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diff --git a/43334.txt b/43334.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 823ac5f..0000000 --- a/43334.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7008 +0,0 @@ - JACK HARDY - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Jack Hardy -Author: Herbert Strang -Release Date: July 27, 2013 [EBook #43334] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK HARDY *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover] - - - - -[Illustration: "Surrender, in the king's name!" shouted Jack. _Page_ -121] - - - - - JACK HARDY - - _A Story of English Smugglers in the Days of Napoleon_ - - - _By_ - - HERBERT STRANG - - - - _Author of_ - Fighting on the Congo - In Clive's Command - On the Trail of the Arabs, etc. - - - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY - WILLIAM RAINEY, R. I. - - - - INDIANAPOLIS - THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT 1906, 1907 - THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY - - - - PRESS OF - BRAUNWORTH & CO. - BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS - BROOKLYN, N. Y. - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -CHAPTER - -I The Road to Luscombe -II Monsieur De Fronsac -III A Fight in Luscombe Market -IV Congleton's Hollow -V A Midnight Excursion -VI Signals -VII The Best-Laid Schemes -VIII Congleton's Folly -IX Close Quarters -X A Prisoner of France -XI A Break for Freedom -XII The Capture of the *Glorieuse* -XIII Off Luscombe -XIV A Discovery -XV Tar and Feathers -XVI A Run at Sandy Cove -XVII Diamond Cut Diamond -XVIII The Battle of Binsey Cove -XIX Some Appointments - - - - - *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS* - -"Surrender, in the king's name!" shouted Jack . . . Frontispiece - -"Steady, Mr. Gudgeon, steady!" cried Jack - -Jack, with a straight right-hander, sent him spinning over - -"If you make a movement, I shall fire" - - - - - *JACK HARDY* - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *THE ROAD TO LUSCOMBE* - - -The first time Jack Hardy met Mr. Nathaniel Gudgeon was also the -occasion of his first visit to Luscombe. - -It happened in this way. - -"Good-by, my boy," said his father, as Jack clambered on to the roof of -the coach at the _White Hart_, Southwark, "and be sure you don't forget -your Cousin Bastable, or your mother will never forgive you." - -"All right, father. I'll take a look at him if I get a chance. I say, -coachman, you'll let me have a drive?" - -The coachman could not turn his head, because the collar of his coat was -stiff and his neck brawny; but he screwed his left eye into the corner, -winked, and gave a hoarse chuckle. - -"I've seed Jack Tars on donkeys, and orficers on hosses," said he. -"Lor' bless you, I knows 'em." - -Which was the beginning of an argument that lasted all the way to -Guildford. - -Jack was on his way to Wynport to join H.M.S. _Fury_. Ten miles beyond -Wynport lay the little village of Luscombe, and two miles beyond -Luscombe was Bastable Grange, where his mother's cousin, Humfrey -Bastable, lived. Jack had never seen Mr. Bastable; a hundred years ago -relatives separated by a hundred miles of turnpike road saw very little -of one another. But Mrs. Hardy had been very fond of her Cousin Humfrey -when they were boy and girl together, and now that her son was going -within easy walking distance of Bastable Grange, she insisted that Jack -should go over and pay his respects. - -Jack had just been transferred to the _Fury_ from the frigate _Ariadne_, -much to his disgust. In the _Ariadne_ he had hoped to have an -opportunity of joining Admiral Nelson's fleet and fighting the French; -the _Fury_ was engaged in the humdrum and much less heroic work, as Jack -regarded it, of hunting smugglers. But Jack was of a cheerful -disposition, and by the time he arrived at Wynport he had forgotten his -disappointment, for the coachman had let him take the ribbons for five -good miles of the road, and he had nearly upset the coach in a ditch, -nearly massacred a flock of geese, and nearly taken off the wheel of a -carrier's cart, which was excitement enough for one day. - -When he arrived at Wynport he found that it would be three or four days -before the _Fury_ was ready for sea. To Jack's eyes she appeared -anything but furious, shored up high and dry in the yard, with huge -balks of timber supporting her hull. "Wretched cockle-shell!" he said -to himself, as he looked at her. But, having several days to spare, he -thought he might as well spend the time in looking up his Cousin -Bastable. Lieutenant Blake, commanding the _Fury_, good-naturedly gave -Mr. Midshipman Hardy leave to visit his mother's relatives, so Jack -slung his valise on to a carrier's cart that would jog to Bastable in -the course of the day, and started to trudge over the cliffs. He had -been told that he might save a matter of an hour by taking the shorter -road by Wickham Ferrers; but it was a bright September day, -exceptionally hot for the time of year, and there was more chance of a -breeze by the cliffs. Besides, Jack preferred when he could to keep -within sight of the sea. - -He had no company for the first part of the journey, and that was a -trial to a lad of Jack's sociable disposition. As became a midshipman -of his Majesty's navy, he was ready to talk freely with peer or peasant. -The few people he saw were going in the opposite direction, and though -in pleasant country fashion they "passed the time of day," there was no -occasion for stopping to chat. But, about five miles out of Wynport, he -saw just ahead of him, on the winding white road, a man with a wooden -leg, stumping along beside a donkey-cart. The man had a broad back and -looked a sturdy fellow. The day being hot he had stripped off his coat, -which dangled from a nail in the tail-board of the cart; and he carried -in his left hand a glazed hat. - -Jack was almost abreast of the cart when the man heard his footsteps, -turned, and seeming to recognize him, pulled his forelock and said: - -"Morning, sir, morning." - -"Good morning. Uncommon hot, isn't it? You seem to know me?" - -"Not to say know, sir. I've seed ye, that's all. I've been to Wynport; -I goes there twice a week with my old moke here, and a cargo of fruit or -vegetables, times and seasons according. And when I goes to Wynport, in -course I looks up old messmates." - -"You've been a sailor, then?" - -"Nigh thirty year, sir! Joe Gumley my name: ranked A.B. when I got my -leg shot off in a' action with a French privateer six year ago. In -course I were discharged then. I were a fisherman till they pressed me -for the navy, so when I were no more use to his Majesty, sir, I come -back to my native place, which be Luscombe, sir, and what with fishing -and gardening and such like I manage to make both ends meet, as they -say. I've got a tidy bit of cottage at a low rent from Squire -Bastable--" - -"Oh! he's my cousin." - -"Now, if you'd said uncle, sir--" - -"Well, he's my mother's cousin; my second cousin, I suppose." - -"Not having any myself, I don't know second from first. Howsomever, as -I were saying, I've give up the fishing now; but I keep to the -gardening--not an easy job with this stump of mine, 'cos when I'm -digging the misbehaving thing will sink in, and it takes a terrible time -to be always heaving it out. Like as if you was to have to drop anchor -and heave it again every knot you made. But I've got over that there -little contrariness by taking a square bit of board with me now. When -I'm going to dig, down goes the board, I sticks my stump on that, and so -we gets on as merry as you please, 'cos when I want to shift, all I've -got to do is to kick the board along a few inches, and there we are." - -"Well, but how came you to know me?" - -"Only seed you, sir. I was over at Wynport, as I were saying, and only -this morning I comed across my old messmate, Ben Babbage, what was -pressed along o' me. He's now bo'sun of the _Fury_, and we was having a -smoke and a chat about old times when you come down the yard along o' -the lieutenant, and Ben says to me: 'Joe,' says he, 'that's Mr. Hardy, -the new midshipman.' That's how I knowed your name, but I didn't know -as how you was cousin to squire, though to be sure, now I look at you, -sir, you do seem to have something of his figurehead about you." - -"Talking of figureheads, that's a queer-looking thing yonder." - -He pointed to a tower that just showed above the trees in the distance. -In shape it was not unlike a mushroom, the top and part of the stalk -being visible. - -"That?" said Gumley. "Queer, indeed. That be Congleton's Folly." - -"And who was Congleton?" - -"A man, sir, leastways a madman. Where he hailed from no one knowed, -but years and years ago, when I was a' infant in arms, Congleton -suddenlike come to Luscombe. He was a man about fifty then, and 'twas -said that having waited to that age to fall in love, he got it very bad -with a widder, who wouldn't have him. Love seems to be like measles, -better had young. Well, Congleton took it so to heart that he made up -his mind to live forlorn and lonely ever more. So he built a kind o' -summer-house in the Hollow yonder; and when he tired o' that he set a -small army o' laborers building the Folly, for so it got to be called; -and there he lived for a dozen years in one room at the top all by -himself, seeing nobody, having his food sent up twice a week by a -pulley. And then he died. Congleton's Folly 'twas called then, and so -it be called to this day: a sort of wilderness all round it, and a -fearsome place on a dark night." - -The old tar talked on, Jack doing the listening, until they came to a -spot where, just after the road crossed a deep chine cutting through the -cliff to the sea, there stood a large farm-building by the roadside. - -"Is that one of my cousin's farms?" asked Jack. - -"No, sir, that be Mr. Gudgeon's freehold." - -Jack glanced at it idly. It was an old roving building of stone, with -gables and mullioned windows, many barns and outhouses hemming it in. -Across the road was the farmyard, with a large pond skirting the -roadway; and beyond it a level triangular stretch of pasture and -cornland extending to the edge of the cliff, which here jutted out -prominently into the sea. - -Just before they reached the farm-house, Jack noticed a dense cloud of -smoke pouring from one of the chimneys. - -"The kitchen chimney's afire, I suppose," he said. - -"Ay, ay, sir. Mr. Gudgeon do have a bad lot o' chimbleys. And there's -a many in Luscombe, too. Plenty of jobs hereabouts for a good sweep! -And there's Mr. Gudgeon himself--Nathaniel's his chrisom name." - -A very big burly man, curiously short in the legs, made his appearance -in the doorway, and walking backwards across the road, watched the black -column of smoke drifting slowly eastward on the light breeze. - -So closely was his attention fixed that he did not at once notice the -pedestrians or the donkey-cart, and not until he had backed almost -across the road did he suddenly catch sight of Joe Gumley. Then he -started slightly, and his attention being now divided between the old -sailor and the chimney on fire, he failed to observe a deep rut left by -a passing wagon, that had evidently been driven into the pond to allow -the horses to drink. - -The result of the oversight was unfortunate. One of the short legs -disappeared into the rut; there was a wild flourish of arms; and then -the big unwieldy body toppled backward into the pond. - -Jack could not forbear smiling. Gumley gave a quiet chuckle, and to -Jack's surprise stumped on, not offering to help the farmer out. But -the lad sprang forward impulsively, splashed into the water, and held -out his hands to the miserable dripping object still floundering there, -unable to gain a foothold on the clayey mud of the bottom. - -"Steady, Mr. Gudgeon, steady!" cried Jack encouragingly. "Haul on, sir. -Yo heave ho! and up we come!" - -[Illustration: "Steady, Mr. Gudgeon, steady!" cried Jack] - -"Thank'ee, sir," said Mr. Gudgeon, spluttering. He had evidently -swallowed more of the muddied water than he cared for. "But -how--ugh!--how do you--ugh!--know my name, sir?" - -"Why, that old sailor man told me--Gumley, you know: we hitched on some -miles up the road there." - -"Yes, yes, of course: yes, yes. I'm all of a flutter, sir; my heart -goes pit-a-pat. Ugh! That water is rank, and--and I--I feel quite -upset. It was Gumley; of course it was: and he told you my name. Yes, -to be sure. And you, sir, I might guess, are a king's officer, sir?" - -"Oh, yes! My ship's the _Fury_" - -"Why, to be sure! Come in, sir. You must dry your boots. Take them -off, sir. I will take off my wet things and be with you in a few -moments. Sit you down, sir." - -Mr. Gudgeon had led Jack into a large stone-flagged room, with a low -ceiling of whitewashed rafters. He disappeared, and Jack, left to -himself, took off his boots and stockings and sat on the broad, high -ledge of the window. In one corner he noticed a long leather-bound -telescope, and taking it up he looked out to sea. A few fishing boats -dotted the shining surface, their brown sails just appearing above the -edge of the cliff. In the offing a large lugger lay, apparently hove to. -He was still peering through the glass when the farmer returned, -carrying a tray with bottles and glasses. A servant came after him, and -took away the wet boots and stockings. - -"Now, sir," he said. "You have your choice. Here is brandy, and sloe -gin, and cider--" - -"Thanks, Mr. Gudgeon, a glass of cider for me; 'tis a cool drink for a -hot day." - -"To be sure," rejoined Mr. Gudgeon; "though for myself I find brandy the -best cure for the flutters. You were taking a peep through my -spy-glass, sir?" - -"Yes: a good glass." - -"Not bad, sir, not bad. And a clear day. But not much to see, sir, -to-day." - -"No. There's a lugger in the offing; and French by the cut of her." - -"Surely not, sir," cried Mr. Gudgeon, taking up the glass. "Dear, dear! -I'm all in a flutter again, sir. A French lugger, sir! 'Tis surely too -near our coast to be safe." - -"Yes, and I hope the _Pandora_ will catch her; she's sailing this -afternoon." - -"To be sure, sir. The impudence of these Frenchmen! But I don't think -she's French, after all; there's a lugger much like her down in Luscombe -yonder. And you're an officer of the _Fury_? I've seen the _Fury_ more -than once, sir. She cruised about a good deal last winter on the -lookout for smugglers. But she's laid up at Wynport now, I'm told." - -"Yes, or I shouldn't be here." - -"Ah! I wondered, now, what brought you to this quiet little place. -Maybe you have friends in the neighborhood, sir?" - -"I'm going to see my cousin, Mr. Bastable. I dare say you know him?" - -"Know the squire! To be sure: a customer of mine. Ah! as I was saying, -there's a good deal of smuggling on this part of the coast: so the -common talk is, sir. Luscombe yonder is suspected, so 'tis said. Mr. -Goodman, the new riding-officer, has his eye on the village. But up -here on the cliff I don't hear much of what goes on. I keep myself to -myself, sir--lead a quiet life; anything out of the way puts me in a -flutter at once. And when will the _Fury_ be ready for sea?" - -"In four or five days." - -"To be sure! And you are Mr. Bastable's cousin! Well, now, to be sure! -'Tis early days for the smugglers, sir: they don't begin, so I've heard, -much before October; their work needs dark nights; but I hope you'll put -'em down, sir, I do. They're getting the neighborhood a bad name." - -"Well, Mr. Gudgeon, we'll do our best to polish it up for you. Now, -d'you think those things of mine are dry? I am getting hungry, and my -cousin, I hope, keeps a good table." - -"To be sure, sir; a fine man, Mr. Bastable. Though I'm only a poor -working farmer, and keep myself to myself, I hope I may count Mr. -Bastable a friend. You will give him my respects, Mr.--?" - -"Jack Hardy: that's my name. Thanks for the cider, Mr. Gudgeon: mighty -good stuff. Good-by. I hope you'll be none the worse for your sousing." - -"Thank you, sir. I hope not. I shall take no harm unless I get a -return of the flutters." - -He went with Jack to the door. - -"That is your way, sir," he said, pointing to a path that ran -irregularly across the fields to the right. "The coast winds a good -deal here; you would not think it, but the path will bring you near to -the sea. Bastable Grange is on the cliff, sir, the other side of -Luscombe, a fine airy position, though too near the coast if the French -should land, _I_ say." - -Jack set off at a good pace, vaulted the many stiles that crossed the -field path, and in less than half an hour found himself approaching a -fine old red-brick house nestling among trees at the edge of the cliff. -He paused for a few moments before lifting the latch of the gate to take -a look round. There, in a hollow between the two cliffs, lay the -village of Luscombe, its few cottages straggling from the beach up the -slope. Two or three fishing smacks lay alongside the short stone jetty: -others rocked gently in the little bay. A turn of the path hid them -from sight for a minute or two; when next they came into view Jack was -surprised to see one of the smacks making under full sail out to sea. - -"Smart work that!" he thought. "There was no sign of her putting off a -few minutes ago. The Luscombe fishers would make good king's men, by the -look of it; they'll have a visit from the press-gang one of these days." - -He watched until the smack rounded the point; then he turned, opened the -gate, walked up the gravel path, and pulled the bell at the door of -Bastable Grange. - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *MONSIEUR DE FRONSAC* - - -Jack was shown into a little snuggery, where he found a red-faced, -blue-eyed gentleman sitting deep in a comfortable arm-chair, his legs -perched on a smaller chair. His black hair was tied in a short queue; -he had curly side whiskers: and he wore the full uniform of the -Dorsetshire yeomanry--a tight red coat with a high stock, white buckskin -breeches, and big Hessian boots that came to the knee. - -"A young gentleman to see you, sir," said the servant. - -"How d'ye do, Cousin Humfrey?" said Jack, advancing with a smile and -outstretched hand. - -"Who in the world are you?" said Mr. Bastable, clutching the arms of his -chair, his eyelids squeezed together oddly. - -"Oh! I'm Jack Hardy. Mother said I was to be sure and call. My traps -are coming after." - -"They are, are they? You're a pretty cool young spark, aren't you? I -must take it, I suppose, that you're my Cousin Millicent's boy, eh?" - -"Of course, Cousin Humfrey. She said you'd be glad to put me up for a -day or two, if I reminded you what friends you and she were, I don't -know how many years ago." - -"She did, eh? Well, you'd better give an account of yourself. How old -are you, and what are you doing in these parts? I don't suppose you -came all the way from London to remind me of your mother." - -"I'm sixteen, sir, and just appointed to the _Fury_--you know, the -revenue cutter now repairing at Wynport. I've got a few days' leave, so -I've just walked over." - -"So I should suppose. Your boots look as if you'd walked through half a -dozen horseponds on the way." - -"Only one, cousin," replied Jack, laughing. "That was in helping a -friend of yours, who tumbled over through walking backwards looking at a -chimney on fire: Mr. Gudgeon, the farmer." - -"A friend of mine, eh? Well, not exactly," said Mr. Bastable dryly. -"So his chimney was afire." - -"Yes, though I must say he took it pretty coolly; didn't seem to -remember it when he got back into the house." - -"Oh! You went into the house, then?" - -"Yes, he gave me some cider, and drank some brandy himself for the -flutters. He's not quite the shape for the flutters, cousin, is he? -Looks pretty solid." - -"And he made himself agreeable, eh? You told him who you were, I -suppose?" - -"Oh, yes! And he as good as said he was glad the _Fury_ was getting -ready for sea. Luscombe's getting a bad name for smuggling, it appears, -and 'tis time some of us came along. Don't you think so, cousin?" - -"Quite time, quite time!" replied Mr. Bastable. Jack fancied he caught a -twinkle in his half-closed eyes. "Father and mother quite well, eh? -And how long have you been a king's officer?" - -"A couple of years, cousin. Of course I had to serve two years as a -volunteer first; then two years ago I was put on the books of the -_Ariadne_, second-rate frigate, Captain Bagot. Why on earth they -transferred me to the _Fury_ I can't tell--just as the _Ariadne_ was -going out to join Admiral Nelson's fleet, too. I call it disgusting." - -"No doubt they thought you'd be more useful to the revenue. Well, your -traps are coming after you, you said? Get off those boots and I'll -introduce you to your cousins. I suppose they're your cousins, if I'm -one. Ah! here's the first!"--as the door burst open, and a girl ran in. -She wore a white muslin dress with a pink sash, and a chip hat was -swinging on her arm. Seeing a stranger she stopped, and her cheeks -flushed. - -"Come, Kate," said her father, "this is your cousin, Mr. Midshipman -Hardy, come to pay us a visit." - -Kate Bastable made the formal little courtesy of those days, to which -Jack returned his best bow. - -"I came to tell you dinner is nearly ready, father," said the girl. - -"Goodness alive, and I haven't got out of my regimentals yet! Run and -send your mother here, Kate; she must say which room your cousin is to -have. We dine earlier than you fine London folks, my lad. You're a -good trencherman, I'll be bound." - -"I'm pretty sharp set after my walk, cousin, and we fellows can usually -do our duty with knife and fork." - -"As well as in other matters, eh?--catching smugglers, for instance. -Well, come along; we'll find my wife and see what she can do for you in -the way of slippers." - -Jack was perfectly satisfied with his dinner, and with his new-found -relatives. Mrs. Bastable and he became good friends at first sight. -She was a pleasant, fresh-colored woman of forty, quiet in manner and -speech, but with a shrewdly humorous eye. Kate was fifteen. She said -little, but took stock of her new cousin as he chattered at the -dinner-table. The last member of the family was Arthur, a boy of -twelve, who, Jack found afterward, was not nearly so shy as he looked. -An only son, he had not been sent to school, but was tutored at home. -The tutor formed the sixth at table, a slight man of about thirty, with -a very swarthy skin and intensely black eyes, good features, and a -glittering smile. He was introduced to Jack as Monsieur de Fronsac, a -Frenchman of a noble house. He had emigrated a few years before, and -settled in England as a teacher of languages and mathematics. Monsieur -de Fronsac bowed and smiled when the introduction was made, and said -that he was charmed and delighted to meet an officer of the king's so -excellent navy. - -Jack found that he was expected to do most of the talking. His cousins -plied him with questions about the latest news in London. What was -happening in India? Had Spain declared war? What did the people in -London think of the chances of a French invasion? Jack was equal to the -demands made upon him. - -"Oh, as to India," he said, "a day or two before I left we got advice -that that Mahratta fellow, Holkar, had invaded our territories and -General Wellesley was after him. He'll soon settle his hash. And -Admiral Keith is going to have a shot at those flat-bottomed boats that -Boney has got at Boulogne. They'll never cross the Channel, not they. -Praams they call 'em: miserable tools; a storm would knock 'em to -pieces; they can't hug the wind; and the eight-pounder they've got -mounted aft is a fixture, so that if we laid a small boat alongside, the -gun would be useless, and they'd only have musketry to resist with. And -the poor wretches on board get so seasick if there's the least swell -that they lie about groaning in the hold, too weak to lift a musket. -One of 'em was captured last year by a gun-brig of ours; she'd got a -little leeward of Boulogne and couldn't get back, and our brig had her -by the heels as she was steering large for Calais. Our fellows don't -believe old Boney intends to send 'em across at all, but only wants to -frighten us. By George! I wish he would, though. We'd make ducks and -drakes of his praams, there's not a doubt about that." - -"But they might row over in a calm," suggested Mr. Bastable; "then our -cruisers would be helpless." - -"Why, if they did, cousin, there'd be a chance for you. I'd like to see -the yeomanry cavalry dashing at 'em as they landed, sabers out, cut and -thrust, ding-dong, over you go. Oh, it won't be so easy as Master Boney -imagines. Don't you think he's off his chump, cousin?--Beg pardon, -Cousin Sylvia, I mean cracked; that is, mad--why, 'tis said he's had a -medal struck to commemorate his invasion; his own precious head on one -side and a figure of Hercules strangling the sea monster on the other. -The sea monster's us, you know, Monsieur. And he's got the words -'Struck at London, 1804,' on the thing--isn't that cool cheek? Better -have waited till he got to London--don't you think so, cousin?" - -Thus he chattered on, amusing his relatives with his frank boyish -confidence, and especially pleasing Monsieur de Fronsac, as it appeared, -for the French tutor was constantly showing his teeth as he smiled. - -"It is good to hear," he said once. "I like it. I do not lov dis -Napoleon; truly he is a monstair." - -"Makes a breakfast of babies, don't he?" said Jack. - -"That's rubbish, of course," said Mr. Bastable. "But he's a monster all -the same, as Monsieur says; and I warrant if he does manage to escape -you blue-coated gentlemen of the navy he'll find us redcoats ready to -meet him." - -Monsieur de Fronsac retired immediately after dinner. - -"Gone to scribble poetry," said Mr. Bastable with a smile, when the door -was shut. "He's a decent fellow, and knows a heap of mathematics. I -fancy he must have been crossed in love, for he's always writing poetry -about the moon or the trees or the sea--so Arthur says, for he never -shows his stuff to me. Now, we're early birds here, Jack. We'll play a -rubber with the ladies, if you please, and then to bed." - -At breakfast next morning Mr. Bastable was in particularly good humor. -He had been out early, so he said; there was nothing like a ride before -breakfast for freshening one up and improving one's appetite. - -"By the way, Jack," he added, "when I was out I heard that the smugglers -made a capital run last night--the first of the season." - -"The villains!" cried Jack; "under my very nose!" - -"Taking advantage of the _Fury's_ being laid up for repairs, you see. -But no doubt you'll put a stop to it when once you get to work--eh, -Jack?" - -Jack fancied there was something quizzical about his cousin's smile as -he said this, and wondered whether the squire was "smoking" him. But he -answered cheerfully: - -"We'll see, cousin. I don't know what sort of man Lieutenant Blake is: -only saw him for the first time yesterday; but if he's anything of a -goer we'll give the smugglers a warm time, I promise them." - -"And how will you set about it, cousin?" - -"Don't know, for my life!" said Jack with a laugh. "But there are forty -ways of catching flies, and about the same number of tying knots; and -we'll find out a way, you may be sure. By the by, cousin, can you tell -me how to get to the cottage of an old tar named Joe Gumley? I had a -chat with him yesterday as I came here, and I'd like to look him up." - -"Yes, I can tell you. He's a tenant of mine. But he won't see you." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Just what I say. He won't see you. He lives by himself and never -admits a visitor. He's most unpopular with the village folk, and has to -tramp to Wynport to sell his garden stuff." - -"Why don't they like him?" - -"Ah, well! The truth is he's an oddity, a very queer fellow." - -This explanation by no means satisfied Jack, and he made up his mind to -visit Gumley as he had intended. The sailor's cottage stood some -distance farther along the cliff. After breakfast he set off alone -toward it. Within ten minutes he came to a stout wooden fence tipped -with nails, and so high that he could only just see over it. Then the -view of the cottage itself was hidden by a mass of bushes and trees, the -foliage of which, though tinged with autumn brown, was still thick. -There was a gate in the fence, but no latch and no bell. - -"An 'I'm-the-king-of-the-Castle' look about this," thought Jack. He -lifted his cane and dealt the gate several smart raps. Immediately he -heard a dog rushing down the garden, barking angrily. Standing on -tiptoe he peered over, and saw an immense bulldog, thick-set, -broad-chested, with an enormous and most ugly head, showing his teeth -viciously. The moment the dog caught sight of Jack he redoubled his -barking and dashed forward against the fence, as if furious to get at -him. - -"Good dog, good dog!" said Jack soothingly. "What's the matter with you, -you son of a ten-pounder? I say, Gumley--ahoy! ahoy! Gumley!" - -He raised his voice to a singsong, and sent the call rolling toward the -cottage, rather enjoying the din made by himself and the dog, with a -hundred echoes from every dell and hollow in the cliff. In a minute or -two he saw the sailor stumping round the bushes, his head bare, his -shirt open at the neck, a spade in one hand, and in the other a little -square board. - -"Oh, 'tis you, Mr. Hardy, sir. I was digging turnips at the back. -Lor', sir, all Luscombe will know you've bin here, with this terrible -row and all." - -"I don't care if they do, and it was your dog that made the row." - -"A good dog, sir. Living alone by myself, you see, I need a watch-dog. -Come in, sir, come in." - -He had removed a padlock, drawn two bolts and loosed two bars on the -inner side, and thrown the gate open. Jack stepped into the garden, -keeping an eye on the bulldog, which had ceased to bark as soon as -Gumley appeared, but walked slowly round and round the visitor, sniffing -at his legs as if choosing the best place for a bite. - -"There's no cause for alarm, sir--leastways not while I'm on deck. I'd -best introduce you proper like, then you'll be safe any time, fair -weather or foul. This here's Comely; and this is Mr. Hardy of the -_Fury_: twiggy-voo, as the mounseers say? Now pat him, sir." - -Jack felt a little uneasy, but knowing that it is best to put a bold -face on it, whether with dogs or men, he stooped and patted the massive -head. With an expression that seemed to him more sinister than ever, the -dog stuck out a red tongue and licked his hand. - -"Now all's snug and shipshape, sir. Comely's your friend for life." - -"Queer name that." - -"True, sir. It was like this. I had a notion of calling him Handsome, -'cos handsome is as handsome does, and he does most uncommon handsome. -But thinking it over between watches, as you may say, it seemed like -poking fun at the poor beast that couldn't hit back, and I cast about -for a name that would mean the same but not quite so strong. I tacked -about for a time without catching a fair breeze, sir. Then all at once -I remembered a word in my Bible: 'black but comely.' Comely's a good -name, thinks I, and his muzzle's black, and my name's Gumley, so Comely -it shall be: and Comely it is, sir. We're a pair, I can tell you, -Comely and Gumley." - -"A capital match," said Jack laughing. "But I say, why do you barricade -yourself in like that?" Gumley had replaced padlock, bolts and bars. -"Any one would think you were making ready to stand a siege." - -"Well, sir, I won't say 'tis to be ready for Boney's landing, and I -won't say 'tisn't." - -He was now stumping up the path toward the cottage, and said no more. -Jack saw that he did not mean to enlighten him, and changed the subject. - -"I say, Gumley, why didn't you help Mr. Gudgeon out yesterday? You went -on and left me to do it." - -"Ay, ay, sir. The truth is, Mr. Gudgeon and me bean't, so to say, on -speaking terms." - -Jack felt that there was something puzzling about all this. Gumley was -not popular with the villagers, Mr. Bastable had said; the old sailor -had confessed to a feud or at least a coolness between himself and his -neighbor on the opposite cliff. There was an honest look about his -weather-beaten face; he did not seem to Jack morose or ill-tempered. -What was at the bottom of this strange attitude of antagonism, shown by -the man's somewhat elaborate defenses? Well, after all, it did not -matter to Jack; his leave would be up in a few days, and then his duty -would take him to sea. - -He sat for some time in Gumley's trim little parlor, where everything -bespoke the handy Jack Tar, chatting about sea life in general and the -_Ariadne_ in particular. Then the talk came round to Jack's new vessel, -the _Fury_, and brought up the question of smuggling. - -"Mr. Gudgeon said that a good deal goes on about here," said Jack, "and -by George! my cousin, Mr. Bastable, told me that the villains ran a -cargo ashore only last night. I suppose he met the riding-officer as he -went for his morning canter. Did you hear anything of it?" - -"Not a word, sir. I keep myself to myself." - -"Yes, Mr. Gudgeon said much the same thing, I remember. But I suppose -you hear talk in the village sometimes?" - -"Never bin into the village since I gave up fishing, sir. I get all my -victuals from Wynport, and often don't set eyes on the village folk from -week-end to week-end, except at Church at Wickham Ferrers on Sunday." - -"Why you're quite a hermit--almost as bad as Congleton." - -"True, sir, but I've never bin crossed in love, 'cos I never seed a maid -I fancied afore I lost my leg, and there's ne'er a maid would take a -fancy to a poor chap with a stump like this. And I'm afeard of going -like Congleton, sir." - -"Yes, but, Gumley, never mind about that. Tell me straight out, man; are -the people in Luscombe below there smugglers or not--the whole crew of -'em, I mean?" - -"Well, since you put it plain, sir, I wouldn't be surprised if some of -'em think a sight more of French brandy than of Jamaica rum." - -"That's no answer, you old rascal. Well, I'm going down to the village -to have a look round. I saw some neat little smacks at the jetty -yesterday, and one of 'em put out pretty smartly, too: was uncommonly -well handled." - -"Well, sir, you be a fine, mettlesome young gentleman; but if so be as I -might advise you, I'd say keep your weather-eye open. If so be they are -a smuggling lot below--well, they won't be exactly main pleased to see a -king's officer." - -"Bless you, they won't know me. I'm not in uniform, you see. Nobody -knows who I am but my cousins and you and Mr. Gudgeon." - -"True, sir; and me and Mr. Gudgeon keeps ourselves to ourselves, to be -sure." - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *A FIGHT IN LUSCOMBE MARKET* - - -Jack was accompanied to the gate in quite a friendly way by Comely. He -smiled as he heard the click of the lock and bolts behind him, and -thought a good deal about Joe Gumley as he made his way down the steep -cliff path to the fishing village below. It was quite a small village: -a few cottages clustered about a cobbled square, with others climbing -the cliff, each with its little bit of garden. - -The harbor was protected by a natural breakwater of rock running out to -sea, and forming an excellent defense against the southwest gales. A few -brawny fishermen were lounging about in jerseys and sou'westers, hands -in pockets, pipe in mouth. Jack tried to enter into conversation with -them, but found them strangely taciturn. They looked hard at him before -answering his questions, used few words, and gave him very little -information. Mr. Bastable laughed when, meeting Jack at luncheon, he -learned how he had spent the morning. - -"They're not a talkative set," he said, "and were probably somewhat -overcome by the presence of a king's officer." - -"But how did they know I'm a king's officer, cousin? We fellows don't -go blabbing about: I didn't tell 'em, and only Gumley and old Gudgeon -know, besides you and my cousins." - -"Perhaps it was Kate that told them. Ladies are great gossips, they -say." - -"I'm sure Kate doesn't go gossiping with fishermen; do you, Kate?" - -"Indeed, no," said Kate, "'tis a shame to say so, father." - -"I didn't say so, now did I, Jack? I said 'perhaps.' You don't suppose -I went and boasted of having a king's officer as my guest, Mr. -Midshipman Hardy; and Mr. Gudgeon and Gumley keep themselves to -themselves, as they told you, my boy." - -"Well, I can't make it out, and it doesn't matter." - -"Probably they won't know you again in your uniform, Jack." - -"Do you wear a dirk, cousin, and a belt with pistols in it?" asked -Arthur eagerly. - -"You may be sure he does," said Mr. Bastable; "looks a regular bucaneer, -I've no doubt. You'll give old Gudgeon the flutters if he sees you in -all your war-paint, Jack." - -"Oh, come now, cousin!" protested Jack. "Our fellows don't look half so -fierce as you yeomen. Boney will be terrified if he catches sight of -your big hats and red coats." - -"De uniform of de yeomen is ver' fine," said Monsieur de Fronsac, -smiling. "It is quite beautiful. Dat is vat I say to Monsieur Arthur; -dat de Monstair Bonaparte vill tr-r-emble ven he see de brave English -yeomen." - -Jack was interested in Monsieur de Fronsac. He had never met a Frenchman -before, and he studied him as he might have studied a strange animal. -After lunch he spent some time with the tutor, and learned something of -his history. It appeared that on leaving France, a few years before, he -had gone to live on his estates in Martinique, hoping there to escape -the dangers to which, as a royalist, he would be exposed at home. But -on the advent of Napoleon Bonaparte to power his property had been -confiscated by the Bonapartist governor. He himself had been -proscribed; he fled to Jamaica, thence to London. It was hard for poor -_emigres_ to pick up a living. Happening to hear that a school in -Wynport required a teacher of mathematics he had come down from London, -only to find that the place had been filled. But luckily Mr. Bastable -was at the time in search of a tutor for his son. De Fronsac heard of -it from the master of Wynport school: he applied and was accepted. - -"But I hope vun day to get back my estates, ven dat Monstair, dat -impertinent from Corsica, lose his life, or ven he shall be reject from -de throne he goes so impudent to seize." - -Jack became a little tired of Monsieur de Fronsac's references to the -Monstair. He never spoke of Bonaparte without tacking on the epithet. -Of course, he had good reason for hating the First Consul if he had lost -all his property and been compelled to teach for a living; but it was -not the English way to call names--and always the same name. Jack set -it down as one of the peculiarities of Frenchmen. - -That evening, after dinner, the conversation once more came back to the -subject which was then discussed more often than any other among the -good people of the south coast--the expected landing of the French. Mr. -Bastable was inclined to think that with so long a coast-line open to -him, and so many possible landing-places, Bonaparte would only have to -choose his time carefully to be able, with any kind of luck, to make his -descent. But Jack scoffed at the idea. - -"What about Nelson, and Collingwood, and Keith, cousin? They'd smash -him before he got half-way across." - -"But Nelson is away in the Mediterranean, isn't he? He can't be -everywhere at once, Jack." - -"And every one can't be a Nelson, but we can do our best." - -"I wonder where Boney would think of landing. Somewhere west, not -Pevensey like the Conqueror: too near London. The Conqueror sailed from -Boulogne, didn't he?" - -"Don't think so, cousin: Boulogne isn't in Normandy." - -"Still, I'm pretty sure it was Boulogne. Monsieur will know. We'll ask -him." - -"I'll go and find him; hope I shan't interrupt his flow of poetry." - -Jack hurried off, and learned that the tutor had gone out some little -time before. - -"He said he were gwine fur a promenade," said the servant whom Jack -asked. - -"Which way did he go?" - -"Down along by Congleton's Hollow, sir." - -"Well, I'll go after him. Tell your master I'll be back soon." - -A footpath over the fields led to Congleton's Hollow, about a mile and a -half from the Grange. Jack had visited the spot in the afternoon with -his cousin Arthur. They had climbed over the half-ruined wall, and -wandered about in the dense plantation. Under the trees it was quite -dim, even in daylight; and where there were no large trees the ground -was thickly covered with a tangle of bushes and ferns. Blackberries and -nuts grew in abundance, and the boys had gathered them by handfuls, -regardless of scratches, or rents in their clothes. Rabbits scurried -across the path from patches of tall brake; squirrels blinked out of the -foliage. The place had a wild beauty of its own--the romantic charm of -a spot seldom visited by men. - -Delightful as it had been in the afternoon sunlight, it seemed to Jack -more delightful still in the dusk of this beautiful September evening. -The moon was just rising, throwing pale shafts of light through the -trees, deepening the shadows. An owl hooted from the top of the Folly; -as Jack picked his way through the brake he heard the whisk of scared -rabbits. By the time he reached a part of the ruined wall whence he -could look over a stretch of open country he had almost forgotten his -errand. He sat on the wall, dangling his legs. There, across the -fields to his right, the moonbeams shone on the weathercock on Gudgeon's -roof. Luscombe was out of sight in the dip of the cliffs, but he -fancied he could hear the grinding of the surf on the shingle. - -Suddenly he started. The light southeast breeze blowing toward him -brought the sound of low voices a little way ahead. Was it Monsieur de -Fronsac speaking? Jack thought he recognized the low smooth tones. -Should he go on? That would be to risk overhearing the speakers. He -hesitated; he heard another voice, deeper, rougher; then both voices -together, as if in altercation. - -"This won't do!" thought Jack. "I'd better clear out." So he sprang -lightly down from his perch and began to retrace his steps, walking -slowly as he had come, and looking back every now and again to see -whether the tutor was following. At last, just as he reached the first -of half a dozen stiles between himself and the Grange, he saw Monsieur -de Fronsac's figure come into the moonlight from the shade of the trees -half a mile behind. He was alone. Jack sat on the stile and waited. - -The Frenchman walked with downcast eyes and for a few moments did not -perceive him. Catching sight of him at length, he seemed to be startled, -for he halted and made a strange upward movement of the right hand. But -his pause was only momentary. He came on again, and as soon as he was -near enough to see clearly who was sitting on the stile, he showed his -teeth in a brilliant smile, and called softly: - -"Hi! Monsieur Jack, I see you." - -"Well, I'm pretty solid, Monsieur," returned Jack with a smile. "The -place looks lonely enough for a ghost, don't it? I'd come to meet you; -got a question to ask." - -"Ah! truly de place is romanesque. It demand poesy. Often do I come -here, in evenings ven de moon is bright, to compose poesy. It please -me, it console me in my miseries. I come dis minute from composing a -poem about de moon. Vill I declaim it? Is Monsieur interested?" - -"Oh, fire away!" said Jack. He thought he might as well humor this -singular Frenchman. "Stop a bit, is it in French or English? If it's in -French it'll be clean over my head." - -"No, it is in English. I compose alvays in English since dat Monstair -have maltreat me. I recite it: listen: - - "'_De moon, she shine in de sky_ - _O lovely! O sharming!_ - _Ven I look, vat can I? I sigh._ - _Vat fine zing for farming!_' - -"I explain dat: Your so difficult language have not good rhymes: and -dere needs one for 'sharming.' I recollect myself to have seen de -farmers making hay by de moonlight. Dat also vas sharming sight, so I -put him in my verse." - -"First-rate," said Jack. "Go on; I like that bit." - -"I have no more complete at present. It take so much to seek your -English rhymes. Now in my language--" - -And Monsieur de Fronsac began a long course on French poetry, keeping up -a steady flow of talk which lasted till they reached the Grange. Not -till they were entering the drawing-room together did Jack remember the -question he had gone to ask. - -"Well, Jack, I'm right, eh?" called Mr. Bastable. - -"'Pon my life, cousin, I forgot to ask. Monsieur has been entertaining -me with poetry and things, and drove the question clean out of my head. -Where did William the Conqueror sail from, Monsieur?" - -"I do not know, I regret to say." - -Mr. Bastable laughed. - -"Well, we're none the wiser. Come, Jack, take a hand at cards. We've -been waiting this half-hour." - -When Jack was alone in his bedroom, and thought of his meeting with De -Fronsac, he felt vaguely uneasy. Why had the tutor been so anxious to -explain his walk? Why had he talked on and on so glibly about such a -dull subject as French poetry, with the evident desire to prevent Jack -from talking? Why had he made no reference to his companion in the -Hollow? His friends, his private business, were, of course, no concern -of Jack's; but the position of De Fronsac in the Bastable household -scarcely seemed consistent with stealthy meetings in retired spots, and -Jack, without knowing why, did not like it. But he slept none the less -soundly, and had almost forgotten it by the morning. - -The third day of his visit Jack had pretty much to himself. The ladies -drove early into Wynport to see a dressmaker, and would not return till -late; Arthur was engaged with his tutor; and Mr. Bastable had to go to -the county town on yeomanry business. Jack spent part of the day in -roaming about the cliffs, and in the afternoon went down to the shore, -to bathe and watch the fishing-boats go out. Dinner had been put back -an hour, so that he delayed his return to the Grange somewhat later than -usual. - -As he made his way up the hill, turning off through a narrow lane to the -left, he tripped over a cord that had suddenly been drawn tight in front -of him. There had been rain during the morning, and the place had been -carefully chosen by the practical jokers, who betrayed their presence by -a subdued chuckle from an alley-way on Jack's right as he fell head -forward into a pool of mud. - -Jack had served an apprenticeship in the art of practical joking in the -_Ariadne_. Not for nothing had he been for two years a "youngster" in a -midshipman's mess. He knew that the best way to discourage the gentle -sport in others was to take summary vengeance on the joker--if he could -get at him. He picked himself up in a trice, dashed into the -alley-way--so narrow that there was scarcely room for more than one to -pass at a time--and saw before him the back of a hulking form -disappearing into the dusk, and hiding, as Jack judged from the clumping -of heavy boots, a number of his fellow conspirators in front. - -The fugitive was tall, but his clumsy body seemed too heavy for his -short legs, and he moved slowly. Jack was upon him just as he emerged -from the narrow alley into the open square of the village. Catching -sight, with the readiness of one accustomed to use his eyes, of a -convenient muck-heap--there were always convenient muck-heaps in town or -country a hundred years ago, when sanitary inspection was still -undreamed of--Jack neatly tripped the burly figure into its soft and -odorous embrace. There was a great yell from the other fugitives, who -stopped their flight when they found that they were not in immediate -danger; and as they closed in toward the spluttering victim, now slowly -raising himself, Jack saw that they were some of the boys and youths of -the village, whose eyes he had often noticed upon him as he passed -through. And there was something strangely familiar in the attitude of -the hobbledehoy struggling clumsily to his feet. He was not a fisher -lad; where had Jack seen him before? The cries of the crowd enlightened -him. - -"Fight un, Bill Gudgeon!" - -"Heave un into midden, Billy." - -"Black his eyes!" - -"Give un a nobbier!" - -But Bill Gudgeon, like his father, was inclined to keep himself to -himself. - -"Not if I knows it," he said slowly, as he sheered off. "Maister and me -be quits now." - -"Chok' it all!" cried one of his companions, a sturdily built, -black-browed, bullet-headed fisher youth of some eighteen years. "If so -be you woan't fight, Billy Gudgeon, I will, so there then. Be you -afeard, maister?" - -"No, I don't think I'm afraid of you," said Jack, "but I don't see what -we've got to fight about. As your friend yonder said, we're quits. And -I'm in a hurry. Good night." - -"Boo! boo!" yelled the rest, encouraged by this seeming display of the -white feather. "Rare plucked un to fight Boney! Afeard of Jan Lamiger! -Boo! boo!" - -Jan Lamiger slouched forward as Jack was turning away, and as an earnest -of battle cleverly flicked off his hat. Jack was round in an instant. - -"Very well, Jan, or whatever your name is, if you're set on fighting, I -suppose I must oblige you." - -He took off his coat, folded it, and placed it carefully on a stone -pillar hard by: then he picked up his hat, set it on top, and rolled up -his shirt-sleeves. The young fisherman meanwhile divested himself of -his jersey, and listened with a smug smile to the encouraging hints and -practical instructions of his mates. - -Jack felt a trifle bored. It was much beneath his dignity as a -midshipman of his Majesty King George to be fighting fisher lads in the -open fish-market of Luscombe, but it would have been still more beneath -his dignity to refuse the challenge and have the pack of fisher lads at -his heels. He was relieved to find that the Square was quite deserted -save for the group about him. A few seconds earlier he had had an -impression that there were a number of fisher folk about. The people -had, in fact, hastily retired into their cottages when they saw what was -afoot. They had no objection to the lad's trouncing a king's officer, -but when that officer happened to be a relative of Squire Bastable at -the Grange it was perhaps just as well not to countenance the fight -openly. For they had no doubt that Jan Lamiger would win. He stood -half a head higher than the midshipman, and was probably three stone -heavier. And, moreover, he had some little reputation in the -neighborhood as a boxer and wrestler. Had he not thrown all comers at -Wickham Fair? And knocked Tom Buggins, the light-weight, clean out of -time at Casterbridge only last month? - -It was a somewhat rough battle-ground; the cobbles of the Square would -make a hard fall; but neither of the combatants had chosen the spot, nor -did it occur to them to seek a more convenient place for their -encounter. - -Those were the days in which skill in the use of the fists was a real -title to consideration among all classes, high and low. And fortunately -for Jack, it was an art cultivated with great perseverance by the young -gentlemen of H.M.S. _Ariadne_. A new midshipman had to fight his way -into the right to call anything his own. So frequent were the battles -on board, that the art had reached a very high degree of perfection. -Even the muscular heroes of the prize-ring might have envied the -quickness of eye, the wariness, the nimbleness of movement, the skill in -feint, of these young warriors. - -The group had become by this time enlarged by the addition of several -other boys, big and small, eager to see the fight and the imminent -discomfiture of the king's officer. They drew away to give the -principals fighting room. The two at once got to work. In the first -half-minute Jack found that he had no novice to deal with, and that in -sheer physical strength he was hopelessly outmatched. But the big -lumbering fisher had nothing like the quickness of wit or the science of -the slighter midshipman. Hitherto he had won his bouts by staying power -added to a certain rudimentary knowledge of fisticuffs that might pass -for skill among the yokels at a country fair. But in all his previous -battles he had never met an opponent who forced the pace like this one. -Where was he? He seemed to be on all sides at once. Jan dealt what he -firmly believed was a staggering right-hander, only to hit air and to -feel a smart tap on the left side of his chin. He flung out his left -hand, and before he knew what was happening, he felt a similar tap on -the right side. This kept things even, but it spoilt Jan's temper. He -forgot his science in his irritation, and lurched forward to give full -effect to his weight and height. The result was disastrous. Where did -that whack in the left eye come from? He had hardly realized that he -could not see quite so well as usual, when something very hard and -knobby came into his right eye, and while the stars were still dancing -before him a neat left-hander from Jack sent him reeling back on to the -cobblestones, where he sat up and peered about him dazedly. - -It was clear that the battle was over in a single round. There was no -fight left in Jan. The crowd was silent now. Several were assisting -Jan to rise, and Jack quickly rolled down his sleeves, put on his hat -and coat, and walked away, leaving the Square by the alley through which -he had entered it. Perfect stillness reigned in the village; but Jack -was conscious that the windows and doorways were now filled with faces -watching the scene. He smiled as he left the village behind him. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *CONGLETON'S HOLLOW* - - -Jack was beginning to enjoy himself. There is something bracing in -antagonism: the knowledge that he was regarded as an enemy by the people -of Luscombe, so far from daunting him, whetted his appetite for duty. -He made up his mind to say nothing to Mr. Bastable of what had occurred. - -When he got back to the Grange he found the household bubbling with an -excitement of its own. Mr. Bastable had brought back with him two new -suits of yeomanry uniform, and Tony, the coachman, and Andrew, the -groom, had just fitted them on and were displaying their finery to the -admiring eyes of Molly, the cook, and Betty, the housemaid. The men -grinned sheepishly as Jack passed them. - -"Bean't they fine, Measter Jack?" said Molly, giggling. - -"Splendid! You won't be afraid of Boney now." - -"Sakes alive, no, sir! But I be mortal afeard o' William's blunderbuss. -It do look a terrible deathly instrument, to be sure; and what would -happen to us if it went off by accident goodness only knows." - -William was the gardener, who, though too old and bent to make an -efficient yeoman, had been armed, like Overcombe, the butler, with a -blunderbuss, Mr. Bastable having thought it worth while to give the men -of his household weapons of defense. - -"You never know," he said to Jack; "Boney may land or he may not; if he -lands, the more men we have to fight him, the better; and a blunderbuss -behind a wall may do some damage. I'm going to exercise 'em every day." - -"And what about Monsieur de Fronsac, cousin? Will you arm him, too?" - -"Well, I didn't intend to. I thought I could hardly expect him to fight -against his own countrymen. But he is so bitter against the Monster -that he declares he won't remain neutral. While his countrymen lick the -feet of the Monster, he says, he disowns 'em. He's got a pistol, and -uncommon handy he is with it, too. There he is," he added, as a loud -report was heard; "he's practising behind the coach-house. Let us go and -see what he can do." - -De Fronsac smiled when he saw them. - -"You see, Messieurs, I exercise myself," he said. As he spoke he -stooped and lifted a horn button from the ground. Walking up to the -wall he placed the button edgewise against a brick; turned, stepped a -dozen paces, swung round, and almost without seeming to take aim, fired. -The button was shattered into small fragments. - -Jack could not but envy the Frenchman's skill. - -"You must have had plenty of practice, Monsieur," he said. - -"Yes, truly. Ve of the noblesse know to use de pistol, assuredly." - -Next day there was to be a yeomanry parade at Wickham Ferrers. Arthur -begged off his lessons for the day, wishing to go with Jack to see the -training. There were no horses for them to ride or drive, Mr. -Bastable's three being required to mount himself and his men, so they -had to walk. It was only six miles; they started early, and were on the -field before the troops arrived. They got a good deal of amusement out -of the scene. Many of the yeomen were raw recruits who found the -management of horses and arms at the same time somewhat beyond them. -Falls were frequent, and the officers got very red in the face with the -exertion of commanding and countermanding. When the parade was over, -the two boys had early dinner with Mr. Bastable and the other officers -at the _Wickham Arms_, and started to walk back in the cool of the -evening. - -They came by a path that led past the tower once inhabited by the -melancholy Congleton. Jack looked up at it, wondering what sort of place -that lonely room at the top was. But Arthur said that the only doorway -was strongly barricaded, and Jack was not inclined to waste time in -breaking in. Another half-mile brought them to the middle of the -Hollow. Jack had not mentioned the incident of two nights before; it -would seem too much like prying into De Fronsac's affairs; but he was -thinking of it when a shot rang out from the depths of the copse, -followed by a cry. Arthur paused in the act of capturing a belated -butterfly. - -"What's that, Jack?" - -"A cry for help! Come on!" - -He vaulted the wall; after a moment's hesitation Arthur scrambled over; -and they dashed toward the thickest part of the wood, Jack a few yards -ahead. Heedless of scratches and tears they pushed through the tangle -in the direction of the sounds, and, Jack suddenly finding himself -blocked by a thick clump of brambles, Arthur came panting up to him. - -"Over there, Jack, I think!" he said. "I heard some one moving." - -He pointed to the left. They listened; there was no sound but the -ripple of a tiny stream. - -"Let's go on!" said Jack in a whisper, pointing ahead. "'Twas there the -sound first came from." - -He disentangled himself from the bush, not without damage to hands and -clothes, and skirting the obstacle, the two pushed still deeper into the -wood, dim in spite of the glow of the westering sun. In a few moments -they saw through the trees a more brightly-lit patch of ground, and came -to an open glade, covered with fern and tall grass run to seed. At the -far side stood the ruins of a large timber summer-house, built of logs -something like those of the pioneers in America of which Jack had read. -It was somewhat dilapidated. But what took his attention immediately -was the figure of a man sitting on one of the fallen logs, apparently -stanching with a red handkerchief a wound in the head. - -As the two boys made their appearance at the edge of the glade the man -started and tried to rise; but he staggered back with a groan, and -continuing clumsily to stanch his wound, eyed them sullenly with uneasy -suspicion as they approached. - -Jack went up to him impulsively. - -"We heard a shot and a cry. Did you call out?" he asked. "You are -hurt. Can we do anything?" - -The man was an undersized, mean-featured, ill-conditioned looking -fellow. He had a low beetling brow, and his cheeks were black with the -unshorn growth of several weeks. He was evidently badly hurt, and, -villainous though he looked, Jack was eager to aid him. - -"It is nothing," said the man, in a low and surly tone, with a slight -foreign accent. "I am getting better, if only the bleeding would stop!" - -Jack could see the handkerchief was drenched with blood. - -"You were shot! Who fired?" he asked. - -"Ah, who? I want to know. It was all at once. I did not see." - -"And how did it happen, then?" - -"Why, I walk along, looking straight in front, when behind me a shot is -fired. I feel the pain. I call out; the pain indeed is no little; see, -the bullet cut my scalp three inches long, at least. A little lower, and -without doubt I am a dead man." - -"And you did not see who fired?" - -"No, how can I? I turn round; but the villain hears you as you come, -and he escapes. That way I hear him go." - -He pointed in the direction suggested by Arthur. - -"It was some robber, without doubt," he added. - -Jack looked uneasily around. Where was the man? Perhaps still in the -copse ready to repeat his shot. But with another glance at the victim -Jack felt that there was something strange in his story. Who would rob -an ill-clad, dirty-looking fellow like this? He did not appear worth -the pains. And what had brought him to the Hollow? He was certainly a -foreigner; the copse was off the highway; what was he doing there? - -From beneath his black shaggy brows the man was keenly watching. -Apparently he saw by Jack's expression that doubts were crossing his -mind. Still dabbing his head he began to speak again. - -"I am unlucky. I am of Spitalfields, a silk weaver. At Wickham Ferrers -I have at the inn fine silks. I visit the nobility and gentry; they -give me orders. I am on my way to the house of Mr. Bastable--the -squire, people call him. He is rich; his lady will buy my silks." - -"But this is not the way to Mr. Bastable's." - -"Is it not? They told me there was a short cut through the wood. Ah! -the villains! It is a trap. They had me here to shoot me. Yes, that is -it." - -"And your samples?" - -The man started. - -"Yes, my samples," he said hurriedly, looking round. "They steal them. -But I have others at Wickham Ferrers, at the inn. I go for them at -once." - -He rose as he spoke. Erect, he stood a head shorter than Jack. - -"I beg you keep close to me till we are out of the wood. Ah! I feel -sick, I am not able to walk so far. I am shaken; I can not wait on a -lady this evening. Can you tell me a lodging in the village?" - -"Do you know of one, Arthur?" - -"There's old Mother Philpot; she could put him up." - -"I thank you. Philpot: I will remember the name." - -The boys walked with him until they reached the edge of the plantation. -Then Arthur pointed out the path that led down to the village; the man -refused their offer of further assistance, and when he had gone from -sight they struck off at an angle toward the Grange. - -Arthur was greatly excited at the incident, and talked about it all the -way home. Jack was puzzled. It seemed so unlikely that a peddler -carrying silks should go so far out of his way, and that he should be -set upon and robbed of a bundle of samples when the more valuable bulk -of his wares lay at Wickham Ferrers. - -At dinner he mentioned the occurrence. Mr. Bastable was as much annoyed -as concerned. - -"This won't do," he said. "We're a peaceable and law-abiding folk -here." - -"The smugglers, cousin?" - -"Oh! the smugglers!" Mr. Bastable's face again wore that strange -quizzical smile that Jack had noticed whenever smuggling was mentioned. -"That's another matter. I say we're a law-abiding folk. There hasn't -been a robbery, an assault, or anything of that kind, for years. So -near the Grange, too. As a justice of the peace, I must see that fellow -and get a description of the assailant; we'll raise the hue and cry and -have him fast by the heels, I warrant him. I'll send Tony to Mother -Philpot at once." - -"He said he didn't see the man who fired the shot." - -"Nonsense. How could any one take his samples without being seen?" - -"Permit me," said De Fronsac, smiling. "From vat Monsieur Jack says, de -poor man is a compatriot. He is a weaver of Spitalfields, but he talk -viz a foreign accent. De French families in Spitalfields have been dere -so many generations dat dey are now English; dey vould have no accent, -and dis poor man must be, as I myself, a victim of de troubles in France -of dis day--perhaps he is a victim of dat Monstair. Vill it not be -convenient dat I go to see him at his lodgment, and speak to him in his -own language, and learn all dat he has to tell?" - -"'Tis very good of you, Monsieur; but I don't want to spoil your dinner, -and this must be done at once, or the villain will get away." - -"De dinner, it is noding!" said De Fronsac with a smile, not perceiving -the little grimace that for an instant showed itself on Kate's lips, or -the glance exchanged between her and her mother. "I vill go at once. I -do anyzing to serve a friend like you, Monsieur," he said, with a low -bow as he rose. - -After De Fronsac's departure the family discussed the incident at -length, Mr. Bastable becoming more and more indignant as he thought of -the outrage committed in that quiet spot and so near his own doors. But -Jack felt very uneasy. He could not help connecting the event with the -voices he had heard in the copse two nights before. The speakers had -seemed to be in altercation; one of them had been De Fronsac. And De -Fronsac had offered to go and question the injured man. Jack wondered -whether he had better tell his cousin what was passing through his mind, -but he did not like to make him uneasy or suspicious if, after all, -there was no cause for it. So he decided to say nothing--at least, -until De Fronsac had reported the result of his interview. - -The family were in the drawing-room when the tutor returned. - -"I have accomplish' my mission," he said. "I am hot; I valk fast. De -man is indeed, I regret to say, a compatriot. He is in England from a -young man; vid his parents he arrive fourteen years ago, ven de troubles -began. I dink he is honest man. He see only very little bit of de man -vat shoot him, but it seem he vas short, and zick, and vid red hair. -Dat is vun zing he know: de man had de hair red." - -"Red-haired men are as common as blackberries in these parts," said Mr. -Bastable. "That won't help us much. Why didn't the fellow use his eyes -to better purpose? I warrant, if a man shot me I'd know a little more -about him. However, I'll send Tony to Wickham Ferrers, and we'll have -some men out scouring the country. Unluckily 'tis getting dark." - -Mr. Bastable went to bed later than usual that night, in case the man -should be caught and brought before him as a justice of the peace for -committal. But the searchers had made no discovery, and the squire at -last retired, going round the house with more than usual care to see -that doors and windows were carefully bolted. - -Next morning they were seated at breakfast when Tony knocked at the door -and came in with a face full of news. - -"Please, sir, there's bin housebreaking now. Mother Philpot's house were -broke into last night, and the Mounseer carried off." - -"What! what!" shouted Mr. Bastable with a very red face, holding upright -the knife and fork with which he was carving a fine piece of pickled -pork. - -"'Tis true, sir. Mother Philpot were just gwine up along to roost, when -there come a knock at the door. She opened, poor soul, and three men -with faces black as sut pushed past. One caught her by the arm and told -her to be mum and no harm would come o't; t'others went into Mounseer's -chimmer and pulled un out as soon as they'd got his coat and things on, -and took un away. He was all a-shaking, sir. Mother Philpot says, says -she: 'A were a-trembling like an apsen, and so were I!'" - -"This is monstrous!" cried Mr. Bastable, pushing back his chair. - -"Alas! my compatriot is in danger yet still," said De Fronsac, carefully -folding his napkin. - -"And the silks! I had set my heart on a plum-colored dress, Humfrey," -said Mrs. Bastable. - -"Silks! Fiddlesticks! 'tis an outrage; 'tis contempt of court! -'tis--'tis--hang it! I don't know what it isn't. Tony, get my horse -saddled. I'll ride over to Wickham myself, and get the colonel to scour -the country with dragoons, or we'll send to Budmouth for those fellows -of the German Legion, and see what they're good for. We can't allow -this sort of thing in Luscombe, and by George! we won't." - -The angry squire strode away, leaving his breakfast unfinished. - -"Your poor father will be so hungry, and so bad-tempered all day," said -Mrs. Bastable, whom nothing seemed to ruffle. "Jack, will you carve the -pork? You have not finished, Monsieur de Fronsac?" - -"Absolutely, Madame," said the Frenchman with a bow and a smile. "Dere -is yet an hour before ve study; I vill valk to de village and back. De -fresh air it is salubrious; and de fishermen interess me. My estates -vere in Brittany; and in my days of youth I pass much time among -fishermen. Ven I come back, ve vill study de properties of angles, -Monsieur Arthur." - -And with a smile Monsieur de Fronsac left the room. - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *A MIDNIGHT EXCURSION* - - -"I know!" said Arthur that evening, coming up to Jack, who was -practising skittles in an alley behind the house. He looked up slyly in -Jack's face. - -"You do, do you? And what do you know?" - -"About you." - -"Well, I suppose you do. I'm Jack Hardy, son of Major James Hardy, late -of the East India Company's service, and--" - -"Didn't he touch you at all?" - -"Who? Father? Yes, he used to lay it on pretty thick when I was a -young un like you." - -"Jan Lamiger, I mean." - -"Oh, that's it, is it? And what do you know about Jan Lamiger, may I -ask?" - -"Tony told me. He says Jan Lamiger has got two black eyes and a green -nose. Oh! don't I wish I'd seen it! Just don't I!" - -"Well, my young cockchafer, you hold your tongue about it. I don't want -it all over the country that a king's officer has been sparring with a -lout like Jan Lamiger." - -"All right. You needn't be stuck up about it. Did he go squash?" - -"Your language is not very choice, Master Bastable. Hullo! There's -Gudgeon's chimney on fire again." - -"It's always on fire." - -"What do you mean?" - -"So it is--in the winter." - -"Well, I s'pose he doesn't have fires in the summer, but it isn't winter -yet." - -"I don't care. I've seen the chimney smoking away like that often -enough; sometimes twice a week." - -"That's rather curious, isn't it? Doesn't he ever have 'em swept?" - -"I don't know. I asked Bill Gudgeon about it once, and he said they -can't afford sea-coal, and burn up all their muck like that." - -"Just the sort of answer I should expect from him. Well, there's your -tutor coming to teach you a, b, ab, b, a, b, bab. Cut away!" - -"I say!" - -"Well, what is it now?" - -"I hate Frenchmen." - -"A very wise and proper thing for an English boy." - -"And I hate lessons." - -"Very wrong. You'll grow up a dunce and disgrace to the name of -Bastable. Cut!" - -"Bother!" - -He made a wry mouth and went slowly away. Jack smiled. - -"He'll do!" he said to himself. "But I wonder why Gudgeon's chimneys -seem so uncommonly foul. I think I must pay Bill's father a visit some -day." - -He mentioned the matter of the chimney to Mr. Bastable when that -gentleman returned later in the day, after starting the chase for the -rogues who had dared to disturb the peace of law-abiding Luscombe. Mr. -Bastable laughed. - -"Yes, Gudgeon has an uncommon quantity of muck on his farm," he said, -"but some good stuff, too--some uncommonly good stuff." - -Jack did not regard this as a very satisfactory explanation. - -That night he was roused from a very heavy sleep by a touch on his arm. - -"Who's that?" he cried, springing up at once. - -"Only me," said Arthur in a whisper. "I say, Jack, I heard some one -moving about below. It seemed to be in De Fronsac's room." - -"Well, he's stumping about doing some more poetry perhaps. Go to bed." - -"But I believe he's gone out." - -"'Tis rather a close night. Perhaps he wanted air." - -"I believe he knows something about that fellow who was shot. I watched -his face." - -"Oho!" - -Jack was surprised to find that the boy's suspicions jumped so nearly -with his own. - -"Look here, who've you told that to?" - -"Only you." - -"That's all right. I'm going out." - -"So am I," was the quiet rejoinder. - -"I don't think so. I'm not going to make a row opening doors. I'm -going out at the window." - -"If you do, I will, too." - -"All right. Go and pull on some things and be back here in fifty-nine -seconds. Sharp!" - -The boy hurried away. - -De Fronsac's room was just below, on the ground floor. It had once been -a parlor, but little used, and when the tutor begged to have it for his -bedroom, Mrs. Bastable made no objection. It had French windows opening -on to the lawn, and De Fronsac said it would be so convenient for him, -for he could go out before the household was astir, and compose poems on -the Dawn, or satiric odes to the Monstair. - -Arthur was back as soon as Jack had pulled on his coat, breeches, and -boots. - -"Ever climb down a rain-pipe?" - -"No." - -"Well, you've got to now. I'll go first, to be ready to pick up the -pieces. Hist! What's that?" - -Jack had spoken in a whisper. Now through the open window he heard a -sound as of a latch falling. Going to the window he peered cautiously -out from behind the curtain. For a few moments he saw nothing. It was -a dark night, but the moon was rising, and he thought he detected a dark -figure moving along in the shadow of the wall. The figure went -furtively on until the wall ended and a fence began; then Jack lost -sight of it. - -"You were right, Arthur," whispered Jack. "Don't look like making up -poetry, either. Come along." - -Looking out to make sure that the figure was no longer in sight, he -slipped over the window-sill, slid down the rain-pipe with a sailor's -ease, and in a few seconds stood on the lawn. Arthur hesitated for a -moment at the sill, then, plucking up his courage, he let himself over -and grasped the pipe. For a few feet he managed well enough; then he -lost his head and his grip together, and came down with a rush, to be -caught by Jack, who staggered under his weight. - -"Well tried, youngster. No damage done?" - -"No," replied Arthur, not thinking it necessary to tell that he had two -or three grazes on his wrists and legs, and that he had knocked his nose -against one of the joints of the pipe. - -The two boys hurried down the garden, passed through a gap in the fence -made by removing two of the palings, and set off in the reverse -direction, toward the front of the house. Jack chose this course almost -by instinct; somehow he felt sure that De Fronsac was making toward the -cliff. Between this and the house ran the highroad. On reaching the -road, Jack looked up and down: it ran straight for at least a third of a -mile in each direction. No figure was in sight; yet Jack was sure that -unless De Fronsac had actually run he could not have already got so far -as a third of a mile ahead; and the road lay so white in the moonlight -that no person could move along it without being plainly seen. - -"No good going on unless we can see him," said Jack. - -"Perhaps he has gone by the beach," suggested Arthur. - -"Right. The tide's full, but there's always room to walk at the foot of -the cliffs. We'll chance it." - -They ran across the road, vaulted the low wall on the other side, and -doubled over the two fields separating them from the edge of the cliffs. -As they approached the steep zigzag leading down to the shore they went -more carefully. They did not immediately begin the descent, but made -their way to a jutting portion of the cliff whence they could get a good -view of the shore on either hand. - -"We can't see him if he's down there," said Arthur, still in a whisper. - -"No, the shadow's too black," replied Jack. "And we can't hear him, -either. Wish it was sand! The rollers make such a noise on that -shingle, and the tide's too high for any one to walk on the sands." - -But he had hardly finished speaking when, looking to the left, he saw a -black shade on the shingle, at a point where a mass of rocks at the foot -of the cliff interrupted the direct path. It moved a few yards, and -again disappeared. That was enough for Jack. - -"There he is!" he whispered. "Take care, youngster; we don't want any -broken necks." - -Quickly lowering himself over the steep side of the cliff until his feet -touched the zigzag path, he began to race down as quickly as the need -for quietness permitted, Arthur following somewhat less rapidly. At the -foot he waited for his cousin, then both set off toward the village, the -direction in which they had seen the shadow move. - -He almost wished now that he had refused to let Arthur come with him, -for while the sound of one person running on the loose shingle might -pass unheard, it was not so likely that two could run with the same -security. But he did not care to send the boy back now, so they went on -together, more slowly than he would have done alone. - -De Fronsac must have walked rapidly, for it was not until they had -nearly reached the village that they caught another glimpse of him. -Then, however, the gap in the cliff brought him well into view, and the -boys had no difficulty in following. He kept straight on across the -deserted harbor and on to the footpath at the other side running up the -cliff,--a short cut for pedestrians leading to the highroad a little -short of Gudgeon's farm. Not far up, however, the path forked, a narrow -track leading down again to the beach, which it reached about two -hundred yards farther east. - -Jack had to wait until De Fronsac had disappeared before he followed him -across the open space around the harbor, for if he had chanced to turn -he must have caught sight of any one behind. Thus, when the boys -reached the fork of the path, they were uncertain whether to continue up -the cliff, or to turn down to the right. - -"Listen!" said Jack. - -Holding their breath they waited. Was that a faint sound from above? - -"Let us chance it," said Jack, and up they went, following the steep -winding path until it brought them once more to the highroad. They -glanced up and down; there was nothing to be seen, only Gudgeon's farm -about a stone's throw to the right, and the bare white road winding -down-hill past it and up-hill to the left. They were again at fault; -presumably De Fronsac, to avoid the very loose shingle near the village, -had chosen the cliff path, only to turn to the right and continue his -road by the beach. - -"If that's it," said Jack, "we can easily make sure. Remain here by the -wall so that you can't be seen. I'll go on." - -He ran on tiptoe along the road past Gudgeon's house standing black and -silent, crossed the little bridge over the chine, and, vaulting the -wall, hastened to the edge of the cliff. He should now at least be -level with the Frenchman if he was still walking along the beach -eastward, for on the road Jack had run much faster than was possible on -the shingle. - -Here again, however, the cliff cast a black shadow. He could see -nothing; nor, listening intently, could he detect any sound from below, -save the slow wash of the high tide. But in a few moments his practised -ear caught another sound. Surely that was the faint thud of oars working -in row-locks out at sea. Yes: a quarter of a mile eastward he saw a -boat cross the white path of the moonbeam across the water and creep -shoreward. And beyond, straining his eyes, he thought he saw in the -shimmering moonlight the shape of a larger vessel, motionless. - -"Whew!" he whistled softly, "that's the Frenchman's little game!" - -He was convinced that there must be some connection between the approach -of the boat and De Fronsac's suspicious movements. What was it? He -thought of Arthur, remaining by himself in Gudgeon's field. - -"Better fetch the youngster," he said to himself. - -He raced back to the spot and told Arthur what he had seen. - -"You had better come with me. Who knows what this will lead to?" - -They returned together and hurried along the cliffs, keeping well away -from the edge to avoid being seen. - -"She's making for Laxted Cove," said Arthur when he saw the boat. - -"How far away?" - -"About half a mile. We'll have to fetch round it and approach from the -other side if we're to see what's going on." - -"Come on, youngster; hold your wind." - -They pounded along at a steady pace over the rough bent. The surface -was very irregular, and more than once the boys tripped and almost fell -headlong as some sudden irregularity of the ground betrayed their steps. -In spite of all their haste, by the time they had reached a point beyond -the cove whence they could look down in security, the boat had already -been beached, and men were landing. - -The boys lay flat on their faces, peering over the edge of the cliff -that fell here almost perpendicular to the beach. The men below were -speaking in low tones; Jack caught a few words of French, he thought. -They were apparently impatient to be off. He could not distinguish -their faces, nor even their dress, for having come up the beach from the -water-line they were now in the shadow of the cliffs. - -Suddenly there was a low hail; immediately afterward the sound of -footsteps. From the darkness of the undercliff there stepped three men -carrying a heavy bundle. They staggered somewhat noisily across the -shingle toward the waiting boat. Behind them two other figures came out -of the blackness and stood just below the boys, as if watching the -proceedings. - -The three men met those who had landed from the boat. Jack saw the -bundle transferred from the one party to the other, and with a start he -recognized that it was the form of a man, well trussed up. It was -carried to the boat and stowed with scant ceremony in the bows. Then -the boat was pushed off, the men wading until she was fairly afloat. -They sprang on board, gave a low farewell to the men on the beach, and -seizing the oars pulled rapidly out to sea. - -The men who had borne the prisoner watched the receding boat until it -was lost to sight, then trudged off toward the village. The other two -had already disappeared. Jack wished he could have seen who they were, -but the man nearest him had been all the time in shadow, and the others -had been too far away to be recognized. - -"I say, Jack," said Arthur, "what shall you do?" - -"That's just what I'm wondering. If I'd only got a few men here I'd go -down to the village and demand an explanation of this strange business, -in the king's name. But if I went alone I'd make a fool of myself." - -"I'd go with you." - -"Then there'd be two fools instead of one. They could knock us on the -head and send us to join that bundle on the boat. I wonder who he is. -Surely they haven't decoyed De Fronsac here and carried him off to the -Monster!" - -"He wouldn't like that, would he?" - -"Well, we can't do anything at present. We'd better get back." - -"Shall you tell father?" - -"Don't know. I'll tell you that to-morrow morning." - -They went back over the cliffs. They had just crossed the chine when a -big figure suddenly loomed up to the left, appearing from the zigzag -path leading down to the shore. There was no time to avoid a meeting; -indeed, so suddenly had the man appeared from round a bend in the path -that unless he and the boys had started back simultaneously there must -have been a collision. The moonlight shone full in the face of the big -man, and Jack recognized him even as Arthur whispered: - -"I say! old Gudgeon!" - -Gudgeon recognized the boys at the same moment. - -"Oh, Mr. Hardy, sir!" he said, "you put me in quite a flutter. And you, -too, Master Bastable; well to be sure! As if I had not had enough -flutters for one night! Did you hear a boat, sir?" - -"Saw it, too." - -"There now! I was kept up late attending to some lambs" ("Pretty old -mutton!" thought Jack.), "and I thought I heard people moving, and I -came out, and I was sure I saw a boat putting out to sea. It gave me -quite a start. Perhaps it was some of those smugglers--a rough lot. But -gracious me! 'tis very late for two young gentlemen to be out; your good -mother would be in a terrible flutter, Master Bastable, if she knew." - -"I say, are you going to tell her?" - -"I have to consider my duty, Master Bastable. As to Mr. Hardy, of course -he's a king's officer, and can keep any hours the king likes to let him. -But a boy like you, Master Bastable! Really, Mr. Hardy, sir, I'm -surprised at you. But I keep myself to myself, I do, and don't meddle -with no man's business as don't concern me. So this time, Master -Bastable, I won't think it my duty to tell your lady mother what I seed -this night." - -"I'm going to tell her myself, and what--" - -"Avast there!" interrupted Jack, "you ought to be very much obliged to -Mr. Gudgeon, you young donkey, for not rounding on you. Good night, Mr. -Gudgeon." - -And he hauled Arthur away. - -"You young idiot!" said Jack, when they were out of earshot. "You were -going to say you would tell your mother all you had seen. We mustn't on -any account let them know what we have found out. That would put them -on their guard at once. Better say nothing at all just yet." - -"All right. But why?" - -"Because there's something going on which I don't understand. De -Fronsac may be in it; Gudgeon certainly is; and if they think we know -too much it will spoil things. Not a word to any one, mind." - -"I say, how am I going to get back into your room? I got down the -rain-pipe, but I couldn't climb up it." - -"Don't worry yourself, we'll find a way." - -On reaching the house they saw that De Fronsac's windows were shut. -Jack quickly swarmed up the pipe and entered his room. In about a -minute down came the end of a knotted sheet. Arthur caught it, and in a -few minutes was standing beside Jack. - -The family were seated at the breakfast-table next morning when De -Fronsac came in. - -"Pardon, Madame," he said, "I am late. Last night I see a fine moon; it -drew me out towards de so beautiful sea over dere"--he pointed in a -direction exactly contrary to that taken by the figure followed by the -boys--"and I compose a little poem on de Minotaur--who is, of course, -dat Monstair Bonaparte." - -"That's strange, Monsieur," said Jack, at whom Arthur had been staring -very hard while the Frenchman spoke. "I could not sleep last night, and -went out for a stroll, and I could have sworn I saw you coming just the -opposite way." - -"Ah! I see you also. I see you drough my curtains--ven you climb up de -pipe. To mariners dat is, of course, as easy as the staircase; but as -for me, I shudder." - -"Gave you the flutters, eh, Monsieur?" - -"Myself I vould say de tr-r-rembling. De poem I compose, Madame, it -begin-- - - "'_Is dere a creature vizout shame?_ - _Napoleon--so is he name._ - _Is dere a creature vizout heart?_ - _Ah! yes!--de Monstair Bonaparte._'" - -"Yes, but Monsieur," persisted Jack, "I saw some one uncommonly like you -going the other way, towards Laxted Cove." - -"Ah, Monsieur Jack, ve have a proverb, 'In the dark all cats are gray.' -Dat you see some vun, it is certain; but me--no, Monsieur Jack, how can -it? I vas composing my poem--over dere." - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *SIGNALS* - - -In the course of the morning Jack received from a carrier a note -summoning him to rejoin his ship at once. His cousins were sorry to bid -him good-by, and, though he was eager enough to return to his duty, he -was so much interested in the strange things that had happened since his -arrival at Bastable Grange that he would have liked very well to remain -a few days longer and try to unravel the mystery by which he seemed to -be surrounded. Before leaving he took Arthur aside for a moment. - -"Look here, youngster," he said, "keep your eye on De Fronsac. If he -tries to pump out of you what we saw last night, tell him we saw a boat -putting out to sea and wondered whether the smugglers were at work. -Don't say a word about the man we saw put on board. Don't let him think -we suspect him. And it will be as well to take a note of the days when -he reels off poetry." - -"All right.--I say!" - -"Well?" - -"His poetry is fearful rubbish, isn't it?" - -"Never made any myself, but I fancy I could do as well as he. Good-by. -Remember what I said." - -Jack returned to Wynport in a carrier's cart. He went down at once to -the harbor, and was rowed to the _Fury_, which lay at her moorings, just -inside the bar. A stout old mariner was leaning over the side, smoking -a big pipe. One of his eyes was considerably larger than the other; a -big and very bulbous nose seemed to occupy the greater part of his face; -and a long black curl hung in a graceful curve over his right brow. -Guessing instinctively that this could be none other than Ben Babbage, -Gumley's friend, and bo'sun of the cutter, Jack hailed him. - -"_Fury_ ahoy!" - -"Ay, ay, sir. Morning, sir, morning, leastways good arternoon, seeing -as how we've just took in our cargo of dinner. Glad to see you, sir. -Mr. Blake he said we was to get under way the very minute you came -aboard." - -Jack swung himself up, flung a coin to the boatman, and turned to the -old sailor. - -"Where's Mr. Blake?" - -"Below, sir, a-laying in his bunk, twisted up with rheumatics. You're -in command, sir, _pro tem_, as brother Sol used to say." - -"Very well; heave the anchor, and run up the mainsail. You're the -bo'sun, eh?" - -"Ay, ay, sir: name Babbage; not Sol, sir; that's my brother, and a much -better chap nor me, though, so far. Ben Babbage my name, sir." - -"Well, Babbage, clear the harbor. I'll go and see Mr. Blake and get her -course. You can call me when you've fairly crossed the bar." - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -Jack went below and found the lieutenant groaning in his bunk. He was a -weather-beaten sea-dog of forty-five, who had long since given up -whatever dreams of promotion he might at one time have entertained. - -"You're back, then, Mr. Hardy," he said. "You see me a martyr to -rheumatism: my old enemy serves me like this every time I go to sea. -Babbage gave you my message?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Well, I'll tell you what our orders are. French privateers are -careering up and down the Channel, dodging our cruisers and swooping -down on our merchantmen. We've got to cruise at large, keeping one eye -on the French, and t'other on the smugglers. They're expected to be -pretty active just now, when every one's mad with excitement about these -flat-bottomed boats that Boney is going to invade us with. The _Fury_ -has got to act as a sort of watch-dog." - -"Not much fun about that, sir," said Jack. - -"No, sir, no fun, and no glory. Both you and I, I take it, would sooner -sling our hammocks on a frigate or a line-of-battle ship. But we've our -duty to do, sir, and we can't do more than our duty, wherever we are. -Did you find your relatives well?" - -"Yes, sir. Do you know Luscombe?" - -"No, I've never done this shore-crawling before." - -"A good deal of smuggling goes on there, I am told. 'Tis a quiet little -place, almost hidden away in a recess between the cliffs. It doesn't -seem to have been troubled much by the preventive men." - -"The last riding-officer was a slack-twisted fellow, it appears, no good -for his job. The new man--I've seen him once or twice here--is -energetic enough, but not too quick-witted, I should say, and a little -inclined to be bumptious." - -At this point a sailor put his head in at the little cabin. - -"If you please, sir, Mr. Babbage says we're off Minton Point, and waits -for orders." - -"Very well, Turley. Go on deck, Mr. Hardy, and take a run down Channel. -Let me know what you think of the _Fury's_ sailing powers; we've nothing -but our speed to trust to if we happen to fall in with the enemy in -force." - -All feelings of disappointment vanished from Jack's mind immediately as -he stepped on deck. The _Fury_ was in all respects a model cutter. Jack -had admired the beauty of her lines as she lay in harbor, sitting the -water like a sea-bird, with every promise of speed in the graceful hull, -the long tapering mast and the huge boom extending considerably beyond -the stern. Now heeling slightly to a stiff sou'-sou'-westerly breeze, -with her great spread of canvas she seemed to Jack like a sea-bird in -flight. A stately Indiaman that had left port some time before was -working to windward a mile ahead. In order to test the capacity of the -_Fury_ Jack brought her a few points nearer the wind, and found that he -steadily overhauled the huge vessel. Before nightfall the Indiaman was -nearly hull down, and Jack was satisfied that the _Fury_ had the heels -of most craft he was likely to meet on the coast. - -Two small brass guns, one forward and one aft, comprised her whole -armament. Jack could not help contrasting this with the forty huge guns -of the _Ariadne_. The crew consisted of some five and twenty seamen and -marines. Most of them had seen much service, and one and all wished -they were with Nelson chasing the French instead of being engaged in -what they considered the humdrum task of watching the coast. Jack -privately thought it might turn out to be not so very humdrum after all. -He soon made himself acquainted with the crew, and was rather attracted -by a merry-eyed salt named Joe Turley, a handy man who seemed to live to -poke fun at Babbage the bo'sun. Among the men that worthy was variously -known as Cabbage, Artichoke, Brussels sprouts, Sparrow-grass, and -Turnip-tops; he was rarely called by his own name, except to the -officers, when he was always alluded to most respectfully as Mr. -Babbage. - -A fortnight passed away, and Jack, as well as every member of the crew, -was growing very tired of the uneventful life. Every day was alike, -save for the weather, and that varied little. The cutter cruised up and -down the Channel between Weymouth and Portsmouth, putting in -occasionally to communicate with the riding-officer and to take in -provisions, but finding nothing of any importance to do. The smugglers -seemed to be quiet; the only vessels sighted were British merchantmen -passing up or down Channel under convoy, or fishing-smacks out from the -English ports. The men grumbled at the lack of chances of obtaining -prize money, and Jack was impatient of the inactivity to which he was -condemned. It was all very well to keep the _Fury_ spick and span, her -deck as white as the sails, her brass rails polished to a dazzling -brilliance; but he would have liked work a little less domestic--work -for the two brass guns that Joe Turley caressed as though they were -living creatures. - -"Won't you venture over to the French side, sir?" Jack asked Lieutenant -Blake one day. "We aren't doing any good hugging our own shore." - -"No, I won't. I can't blockade a French port with a cutter of two guns. -If we run too close to the French shore we might easily be snapped up, -and for nothing at all. Besides, orders are orders. I've got mine as -plain as a pikestaff, and I can't go beyond 'em." - -Jack was disappointed, but clearly there was nothing to be said. - -One evening the _Fury_ was making toward Wynport. She had overhauled a -suspicious looking brig passing down Channel, but found that she was a -harmless Portuguese sailing in ballast. - -"I know she was a Portuguese," said Joe Turley to his messmates on the -forward deck. "But old Turnip-tops, of course he must take his Bible -oath she was a Spaniard, and so we've wasted three or four hours, on the -very night, too, when we're due at the _Goat and Compasses_." - -It had been arranged that half the crew should have a night ashore at -Wynport--the first since the _Fury_ had spread her sails. - -"True, old Sparrow-grass is a nuisance, though he's got a good heart. -Here he comes." - -The bo'sun came forward and joined the group. - -"Well, messmates," he said, "we'll be late at the _Goat and Compasses_, -and I'm sorry for that, but whenever I'm sorry I think of my brother -Sol, who always says, 'Cheer ho! my hearty,' and slaps your back in a -way that warms the very cockles of your heart. I remember--but what's -that light?" - -"What light, Mr. Babbage?" said one of the men. - -"There, to larboard." - -He pointed toward the shore. A strong light was shining intermittently, -remaining steady for a few seconds, then disappearing, then flashing out -again. - -"'Tis a signal, sure enough," cried Turley; "but what for? That's the -point." - -"No, it ain't the point," said Babbage. "The point's a good deal east -of that light, and it's Bantock Point." - -"Well, I meant point in a manner of speaking. The light's at Luscombe; -any one can see that." - -"More like at Totley." - -"I say Luscombe, Mr. Babbage," was the stubborn rejoinder. - -"Totley, I say, and what I say I stick to, as brother Sol says." - -"Ahoy, there!" called Jack from amidships. "What do you make of that -light, Babbage?" - -"Some one showing a signal from Totley, sir, two miles t'other side of -Luscombe." - -"No, it can't be at Totley. That's round a bend of the shore. It's at -or near Luscombe itself. A smugglers' signal, eh?" - -"Like as not, sir. They've been too quiet of late: a sure sign of -something brewing, like a calm after a storm, as brother Sol might say." - -"I'm pretty sure it's at Luscombe. But 'twill be rather hard to -determine exactly in the darkness. Run her in a little toward shore, so -that we can take a look at things." - -A few minutes later the dim outlines of two prominent cliffs to the -northeast and west-north-west respectively could be seen. Jack saw that -he could determine the general direction of the light by those two -well-known landmarks. Accordingly he ordered the cutter to be hove to; -he then took its position with reference to the two cliffs, and the -angle of the light. When this was done he went below and reported to -Lieutenant Blake, who was enjoying a nap in his tiny cabin. - -"You did very well, Hardy. We'll return to-morrow and test your -observations. There's no confounded lugger or anything of that sort in -sight, eh?" - -"Nothing, sir." - -"Well, I'll leave things to you. Run closer in shore, and keep a bright -lookout. If there's nothing in sight, head her for Wynport, but keep a -good offing off Bantock Point." - -Carrying out these orders, Jack found that a mile farther in he lost -sight of the light. He thought it worth while to run out again and see -if it had disappeared altogether, but on returning to nearly the same -spot at which the cutter had been hove to, he saw that the light was -burning as brightly as ever. All at once it went out. Jack waited for -some time to see if it reappeared, but the shore remaining in perfect -blackness he saw no good in delaying further, and weathering the Point, -with its spine of jagged rocks running out to sea, ran straight for -Wynport. - -They had not gone far when Babbage declared he saw a sail on the weather -beam. Jack instantly put down the helm, but after cruising about for -some time and finding nothing he concluded that the bo'sun had been -mistaken. - -"Another facer for old Onions!" whispered Turley. - -At Wynport Mr. Blake put up at the _Dolphin_, leaving Jack on board. -Early in the morning Jack met Mr. Goodman, the riding-officer, on his -way to the inn. He had been informed, Goodman said, that the smugglers -had made a run in the night, and that their cargo had been concealed -somewhere about the premises of Gumley, the one-legged mariner on the -hill. This news surprised Jack. It had never occurred to him that -Gumley could have anything to do with the smugglers. But when he -thought of Gumley's seclusion, his mysterious ways, the defenses of his -cottage, and his bulldog, he began to wonder whether dust had been -thrown in his eyes, and the apparently law-abiding gardener was after -all engaged in the illicit trade. He told Lieutenant Blake what he knew -of Gumley. - -"Depend upon it, that's your man," cried that officer. "You'd better -search his place, Mr. Goodman." - -"Unluckily, sir, most of my men are off rummaging in another direction -and won't be back till to-morrow." - -"Well, I'll lend you some of my crew. And as you know the place, Mr. -Hardy, I'll send you in charge." - -"Very well, sir," said Jack, and he went off immediately to collect the -men. Within half an hour he set out with a dozen of them, well armed -with pikes and cutlasses. They marched through the fields and over the -cliffs to Luscombe, avoiding the highroad. Arriving at Gumley's -cottage, Jack rapped smartly on the gate and was answered as before by a -furious barking from the dog. Gumley was some time in making his -appearance, and Jack, becoming impatient, pulled off his coat, and -hoisted himself on to the fence. Seeing who it was, Comely ceased to -bark and wagged his tail in friendly recognition. Jack could not help -feeling a little mean as he stooped and patted the dog's head, still -more when Gumley appeared from the direction of the cottage, with his -board in one hand and a fork in the other. - -"Morning, sir," he said, with a smile. "I was looking for another visit -from you." - -"I'm afraid you won't think me very welcome this time, Gumley," said -Jack gravely. "'Tis an unpleasant job, but I've got to search your -place." - -"My place, sir? And what do you expect to find?" - -"'Tis reported that the smugglers ran a cargo ashore last night, and -that you've got it, or part of it." - -"Me! And you believe it, sir?" - -"I don't know anything about it. My orders are to search, and I must do -it. A dozen men are outside: you'd better open the gate and let them -in." - -"Very good, sir. But I must lock Comely up first, sir, else he'll leave -the marks of his teeth somewhere. You're a friend of his; I introduced -you proper myself, but I'll not introduce him to any preventive men that -ought to know better than to come a-nosing round my little place. Who -said as how 'twas here the smugglers brought their cargo, sir?" - -"I don't know. Mr. Goodman heard it from some one." - -"One of those villains down in the village, I'll be bound. Well, I -might have expected it, sooner nor this. I tell you straight out, sir, -never a shilling's worth of smuggled goods have passed my gate. I'm a -king's man, leastwise was till I got my stump, and arter that I wouldn't -demean myself by going a-smuggling. Howsomever, orders is orders, and -search you must. I'll just tie up the dog, sir, and then open the gate, -for Gumley bean't the man to shut his doors upon the king's orders." - -Gumley's quiet manner made an impression on Jack, and he was half -inclined to leave his errand unfulfilled. If the man had protested and -blustered Jack would have been at once convinced that he was guilty, but -his readiness to submit to the search was hardly that of a guilty man. -Then it occurred to him that Gumley might be trying to throw dust in his -eyes again. At all events, he could not return to Mr. Blake and confess -that he had not carried out orders; so when the dog was secured and the -men admitted he directed them to begin the search. - -It was but the work of a few minutes to ransack the little cottage. -Cupboards were opened, the stone flags of the floor tested, the loft -between the rafters and the roof explored, but nothing was found. -Gumley watched the operations in silence, puffing at a big pipe in which -he was smoking cabbage leaves. - -"We'll have to search the garden now, sir," said one of the men. - -Gumley took his pipe from his lips. - -"The garden!" he said. "Well, mind my artichokes. They bean't ripe, -not till the first frost, and it won't do 'em no good to disturb 'em." - -He knew that in expeditions of this kind every inch of ground would -probably be explored. Smugglers had been known to have cunningly devised -hiding-places beneath the soil, under the roots of apple trees, or pear -trees, or raspberry bushes. He watched with a grim smile as the men -spread out over the garden, falling on all fours to smell out any traces -of brandy or tobacco. He said nothing when they dug over a plot of -ground from which he had recently taken the last of his late potatoes. -But when they approached a flourishing bed of artichokes he heaved a -great sigh, and said: - -"There goes two-pun-ten in Wynport market, and all in the king's name." - -Jack had felt more and more uncomfortable as the search proceeded. When -a square yard of the plot had been cleared of its tall green stalks he -suddenly shouted: - -"Give over, men. This is all a blind. There are no smuggled goods -here. Gumley was a king's man like yourselves. I don't believe he has -anything hidden; we'll sheer off and report to Mr. Blake that we can't -find anything. Some one must have a spite against you, Gumley." - -"I could have told you that, sir, but I keeps myself to myself, and -'twas not for me to stand up against the king's orders. Messmates all, -I'm sorry you've had your blood warmed for nothing. Bless you, I don't -bear you no ill-will; orders is orders, and God save the king!" - -He took off his glazed hat as he spoke. - -"Well, Gumley I'm sorry we disturbed you. Look here, take those -artichokes up to the Grange when they're ripe and ask my cousin, the -squire, to give you fifty shillings for them. Say I said so. Now, men, -we'll get back. We owe the smugglers one for this, and we'll pay it -back, all in good time." - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *THE BEST-LAID SCHEMES* - - -There was a good deal of grumbling among the men as they trudged back to -Wynport. No man likes to be made a fool of, and a Jack Tar as little as -any. - -"This is what comes of doing landlubbers' work instead of fighting the -French on sea," growled Turley. - -A heavy rainstorm that came on did not improve their tempers, and when, -just as they marched into Wynport, they were overtaken by Mr. Goodman, -riding at a smart pace from a cross-road, they began to mutter -uncomplimentary remarks about the zealous officer. - -"Any luck, Mr. Hardy?" he cried, as he passed. - -"None," replied Jack shortly. - -"Sorry for that. Perhaps your search was not thorough enough: your men -aren't used to it." - -"Confound his impudence!" growled Turley, as the officer rode on. "One -of us is worth three of his landsharks, anyway." - -When Jack arrived at the _Dolphin_ Mr. Goodman was just leaving. - -"Oh, Hardy!" cried Lieutenant Blake, as he entered, "Mr. Goodman tells -me you've found nothing." - -"Not a ghost of a thing, sir. Gumley's as honest as a judge, in my -opinion. Some one has played a scurvy trick on him and us." - -"Well, look at this." - -He handed Jack a dirty, crumpled piece of paper, on which he read: - - -"_Mr. Goodman, sir, a runn will be made at binsey cove tonite.--From a -frend._" - - -"Another trick for certain, sir," said Jack. - -"Very likely. Goodman says 'tis a sure sign the run will be made -somewhere else, if made at all, and in the opposite direction. He wants -the cutter to cruise off Totley Point to-night after dark. His idea is -that if we stand away in the afternoon as if for Luscombe, we shall lead -the smugglers off the scent; then if we return after nightfall we shall -take 'em unawares. He'll have a strong force in hiding at Totley Point; -that's where he thinks the run will actually be made, right under his -nose. It would be like the villains. Only a year ago, just after he -came into this district, he got a similar letter, and the cargo was run -miles away." - -"Well, sir, if he's been caught that way once, the smugglers will hardly -expect him to fall into the trap a second time." - -"I'm not so sure about that. I don't fancy our friend Goodman has much -of a headpiece. If he is the simpleton I imagine he is, he will think -that the smugglers will take your view and expect him to be this time at -Binsey Cove. Therefore, he'll go to Totley. The question is, where will -the run be made?" - -"Perhaps the light we saw last night may have something to do with it. -Don't you think, sir, it would be a good plan if I took a boat's crew -and watched the shore off Luscombe, leaving you with the rest of the men -in the _Fury_ to assist Mr. Goodman in case of need?" - -"Not a bad idea, Hardy. We'll drop a boat some distance out at sea at -dusk; you can pull in with muffled oars if you come across anything -suspicious." - -"The first thing, sir, will be to find out about the light we saw." - -"Right. Find Babbage and get the crew together. We'll be off at once." - -When the _Fury_ reached the position from which the light had been -observed it was at once seen that, unless Jack had been wrong in his -bearings, the signal had not been made from the village. - -"It was more in the direction of Congleton's Hollow, sir," said Jack. -"We can't see the Hollow itself, but there's the Folly to the left; you -can just see it over the trees: a tower where an old hermit lived alone -with his broken heart. That would make an excellent signal station." - -"You know it, eh?" - -"Yes, sir. But it didn't look as if it was ever used now. The only -doorway is barricaded, and my young cousin told me it had been like that -ever since he could remember. He said the top was supposed to be -dangerous, and the place was boarded up after an accident that happened -ever so many years ago. There was no other way in; the youngster--an -inquisitive little chap--has tried more than once, and always failed." - -"Humph! Is it worth trying again?" - -"I'd be mighty glad to see, sir. But I couldn't do it in daylight. I -might be seen from the village. Yet I could hardly do much good at -night unless some one happened to be there at the time." - -"Well, we can't risk discovery. We don't want to scare the signalers -away." - -"Wouldn't it be best to land some distance down the coast one night, and -get to the Folly about daybreak? I'd have the place to myself then." - -"Right. We'll bide our time. Meanwhile, there's this anonymous letter -to remember. I gave out at Wynport that we're going to run over to -Weymouth; perhaps that will put our smuggling friends at Luscombe off -the scent." - -The _Fury_ kept away all day, returning to a point opposite Luscombe -after nightfall. Lieutenant Blake told off Babbage and Turley and eight -more of the men to accompany Jack, and, a boat being lowered and -provided with muffled oars, the little party set off, while the _Fury_ -set a course for Totley Point, where Mr. Goodman had a posse of -preventive men on the watch. - -It was more than an hour and a half's steady rowing to the shore, and -Jack was not at all sure where he would strike the beach. Thinking over -the likely places along the shore, he felt certain that the run would -probably be attempted at a spot not far east of the path up which he had -followed De Fronsac. He wished the smugglers to get there before him, -for if the vessel they expected had not yet arrived, they would be -keeping a good watch seaward, and his boat would run a great risk of -being discovered. But he had found out that Turley was born at Wynport -and knew the coast pretty well, having spent several years as a -fisherman in the neighborhood, so that he was likely to recognize any -landmarks as soon as they came in view. - -It was a still night, and very dark. The oars made scarcely any noise -as the men pulled steadily in toward the shore. At last Turley declared -that he could just see the copse that crowned a chine leading down to -the beach, near the path that Jack had followed. - -"You're sure, Turley?" asked Jack in a whisper. - -"Sartin sure, sir." - -"He've got cat's eyes, sir," murmured Babbage. - -"We need them to-night," said Jack, peering anxiously into the darkness. -"Easy all, men." - -He listened for sounds along the shore or from the sea. The breeze was -very slight; it had become less as the boat neared the shore; and if it -continued to die away there would soon be scarcely enough wind to carry -a vessel in. - -"We're about half a mile off, I think, Turley?" - -"Just so, sir," replied Turley. - -Jack was about to give the order to pull in a little closer when the man -just in front of him, who was facing seaward like the other rowers, -raised one hand from his oar, and pointing to the right said in a -whisper: - -"Sail on the larboard quarter, sir." - -Glancing backward in the direction indicated, Jack could just -distinguish in the distance a black shape gliding slowly up. He felt -his heart jumping; the vessel had come so suddenly, so stealthily out of -the blackness. Could his boat be seen from its deck? It was so low on -the water that he hoped it might pass undetected. The men were -crouching over their oars; there was dead silence in the boat, the crew -scarcely daring to breathe. The dark shape came steadily on; it passed, -and faded again into the darkness. Allowing time for it to get nearly in -shore, Jack ordered the men to give way, and the boat again quickly -moved landward. He knew he was risking discovery, but hoped that the -attention of the watchers on shore would be directed on the larger -vessel, and altogether overlook the smaller. - -The coast hereabouts was rocky, and the approach to the shore had to be -made with care. Jack heard low voices ahead; he guessed that the people -on shore were giving directions to those on the vessel. - -"Channel's narrow, sir," whispered Turley, "but there's a good depth of -water at all states of the tide; 'tis nigh high tide now, and that there -craft'll be able to run almost on to the beach and save a good deal of -fetching and carrying." - -"How far are we out now?" - -"About a couple of cables' length, to my thinking, sir." - -"Easy all, men. Cutlasses ready!" - -Jack had already decided that it would be useless to attempt to land at -any point on either side and creep on the smugglers, for there would -certainly be watchers along the cliff. The attack, if made at all, must -be made direct from the sea. He feared that, when the men gave way for a -final dash in, the boat might strike a rock; but he could still see -dimly the chase ahead, and the tide being high, as Turley had said, he -resolved to take his chance of running aground. The boat had followed -quickly in the wake of the larger vessel; with a little luck a straight -dash might be quite successful, for where the smugglers' craft drew -feet, his own scarcely drew inches, and he was so much excited at the -prospect of his first encounter with the smugglers, that he was prepared -to run no little risk. - -Suddenly there was the sound of a sail being run down, of tackle -creaking, of low voices. The smugglers worked quickly, he knew; the -vessel would scarcely have anchored or otherwise made fast before they -began to carry their cargo ashore. The moment was come. He caught his -breath for an instant; then, gripping the tiller ropes firmly, he said: - -"Now, men, lay out--send her along!" - -The sounds of the muffled oars were smothered in the noise from the -lugger and the men tramping on shore. So intent were the smugglers on -their work that they were unaware of what was upon them. The boat -dashed straight for the lugger, which had swung round so that her bow -was first met. There was a shock; then a loud shout; and as Jack's men -swarmed over on to the lugger's deck, they came face to face with a -small knot of men at the foremast, who had evidently hurriedly collected -to dispute the passage with the boarders. - -Now shout answered shout. Barrels were dropped by the carriers and fell -with sharp thuds on the deck or with loud splashes into the water. -Cutlass clashed on cutlass. At the first alarm the men on shore came -dashing back to rejoin their comrades, springing across the long double -plank that formed the gangway, to a bold ledge of rock serving as a kind -of natural quay. - -"Surrender, in the king's name!" shouted Jack, rushing forward. - -He was answered by a vigorous French oath. Next moment the foremost of -the smugglers, singling out the young officer coming at the head of his -men, aimed a shrewd blow at him with a cutlass. It was so dark that -Jack could barely see the movement, but he just managed to swerve out of -the way; then, shortening his arm he lunged, and felt with no little -satisfaction that the weapon had got home. - -At this moment he was almost carried off his feet by the vehemence of -his own men, who in a compact body were sweeping all before them. In the -rush and tumble Jack felt a heavy blow on his head and staggered, saving -his fall by clutching at a halyard and leaning half-stunned against the -mast. - -To the din of shouting and blows was now added the shrill screech of the -bo'sun's whistle. Having cleared the deck aft of the mainmast, Babbage -and his men were making a dash for the gangway, upon which the smugglers -were crowding back toward the lugger. But Babbage's zeal had outrun his -discretion. Before he knew it his party was beset on all sides. French -and English cries were mingled in one furious babel. No firearms were -used; the sound of shots would carry far in the still night air, and -might bring support to the king's men from a distance. But cutlasses and -hangers were plied with vigor; the crew of the lugger, reinforced by the -men from shore, outnumbered Jack's party by four to one, and these had -much ado to defend themselves in their turn from the sturdy assaults of -their opponents. - -With an effort Jack pulled himself together and pressed forward to lend -a hand. His men were being remorselessly driven back. Doggedly they -fought, yielding only inch by inch; but it was clear that they were -outmatched, and at length, by sheer weight of numbers, they were forced -over the bulwarks into the sea. Turley, who had all his wits about him, -contrived to cut the painter holding the boat to the lugger's side; and, -hardly aware how he came there, Jack found himself hanging to the side -of the boat, unable to do more than cling on for dear life. Two or three -men managed to scramble into the boat; they rowed it ashore. When it -beached, Jack and the men ran up across the shingle toward the cliffs. -In a few minutes they were joined by others of their party, all dripping -wet, and furious with rage at their defeat. - -"'Tis all through old Turnip-tops," growled Turley. "The idea of his -losing his head that way!" - -"Anybody seen him?" asked Jack, whose teeth were chattering; he had not -yet recovered from the blow on his head. - -"Never a man, sir. But there's the lugger making sail. We've lost the -cargo and got nothing for our pains but broken heads and such like." - -Jack saw the dim shape of the lugger disappearing seaward. In five -minutes every trace of the smugglers had vanished, except a broken keg -or two on the shingle, from which gusts of the odor of spirits reached -the men gathered in a knot above. By and by Babbage turned up, -declaring that if it hadn't been for Turley the attack would have been a -great success. Before long the party was complete, none having been -killed, though several had had a narrow escape from drowning. They had -been saved by the planks of the gangway, which the smugglers, in their -haste to escape, had allowed to fall into the water. - -Jack wondered why the smugglers had fled when it would have been an easy -matter for them to overwhelm the king's men. - -"Why, they were afeard, sir," said Babbage. "The noise was enough to -bring all Dorset upon 'em, and how did they know but that the -riding-officer was nigh, ready to come down on 'em? And so he ought to -ha' bin." - -"Well, they've let us off easily," said Jack. "We'd better get our boat -afloat and hunt for the _Fury_." - -"Ay, sir, and won't Mr. Blake be in a fury when he hears the tale! All -we've got is cuts, bruises, and a ducking!" - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *CONGLETON'S FOLLY* - - -It was several hours before the boat fell in with the _Fury_. Jack and -the men were heartily glad when they saw the cutter's mast-head light. -They scrambled on board, and while the men had to stand a good deal of -rough chaff from their messmates, Jack's account of his failure was -received by Lieutenant Blake with a quizzical smile. - -"Ah, my boy, we have to take the rough with the smooth," was all that -officer said. "I suppose you don't feel in very good trim for that -little expedition you proposed?" - -"Indeed, sir, I'm ready for anything. I must change my things and have -the best supper the cook can give me; then you can put me on shore when -you please. I've got a bone to pick with those rascals." - -Consequently, about half an hour before dawn, Jack was landed at a spot -about two miles east of Congleton's Folly. Lieutenant Blake arranged -that the boat should be in waiting for him three or four hours later -some two miles farther east, at a little cove which was fairly well -sheltered from observation. - -"Keep your weather eye open," were the lieutenant's parting words. - -Jack climbed the cliff and arrived at the Hollow just as dawn was -breaking. It was a misty morning; the shrubs and grass were thickly -besprinkled with frost; and he was glad he had taken the precaution to -wear a greatcoat of frieze, which kept him warm in spite of the nipping -air. - -He came to the Folly, and took a more careful look at it than he had -done when he visited the spot with Arthur. It was a brick tower, about -sixty feet high, built somewhat like a lighthouse, but four-sided, not -rounded. The base was about twenty feet square; the tower tapered to -within a few feet of the top, where it broadened out so that it looked -not unlike a mushroom on a particularly long stalk. - -On the side facing the sea was the doorway giving access, as Arthur had -told him, to a spiral staircase leading to the single chamber above. -This overhanging part was supported by stout oaken beams resting on the -brickwork of the central tower. On the inland side, in the floor of -this room, there was a trap-door opening inward; it was through this -that the late Congleton had been accustomed to hoist his provisions. -The summit of the room was crowned by a parapet, crenelated like the -walls of a fort. - -The door, as Jack had already seen, was strongly barricaded. On the -inner face of the tower, less exposed than the others to the sea winds, -ivy had grown more than half-way up, and from this a number of sparrows -flew rustling out when Jack appeared. - -He walked round and round examining the tower from every point of view. -What a strange man Congleton must have been to choose this lonely spot -in which to pass so many years of a solitary existence! Jack closely -inspected the doorway. The wood was worm-eaten, the heads of the iron -nails thick with rust, and the barricading had been so thoroughly done -that it would take a long time to free the entrance. It was quite clear -that no one had gone either in or out for many years. Yet, if the tower -had indeed been used for signaling, as he suspected, there must be a way -in. Where was it? - -He might have thought he was mistaken but for the marks of many feet -around the base of the turret. The grass had recently been trampled -down, especially on the inland side. Could there be another entrance, -concealed by the ivy? He pulled the strong tendrils aside, and more -birds came twittering out; but there was no sign of a second door. -Somewhat perplexed, Jack raised his eyes and scanned the brickwork -above, which the ivy had not yet reached. There was the wooden -trap-door, let in the floor of the turret chamber, and a foot or two of -rusty chain hanging down. - -"That must have been part of old Congleton's machinery for hoisting his -stores," thought Jack. "I wonder if the trap-door is fastened." - -It was quite clear that it opened inward, for there was no sign of a -bolt outside. When the room was last used a bolt inside might have been -slipped. If not, the trap-door could be opened from below. But how -could it be reached? Only by a ladder, apparently. Was there a ladder -hidden somewhere among the trees? He saw no other means of gaining the -summit, for while the ivy was strong enough to bear his weight for a -good many feet up, the brickwork above was smooth, in spite of the -weathering it had undergone, and offered no grip for hands or feet. - -"I must look for that ladder," he thought. But after spending at least -half an hour in searching the surrounding thicket he almost gave up the -problem in despair. There was no sign of a ladder, and he had searched -so carefully that one of the requisite length could not have escaped his -eyes, however well hidden. What could he do? He did not like the idea -of being beaten; especially as he had already failed once in his contest -with the smugglers. Just then there seemed nothing for it but to go -back to the boat, and perhaps bring a number of handy men from the -cutter to break open the doorway. But before doing that he would have -one more look. - -He returned to the tower. The mist was clearing somewhat. Once more he -scanned each face of the tower in turn. And now he noticed, on the -inland side, what had escaped him before. On the brickwork between the -ivy and the chamber there were a number of small apertures dotted about, -forming a kind of pattern--a spiral. The holes could not have come by -accident, for they appeared to be at equal distances apart. He counted -ten on the bare portion of the brickwork, and, looking intently, -believed he caught sight of one more where the screen of ivy thinned -off. - -His curiosity was now thoroughly awakened. What was the meaning of these -holes? Were there more, concealed beneath the ivy? He pulled the -strands of the plant aside, and with eye and hand examined the wall. -There were no more holes, but what was this? He grasped an iron staple -firmly imbedded in the brickwork; and three feet above, surely that was -another! - -"Oho, my hearties!" he thought; "have I got you at last?" - -Setting his foot on the lower staple he hoisted himself up, pulled aside -the ivy above his head, and found, as by this time he expected, still -another staple. Without more ado he began to climb, nimbly, eagerly, -until he had to stop, for he had come almost to the top of the ivy, and -there were no more staples! What was to be done now? - -True, there were no more staples, but three feet above the last was the -lowest of the holes that had attracted his attention. He was able to -examine it. A circular hole, seemingly drilled with some care; he put -his finger in, but could not touch the end of it. And it appeared to be -bored at a downward angle with the face of the wall. He felt that he -must find out how long it was, though for the moment he did not see what -good the information would be to him. Descending quickly, he found a -long twig, and climbing up again, he inserted it into the hole. About a -foot of the twig went into the wall. - -"The hole is made to receive a movable step, or I'm a Dutchman," he said -to himself. "It's long enough, and it's bored downward to prevent the -step from slipping out. A mighty clever notion! The holes must have -cost a deal of work, for the fellow who bored them must have been pretty -awkwardly placed. I wonder if they were made by old Congleton, or after -his time. Now what I want to know is, where are those steps?" - -Once more he descended. The steps, wherever they were, were probably -made of iron, and there must be about a dozen of them. Where were they? -Were they carried backwards and forwards between the tower and the house -of the person who used them? That seemed hardly likely. It was much -more probable that they were hidden somewhere near at hand. - -Jack hunted about the neighboring thickets. He might easily have -overlooked small objects when searching for the ladder. But after what -seemed a long time he still found no trace of them. Determined not to -give up his quest, he was wondering how best he could make steps for -himself when he caught sight of the summer-house, about two hundred -yards away, where he had found the wounded lace-peddler. - -"That's the place to rummage!" he thought. - -He hastened to the summer-house. There were two rooms. Part of the -roof had fallen in over one of them, and, encouraged by the marks of -muddy boots about the doorway, Jack decided to search there first. The -room was bare; he turned over the debris on the floor; nothing rewarded -his efforts. But there was the chimney, a wide square recess in the -wall; he would try that. - -He almost shouted for joy when, far back in the opening, he came upon -the object of his quest--a pile of rusty iron implements that seemed -exactly suited for the purpose. They were stout rods about a foot long, -with a loop at the end that might serve either as a hand-grip or a step. -And the loop was at just such an angle with the rod as would correspond -with the apertures in the walls. - -There were a dozen in all. Gathering them, no light weight, into his -arms, he returned to the tower, and with two of the rods climbed up by -the staples and tried one in the first hole. It fitted exactly. He -fixed the second, then descended for the others. Being a sailor he knew -how to avoid unnecessary expenditure of time; he slung the rest of the -fittings over his shoulder with his handkerchief, and carried them up -with him once for all. - -By their aid he mounted to the top of the tower, and found himself just -below the trap-door. But it was not quite within reach. There was the -hanging chain, however, coming through a hole in the floor; would that -stand a tug? He made the attempt, intending to hoist himself up with -one hand, and push with the other against the trap-door. But he found -that when he exerted a little force the chain moved; it seemed hardly -safe to trust to it. He was about to let it go when he noticed that the -trap-door seemed to have risen slightly. Again he pulled at the chain, -using more force. It gave to his tug, and as it descended he saw the -trap-door open slowly upward. The chain at length stuck; the door was -wide open, and a rough rope-ladder was hanging some ten feet below the -hole. - -Jack found that if he eased the pressure on the chain the trap-door -tended to fall back. It was a simple matter to prevent this, for, just -at his hand, there was a staple to which the chain could be hooked; it -was evidently intended for that purpose. To swing himself on to the -ladder was the simplest of feats, and in half a minute he had climbed -through the open trap and stood in the turret. - -"A fine old musty smell, that's what first struck me," he said -afterward. "The dust of ages; cobwebs galore. Only one window, looking -seaward, and that shut fast. 'Twas stifling to a fellow used to the -fresh air. There was a ramshackle old bedstead in one corner; a -four-poster, with a canopy and crimson hangings; at least, they had been -crimson; the dust was so thick on 'em that I couldn't see what the color -was till I'd rubbed a bit of it off. That was where the old eccentric -breathed his last, I suppose; and no one thought it worth carting away. -In the middle of the room was a deal table and a chair with a broken -back; not another stick of furniture. - -"But in the corner near the window I saw something that told a tale--a -pile of kegs, almost reaching to the low roof. 'Empty or full?' thought -I. I lifted one; it was full. I knew they weren't old Congleton's -property, or they'd have disappeared with the rest of his furniture. How -did I know he had any? Why, because I noticed nails on the wall, where -pictures had hung, and a clean patch on one of the walls--cleaner than -the rest, that is--where a bureau or something of the sort had stood. -Besides, no man who'd have a mahogany bedstead and hangings that once -were splendid would have been likely to be satisfied with a deal table -and a common rickety chair. They were the kind of things you'd expect -in a plowman's or a fisherman's kitchen. - -"At any rate, I saw that somebody had used the room since Congleton -departed this life, for there were some crumbs on the table, and a -chipped tumbler that smelt uncommonly like the kegs. Ghosts don't eat -bread and cheese and drink spirits! And there was a coil of rope under -the table, and by the window a cheap sort of curtain that just fitted. -I held it up to see; right in the middle of it was a round hole. And -when I came to look at the bed I saw that the mattress had a big dent in -it, and no dust on it. Somebody had had a nap there since old Congleton -died. - -"Of course I saw all this in a very few seconds. Then I went on the -prowl. I pulled out the bedstead; by George! didn't it creak! I -thought the old thing would fall to pieces. Behind it was a cupboard, -and in the cupboard a large bull's-eye lantern, and a long cylinder of -cardboard about eighteen inches long. 'What's that for?' I thought. It -didn't strike me at the moment, but I took the things out and put them -on the table. The lamp leaked a little; I found I'd got some spots of -oil on my breeches. - -"When I put them on the table I noticed something I'd missed before. In -the middle was a sort of pattern in red chalk--a circle with a tail to -it; and at the edge of the table two parallel strokes. They'd been done -some time, for the marks in the middle were almost hidden by oil stains. -Those stains puzzled me for a bit. I could have understood wine stains -better. But at last I tumbled to it. That was the place where the lamp -was put for the signaling. I set it down on the circular mark; it just -fitted. But I could not make out at first what the two straight strokes -at the edge were for. Then I caught sight of the roll of cardboard and -another idea struck me. I lifted it and stuck it on the bull's-eye; it -fitted like a glove; and when I turned the lantern so that the handle -was over the tail of the circle I found that the cylinder just reached -to the two marks. - -"But that only puzzled me more than ever, for the lantern and cylinder -were now pointing straight at old Congleton's bed. Would you believe -it?--I didn't at first think of turning the table round! Of course it -wasn't a fixture, and when I did think of it I saw through the whole -scheme. Turned round, the lantern pointed through the window. The -cylinder was a clever notion. It would prevent the light from the -bull's-eye spreading, so that while it would be seen a good distance out -at sea, it wouldn't attract notice in the neighborhood, except that a -faint glow might be seen from below. But the Folly wasn't in sight from -the village, and there'd be precious few of the ordinary country folk -who'd care to be near the spot after dark. They'd be in mortal fear of -seeing old Congleton's ghost. - -"I was still a little puzzled. What need was there to mark the place of -the lantern so exactly. Anywhere near the window the light would be -seen clearly enough out at sea. But now that I had moved the table I -noticed four red marks on the floor. 'Here's another discovery,' I -thought; 'there's a mark for each leg of the table.' I slewed it around -again, so that the legs stood on the marks. Then it flashed on me; if -the table was always in the same place, and the lantern always exactly -on the marks, the light would always hit the same point out at sea. 'A -very pretty scheme!' says I to myself. 'Good master smugglers have all -their wits about 'em.' - -"It was clear as daylight now that the Folly was a signal-station, and -sometimes, as the kegs showed, a storehouse as well. Of course they -used old Congleton's machinery for hoisting the kegs. That coil of -rope, now! I pulled it over, and there, just underneath, was a -pulley--an iron bar fitted with a small grooved wheel, and resting at -each end on a wooden block; little grooves had been chiseled out to keep -the bar steady. And when I came to look at 'em I saw, as I might have -expected, that they'd been oiled not long before. - -"By this time I'd found out all I wished to know. The only thing left -to be discovered was, who used the Folly? I made up my mind to get -Lieutenant Blake to let me bring some men to the place one night when we -saw the light, and catch the men in the act. But before I went away I -thought I'd go down the staircase and see if there was anything there. -I couldn't find a door, yet the staircase must lead direct into the -room; there was no other. I had another look at the cupboard, and found -after some trouble that half the back of it was movable--it was a -sliding panel. I pulled it aside; it moved quite easily; and I stepped -through--carefully, I can tell you, for it was pitch dark. - -"I got on to the staircase, and went down gingerly, a step at a time. -It was wooden, and the stairs were pretty rotten; they creaked as I -moved, and I clung on to a rope that made a sort of hand-rail, afraid of -pitching head first to the bottom. It smelled very close, and I took -some time to go down, for the stairs were narrow, and as it was a -winding staircase they scarcely gave foothold except at the wall end. -At last I got to the bottom, and then I saw a glint or two of light -coming through chinks in the doorway. - -"I had only just got there when I fancied I heard a rustling outside. -'Mercy me!' I thought; 'this isn't signaling time; but I hope no one is -coming for the kegs.' I scrambled up the staircase a good deal quicker -than I picked my way down, and crawled through the hole in the cupboard. -Then I nearly jumped out of my skin, for I saw a man sitting on the -rickety chair. It was Monsieur de Fronsac." - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *CLOSE QUARTERS* - - -"Ah, Monsieur Jack!" said De Fronsac, with his agreeable smile; "I see -you!" Jack laughed. It was only the Frenchman after all! His fear that -it might be a smuggler was groundless. - -"Yes; I'm too black for a ghost; 'tis a confoundedly dirty place, -Monsieur. But how do you come here?" - -"It is ver' simple, ver' simple indeed. I came out in de early morning, -to promenade myself, and to compose a new sonnet on de Monstair. Behold! -Vat do I see? De trap-door of dis tower is open; and, vat is -dis?--assuredly I see steps mounting up to de very sommit. I am -romantic, as you know, Monsieur; I love de bizarre. Can I venture -myself? Dat old Congleton--vat a strange, an eccentric! I vould like -to see de place vere he lived so solitaire. I climb; I have a little -fear; but I make de ascension; I arrive. Ho! Dis, den, is de place. -Vat a magnificent spot for to compose poesy! How beautiful de spectacle -over de blue, blue sea! Magnificent! Glorious! Old Congleton had a -genius, hein? But you, Monsieur Jack, how came you here?" - -"The same way as you, Monsieur." - -"Ah! remarkable! You do not compose poesy in de early morning! You, I -t'ink--and your good cousin t'inks--you sail on de blue, blue sea. De -steps, too; surely dey are new. Never have I observed dem before. It -is remarkable! Old Congleton--did he ascend de tower in dat manner? Or -perhaps de steps are your vork; you invent dem, Monsieur Jack?" - -"No," said Jack shortly. He had never liked De Fronsac's smile. - -"Den of whom? Who invent dem? Dey demand much care and skill; yes, and -industry. And for vat good to spend so much time? It vould be easier to -valk up de stairs--if de door is open, of course dat is understood. But -truly it is more romantic--it has more of de fun, as you English say, to -mount on de outside, on little steps, from hand to foot, vun may say. -Yes, and if in my youth I had not lived much among de sailors of my -little village, assuredly I should not have had de courage to make an -attempt so perilous. Ve sailors, indeed, have de firm leg, de fixed -eye." - -De Fronsac's eye was certainly fixed--on Jack, who had an uncomfortable -feeling that the Frenchman was not only trying to find out from his -manner what he had discovered, but was talking to gain time. He was -resolving to cut the interview short, when De Fronsac, turning round -suddenly, appeared to catch sight for the first time of the kegs. - -"Ah! Voila! Ve have it! Dose barrels Monsieur Jack--you see dem? Dey -are put dere vizout doubt by dese smogglairs. Ah! de rascals! -Certainly ve must tell your good cousin, Monsieur Bastable. He vill -know de means to take. He vill come, and take an inventaire. Certainly -dat is vat ve must do. You come viz me; ve both tell him; ve go at -vunce." - -"Very well," said Jack. "We'll go down. Will you go first?" - -"I t'ink better you." - -"But I opened the trap-door. You won't know how to shut it. You go -first and I'll see that it is properly closed." - -"Ver' vell. It is a good idea." - -De Fronsac accordingly stepped on to the rope-ladder, and descended with -a rapidity that seemed to show he had indeed had no little experience -amongst seamen. Jack followed, closed the trap-door, and, as he went -down, threw the iron steps one by one to the ground, where the Frenchman -stood awaiting him. - -"Now vat shall ve do viz dem?" asked De Fronsac, when Jack stood beside -him. "It vas you dat discovered dem, Monsieur Jack. It is to you to -decide vat ve do. It is right. You vill get great honor viz Monsieur -Bastable, and de Lor' Lieutenant, I t'ink you call de great man of de -county." - -Jack did not wish to return the steps to their original hiding-place. -It would be better, he thought, to hide them among the bushes. -Accordingly with De Fronsac's assistance he carried them into the -thicket, and concealed them under a heap of dead leaves. - -"Now ve go to de Grange?" said the Frenchman. - -"Yes. We shall be rather early; Mr. Bastable will not be up yet." - -He intended to keep De Fronsac in sight until he had an opportunity of -sending a messenger to the boat for a number of men to remove the kegs. -He did not feel sure that the Frenchman's visit to the tower was so -accidental as he declared; and a bird in the hand was worth two in the -bush. - -They made their way through the undergrowth. With the frost the trees -had now lost nearly all their leaves, which thickly covered the grass. -Jack led the way, the Frenchman following a yard or two behind, -maintaining a running fire of small talk, to which Jack replied with an -occasional monosyllable. On the edge of the Hollow they entered a dense -copse; there was a sudden rustle, and half a dozen rough-clad men with -blackened faces sprang from behind the trees. Jack's hand flew to his -breast-pocket where he kept his pistol, but before he could draw it, De -Fronsac caught his arm, crying: - -"Save me, Monsieur Jack, save me!" - -In spite of his apparent alarm, his grasp was so firm that Jack was -quite unable to draw his weapon. - -"Let me go!" he cried angrily, trying to shake himself free. But De -Fronsac clung to him still more desperately, repeating his cry "Save -me!" In another moment the men were upon him. Then at last the -Frenchman let go his hold, and Jack found himself in the grip of two -stalwart fishers. He struggled violently, but in vain, and in a few -seconds more he was lying on the ground securely gagged and bound. - -Then his eyes were bandaged, he was blindfolded, lifted, and carried -rapidly for some distance. When he was set down and the bandage removed -from his eyes, he saw that he was in an underground chamber, dimly lit -through a barred grating in the roof. He tried to speak, but his words -were choked by the gag. - -"Now you listen to me," said one of the men, whose voice he thought he -recognized. "'Taint no good shouting or struggling. We've got ye firm, -Mr. Hardy, king's officer though ye be. So long as you give us no -trouble you'll take no harm. I'm gwine to ease that there gag; but if -you shout, I'll clap it on again and keep it there. That's plain. Not -that it be any good shouting, for there's never a soul hereabout but the -men who'll guard ye." - -Jack was not so foolish as to spend his strength and his breath -uselessly. He saw that he was helpless, and mentally vowed to be even -with De Fronsac at the first opportunity. Suspicious before, he now -felt certain that the Frenchman had deliberately trapped him, though he -was amazed to find that the poetical tutor was a smuggler. - -He remained throughout the day in the under-ground room, guarded all the -time by one man, who sat by the grating and refused to be drawn into any -talk. He was given some bread and cheese, and spirits and water to -drink; and he spent the long hours in wondering what was to become of -him, and in relishing beforehand the punishment he meant to administer -to De Fronsac some day. To think of escape was vain; the men had -evidently brought him down by a ladder, which they had drawn up when -they left, closing and bolting the trap-door. - -Who were they? Jack wondered. What was their real connection with De -Fronsac? What would they do with him? What would Babbage and the men -at the boat do when he did not return? What steps would Lieutenant -Blake take when he found, as he must soon do, that his midshipman was -missing? There was no doubt that the smugglers would promptly remove -the kegs and the signaling apparatus from the Folly, and they would have -plenty of time to get clear away before the boat's crew became -suspicious. - -Late in the afternoon, as Jack guessed by the dimness of the light -through the grating, he heard voices above. A heavy object was dropped -on the floor; the trap-door was lifted, a ladder let down, and three men -descended into the room. - -"You be coming along of us," said the man who had before addressed him. - -"Look here, whoever you are--" Jack began; but he said no more, for the -gag was roughly thrust into his mouth, he was once more blindfolded, and -taken up the ladder. Then he was lifted from the floor and lowered into -what he judged to be a large empty water-butt. - -"Double up your knees, Mr. Hardy," said the man. "You be going a little -journey." - -There was no help for it. Jack feeling, as he afterward said, like a -trussed turkey, sat crouching in the butt. The top was hammered on. -Then the butt was lifted, carried a few steps, and hoisted on to a cart, -which rumbled away. Jack was more angry than alarmed; the men evidently -intended him no harm, or they would have knocked him on the head before -this; but a water-butt, even though holes have been bored in its sides -to let in air, is not the most comfortable of vehicles, and Jack was -beginning to feel cramped and bruised and half-stifled when the cart -stopped. The butt was lowered, not too gently; Jack was pretty well -shaken up. But his former experience was pleasant compared with his -sensations when the butt was rolled round and round on its lower edge, -as he had seen draymen rolling barrels of beer. His head fairly swam by -the time the teetotum movement ceased. - -Then he heard voices again, and the creaking of tackle. - -"I'm at the shore," he thought. "Surely they're not going to set me -afloat!" The idea of going adrift in a water-butt made him feel -seasick, till he remembered that it was impossible; the butt would fill -with water, and if they wished to drown him they would not have taken so -much trouble. - -"Why, 'Zekiel," he heard a man say, "was your tub leaking?" - -"A trifle, but we've bunged it up; 'tis all shipshape and seaworthy -now." - -"'Tis mortal heavy, blamed if 'tisn't." - -"Course it is; 'tis well-nigh full." - -Two or three low chuckles followed this sentence. Then the butt was -rolled up what seemed to be a gradual incline, and dropped a foot or two -with a bump that set Jack's bones clashing. - -"I'm on a boat," he thought, "this is a voyage of adventure. Wish to -goodness I could knock the top off this cage of mine and get a little -air." - -As if in answer to his wish, a few minutes later, when he felt by the -motion that the boat was putting out to sea, the lid was knocked off, -the gag removed, and he drew a long breath of relief. - -"I say, you men," he said, in a husky voice that sounded like that of a -stranger, "undo my eyes and hands, and let me out." - -There was no answer. He remained in his cramped and uncomfortable -quarters for some hours, his repeated requests to be taken out passing -unheeded. He began to feel very low-spirited. His body ached all over; -his hands were still bound; and the butt was so narrow that he could -hardly shift his position by an inch. His chief feeling was no longer -rage against De Fronsac, but an intense longing to stretch himself. And -then, strange as it appeared to him, he began to feel sleepy. - -He was wakened from a half-doze by a loud hail, answered by a fainter -one from a distance. A few seconds later he was released from the butt, -and lowered, still bound, over the side of the vessel into a smaller -boat. The boat did not go far; after a few strokes of the oars Jack -felt a slight bump; he was unceremoniously hoisted again; and when at -last his eyes and hands were unbound, and he had recovered the use of -his sight, he found himself on board a lugger, whose crew had the -swarthy faces and red caps of French fishermen. Greetings were -exchanged between the men of the two vessels; then the French lugger -made sail and stood out into mid-channel. - -Jack was too much relieved at having recovered his freedom to mind where -he was going. For a time he had not even the curiosity to ask; it was -quite enough to breathe freely, and use his eyes and stretch his limbs. -But night was drawing on, and when a meager supper was brought to him he -asked in French for what port the vessel was making. - -"No port, Monsieur," replied the man with a grin. - -"Well, what place, then?" - -"Where the captain commands, Monsieur." - -"And where does the captain command? Speak out, man." - -"Only the captain knows, Monsieur." - -Jack gave it up. The man's answers were perfectly polite, but it was -evident he had received orders to tell nothing. Jack was taken below -and made fairly comfortable. When morning dawned and he was allowed to -go on deck there was no land in sight. But about midday a coast-line -came into view, and in the evening, after beating about for hours, a -strong land wind keeping the lugger off shore, the skipper managed to -run into a little cove beneath high cliffs. It was a wild part of the -Norman coast; there were no dwellings where the lugger ran ashore; and -Jack had to tramp for several miles among the Frenchmen, over a rough -road, before they arrived at a little fishing hamlet. Here he had to -share a pallet bed in the auberge with one of the fishermen, two others -occupying a similar bed at the other side of the room. - -Jack and his bedfellow both found it difficult to sleep, and the -Frenchman proved more loquacious than any of the others. He could speak -no English save a few words, and his French was so broad a dialect that -Jack, who knew little French at the best, was often at a loss to -understand him. But he understood enough to learn that he had been kept -in an underground chamber near the Hollow until the time came when a -boat might put off, ostensibly for night fishing, really to convey the -prisoner to the French lugger, the whereabouts of which would be known -to the Luscombe smugglers. He had been carried on board the boat from -the cart openly at Luscombe quay. - -"Whose boat was it?" - -"It was to a man--Monsieur might know him--who calls himself Goujon." - -"No, I don't know anybody of that name. Who is he?" - -"He is Goujon; that is all." - -"Is he a fisherman? What is he like?" - -"I have never seen him, Monsieur. For myself, I have never put foot to -land in England. But the captain knows him; ah, yes! the captain knows -Goujon." - -And Jack at last went to sleep, wondering who Goujon could be. - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *A PRISONER OF FRANCE* - - -Next morning Jack was awakened early and told that he must march. - -"Very happy," he said, "but where to?" - -He had recovered his spirits. No misfortunes, no bufferings, can long -depress a healthy boy of sixteen. Consequently when he learned that he -was to tramp to Boulogne, more than fifty miles away, he received the -information with a smile. His chief thought was: "Perhaps I shall see -that Monstair, Boney himself!" The prospect of a fifty-mile walk in -keen, bright weather did not daunt him. - -He was accompanied by the skipper of the lugger and several of the men. -Now that they were on French soil they had lost their reluctance to -talk, and before many miles had been covered Jack was chatting as freely -as his command of the language permitted, and laughing at the -misunderstandings that occurred on both sides. He learned one fact that -made him feel sorry. A few days before, Admiral Keith had exploded some -vessels among a hundred and fifty of the French praams at their -anchorage outside the pier at Boulogne. But this attempt to destroy the -flotilla had not succeeded, the vessels having been separated by -distances too wide for the explosion to have the destructive effect -intended. The French smugglers were much elated at Admiral Keith's -failure, and amused Jack by their confident assertion that before long -Bonaparte, or the Emperor Napoleon, as he was beginning to be called, -would make himself King of England. - -Boulogne was reached at the end of the second day's march. Jack was -taken to a commissary of the forces. He did not learn till some time -afterward what story the skipper told. It was to the effect that his -lugger, while making for Boulogne from St. Malo, had been becalmed off -Barfleur, within sight of an English frigate which lay about two miles -astern. A boat had been sent from the frigate to capture the lugger. -Attempting to board, the English crew had been driven back with severe -loss, and this young officer, who had been foremost of the boarding -party, had been left in the Frenchmen's hands. - -Whether the commissary believed the story Jack never knew. Certainly it -was acted upon. He was handed over to the keeper of the town prison, and -lodged in the cells below the old belfry tower. Next day, however, he -was removed and conveyed under a guard a few miles westward toward -Etaples. As he left the belfry with other prisoners amid an escort of -gendarmes, he saw riding up the hill towards Wimereux a group of -horsemen, led by a stout little soldier in brilliant uniform. The -gendarmes saluted; the little man gave a curt and careless -acknowledgment, and cantered on. It was Bonaparte himself, riding to -review the army he was collecting for the invasion of England. Jack -recognized him by his likeness to the caricatures he had seen at home. - -"'Tis something to have seen the wonderful Boney!" he thought. - -Not far from Etaples he was placed with a number of other prisoners, all -English seamen, in an old chateau about a mile from the sea. It had -evidently been at one time a pleasant country-house, but from its partly -dilapidated condition Jack inferred that it had suffered during the -revolutionary riots thirteen or fourteen years before. It was now used -as an overflow prison, the regular prisons of the town being filled. -The English prisoners in France always outnumbered the French prisoners -in England, owing to the greater enterprise of English seamen, which -often led them to attempt impossible feats and threw them into the power -of the enemy. - -The prisoners were kept on the top floor of the chateau, several rooms -having been knocked into one. The windows were barred; there were two -stories beneath; outside, the walled park all round the house was -regularly patrolled by sentries; and there was a guard constantly at the -gate. The wall bordering the grounds was about nine feet high and -spiked at the top. These facts were at once noted by Jack, for the -instant he was shut up he began to think of escape; but the outlook was -not promising. - -If he wished to escape at the first, his longing was intensified after a -few days of prison regime. There were about seventy prisoners -altogether, and twenty jailers. The treatment was not far short of -brutal. The prisoners had to sleep on coarse pallets of straw, the -stalks cut so short that they were like beds of spikes. The food -consisted of nothing but brown bread and more or less dirty water. One -and a half sous a day were allowed by the government to each prisoner -for the purchase of extra food--a miserably insufficient sum; yet, poor -as it was, it more often found its way into the pockets of the jailers -than into those of the prisoners. The rooms were never properly -cleaned, and the jailers thought nothing of bullying and assaulting -brutally any man who had the audacity to grumble. - -Jack had the good luck to be spared some of the worst hardships. He was -allowed the use of a small room off the larger one--a kind of -antechamber, the partition of which was only half demolished where the -separate rooms had been knocked into one for the reception of the -prisoners. A door opened directly on the staircase; it was kept closed, -and it had a grating through which the sentry on duty could watch what -was going on. - -The warders, drafted from two companies of infantry in the neighboring -town, were relieved daily. This was a precaution taken, no doubt, to -prevent them from getting tired of their job and relaxing in their -watchfulness. At all hours of the night the steady tramp of the -sentries round the house could be heard by wakeful prisoners above. And -many were wakeful, for their poor fare was ill calculated to encourage -sleep, and as the days passed they shivered with the cold. It did not -occur to the officer in command, a rough-tongued captain who had -apparently risen from the ranks, to provide a fire; and when one of the -prisoners ventured to ask for one, he got a snubbing. - -Jack was the only officer among the captives. He learned afterward that -officers were often liberated on parole, but this was entirely in the -discretion of the district commandant, and Jack was unlucky in coming -into the hands of a bully. He tried to keep cheerful, but it was hard in -such depressing surroundings. The only pleasant part of the day was the -short interval allowed for exercise in the park. A space was roped off -within which the prisoners might run or walk; it was a considerable -distance from the wall, and sentries with loaded muskets stood on guard. -There was thus no chance of making a dash for liberty; but the -opportunity of stretching their legs in the open for twenty minutes was -a boon to men accustomed to the freedom of life on the sea. - -Thus four months passed. Every day was like another. A little news -came to the prisoners at times through the jailers--how further attempts -to destroy the flotilla of praams at Boulogne had been defeated; how the -English had attacked in vain Fort Rouge at Calais Harbor; how Napoleon -had been at last crowned emperor by the pope in the church of Notre -Dame. But the news which Jack eagerly awaited, of a great victory won -by Admiral Nelson at sea, never came. - -One day in February, when snow was falling, a new batch of prisoners was -brought in, to the disgust of the others, for the room was already -overcrowded. But Jack was pleased and vexed at once to see that the new -arrivals were no other than Babbage, Turley, and a dozen more from the -_Fury_. - -"Well! I never did see!" ejaculated the bo'sun, when Jack hailed him. -"Bless my eyes, sir, but I thought as you was gone to glory--leastways -to Davy Jones, and so did we all. How did you go for to come to this -here dirty old hulk of a French prison, sir?" - -Jack told the whole story. - -"What happened to you and the boat?" he asked. - -"Why, sir, we waited for you three hours or more, as we was bid, and -when you didn't come back, I said as how we ought to go up along and -find you." - -"No, you didn't!" interrupted Turley; "that was me. You said our orders -was to wait for Mr. Hardy three hours, and the three hours being up, -'twas our dooty to go back and tell Mr. Blake. There, then, old -Sparrow-grass!" - -Evidently Turley supposed that on French ground the claims of discipline -might be ignored. But he was mistaken. - -"What do you mean by Sparrow-grass?" demanded Jack as sternly as he -could. - -"Well, sir, I know that his rightful name is Ben Babbage, but among -ourselves, sir, when we thinks of it, we calls him Turnip--" - -"That'll do, Turley. You'll call Mr. Babbage by his right name, here -and anywhere else; remember that. Go on, Babbage." - -"Well, sir, as I was saying, I said as how we ought to go up along and -find you. So go we did; but though we spent a couple of hours -a-prowling round that there tower, and about the village, and went up to -the Grange and all, never a word did we hear of you. So we had to give -it up, and we went back and reported you missing to Mr. Blake. He put -in at Luscombe himself, and raised a deal of dust, sir, but 'twas no -good. So he reported you to the admiral at Portsmouth as missing, and -we got another officer in your place, a slack-twisted young--beg pardon, -sir, I was a-going to do what Turley done, sir, call names; but I -won't--leastways, not in your hearing, sir." - -"And how did you become prisoners, too?" - -"Why, sir, a Mounseer's sloop set on us t'other day when we was running -before a stiff gale. The poor little _Fury's_ topmast was carried away -and the mainmast sprung. The sloop hugged us till the wind dropped; -then she came up alongside and boarded. She had three times our number, -and they must have bred different Frenchmen in the days when one -Englishman was equal to three; we did our best, as you may believe; she -lost half her men, but the other half was still double what was left of -us, so we had to haul down our colors, in a manner of speaking. Mr. -Blake and the new midshipman have been marched off, I did hear, to a -place called Verdun; here's the rest of us, what was left, and if you'll -look out of the window, you'll see the poor little _Fury_ lying off the -quay there. I s'pose they'll patch her up and call her by a new name, -and that's enough to make any Englishman's blood boil, it is." - -Jack was angry as Babbage at the success of the sloop in capturing the -cutter. But he felt somewhat cheered at the sight of the faces of his -messmates; and their presence, strangely enough, set him again thinking -of escape. Babbage was a seasoned and knowing old salt, and Jack -resolved to have a long and private talk with him at the first -opportunity. - -But though in the course of a week they had many such talks--in the park -while exercising, in the little antechamber at dead of night--they -almost despaired of hitting upon any likely plan of regaining their -liberty. There was no chance of silencing the sentries at the head of -the staircase; any attempt to break open the door would at once be heard -outside, and the whole force of warders, all soldiers, would be on the -alert. The bars across the windows might indeed be loosened or forcibly -wrenched out, and the bedclothes--if the material of which they were -made was not too poor--might be torn up and knotted to form a rope; but -a small light was kept burning in the room all night, and any work at -the windows would certainly be seen by the sentries at the door and by -the men patrolling outside. - -"Ah now! if only brother Sol was here!" sighed Babbage one evening, when -Jack and he had been talking over every plan that suggested itself, -possible and impossible. - -"What could he do?" asked Jack. - -"'Twas a saying of his, sir, 'Nary a way in but a way out,' though I -said to him, 'What about a mouse-trap?' Ah, brother Sol 'ud see the way -out of this here trap if any man could." - -"Well, I wish this brother Sol of yours would get himself captured and -come here. Where is he?" - -"I don't know, sir; I haven't seed him for four and twenty year. But -well I mind the last thing he said to me when he went away. 'Ben,' says -he, 'God bless you!' I never forgot them feeling words, sir." - -"I suppose not. As he isn't here we must do without him. We _must_ get -out somehow, Babbage. I, for one, am not going to rot in France for -half a dozen years. Is there anything we haven't thought of?" - -Babbage pursed his lips and pondered. - -"We've thought of everything from window to ground," he said presently. -"The only thing we haven't thought of is the roof, and we want to go -down, not up--leastways, not yet." - -"I don't know. What about the chimney?" - -"No good, sir. Haven't I seed the sergeant of the guard poke his nose -up every day to see if the bars are safe? They're just fixed so that no -nat'ral man's head could pass between. Must ha' bin done a purpose." - -"Does the sergeant examine them carefully?" - -"No, sir; he just stoops down, and cocks his head around, and gives a -squint up, and many's the time I'd ha' liked to take advantage of the -sitivation to kick him, only I thought I'd better not. 'Kicks is poor -tricks,' too, as brother Sol used to say." - -"Well, I'll come into your room to-night, and have a look at them. -Luckily the chimney is on the same side as the door; the sentry won't -see me. We might be able to loosen those bars and clear the chimney." - -"And what then, sir?" - -"I'd climb the roof and take a look round. Can't say more at present." - -"Very good, sir." - -In the small hours Jack crept quietly into the larger room and got into -the chimney unobserved. The bars were just above his head, and he very -soon decided that with a sufficiently hard implement he could loosen the -mortar about their ends. That was the doubtful matter. The knives -supplied to a few of the prisoners who were given meat for their dinner -were removed by the jailers after the meal, and all weapons had of -course been taken from the men before they were brought into the room. -But next morning Jack managed to force a long rusty nail out of one of -the planks of the floor of his room; it seemed to him stout and strong -enough for his purpose. - -It was necessary to take the rest of the prisoners into his confidence. -He got Babbage to tell them what he had in view, and as they were all -Englishmen, with just as keen a longing for liberty as himself, there -was no fear of their betraying him. As soon as the jailers had -distributed the morning rations he slipped into the chimney. Half a -dozen of the men, gathered as if casually near the fireplace, screened -him from any one who might suddenly enter the room. He began to scrape -away the mortar at one end of each of the bars, working as quickly as he -could. Turley swept up with his hand the flakes of mortar that fell to -the floor. By the evening Jack had worked so well that one bar was -loosened sufficiently to be bent down when the time came. Then he got -some of the men to tear off scraps of their woolen shirts, and with -these he filled up the holes, so that even if the bar was tested by the -sergeant there was a good chance that it would hold well enough to -prevent discovery. - -The scraping occupied him for two more days--one bar a day. By the time -he had finished he found that the nail which had served him so well was -worn to within half an inch of the head. - -He determined to make an expedition up the chimney on that third -evening, if circumstances proved favorable. After the evening meal of -bread and water he got Ben to use his strength in bending down the bars. -Then he crawled through and began to ascend. It was a tight fit. The -chimney was narrow; but Jack, never stout, had grown thin on the prison -fare, and he wormed his way up by the aid of projecting bricks left for -the chimney-sweep; those were the days of chimney climbing. The flue -was not very dirty; evidently no fires had been lighted below for a long -time. - -He reached the top without mishap. There was no chimney-pot. Looking -cautiously out, showing as little of his head as possible, he saw the -sea rippling far below in the distance, shining ruddy in the glow of the -setting sun. A strong easterly breeze was blowing. To the right lay -the harbor and town. To the left were two sloops and three or four -praams; alongside the nearest sloop a coasting brig; then two fishing -smacks. A cable's length from these lay the _Fury_, now apparently -refitted with new main- and topmasts, and eastward of her, a little -farther out, a lugger and another smack. Jack guessed that, besides the -_Fury_, only the sloops and the praams were likely to be armed with -cannon, though the lugger might carry a small gun. - -The immediate surroundings of the chateau were out of sight, except to -his left, being screened by the parapet of the flat roof some feet away -from the chimney. Except at one point, where the roof of an outbuilding -rose nearly to the same elevation as the part where he was perched, -there was a sheer drop of fifteen feet from the top of the -chimney-stack. - -It was a sloping roof, and Jack made up his mind to crawl down it until -he came to a chimney of the outbuilding, from which a thin spiral of -smoke was rising. But he waited until the dusk had deepened before he -thought it safe to emerge. Then he crept carefully down till he reached -the smoking chimney. The roof there was not quite as high as the other; -the drop was about five feet; and he guessed from the position that -below the chimney were the servants' quarters. Two other chimneys beyond -were smoking; these, he thought, must belong to the rooms occupied by -the guard. The other chimneys, from which no smoke was rising, could -only be reached by dropping some twelve feet and climbing an equal -distance; and to do that would involve the risk of being seen or heard. - -Jack placed his hand on the side of the chimney from which a thin smoke -was coming. There was so little heat in the bricks that he guessed the -fire below had been allowed to die down. His guess was confirmed when -he put his hand in the air over the mouth of the chimney: it was -scarcely warm. He resolved to climb down and find out whither the -chimney led. Thin as it was, the smoke in the narrow space was rather -suffocating, and he felt a certain dread lest he should cough and betray -his presence. There seemed no end to the chimney, as step by step he -let himself down, moving with extreme caution to avoid making any sound -that could be heard below. As he approached the bottom he was relieved -to find that the heat did not perceptibly increase. The fire must be -almost dead. He was dislodging soot from the walls; would it be seen by -the persons in the room? Perhaps if they saw it they would think it due -to the strong wind. Perhaps there was nobody in the room. He heard no -voices, no sound of movement, though he saw there was a light. The -chimney was a good deal wider at the point he had reached, and he -wondered if it led to the kitchen. - -Waiting a little to make sure that the room was unoccupied, he at length -ventured to slip down to the grate and peep into the room. It was empty -of people. A large table stood in the middle; kitchen utensils hung -from pegs on the walls; the door was ajar, and he now heard voices, -proceeding evidently from an adjoining room. - -On the hearth was a long iron poker. "That may prove useful," he -thought; and leaping lightly down he seized it. A large chopper hung to -a nail at the side of the chimney. This also he secured. Then creeping -to the door, he peeped round from the level of the floor. Three men -were seated at a table enjoying their supper. This was apparently the -cook's room. The men were very much at their ease. A large fire of -logs threw a glow upon their faces; a bottle of wine had been emptied; -the smell of fried onions teased Jack's appetite. He listened to the -men's conversation. - -"_Monsieur le capitaine_ will bring two guests to supper," said one. - -"_Peste!_" growled a second, the fattest of all, by whom, as Jack now -saw, a cook's white cap lay, "he will keep us up late. _Monsieur le -capitaine_ is so particular. A supper fit for Bonaparte is not good -enough for him. The kitchen fire will have to be made up. Go and see -to it, Jules." - -The man addressed scraped his plate and drank his wine before lazily -rising to do the cook's bidding. Jack flew back with the speed of a -hare, and before the man had pushed back his chair the adventurer was -several feet up the chimney, grasping his precious spoil, the poker and -the chopper. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *A BREAK FOR FREEDOM* - - -"By Jove!" thought Jack with a chuckle as he scrambled out of the -chimney, "won't there be a rumpus when the cook misses his poker! -Luckily, he'll never think it has gone aloft!" - -It was a very sooty object that descended, after pausing to make sure -that all was safe, into the prisoners' room. Jack was immediately -surrounded by a group of the _Fury's_ men, so eager to hear what had -happened that they raised their voices and provoked an angry reprimand -from the sentry at the door. - -"Silence, you donkeys!" whispered Jack. - -"Avast your jabber!" said Babbage, scowling upon Turley. "Me and Mr. -Hardy have got to lay the course for this little venture." - -After this the men behaved more discreetly, and left Jack alone with -Babbage. - -"Now, Babbage," said Jack, when he had finished his story, "we're going -to escape, and I'll tell you how." - -"Not up the chimbley, sir? I'd squeeze myself as small as I could, but -I'm afeard I should stick fast and spoil the whole boiling." - -"No, no; you're too fat for the chimney. You'll be left in charge till -you hear a hubbub below; then you're to break open the door and make a -dash for it at the head of the men." - -"Why, I'll obey orders, sir; Ben Babbage always obeys orders; but, -begging your pardon, it beats me how I'm to break the door open with a -poker and a chopper--" - -"Babbage, if you make any more difficulties you'll never see your -brother Sol, for here you'll stay. You shall have other tools by and -by. You understand, nothing is to be done until you hear the signal; it -will be loud enough, I promise you. I shall wait until the captain's -guests have gone. That will probably be late; so there'll be plenty of -time for us to make a rope. No, don't speak. I haven't done yet. -We'll tear up the coverlets--they're precious thin, but we haven't any -better--and twist up a rope long enough to reach from the top of the -chimney to the bottom: about fifty feet, I should think. Then I'll take -it with me and four or five of the men, Turley for one-- - -"Begging your pardon, sir-- - -"What?" - -"Begging your pardon, sir,--not Turley, but me." - -"Oh, very well! You're too fat for the chimney at present, as you owned -yourself, but we could get something off you with the chopper." - -Babbage grinned sheepishly, and made no further suggestions. - -Several hours later, Jack, at the window, heard loud voices and laughter -in the courtyard below. The captain's guests were evidently departing. -Allowing an hour to pass, sufficient, he thought, for the captain and -the servants to have settled into their beauty sleep, he signed to his -four selected men, and led the way up the chimney, Turley carrying the -rope. They clambered across the roof and came to the kitchen chimney. - -"Now, Turley," said Jack, "pay out the rope as I go down. By George! -'tis a good deal hotter than when I was here before." - -He got down into the chimney, leaving the four men on the roof. It was -indeed very hot; the kitchen fire, made up for cooking the supper, had -evidently not yet died down. Fortunately there was little smoke; even -without it the air was so stifling that Jack was surprised that he -reached the bottom safely. He jumped when his feet touched the grate; -they were protected only by his stockings. - -There was no light in the room, but the glow of the dying fire was -strong enough to show him that it was empty. He tiptoed to the three -doors. The back door was locked and bolted; the door of the cook's room -was closed but not locked, and he heard snores from within; the third -door, leading to the rest of the house, he supposed, was ajar, and a dim -light came through the opening. - -A little more light was necessary. Not without a tremor, Jack ventured -to put on the embers one or two small chips of wood that were drying at -the side of the grate. They kindled, and lit the room with a dancing -flame, which Jack fervently hoped would not attract the attention of the -sentry outside. He had already seen that the shutters of the window -were closed; he trusted there was no chink to betray him. - -The first thing was to get arms of some kind for his men. A poker and a -chopper he had already purloined, much to the mystification of the cook, -no doubt. Ah! there was a rolling-pin hanging by a loop from a nail in -the wall. Down it came; in a trice he tied it to the thin rope. Giving -this a gentle tug, he saw the rolling-pin disappear up the chimney. - -Then he looked round quickly for more weapons. Yes; there was a cleaver, -a gridiron, a frying-pan. - -"I must have them," he said to himself. By the time he had taken them -down from their nails, the rope was hanging once more within reach. One -by one they followed the rolling-pin. Another hunt on tiptoe round the -room yielded a brass candlestick, a braizing-pan, several dish-covers -which he rejected as being too clumsy to wield, a big soup-ladle, and a -couple of long carving-knives. There were saucepans in plenty, but too -big for his purpose. He had to be content with the ten articles he had -obtained--rude weapons, indeed, but likely to be formidable in the hands -of determined and desperate men. As the utensils of metal passed up the -chimney they clicked more than once on the wall, and Jack's heart beat -faster as he wondered if the sounds would be heard. But no doubt there -were mice and rats behind these old walls; blessed rats and mice! - -After waiting a little to make sure that the cook and his assistants had -not been disturbed, he prepared to go farther afield. Creeping to the -door that stood ajar, he pushed it a little. It moved with a creak which -must surely, Jack thought, be heard all over the house. He waited -breathlessly; there was no sound. But he could not risk a continuous -creaking. Taking his courage in both hands he pushed the door quickly, -stopping it with a jerk. It made never a sound. Jack saw by the light -of a small lamp that it opened into a narrow passage, with a door at the -end. He crept along the wall. The farther door was not closed. He -peeped in. - -"The _salle a manger_!" he thought. There was the table at which the -captain had entertained his guests. - -To the left there was another passage at right angles to the first. A -narrow staircase led, he supposed, to the servants' rooms. A few steps -along the passage brought him to the entrance hall, from which sprang -the main staircase. He looked up. He was at the bottom of a deep well, -extending, it appeared, to the top of the mansion. He shrank back into -the shade of the huge post at the foot of the stairs; for if the -sentries outside the prisoners' room chanced to hear a movement below -and looked over, they would certainly see him. - -Then he cast back, and came to the back staircase. The steps were of -stone; he might ascend without the danger of creaking; and he must see -whither these stairs led. He went up the steps in pitch darkness, and -found himself on a landing. Groping along the wall, he knew that he was -in a stone-flagged corridor. Ah! at the end there was a streak of -light. Tiptoeing along, he came to a door partly open. Dared he peep -round it? He paused for a few seconds. - -"Hang it!" he said to himself, "I wish my heart wouldn't thump so!" He -listened: how these Frenchmen snored! Were they all asleep? He took a -step forward; then felt a sudden unreasoning fear, and stole back for -several yards. In a few seconds he had collected himself and returned to -the door. - -Now he ventured to put his head into the room. A dozen men--he would -have said a score at the first moment--were asleep on rough settles -against the wall. They had their clothes on, as if in bivouac, ready -for action at a moment's notice. A smoky lamp hung from a bracket on -the wall. In the corner of the fireplace, where there was a faint glow, -were stacked the men's muskets. The key of the room was on the inside. - -Having taken all this in at a glance, Jack carefully withdrew, returned -along the passage and down the stairs, and arrived once more at the -kitchen. Two sharp tugs at the rope brought Turley to his side; at -short intervals the other three appeared. - -"All safe!" whispered Jack. "You've taken the things to Babbage, -Turley?" - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -"That's well. Now, Turley, that's the cook's room. You'll stay and -watch the door. If any one tries to break out, you'll know what to do. -You other men come with me." - -He led them quietly along the passage and up the staircase. At the -landing he halted. - -"The guards are in that room at the end of the corridor," he whispered. -"I'm going in to try and get their muskets. If I'm discovered, you -three make a rush and get hold of the muskets. Never mind about me. -You understand." - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -He crept stealthily into the room. The men's cartridge-belts lay in a -heap on the table. Taking care to make no noise, Jack lifted two or -three, one at a time, and handed them to his men. Then he approached the -pile of arms. With the gentlest of movements he released two of the -muskets, one with each hand, on opposite sides of the pile. Would the -balance be disturbed? No, all was safe. He passed the weapons out of -the room, and turned to remove a third and a fourth. But who had make -that click? It was one of the men outside. Jack looked anxiously at -the sleeping forms. Had any of them been awakened? - -One of the Frenchmen turned, sat up, rubbed his eyes--and saw the -English prisoner! - -"_Au voleur! au prisonnier! aux armes! Eveillez-vous, mes camarades!_" - -He was so sleepy that he scarcely knew what he was saying; but his shout -roused his companions. As they turned, too heavy with sleep to have all -their wits about them, Jack's three men sprang in, and in a twinkling -seized the remaining muskets and rushed back into the passage. The -first Frenchman was now on his feet. Jack with a straight right-hander -sent him spinning over; then he dashed to the door, slipped the key out -of one side of the lock and into the other, and just as two of the other -men were lurching toward him, skipped outside, slammed the door, and -turned the key. - -[Illustration: Jack, with a straight right-hander, sent him spinning -over] - -"Now, men, after me!" he cried. - -He raced along the corridor, conscious of a tremendous uproar in the -guard-room--cries, oaths, violent thumps and kicks on the door. Up the -stairs! There were the sentries at the top, startled out of their wits. -What was happening? Hubbub below, hubbub in the prisoners' room! The -prisoners were actually battering at the door! And with heavy -implements: where had they got them? Crash! There was a panel half -driven out. The amazed soldiers raised their muskets; they could at -least fire into the room. But at this moment they caught sight of Jack -and the sailors springing up the back staircase. Another crash on the -door! _O ciel_! They waited for no more, but with a yell turned their -backs and leaped down the main staircase, taking three stairs at a time. - -"Ahoy there, Babbage; stand clear!" shouted Jack. - -"Ay, ay, sir!" cried the bo'sun from within. - -Putting to the lock the musket he carried, Jack fired. The lock was -burst; with a touch the door gave way; and a second later the prisoners -began to pour out. - -"Steady, men!" cried Jack. "No crowding, or we'll get jammed and be -clapped under hatches again. Armed men in front." - -They followed Jack down the same staircase by which he had come. As -they passed the locked door of the guard-room they heard the imprisoned -men making a furious assault upon it. But it was a piece of good oak; -they had no firearms to blow away the lock; and Jack knew that they -might hammer it for an hour without making much impression. - -Down they go! Here they are at the kitchen. And there is Turley, a -saucepan in one hand, a huge dish-cover in the other, holding at bay the -fat cook and his two assistants, who are vainly attempting, with -ferocious cries, to get within his guard. When they see Jack enter the -room, and behind him a swarm of seamen, they wheel round and scurry like -hares into the farther apartment, the fat cook going last, squealing. - -"No danger there!" said Jack. "There's no time to lose, men. Now for -the back door." - -He ran to it, drew back the bolts, and throwing it wide dashed out into -the open. There was a blinding flash close by; the shot missed; and -with Turley and others hard on his heels Jack dashed straight in the -direction from which the shot had come. But the sentry who had fired -was already scampering away. A companion had joined him; together they -made for the wicket of the front gate; dashed through, and tried to -close it. But Turley was just in time to slip his saucepan in and hold -the gate open. The sentries waited no longer. They raced as fast as -their legs would carry them toward the town. - -To overtake them was impossible. In a few minutes the two companies of -infantry would be on the track of the escaped prisoners. Was there time -to reach the harbor before they came up? Had the shots already roused -the officers of the vessels at anchor and caused them to despatch men -ashore? Jack could not wait even to wonder. On he went, calling to his -men to close up, straight along the road leading to the town. But to -pass through the streets to the harbor would be fatal. Within half a -mile of the town he halted. - -"You, Mudge, and you, Folkard, cut off a quarter of a mile to port and -fire your muskets. Then run as hard as you can in our wake. Quick, -men!" - -He hoped that the firing in that direction would mislead the enemy and -give the fugitives the few minutes' grace they needed for the next move -of his plan. When the two men had gone off to the left, he led the -party rapidly to the right, hoping to strike the harbor at its eastern -extremity. - -As the fugitives, keeping perfect silence, stumbled in the darkness over -fields and across ditches toward the harbor, they heard loud shouts to -their left, followed by the roll of a drum. Clearly the alarm had been -raised, the soldiers were turning out. All now depended on whether the -direction of the escape was discovered within the next few minutes. If -not, Jack thought that he might reach the harbor with his band in time -to seize some boats before they were intercepted. He listened eagerly -for shots behind; they seemed long in coming, and the outskirts of the -village loomed up in the darkness ahead before the expected reports at -last struck his ear. Fervently he hoped that the sound would draw the -soldiers off in that direction. - -He wished he could go faster, but many of the men were weak from the -effects of imprisonment and meager fare, and he had to accommodate his -pace to the slowest. - -Making a fairly wide circuit, Jack steered for the extremity of the -harbor, where only a few fishermen's cottages intervened between him and -the waterside. Some fishers who had turned out of their dwellings on -hearing the alarm scurried down the rutty road with loud shouts. The -noise was bound to bring the soldiers to the spot within a few minutes. -Jack's heart was pumping at a great rate, but he did not lose his -coolness or his nerve. He must do something to check the soldiers, that -was plain. Sending twenty men to search the shore for boats, he posted -the nine armed with muskets under cover of the cottages with orders to -delay the soldiers at all costs. The rest of his men, some armed with -the spoil of the kitchen, others with bricks and stones snatched up on -the way, he placed behind the nine to support them. - -A minute or two--horribly long they seemed to Jack--of anxious waiting; -then the two men who had fired the shots in the rear came panting up, -and from the direction of the harbor a messenger brought the good news -that six large boats had been found. Almost at the same moment the -clump-clump of heavy boots and sabots on the road was distinctly heard, -ever growing louder. If the runners proved to be soldiers it would be -impossible to escape without a fight. Jack would rather have been -allowed to embark in peace, but if there must be a fight-- - -"Well," he whispered to Babbage, "we'll show them what English Jack Tars -are made of." - -He at once sent the unarmed men down to the water under guidance of the -messenger, bidding them get into the boats; then with the rest he -prepared to fight a rear-guard action. - -The Frenchmen came on helter-skelter. Not one of them imagined that -they had any enemy more formidable than unarmed weaklings to deal with. -Jack waited until they were within twenty yards; even in the dim -starlight they could be seen distinctly enough. Then in a voice that -rang clearly he gave the word "Fire!" The eleven rifles flashed; there -were cries from the advancing Frenchmen; some of them, at any rate, must -have been hit at this point-blank range. The head of the column was in -confusion; men turned this way and that; they were apparently without -leadership. - -While they halted and wavered another word of command was heard above -their cries and the sound of shuffling feet: "Charge!" The sailors -responded with a cheer; some thirty strong, they dashed forward as one -man; and in a few seconds the enemy were in full flight, struck by one -of those sudden panics to which even the best troops are liable in night -operations. - -Jack also had his moment of alarm. Knowing the thoughtless impetuosity -of the British sailor, he feared lest, with the enemy on the run, his -men should forget everything else in the excitement of pursuit. But he -had them soon in hand again. - -"Now to the boats!" he said, "and as quickly as you can." - -He had no difficulty in finding them. One of the sloops had already -opened fire upon them; and the sound of oars in that direction showed -that a boat, perhaps more than one, had been lowered, no doubt to pull -in to the assistance of the soldiers. It was too dark for the fire of -the sloop to be effective; Jack heard one or two shots strike the harbor -wall. - -Here were the boats, a few yards from the beach. - -"Tumble in, men," said Jack. - -In a few seconds all were aboard. Already Jack in the foremost boat was -steering for a black shape almost exactly ahead, which he believed to be -the _Fury_. Scarcely was his craft well under way before he heard oars -in that direction; the cutter also, it appeared, was sending a boat. - -"So much the better!" thought Jack. "There'll be fewer men on deck to -repel boarders." - -In less than a minute he saw the cutter's boat ahead; it was turning, as -if to regain the vessel--he wondered why. - -"Give way, men!" he cried, and from the boat behind came Babbage's voice -urging his crew: "Pull, shipmates; pull, my hearties; Mr. Hardy ain't -a-goin' to do it all by his lone self!" And Jack heard Turley, -somewhere in his own boat, mutter: "Bust yourself, old Artichokes, but -we'll be there first!" - -It was a race between them. The other boats were some distance astern, -for two, being without oars, were being towed by the remaining two. In -the two foremost boats the men were straining every nerve. They knew -that their lives depended on success, and scarcely needed the -encouraging words of Jack and the old bo'sun. They gained on the -Frenchman; the three boats dashed almost together under the cutter's -counter; then there was a tussle. Rising in the boats the crews shouted -and cheered and belabored their opponents, Jack's men plying -rolling-pins, gridirons, soup-ladles, frying-pans, shovels, -candlesticks, with a hearty vigor that made them more formidable weapons -than the Frenchmen's cutlasses. In half a minute the Frenchmen, -outnumbered and outfought, were hurled neck and crop out of their boats, -and the English sailors were swarming up the side of the cutter. In the -short fight the cutter's crew had been unable to help their comrades; it -was such a rough and tumble that they would as likely have hit a friend -as a foe. But they gathered for a desperate resistance when the -Englishmen poured on to the deck. Jack and his party boarded aft; -Babbage's men forward; but neither made easy progress, for the Frenchmen -fought like tigers, rallying twice after momentary set-backs, and taking -advantage of their superior numbers to press forward in the attempts to -drive the boarders into the sea. The melee was at its fiercest when the -arrival of the other boats turned the scale. Cheering British tars -beset the gallant Frenchmen on all sides; man after man of the defenders -fell, and in two minutes from the time when the last boat's crew -boarded, the cutter was once more in English hands. - -"Secure the Frenchmen!" shouted Jack, when the enemy surrendered and -cried for quarter. He himself rushed aft and cut the cable; and while -Turley and some others were collecting the Frenchmen's weapons and -escorting their prisoners below, a score of willing hands had run up the -mainsail, jib and foresail. Grazing the side of the fishing smack to -leeward as she gathered way, the _Fury_ moved out to sea. As she -emerged from the shelter of the brig a round shot from one of the sloops -struck her full amidships, and the other sloop was seen making sail in -pursuit. - -"Any damage done?" sang out Jack. - -"Not a farden's worth, sir," replied Turley. "Well above water-line." - -"Here's another! Look out!" shouted Babbage. - -But the second shot whizzed harmlessly by; then the sloops and other -vessels faded from sight; and the buoyant little cutter began to -courtesy to the waves of the Channel, showing white-crested in the -gloom. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *THE CAPTURE OF THE *_*GLORIEUSE*_ - - -For some time Jack was too busy in navigating the vessel, too anxiously -looking out for pursuers, to take stock of the situation on board the -_Fury_. But as soon as he felt that he was fairly safe, he went round -the cutter to inquire. One of his men and five Frenchmen had been -killed in the boarding operations. These were at once committed to the -deep, for with a crew of nearly seventy, and twenty prisoners, there was -already too little room on board. Many had been wounded on both sides; -and Jack found that his men had the more serious, though not the most -numerous, wounds; for while they had been pinked and slashed with -cutlasses, the Frenchmen had received only bad bruises from the unusual -weapons wielded by their opponents. Several of the men who had served in -the sick bay on English warships had already done their best--it was but -little in those days of ignorance and unskilful surgery--to attend to -the wounded. - -The French crew had apparently consisted of about forty men; arms for -that number were discovered. Among the prisoners were the captain and -lieutenant, whom Jack at once sought out and invited to share the cabin -with himself. They were very crestfallen at their defeat; but when Jack, -mustering his best French (which was not very good), made his best bow -(which was charming), and said--"_Je vous restore, Messieurs, vos epees, -pour vous--vous--vous_--(Hang it! What's the French for 'show'?)--_pour -vous displayer mon admiration de votre brave--_. (Can't think of the -French for 'fight.')--_votre courage dans la bataille_"--when Jack came -to the end of this halting speech and smiled very unaffectedly, the -Frenchmen returned his smile and his bow, and the captain, as he -received his sword, said fervently: - -"_Monsieur, je vous rends grace de votre noble conduite, qui est digne, -assurement, d'un honnete homme._" - -Jack bowed and smiled again, wondering what he had done that was -specially "honest." Like many another Jack since then, he was too apt -to jump to conclusions. - -He had never navigated the Channel, but he set the course of the cutter -by the compass, intending to run as straight as he could for Wynport. -Toward daybreak the wind shifted to the southeast and then to the -southwest, and to Jack's disappointment dropped to a light breeze -scarcely strong enough to disperse the thin fog that lay over the sea. -There seemed little hope of a quick passage to the English coast. Jack -was speculating on his chances of getting clear of the French shore when -he was startled by the cry: - -"Sail on the weather-bow, sir." - -Diving into the cabin, he snatched up a spyglass and eagerly scanned the -approaching vessel, which was coming up Channel, bringing a strong -breeze with her. She was showing no colors, but there was something -about her cut that made him feel a little uncomfortable. Turning to -Babbage, who stood by, he handed him the spy-glass, saying: - -"French?" - -"French she be, sir, leastways furrin, and a spanking brig." - -Jack looked a little blue. - -It was difficult to estimate distances in the haze, but the stranger -could scarcely be more than a mile away. Every now and again a gust of -wind lifted the fog, and if Jack attempted to put about the movement -would almost certainly be seen. Even if he could outsail the -approaching vessel before the wind, which was at least doubtful, her -bow-chasers would badly cripple him before he could run out of range. - -"What chance have we of escaping, if she is French?" he said to Babbage, -who was standing by his side. - -"Not a brass farden's worth, sir. She carries thirty guns at the least; -and if there is a man aboard that can shoot, she can hull us easy as -winking without changing her course." - -"That's bad, then." - -"And worse to foller, sir, as brother Sol used to say." - -Jack mentally anathematized brother Sol, who must have been a very Job's -comforter. The outlook was black enough. Visions of a French prison -again rose before him--if indeed prison should be his lot, for the -French, if they captured him, might deal summarily with him in revenge -for the men they had lost. - -Babbage sat down on the deck and began to sharpen his cutlass. - -"A nice little bit of arm-work coming, sir," he said cheerfully. "In -course we'll fight 'em?" - -Jack shook his head. - -"That's the last thing I should think of doing--at present." - -"Well, sir, she's coming on at a spanking rate, and if we're going to -run, the sooner the better--meaning no offense, sir." - -"We must either keep her closer to the wind, and hope to pass without -notice, or put the helm up and run for it. We'd have a bare chance of -outsailing her then." - -"Yes, sir, and she'd give us her broadside fust and foller it up with -her stern-chasers. She'd blow us out of the water, as sure as eggs is -eggs, when they bean't pickles." - -Jack stood for a few moments, gloomily pondering this desperate case. -All at once his face brightened. - -"I say, Babbage, we'll fight her." - -"And God save the king, sir," replied the veteran, lifting his hat, and -then vigorously whetting his blade. - -The course which had suggested itself to Jack was one that he would -scarcely have imagined in cold blood; but in the present crisis it -seemed to him preferable to either of the two he had before mentioned. -He had seventy men on board, thirty more than the cutter would have -carried in the ordinary way. Most of them were well armed; and, well as -British seamen always fought, they could be trusted in the present -circumstances to outdo themselves, for defeat meant utter destruction. -Could he lull the Frenchmen's suspicions for a few minutes? If he -could!--well, the chance of success was small, but the smallest was -better than none at all. - -"Yes, by George! I'll do it!" he said to himself. - -And he lost no time. He was astonished at the quickness with which his -mind worked in forming his plan. Orders came to his lips in short, -sharp sentences, and, thanks to the readiness of old Babbage and the -fine discipline of the seamen, they were carried out as promptly as -given. - -A score of men went below, and in a few seconds returned to the deck, -looking like Frenchmen. They had stripped the outer garments from the -prisoners. Their weapons were completely concealed. Five men with -loaded muskets stood guard over the real Frenchmen, four held themselves -ready to board, with boat anchors as grapnels. The rest of the men, -equipped with all the available armament, concealed themselves below, -out of sight from the approaching vessel, but ready for action at a -moment's notice. - -These preparations were still being made when the French flag was run up -on the brig. In response Jack hoisted the French colors found on board, -and, bringing the cutter a point or two closer into the wind, made as if -to hail the larger vessel. When only half a cable's length separated -them he shouted: - -"Ho! Hola!" - -There was an answering shout from the brig. So far, at any rate, no -suspicion had been aroused. Jack felt himself thrill with excitement -and suspense; everything depended on the result of the next move. -Turley was at the helm, his lips set, his eyes never leaving the -midshipman's face. Two or three seconds after the hail Jack gave the -word; Turley put the helm hard up, and the cutter, paying off from the -wind, ran alongside the brig to the manifest amazement of the Frenchmen, -the captain swearing with anger at what he supposed was rashness or -utter stupidity on the part of the cutter's commander. - -Barely two yards now separated the vessels, the side of the brig seeming -to tower over the cutter. At a sign from Jack the men with the grapnels -leaped up, and cast them in at the open ports of the brig. The ropes -attached to them were instantly secured to stanchions on the cutter's -deck, and with a slight movement of the tiller Turley brought the two -hulls together. - -Even before they touched, twenty men from the _Fury's_ deck were -clambering up the main chains of the brig, and forty more were swarming -from below in support. By this time the French captain had realized -that the commander of the cutter was neither stupid nor rash, but a -dare-devil of an Englishman. Those were Englishmen's cries that he -heard, mingling with the uproar made by his own men. Everything was in -confusion. Only the marines were armed. What French captain would have -dreamed of meeting a little English cutter so near his own coast? What -audacity, what unjustifiable impertinence, for so small a vessel to -engage a thirty-two gun brig, with a complement of probably two hundred -men! It was ridiculous, thought the captain, even as he gathered his -men for the fight. - -He was taken by surprise, but what then? Snatching up any weapons that -came handy, the Frenchmen came pouring out of the hatchways and from all -quarters of the deck, and, forming a little knot, endeavored to stem the -rush of the boarders. They fought, as Frenchmen always fight, gallantly -and with fierce courage; but a boarding party of English seamen is not -easily checked. - -Jack at the head of a dozen men had already driven a group of the enemy -from the fore deck into the foc's'le when, glancing aft, he saw that -Babbage and a small band were in desperate straits. Sword in one hand, -pistol in the other, the French captain was pressing them hard at the -head of twenty well-armed marines and three of his officers. The -remainder of Jack's party had scattered in pursuit of the enemy on the -lower deck; and a hand-to-hand fight was raging near the armory, from -which the watch below were hastily equipping themselves. It was -impossible for Jack to collect his men; yet if Babbage and his gallant -band were overcome all would be over. - -"You four, watch the foc's'le!" he shouted. "Come on, you others! -Babbage ahoy!" - -With a shout he dashed aft, a dozen men bellowing as they sprang after -him. Flash went a pistol; the clashing of cutlasses mingled with the -various cries of the men; and Jack, cleaving his way through the press -toward the old bo'sun's side, found himself face to face with the French -captain. He had but just time to parry a shrewd thrust of the -Frenchman's sword when a blow from a French sailor's pike, which must -have killed him outright had it not been partly diverted by Babbage, -fell obliquely upon his head with such force that he stumbled, -staggered, and dropped senseless to the deck. His last conscious moment -was filled with the din of fighting and the roar of his men. - - -"Mr. Babbage!" - -"Wot?" - -"I axe your pardon, true." - -"Wot for?" - -"For calling of you Artichokes, Sparrow-grass, Turnip-tops, and Cabbage. -Wi' young Mr. Hardy a-lying here with all his senses knocked out of him, -I couldn't abear to think as how I hurt your feelings, Mr. Babbage. I -axe your pardon." - -"Granted, Turley, granted, and more to foller," said Babbage, holding -out a horny hand, which Turley grasped in one equally hard. Each man -looked at the other, so long that they did not perceive that Jack's eyes -were open, and that he was smiling. - -"Oh, you solemn old donkeys!" he exclaimed. "You know you've been -friends at heart all along." - -They looked sheepish, like boys detected in something unboyish. - -"Ah, sir," said Babbage, "brother Sol used to say 'tis not actions wot -matter, 'tis feelings." - -"Brother Sol was wrong, then. I shouldn't be feeling so dizzy but for -the action of some Frenchman who got a cut at me. What's happened, -Babbage?" - -"The ship's ourn, sir, and we're making for Portsmouth." - -"Hurray! Tell me about it!" - -"Well, sir, arter you was down we got our monkeys up. 'Twas all over in -half a minute. Turley and Mudge and a dozen more went at 'em 'longside -o' me; we drove 'em back; Mudge tumbled the captain over, and the rest -hauled down their colors and cried for quarter. Then me and some more -jumped down the gangway and cleared the lower deck, where some mounseers -was scrambling round the arm-chest. Bless you! it didn't last long. -They did their best, to be sure, but we did better; and the end of it -was they all flung down their pikes and cutlasses and gave in. Then we -brought you down here into the captain's cabin; I put the ship about, -and cast off the _Fury_ with ten men in her; she's following in our wake -now, sir." - -"Capital! And what of the prisoners?" - -"Tied up, sir. There's a hundred and forty, sir, all told, and being -such a terrible lot more than us I couldn't leave 'em loose. They're -sitting on the lower deck, side by side, twenty of them slung on to one -rope, and for every twenty there's a man with a musket. They don't -understand plain English, sir, but they understand a loaded musket, and -every man of 'em knows that if he tries any tricks 'tis good-by." - -"Well, I'm only sorry I was bowled over. You've done splendidly. How -long have I been here?" - -"Somewheres about half an hour, sir. We couldn't do much for you, not -having no surgeon aboard; but we tied up your head as well as we could." - -"Oh, I'm all right. Just a little dizzy. Help me on deck; the fresh -air will do me good." - -He had lost a good deal of blood, and could scarcely have reached the -deck unassisted. The Englishmen gave a cheer when they saw their young -officer--a somewhat muffled cheer, for their mouths were full of the -food prepared for the Frenchmen's breakfast. It was so long since they -had had a square meal that they were making the most of their -opportunity, and the prisoners sat glum and hungry, watching the -disappearance of the soup intended for themselves. - -"Find the cook and cast him loose," said Jack. "He can get something -ready for them. Let 'em eat, forty at a time. Where's the captain?" - -"Getting over his temper for'ard, sir." - -Jack found the captain, and learned from him that the vessel, named the -_Glorieuse_, had been cruising off Ushant, and three days before had -captured an English merchantman, which she had sent to Brest with a -prize crew. The _Glorieuse_ was bound for Boulogne, and the _Fury_ had -been taken for a French despatch-boat bringing orders. - -By midday the _Glorieuse_ came within sight of Selsey Bill, and beating -up against a westerly breeze made a slow passage to Spithead. It was -almost dark before she ran into Portsmouth Harbor. Her signals had -already informed the port officers that she was a prize, and she had -hardly hove-to when a boat came alongside to make inquiries. - -"I'll have to go and see the admiral and report," said Jack to Babbage. -"Probably I shall not be back to-night. We'll see about the prisoners -in the morning." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *OFF LUSCOMBE* - - -During the latter part of the voyage Jack had devoted a good deal of -thought to his future course of action. To report to the admiral would -be his first duty; when that was done he wished to wipe off a personal -score. He had been shipped off to France by the smugglers of Luscombe; -they had unquestionably been assisted by Monsieur de Fronsac; and, -remembering the name Goujon mentioned by the Frenchman, he felt pretty -sure that the boat in which he had been conveyed from the shore belonged -to the sufferer from the flutters, Mr. Nathaniel Gudgeon. It was not in -human nature that he should let slip his chance of having his tit for -tat. - -And apart from his personal feelings, there were other reasons for this -determination. To put down smuggling was part of his duty as a king's -officer; it was no less his duty to suspect a Frenchman whom he found in -league with them. There was something mysterious in their connection -with De Fronsac, and something very unpleasant in the idea of De -Fronsac's sailing under false colors in the house of Squire Bastable. -It seemed to Jack that he would only be fulfilling a public duty, as -well as getting even with private enemies, if he probed the mystery and -laid the offenders by the heels. - -But to do this it was very necessary that his return to England should -be kept secret. The Luscombe smugglers would, no doubt, have friends -spying for them in neighboring ports, and if he were seen they would be -on their guard, and De Fronsac would have time to get away. He was -glad, therefore, that it was dark when the _Glorieuse_ came to her -anchorage. It increased his chances of escaping notice in preparing to -take the smugglers by surprise. - -Smartening himself up as well as he could, and removing as far as -possible the traces of his wound, he went ashore and made his way to -Admiral Horniman's lodgings in the Hard. He was admitted at once on -explaining his errand, and found himself in the presence of a big man -with rugged, weather-beaten face, fierce white eyebrows, and a wooden -arm. The admiral was alone, examining a chart with the aid of a tumbler -of toddy and a long pipe. - -"Mr. Midshipman Hardy, sir," said the servant. - -"Come in and shut that door," roared the admiral in a quarter-deck -bellow. "Dash my buttons! Do you want me to catch my death of cold! -Now what's this?" - -"Come to report a prize, sir." - -The admiral looked Jack up and down. - -"You have come to report a prize, have you, sir? And what's your -superior officer about when he sends a youngster like you?" - -"He's in a French prison, sir. I--" - -"The deuce he is! How do you come to be in charge of a prize, eh? -What's your vessel?" - -"The _Glorieuse_, sir!" - -"Don't trifle, sir! I didn't ask you for French crack-jaw. Your own -vessel, sir?" - -"The _Fury_, sir," Jack responded. - -"What! Are there two Furies? The only _Fury_ I know was the cutter -that that fool Blake allowed to be captured. Didn't they tell me she -was carried into Boulogne?" - -"Yes, sir, but we retook her." - -"By George! I'm glad of it; a smart cutter, the fastest on the station. -And you took a craft called the _Glorieuse_ too, did you? What's your -vessel, and who's your captain, and why isn't he here?" - -"If you please, sir--" - -"Answer my question, sir--a plain question and a plain answer." - -"My vessel's the _Fury_, sir," replied Jack, "and it was the _Fury_ -captured the _Glorieuse_, a thirty-gun brig." - -"What! that cockle-shell take a thirty-gun brig?" - -"Yes, sir, we took her by surprise, and--" - -"And who retook the _Fury_?" - -"Some threescore English seamen, sir; I was in command, and--" - -"You in command! Bless my soul, what are you talking about? What's -your name, sir?" - -"Jack Hardy, sir." - -"Why, why, didn't Lieutenant Blake report you as missing? Haven't I got -his report--somewhere, hang me if I know where. Where's Lieutenant -Blake? Why didn't he come and report all this himself?" - -"I'm sorry to say he's a prisoner in France, sir. He was taken inland, -and--" - -"Am I standing on my head or on my feet?" cried the peppery admiral. -"What's all this beating about the bush? Explain yourself, sir!" - -"Why don't you give me a chance?" thought Jack; but Admiral Horniman's -impetuous manner was well known on the Portsmouth station; no finer -sailor ever served his Majesty; and those who knew him knew what a -sterling character underlay his rough exterior. He raised his glass now -and emptied it at a draft; and Jack took advantage of the action to -begin his story, using as few words as possible, and hurrying on when he -saw the admiral preparing to interrupt. Somewhat to his surprise, he -reached the end without misadventure. - -"Bless my soul! And you mean to tell me, Mr. Hardy, that you captured -the _Glorieuse_ yourself?" - -"No, sir; I was bowled over; but the men fought splendidly, and Ben -Babbage--" - -"Turnip-tops! I know him! Brother Sol on the brain! but a good seaman. -Well, Mr. Hardy, you'll write all that down--plain, mind you, so that I -can read it, no finicking spidery scrawl for me, egad! Now run off and -get a sawbones to look at that wound of yours, and take a few days' -leave ashore. The sooner you're fit for duty the better. We'll take -charge of your prize." - -"Thank you, sir. But about the leave--if you don't mind, I'd rather not -take it at present." - -"What in thunder do you want to be at then?" - -"You know what happened at Luscombe, sir--at Congleton's Folly?" - -"Yes--no; hang me! I remember Blake reported something. He broke into -a tower, or something of that sort, and found nothing--wasn't that -it?--everything gone, lock, stock, and barrel." - -"Yes, sir. I want to find out what is going on in Luscombe now. I -can't do it if the smugglers learn that I've come back. Of course -they're bound to know that the _Fury_ has been retaken and the -_Glorieuse_ brought in a prize; but if my name's kept out of it they -won't be on their guard; and if you would allow me a few days' absence, -I'd--" - -"So you shall, by the Lord Harry!" cried the admiral, without waiting to -hear what. "And I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll keep the _Glorieuse_ -and the _Fury_ in quarantine. Not a man from either of 'em shall come -ashore till you've reported to me. They'd blab if they did. And -there's blabbing enough. Egad! Several of our merchantmen have been -scooped up lately, and I'll keel-haul the villain who betrays 'em to the -French if I catch him. But what about your wound, eh? Won't that be -troublesome?" - -"'Tis just a flesh wound, sir," replied Jack; "I shall be all right in a -couple of days. There's just one thing; may I have the _Fury_ if I find -I can use her?" - -"Certainly, certainly, when you like; in fact, Blake being absent, -you'll be in command till my lords make another appointment." - -Jack took his leave, very well pleased with the result of the interview. -He returned to the _Glorieuse_, waited until a lieutenant was sent by -the admiral to take charge of her, and then, with twenty-five men, -including Babbage and Turley, and stores hastily provided from the brig, -he sailed out of the harbor in the _Fury_. The admiral, he suspected, -would be somewhat amazed when he learned of the sudden departure; but, -having permission, Jack had resolved on his way back to set off at once -on his quest. The sooner the _Fury_ was out of sight the better; and by -sailing in the darkness she would be most likely to escape observation. - -The wind was not very favorable. A fresh breeze was blowing from the -southwest, and it was a somewhat tedious beat down Channel to the point, -abreast of Luscombe, where he had seen the signal light from Congleton's -Folly. Had the signalers sufficiently regained confidence, he wondered, -to resume their midnight work? - -"What do you think of it, Babbage?" he asked of the bo'sun, who was at -the tiller. - -"Well, sir, I think of a saying of brother Sol's: 'When the cat's away, -the mice do play.' There be several cats in the case, sir. One, the -_Fury_--a good name for cat or cutter; two, Mr. Blake; three, you -yourself, sir; four, me and Turley, for, having made up our little -difference, we two make one; I've got the claws, he've got the -caterwaul. All these cats being away, those there mice will have a rare -randy. Why, that there tower was as empty as a blown egg-shell when we -drove in the door, and climbed to the top; and the smugglers will be -a-hugging theirselves that all's clear, and thinking they can go on with -their work without any danger of a visit from the preventives. Lor' -bless you, I were a mouse myself once." - -"I agree with you. 'Tis six months since I disappeared, and they'll -have had all that time to recover from any fright we may have given -them. I wish the wind would change. I want to get opposite the tower -before morning." - -"But you can't expect them to do the signaling every night, sir. No -smugglers ever I knew or heard of could be so spry as that would mean. -Belike we shan't see the light for a matter of days--nights, that is--or -weeks. Like as not they'll have their regular times and seasons, same -as the herrings." - -"That's just why I'm so anxious to get there to-night. 'Tis Wednesday; -'twas on a Wednesday I first saw the light; for all we know Wednesday is -their regular day." - -"There may be summat in that." - -"And as we don't want to be discovered I'll have the tackle blocks -oiled, and tell the men to keep quiet." - -"Specially Turley, sir; but there, I take that back, sir, or he'll be -a-calling of me Spring Onions again." - -That night was so dark that Jack had some doubts whether he could hit -the exact spot from which the light was visible. But he ventured to -creep in toward the shore sufficiently near to descry the landmarks, and -having at length assured himself on that point, he ran out again, and -cruised about, keeping a keen lookout for the light. - -Two hours passed. It was near midnight, and he had almost given up hope -of success when, to the southwest, he saw a gleam. At the moment the -_Fury_ was running up the Channel before the wind. The light evidently -came from a vessel. But it had disappeared--no; there it was again; -three times the same light was shown and extinguished. - -"A signal, Babbage," said Jack. "Hope we shan't be seen." - -"Better hold on our course, sir, then beat out. We've to get that there -craft atween us and the shore." - -Jack acted on the bo'sun's suggestion. In a few minutes the same signal -was seen, this time full on the weather beam. - -"They haven't answered her yet, sir," said Babbage, "and she won't sail -in much closer, 'cos if she do, she won't see the light from the Folly, -if so be 'tis that she's looking for." - -"No. But I'm afraid she'll see us. She certainly will if we venture -too close. Yet if we make too wide a sweep round her she may do -whatever mischief she's about before we can make up on her. How far is -she out, Babbage?" - -"About five mile, I should say, sir." - -"Well, I'm going to risk it. We'll run out beyond her, and hit the -straight line between her and the Folly; we'll see then if any signaling -is going on." - -As soon as he thought he had made sufficient offing, Jack brought the -_Fury_ closer to the wind and crept toward the line he had mentioned. He -no longer expected to see any signal from the vessel; the lantern would -be turned away from him. But he looked anxiously toward the shore. -Minute after minute passed, and yet he saw nothing. He began to fear -that either he had lost his bearings and crossed the line while -signaling had been going on between the tower and the vessel, or that -there was no one at the Folly, after all, and both he and the commander -of the other ship were to be disappointed. - -Suddenly a light flashed out from shore, and remained gleaming brightly -and steadily. So strong was it that Jack felt not a little anxiety lest -it should show up the _Fury_ to the vessel now between her and the land. -But a moment's reflection reassured him. At this distance the light -could have no illuminating power; and if he could not see the strange -craft, it was not very likely that she could see him. - -He was wondering what his next move had better be when the light -disappeared. But only for a moment. Then it shone out again. Again it -disappeared, and then for several seconds it alternately came and went, -with regular intervals of very brief duration between the flashes. At -last there was a longer interval; then the regular flashes began again. - -"Heave to, Babbage!" cried Jack. - -Springing down to the cabin, he returned in a few moments with a slip of -paper, a pencil, and a shaded lantern. By the light of the last, Jack -made a note. It would not have conveyed much or anything to an -onlooker. It began-- 17 -- 3 -- 18 -- 2 ---- 1 -- 17 -- 17 -- 3 -- 20 --- 2 ---- 16 ---- 11 ---- 15 -- 1 -- 20 -- 3 -- 17 -- 2 ... and this -succession of numbers and dashes grew until it completely filled the -paper. After he had written for nearly half an hour the light -disappeared altogether; he waited ten minutes on the chance of the -flashes being resumed; then folded the paper, put it in his pocket, and -ordered the men to crowd on all sail. - -In a few seconds the _Fury_ was running before the wind in the direction -Jack thought the strange vessel might have taken. There was just a -chance that he might overhaul and capture her, for he guessed that she -was little if anything larger than the cutter, and in all likelihood the -same lugger which had escaped Lieutenant Blake months before. But -though he cruised about for a couple of hours he failed to find her. - -"We'll give it up," he said at length to Babbage. "Now I want a little -time to work out a puzzle. We mustn't be seen from Luscombe or the -neighborhood, so we'll beat down Channel and make for Falmouth. That's -far enough away to be out of reach of the Luscombe men or their spies; -and I'll eat my boots if I haven't a pretty piece of news to report to -Admiral Horniman to-morrow." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - *A DISCOVERY* - - -About nine o'clock the next morning the _Fury_ ran into Falmouth Harbor. -Sending a boat's crew ashore to get fresh provisions, Jack closeted -himself in the cabin, and, leaning his head on his hands, pored over the -paper on which he had made the strange jottings the night before. - -The numbers represented the flashes which had followed at intervals of a -second; the short dashes represented intervals of five seconds, the long -dashes intervals of twenty seconds. What was the explanation? It was -clear that the signalers had a code; the flashes in some way spelt out -words, and Jack guessed from the long time the message had taken that -the words were spelt in full. How was he to set about finding out what -they were? He had never in his life read a cipher, and for some minutes -he was at a loss how to begin. - -At last it struck him that the highest number he had written was 20. -There were twenty-six letters in the alphabet, and some of the letters, -such as Q, X, Z, were very seldom used. It was not unlikely that in a -comparatively short message they would not be used at all. Each letter -might be represented by a number. He wrote down the twenty-six letters -of the alphabet, placing a number under each, from 1 to 26. Then he -substituted the letters for the numbers on the paper, thus: - - QCRB----AQQCTB----P----K----OATCQB - - -This was nonsense; the fact that most of the letters were consonants, -and the one that most frequently occurred, Q, showed that he was on the -wrong tack. He must try again. He was sure the long dashes represented -the intervals between the words; what did the numbers stand for? - -"I wonder what letter is most often used?" he thought. He wrote down -the first thing that occurred to him, the first line of the song, _Heart -of Oak_-- - - "Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer." - -"'Tis E!" he said to himself. "It occurs in four words out of ten. Now -there are three words in the stuff that have 3 and 2 in them; depend -upon it either 3 or 2 stands for E. Which is it? Why, E is the second -vowel, and I is the third. Every word has one or two vowels in it, and -two of these words have I in them. Perhaps the five vowels are numbered -1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Let's try that." - -Recopying the alphabet, he found that on this system the message read-- - - PIQE----APPISE----N----H----MASIPE - - -"It looks a little more pronounceable, but hanged if I can make any -sense of it. There's a French look about it. Why, what a dolt I am! If -it's Fronsac who's signaling from the Folly, of course the message will -be in French. Not that that helps matters!" he thought dolefully. "The -French alphabet's the same as the English till you get to W, and W is -number 23, which doesn't come in. Confound the thing!" - -It was not until he had pondered and puzzled for more than an hour that -Jack got any fresh light. Then it occurred to him that some of the -less-used of the letters might have been dropped. After some thought, he -left out K, Q, and all the letters after V, and renumbered those that -were left. The first result of this change gave him a thrill. He spelt -out the word "RISE." - -"Now I'm on the scent!" he said to himself. - -Next came the word "ARRIVE," then two initials--P, H, after them the -word "NAVIRE." - -"I can't make any sense of it at present. Let's go on." - -At length the complete message was deciphered. It ran as follows-- - - -RISE ARRIVE P H NAVIRE SOUS CONVOI E FREGATE PARTENT VENDREDI POUR -JAMAIQUE SANDI COVE SAMEDI. - - -This was certainly clearer; it was decidedly French for the most part; -but what did "RISE," "P," "H" and "E" mean? In a few minutes Jack -jumped to the meaning of H and E; they were to be taken as numbers, not -as letters; eleven merchant ships under convoy of two frigates were -leaving on Friday for Jamaica. What about "RISE?" He remembered by and -by that he had not begun to write until the signaling had been in -progress for some time. "RISE" was probably the end of a word. What -French word ended so? He put other letters in turn before the -perplexing syllable: _brise, crise, grise, prise_. PRISE! Captured! -He saw it at last. The signaler was informing the men of the lugger -that a captured ship had arrived; P stood for Portsmouth; and Jack had -no doubt that the ship meant was the _Glorieuse_. - -All that was left of the message were the last three words: "SANDI COVE -SAMEDI." These suggested that Sandy Cove was to be the scene of a cargo -run on Saturday; but Jack had never heard of Sandy Cove. For the moment -he gave no more thought to it; the first part of the message was of much -greater importance than any smuggling business. - -The mystery was becoming clear at last. No wonder the French showed a -disconcerting knowledge of the movement of English ships! De Fronsac was -a spy! So far from detesting the Monstair, he was actually in the -Monstair's pay. His business was to supply the Monstair with -information. And his cunning had found a means to avoid the perils that -otherwise might have beset his task. He had made friends of the -Luscombe smugglers, ostensibly cast in his lot with them, so that he -might have opportunities of signaling information to the French. Jack -saw through the scheme in a flash. - -It was Wednesday. Obviously there was no time to be lost if the ships -to sail on Friday were to be saved. The lugger would convey the message -to one of the western ports of France, and the enemy's cruisers would -come out in sufficiently large force to cut off the merchantmen and -convoy. They could indeed afford to wait a few days, for even if the -wind proved favorable for the sailing of the English vessels, they would -make such slow progress that a French fleet in pursuit could overhaul -them speedily, and, knowing their destination, would probably have -little difficulty in finding them. Admiral Horniman must be at once -informed of the discovery. - -The men having by this time returned from their errand on shore, Jack at -once hoisted sail and ran back to Portsmouth, keeping well out in the -Channel off Luscombe to avoid recognition. The admiral spent five -minutes in blowing off a considerable amount of warm language when he -heard the story. - -"The merchantmen shall sail if the wind favors," he said, when he had -recovered. "But I'll increase their escort, and the French shall get an -unpleasant surprise, I promise 'em, if they act on the information -they've got. And that Frenchman at Luscombe, I'll string him up to the -yard-arm. I'll stop his signaling. I'll give orders for the tower to -be occupied, and every one found there put in irons and clapped under -hatches." - -"I don't think you'll find any one there, sir," Jack ventured to -suggest. "Fronsac's hand in glove with the smugglers, that's the -meaning of 'Sandy Cove Saturday.' If any of our men are seen making a -move in Luscombe direction the news will be signaled along the coast. -They'd all clear out. Couldn't we play their own game, sir?" - -"What d'you mean?" - -"I don't exactly see all the way, sir; but what occurred to me was that -we might do a little signaling and catch 'em in their own net." - -"A capital notion! By gad, we'll do it! We'll have to let 'em make -their run on Saturday?" - -"Yes, sir, and arrange to signal from the tower next Wednesday." - -"Very well. I leave it to you. You seem to have got some brains. Come -to me if you want any assistance." - -Before he returned to the _Fury_ Jack scribbled a note to his mother -announcing his safe return, and begging her on no account to let the -news travel to Bastable Grange. It was better that for the present his -cousins should be ignorant of his whereabouts. - -On reaching the cutter he started on a run up the coast. He wished to -keep away from Luscombe until Saturday. Though he had no intention of -interfering with the smugglers' run on that day, he was anxious to -witness it. For one thing, it would prove whether he had read the -intercepted message aright; moreover, he particularly desired to find -out who was engaged in the business. Knowing what a close watch was -kept by the smugglers, he recognized that it would not be easy to learn -what he wished; but his successes in France had tended to dim the memory -of certain less fortunate incidents at Luscombe. - -He now took Babbage and Turley into his confidence. When he mentioned -Sandy Cove he met with an unexpected check. - -"There ain't no such place, sir--leastways, not on this coast," said -Turley. - -"Are you sure?" Jack insisted. - -"Sartin, sir." - -"That's strange. I don't think I read the word wrongly. I could be -sure it was Sandi, the way a Frenchman would spell it. We'll have to go -back to Portsmouth and get a chart of the coast; we may find something -that looks like it." - -But when he got a chart from the admiral he searched it in vain. There -was no such name as Sandy Cove. He was convinced that he had not -mistaken the signal; all that could be done now was to inquire in the -neighborhood of Luscombe whether any of the inlets was locally known by -that name. But with the exception of the Bastables he knew of no one -whom he could trust, and he had a strong reason for avoiding the -squire's house; nothing must be done that might put De Fronsac on his -guard. - -Then a thought of Gumley came to him--Joe Gumley, the one-legged sailor. -He was Luscombe born; though he kept himself to himself, he would -probably know the whereabouts of Sandy Cove. And he might safely be -asked the question, for, never a friend to the smugglers, he had a -distinct grudge against them since that day when his garden was -ransacked, and he was the least likely of men to give them any -information. - -"Yes, I'll ask Gumley," thought Jack. "It can't do any harm." - -It was afternoon when he steered the _Fury_ into a sheltered cove some -six miles west of Luscombe. He had chosen the spot because the coast -there was rugged, and the shore uninhabited, and the cutter might lie -safe from wind and wave, and from observation by too inquisitive people. - -"Now, Babbage," said Jack as he stepped ashore, "I leave you in charge. -Keep quiet, and be on your guard." - -"Ay, ay, sir. And what if you don't come back, sir, like as 'twas six -months ago t'other side of Luscombe?" - -"Run back to Portsmouth and report to the admiral. But I'll be back, -never fear." - -He had exchanged his midshipman's hat for a wide-brimmed beaver, and -wore a long cloak which made him look more like a magistrate's clerk -than a sailor. Thus disguised, he walked over the beach, climbed the -cliff, and struck into a path which would lead by a roundabout way into -the Luscombe road. It was very unlikely that he would meet any of the -Luscombe people in this direction; but Babbage's question reminded him -of the unlucky end of a similar errand in the previous autumn, and he -smiled somewhat grimly as he remembered his resolve to get even with his -captors. - -A white mist lay over the land, striking very cold against his face. -But it favored his chances of escaping notice if any one should meet -him, and he was indeed glad of the obscurity when, in the driver of a -gig that passed him, he thought he recognized the bulky form of Mr. -Gudgeon. Save for this solitary traveler, the road was quite deserted, -and he arrived without adventure at Gumley's cottage. - -He looked over the fence. No one was to be seen. Though it was already -almost dark, owing to the mist, no light appeared in the cottage window. - -"Ahoy O!" he called, without raising his voice, making a trumpet of his -hands so that the sound would carry. There was no answer. - -He rapped on the fence, calling "Ahoy O!" again. Still there was no -reply. - -"Here goes!" he said to himself. Stripping off his cloak he folded it -and laid it on the nails, then clambered over and hastened to the door. - -"I say, Gumley, let me in," he said, rapping. - -"Who be 'ee? This bean't no inn." - -"It's me, Gumley--Jack Hardy, you know." - -"Tell that to the marines. Mr. Hardy's far away. Get along with 'ee." - -"Don't be a jackass, Gumley. Open the door. Comely will know me if you -don't." - -"'Ware dog, then, and if his teeth jine in your legs 'tis your own -doing, whoever ye be!" - -There was a rattling of the bolts. The door was opened. The bulldog -rushed out, and with a growl of pleasure began to rub his nose against -Jack's trousers. - -"There you are, you see," he said, stepping into the cottage, to find -Gumley standing on guard with a blunderbuss. - -"Well, sir, this is a rare surprise. I seemed to know your voice, but -thought for sure it must be your ghost. Never did I expect to see you -no more in this world, sir, and right glad I be." - -"So am I, Gumley. But fasten up again, and light your lamp. I want to -talk to you." - -"But how did ye escape, sir?" asked Gumley, as he shot the bolt and led -the way to his kitchen. - -"'Tis too long a story to tell you now. Another time. But why, man, -what's the matter with you? You look very down in the mouth." - -"Ay, and so I feels, sir. What with worry and the rheumatics I feel I -be not long for this world. I've bin twisted up with it all winter, -sir. Since I sold they artichokes to Squire Bastable I've bin as -useless as an old hulk. In course, some folks might think me lucky -having only one leg to get the rheumatics in; but chok' it all, sir, the -pain's just as bad in the wooden leg as 'tis in t'other; ay, and worse, -'cos I can doctor my natural leg, whereas not all the surgeons of King -Jarge hisself could do this old stump any good." - -"'Tis hard lines, indeed. But what's been worrying you?" - -"Sit ye down, sir, and I'll tell 'ee about it." - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *TAR AND FEATHERS* - - -"Fust and foremost, sir," said Gumley, having lit his pipe, "my poor old -moke is dead. Ah! he served me well for many a year, and carried tons -and tons o' garden stuff into Wynport. But now he's gone, and if so be -I can do any digging and planting this spring I'll have no one to carry -my vegetables to market." - -"'Twas old age, I suppose. He looked on his last legs when I saw him -first on the Luscombe road six months ago." - -"No, sir, 'twarn't old age. If he had been left alone he'd have lived -to be as old as Methusalum. No, 'twarn't old age, nor overwork neither." - -"What was it, then?" - -Gumley hesitated. He looked at the locked door and the shuttered -window, got up and went to the back door, bending his head forward as if -listening. Then he returned to his chair, and, between two puffs, said, -under his breath-- - -"'Twere p'ison, sir." - -"Poison!" - -"Ay, sir. Jerry--so I called him, sir--were sound as a ship's bell one -night, sir; next morning he were dead as mutton." - -"But how do you know 'twas poison?" - -"'Cos that very same day Comely was took bad and well-nigh went to -glory, too. Where Comely goes, Gumley follers; my rheumatiz were very -bad that day." - -"'Tis plain you've got enemies, Gumley. I'm sorry for you. Comely -looks all right now, at any rate. We'll see what we can do to get you a -new donkey. But I mustn't waste time. I'll tell you what I've come -for. Do you know where Sandy Cove is?" - -Gumley gave a start, and looked round the room again with that uneasy -glance which had attracted Jack's attention before. - -"Axing your pardon, sir, would ye say why and wherefore you want to know -that?" - -"I don't think I can--at all events, not yet. But I'll tell you one -thing. I'm on the king's business, and that will be enough for an old -king's man, eh, Gumley?" - -"True, sir, God save the king! All the same, I'd rather ye axed your -question of some one else." - -"There is no one else. Come, Gumley, out with it. What is the -mystery?" - -Gumley still hesitated. He scratched his poll, rubbed the dog's head, -stirred an imaginary fire with his wooden leg, and once more glanced -uneasily at the window. - -"This won't do," said Jack. "Joe Gumley, I call upon you, in the king's -name, to answer this question at once. Where is Sandy Cove?" - -"If you puts it like that, sir, as a king's man--leastways, I was afore -I got this plaguy leg--I'm bound to make a clean breast of it. Sandy -Cove is the name what the smugglers give to that there little chine just -below Mr. Gudgeon's farm." - -"Ah! And how came you to know that?" - -"Well, sir, if truth must be told, in the king's name, I were a smuggler -myself once, afore I became a king's man." - -"I see! And the smugglers are down on you, are they, because you won't -join 'em again?" - -"How can I, sir? Once a king's man, always a king's man--to say nothing -of the wooden leg. I served his Majesty for many a year, sir, and I -bean't a-going to turn agen him. Not but what 'tis main hard, for -smuggling's an uncommon fine trade--if so be I can make bold to speak -free afore a king's officer." - -"I won't peach," said Jack, laughing. "Speak freely? Of course you -can. And you'd better tell me all about it now. You look as uneasy as -if you were sitting on pins." - -"So I be, sir, and that's the truth. No longer ago than last Wednesday, -Mr. Goodman he chanced to come upon a string of carts carrying smuggled -goods from Luscombe to Wickham Ferrers. He nabbed the whole lot, sir, -horses and all. And my old mates got the notion into their noddles that -'twas me as blabbed--me, sir, what knowed no more about it than that -there innocent dog. But they believe it; and there 'tis. They swore -they'd make me smart for it, and I dursn't stir out o' my door for fear -I get a good crack on the nob or something just as awk'ard." - -"I don't understand why they're so down on you. You keep yourself to -yourself, as you told me. Why should they think 'twas you split on -them?" - -"I make it out this way, sir. I'm a' old smuggler, and know all the -secrets o' the trade. I'm a' old king's man, too. They don't square. -I won't jine my old mates, and they, being a bit wooden-headed, thinks -I'm agen 'em. I bean't agen 'em, only I bean't for 'em. I can't go -agen the king, nor I can't go back on my old mates; but bless your soul, -_they_ don't see what I mean when I says I keep myself to myself." - -"Well, you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. But what's -that?" - -He sprang up from his chair and went toward the shuttered window. -Comely went to the door, growling. From without, muffled by the -distance, came the tramp of heavy feet along the road, mingled with the -hum of voices. - -"'Tis come, sir," sighed Gumley, leaning back in his chair resignedly. -"Here they be at last. I knowed this would be the end of it. They said -they'd tar and feather me, and they be come to do it." - -"Two can play at that game, Gumley. I'd sooner not be recognized now, -but I'll not leave you to deal with 'em single-handed." - -"I take it very kind o' you, sir, but there's no call for you to be -mixed up in it. If they mean to get in, in they'll get, sure enough; -and ye'll only land yourself in a nasty rumpus, and do no good. Thank -ye kindly. I'll let ye out by the back door afore they come, and me and -Comely'll do what we can, for chok' it all, it bean't in human nature to -be tarred and feathered without a bit of a scrimmage." - -"No, no. If you're going to make a fight of it, I'll lend a hand. -We're well armed. You've your blunderbuss and a cutlass; I've two -pistols and a dirk; and our good friend Comely here has excellent teeth, -I'll be bound." - -At this moment a loud shout was heard from the road, followed by an -insistent knocking on the gate. Gumley stumped up the rickety stairs to -the floor above, threw open the windows looking on the garden, and -shouted: - -"Who be you, and what do 'ee want?" - -"We want you, Joe Gumley," came the hoarse answer, "and we're gwine to -have 'ee, too." - -"I bean't deaf, Tom Berry, so ye needn't bust your fog-horn. What do -'ee want wi' me?" - -"We'll show 'ee. You bin peaching, you dirty mean sneaker. Come down -along, and we'll give 'ee a fair trial afore the men as used to be your -mates." - -"No, thank 'ee, Tom. Whoever says I bin peaching says a lie, and as for -trial, why, I bean't a fool, I bean't. If I wants trying I'll go afore -a justice o' the peace like Squire Bastable, or a judge and jury at the -'sizes, and not afore Tom Berry or Bill Widdicombe or any other -mumble-chopped chaw-bacon. See then, I don't want to use hard words to -old ship-mates o' mine, but--" - -Jack heard no more, for Gumley's words were drowned by a volley of -shouts and curses from the men below. He let down the window with a -bang. - -"They be coming over, sir," he called to Jack. "'Tis all hands to repel -boarders. They're mounting on balks of wood to 'scape the nails. Now -they're over. And they be split into two parties, half a dozen each; -and one's coming straight for the front door; t'other's gone round to -the back. I be coming, sir, I be coming." - -By the time he reached Jack's side the men had begun to batter -simultaneously at both the doors with the balks of wood which, knowing -Gumley, they had brought with them, evidently anticipating resistance. -The men at the front door were protected by a narrow porch; those at the -back were fully exposed; and Jack saw that unless something were done at -once to check them they would soon be able to break a way in, for the -doors were not very substantial pieces of timber, and could not long -stand the heavy battering to which they were now being subjected. - -He stood with Gumley and the dog at the front door. - -"What's your blunderbuss loaded with, Gumley?" he said. - -"Small shot, sir." - -"Then I tell you what we'll do. I'll fling the door open; you fire at -their legs; then we'll all three charge 'em. We've only half a dozen to -deal with; the men at the back will stop work when they hear the row. -They'll come rushing round. Be ready to get back and haul the dog off. -I'll keep my pistols in reserve; the less firing the better; we don't -want all Luscombe here. Lend me a muffler, quick!" - -He pulled the brim of his hat down over his face, turned up the collar -of his cloak, and wrapped the muffler Gumley gave him closely round his -chin. All the time the men were hammering at the door, and Comely was -moving restlessly about, uttering deep growls. - -"Standby, Gumley!" - -Jack quickly slipped the bolts, threw the door open, and dodged back. -There was a blinding flash, a roar, and yells of pain and rage from the -smugglers, who, crouching in the porch around their battering-ram, -received the crammed charge of the blunderbuss about their legs. They -dropped the timber, and gave back a little. Before they had recovered -from their surprise, the bulldog, snarling with fury, was among them, -and behind him came Jack and Gumley, who laid about them doughtily with -cutlass and dirk--using, however, the flat, for neither wished to do any -serious hurt unless they were hard-pressed. - -Amazement was now turned to confusion and fright. The intruders had no -thought but to hobble out of the way of these furious combatants. But as -they pushed one another toward the garden they were met by their -comrades from the rear, whom the shout and the cries had interrupted, as -Jack expected. Their arrival only doubled the confusion. Amid the -babel of shouts they could hear nothing of what had happened. Some of -the men were still yelling under the blows of the dirk and cutlass; and -when one howled "Ho! Hi! Help! The dog's got me!" they were seized -with uncontrollable panic; and with one consent bolted down the garden -and scrambled over the fence, with no small damage to their nether -garments from the nails, never pausing until they perceived that no -pursuit was attempted. - -One man, however, was left on the field. In the entrance to the porch -lay a big fellow groaning. Comely held him fast by the leg. Gumley -hastened to him and tried to release him from the dog's teeth, but, -finding that impossible, he dragged dog and man bodily into the cottage, -slammed the door, and bolted it. Jack was already inside. - -"Let go, Comely, old boy," said his master, stooping to release the man, -who, half dead with fright, lay groaning where Gumley had dropped him. -"Why, what are ye bellowing like a sea-serpent for?" he added. "His -teeth never went further than your leggings! Who be ye for a -chicken-hearted--why, dash my buttons, 'tis Bill Gudgeon! Oh, Billy, -what a' example to set your good feyther! Oh, my goodness, won't he be -took bad with the flutters when he hears this! Ahoy, Mr.----! Avast -there, Joe Gumley, blowed if you wasn't just a-going to put your foot in -it. Billy, my son, you come along o' me." - -He hauled the trembling youth into the kitchen, and pushed him into a -chair, where he sat immovable, in mortal terror of the bulldog, which -stood by, fixing him with his thirsty eyes. - -Meanwhile Jack had gone to the upper window to see what had become of -the enemy. They were out of sight, but when he opened the window he -guessed by their voices that they were in conference just beyond the -fence. - -"Ay, and more'n Gumley!" - -In the still air of the frosty March evening the hoarse whisper came -clearly to Jack's ears: - -"In course; there was his dog." - -"I knows that. But I seed another man, all in black, with his hat over -his eyes and his face all swaddled up: Goodman hisself, maybe." - -"Well, I be gwine home along. I've got a score o' pellets somewhere -about my legs, and they'll p'ison my blood less I pick 'em out soon." - -"Ay true, and we'll go lame for a month or more. Chok' it all! Who'd -ha' thowt old Joe would ha' bin so fierce!" - -As they were moving away, a gig rattled up and stopped. - -"'Tis Mr. Gudgeon, so 'tis," Jack heard a rough voice say. - -"Not so loud!" was the hasty answer. "What luck, lads?" - -"None at all, and be hanged to it. We've not got nowt but a trouncing, -Mr. Gudgeon." - -"Lower, speak lower, man. What happened?" - -"Blunderbuss and cutlass and dog's teeth; that's what happened, Mr. -Gudgeon, as your boy Bill could tell 'ee. Why, where be the lad?" - -"Been and creeped home along, by the look o't," said another man. "He -bean't here. There's blood for 'ee! There's spirit! What a -bold-hearted first-born you have got, to be sure, Mr. Gudgeon!" - -"Hush, man! Here, come along. I can take four or five of 'ee in the -gig, and you can tell me the whole story as we go." - -The gig rattled away; the men for whom there was not room shambled -after; and Jack smiled as he returned to the kitchen. - -"There, Comely, watch him!" Gumley was saying. "I be gwine to look -around the garden, sir, to make sure none on 'em be left." - -Jack made no reply, but stood at the door while Gumley stumped round the -inclosure. He came back by and by grinning. - -"They be all gone, sir, all but this." He held up a pail out of which -the handle of a brush was sticking, and a bundle of feathers. "'Twas by -the back door, sir." - -"Ah! I've a notion. Shut the door and come along, Gumley." - -Keeping his feathers well covered, and deepening his voice to the lowest -pitch possible, Jack addressed the prisoner, who sat in shivering -stillness, his eyes fixed on the vigilant dog. - -"Now, Bill Gudgeon, you shall choose. Spend the night with the dog, and -go before Squire Bastable to-morrow; or use this brush you came to -use--on yourself. 'Twould be a pity to waste such excellent tar." - -"And the feathers be uncommon soft," added Gumley. - -The victim lifted his eyes for one moment, but said never a word. - -"Come, come, make up your mind. The dog--or the tar brush." - -Still the lad hesitated. Fright seemed to have tied his tongue. - -"Very well, the dog, then. If he goes for you in the night you'd better -sing out." - -"Watch him, Comely!" - -The dog acknowledged the order with a growl of satisfaction, and Jack -and Gumley moved toward the door. - -"Stop, measter! Stop, Joe Gumley!" cried the unhappy youth, finding his -voice at last. "Not the dog! For gracious goodness' sake, not the -dog." - -"Off with your coat then," said Jack, finding some difficulty in keeping -his voice at the proper profundity. - -"Ay, or your good feyther'll have the flutters worse'n ever," said -Gumley. "Such a good coat, too good to spoil." - -Bill Gudgeon removed his coat, always eying the dog, which stood -watching with intelligent appreciation. Then Gumley handed him the -brush. - -"A little on the nose to begin with," said Jack. - -Forthwith Bill's nose was black. - -"Now the cheeks; no--a little more, if you please--yes, that's right. -Now a dab across the forehead: don't spare the tar, there's plenty more -in the pail--yes, that's capital! Now a few feathers, Gumley." - -The trembling lad stuck the feathers, as they were handed to him, on the -glistening tar. He groaned once, but Comely's echoing growl silenced -him and made him hurry. - -"Now I think he'll do," said Jack at last. - -"Beautiful, sir! Whoever seed a better job this side of the line?" - -"Listen, Bill Gudgeon! You'll tell your father that if Mr. Gumley is -molested again, you and your mates will be hauled up before Squire -Bastable and sent to cool your heels in the lock-up. You can go!" - -Bill took his coat, rose from the chair, and sidled to the door, his -eyes never leaving the dog. He was gone! - -Jack sat down and laughed quietly. - -"I think he's had enough, Gumley. Now I must go. I'll see you again -soon." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *A RUN AT SANDY COVE* - - -It took Jack much longer in the darkness to return to the _Fury_ than it -had taken to reach the cottage, and he found that Babbage was becoming -uneasy. - -"All safe, men?" he said. - -"Ay, ay, sir. And you, sir?" - -"Right as a trivet. Heave the anchor, boys; I want to be fifty miles -away by the morning." - -He required a little time for thinking out a plan for turning to account -his discovery of the signaler's code, and meanwhile it was desirable to -keep out of the smugglers' reach. Before dawn he dropped anchor at a -little fishing village fifty miles west of Luscombe. It was a remote -and secluded spot, and there was little chance of the _Fury's_ presence -coming to the ears of the Luscombe folk for some days. - -"I'm going ashore again, Babbage. Lie quietly here. I may be away a -couple of days." - -Still disguised, he went into the village, hired a gig, and drove thirty -miles in the Luscombe direction to the village of Middleton, about ten -miles from the sea. He put up at the _Pig and Whistle_, scribbled a -note to the riding-officer and despatched it by a horseman to Wynport. - - -"SIR" (he wrote),-- - -"Be good enough to meet me here this evening. Ask at the inn for Mr. -Loveday. The matter is urgent, and the business the king's. - -"Yours truly, - "JACK HARDY." - - -At six o'clock Mr. Goodman appeared. - -"I am here, Mr. Hardy, but 'tis most inconvenient. I take it rather hard -that a man of my age--" - -"Exactly, Mr. Goodman. I'm not so old as you, and I should have come to -you if I hadn't good reasons for keeping clear of the coast folk. I've -information that the smugglers intend to make a run to-morrow." - -"Is that all? Why, I often get such information, and nine times out of -ten it is false. Besides, what's the good of knowing that a run is to -be made if you don't know where?" - -"I do know where." - -"Oh, in that case leave it to me. I'll bag the whole gang. There's a -score of rascals at Luscombe I'd like to hang--ay, and will, too. If -your news is correct, 'twill be pretty soon, I promise you." - -"Just so, Mr. Goodman. But meanwhile I've come to arrange that the run -may be made without interference." - -"What! Do I hear ye aright? A king's officer name such a thing to me! -'Pon my soul and body, Mr. Hardy, I'm surprised at you. 'Twill be my -duty--a painful duty, Mr. Hardy--to report the matter. Never in the -whole seventeen years of my service have--" - -"Quite so, Mr. Goodman," Jack interrupted. "But Admiral Horniman thinks -that in this case the king's service requires this little departure from -the ordinary course. And 'twill only make the capture of your rascals -more certain in the end. We have to meet them with their own -weapons--match ruse with ruse; and that's why, with the admiral's -approval, I want you and your land-guard to help me." - -Jack smiled so pleasantly and spoke with such an air of deference that -the riding-officer, taking what he said as a compliment to his own -astuteness, thawed. - -"A capital idea, Mr. Hardy! Exactly; play their own game. The admiral -was always a man of sense. But what do you propose?" - -Then followed a long conversation, in which Jack explained as much of -his plan as he thought would suffice. Mr. Goodman was captivated with -the notion, and left by and by in high good-humor with Jack, himself, -and everybody. - -Jack did not know the time of the intended run. It would certainly not -be before dark, so when he left the inn on the following afternoon he -timed his departure so as to arrive near Luscombe just after darkness -had fallen. The distance was nearly twenty miles across country. He -drove some ten miles directly toward Luscombe, then struck inland for -another seven miles, alighted at a cottage recommended by the -riding-officer, and left the gig in charge of the owner, a trusty man, -saying that he would meet him at the same place at daybreak next -morning. - -From the cottage to Luscombe the distance was about five miles. He knew -the lay of the land, and, following unfrequented paths, came to the edge -of Congleton's Hollow in about an hour and a half. Skirting this -cautiously, he made his way along the edge of the stream that had formed -the chine he now knew as Sandy Cove. - -It was a good mile to the sea. Every now and then he stopped and -listened, to make sure that he was not being followed; hereabouts he had -come unexpectedly upon Gudgeon and De Fronsac. As he came near -Gudgeon's farm he went with redoubled caution. He heard a sand-piper -whistling; a few gulls screeched above his head; save for these there -was silence. - -He remembered having noticed, in the course of his rambles with Arthur, -a large evergreen bush growing on a shelf of rock some distance above -the bed of the stream. That seemed to him the very place at which to -post himself, for while he could get from it a good view of what was -happening on the shore only a few yards below, it was so thick, and so -situated in relation to its surroundings, that he would run little -danger there of being observed. - -With some difficulty he clambered up to the bush. Looking round to make -sure that he was not espied, he forced his way into it, and waited. The -time passed slowly. It was a black March evening, with a nipping wind, -and in spite of his cloak Jack felt bitterly cold. Hour after hour -drawled away, and there had been no sound. He wondered whether the run -had been abandoned. Or had he, after all, made a mistake? - -At last, when, feeling numbed and depressed, he had almost resolved to -leave the spot, he heard voices from just above--on the zigzag path from -Gudgeon's farm to the sea. - -"Send round the word; she'll be in in ten minutes. There's no -preventives on the prowl, or we'd have heard afore now from Totley Point -or Laxted Cove. Aha! Goodman and his joes have never yet got past -Peter Bunce and Jan Derriman. Bill, a' believe I've got some o' they -pellets in my calf yet." - -"More fool 'ee for meddling wi' old Joe." - -One of the men hurried down the path, while the other returned to the -top of the cliff. Listening intently, Jack heard the man's footsteps -sounding ever more faintly as they receded in the direction of the -village. - -He was right, then! This was Sandy Cove, and here the run was to be -made. He felt impatient for the work to begin. The sky was very dark, -there was no moon--smugglers avoided moonlit nights--but the air was so -clear that he hoped to see well enough for his purpose. - -Ah! there were dark figures moving quietly about the beach below. The -men had taken off their boots, it appeared, and there--yes! It was the -black shape of a vessel slowly approaching the shore. The sails were -run down with scarce a sound; the lugger hove to within a few yards of -the cove; then, on a gangway invisible to Jack, the smugglers went to -and fro, those coming shoreward bent under heavy burdens. - -Jack watched eagerly. The carriers brought their loads up the chine, -and disappeared along the same path that he himself had followed a few -hours before. It seemed but a few minutes; then he heard a voice say -"That's the last;" the lugger stood out to sea, and Sandy Cove was as -quiet as though nothing had happened. - -Slipping out of his hiding-place, Jack very cautiously followed the last -man, who carried no load and seemed to be in some authority over the -rest. Jack could never venture near enough to see his features, nor -even to get a complete view of his form. He tracked him to Congleton's -Hollow, and there was compelled to pause and dodge some of the carriers -who, having finished their work, were making their way homeward across -the fields. Waiting a little while until all seemed safe, he crept -across the Hollow to the summer-house where he had found the iron steps. -It was from this that the carriers had come. Clearly the smuggled goods -had been deposited there. He searched as thoroughly as he could in the -darkness, but could find no trace of them. - -"'Tis a job for daylight," he said to himself. "Now for my tramp back." - -He was dead tired when he reached the cottage where he had left his gig. -The cottager awoke at his knock, put the horse in, and drove him at once -to Middleton, where he slept heavily for three or four hours before Mr. -Goodman arrived in the morning. - -"Well, Mr. Hardy, I hope you spotted the rascals as we arranged." - -"I saw the run," replied Jack, with an inward chuckle at the -riding-officer's "we," "and a precious cold night it was. They've -hidden the stuff somewhere in old Congleton's summer-house." - -"Have they indeed? I'll seize it at once." - -"No, no, Mr. Goodman, don't be in a hurry. You might send a few of your -men to Luscombe, telling them nothing, of course. If they're seen about -there for a day or two it will prevent the smugglers from removing their -stuff until it is too late. And if you don't mind, send a messenger to -Waddon for me, and tell Babbage to remain where he is till further -orders." - -"I will, Mr. Hardy. By George! I hope Admiral Horniman will be pleased -with the way we are carrying out his plans." - -Jack smiled as the riding-officer took his leave,--Mr. Goodman knew only -half the plan; Admiral Horniman none of it. - -The most important part of Jack's task was still before him. He had -determined to be in the turret room of Congleton's Folly on Wednesday -evening; how was he to get there? The removable steps were no doubt -being used by the signaler; but it was not likely that they were still -hidden in the same place. De Fronsac, of course, would believe Jack to -be safe in a French prison; but the last hiding-place having been so -easily discovered, he would certainly choose a new one. Yet, if the -tower was to be entered, steps of some kind must be had. - -Jack spent a quiet Sunday, and early on Monday morning drove a few miles -inland to another village, where he entered the smithy and asked the -smith if he could make him quickly a dozen iron loops with a tail to -them. - -"Well, maybe I might," said the smith, "if you showed me the pattern." - -"Here you are," replied Jack, drawing a rough sketch of the article he -wanted with a piece of charcoal on the side of the forge. - -"And what might that be for, measter?" the smith inquired. "A cur'ous -looking objeck." - -"Yes, isn't it? 'Tis for a game I'm going to play--quite a new thing in -these parts." - -"Well, to be sure! And how thick do 'ee want 'em?" - -Jack could only guess the dimensions. He tried to recall the size of -the holes in the wall of the _Folly_, and gave the smith a thickness -which he hoped would turn out within the mark. The steps were easily -made when the man had grasped the idea. Getting them wrapped up, Jack -drove back to Middleton, and thence to Waddon, where Babbage and the -crew of the _Fury_ were unfeignedly glad to see him once more. - -"'Tis long waiting when you don't know, sir," said Babbage. "As brother -Sol used to say: 'Wait not, want not,' and true it is, though so plain." - -During the rest of Monday and all Tuesday the _Fury_ cruised down -Channel, merely to kill time. The men wondered why their young -commander did not sail out to sea and do some scouting work, if nothing -else, but Jack did not wish to run any risks; besides, he was busily -occupied in drawing up a message in the cipher used by the signaler at -the Folly. - -On Wednesday morning the _Fury_ put in once more at Waddon, and Jack -left again. These mysterious absences were somewhat trying to Babbage's -equanimity. - -"But there," he said, talking the matter over with Turley, "to gentlemen -of eddication, I s'pose, our heads--yourn an' mine, Turley--be only like -so many turnips." - -"Mr. Babbage?" Turley's tone was one of surprise and remonstrance. - -"Wot?" - -"Not Turnips." - -"Why not?" - -"Why, sir, 'cos they have Tops." - -"Not when they're mashed, Turley, wi' butter, or dripping for -cheapness." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND* - - -Unconscious of the bo'sun's melancholy reflections, Jack was hurrying -toward the village. There he again hired the gig, and drove once more -over the same road, leaving Middleton so as to reach the neighborhood of -Luscombe about dusk. With him he took the iron steps. - -He made his way with great caution to Gumley's cottage. This time he -did not hail the old sailor from the roadway, but got over the fence and -tapped at the window. When he was admitted, he announced without -preliminary the object of his visit. - -"I want you to come and lend a hand, Gumley." - -"Might I axe how and wherefore, sir?" - -"I'll tell you that as we go along." - -"'Tis not to go back on old messmates, sir?" - -"Your old messmates have gone back on you. But 'tis not that, and, -anyway, I call upon you, Joe Gumley, in the king's name--" - -"Oh, if you put it like that, sir, I don't axe no questions. The king's -name is enough for me." - -"I know it. Come along, and bring Comely with you." - -The three set out, Gumley curiously eying Jack's bundle. - -"We're bound for Congleton's Hollow, Gumley." - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -"Any news since I saw you last?" - -"Nary much, sir. Young Bill Gudgeon haven't bin seen since. And the -preventives have bin paying surprise visits down in the village." - -"That's well. The smugglers won't have dared to remove their cargo." - -"Ah! I knowed as how they'd made another run." - -"How did you know that? You keep yourself to yourself, you know." - -"True, sir. But old Gudgeon's chimbleys do be uncommon foul, to be -sure." - -"What's that to do with it?" - -"Why, sir, I were thinking that's the only thing I've seed to-day. But -he'll soon be leaving off fires. Be you gwine to the Hollow by the -lane, sir?" - -"Yes. 'Tis a little longer way round, but I don't want to meet -anybody." - -"True, sir. Comely will give us good notice if any one is about." - -They came at length to the Hollow. Jack led the way through the trees -to within a hundred yards of the tower, and searched the neighborhood -thoroughly to make sure that no one was on the watch. - -"Now, Gumley, I'm going up to the room at the top. Not through the -door, but up the outside with the help of these steps." He opened his -bundle. "See, they fit into holes in the wall. Are you sailor enough -still to come up after me and bring down the steps when I've got to the -top?" - -"Try me, sir. True, I've only one leg, but that's sound; and my -arms--look at 'em, sir." - -"That's all right. When you've got the steps, hide in the bushes with -Comely until you hear me whistle. Then you'll come and take charge of a -man I think you'll find here." - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -Jack mounted, Gumley after him. The latter removed the steps and -disappeared into the thicket, while Jack closed the trap-door, and sat -on the rickety chair, waiting. - -Hours passed. It was very cold. Jack knew that De Fronsac would not -leave the Grange until the family were asleep; he could only wait, -wrapped up in his cloak, walking about quietly at intervals to keep -himself awake. - -At last he heard a slight click outside. Instantly he concealed himself -in the hole behind the bedstead, leading to the staircase. To insure -the full success of his plan it was necessary that the signaler should -make his preparations undisturbed. - -He heard some one enter the room by the trap-door, and immediately -afterward saw a gleam of light. Peeping out, he recognized with a -thrill that the intruder was De Fronsac, as he had expected, and that he -was alone. He had lit the lamp, the glass of which was turned away from -the window; the long roll of cardboard and a pistol lay beside it. Then -he went to the window and looked out to sea. He was evidently waiting -for a signal from the lugger. - -"_Peste!_" he muttered, slapping his shoulders. "_Comme il fait froid! -Il est en retard. Quand viendra-t-il?_" - -Pistol in hand, Jack stepped quietly out of his hiding-place. De -Fronsac started, swung round, and stared with amazement, for there, in -the light of the lamp, stood the boy he had kidnapped, and a pistol was -pointed full at his head. - -"Yes, Monsieur de Fronsac, it is I. Stay where you are; if you make a -movement I shall fire." - -[Illustration: "If you make a movement, I shall fire"] - -The statement was so cool and matter-of-fact that it appeared to carry -conviction, for De Fronsac arrested his first instinctive movement -toward his own pistol. Still covering him with his weapon, Jack -advanced to the table, turned the lamp so that the light fell on the -Frenchman, and lifted the pistol. De Fronsac said not a word. There -was no smile upon his face now, but his eyes gleamed, and Jack knew that -he was watching for the slightest opening. De Fronsac felt the rope for -a spy tightening relentlessly round his neck. - -He glanced toward the lamp, within a few feet of him. - -"No, Monsieur De Fronsac," said Jack, guessing his wish to knock it -over: "it really is not possible. You would not live to reach the -table. You will now go through the trap-door and descend the steps, as -quickly and quietly as you can." - -The man hesitated; Jack saw his fingers work nervously. - -"I shall count three, Monsieur. At the word _three_ I fire. One--" - -De Fronsac moved sidewise toward the trap-door. At the opening he again -paused, and appeared to be about to speak. But Jack gave him no -opportunity. - -"Again, Monsieur: one--two--" - -De Fronsac pulled up the trap, and slowly lowered himself on to the -topmost step. - -"Remember, Monsieur," said Jack, before his head disappeared, "if you -make the least unnecessary sound I shall send a bullet after you." - -The gleaming eyes disappeared. Step by step the Frenchman descended. -When he was a third of the way down Jack whistled gently. By the time -De Fronsac reached the ground Gumley and Comely were one on each side of -him. - -"Evening, sir," said Gumley. "Orders are that you come along wi' -me--and the dog. Watch him, Comely." - -A deep growl caused De Fronsac to start. - -"Harmless as a lamb, sir, while you goes steady. Bean't 'ee, Comely?" - -The answer was another growl. They moved away, the dog keeping a few -inches behind De Fronsac's heels, Gumley with a naked cutlass walking at -his right hand. - -Even before they were out of sight Jack had returned to the table. -There he had noticed a sheet of paper. It was covered with figures--no -doubt the message that De Fronsac was preparing to send. - -"Wonder if there's time to make it out!" thought Jack. He looked out to -sea; there was no signal light. With the aid of his key he scribbled -below the figures the corresponding letters, and read: - -NELSON A SUIVRE VILLENEUVE 9 NAVIRE 2 FREGATE SORTENT DE P MERCREDI -BINSEY COVE LUNDI. - - -"A clever villain!" thought Jack. "Who would ever have imagined that a -French spy would be mixed up with English smugglers! And I wonder how he -gets his information about Nelson's doings, and the sailings of English -convoys? Well, his friends will have rather a different message -to-night." - -He took from his pocket a piece of paper, and made some alterations in -the figures he had written in the cabin of the _Fury_. - -"If they like news of Nelson, they shall have some, invented on the -spot!" - -Every now and then while writing he glanced out to sea to make sure that -he did not miss the expected signal. It was nearly an hour after he had -completed his message that he caught the three successive flashes. Then -he fixed the cardboard, pointed it through the round hole in the -curtain, and signaled: - -NELSON MOURANT A PALERMO NAVIRE BRISE PLAGE FOWEY CONVOI PETITE CHALOUPE -BINSEY COVE LUNDI. - - -The message completed, he extinguished the light and descended, removing -the steps as he went. The other set had apparently been taken by -Gumley. Wrapping up the original dozen he started for his long walk -back. - -He had not gone many paces when he heard hurried footsteps behind. -Turning round with a start, his hand on his pistol, he was amazed to -hear his name called. - -"Jack!" - -The next instant a slight figure sprang toward him. - -"Oh, Jack! I'm jolly glad, I am! I thought it was you, but couldn't be -sure till you came down. Oh, I _am_ glad!" - -"Well, don't make a to-do, youngster. And what brings you out at this -time of night?" - -"Why, didn't you tell me months ago to keep an eye on Fronsac? Well, -I've done it. I've followed him several nights--not often, 'cos mostly -I'm sleepy; but I've never caught him. He always disappeared, and I -never knew where he went till to-night. And I shouldn't have known now -if I hadn't seen him climb down the Folly and go off with old Gumley. -Oh, it was fine! My eye! wasn't he scared at the dog! But what's it all -mean, Jack? I say, you'll come along home, won't you? They'll all be -so jolly glad to see you." - -"Not to-night, Arthur. I hope I shall come to see you all in a day or -two. But not a soul in the village must know yet that I'm back, and the -maids couldn't keep it in. Tell your father I'm here; and tell him that -De Fronsac is a dangerous spy. We've got him safe now, but they mustn't -suspect in the village. If any questions are asked you can say that he -has gone away for a few days, and will be back on Monday night." - -"Oh, I say, will they hang him?" - -"Of course. Now cut and run; you'll catch your death of cold, and the -squire will want to hang me." - -"Not he. He likes you. So does--" - -"Cut!" said Jack, putting an end to Arthur's confidences. The boy -disappeared; Jack resumed his walk, and arrived dead tired at the inn at -Middleton. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *THE BATTLE OF BINSEY COVE* - - -"Ah! Patience is a monument, as brother Sol used to say. Tombstone I'd -call it, 'cos this here waiting about in the cold'll be the death o' -me." - -"True, Mr. Babbage. It bean't Christian, let alone decent, to keep us -poor fellers waiting here." - -"Avast your jabber, Mudge. It bean't for the likes of you to grumble -when 'tis a matter o' dooty, and love your neighbor as yourself. 'Tis a -wonderful fine night, coldish, nat'ral for the time o' year. Mr. Hardy -didn't make the weather, lads." - -Ben Babbage, with a boat's crew from the _Fury_, lay off Totley Point, -about a mile and a half west of Luscombe. It was about ten at night. -They had been for two hours resting on their oars. A steady breeze blew -from the west-sou'west, and a slight swell rocked the boat gently. Save -for an occasional pull to keep her head to the wind the men had nothing -to do except wait and watch; and Babbage, however he might grumble -himself, was the last to permit grumbling in others. - -But it was certainly a tax on their patience to wait hour after hour for -a lugger which was slow to appear. Everybody was tired of inaction, and -hoping for a signal of recall, when a shape loomed out of the blackness, -passed on the starboard side of the boat, about two cable lengths away, -and disappeared shoreward. - -Babbage lifted a dark lantern from the bottom of the boat; Turley and -Mudge stretched a sheet of tarpaulin between him and the shore. Then -Babbage, facing out to sea, and keeping the lantern at such an elevation -that its light should not fall on the water, rapidly opened and closed -the shutter, sending one flash to windward. - -"Things is a-going to happen, mates," he said, as he replaced the -lantern. "The owdacious moment is at hand, as brother Sol used to say." - -Again they waited, but now with keen expectation. In ten minutes, which -seemed hours, a dark shape appeared in the offing. Babbage making a -bell of his hands, sent a low whistle across the water; an order was -given on the approaching vessel; the steersman put up the helm, and in a -few seconds the other was alongside. - -"All well, Babbage?" said Jack, in a low tone. - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -A rope was thrown from the cutter and made fast in the bows of the boat. -Another brief command; the steersman put the helm down, and the cutter, -with the boat in tow, followed in the wake of the lugger. At nightfall -she had crept in to within two miles of the shore, and sending out the -long-boat as a scout, had hove to, lest her mast should betray her. - -In ten minutes the cliffs were dimly visible, and Jack recognized the -jagged gap at the top that served as a landmark in steering for the -cove. The cutter headed straight for the gap. There was a shout from -far up the cliff; the _Fury_ had been sighted by the lookout. His call -was answered by cries from the beach. On the cutter all the men lay -ready with musketoon, pistol, and cutlass, except the few who had been -told off to run down the sail when the word was given, and make the -cutter fast to the lugger when she came alongside. - -Jack's heart beat more quickly than usual; he felt excited, and anxious, -too, for he knew that the whole crew of the lugger, probably quite as -strong as his own, would be ready to repel boarders. If they were -joined by the Luscombe men who were receiving the smuggled goods he -would be greatly outnumbered. Everything depended on the handling of -the men, and knowing how desperately smugglers fought when brought to -bay, Jack felt the seriousness of the position. What would the issue be? - - -While the boat's crew had been waiting in the cold, strange things had -been happening at Gumley's cottage. - -Gumley's method of guarding De Fronsac was to make a temporary kennel -for the dog outside the window of the front room in which the prisoner -was lodged, and a shakedown for himself by the door. He felt that he -could not properly intrude upon De Fronsac, who was a person of quality. -But he looked in at intervals to see that he was safe, on these -occasions calling Comely into the room, to guard against any attempted -surprise. - -De Fronsac had recovered the use of his tongue after he reached the -cottage. - -"I protest, I say it is a scandal, an infamy, to shut me up as if I vere -a t'ief. Vat right have you? Tell me dat--you--you--" - -"Gumley, my name, sir. I've got my orders--in the king's name." - -"Vell, I vill complain to de squire; I vill make to punish -you--you--Gomley!" - -"Orders is orders, sir. I can't say no more." - -Gumley himself was somewhat anxious about his charge, for, not expecting -such a drain on his larder, he had only his usual provisions for the -week, and did not feel at liberty to leave the cottage and procure more. -Thursday passed, Friday, Saturday, and still he had heard nothing from -Jack. When Sunday came, there was only a half loaf of bread and a rind -of cheese left, and these had to be shared among the two men and the -dog. - -On the second day De Fronsac began to beguile the tedium of confinement -by writing poetry. When Gumley looked in at him on one of his -periodical visits the Frenchman said: - -"You have not a bad heart. You obey orders of--of--of a monstair. -Vell, I read you vat I have now written about anoder Monstair--de great -villain Monstair vat call himself Emperor of de French! Listen! You -vill like it. - - "'_De sky vas blue, de sea vas green,_ - _All beautiful for to be seen._ - _Vy den am I not gay and glad?_ - _Alas! de Monstair make me sad._' - -"Dat is good beginning, hein?" - -"Reyther on the miserable side, don't 'ee think, sir? For myself, I -like a rum-tum-tiddlum rollicum-rorum sort o' thing." - -"Ver' vell, I write you someting of dat kind." - -Gumley heard nothing more of this generous offer until Monday evening. -Then, when he went into De Fronsac's room to explain with apologies that -he had no more food, the Frenchman said: - -"No matter not at all. Vizout doubt some vun vill come to-morrow. Be -so good as give me a candle. I vish to write de poesy I speak of." - -Gumley saw no reason for not humoring so harmless a hobby, and brought -the lighted candle. But a couple of hours later he was awakened from -his sleep at the locked door by a smell of burning. He soon satisfied -himself that it came from the prisoner's room, and opened the door. - -"Ha! I see you!" said De Fronsac. "I am almost burnt alive. I am -writing my poesy ven--_voila!_ de candle overfalls and burns a hole in -de table-carpet. See it! I put out de fire, easy; but it make much -smoke. I fear it vake you; pardon, my good Gomley." - -"Granted, sir, ready. If I was you I'd go to sleep now and do your -writing stuff in the morning." - -"So I vill," was the response. "Pardon! I vill not vake you again." - -Gumley returned to his shakedown and was soon fast asleep. - -Nearly two hours later he was wakened by a growl from the dog outside. -He got up, opened the outer door, and found Comely trying to get up to -the shuttered window of De Fronsac's room. - -"Don't like his poetry any more than me, don't 'ee? Come in. We'll -tell him 'tis time he was abed." - -He closed the door when the dog had entered, and together they went into -the prisoner's room. There was still a good deal of smoke in it--but no -Frenchman. - -"Ahoy!" cried Gumley. - -But the dog made a dash back to the front door, and, when Gumley -followed and opened it, rushed growling down the garden, where he was -brought up by the high fence. Seizing his cutlass, Gumley stumped as -fast as he could to the gate. - -"Chok' it all!" he muttered. "This is what comes o' losing a leg in the -king's name." - -It took some little time to draw the bolts and unlock the gate, and when -the old sailor got out into the road the fugitive was out of sight. But -Gumley thought he heard a man running down the cliff path to the -village. Without hesitation he started in pursuit, whistling Comely to -his side. Never had that wooden leg moved so fast; but with all his -exertion his pace did not exceed that of a quick walk. He was half-way -down the path when he heard shots in the distance. Hurrying still more, -he came to the village just in time to see a group of men rushing out at -the other end, and caught the words "Sandy Cove!" - -"Fire and brimstone!" he muttered. "This is a desperate go, Comely. -Come on, my lad." - -And he stumped on gamely through the deserted street. - - -Meanwhile there had been brisk doings at Sandy Cove. When Jack judged -that he was only a couple of cable-lengths from the lugger, he cast off -the long-boat with Babbage and his men. They, resting on their oars, -allowed it to drift slowly in while the cutter disappeared into the -darkness. - -A few moments later Jack gave the word. The sail was run down. A round -shot from the lugger whistled across the _Fury's_ bows. Another few -seconds; then, amid furious shouts, the cutter came against the larboard -quarter of the lugger with a bump that caused the men on both craft to -stagger. The _Fury's_ bowsprit fouled the lugger's shrouds and hooked -fast. Instantly half a dozen grapnels were out, and the two vessels -were closely interlocked. - -There was a deafening discharge of small arms from the deck of the -lugger, but as most of the _Fury's_ men were lying down awaiting the -order to board, and the volley was fired at random in almost total -darkness, hardly any damage was done. But the master of the lugger was -clearly a man of action, for the echo of the shots had scarcely come -back from the cliffs when he gave a loud order in French, and the -smugglers swarmed over the bulwarks, intending to jump on to the deck of -the cutter a foot or two below. - -"Fire!" - -The word rang out sharp and clear above the shouts of the Frenchmen. -Their dark forms stood out clearly against the starlight; they were only -a few feet from the muzzles of the Englishmen's muskets; and when at -Jack's command the volley flashed, the front line of the smugglers -disappeared as if struck by a thunderbolt. - -With a loud cheer the English sailors, dropping their muskets, seized -cutlass and pistol and dashed through the smoke, each man eager to be -first on the enemy's deck. They needed no encouragement; most of them -had a score to pay off for their defeat at the same spot in the previous -autumn. While the Frenchmen were still half stunned by the scorching -fire and the loss of so many of their comrades, Jack's men gained a -footing on the deck. - -But now the French skipper's voice could be heard rallying his crew, and -the boarders were met by a serried mass armed with pistols and boarding -pikes. And among the Frenchmen there was now a sprinkling of -Englishmen, for the smugglers on shore had rushed over the gangway to -their comrades thus hotly beset. Now a furious hand-to-hand fight raged -about the lugger's stern. Great was the clamor as steel clashed on -steel, pistols barked, hoarse voices roared encouragement or defiance, -wounded men groaned. Again and again Jack and his men were flung back by -sheer weight of numbers against the lugger's bulwarks; again and again -they rallied and forced the enemy across the deck. No room here for -fine weapon-play; men cut and thrust at random, met, grappled, flung -away cutlass and pike to set to with nature's own weapons. Many a -Frenchman fell under the sledge-hammer blows of British sailors' fists. - -Jack had no clear recollection afterward of the details of the fight. -At one moment he found himself leading a rush of his own men, pressing -the enemy back foot by foot until only a last desperate effort seemed -wanting to drive them overboard. Then would come a check; a hoarse -shout from the skipper, whom Jack by and by distinguished in the -melee--a huge fellow of reckless courage; the tide turned, the smugglers -rallied gamely, and Jack and his men, stubbornly as they fought, were -borne back and back, losing inch by inch the ground they had so hardly -gained. - -It was at one of these desperate moments that Jack heard at last the -sound for which, throughout the struggle, he had been anxiously waiting. -From the forefront of the lugger came a sudden rousing British cheer. -There was a rush of feet in the rear of the smugglers, and in a second, -as it seemed to Jack, the deck in front of him was clear. Ben Babbage -had arrived. Carrying out orders given him previously, he had brought -the long-boat unseen to the starboard side of the lugger, and, before -the Frenchmen were aware of his presence, he was on deck, with Turley, -Mudge, Folkard, and half a dozen other trusty shipmates. - -Beset now in both front and rear, the Frenchmen lost heart. Suddenly -they made a rush for the gangway connecting the lugger with the land, -and swarmed helter-skelter across, not a few stumbling over the edge and -falling souse into the water. - -"Huzzay! huzzay!" shouted the panting Englishmen, as they saw the enemy -in flight. - -But they were answered by a loud and confident cheer from the beach, and -in the momentary silence that ensued they heard the rapid tramp of a -large body of men hurrying over the shingle. Immediately afterward they -saw the fugitives halt, and rush back, largely reinforced, to the -gangway, led by the indomitable captain. On they came, tumbling into the -water three or four of the Englishmen who had started in pursuit and -were making for the shore. - -The gangway, consisting of four stout planks laid side by side, was -wide, and gave foothold for a throng at once. Jack and Babbage -collected their men at the lugger's bulwarks to meet this new attack. -And the former, amazed at this sudden turning of the tables, was still -more amazed to see beside the French skipper the slighter form of -Monsieur de Fronsac. Even at the moment of recognition De Fronsac's -pistol flashed; the bullet glanced off Jack's cutlass within an inch of -his body, and embedded itself in the mast behind him. - -The two forces came together with a shock. Babbage dropped his cutlass -and flung his powerful arms around the skipper. They swayed for a -moment, then fell together with a tremendous splash into the water. De -Fronsac had dropped his pistol, and made for Jack with a cutlass. Jack -parried his furious cut, and before he could recover replied with a -rapid and dexterous thrust that found the Frenchman's forearm. With -wonderful quickness De Fronsac shifted his weapon from the right to the -left hand, and, shouting encouragement to the men beside and behind him, -pressed forward indomitably. - -At the same moment there was a rush of feet from the bows of the lugger. -Her bowsprit came within easy reach of the rocky ledge, and a number of -the smugglers had sprung on to it, scrambled along, and flung themselves -on the flank of the defenders. Turley and others at Jack's right turned -to meet this new danger; but the enemy had gained a firm foothold on the -foredeck, and the fight once more became general. - -Jack, fighting grimly with Mudge and Folkard at the head of the gangway, -felt with a dreadful sinking at the heart that the tide of battle was -turning overwhelmingly against him. It seemed only too likely that he -must either take to the cutter and escape, or remain to be killed or -captured. But at this moment there was a sudden uproar at the far end -of the gangway; the cries he heard were unmistakably cries of dismay. -The throng of men pressing from the shore to the lugger wavered; their -rear was being attacked; the preventives must be upon them! So sudden -and unexpected was the onslaught that they lost their heads; their -confidence changed to panic, and as one man they made off, springing -into the shallow water to right and left, and scurrying away into the -darkness. - -"Have at 'em, Comely! Have at 'em, my lad!" - -The words rang clear above all the din; and ever and anon came a short -yelping bark--the unmistakable war-cry of a bulldog. Jack felt a -wonderful lightness of heart as the sounds came to him out of the dark. -Then the press in front of him melted as by magic, and through the gap -so quickly made stumped Gumley, wielding his cutlass like a flail, and -shouting with the regularity of a minute-gun: - -"Have at 'em, Comely! Have at 'em, my lad!" - -Two men remained on the gangway, refusing to be intimidated by the -tumult in their rear; nay more, adjuring the fugitives to stand fast. -One was Monsieur de Fronsac, the other Kit Lamiger, the chief Luscombe -smuggler, father of the lad whom Jack had fought. - -The uproar, the flight, the appearance of Gumley and the dog, all -happened in such rapid succession and amid such a clamor that to Jack -the events seemed to take place in one crowded moment. As the last of -the panic-stricken smugglers jumped sidewise from the gangway on to the -rocks, De Fronsac, hearing Gumley's voice behind him, took a rapid step -forward in a last desperate endeavor to dispose of Jack. But the middy -marked his purpose. There was no time for deliberation. The Frenchman, -wielding his cutlass as well with his left hand as with his right, made -a fierce cut at Jack. The next moment he threw up his arms without a -sound and fell backward across the gangway into the space between the -lugger and the rocks. Jack's blade had pierced him through. - -Meanwhile Kit Lamiger had found himself seized below in the vise-like -grip of Comely's jaws. Struggling to free himself, he fell into the -arms of Gumley, who, with a cry of "In the king's name, shipmate!" swung -him round, threw him on to the shingle, and bade the bulldog watch him. - -The fight was over. - -"Ahoy, Gumley! Come aboard!" shouted Jack. - -Gumley stumped across the gangway, and this was drawn on to the lugger's -deck. Jack intended to work the vessels out for a little distance until -there was no chance of being attacked except by boats, for he knew that -he was still outnumbered. But just as he was preparing to cast off -there came a loud hail from the beach, and immediately afterward Mr. -Goodman rushed up at the head of a force of preventive men. - -"Just in time, Mr. Hardy!" panted he. - -"A little late, Mr. Goodman," replied Jack. "I expected you some time -ago. The fight is over." - -"Dash my buttons!" cried the mortified officer. "'Tis my confounded -ill-luck. I should have been here, but I got another note a few hours -ago that I had to attend to." - -"Anonymous, Mr. Goodman?" - -"Yes, anonymous as usual, hang it all! I came up when I heard the -firing. I see you've got the lugger, sir. Our scheme worked out to the -letter." - -"To the anonymous note, eh, Mr. Goodman? Well, we've good news for the -admiral to-morrow. And as you've a good number of your men here, I'll go -ashore and step up to the Grange. I want to see my cousin. Turley, -where's Babbage?" - -"Never seed him, sir, since he went overboard with the French skipper." - -"Well, I must leave you in charge, then. The poor fellow's drowned, I -fear." - -"No, sir," shouted a voice from the beach. - -"Who's that?" - -"Me, sir, Babbage as was." - -"All sound?" - -"And fury, as brother Sol used to say. Me and the French skipper fell -overboard together, me on top. He drownded hisself, sir, 'cos he -wouldn't let go. When I come up, some o' they fellers bowled me over -like a ninepin, and my senses was fair knocked out o' me. Next thing I -knowed I heard you a-saying I were drownded, sir. Not so, nor never -even seasick." - -"Well, I'm glad you're safe. Come aboard. We'll see what damage is done -here, and then I'll go ashore, and we'll get a doctor from Wickham -Ferrers to attend to the poor fellows who are wounded." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - *SOME APPOINTMENTS* - - -Jack had but just reached the road above the cliff when he was somewhat -startled to hear the regular clickety-click of a large number of horses -trotting toward him. And surely, amid the clatter of their hoofs, there -was the clash of steel! - -He stood at the edge of the road, waiting. In a few moments, round the -corner from the direction of Wickham, came two horsemen at a rapid trot, -and behind them a troop, whose polished accoutrements gleamed in the -light of the rising moon. - -They rode on rapidly, and Jack had just recognized the uniform of the -Dorsetshire yeomanry when the officer at their head caught sight of him, -shouted "Halt!" and reined up his horse on its haunches. - -"Where are they, my lad?" he asked in a tone of subdued excitement. - -"Who, Cousin Humfrey?" - -"Eh! Who are you? Why, bless me, 'tis Jack! Where are the ruffians?" - -"Who, cousin?" - -"Why, the French! Have they got a footing?" - -"Most of 'em a wetting, cousin. But we've beat the whole crew and got -the lugger." - -"The lugger! Hang the lugger! What about the praams?" - -"The praams!" Jack was puzzled; then a light dawned on him and he began -to laugh. - -"Come, come, 'tis no joke. Are they beaten back?" - -"Oh, cousin, no joke! Did you really think it was Boney? Oh, I can't -help it; excuse me, cousin." - -It came out that Mr. Bastable had been awakened by one of his men, who -declared that he heard cannons firing most horribly, and was sure 'twas -Boney had come over at last. The squire got up, sent a rider post-haste -to Wickham Ferrers for his troop of yeomen, and hurried into his -uniform, which he kept always at hand by his bedside. - -"And here we are, my lad, in an hour from the first alarm. There's -quick work for you. But I'm glad 'tis no worse than a brush with -smugglers. 'Twas a false alarm, my lads," he added, turning to his men. -"Boney has thought better of it. Didn't care to tackle us Dorset men. -You can get back and sleep sound. Now Jack, you'll come with me to the -Grange. Arthur told me he'd seen you--the young rascal, stealing out at -dead of night! But a good plucked 'un too, eh, Jack?" - -"A chip of the old block, cousin. Just the sort of fellow we middies -like." - -"And that villain De Fronsac, now! What of him?" - -"He's dead, cousin," said Jack gravely. - -"Ha! He's got his deserts. The villain, playing his double game for -eighteen months in my house! And his humbug about the Monster, too. It -makes me red in the face when I think of it. But you must tell me all -about it when we get home." - -They found the Grange almost in a state of siege. The windows were -close-shuttered, the doors were double locked, and when Mr. Bastable -rapped, the voice of old William, the gardener, was heard, threatening -in accents of unmistakable terror that he'd b-blow out the b-b-brains of -any Frenchman with his b-b-blunderbuss. When admittance was obtained, -shrieks were heard from the top of the house. - -"The maids in hysterics!" growled the squire. "Here, Molly and Betty," -he shouted, "don't be a couple of geese. 'Tis not Boney--'tis Master -Jack!" - -A door above flew open; Kate and Arthur came bounding down the stairs, -with Mrs. Bastable a pace or two behind them. - -"Lawk a mussy! Only to think o't, now!" giggled Molly above. "Measter -Jack! Well, I never did!" - -Kate impulsively threw her arms round Jack's neck and kissed him -heartily. A middy is not easily taken by surprise, but Jack was only -just in time to return the kiss before Mrs. Bastable came and encircled -him. - -"My dear boy, this is delightful." - -"So it is, cousin--if it wasn't so smothery!" - -"Mothery!" shouted the squire in high good humor. "Now, you'll come -along to my den and tell me all about everything that's happened since -you were kidnapped by those villains, confound them!" - -"But my dear Humfrey, Jack looks dead-beat." - -"We'll cure that by any by. The fire isn't out; we'll make it up; and -I'm sure you women won't sleep a wink till you've heard the story." - -"Hurray!" shouted Arthur, capering. - -So they trooped into the snuggery, and there Jack, fortified with a -glass of hot cordial brought by Molly, related his adventures from the -time when he was carried to France against his will. - -"There are two things I can't make out," he said in conclusion. "One -is, how Gudgeon is mixed up in this. 'Twas his boat, I'm sure, that -carried me in the tub to the lugger; and he drove to Gumley's the other -night to hear what had been done. Where does he come in, cousin?" - -Mr. Bastable laughed a little awkwardly. - -"Go to bed, Arthur," he said. - -"I know, father," said the boy, grinning. - -"You do, do you, you young rascal! Well, Jack, I'll tell you. Gudgeon -is a sly old dog. He's the smuggler hereabouts--but behind the scenes. -His smoking chimney was the signal by day, as Fronsac's, it seems, was -by night. But he's not a traitor; he knew nothing of Fronsac's double -scheme, I warrant. He's a smuggler simply. Why, Jack, he has supplied -me with smuggled brandy for years; so he does the parson at Wickham. -The stuff you're drinking was smuggled; the lace your cousin Sylvia is -wearing came from Valenciennes, and paid no duty. I'm afraid I must -give it up now, my boy. There's not a squire on the seaboard but thinks -it no harm; but with a cousin a gallant king's officer--yes, I must give -it up." He sighed. "And I think I'd better go and see Gudgeon in the -morning." - -"He'll be transported, as sure as a gun," said Jack. - -"Well, I don't think we'll go that length. You can't prove anything -against him, you see. He's too sly for that--and--well, it might be -awkward for more than one of us." - -"All right, cousin," said Jack, laughing. "But there's another thing. -That fellow who was wounded in the Hollow! De Fronsac shot him, I'm -sure; I never told you that Arthur and I saw him bundled into a lugger -that night we followed De Fronsac from the house." - -"That's a mystery. I can't explain it. And it doesn't matter much, now -that De Fronsac is gone. By George, Jack! I fancy you've killed -smuggling at Luscombe--for some time, at any rate. Now to bed. We'll -have another talk in the morning." - -Jack was up early, in spite of the lateness of the hour when he went to -bed. He was at breakfast alone with Mr. Bastable when Mr. Goodman was -announced. - -"Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mr. Hardy. I've come to you as a -justice of the peace, Mr. Bastable. You've heard of our little exploit -last night?" - -"You were in at the death, I believe. Well, sir?" - -"Well, sir, we went to the Hollow this morning to seize the goods we -understood were hidden there. In the summer-house we found a man, sir; -I have him outside now. He tried to run away; but we collared him, and -as he wouldn't give an account of himself I've brought him along. -Perhaps you'll commit him as a rogue and vagabond." - -"Bring him in, Mr. Goodman." - -The riding-officer returned with a heavy, undersized, beetle-browed -fellow, in very tattered garb. - -"Why, 'tis the very man!" cried Jack. "This is the man De Fronsac -shot." - -"De Fronsac!" growled the man, with gleaming eyes. "Where is he?" - -"No longer in this world, my man," said Mr. Bastable. "Now, who are -you? Give a good account of yourself, or I shall have to commit you." - -The man showed no hesitation now. He explained that he had been -employed in London by a French family through whom De Fronsac obtained -much of the information he signaled to France. Having discovered this -fact, he had come down to Luscombe to levy blackmail on the spy; the -consequences were as Jack had related. He had returned to England--there -were means of coming and going between the two countries even in that -time of war--to wreak vengeance on De Fronsac, and was lying in wait at -the summer-house when the preventives appeared on the scene. - -"There's your mystery unraveled," said Mr. Bastable, turning to Jack. -Then to the Frenchman he said: "We'll send you off to London, my man; -'tis for folk there to deal with you." - -After breakfast, Jack walked over to Gumley's cottage. He wanted to -know how De Fronsac had escaped, and was prepared to read Gumley a -lecture for his lax guardianship. But he found the old sailor so -desperately upset at the trick played upon him, that he had not the -heart to add to his chagrin. - -"Only to think of it, sir!" said Gumley, thumping the table. "Poetry! -All my eye and Betty Martin! Why, when he got that there candle, he -stood upon this here table"--another thump--"and burned away the ends o' -the matchboards up aloft where they was nailed to the beams. No wonder I -smelled smoke! And he showed me a hole in the tablecloth! Then he -pried up the boards, got up into the attic, out by the trap-door on to -the roof, and when Comely and me was a-nosing round here in the smoke, -chok' it all! Mounseer was down the rain-pipe and under full sail for -the road. Never have I bin so done afore, sir, and in the king's name, -too." - -"Never mind, Joe. You came after him like a Briton, and if you and -Comely hadn't arrived on the scene when you did, I'm afraid there would -have been a different story to tell the admiral to-day. I'm going to -Portsmouth this afternoon. And I'll take care the admiral knows about -your pluck and your stanchness as a king's man under persecution." - -"Thank 'ee kindly, sir. And you won't forget to say a word for Comely, -sir?" - -"Not I. Comely and Gumley--a fine pair of warriors. Good-by." - -When Jack got back to the Grange, he found that the squire had paid his -promised visit to Mr. Gudgeon. Mr. Bastable laughed as he related the -interview. - -"He had the flutters very badly, Jack. I put it to him as delicately as -I could. Said that recent events had given the neighborhood a bad name, -especially as it had been found that some one had been selling -information to the French. Suspicion might easily fall on the wrong -person, I said; and I wound up by suggesting that when next winter comes -he should see that his chimneys are swept regularly. The old rascal! -'Oh dear me!' says he, 'to think that a quiet law-abiding village like -Luscombe should have harbored a French spy! It puts me in a terrible -flutter, Cognac is the best cure I know, sir; maybe you'll do me the -honor to take a sip with me?' and the rascal gave me a glass, Jack; -contraband--capital stuff!" - -"He'll be careful in future, I reckon, cousin. I must run over to -Portsmouth after lunch and report to Admiral Horniman. I suppose I'd -better keep Gudgeon's name out?" - -"Certainly, my lad. You've snuffed out smuggling here--for the present; -it is bound to begin again some day; but you may depend upon it that for -a long time to come we're all king's men here, Gudgeon included." - -It was a fortnight before Jack returned to the Grange. Then he came in -a high state of excitement. - -"Admiral Horniman is a jolly old brick!" he cried, after greeting his -cousins. "What do you think he's done?" - -"Resigned in your favor, Jack?" - -"Pretty nearly!" returned Jack with a laugh. "No, he's written up a -thumping report to the lords of the Admiralty, and got 'em to 'do a -thing that's as rare as--as--" - -"As Jack Hardys. Well!" - -"Why, to let me off three years' service as a mid, and also the -examination for lieutenant. Look here! here's my commission!" He -flourished a paper, and cried for three cheers for Admiral Horniman. -"And that's not all. I've got no end of prize-money for capturing the -French brig, and retaking the _Fury_, and collaring the smugglers' -stuff. My share alone comes to over a thousand pounds. And they've -taken two French privateers and sunk another off Fowey. The signals -worked splendidly; they were trying to cut out a disabled ship that -wasn't there! The admiral's going to put in a claim to prize-money for -me. He is a brick!" - -"Oh, I say!" cried Arthur. "Don't I wish I was you!" - -"I'm glad for dad's sake. He hasn't been over well off since he had to -retire from the East India Company's service, owing to that wretched -illness of his, and I'm afraid he had to pinch a bit for me. But now -that's all changed. I shan't cost him another penny piece." - -"Bravo! Arthur, you young dog, remember that, and hand over a thousand -pounds to me when I'm bound for the poorhouse. Well, Jack, I -congratulate you, my boy." - -"But that's not all, cousin. I've kept the best for the last. Open -your eyes! I'm appointed to the _Victory_, and sail to join Nelson in a -week! Won't we pepper the French! Won't we win a glorious victory! Oh! -cousin, isn't it the finest thing in the world to serve your king and -country!" - -"If you please, sir," said the butler, putting his head in at the door, -"Joe Gumley is outside, asking for Mr. Hardy." - -"Show him in," cried Mr. Bastable. - -"Arternoon, sir," said Gumley, stumping in with the bulldog at his -heels. He held his glazed hat clumsily, and looked not quite at ease. -"I be come over for two things, Squire; number one, to say thank'ee to -Mr. Hardy; number two, to axe a question." - -"Never mind about number one, Gumley," said Jack. "Heave away at number -two." - -"Begging your pardon, sir, one always comes afore two, and ye can't -alter nature. I take it kindly, sir, and I thank 'ee from the bottom of -my heart, for your goodness to a' old mariner what has only one leg -sound and rheumatiz in both. Here I've got, sir, a paper, and as near -as I can make it out--'tis terrible writing for a admiral, to be -sure--Admiral Horniman says he has great pleasure in app'inting Joseph -Gumley watchman at the dockyard, ten shillings a week, cottage and rum -free. I know who done that: Admiral Horniman would never ha' heard o' -Joe Gumley but for Mr. Hardy. God bless 'ee, sir, for remembering of a -poor wooden-legged old sailor what had to take to growing artichokes and -other landlubbers' thingummies in the king's name." - -"The admiral couldn't have found a better man," said Mr. Bastable, to -cover Jack's confusion. "But what's number two?" - -"Number two is this, sir. Do this here app'intment take in Comely? -'Cos if it don't with all respecks to Mr. Hardy and the admiral, I -sticks to artichokes. Comely and Gumley--they sign on together." - -"And nobody wants to split you, Gumley," said Jack. "Go and see the -admiral, and take Comely with you--only hold him in, because the -admiral's rather peppery, and Comely might made a mistake. He will know -that with Comely and Gumley to watch it, the dockyard will be as safe as -the rock of Gibraltar." - -"Ay, ay, sir. Then we takes on that there app'intment. Comely and -me--in the king's name." - - - - - THE END - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK HARDY *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43334 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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