the Conqueror was spreading in the ranks +of the disaffected Norman barons and the dispossessed Saxons. It had +seemed to her, upon their wedding feast, as though all the realm was +weary of the rule of "the Norman." Yet if that were so, if the revolt +were ready to break forth all over the kingdom, why did none come to her +aid? Surely her brother and others must know of the peril in which she +stood. Why did not some of them seek to raise the siege? Why did not +Raoul himself return with his Breton reinforcements? + +As the long summer days went by, one after another, and weeks dragged on +to months, brave Emma's cheek grew pale, and her eyes took a wistful +yearning gaze, as of one whose heart is sick with hope deferred. But her +vigilance was never for a moment relaxed. Her courage never faltered. +Day by day she was to be seen upon the ramparts, speaking brave words to +the weary soldiers, hurling lightning glances of defiance at the lines +of the besiegers, and gazing with eager, expectant eyes in the direction +of the sea, asking of the birds of the air whether they had seen the +white sails of the coming vessels that should bring relief to her. + +At last the voice of rumour reached even this beleaguered castle. First +it was an isolated whisper, then other whispers followed. Bit by bit the +story of woe was pieced together, and a fugitive from the west, who had +been sent with dispatches for the Lady Emma, contrived to gain entrance, +and to tell all the tale. + +It was said that the treacherous Judith, wife of Earl Waltheof, had +learned the secret from her husband and had instantly betrayed it. The +rebellion had been quelled almost ere it broke out. In the west the son +of Fitz-Osborn had been taken captive, and was awaiting his doom on the +return of the King. Others had been taken or slain; Norwich alone was +holding out. Raoul had sent word that to return from Brittany was now +impossible. It would be but to fall into the hands of an implacable foe. +His word to his bride was to secure such terms as she could for herself +and her garrison, and to make her way across the sea with all speed to +join her husband there. + +With whitening cheek and sinking heart Emma heard and read all this evil +news. Her brother a captive, her husband an exile, their friends +scattered and dispersed. Surrender inevitable! But what was she to +surrender? This very messenger brought horrid tales of mutilation and +cruelties of all sorts inflicted on hapless prisoners by their +bloodthirsty conquerors. Was she to give up to such a fate the brave men +who had learned to look to her and trust in her? For the castle she +cared little. Where her husband was, there was her home. But her +soldiers and servants, were they to be given up? Never! Never! Never! + +"I will go forth and die at their head, fighting to the last, sooner +than that!" she cried. + +The Bishop had many times sought to open negotiations with the brave +Emma, but hitherto fruitlessly. Now, with her own hand, she penned him a +missive, offering to surrender to him the castle and its munitions of +war, but only on the condition that every living creature within its +walls went forth unharmed, and that they should be permitted to take +ship unmolested for the shores of Brittany. + +"Else will I never give up whilst one stone remains upon another. You +shall see how long the daughter of William Fitz-Osborn can bid defiance +to the man whom her father made England's King." + +Was it chivalry, was it admiration for the spirit of the brave woman, +or was it the policy of a soldier wearied by a long three months' siege +of a fortress that seemed no nearer falling now than it had done upon +the first day? + +Whatever was the motive for the concession, the answer that came back +was courteously, even generously worded. The brave young wife rode forth +at the head of her whole garrison, and the Norman soldiers who had +fought against the rebels in other places raised a shout of admiration +as she appeared. She sat her horse like an Amazon, and returned the +salutation with a dignity worthy of her name and race. + +Saluting and being saluted by the Bishop, and lustily cheered by the +soldiers, she passed through the town on her way to the coast, where +vessels were awaiting her, while her men marched boldly behind her, +singing the songs of their native land to which they were about to +return, and chanting aloud the praise of the beautiful Emma to whose +courage and resolution they owed their lives. + +She and her band of devoted Bretons were thus permitted to march to the +coast with all the honours of war, and to take ship for her husband's +domains in Brittany without receiving insult or violence of any kind. + +How high her heart was beating as she sighted the shore, and knew that +her lord was awaiting her there, in that home which she had never yet +seen! True, she was sad for her brother, and for the cause which had +been lost in England; but after all, was not her husband safe, and +waiting for her to rejoin him? and might not the tide turn some day, and +they return to England in triumph, to help to overthrow the rule of +Norman William, against whom they had sought to incite this rebellion? + +These were fond hopes not destined to be realised. The courage and +state-craft of William the Conqueror carried him safely through all the +plots which assailed him during his stormy reign. Raoul de Gael knew +where he was safe, and abandoned his claims upon English soil. + +"I did well indeed to entrust my castle to the keeping of my bride!" +cried the proud husband, when he held her in his arms once more; and the +answer that went up from a thousand throats was a shout of admiration +and praise in honour of their lord's fair young wife, the brave Emma +Fitz-Osborn. + + + + +ELIZABETH STUART + + +A princess, yet a captive in the hands of her father's foes; those foes +who were already whispering their fell intention of putting him to +death! + +This was the situation of the youthful Elizabeth, the second daughter of +the ill-fated monarch, Charles I. Her mother and her eldest brother were +beyond the seas, having made good their escape from Cromwell and his +Roundheads; but she, with her two brothers, James, Duke of York, and +Henry, Duke of Gloucester, were captives in the power of the Parliament, +and though treated with courtesy and a certain kindliness, they were +permitted no liberty to come and go, or even to write to their friends. +Every action was carefully observed, and their persons were so closely +guarded that there was little hope of evading the many watchful eyes +that were ever bent upon them. + +"If I could but reach my brother and our mother!" was the exclamation +ever on the lips of James, when he and his sister were alone together. +It seemed to the high-spirited boy that once free from these encircling +walls and the vigilance of his warders, once across the sea to join the +others of his name and race, he must surely achieve some great thing for +the deliverance of his father; his restless mind was ever pondering this +theme. The thought of making good his escape was never absent from his +mind night nor day. + +Perhaps he plotted almost too much for his own success; for a day came +when he was summoned to an interview with certain of the Parliamentary +authorities, and he returned to his sister's apartments with flushed +face and flashing eyes. Elizabeth saw that he had been deeply angered by +what had passed, and she quickly got rid of her attendant, that she and +her brother might speak in peace together. This liberty was the only one +accorded to the Royal captives. Their rooms were guarded; they never +went abroad unwatched and unattended; but within the precincts of the +palace they had some privacy permitted to them, and they could speak +together without being overheard, though never without a fear of +possible eavesdroppers. + +"Sister, I have been grossly insulted!" cried James, with flashing eyes; +"they have intercepted my letter to our sister of Orange; they said they +had discovered treasonable matter in it." + +"Treasonable matter!" echoed Elizabeth, her breath coming and going. +"They dare to talk of treason!--They!" + +"Ay; that was the very word--treasonable matter! They saw, or thought +they saw it, in my desire to quit the country--to escape to Holland----" + +"But the letter was in cypher," interrupted Elizabeth. "How could they +read it when they had it?" + +A dark frown clouded the brow of James. + +"That I did not condescend to inquire; but I heard some talk between +those knaves themselves. I gathered that they had got the letter, and +had then sent for the Earl of Northumberland, and had shown him how we +had evaded his vigilance; had warned him, that if he could not find the +key of the cypher in which it had been written, he should be committed +to the Tower. Did I not tell you the other day that I was certain my +effects had been ransacked? I did not miss the cypher key. I know it so +well that I scarce ever have to look at it now. Doubtless they found and +took it away; but I did not observe it." + +"And they were angry with you, James?" + +"Angry? Ay, that they were. They dared to threaten me with the Tower, +too, if they found me plotting escape again!" + +Elizabeth clasped her hands closely together, her face worked with the +emotion she strove to master. She came and stood beside James, and laid +her soft cheek against his. + +"Jamie, Jamie," she cried piteously, "if they were to take you from me, +I think that I should die!" + +He put his arm about her, and they stood together, looking out of the +window, thinking and pondering deeply. + +"But, sister, you would have to learn to live without me if I were to +escape this thraldom, and win my liberty. Could you bear to let me go +for that?" + +A little tremor ran through the girl's slight frame. She was very frail +and delicate, this gentle, young Elizabeth; little fit to bear the +buffets of outrageous fortune, to stand alone in her strange captivity; +cut off from father, mother, friends, and kindred, and beset with so +many cruel anxieties and fears on behalf of those she loved best. Her +greatest solace in these sorrowful days was the companionship of her +brother James, who, being a year or more her senior, and endowed with +robust health, seemed like a tower of strength to the frail girl, hardly +more than a child in years, though misfortune had given a strange +maturity to her mind and disposition. It could not but be a dismal +thought to lose the constant companionship of this brother, to send him +forth into the perils of the great world without, where so many foes +awaited him. She might well have sought to keep him beside her, fearing +the perils of any project of escape; but despite her natural fears and +shrinkings, and the delicacy of her frame, the spirit of kings and +warriors was within her, and that spirit rose to meet the sacrifice +which might be required of her. + +"I would bear to let you go for that, Jamie," she answered. "But it +would break my heart were you taken from me to be immured within the +walls of the Tower." + +"It may come to that one of these days," said James, "if I be not able +to effect my escape. I cannot show the patience that you are able to +command; and I am not a child like Harry, there, of whose words and acts +no special note is taken. And did not our father bid me use every effort +to regain my liberty, and reach the side of our mother and brother? It +may be that already they are planning how to invade these shores, summon +all loyal hearts to join them, and set my father on the throne once +more! Oh! if such a thing were to happen, I must be there to help." + +His eyes kindled, his frame seemed to expand and grow tense; and an +answering thrill ran through that of the young Princess. + +"Ah, Jamie, Jamie, if only it might be!" she cried. + +"And why not, sister, why not? Other captives have escaped from far +stricter bondage than any we suffer from. What one has done another may +do. Why not?" + +"But they were men, and we are so young. We are scarce more than +children, albeit often I feel so old--so old!" + +"You are old enough to have the ready wit of a woman!" cried James; yet +even in his stress of feeling and excitement he kept his voice pitched +in a low key. "I have thought and thought and planned, but everything +falls to the ground; or we are betrayed into the hands of our enemies, +and threatened with stricter captivity than this. Elizabeth, put your +wits to work! Can you think of nothing? In bygone days it has been the +women sometimes who have done the thinking, whilst the men have done the +acting. Why should it not be so now?" + +The boy's dark, strenuous face looked earnestly into the fair spiritual +one of his sister, and into the cheeks of the young Elizabeth a faint +colour stole. + +"Oh, Jamie, I will try: I will try!" she answered. "But even could I +think of some stratagem or plan by which you could gain the freedom of +the world without, who is there outside that would dare to help you away +across the sea, whom we could dare to trust with such a secret?" + +"There is Colonel Bamfield," answered James promptly. "He is the man +whom I would trust for that." + +"Colonel Bamfield?" echoed Elizabeth doubtfully. "He who turned traitor +to our father's cause when all was lost? Would you trust such an one as +he?" + +"He is not a traitor at heart," whispered James eagerly. "He is the +staunchest friend we have. He has but feigned adherence to the +Parliamentary cause that he may the better serve us. I have had speech +with him, sometimes, for a few minutes. I trow he is to be trusted. And +as our enemies know that none is so bitter as a renegade, they think he +is our deadly foe. They do not suspect him as they would suspect others. +He plays his part right cunningly. He rails upon the King and his brood +most lustily; but all the while he is on the watch to serve us. I know, +could I once escape from these walls, that he would make all the rest +easy." + +There were footsteps without, and brother and sister started apart, as +the attendants entered the room on some pretext. They were well used to +this sort of thing. They were seldom left long alone together. The +little Duke of Gloucester, who had been playing quietly in a corner +whilst his brother and sister were talking, now came running up, and +begged for a game of hide and seek. + +This was one of the favourite sports of the Royal children; but to-night +Elizabeth excused herself on the plea of fatigue, and the two young +Dukes played alone, running hither and thither, and forgetting their +troubles for awhile, in the interest of the game. + +Elizabeth sat alone with her face hidden in her hands, thinking, +thinking, thinking, till it seemed as though her brain would scarcely +stand the strain of the mental conflict going on within her. She was +roused from her reverie at last by little Henry, who came and pulled +impatiently at her dress. + +"Come and help me to find Jamie," he begged. "He has hidden so well we +can none of us find him. You come and try!" + +Elizabeth rose quickly to her feet; she suddenly felt as though some +inspiration had darted into her heart. At the moment she did not pause +to examine it. She felt that when night came, and she was alone in the +darkness, she must take out this thing that had forced itself with +lightning rapidity into her being, and examine it at leisure. Might it +be that already the clue was in her hands? + +The Royal children were, at this time, under the care of Algernon Percy, +the Earl of Northumberland, and his Countess, and it was the desire of +both to make the captivity of the Princess and her brothers as little +irksome and trying as possible. At the same time, since they were held +responsible for their safe-keeping by the Parliament, they dared not but +use every precaution; and it was no easy matter for any of the children +to escape the vigilance of their guardians. + +A short time before this they had been at Sion House, and when there had +paid several visits to Hampton Court, to see their father who was in +confinement there. Once, not long since, they had spent two nights with +him in that Palace, to their great and mutual happiness. + +Now they had been removed to the Palace of St. James's, then on the +outskirts rather than actually in London itself, and surrounded by +pleasant gardens, in which the Royal children took exercise in fine +weather. They were very kindly treated by the Earl and Countess, and all +the servants of the household were instructed to show due and befitting +respect to the children of the King. So, in one sense of the word, their +life was not an unhappy one; but the shadow lying over their father's +fate, and the knowledge of their own inability to go to him or to go +anywhere, save at the will of their captors, made life somewhat bitter +to all, and roused a fierce sense of revolt in the heart of young James. + +It was during the children's sports that they were permitted most +liberty; and certainly James had found a clever place of concealment +this evening, for neither brother nor sister nor attendants could find +him; and it was only when Elizabeth called his name aloud from the +different corridors, and the great bell for supper clanged, that the boy +made his appearance, dusty and half covered with cobwebs, and laughingly +told Harry that he had found a fine hiding-place up near the roof, and +would show it him another day. + +The spring days were beginning to lengthen out now. A little while ago +it had been dark when they rose from supper, now it was growing lighter +every day. There was that promise of spring in the air that makes glad +the hearts of all young things. But it is hard to be a captive, penned +within walls and gates, when nature itself seems calling aloud upon men +to rejoice and to come forth into the gay free world without. + +"If it goes on much longer, Elizabeth, methinks I shall go mad!" spoke +James one day, when he and she were alone together. + +Then it was that, with bated breath and beating heart, Elizabeth +whispered into her brother's ear the thoughts and plans which had given +her so many sleepless nights of anxiety. + +"Jamie, have you ever noticed when we have passed Benyion's cottage, the +great key that hangs beside the door? That is the key of the outer +garden leading down to the river. I have seen him use it many times as +we have walked in the gardens." + +"Yes, I have seen him unlock that gate too. What of it?" + +"Jamie, if you had that key some evening at dusk, and if we had hidden +out yonder in our hollow tree some of my clothes, made to fit you, so +that none could suspect you were a boy, could you so arrange that +Colonel Bamfield should be awaiting you at the river side with a wherry +to take you to some vessel bound for Holland? I have still left a little +of the gold that our father entrusted to me. And I am told that +seafaring folk will brave much for gold. Colonel Bamfield could arrange +all that." + +"But how, how could I gain that key and use it at such an hour?" +questioned James, in an eager whisper. "How could such a thing be? Are +we not followed and watched everywhere?" + +"Yet have you not eluded all watchful eyes times without number in your +games with Harry? Have we not often searched the house for an hour, and +then have had to call you to come to us? If you can elude watchful eyes +in play, why not in earnest some day, whilst they think the play is +going on, and will make no marvel of missing you for an hour or more? +The days are getting long. Let us have our game after supper instead of +before. Let us so play night by night for a week or more, that they will +not dream we have any motive in the change. Let our friend the Colonel, +if he is to be trusted, make his plans. Then, upon a certain night, when +all is in readiness, and the boat is lying waiting for you, we will play +our hide-and-seek with a difference, and whilst brother and servants are +seeking for James within the house, and even the gardens--he will be far +down the river, making for the vessel that is to carry him hence." + +"But the key, Elizabeth, the key!" cried James, in great excitement; +"how can I gain possession of that?" + +"Listen, Jamie," answered Elizabeth, "I have thought of that. You must +begin to pretend to have exhausted the hiding-places of our portion of +the house, and you must ask to-day that the house steward will let you +conceal yourself in his pantry. Then the next day get leave of the cook +to hide somewhere in the kitchen. Another day be bolder still, and get +into the hay-loft, where the coachman will be proud and merry to hide +you. And then when the day comes that you ask the gardener for the key +of his cottage, to hide you there awhile, neither he nor any other who +hears will think it aught but a merry jest. Then as Harry will every day +be an hour and more in hunting you, that should be time enough for you +to change your attire and slip away through the gate; and if Colonel +Bamfield only do his part, you should be out of reach ere the pursuit +has fairly begun." + +James suddenly flung his arms about his sister's neck. + +"Oh! Elizabeth, Elizabeth! and you have thought of all that?" + +"I think of nothing else whilst we are playing hide-and-seek night by +night." + +"And suppose they find out that you were privy to the scheme all the +while, what will they do to you, Elizabeth!" + +She looked into his eyes, a brave smile on her pale face. + +"Think not of that, Jamie; in sooth I care little what they do to me. If +you only get safe away let them take me to the Tower, or whither they +will. Little Harry is too young to care greatly, so long as we are +together; and I do not think they will take him from me, even though +they do more straitly confine us." + +"But you--what would you do in that grim place?" asked James, with +something of a shudder. + +"I think all places are alike to me now," answered Elizabeth, with her +strangely spiritual smile, pathetic on the face of one so young; "God +will take care of us there as well as here. Do not fear for me, Jamie. +We must strive to do what our father wished. I shall be happy indeed in +knowing that you are safe and free. For my part, I am content in feeling +myself near to him, and in knowing that if he is a prisoner--so am I." + +Who would have thought, to watch the merry games of the Royal children +during the bright spring evenings that followed, what tumultuous +thoughts were surging within them, and what a daring plan had been +hatched in the brain of that delicate young girl, who so patiently +hunted the house, evening by evening, with her little brother, in +search of that clever hider, James. + +The servants were by this time devoted to the children, who treated them +with that invariable high-bred courtesy that never failed the hapless +Stuarts, whatever else they might lack or fail in. Coachman, steward, +cook, pantler--all were ready to assist the young Duke to some new +hiding-place, night by night. They enjoyed the game almost as much as +the children themselves. Indeed, they seemed to take a pride in +lengthening out the search, though in the end some whispered hint would +be given to the little brother if his energies showed signs of flagging, +and he would start forth hot upon the scent that would eventually lead +him to the hiding-place, if James did not spring out upon him first. + +The Earl and Countess were well used to the shouts and cries of little +Harry as he ran hither and thither through the house. The Earl generally +visited his young charges early in the evening, often just after supper, +and then he left them to their games till about nine o'clock, when he +attended first the younger Prince, and then the elder to their rooms, +and paid them the compliment of superintending in person their toilet +for the night. + +At last came the long-awaited Friday, the twenty-first day of April. The +twilight lingered long now, and the game of hide-and-seek was regularly +played after supper, lasting generally till the bedtime of the Duke of +Gloucester. + +[Illustration: He stopped short on seeing the Countess. + +_Page 125._] + +The Countess of Northumberland visited Elizabeth and her brothers this +evening, and sat awhile with the Princess after supper. Little Harry was +playing in a corner of the room; but the Countess looked rather +anxiously into Elizabeth's face, and remarked how white it was. + +"But I am not sick, I thank you, Madam," said the girl gently. "Belike +it is but the first of the springtide heat. I pray you not to send the +doctor. He does but give me physic which I know not how to swallow. I +shall be better anon--in a few days, I trust." + +At that moment James came running into the room, as though to speak to +his sister. He stopped short on seeing the Countess; but then, coming +forward, joined in the conversation, and chatted merrily enough. None +noted the quick glances that passed between brother and sister, nor the +strange wistfulness that brooded in Elizabeth's eyes. + +Suddenly James started up, as though just bethinking him. + +"Why, Harry, we must have our game; shall I hide again? Then give me +five minutes' grace, and come after me!" He looked at Elizabeth, and +said, "Wilt thou go with him? Or art thou tired to-night, sister?" + +"In sooth, I think she is aweary," said the Countess; and James put his +hands on Elizabeth's shoulders, boy fashion, and snatched a kiss from +her lips. + +"Then go to bed, sweetheart, and one of the servants shall attend +Harry," he said; "but he will not be content without his game of play." + +The boy was gone, and Elizabeth was thankful that little Harry now +claimed the attention of the Countess; for she felt as though every drop +of blood had ebbed from her face. What would be the next thing that she +heard of her brother? + +She could not be persuaded to remain in her room. She roamed all over +the house with Harry, whilst the Countess went back to her husband. +Harry's bedtime came at last; it was dark outside, save for the light of +the moon; the Earl came out, and asked where the boy was, and learned +that he was still seeking his brother. + +"Then I must needs help find him too," said the good-natured nobleman, +taking Harry's hand, and as the child seemed somewhat weary of the +search, he looked inquiringly at the servants. + +Then one came forward, and whispered that the Duke was hiding in the +gardener's cottage, of which he had begged the key; and thither they all +proceeded, Elizabeth commanding herself to laugh and chat with Harry, +and wonder where next Jamie would hide, and how many more strange +places were still left for him to find. + +Harry ran gaily into the cottage, when somebody had forced open the +locked door for him, at a sign from the Earl, whose face had suddenly +clouded over. But ransack as they might, not a trace of the fugitive +could be found. + +With a stifled exclamation of dismay the Earl dashed down to the +water-gate, which he found open. Then the truth flashed across him, and +he bit his lips in perplexed confusion. + +"Conduct the Princess and the Duke to the house," he said, "we must make +further inquiries into this matter!" + +Then Elizabeth knew at least that James had escaped from the Palace, +though she could not know for many days whether he would succeed in +making good his escape to Holland. + +She sought the privacy of her own rooms, and, falling upon her knees, +gave thanks to God for His great goodness in watching over them thus +far. + +Every day she expected to hear that some severe punishment was to be +inflicted upon her--perhaps even death itself, so little did she +understand the laws of the land--for the part she had taken in her +brother's escape. But strange to say her own complicity in the plot was +never suspected at that time. Her very calmness and courage, which +enabled her first to plan the clever scheme and then to go through her +own part so tranquilly, averted all suspicion from her. + +Even the Earl, when all the facts of the case were known, was exonerated +from blame. He had before told the Parliament that he declined absolute +responsibility with regard to the Royal children, unless he made actual +prisoners of them--a thing he was not prepared to do; and although there +was some angry discussion in the House, and several stringent measures +were recommended by certain extreme men, yet in the end humane counsels +prevailed, and the Princess Elizabeth, together with her little brother, +were permitted to remain beneath the kindly care of the Earl and +Countess of Northumberland. + +James escaped after a few perils, and got safe over to Holland; but the +hasty kiss he snatched from his brave young sister upon that April +evening was the last he ever gave or took from her. + +The girl Elizabeth never recovered the shock of her father's death two +years later, and though she lingered for more than a year, winning the +hearts of all about her by her sweetness of disposition and the +wonderful courage and fortitude she exhibited in the midst of so many +trials and sufferings, she passed peacefully away to a world where pain +and partings are no more, and where the sorrowful and weary are at +rest. + +Little Harry was with her to the last, receiving at her hands such few +poor possessions as remained to her. A while later, by an unwonted freak +of generosity on Cromwell's part, the boy was permitted to join his +mother in France. + + + + +CHARLOTTE HONEYMAN + + +"Pirates! Oh, Charlotte, how romantic! How do you know? Are you sure? +Oh, how I should love to see a real live pirate!" + +Charlotte smiled a little grimly. + +"I'm not quite so sure of that, Adela; I rather think if you were to +encounter him you would wish he were anything but a live pirate--you +would much prefer him dead!" + +"What a horrid idea, Charlotte!" and Adela shivered slightly. "But do go +on! Tell me some more! I thought there were no pirates left now. +Smugglers one knows abound; but pirates!" + +"I truly hope that there are not many such wretches in the world as the +man Gow seems by all accounts to be," said Charlotte, who, as the +daughter of the High-Sheriff of the island and county of Orkney spoke +with a certain amount of authority. "If half the tales they tell of him +are true, such a monster in human shape has seldom walked the earth. He +and his mate Williams have been a pair; but he found his subordinate one +too many for him, made him a prisoner, and handed him over to some +English man-of-war, under charge of various crimes, and the wretch has +probably been hanged ere this. But Gow yet goes scot-free!" + +"And is his vessel in one of our bays?" asked Adela, in a tremor of +excitement. + +"If the man's story be true, who came and asked speech of father last +night. He told a wonderful and a terrible tale. Father has gone off +to-day to make some particular inquiries into the business. He seems to +think very gravely of it." + +"And where is this terrible pirate vessel now?" + +"We do not know exactly. The seaman who came to seek for a magistrate +does not know the coast, and could not describe the place accurately. It +is not very near to our homes, thank heaven! We do not want pirates for +our neighbours!" + +"Oh, but pirates only rob at sea, not upon land," exclaimed Adela; "we +need not be afraid. I should love to see what a pirate ship looked like! +Does it carry a black flag? And do the men wear crimson sashes round +their waists, and black crape masks upon their faces?" + +Charlotte laughed a little. From her position as the daughter of the +Sheriff she knew a little more of the grim realities of crime than did +the younger and romantic Adela, whose pretty head was stuffed with a +good deal of nonsense. Sheriff Honeyman was very fond of his "little +child," as he still called Charlotte, notwithstanding the fact that she +had blossomed out into maidenhood of late years, and had left her +childhood behind. She was always ready for a clamber along the cliffs +with him, or a ride across the bare country on her sure-footed little +pony. He talked to her with unusual freedom for those days of his own +affairs, and was often amused by her shrewd comments and questions, as +well as by her little airs of worldly wisdom and fragments of meditative +speculation. + +He noted in her with approval, too, an intrepid spirit, and a readiness +of resource in moments of emergency, which she had inherited from him. +He was sometimes caught in storms when his daughter was with him, both +on land and on the sea, and he always admired her fearless spirit on +these occasions, as well as her presence of mind and quickness to think +and act. + +Charlotte had no sister, and her brothers were all away either at school +or college; but she was not lonely, for she had always plenty to occupy +and amuse her, and for companionship there was ever Adela to be depended +on; for Adela was an only child, and was devoted to Charlotte, who +seemed to her to be like brother and sister in one. + +Adela was the daughter of Mr. Fea, a wealthy gentleman (as wealth was +accounted in those days and in those parts) of the island. He owned +considerable tracts of land there, and he and Mr. Honeyman were +intimate friends as well as near neighbours. In his youth he had been a +poor man, but of late years things had greatly prospered with him, and +he was accounted only second to Mr. Honeyman in importance in that +district. As the two girls were walking up and down, and talking eagerly +together over this matter, Mr. Fea himself appeared coming towards them. + +Adela at once darted off, all eagerness to tell the news. + +"Oh, papa, papa, what do you think! Charlotte says that there is a +pirate vessel sheltering in one of the bays of our islands, and that we +may all be murdered in our beds any day!" + +Adela's face was quite glowing and beaming with excitement, and her +father could not forbear a laugh, in which Charlotte joined. + +"Well, my dear, that thought seems to give you wonderful pleasure! As +the old proverb says, 'there is no accounting for taste!'" Then, turning +to Charlotte, he asked: "But what is the sober sense of all this, my +dear? What news has come to your father about pirates?" + +"It is this, sir," answered Charlotte, turning to him quickly: "a poor +seaman came early this morning and asked speech of my father, and when +he was admitted he told a most terrible tale. Do you remember there +living once in these parts a man of the name of Gow, who afterwards took +to a seafaring life?" + +"Gow? To be sure I remember him," answered Mr. Fea at once. "He and I +were once at the same school--a hot-tempered, rather dangerous lad, of +whom nobody spoke well. We were none of us sorry when he shipped himself +off to sea. I have never heard of him since." + +"Well, the man who came to speak to papa told him that Gow had been mate +in a vessel called the _George Galley_, where he was a seaman. They had +a very good captain and officers; but Gow got up a mutiny on board, shot +the captain and some of the officers, got the well-disposed sailors shut +up helpless, took possession of the vessel, and changed its name to the +_Revenge_. Since then he has been scouring the seas, making the seamen +who did not join in the mutiny do the work of the vessel under threat of +cruel punishment or death, taking prizes, robbing and sinking small +vessels of many nations in the most reckless way, and now, by stress of +weather and through lack of water, they have put in here, where they +hope the news of their many misdeeds will not be known. They know +themselves to be in sore peril, for they have committed such +depredations on the high seas that their doings have become notorious, +and they are being watched for in many ports and on many oceans. But +here Gow thinks he may be safe for awhile, and, perhaps, even yet he +may elude justice, for he seems one of those men who carry charmed +lives." + +"Pooh-pooh, my dear; I don't believe in that sort of charmed life. Those +fellows always come to the gallows at last. But how did this man dare to +come with such a story? Gow will cut his throat if ever it comes to his +ears." + +"Yes; but he is not going back to the vessel. He escaped from her to +give notice to the authorities, and papa took him away with him, and has +promised him protection and help, though he will be wanted to give +evidence when Gow is brought to trial, as we hope to bring him. Papa has +gone off to take counsel with some others, and will not be back till +to-morrow; but the man said there was no fear that the _Revenge_ would +leave her moorings in that time. Gow was resolved to come ashore and +enjoy himself, and there were several more sailors who hoped to escape +from the ship, and to find their way to the mainland, there to give +notice of the pirate vessel." + +Mr. Fea was keenly interested in this story. He was a law-abiding +citizen, with a horror of bloodshed and violence, and he made up his +mind that he would do everything in his power to assist in the capture +of the pirate ship. It irked him to think that an Orkney man should have +sunk to the level of Gow, and the very fact of having known him in his +early days made him the more anxious to bring him to justice. It was a +horrible thing that such men were still ranging the seas, plundering and +murdering; and that honest seamen were forced to serve in such vessels +on pain of instant death! + +"I will see your father as soon as he returns," said Mr. Fea, "and we +will talk together as to the best method of making the capture. A pirate +sloop is not an easy prey to tackle; but we must see what can be done by +strategy or by force." + +Adela's eyes sparkled with excitement. + +"Oh, papa, will there be a battle? Shall we be able to see it? Will +there be danger and fighting, and all that sort of thing?" + +"I hope not, my dear; at least, not too much. There is always a little +risk in these affairs; but I hope most sincerely we may get off without +bloodshed. I should think that Gow was already sufficiently notorious, +without wishing to draw down upon himself the further ire of the +representatives of the law. Perhaps if he finds himself overmatched, he +may yield without much of a struggle." + +Mr. Fea was not in any way alarmed for his own or his neighbours' +houses, even though there was a pirate schooner lying hidden in one of +the many indentations of their coast. It seemed to him, from Charlotte's +story, that Gow had run in here in the hopes of lying safe and quiet for +a short spell, and that his aim and object would be to avoid stirring up +any sort of inquiry about himself and his vessel. He appeared to desire +to enjoy himself on shore for awhile, and he certainly would not be able +to do that if he incriminated himself by any acts of violence there. So +again telling Charlotte that he would be over the next day to see her +father, and would meantime think of some plan as to what might be done +to entrap the pirate and his crew, and gain possession of the vessel, he +took his daughter with him, as he turned to go to his house, and +Charlotte sped over the few dividing fields, and reached her own home +just as the dusk was beginning to fall. + +She and her mother took their supper comfortably together. Mrs. Honeyman +was an elderly lady, of considerable spirit and strength; but she was +very hard of hearing, though a little sensitive about this failing, so +that she was content often not to understand exactly what was passing, +rather than ask for an explanation. + +Charlotte did not mention the pirates to her; for she thought if she +shouted out the story, that some servant would be certain to hear, and +take alarm, and there might be a sort of panic in the house. The butler +knew, as Mr. Honeyman had given him a few extra instructions about +locking up the plate at night; but he did not wish his household +needlessly alarmed; the more so as he was not able to be himself at home +till the next day. + +After supper, it came into Charlotte's head that, in her father's study +there was generally on this day a considerable amount of gold, ready for +the payment of the weekly wage to labourers and people of the place on +the morrow. It occurred to her that she would do well to take her +father's cash-box up to her own room that night. Ordinarily, there was +so little fear of robbery here, that many people forgot to lock their +doors at night; but perhaps, with a crew from a pirate vessel lurking +somewhere near, it would be better to be on the safe side. + +So after supper she went away quietly, took the heavy cash-box out of +the drawer, and carried it up to her room. She had in her keeping, in an +old-fashioned bureau, a good many family heirlooms in the shape of +jewels, some of them of great value; and beside these there were some +precious family documents greatly prized by her parents. + +Charlotte could scarcely have told why it was that she took these out of +their hiding-place, folded them carefully up, and strapped them to the +cash-box, which she wrapped in a cloak and placed the bundle in her +wardrobe, where a dark driving-cloak and hood hung from a peg. She was +conscious of feeling a little restless and excited, though hardly +uneasy. + +"It is Adela's nonsense about being murdered in our beds, and all that," +she said to herself; "I will go down and get a book, and not trouble +myself about those stories any more." + +Everything was very quiet as Charlotte and her mother sat beside the +cheerful log fire with their books. The house was rather a rambling +building, having only one upper storey of rooms, and covering a good +deal of ground. The sounds from one part of the house did not easily +penetrate to another; and Charlotte had not heard anything to awaken any +uneasiness, when suddenly, hasty steps sounded outside the door, which +opened to admit of Peter, the butler, who had such a white, scared face, +that, instinctively, Charlotte jumped up and placed herself so that her +mother might not see the man's expression of terror. + +As a matter of fact, Mrs. Honeyman, being engrossed in her book, did not +heed her daughter's movement, and, of course, had not heard the approach +of the servant. + +"The pirates! the pirates!" cried Peter, in strangled tones. "My +mistress--my dear young mistress! Fly for your lives! They will murder +every one who tries to thwart them!" + +"How many are there?" asked Charlotte breathlessly. + +"Ten; nine are to go through the house and take everything. The tenth +guards the door. They say they will not hurt anybody who offers no +resistance; but they will shoot the first one of us who tries to save +his master's property!" + +Charlotte's eyes flashed. Her spirit was rising within her; but she was +no reckless fool to adventure herself and others in a futile struggle. + +"The men are armed, of course?" + +"To the teeth, with knives and pistols and cutlasses." + +"Then, Peter, we cannot tackle them ourselves. We must get your mistress +away at once. She must not even know what is happening in the house, +else I am not certain she would not face the whole pirate crew herself, +and defy and resist them. She must not run that risk. Be ready to follow +up what I shall say. I do not like to deceive; but we must stoop to +subterfuge for once." + +Then, turning back into the room, she shouted to her mother--but rather +slurring over her words, and making many breaks. + +"Mamma--mamma, you are wanted. Something terrible has happened. Mrs. +Fea--you must go there instantly. Please do not lose a moment. It may be +life or death. Peter will take you. Your cloak and over-shoes are yonder +in the lobby. That is the nearest way; and I will follow you quickly and +see what is the matter." + +Now Mrs. Honeyman was the most notable nurse in all the island, and in +all cases of sudden emergency she was always sent for, and delighted to +go and show her kindliness and skill. She was on her feet in a moment +now, and hurried with Charlotte into a little lobby on the other side +of the room, where her walking things for the garden always hung, and +where a side-door led straight out into the garden on that side of the +house nearest to the Feas'. Peter caught up a cap and gave his arm to +his mistress, but bent an imploring glance upon Charlotte. + +"Missy, Missy, you must come too. I cannot leave you." + +"I will be after you directly. I have but to run up these stairs here to +my own room for something. Don't lose a moment. I shall overtake you. +But I have something I must secure first. Lose not a moment in +acquainting Mr. Fea with what has happened." + +Mrs. Honeyman, was by this time unlocking the door, and Peter had no +choice but to follow his mistress. Charlotte, drawing a long breath of +relief in the consciousness that her mother was now safe, darted up the +little stairway to her own room, and already fancied that she heard +strange steps and voices in the house. + +Her heart beat to suffocation in the thought that at any moment the +other door might be dashed open, and some ruffian suddenly come in and +snatch away her precious treasure. What a mercy it was that she had +thought of secreting it like this! Here it was under her hand. She was +already wrapped in her cloak; her precious package was in her arms, she +was about to run down the little stairs again, when, to her horror, she +heard rough voices in the parlour below, and the sound of oaths as the +men called one to another in their hasty search. + +"'Tisn't here! There's nothing here worth laying hands on. They must +have hid it somewhere. Let's be off upstairs. Here's another staircase. +Let's see where that leads to!" + +Charlotte darted back into her room again, and drew the little bolt +across it. But that would only give her a moment's respite, she knew. +One or two heavy blows would bring the door crashing inwards; and what +then? She could not fly out by the other one, down the main staircase, +without encountering the man on guard at the hall-door. The sight of her +precious package would be certain to attract their instant attention, +and they had threatened with death all who strove to resist their +project of robbery. + +But if she were to give up the valuables? Then she might well escape. +They had no personal quarrel with her; and nobody had told her to +constitute herself the guard of the family property. For one brief +instant, Charlotte hesitated; then, with a snort of contempt at her own +cowardly thought, she dashed open the window, threw her precious package +down into the garden beneath, and herself vaulted lightly after it. + +She had performed this feat occasionally before, in the days of her +tom-boy pranks with her brothers, but she had not often practised such a +leap of late, and the darkness made it more difficult. She was conscious +of a sharp thrill of pain in her foot as she reached the ground, but, +striving not to think of this, she caught up her bundle and fled; a +light instantly flashing from the window of the room she had quitted, +showed her that she had only just made her spring in time. + +With a heart that thumped so loud in her ears as to deaden all other +sound, Charlotte sped onwards as fast as the injured foot would allow +over the rough ground that separated her home from that of her friends. +But, in a few moments, she was certain that she was pursued. She heard +angry, threatening voices in the garden behind her. Glancing back she +saw flashing lights, and through the still night air came the sound of +curses, which bespoke very real disappointment. Evidently, the men had +heard of the cash-box to be found in Mr. Honeyman's house, and were +enraged that it was not forthcoming. + +"Somebody has taken it and made off!" cried a stentorian voice. "After +him, men!--scatter, and scour the place. He can't have got far! Blow out +his brains if he resists. That money I will have. I don't come all this +way on a fool's errand!" + +[Illustration: Suddenly, close above her, the steps came to a dead stop. + +_Page 145._] + +Charlotte heard, and instantly was aware of flying footsteps in many +directions, some coming her way. What could she do? Try as she would her +progress was not rapid. The distance to the Feas' house, so short on +ordinary days, now seemed endless. There were no trees to give cover. +That windswept island was bare of any save stunted bushes, and even of +these there were none to serve her purpose. If the moon should shine out +she would instantly be seen. She was not certain that some of those +fierce shouts did not mean that she had been seen already. + +Breathless and terrified, but still clutching her treasure tightly, +Charlotte made for a great hole in the bank that she had known from +childhood. Into this friendly, yawning chasm she crept, pushing her +bundle before her, and here she crouched in darkness, covered by the +folds of her sombre cloak, expecting almost moment by moment to feel a +rough hand pulling her forth, or the threat of a bullet through her +brain if she did not instantly give up her treasure. + +Footsteps came nearer and nearer. She shrank closer and closer into her +hole. She felt her flesh creep as the ground shook beneath the heavy +tread; it was all she could do to keep from uttering a cry. The horror +of that approaching discovery was so very real to her. + +Suddenly, close above her, the steps came to a dead stop. She had been +discovered! She knew she had! Her senses almost forsook her. It was a +moment that she never forgot. Then a voice spoke, a rough, raucous +voice: + +"You'd best come back. It's no good staying here. They're coming out +from that other house with lights and servants. They've got wind of +something up, and the sooner we get off with what we've found the +better." + +A sudden rebound of feeling made Charlotte almost cry aloud. And as she +strained her ears to hear, the heavy tread of feet shook the ground once +more, now in full retreat. A few minutes later, limping in her gait, her +face as white as death, her dress covered with sand, her hands still +grasping the bundle that held the treasure, Charlotte almost fell into +Mr. Fea's fatherly arms, and told him all her tale. + +"I don't know what Mr. Honeyman will say when he hears how near his +little girl went to losing her life for the sake of some valuables," he +said, as he led her into the house; "but one thing I know: he will be +mighty proud of having such a heroine for a daughter." + +"If he doesn't think I was only a little goose," panted Charlotte, +beginning to look like herself. "But, oh, I am glad those wretches have +not got the things! And are you sure they have hurt nobody?" + +That was the end of Charlotte's personal exploit with the pirates; but +there were many exciting days to follow, for in trying to get their +vessel away quickly, they put out on a stormy night, and were driven +ashore in the bay called Calf Sound, not far from the houses of Mr. +Honeyman and Mr. Fea. There, after much effort and some little +stratagem, the crew was finally captured, and Gow met his richly +deserved fate and perished on the gallows. + + + + +MARY BRIDGES + + +"Eleanor! Sister! There be days when I know not how to bear it. I feel +that I shall do something desperate." + +"Nay, hush, Mary! hush! why shouldst thou speak so wildly? We must be +patient! Things will not always be so black!" + +"Patience, patience! I am sick to death of the word! We have borne with +these odious men about the house, till sometimes I feel that I can bear +it no longer. And now that our father hath gone, and Robert with him, I +feel that the house is scarce a safe place for our mother or ourselves." + +"Come, come, Mary, thou dost go something too far!" + +"I trow not. Those bloody, hateful men of Kirke's, what do they care how +they frighten or annoy those who are forced for a time to shelter them? +The maid servants dare never be alone for an instant. They never know +but that one of those half-tipsy fellows will not come lurching in upon +them. And listen, 'twas only just now that I met one of them, smelling +so vilely of beer and spirits that it made me sick to go near him, +wandering up the stairs into our part of the house; and when I bid him +begone to his own quarters, what thinkest thou the wretch did?" + +"He did not hurt thee?" quoth Eleanor, with sudden solicitude. + +The eyes of the younger girl flashed fire. + +"Had he laid a finger upon me, methinks I would have slain him as he +stood!" she cried. + +"Oh, hush, Mary! hush! hush!" pleaded Eleanor. "It is not good in these +times to speak such rash words." + +"A pretty pass things have come to if sisters may not speak freely +together in their own home!" flashed out Mary, whose quick temper was +easily aroused, and whose pent up indignation of weeks was coming upon +her like a flood. "No, the creature did not dare lay hands upon me. I +gave him a look--that was enough; but he vowed with many a vile oath +that he would kiss me ere he did my bidding. If I had shown one mite of +fear, Eleanor, I verily believe that he would have been as good as his +word." + +The fair Eleanor shivered with a sense of keen disgust. She had not her +sister's courage and readiness and masterful looks and ways. Suppose she +had met one of these men upon the stairs, and he had spoken thus to +her, would she have been able to escape the hated salute? It turned her +sick to think of it--albeit in those days kisses were given and received +much more commonly than has since become the fashion between men and +women, youths and maidens. Mary read her sister's thoughts, and cried +out: + +"Yes, yes, that is how I feel! Suppose it had been thou! Suppose insult +were offered to thee,--or to our mother,--who is there to defend you? +Oh, why was I not born a boy that I could set these surly knaves in +their place? Robert should not have gone and left us, when our father +was called hence too. It is not right or fitting; and with all these +fearful things going on around us. It is enough to make one turn against +the King, when he makes use of such vile instruments!" + +"Oh, hush, Mary! hush! have a care! It is not safe to talk in that +reckless fashion. Who knows but that there may be some meddling spy +prowling about? And they say men and women are sent to prison and to +death for such small offences now." + +"Ah, yes, it is the cruelty, the horrid cruelty we see perpetrated on +every hand that makes me so desperate. Think of that man Kirke, feasting +and laughing on the balcony overlooking the place where his victims were +being hanged and dismembered! think of it, Eleanor! and calling for +music for them to 'dance to' when their poor bodies twitched and swayed +on the gibbets; eating and drinking and making merry when human lives +were passing from the world in all that agony and shame!" + +"Thou shouldst not listen to such stories, Mary, it does no good; and it +does but make life seem unbearable sometimes." + +"And then, after Sedgemoor!" cried Mary, without heeding; "I heard +another thing of him there. Did they tell it thee too, Eleanor? There +was a man about to die--without trial--without condemnation--just strung +up as so many were on the trees by the moor's edge, at the bidding of +that man of blood! He was one of many; and the bystanders said that he +was the fleetest runner of any on the country side, and could run with a +galloping horse. Colonel Kirke asked him if that were true; and he said +he had done it. Kirke asked if he would like to do it again to save his +life; and he caught eagerly at the proffered hope. He ran with the +horse, he kept up the whole course, he returned breathless, exhausted, +but full of hope of the promise of life, and what does that monster of +cruelty and injustice do?--just has him swung up with the rest, ere the +poor wretch can find breath to plead for the promised pardon! Oh, it +makes my blood boil--it makes my blood boil! I have been loyal to the +King's cause all this while; but how can we help loathing and despising +a monarch who will use such tools as that?" + +"Perhaps he does not know," faltered Eleanor. + +"Not know!" echoed Mary, in scorn. "It is because he knows all too well +their temper that he sends them here! Hast heard what men are whispering +now?--that soon there will be an assize in the west to try all those who +have been concerned in this rebellion; and they say that His Majesty +will choose for the judge the most cruel, the most notoriously evil, the +most passionate and ungoverned of all the judges on the bench, and that +his name is Jeffreys. And people say if once he come hither, no man in +Taunton, nor in the west country will ever forget his coming. We shall +have such a deluge of blood as has never run in England before." + +"Oh, Mary, what fearful tales thou dost get hold of!" + +"They are fearful; but they are true. That is what makes them so +terrible," answered Mary. "Oh, how I hate and detest cruelty and lust of +blood! Art thou not glad, Eleanor, that even Kirke himself could not +cozen or threaten any Taunton man into acting as executioner to those +poor wretches taken on the field of Sedgemoor? They had to send to +Exeter or elsewhere to get a man to do that bloody work. Fancy cutting +the poor wretches down ere they were quite dead, and cutting out their +hearts, and flinging them on the fire, whilst the Colonel made merry at +his window, and the music drowned the curses of the crowd and the cries +of the victims or their friends! Methinks we have gone back to the days +of the Druids and their human sacrifices. Oh, how can the King permit +it? It is enough to drive the whole nation to hate him!" + +"And yet we do not want a usurper to rule over us, even if the lawful +King be such an one as His Majesty is now. Thou art not foolish enough +to wish that the Duke of Monmouth had been victorious, Mary?" + +"N-no, I suppose not! I love not usurpers; and our father hath always +averred that it is an open question whether the Duke is the son of the +late King Charles. No man seems able to say for certain what is his +parentage, albeit he was treated like a son; and there be those who +swear that the King did marry his mother in secret, and that he is +rightful heir to the crown." + +"Mary, Mary, thou dost not believe all those foolish stories that thou +hast heard passing about? Men are always ready to believe that which +they desire to believe. But the Duke of Monmouth, if the late King's son +at all, has no claim upon the crown. Had it been otherwise he would have +been acknowledged as heir; for every man likes his son to reign in his +place. Our father thinks that the Duke is the son of one of the Sydneys; +he says he is so strangely like him; and the King never called him son, +though he was so fond of him, except when he presumed too far." + +"Oh, I know, I know," answered Mary restlessly, "I have heard it all +argued a thousand times over. No, I do not want the Duke of Monmouth or +any other pretender; but I long for a King who can show mercy and +kindness and generosity; not a man full of the most bitter and +vindictive spite, who chooses as his tools and instruments those to whom +cruelty is a delight!" + +It was no wonder that Mary Bridges' soul was stirred within her at this +time. She was the second daughter of Sir Ralph Bridges, of Bishop's +Hull, near Taunton, and when she was a young girl of some fourteen +summers, the whole district was stirred into violent excitement and +violent emotion by the sharp outbreak of rebellion under the Duke of +Monmouth. + +The unpopularity of James II. was on the increase in those places where +the Protestant faith had its strongholds. It was openly asserted that +the King was a professed Romanist now, and that, in time, the whole +constitution of the country would be undermined by him, and that +persecutions of a terrible kind would break out under his rule. + +The Duke of Monmouth came as the champion of the Protestant faith; and +hundreds who would not, in calmer moments, have admitted his claim, or +have thought it right for a moment to support one whose birth was so +very doubtful, were carried away by religious enthusiasm, and let +themselves be easily persuaded that this young man was the champion of +the faith; and that, be he who he might, he was a heaven-sent messenger +for the truth. + +Far-seeing men, however, and men who knew something of the true +character and the past history of the Duke, were not so easily carried +away by the enthusiasm of the moment. Even had his claim been sounder, +he was not the man to push the enterprise to a successful issue. His +first burst of success, which had raised the hopes of his followers, and +had occasioned a certain alarm and uneasiness in the minds of his +opposers, had quickly been followed by a succession of reverses, and on +the field of Sedgemoor the hopes of the Duke and his adherents met with +a final overthrow. + +Sir Ralph Bridges had been one of those who had watched the course of +the rebellion with keen interest, and had thrown his influence upon the +side of law and order. He had upheld the lawful King throughout, and had +done good service in keeping order in his own immediate neighbourhood. +But now that the revolt was at an end, and that the proportions to which +it had swelled had not been very great, it seemed to Sir Ralph and to +others as though clemency and consideration might be meted out to the +victims of the ill-timed movement; and he had been greatly scandalised +and shocked by the fury shown by Colonel Kirke and his men--his "Lambs" +as they had been named in fierce derision--for the heartless brutality +of their conduct. + +It was, in fact, this indignation on the part of Sir Ralph which had +caused him to leave his home somewhat suddenly, and before the +withdrawal of the King's soldiers, billeted upon his house, in order +that he might post to town with all possible speed, and join with other +influential persons interested in the matter in seeking to win over the +King, through his ministers and advisers, to a milder and less +vindictive policy in dealing with the many persons now under arrest for +having been concerned in the rebellion. He had gone with some +reluctance; but it was told him by Kirke himself that the soldiers would +very shortly be removed from his house, and he had taken his son with +him as a precautionary measure; for he was a hot-headed youth, rather of +Mary's disposition, and the father was afraid that the lad would get +into trouble if he were not there to look after him; his disgust against +the atrocities of "Kirke's Lambs" being almost as great as was Mary's. +It was from her brother she had learned most of the more ghastly tales +of which her mind was full. Eleanor and her mother shrank from hearing +such terrible things; but Mary seemed consumed by that fearful curiosity +that longs, and yet hates, to know. + +The very next day, to the immense relief of Lady Bridges, who, though +ever a dignified and self-contained woman, was one of a nervous +temperament, the order came from Colonel Kirke that the soldiers were to +depart from Bishop's Hull. Great was the satisfaction of the household +and its mistress; but equal was the disgust of the men. They had had a +fat time of plenty in this house where everything they demanded was +accorded by its mistress, who, since the departure of her lord, had +found it easier to give than withhold, although Mary's heart often +burned with anger at hearing the insolent demands of the brutal fellows, +who seemed to her to drink and carouse from morning till night. They had +been away during the time of the battle; but they were soon back again, +more swaggering, more insolent, more insupportable than ever; and, in +the absence of Sir Ralph, there seemed no end to their exactions. + +The order which came was that they were to depart upon the morrow; and +it was fervently hoped that they would take themselves off at break of +day; but this was an idea which never seemed to enter their heads. They +called for more wine and beer than ever; sat drinking and dicing in the +buttery hall, as though that was their only occupation in life; and when +asked when they were going to take themselves off, replied only with +curses and foul abuse. + +So insolent and intolerable did they become at last, that even Lady +Bridges' wrath was stirred within her. She and her daughters and +household had been dining as usual in the upper hall; and when the noise +from below at last became overpowering, she bid her house-steward go and +send the men away, saying that they should have nothing more from her +larder or brew-house, that their Colonel had recalled them, and they had +no longer any right to be there. + +Mary clasped her hands together in delight at hearing this message. The +tables in the hall were now cleared. The servants had dispersed save a +few who were setting the place in order, Lady Bridges and her daughters +were standing upon the daïs where was the upper table, when suddenly +several drunken soldiers came lurching towards them in a state of such +anger and intoxication as made them fearful and repulsive objects. + +They were swearing and cursing after the foul fashion of the day; and +though sober enough to see the ladies and make straight towards them, +they were not sober enough to choose their words, and continued to pour +out vile and insulting threats and abuse. + +Lady Bridges, trembling in every limb, sank down in her chair, giving +hasty and terrified glances round her to see if help were near, and yet +mortally afraid of doing anything that could be construed by spiteful +misrepresentation into a charge of treason. The King's soldiers were the +King's servants. And who knew what power they might not have? + +Eleanor cowered behind her mother as the soldiers lurched up the hall, +making gross demands of their hostess, and speaking in violent and +insulting language to all three ladies. The frightened servants crowded +together in the background waited for their lady's orders ere +interfering; and she, fearing to speak the word, only sat there rigid +and trembling, whilst ever nearer and nearer came the threatening +soldiers with their evil faces and foul words. + +Mary's eyes were blazing. Her whole frame was shaken with a passion of +fury. If they dared to come up the steps and lay hands upon her +mother,--dared to touch one of them,--she drew in her breath, she +clenched her hands till the nails dug into the palms. Her eyes were upon +the foremost man. They had begun to sparkle strangely. Just as he +staggered up the first step she darted forward, stooped quickly, and +drew from its sheath the shining sword he carried. Then, backing a few +steps in front of her mother and sister, she cried in a voice shaken +with passion: + +"Dare to come one step nearer, dare to lay hands upon any of us, and +thou shalt see what a maid of Taunton will do!" + +What happened in those next few seconds it were hard to say. The girl +stood rigidly before her mother and sister with the keen blade in her +slim hands, pointing it immovable at the drunken soldier still advancing +in menacing fashion. He did not believe in the girl's threat, or in the +strength of those little white hands. He laughed to see her pointing the +sword at him, and words even grosser than anything that had passed +before were hurled at her as he came on with drunken violence and +brutality. Was it the impetus of that lurch forward, or did Mary herself +lunge her weapon at him? Those who looked on could never rightly +determine. Mary herself never could answer the question. But the sword +pointed straight at the man's heart was so firmly held by those girlish +hands, that, as he precipitated himself upon her to break down her +guard, the shining blade ran clean through his body, and he fell pierced +to the heart, a dead corpse at Mary's feet. + +Eleanor shrieked, and covered her face with her hands. Lady Bridges fell +back white, and gasping: + +"Mary! Mary! What hast thou done? Unhappy child! God be merciful to thee +and to us!" + +Mary stood very straight and upright. There was no colour in her face; +yet there was no faltering in her eyes. Soldiers and servants alike +stood still and motionless, too much startled and awed by what had +occurred to move or speak; all eyes being fixed upon the motionless +figure of Mary. + +"Take that thing away!" she said at last, pointing with a fierce +repulsion to the dead soldier at her feet. "Take him and begone every +one of you! Is it for girls to teach you the lesson how to be men and +not brutes?" + +In absolute silence, and with something like fear in their faces, the +other soldiers, thoroughly sobered, came and carried off the corpse of +their companion, and withdrew from the house. Only one significant word +was spoken by the chief of the band ere he finally withdrew. + +"Colonel Kirke will have to hear of this, mistress," he said, addressing +Mary with more of respect in his glance than there had ever been before. +She was standing in precisely the same spot and in the same attitude, +and she merely bent her head very slightly as she heard the words. + +"Tell him everything!" she exclaimed suddenly, as the man turned to go. +"Do you think I am afraid?" + +He gave her a look of admiration, bowed, and retired. It was then and +only then that her mother and sister broke into lamentation and tears; +and Lady Bridges, holding her to her breast, sobbed in the bitterness of +a mother's anguish. + +"Oh, Mary! Mary! What hast thou done? And what can they do to thee? Oh, +that man of iron! that cruel, cruel Kirke! And is it before him thou +must go?" + +Mary kissed her mother, and freed herself gently from her embrace; her +nerves were still strung tensely up. She felt no qualm of fear. + +"Mother," she said, "there was no one else to defend you and Eleanor. +None else would have dared to lift a hand against a soldier of the +King's. Was I to stand by and see and hear such things? God in heaven +alone knows whether it was my act or his that did him to death. But even +if I did strike him to the heart, is not he a man of blood? And is it +not written that they who take the sword shall perish by the sword?" + +"Oh, my child, my child," wept the mother, "God in His mercy grant that +such a fate be not thine own!" + +It was two days later when Mary Bridges stood pale and dauntless before +that terrible soldier, Colonel Kirke. Her offence was judged to be a +military one, and she was arraigned before him by court-martial. Lady +Bridges, her self-command and dignity recovered, stood close beside her +daughter; and behind them clustered a number of servants, all ready to +swear upon their Bible oath that Mistress Mary had never lunged at the +soldier by so much as a hair's breadth, but that the man had run upon +the weapon with which she was defending her mother and sister. + +But their testimony was not destined to be asked or given. Colonel Kirke +was a man of few words, and of rapid decision. It was seldom that any +case coming before him was granted any space for discussion and +hair-splitting. + +His own soldiers told the tale fairly enough, admitting the insult, the +drunken violence of their dead comrade, and the fact that they had no +real right to be in Lady Bridges' house or presence at all. They +described the death in detail; and Mary stood silent listening to all +that passed; but speaking never a word, nor giving one sign of wavering +or of fear. + +The Colonel's sombre glance rested again and again upon her face; and, +when the accusation was brought to an end, he asked her to state her +defence. + +"I did it," she answered, speaking fearlessly, "I am going to tell you +what your 'Lambs' are like, and you can kill me afterwards in any way +you choose. I am not afraid. Your men are cowards and drunkards. I grant +they can fight; but they are cowards in their cups. They insult women +and girls; they make themselves feared and hated and detested wherever +they go. Men speak of them with execration, and they will go down to +posterity hated and loathed. Mother, don't try and stop me! I will speak +now that I have the chance. Colonel Kirke, have you a mother? Were you +ever asked to stand by and hear her grossly threatened and insulted? If +you had been there, what would you have done? I am not a man, I am only +a weak girl, but I was not going to endure that. I would have killed +every man who had sought to attack her. Whether I killed him by an open +pass at him, or whether he ran upon his own sword, I do not know--I do +not care. I stood there to save my mother and my sister from outrage. +You can condemn me to death for it, if you will. I am not afraid!" + +There was deathly silence in the hall for a few seconds after those +words were spoken. Then Colonel Kirke's voice rang out firm and clear: + +"Bring me the sword with which this deed was done!" + +The sword was brought. The Colonel took it in his hands and looked upon +it. There was the stain of blood upon the shining blade. + +Lady Bridges gasped when she saw him turn towards Mary. Was he about to +slay her child before her very eyes? + +Straight and tall towered the terrible Colonel before Mary; he then did +a very strange thing--a thing so strange that those who witnessed it +drew their breath in silent amaze. He slightly bent the knee, and placed +the naked sword very gently in Mary's hands. + +"Mistress Mary Bridges," he said, in that voice which had caused so many +to tremble, and which had of late given so many fearful orders of +merciless savagery, "this sword is yours. Take it; and take with it the +full acquittal of this court. The act that you have performed is no +crime; it is an honour to the strong young hands that performed it, and +the noble young heart that nerved those hands to the deed. Take this +sword, and keep it; let it be in your family a treasured heirloom. Let +it be handed down to other Mary Bridges yet to come, and with it the +tale of how, in the past, a girl, a daughter, a tender maiden, was found +strong enough to rally to the defence of her mother, whilst craven +hirelings shrank and feared, and coward soldiers looked on and raised no +hand to check the violence of a comrade!" + +His fierce eyes swept round the hall, and many shrank before the glance; +then it softened once more, and he looked straight at Lady Bridges. + +"Madam, I bid you farewell. Take home your daughter, and be proud of +her. Guard her well; and when the time does come, find her a mate worthy +of herself. Mistress Mary Bridges, I kiss your hand. Fare you well, and +may you be known to posterity when this tale is told, as 'Mary Bridges +of the Sword.'" + + + + +THERESA DUROC + + +The city was ringed about with walls of fire. By night it presented a +terrible aspect to those who could gain a safe vantage ground out of +range of the batteries, and watch for awhile the fearful glare from +them, as the fiery missiles were sent hurtling forth, charged with their +errand of death and destruction. And even if the batteries were silent +there was generally some terrible glow of fire in the sky, for almost +every day a conflagration broke out in some portion of the city, and the +terrified inhabitants never knew from day to day whose turn might not +come next. + +Theresa lived with her widowed mother in one of those large houses +common in all great cities, where the poor were herded together at close +quarters, and in days like these had to suffer many privations, as well +as all the nameless terrors which beset men's hearts at such a time. +Some of their neighbours had fled before the encompassing army shut in +the city; but Theresa and her mother remained. For they knew not where +else to go. And if Pierre, away fighting for his country, should be +recalled by the exigencies of war, and the siege should suddenly be +raised by help from without, where would the poor boy find them, if not +in the old home? + +"The good God will care for us and protect us, if we trust ourselves to +Him," the Widow Duroc had said; and, whilst others collected their few +possessions and quitted the city, she and her daughter remained in the +almost deserted house. + +It was necessary for them to remain, if possible, as it was in the city +that Theresa's work lay. She went daily to one of the shops where fine +starching and ironing was done, and, with the money she earned in this +way, she had kept the little home comfortable for some time. Her mother +was a cripple, and could only do a little needlework when she was able +to procure it. Sometimes Theresa was enabled to bring her home some from +the shop, but for the rest they were dependent upon the earnings of the +girl. If they were to seek to fly the city they had nowhere to go, and +would lose their only means of support. It seemed better to remain and +risk the peril within the walls than fly they knew not where. + +And now they were fast shut in, and had grown so well used to the +booming of the guns or the sharp scream of the shell hurtling through +the air, that they spoke and moved in the midst of the tumult as quietly +as they had done before it began. Indeed, sometimes, when for a night, +or for part of a day, the batteries became suddenly silent, the +stillness would seem almost more awful than the roar that had gone +before. It would cause them to awake from sleep with a start, or to stop +suddenly in what they were saying or doing, and always the question +arose in the heart, or to the lips: + +"What is it that has happened? Has the city fallen?" + +The tall house in which they lived was far more silent and empty now +than it had been before the siege began. The authorities had encouraged +all those who were able, to depart before escape should be impossible. +They foresaw that food was likely to become scarce, and the fewer +useless mouths there were to fill the better for all. But those who had +sons, or husbands, or brothers in the army were suffered to remain, as +were all who could not leave without suffering heavily; and it was known +to Theresa, from what she heard spoken about her, that should famine +threaten, and the city be put upon rations, she and her mother would be +entitled to receive a share, as being among those whose bread-winner was +with the army. + +But at first there seemed little fear of this, and Theresa's work went +on as before. The tall house where they lived was not in range of any of +the batteries, and though their hearts were often torn by fear for +others, and by sorrow for their beautiful buildings being so sorely +shattered and ruined, they themselves did not suffer, and they grew +accustomed to the conditions which had seemed at first so strange and +terrible. + +But day after day passed by, and the days lengthened into weeks, and +still the hoped-for relief did not come; those within the beleaguered +city only heard whispers from the world without, and knew not what was +passing there. + +"If only our Pierre could get a letter to us!" the widow would say, +again and again; "then we should know how it was faring with him and +with the army." + +Theresa going daily to her work heard all the flying rumours which +reached the city; but she did not speak of them always to her mother, +for she knew not how much or how little to believe, and she feared +either to buoy her up by false hopes, or to crush her with needless +fears. + +Gay Paris is slow to believe in disaster, or to credit that the arms of +France can meet with any severe reverse. Each generation is as full of +hopeful confidence as the one that has gone before, as full of +enthusiasm and patriotic fervour, as little disposed to believe in +misfortune. + +"The victorious army will march to our relief!" was the cry that was +always finding expression. "A little more patience--only a little +more!--and these accursed foes will be flying before our brave +_garçons_ of soldiers like chaff before the wind." + +And nobody believed this more implicitly than Theresa for a long, long +time. The soldiers would come, and Pierre with them. They would see them +marching in, in all the bravery of their gay trappings. Oh, what a day +that would be! How the bells would ring, and the guns salute, and the +people go mad with joy! She lived through the experience a hundred times +a day as she stood at her ironing-table and worked at her piles of snowy +linen. But the sullen boom of the guns was still the accompaniment of +all her musings. And every week as it passed brought home to her heart +the conviction that things were not going well: that the lines of the +enemy were being drawn ever closer and closer: that there could not be +good news from the outer world, else surely it would be noised abroad +with acclamation. + +But soon a trouble was to fall upon her for which she was quite +unprepared. Fires had become sadly common in the city. A glare in the +sky was such an ordinary sight that it scarcely aroused any interest or +speculation, save in the immediate neighbourhood where it occurred. +Soldiers and citizens were always on the alert to put it out wherever a +conflagration occurred, and often the flames were speedily extinguished. +Nevertheless, the number of burnt and uninhabitable houses was becoming +daily larger, and persons were removing their goods and furniture from +those streets where the danger threatened into safer localities; so that +the house where the Durocs lived had already been invaded by various +newcomers, seeking an asylum from the storm of shot and shell. + +Theresa, however, knew little or nothing of their new neighbours. She +was busy with her work by day, and her mother did not get about easily +enough to learn much of those who had arrived in this sudden fashion. +They were of the class that, in the English phrase, preferred to "keep +themselves to themselves." + +One morning Theresa started forth to her work as usual, and, after +taking the accustomed turnings, found herself in the familiar street. +But once there she stopped short and rubbed her eyes. For what did she +see? The whole side of the street, where her workshop had stood, lay a +mass of smoking ruins; and the people from the opposite houses were +hurrying away, carrying their goods and chattels with them. + +The terrible news was passing from mouth to mouth. A new battery had +been opened. A new portion of the city was in peril. People small and +great were hastening away before another fusillade should shatter the +remaining part of the quarter. Theresa stood gazing in great dismay at +what she saw. Where was her occupation now? Where was her kindly +employer whom she had served so long? + +Even as she asked herself the question a woman from an adjacent house, +well known to Theresa, came hurrying out, the tears raining down her +face. + +"Alas! alas! little one, she is dead--God rest her soul!--buried beneath +the fall of the house in the dead of night! Ah, those accursed Germans! +What have they not to answer for? Our good neighbour Clisson!--so +kindly, so merry, so ready to lend a helping hand. And thou, my poor +child--what wilt thou do? Everything swept away in one night! And who +knows whose turn may come next?" + +Theresa was indeed dismayed for herself as well as for others. The +terrible fate of her kind mistress cut her to the heart; but when that +shock had passed by, there came the other thought suggested by the +kindly neighbour. What was to become of her and her mother, now their +only means of support was taken from her? + +"Thou wilt have to apply for rations as others do," said her friend, +with a look into the troubled face. "Courage, little one! These black +days cannot last for ever! We shall soon see those _canaille_ of +Prussians flying helter-skelter before our brave _garçons_. The good God +will hear our prayers and will send us succour. It will only be for a +time, and then our beautiful city will be gayer and more beautiful than +ever!" + +But Theresa had heard words like these too often to put the old faith +in them. Her heart was heavy as lead within her. She was revolving many +plans by which she might still earn something and support her mother. +But the price of food was rising so fearfully that already she scarcely +knew how to keep the wolf from the door; she knew, too, that her mother +desired, if possible, not to be forced to send for the doled-out rations +from the great Government building; and no one could more desire to be +spared the task of fetching it daily than Theresa herself. + +She had heard what that meant from others. The long, long, weary wait in +the daily increasing crowd; the hustling and the jostling before one +could get a place in the _queue_; the bitter cold often to be faced when +the wind blew down upon the crowd; the peril, sometimes, of having the +hardly earned food snatched away in some back street by a hungry +ragamuffin before ever it had reached its destination. + +All this Theresa knew that she would have to face if they lost all other +means of support. And, moreover, for her was another great danger: to +reach the quarter of the city where the food was doled out, she would be +forced to cross a wide boulevard that was swept from end to end by the +guns of a battery, and each time that she went she would have to take +her life in her hands, as it were. + +"But mother must never know that," she said to herself, as she thought +of these things. "She is fearful enough as it is of having me go about +the streets. She must never know that, else she would not enjoy a +moment's peace. Perhaps the good God will save me from it. Perhaps I +shall get work elsewhere. And if I must go--for mother's sake--I must +pray to Him to keep me safe, as so many are kept who have to go day by +day." + +Theresa's search after regular employment was not successful. There was +so little doing in the city now, and, with food at famine prices, all +were saving their money, as far as possible, for the bare necessaries of +life. For a few weeks the girl was able to earn just sufficient to +enable them to keep body and soul together, by jobbing about here and +there, turning her hand to any sort of work so long as she might earn a +trifle by it. + +But the day came at last when she could no longer find any one to employ +her. Every one told the same tale--it took all they knew to keep the +wolf from the door. Money was scarce; food was scarcer. Larger crowds +were daily going to the places where the rations were doled out. Theresa +made up her mind as she lay in bed one night, that she must go there, +too, on the morrow. + +For several days this conviction had been growing upon her; and her +nights had been restless and broken, partly through anxiety and trouble +of mind, partly because she was really in need of more food, having +pinched herself to supply her mother, professing that she got enough to +eat at the houses where she worked--a profession that was by no means +the literal truth. + +"Yes, I will go to-morrow," said Theresa to herself. "It is foolish to +be afraid. Others do it, and so must I; and mother must never, never +know how I dread the thought. I will ask the good God to make me brave." + +And having thus made up her mind, Theresa turned over and slept more +soundly and peacefully than she had done for many nights before, rising +with a cheerful courage on the morrow. + +"Alas, my child!--but if it must be, it must. I would that I could go, +for thou art over-young to bear so much fatigue." + +"Nay, mother; it is right for the young to spare the old, and the strong +the weak. I shall be long gone, I fear. There are so many now to serve; +but be not afraid; it will be no more than a day's work, and I will +bring thee the food in the evening." + +So, with a smile on her face and a brave and cheerful aspect, she took +her basket and set off, first to get her order and then the much-needed +food. + +There was a deal of jostling and pushing and hustling before Theresa +could present her claim; but when she showed how her brother was +fighting in the army, and her father was dead, it was instantly allowed. + +"How many are you?" asked the official, in his quick, peremptory tones, +for everything was hurried through as quickly as possible. Without a +thought, Theresa answered: + +"Three." + +A ticket was thrust into her hands, and she was passed out to make way +for others, and only when she was in the street once more, hastening +along towards the other great building, did she realise that she should +have said, "Two"; for, though they always thought and spoke of Pierre as +one of them, he was not entitled to the rations within the city. + +The girl paused and hesitated; but she saw that it would be impossible +to go back. She looked down at the paper in her hand, and a rather +longing gleam came into her eyes. + +"I am so hungry; I could well eat two portions," she said; but almost at +once she shook her head with resolute gesture, and spoke out half aloud: +"But no--that would be wrong; that would be like stealing. I know what +we will do. We will set aside Pierre's portion each day, and we will +give it to some poor hungry creature who may not be able to get to the +depôt. There must surely be many such in the city. I will find out one +such, and she or he shall be fed every day, for the order cannot be +changed now. I think that is what the good God would like me to do. +Perhaps it was His will that I made that mistake, His eye looks down and +sees all." + +Full of this thought, Theresa hastened on through the streets and +quickly reached that dangerous spot which she had so feared to pass. But +to-day the great guns were silent; there was no peril to be feared; and, +with a happy smile upon her face, she ran across, thinking within her +heart that it seemed almost as though an angel were watching over her +and making her task easy. + +Another piece of good fortune befell her, in that a second place had +been recently opened for the distribution of rations, in order to meet +the increasing demand. Theresa heard of this from a woman hurrying away +with her basket, and, instead of pushing into the larger crowd, she +joined the smaller one, and being served far more quickly than she had +thought possible, hurried home with a very light heart. + +"It was not half so bad as I thought and feared," cried Theresa, putting +down her basket, and sinking into a chair. "Oh, yes, to be sure, I am +tired; but then what of that? We have food to eat, and a certainty of +more when that is done. And now, my mother, I must tell thee of my plan. +I think thou wilt be pleased that I should carry it out. The good God +has taken such care for us, that I think He would have us take thought +for others." + +So Theresa, rising and opening her basket, carefully divided the food +into three portions, and, notwithstanding the fact that she could well +have consumed the double portion, after her long fasting and wearying +day, she set it smilingly aside, and told her mother how it was +"Pierre's dole," and must not be eaten by them, but given to some one in +greater need. + +There is sometimes more heroism in an act of such self-sacrifice than in +one of those deeds at which all the world exclaims; but Theresa had no +thought of being brave as she laid her plan before her mother, nor did +the widow praise her daughter. She took the girl's view that the ration +was not theirs, and must be passed on to somebody else. + +"And, indeed, my child, we shall not have far to go, for, in truth, I +have begun to fear that those two old ladies up above us in the attic +must be well-nigh starving by this." + +"What old ladies?" asked Theresa eagerly, as she set to work with +keen-set appetite upon her own portion. + +"Ah, thou hast not seen them, like enough. I hear that the mistress is +called Madame de Berquin, and that she is of very good family; but she +has been ruined by this cruel siege, her house shattered, supplies cut +off, and she knows not where to turn. She and her old servant sought +refuge here a few weeks back, and I think they had money then, for the +servant went forth daily and came back with a basket. I would see her +pass and give her a good day, and she stopped once or twice just to take +breath and speak a few words, which is how I came to know that little +about them; but I have not seen her these last days, and I cannot well +get up the stairs. So thou shalt go, and take with thee some of this hot +coffee and the food. It may be they are in sore need. My heart has been +sad for them before, but what could I do?" + +Theresa almost forgot her own hunger in her eagerness to pay this visit; +and, taking in the can some of the fragrant coffee, steaming hot, she +put the rest of the food in the basket and ran lightly upstairs with her +load. + +At the door she knocked; the old servant opened it a little way and +looked suspiciously forth. All at once it seemed to Theresa that it +might not be quite easy to get old Madame de Berquin to accept the food +of which she stood in such sore need. + +"What do you want?" asked old Jeanne suspiciously. + +"I have brought Madame de Berquin's rations," answered Theresa, with a +sudden inspiration. "You know the city is on rations now, and, as we +live in the same house, I thought I might fetch Madame's with ours. It +is not very much, I fear, but----" + +The old woman opened the door wider and beckoned Theresa in. Something +in the white, drawn face of the servant went to the girl's heart! her +aspect, and that of the attic itself, bespoke the direst poverty. Madame +de Berquin lay upon the bed; she looked almost like a corpse to the +girl; her eyes dilated with fear. + +"She is not dead, but she would soon have died," said the old woman. "I +was praying it might be soon for both of us. She will not let me fetch +the rations; she will not have her name set down for a dole. How did you +get it from her?" and despite the almost wolfish hunger in her eyes, old +Jeanne seemed disposed to push the food away. + +"I did not give your name; I did not know it," answered Theresa simply. +"I just got some with ours. They are in a great hurry at the office. +They do not ask many questions." + +"Then may the saints and the good God reward you!" cried the old woman, +with a sob in her voice; "for verily I thought to see my dear mistress +perish of want before my eyes!" + +Now, however, with Theresa's assistance, she raised the prostrate +figure, and Madame de Berquin revived as the hot, fragrant coffee passed +her lips. They gave her morsels of bread soaked in it. They fed her +gradually, as an infant is fed, until the light began to come back into +her eyes and the grey pallor of her cheeks to change to something more +lifelike. + +"I shall come again to-morrow and bring some more," whispered Theresa, +as she slipped away at last; and the look which the old woman gave her +was reward enough. + +But all days were not such good ones for Theresa as this one had been. +Sometimes she was in terrible fear as she went her way, for the bullets +seemed to be whizzing in the air about her, and the sounds of fearful +explosions all round made her doubt whether she should escape with her +life. And the long, long waiting in the biting cold, and the perils she +encountered from daring little gamins or ill-conditioned men, made her +daily journey a growing terror to her. But the thought of the crippled +mother and those two patient old women upstairs, all dependent upon her +for the food which kept life in them, nerved her to conquer her fears +and to persevere, in spite of all the dangers she had to face. + +Then came the day when her bravery met with an unexpected reward. She +was waiting to cross that terrible boulevard. She had been waiting long, +and still she dared not face the peril. She heard the bullets biting the +stones, and a shell had exploded in the centre of the road just as she +came up. She began to fear that she was losing her nerve, that she was +growing less brave rather than more, when suddenly she was held riveted +to the spot by the sight of a boy, about seven or eight years old, +dressed as a gentleman's child, who came running along gaily, rather as +though he had escaped from restraint, and dashed into the middle of the +broad roadway. Then suddenly he threw up his hands, gave a quick cry, +and fell forward. + +[Illustration: Theresa forgot everything in the sight of the child's +peril. + +_Page_ 183.] + +Theresa forgot everything in the sight of the child's peril. Dashing +forward, she caught him up in her arms, dropping basket and can and +everything, and staggered across the road with him, just as a pale-faced +gentleman, in semi-military dress, came rushing up in a terrible state +of anxiety and excitement. + +"Etienne, Etienne, what hast thou done?" + +The little boy had given forth one lusty yell at the sight of blood on +his tunic, but a hasty survey satisfied the father that it was a scratch +rather than a wound the child had received, and the colour began to come +back to his face. + +"My brave girl," he said, turning to Theresa, "how can I thank you for +this great service? Do you know that scarcely had you snatched up the +boy and got him away than the ground where he was lying was torn up by +some fragments of a shell? Had he lain there a few seconds longer he +must have perished!" + +"Ah, how glad I am I was there just then," said Theresa simply. + +"Were you not frightened, my child? Did you not know the peril of +passing that street?" + +"Oh, yes; I know. I am rather frightened, but I have to go by every day +to get food. I must be going now, or I shall lose my turn." + +"Nay, nay; come back with me, and my wife shall fill the basket to-day," +answered the gentleman, with a kindly authority that the girl could not +resist; and, as she walked beside him, Etienne, proud of his adventure +and his little hurt, hanging to his father's hand, Theresa found herself +closely questioned as to herself and her circumstances, and heard a +wondering exclamation pass the gentleman's lips as she spoke the name of +Madame de Berquin. + +That day saw the end of Theresa's troubles about food; for, from +thenceforward till the close of the siege, General Varade, whose little +son she had saved, made the care of her and her mother and of Madame de +Berquin his especial task. He knew something of the history and family +of the latter, came to see her, and would have moved her into better +quarters had she wished it; but she had grown so fond of Theresa and her +mother that until better days should come she preferred to remain where +she was. + +"It is to thy bravery, my child, that we owe all this," she once +remarked; and Theresa, looking quite astonished, answered: + +"Oh, Madame, I was never brave. I was always scolding myself for being +such a coward!" + +But others when they heard these words smiled. + + + + +JANE LANE + + +Those were anxious days for the adherents of the Stuarts. The late King +had perished upon the scaffold, and his family were in exile in foreign +lands. The iron rule of Cromwell had England in its grip. But anxious +eyes were fixed upon that gallant attempt of the King's son--King +Charles II., as the loyalists already called him--to win back for +himself the kingdom his father had lost, and overset the military +thraldom beneath which the people now groaned. + +It was a time of intense suspense and heartbreaking anxiety. It seemed +impossible that the young King, crowned in Scotland, and on his way to +the south, could overthrow those redoubtable troops commanded by their +redoubtable General, the great Oliver Cromwell himself. And yet hope +which springs eternal in the human breast filled the hearts of the +cavaliers with bright anticipations of coming triumph; anticipations +that were changed to dire fears and forebodings when the news of the +result of the Battle of Worcester became known. + +At Bentley Hall, in Staffordshire, the loyal family of the Lanes were +following the fortunes of their Prince with the keenest solicitude; and +yet, as family life goes on its way in spite of wars and rumours of +wars, so it befell that Jane, the beautiful unwedded daughter of the +house, was making preparation for a journey to Abbotsleigh, the home of +her married sister, where she had been rather urgently summoned, as Mrs. +Norton was ill, and desired much the companionship of her favourite +sister. + +As Abbotsleigh was in Gloucestershire, and as the journey would involve +the passage through the Parliamentary lines and through the disturbed +portion of the country, a pass had been obtained for Jane and her party +from the Parliamentary General. + +Colonel Lane had gone himself to see to this matter, and Jane was +awaiting his return in some anxiety. He had not been with the King's +forces on the field of Worcester, though he was very loyal in his +disposition towards him, and was privately working in the royalists' +cause. But it was possible, as his sister knew, that he might be +suspected, and have some difficulty in gaining what he was seeking to +obtain; and she awaited his return with great impatience and some +nervous trepidation. + +The sound of horses' feet in the courtyard below brought a flood of +colour to her cheek. She ran to a window, and sought to peer out into +the autumnal evening's gloom, but though she could see little, she heard +the tones of her brother's voice, and at once she rushed to the room of +her mother to announce to her the welcome tidings that the traveller had +returned. + +Soon word reached the ladies upstairs that the Colonel had not come +alone. Lord Wilmot had accompanied him, and would remain a few hours, +till his horse was rested, and the ladies made preparation for meeting +him at supper in an hour's time. Lord Wilmot was only slightly known to +them; but they received him courteously, and learned from him a good +many details of the disastrous fight at Worcester, and the hopelessness +of any farther resistance to the Parliamentary leaders. + +"But His Majesty is safe, I trust?" questioned the old lady anxiously. +Lord Wilmot made guarded reply: + +"His Majesty is with friends, who are forwarding him to the coast where +he must take ship for France once more." + +"Pray heaven he fall not into the hands of his foes!" cried Mrs. Lane +earnestly; and the two men breathed a fervent "Amen." + +Jane heard that her pass had been obtained, and that was a relief to +her, since she greatly desired to be with her sister. But she observed +that her brother and their guest were somewhat absorbed and anxious in +manner, and she was not surprised, when they rose from table, that her +brother made her a sign that he had somewhat to say to her. + +Their father was at this time not very well, and Mrs. Lane excused +herself to her guest, saying that she must go to her husband. They did +not seek to detain her; but the Colonel beckoned to Jane to follow them +into a small parlour, where they would be safe from prying eyes or +listening ears; and after he had kicked the logs into a cheery blaze, he +suddenly faced round upon her, and said: + +"Sister, we are about to trust you with a weighty secret. It concerns +the King!" + +"The King! Where is he?" + +"He has been flying in disguise, this way and that, from the ardent +pursuit of the Parliamentary soldiers. He has had many narrow escapes. A +worthy miller and his sons have done good service by sheltering him; +before that he was at White Ladies. To-night he is at Mosley with our +good friend Mr. Whitegrave. To-morrow night he must come to Bentley!" + +"To Bentley!--here?" cried Jane, clasping her hands. + +"Ay, here to Bentley; and none must know it but you, fair sister, and I; +and if you ask wherefore comes he here?--I answer you that it is that he +may travel as your groom and servant when you ride forth to +Abbotsleigh. To Bristol, by hook or by crook, he must be smuggled; and +how to pass him through the Parliamentary lines is, indeed, a hard nut +to crack. But see this pass--it makes provision for Mistress Jane Lane, +her servants and friends, the latter being named as you see: our cousin +Robert Lascelles, and Mr. Petre with his wife. But as for servants, +there is no special mention as to them. Sister, you must ride pillion +behind your King, and treat him as your servant!" + +Jane's colour came and went, as well it might. She lacked not courage +nor discretion; yet the magnitude of this great responsibility, so +suddenly and strangely thrust upon her, seemed for a moment too great to +contemplate. + +"Alas, brother!" she cried, "and if by some folly I should betray my +King to his foes!" + +"Nay, think not of such a thing," said Lord Wilmot, speaking for the +first time, "yet think of yourself, fair maiden. Should the thing become +known, it may go something hard with you at the hands of the Governor of +this unhappy realm." + +The colour had come back to Jane's fair face. She looked fearlessly into +the eyes of the speaker. "That is nought," she said quietly. "Could any +ask a better fate than to lay down life in such a cause? If I may save +the King, what matters all the rest?" + +"That is the answer I looked to have from Jane," spoke the brother; and +so the matter was settled. + +It was agreed by all that the secret should be kept from the household. +The sick father and old mother should not be burdened with the +responsibility of the knowledge. Colonel Lane and Lord Wilmot were to +ride to Mosley that same night when the late moon had risen, and upon +the following evening they would return to Bentley, bringing in their +train the new groom, William Jackson, who would be told off the +following day to accompany his sister on her ride to Abbotsleigh. + +It may be guessed with what feelings Jane watched for the return of the +party upon the next evening, and how keenly she scrutinised the face and +figure of the new servant riding behind her brother. He had a swarthy +skin and very dark eyes, and a rough head of short hair that gave him +something the look of either a Roundhead or a country bumpkin, and in +his actions he seemed to be ungainly and loutish. Jane's eyes glistened +as she realised that here was a Prince--a King as in her heart she +called him--masquerading under the guise of a clown, and her heart beat +high as she realised that she was to have the honour of assisting in the +next stages of his difficult and perilous escape to the coast. + +She had no speech with him that night; she heard her brother hand him +over to the head servants with an injunction that he should be well +cared for, as he was to ride with Mistress Jane upon the morrow. It was +only on that morrow, when she descended to the courtyard dressed for the +saddle, that she was brought face to face with her strange attendant. +Her colour came and went with excitement as their eyes met, and for one +instant she saw an answering gleam in his before they dropped, and he +stood in decorous immobility at the horse's head. + +It was a strong animal, as was needed to carry double, though Jane's +light weight was no great burden. The mother herself descended to see +her daughter depart, and to give her many last charges concerning her +sick sister. + +She gave a glance at the new serving man, in his sober suit of grey, and +when Colonel Lane made him a sign to assist his mistress to mount, there +was something so odd in his manner, an awkwardness partly assumed, +partly the result of the strangeness of the office, that caused the old +lady to laugh merrily, and say to her son in no very modulated tones: + +"Faith, but my daughter has a goodly horseman to ride before her! Where +didst pick up the rogue, my son?" + +Jane was covered with confusion at hearing such words spoken; but in the +bustle of the departure of the cavalcade, this was not observed, and +when they were safely out at the gate, Charles spoke in a low and +mirthful tone: + +"Be not displeased, fair Mistress; such words as those are sweet to the +ears of a fugitive. It is when men bow before me, and seek in secret to +kiss my hand, that my heart sinks within me. For, however loyal and true +they be, I would sooner they held me for the rogue I personate, than for +their hunted King." + +The party proceeded gaily on its way for a while. Lord Wilmot rode +beside them and in advance, his hawk on his wrist, his dogs by his side, +looking like a sportsman enjoying his favourite recreation. Mr. +Lascelles generally rode with him, and Mr. Petre and his wife kept close +together with their own servants. Jane and the King, being well mounted, +sometimes drew ahead, though they were careful not to be far from their +party, till at last the horse they were riding began to drag a little. +He got behind the rest of the company, and at last seemed inclined to +limp. + +"Methinks he has lost a shoe," quoth Jane; and Charles, springing to the +ground, found that this was indeed the case. By this time the rest of +the party was considerably in advance; and Jane lighted off the horse +and looked anxiously about her. + +"We are not far from the village of Bromsgrove," she said, "and there is +a farrier there who will shoe the nag. But I would one of the servants +were here to take him." + +"Here is the servant!" answered Charles, smiling, as he laid his hand +on the bridle, "if you will show the way, sweet Mistress, we will soon +have the horse at the forge door." + +[Illustration: "Well, now, I did hear as young Charles Stuart himself +was taken," answered the smith. + +_Page 193._] + +There was nothing else for it, though Jane shook with apprehension as +they entered the village, and their presence before the forge attracted +the usual small crowd of idlers. + +But if the lady were anxious, Charles seemed sufficiently at his ease, +as he held up the horse's foot for the smith to examine. + +"What's the news?" asked the King of the man, as the task of shoeing was +nearly accomplished. + +"Why, I don't know as there has been any since the beating of those +rascally Scots at Worcester," answered the other. + +"Have they taken any of the English rogues that joined with the Scots?" +asked Charles, with his habitual _sang froid_. + +"Well, now, I did hear as young Charles Stuart himself was taken," +answered the smith; "anyhow, they're so sharp on the look-out for him, +that they're main sure he can never leave the country without falling +into their hands." + +"If they get that rogue into their hands," quoth Charles, "I reckon +they'd best hang him forthwith; for he's been the cause of all the +trouble, bringing the Scots into the country to fight, just as things +were getting settled and comfortable again." + +"Faith, and thou art right; and an honest knave to boot!" said the +smith, as he finished his task. And Charles, after paying for the shoe, +led the horse to the tree where his mistress stood waiting, smiling in +her face as he observed the sudden pallor that had overspread it. + +"Oh, my dear lord!" whispered Jane softly, as he swung her more deftly +this time to her seat; but Charles only laughed as he mounted in front. + +"Nay, Mistress, but if I get not my little jest out of all my troubles, +I should belike go mad. Let us laugh and be merry while we may. Who +knows what the morrow may bring forth?" + +A little farther along the road they found the rest of the party +awaiting them in some anxiety. Lord Wilmot had gone on in advance, not +being one of those for whom Jane's pass was made out; but the others +were waiting for them to come up, and were in much anxiety lest they had +been detained by some evil hap. + +They had now to ford the River Avon not far from Stratford, and proposed +to stop for the night at the house of Mr. Tombs at Longmaston; but as +they approached the ford they saw a most unwelcome sight. A troop of +Parliamentary horse-soldiers had made a sort of bivouac on the river's +bank, and were lying about by the ford, whilst their horses grazed and +drank. + +"We can never pass them!" cried Mr. Petre in great alarm; and forthwith +turned round with his wife and servants, and sought to persuade the +others to follow him, and find another route; but Charles whispered a +word in Jane's ear, making no effort to follow the faint-hearted Petre; +and Mr. Lascelles remained beside them. + +"To fly is the greatest folly," spoke the King. "See, the fellows are +eyeing us already. Let us wave farewells to our good Petre, as if he +were riding a part of the way, and had turned back at the ford. But let +us press on. You have your pass, Mistress Jane. If we want the whole +troop after us all hue and cry--why then let us follow friend Petre!" + +There was sound sense in Charles's words. As soon as the other members +of the party showed that they were proceeding on their way, the soldiers +ceased their significant handling of the horses' bridles and saddles, +and only watched the oncoming riders with ordinary attention. Jane's +heart was in her mouth as one of the men, whom she took to be an +officer, rode up and examined the pass she held out towards him. But he +looked only at her and the paper; he spared no glance for the stolid +serving man in front, and the party was permitted to ride on unmolested +and unquestioned. + +Jane drew a long breath of relief as she dismounted in the courtyard +after this first day's ride. There was still another night to be passed +before they reached Abbotsleigh; and she did not yet know exactly +whether she might have to accompany the party even farther, in her +capacity of mistress to the serving man. But at least a halt of a few +days was to be made at her sister's house; and she felt as though her +responsibilities would then come in part to an end. + +Charles seemed in a merry mood when they rode forth upon the morrow. Of +course she never saw him when once they had called a halt for the night. +He went to the servants' quarters, she to be entertained by the ladies +of the house, her friends; and since the fewer who knew the secret the +better it would be, she could not breathe a word of the matter lying so +heavy on her heart. + +But the King beguiled the way by low-toned tales for her amusement, +though they seemed rather terrible to her too. + +"I was bidden last night to wind up the jack," said Charles, with a +twinkle in his eye; "and never a notion had I how the thing was done! We +princes are taught a vast number of useless accomplishments; but how +often have I wished these last weeks that I had been taught to cook +viands or mend my clothes! I made such a bungle of it that the virago +came at me with a rolling-pin in her hands. Odds fish! but what a rating +I got! 'What countryman art thou, stupid-head, that thou canst not wind +up a jack?' she cried; and I had to answer: 'I am a poor tenant's son +of Colonel Lane of Staffordshire; and we seldom have roast meat; and +when we do we don't make use of a jack. We put it in the oven.' Was that +well answered, Mistress Jane?" + +"Ah, my liege, I cannot bear that you should be thus served and rated! +We should all be seeking your comfort on bended knee." + +"Well, well, sweet Mistress, the day may come when the King will have +his own again; but, meantime, let us enjoy a laugh over the fortunes of +fallen royalty. Perhaps it comes not amiss for a prince to learn +sometimes that, after all, he is but common clay!" + +That night there was no friendly house to shelter Jane and her party, so +they put up at the Crown Inn at Cirencester; and as there was always +peril in such places of recognition, Charles affected to have an ague +upon him, and retired promptly to bed. + +Luckily no one in the inn or the town suspected or recognised the person +of the King, and the next day's ride was without adventure. Just as it +was growing dusk the party rode into the hospitable courtyard at +Abbotsleigh, and Jane found herself being helped from her lofty pillion +by her kindly host and relative. + +"I would ask your good offices, dear sir," she said, "on behalf of this +honest fellow, a servant of my brother's, who is suffering somewhat from +the ague, that he may be better lodged and served than his comrades. My +brother has a great affection for him, and gave him especially to me for +this journey. I pray you see that he be well tended." + +"It shall be done, fair sister," answered Mr. Norton at once; and +summoning Pope, the butler, he put Charles--or William Jackson, as he +was called--into his charge, telling him he was one of Colonel Lane's +tenants and favourite servants, and must be treated with kindness, as he +was suffering from ague. + +Jane's time was naturally taken up with interviews with her sister, who +had just given birth to a little child, who had not lived above an hour +or two, so that the young mother was in sore trouble, and greatly +pleased to have her sister's sympathy and companionship. This personal +sorrow kept her thoughts busy with her own affairs, and she scarce spoke +more than a few words about Jane's journey, whilst the grave face and +rather preoccupied manner of her sister seemed explained by other +causes. + +It was not till the evening of the next day that Jane came upon the +King, wandering in the shrubberies of the great garden. There was nobody +near, and the place was so secluded that Jane did not hesitate to pause +and speak with him. After all, even if anybody did see them, there was +nothing very wonderful in her having a few words with one of her own +servants. + +"I trust, sire, that here, at least, you are subject to no ill words or +hardships?" + +"Nay, fair Mistress, I am but too well lodged and served. For that +honest butler, Pope, who, it seems, was servant once to one of the +gentlemen of my household, Jermyn by name, has recognised me, and will +not be denied but to kiss my hand in private, and himself to wait upon +me in my room. I tell him that a serving man has no need to be served, +but he cannot see the sense of that. I truly think he is staunch to the +core, else I would be uneasy; for there is a great price upon this head. +Yet others have withstood the temptation to betray the secret, and +methinks he will too." + +"Oh, I would not fear for Pope," answered Jane eagerly, "he is a good +and faithful servant. I am sorry--and yet I am glad that he should know; +for now you will be served with the best that this house has to offer!" + +"But we must have a care," laughed Charles, "there was a fellow sat +beside me in the buttery this morning, who was giving such an excellent +account of the recent battle that I took him for one of Cromwell's +soldiers. But when I asked him he said no, he was in the King's +regiment; and I thought at first he spoke of Colonel King, but he meant +me all the while! So then I asked him what kind of man the King was? +Whereat he replied, with a quick look into my face, that he wasn't +anything like me, for all my swarthy skin; that he was half-a-head +taller for one thing, and forthwith gave so accurate a description of +my dress, and horse, and weapons, that I got frightened at the fellow's +keen eyes, and got me away as soon as I could." + +It was nervous work hearing tales like this, albeit Charles would laugh +and make light of them. Too obvious a disguise would have provoked more +suspicion than the one he was adopting, with soldiers and spies +everywhere on the look-out for the fugitive Prince, whom so many already +declared to be the King, and upon whose head so great a reward was +placed. + +"I marvel that each one who knows the secret doth not betray it, and +make himself rich for life," quoth the young man many times, as he +recounted his hairbreadth escapes. "What have we done that person after +person, man and woman and gentle maiden"--and he bent his head before +Jane with courtly grace--"should risk so much and lose so much in our +poor service?" + +"You are our King, sire," answered Jane simply; and that seemed to be +answer enough. + +Two days later Lord Wilmot came to her and asked speech. He had been +hovering about them all the while, and lurking in the neighbourhood of +Abbotsleigh watching and planning. Now he came to Jane, and spoke +freely. + +"Mistress," he said, "we still want your help for two more stages of +the journey. Your pass will take us safely as far as Trent House in +Gloucestershire, where dwells Colonel Wyndham, whom I have seen; and who +will not only adventure life and estate in the King's service, but will +gladly lose them both to save him from peril. Once at his house, where +there are some excellent hiding-places, we shall be near enough the +coast to make, I trust, some speedy arrangement for the transit abroad. +But there are soldiers quartered in these parts, and we shall want your +aid for the next stages. Will you give it to us, and be ready to start +upon the morrow early?" + +"Willingly, most willingly," answered Jane; "but bethink you, my lord, +what can I say to the people here? My sister is very ill. She was taken +last night with a fever, and now lies in a sorrowful state, and +constantly desires my presence. There are her husband and several +relatives to think of. What will they say if I incontinently depart? +Will not such conduct excite the very suspicion we most desire to +avoid?" + +Lord Wilmot at once recognised the difficulty of her position, but his +quick wit suggested the remedy. + +"Mistress Jane," he said, "supposing that at supper-time a note should +be brought to you purporting to come from your mother, saying that your +father is taken worse, and that she earnestly desires your return, +would that enable you to leave this house upon the morrow without +comment?" + +Jane nodded her head. It was a time when men were put to all sorts of +strange expedients and stratagems. She had grown up in the thick of +them; and knew how gladly all her family would join in the plot that had +the King's welfare for its aim and object, though it was thought best to +keep the matter as far as possible secret. + +Her sister was not in peril of her life, and had other relatives with +her. A summons from the aged father would weigh above all else; and when +the soft-footed Pope brought her the letter as she sat at supper, and +she read its contents half aloud, her flitting colour and fluttering +breath seemed to bespeak just that amount of natural emotion a daughter +was likely to feel. + +"Bid William Jackson be ready to attend me on the morrow at daybreak," +she said to Pope; and no one sought to stay or hinder. + +So the brave young girl rode forth again with Charles in front as her +servant. With calm courage she passed her little party through the lines +of the Parliamentary soldiers whenever it was necessary; with ready and +dexterous wit, she answered all questions put to her; and on the evening +of the second day from leaving Abbotsleigh, she had the joy of seeing +Charles taken into the house of Colonel Wyndham, where it was thought +he would lie safely hid till a vessel could be chartered to take him +over to France. + +"Sweet Mistress, how can I thank you for this good service?" asked +Charles, as she saw him on the following morning for a few brief +moments, ere she started forth for home once more--her task so bravely +accomplished. + +"My reward is with me now, knowing your Majesty in present safety," she +answered; "the rest I shall receive when I hear of your safe arrival in +France." + +"Nevertheless, sweet Mistress Jane," he said, speaking very earnestly, +"if the happy day should come when I return as King to this realm, where +I have so many brave and loyal friends, I will not forget those who have +aided me in this time of storm and stress and threatened peril! +Farewell; but something tells me that we shall meet again." + +They did meet again. For the following year Jane was taken by her +brother to Paris, and quite unexpectedly encountered Charles in some +public place. He saw her instantly, and advancing, hat in hand, towards +her, exclaimed: + +"Welcome, my life!" + +And since Charles II. has often been charged with ingratitude towards +his friends, let it be said of him here that he showed a different +spirit towards the Lanes upon his restoration to power. He settled upon +Jane one thousand pounds for life, and half that amount upon her +brother the Colonel; also to the girl he gave a beautiful gold watch, +and a portrait of himself set round with pearls, which for generations +(until, in fact, they were mysteriously stolen and never heard of again) +were handed down as a precious family heirloom. + + + + +HELEN KOTTENNER + + +"To be a Queen, and a young Queen, and a widowed Queen in these stormy +times, and in these stormy lands! Ah, Helen, Helen, that is indeed no +light thing!" + +"Indeed, madam, I know that it is not. I pray Heaven night and day for +your Majesty, that strength and help may be given you!" + +"Thanks, thanks, my faithful Helen. Sometimes I feel I have no one about +me I can fully trust but thee. And oh, I have a load of care upon my +head! I need a faithful and devoted servant, and where can I turn to +find such an one?" + +"Must that servant be a man, madam?" asked Helen. The sorrowful Queen +turned her gaze upon the speaker, as though she understood the drift of +the question. + +"Ah, Helen, if we women were not such poor weak things!" she sighed, +bowed down by the weight of her troubles. But, after all, woman as she +was, the blood of kings ran in the veins of Elizabeth of Hungary, and +after a long lingering sigh she lifted her head, and the light came into +her eyes. + +"Women are not always weak," spoke Helen, with a cautious glance in the +direction of the Queen's maidens at their tapestry work away at the +other end of the great hall. But they were laughing and chattering +amongst themselves, as girls will do, whatever be the century or the +surroundings; and then the eyes of the Queen and her lady met, and +Elizabeth paused and hesitated. + +Helen Kottenner was the eldest and most trusted of her attendants, and +was devoted to her and to the little four-year-old daughter, the +Princess Elizabeth, called after her mother. Although little more than a +girl in years, Helen's life had been full of strange experiences and +many sorrows; so that she seemed to the young Queen to be a tower of +strength to her in her hour of perplexity and distress. + +It was only a short while ago that her husband, King Albert, had died; +and although the crown had been bestowed upon him in right of his Queen +Elizabeth, yet so soon as she was left a widow, with only a little +daughter, the haughty Magyars, or nobles of Hungary, repudiated the idea +of being ruled over by a woman, and were casting about already to find +some husband for her, whom they could make up their minds to recognise +as King, in place of him who was dead. + +"Helen," said the Queen, "thou dost know what the nobles are talking of. +Hast thou heard more than they tell me?" + +"I have heard, madam, that a powerful party is in favour of sending an +embassy to King Wladislas of Poland, offering him the crown, together +with the hand of their widowed Queen!" + +The young widow started to her feet in uncontrollable emotion, and then +as quickly sank back again. + +"I have heard it too; but without my consent, without a word to me! They +talk, and talk, and plot, and seek to settle questions, to dispose of +the crown and a Queen's hand; and never so much as a word to her! 'Tis +infamous!--'tis infamous!" + +"That would doubtless come later, madam," said Helen gently; "at present +they are scarce united among themselves." + +"Then long may they remain so disunited!" cried the Queen, with energy. +"It is time that I want, Helen,--time!--time! When the child that the +good God is sending me is born, all may be different. I have prayed our +Blessed Lady--ah, how I have prayed!--that she will send me a little son +to reign in his father's stead. Verily I believe that she will hear my +prayer. And shall my boy's birthright be given away before that happy +day comes? Oh, the shame and injustice of it! I will not bear such a +thing to be done. But how can it be stopped? Would it be enough were I +to refuse, strenuously refuse, to have aught to say to such a marriage?" + +Helen shook her head somewhat doubtfully. + +"Madam, I fear, I greatly fear that it might not suffice. The wedding +might, indeed, be postponed till your Majesty's pleasure. But if the +Magyars once make up their mind, they will bring Wladislas hither and +crown him King with St. Stephen's crown; and once so crowned nothing can +change his right to rule, unless he grossly violate his coronation +oath." + +"I know it! I know it!" cried the young Queen, in keen distress; "if +once that sacred circlet be placed upon his head, nothing can avail to +change the thing that has been done!" + +Queen and lady looked full into each other's eyes. They both knew that +these words were the truth. In all the kingdom there was nothing so +sacred as that sacred crown. Once let it press the brows of any crowned +Prince, and his right was unchangeable and inalienable. + +"You see, madam," continued Helen gently, "that the rule of an infant +would be well-nigh as irksome to the proud Magyars as that of a woman. +It may perchance be this very thing that is causing them to hasten to +some decision. An infant Prince might be a hindrance. A party might +gather--probably would gather--in his favour; and the land would be +distracted by faction, and, it may be, become imperilled from outside +adversaries such as Poland, Bohemia, or even the wily and cruel Turk. +Doubtless those who urge that the King of Poland be crowned King of this +realm too, think they are doing a service to their country, and perhaps +saving her from a bloody war." + +"But are the rights of my child thus to be given away, ere we can claim +them for him?" cried the Queen indignantly. "Oh, Helen, Helen, dost thou +think this thing will be?" + +"Indeed, madam, I fear it. All are not yet agreed; but every day there +come over fresh adherents to the cause. I trow before long they will +dispatch an embassy. But they will send first to know your Majesty's +pleasure!" + +"My pleasure!" repeated the young Queen bitterly. "How much do they +think or care for that?" + +"Indeed, madam, they are a wild and turbulent crew; and in very truth an +infant King might have a task he would be little able to perform----" + +"Helen, Helen, thou art not counselling me to let this thing be without +protest?" + +"Nay, madam, I would not dare to give such counsel. But I would remind +you how the thing will look in the eyes of the fierce and restless +Magyars." + +The Queen sighed; her heart was full of bitterness and apprehension. A +weaker woman might have given way to what appeared the inevitable; but +Elizabeth was not a weak woman, and a mother will be brave for the +rights of her children, where she might be willing to cede her own. + +It was only a few days before the dreaded news was formally made known +to her. Her nobles requested that she would give her hand in marriage to +the King of Poland, and thus unite the two territories, and give them a +King whom they would be ready to serve. + +The young Queen's answer was slightly evasive. She promised to consider +the matter carefully; but since she had been so recently made a widow, +she begged that they would not press another husband upon her too +speedily. + +With this reply they had to be content; but it did not stop them from +carrying on the negotiations with the neighbouring Prince on their own +account. They began to arrange at once for an embassy; and the Queen +heard words dropped from time to time that told her how much the matter +was looked upon as an accomplished fact. + +"Helen," she cried, in deep excitement, when she had one day dismissed +her other ladies and was alone with her faithful friend, "Helen, you +know what they are already talking of now?" + +Helen shook her head in sorrowful acquiescence. + +"Alas! madam, they are talking already of bringing him here, and of +crowning him with St. Stephen's crown, and then of awaiting your +pleasure to wed him----" + +"Ay, ay, the cowards! They think to force the thing on me! They think +that then I must needs do their pleasure! That, being Queen in my own +right, as truly I am, I must needs wed with him they will crown as King +to save my Royal station! Ah, how down-trodden and helpless are we poor +women! Who will come to our aid? They talk of the days of chivalry! But +where is true chivalry to be found?" + +She paced up and down the room in her excitement; and then, suddenly +stopping before Helen, she said in low, deliberate, but very cautious +tones: + +"Helen, thou hast said that they will crown him with St. Stephen's +crown. But supposing that that crown could not be found--what then?" + +Helen started and looked hastily round her. Her eyes dilated like those +of the Queen, into which she was looking. The two young women stood +opposite to one another, breathing hard, and gazing, as if fascinated, +into each other's faces. + +"How if the crown could not be found, Helen?" repeated the Queen, with +bated breath. + +"Oh, madam, how could such a thing be?" + +Deep silence reigned in the room. The Queen gradually recovered her +self-possession, and taking Helen's arm, walked back to the seat she had +quitted; she was trembling a little, but it was not with fear. + +"Helen, I have thought and thought of this thing till it has become +strangely clear in my mind. If we could gain possession of this crown, +and hold it in trust, till we can have it placed upon the head of the +son whom our Blessed Lady will send me--oh, then, good Helen, all might +yet be well." + +"But, madam, how can the crown be got at? Do not the nobles guard it as +the apple of the eye? Would it not be certain death if any were found +seeking to gain possession of it, even in the Queen's name?" + +"Alas, Helen, it would! Whosoever seeks to do this thing takes his life +in his hand in so doing. And yet--and yet--God has watched over more +perilous undertakings even than this, and has brought them to a happy +end." + +Helen looked into the Queen's eyes, and asked: "Madam, is it a task that +a woman may perform? Can Helen Kottenner accomplish this thing for her +Queen?" + +The tears rushed to Elizabeth's eyes, as she cried: + +"Oh, Helen, Helen, I verily believe that thou couldst do this +thing--with one faithful knight to help thee, if only thou didst dare to +adventure the peril thereof!" + +Then the Queen rapidly unfolded her plan. The sacred crown was in the +vaults of the castle of Vissegrad, where the nobles had jealously +conveyed both it and the Queen upon her husband's death. The crown, with +other Royal treasures, was locked in a great iron-bound chest in a +vault beneath the castle, closely guarded by one or another of the +leading nobles of the kingdom. To attempt to reach the vault now, when +the castle was full of people, all more or less engaged in guarding the +Queen's person, was a manifest impossibility, although there was an +entrance to the vault from these very chambers, given over to her and +her maidens. But the nobles wished the Queen to change her place of +abode, and to remove her court to Presburg; and the thought had come to +her that if the crown and other Royal jewels were left behind, as seemed +probable, since no talk of moving them had reached her ears, then she +might make excuse to send back Helen, as though for something left +behind, to the comparatively deserted castle, and trust to her woman's +wit and skill and address to find a way of entering the vault, and +possessing herself of the coveted treasure. + +For the Queen was possessed of a signet precisely like to the one with +which the chest was sealed; and she had keys which, it was believed, +might open some of the locks; and, if not, they could make provision +against such difficulties as that. If once Helen could gain possession +of the sacred crown, and carry it away from the power of the nobles, no +King could be set upon the throne of Hungary, and they would be forced +to await the Queen's pleasure. But it was a task before which even the +bravest heart might quail. Those were days when human life was held of +little count, and the fierce custodians of castle or vault would make +short work of any intruder found engaged in such a task as the one +proposed to Helen. + +"They will kill you if they catch you, Helen," said the Queen, with a +little catch in her voice; but Helen's mind was now made up. The bold +blood of a soldier race ran in her veins. She was not to be turned from +her purpose by the promptings of fear. + +It was absolutely necessary, however, that Helen should have at least +one assistant of the other sex, as the task of filing through locks and +bars would be more than her strength was equal to. The Queen had sought +to win one brave young noble to her service; but the first hint she +dropped of the mission desired from him had so alarmed him that he had +departed forthwith from the castle, leaving the Queen somewhat disturbed +in mind, though she felt confident the young knight would not betray +her. + +Now, there was in the castle a young noble of Polish descent, who went +by the name of Pan Vilga. He had always shown a great admiration for the +beautiful Helen; and she believed that in him she would find one ready +to do her behests, and to adventure even life itself where her safety +was involved. + +Cautiously she broke the matter to him, and was rewarded in the +confidence she had felt. As soon as he understood the perilous nature of +the task to which she had pledged herself, he took her hand, and +carrying it to his lips vowed to her that he would do everything in his +power to assist her in her dangerous mission; and told her that, +although he was a subject of King Wladislas, yet he regarded it as +nothing short of an outrage upon the Queen that her hand and her crown +should be thus bestowed without her consent. If they could in any way +hinder this conspiracy he would be ready to adventure life itself in the +good cause. + +"And more than this, sweet lady. I have in my service a foster-brother, +of my own Christian name of Konrad, a fellow who will follow me +anywhere--and will do my bidding, asking no question, and be as silent +as the grave both then and afterwards. Indeed, he has so strange an +impediment in his speech that I think only I can understand his +mutterings. He is, moreover, a fellow of great size and strength, and +was brought up to the trade of a smith, till he followed my fortunes as +servant. Wherefore, the three of us may well contrive the thing +together; and the Queen may trust us to the death!" + +All was now arranged for the journey. The Queen with Helen and the bulk +of the nobles, and the greater part of her ladies, removed themselves to +the castle of Komorn, the little Princess accompanying them. But some +few of the maids of honour were left behind to finish certain +arrangements; and Helen was to return for them in the course of a few +days, and bring them with her to the Queen. + +When Helen returned to the lonely and now half-deserted castle, she +travelled by sledge, for the snows still lay deep on the roads, and the +Danube was frozen over. Her companions on the journey were an old woman +and the two faithful Konrads, who had been told off to escort the +remaining Queen's maidens to Komorn. + +Meantime, the castle had been well-nigh deserted; and though it, +together with the precious chest in the vault, were in charge of a +sturdy seneschal, yet it so befell that on the day of their arrival this +worthy had fallen ill, and, instead of occupying his usual +sleeping-chamber that guarded the entrance to the vault, he had been +taken by his servants to a more commodious chamber some distance away. + +"Sure our Blessed Lady is watching over us!" breathed Helen, when this +thing was known; for the great fear had been that when the conspirators +entered the vault through the door from the Queen's apartments, the +noise they must of necessity make would penetrate to the chamber of the +seneschal, and bring him and his soldiers raging into the vault; and +then, as they knew well, there would be no escape. Instant death might +as likely as not be their fate. + +The maidens who occupied the now desolate Royal apartments were +overjoyed to see Helen, and to learn that they were to start forth upon +the morrow. Helen arranged that she and the old woman should occupy the +Queen's room that night, whilst the other maidens took the one +adjoining. It seemed long to her impatience ere they had got their +packings done; and their chatter sounded meaningless as it fell upon her +strained and anxious ears. Pan Vilga came in and out to help and hasten +matters, exchanging gay salutations with the merry girls, but striving +always to hasten proceedings, and warning them to retire early, as they +must be off betimes. Ever and anon he would give Helen a quick look of +sympathy, and once he contrived to whisper as he passed: + +"Have a care that we have candles enough and to spare!" + +At last the girls had made their preparations and were ready to retire. +The old woman had brought many tapers, as Helen had spoken of keeping a +vigil in the adjoining chapel, and praying for the Queen's health and +safety. This accounted to the old crone for the fact that her lady did +not undress; but she had no mind to share the vigil, and was quickly +snoring loudly in her bed in the corner. + +With a beating heart Helen peered through the darkness into the chapel +where Pan Vilga and his servant were awaiting her signal; and together +they crept to the door of the vault, which the seneschal had carefully +sealed up. But Helen was possessed of the Queen's signet, and they could +remake or renew the seals in such a fashion as to defy detection; and +soon the men plunged down into the vault, whilst Helen was left to keep +guard above, and, if possible, give warning of any approach from +without. + +It was an eerie task that had been assigned to her. From the vault +beneath she soon began to hear the sounds of file and hammer; and her +heart beat fast and furiously as she listened, so that the echoes of the +whole castle seemed to wake at last into awful life. In terror she +raised herself up from her crouching position, and stepped within the +gloomy chapel. What was that noise at the outer door? She thought she +heard the tread of mailed feet and the sound of approaching voices. +Flinging herself upon her knees before the shrine, Helen besought the +protection of all the saints of the calendar; every moment she looked to +see the door flung open to admit a band of soldiers, and was rehearsing +by what strategic device she could keep them from penetrating farther. +But the moments went by and they did not come; and at last she gathered +courage to go forward and open the door herself, and peer forth into the +darkness beyond. + +[Illustration: The men plunged down into the vault. + +_Page 218._] + +All was silent as the grave; and Helen clasped her hands in an ecstasy +of relief. + +"It was a spirit!" she said, as she turned back; "surely it is true what +we have read of the care they take of those who seek their aid. There be +more that are with us than they that be against us. Now I will fear no +more!" + +And yet Helen had scarce gone back to her prayers, and to vow herself to +a pious pilgrimage should this thing come to a safe issue, ere her +nerves were all set tingling again by some sound from the room of the +Queen's maidens, to the door of which she instantly rushed. + +It was only a girl crying out in her sleep; but as Helen crossed to her +side to soothe her, and caution her against waking the others, it seemed +to her that the room was ringing with the sound of the muffled blows +that were being struck in the vault below. So soon as she was assured +that all were slumbering again, she could contain her anxiety no longer, +but stole down into the vault herself, to find out what was passing +there. + +The great chest was open; but the little chest inside containing the +sacred crown still defied their efforts to open it. They dared not carry +it away as it stood; it was too heavy and cumbersome, and would +certainly be recognised. + +"We must burn the fastening away from the chest," said Konrad; "shut +all the doors fast, Lady Helen, for it will smell. But 'tis the only +thing to be done. And when we have the holy crown, where can we hide +it?" + +"I have thought of that," answered Helen, "I have a place for it when we +have it." + +Quickly ascending the steps once more, she shut all the doors behind +her, and again made the round of all the apartments, to make sure that +all was still and silent. Then, being satisfied on this score, she +possessed herself of a very large crimson cushion from the chapel, +carefully unripped a seam, and took out a considerable quantity of the +stuffing which she burnt upon her fire in the stove. This, to be sure, +made an unpleasant smell, but Helen was glad of it, for should any of +the girls awake or the guards of the castle come to inquire what was +being burnt she could point to the wool and hair in the stove, and tell +some story of how she was burning up some old oddments of the Queen's. +Then with her velvet cushion in her arms she stole down to the vault +once more. + +There lay the sacred crown that Helen had seen once upon the brow of the +late King Albert! Pan Vilga and his servant were carefully removing all +trace of their work, replacing filed chains and bars and broken padlocks +by new ones brought for the purpose, and renewing all the seals with the +Queen's own signet. + +As for Helen, she rushed at the crown and fairly clasped it in her arms, +crying out in her heart: "Ah, my Mistress, my dear, dear Mistress--you +are safe for a time from the menaced peril!" Then, whilst the men +completed their task, and set the vault in order, completely +obliterating the traces of their work, Helen carefully placed the crown +within the ample cushion, arranging the stuffing so as to keep it from +injury, and finally sewing up the ripped seam. + +What a journey that was upon the next day; when Helen with her precious +cushion in the sledge behind her travelled back to her Royal Mistress at +the castle of Komorn! A thousand times her heart was in her mouth; for +every time the cushion was touched or moved she could scarce refrain +from crying out; once crown and lady, knight and all were in deadly +danger of perishing in the deep and treacherous Danube, which they had +to cross upon the ice. For the spring was at hand, and the frost was +yielding; and the ice cracked so ominously beneath their horses' feet, +that the terrified driver lashed them into a gallop, and they saw a +chasm yawning behind them as they fled. + +But there was commotion and joy in the castle of Kormorn when Helen +entered, carrying with her a big cushion that she declined to entrust to +any servant. For a little son had been born that very day to the Queen; +and she had said that when the Lady Helen returned she was to come +instantly to see her. + +Cushion in hand, brave Helen entered the Royal presence, and, going up +to the bedside, saw the Queen with the tiny babe beside her. The light +sprang into her eyes at the sight. + +"I have brought my little King his crown," she said; and, sinking on her +knees beside the bed, she told the whole tale to the Queen. + + * * * * * + +When a few weeks later the little King Wladislas was solemnly anointed +and crowned by the Archbishop of Gran, it was Helen who held the babe in +her arms, whilst the sacred crown of St. Stephen was placed upon his +brow. + + + + +MAID LILLYARD + + +"What!" she cried, the indignant blood leaping to her cheek, "hast thou +taken the Red Cross? Why, shame upon thee! Shame upon thee! Thou art not +worthy the name thou dost bear!" + +The young fellow stood before her twisting his bonnet between his hands +in somewhat shamefaced fashion. From the likeness between them it was +plain that they were brother and sister: but there was a courage and +loftiness of purpose in the aspect of the girl which bespoke a higher +nature than that of the stalwart lad, who looked half-afraid to face +her. + +"Others have done it before. They are all doing it," he argued. "They +say 'tis the only way of safety now that the English King is so mighty +in wrath, and will win by force what he cannot get by friendship. They +say he will come himself, and carry away our young Queen to England, to +wed her to his son; and that all who seek to withstand him will be +slain." + +Lillyard's lip curled; her eyes shot forth fire. + +"England's Kings have tried ere this to conquer Bonny Scotland. Let +them come again, and see the welcome they will get!" + +"It is all very fine for thee to talk!" grumbled the lad; "thou art a +woman. Thou dost sit at home at ease. It is us men who have to go forth +and take all the hard blows. Thou knowest the fate that has befallen +hundreds of us Border men at the hands of the English. Why should we +suffer it? What care I who gets the best of this quarrel? We are +well-nigh as much English as Scotch. What matters it on which side we +fight? Thou needst not glower like that at me. Others say the same. It +is better to take the Red Cross and serve with Sir Ralph Evers or Sir +Brian Latoun, than to be slaughtered like sheep by their trained bands." + +The girl was looking away from him over the smiling landscape. The +expression of her face was one her brother could scarcely read aright. +He cowered a little before it; and yet her voice was quiet enough when +she spoke; quiet and almost dreamy. + +"It is better to die a soldier's death on the field of battle, than to +turn a traitor to one's home and country, and sell one's sword to an +alien King!" + +"Oh, ay, you talk--you talk!" answered Gregory in a tone of offence; +"women can always talk. But if it came to fighting, then they would sing +to a very different tune!" + +The girl's eyes flashed; she turned their light full upon her brother, +who moved uneasily beneath the gaze. + +"Then let the men don women's attire and take the distaff and spindle in +their hands!" she cried; "and let us women go forth and fight the foe! I +trow we should make the better soldiers, if thou art a specimen of the +lads of the Border!" + +"Go to, for a sharp-tongued shrew!" cried Gregory angrily; "I am none +worse than others. Duncan has taken the Red Cross too. Small peace would +there have been at home had I refused it. And have a care how thou dost +talk to him, Lillyard. He will have thee to the cucking-stool for a +scold, an' thou treat him to such words as thou hast treated me!" + +Lillyard's hands dropped to her sides, and her eyes dilated. She had not +perhaps a very exalted opinion of her half-brother, Duncan; but at least +she gave him credit for personal courage. + +"Duncan has taken the Red Cross!" she repeated at last. "Art sure of +that, Gregory?" + +"I saw it pinned upon his arm myself," answered the big lad; "'twas he +who called me up and bid me do the same. He told me how the English were +mustering, and that there would be another great raid; and that he had +no mind to have his house burned about his ears, and all his crops +carried off, with the cattle and horses, and nothing left us save bare +life, even if we escape with that. And I don't see but what he's in the +right," added the youth defiantly, "for all thy black looks, Maid +Lillyard." + +"Duncan taken the Red Cross," breathed the girl softly, as she stood +looking out straight before her with that inscrutable look of hers. +"Then this place is no longer a home for me." + +"What meanest thou?" cried Gregory angrily. "Thou dost talk like a silly +wench, not like our wise Lillyard. What other home couldst thou find? +And, as I tell thee, we shall be safe here now; for the English are not +to harry the homestead of any of those who have taken the Red Cross." + +She did not seem to hear him. She had turned back into the house and was +putting together a few of her private belongings. Her brother watched +her uneasily, shifting from foot to foot. + +"Lillyard, be not so rash. Duncan will never forgive. He will never take +thee back if thou dost go now." + +"I shall not ask him," responded Lillyard quietly; and then, looking +fixedly at Gregory, she said half sadly: "I would that thou wouldst come +with me, and tear that badge from off thine arm. Better a thousand times +death than dishonour--if that be the choice." + +"Women cannot judge of these things," answered Gregory, with masculine +arrogance of sex. Lillyard gave a little smile, and urged him no more. + +The sun was setting over Ancram Moor as the girl stepped forth with her +modest possessions in a bundle. She had no wish to encounter the +half-brother, with whom she and Gregory had made a home ever since their +father's death. He had been a more autocratic ruler at home than ever +the father was. Lillyard did not greatly love him; but she had never +before doubted his personal courage or his loyalty to Scotland's cause. + +Those were evil days for the dwellers upon the Border; and it cannot be +wondered at, if many in that region sought to trim their sails to the +favouring breeze of the moment. There had been sufficient admixture of +the two races here to lessen somewhat the passionate loyalty to country +that ruled in more distant parts. When the Scotch ravaged the English +borders, the inhabitants sometimes preferred to make terms with them +than to fight, and to bribe them to retire; and when the English forces +invaded Scotland, burning, plundering, and butchering through the +devastated land, it was scarcely to be wondered at that some willingly +temporised. If it were true that the little Queen was to marry the King +of England's son, and unite the two countries in one, what need to +cherish such strong hatred and angry feeling? + +But the war was felt to be unjust and unprovoked, and much irritation +was aroused. Henry VIII. of England had shown his intolerant and +impatient temper in a fashion which brought about the defeat of his +cherished plan. He angered the Scots by his demand to have the little +Queen in his own keeping; and, by his persistence and autocratic +conduct, he drove the adverse party into the arms of France, and caused +a rupture in those very negotiations by which he had set such store. + +Even then had he shown moderation and patience, he might still have won +a diplomatic victory, when the proposed scheme had so much to recommend +it; but the haughty monarch had never learned the meaning of that word, +and in his ripening years was losing the self-control which in his +younger days he had sometimes exercised over himself. Upon hearing the +news of the negotiations with France, he had declared instant war, and +had sent two bold knights to start a Border raid, whilst his ships +should convey an army to their aid by way of the Frith of Forth. + +All the Border country was in a tumult of alarm. Help was promised them +from the Scottish army; but meantime this terrible raid had been made, +in which above a thousand men had been either slain or made prisoners, +nearly two hundred houses and towers destroyed, and such quantities of +sheep and cattle slaughtered or driven away as to render the area of +country completely desolate. + +It was therefore perhaps no great wonder that those of the Border folk +who did not feel very keenly with regard to this war, should gladly +avail themselves of the offer made by the English commanders, and +promise to befriend them and to fight on their side if their persons and +goods might be saved from hurt. Those who made this concession were +decorated with a Red Cross, which they undertook to wear in battle, to +distinguish them, and which they were glad enough to have on at other +times, as it was impossible to know at what moment a band of raiders +might not appear, and how soon it might not be needful to display the +badge of friendship. + +But to the high spirit of Lillyard this kind of compromise was odious. +As is sometimes the case in families, she seemed to have inherited +everything that was distinctively and vehemently Scotch. The admixture +of English blood seemed not to have touched her. To think of making such +a compromise with the English was to her mind an act of black treachery. + +Perhaps her feelings on this point had been unconsciously strengthened +by her attachment to a young Highlander, whose mother had somewhat +recently come to live in this Border country, where a little property +had unexpectedly come to her. + +Young Gordon was a Scotchman to the very marrow of his bones, and his +mother was full of the legends and traditions of the Highland home they +had quitted, to which Lillyard would sit and listen by the hour +together. And so close a bond of sympathy had sprung up between the two, +that when Gordon spoke openly of his love, and begged Lillyard to look +upon herself as his promised bride, his mother was almost as eager as +the son for her consent. + +It was natural that Lillyard, in her trouble and dismay, should bend her +steps towards that humble homestead, where the widow, Madge Gordon, had +been settled by her son, ere he went forth to join one of those bands of +soldiers that fought sometimes here, sometimes there, as occasion +demanded, and helped to keep in seething life and activity those terrors +and those enthusiasms of patriotism which were the life and soul of the +struggle. + +The old woman looked up with a smile as Lillyard entered her cottage; +but she spoke no word, for something in the girl's face restrained her. + +"Duncan and Gregory have ta'en the Red Cross," said Lillyard, in a low, +hard tone. + +"The deil fly away with all cowards who would sell their country to the +usurper!" breathed the fierce old woman. + +"So I have come to thee, mother," added Lillyard simply. + +Madge rose and folded her in her arms. + +"Thou hast come to thine own home, lassie," she said. "Alan will be braw +and glad when he comes and finds thee here." + +A quick flush mantled Lillyard's cheek. Her troth plight to Alan Gordon +was a very recent thing. She could not think of it without a thrill. +Would he come to the Border country in aid of the struggling Scotch, +writhing beneath the savage raids of the English? Surely the leaders of +the many bands of soldiers, regular and irregular, would fly to the aid +of their brethren when they heard what things were being done! Ah, yes, +she would see her Alan before long! And he would not chide her for +seeking a home with his mother! + +"I could not stay," said Lillyard, as the two women sat at their frugal +supper together; "it was like a knife in my heart to see that traitor +badge. I could not stay with those who had taken it. And to be told that +were I a man I should do the same!--that it was easy for women who sat +safe at home to talk of courage and devotion!--that were women called +upon to face the foe like men, in battle array, they would be glad to +save their skins by any chance that offered!" And Lillyard threw back +her head and drew a deep breath of anger and scorn, whilst the eyes of +the old woman flashed in the firelight. + +"Said he so--the coward callant! Much does he know of the lot of the +woman, left alone and unprotected in her cabin, whilst lawless hordes of +brutal soldiers harry the land, and slay and outrage! Do we not say, +'Would Heaven I had been born a man, that I might go forth to the +battle? Better a thousand times to die sword in hand upon the +battle-field, than to be butchered in cold blood like the dumb brute +beasts!'" + +"Ah, yes, ah, yes!" cried Lillyard, "that is what my heart is always +saying! Would that I might go and strike one blow for my country, though +I laid down my life in the doing of it!" + +"Other maids have felt like that, and have done the deed!" cried the old +woman, firing up, as she was wont to do when that subject came to the +front. And almost without prompting on the girl's part, she plunged into +the legends and stories of which she had an endless supply on hand, +telling how women and maidens, and even tender children, had done deeds +of heroism and devotion, had fought beside their fathers, their +brothers, their husbands, and had shamed into courage those who were +growing faint-hearted. + +Lillyard's eyes glowed brighter and ever more bright as she listened. +She sprang to her feet at last, and paced the darkening cabin to and fro +with hurried steps. + +"What one has done, another may do. Oh, mother, mother, why may not I +fight even as those of whom thou hast sung to-night?" + +"Daughter, what wouldst thou?" asked Madge, with glistening eyes. She +was excited, and uplifted by the cadence of her own words. + +"Let me go forth and fight. They say that a battle must soon be fought, +and that Ancram Moor is like enough to be the place where the hostile +forces will meet. Alan will be there! I feel in all my being that he is +coming--that he is near! He will fight, and why not I beside him? Let me +but don the kilt and trappings of that young Norman whom thou didst +lose, and I will show to those who scoff at woman's courage, what one +girl can achieve! Let Gregory and Duncan fight against their brethren if +they will; I will strike my blow for the honour of our name! Their +treachery and cowardice shall be atoned by the valour of the sister. +Maid Lillyard will uphold the honour of her father's name, which they +have forgotten and smirched!" + +The old woman kindled into enthusiasm as the words were spoken. She had +been born and bred amid the clash of arms, the struggles of petty +chieftains one with another, the perils of war from brother or from +foeman. The blood of a wild race was in her veins, and neither time nor +age had cooled it. She understood the mood which had come upon Lillyard, +as few of her own kin or neighbours would have understood it. She rose +to her feet, laid her hands upon the girl's shoulders, and, after gazing +steadfastly into her eyes for several long seconds, led her into the +inner room, and opened a great chest. + +Next day Alan came; he rode in the three hundred horse under dauntless +young Norman Leslie. Gallant and brave, did this band appear in the eyes +of all beholders; and cheering was the news they brought, that Lord +Buccleuch was on his way with all speed to join them; that other +reinforcements had started from various points, and would all converge +here; and that the astute Earl of Angus was narrowly watching the +English, and was advising the Scotch leaders as to their best course of +action in repelling this threatened attack; whilst that he himself would +be with them before the day of battle. + +It was splendid news for the loyal Borderers, and some who had taken the +Red Cross in their hour of fear, were ready to tear it off now that they +believed help was at hand. But others, like Duncan and Gregory, were too +cautious to be easily persuaded. They feared to lose their comfortable +homestead, and to suffer at the hands of the English. Moreover, it was +known that the renegades who had taken the Cross and then flung it away, +were the especial mark of English vengeance and cruelty. + +Great was the joy of Alan Gordon to find Lillyard beneath his mother's +roof; and eager was the interest with which he heard her tale. No love +had ever been lost between him and the brothers of the maid he loved; +and little recked he that, since they knew whither she had betaken +herself, they had cast her off utterly. + +"'Tis all in a piece with their coward treachery!" he cried. "But what +matter, since thou art mine? and when the battle has been fought and +won, we two will wed, sweet Lillyard, and thou shalt never lack a home." + +She looked up into her lover's eyes, and smiled; but there was something +in that smile which he did not fully understand. + +Busy and stirring were the days that followed, and full of seething +hopes and fears. The forces on both sides were mustering apace, and it +was known that the threatened battle could not be long delayed. Both +sides were eagerly anxious to come to blows. + +The day arrived. No cloud dimmed the brightness of the sky. The two +armies were drawn up in battle array; and Alan had but a moment in which +to dash in and kiss his mother and his betrothed. + +"A glorious victory will be ours!" he cried, "something in my heart +tells me so! Thou wilt see somewhat of the fight, even from here, +mother. Lillyard, beloved, one more kiss. We shall meet again with +hearts full of gladness!" + +She smiled a strange smile as she kissed him farewell, and watched the +tall figure swinging away over the broken ground. The air seemed full of +the blare of trumpets, the stamping of horses, the clangour of steel +trappings. The girl's eyes kindled. She drew her breath in sharp, +excited gasps. + +"Now, mother," she said, wheeling round to where the old woman stood, +her gaze resting so earnestly upon her that it might almost have +scorched her by its fiery intensity. + +"Thou hast no fear, daughter?" + +"I know not the meaning of the word!" cried Lillyard. "My heart is +yonder. Where my heart is, there would my arm be!" + +"Then come, child, come. Thou art of the right stuff; and I will never +hold thee back. Go, and may the God of battles be with thee, and give +thee part in the glory of victory!" + +A short time later there emerged from that cottage a goodly youth in the +Gordon kilt, and with all the weapons that a Highland lad carries with +him into the battle. The bonnet was set upon a mass of tawny floating +curls, and the great grey eyes were full of fire and light. + +[Illustration: She set herself in their ranks, and went charging down +the hill. + +_Page 237._] + +Lillyard's great beauty was well known throughout the district. "Fair +Maid Lillyard" had been the sobriquet ever since she had been a child. +There was something almost dazzling in her aspect to-day, as she stood +for a moment in the glory of the golden sunshine, and gazed across +towards where the sounds of clashing swords and the booming of guns told +her that the battle was raging; and then, with her light broadsword in +her hand, she made a forward dash, and was soon in full sight of the +fiercely fought fight. + +The apparition of this fair girl, who was instantly recognised for her +beauty and peculiarly lofty bearing, dressed as a soldier, and with a +sword in her hand, evoked a yell of enthusiasm and joy from the whole of +the Scotch ranks. It seemed to the men almost as though some angelic +being had come down to their aid. + +"Maid Lillyard! Maid Lillyard!" was the shout that went up; and when she +set herself in their ranks, and went charging down the hill to meet the +advance of the enemy, the fury of that charge was something so +tremendous, that the ranks of the English were split into a score of +scattered bodies, each flying back to the main body for safety, whilst +the victorious Scotch pursued them with shouts almost to their own camp. + +Who can remember or describe the fierce joy, the fearful peril, the wild +exaltation of hand-to-hand fighting? Lillyard was in the thick of the +most furious onslaughts, on whatever part of the field they took place. +Attached to no company, under no authority, she seemed like a spirit of +the battle, free, and with a charmed life, as she hurried hither and +thither. All men saw her. A hundred voices testified to the prodigies +of valour she performed; but it was only after she had seen the dead +body of Alan Gordon lifted from beneath a pile of English corpses--men +that he had slain--that that Berserker fury fell upon Lillyard, which +has given her name to posterity, and caused the very name of the battle +of Ancram Moor to be more generally known as the battle of Lillyard's +Edge. + +Was it her hand which slew the English leader, Evers, who perished on +that field? Many declared it was so; but whether or no this was the +case, there is no manner of doubt that Lillyard's strong right arm and +dauntless heart carried her through the fierce fight, and that she +inflicted her full share of death and wounds upon her country's foes. + +As the tide of battle set in favour of the Scotch arms, numbers of those +who had borne the Red Cross, and had fought in the English ranks, tore +off their badges and went boldly over to the other side, seeing now +greater safety there than in the ranks of the alien conqueror. + +Of these time-servers were Duncan and Gregory. The latter had little of +the soldier-nature in him, and had kept, as far as possible, out of the +thick of the fight; but when he saw the Scotch arms victorious all over +the field, he eagerly snatched off his badge, and made a dash for his +countrymen. He was hotly pursued by half a dozen enraged English +soldiers, but being fleet of foot, he might have escaped them had he not +caught his foot in what was nothing more nor less than a heap of slain +and wounded, and come heavily to the ground, yelling aloud in his +terror. + +Suddenly he was aware of a great tumult close about him. He raised his +head and looked up. What strange vision was it that his eyes rested +upon? + +A young lad, as it seemed to him for a moment, had raised himself +partially from the heap of dead and dying on which he lay. He seemed to +be too terribly wounded to stand; and yet, with his swinging sword, he +was keeping at bay the English soldiers who were in pursuit of Gregory; +and there was something so strange and unearthly in his aspect that the +men cried one to another: + +"It is no human thing! It is some demon of the battle! I have heard that +a spirit is abroad in the Scotch camp to-day. Let us leave it and be +gone!" + +They turned and fled, and the strange fighter, parting the mass of hair, +partly clotted with blood, that hid its face, looked full into Gregory's +eyes, whilst he shrank away, crying out in fear: + +"It is Lillyard!--it is Lillyard!--or her wraith!" + +She bent her clear, strange gaze upon him steadfastly. + +"Not her wraith--yet, Gregory. Lillyard herself." The voice, though +quite steady, was very weak. "It is not always the woman who fears the +stress of the battle. Where wert thou when the fight was raging so +fiercely?" + +She looked him over from head to foot, and half-unconsciously glanced +downwards at herself. The contrast was so marked that a glow of shame +flamed in Gregory's face. He cried eagerly: + +"I have pulled off my Red Cross, Lillyard. I will fight now beside thee. +Thou shalt show me how to be brave!" + +She gave him a long glance; a faint smile flickered over her face; then +her eyes grew dim, and a ghastly pallor overspread her face. + +"I shall fight no more," she said, in labouring gasps. "Lay me beside +Alan. The battle-field was our marriage feast. Let our bridal bed be the +quiet graveyard." + +With that she fell prone upon the heap of corpses where he had found +her, whence she had risen, though so mortally wounded, to beat off the +pursuing foes who else would have slain her brother. + +She and Alan Gordon were laid side by side, and every honour of war was +paid to them. + + + + +MARGARET WILSON + + +It was ill work living in "the killing time"--as it was significantly +called--for those whose consciences would not let them conform to the +laws laid down by Charles II. and his advisers for the regulation of +public worship in Scotland. + +Religious toleration was no longer to be permitted. The Episcopal form +of worship was to be made compulsory, and that amongst persons who hated +and abhorred it, looked upon it as something emanating more or less +directly from the Evil One, and who clung all the more closely to their +own barer forms of worship and narrow purity of doctrine for the very +opposition they had to encounter. + +The Solemn League and Covenant had been formed for the protection of the +Presbyterian form of worship, and Covenanters was the name given to +those who continued to meet in the forbidden assemblies; and these were +often held in the open air, in some wild and lonely spot, the men +carrying weapons which were piled conveniently for instant use should an +alarm be issued by the scouts set to watch, the women seated nearest to +the preacher, and their horses picketed only a short distance off, so +that flight should be quick and easy if there were danger of +interruption from soldiers in the King's pay. + +In those days it was no uncommon thing for houses and families to be +strangely and pitifully split up and divided into hostile camps; but +perhaps there were few instances so strange as that presented by the +Wilson family, of Wigton. + +Wilson was a prosperous farmer, a Presbyterian by tradition, though no +theologian; but when the edicts went forth against the existing forms of +worship, and attendance at the parish church was enjoined, both he and +his wife made no trouble about conforming to the new regulations, though +whether this conformity came from liberality of mind or from fear of +consequences cannot now be determined. + +But, to their great astonishment and dismay, their two little girls, +Margaret and Agnes, at that time quite children, could not be induced to +accompany their parents to the church. What they had heard against +Episcopal forms in old days seemed to have sunk so deeply into their +hearts and consciences that there was no way of eradicating it; and +great fear fell upon the parents, for the thing became known somewhat +far and wide, and began to excite comment and question. + +"Where are the bairns?" asked the farmer, coming in one day, with a look +of anxiety upon his face. + +"Nay, I know not," answered his wife. "They did their tasks, and then +they both slipped away. I have not seen them this two hours. Like enough +they have gone across to see Margaret M'Lauchlan. They are for ever +running in and out of her house, say and do what I will!" + +"A pestilent woman! Covenanter to the backbone! She will bring herself +and our bairns to ruin if something be not done! Why do you not keep +them at home with you?" + +"Why, husband, how can I be in three or four places at once? I give them +their tasks, but they do them with a will, and are gone ere I have time +to turn round." + +"Ay, and are off to some Conventicle, I'll be bound. That woman +M'Lauchlan is in the thick of all the Covenanters' secrets; and it's +from her the bairns learn all those notions that will be their ruin one +of these days. The Bible bids children obey their parents, but not a +word will they hear from us! Or, rather, they listen, but will not +heed." + +"Alack!--and so said I to them but the other day! and Margaret turned +upon me and answered: ''Ay, mither, children are bidden to obey their +parents in the Lord; but the Lord bids us not to sully our conscience by +doing what is wrong, or bowing the knee to Baal.' They get taught by +those who are good folks enough, but terrible stubborn, and wae's me, +but I can say nought, and so they get the last word every time;" and the +mother shook her head, for in her secret heart she was in far more +sympathy with her bairns than was the father, who was seriously +disturbed and anxious. + +"They shall either learn to obey, or they must be sent away out of reach +of that pestilent woman!" he cried, storming up and down. "If they stay +here they will bring themselves to prison and death, and us into, I know +not what trouble! I'll be bound they are off to some preaching now! I +hear there is to be one somewhere hard by. But this shall be the last. +If they will not promise to attend church with us they must be sent +elsewhere. All the town begins to talk of it. Soon it will come to the +magistrate's ears, and then----" + +The mother clasped her hands, and the tears started to her eyes. + +"They are but bairns; they are not near sixteen yet--not even Margaret. +What could they do to them?" + +"They will make them feel the hand of the law; ay, and us too, as thou +wilt plainly see! They talk about sixteen; but have not babes and +sucklings been slaughtered ere this by the ruthless soldiers?" + +The mother wept, and the father stormed; but the hours passed on, and +the girls did not return. It was almost dark ere they entered the house; +and upon the fair face of the elder was a strange wrapt expression, +that her mother had noted there many times of late, and which always +filled her with a sense of awe. + +She stood quietly beneath the storm of her father's anger; her deep blue +eyes seeming to see away beyond him. Agnes, a slighter dark-eyed child, +shrank away towards her mother, who could not repulse her; but Margaret +was calm and serene. + +"Dear father, thou dost not understand," she said very softly at last, +when the storm had well-nigh spent itself; "perchance some day thine +eyes will be opened to see even as we do. But----" + +The sentence was not destined to be finished; a breathless messenger +burst into the house, white-faced and wild-eyed. It was a tall lad, well +known to the Wilsons, and his name was Archie Scott. + +"The magistrate is coming--fly!--fly!" he cried. "He is coming to seize +Margaret and Agnes. It has been told him how that they never come to +church; and to-day one brought word that they and others have been seen +at a forbidden gathering. The soldiers and officers are already started +forth to make a raid on all suspected houses. The girls must fly!--must +fly at once! I have come to take them to a place where others are hiding +for the moment. They have been preparing for this. They will not be +taken altogether unawares. But there is not a moment to lose!" + +The mother had clasped Agnes in her arms, and her tears were streaming +down. The farmer was storming up and down in a tempest of fear and +anger--anger at the girls, at the law, at the barbarity of punishing +mere children--at everything and everybody. Margaret alone was calm; her +countenance had not changed. + +"Let them come," she answered quietly, "men can only hurt our bodies. +None can touch our true selves. Why should we be afraid? Why should we +fly?" + +But the mother rose and thrust the trembling Agnes into her sister's +arms. + +"Save her! save her!" she sobbed. "It is thine example that hath led her +to this. To thee do I look to save her from the peril which now besets +her. If thou hast no thought or care for thine own life, save that of +thy sister!" + +Margaret looked down at the little white tearful, and yet courageous, +face of her sister and companion, and the dreamy look passed from her +eyes, whilst her mouth grew resolute. + +"Yes, yes," she cried, in a low voice, "they shall not touch Agnes! She +shall be saved. Lead on Archie, lead on! We will follow you to the +hiding place of which you spoke." + +The youth was only too ready to obey; his own agitation was great. +Although not himself of the same way of thinking as the Covenanters, he +had the greatest reverence for their firmness and strong faith, and for +Margaret he entertained feelings which, as yet, were scarcely understood +by him, only it somehow seemed as though were he to lose her, life would +be changed for him. + +Margaret was but fourteen years of age at this time, and Archie was not +twenty; but the girl had that within her and in her aspect, which made +it impossible to regard her as a child. When stories were told of the +virgin saints and martyrs of old, it was always Margaret's calm, sweet, +young face that rose up before the eyes of the lad, and her resolution +and courage in face of a threatened and fearful danger intensified this +impression. + +As he hurried the girls along towards the place which he knew would be a +safe shelter for them and for others, and enable them to join with a +party of fugitives whose arrangements were all made, he strove to change +the purpose of Margaret, and to seek to win her promise to conform to +the laws of the land. + +But she shook her head, and the glow in her eyes made them shine like +stars in the dusk. + +"Nay, Archie, thou must not seek to turn me from the straight and narrow +way, even though it be a thorny one to tread! I ask not of thee to +follow it. If thou canst serve God and the King too, with a free heart +and conscience, then thank God for it, and dwell in peace and safety! +For myself I cannot. The Spirit hath shown me a more excellent way, and +I needs must follow at all cost. What are the trials and troubles and +sufferings of this present life when an eternity of glory lies beyond? +'To him that overcometh will I give----'" + +She did not finish the sentence; her mind seemed to travel too swiftly +for words. Archie looked at her; and Agnes raised her white, +tear-stained face, and both felt that they were looking upon the face of +an angel. + + * * * * * + +The King was dead! The news had reached the north; and for a brief +moment the hand of the law was stayed. Persecution of Covenanters was +temporarily abandoned till the mind of the new monarch should be known. +There were those who shrewdly suspected that where Charles had chastised +with whips, James would chastise with scorpions; but for the moment the +country breathed again, and many hunted exiles and wanderers crept back +to their former homes, to visit their friends and see how they fared, +even if they did not mean to remain long. + +Archie Scott was returning home from his work one evening, when he met +an acquaintance of his, a man for whom he entertained a feeling of deep +dislike and distrust, one Patrick Stuart, who seemed always remarkably +well informed as to what was in the wind, and to trim his sails +accordingly. + +"Have ye seen them?" he asked of Archie, with a look of mystery on his +sly face. + +"Seen whom, man?" asked the other impatiently. + +"Why, those two girls of the Wilsons, who went into hiding four years +back--just escaping by the skin of their teeth! I saw the pair of them +not an hour since, down there with old Margaret M'Lauchlan! I peeped in +at the window, and saw them plain. A rare, fine girl Margaret has grown +too--such hair--such eyes! But she needn't think that her beauty will +save her, once the bloodhounds get on her track!" and an evil light +sprang into the man's shifty eyes, whilst Archie felt his fingers +tingling to be at his throat! + +Patrick passed on, and the other looked after him; his heart was beating +high with excitement and a strange foreboding. He almost followed the +retreating figure, yet he knew not what to say. He had a premonition +that Patrick meant ill in some way, but he had nothing on which to base +his suspicions. And his heart felt suddenly hungry for Margaret. He +turned his back on the vanishing figure, and strode rapidly away towards +the lonely little house on the outskirts of the town where the old woman +lived. + +The girl met him with the same calm sweetness of aspect. She had a +sister-like greeting for him; but he could scarcely stammer out the +words of welcome and greeting that he had been rehearsing so eloquently +all the while. There was something in her beauty, her purity of +expression, her deep dreamy eyes and steadfast glance that stirred his +heart to its depths, and yet left him tongue-tied before her. + +She asked him if he thought their parents would receive them, and could +do so without peril to themselves. Archie replied that when their flight +four years ago had been discovered, the officers had forbidden the +parents upon pain of death ever to shelter or hold any communication +with their children again, and had, moreover, warned them that they must +instantly lodge information with the authorities, should they ever +discover their whereabouts. + +"Poor mother!" said Margaret gently, when she heard these words. "How +she must have suffered! Now I understand why we never had news from her! +She was afraid of learning where we might be. Yet I would fain look upon +her face again!" + +"Have a care, Margaret--have a care!" cried Archie entreatingly, "the +laws are yet unrepealed. There is nothing changed, and this breathing +space may not last long." + +"I will not run into needless peril," answered Margaret; "yet why should +I so greatly fear? Is not God strong enough to protect His own, if it be +His will?--but if He desire to prove our love by something endured for +Him, shall we shrink back in the hour of temptation?" + +When Archie came again the next evening, Margaret was not in the +cottage, and Agnes's face wore a frightened look. + +"Archie, I am glad thou hast come! I have been so unhappy. Patrick +Stuart has been here. Tell me, is he one that we may safely trust? He +spoke like one full of sympathy with us and our sufferings and +wanderings; but at the last he pledged Margaret, and bid her drink to +the new King's health. When she would not, there crept an evil and +crafty look into his eyes. I have been so frightened since!" + +Archie was frightened too, and asked where Margaret was. + +"She has slipped out to take one look at mother and the old home, and, +perchance, to get speech of mother too. Old Margaret was to go and +whisper something to her, and perhaps--perhaps; but they would not let +me go; and something seems to tell me that danger is near. Oh, I wish +Margaret had not gone away! I am never frightened when I am with her; +but alone I am." + +Archie was frightened himself. He felt perfectly certain that Patrick +had set a trap for the girls, and that already he might be on his way to +warn the authorities. + +"Agnes," he said, "I would you had never come back. I would that you +would fly the place again. Ye are too well known here. Anywhere else +would be safer. I will remain with you till Margaret gets back; I will +tell her my fears. Then I would beg her to lose no time, but to fly this +very night to some place of greater safety." + +But, alas!--already it was too late. Soon their straining ears caught +the sound of measured tramping. Agnes gave a faint cry, Archie sprang to +the door, and an oath leapt to his lips. + +"They have got Margaret, and the old woman too! God in heaven have +mercy!--they are coming hither for thee, Agnes. Fly!--fly by yonder door +into the coppice behind! I will detain them by any story I can invent. +Fly ere it be too late!" + +But the news of her sister's capture seemed suddenly to brace the nerves +of the younger girl. She darted out of the open door and flung herself +upon Margaret's neck--Margaret, who was being led along by the officers, +her hands bound behind her, though upon her beautiful face there was an +expression of almost ecstatic exaltation of spirit. + +"Here is the third of them!" cried the men, as Agnes appeared; and, +ignoring Archie's indignant reproaches of cowardice and cruelty, they +bound her hands, and set her beside her sister, and drove them on +towards the Gaol of Wigton, as men drive cattle into market. + +"Margaret! Margaret!" cried Archie, in an agony; but she turned and gave +him one of her deep spiritual glances. + +"Pray for us, Archie, that our faith fail not; and remember that we are +bidden not to fear those who can hurt the body alone, but only him who +can destroy the soul. Fare you well!" + +When next Archie saw again the fair face of Margaret Wilson, it was +when, after a very harsh and cruel captivity, that had left traces upon +her body, though none upon her courageous spirit, she was brought, +together with Agnes and the old woman, M'Lauchlan, before the +magistrates to answer to the charges laid against her and them. + +They had refused attendance at church, it was alleged, had attended +forbidden meetings, had been amongst the rebels at the battle of +Bothwell Bridge; and the old woman had harboured fugitive Covenanters. + +A faint smile played over Margaret's face as she heard some of the +indictment. She had been twelve years old and Agnes eight at the time of +the battle. They had been staying with relatives in the vicinity at that +date; but to be accounted as rebels! + +For the rest she had nothing to say. She received instruction from those +who preached the pure word of God, and had followed the example of the +Lord, who, when threatened in one place, had quitted it for another, and +had addressed His followers in the open air or in secret assemblies, as +His followers of all centuries had been forced at times to do. + +But there was no mercy in the faces of the men who sat in judgment, and +in whose hands were such terrible powers. The three women were +pronounced guilty, and were sentenced to death. And this was the doom +allotted to them: "To be tied to stakes fixed within the floodmark in +the water of Blednoch, near Wigton, where the sea flows at high water, +there to be drowned." + +Margaret heard these words with a strange smile upon her lips, and a +great light came into her eyes. She stood for a moment as one who has a +vision of some unspeakable glory, vouchsafed to no eyes but her own. In +the dead hush of the court all glances were bent upon her, and suddenly +a storm of sobbing arose from the women present. + +Margaret started from her dream, and looked round at the faces, some of +which had been familiar to her from childhood. Her lips moved, as though +she would have spoken; but she was hurried away to the rigors of prison; +whilst the whole town was thrown into a ferment of indignation and +distress, though none dared to raise a protest. + +No fear was in Margaret's heart as those bright days of May sped by; and +she upheld the courage of her sister by her own tenderness and strength. +But the poor old woman, alone and broken in spirit, was induced to +promise that if her life were spared, she would abjure the principles of +the Covenant and attend the parish church in future. + +When Margaret was told this, and that, if she would join in a similar +promise, her submission together with the strenuous efforts being made +by her father and friends, might avail to save her life, her face took a +grave and almost stern expression. + +"Get thee behind me, Satan!" she exclaimed; and, clasping Agnes to her +breast, she cried: "My sister and I will lay down our lives for the +truth; but we will never, never consent to live by and for a lie!" + +"Then your blood be upon your own heads!" cried the angry officer, as he +banged the door behind him. + +The morning of the appointed day arrived. The sisters were calm and +strong in their resolution. Suddenly the door of their prison opened. +Was it the men come to lead them to the stakes in the stream? Agnes gave +a little cry of joy and amaze as she saw the white, worn face of her +father. + +"My child! my child!" he cried, clasping her in his arms. His emotion +was so great that for a moment he could not speak. It was Archie Scott, +with a face as white as death, who came and stood before Margaret. + +"Agnes is saved," he said hoarsely; "she is not yet sixteen. She is to +be released and set in her father's charge. And the Privy Council in +Edinburgh, on receiving old Margaret's submission and the memorial sent +by Wigton, promised a postponement of the sentence till the King's mind +could be known. But the magistrates will not listen. They will hear +nothing; they will go on their own way. Thou art to die to-day, +Margaret; and I know not how to bear it!" + +She laid her hand upon his arm. Her face was full of joy. + +"Nay, if Agnes be spared, my prayers have indeed found their answer. For +myself--Archie, Archie, do not look so--I have long thought that to +depart and be with Christ is far better; where the wicked cease from +troubling, and the weary are at rest." + +There was joy and peace in the girl's face as she was led forth from her +prison, and old Margaret, too, repenting her former weakness, held her +head high, and spoke with courage and resolution to her friends who had +assembled to see the mournful procession pass by. All Wigton had come +forth to see the martyrs go to their death; and Archie Scott walked near +to Margaret, and kept his eyes fixed upon her face, as though to seek to +learn something of her spirit. + +"Thou wilt be a brother to my sweet Agnes and comfort her," said +Margaret to him once. "I trow she will be loyal and true to her faith, +even though she may be forced to some outward compliance. The Lord will +not judge her harshly!" + +It seems sad that such noble and courageous souls as those that +animated the martyrs of the Covenant should regard it as a possible +offence against God to attend a service to His honour and glory, and by +consecrated servants set aside for His service. Perhaps as Margaret +Wilson stood in the midst of the waters, bound to her stake, watching +the rise of the flood which must soon overwhelm her--perhaps something +of the wider and grander aspects of the One Church--Holy and +Catholic--with the Lord for her Head was vouchsafed in vision to her +spirit. For, suddenly, as she saw the last struggles of the aged woman +who was tied on somewhat lower ground, and knew that a few minutes more +would see the end of her own young life, she first broke into words of +psalm and holy writ, and then suddenly exclaimed: + +"The King! the King! the poor misguided King! May God bless and pardon +him and open his eyes!" + +"She recants! she recants!" cried a multitude of voices from the +bank--the voices of those who believed that in this prayer for the +monarch Margaret was making a recantation of faith. + +"Bring her out! bring her out!" shouted the crowd, in frenzy; and the +magistrates, not daring to withstand this public clamour, gave orders +for Margaret to be loosed and carried ashore. + +"Will you retract your errors, foolish girl, and renounce the Covenant?" +they asked when, astonished, but calm and steadfast as ever, she was +brought to them. + +"I will not!" she answered, with quiet steadfastness. "As I have lived +so let me die! I have nothing to recant. I am Christ's--let me go to +Him." + +"Throw her into the water, for a pestilent Covenanter" cried the +magistrates; and in another moment the deep swirling waters closed over +the slight heroic frame of Margaret Wilson. Another Christian martyr had +gone fearlessly to her death. + + + + +AGOSTINA OF ZARAGOZA + + +The beautiful young Countess Burita was the first to set the example of +heroism and humanity. + +Cowering behind their insufficient walls, and hearing the terrible roar +and crash of artillery about them, seeing the French take up a firm +position on the Torrero, from whence they could shell the devoted city +of Zaragoza at their ease, what wonder that the Spaniards--the women and +children at any rate--shrank in terror from the thought of a protracted +siege, and cried aloud that nothing could save them? + +But the old fighting spirit of the past was arousing and awakening in +the souls of the men. The tyrannical temper of Napoleon, and his +aggressive disposition of the Spanish crown to his own brother, had +inflamed the ire of the Spaniards from the nobles to the peasants; and, +though a long period of misgovernment had weakened the country, +destroyed the vigour of the nation, and rendered the soldiers of little +use in the open field, yet it had not killed the old stubborn fighting +spirit within them, and when their passions were aroused, the flames had +still the power to spring forth from the ashes of the past, and there +were moments when all the old chivalry of former ages seemed to awake +within them. + +It was this spirit that animated the defenders of Zaragoza when Aragon +revolted against the rule of the French, and they resolved at least to +hold the ancient capital against the foe. + +Hopeless the task seemed; for the defences were of the most meagre +description; the only strong part of the wall being the ancient Roman +portion, the high brick houses within having no shelter or means of +defence from the shells and bombs that came screaming and rattling over +them. + +But there were heroic spirits within those frail walls, and one of the +first to show an example of high-hearted bravery was the beautiful young +Countess. Whilst her husband gave what aid he could to the military +defenders of the city, she organised her band of women and girls for the +work which was only a little less urgent. + +She ordered them to get together from the houses those awnings which +defended the rooms from the fierce heat of the sun, and under her +skilful direction these were sewn into huge bags that were filled with +sand and earth and used with great advantage to stay the effects of shot +and shell continually bursting over them. + +The houses actually built upon the walls were pulled down, and all the +beams were employed in strengthening the defences in other parts, +barricading exposed windows, and making covered ways along the streets +where the townsfolk could walk in comparative safety, despite the rain +of bullets dropping round them. + +But these things were not done without terrible scenes in the streets, +brave men falling at their posts, horrible explosions tearing up the +ground and scattering destruction all around. + +Small wonder was it, if at first the hearts of the women had failed +them, and they had been ready to give way to a sense of despair. But +quickly they rallied their courage, and the spirit of their ancestors +entered into them. Although there were so few soldiers in the town--only +between two and three hundred in the garrison--yet the townsmen offered +their services and banded themselves together for the defence of their +ancient city, and after the first panic had subsided, the women were +eager to render every assistance that lay in their power, some even +offering to serve in the ranks like men, if they could be taken on in +that capacity. + +There was, however, one way in which they could serve the men almost as +well as by fighting beside them, and that was in bringing them food and +water when they were mounted on the walls at their perilous posts. + +This was rather a fearful task. The shells rushed screaming through the +air from the height above, where the enemy's batteries were placed, and +none knew where the deadly missile might explode. Bullets rained about +the gallant defenders at their guns. It was like walking into the very +mouth of hell, as many a woman shudderingly observed; and yet there were +always volunteers for this perilous task. The noble Countess was the +leader in every difficult enterprise, and she organised a devoted band +who should carry on the work with order and system, avoiding needless +exposure, but gallantly prosecuting the necessary and most perilous +office. + +Amongst the most ardent and devoted of this band of women and girls the +Countess noted one very beautiful, strongly built, dark-eyed maiden, who +seemed endowed with strength and courage beyond that of her compatriots. + +Wherever the fire was fiercest and hottest, wherever the strife was +direst and most deadly, there this girl was sure to be seen, waiting +with her water-cans to make a dash towards the thirsty, smoke-begrimed +soldiers, when a moment's respite allowed them to step back for the +sorely needed drink. For the fierce heat of June was in the air, and the +sunshine lay blinding upon the hot walls and ramparts, save where it was +blotted out by the smoke wreaths from cannon and musket. + +But there was one particular corner upon the old wall where the fight +was often fiercely raging, and where this girl seemed oftenest to +linger, and the Countess, observing her with more and more attention as +the dire siege went forward, took the opportunity one day, when there +was a little lull in the firing, to speak to her and ask her of herself. + +"I am called Agostina," answered the girl, "and it is my father who +serves yonder gun. He has the post of the greatest danger. I dare not +tear myself away. Every day I fear to see him fall. Many have fallen at +his side, but the blessed Mother of God and the holy saints have watched +over him, and he has not as yet received so much as a scratch. Alas! if +he should be taken, what will become of the little ones at home?" And +over the girl's handsome, resolute face there swept an expression of +pain and anguish that was sorrowful to see. + +The Countess walked beside her to the spot where her father stood beside +his gun, taking this moment of lull to clean it well, for often it +became so hot that he was afraid it would burst. His dark, smoke-grimed +face, handsome like Agostina's in spite of its black veil, brightened at +her approach, and on seeing the lovely, high-born lady, he doffed his +cap with the instinctive grace and courtesy that the humble Spaniard has +never lost. + +Agostina handed him the water-can, from which he took a deep, refreshing +draught, sighing with satisfaction as he handed it back to the girl. The +lady regarded the pair, and thought they looked more like husband and +wife than father and daughter. He seemed not old enough for her father, +though there was such a bond of affection and familiarity between them. + +"Take it yonder to Ruy Gomez," said the man, pointing towards a +fellow-gunner a little distance off. "He is parched with thirst, and has +one of the hottest places on the wall." + +Agostina moved forward towards the man--she knew the names of all the +gunners in this corner of the fortifications--and the Countess remained +and entered into conversation with the father. + +"You have a good daughter, my brave fellow. I have watched her these +many days amongst the rest. She seems to know not fear--not for herself; +though she spoke but now as though she lived in daily and hourly fear +for her father's life!" + +"Ah, poor child, poor child! It would be a sad thing for her were I to +be taken. You see there are the little ones at home; she is like a +mother to them, and to her it would be like being left a widow were I to +fall." + +"You have other children too, then? Yet Agostina is always alone in her +tasks." + +"Ah, yes; the others are too little, too tender. You see it was so: I +married almost as a boy, I was little more when Agostina was born, and +my wife died in giving her life. She grew up my comrade and plaything. +I soon ceased to regret she was not a boy. She was as brave, as hardy, +as skilful at games and exercises, as free from fear, as bold to brave +toil and fatigue. Ah, I should weary you, Señora, were I to try and tell +you of Agostina's childhood and youth! We have been more like brother +and sister, comrades, lovers, than father and daughter; and yet, with +all that, no daughter was ever more dutiful and loving and obedient than +my Agostina!" + +The man's face had kindled into a great enthusiasm as he talked of his +beautiful daughter; that she was the very apple of his eye none could +doubt who heard him speak. The lady almost marvelled that he had taken +to himself another wife, but in his own simple fashion he explained the +matter. + +"It was the year when that great sickness came. I was smitten down with +it, and Agostina nursed me back to health. Indeed, I was never very ill; +my life was not in danger, but she almost broke her heart in fear lest +she might lose me; and when I was well she was taken, and lay for long +at the very gates of death. And I, what could I do? A man is a helpless +creature in such times; and many of the neighbours fled from us. But +there was one who came to us in our troubles, a gentle creature who had +lost father and mother in the sickness. She had always loved Agostina, +and Agostina had loved her. She came and watched beside her day and +night. She brought her back to health and strength. She was quite alone +in the world; she had no one to look to; and so I married her, and +Agostina was like a sister and a daughter in one." + +"And is she living yet within the city?" + +"Alas, no! She was taken to her rest last year; and at home are the +three little ones, to whom Agostina is more mother than sister. A +neighbour takes care of them now, for Agostina must do her duty with the +brave daughters of the city. You, gentle lady, have taught them this. I +thank the saints and our Blessed Lady that my Agostina has been one to +answer to the call of duty. She has a heart of gold." + +"I have seen it," answered the Countess; "a heart of gold and arms of +steel. I have watched her often with wonder and envy. She has the +strength of a strong man in that light frame of hers!" + +"Has she not!" answered the proud father, his eyes shining; "and not +only has she strength, but she has skill and dauntless courage. She can +fire this gun as well as I can myself. She has stood at my side many +times helping me to load and fire it. When I have been blinded by smoke +and lack of sleep, she has crept up to me and whispered in the confusion +and din, 'Let me take a turn for you, father, I can do it as well as +you. Sit down a moment and breathe. I will serve the gun.' Ay, and she +has done it, too--my brave little Agostina." + +The man's pride in his daughter was almost as touching as her devotion +to him. After that day the Countess watched Agostina with affectionate +interest; and, indeed, others began to note her too; for in the many +fearful casualties that befell the besieged, the explosion of the powder +magazine, the firing of the convent, which had been turned into a +hospital for sick and wounded, Agostina was ever foremost in the work of +rescue, animating by her courage and example even the most +faint-hearted, and performing miraculous feats of strength and courage +and devotion. + +In a city and at a time when all were heroines, Agostina began to be +pointed out as the heroine of the siege; but she neither knew nor +heeded. All she thought of was the safety of her father and the saving +of her city. A passionate patriotism burned within her; she could face +any personal peril if only the holy saints would grant them victory over +their foes! + +The gate near which her father served his gun was called the Portillo; +and fearful was the fighting that raged round that spot one +never-to-be-forgotten day of this memorable siege. The whole place +seemed to shake and rock with the explosions of shells from the Torrero; +fires were bursting out in many parts of the city. The sand-bags heaped +up in defence of wall and building were igniting and dropping away. And +around this special corner the fire was so fierce and furious that it +seemed as though every living creature must be swept away, leaving the +French a clear passage into the devoted town. + +Indeed, so terrible was the bombardment here that the devoted band of +women, ready with water-cans and fresh sand-bags to rush forward to aid +their fathers and brothers, were for once driven back, and forced away +by the smoke and heat and thick rain of bullets. Agostina stood her +ground alone, peering into the smoke with anguished eyes; standing amid +the leaden hail as though she bore a charmed life; wringing her hands +together sometimes, when a cry or a groan seemed to bespeak the fact +that another bullet had done its fatal work. + +At last she could stand it no longer. With a cry like that of a wild +creature in fury and distress, she leaped through the smoke and reek to +the very wall itself; and what did her eyes see then? What sight was it +that caused every drop of blood to ebb from her face, whilst the fire +seemed to flash from her eyes and reflect back the sullen glow from the +Torrero? + +Every man amongst the besieged had fallen! Heaps of dead and dying lay +at her feet. Her father--where was he? A cry of anguish broke from her +as she stopped to look. From amid the heap at her feet a head was +raised--a head and a hand--a hand holding a match. + +"Agostina--fire--the gun." + +It was his last word ere his head fell back in death. But the girl had +heard, and every nerve in her body tingled in response to that dying +appeal. + +Through the lessening smoke wreaths she saw an appalling sight--she saw +the rapid approach of the French towards the now undefended gate. It +rested with Agostina alone whether or not they should win an entrance +into the city. + +With steady hand she adjusted the great gun that she had fired so often +before. With perfect coolness and dexterity she applied her match. There +was a crash, a roar, followed by the shrieks of wounded men, the oaths +of their comrades. The French had believed the guns silenced; they had +believed themselves secure of victory; and now their ranks were torn and +mown by a well-aimed twenty-six-pounder. The officer in charge called a +halt. The city was not as defenceless as they had thought. + +Within the walls there was the sound of hurrying feet, as the Commander, +with some troops, came hastening to the rescue. It had been told him +how fearful was the peril here. Word had been brought that all the guns +were silent now, and he knew but too well what that meant. Hastening to +the spot in anxious fear, he had heard the booming roar of a city gun, +had heard the cry of the advancing French; and now he pressed forward to +the spot to find a girl seated upon the gun, which was still smoking, +waving her arms above her head, and crying: + +"Death or victory! Death or victory! Father, I accept your dying charge. +I leave not your gun again till Zaragoza be saved! I claim it as my +due!" + +The next moment Agostina had sprung to her feet, for she was no longer +alone with the dying and the dead. The Commander himself, Don José +Palafox, a nobleman, who in this emergency had come forward and placed +himself at the head of the troops of the garrison in the besieged city, +was standing beside her, regarding her steadfastly; and, though +perfectly fearless in the moment of danger, Agostina felt abashed before +his fixed gaze, and dropped her eyes. + +"Maiden," he asked gently, "whose hand was it fired that last shot, +after the guns had long been silent?" + +A wounded man half rose from the ground at their feet, and he pointed +his finger at Agostina. + +[Illustration: A wounded man half rose from the ground at their feet. + +_Page 270._] + +"It was she who did it, Señor; she is the daughter of one of those who +lie dead beneath your feet. He had fallen. We had all fallen. Help did +not come, but the foe was coming. We could hear the tramp of their +approaching feet. Then Agostina was in our midst. Her father's last +charge was given, 'fire the gun.' She obeyed. She checked the oncoming +tide. She routed the advancing foe. Agostina did that." + +But Agostina had not stayed to hear her praises sung; she was on her +knees beside a mangled form. The tears were raining from her eyes. She +was no longer the heroine of the gun. She was a daughter weeping for the +loss of a loved and loving father. + +"They loved each other so well--so well," murmured the wounded man, as +his head sank back. "Poor Agostina!" + +Don José would have said more to Agostina, but his kind heart told him +that the moment was not yet come; and he merely ordered his men to lift +up the body of the dead gunner, and to give it decent burial in any spot +that Agostina should direct. It was some salve to her great grief that +her father should lie in consecrated ground. So many heaps of slain had +to be buried where they fell. The besieged had not time or strength to +carry them away. + +The following day Don José, making his rounds and instituting a more +detailed survey of the wall which had been indeed terribly shaken and +shattered by the firing of yesterday, was surprised to find Agostina +hard at work cleaning the gun which had been her father's up till now, +and to which, as yet, no fresh gunner had been appointed, for, indeed, +the Commander was getting very short of men with skill enough to take +charge of the guns. He stood for a few seconds watching her attentively; +and when after loading the piece with the precision and skill which +showed a thorough understanding of the task in hand, she raised her sad +eyes, she coloured very slightly, and saluted exactly as a soldier would +have done at sight of his commanding officer. + +Don José returned the salute, and came up to the girl's side. + +"I have been hearing of you, my brave child," he said. "What can I do +for you in return for what you did yesterday for this city?" + +"Señor," she replied, "I have but one boon to crave. Give me my father's +place here at this gun. Let me serve it as he served it, so long as the +siege lasts. He has taught me how. You shall not find me remiss. I think +I am not unskilful. Yesterday, in the presence of the dead, I vowed a +vow--I vowed not to leave my post here till the French should retreat +from Zaragoza. Let me but keep that vow. Give me here the right to hold +my father's place, the right to draw his pay, and that portion of food +for the helpless babes at home that every soldier's family may claim. I +ask nothing else!" She spoke very simply; there was no thought in her +heart of playing the hero's part. She asked bread for the children, and +the right to earn it for them. If deep down in her heart the fire of +patriotism was burning fiercely, she never thought of posing as a +heroine sacrificing herself for her country. No, hers was a simple +nature. She loved her father with passionate devotion. She longed to +accomplish the work which had been his. She yearned after the little +helpless children, and felt she must earn for them the necessities of +life. Provisions were beginning to run short. Rations were provided for +the soldiers and their families; but the citizens were face to face with +a scarcity that might become actual famine ere long. The little ones +must not starve; such had been Agostina's leading thought. She would win +for them their daily bread. She had been a mother to them for long; now +she would be a father too. + +Don José's face was gravely tender as he replied: + +"My child, your petition is granted. No more noble or courageous +custodian of that gun could I find within these walls. I appoint you its +gunner, with double pay. When peace has been restored, and I can tell to +the world the story of the Maid of Zaragoza, it will go hard if the +nation do not provide a pension too for so brave a daughter of her +soil!" + +Agostina's cheek glowed; she bent her knee for a moment, and ere Don +José quite knew what she was about to do, she had pressed her lips upon +his hand. + +"Our Blessed Lady guard and keep you, Señor," she said. "You have +granted me my heart's desire!" + +It was a strange heart's desire, in truth! To stand upon that battered +wall in the teeth of the enemy's guns; to be a target for the shot and +shell of those terrible batteries; to serve that smoking gun, and send +its fierce answers forth into the hostile camp of the invaders. Others +fell about and around Agostina, but no shot touched her. They came to +say that she bore a charmed life; and it, at least, was plain that the +thought of fear could never find a lodging place within her breast. + +Then came a desperate day when it seemed indeed as though all were lost. +A new battery was being built over against a convent, whose walls were +weak already, and almost ready to fall. Strengthen them as they might, +the garrison was helpless to effect any real improvement in their +condition. They fell almost at the first shock when the new battery +opened fire, and the French, rushing in through the breaches made, took +possession of one quarter of the city, and sent a haughty summons to Don +José to surrender. + +The situation was tragic enough. They were now between two fires, and +only a wide space like a boulevard separated the hostile camps. Don José +had long been expecting succour from his brother, Don Francisco, who had +sent word that he was marching to his relief with three thousand men and +stores of food and ammunition. But there was no sign of his near +approach as yet; and the city was in pitiful plight. + +"Surrender! By capitulation alone can Zaragoza be saved." + +Such was the haughty message from the French General Lefèbre, brought to +Don José and his exhausted men after the fall of the quarter of the city +called St. Engracia. + +The Commander looked around upon the ring of gaunt men about him, and +over at the shattered buildings of the town. What answer was it his duty +to return? Was he justified in sacrificing all these brave lives? What +did the people of Zaragoza think of it themselves? They had at least a +right to be asked. It was they upon whom the brunt of these fearful days +fell. + +"What answer shall we return to General Lefèbre?" he asked, looking from +one to the other; and the men themselves seemed scarce to know what +answer to make. + +Then a voice from the crowd shouted out the words: + +"Let us ask the Maid of Zaragoza!" + +Don José's face lighted at the suggestion. He turned in the direction of +the speaker, and cried aloud: + +"Go--ask the Maid of the Gun what answer we shall send back. By her word +we will abide!" + +A strange thrill of enthusiasm ran through the whole city as the +messenger sped forth to the farther wall to ask of Agostina what the +Commander should answer. Strange as was the choice of such an umpire, +there was something fitting and dramatic about it that fired the +Spaniards, and wrought a strange kind of exultation among them. + +Soon a gathering murmur in the distance, which increased to a perfect +roar as the crowd surged onwards, showed that the answer was being +brought back, and that it had stirred to the depths the impulsive and +excitable populace. + +"War to the knife! War to the knife!" The words detached themselves at +last from the general clangour, and the soldiers, flashing out their +swords, took up the answer of the Maid of Zaragoza, and the welkin rang +with the shout--"War to the knife!" + +A few days after those four words had been sent by Don José to General +Lefèbre, the longed-for help came; and the eyes of Agostina shone and +glowed as she watched from her gun upon the wall the French soldiers in +full retreat blocking the road to Pamplona. The siege of Zaragoza was at +an end; and the Commander came himself and fastened a medal of honour +upon the heroine's breast. + + + + +AGNES BEAUMONT + + +"Thou shalt never listen to the rogue again!" + +"But, father----" + +"Silence, girl! Have I not said it? Thou shalt never go to hear him +preach again! He is a pestilent knave. He will bring all who hear him to +trouble. Dost hear me, girl? Thou shalt not go!" + +"Nay, but, sweet father!" + +"Silence!" thundered the angry man. "I have spoken; let that be enough. +Thou shalt have no more of this preaching dinned into thine ears, and +neither will I. Thou shalt never hear Mr. Bunyan again. He has done harm +enough already." + +Agnes was absolutely aghast at this sudden outbreak, for which she was +totally unprepared. She and her father had for some while been attending +with great interest and profit the teachings and preachings of the +notable Puritan, John Bunyan, whose wonderful personal experiences +brought home to his hearers a sense of reality which was often lacking +in other teachers. + +Farmer Beaumont had, however, of late been strangely silent and morose, +so that his daughter had been rather afraid to speak to him. She had +noted that he had not mentioned the approaching preaching, which she was +most anxious to attend; but she had no idea that any great change had +come over him till he suddenly burst forth in this manner, as they were +sitting together at supper, after his return from the neighbouring town, +where he had spent the previous night. + +Of course, Agnes was well aware that by many people this John Bunyan was +regarded as a dangerous man, and that these inveighed against him as a +preacher and teacher of strange new doctrines. Sometimes, she knew, it +was dangerous to attend these meetings. She had heard it whispered +before now that persons were often brought up before the authorities and +fined or otherwise punished for offences of this sort, but it never +occurred to her that her sturdy father would be frightened. She had no +fear for herself. She believed she heard Heaven-sent gospel from this +preacher, and she longed to hear him again. + +It was plain to her that somebody had got hold of her father during his +absence from home, and had worked upon the fears that were beginning to +agitate him before. She knew that there was a lawyer there--a man she +especially disliked and distrusted. Once he had been suitor for her +hand; for Farmer Beaumont was reputed to be a warm man, and Agnes was +likely to come into the bulk of his property and savings at his death. +But the girl had repelled his advances with energy; having an intense +dislike to the sly, fox-faced man of the quill, and he now repaid her +dislike in kind, and she believed that on more than one occasion he had +sought to poison her father's mind against her. + +She suspected that this was the case now. It was plain that the old man +was in a very angry mood. + +After sitting awhile in glowering silence, he broke out again even more +fiercely than before. + +"I'll have a promise from thee, girl; thou shalt promise me here and now +that thou wilt never go and hear one of his preachings more. Say the +words and have done with it." + +"Oh, father, do not ask me to make such a promise as that!" + +"Ay, but I will. I'll have no disobedient daughter in my house. I've had +a talk to Farry about it. Thou first will not have him for a husband at +my bidding; now thou art taking up with this pestilent preacher +Bunyan----" + +"But, father, thou didst take me thyself to hear him, and said he was a +godly man. It is Farry's evil tongue that hath wrought this change in +thee. Prithee, pardon my boldness, but I dare not promise what is +against my conscience!" + +"It is against thy conscience to obey thy father, girl?" raved the angry +farmer. "A pretty conscience in all sooth. I'll have that promise from +thee to-night, or else I'll drive thee from my doors, and disown thee +for my daughter!" + +Agnes was in great distress, for she loved her father, and had always +been an obedient daughter; but the stern tenets of the Puritan divines +had penetrated deeply into her soul; and she was sorely afraid that by +obeying her father she would be trifling with her soul's salvation. Most +sincerely did she desire to do right; but it was so hard for her to know +what was most right. + +At last after much deliberation and some silent prayer Agnes brought +herself to say, whilst her father had spent much of his energy in +railing and threats: + +"Dear father, I will promise you this, that so long as you live I will +not go to one of these preachings without your consent; and I beg of you +not to ask me more than that." + +On hearing these words spoken whilst the tears ran down her cheeks, the +father's rage suddenly abated. He kissed Agnes and told her that she was +a good girl after all; and the storm in the house died down to a calm. + +But poor Agnes was very unhappy. It seemed to her as though in obeying +her father she had in some sort violated her conscience and betrayed her +Lord. When she consulted her married sister and brother-in-law on the +subject (all ardent admirers of Mr. Bunyan), she found that they also +took this view of the matter, and her trouble became very great. + +It was now her chief aim and object to gain her father's consent to her +attending the approaching meeting, where John Bunyan was to preach and +afterwards to administer the Sacrament. It seemed to her equally +impossible to remain away or to break her word to her father; and her +only hope of real peace of mind lay in winning his consent to her going +there. + +During the last two days he had been much kinder to her; but still she +was in great fear lest he was in the same mind with regard to Bunyan and +the preaching. She got her sister to come over to the farm the evening +before, and by talking and a certain amount of coaxing and argument, +they at last won the old man's permission that Agnes should accompany +her relatives to the meeting at Gamlinhay, they promising to get her +taken and returned, as the farmer had no mind to assist her by sparing +one of his own horses to carry her, and the distance was too far for her +to walk. + +It was a great joy to Agnes to win this permission; and she was more +sure than ever that it was Lawyer Farry's jeering words and overbearing +arguments that had caused her father so to turn against her and the +preacher; for since he had been at home with her again, he had become +quiet and reasonable. + +But she thought it would be wise to be off and away early upon the +morrow, lest he should in any wise change his mind; and so she rose with +the sun, set about her morning tasks with great energy, and had taken +her own breakfast and left everything in readiness for her father before +she slipped into her riding dress, and made her way across the fields to +her brother-in-law's house, without having caught a glimpse of the +farmer. Indeed, she had left the house before he was astir. + +Her sister received her kindly, and told her that they had arranged for +her to ride behind Mr. Wilson, the minister of Hitchin, who would call +on his way at the house. But time went on, and there was no sign of him, +and poor Agnes's face grew pale with anxiety. Her brother had only one +horse and would take his wife behind him. Agnes could not burden them; +no horse could carry three riders. Strong as she was, she could not walk +the whole distance in the time, since they had waited now so long. It +seemed for a moment as though after all she must be left behind, when +suddenly her sister, who had been gazing down the road, cried out +eagerly: + +"He is coming!--He is coming!--Surely, husband, that is Mr. Wilson on +his nag?" + +For a few minutes all thought this; but Agnes suddenly gave a little +cry, and exclaimed: + +[Illustration: Bunyan looked down at her with rather a grim smile upon +his face. + +_Page 283._] + +"It is not Mr. Wilson--it is Mr. John Bunyan himself!" + +"Then he shall carry you, Agnes!" cried her sister, "and you will have +the pleasure of his godly conversation on the road." + +The heart of Agnes was full of joy at the bare thought of such an +honour; but when her brother ran out to the gate to make the request, +they heard Mr. Bunyan's voice say quite roughly: + +"No; I will not take her." + +Sudden tears rushed to the eyes of Agnes; she hid behind her sister that +he might not see her weep, and again she heard the tones of his +voice--the voice she had come to love so well. + +"If I do, her father will be grievously angry. I have heard how he has +changed towards me. I will not set a man at variance with his children. +Children are an heritage from the Lord." + +At that Agnes ran forward, and told him what had happened, and how her +father had consented that she should go to the preaching. Bunyan looked +down at her with rather a grim smile upon his face. + +"Ay, child; but did he say you might ride pillion behind the preacher?" + +Agnes made no reply; but her sister pleaded for her, and in the end +Bunyan consented to carry her, though he told her plainly: + +"If I were you, maiden, I would go home to my old father, and seek to +soften his heart by childlike obedience and submission, rather than urge +him vehemently to gain mine own way." + +They had not proceeded far on the road before they met a man on +horseback riding in an opposite direction. To her dismay and annoyance +Agnes saw that it was Lawyer Farry, and she felt certain he was on his +way to her father's house. She knew well how he would stir up the old +man against the preacher, and it could not be but that her father would +be very angry to hear that she had been seen riding behind Mr. Bunyan to +the preaching. Probably he would think this thing had been arranged +beforehand, and no doubt Farry would do his best to encourage that idea. + +Bunyan, however, not knowing the lawyer, paid no heed to the stranger, +though he continued to give Agnes much good advice as to her relations +with her father, advice that the girl promised faithfully to follow. + +"For, indeed, I have always loved him dutifully; and till lately he has +been a tender father to me. But he has been embittered against those +things which I hold so needful for my soul's salvation, and I am torn in +twain betwixt my duty to him and to God." + +"Ay, ay, my child, thy path may be sometimes a difficult one; but +remember that faith in Christ is enough for salvation, and thou wilt +never imperil thy soul by abstaining from hearing some godly preaching, +albeit such preaching may strengthen and sustain thee. God gave thee thy +father and bade thee reverence and obey him. There is no doubt about +that duty, so look to it in the future." + +This gentle counsel set Agnes thinking deeply; and since it came from +Mr. Bunyan himself, she could not but believe it good. Greatly as she +delighted in the preaching and meeting which she had made so great a +point of attending, she was possessed by a longing to be at home again, +to ask her father's pardon if she had thought too little of his wishes, +and to show him in the future a greater patience and affection than had +been possible of late. + +At the close of the meeting she was in some perplexity how to get home, +since Mr. Bunyan was not going back that way; but at last she found a +young woman who gave her a mount behind her on her horse, and in this +way she reached her father's house, although it was now late, and her +sister counselled her to come home with her for the night. + +But Agnes thought her duty was to go home, as perhaps her father would +be waiting for her. When she saw the house all dark and closed, her +heart sank somewhat; but she would not be daunted. Going up she knocked +at the door and then called aloud under the window of her father's +room, asking him to throw her down the key, which he always took up to +bed with him. + +Suddenly a fierce voice came thundering from the lattice: + +"Thou shalt never enter my house again. Thou art no daughter of mine. +Where thou hast been all day thou mayest go at night." + +"But, father, father, you did give me leave to go," she pleaded. + +"Did I give thee leave to ride behind Mr. Bunyan? Go to him, thou +disobedient girl; thou art no child of mine." + +And so saying he banged to the lattice very fiercely, and Agnes was left +standing without in the cold and damp. + +For a moment she thought she would go to her sister's house, but then +the memory of Bunyan's words came over her, and she resolved not to be +driven away by her father's harshness, but to pass her night in the barn +praying for him, and to seek on the morrow to soften him by her prayers +and to tell him of the advice Mr. Bunyan had given her. She longed to be +reconciled to him, and lead him back to the old paths by her filial +gentleness. And as she made her way to the barn, she said in her heart: + +"That is the work of wicked Farry. He has been with father again, +poisoning his mind; but I will pray for him, and perchance on the +morrow he will hear me, and let me come to him once more." + +But upon the morrow the old man seemed more implacable than ever. He was +rather startled at finding his daughter in the barn in her riding-dress; +but he would not hear a word from her. He poured out his fury upon her +in such ungoverned language that it was all the poor girl could do to +keep from turning and fleeing from him. Yet, mindful of her resolve to +bear all meekly, she continued to follow him about and plead to be taken +in; till at last the old man in a fit of ungovernable fury ran at her +with the pitch-fork that he had in his hand, and Agnes barely escaped +receiving a serious injury. + +"I will go to Prudence's house for a while, father," she said gently +after this. "I trust by the morrow you will have forgiven me if I did +wrong in riding with Mr. Bunyan. Indeed, he was loth to take me; but I +was so anxious to go. Perhaps I was somewhat wrong to urge it so +vehemently; but one day you will forgive, and let me be your daughter +again." + +Yet in spite of all the persuasions of the married daughter and +son-in-law, and the dutiful gentleness of Agnes, it was not till the +third day that the old man's fit of passionate fury spent itself, and he +rather sullenly consented that Agnes should come home once more. + +When first she began her accustomed duties about the house, he was very +morose, and would scarcely speak to her; but gradually her gentleness +and sweetness seemed to soften him, and upon the day following he +appeared to have forgotten his ill-will, and they spent the evening +peacefully together in cheerful conversation. + +But the old man complained of being cold, which, indeed, was scarcely to +be wondered at since the wind had changed and brought with it a fall of +snow. Agnes gave him his supper somewhat earlier than usual, and he went +to bed, she following his example only a little later. + +Towards midnight she was awakened by the sound of dismal groaning from +her father's room, and rushing to him discovered that he was in sore +pain, and could scarcely draw his breath. + +"I have been struck to the heart!" he gasped, "I am about to die. God be +merciful to me, a sinner, and forgive me the sins I have committed +towards you, my daughter!" + +Agnes, in great alarm, flew about, kindling the fire, and making +something hot for her father to drink, hoping thus to soothe his pain +and restore him; but there was a grey, ashen look upon his face which +frightened her terribly; and she was all alone with him in the house. + +The terrible spasm lasted about half an hour, and then the old man fell +back in a dying state. Agnes, so soon as she saw herself quite helpless +to assist him, rushed forth to her sister's house, and make known her +terrible plight. They all followed her back in great dismay; but only to +witness the last struggle as the old man passed into eternity. + +Agnes was crushed to the earth by this blow; but she was not suffered to +mourn her dead in peace. The next day her brother-in-law came to her +with a very disturbed face, and said that Lawyer Farry desired speech of +her, and when Agnes would have refused to see him, she was told that it +would not be wise to do so, as the matter on which he had come was of +grave moment. + +When she saw the lawyer's evil, shifty face, and the gleam of triumphant +malevolence in his eyes she felt her heart sink for a moment; but then +rallying her courage she met his gaze fearlessly, and asked him what his +business was with her. + +"I have come to offer you the only hope of escaping the punishment of +your crime. There is one and only one way by which you can save yourself +from the awful doom that awaits you." + +"You are speaking in riddles to me, sir," said Agnes; "I pray you say +plainly what you have come to say, and leave me." + +His eyes looked more malevolent still as he came a step nearer. + +"Girl," he said, in very low and terrible tones, "do you know that the +doom of the parricide is death at the stake?" + +Agnes recoiled in horror from the word parricide. The colour forsook her +cheeks; she trembled as she stood. What awful thought had come into that +man's evil mind? + +"Yes, guilty woman, you may well tremble and quail, now that your guilty +purpose is known. But listen yet. I am the only person who can bear +testimony against you, and I will save you on one condition: Be my wife, +and I will say nothing. The world will never know that Agnes Beaumont is +a murderess--a parricide!" + +Suddenly the girl's righteous wrath blazed up. She saw the man's motive +in making this foul charge, this fearful threat. He knew that her father +had left her a rich woman, that all he died possessed of was to be hers. +To get her and her fortune into his power he was ready to perjure +himself in the most frightful way; she saw the fell purpose in his eyes; +but her spirit did not desert her. She stood for a moment in silent +prayer, and then said: + +"I will never marry you. God knows that I am innocent of the awful sin +you lay at my door. I will trust to Him to save me from the malice of my +persecutors." + +It was in vain that the man by every argument and threat in his power +sought to shake the steady courage of the girl, and to bend her to his +will. In vain he painted for her the horrors of the fiery death of the +parricide; in vain he sought to show her how impossible it would be to +prove her innocence. She stood looking fearlessly into his evil face, +and when he would have put out a hand to draw her nearer, she slipped +out of his reach, and with a quiet and lofty mien walked to the door, +turning round at the last to say: + +"May God forgive you for the cruel deed you are about to do. Into His +hands I entrust my cause." + +Later in the day her sister came to her in deep agitation. + +"Agnes, Agnes, why wouldest thou not submit to his will? He is such a +crafty, cruel man. He will obtain thine undoing! Oh, sister, sister, +dost know what he is about to swear before the coroner to-morrow?" + +"That I poisoned my father--he has said as much," answered Agnes +quietly; "but he can prove nothing that he says." + +"Nay, but it is more than that. He has got such a story. He says that +Mr. Bunyan did give thee the poison, and that he saw you twain riding +together, and heard you speaking together of our father as he passed. He +says that when he got here poor father told him that he was sure you +meant him ill, and that you would find a way of getting rid of him, +since you only promised obedience to his wishes so long as he lived. Oh, +the story he has made of it! And then he points out how loth father was +to take you back, and that he turned you away and said you were no +daughter of his, and might go back to those you had come from. He +learned so many things from us, ere ever we knew the hideous thing in +his mind. Now he says his case is complete and that only by marrying him +can you escape that awful death. Oh, Agnes, Agnes, wilt thou not do his +bidding to save thyself from that fate?" + +"Take a false vow of love and obedience to a man like that? Oh, sister, +how could I? And what would life be with him afterwards?" + +"But they say it will be death at the stake!" wept Prudence. + +"And has not the Lord promised 'When thou passest through the fire I +will be with thee'?" asked Agnes calmly. "I dare not be false to Him; +and I know He will not be false to me. Be not afraid; this trial may be +sent for some good purpose. But it cuts me to the heart that he should +bring in Mr. Bunyan's name. That is a needless piece of wickedness and +falsehood." + +"It is all false together; but he vows that Mr. Bunyan wished to get +possession of father's money by wedding with you, and that therefore he +gave you the poison and bid you use it upon the first opportunity." + +To the two inexperienced women, clinging together in their hour of +affliction, it seemed to them as though the doom of Agnes had already +well nigh gone forth. They knew how clever and unscrupulous Lawyer Farry +was, and how successful he generally proved in carrying through the +schemes to which he gave his mind. Already the neighbourhood was ringing +with the story that Agnes had poisoned her father, and although many +refused to believe in so monstrous a charge, yet it was very well known +how violent the old man's rage had been against his daughter, and that +he had died also immediately after Agnes had been taken back to his +house. This was not evidence, but it raised doubts and suspicions in +many minds. + +The coroner and the jury had assembled, having first viewed the corpse, +and Mr. Hatfield, the surgeon, testified emphatically that he regarded +death as due to natural causes. The old man had long been suffering from +some cardiac derangement, and the excitement into which he had recently +thrown himself would be quite enough to account for the fatal seizure. +Agnes Beaumont, he added, had given him free leave to make a post-mortem +examination, but in his opinion the thing was not necessary. + +Farry was then bidden to state what he knew and what grounds he had for +asserting that his friend had been poisoned. At first he was very bold +and confident in his manner, but he soon found that it was a very +different matter intimidating young and ignorant women and dealing with +a shrewd man of business. Under cross-examination his tale became +confused, contradictory, absurd; his malice flashed out so unmistakably +as to put all the jury on their guard, and when Agnes's sister stepped +forward and asked to be permitted to say that Mr. Farry had promised to +be silent if Agnes would consent to be his wife, a deep murmur of +indignation ran through the room, and the man knew himself defeated and +disgraced. + +When Agnes was called, and came forward with her simple and unvarnished +tale, it only needed a look into her calm, sweet face to know that she +spoke the truth. She freely told of the difference she had had with her +father, and how Mr. Bunyan had warned her not to urge her own desire too +much, but to be dutiful and obedient. And her sister corroborating this +statement, and adding all she had seen of Agnes's gentle submissiveness +on her return, and another person giving testimony that John Bunyan had +a wife living, and that the idea of his wanting Agnes's hand was +nonsense, the whole of Farry's ingenious and malicious tale fell to the +ground, and he stood like one who would never lift up his head again. + +"But if there be any doubt," said Agnes, looking at the coroner, "Mr. +Hatfield is here; he will make the needful examination." + +"That is a question for the jury to decide," answered the coroner, with +a smile. "Let them retire, and give us their verdict." + +A few minutes was all these honest men required before announcing that +death was due to natural causes; and then the coroner turned upon Farry +and with a most scathing reproof dismissed him, warning him that he had +brought himself perilously near a charge of perjury, had Agnes been a +vindictive foe. + +Then when the man had slunk out like a beaten hound, he took Agnes's +hands in his, and said: + +"You have been a courageous girl, my dear, in withstanding the artifices +of that wicked man. Hardly another maid so young and unprotected but +would have been intimidated into accepting his condition. What made you +so brave to withstand him?" + +"I do not think I was brave," answered Agnes; "but I knew I should be +helped." + +The old man smiled and patted her head. + +"Perhaps that is the best kind of courage after all." + + + + +HANNAH HEWLING + + +The mother was stricken down with the load of her grief; it seemed to +her more than she could bear. Her two sons--her only sons--young men of +such promise, such beauty, such piety--lying in that foul prison of +Newgate, of which many horrid tales were told; lying there waiting a +trial, which all believed could only end in one way. It was well known +how fierce was the wrath of the King against all who had taken any share +in the late rebellion, and neither the youth of the offenders nor their +virtuous lives would be likely to have any effect upon the sentence +which they had brought upon themselves by their recent ill-advised act. +The mother buried her face in her hands and groaned aloud. + +Those were sad and anxious days in many homes, particularly in the West +of England, where the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion had broken out, and +had been quickly quenched in fire and bloodshed. + +To Mrs. Hewling it seemed a terrible visitation of Providence that her +two promising sons had been in any way mixed up in it. + +"If I had only kept them with me here in England, they would have been +safe!" she moaned. + +It was not very long since Mrs. Hewling had been left a widow, in +affluent circumstances indeed, but with a large family to bring up. She +had two most promising sons, Benjamin and William, the first twenty-one +and the second close upon nineteen years of age, and Benjamin's +twin-sister Hannah was a beautiful girl of much promise, who, at this +crisis of her mother's life, was acting as her chief support and helper. +There were several little sisters, scarcely more than children; but the +intermediate sons had died in infancy, and the chords of the mother's +heart seemed to twine themselves about Benjamin and William in a fashion +which made their present perilous situation a thing that could hardly be +borne by her. + +And the bitterest thought of all was that had she only kept the boys +with her in London after their father's death, instead of letting them +go to Holland, to see something of the world and complete their +education, all this misery might have been spared. + +Adverse as the citizens of London were to many of the methods and +opinions of the King, still there was no desire at present to get rid of +him by any violent revolution, or to place the crown upon another head. +A few years later, and the whole nation rose in a bloodless revolt +against the man who had broken his pledges and his coronation vow, and +would have plunged England into a fierce struggle against the trammels +of Popery. But at that time things were not ripe for such a drastic +measure, nor was the Duke of Monmouth such a sovereign as the nation +could accept. But here and there where the Protestant spirit burnt more +fiercely than elsewhere, or over in Holland, where the claim of the Duke +had been more freely allowed, and where he was eagerly recruiting forces +to take with him to England, his cause seemed a righteous cause, and +inspired enthusiasm and devotion. Mrs. Hewling could not altogether +wonder that her two sons, reared in all the most ardent Puritan and +Protestant tenets of the day, should have been fired with a desire to +join the expedition, and to strive to strike a blow for their faith upon +England's shores. + +And now, that ill-starred revolt having come to its tragic end, her boys +were amongst those who, having first sought flight, had since then +surrendered themselves to justice. It had been told her by friends that +they were lying in Newgate prison, and would almost immediately be sent +back whence they had come, to stand their trial at the Western Assizes, +over which the fierce and notoriously cruel Judge Jeffreys was to +preside. + +So paralysed by horror was the poor mother, whose health had long been +very frail, that she had been unable herself to leave the house and seek +permission to visit her sons. And Hannah had persuaded her not to +attempt a task so much beyond her powers. + +"I will go first, mother," she said. "I will go with my good +grandfather, who will gain me admission, and we will take money with us. +Money will do much within Newgate, they say, to ameliorate the condition +of the prisoners. Another day thou shalt go; but let me be the first." + +So Hannah had gone under the safe-keeping of her grandfather, Mr. +Kiffin, a citizen well known and greatly respected in the town, and the +mother was awaiting their return in a fever of anxiety. + +She was turning over in her bewildered brain a thousand schemes for the +preservation of her boys. But the more she pondered, the more helpless +did she become. True, she had many friends, and several possessed of +wealth and influence in the city; but these were for the most part, from +their strong Protestant and dissenting or Puritan leanings, so obnoxious +to the Court party that intervention by them would do rather harm than +good. + +Her own father, Mr. Kiffin, was one of these He would have no fear in +presenting a petition; yet if such a movement on his part were +fore-ordained to failure, it would be better it should not be made. +Others more likely to obtain a hearing would probably be afraid to +intermeddle in such a matter. Those were the days in which it was none +too safe to show sympathy towards the King's enemies, or towards those +who had distinguished themselves by opposition to the Established +Church. The penalty for showing kindness to dissenters was often +extraordinarily severe; and what would it be to take a friendly interest +in youths who had been concerned in treasonable rebellion? + +With despair in her heart the mother sat waiting, pondering and weeping; +longing unspeakably for the husband who was no more, and feeling the +desolation of her widowhood as she had never felt it before. + +Then the door opened quietly, and a tall figure glided in wrapped from +head to foot in a long, dark cloak. + +"Hannah!" cried the mother, "have you seen them?--have you seen my boys? +Oh, give me news of them! My heart is hungry!" + +The girl threw back the hood which was drawn over her head, and her face +showed pale in the twilight. It was a very beautiful face, lighted by +the enthusiasm of a great love--a love that conquers fear, and sinks all +thought of self in devotion to the object at heart. It was such a face +as we see sometimes on painted window, or in chiselled marble--a face +full of lofty self-abnegation and simple heroism. The eyes shone like +stars, and the mother, looking at her daughter, held out her arms, and +cried: + +"Ah, Hannah, Hannah, if any can save them it will be thou." + +Hannah knelt at her mother's feet and spoke quietly and rapidly. + +"I have seen them, mother. They were together, with many others. But my +grandfather had them taken out and brought into a separate room, where +we could talk. It was a dreadful place, that first,"--she shivered +slightly as she spoke,--"but they will not go back to it. Grandfather is +staying, and he will arrange all that. I saw them. Oh, mother, you need +not fear for them! They have no fear for themselves. They are ready for +the worst that may befall. Their only fear is lest they were wrong in +taking up arms. When they did it, it seemed a right and holy thing. They +have heard other things since coming to England, and are the less +confident of that. But they have no other fear. If they have done amiss +they are willing to die. They both say that. It is not death that can +affright them. They have made their peace with God." + +The mother's tears ran over, although there was something of joy in +hearing such an assurance. + +"But we must save them, daughter!--we must save them!" + +"We will try," answered Hannah steadily, yet without the brightness of +hope in her eyes. "We will leave no stone unturned. We will accomplish +what can be accomplished. But----" + +The last word was little more than a sigh. It was not meant to reach her +mother's ears, yet it did: and Mrs. Hewling exclaimed: + +"But what, daughter, but what? What hast thou heard more?" + +"I have heard nought that we have not been told before; only, mother +mine, when the grim walls of a prison are about one, and grim gaolers +are talking with that cool certainty of things they have grown familiar +with, the horrible reality seems to come over one like a flood; and the +awful doom comes ever nearer and nearer. The boys have heard much--the +implacable temper of the King; his bloodthirsty mood; his choice of the +Judge who is to arraign them. In Newgate it is whispered that there will +be such a slaughter in the West as has not been heard of in this land. I +felt myself shaking all over at the things I heard there. Oh, I fear for +my brothers, I fear, I fear!" + +The mother clasped her in her arms, and they mingled their tears +together. Hannah told in broken words of all that she had gleaned from +her brothers, of what they had dared and done, how they looked, how +they had stood the journey and the prison; and how they were soon to be +sent down to the West Country, to be tried at those places where they +had been seen in arms against the King. + +"That is the worst of it!" cried the mother. "Had it been here in London +town our friends and the influence of our party might have had weight. +But over yonder--so far away! Ah, if I could but go there with them!" + +"Mother, I will go!" said Hannah, speaking firmly and resolutely. "I +have thought of it all the way home. I have plans of all sorts in my +head. Grandfather will soon be here, and then he will tell you more, and +we will talk it over together. But I must be there. I must go with them. +I must--I must!" + +"But, my child, my child, how can I spare thee? They say that the King +is so incensed that even to show pity for the condemned--for the +prisoners--is accounted as a crime. Suppose that hurt were to befall +thee?" + +"Mother," she answered gently, "God can protect me, and I think He will. +But be that as it may, I cannot let my brothers go to what may be their +death alone. I must be there to visit them in their prison, to lighten +the rigours of captivity, to provide them with whatever may be permitted +in the way of defence; to cheer and strengthen them (if so it must be) +upon the very scaffold itself. Benjamin is as my second self. I could +not be other than at his side. Oh, my brother--my brother!" + +A rush of tears choked her voice; she sobbed upon her mother's breast; +but the outbreak relieved the overcharged heart, and when her +grandfather appeared she was the same calm, resolute maiden she had +shown herself in the public streets, and in the dim retreats of the +dreadful gaol. + +Mr. Kiffin had made arrangements for the better lodging and treatment of +his grandsons during their brief detention in Newgate; but he had heard +that almost immediately they were to be sent west to be ready to stand +their trial with others at the coming Assizes; and at the very name of +these the mother's cheek paled. + +"Yes, it is a terrible thought--the power that will be placed in the +hands of one man--and he one noted for ferocity of temper and gross +injustice to those who are brought before him. It is known too that the +King has selected him for these very qualities to fill the dreadful +office which will be his. Yet for our poor lads there may be this one +chance: his cruelty is only rivalled by his greed of money; and we may +appeal to his cupidity where we should appeal in vain to his clemency." + +"Must we then offer him a bribe?" asked Mrs. Hewling, with a faint +distaste in her tone, as though even with her sons' lives at stake, the +thought of buying justice or mercy with gold had in it something +repulsive to her better nature. Hannah's beautiful eyes were likewise +turned upon her grandfather questioningly. It was an age when all sorts +of things were bought and sold for hard cash, that never should have +been so trafficked for; but in the stern Puritan tenets in which this +family had been reared any sort of illicit bartering was strongly +condemned. + +"I did not mean exactly that; but yet we may perhaps move him through +his love of money. You have both heard me speak of my old friend and +fellow-citizen, with whom in past days I lived a long while, working +with him as a brother might," and he named a name that was familiar to +both mother and daughter. + +"Well, strange as it may seem, the young barrister, now made a judge, +this violent, bloodthirsty Jeffreys, is my old friend's kinsman, and, in +fact, his next-of-kin. I had forgotten the fact, if indeed I ever knew +it, till I had a letter from him a few days since reminding me of it, +and asking if there was anything that he could do to aid us in our +trouble. I have seen him, and he has promised to use every means in his +power to gain the leniency of the Judge for our two dear lads. It is +unluckily true that they have taken up arms against the King. It cannot +but be proved against them, nor will they seek to deny it. By the law of +the land they have merited death, and may even be condemned to suffer +the full penalty. But as my friend informs me, out of the hundreds who +will undergo sentence, not a few will escape the dread final penalty. +Even the King in all his ferocity will not dare to slay by thousands, +though he may by hundreds. Many will be condemned to death, who will +afterwards be respited and undergo lighter sentences, or be let off with +a heavy fine. In this matter the voice of the Judge will have weight; +and my friend will use every argument to induce him to commute the death +penalty (if passed upon Benjamin or William) into one that a heavy fine +will cover." + +Mother and daughter seemed to breathe more freely; and Hannah unfolded +her plan of going herself to Lyme Regis and Taunton, the places to which +her brothers were to be taken--she knew not exactly whither they were to +be sent--that she might minister to them in every possible way, cheer +and strengthen them in their hour of trial, and be there to forward any +suit that might be made on their behalf. + +"There will be peril in such a mission, granddaughter," said the old +man. "Many a gentle-hearted woman has suffered grievously for doing less +than thou dost propose to do." + +"I shall suffer more by staying away," said Hannah simply. "I must go. +Something within me bids me. I cannot hold back. Thou wilt be here to +care for mother and the little ones. I must be with my brothers." + +They did not try to hold her back. Her heart was set upon the sorrowful +journey, and the mother, in her yearning over her boys, was ready to +speed her upon her way. She had money, as much as she could use for +every possible purpose, and letters to friends of their friends in the +West Country, who would show her kindness and help her in her difficult +task. Mr. Kiffin would have accompanied her, but that his daughter +seemed to require him more, and he was something too infirm easily to +endure the long, rough journey. But he sent two of his experienced +servants with Hannah; and the journey was made easy to her in every +possible way, albeit in her present mood she would almost have welcomed +hardship and privation. What might not her brothers be suffering of +both? + +She found that they had been conveyed to Taunton, and lodged in the +castle there. The building was densely crowded at this time; for the +dread Judge was on his way, and the friends of the prisoners were in a +terrible state of agitation and fear. Stories were flying from mouth to +mouth of what the inhuman Judge had done and said at Winchester, and +how he had condemned the aged and virtuous Lady Lisle to be burnt to +death for no greater sin than that of harbouring some unhappy wretch, +who had fallen beneath the King's ban. What hope was there for any here? + +But through the influence of those who cared for her, Hannah obtained +the grace of an interview with her brothers on the eve of their trial, +and found them calm and resigned. It was keen joy to them to embrace +their sister again, to give their last messages (as they thought they +might be) to all the loved ones at home, and to know how much they were +thought of and prayed for by many far and near. But they had no hope of +mercy. They had heard of the implacable nature of the Judge, and were +aware that their very wealth and importance, in one sense of the word, +would be against them. Obscure persons might be respited, and those +perhaps of noble blood; but not those whose fame came from their +resolute adherence to precepts civil and religious that were abhorred of +King James and his Court. + +It was a fearful moment for Hannah when she was passed into that close +and crowded Court upon the momentous day, and saw the red and bloated +face of the Judge and his bloodshot eyes glaring at the prisoners, as a +wolf glares at the victims he is about to spring upon and devour. What +need to talk of that trial?--it was the veriest travesty of justice ever +known. The prisoners were bidden if they desired mercy to plead guilty, +and as soon as they had done so were sentenced to a traitor's doom in +one solid mass. Respite would come later for some, that was partly +understood; but whenever some special plea was put forward for an +individual who had friend or counsel to speak for him, the fury of the +Judge rose to a fearful pitch, and he roared down the voice of the +defender, rolling his eyes and swearing with such hideous vehemence that +soon none dared lift up a voice in his presence, and Hannah was +supported half fainting from the Court, where she had heard both her +brothers condemned to death. + +But even then her courage did not desert her, and terrible as was the +aspect of the Judge, and awful as were the things spoken of him, she +resolved to place herself in his way as he came forth, and plead for the +lives of her brothers, as the one last faint hope still remaining to +her. + +Alas! she might as well have sought mercy from the flinty rock, or the +sea breaking in merciless fury. The bloated, evil face was turned upon +her in savage fury. The Judge plucked his robe out of her detaining +hand, and flung himself into his coach crying out: + +[Illustration: The Judge plucked his robe out of her detaining hand. + +_Page 310._] + +"Madam, your brothers are a pair of pestilent rogues, who come from a +pestilent nest of dissenters. I would I had the power to send you to the +gallows with them! That is the only place for a cursed brood like +yours!" + +And as Hannah, fired by wrath and by her sisterly despair, would not +even then be silenced, but continued her petition with her hands upon +the window frame of his coach, he leaned out upon the other side and +roared to his charioteer to cut at that pestilent woman with his whip; +and the lash drew blood from Hannah's white fingers as she sank half +fainting into the arms of her friends. + +And yet that very evening, to her immense astonishment, she received a +courteous summons to the presence of the Judge, and on presenting +herself at his lodging in the castle, with the friend in whose care she +was at that time living, she found Jeffreys in an extraordinarily +different mood. He had, in fact, just made the discovery that the woman +he had treated so brutally was one of the family specially recommended +to him by his relative, who had said that the ultimate benefits he might +expect from him would largely depend on what efforts he made to save the +two Hewling brothers. If the Judge had not been so drunk overnight when +this missive reached him, he might possibly have acted differently in +Court that day; but now he assured Hannah that he would do all in his +power to obtain a respite of the capital sentence for her brothers, +though he implied that this might be an affair of money, and practically +demanded three hundred pounds for his services, which Hannah in her +bewilderment and by the advice of her friend was ready to pay. + +But the days dragged on and no message came from the King. The gentle +William, who had been sentenced to die at Lyme Regis almost immediately +after his trial, met his doom upon the scaffold with unflinching +fortitude, and all the grace his sister could obtain was that she might +take possession of the unmutilated body, which was interred in +consecrated ground, two hundred brave young maidens of the place +incurring the possible displeasure of the King by walking in white robes +at his funeral, and singing hymns over his grave. + +But Hannah had no time for vain lamentations. The fire of despair was in +her heart. Benjamin yet lived. He was not to die till the last day of +the month. There was yet time to plead for him. She knew not whether +Judge Jeffreys had been true to his promise or no; but at least she, his +sister, would strain every nerve, would know no rest day or night till +she had obtained his pardon, even though she should have to seek it from +the King himself. + +In vain her friends warned her of the uselessness and peril of her task; +go she would, and as fast as horse could speed her. And with the last +touching letter from her brother William in her pocket, and the scene +of his death photographed upon her memory, she posted to London, to +achieve what all men told her was impossible. + +She scarcely paused to mingle her tears with her mother's. A fever was +in her heart. Her grandfather had influence enough to obtain for her +admission to the palace, and there she was met and kindly spoken to by a +gentleman, whose name she knew not at the time, but who was no other +than Lord Churchill, afterwards the great Duke of Marlborough. + +Churchill regarded her with a look of exceeding compassion; Hannah +presented indeed a touching picture in her girl's grief and sisterly +devotion; and her unusual beauty had not been dimmed by all the troubles +through which she had passed. Something of her story was known even at +Whitehall, and known also was the character of the merciless man before +whom her brothers had been tried, and the merciless monarch who had sent +him forth to this work. + +"Madam," said Lord Churchill, as the summons came for Hannah to be +received by the King, and as he spoke he laid his hand upon the marble +of the carved mantelpiece upon which he leaned, "my wishes for success +go with you, and my most hearty sorrow for your distress; yet I dare not +speak any word of hope to buoy up your sinking spirits; for this marble +is not harder nor more susceptible of compassion than is the heart of +the King." + +Poor Hannah was destined to find it so. She was received with cold +looks; her petition, so carefully worded and drawn up, was scarcely +looked at before the King flung it down, and threw a curt heartless +refusal at her. + +She was hurried away by the attendants, who, though commiserating her +grief and innocence, felt that she only ran a needless risk of drawing +down the royal wrath upon herself. + +"You are a brave lady," said Lord Churchill, himself bowing her out of +the King's suite of apartments. "My heartiest sympathy goes with you. A +man with so brave a sister will surely go bravely to his death. And +there will come a time when that is all that the best of us can ask to +do." + +Churchill spoke the truth; the brave brother of a brave sister met his +death with unshrinking fortitude, cheered to the last by the presence of +Hannah, and by her sisterly love and care. + +No thought of personal fatigue or personal peril sufficed to prevent her +returning instantly to Taunton, and the last days of Benjamin's short +life were rendered almost happy to him by his reunion with his twin +sister, and by their constant intercourse. + +Money could purchase this boon, though it could not purchase the +prisoner's life. + +He suffered upon the scaffold with so many others as little guilty as he +of doing wrong, albeit something rash and ill-advised, and when Hannah +had obtained with trouble and much cost the right to take his body and +bury it, as in the case of William, she had only to return home to tell +her mother the terrible and mournful tale. + +"But thy courage sweetened death for them both, my child," said the +mother. "In days to come that will be a thought that will bring to thee +the comfort thou canst not feel yet." + +"I never felt brave," Hannah would answer simply, when her friends +praised her. "I only did what I had to do. I could not help myself." + + + + +MONA DRUMMOND + + +"You are a villain!" spoke the hot-tempered Irish maiden, with a glow in +her eyes before which the evil-looking man before her quailed, although +the scowl upon his face was an ugly thing to see. "You are a thief and a +villain, and I will see the Governor myself and tell him what you have +been doing. Oh, it is infamous!--infamous! My poor father!" + +The girl put her hands before her eyes for a moment to hide the tears +that rose to them. Mona had the tall, graceful figure, regular noble +features, and great grey eyes of the typical Irish maiden. She was +standing beneath the walls, and within the precincts of, Lifford gaol. +Before her was a man of evil aspect, who wore the dress of a gaoler, and +who swung a great bundle of keys in his hand. He had come forward +confidently enough to meet the girl, smiling and almost cringing; but +when she suddenly blazed forth at him in this impetuous fashion, he +shrank and cowered before her as though he knew himself guilty of some +dire offence. + +"You have been taking our money all these years--money so hardly +earned--so sorely spared; you have sworn that you spent it in providing +better food and lodging for my dear father; and all the while you +lied!--you lied! Black-hearted villain that you are! He has never been +the better for it by one loaf of bread--by one flask of wine. You have +stolen every coin. You have defrauded him and lied to us!" + +The girl was shaken by the storm of her anger. The man stood before her +tongue-tied and cowed. + +He was not ashamed of his villainy; he was too hardened a wretch for +that; but he was afraid lest the thing should become known to the +Governor, who was a just and humane man, and who from time to time had +been known to admit the prisoner's daughter to his presence at her +earnest request. + +"I am going to see the Governor about it," concluded the girl, with a +scathing look. "He is a just man and merciful. He will at least know +what to advise us for the future." + +Fury and terror filled the man's face; he recoiled a little, and +fingered his heavy keys as though he meditated a savage assault upon the +girl, standing before him in this great solitary courtyard. What if he +silenced her voice for ever? Who would be the wiser? He shot a quick +glance round him, as if to assure himself that there were no eyes upon +him, and Mona at the same moment gave a half-scared, half-defiant gaze +around herself. Some instinct warned her of his fell purpose, and she +knew she was no match for him; but to quail or cower would but bring +down the meditated blow upon her head. She stood with her clear gaze +full upon his eyes, holding them, as men in the wilderness can sometimes +hold a wild beast in thrall by the fixed stare of unwavering will. + +She was not many paces from the little door by which she had entered. If +she could gain that, she might be able to turn and fly. She made one +backward step towards it; but even as she moved, she felt rather than +saw that he was in the act of springing; and at that she darted +backwards, tore open the door, and was through it before he could reach +her. But she could not close it behind her to draw the bolt. He was too +quick for that. She almost felt his hands at her throat, when suddenly +she heard him utter a yell of terror; and turning saw him struggling in +the grip of a tall and powerful young man, who must have been coming +towards the door close under the wall, for she had not seen him as she +darted out, and yet he had been there to catch her pursuer as he +followed. + +The terror of the man surprised Mona, as did also the fact that he made +no resistance when once he saw into whose hands he had fallen. His arms +dropped to his sides, and his jaw fell; he stood staring at the young +athlete who had him in his grip as though bereft of sense. + +"My father shall hear of this, sirrah!" spoke the youth with a final +shake, as he let the wretch go; then he turned to Mona, and doffed his +hat with a courtly air. + +"He has not hurt you, fair maid, I trust!" + +"Oh no, dear sir, I am not hurt. I thank you from my heart for this +timely aid." + +"And what do you in this gloomy place, if I may ask the question? What +errand has brought so fair a flower within the portals of a prison?" + +At that question Mona's eyes filled with sudden tears, and she turned +away her head to hide them. + +"Alas, dear sir! mine is a sorrowful errand, and I have not been able to +accomplish it; for we have been basely tricked and cozened these many +years by yonder miscreant, who is slinking now away like a whipped +hound. I would fain see the good Governor, and tell my tale of woe to +him. He was kind before, it may be he will find a way to help me now." + +"I am his son," answered the young man eagerly. "I will take you to him +speedily; and as we go you shall tell me your sad tale. Believe me, I +will befriend you if I can. Have you some relative immured within the +walls of this grim place?" + +"Alas, sir, my father!" she answered with brimming eyes; "and he has +been here so many long, weary years. I was but little more than a child +when they took him away and brought him hither, and now I am within a +year of twenty summers. My poor father!--my poor innocent father!" + +"Of what crime does he stand accused?" asked the young man, with ready +interest. + +"Of no crime save that of holding the Presbyterian faith," she answered; +"that is all the wrong he has done--believing it and teaching it; for he +is a minister of the Word, and our church at Raphoe was his charge, and +we were happy and he was beloved of all. But you must know how when the +King was restored to his kingdom over the water after the death of the +iron Cromwell, he or his ministers issued edicts in this land, as well +as in England and Scotland, for the re-establishment of the Prelacy; and +those who desire to worship after their own fashion, and not according +to episcopal forms, are sorely beset and persecuted." + +"I know, I know," answered her companion quickly and with sympathy. "And +so your father was one of those who suffered for his faith?" + +"Yes, there were four of them," answered Mona, her tongue unloosed by +the friendliness of this stranger, "and Bishop Leslie had them all cast +into prison at the same time. They lie in this grim jail; and God alone +knows when they will be suffered to come forth. But we heard that the +prisoners here were harshly treated, and had scarcely the necessaries +of life supplied them. It was after hearing this that I went one day and +craved speech of the Governor. I did first beg him to let me see my dear +father; but that he might not permit. He said, however, that I might +speak with the jailer who had charge of him, and obtain through him such +things as we could make shift to purchase for him to lessen his +privations and sufferings. The man promised faithfully, and every penny +we can spare has been scraped and hoarded and given over to him; and we +believed that father had such comforts as they could get for him; we +believed that till a few days ago; and then--and then----" The girl's +voice grew husky, the bright tears rolled down her cheeks. Her companion +took the words out of her mouth. + +"You heard in some roundabout fashion that your money had gone into the +pockets of that wretch, and that your father had in no wise profited +thereby." + +"Yes, yes; that was it. One of our friends has obtained his liberty; +they say there is hope that others will follow. We saw him. He came to +us. He has now and then had a brief moment of speech with my dear +father. Nothing has ever reached him from without. He has suffered all +the rigours of his harsh captivity." + +"And you did have the bravery to go to yon miscreant who has had the +charge of your father, here in this prison, and who has appropriated +the money, and tell him of his ill-deeds; and this it was that wakened +his evil passions and ferocity? This it was that made him chase you +forth, and seek to do you hurt!" + +"I told him I would tell the Governor," panted Mona, with hot, indignant +eyes; "and then I saw that he would fly at me; and so I sought to reach +the door ere he had time. But he would have done me a mischief had it +not been for your good help." + +"Then come now to my father and tell him all the tale," cried the young +man, whose name was Derrick Adair, "and we will see if some way cannot +be found for mending matters for your good father. At least that rogue +of a jailer shall receive his due reward--or punishment!" + +Colonel Adair, the Governor, who had been kind to Mona before, listened +very readily now to her tale, and was exceedingly displeased at what he +heard as to the action of the warder. Of course he knew well the abuses +that prevailed in all prisons at this epoch, and long afterwards; but +though enable to institute any drastic measures of reform, he was able +to punish individual transgressors when peculation had been proved +against them; and he told Mona that he would see in future that her alms +were rightly bestowed for the relief of the prisoner, adding that he +hoped soon to see him set at liberty. + +"I am perplexed to know why the Bishop speaks of releasing the other +three ministers he sent hither--indeed, one was set free a short while +since, as you know. But there is no mention of that grace being extended +to your father; and yet his case was in no way different from that of +others. Can you explain wherefore he is differently treated?" + +A hot flush dyed Mona's cheek, and then the flash of anger awoke in her +eyes. She spoke almost as if to herself. + +"Oh, infamous, infamous! The coward! Did he indeed speak truth when he +threatened? I did not believe he had such power." + +"Of what do you speak, my child?" asked the Governor kindly. "Trust me +and tell me all. You shall not regret your confidence." + +"Oh, sir," cried Mona, struggling against her excitement and anger, "it +is the doing of that wicked son of the Bishop. He professes to love me. +He waylays me sometimes in my walks, and talks as he has no right to do. +He is a great man's son. I am a poor minister's daughter. He declares he +wishes to wed me; but I will not listen. He is a bad man. I fear him and +I hate him. And it was but a little while back that he threatened me. He +said that till I would give him the promise he asks, my father should +never be released! I did not think as he spoke that he had power to +contrive such a cruel thing. But here are others going forth, and my +poor father kept still in ward. Oh, why are such cruel things suffered +to be?" + +"And what answer did you make him, my child?" asked the Colonel. + +"The same that I have ever done, sir; that I have no love for him! Nay, +I hate him and I fear him. I will never trust him; I will never be his +wife. He knows his father would oppose such a marriage; it is always of +elopement that he talks! But I will not hear! He is wicked, cruel! But +my poor father; must he suffer too?" + +"Nay; that he shall not. I myself will obtain justice!" cried Derrick, +with sudden energy; and as Mona lifted her beautiful face, and gazed at +him through her tears, he went on gently: + +"It may indeed be that I can help thee, sweet maid; for when my visit +here is ended, I return to Dublin, where I am finishing my course of +study at Trinity College, and also acting in the capacity of private +tutor to a great nobleman's son. This nobleman has much influence with +the Government, and through interesting my pupil in your father's story, +I doubt not I can bring this tale to the ears of those in power, and so +effect his release. Therefore, weep no more, fair Mistress Mona; wait in +patience for a few more weeks, and trust me not to forget your case, and +to do all that one man may to right a wrong." + +So Mona went home lightened of a sore burden; her heart full of +thanksgiving. And when next the Bishop's son waylaid her, and promised +to obtain her father's freedom if she would but consent to the proposed +elopement with him, she answered him with steady scorn, looking so +beautiful in her simple maidenly dignity and indignation, that the +baffled man stood watching her with a look of mingled longing and anger. + +"You obtain his liberty! It is you who are the present cause of his +continued bondage! Why is he not released with the others? Oh, lie not +to me! I know; I know. Wicked men do these things daily, and God does +not smite at once; but the day will come, the day of vengeance, when the +wicked will be overthrown, and the righteous will shine forth like stars +in the firmament of heaven!" + +He continued to gaze at her with an expression that would have terrified +many girls; but Mona was not afraid. She felt that she had another +champion now; and she feared no longer the machinations of this bad man. + +She had seen Derrick Adair several times during the interval that had +elapsed between her visit to the prison and the present interview with +the Bishop's son. He had come to see her mother, and assure her that the +prisoner had been taken to a more comfortable lodging, and had received +better food and bedding than had been his heretofore. All the money +sent by the careful family was now suffered to reach the prisoner +himself, and his condition was greatly ameliorated thereby. + +The dishonest jailer had been sent away, Derrick told them on his second +visit; and he added he would like to make a clean sweep of many others; +but even his father had not power for that. + +Mona's heart was now relieved of the heaviest part of its burden. She +was no longer afraid of the Bishop or his son; she was no longer torn in +twain by the feeling that she might be standing between her father and +his liberty, and that perhaps filial duty demanded the sacrifice from +her of wedding a man she feared and hated. But she so distrusted the +Bishop's son that she could never think of his proposal without a +shudder; and now what joy it was to feel that their cause had been taken +up by a stalwart champion, and that justice might be looked for without +such a terrible sacrifice on her part! + +Mona was a fearless girl, who had always led a free and hardy life. She +had a very kind heart, and a skilful pair of hands, and wherever there +was sickness in any of the cabins or cottages around, it was the custom +to send for her, and she never failed to answer the summons. Often she +was thus away from her home for a whole day, or for a night or two, and +no anxiety would be aroused by her non-return from a sick-bed. When +possible, she would send a message to this effect if she were detained; +but no real trouble would be caused by her absence at night, should she +have gone forth in response to a summons, and not returned. + +One afternoon she received a message to ask her to come to a sick woman +at some distance; and as she kissed her mother she told her not to be +anxious if she did not come home till morning, as if she were detained +late, it would be better to stay the night. + +When, however, she arrived at the house, to her great surprise it was +all shut up and empty. Could it be possible that the woman had died +suddenly? she asked herself, and shook the door of the cabin. It yielded +to her hand, and she went in; but there was no sick person on the bed; +the place was neatly swept up and set in order, just as though the +inmate had gone away for a visit. + +A sudden odd sense of uneasiness came over Mona--a feeling of having +been tricked. But who could have plotted to deceive her? The little boy +who brought the message certainly delivered it in all good faith, and +she had never questioned him as to who had bidden him bring it. But now +there was but one thing to do; to get home as fast as possible, before +it grew quite dark. + +She turned to leave the cottage, when a shadow fell upon her from the +open doorway, and with a shudder of horror she saw standing there the +broad, squat figure of the wicked jailer, whose dismissal from the +prison had been brought about through her instrumentality. + +He gazed at her whitening face with an evil leer, and then made a +wild-beast spring at her. + +"My turn now, you hussy! My turn now! So you thought to ruin an honest +man, and set at defiance a powerful one! But we will tame you between +us, you little tiger cat! We will have our revenge!" + +Even as he spoke the man with practised hands secured the girls slim +wrists and clasped a pair of manacles upon them. He then bound them +behind her back, and, after thrusting a gag into her mouth, he led her +out of the house to a short distance, where in a ruined shed a horse was +tied up. Lifting her upon its broad back, and springing up behind her +himself, he set the creature at a steady gallop, and Mona felt herself +being carried farther and farther away from home and friends, in the +cruel grip of this evil man, who was plainly acting as the tool of the +Bishops son. + +It was a terrible thought, but Mona knew her only chance lay in keeping +her courage and self-control. Whether anything could save her from her +fate she did not know. But she closed her eyes in prayer, and entrusted +her case to the God of all the earth, and having partially quieted +herself by this, she opened her eyes and scanned the country through +which they were passing with the keenest and most eager glances. + +There was little to encourage her; all was bare and bleak and deserted. +The man was evidently taking an unfrequented route. He desired no doubt +to avoid encounters upon the road, although in the darkness no one was +likely to note that he carried a prisoner before him, and Mona could +give no sign and speak no word. + +The light faded, the moon rose, and still they travelled on and on. Mona +began to lose knowledge of the country through which she was passing. +She fancied that they were on the main road for Dublin; but she could +not be absolutely sure. It was like enough that she would be taken to a +great city, where all trace of her would easily be lost. Sometimes as +the long strange hours wore by, her heart almost fainted within her; but +then again she told herself that to lose courage and hope would be to +lose all. If she could but put her captor off his guard, perhaps things +might yet go well. Some chance of escape might offer itself. + +They could not travel all night without a halt. Man and beast must be +fed. But as Mona saw in the distance a few twinkling lights, she +pretended to be more heavily asleep than before (and for some time she +had feigned drowsiness and broken slumber), and let herself rest heavily +against the rider behind, who evidently had no great relish for the +burden he did not dare to drop. + +At last they reached the inn, and the man wrapped the girl up from head +to foot in his great riding-cloak, taking care that her face should not +be seen. Mona heard him mutter to himself: + +"She is in a swoon; so much the better for me. I can take my ease after +this weary ride; and if she comes to herself, she can neither speak nor +use her hands. She must needs lie as I have placed her. I will just tie +her feet to make all safe." + +Then, lifting her in his arms, he cried to the host: + +"I have got a sick daughter here I am taking to be cared for by my good +mother. I will not bring her inside lest the distemper be catching. I +will lay her comfortably on the straw in this barn, and let her rest +there for an hour. She is in a sleep all the while. She will want +nothing till I come out again." + +So Mona was laid down on the straw in the empty barn, and the hint the +man had dropped was quite enough to keep all other persons away from +her. Under pretext of wrapping her up warmly her captor tied her feet +together securely, and there she lay gagged and bound and helpless in +the silence and the darkness. Yet she was hardly alone before she had +struggled up into a sitting posture, and had flung off the heavy folds +of the cloak. + +Then very cautiously and carefully, and with some pain, she made the +experiment she had been longing to do all the while--to try and twist +her slim hand out of the manacle that encircled her wrist. + +Mona, though a tall girl, was possessed of very delicate feet and hands, +and her bones were small and flexible. + +Had less been at stake she would have given up the task in despair; for +the pain was severe, and she was altogether uncertain of success in the +end, and feared that her hand was becoming swollen in the effort. But in +spite of the pain, she persevered, and at last she drew forth her right +hand free, and would have cried aloud but for the gag in her mouth. + +To release the other hand when its fellow was free was an easier matter, +and then she quickly unfastened the gag and drew a breath of deep relief +as she flung it from her. It was hard still to be delayed by the knots +that bound her feet; but they gave way at last to her strenuous efforts, +and Mona stood up free and fetterless in the darkness of the barn. + +"Thank God--thank God!" she cried in her heart; yet she knew her perils +were not over yet. She must creep away from the inn and hide herself; +but her persecutor would soon discover her flight and would pursue her. +She dared not take the horse, as she feared to be seen if she approached +the stable. All she ventured to do was to slip out of the barn through a +broken portion of the wall, and looking well about her, and taking her +direction from the friendly moon, she sped like a shadow along the road +she had recently so painfully traversed. + +She did not dare to leave it unless forced to do so. The treacherous +bog-land lay about her, and she knew nothing of the safe tracks across, +that were familiar in her own locality. The moon that gave her light +would serve also to illumine her own figure for her pursuer when he +should discover her escape. Swiftly as the girl raced onwards in the +moonlight, she felt ever as though that strong horse and his wicked +rider must soon be at her heels. + +"Then will I plunge into the bog and hide me or perish there!" cried +Mona, clenching her teeth; "but never, never, never shall he lay his +hands upon me again. I fear not death--at least but little. I fear only +to fall into the hands of wicked men!" + +Suddenly upon the far horizon of her vision there loomed up a little +black speck, and Mona's heart gave a throb of joy. It was surely some +traveller approaching from the opposite direction! Upon his mercy she +would cast herself, whoever he might be! No son of Erin would refuse to +champion her in such an hour as this, and no traveller along these +lonely roads ever went unarmed. + +Yet even as her quick eyes beheld this traveller approaching in the one +direction, her quick ears caught the sound of horse's hoofs galloping +furiously behind her from the other. + +Gathering all her energies together for a last effort, the girl sped +forward like an arrow from a bow, her light figure clearly standing out +in the bright moonlight. It seemed to her as though the traveller saw +something of the pursuit; for instantly his horse sprang forward at a +grand gallop. The fugitive fled onwards gasping, exhausted; and then in +a moment she found herself upheld by a strong arm; she leaned almost +helplessly against her preserver, and a familiar, agitated voice +exclaimed in her ear: + +"Mona!--Mona!--Sweetheart, what ails thee?" + +"The jailer--the Bishop's son--they tricked me--they caught me!" panted +the girl; "he carried me off; but I have escaped. He is coming after me +now. Ah, do not let him have me! Kill me first; but never let me fall +alive into his hands!" + +"You give yourself to me, sweet Mona? Then I will hold thee against all +the world!" + +Derrick held her with his left arm, and levelled his pistol with his +right. + +[Illustration: "Dare to come one step nearer, and I fire." + +_Page 335._] + +"Dare to come one step nearer, and I fire. You know, fellow, whether or +not I shall miss my mark!" + +The two men stood looking at each other in deep silence for a few +seconds, deadly rage and baffled hate on one face, on the other stern +wrath and dauntless determination. At last the hireling with an oath +turned his horse, and galloped back the way he had come. Revenge was +sweet, and so was gold; but he cared not to purchase either at the price +of life or limb. + +"Thou art safe, sweetheart!" said Derrick, bending his head and touching +her cheek with his lips. "Heaven be thanked that I was so hindered in my +start for Dublin this day, that I had perforce to wait for moon-rise to +sally forth. And now I will take thee home, dear love; and we will tell +thy tale to my father, who will see thee safe guarded in the future." + +Derrick Adair quickly procured the release of Mona's father, and married +the daughter in the following year. Later on, after the rather tragic +death of Bishop Leslie (caused doubtless by the conduct of his son, who +was forced to fly the country after some notorious ill deed), the vacant +office was bestowed upon Derrick, now a rising light in the Church, and +he became Bishop of Raphoe, and his wife ruled in the old castle which +was the home of its prelates. + +Once a wretched-looking beggarman crawled to the gate as she was +passing forth, and fell exhausted at her feet, asking alms. + +She gazed at his face awhile, and he into hers; they knew each other, +and the wretched man cowered against the stones, while the lady hastened +indoors, to set servants or dogs upon him as the wretched man believed; +for he was none other than the ex-jailer who had sought to do her so +much ill. But quickly she returned with food and wine, and a handful of +silver. She set the basket before him, and poured the money into his +hands--stretched forth in supplication; and she gently made answer to +his faltering words of prayer: + +"Have no fear, my poor fellow. May God forgive you as I do. Eat and +drink, and refresh yourself ere you go upon your way." + +"And you will not punish me? You will not take your revenge!" + +She looked gravely and sorrowfully at him as she answered: + +"I think that God has punished you; that is His office, not ours; and +for the rest--that is my revenge." + + + + +JESSY VARCOE + + +"There goes the witch's darter! Yonder goes the witch's maid! Heave a +stone at the likes of her, lads! 'Tidden fitty as such spawn should +live!" + +Poor Jessy had grown up with taunts like these in her ears, till she had +come to be too well used to them to pay much heed. Sometimes a stone +would strike her; but she could throw as well as any lad along the +coast, and she had proved as much upon the persons of her persecutors +many a time and oft. On the whole the children and the lads and girls of +Morwinstow had come to think it best to leave Jessy alone, especially +since it had been whispered that she was learning the black art from her +old grandmother, the Black Witch of the neighbourhood, and could +overlook an enemy, or curse him and his goods and smite his crops with +blasting and mildew. + +So Jessy's life was perforce a lonely one. No kith or kin had she ever +known save her old grandmother who lived in the hut upon the rolling +downs land, not far from the margin of the cliffs. The old woman went +out by night to gather herbs and simples, and these she brewed over the +fire by day, muttering her strange incantations the while. + +Although she was known as a Black Witch in her own neighbourhood, there +were many persons who bought her wares, and found them excellent for +sprains, rheumatics, and the like. But nobody visited in a friendly way +at the lonely hut save certain wild and fierce-looking men, who always +came at night, and were generally laden with packs of merchandise, which +they hid away in some secret hiding-place beneath the floor of the +cottage. + +This much Jessy knew from peeping through the crevices in the floor of +the upper room where she slept. She was never permitted to be present +when these men came. She was sent to bed up the rickety ladder; and the +ladder was invariably removed, so that she could not get down if she +would, the bolt in the trapdoor by which she reached her attic being +always drawn by the grandmother. + +As the child grew to girlhood, she began to understand very well the +nature of these visits from seafaring men. They brought smuggled goods +to be concealed beneath the witch's hut, well knowing that nobody would +willingly run the risk of being cursed or overlooked by the old woman. +Moreover, Jessy had reason to believe that the cottage masked an +entrance into a very large cave, which was probably a valuable +hiding-place; for she always noted the extreme civility with which the +rough men treated her grandmother, and how anxious they seemed to please +her in the bargains that they made. + +Nor was Jessy in any way disturbed by the knowledge of what was going +on. Smuggling was a regular trade all along the coast, and she regarded +it as a matter of course. + +As the old grandmother grew more and more infirm, Jessy was of necessity +taken more into her confidence, and soon found that her suspicions were +quite correct. The old woman received the contraband goods from the +smugglers, and hid them in the recesses of the great cave--the secrets +of which were known only to herself; and though very occasionally the +revenue officers came to the cottage and insisted upon examining the +place most carefully, they never discovered the secret hiding-place. For +the small cave was only the ante-chamber to a very much larger one +behind, and the entrance to the latter was so cleverly masked that it +was long before even Jessy could learn the trick of the sliding shale of +rock, though she had been shown it many times by her grandmother. + +Exciting scenes were often witnessed along the coast in those days; and +bloody scenes were enacted between the smugglers and the "gaugers" or +revenue officers, in which lives were often lost. One gauger, more +resolute than some of his predecessors, after having killed many +desperate smugglers himself, was dragged bodily into a boat that he was +pursuing, whilst his head was chopped off on the gunwale and flung into +the sea. + +The _Black Prince_ was a trim little vessel that did a great deal of +illicit traffic all along the coast at that time, and was well known to +every man, woman, and child in Morwinstow. Whorwell was the name of her +captain. A daring fellow he was, and one of the most popular smugglers +in those parts, free with his money, free with his contraband spirits, +making friends with villagers, parson, and sexton alike, and even +bribing old Tom Hockday, this latter functionary, to let him deposit his +kegs and bales in the church till he could find a convenient opportunity +of getting them away to old mother Varcoe's, or some other convenient +hiding-place. The farmers would lend him their stout little horses to +lade up with his goods from over the water; and the horses would be so +shaved and soaped that they were slippery as eels, and being accustomed +to follow some well-trained animals, would gallop away to the +hiding-place, safe from any hostile clutches! + +In scenes such as these Jessy had been reared, and although she herself +was something of an outcast in the scattered community where she dwelt, +her sympathies, such as they were, were for a time all with the +smugglers, whom she regarded as friends; till something came to change +the face of affairs for her. + +It seemed to begin from one Sunday morning, when Jessy, for a wonder, +went to the church, in spite of her natural timidity at facing the jeers +of the boys and girls, and the suspicious looks of their parents. She +often hung about the little windswept church whilst Sunday service was +going on, feeling in her heart a vague yearning after intercourse with +her own kind, and a longing for some knowledge of the mysteries of +religion; but she seldom ventured inside the porch, and might not have +done so to-day had it not been that there was a little lad, with curly +hair and blue eyes, whose face she did not know, whom she encountered +when not far from the building, and who began to talk with her in an +unsuspicious and friendly fashion that went straight to her heart. + +Before they had got to the church she had gathered that the boy was the +son of one of the revenue officers lately come into the neighbourhood, +and that he often went out in the cutters that pursued the smuggling +boats, or hunted the coast for them. The fearless little fellow had had +some adventures already, which he retailed to Jessy with great gusto; +and remarked that he did not think the people of Morwinstow liked him or +his father. + +To this Jessy answered that they did not like her either, and this +seemed a bond drawing the pair together; so that when they reached the +church they passed in together, and sat side by side in a shadowy corner +behind a big pillar. + +But the service had not proceeded very far before there was a whisper +and then a buzz at the porch door, and one by one folks slipped from +their seats and stole out, till at last only Jessy, and Tim (as the boy +told her he was called), and the parson, and clerk were left; and the +parson shut up his book and whipped off his surplice, saying: + +"Sure there is something amiss; and I must needs go and see!" + +The churchyard overlooked the sea, and there sure enough was the _Black +Prince_ close under the land, and a revenue cutter in full chase, and so +near that all held their breath to watch; and Tim seized hold of Jessy's +hands, and cried: + +"They'll get her!--they'll get her! Oh, why was not I there with them +to-day?" + +"Hush!" cried Jessy in sudden fear, "don't let the lads hear you talk +so. They'd wring your neck, some of them, as soon as look at you! But +look!--look! Whorwell is making for the Gull Rock! They'll never dare +follow him there! There's not a man 'ud venture near that, save Whorwell +himself; and they say the devil has given him a special chart, so as he +can find his way through the rocks and shoals. There!--see, the cutter +is sheering off. She daren't follow into that surf. The _Black Prince_ +will get off this time!" And Jessy's eyes lighted, for her sympathies +were with the smugglers; and the congregation assembled on the cliff +above gave vent to a lusty cheer. + +"And now, my friends," said the parson mildly, "let us return and +proceed with divine service." + +He drove the flock back into the building, got into his surplice again, +and went on exactly as though there had been no interruption: "Here +beginneth the second lesson." + +But though the hardy seaman Whorwell escaped the revenue cutter and got +safe away, he did not live long after that, but was washed overboard on +a dark night in a heavy storm; and his nephew and mate, one John Moffat, +became commander in his stead. + +Now Moffat was as daring a smuggler as Whorwell had been; but a man of a +very different temper, fierce, morose, cruel, and of an implacable +savageness towards any who had offended him. He had vowed vengeance +against all King's officers with whom he should come into conflict. He +had tasted once of prison discipline, and had had a narrow shave of the +gallows. Since then his violent temper had become increasingly savage; +and Rogers, the new officer, the father of Tim, found that he had a foe +to deal with as daring as, and even more unscrupulous than, Whorwell had +been. + +Moreover, Jessy herself found cause to rue the day when Moffat had been +left in command of the _Black Prince_. Her grandmother was now so +infirm, that Jessy was obliged to receive the smugglers on their visits, +and to show them to the hiding-places where the contraband goods were +hidden. Before long Moffat began to make love to her in his fierce +masterful way; whilst Jessy, who feared the fellow and dreaded his +visits, shrank from him more and more each time she saw him. + +She had grown to be a very beautiful girl, in a strange, wild fashion. +Her hair was a tawny, golden colour, and it grew very abundantly, waving +down below her waist when the wind caught it and loosened it from the +heavy coils in which it was twisted up. Her eyes seemed to match it in +colour, as did the thick brows and heavy lashes which veiled the fierce +light that sometimes leapt into her glance when she was aroused to anger +or hate. + +The village folk, who liked either dark hair or flaxen locks, had no +admiration for Jessy's tawny tresses. But little Tim Rogers told her +that she was beautiful, and looked like a queen. The girl and little boy +had become fast friends, drawn together by their own isolation and by +kindred tastes. + +Tim loved the sea and the rocks and the deep clefts and chasms of the +coast; and Jessy knew every crevice and cranny as well as the sea-gulls +themselves. They spent hours together, unseen by others, exploring +strange spots, telling tales and legends, and growing in friendship +every day. + +As Jessy heard her boy-friend's stories of the hardships of the lives of +the King's excise officers, and had the other side of the question +unfolded to her--the need for taxes to be levied, to keep up England's +power and greatness, to preserve her coasts from foreign invaders, to +enable her to be a power amongst other nations with greater +territories--she began to understand that the smugglers were really +defrauding the King of his rightful dues; and whatever might be said in +favour of the landing of an occasional keg of spirits or bale of silk +without paying duty, the regular nefarious traffic of such a vessel as +the _Black Prince_ could not be regarded as anything but a wrong done +against the King and the nation. + +It was the easier for Jessy to assimilate this new teaching because of +her hatred towards Moffat, which was growing with every visit he paid. +Her grandmother was now almost in her dotage, and was no real protection +to the girl; and she sometimes almost feared that Moffat would carry her +off to his vessel by force, so wild were his outbreaks of so-called +love-making, and his gusts of rage when she repelled him, and would have +none of his courtship. + +Jessy's one weapon of defence was in the superstition of the man and his +subordinates. They believed that the girl had inherited, or had acquired +from her grandmother, some occult powers, and that she had the power to +do them some injury by her fiery glance, or by word or spell. This +knowledge had come accidentally to Jessy, from something she had +overheard the men saying one to the other; but she had found that it was +true, and that they really had some superstitious fear of her when she +flung herself away from Moffat, and stood regarding them with her fiery +glances of fear and desperation. Afterwards Jessy made some study of her +part, and got her grandmother to teach her some spells and some curses; +and although still in no small fear of Moffat's evident intention of +making her his wife, she felt not quite so unprotected as before. + +Soon, however, she was to find, as other women have found before her, +that the surest way to turn a man's love to hate is to flout him, and +refuse his courtship. When Jessy, driven one day to bay, flatly refused +to marry Moffat, and added that she hated him worse than she hated any +one but the devil himself, and didn't see as there was much to choose +between them!--then the man's passion flamed forth, and the girl might +have been killed, had not the old woman, suddenly aroused and alarmed, +begun to curse so lustily that the seamen were filled with terror, and +dragged their leader off with them, he shouting out all sorts of threats +against Jessy, and vowing to be revenged upon her before he had done. + +It seemed as though disappointed love had filled the man's heart with +passions fiercer than their wont. It was but a few days later that Tim +told the girl how his father had heard that the _Black Prince_ was +coming in soon with a contraband cargo, and that he was going to keep a +very sharp look out for her. + +"I wish your father would kill Moffat, and have done with him," cried +Jessy, with sudden vehemence. + +"Why, then, Jessy, you must be on our side?" cried Tim joyfully. "I +never quite liked to ask you before; because, of course, all the folk +you know are with the smugglers----" + +"But they don't care for me, and I don't care for them--not a snap!" +cried Jessy; "and as for Moffat, I'll never be quite happy so long as +he's above ground. But my granny she cursed him properly the other day. +Maybe that'll bring him bad luck and you good!" + +"Then is it true as your grandmother is a witch, Jessy?" + +"I dunno; that's what folk say. She don't do nobody no harm as I can +see; nor good neither, save with her herb potions, and them I make as +well as she. But she's got a few queer books, and things she calls +charms. She tells me about them sometimes, and she teaches me spells and +curses and things; but I'd be half afraid to use them. Suppose they came +true; how would one feel?" + +"If it were a curse against Moffat and his crew, and it came true, I +don't think I should feel very bad," answered Tim. "They're a wild, bad +lot, my father and his men say. The sooner they are got rid of, the +better for some of us!" + +"Yes, indeed!" answered Jessy with a sigh; "but they are bad ones to +tackle, and no mistake." + +It was a few days after this, and Jessy was alone in the cave just as +the sunset light was beginning to turn the water red. A load lay upon +her heart; she knew not why. She felt as though something terrible were +going to happen, but she could not guess what it could be. + +Suddenly from over the water there came the sounds of voices,--angry, +passionate, triumphant voices,--voices that she knew. + +She ran out of her shelter; and then what did she see? The well-known +sails and masts of the _Black Prince_ almost close in shore, not being +pursued by, but in hot pursuit of the revenue cutter, that had been +watching for her, and had suddenly darted out to seize the prey. + +Now it was a most unusual thing in those days for a smuggling vessel to +turn aggressor. They were always built for speed, with a view of +getting clear away from the King's boats and officers. The _Black +Prince_ had always escaped by speed or seamanship hitherto; but to-day +it seemed as though the fierce demon of hatred that possessed Moffat had +dominated every other feeling. + +It was he, not the revenue cutter, that was in pursuit; and even as +Jessy gained the cave's mouth she saw the terrible work of butchery +begin. + +Moffat was the first to spring into the cutter and slash with furious +rage at the man Rogers, whose head was laid open by a ghastly blow. +Other daring smugglers had followed, and the water was dyed red with +something beside the sunset glow. + +To her horror Jessy saw that Tim was in the boat. + +"Swim for your life!" she cried; "you can do nothing there. Jessy is +here. Jessy will help you!" + +The boy heard; the men did not. They were otherwise engrossed. The boy, +powerless to help either father or friends, obeyed the call that had +reached him, and as he dropped silently over the gunwale of the boat and +struck out, Jessy plunged into the sea from her rock, and swam bravely +out to meet him, uncertain whether or no he might have received some +wound. + +And it was well she did; for, though unwounded, the boy had had a severe +blow upon the arm, and was only able to swim a short distance without +feeling the numbness and powerlessness come again upon him. But Jessy +was beside him; she could swim like a fish, and even weighted by her +clothes, could give her shoulder to Tim, to support his useless arm, +whilst she made her way with swift, strong strokes towards one of the +darkest and narrowest crevices between the frowning cliffs, where she +thought she and he might be safe from pursuit. + +No direct rays of light came into this narrow cave, and there was a +ledge of rock upon which she hoisted Tim, and where she scambled herself +when he was safe, both gasping and exhausted; but, as they hoped, safe. + +"Jessy, you have saved me! How brave you are!" cried Tim. But Jessy +suddenly laid a hand upon his mouth. + +"Hist! be quiet!" she whispered; "they are coming after us! I hear their +voices--and the plash of oars!" + +It was too true. Moffat's wicked eyes had seen the golden head of Jessy; +and he had missed the boy from the bottom of the boat, where he had been +knocked over. + +"They are in here!" cried a cruel voice; "I saw them go myself. We have +them here like rats in a trap." + +"Tim, have you a knife?" asked Jessy between shut teeth. + +[Illustration: "The first man that touches him I'll kill!" cried Jessy. + +_Page 351._] + +The boy was trembling; but he did not give way. He pulled a little dirk +from his belt. + +"Yes; but I must defend you, Jessy; not you me. You have risked your +life already. You must not do more. It is me they want--not you." + +But the injured arm had no power to strike a blow. Jessy tenderly took +the dirk from between the numbed fingers. + +"Say your prayers, Tim, if you can remember any," said Jessy, between +long breaths, "for we shan't easily get out of this alive." + +"There they are--see them? The witch-wench and the boy? Ah, ha, my fine +maid, you'll sing a more civil tune to-day I warrant. Give us over the +boy, and maybe we'll let you off easy!" + +"The first man that touches him I'll kill!" cried Jessy. + +"Curse her for a witch," cried one of the men, recoiling before the +fierce aspect of the girl; but Moffat was filled with the lust of blood +and of fury, and with a yell of menace, he pushed up the boat against +the narrow shelf on which the pair were cowering. + +"Hand over the boy." + +A yell of pain interrupted him. Jessy, seeing better than she could be +seen, had seized the moment and driven her dagger clean through the arm +of the man who was seeking to clutch at the shelf. + +Just for a few minutes the girl held her ground against the six furious +men below, who, losing all sense of humanity at last, lifted their +cutlasses and struck her blow upon blow; some of which missed their aim, +for Jessy was nimble as a wild cat, but some of which fell upon her +flesh, and at last brought her blinded with blood to her knees. + +A stifled gasp close at hand told her of another deed of cruel +cowardice. She turned to see Moffat wiping his cutlass, and little Tim +lying stark and dead at her very feet. + +At that sight a strange phrensy fell upon Jessy. Forgetting her wounds +and her weakness, inspired as it seemed by some spirit other than her +own, she rose to her feet, her eyes blazing in her head, and, with a +loud and sonorous voice, she spoke the words of a terrible curse. She +cursed the vessel whose crew had done this deed of infamy and shame; she +cursed the men who had been the instruments of a bad man's rage; above +all, she cursed the master himself, turning her gaze upon Moffat with +such fearful effect, that he slipped back into the boat, and his men +pulled away in the direst terror they had ever experienced. + +Next morning Jessy Varcoe was found by some fishermen, seated on a ledge +of rock just above high watermark, with the corpse of little Tim, whose +life she had sought to save at risk of her own, folded in her arms. + +She begged them not to wake him; she called him her baby, her darling. +When they laid him to rest in the churchyard, she would spend long days +sitting beside the mound, gazing over the sea for the sails of the +_Black Prince_. + +But from that day forward the _Black Prince_ was never seen or heard of +again. Perhaps the crew, fearing to return to a place where they had +done such evil work, changed its name and rig, and took up life +elsewhere. Perhaps she foundered in a gale, or fell a prey to some +enemy's ship. But no news of her ever reached Morwinstow again. + +Somehow the story of Jessy's curse got abroad, and her reputation as a +witch was made for ever; but she hardly knew it herself. From that day +she never fully regained her faculties; and at last poor Jessy's life +was ended through a fall down the cliffs from the heights above, near to +the grave of the little boy, and from whence she had kept a ceaseless +watch for the return of the _Black Prince_; terrified alike at the +thought of its return with the dreaded Moffat, or of its destruction in +response to her curse. + +The children will look fearfully down this chasm, and whisper that Jessy +leapt down it to expiate the curse; but whether or not this was so, will +hardly now be known, for her mind was never the same from the dreadful +day when she risked her life to save that of the boy, and saw him slain +at her feet. + + + + +URSULA PENDRILL + + +The Captain's face was so grave, that instinctively the passengers +exchanged anxious glances. He had given out that he had something to say +to them, and they had assembled in the large saloon in full force. + +When he came amongst them the look on his face was different from +anything they had seen before. The cheery expression was replaced by one +of clouded anxiety; and the infection of it spread quickly amongst the +group in the saloon. + +It was not a very large number of passengers that this steamer carried. +This was before the day of pleasure trips to and from India. Those who +went to that land or returned from it, only did so when necessity +compelled them. The voyage was not the speedy matter it has now become, +and there were far more hindrances and hardships than since the days of +the Suez Canal. Still there was a fair gathering to hear what the +Captain wanted of them, and it was plain that the matter in his mind was +a grave one. + +"Oh, Captain, is there danger?" asked a lady, cowering upon one of the +fixed seats, and holding a little boy clasped in her arms. + +The keen blue eyes of the Captain turned upon her for a moment, and +glanced away to the circle of strained eyes fixed upon him; he seemed to +understand what it was that all these people were thinking, and hastened +to reassure them. + +"Danger? Nonsense! What put that into your head? The ship is right +enough--nothing wrong there. It is quite a different matter from +anything you are thinking of." + +There was a distinct look of relief in the faces turned towards him, and +yet the expression of care upon the Captain's did not sensibly lighten. + +"I have in the first place one unwelcome piece of information to give +you," he said, "although I do not think that any of you need apprehend +personal danger or inconvenience. Perhaps some of you remember the +delicate-looking lady who was brought on board by her husband at Bombay, +and whom you have none of you seen since?" + +"Young Mrs. Varden?" queried a passenger who had just known the name of +the lady before starting. "I asked the stewardess about her once, and +heard that she was prostrated by sea-sickness. Some people never get +over it all the voyage." + +"Exactly; and that is what, until a couple of days back, we believed +about her. She was always ill and ailing, quite unfit to sit up or leave +her berth; but though the doctor saw her every day, he suspected nothing +till a couple of days back,--when the stewardess, who was taking care of +her, and luckily looked after nobody else, the ship not being very full, +was taken with a sudden attack like convulsions, and died within two +hours. That aroused his suspicions. He made a careful examination of +Mrs. Varden's condition, and his suspicions were strongly aroused. On +the following morning there would have been no room for doubt in any +case. The small-pox erruption was out all over her. To-day she is almost +black with it." + +There was a shudder of horror through the assembled passengers. The +thought that the ship was infected by that terrible disease was fearful +indeed. The Captain spoke on doing his best to reassure them. + +"Fortunately the lady has been kept very carefully isolated. She was so +delicate when her husband brought her on board, that everything was done +to ensure perfect quiet for her. She has occupied one of a little nest +of cabins, all the rest of which were empty. The husband bespoke the +sole attendance of one of the two stewardesses, and as my ship's doctor +is a cautious man, and was rather anxious about Mrs. Varden's condition, +he has used every precaution himself; though he suspected as little as +the patient or her husband, that she carried in her the seeds of so +dire a disease. I can assure you with good conscience that I do not +believe any of you have run any greater risk of contracting the disease, +than you might do by walking the street of any Oriental city." + +Passengers on shipboard come to trust their captains in a way which is +creditable to that calling. Captain Donaldson's words carried weight, +and a sigh as of relief passed through the group gathered to hear him. +But one gentleman put the question that was rising in each mind. + +"And what is to be done now?" + +The grave, anxious look returned to the Captain's face. His eyes +instinctively scanned those turned towards him. + +"There is only one thing I can possibly do, compatible with my duty to +my ship and its company and passengers," he said; "Mrs. Varden must be +put ashore at dawn to-morrow morning." + +"Where?--How? Is it possible to do it?" + +Quite a little hubbub of questions arose; and the Captain made shift to +answer them all. + +"It will have to be done," he said; "I know the place where it must be +done. We shall touch in, and send a boat ashore. I have had to leave a +sick sailor there before this. There is an old leper-house standing near +to the margin of the sea. For a long time now it has been used in the +fashion in which I purpose to use it. Fever-stricken sailors are left +behind, and there are certain conditions they have to observe before +they can be picked up again if they recover. But when a sailor is so +left, some messmate remains with him to care for him, and submits to the +loneliness and danger and discomfort, out of compassion for a comrade's +need. The thing is not so difficult when it is one of one's own men who +is the victim of disease." + +He paused, and glances were exchanged by the bystanders; and one tall, +rather rough-looking Irishman, who had come from Australia, and whose +loud voice and hearty ways had made him something of a power on board, +exclaimed eagerly: + +"But look here, Captain, there is somebody there to look after the sick +surely! You don't mean they are just dumped down in an empty +leper-house, and left to live or die as they can? There is somebody +there to look after them, and give them food and medicine and all that? +Why, one wouldn't treat a dog so--to throw him ashore and leave him to +his fate!" + +"It is like this," answered the Captain gravely: "There is no trouble +about food and water and a supply of such simple drugs as may be ordered +beforehand. I can make certain arrangements as to that; and the food and +fresh water and so forth will all be duly left each day at the +leper-house by an Arab, who will be told off for the service. But as for +getting help in nursing, that is simply impossible. I know what I am +saying. Money would not purchase it; and it would be such service, even +if attainable, as I think an English lady would sooner die than receive. +No; this brings me to the question which I have to put to her +fellow-passengers. Is there any lady on board willing to face the awful +peril of taking the malignant disease, the awful loneliness of the +leper-house upon the sandy shore, with only Arabs near, the awful doom +of dying alone there, or of seeing her companion and patient die, and of +being in that case quite alone during the necessary period of quarantine +which must elapse before she can be taken off in another ship? Whatever +man can do for making these conditions bearable, I will do. But none +know better than I do the terrible nature of such a task as the one I +ask from one of you. Nay, I do not dare to ask it! I feel that it is +more than flesh and blood can stand; but yet the thought of putting +ashore, alone and unconscious, that poor young wife, just to die, +without the presence of a human creature near her--that seems an equal +impossibility. Ladies, I do not ask an answer yet. I would not take an +offer were it given. It must not be an act of impulsive generosity, +should one of your number be able to face the terrible thought of such a +sacrifice. It must only be undertaken after much careful and deliberate +thought." + +The Captain with that turned on his heel and went his way, leaving the +passengers gazing mutely one at the other with pale faces and anxious +eye. Just before he reached the companion, he turned round to say: + +"Before putting the case to you, ladies, I have individually interviewed +every woman in the steerage company, to see if it would be possible to +procure the services of one of them as nurse. But all of them have +husbands and children. I have failed entirely there, and I may not spare +my one stewardess, even would she go, which I greatly doubt, knowing the +fate of her companion only a few hours ago." + +Amongst the passengers who had listened to this pitiful and terrible +tale was one young girl, travelling from India quite alone. Her name was +Ursula Pendrill. She had stood rather apart during the Captain's speech, +and now, slipping away from the excited hubbub of talk that arose on all +sides, she fled to her cabin almost as though some grisly phantom were +at her heels, and, sinking down upon her knees on the floor, buried her +head in her hands and rocked herself to and fro in a sort of agony. + +"Must I do it? Must I do it? O my God help me to see my way!" were the +words that fell brokenly from her lips. "How can I? How can any one? But +oh that poor, poor creature--that awful death for her; for death it must +be without any to care for her! O God help me!--help me! There is +nobody else--only me--to do it. All the rest have children, friends, +husbands, brothers. I am quite alone. O God help me! Help me!" + +The broken words were merged in sobs, as the tears gushed forth, +bringing a measure of ease to the overcharged heart. Ursula sat crouched +up on the floor of her little cabin, with her face buried in her hands, +and her loosened hair falling around her, but the sense of storm and +strife was merging in one of a strange and settled peace. Down in the +depths of her spiritual being it seemed to her as though a hand had been +laid upon her, and as though a voice had spoken in her ear: + +"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, +ye have done it unto Me." + +Ursula Pendrill was a girl of good family who had been left a year or +two ago an orphan, and with very narrow means. She was, however, a girl +of high spirit and brave heart, and instead of asking a home with any of +her kinsfolk, she preferred to supplement her small resources by working +in various ways herself. + +The field of woman's work in those days was much narrower than it has +since become; but Ursula knew a lady who had been a nurse under Miss +Nightingale in the Crimean War, and had since then given much of her +time to the service of the sick. She was then in charge of a hospital, +and welcomed Ursula on a long visit, where she learned considerable +skill in nursing, and made herself acquainted with the right treatment +of most ailments. + +After that she had often nursed private patients in their own houses, +and had travelled a good deal with invalids going to Madeira and other +places in search of health. So that she was no timid, helpless girl, but +a rather experienced and resourceful woman, who would not easily be +frightened or nonplussed in ordinary cases of sickness, or in the +ordinary circumstances of travel. But there was nothing ordinary in the +charge which she felt had been laid upon her to-day! + +Yet no one expected this thing of her. Probably she would be the last +person the Captain would think of for such a service. Ursula was young, +and she looked younger than her years. She had not talked about herself +to her fellow-passengers. She had not told how she had been taken to +India by a delicate lady to look after her and her fragile children. She +had not supposed that anybody would be interested in her private +affairs. She was surmised to be one of those growing-up girls sent home +from the perils of the hot season to their friends in England. Nobody +would expect a young thing like herself to volunteer for such a deadly +and terrible service. + +But the more Ursula thought of it, the more resolved she was to make +this sacrifice. It seemed to her that she had received a message from on +high; that she had been shown it was for her to take up the cross and +carry it, and that if she did so in fearless faith and obedience, she +would receive help and blessing and strength for the task. + +At dusk she left her cabin and went on deck, and asked where she could +find the Captain. The officer she addressed looked at her keenly for a +moment, and then pointed to where the Captain was standing alone, save +for the presence of the big Irish-Australian with whom he was often in +company. + +Ursula slowly approached, and the two men stopped talking and looked at +her. The Captain stepped forward. + +"Did you wish to speak to me, Miss Pendrill?" + +"Just for a minute, please," answered Ursula, with a beating heart, but +with outward self-possession. "I came to say that I will go ashore +to-morrow with Mrs. Varden, and take care of her." + +"You, child?" ejaculated the Captain incredulously. + +"I am not a child," answered Ursula steadily, "I am older than I look, +and I know a great deal about nursing. Once I lived in a hospital for a +year. I have often taken care of sick people since. I understand about +fevers, though I was only once with a small-pox case, and that only for +a little while, as she was taken away when the symptoms declared +themselves. But I have been vaccinated quite recently. I have never +taken anything from a patient yet. I am not afraid. I will go with poor +Mrs. Varden--if there is nobody more suitable and more efficient." + +The Captain paced once or twice up and down the space between the rails, +and came back to where Ursula was standing. + +"There is nobody else at all. I have had the husbands one after the +other--or the relations and friends. Nobody can bear to face the awful +task--or be spared to do it----" + +"Yes, I understand. Other people have ties--so many to cling to them--to +miss them, so many depending on them. If it were so with me perhaps I +could not offer. But it is not. I have no very near relations. I have no +parents or brothers and sisters. If anything happened there would be a +few to be sorry; but nobody would feel life to be shadowed. I am the +sort of person who can do this thing." + +"You are the sort of person from whom the world's saints and heroines +are made!" cried Captain Donaldson, with a most unwonted outbreak of +emotion. "My dear young lady, I do not know how to accept the sacrifice, +nor yet how to decline it. God will bless and reward you, I truly +believe; for He only can reward such a deed as the one you are about to +do." + +"I do not want any reward," answered Ursula simply; "I only want to do +what is right. Suppose it were somebody very dear to me, it would be no +sacrifice; and Mrs. Varden is very near and dear to somebody--to her +poor young husband. I saw him as he went off the vessel." + +"Poor fellow--yes. I fear----" but the Captain pulled up short, and kept +the fear to himself. Ursula moved away towards her own cabin. + +"I have a few preparations to make; but I shall be ready to-morrow when +you send for me. I think I shall not come up any more till then." + +She disappeared in the gathering gloom, and the Captain stood looking +after her, till a hand was laid upon his arm, and the deep voice of his +Australian passenger said in his ear: + +"Is that girl going ashore with Mrs. Varden?" + +"Yes; she has volunteered, she has all the qualifications for the task; +but I don't know now how to let her,--that lonely leper-house,--that +awful fear before her eyes. Mrs. Varden will not live the week out. But +I dare not keep her on board. My duty to my passengers and to the +company prevents it. But those two frail young creatures--set down +alone----" + +"Look here, Captain, you may make your mind easy there. They won't be +alone. I shall get off there too. I shall see them through!" + +"You, Mr. Kelly? Why, man, what do you mean? There is no accommodation +in the Arab settlement--nothing but the squalid place, and the +leper-house beyond. You cannot be in there----" + +"No; I shall pitch my tent just beyond, but within sight and sound. +Jehoshaphat, man! Do you think I have never roughed it in a tent before +this? Do you think I can't speak the primitive language, common to all +races, enough to get those dirty Arabs to do all I want of them? Do you +think British gold will ever fail to work the will of its master in any +quarter of the globe? You go and make all your palaver with the heathen +Chinee, or blackguard Arab, or whatever he may be. I'll pitch my tent, +and I'll be there as long as any British woman is, and I'll see the +thing through. As a nurse I'm no good, even if a rough fellow could +volunteer for the task where a lady is in the case. But I'll be hanged, +Captain, if Brian Kelly will stand by and see that brave young girl and +that poor dying wife left alone in a place like that without a +countryman near them. I've nobody specially waiting me in the old +country. They've done without me all these years; they can do without me +a few weeks longer. I'll see this bit of business through. If those poor +creatures die there, I'll stop and give them such Christian burial as is +possible; if they live through it, I'll be there to bring them home--one +or both. Confound it all, Captain, d'ye think I'd ever know another +night's sleep in my bed if I looked on at a bit of heroic devotion like +that--and walked on with me hands in me pockets!" + +The Captain put out his horny hand and wrung that of his Irish +passenger. He had liked Kelly from the first; now he felt a new and +warmer feeling towards him. + +"Heaven bless you!" he said rather hoarsely; "you've rolled a ton's +burden from my heart to-day." + +Before sunrise next morning, but while the sky was beginning to lighten +in that wonderful way one sees in desert countries, a tap came at +Ursula's cabin door. She was quite ready: dressed in her cool, linen +garb, with her white apron concealed by the folds of the long cloak. The +things she wanted to take with her were ready in a modest valise. The +rest were to go on to England under the care of the Captain. + +Her face was quite calm and serene as she came up on deck; a few +gentlemen passengers were about to see her off and wish her well. The +Captain made his way towards her and took her hand. + +"Mrs. Varden has been carried to the boat already. We are ready for you. +Mr. Brian Kelly is going ashore too. He is, in fact, there already with +my steward, bargaining about a tent in which he means to live for a time +within hail of the leper-house. So you will have a friend at hand in +case of need. He, like you, is one of the lonely ones of the earth, who +can do these things. I am very thankful not to leave you quite alone +with your patient! There yonder you see your future home--or prison. You +will be quite safe there,--you would have been safe even without +Kelly,--but I am thankful he remains too. I shall leave word at the +nearest station what has happened. You will have friends looking after +you, in a sense, whom you will never see. But Mr. Kelly will be at your +beck and call. Now we must be going." + +It was all like a dream to Ursula: the confused sound of voices, the +earnest pressure of farewell hand-clasps, the words of praise and +blessing lavished upon her; then the sight of the swathed white figure +in the bottom of the boat that looked almost like a corpse in its +graveclothes, the vivid golden glow over sea and land, the stretches of +yellow sand, the white domes of the Arab settlement, and the square +stone walls of the place to which she was bound. + +She only seemed to awaken to the realities of life when the Captain held +her hands in a last farewell, and just stooped and touched her forehead +with his lips. + +"I have a little girl at home--about your age!" he said huskily, as if +in explanation. "Pray God she may be as brave a girl as you--though may +she never be so sorely tried!" + +Then he was gone,--they were all gone,--and Ursula was left alone in +this strange, silent place, with that sad sight before her eyes--poor +Mrs. Varden, stricken down with that most terrible malady, and in its +most malignant and deadly form. + +The patient was quite unconscious, and lay upon the narrow bed which +Ursula found already neatly made up, muttering in the delirium that knew +no lucid intervals. She was not violent--had never been violent, the +doctor told her--and there was little enough to be done for her. But the +thirst was constant, and Ursula seldom left her side for long. Although +there was something so terrible in the poor young wife's disfigured +face, yet it seemed to Ursula that she was the one link between her and +the unknown. She did not shrink from her. She was as tender as though it +had been her mother or sister. She shrank from no task that would bring +relief or ease. She knew what to do and she did it unflinchingly. + +And then as the day went by and the shadows of evening began to steal +over her, she went to the door, to look at the sea and the sands, and +see whether it was a dream what the Captain had said of that big Mr. +Kelly staying behind too. + +No, it was no dream: there was the stalwart figure pacing to and fro; +there was the tent, picturesque and cheerful, with its fire close beside +it, and a couple of turbaned Arabs cooking something over the red glow. + +"Miss Pendrill, I have been hoping you would come out for a mouthful of +fresh air. And how goes your patient?" + +"Very, very ill; but always in a stupor. I can leave her for a few +minutes sometimes----" + +"Ah, good; then we will have supper together out here on the sand; it +will eat better to you than in there, and----" + +"Oh, but, Mr. Kelly, I am infectious----" + +"Stuff and nonsense!--as though I cared for that! We are in the same +boat as to that, for I helped to carry her ashore. But we needn't be +more doleful than circumstances make us. I am peckish, if you are not. +Do let us have supper here together!" + +That was the first of many such meals, taken just in those moments when +Ursula could leave her patient, and run out into the fresh air. It +seemed as though those Arabs must be cooking all day long, for there was +always some appetising dish ready; and oh, the blessed relief of those +odd minutes spent with one who could give word for word, and whose eyes +shone with friendly sympathy and kindly concern! Ursula said in her +heart every day as it went by, that but for this she must have died or +gone mad. + +The Captain had been right in his prognostication. Mrs. Varden sank +gradually, and by the end of the week passed away in her sleep; and it +was Ursula and Mr. Kelly who bore her to her narrow grave upon those +spreading sands; and it was he who filled up the grave that he had dug, +and, bringing out a well-worn Prayer-book from his pocket, read over +that lonely resting-place those words of hope and promise that have been +the consolation of Christian mourners for all time. + +Ursula did not take the fell disease. She was unnerved and unstrung for +a time; but the quiet days went by one by one, and the consciousness of +that watchful presence without kept her from any of those fears and +tremors which must otherwise have made this period of waiting an agony +to her. + +They met every day. They took their meals together, and walked up and +down beside the margin of the sea in company. They had to wait till the +time of quarantine had gone by; but at last there came the blessed day +when a steamer stopped and dropped its boat to fetch them; and the two +exiles from humanity looked one at the other, and then at the great +vessel awaiting them, and they knew that their time of trial was over. + +The passengers on that vessel were disposed to make much of them, and +laud the girl's heroism to the skies; but she shrank from praise, and +kept herself quietly aloof from the little world of the ship, till at +last the day came when they steamed slowly into the beautiful harbour +at Southampton, and dropped anchor there. + +Ursula's few possessions were quickly gathered together; she stepped +alone into the bustle of the great world, where welcomes were being +bandied about on every side, and every passenger seemed to have some +loving friend or relative to greet him. + +Not quite every one. A tall figure pushed its way towards Ursula. A +strong hand possessed itself of her bag. + +"I'll put you into your train," said Mr. Kelly; and she gave a little +sigh of relief. + +He stood at the window holding her little fingers in his big hand. He +looked straight into her eyes. + +"I'm glad you've got some people to go to--even if they are only +cousins. I hope they'll appreciate what they have got. I'm off to +Ireland. I must see the Ould Counthry first of all. But I shall be back +in England before very long. When I come back, may I come and see you?" + +She looked him full in the eyes. Her colour rose. + +"I have never tried to thank you all this time----" she began. + +His big voice cut her short. + +"The train is just off. I want my answer. May I come and see you +by-and-by?" + +There was a dew on her eyelashes, and her lips quivered; but the smile +won the day as it beamed out over her face. The soft voice was quite +steady, except for a little glad catch in it, as she answered: + +"Yes." + + +THE END. + + +_Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of True Stories of Girl Heroines, by +Evelyn Everett-Green + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40508 *** |